Dance, Tanya

Title: Dance, Tanya
Author: Patricia Lee Gauch
Genre: Realistic Fiction

Dance, Tanya is a story about a young girl who puts on a tutu and dances around with her older sister who is a ballerina. Though Tanya is still too young to take ballet lessons, she endlessly whirls around her home in her tutu and slippers with her sister Elise. However, whenever Tanya's sister leaves to go to her ballet lessons, Tanya is not allowed to come. Occasionally Tanya is allowed to watch her practice from the window, but never join in. When it is time for Elise's dance recital, Tanya and her family watch from the audience with awe. Tanya is so proud of her sisters dancing abilities, but is so tired that she falls asleep towards the end of the recital. When they are leaving, Tanya's Aunt May tells Tanya's mother what a wonderful dancer Elise is. When they return home, Tanya wakes up to hear the score to Swan Lake being played over the radio while her family laugh and talk amongst themselves. Tanya puts on her tutu and grabs her scarf and dances even though she knows no one is watching. However, unbeknownst to Tanya, her whole family is watching. When she is through they applaud, and Aunt May corrects herself by saying that there are in fact two wonderful dancers in their family. The book then shows a scene from Christmas the next year where Tanya has finally received her own pair of ballet slippers now that she is old enough to take lessons. The book then closes with Tanya and Elise heading off to ballet practice, together.

Arrow to the Sun

Title: Arrow to the Sun
Author: Gerald McDermott
Genre: Multicultural Literature

Arrow to the Sun is a story about a boy who is sent to earth by the Lord of the Sun. The Lord of the Sun shoots an arrow down to earth into the home of a young maiden, who became his mother. As the boy grew up, he was ridiculed since he did not have a father. The boy vowed to find his father, and went to many people in the village asking for their help to find him. After being turned down by many villagers, the boy comes to the Arrow Maker. The Arrow Maker makes the boy into an arrow, and shoots him back up to the Sun where his father is. When the boy reaches the Sun and his father, the father tells the boy he must prove himself by going through a series of trials. The son completes all of the trials, and is transformed into a being filled with the power of the Sun. The father and the son rejoice, and the son is sent back to earth to spread the spirit of the Sun to the people. Upon his return, the people of the pueblo celebrated with the Dance of Life.
Arrow to the Sun provides an excellent opportunity for children to learn about Pueblo culture. The illustrations in this book are an excellent depiction of Native American art. After reading this book, a way to enhance student's knowledge of Native American art would be to have them research other patterns and styles that are common in Native American art, and allow them to create their own depiction of a story with the cultural art skills they have learned about.

Matilda

Title: Matilda
Author: Roald Dahl
Genre: Modern Fantasy (chapter book)

Matilda is the heroic story of a gifted young girl who overcomes a lazy and morally crooked family as well as a sinister bully of a school principal. The story begins with an introduction of how Matilda Wormwood's parents and brother never appreciated her. Matilda taught herself to read at a very young age, and soon began to intellectually consume every book she could get her hands on, despite her parent's protests. When it was time for Matilda to start school, she was overwhelmed with excitement. However, her excitement soon faded when she realized that the principal to her school, Ms. Agatha Trunchbull, was a vindictive and cruel person who hated children more than anything. Though Ms. Trunchbull made school horrible, it was Matilda's warm and kind teacher Ms. Honey as well as a few close friends that made Matilda's school experience enriching and enjoyable. While Matilda endures a slew of tormenting experiences from her family and "The Trunchbull", she discovers that she has a unique ability to move things with her mind. Matilda realizes that she can use this ability to justify the injustices that have been brought upon her, she embarks on a series of tricks to those who have wronged her and her friends. When Ms. Honey reveals to Matilda that Ms. Trunchbull is her horrible aunt who may have killed her own brother, Matilda vows to find a way to right this wrong. After a series of investigations and planning, Matilda eventually drives Ms. Trunchbull out of the school, and Ms. Honey is made principal. When Matilda's family encounters legal troubles, they plan to flee the country. Ms. Honey offers to adopt Matilda, and they live happily ever after. So happily in fact, that Matilda lost her powers as she no longer had any more anger to create them.

This was, and still is, one of my absolute favorite books for children. I believe that Matilda is a heroic tale of a sweet and clever girl triumphing over evil and ultimately saving the day. Matilda is another example of a book in which character traits abound- a fitting lesson for student's would be to elaborate on the character traits of all the main characters involved in the plot.

Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl

Title: Sarah Morton's Day; A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl
Author: Kate Waters
Genre: Historical Fiction

Sarah Morton's Day is a story that detail's the life of an imaginary girl in 1627 on Plimoth Plantation. This book details all the aspects of life from a young pilgrim girl's perspective- from the intricate clothing she must wear to the arduous chores she is required to complete. The book also tells the story of Sarah's new life and changing dynamics of family and friendship now that she is in the New World. Amidst the progression of the story, there are unique contributions to the text such as 17th century recipes and Psalms. The last two pages of the book contain a glossary of commonly used terms from that time period, as well as a section that details the actual Plimoth Plantation that existed long ago. Reading this book is an excellent precursor to Thanksgiving, as well as a generally educational book about an important time in American history.

The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System

Title: The Magic School Bus; Lost in the Solar System
Author: Joanna Cole
Genre: Modern Fantasy

When Mrs. Frizzle's class arrives at the Planetarium for a field trip, they discover that it is closed for repairs- but of course in Mrs. Frizzle's classroom, this will not be tolerated. Instead, the class is zoomed off into space itself after the Magic School Bus transforms into its very own rocket. Mrs. Frizzle and the gang travel from planet to planet, from the planet closest to the sun to the farthest. However, on their journey from Mars to Jupiter, an asteroid shower causes the class to unexpectedly separate from Mrs. Frizzle. The class continues on in their tour of the planets in hopes of eventually finding Mrs. Frizzle along their way. After viewing the last planet, the kids eventually figure out how to direct the Magic School Bus back to where they had originally lost track of Mrs. Frizzle, and they are reunited. They all then gladly return back to school, with the wealth of knowledge that they gained from their adventurous trip to space.

This book is an excellent choice for students who are studying the solar system, particularly those in the third grade as it is a standard course of study objective. The book is filled with interesting side notes and tables that are scattered throughout the pictures. There is also comical dialogue bubbles coming from the characters mouths in the illustrations, which makes the book that much more enjoyable for readers. The Magic School Bus was also a syndicated TV show on PBS for some time, and was a favorite show that I enjoyed watching on Saturday mornings. It was very enjoyable for me to see one of my favorite TV shows as a child translated into an engaging text.

Tar Beach

Title: Tar Beach
Author: Faith Ringgold
Genre: Multicultural Literature

Tar Beach is a beautifully written and illustrated book about an African American family in Harlem, New York. The main character, Cassie, gathers with family and friends atop the roof of their Harlem apartment for a summertime get together. While the adults sit and talk together, Cassie lies on a mattress on her back and gazes at the night sky. The book details the imaginative scenes that Cassie sees as she imagines that she is flying high over the city. She recalls stories about her family during her journey, such as how her grandfather helped to build the Washington Bridge long ago. Tar Beach is full of descriptive and beautiful language as well as illustrations that paint an imaginative picture verbally and visually.

As Tar Beach is such a spellbinding book with its use of words and imagery, I believe that a fitting lesson to follow this book would be to have students construct a Wordle using adjectives that describe a specifically poignant time for them, much like Tar Beach illustrates a specifically poignant moment for Cassie Lightfoot. They can then write a reflection about the time they chose to Wordle about, and describe why those adjectives fit that story. Below I have created a Wordle with such adjectives to describe the first time I "flew" about two years ago.... flew in an airplane, that is.

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1851379/Flight

Maniac Magee

Title: Maniac Magee
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Genre: Realistic Fiction (chapter book)

Jeffrey Lionel Magee (better known as "Maniac Magee") was orphaned at the age of three after his parents were in a trolley accident. Jeffrey earned the nickname "Maniac" because of his wild ways, outlandish thinking, and daredevil attitude. Jeffrey is sent to live with his Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan, who refuse to speak to each other. This unsatisfactory home life leads Jeffrey to rebel and run away from his life as he knows it. Maniac decides to try to live with other families in lieu of his own. Maniac first lives with the Beales family, a warm and hospitable African American family. Maniac loves living with the Beales but quickly realizes that his presence as a white youngster in their house is causing them trouble in the neighborhood. So Maniac decides to move on to live with an old man named Grayson. Grayson and Maniac get along famously and share a passion for baseball. Maniac teaches Grayson about his views on racial equality, and their bond strengthens. Sadly though Grayson's old age eventually overtakes him and he passes away, forcing Maniac to move on once again. The next family that takes Maniac in is the McNab family. They are very strict, yet dysfunctional as a family unit. The McNabs have many racial tendencies, and eventually kick Maniac out after he tries to introduce one of his homeless African American friends, nicknamed Mars Bar, into their family. Mars Bar and Maniac continue their friendship, and eventually move together back into the Beales home with the communities blessing.

Maniac Magee was one of my favorite books as I approached the end of my elementary school age. It is also the recipient of numerous awards including the Newbery Medal. This book is an engaging and heartfelt book that illustrates racial issues in a way like no other. This book does not tiptoe on the line of political correctness, but rather earnestly and honestly delves into divisive issues such as racial tension. The message that is drawn after reading Maniac Magee is one that conveys the sense of humanity in every person despite race, creed, or socioeconomic status. Though Maniac Magee addresses important social issues as its main claim to fame, it also contains a vast variety of intricate vocabulary words. A technology based lesson that one could use in the classroom could consist of the creation of an online vocabulary quiz or test as a pre- or post assessment of a student's knowledge of vocabulary words included in the text. I used a free test creation website and included ten words from the book as an interactive way to acquire a sense of student's knowledge of vocabulary.

http://mytest.vocabtest.com/user_test.php?tid=46570

Number the Stars

Title: Number the Stars
Author: Lois Lowry
Genre: Historical Fiction (chapter book)

Number the Stars is a historical fiction chapter book that takes place in 1943 in Nazi occupied Denmark. The book centers around the struggles of a young girl named Annemarie Johansen that she, her family, and close family friends encounter in Copenhagen. These struggles cause them to consequently flee their home town so as not to be persecuted by Nazi soldiers. Prior to escaping to safety, the Johansen family takes in Ellen Rosen, a close family friend, and pretends that she is Annemarie's older sister in order to ensure her safety. While Ellen stays with the Johansen family, the remainder of the Rosen family goes into hiding elsewhere. When the Johansen family encounters a close call with a Nazi soldier who nearly reveals Ellen's true identity as a young Jewish girl, the family plans to travel to Mr. Johansen's brothers house on the coast in order to avoid danger. Shortly after they arrive at Uncle Henriks, Annemarie discovers that Uncle Henrik is involved in hiding and transporting Jewish families to safety. Annemarie's family become involved with these efforts, and Annemarie unexpectedly is required to carry out a very important task for the Jewish Resistance. Annemarie must carry a package to deliver as part of this task. Annemarie is confronted by Nazi soldiers who confiscate the package she is carrying during the execution of this task, only to be disappointed by the seemingly innocuous contents of the package. Annemarie later learns that a handkerchief that was among the contents of the package had a special chemical that would numb the Nazi dogs sense of smell. As it turns out, the remainder of the Rosen family had been hiding nearby, so the handkerchief that numbed the dogs sense of smell allowed their safe return to reunite with Ellen at Uncle Henriks.
After the close of the war, both the Johansen and the Rosen families return to Denmark.

Number the Stars is a suspenseful narrative of a young girl's experience during Nazi occupation. Though this book has mature themes, it provides an insightful perspective of an important time in world history. This book is an ideal choice for students who are studying the holocaust, or any unit that concerns social justice. Number the Stars also addresses several strong examples of character traits such as perseverance, courage, and responsibility.