SLIS 5420 Module 3 September 14 - September 20

Book Cover






Bibliography



Rathmann, P. (1995). Officer buckle and gloria. New York NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

Summary of the Plot



Officer Buckle knows more safety tips than the entire town of Napville but none of the students at Napville School listen to his safety tips. That is until the Napville police department get a police dog named Gloria who travels with Officer Buckle to all of his safety meetings. Whie Officer Buckle is informing the students about safety tips; Gloria is performing in the background. Officer Buckle has no idea why he has become so famous. Until a news team videotapes his performance and he sees what has really been happening behind his back. When Napville School calls for him to come for a repeat performance he refuses but the school asks if Gloria the police dog can come anyway. Someone else drives Gloria to the safety meeting but all she does is stand on stage until she finally falls asleep as does everyone in the audience. Shortly, after this safety meeting the school has its biggest accident ever. And Officer Buckle learns his most important safety tip never leave your buddy.



Vi's Vibes

I thought this book was a cute story. The illustrations were well done throughout the book. It gave a positive message to students of today. The author does a good job of having Officer Buckle and Gloria tell the story of how friends and partners should stick together in the good times and bad times.



Reviews

K-Gr 3--A fresh, funny story about the wonders of teamwork. Officer Buckle is a safety-conscious policeman who spends his time devising tips for avoiding accidents. Unfortunately, the children of Napville School are an ungrateful audience, snoring through his lectures and ignoring his advice. Enter Gloria, Napville's new police dog and Officer Buckle's new partner. She accompanies him when he gives his lecture and performs her duties with aplomb. Buckle is surprised to see the children so attentive, but each time he checks on Gloria, she is sitting at attention. Thanks to the humorous illustrations, readers know what Buckle does not--Gloria is performing to beat the band, acting out the various accidents behind his back. Things are swell until a news team videotapes Buckle and his amazing sidekick and he learns that the reason for his newfound popularity is really Gloria's comedy routine. This sends the officer into quite a slump. Her act is a complete flop without him, however, and Napville School has its biggest accident ever after her solo performance. In the end, Buckle realizes that they're only successful as a team, and he is jolted out of his self-pitying funk. The vibrant palette of the cartoon art, as well as the amusing story, make this title an appealing read-aloud choice. Older children will enjoy poring over the many safety tips presented on the endpapers, all illustrated by Gloria's antics. A five-star performance.--Lisa S. Murphy, formerly at Dauphin County Library System, Harrisburg, PA



Utilization for Library Classes



The students could write safety tips on papers to create a bulletin board after reading the story in class.


Another way that this book could be used if you were having a guest speaker coming then you could high light the audience's reaction to Officer Buckle and Gloria. Have the students discuss appropriate responses and non appropriate responses.





















Book Cover









Bibliography




McKissack, Patricia. Goin' Someplace Special. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2001.


ISBN 0-689-81885-8




















Summary of the Plot



Tricia Ann asks Mama Frances if she can go someplace special by herself. Grandmother agrees to allow her to go but she must hold her head up high and act like she belongs to somebody. Tricia Ann then begins her journey by boarding a green and white bus but must sit in the Jim Crow section of the bus. While on the bus she meets Mrs. Grannel who tells her those signs tell us where to sit but they cannot tell us what to think. When Tricia Ann gets off the bus she meets Jimmy Lee who tells her "Don't let those signs steal yo' happiness." As Tricia Ann continues on her journey to someplace special she meets many other people and has other words of wisdom given to her before she reaches the public library. The public library was someplace special because they let everyone enter in. Mama Frances said "It was much more than bricks and stone. It was an idea."






Vi's Vibes



This book was an excellent book as it told the story through the eyes of Tricia Ann. Her first big journey into the city on her own to go to her someplace special. It discussed her trials and tribulations as she responded to them. Goin Someplace Special introduces the child to mistreatment and how Tricia Ann as well as the adults in her life respond to that mistreatment.





Reviews




Gr 3-5-'Tricia Ann's first solo trip out of her neighborhood reveals the segregation of 1950s' Nashville and the pride a young African-American girl takes in her heritage and her sense of self-worth. In an eye-opening journey, McKissack takes the child through an experience based upon her own personal history and the multiple indignities of the period. She experiences a city bus ride and segregated parks, restaurants, hotels, and theaters and travels toward "Someplace Special." In the end, readers see that 'Tricia Ann's destination is the integrated public library, a haven for all in a historical era of courage and change. Dialogue illustrates her confidence and intelligence as she bravely searches for truth in a city of Jim Crow signs. Pinkney re-creates the city in detailed pencil-and-watercolor art angled over full-page spreads, highlighting the young girl with vibrant color in each illustration. A thought-provoking story for group sharing and independent readers.-Mary Elam, Forman Elementary School, Plano, TX

School Library Journal September 2001




















Utilization for Library Classes



For this book I would have the students talk about someplace special that they would like to go. It might be a vacation spot or just someplace that they were happy when they visited that location. After discussing places they have already visited then I would have the children daydream about places they would like to go visit. However I would give each child a postcard so that they would write down the location of where they would like to g0. It has been my experience that after the first few students give their responses then everyone else wants to visit the same place.

SLIS 5420 Module 2 September 7 - September 13

Book Cover

Bibliography

BURNETT, Frances Hodgson. The Secret Garden. illus. by Inga Moore. 279p. CIP. Candlewick. 2008. RTE $21.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-3161-1. LC 2006051838.

Summary of the Plot

A spoiled and neglected ten year old girl fogotten by her absentee parents raised by native servants untila cholera epidemic suddenly kills her family and serveral servants. Mary is sent to live at Missalthwaite Manor her depressed and widowed uncle's home. Here she meets her maid Martha who lets her in on the secret of the manor a secret garden that has been locked away for the last ten years. Mary hears what she thinks is crying but Martha first tells her it is the wind blowing across the moor. Then when Mary hears it again she is told one of the other maids is suffering from a toothache. Finally, Mary finds the source of the crying her own cousin Colin. Before finding Colin though she finds the secret garden and meets Martha's brother Dickon. Colin then makes the decision he will go to the secret garden with Mary and Dickon. During this time the master of the manor has been away traveling trying to lessen his grief from his wife's untimely death ten years before. The children decide to keep Colin's good health a secret until his Father's return. Finally, Archibald Craven returns home to find his son a changed young man.


Vi's Vibes

At first this story was slow for me but then as I became more involved in the storyline I became absorbed in it. The indomitable spirit of Mary to search for the garden. Then of Colin making the decision that he will live and not only live but walk. This is a story of hope and the resiliency
of children.

Reviews

Gr 3–6—First published in 1911, Burnett's tale of burgeoning self-awareness, newfound friendship, and the healing effects of nature is presented in an elegant, oversize volume and handsomely illustrated with Moore's detailed ink and watercolor paintings. Cleanly laid-out text pages are balanced by artwork ranging from delicate spot images to full-page renderings. The outdoor scenes are beautifully depicted, presenting realistic images of animals and flowers, with the hues gradually warming in sync with the story's progression from winter's browns and beiges to the lush colors of spring. The young protagonists—lonely Mary Lennox; her sickly and spoiled cousin, Colin; and likable local lad Dickon—bound to life in the evocative paintings, which reflect the wonders of transformations in both nature and in a child's heart. All in all, a lovely interpretation.—Joy Fleishhacker, School Library Journal

February 20, 2008
Whatever the opposite of seasonal affective disorder is, I have it. I love the winter, especially in Manhattan where the funneled winds dare you to leave your house in the morning. I am dubious of spring's high expectations for renewal, and of summer's pressures; those months when it is commonly considered an infraction to be inside ever. Which is perhaps the reason I have always found solace in Frances Burnett's The Secret Garden.
First published in 1911, The Secret Garden is the story of Mary Lennox, a bitter and selfish little girl who hates the world and everyone in it. After she is orphaned by a cholera epidemic in India, she is sent to live with an estranged uncle on his sprawlingly creepy English country estate. When she first arrives, she is pale and thin and sporting a personality that would smell like sour milk if it could. She detests the outdoors. With a little help from her maid and a boy named Dickon, Mary gradually develops the pleasant demeanor of a normal girl. So paradoxically, India made Mary pale, hostile and unaccustomed to strange foods, whereas England makes her healthy, rose-cheeked and full of Zen. As the book's title unsubtly suggests, there is also a garden involved, complete with hidden door and buried key. But as new life springs forth in the garden, so blooms new hope in the wounded hearts of each character.
In many obvious ways, there is no finer novel — young adult or otherwise — to reread while those first fingers of green are poking up through the ground. There is no single book that can more readily transport you into spring as you sit underneath a tree and listen to some bird whose name you don't remember whistle a tune that you do. And because The Secret Garden is the first real novel I remember reading period, it has become a fundamental part of my worldview year-round. No matter how unique the country house described by T.S. Eliot, Tom Stoppard, Virginia Woolf or even Jane Austen — for me, they are all the house from The Secret Garden.
But the real reason to love this book is because, not unlike the garden hidden in plain sight around which it centers, the novel itself has its own dark secret. And that is the following: It is not a very nice book, despite its goody-goody reputation. The illustrations, wistful sketches that adorn each chapter, should have been rendered by Edward Gorey. The Secret Garden is about neglect. Of plants and of people.
Back in India, Mary's mother was a socialite who never wanted her. After the cholera epidemic dissipates, it takes fully five days before Mary is found alone, in the dark of her bungalow. Her only company had been a snake. Mary is taken to England, where everyone she meets repeatedly insults her to her face. Her only friend is a robin and her only solace is found in being alone. Mary stops verbally abusing her maid just long enough to make one human friend, a little boy who talks to sheep. Finding him kindred, she fesses up about the hidden garden and develops a semi-romantic bond. One night, Mary hears crying in a distant corridor of the mansion and goes to investigate. Curled up among the dusty tapestries is a different boy — Colin, her uncle's sickly son. It takes Mary, little strumpet that she is, about a page and a half to spill the seeds about the secret garden. Thus the unspoken love triangle is in place, diffused only by Colin pointing out that he and Mary are cousins.
The Secret Garden is half charm, half wickedness, half summer and half winter. At one point Mary asks her maid why the garden was locked in the first place. She gradually learns of its painful history, but in that innocent question lies the lasting magic of The Secret Garden. It is always the flowers that one notices first before inspecting the dirt below.
You Must Read This is edited and produced by Ellen Silva.

Accessed Septemper 12, 2009 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19204506storyId=19204506

Utilization for Library Classes

Hot Potato

It is very important that we think positively about ourselves and each other. I will have students throw a beanbag to represent the hot potato. They will then give an example of thinking positively about ourselves or each other. We will first discuss what thinking positiviely is and I will give various examples. An example might be when I think that people don't like me because I'm not a very fun person to be around, I start acting like a person that is not fun to be around. I become friendly. But when I realize that I am a fun person, Then I act friendlier and people are able to see that I really am a fun person to be around. Ask students to think of things we could do to increase our self-esteem or the way we think about ourselves (smile often, don't put down yourself, be kind to others, compliment others, think positive thoughts, exercise, eat healthy, get plenty of rest, serve others, accept compliments from others, etc.). I will then throw the hot potato to a child and he/she will respond with a positive statement about themselves. For instance they might say I like the way I look in this color. We will go around and around until every child has had a turn or elects to pass. I will make sure that if a child elects to pass that the potato comes back to them another time to make sure that they really have nothing to say or if they just need more time to think about it. This should be a fast paced game. If there are several children who elect to pass then I would probably change the game up by having the other students in the circle say something positive about their classmates.

Book Cover

Bibliography

Barrett, J. (1978). Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks.

Summary of the Plot of the Story

This story begins with Grandpa fixing breakfast for the family. An unusual incident happened at breakfast when Grandpa flipped apancake from the pan onto Henry's head. That night Grandpa told his best tall tale ever about the town of Chewandswallow. The town of Chewandswallow was unique in the fact that the community ate whatever came from the sky. They did not have weather that the children and Grandpa experienced but instead of rain it was soup or juice. Or instead of thunderstorms it blewin hamburgers. At first things were fine in the twon of Chewandswallow with the weather the sanitation department was able to clean up the leftover foood. But the weather began to change where it was no longer food items that were served together. Then it wuold blow in so much food the sanitation deparment was no longer able to keep up and finally just quit. The townspeople decided to abandon the town of Chewandswallow. When they arrived at their new town the most difficult thing they had to deal with was going to the supermarket to pick out the food they were going to eat. Henry and his sister stayed awake until the very end of Grandpa's bedtime story.

Vi's Vibes:

I enjoyed this story immensely . The storyline going from an incident at breakfast with the pancake landing on Henry's head to Grandpa's bedtime story about the town of Chewandswallow where the pancake landed on the school. The unique weather patterns that the town experienced. I especially enjoyed the illustrations. My favorite is the one where it shows the baseball player and the reporter standing on the baseball field. And the scoreboard behind the two of them says game called on account of pie.

Reviews:

The tiny town of Chewandswallow was very much like any other tiny town except for its weather which came three times a day, at breakfast lunch and dinner.
But it never rained rain and it never snowed snow and it never blew just wind. It rained things like soup and juice. It snowed things like mashed potatoes. And sometimes the wind blew in storms of hamburgers.
Life for the townspeople was delicious until the weather took a turn for the worse. The food got larger and larger and so did the portions. Chewandswallow was plagued by damaging floods and storms of huge food. the town was a mess and the people feared for their lives.
Something had to be done, and in a hurry.
Synopsis:
Life is delicious in the town of Chewandswallow where it rains soup and juice, snows mashed potatoes, and blows storms of hamburgers--until the weather takes a turn for the worse.
Synopsis:
The tiny town of Chewandswallow was very much like any other tiny town except for its weather which came three times a day, at breakfast lunch and dinner.
But it never rained rain and it never snowed snow and it never blew just wind. It rained things like soup and juice. It snowed things like mashed potatoes. And sometimes the wind blew in storms of hamburgers.
Life for the townspeople was delicious until the weather took a turn for the worse. The food got larger and larger and so did the portions. Chewandswallow was plagued by damaging floods and storms of huge food. the town was a mess and the people feared for their lives.
Something had to be done, and in a hurry.

Accessed September 13, 2009 http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9780689306471-0

by Christina Pomoni

Oh, I would love to live in a land where I would never have to worry about my next meal; where I would never have to cook; where I would never have to go for grocery shopping; where life would be delicious and relaxing.
In the town of Chewandswallow, all this is a reality. Life is delicious! Raining soup and juice, snowing mashed potatoes and blowing storms of hamburgers, the sky over Chewandswallow is full of surprises. Three times per day, the weather serves people with different meals.
Judi Barrett's "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" is a charming children's book. Starting on a Sunday morning with grey sketches of a typical family eating breakfast, the book is an incredible journey to imagination and creativity. The grandfather flips pancakes and the kids brag about how much they can eat. The family pets run around the kitchen, grandfather is distracted and one pancake gets stuck on the ceiling. As it falls on his brother's head, grandfather remembers of a story. After the chaotic daytime, grandfather decides to tell the kids the story of Chewandswallow, a small town, nested between mountains and oceans.
Although being like any other town with shops, restaurants and jobs, with people working and kids playing, Chewandswallow was different because "Everything that everyone ate came from the sky." All the residents of the town walked around prepared to eat the fell that fell from the sky. And everyone was happy with this lifestyle as they wouldn't have to worry about money for grocery shopping, cooking or wasting time in preparing the meal.
One day, the generous weather changed and Chewandswallow was covered with peanut butter and mayonnaise. Even worse, the food kept growing bigger and bigger. Huge pancakes asphyxiated the school and a giant tomato tornado swept Chewandswallow away. Confused and panicky, people had to abandon their homes.
Huge sandwiches served as boats so that people could find their way across the oceans and the mountains in search of a new town. When they got to a safe place, they realized that food would no longer fall from the sky and that they had to fight for a living. After quite sometime they all got used to the new lifestyle and they forgot about Chewandswallow.
One of my first thoughts when I first read "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" was that there is no story and no message in this rather childish plot. What was the meaning of distraction of Chewandswallow? And why would anyone read such a disastrous scenario to a child before bedtime?
Then, I realized that there are a lot of things in the book that actually make it a children's classic. Written in a neat and charming way, the book features innovative ideas and writing. For example, "mustard clouds", "soda drizzle" and a "wind that brings in baked beans" are sprinkled in the book pages creating an utterly pioneer atmosphere. The book is so easy to read that children may read it by themselves.
Ron Barrett's excellent illustrations are detailed and vivid, picturing Chewandswallow residents running after food, trying to catch it on their plates. To my view, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" is a hymn to creativity. And after seeing my son repeating the story and thinking how it would be to live in a town like Chewandswallow, I realized that this is the book's magnitude: its entertaining fantasy.

Accessed September 13, 2009 http://www.helium.com/items/1406970-book-reviews-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs-by-judi-barrett

Utilization for Library Classes

I would have this book be a read-aloud. We would discuss how the people of Chewandswallow got tired of the same food like the jelly and cream cheese sandwiches. Also how they became bogged down with pancakes and floods of maple syrup. The students and I would discuss proper nutrition and I would have them bring in a plate of healthy snacks that our little town in the library could share when the class blows in from their room.

SLIS 5420 Module 1 August 31 - September 6

Book Cover

Bibliography

CRIMI, Carolyn. Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies. illus. by John Manders. unpaged. Candlewick. 2005. RTE $15.99. ISBN 0-7636-2449-7. LC 2004062936.

Summary of the Plot

Henry and the Bucaneer Bunnies is a story about a son that would rather be reading books than doing his pirate duties. His father, Black Ear, is considered the meanest, baddest bunny pirate of his time. However, Henry still follows his own path in choosing to read books even when threatened with having to swab the deck until he comes to his senses. Midway through the book Henry notices signs that a big storm was on its way. He tried informing the crew but no one listened until it was to late. The pirate ship was lost but the crew reached an island. Everyone was feeling sorry for themselves except for Henry he got right to work. When the crew asks him how he learned to do all of the tasks, Henry told them he learned from reading books. Finally, he teaches the crew how to build another ship and they are once more on the high seas. However, this time they take a break every summer so the entire crew can read books at the Easter Island library.

Vi's Vibes

I enjoyed the well-written book. The main character has an issue with his father but stands up for himself. He accepts his punishment of having to swab the decks so he can still read the books. He does not hold a grudge against the rest of the crew when they are stranded on the island. Black Ear the father finally does agree with Henry that books are necessary.

Reviews

Henry is not a typical buccaneer bunny. Instead of performing his proper pirating duties, he would rather read the books that he took from other ships. His father, the captain, is not proud of his son and the rest of the crew makes fun of him. When they are shipwrecked on a deserted island, however, it is Henry and his "book smarts" that save the day. Although the plot is weak, the illustrations are fresh and comical, and send a clear message about the importance of reading. Lisa S. Schindler, Bethpage Public Library, NY School Library Journal 11/01/2005

As the pirate ship The Salty Carrot sails the high seas, all of the rabbit pirates pitch in to help with the duties except Henry, the captain's son, who prefers to read. After their ship succumbs to a storm, the rabbits find that Henry's trunks of books can act as life rafts, which transport them to a desert island. On land, Henry's vast book learning becomes invaluable, and he provides the rabbit crew with food, shelter, and a means of escape. Manders' watercolor, gouache, and pencil illustrations are the highlight of this effort. His rabbit pirates have huge buckteeth and look especially comical toward the end of the book, when they are elaborately decked out in eighteenth-century finery, including feathered hats and lace trim. Bookworm Henry is rather stereotypically portrayed with huge glasses hung from a string. A story on the joys and usefulness of reading is nothing new, but the funny Buccaneer Bunnies should provide some interest, even to children who are not inspired by the lesson. Todd MorningCopyright © American Library Association.

Utilization for Library Classes

I would use this book as a read aloud and have the student's discuss different endings for the book. What might have happened to the bunnies if the books had not been saved in the treasure chest? How else might the bunnies have survived?

Another take on the story might be a discussion emphasizing the importance of reading. How would the bunnies have made it if Henry had not learned from reading the books? I would have the students create treasure chests then write or illustrate the book covers that they would put in their treasure chest in case they were ever stranded on an island.