Sofie and the City- Multi Cultural

Title: Sofie and the City

Author: Karima Grant

Illustrator: Janet Montecalvo

Stars: 4 out of 5

Summary: Sofie, a little girl who has moved to the city, does not like the city. She tells her grandma every Sunday that she wants to live with her and if she leaves “no one will miss me”. One day she becomes friends with a girl named Kenya. From then on the city isn’t so ugly.

This is a very pretty and heart warming story. I love the way the story ends with Sofie making a friend and finally being happy. This shows the reader how strong the sense of friendship can be. The story centers around a little girl who is new to a big city. I think this is a great way to show students who do not live in a city one perspective of the city. It is also a great way to show kids who do live in the city another perspective.  I love the way Grant portrays Sofie as such an outsider at first. I feel that this character would really connect with a lot of students considering many children feel left out at some point in their lives. This is a great window book for me considering I have never lived in a big city. It really shows how the city can be a melting pot for all kinds of people from all over the world. I really like the way Grant brings up the little girl’s English a couple of times throughout the story. This is something that native English speakers take for granted while people who are trying to fit in feel really self conscious about. By using this story in the classroom the teacher can address this topic. By addressing the topic the teacher is making students aware of something that they may not have thought about. This would also be a great time to talk about teasing. Sofie is affected by the kids on the street who make fun of her plastic sandals. The teacher can lead a discussion about how teasing can affect someone even if you do not mean it too.

Shadow



Title: Shadow

Author/Illustrator: Marcia Brown

Stars: 4 out of 5

Summary: an African folktale explaining what a shadow is.

I chose to blog about this story because of how powerful and scary the imagery is. I love the fact that the story is dark and mysterious. I feel that if I was a kid reading this story I would probably be pretty afraid of my shadow. There is once specific part where the story talks about the shadows eyes are ash and it cannot see. There is a specifically scary picture of a shadow that looks old and mangled. I love this imagry because it makes me feel like my shadow is aged and has been a shadow for ages and ages. This story makes me feel a sense of wonder and respect for my shadow because it never speaks out yet it is always around. I think that stories like this are a great way for children to take a step back and look at the beauty of our world around us. As kids its hard to look at things and find beauty, but by exposing my students to a story like this they will be forced. I think I could have my students choose a simple object and have them write a poem about that object. It could be a poem about where the object came from or maybe the adventures that it has had so far. Overall I really enjoyed reading this mysterious story.

My People - Multi-Cultural

Title: My People

Author: Langston Hughes

Photographer: Charles R. Smith Jr.

Stars: 3 out of 5

Summary: Langston Hughes writes few words but they have a huge impact. In this story Hughes compares his people to the night, the stars, and the sun

(I found this book on a list of Multi cultural books and decided to blog on it becuase i do not really view it as a Multi Cultural book. I feel that based on the fact that the photographs are of black people does not really make it multi cultural. If I replaced all of the pictures with pictures of white people would the story still be multi cultural? I'm not sure, but to me it is not really multi cultural. )

This is a great story to use at a very primary age. Because there are big pictures and few words it’s a great way to get young readers reading and interested. i am currently in a practicum class and there is one student who I know would love this book. She is a 2^nd grader but a very low level reader who reads books with few words. She has commented other books that use actual pictures and finds interest in real pictures of things such as informational books however these are usually too hard for her to read. I feel that giving her this book would combine her interest in pictures and her actual reading ability level.

I think the fact that the book has photographs instead of illustrations really ads to the overall tone of the story. I as the reader felt like I was seeing pictures of Hughes’s actual family, or his people. Although I really enjoyed looking at these pictures and reading the story, I do not think that I would be able to form a lesson around this story. It would be a great book to have in my library for students such as my second grade friend.  

Too Many Tamales- Multi Cultural

Title: Too Many Tamales

Author: Gary Soto

Illustrator: Ed Martinez

Stars: 5 out of 5

Summary: A girl named Maria helps her mom make Tamales on Christmas. Maria things she cooks her mothers wedding ring into the tamales. After eating all of the tamales and failing to find the ring, Maria confronts her mother only to find out her mother is wearing the ring.

What a beautiful holiday story. I love the way Soto brings together Mexican culture and the Christmas Holiday. He weaves in the Christmas season with talk about Christmas trees and lights and pictures of a holiday party. We also get a sense of the Spanish culture with words such as tamales, masa, and nina. I love the fact that the little girl is starting to feel grown up because she is helping her mom and wearing her mom’s apron. I can remember feeling exactly the same way when I was a little girl helping my mom cook. I can also remember how much I would stare at her ring and wish that she would let me wear it just for a little while. I guess its best that she never did because I probably would have done something very similar to Maria. I think that Soto does a great job of showing us how this family has decided to make their culture part of the holiday tradition. Throughout the story we get the sense that the tamales are a pivotal part of the tradition, especially at the end of the story after the kids have eaten all of the tamales and Rosa says that it looks like it’s time to make another batch of tamales. I love the way Soto mentions how the ring slid off Maria’s finger and into the dough however Maria doesn’t seem to notice it until she is upstairs with the other children. This is so typical of a young child to not realize what is going on until it is too late. We can really feel for Maria when she discovers what a big mistake she has made. I think this would be a great book to use in the class room to introduce a discussion on family traditions around the holiday seasons. After reading this story the teacher could have students write or talk about different things that their family does that represents their culture.

Horton Hears a Who

Title: Horton Hears a Who

Author / Illustrator: Dr. Suess

Stars: 5 out of 5

A kangaroo named Horton hears someone from a spec of dust. The kangaroo who rules the jungle tells Horton that no people that small exist and she insists that he forget the spec. Horton chases after the spec and proves to the Kangroo that there are people on the spec.

This is one of my all time favorite books and movies. When I was little I loved reading this story and a couple of years ago I couldn’t even believe they made a movie. (The movie is amazing.) I love the story because Horton who is just your average elephant stands up for what he believes in. He knows that he is right and he is willing to do whatever it takes to prove it to the other animals. I can remember as a child after reading this story my mom told me that this is an example of how ever little girl should act. They should know what is right and stand by it. I can remember a specific incident when I was in about 8^th grade. My friends would not invite a girl over for a huge slumber party. This girl knew that she wasn’t invited and was very upset about it.  I knew that this was a horrible and mean thing to do and I tried to tell my friends but they insisted that she couldn’t come. When I discussed the situation with my mom she reminded me of Horton and how he did whatever it took to stand up for what is right. I ended up not going to the sleepover because I wanted to make sure my friends knew that I did not think this was right. I feel that this positive Dr. Suess story can show students a variety of things. First students can look at the positive theme of standing up for what you believe, like I did in 8^th grade. Second as a teacher you can use little Jo-Jo and his one small voice to represent a vote. We can show our students how each and every voice or vote matters and your voice can be the one that changes everything. After the movie came out I heard people talking about this story representing anti abortion beliefs. I can see how this would be an accurate theme I do not believe that this is the only thing that Horton can represent. If a teacher is brave enough to enter that conversation I believe it could be a very influential one.  



Hey, Al

Title: Hey, Al

Author: Arthur Yorinks

Illustrator: Richard Egielski

Stars: 1 out of 5

Summary: A man and his dog live together in an apartment. The man works hard and does not have much. He is visited by a bird who takes him away to a paradise. In the paradise the man Al and his dog Eddie turn into birds and realize that they would much rather be at home even if it’s not perfect.

                Yorinks is the Author of this story and I feel it was a bit confusing. As I was reading the story to myself I could not really figure out who was talking to who? Was it Eddie or Al talking? I was able to clear this up by reading the story out loud. I think this is an interesting topic to bring up to young readers. Sometimes it is easier to understand a story if you read it outloud and are able to actually hear the words being spoken. It’s almost like being read a story.  I really like the over all theme of the story that is stated on the last page of the book “Paradise lost is sometimes Heaven found.” I think it’s a great theme to show students. It’s important that they begin to think that the grass is not always greener on the other side, and that they should be happy for all of the things that they have. I thought the story was a bit choppy for example when Al fell into the ocean and almost drowned.  I understand that Yorinks was trying to show that Al would have lost so much by taking off and going to this new paradise even his best friend Eddie, however this just didn’t flow for me. The pictures were really fun to look at, very colorful. I love how Egielski shows us the kitchen from a cross section so we can see what is outside the door. I think this is a fun book for students to read and I would like to have it on my shelf for an early finisher read, however I do not believe that I would use it to teach any specific lesson in my classroom.



Amazing Grace

Title: Amazing Grace

Author: Mary Hoffman

Illustrator: Caroine Binch

Stars: 5 out of 5

Summary: A little girl name Grace loves to listen to stories and act them out, always giving herself the most exciting part. After reading peter pan her class is going to act it out. Grace wants the role of Peter Pan, but a couple of her class mates tell her she can not play the role because she is a girl and black. Grace shows them and ends up winning the vote and acting as Peter Pan in the play.

I wanted to read this story because I have heard so many good things about it and I had never had the chance to read it myself. I now understand why there are so many positive reviews. What a positive story for a child. I love the way Hoffman and Binch show Grace imagining herself in a plethora of roles including a spider, an Indian chief, and a pirate. This is a great introduction to the story because all little kids love to imagine. Their whole play time is devoted to using toys in imaginative settings.  This story will draw each child in because they can relate to Grace even if they are not a girl or they are not black. There is such a positive atmosphere when Grace is told that she’ll never be able to play Peter Pan. Grace is surrounded by support from her family members which gives the reader a sense of stability. I love the part when the Grandma tells Grace that “Natalie is another one who don’t know nothing.” We can really see the grandma and hear how much she disagrees with Natalie.  I love how the grandma takes Grace to a ballet where the Juliet is black. I believe that the grandma is trying to show Grace that it doesn’t matter the color of your skin, it’s how you do what you are there to do. Grace loves the ballet and we can see how excited she is while she is twirling around in her imaginary tutu. The story ends with Grace wowing her classmates and becoming Peter Pan with a unanimous vote. The over all theme that we hear see and feel is that Grace can do and be anything she wants to be even if people tell her she cant. The reader almost becomes Grace and gets a feeling that he or she can do anything as well. I think this is a great story that should be in every families home and would have a great place in the classroom.