Junie B. Jones - Boss of Lunch

Junie B. Jones: Boss of Lunch is written by Barbara Park and illustrated by Denise Brunkus. It was published in 2002 by Random House Children's Books.

Lexile Level: 330L    Ages: 6-10

Summary:

     Junie B. Jones: Boss of Lunch is an early chapter book.

     Junie B. Jones gets a new lunchbox in the mail, and her interest in lunch time at school begins to grow. At lunch one day, she learns that Mrs. Gutzman, a lunch lady she used to adore, still works at her school. Upon learning this, Junie B. sprints to the kitchen and finds her. Mrs. Gutzman enlists Junie B. as a lunch helper, giving her gloves, an apron, and three different jobs to perform in the kitchen. In the end, Junie B. comes to learn that being a lunch helper isn’t all its cracked up to be, and the school lunch is especially gross!

Evaluation and Illustrations:

     I really enjoy the Junie B. Jones books because they give students important messages through a short chapter book.Throughout the Junie B. Jones: Boss of Lunch book she is learning valuable life lessons. Therefore, I found this book to be realistic. Taking on lunch duty at school is a important and hard task and this book shows that this is a hard task but it also shows tolerance and acceptance, problem solving, and the way Junie B. reacts to each situation. I think that the author's main point was to show students to try new things and sometimes it may not be what you like, for instance Junie B. Jones found out that school lunches are GROSS!

     Another part of this book I found great was every time a  new word would come up it would be described. For example, "That one is an eaglet. I said." "An eaglet is a baby eagle"

     There are a few illustrations scattered throughout the chapter book and these illustrations capture the important parts of the story. In the beginning an important part is when Junie B. Jones gets her brand new lunchbox so the illustrator, Denise Brunkus, made sure to include Junie's excited expression with her animal decorated lunchbox.

Literary Elements:

      There are spots of onomatopoeia scattered throughout this story such as the work ICK that is brought up multiple times. The main themes of this books are the lunch room, elementary school, responsibility, and growing up. The setting of this story was in the elementary school and the lunch room.

1. Onomatopoeia: words like ICK!
2. Themes: responsibility and growing up
3. Setting: elementary school and the lunch room

In the Classroom:

     For this lesson I would have students write a story about something new they tried and if they liked it or not. Some questions I would pose are:

• What is something new you have tried?
• Did you like it?
• Why or why not?
• Would you ever do it again?
• Did you choose to do this or did someone ask you to do it?
• How often/long did you have to do it for?

 

 

Park, B., & Brunkus, D. (2002). Junie B. Jones, boss of lunch. New York: Random House. 

Mouse

Mouse is written by Angie Sage. It was published in 2001 by Penguin Group.

Lexile Level: N/A      Ages: 9-12

Summary:

     Mouse is an early chapter book.

     Mouse is Izzy's best friend, they do everything together. Except one thing, school. One day Mouse is determined to go to school with Izzy, so he sneaks into her backpack. At school she has lots of excitement on what turns out to be a truly magical day.

Evaluation and Illustrations:

      Mouse is a great introductory chapter book for younger students. It is a sixty page book that has a picture on almost every page. The chapters are also very short ranging from six to eight pages. This story has a great message that is told from the Mouse's point of view. The mouse spends his days at home bored while Izzy is at school so he finds a way to secretly spend the day with her. I do not think this book is realistic at all because a mouse cannot talk back to a human or give themselves a bath, but it is a creative fiction story.

     The illustrations in this book are bright and colorful that makes it exciting to keep reading. The mouse is displayed in almost all of the illustrations and his expression is clear, whether he is angry, happy, sad, or scared. There is also great detail in the illustrations when mouse is going to take a bath there is a bathroom background that has bubbles floating around, bathroom tiles of all colors, and a mirror that has a clear reflection.

Literary Elements:

     Angie Sage uses onomatopoeia throughout Mouse for example the words aaargh, er, ow, and eurgh. Sage also uses personification because the main character mouse is given human characteristics such as talking. The characters in this story include Mouse and Izzy.

1. Onomatopoeia: er, ow, eurgh, aaargh
2. Personification: mouse can talk
3. Characters: Mouse and Izzy

In the Classroom:

     I would use this book as an introduction to chapters and what a chapter is. As students are becoming aware of chapter books they should be introduced to fun and colorful stories as they transition from picture books. I would also use this book to explain to students what personification is.

The Tooth - Online Rescource (4)

This book is written by Avi Slodovnick and illustrated by Manon Gauthier. It was published in 2010 by Kane/Miller Book Publishers.

Lexile Level: AD740L     Ages: 5-8

http://www.storylineonline.net/the-tooth/

Summary: 

      The Tooth is a young girl named Marissa that wakes up with a tooth ache because she ate too much candy. Rather than going to school her mom takes her to the dentist. She experiences the morning hustle in a busy city, careful to hold her mom's hand tightly. Then she sees the most unusual sight, a homeless man. In the waiting room Marissa watches the man from the window. Noticing that most of the people walked straight passed the man. Marissa gets her rotten tooth pulled and gets it back in an orange envelope. She is reminded to put the tooth under her pillow for the tooth fairy. While back on the street Marissa pulls away from her mother and runs up to the homeless man. She gives him her tooth and tells him to put it under his pillow.

Evaluation and Illustrations:

     The tooth is a moving book. The little girls learns about a lot on her trip to the dentist. She meets a homeless man on her way and is so curious about him. After the dentist trip, she decides to give the tooth to the man so that he will get money the next morning. She did not know why this man was sitting on the street with a box, but the beauty in this story is that she did all she could do in her situation. Marissa did not have money all she had was a tooth, most children want to keep their teeth and earn money, but Marissa was different she cared about someone else well being. 

     From the title The Tooth no one would guess that the book is about giving to someone else in need. It would be a great story to read to students because it talks about helping others and that not all homeless people are negative. When walking on the street there are homeless people who are grouchy even in movies they are depicted as grouchy, but this book shows that their are homeless people that are kind and thankful for what is given to them. 

     This book was illustrated by Manon Gauthier. I personally disliked the illustrations. The characters Marissa, her mom, and the people on the street looked dirty. The illustrations looked rushed and not to detailed. Although, I felt they were drawn wrong, they did follow along with the text well. The city is depicted as a gray towering presence while the main characters pop in color against the gray. The homeless man is also shown in color though the other people on the street are the same gray as the city itself. 

Literary Elements:

     The tone of this story is hopeful, generous, and caring. This is shown through Marissa wanting to help the homeless man. The characters are Marissa, her mom, the homeless man, and the dentist. The setting of this story is in the large city streets and the dentist office.

1. Tone: hopeful, generous, caring, thoughtful
2. Characters: Marissa, her mom, the homeless man, and the dentist
3. Setting: the dentist office and the street

In the Classroom:

     I would use this text to introduce helping others and what it means to help others. As a class we will have a discussion about who has ever helped any one and what did they do. After the discussion the students will have to think of one kind thing to do for another peer. They could write a kind letter, offer to throw their garbage away, give them a compliment, or ask to sit by them at lunch.


Slodovnick, A., & Gauthier, M. (2010). The tooth. Tulsa, OK: Kane/Miller Book .

The Land of Lost Thing / El Pais de Las Cosas Perdidas

This book was written and illustrated by Dina Bursztyn. It was published in 2011 by Pinata Books; Bilingual edition.
Lexile Level: AD430L     Ages: 5-7

Summary:

     The Land of Lost Things is a bilingual book about a young boy wanted to draw, but his blue pencil was missing. He looked inside his pencil box. It was empty, but there was a narrow path. He followed the path and arrived in a forest of blue pencils. Continuing to explore he found a missing button, hair comb, scissors, and everything else he had ever lost. He followed the path through the mountain of mittens, the garden of lost umbrellas, and the flock of flying socks. He catches a sock and looks through the hole in the sock and went back to his pencil box.

Evaluation and Illustrations:

     I found the illustrations in this book to be a bit odd. When I was doing some research on the writer/illustrator Dina Bursztyn I found an article that was discussing whether the character is a boy or a girl. To me, the character looks like a young boy, but I could see how some readers see the character as a girl.There was also a discussion over which race the character is, on some pages he has darker skin and on other pages he has lighter skin. Unfortunately, I found the illustrations inconsistent. One thing I did find nicely done was the boy’s exploration is depicted with the whimsical art in digital collage, opaque watercolors and markers.The reader can clearly tell he is walking through a garden of umbrellas or a mountain of gloves.

     I think this was a good story but there is room for improvement. The plot for younger students is believable because younger children lose things all the time and they go on a mini adventures to find there missing item. This book is bilingual and on each page there is a English on the left page and Spanish on the right page. I found text was a bit slow and awkward and much more could have been done with this story. The ending is also very abrupt and could leave the reader confused. Altogether, I think the illustrations pulled the story together to make it an enjoyable read for both the English readers and the Spanish readers. This may not be a story I would use as a read-out-loud maybe just a book I would have in my classroom. I think it would be OK to do a read-out-loud when you have Spanish speaking students.

Literary Elements:

     The main character in this story is the young boy who is trying to find his blue colored pencil. The tone of this story starts out sad because he cannot find his blue pencil, but as he begins to explore "the land of lost things" he cheers up because he is finding so much lost stuff, like his comb and scissors. The setting of this story is in the young boys home and it moves into the path of his pencil case.

1. Character: the young boy
2. Tone: sad to happy
3. Setting: the boys home and pencil case

In the Classroom:

     An activity I would do with my students is have them think about something they lost that was important to them. Once they know the item have them write a paragraph about that item.
Including:

• What is the item?
• Where did you(or think you) lost the item?
• Did you find the item?
• How long was it missing for?
• Where did you find it?

 

 

Bursztyn, D. (2011). The Land of Lost Things/El Pais de Las Cosas Perdidas. Pinata Books.

Binky to the Rescue

Binky to the Rescue is written and illustrated by Ashley Spires. It was published in 2010 by Kids Can Press, Ltd.

Lexile Level: GN360L     Ages: 7-10

Summary:

      Binky to the rescue is about a black and white cat named Binky. Binky thinks he lives in a shuttle in outer space so he is always chasing the aliens in his home, which are really flies. One day while chasing a alien he falls out of a window and now he thinks he is in outer space. He uses a hose for oxygen, ties himself to a garden gnome so he does not fly away, and he takes notes on all the mysterious aliens. His humans find him and bring him inside, but he realizes he left his favorite toy Ted outside. Binky makes a plan to go back to space and get Ted. After two failed attempts he decides to dig a hole. He avoided all of the aliens and got Ted back! Back inside he realizes that Ted is ruined so the humans take Ted into another room and brings Ted out as good as new.

Evaluation and Illustrations:

     If there were no words in this graphic novel the illustrations could tell the story and the same message will be received at the end. Being a graphic novel there are all different size illustrations. On some pages there are nine small boxes, on another page it has three longer boxes, and on some pages the whole page is one image. I think that this gives the book character and makes it easier for a student to follow. Spires uses a muted, limited palette of colors mainly browns, blues and greens with just a tiny splash of color, for example the red hat on a garden gnome. There is also great detail in the images, Binky and the humans have distinct characteristics. The bees and flies are easy to tell apart even from a far and the house/outside garden looks realistic. 

     This is a graphic novel for any gender, but maybe leaning more towards boys because of some of the humor.  It is a very creative story and gets the reader to think outside of the box. This book has realistic and unrealistic sections. I found the beginning and the end to be realistic because cats do chase flies and they do want their favorite toy to be fixed, but the middle of the story was unrealistic because a cat cannot swing from a rope off of the ceiling fan or paint themselves to match the wallpaper. This book is a comedy for young readers and the unrealistic sections of the book make it a comedy. It is an adventure book and will be great in a classroom to introduce graphic novels and adventures.

Literary Elements:

     This book has onomatopoeia several times on every page. Just the fist page has the words sproing, pumf, vwhosh, thump, tuck, bzzzzz. The setting is in the humans house or as Binky thinks the space station. Binky also ventures outside in the garden or as he thinks outer space. The characters in this graphic novel are Binky, Ted, and the humans.

1. Onomatopoeia: Bzzzzz, Thump, Whosh

2. Setting: In the house and outside

3. Characters: Binky, Ted, and the humans

 In the Classroom:

      After reading I would discuss animal habitats, ask what pets students have at home, and have them write stories on what they think their animals think about or do while they are gone. Once they have brainstormed their ideas they can create a small comic strip that illustrates their story. These can be put on display so all the students can read about their classmates pets. 

Spires, A. (2010). Binky to the rescue. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press.

    

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

The book is written by Sherman Alexie and illustrated by Ellen Forney. It was published in 2007 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

Lexile Level: 600L    Ages: 12-17

Summary:

     The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a novel that is narrated by a 14 year old Spokane Indian, Arnold or Junior, who is a hydrocephalic, meaning he was born with water on the brain. Arnold takes us on a journey through his life beginning with the important people in his life. We read about Oscar, his best canine friend and Rowdy, his best friend the tough-guy. 

     Moving on, Arnold talks about his experience at school. He uses a textbook that has his mother's name in it which he ends up throwing at his teacher, Mr. P. Mr. P comes to visit Arnold and tells him he needs to get out of the reservation because he is intelligent and can do more with his life. So, Arnold takes Mr. P's advice and transfers to the white school in Reardan. Arnold's parents are OK with hides decision but Rowdy becomes very upset over the news and  punches Junior in the face.

     Arnold starts at Reardan High School, where he meets a beautiful blonde Penelope and gets picked on by Roger, the jock. As his time at Reardan progresses Arnold punches Roger in the nose, but Roger does not fight back. He begins to respects Arnold. Penelope and Arnold become close when he finds out her secret, she is anorexic. They become so close Arnold takes her to the winter dance. Through his time at Reardan, Arnold has been passing as middle-class, Penelope finds out that he is poor and feels sorry for him. Penelope and Arnold become semi-girlfriend and boyfriend.

     Arnold becomes friends with Gordy who is the school genius. Gordy teaches Arnold how to really read  book and other joys of learning. While attending Reardan Arnold starts to realize he is a part-time Indian. He is Junior on the reservation, where he is disliked, and at school in Reardan he is Arnold. To feel more like home, Arnold tries out for basketball. With some encouragement from his coach, he makes varsity. The first game is on the reservation where he is playing against his ex-best friend Rowdy. Rowdy ends up knocking Arnold unconscious. In the rematch, Arnold's team wins. 

     During the remainder of the book, Arnold goes through a series of losses. He loses his grandmother who is hit by a drunk driver and he loses his dad's best friend Eugene who was shot in the face. Unfortunately, he also loses his sister Mary in a trailer fire. The end of the book is a   reconciliation between Rowdy and Arnold. The play a game of one-on-one basketball.

Evaluation and Illustrations:

     This book was very much a comedy that talks about everyday (some serious) issues. The novel addresses racism, sexual references, and swearing. I do think a middle school class would enjoy this novel because of its humor. I didn’t really like some of the racist, sexist, homophobic language that was used, but it felt authentic to the characters. Reading the novel it was like listening to students talk to each other in my placement, it was normal. Although, it addresses these crude topics it has a stronger meaning.

      A coming of age story with identity, doing something better with your life, and breaking down stereotypes. This novel seems realistic the story is from Arnold/Juniors point of view and it shows what he goes through as an Indian boy attending a White school. The setting is accurate. Arnold tells the reader about the reservation and how much alcoholism is around. He also mentions the fighting that occurs and how families stick up for each other. For example, on page 61 Arnold writes a list of "The Unofficial and Unwritten Spokane Indian Rules of Fisticuffs". The setting goes back and forth between the reservation and Reardan and Arnold makes sure the reader knows the distinction between the two.

      The comic illustrations by Ellen Forney are wonderful. They bring the story together by illustrating Arnold's wit and comedic voice. They make the novel interesting to read and a middle school student would be happy to read a novel with illustrations. Some of the comics bring more dialogue into the story, for instance, on page 120 there is a comic called "how to pretend you are not poor" and it has five boxes each with an excuse to get out of things that require money.

Literary Elements:

     There is symbolism in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Page 11 is an example, Arnold had a dog named Oscar who fell ill. He asked to take his dog to the vet, his family said no they will take care of it on the reservation. His father shots Oscar. The death of the animal, who is a completely innocent, becomes a symbol for the senseless destruction caused by poverty on the reservation. In fact, Arnold mentions Oscar's death as the worst thing about poverty: it's even worse than being hungry. The setting of this novel takes place in two locations. One is on the reservation where Arnold lives and the other is in Reardan where Arnold attends school. Towards the end of the novel Rowdy and Arnold climb a pine tree showing imagery. "I don't know if anybody else has ever climbed that tree. I look at it now, years later, and I can't believe we did it. And I can't believe I survived my first year at Reardan" (Alexie 226). This pine tree is imagery because Arnold gives a description of the tree (how tall it was) and then once he and Rowdy were at the top he gave a description about the view. From his descriptions as the reader we can visualize the tree and the view.

1. Symbolism: Oscar = poverty
2. Setting: the reservation and Reardan
3. Imagery: the tall pine tree and the view

In the Classroom:

     (For the whole book) With this book I would have my students do small group discussions. I would also have them do the container with a lid activity because there are multiple characters the students can chose from to represent. In their small discussion groups I would have them share their container objects and then discuss their favorite and least favorite part of the book.

     (For chapters throughout) Breaking the book up into sections will encourage the students to predict what might happen next. For each of the chunks of book I will have the students bring in a list of questions (appropriate) and have four small discussion groups. Each student will be encouraged to participate as they will each have to bring in questions.


Alexie, S., & Forney, E. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown.

Colors! Colores!

This book is written by Jorge Lujan and illustrated by Piet Grobler. It was published in 2008 by Groundwood Books.

Lexile Level: NP (Non-prose)     Ages: 5-8

NP: Non-Prose

The NP code is for any book comprising more than 50% non-standard or non-conforming prose. NP books do not receive a Lexile measure, merely the NP code. Some common examples of non-prose content are poems, plays, songs, recipes, and text with non-standard or absent punctuation.  (Lexile.com)

Summary:

     Colors! Colores! takes the reader through a journey through the celebration of colors. John Lujan takes the reader through day to night using a range of colors. We see children and an antelope inhabiting this delicate world. This bilingual book presents a gorgeous vision of a planet in nature. From descriptions of greenery, the rising sun, nights arrival, and the moon.

Evaluation and illustrations:

     This book visually looks like a picture book, but it is actually a fully illustrated collection of 11 poems (one poem for each color). Each poem appears in English and directly underneath is Spanish. The best part of the poems is when the colors were mentioned they were written in the color said in both the English and Spanish sections. For example,

"I saw a lake.

I saw a flower.

I saw the twilight.

... Violet!

Vio un lago, 

vio una flor,

vio el ocaso,

violeta!"

With the author doing this it makes it easier for the students to find the correct color in their opposing language. For instance, if the student is reading English and wants to know what green looks like in Spanish then they can easily find the word. 

     Piet Grobler made eye-catching watercolor paintings for each poem. His drawing are simple and unique and captures the colors Lujan is describing in all the right ways. The second time reading this story I noticed there was an antelope placed on all the pages (besides one) this antelope provides a link between the following pictures to create a cohesive whole. One issue with the illustrations is the red and the orange pages almost look the same. The orange page comes first and it looks like the color orange, but then the red page comes straight after and looking back and forth the red looks like orange.

Literary Elements:

     Since they were poems there were some that rhymed, for example: 

"Brown. 

A coconut floating down, 

a rock far from town,

where an antelope is watching".

There were also some similes throughout. One example is "the color pink, bright as a little girl's nose, makes everything smell like a rose". There were also metaphors, one example is "Yellow rolls through the sky like a warm gold coin". 

1. Rhyming: Most of the short poems rhyme

2. Simile: There are not many, but there are two on the pink page

3. Metaphor: The color yellow uses a metaphor.

In the Classroom:

     I would use this book in my classroom for my ELL students (English Language Learners) or students who want to know Spanish. This book is simple and will help students accurately find the word for a certain colors.

     I would also use this book to introduce poetry. These are simple poems that can be an example for younger students. I would have my students pick five colors and similar to the author Jorge Lujan create poems for those colors. They could describe anything the student wanted such as, a notebook or the color of their pet. Along with writing the poem they can also create illustrations that displays the colors accurately. 

Lujan, J., & Grobler, P. (2008). Colors! Colores! Groundwood Books.