Children's Literature Awards of Spring 08

"Ty's One-man Band" is about who runs into a man with a wooden peg leg who surprises Ty by making music from a cup, plate, and a spoon. Ty is so fascinated that the man sends him home to get a wasboard, two wooden spoons, a tin pail, and a comb. When Ty asks for these items he is told that they don't make music, but the one-man band proves them all wrong and makes wonderful music for the town. Music is everywhere around us and we should appreciate it for what it is. You can make music out of anything, even language. This would be a great book to read to children to show that music isn't just in music class.

"Once Upon a Time" is a heartwarming story about a girl who struggles with reading and gets teased at school. Sarie's old friend Auntie Anna is the one person who understands the difficulty she has with reading. Sarie learns to read when she finds a book that she likes and Auntie Anna supports her and gets her imagination going. Once Sarie accomplishes this, she is able to read in school and no longer gets teased. I would recommend this book to those children who are struggling with reading. Sometimes they just have to find something that interests them and that they enjoy to help them in the reading process. I would read this in a classroom of my own because many children can relate to what Sarie is going through.

"Sometimes I'm Bombaloo" is a great story about a girl who loses her temper. The author uses a funny word as a metaphor for angry. This book shows what Katie is feeling when she is angry and what helps to calm her down so she is herself again. This would be a very helpful book for children who seem to have some trouble dealing with their anger.

This is a story about a little girl who takes pride in how she became a part of a family. She was adopted by a single mother and loves to hear the story of how she was adopted. She wishes she had a father but she has a grandfather and a friend's father to fill in the gap. Her life is very fulfilling and the story shows that she gets plenty of love and support even though there isn't a father in the picture.

This is a great book about a young girl who lives on a farm with her family, but is blind.  Each child has a chore that they attend to on a daily basis, but on her day off she goes off to be with her horse.  The author doesn't say that Mandy is blind, but gives hints that she has a disability.  I like this book because with her disability not mentioned, the reader can form a relationship with the character without any judgement.  It teaches children a really great lesson about not judging people and that all people are the same with or without a disability.  The pictures are great and the author's use of the different senses gives a real insight to what Mandy's life is like.  This book could be used for a lesson on the five senses or giving children insight to different disabilities.

The Castle on Hester Street by LInda Heller is about a grandfather and grandmother immigrating to America. The grandfather begins by telling the story of Moishe to his granddaugher, Julie. The grandfather states that he came from Russia and his story of how he met his wife. The grandfather went through many journeys and obstacles to get his way out of Russia. The grandfather and grandmother were attacked beacuse they were Jews. Then, the grandfather said that once he arrived in America they were given a castle. The grandmother was famous because she sewed for royalty. And the grandfather concludes the story of him immigrating to America. This is a great picture book for grades K-4. This book can be found in the Penn State libraries.

Grandfather's Journey is a book about the life of Allen Say's grandfather. Say writes about his grandfather's life and experiences in Japan and the United States. The illustrations in Grandfather's Journey are absolutely remarkable. The colors Say uses are perfect. The pictures in this book really help to tell the story; they are the main feature on the pages. Allen Say not only wrote the book, he illustrated it as well. This would be a great book to use when teaching a multicultural lesson. This book definitely lives up to its name as a picture book.

The story is about a little girl who has difficulty reading and dreads reading aloud on Parent Day with the other students.  As the story progresses, her mother helps her and gives her tips for reading to ease her undeniable pain.  The story line is excellent, but the wording throughout the story lacks the urge to continue reading and the pictures could be better, but it is definitely an excellent book for students struggling with dyslexia and reading in general.  It would be great as an introduction to dyslexia or as a way of helping children cope with it.

You have to Write by Janet S. Wong is a book about girls and boys struggling to write. The book is composed of short poems on teaching children on how to write. It starts by stating that the students do not like to write. The reason is due to the children not knowing what to write about. They have so many things going on in shcool and in their lives that they miss many opportunities to write. The students can write about anything that is happening in their lives. The book describes the writing process that children can understand. Overall, the book is very good and educational to help the struggling students learn to write. This is a wonderful book for children grades K-4 who are struggling to write. This book is available through Penn State libraries.

Let's Talk About Living with a Single Parent by Elizabeth Weitzman is a book about children living with a single parent.  The book provides an example of a girl drawing pictures of her family. Also, it tells the definition of a single parent and what it means to be adopted. There is a special relationship between the child and the single parent. And that this relationship can grow by letting the child help with chores around the house. This way the child and parent can spend valuable time together. Also, if the child has concerns or questions about living with a single parent then they can go to a friend or someone they know to talk to. Lastly, it does not matter who is in their family. It just matters that love is in the air. Let's Talk About Living with a Single Parent is a great book to read to a group of children who are living with a single parent and need guidance on how to deal with their emotions. This book is available through Penn State libraries.

Here's a list of known fairy tales with information about dates, languages, and authors.

This is a great story. The illustrations are great. This tells of Harriet Tubman as a child preparing to run away. She gets into trouble and is punished be being a field slave instead of a house slave. Then she gets whipped as another punishment. She decides to run away. Her father tells her things she needs to know before running away. She doesn't run away by the end but she is prepared to. It is a great story to tell of her struggle.

I like that they use photograph for the illustrations. It is a simple story. The children have questions and the parents explain they fought to much. The children live with their mom and are excited about weekends with their dad. They are upset when he leaves but they know they will see him again soon. I could not find a good site for this book. I looked forever, sorry.

I could not find a good website for this book. This book is very interesting. The pictures are paintings and they are great. Some pages do not have words. Some pages have two sets of words, one set telling the story, and the other set rhyming, it is interesting. It details her work as a miner. I notice a father in the pictures but he is never mentioned. It is a great example of a strong female.

This book is different from the original because she doesn't fall asleep for 100 years like the witch says. It is very different from the original in alot of ways. It is not a beautiful princess, it is a girl from New York. It is far from the original.

This is a great book that vividly illustrates a child's adventure to the laundromat.  While at the laundromat, Trixie leaves her beloved Knuffle Bunny in the washer, but is unable to communicate this to her dad and so the story continues.  What is great about this book is that it turns a simple task into the greatest adventure for this little child and the humor is immense  through the dialoge.  The illustrations are also really great because the backgrounds are photographs with cartoons in the fore ground which add a unique idea to the book.  This a great book that could be used to help children with the concept of dialogue and creating their own stories with dialogue.

This is a great book about a baby elephant and its mother in the wild.  The baby narrates the story while telling of the times it shares with its mother throughout the day and a close bond is obvious throughout.  Kavanagh uses every page to describe the relationship between the mother and baby and really depicts how the story line flows from the baby's language.  Because of the story being from the baby's point of view, the text seemed watered down and not as colorful as it could be.  This would be a great book to introduce the theme of togetherness.

In this book, Monsieur Monmouton and his farm animals take a trip to Paris which is a big change from the farm.  While on their trip, they visit the Louvre, a three star restaraunt, and many more places that are reminiscent of life in Paris.  This is a really great book for introducing students to Paris and a new language; however, there are quite a few French words that are difficult to say and it doesn't give the meaning of them either.  The pictures are excellent and dramatize the Paris life perfectly so students will be able to feel something while reading it.  One teacher says that this book's water color illustrations bring the adventure alive and to a new level.