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Valdosta, GA, United States
Welcome to: A Book or Two: Children's Literature Reviews, a blog site that offers information on new, classic, and favorite children's literature, reviewed by university professors, classroom teachers, librarians, and those studying to become teachers. We hope you will find "just the right book" to share with others. Our goal is to keep the site updated with information about children's authors, book awards, and new releases. Each entry will include the book cover picture, a brief overview, bibliographic information, and suggested uses for families, librarians, and teachers. We will categorize books in several different ways, to facilitate searching.

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Showing posts with label african. Show all posts
Showing posts with label african. Show all posts

10/19/14

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters


TITLE: Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters
AUTHOR:/ILLUSTRATOR: John Steptoe
PUBLISHER: Amistad PUBLICATION DATE: 1987
Awards: 1988 Caldecott Medal
GENRE: Fiction/Picture Book READING LEVEL: Grade 5.2
BRIEF OVERVIEW: Mufaro has two beautiful daughters that must unknowingly pass a series of tests in order to marry the king and become queen. Manyara treat her kind sister, Nyasha very badly. In the end, Nyasha passes the tests and become queen while her sister learns a lesson about treating people badly
INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Students will make a Venn diagram, comparing and contrasting the traits and characteristics of the two sisters
REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Brandi Tompkins, Valdosta State University ECSE)
LABELS: African, Traditional Non-European, Caldecott Medal



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Old Mikamba Had a Farm


AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Rachel Isadora
PUBLISHER: Nancy Paulson Books            PUBLICATION DATE: 2013
GENRE: Foreign
READING LEVEL: Kindergarten
BRIEF OVERVIEW: An African version of Old MacDonald. (ex. with an elephant here and a babboon there..)
INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Have children come up with dance moves that pertain to each animal movement. Dance to "Old MacDonald" instrumental.

REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: Jasmine Rozier, Valdosta State University ECSE)
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10/17/14

Why Mosquitos Buzz in People’s Ears

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Verna Aardema/Leo and Diane Dillon
PUBLISHER: Puffin/Dial         
PUBLICATION DATE:  1975
AWARDS: Caldecott Medal
GENRE: Folk Tale          
READING LEVEL: 3rd Grade
BRIEF OVERVIEW: The mosquito caused a domino effect of events occurring all because of the lie she told. Her lie resulted in misinterpretations, a killing of an owlet and Mother Owl not hooting to bring back daylight.
INTEGRATED ACTIVITY: Have students become the characters in the story and reenact the book. At the end of the reenactment have a discussion about the book.
REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: (Andrea Joyner, Valdosta State University ECSE)

LABELS: African, award-winning, folktales
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10/6/14

Why the Sky Is Far Away

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Mary-Joan Gerson/ Hope Meryman
PUBLISHER: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 
PUBLICATION DATE: 1974
GENRE:Traditional Books- Non Euro   READING LEVEL:  1st Grade
BRIEF OVERVIEW:
The sky was once so close to the Earth that people cut parts of it to eat.
One person’s waste of the sky’s resources caused it to move far away and the people had to learn to plant and harvest.
INTEGRATED ACTIVITY:
On Earth Day, we could read the this story and then talk about why appreciating nature is so important. Students would then make a list of how they can treat their world better.
REVIEWER’S NAME & AFFILIATION: (Maya Newsome,Valdosta State University ECSE)
LABELS: Nigerian, Africa, Nature, Sky


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