Annotation Number: 1
Author: Karen Hesse
Illustrator:n/a (chapter book)
Title:Out of the DustAward: Newberry Medal
Publisher: Scholastic Press, 1997
Central theme: Survival in difficult times
Other themes: Dust storms (Dust Bowl), Farm Life, Depression, Free verse poetry,
Annotation: Billie Jo, a young girl growing up on a farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl days of the Depression, gives us insight to the daily struggles of her life. She has a gift of playing the piano which she inherited from her mother. When her mother is lost in a tragic accident, Billie Jo struggles to forgive herself and her father for their part in the tragedy. Billie Jo searches to find herself and finally realizes that even though life on the farm is hard, the dust of Oklahoma is in her blood and she needs it to survive.
Comments:This book is written in free verse and is an easy read. It grips you from the beginning as Billie Jo describes her birth and the harsh reality of the life she was born to. You’ll want to read it through without stopping.Billie Jo speaks to you in a very open, honest way about her life, her depression, and search for happiness in the mist of hard times.
Annotation Number: 2
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Illustrator: n/a (chapter book)
Title: Because of Winn-DixieAward: Newberry Medal
Publisher: Candlewick Press, 2000
Central theme: Developing friendships (with people & animals)
Other themes: Dogs, Storytelling, Starting over, Small town life
Annotation:India (Opal) Buloni, a ten-year old girl, moves to the town of Naomi, Florida with her father, “the preacher.” Opal acquires a dog when she comes to his rescue in the local Winn Dixie. She adopts the dog and calls him Winn Dixie. He is an unusual dog which opens many doors for Opal and helps her to make interesting friends in this new town.
Comments:This delightful book explores the journey of a young girl as she discovers the truth about others and learns what is truly important to her. Opal relates to Winn Dixie from the beginning because she sees aspects of herself in him.
Annotation Number: 3
Author: Gavin Curtis
Illustrator:E. B. Lewis
Title:The Bat Boy & His Violin Award: Coretta Scott King Award
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.,Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1998
Central theme: Father/Son relationships
Other themes: Negro National Leagues, Music (violin)
Annotation:Reginald loves to play the violin much to the displeasure of his father who is the manager of the Dukes, a ball team in the Negro National League. His father makes him the “bat boy,” but Reginald just seems to get in the way until the players hear him play his violin. Things take a upward turn for the team and they experience a series of wins until the final game where even Reginald’s playing couldn’t help them. In the end his father has come to understand and value his son’s gift.
Comments: This book is full of beautiful watercolor illustrations which bring the story to life. It could be used to learn about the National Negro Baseball leagues during the time of segregation. It also teaches a wonderful lesson on finding value in different things. A personmay find trivial something which another treasures. Understanding this helps us learn to appreciate our differences.
Annotation Number: 4
Author: Thomas Locker
Illustrator: Thomas Locker (?)
Title:Where the River Begins
Publisher: Penguin Books USA Inc., 1984
Central theme: The Life of Natural Rivers and Lakes
Other themes: The Water Cycle, Camping, Appreciation of Nature
Annotation:Two boys, Josh and Aaron, lives beside a river. They watch it everyday and wonder where it starts. They seek an answer from their grandfather who takes them on a journey to find where the river begins. They travel along the river until high in the mountains they find the end. A rainstorm comes and they understand the whole cycle of the rivers development.
Comments:This is a book which explores the cycle of a river from its conception to its journey to the ocean. It’s a great book to introduce the topics of river life and the water cycle. Each page has a beautiful nature painting as the boys journey to find the river’s end.
Annotation Number: 5
Author: Byrd Baylor
Illustrator: Peter Parnall
Title:The Way to Start a DayAward: Caldecott Honor
Publisher: (reprint) Aladdin Paperback, 1986– Original: NY: C Scribner’s Sons, 1978
Central theme: Many cultures recognize the importance of the sun in their lives
Other themes: Tribal Cultures, Native Traditions, Folklore
Annotation: The way to start a day is to go out look toward the sun and sing a song…whatever comes to mind. Many cultures celebrate the sun in different ways: ancient cavemen, people of Peru, Aztecs of Mexico, in the Congo, China, Egypt, Japan, New Mexico and Arizona. Everyone in their own way…but all recognize the importance of the sun. So should you.
Comments:This book is full of vibrant glowing color representing the glowing brilliance of the sun. It can be used as a way to introduce folklore of ancient cultures and common religious practices involving sun worship.
Annotation Number: 6
Author: Leo Lionni
Illustrator: Leo Lionni (?)
Title:Tico and the Golden WingsRecognition: ALA Notable Book
Publisher: Scholastic Inc., 1964
Central theme: Being Different
Other themes: Acceptance, Sharing,
Annotation: Tico, a bird without wings, wishes he could fly. He is granted golden wings, buthis friends turned against him. He learns a great lesson about giving to others and being unselfish. As Tico shares his golden feathers, new black ones replace them. In the end, his friends accept him because he is just like them…at least on the outside.
Comments:This book deals with being different and acceptance among peers. This is an issue my older students (young teens) deal with daily. Although it’s a picture book, it would be a great one to use when discussing themes. They would easily relate. I also love that in the end, Tico, realizes that being like others is only a surface quality. We’re all different on the inside due to our different experiences and memories. And he’s okay with that fact.
Annotation Number: 7
Author: Barbara Berger
Illustrator:Barbara Berger
Title:Grandfather Twighlight
Publisher: Scholastic Inc., Philomel Books, 1984
Central theme: Twilight
Other themes: Nature
Annotation:Grandfather Twilight lives among trees reading his book during the day. In the evening he takes a pearl from a chest and puts it in the sky above the sea. It becomes the moon. Then he sleeps.
Comments:The art in this book has a dreamy quality. The colors are soft and fade into each other. Grandfather glows and becomes part of the evening sky as he walks. It feels peaceful. It is an excellent “bedtime” book for very small children. It also implies the preciousness of nature by forming the moon from a valuable pearl.
Annotation Number: 8
Author: Claude Clement
Illustrator:Frederic Clement
Title:The Painter and the Wild Swans
Publisher: A Pied Piper Book, 1990, originally published byDial Books, 1986
Central theme: The Search for Ultimate Beauty
Other themes: Reincarnation, Swans, Japan
Annotation:A Japanese painter named Teiji sees a flock of wild swan from the frozen land of Siberia. Their beauty outweighs anything he’s ever seen. He follows them to a frozen island. Teiji’s body is numbed and he longs to see the rare beauty of the swan before he dies. His wish comes true and he feels himself become a swan and flies away with them. The book ends with Teiji’s poem about remembering his former life as a human.
Comments:This book expresses adesire to experience rare and ultimate beauty regardless the cost. Itcould easily be used in an art lesson to teach students how to transform objects into another with the slightest changes. The acrylic paintings used as illustrations throughout the book are amazing! They have a surreal quality enhanced by one scene becoming a part of another. Almost every page seems to hold a secret to only be discovered through a close study of the paintings. The story is told not only in English words and paintings, but Japanese writing is also found on every page.
Annotation Number: 9
Author: Paul Fleischman
Illustrator:Kevin Hawkes
Title:Weslandia
Publisher: Scholastic Inc. by arrangement with Candlewick Press, 1999
Central theme: Being True to Yourself
Other themes: Imagination, Making friends, Civilization, Growing crops
Annotation:Wesley is an outcast in his community. He is unlike anyone else. He decides to form his own civilization as a summer project. He successfully grows his own crops and uses them for food and to make clothes. He develops his own language and games. The neighboring kids become jealous, so Wesley invites them to join him. When school starts back he has many friends and they all want to be like HIM!
Comments:A great book about being true to yourself and not succumbing to peer- pressure. Acrylic paintings cover each page in brilliant color. The colors are as exciting as Wesley’s adventure. It could be used in Science or Social Studies in a study of growing plants or the development of civilizations.
Annotation Number: 10
Author: Alice Schertle
Illustrator:Wendell Minor
Title:A Lucky Thing (A Book Poetry)
Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1999
Central theme: Nature
Other themes: Farm animals, Animals in the Wild
Annotation: This is a collection of fourteen poems about nature such as “Head Full of Turtle”, “Poem about Rabbit”, and “Calling the Sun.”
Comments:The first poem invites the reader to be a writer of poems. It tells how the poet will “scatter some words” over the page to create pictures with the words. It’s a great poem to use when starting a poetry unit to encourage children to write. Not only is the poetry picturesque, but so are the paintings. One thing I love about the book is the imagery of a sheet of paper in each illustration representing the poem itself. It is included so cleverly that it’s difficult to find in some pictures…but it’s always there.
Annotation Number: 11
Author: Gary Soto
Illustrator:Susan Guevara
Title:Chato’s Kitchen
Publisher: Scholastic Inc. by arrangement with G. P Putnam’s Sons, 1995
Central theme: Things don’t always turn out like you think they will
Other themes: Hispanic Culture, Mexican food, Spanish Language
Annotation: Chato the cat, invites a family of mice moving into the neighborhood to a fiesta. At first, they are scared, but are finally convinced. A friend, Chorizo, a dog, from their old neighborhood, visits them, so they bring him along. This foils Chato’s plan to “have them for dinner.” In the end, they all sit together and eat the food prepared in Chato’s kitchen.
Comments: A wonderful book to use during multicultural month to teach students about Hispanic culture. It uses Spanish vocabularydefined in a glossary in the front of the book. It also describes Spanish foods, such as fajitas, quesadilla, enchiladas and other foods which Chato prepares for his guests. To top things off, the artwork is vibrant and detailed. It shows Chato, the low-riding cat and his companions dressed stereotypically. This affords students the opportunity to discuss stereotypes of different cultures.
Annotation Number: 12
Author: William Steig
Illustrator:William Steig
Title:C D B! (See the Bee!)
Publisher: Scholastic Inc. by arrangement with Simon & Schuster Books, 1968
Central theme: Word games/puzzles
Other themes: animals, eggs, conversation, feelings
Annotation:This is a fun book built solely on word games using letters and numbers to represent whole sentences. It was fun to decipher each one. The sentences were not connected to tell a story. Every page was a new puzzle like R U C-P? (Are you sleepy?)
Comments:The artwork is very simple but important. Each picture gives hints to the hidden message. Especially for younger children, this should help them figure out the word puzzles easier. The book could be used to teach wordplay. The author plays around with letters and numbers to create meaning. A fun classroom activity would be to guide students in creating a few word puzzles of their own after reading this book. Several puzzles in the book are on similar topics like eggs. These can be clumped together to develop a unit around each topic.
Annotation Number: 13
Author: Jon Scieszka
Illustrator:Lane Smith
Title:Baloney
Publisher: Scholastic Inc. by arrangement with Viking Children’s Books, 2001
Central theme: Tall tales
Other themes: space travel, foreign languages, wordplay, making excuses
Annotation:Henry P. Baloney shows up for school 7 minutes late. His teacher threatens lifelong detention unless he has a good excuse. Henry creates a tale about losing his”zimulis’ (meaning “pencil” in Latvian), and how he ended up on planet “Astrosus” (meaning “unlucky” in Latin), and finally made it back to earth on a “sighing flosser” (spoonerism for flying saucer.) His teacher accepts his story and tells him to write it down since the day’s lesson is on tall tales. Unfortunately, Henry has lost his zimulis, again.
Comments: An exceptional book! Henry’s story is an excellent example of a tall tale. It would be a great introduction to writing tall tales. Henry can motivate students to create their own tall tales. He also uses diverse multicultural vocabulary and wordplay. Henry uses words from 16 different languages, as well as, spoonerisms and transposition ciphers. This is a great book to introduce students to a variety of languages for a multicultural focus.
Annotation Number: 14
Author: Karen Ackerman
Illustrator:Michael Hays
Title:The Tin Heart
Publisher: Atheneum Macmillan Publishing Company, 1990
Central theme: Enduring friendship
Other themes: United States Civil War, Underground Railroad, slavery,ferryboats
Annotation: Mahaley’s father runs a ferryboat from the Ohio side of the river. Her best friend, Flora, lives on the Kentucky side. Flora’s father makes the girls a tin heart which he halves for each girl toshare representing their friendship. When Civil War breaks out, the girls’ fathersfind themselves on different sides. The tin heart becomes an important symbol to both girls as they struggle to maintain their friendship during these difficult times.
Comments: This is a beautiful story of lasting friendship that even war can’t sever. It could be used during a study of the Civil War or the Underground Railroad. Mahaley’s father uses his ferryboat to help slaves escape across the river. Also, since the tin heartsymbolizes the girls’ friendship, this could be used to initiate a discussion on other commonly used symbols, and how symbolism is used in literature.
Annotation Number: 15
Author: David Wisniewski
Illustrator:David Wisniewski
Title:The Warrior and the Wise Man
Publisher: Mulberry Paperback Books, 1998
Central theme: Strength versus wisdom (problem solving)
Other themes: Fairy tales,Japan, twins, nature
Annotation: An Emperor sends his twin sons, a warrior anda wise man, on a quest to see which will rule his kingdom. Both complete the quest, but the warrior finishes first, so he wins the kingdom. However, in completing the quest he makes enemies along the way and the wise son has to use his wisdom to save them. In the end, the kingdom is rewarded to the wise son. The emperor realizes wisdom is more important than strength in ruling a kingdom.
Comments:The illustrations in this book are created by photos of intricate paper cuttings from the Japanese culture. It also displays Japanese values of the samurai warrior and the wise men of Buddhist Zen training making this a wonderful book in which to share eastern culture. This story can also be used in a fairy tale unit. The sons encounter several supernaturalbeings representing the natural forces of the earth
Annotation Number: 16
Author: Kevin O’Malley
Illustrator:Kevin O’Malley
Title:Humpty Dumpty EGG-SPLODES
Publisher: Walker Publishing Company, Inc., 2001
Central theme: Fractured fairytale (or series of Mother Goose Rhymes)
Other themes: Nursery Rhymes, Fictional characters
Annotation: A parent comes to school and reads to the students. He begins “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, but when the teacher leaves, his story takes on a whole new, frightening dimension. In it, a huge Humpty Dumpty takes revenge on Mother Goose characters for allowing him to fall. The ending is sort of corny but ironic, because what finally appeases him is that they give him a huge Elvis-like wig and he turns into a singer. Now when he falls off the wall as part of his act, the crowd goes wild. The students love the new version.