What To Do About Alice?

What To Do About Alice? :

How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove her Father Teddy Crazy! 

by Barbara Kerley

illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

 

Barbara Kerley has written 13 books for children and young adults, including picture books about Mark Twain, Waterhouse Hawkins, Alice Roosevelt, Walt Whitman, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Edwin Fotheringham has done illustrations for CD and record covers, Neiman Marcus ads, magazines, fiction books and children's books. What To Do About Alice has been recognized with the following honors and awards: Sibert Honor Book, ALA Notable Book, Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, the Irma Black Award Honor Book, the Parents Choice Award and the Washington State Scandiuzzi Children's Book Award.

What To Do About Alice? is a biography of Alice Roosevelt. The reader watches Alice grow from a small child into a married woman, while her father Teddy struggles with how to handle her colorful personality. She refuses to attend boarding school, joins an all-boys club, brings a pet snake to the White House, allows her name to be all over the press, gets a song written about her, gets a color named after her, was caught betting on a horse race, drover her own car while other women rode in carriages, and takes adventurous rendezvous over the world including Hawaii, China and Japan.

Kerley uses phrases like "eating up the world," "hungry to go places," and "voraciously," to describe Alice's desire to see and do everything she possibly could. Alice's independence shines bright through the text and I love the lines: "She watched the students of Miss Spence's boarding school walk oh-so-primly down the sidewalk. That didn't look like much fun to Alice. She wanted to own a pet monkey and wear pants." Those lines sum her up perfectly! 

The best part about this book is the hilarious illustrations. Fotheringham shows Alice jumping on the sofa, hanging upside down next to a monkey, riding a bike with her feet on the handle bars, sulking on her bed in a messy room, waving to the adorning crowd with her father next to her giving her a frustrated look, and doing the hula in Hawaii. My favorite illustration is of Alice and her step-siblings laughing and racing down the White House stairs and the text says "Alice tried to be helpful. She watched her younger brothers and sisters so her stepmother could get some rest." 

Professional Reviews for What To Do About Alice?

• Publishers Weekly: "Debut illustrator Fotheringham creates the perfect mood from the start: his stylish digital art sets a fast pace, making use of speed lines and multiple vignettes to evoke characters in perpetual motion. His compositions wittily incorporate headlines, iconic images and plenty of Alice blue, too."
• Booklist:  "invigorating look at larger-than-life Alice."

• School Library Journal: " This book provides a fascinating glimpse into both a bygone era and one of its more interesting denizens as well as a surefire antidote for any child who thinks that historical figures are boring."

Books by Barbara Kerley

Interview with Barbara Kerley 

About Edwin Fotheringham

Kerley Barbara. What to Do About Alice? : How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drover her Father Teddy Crazy! New York: Scholastic Press, 2008. 

ISBN 0-439-92231-3

$14.52 at Barnes & Noble

Work consulted: Vardell, Sylvia M. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008.

Kakapo Rescue

Kakapo Rescue

Saving the World's Strangest Parrot

Text by Sy Montgomery

Photographs by Nic Bishop 

 

Sy Montgomery has authored 15 books for adults and children and is a board member of the Rainforest Conservation fund, Restore! The North Woods and the Center for Tropical Conservation. She has received many honors including the 2010 Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award. Nic Bishop has authored and/or illustrated over 20 books, most of them being books for children. Kakapo Rescue has received the following recognitions and awards: the 2011 Sibert award, BCCB Blue Ribbon 2010, 2011 ALA Notable Children's books, 2011 Orbis Pictus Recommended, Booklist 2010 Editor's Choice and Kirkus 2010 Best Children's Books.

Kakapo Rescue tells about a 10 day excursion of the New Zealand's National Kakapo Recovery Team to Codfish Island off the southern coast of New Zealand. The team works together to try and restore the kakapo population, prepare special food, install radio-wave tracking devices, monitor live video, and hatch and feed baby kakapo. Beautiful photographs accompany the text showing the teams adventures with the kakapo as well as other wildlife and the gorgeous landscapes of New Zealand. 

Broken up into chapters and with more text in smaller font, Kakapo Rescue is meant for older children and young adults (grades 5-9) and is intended to stimulate interest and understanding of conservation for nature and animals that most readers may not experience during their day-to-day life. The book is filled with amazing photography and each page spread contains at least one photograph with accompanying captions. 

The text pulls at the reader's emotions and builds anticipation: "But what if he died of a contagious disease? What if there was something wrong with the food? Are the other kakapo in danger? What should we do?" (Montgomery 61). The book contains an index, a selected bibliography and information about giving private donations for the Kakapo Recovery Program.

Professional Reviews for Kakapo Rescue:

• Horn Book Magazine: "Montgomery's in-depth descriptions and Bishop's glorious photographs cover all aspects of the conservation effort."
• Booklist:  "Montgomery's delight in her subject is contagious, and throughout her enthusiastic text, she nimbly blends scientific and historical facts with immediate, sensory descriptions of fieldwork. Young readers will be fascinated by the incredible measures that the passionate workers follow."
• School Library Journal: " Excellent photos and a readable, conversational text provide an intimate look at a concerted effort to save a drastically endangered species unfamiliar to most of the world outside Down Under."

More books by Sy Montgomery
Interview with Nic Bishop
Classroom Activities 

Sy Montgomery. Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010. 

ISBN 978-0-618-49417-0

$15.39 at Barnes & Noble

Work consulted: Vardell, Sylvia M. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008.

Bones

Bones:

Skeletons and How They Work

Steve Jenkins

Steve Jenkins has written and illustrated 30 books for young readers and is a Caldecott Honor winner for What Do you Do with a Tail Like This? written in 2008. Bones  has been recognized with the following awards: A Junior Library Guild Selection for Fall 2010, ALA Notable Books for Children 2011, 2011 SB&F Prize Finalists Children's Science Picture Book and  2010 Cybils Nonfiction Picture Book Finalists.

Bones is an informational book for young readers that compares bones from different animals. Jenkins shows specific parts like arms, feet, and ribs, as well as full skeletons. Each page tells what size the bones are shown versus actual size. For example, the thigh bones are shown one-fourth actual size. In the back there is a section called "More About Bones: Facts, Stories, History, and Science" that offers more interesting information.  


Each page shows text and pictures on dark colored backgrounds, which makes the details easier to see. The pages are well organized with a small amount of text for each bone section placed in different areas corresponding to the photo placement. There are three gateway spreads that show the skeleton of an entire python, a whole human skeleton and different skulls. The extra pages in the back discuss what bones are made of, broken bones, cyclops and unicorns, fossils, animals with skeletons on the outside, the biggest bone, the largest skeleton and sharks. My favorite section is titled "Some Assembly Required" because it shows all 206 separate bones that make up the human skeleton. Then there's a spread inside that shows the same bones as a full skeleton. 
 

The text evokes curiosity from the reader by asking questions like "Where do you think this bone belongs?" Jenkins also states that joints "move in complex ways," and an animal's skeleton is "beautifully adapted," making the reader want to find out more.

Professional Reviews for Bones:

• Booklist: "the clean design of the intricate skeletons set against solid background colors is striking and provides a wonderful visual introduction."
• School Library Journal: "...A hodgepodge of fascinating facts. With applications that range from anatomy to evolution and mathematics, this book will find a place in every collection."
• Horn Book Magazine: "Bones of all shapes and sizes glow like jewels on richly colored backgrounds, allowing readers to pore over each and every nuance of Jenkins's intricate cut-paper illustrations."

More books by Steve Jenkins
Book trailer - Bones
Interview with Steve Jenkins

Steve Jenkins. Bones: Skeletons and How They Work. New York: Scholastic Press, 2010. 

ISBN 978-0-545-04651-0

 $14.52 at Barnes & Noble

Work consulted: Vardell, Sylvia M. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008.

Messing Around on the Monkey Bars

Messing Around on the Monkey Bars

and other School Poems for Two Voices

Betsy Franco

illustrated by Jessie Hartland

 

Betsy Franco has authored over 75 books including poetry collections, picture books and a young adult novel. She also writes screenplays and sketch comedies. Jessie Hartland has written and illustrated eight picture books for children, including two that she also wrote.

Messing Around on the Monkey Bars contains 19 poems intended to be read aloud by two people.The reader 1 text is normal font, reader 2 has bold text and when they read at the same time the text is bold & italicized. Each poem is about school experiences from the school bus ride, to visiting the library, to the long-awaited recess period, to lunch, all the way up until the last bell of the day. 


Franco's short and fun poems have a sing-song cadence that are both entertaining and  energetic. The lines from "Jump Rope Jingle" are a good example of this: "Come on in./ I'll jump with you./ It's double fun/ to jump with two./ Jump, jump,/ spin around./ Jump jump,/ slap the ground./ Turn to the east./ Turn to the west./ Choose the one/ you like the best. If I had to select one book to be used to get children excited about poetry it would definitely be this one. 

Hartland's memorable illustrations are quirky but loveable. One of the first things I noticed is that many of the inanimate objects are drawn as being alive. The bus for the "Wild Bus Ride" poem has eyes, lips, and sharp teeth and the children are shown crawling out of its opened mouth. The objects shown for the "Anatomy Class" poem are alive as well; the ruler is winking, the chair has arms and the show is sticking out its tongue, which adds humor to the text. The teacher looks mean and the librarian is old and has glasses. My favorite illustration accompanies the "Homework Blues" poem, which talks about an alien stealing homework and shows a smiling alien walking up a ladder to his UFO.

Professional Reviews for Messing Around on the Monkey Bars:

• Booklist: "Hartland's energetic gouache illustrations add interest, portraying relevant objects and lively scenes in a childlike style with cartoonlike details."

• School Library Journal: "An enjoyable romp through playgrounds and cafeterias, this book will please class poets, performers, and clowns alike."
• ForeWord Magazine: "the poems are fun, provocative, and include lots of onomatopoetics. Jessie Hartlands always fresh and lively illustrations are the perfect accompaniment. This book should be a standard in classrooms."

Books by Betsy Franco
Interview with Betsy Franco
Click here for classroom activities to accompany the book.

Franco, Betsy. Messing Around on the Monkey Bars: and other School Poems for Two Voices. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2009. 

ISBN 978-0-7636-3174-1

$13.95 at Barnes & Noble

Work consulted: Vardell, Sylvia M. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008. 

I Am the Book

I Am the Book

poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins

illustrations by Yayo

 

Lee Bennett Hopkins has written/edited over 100 children's books, many of these being anthologies. He has won several awards including the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children in 2009 and the Christopher Award in 1995 for his autobiographical poetry collection. Yayo has illustrated 8 children's books and has won awards for his cartoons and illustrations from the U.S., Canada, Colombia, Europe and Japan. 

I Am the Book contains 13 poems from different authors pertaining to the joys of books & reading, and each poem has an accompanying illustration that fills the entire page.

 My favorite poem called "Wonder Through the Pages" by Karla Kuskin describes the adventures that can be taken through books: "nonsense and knowledge/ came tumbling out,/ whispering mysteries,/ history's shout,/ the wisdom of wizards,/ the songs of the ages,/ all wonders of wandering/ wonderful pages" (pg. 6). I love this anthology because each poem is unique and adds its own touch to the book. "When I Read" by Beverly McLoughland is about experiencing the ocean through a book: "When I read, I like to dive/ In the sea of words and swim./ Feet kicking fast across the page/ Splashing words against my skin" (pg. 10). There is also a page near the back that tells a bit about each contributing author. 

Yayo's whimsical acrylic illustrations complement the poems perfectly, using both light and dark shades, different patterns, scenes with one main focus (like the school bus in "Don't Need a Window Seat") and scenes that show many things and do not have one main focus (like in "A Poem Is" that shows an amusement park, a child, a dog, birds and the ocean). The word placement varies on each page depending on the illustration. For example, in "This book" the text is white and on a young girl's black hair. In "Book" the text is black and on a beige sandy beach.

Professional Reviews for I Am the Book:

• Publishers Weekly: "this collection of poems by contemporary writers celebrates the joys of reading."

• School Library Journal: "The attractive and fanciful acrylic paintings feature exaggerated shapes and perspectives that go nicely with the flights of imagination depicted in the poems. Literature-loving adults will want to share this book with the young people in their lives."
• Booklist: "13 well-known children's poets celebrate how books can take readers on wild adventures, as well as how plain words can reveal the surprising drama in ordinary things... Fun for sharing with preschoolers, this will also spark discussion in grade-school writing and art classes."

Books by Lee Bennett Hopkins

A short biography of Yayo

Lee Bennett Hopkins. I Am the Book. New York: Holiday House, 2011. 

ISBN 978-0-8234-2119-0

$16.44 at Barnes & Noble

Work consulted: Vardell, Sylvia M. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008.

The Surrender Tree

The Surrender Tree

 Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom

Margarita Engle

 

Margarita Engle is a Cuban American author and was awarded a the first Newbery Honor awarded to a Latino for The Surrender Tree in 2009. She has written several award winning books including The Poet Slave of Cuba, Hurricane Dancers, Tropical Secrets and The Firefly Letters.

The Surrender Tree is historical fiction in free verse and tells the story of Cuba's fight for freedom through different voices. Rosa, a nurse, tends to sick and injured people using whatever she can find from the earth. She travels from cave to cave in the wild jungle using plants to heal women, children and even soldiers who are fighting against her. Rosa's husband, Jose, stays by her side and keeps the look out to make sure they are safe. 

A verse novel is a "narrative [that] unfolds poem by poem, often with multiple points of view and in colloquial, conversational language" (Vardell, 2008). Engle writes her verse novel this way, using short sentences within fairly short poems. No poem is more than two pages. A short poem and one of my favorites is on page 69. Rosa is the speaker: "Too soon/ the battles/ begin again./ Mercifully/ this new war/ is brief./ Tragically/ this new war/ is futile./ Sometimes, war feels/ just like one more/ slavery." Although the poems are short I can feel the growing despair in the words. 

Engle does a great job of describing the jungle scene throughout the novel: "Tree frogs, screech owls, the dancing leaves/ of feathery ferns, the fragrant petals/ of wild orchids./ Night wings/ crickets/ imagining secrets/ wondering which flowers/ might save a life" (pg. 105) and "trees grow like castle towers/ with windows opening/ onto rooms of sunlight./ I can no longer imagine/ living elsewhere/ without this garden of orchids/ and bright macaws" (pg. 114)

Professional Reviews for The Surrender Tree:

• Voice of Youth Adrravocates: "This book is a quick read and offers a rare glimpse into a historical period that is often overlooked in schools. The poems are short but incredibly evocative of what it feels like to be fighting oppression. It will be a great choice to hand to reluctant readers or to history students to humanize a lesson about Hispanic heritage or the Spanish American War."

• School Library Journal: "This collection is an intriguing way to introduce Cuban history and discussions on issues such as slavery and colonialism."
• Booklist: "Many readers will be caught by the compelling narrative voices."

Books by Margarita Engle
Meet the author: An interview with Margarita Engle
Classroom ideas to accompany the book
Similar books

Engle, Margarita. The Surrender Tree. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2008. 

ISBN978-0-8050-8674-4

$9.99 at Barnes & Noble

Work cited: Vardell, Sylvia M. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008. 

Author photo from http://www.arabesques-editions.com/journal/212206.html

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

Jon Scieszka

illustrated by Lane Smith

 

Jon Scieszka has won a Caldecott Honor medal for The Stinky Cheese Man and is a founder of Guys Read, a nonprofit literacy organization. He has sold over 11 million copies of his children's books worldwide. Lane Smith has illustrated over 25 books including the 2012 Caldecott Honor book Grandpa Green.

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs is a version of the original 3 little pigs story told from the wolf's point of view. The wolf explains that he was practically innocent and only visited the pig's homes to borrow a cup of sugar for a cake. His accidental sneezes blow the houses down and he is framed and thrown in jail.

Scieszka uses a small amount of text on each page and small sentences. For example, to describe the sneezing he says:

"That's when my nose started to itch.

I felt a sneeze coming on.

Well I huffed.

And I snuffed.

And I sneezed a great sneeze."

My favorite part about the story is how pitifully innocent the author makes the wolf sound. When describing the dead pigs and how he should eat them he says "It seemed like a shame to leave a perfectly good ham dinner lying there in the straw. So I ate it up. Think of it as a big cheeseburger just lying there." The humor continues as the wolf comes upon the second house and the second dead pig and says "You know food will spoil if you just leave it out in the open. So I did the only thing there was to do. I had dinner again."

Lane Smith's illustration brings the text to life and adds even another layer of humor to the tale. The wolf is distinguished with glasses, nice clothing and a cute little hankie with pink embroidered sheep. If the reader isn't sympathetic to the wolf already, they are now because the wolf looks like a gentleman and the pigs look plain mean. The illustrations are for the most part dark, but this doesn't take away from the humor. My favorite illustration is on page 3 and the wolf is looking at a giant cheeseburger and talking about his diet. The cheeseburger has bunny ears and a tail sticking out of it. 

Professional Reviews for The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs:

• Publishers Weekly: "the collaborators take a classic story and send it through the wisecracker machine, much to the glee of kids young and old."

• School Library Journal: "It's the type of book that older kids (and adults) will find very funny."
• Booklist: "it not only breaks apart and deliciously reinvents the pigs' tale, it invites readers to step beyond the boundaries of story and picture book altogether."

Books by Jon Sciezka
Books illustrated by Lane Smith
Interview: Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith

Scieszka, Jon. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. New York: Viking, 1989. 

ISBN 0-670-82759-2

$7.99 at Barnes & Noble

Work consulted: Vardell, Sylvia M. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008. 

Author/illustrator photo from http://www.designmom.com/2012/04/author-interview-jon-scieszka-and-lane-smith/