Adelita : "Classic" Folktale / International

Tomie dePaola's book "Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story" is not only written by Tomie, but is also illustrated by him. Each page has Spanish vocabulary along with its English translation. The story begins a long time ago in a small Mexican village. A merchant, Francisco, and his young wife Adela found out that they were going to have a baby. An older lady who had been with the family for a long time named Esperanza came back to help them with the new baby once she was born. After their daughter was born, his wife Adela became very ill and passed away. Francisco named is baby girl Adelita in memory of her mother, Adela. It did not take long for Francisco to replace is sorrow with his love for his daughter and as Adelita got older, she became just as beautiful as her mother. Eventually, Francisco decided to remarry a woman named Senora Micaela de la Fortuna, a widow with two daughters named Valentina and Dulce. While Adelita was excited, Esperanza was nervous and unsure about the new woman and her two daughters. Things were fine for a while until Francisco died suddenly from an illness and everything changed. Adelita had to give up her beautiful bedroom to move to the attic and she no longer had any new dresses, but had to wear hand-me-downs instead. Valentina and Dulce were not kind to Adelita anymore and did not hide the fact that they disliked her. Because she was already spending all of her time with Esperanza, Adelita began helping with meals. One day, Dona Micaela came to the kitchen and told Esperanza that she no longer had the money to keep her around and kicked her out even though Esperanza offered to work for free and Adelita offered to share her room and bed if only Esperanza could stay. Adelita was left to prepare all of the meals and all of the house work. Then came the anouncement that there would be a party at the ranch of el Senor and la Senora Gordillo to celebrate their son coming home, Javier. Both Valentina and Dulce wanted to be the new wife of Javier and were very excited. When Adelita requested to go to the party, Dona Micaela denied her for she would be an embarrassment. After they left for the party, leaving Adelita behind,Esperanza came to her rescue. Using and old dress and shawl of Adelita's mother, Esperanza helped her get ready and took her to the party. Once Adelita arrived at the party, everyone was stunned by her beauty. To hide her identity, Adelita told them that her name was Cinderella. Javier instantly fell in love with her and when he told her this, Adelita became frightened and ran away. The next day, Javier declared that her would stop at every house in the town until he found his Cinderella. To make sure he knew what house to stop at, Adelita hung the shawl out the window for him to see. Upon entering the house, Dona Micaela told Javier that there was no one else there and that is when Adelita walked down the stairs in her mothers dress. Javier asked Adelita to marry him and Dona Micaela gave them permission. Dona Micaela and her two daughters were invited to the wedding because of her kind heart and Adelita and Javier lived happily ever after.
I liked the fun twist off of the original Cinderella and how Tomie used Spanish vocabulary. Many different lessons can follow reading this book to a class. It is even good to bring in some of the Spanish vocabulary because it gives them contest to associate the words with. You could even compare it to other Cinderella stories throughout the week and give a lesson on fairy tales and their "true" or historic versions. It is a good story that all children, especially young girls love and always enjoy hearing. The illustrations are very beautiful and colorful. You can read the expression on the faces of each character. The boarders on each page are just as colorful as the pictures of the characters and have a Hispanic style to them.
dePaolo, Tomie (2001). Adelita. New York, NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

Saint George and The Dragon: Traditional Fantasy

The book "Saint George and The Dragon" is a golden legend adapted from Edmund Spenser's "Faerie Queene" retold by Margaret Hodges. The story starts off back in the days of giants, monsters, and fairy folk in England. There is a knight covered in armor and an old silver shield with a red cross on it. The shield is covered with dents from battles past by its previous owners. The knight carrying the shield now has yet to see a battle. He has been sent on a mission by the Queen of Fairies to prove his own against a dragon. He is riding with with a princess who is seated on a little white donkey, her name is Una. The dragon was destroying her land and many of her people have left their homes while others locked themselves in the safety of the castle. Una had left on her own to find a knight to kill the dragon and save her land and her travels took her fair away till she found the Red Cross Knight. The trip back to Una's land was a straight one but not the easiest to follow and so they had to travel side by side as to not stray from the path. At one point, they stopped at a hermits to rest. It was there that the Red Cross Knight was not born of fairy folk but instead of humans. When he was born, the fairies stole him away and hid him in a farmer's field. The farmer named him George and the hermit told him he was born "to be England's friend and patron saint, Saint George of Merry England" (12). Finally, they made it to Una's land they were warmly welcomed, but before they could make it to the castle, the dragon attacked the Red Cross Night. The knight fought valiantly with the dragon to almost no use. Knocked off his horse, the Red Cross Knight landed in an ancient spring the renewed his strength and he was to continue his fight. Again, the knight and the dragon fought an epic battle, the dragon had never fought anyone with such strength and determination. When the knight has used up all of his strength, he fell under and apple tree. From the tree fell a healing dew and there the knight slept till morning to find all of his wounds healed. The next battle was a quick one that ended with the dragon dead. There was a celebration and everyone in the town was very thankful for the knight saving their land. The King and Queen gave gifts of gold and ivory which the knight gave to the poor. For killing the dragon, the knight received Una as a wife and happily they lived till the times that the Fairy Queen called on his services.
I did not like this book at all. I did not think the story flowed well and I do not see and it would effectively hold a young child's attention or interest to make it through the book. Random things were explained at odd times through the book which did not fit or make sense. The illustrations are great though. They are very colorful and have a lot of detail that are appealing to the eye. I think the originally story might be better but I have not read it. This book has won The Caldecoth Medal award.
Hodges, Margaret (1984). Saint George and The Dragon. Canada: Little, Brown & Company Limited.

Dr. Seuss's ABC: ABC Book

Dr. Seuss's "ABC" book is definitely a tongue twister to read aloud. It shows examples of all the letters in capitals and lower case and has at least three words to go along with the letters. Some of the words are made up while others are actual words. I think it is one of the better ABC books because of how each example is. After each letter is introduced, the reader is asked what begins with this letter. This could be an opportunity for the teacher or parent to ask a child if they know any words that do begin with this letter. It helps the child make connections to letters and to help identify them in other examples of literature. Some of the examples given are; "Barber baby bubbles and a bumblebee" (Seuss, 8), "Kick a kettle. Kite and a king's kerchoo" (Seuss, 27), "The quick Queen of Quincy and her quacking quacker-oo" (Seuss, 40), and "Silly Sammy Slick sipped six sodas and got sick sick sick" (Seuss, 45). The last page is of course Z. So often, Z is only associated with zebra due to the slim pickings of words that start with Z in the English language. Dr. Seuss on the other hand, ends it in a very unique way. "Big Z little z, What begins with Z? I do. I am a Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz as you can plainly see" (Seuss, 61-63).
I really enjoy reading this book and it is such a fun and different twist on ABC's that I have found young children to enjoy it as well. Having so many unique examples keeps the book interesting form page to page. As an author, he has won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 and three Academy Awards. The pictures are just as fun as the literacy. The crazy creatures he has created to go along with their equally interesting names are fun visually. I think this is a great way to introduce the ABC's as well as review them and to use as a reference during in class activities.
Seuss, Dr. (1991). Dr. Seuss's ABC. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs : Predicatable book

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ls" by Judi Barrett is a fun and imaginative book. The book start off with a family having breakfast; a grandpa, a mom, and a sun and daughter. It is a Saturday morning which means it is pancake morning for this family. The two kids are debating who will eat the most pancakes and while Grandpa is flipping a pancake, one gets away and lands on the boys head. Everyone laughs about it and then all of the pancakes are eaten. That night, Grandpa tells a bedtime story about a small town far far away called Chewsandswallows. Like other towns, it has a Main Street, houses, a schoolhouse, a church, pets, and people. The difference is that there are no food stores because all the food needed comes from the sky. Three times a day, there would be meals that come in like weather. It will rain soup and juice and snow mashed potatoes and peas. There would even be storms of hamburgers. The weather channel would let the town people know what they will be eating the next day. Everyone in the town carries around their plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, and napkins everywhere they go to catch the next meal. Some of the leftovers would be put in their refrigerators for snacks in between meals. What they would eat would change everyday. One day for lunch, hot dogs already in their buns came down followed by a light mustard rain and soda to finish off the meal. The Sanitation Department's job was to collect all the left over food. The left over food would be used to feed all the dogs and cats, then some of it went into the ocean for the fish, turtles, and whales. The rest of the food would go back into the ground to enrich the soil. Then suddenly, the weather turned bad. There was a day of nothing but Gorgonzola cheese, the next day was only overcooked broccoli, and the next was brusselsprouts and peanut butter with mayonnaise. As days went on, the food continued to get bigger and came in a larger quantity. Then one day, huge pancakes blew in that covered houses and the school had to be closed because they could not remove the giant pancake that had landed on it! Everyone in the town was becoming fearful of the pending food storms and what would happen. Eventually the Sanitation Department had to quit because the job became too build and everyone feared their lives and could not go outside most of the time. Finally, the town people decided they had to leave their beloved town to save their lives. So the used giant pieces of stale bread to make boats and packed all their necessities, and off they went. They finally came to a small coastal town where they set up their new lives. No one ever went back to Chewsandswallow to find out what happened to their town. They people had to get use to buying their food at stores and preparing it for themselves. That was the end of Grandpas story and the next day, the snow on the ground looked like mashed potatoes to the two children.
While this book is very entertaining and fun for students, there is not a point or lesson along with it. It does encourage imagination though, something that I do not think teachers spend enough time on. Imagination is very active in young children and needs to be fostered. This would be a fun book to read to a class and maybe have an activity to go along with, but I can not think of any lessons that can be intertwined that would be beneficial for students. It would probably be better for parents to work on reading this book with their children at home since they do enjoy the story so much.
Barrett, Judi (1978). Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division.

Goodnight Moon: Bieginner Reader

"Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown is a great book for parents to read with their children at bedtime. The main character is a young bunny already tucked in bed in his room. The room is green and has a bright red carpet. Some of the things in the room are listed, like a telephone, a red balloon, two pictures, kittens and mittens, a toyhouse, a mouse, a comb and a brush, a bowl of mush, and a old lady. The old lady would say hush to help the little boy fall asleep. Once everything in the room was described, the little boy began saying goodnight to everything in the room. First to the moon , and then to the picture of the cow jumping over the moon. As well as the red balloon and the picture of the bears and the chairs, the kittens and the mittens, the clocks and the goodnight socks, the little house and the mouse, the comb and the brush, the mush and the old lady saying hush, the starts and the air, and the noises everywhere. With that, the little boy rabbit fell asleep happy and content.
I am not sure that this book is good for the classroom, but it is great for parents to read to their children when they are going to bed. This use to be one of my favorite books when I was a little kid because it made me feel like I could tell anything that scared me in my room goodnight and it would not be scary anymore. It is a very easy read for young children and the vocabulary is applicable to child's everyday interactions. Many young children find it hard to fall asleep with the shadows in their room, and like me, they can use this book to tell everything goodnight that scares them.
Brown, Margaret Wise (1975). Goodnight Moon. New York, NY: Happercollins.

A Pocket for Corduroy: Picture Story Book

"A Pocket for Corduroy" by Don Freeman is a sequel to his original book "Corduroy." In this book, the story of Corduroy's life with his new friend and owner, Lisa, continues. It begins one day in the summer with a trip to the laundromat with Lisa's mother. At this point, Lisa takes Corduroy everywhere with her, so of course he came along as well. While Lisa went to help her mother with laundry, she told Corduroy to stay seated in a chair and wait for her. Corduroy overheard Lisa's mother telling her to make sure her pockets were empty so that her belongings would not get ruined. Realizing he did not have a pocket, Corduroy jumped off the chair to go find something to use to make a pocket for himself. On his search, he found a large bag that was filled with wet laundry. Thinking it was a cave, Corduroy climbed in. When it came time for the laundromat to close and Lisa and her mother to leave, Corduroy was no where to be found. Lisa's mother told her that they would have come back tomorrow to find him. After they had left, an artist, who's bag of laundry Corduroy had crawled into. Seeing how wet Corduroy was, the artist decided that the least he could do was dry his outfit for him. Once his clothes were dry, the artist redressed Corduroy and by this time the, the laundromat was closing and the artist left. Once the lights were out, started to look for material to make a pocket again. He ran across some laundry soap and knocked it over, Corduroy thought it was snow as he slid down with the soap. He fell down into an empty laundry basket and went to bed. The next day, as soon as the laundromat opened, Lisa was there to find Corduroy. As soon as she found Corduroy, she asked him why he did not wait for her. Corduroy told Lisa that he had wanted a pocket and went looking for one. So as soon as they got home, Lisa made a pocket for him.
I think this is a fun book for students because they already know the characters and they get to continue Corduroy's story. Also, the idea that if Corduroy had simply asked Lisa for a pocket, then he would have not gotten left at the laundromat. The problem I have with the book it that Corduroy did not listen to directions and had a fun time at the laundromat until he fell into the basket. That is not that great of an example for students to follow. Although it does show students that if they let others know what they want or need, they can get help. I do not know if this book has won any awards or not but it has been around for a long time and I think it will always be a classic book for young children to read.
Freeman, Don (1978). A Pocket for Corduroy. New York, NY: Puffin Books.

The Velveteen Rabbit: Modern Fantasy

The book,'The Velveteen Rabbit' by Margery Williams is about a stuffed toy rabbit and his transformation into a real bunny. In the beginning of the book, the velveteen rabbit is a in perfect condition and is the best present in the little boy's stocking at Christmas. After Christmas morning, the rabbit is forgotten about for a while because of all of the other presents. The rabbit was put in the toy room where he felt inferior to all of the mechanical toys and the only friend he really had was the very old skin horse. It is the skin horse who was loved by the little boys uncle, that told the rabbit about nursery magic and how toys can become real if they are loved enough. The skin horse explains how the boys uncle made him real along time ago and the rabbit began to wish he were real too. One night, when the boys nurse could not find his china dog that he slept with every night, she gave him the velveteen rabbit instead. After that night, the rabbit was always by the little boys side. The more the little boy loved the rabbit and played with him, the more the rabbit became worn, slowly falling apart. In the spring time, the little boy would take the rabbit into the garden with him and build comfy places for the rabbit to sit. One night, the little boy forgot the rabbit out in the garden and the nurse had to go find him before the boy would fall asleep. When the called the rabbit a toy, the little boy protested that the rabbit was real. The rabbit was so happy that everyday was wonderful because he was real. During the summer, the boy took the rabbit out into the woods where the rabbit saw real live rabbits for the first time. The wild rabbits wanted the velveteen rabbit to play with them, but once they realized the velveteen rabbit did not have hind legs, they told him that he was not real. The velveteen rabbit was upset once they left because he knew he was real but he did not understand why he did not have hind legs like them. A while later, the little boy became sick with scarlet fever and the rabbit never left his side. When the little boy was finally better, he went to the ocean and everything that he had played with while he was sick was to be burned; including the velveteen rabbit. The night before being burned, the rabbit wiggled his was out of the sake that was left in the garden. While remembering all of his happy times, one tear fell from his eye and hit the ground. From that tear grew a beautiful flower and from the flower came the most beautiful fairy. She picked the velveteen rabbit up and took him into the woods where she made him real to everyone, not just the little boy. When spring came back, the rabbit saw the little boy playing in the woods and for a moment, stood there while the little boy stared at him, never realizing it was his old bunny.
This is one of my favorite books from my childhood. I had so many stuffed animals that I loved until they fell apart and I always imagined that they turned into real animals once they were too worn for me to play with. Young children can become very attached to their toys and can easily relate to the love the little boy had for the velveteen rabbit. The book has been awarded the IRA/CBC Children's Choice Award. The story encourages the use of imagination for all ages I think. While it is an easy read, I think it might be a little too difficult for kindergartners to read alone. It would be a great take home read for first graders to read with their parents and a good read aloud for a teacher of a younger grade. There is a wide rang of vocabulary used and some pages are filled with nothing else other than words. This book could have many uses in a classroom and is also a great bed time story.
Williams, Margery (1983). The Velveteen Rabbit. New York, NY:Square Fish Henry Holt and Company, Inc.

Corduroy: Modern Fanasy

The book "Corduroy" by Don Freeman is about a bear for sale in a mall waiting to be taken home one day. One day, he is seen by a little girl shopping with her mom. The little girl's name is Lisa and she wants to buy Corduroy and take him home that day. When she asks her mom, her mom tells her that they have spent too much money that day and that he is missing a button anyways. Corduroy had no idea that he was missing a button so later that night after everyone had left, he decides to climb off the shelf and find himself a new button. Everything in the mall is new to him and he really likes all of his new experiences. The escalator that takes him up a floor is a mountain, the furniture section is a place, and finally on a bed he finds buttons. The problem is that the buttons are all sewn down tight and he can not get the button off. He pulls and pulls until it popped off and he went flying backwards. While in the air, he knocks over a lamp and makes a lot of noise. The security guard heard the crash and went to go find out who made the noise. To his surprise, he found Corduroy. So the security guard took him back down to the toy store and set Corduroy back on the shelf for the night. In the morning, Corduroy woke up to see the little girl Lisa smiling at him, she took him home right then and there. Once at his new home, Lisa had a little bed for him and even sew a new button on for him.
"Corduroy" is a classic book yet I am not aware of any awards it has won. There are good words to use for vocabulary with the class and it can lead to discussion about new experiences students have had or want to have. It would be great to read to the class as a read aloud and have following activities to follow it. The class could bring in their favorite stuffed animal for show and tell or they could do a write up about their favorite stuffed animal and how they got it. Lisa, the little girl in the story is African American which was unusual for the time the book was published. This can help bring diversity into the classroom literature which can be difficult. There is a squeal to "Corduroy" written by Don Freeman which is "A Pocket for Corduroy." It can be fun to have a short series to read to the class and they go together very well. You could even have the students take the second book home to read with their parents.
Freeman, Don (1968). Corduroy. New York, NY: Puffin Books.

A Pocket Full of Kisses: Concept Book

The book 'A Pocket Full of Kisses' by Audrey Penn is a squeal to her other book 'The Kissing Hand.' In 'A Pocket Full of Kisses,' the young raccoon and his mother from the first book are joined by a new little brother. Chester, the older son, wants to give Ronny, his new little brother, back. He is having trouble adjusting to having a little brother. He explains to his mother how he liked having Ronny as a younger brother at first but now tends to annoy Chester like most little brothers and sisters do. Everything that use to be just Chester's is now being shared with Ronny. His mother tries to explain how his little brother just wants to be like Chester because he is his older brother and to help make him feel a bit better, she gives him a Kissing Hand. A Kissing Hand is where Chester's mother opens up his hand and gives him a kiss in the middle of his palm to hold on to. This helps Chester and he smiles so big that he even blushes. Later on, Chester sees his mom give Ronny a Kissing Hand and he is very upset because the Kissing Hand was his and he did not want to share that with his little brother. At first, Chester does not think that his mother loves him anymore. So his mother explains how now they both have their own Kissing Hand that neither will share. This makes Chester worry that she will run out of Kissing Hands. His mother tells Chester that if you love someone, then your Kissing Hands will never ever run out. She even gives Chester something extra special for being a big brother, an extra Kissing Hand for his pocket just in case he needs extra later on.
While I do like this book, I think that the first book 'The Kissing Hand' needs to be read first for a young child to understand the meaning of the Kissing Hand and why it is so important to Chester. I'm not sure I would read this book to a class but I would have it as an option for free reading time. For a student with a new little brother or sister on the way or in the house, this would be a good book to help them understand that no matter what, their parents will always love them just the same. I can be hard for a young child to know there place in the family when a new member is added and this can be a difficult time for them. It is important for a teacher to know what is happening at home for them to help the student adjust at school.
Penn, Audrey (2004). A Pocket Full of Kisses. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf: Informational Book

The book "Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf" by Louis Ehlert is a great picture book for children with interactive activities at the end. She brings a personal experience from her childhood, or so I assume it is, to help her explain her joy of nature. The book starts off with a picture of the actual first spring leaf of her sugar maple tree before she begins the story of how the tree came to be. To portray the idea of how old trees can be, she tells the read that the tree was born long before her and started off as a seed; hidden from the squirrels and covered with snow until spring. Once spring came, it's roots took ground and the tree started to grow. She then tells how nursery workers came into the woods to collect tree sprouts to take back to the nursery so that they could grow even more. Until they are uprooted again, wrapped up and taken to the garden center. That she where she picked out her tree and took it back home where her dad planted it. Going through each season, she tells the reader what changes she likes to see and then ends at fall with all the different colors being her favorite. The last couple of pages have descriptions of different parts of the tree, the right time to pick out a tree and how to plant it. One the last page are directions on how to make a bird treat to hang on trees.
The book has many different words that can be used as new vocabulary for students such as; maple tree, twirled, whirled, squirrels, sprouted, unfolded, etc. It is an easy read for students to listen to, but might be too difficult for them to read on their own depending on their grade. I think it would be a great book for the fall to help the students relate to the changing color of the leaves and differences to notice from season to season. I really liked the pictures she used. They are a mixture of real things like tree leaves and branches along with paper cut-outs. It gives the pages the appearance of texture that you want to touch. The definitions and details about the different parts of the tree at the end of the story would be great to help build the book into a lesson plan. The directions on how to make the bird treat seem very simple and would be a very fun activity for the students to do and take home or hang on the trees at school. I did like the book but I think that I would find other book to use if I were to make a lesson plan on the topic that will put variety into the reading. I really liked the pictures and I have not seen another children's book that does the art like her.