Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace is written by Mary Hoffman and Illustrated by Caroline Binch. It was published in 1991 by Dial Books for Young Readers.

Lexile Level: 680L     Ages: 4-8

Summary:

     Grace is a girl who loves stories, whether they're from books, movies, or the kind her grandmother tells. She would act out the stories and gave herself the most exciting parts, such as, Joan of Arc or Anansi the Spider. Sometimes she got her mom and grandmother to join. Her school decided to do a performance of Peter Pan and Grace wants to play the lead, but her classmates point out that Peter Pan is a boy and he wasn't black. Feeling down her grandmother takes her to a performance of Romeo and Juliet, only to find out Juliet was played by a Rosalie Wilkins, who was black. Feeling confident Grace auditions for Peter Pan and the results were amazing!

Evaluation:

     The story line of this book is powerful. This young girl Grace wants to be Peter Pan but is judged because Peter Pan is a boy and he is white. Grace had a change in attitude when her grandmother took her to the Romeo and Juliet performance. So? Anyone can do anything if they set their mind to it. She overcame the others comments and proved that a black girl could play Peter Pan just as well as a white male.
     The illustrations portrayed the characters and their culture well. Amazing Grace is full of gorgeous illustrations and the lesson that anybody can do anything, regardless of race or gender. The illustrations with other students shows diversity as well. Some of the students are black and some students are white.

Illustrations and Elements:

     As mentioned above the illustrations were accurately displayed. As for the literary elements Mary Hoffman shows the meaning/ purpose of the book as complex because there are several issues portrayed in this story (stereotyping). We see this when Grace's mother "looked angry" when Grace told her about Natalie's Comment at school "I can't be Peter Pan because I'm black". The theme is revealed through the story as overcoming an obstacle (the other students' comments). Language is another literary element that stood out in Amazing Grace. There are several instances of dialect, for example, when Nana says, "Natalie is another one who don't know nothing" and "she can do anything she want".  There is also use of figurative language. Such as, "put her mind to it" and "lives were in her hands". These add complexity and may need to be explained to students. Hoffman also includes characters that are important to Grace, she includes her mom and Nana. Without these characters support she would have believed what her classmates were saying about the role of Peter Pan.

1.Theme: Overcoming obstacles in life
2.Characters: Grace, Grace's mom, and Grace's Nana
3.Language: Some use of figurative language

In the Classroom:

Amazing Grace is a book that can be used for discussions. It could be for small group discussions or large group discussions. I would do a large group discussion and ask for reactions.

• After reading, ask students to share their reactions to the book. What did they think of the book? What surprised them about the book? What was their favorite part? What did they think of the main character?

Hoffman, M., & Binch, C. (1991). Amazing Grace. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.

Home

Home is written by Jeannie Baker. It was published in 2004 by Greenwillow Books. 

Lexile Level: NP (Non-Prose)        Ages: 4-8

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:

     Home is a wordless book that takes the reader through an urban journey. Every double page is a view through the same window, a view that changes over a generation, beginning with a couple expecting a baby and continuing as the baby grows up, is courted, and is married in the neighborhood street. At the beginning the is smog ruining the view of the neighborhood, but gradually there are changes. The community paints over graffiti on buildings, plant local plants, a glimpse over the river appears, cyclists and people are everywhere, and birds are on the roof and soaring through the sky. Even at night there is a clear sky allowing the large moon to be seen.

Evaluation:

      Home by Jeannie Baker relates to "The Curious Garden" because in both books, industry is tackled by those citizens who take an interest in natural beautification. Although, I found "The Curious Garden" to have unrealistic images, Home was opposite it displayed more realistic images of a town transforming. Buildings were getting torn down and trees were getting planted. Jeannine Baker displays a diverse community as the environment becomes healthier. She displays older people, children, middle-aged people, white people, and people with dark skin.

     Overall, this book addresses the relationship people have with the environment and how over time they can make a change for the better by introducing old plants and animals back.

Illustrations and Elements:

     Baker uses full page illustrations which make the story come alive to the reader. Each page is a view from a girls bedroom looking over her neighborhood. Baker takes this view and makes changes as the story progresses. She not only does this on the outside, but also the inside. Baker gives clues about the girl Tracy's age as the community grows just as if the reader is growing with her. Not only does Baker offer incredible illustrations she made this a wordless book leaving the illustrations for interpretation and thought. 

1. Characters: The girl (Tracy), her parents, and neighbors. 
2. Setting: A view through Tracy's bedroom window looking out at her community. See apartments, the river, car dealership, and other buildings. 
3. Theme: Introducing plants and animals back into the environment to create a lush and active community. 

In the Classroom:

      This book would be useful in the classroom because it is a book that could be used in a lesson focusing on the environment and its changes over the last twenty years. Baker takes the time to make small changes in each window display, some changes may include a building being painted or the sky is clear. Baker also showed through this wordless story that re-building a community into something beautiful takes time (a whole generation). A teacher could bring in a discussion about the importance of bringing back local plants and animals and why the community would benefit from the growth of plants and animals. This story could also be used to teach working together towards a common goal. As the child grew older and older the community becomes more and more involved in the improvement to their neighborhood. This neighborhood would continue to be filled with smog and pollution from cars, but all the members in the community took initiative and helped introduce plants and animals. This book would be a good way to start a discussion about the coming together to do something great for the environment because the students will interpret the pages in a variety of ways.


 Baker, J. (2004). Home. New York: Greenwillow Books.

The Curious Garden

The Curious Garden is written by Peter Brown. This book was published in 2009 by the LIttle, Brown Books for Young Readers.
Lexile Level: 4D840L      Ages: 4-7

Summary:

     The Curious Garden revolves around a young redheaded boy named Liam. Liam loves to spend time outside and one day while wandering in the gray industrialized city he comes across a staircase leading to an abandoned railway. Up the stairs Liam notices a patch of vegetation that is struggling to survive. Even though Liam has little experience caring for living things he decides to do what he can to care for these plants. Liam brings supplies (shears and a bucket of water) to nurture the garden. Winter comes around and interrupts Liam's progress on the garden. The following spring, Liam continues to help the expanding garden explore its way through the city as it grows in old places and forgotten belongings. Soon enough members of the community emerge building blankets of greenery on roofs of buildings and along the streets. This once gray and industrialized city has been transformed into a healthy environment.  Many years later, Liam, now with his own family, is depicted tending to that first patch of garden that started the revolution.

Evaluation:

    This is a book that offers a variety of learning opportunities. The book can be used to show the gradual growth of a garden. The garden begins with a young boy and ends when the young boy has grown up and had children. I find this book to be suitable for younger and older students because it portrays the message and characters accurately.
     The only issue from the book is that the town the story was based on was completely industrialized and by the end of the story none of the buildings or factories existed because they were covered in garden. This is not something that could realistically occur, but the message, characters, and theme made the story believable.
      Based on Donna Norton, Peter Brown shows the theme of change or making a difference. Brown's story is based on a young boy who loves the outdoors makes the difference.  The need to appreciate and care for the plant world around us transcends race, gender and culture.

Illustrations and Elements:

      Brown’s cheerful protagonist and the vibrancy of his landscapes made this a meaningful story. These illustrations gave an excellent display of a city's progression from industrialization to a bright vibrant landscape. The wordless two page spread situated in the middle of the book shows Liam staring out at a view of factories and smokestacks, with the slow spreading greenery and flowers trailing behind him.  Liam is standing on the building looking at great change, taking in and acknowledging the past before the landscape before him transforms into a healthy safe environment. Brown made this an interactive story by including Liam, the redheaded boy, on each page for students to search for among the changes to the environment.

1. Setting: The story takes place in the city in which Liam lives.  In the book he is all around the city planting gardens. 
2. Theme: Making a difference in the community or larger the world.
3. Style: The author uses great word choice because he uses words that children do not hear on a daily basis (drizzy, toll, and restless). The author uses short paragraphs and sometimes uses compounded sentences.

In the Classroom:

      The Curious Garden could be used in two mini lessons to provide support to a larger lesson. As the title suggests Brown's book focuses on curiosity. With this book students will be able to state one thing they are curious about related to The Curious Garden or the garden it is based on.The focus of the lesson would be to teach students the definition of curiosity and have students be able to apply the definition of curiosity to their own lives. The world is full of interesting ideas and experiences for children to explore. Being curious helps them learn more about the world around and can hep them learn more in school.

     The second lesson this book could be used for is the understanding of sustainability and the protection of nature. Give students the opportunity to design a rooftop garden for a building in their area. This lesson could go further than science by having students calculate the perimeter (if the students are old enough) of the area in mind.  Challenge students to research the advantages and obstacles to consider when converting roof space to green space. This book offers information to students that keeping the world green and clean is better than an industrialized gray sky.


Brown, P. (2009). The curious garden. New York: Little, Brown and Co. 

Tadpole's Promise

 

The picture book Tadpole's Promise is written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Tony Ross. It was published in 2005 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 

Lexile Level: 4D400L     Ages: 4-8

Summary: 

     Tadpole's Promise is a story about love. Above ground there is a rainbow caterpillar that has love for a tadpole in the water below. The caterpillar loves the tadpole just the way he is and throughout the story the caterpillar states "I love everything about you. Promise you'll never change". The tadpole always promises he will never change. As the seasons change the tadpole matures, his legs grow, and then his arms. The caterpillar matures into a butterfly who realizes that she still loves the tadpole/frog and decided to forgive him for changing. As the frog sits on his lily pad the butterfly approaches. Before she can apologize she is digested by the frog. Tadpole will never know where his beautiful rainbow caterpillar went! 

Evaluation:

      This story could be used as high quality literature, because it addresses a different avenues of learning. This is a wonderful story to use when teaching, or reviewing, the life cycle because we see the progression of a frog and caterpillar. I would recommenced this story for a older students, 4th and 5th grade, because there is a realistic twist at the end that the younger students may not have been prepared for.

     This book can be use to teach a moral lesson as well. This books main theme is promises the moral lesson will be to make sure student understand that promises are important and they need to be careful what they promise. We see that the tadpole made promises that were out of his control and it cause the caterpillar to get upset.

     The author had a clear message in Tadpole's Promise and it is a story that accurately portrayed the life cycle of the frog and caterpillar and it also accurately displayed that when promises are broken consistently it can cause the other person (or caterpillar) to get upset. According to Donna Norton the main theme was relationships and Jeanne Willis showed the relationship between the caterpillar and the tadpole.

Illustrations and Elements:

     Tadpole's Promise reads from top to bottom, rather than from left to right. Vertical images surrounded by a white border depict a love affair between a caterpillar (on a willow leaf on the upper page) and tadpole (in a pond on the lower page). This layout is consistent throughout the whole story there is never a time in the story that has just land or just water, which allows the reader to follow the tadpole and the rainbow caterpillar. Tadpole's Promise displays conflict by having two animals promise each other something that is unattainable. This could be a reason to do a read-a-loud with students. It will show students that a promise is to be made in situations that you have control over. The tadpole did not have control on his maturing causing him to break his promise and upset the rainbow caterpillar. Another literary element that stood out was the tone. The tone has the reader feeling a bit sad, awestruck, and surprised.

1. Setting: Where the willow tree meets the water.

2. Theme: Trying to keep a promise

3. Conflict: A tadpole and a caterpillar promise each other something that is unattainable. 

In the Classroom:

       Tadpole's Promise can be used as a read-a-loud in the classroom for two lessons. The first lesson is in relation to science. This story could be an introduction to metamorphosis and the life cycle. This story shows the growth of a frog from his legs to his arms. It also shows the caterpillar transforming into a butterfly and gets eaten by the frog showing the life cycle. These are some questions the teacher could ask while reading this story to the class.

     -Can you explain what metamorphosis is?
     -Write a report that explains how tadpoles change into frogs and caterpillars change into     butterflies.
The second lesson that a teacher could use this story for is prediction. This story gives the teacher multiple opportunities to stop and ask "what do you think will happen next?". A specific time to ask a question would be the first time the caterpillar asks the tadpole to promise he will never change. This is a time to pause and ask what will happen next? Another opportunity is when the caterpillar has changed into a butterfly have the students predict what will happen between the frog and butterfly. 


Willis, J., & Ross, T. (2005). Tadpole's promise. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.