Module 15: Draw Me a Star

APA Reference of Book: Carle, E. (1992). Draw me a star. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

Summary: A young artist draws a simple five-pointed star that he transforms into a beautiful multi-colored star when he is older. The star tells him to draw a sun. Once the warm sun is created, the sun tells him to draw a tree. Next, the tree tells him to draw a woman and a man, who tell him to draw a house. This continues throughout the story, with each new creation telling the artist to create something new right after. As an elderly man, the artist draws a moon, who tells him to draw a star. The book includes a step-by-step guide for readers to draw their own eight-pointed star. Finally, the artist holds onto the star and they travel together across the night sky.

Impressions: This book is a celebration of creation, imagination, and creativity. Eric Carle’s storytelling is simple, yet effective for children. His illustrations are multicolored and varied with a mix of bright and dark colors, which is interesting for the eyes. His paint and tissue paper illustrations look like colorful collages. Some parents might be concerned that the humans are portrayed as naked. The artist included the sexual body parts of both the woman and the man, although not in an explicit way. It reminds me of the creation of man in the Bible, when Adam and Eve were first created and had no need to wear clothes at first, especially because Carle illustrated the humans as standing next to a tree, which is another key aspect of the Biblical creation story. Carle’s depiction of humans is innocent and harmless. This is a comforting story that might inspire children to doodle their own stars as instructed in the book.

Professional Review: “A young boy is told (readers are not sure by whom) to ``Draw me a star.'' The star then requests that the boy draw it a sun; the sun asks for a ``lovely tree,'' and throughout his life the boy/man/artist continues to create images that fill the world with beauty. The moon bids the now-elderly artist to draw another star, and as the story ends, the artist travels `àcross the night sky'' hand-in-hand with the star. This book will appeal to readers of all ages; its stunning illustrations, spare text, and simple story line make it a good choice for story hour; but older children will also find it uplifting and meaningful. Especially pleasing is a diagram within the story, accompanied by rhyming instructions on how to draw a star: ``Down/ over/ left/ and right/ draw/ a star/ oh so/ bright.'' An inspired book in every sense of the word.”

Larkin, E. (1992). Draw me a star (book review) [Review of the book Draw me a star, by E. Carle]. School Library Journal, 38(10), 80. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2308/ehost/detail/detail?sid=9ea7842d-edd2-41ed-b594-fbf00e7b1e29%40sessionmgr4008&vid=4&hid=4112&bdata=JnNjb3BlPXNpdGU%3d#AN=510103000&db=brd

Library Uses: Teach the children to draw eight-pointed stars as shown at the end of the book. When they are comfortable with drawing them, give them pieces of construction paper to draw bigger eight-pointed stars. Encourage them to use different colors besides just yellow. Coat the stars with glitter. Next, punch holes on the top corner of the stars, put a string through the hole of each star, and hang up the stars on the ceiling of the story time area of the library. Alternatively, the children can skip the string and paste the stars on a large bulletin board that is plastered with dark colored paper to represent the night sky.

Module 14: Lemonade: and Other Poems Squeezed From a Single Word

APA Reference of Book: Raczka, B. (2011). Lemonade: and other poems squeezed from a single word. New York, NY: Roaring Book Press.

Summary: This is a poetry book based on letters taken from a single word. For example, the first poem, “Lemonade,” says “made one ad, added one lemon load, and one mom” (p. 2). The poem was created from words taken from the word lemonade. These poems are “part anagram, part rebus,” and “part riddle,” as mentioned on the inside flap of the front book jacket. The subjects of the poems celebrate childhood moments, such as “treehouse,” “moonlight,” “ladybug,” “spaghetti,” etc. In his introduction, Bob Raczka states that he was inspired by the poetry of Andrew Russ, who wrote a poem called “Rain,” which used just three words: “I ran in,” which were all taken from the word rain. Raczka’s love for words is evident through his imaginative poems.

Impressions: This book is clever, creative, and intriguing. I had never thought to create poems out of words that were taken from a single word. Raczka successfully achieves this by creating poems that tie-in perfectly with the subjects of the poems. My favorite one is “Constellation,” which says, “A silent lion tells an ancient tale” (p. 12). It is beautiful because it seems to refer to the constellation Leo, and that there is an ancient story behind every constellation in the night sky. Although the poems are meant to be puzzles, a play on words, they are generally easy enough for children to understand and are relevant to children’s interests. I enjoyed this book and would like to try creating some of my own poems based on single words.

Professional Review: “Playing with ordinary words like lemonade and friend, Raczka creates unique poems using only the letters found in each word. Letters drop down from their positions, creating word pictures, which readers can track with a finger down the page, assembling each poem letter by letter. One poem titled "Constellation" reads, "a/ silent/ lion/ tells/ an/ ancient/ tale" (p. 12). On the reverse page, each poem appears in standard poetry form. Part anagram, part coded message, Raczka's poems demand imitation and experimentation. Lemonade offers an excellent mentor text for word play, poetry exploration, and vocabulary development.”

Miller, D. (2013). Lemonade: and other poems squeezed from a single word [Review of the book Lemonade: and other poems squeezed from a single word, by B. Raczka]. Language Arts, 90(4), 289. Retrieved from https://libproxy.library.unt.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1325024449?accountid=7113

Library Uses: Tell the children to each choose one word and create a poem out of it. Start them off with making lists of words that are derived from the single word. Next, let them rearrange most or all of the words to create a poem. Have a poetry contest and see who can make the best poem based on votes from all the children. Give first, second, and third place prizes, as well as small prizes for everyone else (bookmarks, stickers, pencils, etc.).

Module 13: Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus

APA Reference of Book: Park, B. (1992). Junie B. Jones and the stupid smelly bus. New York, NY: Random House Children’s Books.

Summary: Junie B. Jones, who is almost six years old, experiences her first day at kindergarten. She rides on the school bus for the first time and hates it, because the bus is loud and smelly, and some of the other children on the bus are unkind to her. At the end of the school day when the children line up to board the bus to go home, Junie B. Jones stays behind to hide in the classroom. Alone in an empty school besides the janitor, Junie B. explores the media center and the nurse’s office. After her adventures, she has the sudden urge to use the restroom, but both restroom doors are locked. She calls 9-1-1 to inform the police about her “emergency.” The janitor finds her and unlocks the restroom door for her just in time. The police and firefighters arrive on the scene. Her mother and the principal also arrive and sternly inform her how wrong it was to hide at school, because many people were afraid when Junie B. was missing. Junie B. tearfully tells her mother that she does not like riding the bus because of the mean children. Her mother comes up with a solution: Junie B. can ride on the bus with a new friend from school named Grace.

Impressions: I understand why Junie B. Jones is a popular series. The book is quick and easy to read. The illustrations are fun, charming, and detailed. Even though Junie B. is a childish and self-centered girl, she is honest, imaginative, dramatic, and creative. Readers can relate to her worries of riding on the school bus, her experiences of going to school for the first time, and dealing with classmates who are rude and unkind. Junie B. is an unintentionally humorous character because she is dramatic and overreacts, which is entertaining. It was fun to read about the part when she was alone at school. Even though she was the only child there, she had fun exploring the school and using her imagination to amuse herself. It was funny when she called the police to help her, because she had a strong urge to use the restroom and did not want to have an accident while wearing her best imitation velvet skirt. I would like to read the next book in the series out of curiosity to see what kind of adventure she gets herself into next.

Professional Review: “One of the initial titles released under the First Stepping Stone imprint, chapter books aimed at newly independent readers and arranged in series, Park's (Skinnybones) jolly caper is the first installment to feature Junie B., a feisty almost-six-year-old who is not at all happy about riding the bus on the first day of kindergarten. In fact, she doesn't like a single thing about this vehicle: not the kids who get on it ("Loud kids. And some of them were the kind who look like meanies"); not the door ("If it closes on you by accident, it will cut you in half, and you will make a squishy sound"); and not the black smoke it emits ("It's called bus breath, I think"). Other equally candid, on-target perceptions fill Junie B.'s first-person narrative, which is peppered with reader-involving questions ("Only guess what?"; " 'Cause guess why?") that help to propel the story at a whiz-bang pace. When a classmate tells Junie B. that kids will pour chocolate milk on her head on the way home, the spunky child finds a way to avoid the dreaded bus. Park convinces beginning readers that Junie B.--and reading--are lots of fun.”

Junie B. Jones and the stupid smelly bus [Review of the book Junie B. Jones and the stupid smelly bus, by B. Park]. (1992). Publishers Weekly, 239(32-33), 250. Retrieved from https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:5154/login?url=http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2143/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=txshracd2679&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA12499719&asid=eabac55d7cf2384eafa1978b74ab1c37

Library Uses: Ask the children to share what it was like to ride on the school bus for the first time. Do they agree with Junie B. Jones’ fears about the bus? Next, turn on a YouTube video for them to watch that will teach them “The Wheels on the Bus” children’s song, along with the hand motions. Go over the hand motions with them first, and then do the hand motions along with them during the song.

Module 12: Miss Moore Thought Otherwise

APA Reference of Book: Pinborough, J. (2013). Miss Moore thought otherwise: how Anne Carroll Moore created libraries for children. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.

Summary: Anne Carroll Moore grows up in the 1870’s when children are not allowed to go inside libraries. Her father encourages her love of reading by reading aloud poems and stories to her after dinner. She has to put her plans of being a lawyer on hold to take care of her two young nieces after her parents and her brother’s wife die from the flu. Years later, she decides to enroll in library school after hearing that libraries are now hiring women to work as librarians. Miss Moore creates a pledge for children to promise to take care of their library books. This gives New York children the opportunity to borrow books and bring them home, which other librarians discourage out of fear that the children would damage the books or fail to return them. She makes other improvements to benefit children, such as removing the “silence” sign in libraries, hosting story times at the library, writing book reviews and book lists, and encouraging publishers to release better books for children. In 1911, she opens the New York Public Library with a special Children’s Room for the entire community to enjoy. She is an instrumental figure in improving libraries for the benefit of children.

Impressions: This is a beautiful book that made me cry, because it encouraged me to pursue a career as a children’s librarian, reminding me that I have a soft spot in my heart for children’s literacy. This book made me aware of the history of library youth services, including that children were not allowed in libraries in the 1870’s and that they were not trusted to take care of books and to bring them back to the library on time. I am grateful for the hard work and dedication that Anne Carroll Moore put into making libraries accessible for children to enjoy. Children who are book lovers or who are interested in history will especially like this story. There is plenty of information in the story, but the amount of text is not overwhelming. The illustrations are friendly and colorful with cool, soft watercolors. Some of the illustrations are full spread and detailed, including shadows, the folds of someone’s dress, sunlight shining from a window, etc. The “More about Miss Moore” section in the end has a biography of her that shows two photographs of Anne Carroll Moore as a child and as an adult, which help bring her to life for readers.

Professional Review: “From early childhood, Moore had "ideas of her own" and "preferred taking wild toboggan rides" to staying indoors and doing the quiet things expected of girls in the 1870s. Pinborough's introduction to the pioneering librarian's Maine upbringing quickly identifies her independent thinking and strong opinions for which she was known. This picture-book account then focuses on her role in designing the famous children's room during construction of New York City's historic central library, her activities in developing services there, and her influence on the promotion of children's books and the wider field of children's library services. Readers learn that some libraries had become more welcoming to children in the late 19th and early 20th centuries though many were still inhospitable to them. The enthusiastic narrative makes it seem that Moore was a singular force in developing special rooms for children. "In big cities and small towns across America, more and more libraries began to copy Miss Moore's Central Children's Room. So did libraries in England, France, Belgium, Sweden, Russia, India and Japan." A concluding author's note does explain that other librarians were actually forerunners of Moore. Atwell's sunny, naive paintings and vignettes vary nicely in layout with many filling the page and a few set in frames or sweeping in circular lines. The flat figures in cheerful countryside, city, and library settings convey a long-ago time. The text is wooden at times but competent in telling its story. As a lesson in library history it will be most interesting to adults, who may also find enjoyable items in the bibliography of adult sources. It might also find readers among children who enjoy reading about earlier times.”

Bush, M. (2013). Miss Moore thought otherwise: how Anne Carroll Moore created libraries for children [Review of the book Miss Moore thought otherwise: how Anne Carroll Moore created libraries for children, by J. Pinborough]. School Library Journal, 59(3), 143. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2200/ehost/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=994a629b-177d-4aaf-9243-6016c6bcea87%40sessionmgr104&hid=115&bdata=JnNjb3BlPXNpdGU%3d#AN=85881863&db=brd

Library Uses: Tell children to envision what their dream reading room would be like, whether it’s in a library, their bedroom, a tree house, etc. Encourage them to share their ideas. Ask each of the children what is their favorite part about the library, and then inform them that these aspects of the library most likely did not exist before Anne Carroll Moore made changes to the library for the benefit of children. Let the children write down their answers about the best things they like about the library, and/or draw a picture about their dream reading room, and then post them as a collage on the wall for a library display.

Module 11: Balloons over Broadway

APA Reference of Book: Sweet, M. (2011). Balloons over Broadway. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.

Summary: Anthony “Tony” Sarg is a marionette maker who moves to New York City to find work. Macy’s department store hires him to create a puppet store display for their store window. It becomes so popular that Macy’s asks him for his help to plan a parade that reflects the various holiday traditions of their immigrant employees. On Thanksgiving Day of 1924, Macy’s holds their first holiday parade. Tony improves the parade by creating large rubber animals that are part puppet and part balloon. Next, Tony devises a way to make the gigantic puppets more articulate by creating them out of rubberized silk, filling them with helium, and controlling them from below rather than above as an actual marionette. His balloon animals are a great success and are the reason why Macy’s holiday parade is still famous and well-loved today.

Impressions: This is an excellent book that might inspire children to be creative, explore their interests, and think outside the box. The topic of the book is unique. The colorful full-spread illustrations are very attractive and interesting to look at it. Some of the illustrations look like a collage, made of different materials such as fabric, buttons, string, paint, a vintage-looking map of the parade route, a snippet of a newspaper article, etc. I love it that the author made her own puppets, creatively used collages for many of the illustrations, and used actual illustrations from The Tony Sarg Marionette Book and original Macy’s parade advertisements from a 1933 issue of the New York Times. This book is inspiring and I hope it inspires readers to invent, create, and diligently pursue their dreams while having fun.

Professional Review: “Tony Sarg (1880-1942, "rhymes with aargh!"), the man who invented the giant balloons of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, has found a worthy biographer in Caldecott Honoree Sweet (A River of Words). With lighthearted watercolors, fanciful scrapbooking, and collaged typography, Sweet shows how Sarg, a self-taught immigrant, combined an indomitable curiosity with an engineer's know-how and a forever-young imagination. The story walks readers through each stage of Sarg's development as a master of puppetry--his childhood fascination with mechanics and marionettes, his first big break as a developer of window displays for Macy's, and his early earthbound parade creations (essentially air-filled rubber bags that were steered down the street). And then comes the light-bulb moment: "With a marionette, the controls are above and the puppet hangs down…" writes Sweet. "But what if the controls were below and the puppet could rise up?" The rush that comes from inspiration, the cliffhanger moments of creation, the sheer joy of building something and watching it delight the multitudes--Sweet captures it all in what is truly a story for all ages.”

Cooper, I. (2011). Balloons over Broadway: the true story of the puppeteer [Review of the book Balloons over Broadway: the true story of the puppeteer, by M. Sweet]. Publishers Weekly, 258(32), 46. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2200/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=9ea9c3b3-9aea-4bab-ba9c-96a4b3510b83%40sessionmgr106&hid=130&bdata=JnNjb3BlPXNpdGU%3d#AN=503018163&db=brd

Library Uses: Bring different types of materials, such as buttons, fabric, string, glitter, paper from magazines and newspapers, stickers, etc. for the children to create collages. Tell them that they can create a collage to design a new balloon creature for the Macy’s holiday parade, or allow them the freedom to design anything they desire.

Module 10: Boxes for Katje

APA Reference of Book: Fleming, C. (2003). Boxes for Katje. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Summary: Katje and her mother live in a small Dutch town called Olst during post-World War II Europe. She receives a package from an organization called The Children’s Aid Society, filled with a bar of soap, wool socks, chocolate, and a letter from a girl named Rosie, who sent the items. Katje writes back to thank her, which sparks up a friendship correspondence. During the summer and especially throughout the hard winter, Katje receives more packages and letters from Rosie. At the time when the Olst townspeople were the most despondent about surviving during the winter, they receive several packages filled with necessities such as clothing, bags of sugar, and canned food from Rosie and her whole community. Their thoughtful gifts help the townspeople get through the rough winter. Katje decides to send a package back to Rosie filled with tulip bulbs to plant during the fall, so that they will bloom in the spring as a surprise.

Impressions: I was pleasantly surprised to find out at the end that this book was based on a true story that happened to the author’s mother, who sent a box to a family in Europe in May of 1945. The oldest girl in that family was also named Katje. The story made me more aware of what it was like for many Europeans living in post-World War II. I did not fully consider that some Europeans had to endure hunger and a lack of warm clothing because of a war-torn economy. I liked it that the some parts of the story was told through the letters that were exchanged between Katje and Rosie, written in child-like handwriting. The illustrations are full spread and attractively colorful. There are many books written about World War II, but a story about post-World War II is unique. This is a good introduction to this time period for children, and it might encourage them to begin corresponding with an overseas pen pal or donate items to other countries in need.

Professional Review: “After the war, there was little left in the tiny Dutch town of Olst. The townspeople lived on cabbages and seed potatoes. They patched and repatched their worn-thin clothing, and they went without soap or milk, sugar or new shoes." Set in post-World War II Holland and based on an actual incident, this story illuminates a little-known episode in history. To offset the devastation left by the war, the Children's Aid Society and other relief agencies encouraged American students to send boxes of basic necessities to victimized children. When Katje in Olst receives such a box from Rosie in Mayfield, IN, the two begin a correspondence that eventually triggers a relief effort that enables this small Dutch town to make it through an unbearably frigid winter. Fleming does an estimable job of bringing time and place into focus, and presents endearing, fleshed-out characters with whom readers can easily empathize and sympathize. Dressen-McQueen's warm-toned colored pencil, oil-pastel, and acrylic illustrations accurately reflect dress, architecture, and other details, and the facial expressions and body postures of the characters effectively convey their joy in these much-appreciated gifts. A good choice for story hour as well as for independent reading and an excellent discussion starter.”

Oliff, G. (2003). Boxes for Katje [Review of the book Boxes for Katje, by C. Fleming]. School Library Journal, 49(9), 177-178. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2200/ehost/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=7020c4c2-d90b-4c05-88ef-2f5abedd834e%40sessionmgr105&hid=130&bdata=JnNjb3BlPXNpdGU%3d#AN=518415358&db=brd

Library Uses: After reading the story to the children, invite them to write letters to pen pals from other countries who are in need, and tell them to ask their parents to help them get supplies (hygiene items, socks, hats, mittens, school supplies) and little gifts to fill up a small box to send to their pen pal’s family. Provide writing supplies for them and encourage them to decorate their letters with stickers, markers, colored pencils, etc. Provide them with brochures to take home from a relief organization that will deliver the letters and packages overseas.

Module 9: Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?

APA Reference of Book: Levinthal, D., & Nickle, J. (2012). Who pushed Humpty Dumpty?: and other notorious nursery tale mysteries. New York, NY: Schwartz & Wade Books.

Summary:  A police detective named Binky investigates various nursery rhymes from the point of view of a mysterious crime scene. He solves the case of who broke into the three bears’ house, ate their porridge, sat on their chairs and slept in their beds, who turned out to be Goldilocks. Then he investigates the case of a missing witch who lured Hansel and Gretel into her candy house. Hansel and Gretel were presumed guilty until their story proved to be a true case of self-defense. Next, Binky discovers the identity of the culprit who pushed Humpty Dumpty off the wall. The villain turns out to be a pig who was not allowed to sing in Humpty Dumpty’s band, called All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Men. Binky also solves the case concerning who poisoned Snow White during the Forest Beauty Pageant. In his final case he investigates the cause of an earthquake and an explosion, which came from Jack growing the beanstalk and escaping from the giant, who falls and crashes to the ground.

Impressions: This is a very interesting picture book that has unique perspectives on various nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Goldilocks is normally seen as the victim of the well-known nursery rhyme, but this particular tale focuses on the point of view of the Three Bears instead. Hansel and Gretel’s story is also an interesting one, because Binky does not know if he should believe in Hansel and Gretel’s story at first. It is interesting to think that they could be children who are lying, which would mean that the witch is innocent. The crime scene investigation theme is an interesting spin on these familiar stories, because it dramatizes the situation of each story and turns each of them into a mystery. Children would have fun seeing these tales from a new perspective. It would allow them to exercise their creativity in reimagining these stories and other fairy tales and nursery rhymes.

Professional Review: “Binky, a stout, warty police detective toad who looks like he's downed a few donuts over the years, gets the call when things go bad in the forest in this latest entry in the flourishing genre of nursery noir. The Three Bears report a housebreaking; Hansel and Gretel are acquitted on self-defense in the murder of a witch; a pig chef who runs an omelet stand confesses to pushing Humpty Dumpty off the wall; Snow White is rushed to the hospital on a 911 call from a dwarf; a boy named Jack caught high-tailin' it away from a scene of devastation proves to be the hero who rescued a kidnapped Golden Goose from a giant. The stories are too underdeveloped to carry much weight, and they're not nearly as amusingly manic as episodes in Scieszka's venerable Stinky Cheese Man. Nickle's acrylic illustrations, however, are more than up to the job, with their eerie, other-worldly cast of ne'er-do-wells. Scene setting and visual characterization are aimed at kids who know the stories thoroughly and can therefore appreciate the unrepentant, blue-eyed glare of Goldilocks behind bars; the shell shard and tighty-whities wreckage of Humpty Dumpty; and the rotten teeth and distended bellies of the animals who have gorged on the witch's candy house. Readers who are just starting to question all those happily-ever-afters might find a few answers here.”

Bush, E. (2012). Who pushed Humpty Dumpty?: and other notorious nursery tale mysteries (review) [Review of the book Who pushed Humpty Dumpty?: and other notorious nursery tale mysteries, by D. Levinthal & J. Nickle]. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 66(2), 94-95. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2124/article/486501

Library Uses: Assign each group of children to reinvent a favorite nursery rhyme and creatively change the ending or add a twist to it. They can act out these re-imagined nursery rhymes as a play, dramatically acting like the characters. Props and costumes are optional but are encouraged.