Picture Book 26: The Hello, Goodbye Window

Author: Norton Juster

Illustrator: Chris Raschka

Genre: Picture Book

Subgenre: realistic fiction

Themes: family and love, imagination, feelings

Characters:

~Primary: little girl

~Secondary: Nanna, Poppy, Mom, Dad

Awards:

~Caldecott Honor Book

~ALA Notable Children’s Book for Younger Readers Award

Date of Publication: 2005

Publication Company: Michael DiCapua

Summary: There is something magical about the window in Nanna and Poppy's kitchen.  Everything happens there.  That is where the little girl gets to spend time with her grandparents.  Experience the magic of every day with her. 

Recommendation: The Hello, Goodbye Window is a great book for exploring the idea of family.  Grandparents are an important part of many children's lives, and this is a good book to introduce that topic in class. 

Picture Book 25: A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams

Author: Jennifer Fisher Bryant

Illustrator: Melissa Sweet

Genre: Picture Book

Subgenre: Nonfiction

Themes: commitment, following dreams

Characters:

~Primary: William Carlos Williams

~Secondary:

Awards:

~Caldecott Honor Book

Date of Publication: 2008

Publication Company: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

Summary: Willie loves to write poems.  He fills his notebooks with them, the words that make him feel free and peaceful. But Willie needed to be able to earn a living.  He decided to become a doctor, but even then he never gave up on his love of writing poetry.

Recommendation: This book holds a wonderful message for children.  It shows that the responsibilities that people have are important, but that they do not have to get in the way of dreams. I would like this book to introduce a different form of poetry, since Williams's style is non-rhyming, free form poetry, and most students are familiar with poems that have a strict rhyme and meter. 

Picture Book 24: Ella Sarah Gets Dressed

Author: Margaret Chodos-Irvine

Illustrator: Margaret Chodos-Irvine

Genre: Picture Book

Subgenre:Realistic Fiction

Themes: choices, family and siblings, getting along, independence

Characters:

~Primary: Ella Sarah

~Secondary: mom, dad, sister, friends

Awards:

~Caldecott Honor Book

~ALA Notable Children’s Book for Younger Readers Award

Date of Publication: 2003

Publication Company: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Summary: Ella Sarah knows what she wants to wear, and she does not care if it is too dressy, or too silly, or does not match.  This puts her at odds with her mother, father, and older sister.  Each of them wants Ella Sarah to dress like them.  But Ella Sarah is determined to follow her own sense of style.

Recommendation: This is a wonderful book to use with young children to teach them about independence and making their own choices.

Picture Book 23: Beautiful Blackbird

Author: Ashley Bryan

Illustrator: Ashley Bryan

Genre: Picture Book

Subgenre: Traditional Literature

Themes: diversity, outer and inner beauty

Characters: 
~Blackbird
~other birds

Awards: 
~Coretta Scott King Award


Date of Publication: 2003


Publication Company: Atheneum Books for Younger Readers


Summary: In the beginning, all the birds had only one color and no patterns.  They voted that Blackbird was the most beautiful bird of all, and begged him to paint their feathers black so that they could be beautiful too.  Blackbird eventually assented and gave them the beautiful patterns that they have now, but not before Blackbird reminded them that true beauty comes from within.


Recommendation: This book would be good to use either for talking about folktales from around the world or for discussing inner and outer beauty. 

Picture Book 22: Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart

Author:Pat Mora

Illustrator:Raul Colon

Genre: Picture Book

Subgenre: folktale

Themes:being yourself, love, generosity, courage and protecting others

Characters:

~Primary: Dona Flor

~Secondary: townspeople and children, puma

Awards:

Date of Publication: 2005

Publication Company: Knoff Books for Young Readers

Summary:Dona Flor is a giant woman who lives to help.  She allows people to use her leftover tortillas for rafts, flowers for trumpets, and gives the children rides to school.  So when teh townspeople are afraid a a giant puma that they can hear in the mountains, Dona Flor is determined to investigate and save her pueblo from the ferocious cat. 

Recommendation: I can think of several ways to use this book, which makes it great for any classroom.  Students can become more familiar with Spanish words and culture in Mexico and the Southwestern United States.  It can be used to talk about communities and how students should help their neighbors.  In addition, students can explore similarities and differences, and how people have the same feelings and desires even if they appear different.

Picture Book 21: Zen Shorts

Author: Jon J. Muth

Illustrator: Jon J. Muth

Genre: Picture Book

Subgenre: Religious Literature

Themes: kindness and charity, understanding self and others, changes and new experiences

Characters

~Primary: Stillwater
~Secondary: Addy, Michael, Carl

Awards:
~Caldecott Honor Book


Date of Publication: 2005


Publication Company: Scholastic, Inc.


Summary: When three children meet the panda bear Stillwater that moved into their neighborhood, they are all excited about learning more about him.  But what they learn from Stillwater is more important than what they learn about him. This wonderfully illustrated book combines an interesting background story with beautiful traditional tales about materialism, good and evil, and anger and frustration.


Recommendation: I really enjoyed this book. One of the things that I really found interesting in school was learning about world religions.  We always touched on major doctrinal points and important leaders, but we very rarely talked about their literature.  I think that this book is a wonderful example of traditional religious literature.

Picture Book 20: Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom

Author: Carole Boston Weatherford

Illustrator: Kadir Nelson

Genre: Picture Book

Subgenre: Historical Fiction

Themes: courage, faith, genorosity

Characters:

~Primary: Harriet Tubman

~Secondary: slaves, abolitionists, slave owners

Awards:

~Caldecott Honor Book

~ALA Notable Children’s Book Award

~Coretta Scott King Award

Date of Publication: 2006

Publication Company: Hyperion

Summary: This poetic account of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and the role that faith played in the journey.  It also explores Tubman's passion for fighting slavery, and her commitment to helping end slavery wherever it occurred.  This commitment led her to return to the South and try to lead as many slaves as she could to freedom.

Recommendation: The call and response in this book is very soothing.  In addition, Carole Weatherford is able to take a very difficult subject and present it in a way that can be used with all age groups.  This would be a good book to use in a unit on the Underground Railroad or on women in history.