Singleton, M. LIS 60629, Summer 2012 Reading Log 2 1

Category / Author / Illustrator / Title / Publisher / Date / Pages / Reading Level / Comments
Chapter book based on a folk or fairy tale / Michael Buckley
Peter Ferguson, illustrator / The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives
(Book One) / Amulet Books / 2005 / 295 / Ages 9 and up / Sabrina and Daphne Grimm were orphaned a year and half ago when their parents mysteriously disappeared. The social worker has finally located their only living relative, a paternal grandmother. Now the Oma their father said was dead has welcomed them to the town of Ferryport Landing and immediately begins their training in the family business as fairy-tale detectives.
Buckley borrows the basics of traditional fairy tales to create a modern day detective story. The Grimm sisters discover that they are the descendants of the original Grimm brothers and that magical beings/creatures do exist.
The cloth cover and traditional gold title and decorative work on the cover and spine give this text the look and feel of older volumes. The pages are printed on a thicker paper with texture and rough cut edges adding to its “Old-World” appearance. Both boys and girls will enjoy this modernization and retelling of fairy tales they know from Disney and the Grimm brothers.
Category / Author / Illustrator / Title / Publisher / Date / Pages / Reading Level / Comments
Book written in Verse / Sharon Creech / Love That Dog / Harper
Collins / 2001 / 86 / Ages 8 and up / Miss. Stretchberry introduces the world of poetry to her students and requires them to write their thoughts and poems in a journal. Love That Dog is the poetry journal of Jack. Through his poetry/notes we watch Jack react to the poems, work through the interpretations, and discover his own inner poet. The sequel, Hate That Cat, continues Miss. Stretchberry’s lessons and Jack’s poetry exploration.
Children (and adults) will identify with Jack’s frustration and confusion about poetry. As Jack begins to develop poetic confidence, the reader will as well.
General Anthology of Poems / Jack Prelutsky, compiler
Meilo So, illustrator / The Beauty of the Beast / Random House / 1997 / 108 / Ages 9 and up
(may be read to younger) / Jack Prelutsky has collected poems about the animal kingdom and divided them into five categories – “In Trillions We Thrive” (insects), “Jubilant, We Swim” (sea life), “Dragons in Miniature” (snakes / lizards / turtles), “Hollow-Boned Singers” (birds), and “Wrapped in Coats of Fur”.
Prelutsky has selected poems that represent a wide variety of styles and time periods. Meilo So’s watercolor artwork (two page spreads and endpapers) are breathtaking. The poems are dispersed among the artwork and the two work together to entertain and educate.
Category / Author / Illustrator / Title / Publisher / Date / Pages / Reading Level / Comments
Topical Collection of Poems / Javaka Steptoe, illustrator
various individual poets / In Daddy’s Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers / Lee & Low Books / 1997 / 32 / Ages5 and up / Steptoe uses a variety of media to create the collages used to illustrate the poems. Almost all of the poems are part of two page spreads. The materials and techniques used for each illustration correspond with the descriptions and actions of the poem. Examples of this include real fish used as printer’s blocks to create fish for the poem “My Granddaddy is My Daddy Too” with the lines “…Only my grandpa / Can catch fifteen fish in a day…”and crayons used to illustrate “Artist to Artist” with the lines “…Drew people with meat on their bones / in flesh-colored tones from my 64-colors box / of crayons. …”.
A brief biography of each poet and a description of the different illustrating techniques are included in the back of the book.
1998 Coretta Scott King Illustrator - Winner
Fractured Fairy Tale / Diane Stanley / Rumpelstiltskin’s Daughter / Morrow Junior Books / 1997 / 32 / Ages 5 and up / Stanley uses three different methods (collage, colored pencil drawings and gouache) to create the double page illustrations of this twisted fairy tale. The story begins with a preview provided by the two postcards from Hope, Rumpelstiltskin’s daughter. Stanley reengineers the traditional tale by having the miller’s daughter choosing to marry Rumpelstiltskin instead of the king. Sixteen years later the king kidnaps their daughter for her gold spinning abilities.
Category / Author / Illustrator / Title / Publisher / Date / Pages / Reading Level / Comments
Book of Poems written by one of the “Calendar Of Poet Birthdays” poets / Pat Mora
(January 19)
Steve Jenkins, illustrator / This Big Sky / Scholastic Press / 1998 / 32 / Ages 5 and up / Poet Pat Mora uses poems to create a picture of the Southwest United States while Steve Jenkins uses cut-paper collages on two page spreads to illustrate the poems. Included at the back of the book is a glossary of the Spanish words used in the poems.
This text is visually and mentally stimulating.
Poem Picture Book / Robert Burleigh
Stephen T. Johnson, illustrator / Hoops / Silver Whistle (Harcourt Brace and Company) / 1997 / 32 / Ages 5 and up / Stephen Johnson uses pastels to illustrate Burleigh’s poem “Hoops”. The lines of the poem are highlighted by the two page spread artwork. Both the poem and illustrations give the reader the action and feel of a basketball game while also creating the dream-like state of being in the middle of the action.
Folktale Representing Another Culture / Laurence Yep
Kam Mak, illustrator / The Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty and the Beast Tale / Harper Collins / 1997 / 32 / Ages 5 and up / More than just a Beauty and the Beast type folktale, The Dragon Prince highlights the ideas of kindness and honesty as well as the adage “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. Mak’s vivid paintings help the reader to visualize the bright colors of his world.
Variant Tale / Ed Young / Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China / Putnam / 1989 / 27 / Ages 5 and up / 1990 Caldecott Winner
Young uses a combination of watercolors and pastels to create the illustrations for this tale. The text and artwork is encased in two panels per page, with a few exceptions of full page panels. In this version, there are three children instead of one and the wolf comes to the home of the children when the mother leaves them to visit the grandmother.
Category / Author / Illustrator / Title / Publisher / Date / Pages / Reading Level / Comments
1. Folktale (illustrated) / Joseph Bruchac
Anna Vojtech, illustrator / The First Strawberries: A Cherokee Story / Dial Books / 1993 / 32 / Ages 4 and up / This myth explains how strawberries first came into existence and how the sweet berry is used to remind us of the need to be kind and respectful to one another. Vojtech’s two page paintings highlight the vivid red of the strawberries while also adding to the softness of the story’s long ago time.
The use of the red colored endpapers also highlights the red of the strawberries.
2. Folktale (illustrated) / Marcia Brown / Dick Whittington and His Cat / Atheneum Books for Young Readers / ©1950
1988 print / 32 / Ages 5 and up / 1951 Caldecott Honor Book
According to the copyright page, the illustrations are cut in linoleum. The artwork appears to be printed from the carved linoleum blocks in two colors – black and a gold/dark yellow on white paper.
In this English tale, Dick Whittington is an orphan who grows up to become Mayor of London. While his childhood is filled with hard work, and some beatings by the cook, Dick is fortunate in several decisions, specifically the purchase of a cat and the trading of the cat, which eventually leads him into a life of luxury and prosperity.