Knuffle Bunny Too

Trixie is excited to bring her Knuffle Bunny to school today to show everyone. But when she discovers that her classmate has the same Knuffle Bunny, there are problems; the two get into an argument (and the bunnies have to be in Bunny Time-out), and a mix-up happens! The two little girls finally got their own bunnies back and all is right with the world again.

I have heard in the textbook Literature and the Child that this book was really good so I went down to my local library and discovered that it was really good! The illustrations are different; the characters are drawn while the backdrop looks like pictures of New York. I'd read this to my children in school and at home any day! My favorite quote was "And daddy explained to Trixie what 2 a.m is..." I thought it was funny.

I believe that this is a realistic fiction book. It has all the components of this type of book, something that relates to whatever someone is going through. Trixie here has an argument with her classmate who has the same bunny she has, so her bunny "wasn't so one-of-a-kind anymore." (Willems).

I think that this  would be a perfect example of the Saint Leo value of Respect. Sometimes college students get upset because other people have the same unimportant thing (like an outfit) and we tear them down because it doesn't look as good as ours. It is so disrespectful to put others down or fight. We do need to learn that we are all special whether we have different things, or the same things.

About the Author

•       Born in 1968
• Is an animator / writer 
• His animated works include Codename: Kids Next Door, Sheep in the Big City and has worked in kids shows such as Sesame Street
• Is famous for his book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale, and Leonardo, the Terrible Monster (both I've watched, read on YouTube). 

                                                                         References

Cullinan, B. E., Galda, L., & Sipe, L. R Literature and the Child, Wadsworth Cengate Learning, California

Willems, Mo (2004). Knuffle Bunny Too: the case of mistaken identity. Hyperion 2nd edition, New York
Mo Willems biography http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Mo_Willems

On My Plate

(sorry no picture) 

This book is about enjoying protein foods and all of the foods that are protein. This is a fun way for children to eat healthy and is based off of the MyPlate Meal Structure.

This will be considered a nonfiction book because it instructs children to eat healthy meals, but have fun doing it.

Children go over the pyramid of foods and the different food groups. Also, they could list foods that are in the protein list, and foods that are not protein. 

What’s cool about this book is it shows real children enjoying a meal full of protein. Children can see that other children just like them, eat healthy foods, and look like they enjoy doing it!  Teachers can teach about health by reading this book aloud and making a chart to see what type of food has protein in it. They could do the different types of food groups.

This is a great book because it has large pictures that other children can see. They can show mommy and daddy what they’ve learned about protein at home, maybe request that their parents fix something with only protein in it! 

Evan Early

Natalie is waiting on her premature baby to come home and as she waits, she learns all the things the doctors have to go through to make sure the baby is strong and healthy. When things go wrong, and the doctors and parents bustle to keep the baby stable, Natalie gets upset because she is not getting enough attention, and finally everything is alright and the baby is home.

The story is very cool because it talks about real-life events, even though it is a fictional book. The illustrations are colorful and it looks like they are pastel watercolor paint illustrations. I like the brightness of the illustrations because they signal that this is a happy joyous moment when the baby arrives.

Teachers can do these things in the classroom with this book.

·         Read the book in a reading circle and ask questions about children’s experiences with having a baby brother or sister. Ask them how they felt, if they felt left out because their mommy and daddy gave the baby too much attention. Ask them to draw an illustration and write about their experiences.

·         Create a discovery lesson about premature babies for older children. Explain to them the process of a baby being born and show illustrations (not really graphic illustrations).

I really enjoyed reading this book because it conveys the emotions of this little girl as she waits for her brother to come home. This book can be read at home or at school and I think children can pretty much relate to this book. 

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach

Martina Josephina Catalina Cucaracha is searching for a perfect husband. She does the legendary "coffee test" for each contestant that comes through her door until finally she finds the right one for her!

This story is a legendary Cuban folktale and fantasy. It is a very good example of a multicultural book because it allows the display of an ethnic background to emerge. It is categorized as a fantasy because it has some features in the book that aren't found in the real world, such as a cockroach being beautiful (whoever heard of a cockroach being beautiful?) or the animals talking - the cockroaches, the rooster, pig, lizard and mouse can't talk in the real world.

Activities for the book probably would include a puppet play for a kindergarten class, one student could be the main character, one student could be the grandmother and the rest could be the rooster, pig, lizard, and cockroach.

Another activity could be that children could write a different version of the traditional Cuban story. Maybe make it as if it were written in today's world. Maybe switch the characters and make them human.

The illustrations in the book are very colorful, vivid, and very detailed. The illustrator draws the characters' expressions on their faces like a real human's expression.

I would personally choose this book to read to my children, at home, or at school, especially since there are a lot of fun characters in the book. I chose this book because the kindergarten class in my internship read it - but I didn't read the story. They listened to it on the CD player. The author made a CD of herself reading the story. She ad libbed most of it and did the voices of the characters. It was fun to hear all of the characters in their Spanish accents! If I were to read the story, I wouldn't know how to ad lib the parts, but read it word for word.

Carmen Agra Deedy, who is the author of this book, was born in Havana, Cuba and came to this country as a refugee in 1964. She has been writing children's books for nearly 20 years.

She has won many awards for her children's books.

• The Library Dragon  - won numerous children's state book awards
• The Yellow Star  - 2001 Jane Addams Peace Association Book Award
• and of course Martina the Beautiful Cockroach  - won 2008 Pura Belpre Honor Award and 2008 Best Children's book of the year 

In 2009 released a book  called 14 Cows for America which was based off of an amazing gift that America received from the Maazi tribe in Africa, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.



                                                         Bibliography
Deedy C.A., (2007) Martina the Beautiful Cockroach. Peachtree Publishing, Atlanta Georgia 

The Peterkins' Thanksgiving

The Peterkins are about to gorge on Thanksgiving dinner, but one problem; the meal is stuck in the dumbwaiter near the ceiling! They must call the carpenter to pull it down so they can have their meal, and the problem is fully solved by doing just that!

This wonderfully illustrated book called The Peterkins' Thanksgiving seemingly takes place in the 1600s back in the Pilgrim Ages.Halperin This book was written by Elizabeth Spurr and illustrated by Wendy Anderson  It is historical fiction because it is based on the Pilgrims' first settlement in what is now known as America! This book is wonderfully crafted for children to read. It is the perfect book for children to get ready for Thanksgiving. Teachers will want to plan activities around this book, maybe pretend to have a Pilgrim Thanksgiving or teach historical events based on the Pilgrims settling to America. 

Reader responses should include:

•                  Prereading: What do you think the book is about?
                                         What kind of clothes are they wearing? Are they wearing the                                              same clothes that we are wearing? 
•                  During reading: The teacher would read to the class the entire text. 
•                  After reading: (2nd grade) Students will be given a series of questions pertai-                                            ning to the text.                                  

                                                        a. What would you do if you were at the Peterkins'                                                                      Thanksgiving dinner?
                                                        b. Compare life in the Pilgrim Age to life today. Do we
                                                         have the same materials that they used back then, or
                                                        different. Explain your answer.

                            Activity: Play as Pilgrims and have Thanksgiving dinner like the Pilgrims had Thanksgiving dinner. 

The illustrations are very realistic looking, like they have come out of an old 17th century book (to me, they do). They are very colorful and paint a lovely picture of what the Pilgrims had during the 17th century. 

I personally love historical fiction because it is intricately wrapped around events, in history, just with additional fictional characters (hence, why it is historical fiction). I've read romance novels based on historical fiction. One was based on slavery in the 1800s and the time warp between the past and present, back and forth from the 1800s slavery times to the 21st century. Two people who eventually fall in love pretty much get a blast from the past when one of the characters eventually turns into a reincarnation. This may probably sound silly but it was a really good book. 

One can learn a lot of things with historical fiction and base real life events on it, and that's why I personally love it! 

                                                         Biblography

Spurr, Elizabeth (2006). The peterkins' thanksgiving. New York. Atheneum Books for                        Young Readers