A Book or Two: Children's Literature Reviews

Find a perfect children’s book to share or read, and information on new, classic, and favorite children's literature, reviewed by university professors, teachers, librarians, graduate students, and teachers-to-be! Browse A Book or Two by title, genre, or topic! HAPPY READING! This is a closed site, to prevent inappropriate postings. You won't be able to add your own comments. Communication should be sent to the site organizer, Dr. Deb Marciano (dlmarciano@valdosta.edu).

Showing posts with label Multicultural. Show all posts

10/21/14

One Smiling Grandma

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Ann Marie Linden/ Lynne Russell

PUBLISHER:Puffin PUBLICATION DATE: 1992

GENRE: Foreign READING LEVEL: Grade 1-2

BRIEF OVERVIEW: This book goes through counting all the way to ten by using different objects that could be found on a carribean island.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY:Have students write there own story about counting to ten using ten different objects that were not talked about in the book.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Anna Claire Heath, Valdosta State University ECSE

LABELS: Creative, Foreign, Picturebook, Academic

12/5/13

Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Tomie dePaola
PUBLISHER: Penguin Group PUBLICATION DATE: 2004

AWARDS: Caldecott Honor Award , Newbery Honor Award
GENRE: Multicultural READING LEVEL: 3^rd

BRIEF OVERVIEW: After Adelita parent’s death, she is badly mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Have students fold a large sheet of paper into six sections. They will illustrate and label the story elements in the squares: 1.Characters 2.Setting 3.Problem 4.Events 5.Solution 6.Ending

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Daphne Wright - Valdosta State University

Balarama: A Royal elephant

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Ted and Besty Lewin

PUBLISHER: Lee & Low Books; 1 edition PUBLICATION DATE: August 1, 2009

GENRE: Nonfiction informational picture book

READING LEVEL: Ages 8 and up

BRIEF OVERVIEW:A Young Dancer: Life of an Ailey Student is a book about a young 13 year girl with multiple artistic talents and her journey as she prepares for a big performance.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Students will write a paper about what they plan on being when they get older

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Briana Henderson Valdosta State University, Section A

12/4/13

An Irish Night Before Christmas

Author/ Illustrator: Sarah Kirwan Blazek/ James Rice

PUBLISHER: Pelican Publishing

PUBLICATION DATE: April 30, 1995
Genre: Foreign Reading Level: 3rd- 5th Gr

Brief Overview: The book tells the Irish version of Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Integrated Activity: Students will read the book and the original Twas the Night Before Christmas and talk about the difference and the similarity in the two books. Students will then write their own Christmas story.

Reviewer's Name & Affiliation: Kaleigh Harty, VSU

Lon Po Po

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Ed Young

PUBLISHER: Puffin PUBLICATION DATE: 1989

GENRE: Traditional Non-European
READING LEVEL: 3rd-5th

BRIEF OVERVIEW:Three sisters are left alone and they are told to wait until their grandmother comes home. A wolf disguised as their grandmother comes and the oldest daughter discovers this and comes up with a plan to save them. This is a red riding hood story from China.

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY:Have the children write about a time in which they had to make an important decision or save someone they know. It can be fiction/nonfiction and have them share with the class.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION:Megan Fender, Valdosta State University, Block A