Vision of Beauty: The Story of Sarah Breedlove Walker by Kathryn Lasky

Lasky, K. (2000). Vision of Beauty: The Story of Sarah Breedlove Walker. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press. (1bk)

Grades: 2nd to 4th

Awards:
2000 Parents Choice Recommended Award

Summary: This partial biography is about the incrediable story of Sarah Breedlove Walker. Madam Walker was born just after slavery and orphaned when she was seven. She continued to dream of a time when she could stand with pride and confidence that she was a beautiful black woman. Although she married at fourteen and widowed by twenty, she didn’t let herself as a single parent diminish her dreams of helping women of her race. In this narrative, she prayed to God to show her the way and starting inventing hair products. She became one of the biggest and richest “colored” people of her time. She never forgot where she game from, giving back to her community.

Credibility of Author:
Although there were some gaps in Madam Walker’s story, Lasky based a much of the story on research. She obtained much of her information from A’Lelia Perry Bundles, Madam Walker’s great-great-grandaughter.

Illustator/Illustrations: Nneka Bennett used water color and pencils to illustrate this book. These illustrations are vivid and helps the reader to imagine a the time period and feelings that Madam Walker went through.

National Standards: Social Studies: Living and Working Together in Families and Communities, Now and Long Ago, The History of the United States: Democratic Principles and Values and the People from Many Cultures who Contributed to its Cultural, Economic, and Political Heritage Science: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

Access Features: bookjacket, author’s note, headings on each page with date, epilogue, and illustrator note

My response: I really enjoyed reading this partial biography. Madam Walker was worried about not helping the African Americans even on her death bed. She was an incredible person who came so far.

How I would use this book in my classroom:
I would use this book with my students when discussing how African Americans have overcame many obstacles during the time after slavery. This would be a great book to discuss dreams and hopes for the future.

Related Text: Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman by Kathleen Krull, Francie by Karen English, and The Real Mccoy by Wendy Towle

Brown, M. (2003). Me Llamo Celia/My Name Is Celia: La Vida de Celia Cruz/The Life Of Celia Cruz. New York, NY. Rising Moon Books

(1 bk)

Grades: 2nd to 4th

Awards:
2005 Americas Book Award
2005 Puré Belpré Honor Book for Illustration

Summary: This is a bilingual book in Spanish and English. This book is a partial biography of Celia Cruz, also known as “Sugar”. She was born in Havana, Cuba , but left after Castro’s revolution began. She first moved to Mexico and then to the New York and finally Florida. Written in first person narrative form, this book tells of how Celia childhood was exciting. Her father wanted her to be a teacher but she wanted to be a singer. She traveled with her cousin to sing in competitions. She faced prejudice due to the color of her skin. However, after she fled Cuba she continued to sing in New York and Florida, where she became known as the Queen of Salsa.

Illustrator/Illustrations: This book was illustrated by Rafael Lopez. He used vivid acrylic paints to show the movement of the music throughout this book.

National Standards: Social Studies: Places and Regions, Music: Understanding Music in Relation to History and Culture

Access Features: There is an acknowledgement page where the author and illustrator dedicated this book to their children. There is a conclusion page that gives more information about Celia Cruz and a picture on the last page of her.

My response to the book: I really liked the colorful illustrations. I have never heard of Celia Cruz until now. She must have led a very interesting life.

How I would use this book in my classroom: I would use this book when studying music and contributions that people have made the music that we listen to. Also, this would be a great book to use when studying about other cultures and languages.

Related text: Me Llamo Gabriela/my Name Is Gabriela by Monica Brown, My Diary from Here to There/Mi diario de aqui hasta alla by Amada Irma Perez, and In My Family/En mi familia by Carmen Lomas Garza

Copper Sun by Sharon Draper

(6 bks)

Draper, S. (2006). Copper Sun. New York, NY. Antheneum Books for Young Readers

Grades: 8 and up

Awards:
2007 Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner

Summary: The focus of this book is on African slave trade and slavery in America. This is a historical fiction book about a 15-year-old Ashanti girl who is stolen from her home in Africa. This narrative begins with Amari’s village and happy home life. Slavers arrive and slaughter her village, leaving only the teenagers who are strong and able to make the trip. This story takes the reader through the horrors of the slave fort to the Middle Passage and finally to the auction in America. Amari is bought by a slave owner in South Carolina for his 16-year-old’s birthday present. Amari befriends a white indentured girl, the cook, and the cook’s son. Amari and Polly are ordered to help the master’s wife during childbirth but only to discover that she delivers a black baby. They try help the mistress by lying but the truth is recovered by the master’s son. The master becomes infuriated and tries to sell the girls along with the young boy that belongs to the cook. The master sends the three with the doctor, not knowing his feelings on slavery, to be sold in town. The doctor tells the children to head north to free country but they head south in hopes of finding Fort Mose, a Spanish colony that gives sanctuary to slaves. This story is of hope and courage as they make this incredible journey. Their journey is tough but eventually they find freedom.

Credibility of Author: Draper visited the slave castles in Ghana where millions of Africans were housed like cattle before being shipped as cargo and sold as slaves. She spent almost ten years doing research on this novel and editing it for accuracy of fact as well as sincerity of spirit.

National Standards: Uses of Geography, Era 2: Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763), Era 6: The Emergence of the First Global Age, 1450-1770

Access features: There is a book jacket that summary of the book and information about the author. Also, there is a poem by Countee Cullen. The chapter titles in this book give the reader an idea about what the chapter is going to be about. There is an author’s note that tells about her family and an afterword that gives more information about slavery and how this book was based on true facts about important information in history. The author gives web sites for teachers and students to use to further their research on slavery. She also gives other books that can be read about slavery.

My response to the book: This book was very powerful. I found myself crying during the most horrible events that Amari faced. However, I kept reading to find out what was going to happen next and hoping that she would keep the strength to keep going. It was only appropriate that Draper make a good ending for Amari after all of her struggles. This was a great book to read.

How I would use this book in my classroom: I would use this book if I was teaching about slavery. It would be most appropriate with my older students who can understand the journey that these characters went through to find freedom. Additional research on Fort Mose will be most effective. I had never heard of this place until I read this book.

Related text: Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford

Tools by Taro Miura

(1 bk)

Miura, T. (2004). Tools. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, LLC.

Grades: Preschool to 3rd

Awards:
2006 Parent’s Choice Recommended

Summary: This unique concept book focuses on tools and occupations. In this book, the author uses a double-page spread to identify each tool. On the next page, the author tells the name of the worker that would use the set of tools, such as a carpenter. The challenge for the older readers is to guess what each set of tools would go to what occupation.

Credibility of Author: Taro Miura is an award-winning illustrator and graphic designer, which makes him knowledgeable about what types of tools that would go with each occupation.

Descriptions of Illustrations: The illustrations in this book were rendered in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. The shapes of each tool show up clear on the colored background of each page. The workers are pictured against a white background.

National Standards: The History of Peoples of Many Cultures Around the World and Role of the Citizen

Access features: There is a book jacket on this book that gives a brief overview of the book and author.

My response to the book: I really enjoyed this book. I was only stumped by one occupation and that was the watch maker. Even Taro Miura is from Japan, the tools that he used in this book are from the U.S. The only tool that I recognized that was given a different name was the try square. I know this tool by the name of a framing square.

How I would use this book in my classroom:
I would use this book when discussing occupations and things that each must have to accomplish a task. This would be a great book to teach responsibility. It can help children realize that they have an occupation as a student and that they are responsible for having their tools.

Related text: All About Tools : A Learn-About Book by Susan Hood, School Tools by Inez Snyder, and What Do People Do?: A Learn-About Book by Catherine Lukas

Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates by Jonah Winter

(1 bk)

Winter, J. (2005). Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing Division.

Grades: Preschool to 3rd

Awards:
2005 Americas Commended Title

Summary: This book is a partial biography written in a narrative form about Roberto Clemente who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Roberto grew up in Puerto Rico where he imitated the older and more fortunate children playing baseball with just a stick and empty soup cans. After he grew up, he played in the profession league in Puerto Rico and was later extended an invitation to play in America. He never received the respect he deserved even though he led his losing team to the World Series when they won against the New York Yankees. He never gained the respect he deserved as a great baseball player while he was alive but he was the first Latino inductee into the American Baseball Hall of Fame.

Credibility of Author: Jonah Winter has been a baseball every since he was young. He researched Roberto Clemente to retell his story.

Illustrator/ Illustrations: Raul Colon used watercolor, colored pencils, and litho pencils to illustrate this book. The vivid paintings give a sense of what is going on in each part of the book.

National Standards: The History of Peoples of of Many Cultures Around the World, The History of the United States: Democratic Principles and Values and the People from Many Cultures who Contributed to its Cultural, Economic, and Political Heritage.

Access Features: Acknowledgement page, There is an author’s note at the end of the book that gives more information about Roberto’s career as a baseball player and family.

My response to this book:
This book was very interesting. This book made me think about how we treat others based on the color of skin. It is very sad that Roberto didn’t receive the recognition that he deserved as a valuable and great player. It’s amazing how he was able to continue playing even though he was treated so horrible.

How I would use this book in my classroom:
I would use this book while discussing treating each other fairly and equally. This would be a great example for the students to see how a Roberto Clemente did not let his treatment stop him from doing what he loved. It would be a lesson in how to overcome barriers in life.

Related text: Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero by David Maraniss, Pride of Puerto Rico:The life of Roberto Clemente by Paul Robert Walker, Catching the Moon: The story of a young girl's baseball dream by Crystal Hubbard, and Dad, Jackie, And Me by Myron Uhlberg

Ton by Taro Miura

(1 bk)

Miura, T. (2004). Ton. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, LLC.

Grades: 1st to 3rd

Awards:
2006 Parent’s Choice Silver Award

Summary: This concept book showed the different ways that things can be carried depending on its weight. It is cumulative in the way that it starts with the smallest measurement and increases to the most. This book starts with one construction worker carrying a 50 pound beam to a tanker hauling 10,000 tons of all of the previous items shown in the book. However, there were some discrepancies to the definition of a ton on the freight train (20,000 = 20 tons). Although, this book does give the reader an idea of what would be needed to carry different amounts.

Credibility of Author: Taro Miura is an award-winning illustrator and graphic designer, which makes him knowledgeable about the amount of workers, equipment, and vehicles to move different amounts.

Descriptions of Illustrations: The images in this book are stenciled in bright colors on white background.

National Standards: Measurement

Access features: There is a page at the end of this book that gives the comparisons of English and metric system.

My response to the book: I did enjoy reading this book. It was very simplistic with only a minimal amount of words, almost a wordless picture book. Other than the mistake that the author made with the ton, it was very interesting.

How I would use this book in my classroom: I would use this book in my classroom to give my students an idea or understanding of how many workers or type of equipment that it would take to move different amounts. I feel that it would be very helpful for students to see the comparisons at the end of this book.

Related text: Great Estimations by Bruce Goldstone, and Weight (Math Counts) by Henry Arthur Pluckrose

An Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly by Laurence Pringle

(2 bks)

Pringle, L. (1997). An Extraordinary Life: The story of a Monarch Butterfly. New York, NY. Orchard Books.

Grade Level: 3rd to 8th
Lexile- 1140

Standards: Life Science, Geography, and Geology

Awards:
NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
1997 ALA Notable Chldren’s book
IRA Teachers’ Choice
John Burroughs List of Books for Young Readers

Summary: This life cycle book tells about the story of one monarch, Danaus (monarch’s Latin name), who went on an amazing trip from Massachusetts to find a winter home in a fir tree on top of a mountain in Mexico. It tells of all the dangerous and interesting lengths that monarchs go through to make this journey. This story chronologically tells about the life cycle of monarch butterflies in a way that the reader can understand and visualize. This carefully written narrative style book gives young readers the definition to new words within the text and along the sidebar for more clarification.

Credibility of the author: This book was written after Pringle read the book Minn of Mississppi by Holling C. Hollings, which is about a snapping turtle. Pringle wanted to create a shorter, simpler book that captured the same greatness of this book. He considered several creatures but due to his fascination with the monarch butterfly he chose this to be the most appropriate to select. Marshall wanted him to choose a bird or whale because they are easier to paint. However, Pringle was moved by the migration pattern of the monarch butterflies in North America. Pringle read a lot of research on monarch butterflies and went to leading researchers to get the most up-to-date information. He questioned Lincoln Brower, who is considered to be the world’s most knowledgeable person about monarchs. When Brower didn’t have the answers to Pringle’s questions, he recommended scientist who would.

Illustrator/Illustrations: Bob Marshall traveled to Mexico to visit a monarch winter colony so that he could take his own photographs to use as a basis for his paintings.

Access Features: Side bars, Further reading (suggest texts), Index, Table of Contents, maps, and labeled paintings.

How I would use in my classroom:
I would use this book as an introduction to a life cycle unit. It would be great to compare it to other nonfiction books about the butterfly's life cycle. I could also use this book across the content area in Social Studies by following the migration pattern from Massachusetts to Mexico.

My response to the book.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It wasn’t just another life cycle book about how one thing leads to the next. It was very interesting in how Pringle used a single monarch to explain and help the reader understand what goes on in each stage. This book kept me interested in finding out what would happen to Danaus next.