Bringing Asha Home, a Picture Book Addressing Diversity

Bringing Asha Home was written by Uma Krishnaswami and was published in 2006. This is a wonderful story written from the viewpoint of a little boy, Arun, who anxiously awaits the arrival of his little sister, Asha, who his parents adopt from India. The process is long and hard for Arun to understand. In the beginning of the book, all he knows is that he is going to get a little sister, and that his daddy is going to fly on a plane to pick her up. As time drags on with no little sister, Arun's dad, who is from India, continually explains to Arun that there are lots of papers that have to be filled out and lots of rules that need to be followed before they can bring Asha home. Arun tells his friend about Asha, and says he hopes that she will bring him a Rakhi, a bracelet traditionally given by sisters to their brothers on Rahki Day. Asha turns a year old and is still not with Arun and his family, but they still celebrate and have family and friends over to see pictures of Asha. Arun makes paper airplanes for Asha and puts one special one on her shelf in her bedroom that he vows to give her when she arrives. One day Arun checks the mail and finds an envelope from India in the mailbox; he runs it inside to his dad, who rips it open and announces that the wait is over - Asha gets to finally come home. Arun decorates the paper airplane he has been saving for Asha and puts it in his dad's suitcase. Arun stays home with his mother to get ready for Asha's arrival. Finally, the big day comes and Arun's dad arrives at the airport with Asha. Asha's new family welcomes her with open arms and hugs her tightly. As they leave the airport, Arun sees that Asha is clutching his paper airplane and a shiny bracelet is tied to it. Arun's dad tells him that the people in India who took care of Asha "thought she couldn't go home to her brother without a rakhi." Asha gives the rakhi to Arun and when he gets home he hangs it on his door to wear on Rakhi day. As Asha sleeps that night Arun puts the plane back on her shelf and says "My best airplane ever has helped bring my sister home."

This book is perfect for children who have experienced adoption in their families, and for children trying to understand another culture's customs, particularly India. I had never heard of Rakhi day until I read this book. The author has a note in the back of the book, as well as a few definitions on the copyright page to help children better understand a few of the terms. Although these were helpful, I was interested in learning a little more about Rakhi day, mainly because I have a son and two daughters and I thought it was wonderful that this holiday celebrates the relationship between a brother and a sister. I am also a scrapbooker and have always complained that there are always accessories for scrapbooks to celebrate the relationship between brothers, as well as the relationship between sisters, but I am hard-pressed to find decorations celebrating the relationship between a brother and a sister. I learned that there is an entire festival devoted to the celebration of Rakhi day (or Raksha Bandhan) in northern India, and that it is celebrated on the day of the full moon of the Hindu month Shravan, usually around late August. Brothers and sisters celebrate their relationship and strengthen their eternal bond of love on this day. Sisters tie a sacred thread or bracelet of Rakhi on their brothers' wrists and pray for his long life. Brothers bless their sisters, present them gifts, and promise to guard them against all hardships in life.

In Bringing Asha Home, Arun hopes to share and create this tradition of Rakhi with his new little sister. This book is a wonderful example of a diverse family (the mother in the story is American and the father is Indian) who adopts a little girl and continues to preserve her cultural heritage, even though they live in America. Children will learn from this book that there is more than one way to become a part of a family, and will be introduced to the process of adoption as well. I would recommend this book to anyone who is going through the process of adoption and trying to explain it to another child. It would also be a great book for a classroom because so many children in today's world are part of diverse families - children from other cultures who are being raised in this country, children who live with their grandparents, etc. - and I believe it is important to assure children that we are all one big world family and that it is okay to come from different backgrounds and cultures. This book will help children feel a sense of belonging no matter where they come from.

Bud, Not Buddy - A Chapter Book Addressing Diversity

Bud, Not Buddy, was written by Christopher Paul Curtis in 1999, and geared towards children ages 9-12. It's the fictional story of a ten-year-old African American boy, Bud Caldwell, who lived in an orphanage in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression. He ran away from a foster family who treated him poorly and decide to go look for his father. Bud's mother had died when he was six, and he thinks his father is Herman E. Calloway, a well-known jazz musician. His mother had several flyers that she kept featuring Herman's band and the locations of where the musicians played. Bud didn't know why else his mother would have kept the flyers unless they had something to do with his dad. Even though Bud's last name was Caldwell, it was very close to Calloway, so Bud figured Herman was his father. Bud kept everything he owned in a tattered suitcase - a bag of rocks, a blanket, the flyers, and a photograph of his mother when she was younger, riding a pony. Bud's mother named him "Bud," not "Buddy." He remembered many things his mother had told him, and one of them was the story of his name. She told him "Bud is your name and don't you ever let anyone call you anything outside of that either...especially don't every let anyone call you Buddy...I would've added that dy onto the end of your name if I intended for it to be there. Your name is Bud, period." She went on to explain, "A bud is a flower-to-be. A flower in waiting. Waiting for just the right warmth and care to open up. It's a little fist of love waiting to unfold and be seen by the world. And that's you." Thus, every time Bud meets somebody he introduces himself by saying, "I'm Bud, not Buddy."

Bud and his best friend from the orphanage, Bugs, decided to stow away on a train to try to find Herman E. Calloway, and found a "Hooverville" where they met a group who knew the location of the train station. When the train departs earlier than expected one morning, the crowd rushes to board it, and Bud was not able to keep up to jump on. He went to the library to find out how to get to Grand Rapids, where he believed his father lived, and decided to walk the 120 miles from Flint. He had not gotten far when a redcap stopped him, questioned him, fed him, and took him home with him to sleep for the night. He asked Bud where he lived, and Bud lied so that he would not get sent back home. He told him Grand Rapids, and the man said he was going there the next day anyway, and that he would take him home to his father, who Bud said was Herman E. Calloway. The man knew exactly where he lived. When they arrived the next day, the band looked at Bud, confused, and asked what he needed. Bud told them he was looking for his father, and pointed to Herman, who scoffed at Bud. Everyone laughed and told him that there was no way Herman could be his father, and Bud was devastated. The lead singer of the jazz band, a woman, took an instant liking to Bud, and after hearing that he had been living in an orphanage, asked Herman if they could take him in and let him stay with them. After a few weeks, Bud had a conversation with the singer and told her the name of his mother; at that point everyone realized Herman was not his father, but his grandfather. Bud's mother had left home when she was young because Herman was so strict, and he had not seen her for years. He was sad about her death, but happy to have found out about Bud, and Bud stayed with him and the band and lived in his mother's old bedroom, where pictures of horses, her passion, were thumb-tacked all over the walls. But was given a saxophone of his own by one of the band members and vowed to play as well as Herman and his band did one day.

This book gives the reader a glimpse of the Great Depression and what it was like to live during that time period. Hoovervilles were indeed a reality at the time, and thousands of Americans were without work, food, or homes. Many children were abandoned by their parents because they could not afford to feed or clothe them, and the children, like Bud, were forced to fend for themselves. Although the Hooverville that Bud and his friend Bugs visited was primarily composed of blacks, there were also some white people there. A white couple with a sick, crying baby chose not to gather around the fire to keep warm and did not eat with the blacks. Deza, the little girl Bud befriended while there, tells him they had been invited to sit and eat, but when someone took food over to them the white man said "Thank you very much, but we're white people. We ain't in need of a handout." This perception that white people had about black people was typical of the time period.

Entertainment was crucial for Americans during the Great Depression; the author explains in his afterword that his paternal grandfather was actually a big bandleader for most of his life, and the character of Herman E. Calloway was based on his real grandfather, Herman E. Curtis. Americans relied on entertainers and entertainment to get them through those challenging times. The author uses Bud effectively as narrator to paint the picture of 1930s America for the reader. The Great Depression affected everyone in America, not just the black population. Unemployment was the worst it ever was in history. The Hooverville in Bud, Not Buddy was the perfect example of the U.S. unemployment melting pot during the 1930s.

Like many of the books I have read for this blog, Bud, Not Buddy was recommended to me by my 13-year-old son. He was very impressed with not only this book, but also this author, Christopher Paul Curtis. He had already read The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963, which I also hope to read, and liked it so much that he wanted to read another book by the author. I seem to enjoy similar titles that my son enjoys. I was also interested in this book because it won the Newbery Medal in 2000. I would highly recommend it as not only an enjoyable story, but also a realistic depiction of the diversity in America during the Great Depression.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - The Book and the Movie

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever was written by Barbara Robinson in 1972. An ABC television Christmas special based on the book was produced in 1983 and later released on VHS then DVD. This story, narrated by a little girl, is a hilarious tale of six delinquent "welfare" children who torment everyone in their paths. The Herdmans, whose father had left them and mother worked so much she was hardly ever home, "were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lied and stole and smoked cigars (even the girls) and talked dirty and hit little kids and cussed their teachers and took the name of the Lord in vain and set fire to Fred Shoemaker's old broken-down toolhouse." That opening line of the book describes the clan perfectly - they bully kids and scare adults as well. The narrator's little brother in particular was picked on by Leroy Herdman, who stole his lunch daily. One day the little boy exploded and told him that he didn't care, that he could get all the food and snacks he wanted at Sunday School. This statement caused Leroy to bring all of his brothers and sisters to church, where they stole money from the collection basket and went to a meeting about the upcoming Christmas pageant. The narrator's mother, Grace, was in charge of the pageant that year because the woman normally in charge of it had fallen and broken her leg; on a normal year, children like the Herdmans would never have been allowed to even go to the pageant meeting. But Grace let them come, and before the meeting was over, the Herdmans all had key roles: Imogene was Mary; Ralph was Joseph; Leroy, Ollie, and Claude were the three wise men; and Gladys was the angel of the Lord. Imogene threatened the girl who normally played Mary in the pageant, and told her if she volunteered to be Mary this year she would drop a pussy willow seed in her ear and a pussy willow bush would grow out of it. Though the minister and entire congregation were convinced the Herdmans would ruin the pageant, it indeed turned out to be the "best Christmas pageant ever" - the wise men did not fight coming up the aisle, and even came bearing a gift of a Christmas ham that was in their Christmas basket from the welfare office. Ralph and Imogene reverently entered as Mary and Joseph, and Imogene ended up being overwhelmed about the true meaning of Christmas and even cried. Gladys screamed "HEY! Unto you a child is BORN!" and pushed the rest of the angels up on to the stage, but everyone thought it was very funny. The town and the school learned that even the worst kids just needed some guidance, teaching, and a little love.

Although the movie version of this book was well done, the acting was commendable, and there were funny moments, it did not even come close to conveying how hilarious the book actually is. As with most movies based on books, so much of the story and dialogue had to be left out that you really missed much of the humor. The author did a fantastic job using the first-person narrator recounting incidents involving the Herdmans, and I laughed out loud many times while reading. I expected so much slapstick from the movie because the book was so entertaining that I was disappointed.

I remember when I was in third grade, sometime around 1982, one of my good friends read this book constantly. She never grew tired of it, and now I know why. Even then the book was ten years old. My son's teacher also read him this story when he was in the third grade, in 2006. It's a story that young and old will enjoy over and over for generations to come.

The Dancing Kettle: A Book by Yoshiko Uchida

The Dancing Kettle and Other Japanese Folk Tales was written by Yoshiko Uchida in 1949. This book is a collection of 14 short folk tales intended, as the author states, to "awaken in readers the realization that all children, in whatever country they may live, have the same love of fun and a good story." In addition, Uchida hopes to "increase among our children a feeling of respect for and understanding of the cultural heritages of other countries and peoples."

The Dancing Kettle is the first of the stories included in the collection. I have chosen this tale to summarize since it is the title of the book. This story's main character is a priest who lived in Japan and loved beautiful things, particularly teacups and kettles. He discovered an unusually striking teakettle one day, and took it back to the temple with him where he admired it. Before long, he fell asleep, and while he slept the kettle sprouted a head, legs, and arms, and began to dance about the temple. Two other priests came in and saw the kettle and awakened the owner to show him, but the kettle stopped dancing. (This scene instantly reminded me of the 1955 Looney Tunes episode titled One Froggy Evening, starring Michigan J. Frog, directed by Chuck Jones; if you haven't seen it, it's a must - one of my very favorite Looney Tunes episodes of all time!) The priest sent the two men away and said they had disturbed his nap. The next day the priest poured some water in the kettle, placed it on his hibachi (a traditional Japanese heating device) to boil, and was startled when the kettle shouted "Help! This is hot!" The priest thought he must have acquired something evil so he gave it to a junkman, who soon witnessed the lively kettle's dancing. The kettle told the junkman that he just wanted to be fed and taken care of. The junkman had an idea to start a little theater in the streets to invite people to pay money to see the dancing kettle. (See again how this parallels One Froggy Evening?!) After successfully acquiring all the money he needed, the junkman decided to let the kettle rest and live a peaceful life; then he realized he should thank the priest who had given him the kettle. He gave half of his earnings to the preist's temple and told the priest he wanted to return the kettle to him and asked him to take care of it. The priest assured the junkman he would look after his friend the teakettle, and they lived many happy years together; the priest never tried to boil water in it again, and placed it on his teakwood table in a very special place in the temple where all could admire it.

The Dancing Kettle is typical of the other stories throughout the book, in that it is a brief, entertaining story with a couple of main characters (most of the stories have two or three characters maximum), that exhibits Japanese culture or beliefs and often presents a moral of some sort at the end - not really like Aesop's Fables exactly, but an inherent lesson that can be learned. For example, in The Old Man with the Bump, a greedy neighbor desires to get a bump removed from his face like the old man did at the beginning of the story. He poses as the old man when he learns how he lost his bump, so that the spirits of the forest could remove his as well; the fairies realize the neighbor is an imposter, and instead of removing the bump from his left cheek, they give him a second bump on his right cheek. The neighbor realizes he should not have been dishonest and says "Never again will I try to be someone else." (the moral of the story).

Folk tales are stories told in the beginning years of many cultures/civilizations, Japan and America being two of them in particular, that were circulated by word of mouth and later put into book form. These tales, part of folklore culture, reflect and recount a particular culture's traditions, music, legends, beliefs, and customs. For example, most of the stories in The Dancing Kettle use at least one Japanese word (which I had to look up the meaning of), which gives the reader a glimpse into Japanese culture and tradition. Several of the stories also mention Japanese gods and goddesses, revealing that aspect of Japanese culture. There is also a recurring theme in several of the folk tales regarding kingdoms under the sea - often where kings, queens, and princesses reside, which must also be a belief of Japanese culture (could this be similar to Greek mythology?) In Urashima Taro and the Princess of the Sea, the tortoise addresses the main character as "Urashima-san." In Japan, adding "san" to the end of a name is a way to show respect or honor, similar to how we use Mr. or Mrs. Since Urashima had saved the tortoise's life, the tortoise was indebted to him, respected him, and honored him. He showed this adoration by referring to him in this manner. This is just another insight into Japanese culture that this children's book reveals to readers. All stories in the collection also depict imagery of the Japanese countryside - gardens, mountains, forests, the sea, and rice fields are vividly described in the book.

There is a glossary and pronunciation key at the end of the book which would be extremely helpful for young readers.

I really enjoyed reading this collection of Japanese folk tales. It gave me quite a bit of insight into certain customs, traditions, and ways of life of the Japanese people. I would recommend this book to librarians who would like a diverse selection of cultural books in their libraries. It would be an excellent choice for young readers and a good representation of a title on Japanese heritage. It would also be a good book to choose for a unit on folk tales - you could compare American folk tales with Japanese folk tales and discuss their similarities and differences. Reading books and teaching units like this certainly do help us move towards "one world," as the author hopes the reading of The Dancing Kettle will encourage. Even though American children have probably never heard stories such as this, basic themes of the downfalls of being greedy and foolish are contained in the tales, just as in some of our American folk tales.

Yoshiko Uchida also wrote a second volume of 14 more folk tales titled The Magic Listening Cup: More Folk Tales from Japan. Other books written by Uchida include: The Bracelet; Journey to Topaz; Desert Exile; Picture Bride; The Wise Old Woman; and Journey Home.

International Book Awards - The Carnegie Medal & the Governor General's Literary Award

The Carnegie Medal is an award sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals given to the most outstanding book published in the United Kingdom during the preceding year. The Governor General's Literary Awards are awarded in Canada and are given to children's books for both text and illustrations. I assume that this award is comparable to our Newbery and Caldecott awards here in the United States.

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents was written by Terry Pratchett and was awarded the Carnegie Medal in 2002. This book is about a talking, intelligent cat named Maurice, who becomes the leader of a group of rats who have also become intelligent (and have a couple of their own leaders within their own rat clan), as well as a boy named Keith who plays a flute. Maurice has convinced the boy and the rats to fool towns and swindle their money. Maurice wants Keith to become a "pied piper" and tries to persuade him to help rid a town of rats and get money for it - by using the town's existing rat tunnels and running the non-intelligent rats out of town. While settling in a particular town to try this, Keith meets a girl named Malicia, who is the mayor's daughter. She helps Keith, Maurice, and the rats in their quest to conquer the tunnels and outwit the town's "rat catchers," and they discover that the "rat catchers" are actually swindling food from their own town (the town is in a state of severe famine). The rat catchers are also not really getting rid of the rats, but are instead putting them in dog-pins to get mauled, and locking the survivors in cages. By the end of the book, the intelligent bunch frees the non-intelligent rats, exposes the rat catchers, returns the town's food that was being stashed by the rat catchers, and convinces the Mayor and the town council that rats are not the enemy. The townspeople and the rats end up creating a living relationship with the rats and negotiating rules of existence for both groups whereby the rats promise not to eat their food, and the people promise not to set traps or put out poison for the rats. Maurice, however, is a cat who cannot change, and he goes on to another town and targets a new "non-intelligent" boy to manipulate.

It was a real struggle for me to get through this book. I did not see why it won an award. Most of the children's books that I have read that have earned awards are obvious to me why they won the award; this one was not. I did not understand why the book was as drawn out as it was - I thought the point of the story could have been expressed in a much shorter amount of pages than it was. I did not enjoy the descriptions of the rats when they were put into a "dog-ring" to be eaten by dogs and were attacked, killed, and mauled. I thought some of the descriptions and some of the storyline was a little graphic for young readers. I also thought the overall storyline about the Pied Piper was not original. Some of Maurice's thoughts and experiences when hearing voices of the Rat King were eerie, and something that I did not think was necessary in this type of book. I would not really recommend the book. I did enjoy one particular quote which I thought was a nice metaphor: "If you don't turn your life into a story, you just become a part of someone else's story." I did think this was a true statement and a nice underlying theme to the book. Another quote which ends the book is also true: "The thing about stories is that you have to pick the ones that last." Because I believe that statement as well, I do not recommend this book because I do not think this story is one that is profound nor extremely interesting nor one that I will remember for years to come. It just doesn't strike me as that type of book.

Skellig was written by David Almond and received the Carnegie Medal in 1999 and was originally published in Great Britain. This story is about a little boy named Michael who moves to an old, run-down house in need of much repair with his "Mum," dad, and new baby sister, who is ill. He did not want to move to the new house and he is bitter about the change. He is constantly trying to get outside, out of the house. His mom and dad kept telling him to stay away from garage, which was so dilapidated that it was almost falling in, but this only intrigued him more. Michael was very unhappy and worried about his sister being so sick. His parents were always busy fussing over her so he was able to easily slip past them and go to the garage. Every time he went near it and stepped inside he heard scurrying and scratching of critters. But one evening he went further and discovered someone lying on the floor moaning and unhappy. Startled, he ran out, but he quickly became obsessed with who was in the garage, why he was there, and if he was dreaming the whole thing. But each time he went back the "person" was still there, in pain, and suffering from "Arthur itis." Michael kept asking him who he was and WHAT he was, but he always answered "no one," and "nothing." Michael wanted to help him and asked him what he could do. The only reply he got was to bring an aspirin, a brown bottle of ale (beer), and "27 and 53." Michael knew these were Chinese menu items from the restaurant from where he and his dad often got take-out while Mum and the baby were at the hospital. That night he got all of these items and brought them to the man in the garage, who ate so fast and declared 27 and 53 were
"sweetest of nectars" and "nectars of the gods." It was not long before a little girl named Mia, who lived next door, came over to meet Michael one day when he was leaving the garage. Mia did not go to school; she and her mother believed that education was something that could be learned at home, by studying art and poetry. Mia was enchanted with birds and sketching them; she had an entire journal of birds and drawings of their skeletons, wings, and habitats. She showed him a secret place (her grandfather's old house which her family was going to fix up eventually) where a family of owls nested. In return, Michael decided to show her the person in the garage so she could help him decide if he was real, and to see if she could help make him better. When they decided to help him sit up and move him to Mia's grandfather's deserted house (where the owls lived), the children discovered that his shoulder blades had something attached to them, crumpled up: wings! They knew he must be an angel, and they realized that he needed some help to get better. He finally told them his name was Skellig, and that he was "something like a bird, something like a beast, something like an angel, something like you, something like me, something like that." In the meantime, between visiting Skellig, Michael's parents told him something very serious was wrong with his baby sister, and that she was going to have to have an operation. Skellig seemed to be getting stronger because of Mia and Michael feeding, and the owls bringing sustenance to him as well. One evening, the night of the baby's surgery, Mia and Michael could not find Skellig at the house. The next day, Michael awoke to hear good news that his sister was going to be okay, and his Mum told him of a strange dream she had the night before the operation: she had dreamed she was sleeping in the baby's room and that a large figure with wings was looking over the baby, and he picked her up and they stared in each other's eyes, and they looked like they were dancing, and transparent, faint wings appeared on the back of the baby, and the figure's wings glowed as well, then he put her down and was gone. Michael knew that Skellig had visited his little sister which helped her get through the operation okay. He and Mia did get one last visit from Skellig, who confirmed he had visited Michael's little sister. The three of them hugged one last time and he was gone. A few days later, builders came to knock down the old garage so they could make the garden bigger, and the baby came home from the hospital. Mia visited so she could meet the baby for the first time, and brought her a gift: a picture of Skellig. A name was finally given to the baby: Joy.

This book had parts in it that reminded me of A Bridge to Terabithia. The relationship between Michael and Mia was similar to Jess's and Leslie's relationship. In both stories, the boys are not as educated in the ways of art, music, poetry, and the imagination, like the girls are. They really do not believe much in things they cannot see or things that are unfamiliar to them, but the girls teach the boys that faith is important. Leslie is drawn to Jess just as Mia is drawn to Michael, and they become inseparable friends, always sneaking out together to go to secret places - Michael and Mia to see Skellig at the old house, and Leslie and Jess to Terabithia in the woods, where no one else can find them. One scene in particular in Skellig really reminded me of A Bridge to Terabithia - when Mia's mother invited Michael in to learn about poetry and art, using modeling clay to make things in their house instead of going to school that day. This is similar to the scene when Leslie's mother invited Jess in to their house to help paint a room, and they were all free to express themselves artistically, just as Michael and Mia were with the clay.

I would recommend Skellig to children everywhere - it's a wonderful story about angels, believing, and helping others. It's a reminder that hope and faith can make almost the impossible come true. Michael's little sister gets better because of an angel, who only Michael and Mia have seen. Michael tried to nurse Skellig back to health with food and medicine, just as Michael's mother and the doctors were trying to make the baby better. This book will bring the message of hope to children and will let them know the importance of faith. It is actually appealing to people of all ages, and has been translated into more than 30 languages around the world. Skellig became a radio play on the BBC, and was adapted for the stage in London. In addition, a movie and an opera based on the story have been produced.

The Governor General's Literary Awards are given in Canada and have separate prizes for text and illustration. Monetary prizes of $15,000 are given to winners in each category, and publishers of the winners receive $3,000 for promotion.

Dust, written by Arthur Slade, received the Governor General's Literary Award in 2001. This suspenseful fictional chapter book for young readers is about an 11-year-old boy named Robert whose 7-year-old brother, Matthew, mysteriously disappears when walking to town one day to buy some candy. Matthew gets in the truck with a stranger in a cowboy hat with gloves on his hands who promises to take him to town to get the candy. Robert feels responsible when he learns of his brother's disappearance because his mother had asked him to go to town with Matthew but Robert didn't want to; he was reading an adventurous book because he wanted to escape from his chores and his family and pretend he was in stories like The Warlord of Mars, Tarzan of the Apes, and Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, all books his uncle had snuck to him to read when his mother (who only wanted him to read the "Good Book," the Bible) was unaware. The Royal Mountie police investigated Matthew's disappearance for quite some time, but the only clue they ever found along the road to Horshoe where he was last seen was his hat and a broken clay jar that had contained red dust. Weeks then months went by, and it seemed to Robert that his parents and the Mounties had given up. He was worried that Matthew would soon be forgotten and any memories they had would be gone.

The story takes place during the Depression era in the small town of Horshoe in the province of Saskatchewan during a drought, where farmers are desperate for rain for their crops. Shortly after Matthew disappeared, a man named Abram Harsich comes to Horshoe and invites people to attend an event where he proposes the building of a rainmaking machine. There he mesmerizes people with a magical mirror of sorts where they believe everything Abram says and see all their dreams and fantasies inside the mirror. Robert sees a vision of his uncle who had died in World War I in the mirror, while his mother sees Matthew. Robert and his uncle soon become a minority in a town that believes Abram can bring rain and prosperity to their town, and end the drought that has plagued Horshoe for what seems an eternity. All the men in Horshoe sign an agreement to help Abram build the rainmaking machine in exchange for not having to pay their land debts to the bank. But Robert continues to feel uneasy about Abram and confides in his uncle about strange things he has noticed. Abram had pulled Robert aside one day and said that he could make his dreams come true, if he would only trust him, and that he knew his brother Matthew was safe. He asks Robert if he knows what dust is, and Robert replies "dry dirt." Abram says dust is "soil without enough moisture to bind it together. It'll give you as many years of life as grains of sand squeezed in your hand. But I have many more years than a fistful of sand. Many more. All because of dust."

On Matthew's birthday months later, Robert went to town because he was so discouraged that his parents didn't even acknowledge that it was his brother's birthday. There, he saw Abram unloading parts for the rainmaking machine off a train with some other men. Robert decides to go to Abram's house while he had the chance to see what he could find. He first goes to the rainmaking machine and takes a brick and throws it at the many jars of red dust inside, breaking them one by one. Then he goes to Abram's house and inside he discovers a trap door underneath the floorboards. He goes inside and finds several children who had been frozen by Abram. He breaks them free as quickly as he can and is unable to save them all, but many of them are still breathing. He finally finds Matthew, who happily is still alive, and he breaks him free from the ice. Abram appears during this and he struggles with Robert but eventually the rainmaking machine and the breaking of the jars of dust cause him to be engulfed and he fades away magically. The Royal Mountie who had been investigating the case showed up just as Matthew was breaking the children free and is dumbfounded at the scene. He helps the children to safety and reunites them with their parents. As he is driving Robert and Matthew home, Robert tells the Mountie he's "got it from here," and takes Matthew inside. His mother and father can't believe it, and they praise Robert for not giving up and for finding Matthew and bringing him home.

This book was very suspenseful and very intriguing. I couldn't put it down, wondering what had happened to Matthew. I knew that Abram had done something with him, but you don't know until the end of the book what exactly he had done. I enjoyed the book actually until the very end, because the magical things that happened obviously aren't realistic. There is of course no way that those children would be alive still, having been frozen like that for who knows how long - in the story, Matthew had been gone for at least a year or more, and there is absolutely no way he would be alive still. The point, though, is to never give up hope, and that is exactly what Robert does - he doesn't give up until he finds Matthew.

The book was unique, for sure, and some people would enjoy it. I don't know that I disliked it completely, but it certainly wasn't one of the best books I ever read. I do think the author does a wonderful job of painting a picture of the environment and time period in which the story takes place. The reader gets a good feel of what life is like during the Depression era in a town of Saskatchewan during a drought. The townspeople's dependence on rain is felt and their desperation for green fields and crops is evident. The title of the book, Dust, is a good one - not only because of the role dust plays with Abram's character, but also because the province is so full of dust because of the drought that even their counters in their kitchens are covered with the film, and the food and dishes in their pantries have to be covered up so the thin layers of dust don't cover everything. The author is a very good writer and is able to paint vivid pictures with his descriptions.

Bridge to Terabithia - The Book and the Movie

Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson is a 1978 Newbery Medal winner written for ages 9 to 11. This book was written in 1977 and was made into a feature film by Walt Disney Productions in 2007. A television production based on the book was also done in 1985 by PBS, but this review will concentrate on the Disney film.

This is the story of Jess Aarons, a ten-year-old boy with four sisters; his second to youngest sister Maybelle worships the ground he runs on. Jess is passionate about running, and competes daily at school against boys in various grades, always victorious. However, one day his new neighbor Leslie Burke (the first girl who ever dared to try to run with the boys who is quite a tomboy herself) enters his heat and wins by a long shot. The two start to become friends and realize they have a lot more in common than they do with any of their other peers, mainly, that they are both lonely. Leslie decides they need a place of their own where they can escape from school, their parents, and their responsibilities. In the woods they create a land called Terabithia, which is entered by swinging on a rope across a creek. Jess is scared of the unknown woodlands at first, but Leslie quickly teaches him how to use his imagination and conquer his fears by transforming them into magical situations that he and Leslie, as rulers of Terabithia, are able to overcome. They develop a strong friendship in their make-believe land, and are able to face their challenging home and school lives because they know Terabithia is waiting for them later. The two even work together and learn to accept the school's biggest bully when she becomes outcast for something embarrassing, and they help her realize she is not alone and others have felt humiliated just like she has. Leslie teaches Jess how to be courageous and happy instead of scared and angry.

The end of the story is tragic; while Jess is visiting an art museum with his favorite teacher one Saturday, Leslie evidently tries to go to Terabithia without him. When she tries to swing across the creek, the rope snaps, causing her to fall, hit her head on a rock, and drown. Jesse is devastated when he returns home and learns the news. He is in denial at first, and tries to pretend that she is still in Terabithia and goes to find her. He finally realizes she is dead, and attempts to cope. His sister Maybelle, who has always wanted to go where he and Leslie went, follows him to the woods, and Jess rescues her when she almost falls off a tree branch. He finally decides to build a "bridge to Terabithia" and invites Maybelle to become the new princess of the kingdom. The two walk across the bridge happily admiring Terabithia and Jess smiles as he remembers his best friend who first brought him there. He resolves to keep Leslie's memory alive by crowning the new princess of Terabithia, his little sister Maybelle.

The movie version of this story differs slightly from the book. While it sticks to the plot line for the most part, there are a few things that vary in the movie. In the book the Aarons' major source of income and livelihood is their farm, and Jess's main chore is milking Bessie the cow every morning. In the movie, however, the family maintains a greenhouse. There is even a major event in the movie that is completely added involving the greenhouse, when Jess loses his father's keys to it, which contain his keys to work as well. His father becomes very angry and tells Jess to get his head out of the clouds and out of his drawings and learn to be responsible. This is the way the movie tries to paint the vivid picture that the reader sees in the book of how his father does not accept Jess's love for art and drawing, and how he wishes Jess would do something more productive with his life.

The movie is set in a more modern time, since the teacher makes a statement on the first day of school that students are not to have any electronic devices nor download anything from the Internet. The book, having been written in 1977, obviously does not mention anything like this.

In both the movie and the book, there is a foreshadowing that occurs when Leslie writes an essay about scuba diving that impresses their teacher. She has Leslie read the paper aloud to the class. As she reads, the class, especially Jess, feels as if they are scuba diving along with Leslie, when in fact she has never done this in her life.

A second foreshadowing occurs when Leslie goes to church with Jess and his family one Sunday, and Jess, Leslie and Maybelle have a conversation afterwards about God. Maybelle says that God will damn you to hell if you die and do not believe what the Bible says. Leslie says she does not think that's true and that won't happen. At the end of the book when Jess is crying over Leslie's death in his father's arms, he asks him if Leslie is going to be damned to hell. Jess's father replies that he doesn't know a lot about God and the Bible, but he does know that God wouldn't damn that little girl to hell.

There are several relationships that are not developed as fully in the movie as they are in the book. For example, you do not see as much of Maybelle and how she worships Jess in the movie. There were a lot more details about their relationship and how she looked up to him in the book. Jess is also in love with his music teacher in the book, but this is not evident at all in the movie. There is just one part where he stares at her in the movie and Leslie tells him to "take a picture, it lasts longer," (a line not in the book), but you still don't get the impression that he is in love with her like you do in the book. Finally, P.T., the puppy Jess gives to Leslie for Christmas (and it was not for any particular occasion in the movie, it was just because she said she had always wanted a dog, whereas in the book Jess really wanted to get something for Leslie for Christmas but he didn't have any money and he saw a sign for free puppies so he got one for her), is not given as much attention in the movie as he is in the book.

In the movie special effects are used to bring the creatures in Terabithia to life. In fact, if you had never read the book and saw the movie, I would think you would not realize the creatures and events that happened in Terabithia are not real. It is not completely clear that it is a place the kids created with their imaginations; you might instead conclude it is simply a magical place that only they can see. On the other hand, since I knew these scenes were things they imagined, I thought the film did a fantastic job of painting the pictures the kids saw in Terabithia, especially the giant troll who started out as the enemy but ended up being friendly. This is the differences in movies and books - with movies, you see the story unfold through the eyes of the producer, but in books, your imagination paints the pictures for you - just like Leslie's and Jess's imaginations painted their pictures of Terabithia.

I wanted to read this book and see this movie because my son had. He told me how great they both were, and I totally agree. Though it's definitely a tear jerker, I would recommend this story to anyone. It is a beautiful tale of friendship and imagination, and even of families coming together in times of tragedy. Any child, including myself, who has made their own lands of make believe will reflect on how those lands came to life when they pretended, and will remember how happy it made them to be there. And every person who has had a true best friend who they played with when they were younger will feel a flood of childhood memories when reading this book.

Pinkalicious: A Modern Cat in the Hat Tale

Pinkalicious, written by Victoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann and published in 2006, is a contemporary book that reminds me of the basic theme presented in Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat. Ironically, the story of Pinkalicious begins on a rainy day, just as in Seuss's book; it's "too wet to go outside." It is written in first person, from the perspective of the little girl who is never named, just as in The Cat in the Hat, the little boy is the first-person narrator and is never identified. Pinkalicious, as she is later nicknamed by her father, is delighted when her mommy suggests making cupcakes to liven up the rainy day, and asks her to make pink ones. While she is making them, the little girl begs her mom to add more pink, and eats several as soon as they are made; she even eats her little brother's cupcake because he doesn't want his. After nap, she asks for "JUST ONE MORE?" and the mother responds "You get what you get, and you don't get upset." Pinkalicious ignores her mother's rule and eats more cupcakes after dinner, then refuses to go to bed. Hanging from the chandelier, she promises to go to sleep if she can have "one more cupcake." Her dad reiterates that she has had enough. The next morning the little girl wakes up and she is completely pink! Her dad tries to wash off what he thought was pink markers, but it didn't help; even her hair was pink. The little girl loves being pink, and puts on her pink princess outfit and dances in front of the mirror, crying happy pink tears of joy because she was so beautifully pink. Her mother calls the doctor who tells her to bring the little girl to his office, and on the way out the door the little girl cries "Please, just one more cupcake!" The doctor tells her for the next week she can have nothing else pink, especially cupcakes, and to return to normal she will have to eat a steady diet of green food. "YUCK!" she says. On the way home she still asks her mother if she can have another pink cupcake when she gets home. Her mother reminds her what the doctor said: "NO MORE CUPCAKES!" At dinner that night Pinkalicious pretends to eat her green vegetables, and after everyone goes to bed she sneaks into the kitchen, climbs onto a chair, and reaches to the top of the refrigerator where her mother had hidden the cupcakes. She eats "just one more." The next morning when she wakes up she is no longer pink, but red, and she does not want to be red. She realizes she should have listened to the doctor, and she wants to be herself again. So she opens the refrigerator and eats pickles, spinach, olives, okra, artichokes, and anything else green she can find until she turns her normal color. "I was me, and I was beautiful."

Pinkalicious is the perfect example of a rebellious child who doesn't want to listen to adults. She ignores her mother when she tells her to stop eating cupcakes, and she still asks for more when her father tells her she has had enough. When the doctor tells her how to become normal again, she does not like his solution, and she still asks for more cupcakes on the way home from his office. She even sneaks into the kitchen for one more even though she knows she is not supposed to have one. But she finally realizes she needs to listen and go back to her normal self.

Pinkalicious is like a modern-day Cat in the Hat, who does not think there is any harm in messing up the house or having fun while the boy's and girl's mother is out. She does not think there is any harm in eating as many cupcakes as she wants and enjoys being pink since she is different from everyone else. She eventually realizes, when she turns red, that she needs to stop and go back to normal; this is similar to the Cat in the Hat realizing that the house is a mess and the children need it cleaned up so they do not get in trouble with their mother, and he brings in his machine to clean everything up.

There are really four voices of reason in Pinkalicious: the mother, the father, the doctor, and the little girl herself. In The Cat in the Hat, although the fish is the primary voice of reason who tells the Cat he should not be in the house, the little boy eventually comes to his senses and tells the Cat to take his "Things" away because he knows what he is doing is wrong. Pinkalicious also knows eating lots of cupcakes is wrong and eventually realizes she needs to listen to her parents and the doctor and eat the green foods. Eating your vegetables is something parents preach to their children constantly when they are younger, as is not messing up the house when your parents are away - the underlying themes in Pinkalicious and The Cat in the Hat.

Pinkalicious appeals to children (my five-year-old daughter included) because it presents the idea that eating as many cupcakes as you want is not only fun, but it will make you turn pink. Little girls especially love the color pink and it is a funny scenario to imagine. Children can identify with wanting to eat as many cupcakes as they desire. The first-person narrator is effective too; I could tell as I read this book to my daughter that she was imagining herself being this little girl. I am certain many kids have done similar things as Pinkalicious did - with regard to not listening to their parents, doing something over and over that they weren't supposed to do, and realizing later that they shouldn't have been doing it.

Pinkalicious also presents a fantastic moral lesson to children, even though it's not left as open-ended as The Cat in the Hat. The Cat in the Hat leaves it up to the reader to decide if he/she would tell mother what went on that day in the house. Pinkalicious, however, was faced directly with a decision and she made the right one: to eat the green foods to turn herself back to normal.

This author wrote two other books in this series: Purplicious and Goldilicious. Although my daughter likes these two as well, Pinkalicious is still her favorite.

Newbery vs.Caldecott

The Newbery Medal was named after English bookseller John Newbery (1713 - 1767), who published juvenile books. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children (usually written for the pre-teen audience) published in English in the United States during the preceding year. There are several criteria that must be met for a book to earn this distinguished award: 1) the book must be published in English in the United States during the previous year; 2) the author has to be a U.S. citizen; 3) the book must relate to a child audience; 4) the book has merit for its theme, presentation, plot, characters, setting, and style; 5) the book must contribute to literature; and 6) the book must be able to stand alone and not be part of a multimedia presentation (http://www.wikipedia.org/, 2010). The Newbery Medal has been awarded since 1922.

In 1971 the Newbery Honor Award was established, which is basically granted to "runners-up" for the Newbery Medal. According to http://www.wikipedia.org/, Laura Ingalls Wilder is the author who has received the most Newbery Honors (5); interestingly, she has never been awarded the Newbery Medal. In addition, there are only five authors who have received multiple Newbery Medals: E.L. Konigsburg, Joseph Krumgold, Lois Lowry, Katherine Paterson, and Elizabeth George Speare.

The Caldecott Medal is also a distinguished annual award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALA). Named after well-known English illustrator Randolph Caldecott (1846 - 1886), this award is given "to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published in English in the United States during the preceding year." This award has been granted since 1938. Books are considered for this award based upon these criteria: 1) artistic technique employed; 2) pictorial interpretation of the story; 3) appropriateness of style of illustration to the story; 4) delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting mood or information through the pictures; and 5) recognition of a child audience (www.newberyawardbooks.com/general/newbery-award-vs-caldecott-medal/01/17/2010).

Just as the runners-up of the Newbery Awards receive the Newbery Honors, the Caldecott runners-up receive the Caldecott Honor Award. There are usually several honor books each year in addition to the medal winner.

Basically, there are two main differences in the awards. The main distinction is Newbery Awards are given based on the book's story, while the Caldecott Awards are issued for a book's illustrations. Secondly, Newbery books are typically geared towards pre-teen readers and Caldecotts usually aim for younger children. Both awards are considered the most distinguished awards given in children's literature, thus you can't really say one is better than the other. Personal interest may direct individuals. For example, I am most interested in Newbery winners, because I look at a book for its plot. Many people love children's books for their illustrations. While I do love to look at beautiful pictures when I'm reading, that is not what I focus on when I pick up a book. I want my imagination to paint my own pictures as I become engrossed in the story. But reading a book to children and watching their faces as they listen and "see" the story through the illustrations is also a priceless moment. I do agree books should be recognized for their stories as well as for their illustrations, so Newbery and Caldecott Awards seem to be the best invention for recognizing these two aspects of children's books.

Casey at the Bat, illustrated by Christopher Bing

This beautiful book, based on Ernest L. Thayer's Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888, was illustrated by Christopher Bing and won a Caldecott Honor award in 2001. The book is geared to ages seven through twelve and is a tribute to Thayer's famous poem written in 1888. It is no wonder this title was recognized for its illustrations. The pages are sepia-toned, giving it an appropriate antique look. Pictures of torn newspaper clippings, advertisements, ticket stubs, and antique baseball cards (one in particular appears to be a Boston Red Sox player, and the illustrator boasts of being a Red Sox fan!) are scattered throughout the pages. Everything Bing has placed on the pages relates directly to baseball and/or reflects the time period in which the story takes place. One of my favorite pictures rests on the inside cover - a presumed-to-be old index card from the Library of Congress card catalog, typewritten with Thayer's first edition data of Casey at the Bat. A faint shoe marking appears on the top left-hand corner of the card, as if someone has stepped on it with his shoe, and the words "high circulation staff" are stamped on the card, as if it were done with a librarian's stamp pad years ago. Also on the inside cover are two ticket stubs to the Mudville game of June 3, 1888, the fictitious game recounted in the poem; these stubs are effective because it makes the reader (at least it did me!) question whether or not this was a true story or and a true baseball game that took place. The first page of the book depicts an illustration of the fictitious Mudville Monitor newspaper front page with the headline "Casey at the Bat." When you read the text, you see that the newspaper column is not really an article - it's the dedication to the book, the acknowledgments, and notes about the illustrations from Bing. I really enjoyed the clever ways Bing implemented parts of the story and/or book into the illustrations in this manner.

This poem immediately draws the reader into the action of the story, the last inning of an intense ball game with a meek outlook for the "Mudville Nine." The score is four to two, and fans are praying that Casey will make it up to bat, evidently the only hope for the team to win. "They thought if only Casey could but get a whack at that — We'd put up even money now with Casey at the bat." (The page with that line shows the crowd in the stadium and a detailed illustration of older U.S. currency laying across the page.) The lineup does not look promising, with two players, Flynn and Jimmy Blake, coming up to bat that were deemed "a lulu and....a cake." Supporters and the team itself are melancholy, with not much hope that these players will be able to rally the team to victory. However, Flynn drives a single and Blake "tore the cover off the ball" (this page is accompanied by Bing's picture of a massacred ball with the words "the cover of the ball" underneath it), leaving Jimmy safe at second and Flynn at third. The crowd cheered, "for Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat."

The reader at this point is convinced all will be well, when Casey comes up to bat confident and sneering at the pitcher, amidst thunderous applause and 10,000 eyes resting on him. Casey takes two pitches, and the umpire calls them both strikes. Though the crowd booed and hissed, Casey held his hand up and looked at the audience scornfully. "And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again."

Even at the end of the book, I was just convinced Casey would hit a home run because of the confidence he displayed and the crowd's reactions. He obviously was a player who had bailed the team out before, someone they knew could win the game. "The air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow..." After this quote the book shows a closeup shot of Casey swinging with all his might. "But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out."

I was shocked by the ending of the book. The language and the illustrations both gave me the impression that Casey would save the day and win the game. The lesson to be learned here by children and adults alike is that you can't depend on one person to bail you out, and that sometimes even the best players aren't able to win the game. Even the best players strike out. You can also look at it from the viewpoint that Casey was overconfident and did not focus like he should have. The reader might conclude from the description of Casey that he is cocky and maybe a little pompous.

When I saw this book on the list of Caldecotts I immediately wanted to read it because I remember my 13-year-old son (a huge baseball fan since t-ball at age five) reading this poem and studying it when he was on the academic team. He memorized parts of it and thoroughly enjoyed it. I wondered why my son's academic team coach wanted the team to be familiar with this poem. I see now that it is a poem telling a story with which children who play sports can relate.

Since at first I was curious whether or not this poem was based on a real game, I investigated a little. I learned that Mudville is indeed a fictional place, but there are two real cities in the United States who claim to be the famous town referred to in the poem: Holliston, Massachusetts, which has a neighborhood called Mudville, and Stockton, California, which was known as Mudville before being incorporated in 1850. Yet Thayer himself said the poem has no basis.

I am a scrapbooker, and the pages of this book reminded me of looks that can be created through scrapbooking - using old newspaper articles and torn-out pages of memorabilia to create a scenic look to your page. I especially liked the torn edges to the newspapers, a technique I use a lot in my books to make the design of your pages look more "scrapbookish." Every page was meant to look like a newspaper page, with the story/poem printed on it. I think Bing did an awesome job with every single page of this book, and think it honestly should have won the Caldecott Medal instead of Caldecott Honor for that year. I highly recommend this book, not only for the content of the poem, but for the beautiful illustrations that enhance the story.

Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport

Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was written by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Bryan Collier. This book earned a Coretta Scott King Honor Award as well as the honor of Best Illustrated Children's Book from the New York Times Book Review in 2001. The stained glass windows on the first page of the book (as well as the last page of the book) struck me immediately when I opened this book. I love stained glass windows in churches and these pages make you feel like you are in a church. The illustrator's note at the beginning of the book states that these windows, with all their various colors, represent the world's various races.

This nonfiction book for young readers highlights the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. in simple, easy-to-understand language. Most pages give facts first, followed by a quote that emphasized what King stood for. These quotes were sometimes said by King, and sometimes by the important role models in his life like his mother and father, and sometimes things he learned from the Bible. The story tells how Martin saw signs when he was little that said "White Only," and his mother and father told him he was as good as anyone else. As he grows up listening to the words of the Bible and hearing his father preach about love, Martin realizes that hate and inequality can only be conquered with love. Rosa Parks and her historic refusal to give up her seat on the bus in 1955 is recounted, which led to blacks boycotting buses, with Martin Luther King walking with them and praying with them. The book goes on to say that blacks were beaten, threatened, and murdered, but they kept on marching. Martin Luther King said "Remember, if I am stopped, this movement will not be stopped, because God is with this movement." King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech is mentioned, and his winning of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. The author says "he won it because he taught others to fight with words, not fists." The most striking illustration in the book appears towards the end, alongside the page that tells of King's assassination in 1968. King's face surrounded by stained glass windows, with divisions across his face almost like the glass is shattering around him, is a very moving image. The final image in the book depicts four candles which the illustrator comments represent the four girls killed in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. The book's illustrations are full of intentional symbolism.

Children will learn a great deal about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. by reading this book. They will learn facts about his life, as well as his beliefs and values - and that he wanted the world to follow his lead. Readers will learn that he fought for equality among all peoples, and wanted everyone to be treated the same. This ideal is something every child should learn, at an early age, and that is what this book accomplishes.

I personally liked this book because my son did a speech on Martin Luther King, Jr. when he was in the fourth grade, and this reminded me of it. It was a factual speech on King's life, accompanied by the beliefs the King was trying to teach to the world - similar to Rappaport's book. My son won second place that year, and I was very proud of the topic that he chose. He researched it all his own, and learned exactly the main points that King wanted to emphasize to men, women, and children during his lifetime. Obviously he made a lasting impression on my son, and people who heard his speech hopefully got something out of it. I am sure any child or adult who reads Martin's Big Words will.

The Three Pigs by David Wiesner

The Three Pigs, written by David Wiesner, received the Caldecott Medal in 2002. The book was written from children ages five through seven. Wiesner adds a twist to the age-old tale of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf, who comes to each house to blow it down. The first pig is blown entirely out of the story by the wolf, and that pig goes to the house of the second pig to tell him to come with him. The wolf is puzzled when he blows the second house down and there is no pig to eat. The two pigs then go to pig three's house and help him escape the wolf as well. The reader then sees the pigs "outside" the story, with pages of a book laying all around. They fold the pages into a paper airplane and soar through the air for a couple of blank (white) pages, until they crash when the page crumples. They wander around for a bit and discover another page hanging down that they decide to crawl into, which ends up being a scene from the Hey Diddle Diddle nursery rhyme. They quickly run out when they realize they are in the wrong place, and the cat follows them. More pages dangle and pig three persuades the other two to hop into a story of a king and a dragon who is about to be slain by the king's eldest son. The pigs rescue the dragon by leading him out of the story, and he thanks them with a funny Medieval-overtoned statement: "Many thanks for rescuing me, O brave and noble swine." Once out, they notice the cat, who greets them with "Hey diddle diddle!" The group continues to wander through a hall of pages, before finally noticing the page with pig three's brick house. The dragon compliments him: "A fine castle, methinks." They decide they want to go home, and enter the story right when the wolf is there to blow the house of bricks down. The wolf begins to huff and puff, when suddenly the door opens and the dragon's long neck surprises the wolf, who quickly runs away. Letters from the actual "story" being told scatter all across the real book's page, due to the wolf's puffing, and the last page of the book shows the three pigs, the cat (playing his fiddle), and the dragon all gathered around the table eating a pot of soup.

I enjoyed this perspective of the classic story of the three pigs. Another book came to mind when I read this book, which my 13-year old son read and loved when he was little: The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith. I liked that book even more than Wiesner's, because the story was told from the wolf's point of view. (I am also a fan of Wicked, which is the story of the Wizard of Oz told from the witch's point of view, but that is another story!)

Even though I am not a fan of comic-style dialogue bubbles in books, they don't bother me as much in this one. I think their use is effective when the pigs are all saying different things at the same time. The comments from the dragon were particularly funny. I also really liked the way Wiesner drew the book pages and showed the pigs climbing in and out of them. When the pigs appear in the different stories, i.e. Hey Diddle Diddle and the dragon/knight story, they are cleverly drawn into the actual story page and you can see they were accidentally put into the page and are trying to escape. The pigs hoisting themselves on top of each other to climb into the dragon story was a very humorous illustration. Finally, the last page of text is very cleverly printed, the letters still askew from being blown away by the wolf, and the last two letters are missing: "And they all lived happily ever aft."

Children should love this twist to the classic Three Little Pigs story. I think they will particularly get a kick out of the pigs flying around on the paper airplane.

My Friend Rabbit

My Friend Rabbit was written and illustrated by Eric Rohmann. This book is aimed towards children ages four to eight, and won the Caldecott Medal in 2003. Rohmann's hand-colored drawings illustrate several animals in bright, wonderful detail. The book is written from a first-person perspective, or should I say a first-animal's perspective - that of a mouse. He says "Rabbit means well but whatever he does, wherever he goes, trouble follows." The first thing that Rabbit does is throw an airplane that he and Mouse are playing with into a tree. To solve this dilemma, Rabbit drags an elephant, rhinoceros, hippo, duck, antelope, bear, alligator, and a squirrel to the tree and piles them on top of each other to try to reach the plane. The plane was still just out of Mouse's reach, so Rabbit declares he has another idea and jumps off the stack of animals, causing them all to fall. Understandably, the animals are unhappy with Rabbit, but Mouse defends Rabbit, saying he means well "and he is my friend." The last few drawings portray Rabbit flying around in the airplane with Mouse trying to make him happy even though he is hugging Mouse too hard and covering his eyes so he can't see. The two end up stuck in a tree together at the end of the book, and Rabbit once again says "not to worry, Mouse, I've got an idea." The reader can conclude that Rabbit is sure to get into trouble once again.

This story is one that most children can relate to - most kids and even most adults have known someone who is always in trouble no matter how hard they try. They mean well but always cause little problems. It is hard not to be friends with someone like this, someone who may be a little accident prone but has a heart of gold. Even though Rabbit made the whole stack of animals fall to the ground, he had the best of intentions - to get the airplane out of the tree for Mouse so he could play with it.

My Friend Rabbit reflects Mouse's loyalty to Rabbit and teaches children to always be loyal to your friends no matter how far from perfect they may be. Standing beside someone who cares about you is rewarding for both parties.

The Lion & The Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

The Lion & The Mouse is the 2010 Caldecott Award winner, by Jerry Pinkney. I could tell just from the book's jacket that this book was outstanding in its illustrations. I did not realize, however, that the story is told purely through pictures. There are just a few onomatopoeic words - RRROOARRR, squeak squeak, putt putt, who who, scratch scratch, screech - scattered throughout the book's pages that are very effective and enhance the story. Pinkney does comment on the last page of the book that The Lion & The Mouse fable of Aesop's, which is what this book is based on, is sparse in text anyway, so he felt like telling the story through illustrations would be unique. The book is intended for a preschool audience, and I tested this with my five-year-old daughter; she thoroughly enjoyed the tale.

I don't remember the last time I read a book that did not have sentences or dialogue. I enjoyed this change of pace and I thought the pictures were striking. The African setting provided a new perspective for me, since I never really envisioned this story with all the other African animals. I just remember reading that fable as a child and only seeing a lion and a mouse; but in reality, lions live in Africa so it makes sense!

Jerry Pinkey is one of the most noted children's book illustrators, with more than 100 titles to his name. Some of the other titles that he illustrated include: The Patchwork Quilt; The Little Red Hen; God Bless the Child; Ain't Nobody a Stranger to Me; Rikki-Tikki-Tavi; Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman; John Henry; The Adventures of Spider; Goin' Someplace Special; Little Red Riding Hood; Noah's Ark; The Moon Over Star; The Ugly Duckling; Sweethearts of Rhythm; and The Old African. He has received five Caldecott Honor Medals, five Coretta Scott King Awards, and four Coretta Scott King Honor Awards. He has been illustrating children's books since 1964.

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! was written and illustrated by Mo Willems and was a 2004 Caldecott Honor recipient. Its intended audience is children ages two to six. Most Caldecott winners exhibit excellent, and sometimes even breathtaking illustrations, but this book, in my opinion does not stand out too much beyond the norm. I was not very impressed with the drawings, which to me seem pretty basic. I am sure that was the intention of the artist, but I don't think these illustrations make the book come to life. The pigeon is basically drawn in a comic-strip-like format, with dialogue bubbles appearing above his head. The book itself was not very entertaining to me either - I found it rather silly and pointless. I realize the author was trying to be clever, but I just did not think it was anything exceptional. I believe most children in the age range for which the book was directed will be expecting a story/plot of some sort, but will be disappointed when they find out nothing really happens with the pigeon driving the bus. From its title, I assumed the pigeon would actually be driving the bus and something funny would happen, but that is not the case. Perhaps the Pigeon books (there are several written by this author) are more entertaining for adults who like that type of humor. I do like the idea of the pigeon wanting to do something and trying to get his way by begging and bargaining with the unseen adult reading the story.

I am not a big fan of comic strips and maybe this is what sparked my negative reaction to the book. I like reading stories and books in sentence/paragraph style, and I did not enjoy the format of this book.


Part of me wonders if this book was given the award because of Mo Willems's reputation as an animator for Sesame Street and because he is the creator of Sheep in the Big City on Cartoon Network. I am sure this is the case with some award-winning children's books, even though I hate to think that a book would be considered because of "who you know" or "who you are." Just because Mo Willems was successful with his animation in Sesame Street does not mean that everything he does will be great. There are some authors/illustrators that are known for their consistent outstanding work, and I guess there are some "one-hit-wonder" authors/illustrators in children's literature also. But some readers evidently enjoy the pigeon created by Willems, because he wrote quite a few others in this series.

This book would not be on my list of "must-haves" for a children's library collection.

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread, was written by Kate DiCamillo and won the Newbery Medal in

2004. This delightful tale of the mouse hero, Despereaux, and his love, the Princess Pea, was written for children ages five to eight. However, I am almost 36 and I adored the story. Big-eared, tiny, Despereaux, outcast by his family and the other mice for being different, seems doomed at the beginning, forced into the castle dungeon for committing an unspeakable crime in the mouse world - not only showing himself to humans, but conversing with them and letting them touch him. He was drawn to the music being played by the king and the princess one day, and he instantly fell in love with the princess. The Mouse Council rules that Despereaux be banished to the darkness of the dungeon to meet his fate with the rats, but rather than die there he meets Gregory the jailer, who helps Despereaux return to the light to see his beloved princess again. While escaping, Despereaux overhears the evil plan of the rat Roscuro, who seeks revenge on Princess Pea for the disgusted look she gave him after he caused the Queen's death (the queen died from a heart attack when she saw Roscuro in her soup which he had accidentally fallen into). Despereaux eventually rescues the princess from the dungeon after Roscuro convinced the kitchen servant Miggery Sow (who was not "the sharpest knife in the box") to lead her down there so she could take her place as Princess. The two end up becoming friends and the good hearts of the Princess and Despereaux prove that everyone deserves love and happiness, no matter if they are a king, queen, mouse, or rat.

This story is one of hope, love and "light," as author DiCamillo declares. If people (or animals) in darkness are just able to let some light in, they will discover just what their lives might become.

I agree with the author in her statement preceding her first "book" in The Tale of Despereaux: "The world is dark , and light is precious. Come closer, dear reader. You must trust me. I am telling you a story." All of the secondary characters in the book - Mig, Roscuro, Pea, and even the jailer Gregory - are all on the same "quest" as Despereaux is, to find happiness and love to light up their lives. The jailer, Gregory, seems like a dark character since he lives in the dungeon and takes care of the criminals, but he, too, merely craves something to brighten his existence; this is clear when he spares Despereaux's life and asks him to tell him a story instead. "Because you, mouse, can tell Gregory a story. Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light."

That particular quote is what really confirmed my affection for this title. I have loved reading stories since I was four years old, and now that I have a family of my own I rarely have time to read for pleasure. When I picked up this book I didn't put it down until I finished it, and it made me realize that I have to make time to read a good book every once in a while, no matter how busy my life gets. Imaginative stories that have sad parts but happy endings such as The Tale of Despereaux are my kind of books.

The Polar Express - Comparison of the Book and the Feature Film

The Polar Express was written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg, was published in 1985, and was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1986. In 2005 Castle Rock Entertainment produced a feature film based on this beloved children's book. I often do not enjoy full-length movies produced from short children's books such as these since so much extra plot is added, but this movie actually impressed me. The producers did a good job of keeping the basic plot of the movie the same, and used exact quotes from the book for the most part. The animation of the main character of the book was well done; the little boy in the story very closely resembles the animated boy in the movie. The boy's little sister, however, did not look the same in the book and the movie. There were also many more characters in the movie than in the book. In the movie, the little girl who rides next to the boy on the train and plays one of the major roles is not a character in the book at all. The boys' parents, the conductor, a "ghost" on the top of the train, an annoying little boy who chatters excessively, and a little boy named Billy are all new characters in the movie version.

All of the pages of the book are depicted almost exactly at their appropriate spots in the movie. I had the book laying next to me as I viewed the film and I was amazed at how closely the pages matched the movie during those particular scenes. The Polar Express train itself when it first appears in the movie looks identical to the one in the book. The wolves in the snowy woods running past the train and the train climbing the mountains were also depicted well, as were the points where the Express reached the North Pole and the hundreds of elves crowded in the streets.

As is expected, an entire plot is added to make the story long enough for a movie. A wonderful example of foreshadowing occurs when the conductor asks everyone for their tickets and the little boy reaches into his pocket and finds a hole in it. Later the bell from Santa's sleigh falls out of this same pocket when the boy puts it in there. The additional characters - the girl, Billy, and the ghost - all play key roles in shaping the boy's belief in Santa Claus and the spirit of Christmas. He is a doubter in the beginning of the book but his adventures on the Polar Express and at the North Pole make him a true believer. The tickets, again, are cleverly used at the end of the movie when the conductor punches the word "believe" in the boy's ticket as he boards the train for home.

"Faster and faster we ran along, rolling over peaks and through valleys like a car on a roller coaster." This quote from the book was effectively displayed during the movie when the train approaches Glacier Gulch and the engineers accidentally lose the pin that pulls the brake; I felt like I was on a roller coaster myself during this part. Also, the line "We crossed a barren desert of ice - the Great Polar Ice Cap," is illustrated in the movie when the Express slides across the frozen stretch of land before getting to the North Pole.

As the Polar Express arrives at the North Pole, the elves line the streets, and the children witness the reindeer in front of Santa's sleigh prancing and ringing the silver sleigh bells that hung from their harnesses, the narrator (little boy) in the book says "It was a magical sound, like nothing I'd ever heard." But in the movie during this scene, the little boy cannot hear the bells; just the little girl does. This is a key difference in the book and the movie. I think the movie producers did this to prolong the doubting of the boy, whereas at this point in the book it is clear that he is believing now. I think the movie tries to make you think a little longer that he is not going to believe. I don't think this was necessary and that they should have stuck to the way the book read.

There were other little details that may or may not have been necessary to change. For example, when the boy goes to Santa's sleigh, the book says the conductor helped him into the sleigh but in the movie he just climbs up there alone. But I do think what Santa tells the boy as he hands him the first gift of Christmas effectively reiterates the point to the story: "Remember, the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart." Even though that line was not in the book it makes the point.

At the end of the book when the little boy arrives back at home, "the Polar Express let out a loud blast from its whistle and sped away." But in the movie the train leaves quietly and slowly chugs away as the boy waves goodbye.

The last package under the tree with the sleigh bell is wrapped in the same wrapping paper in the book and the movie. The toy train going around the Christmas tree in the boy's house in the movie provides a nice touch since it looks like a miniature Polar Express.

I really enjoyed the movie version of The Polar Express, and I think the producers did a good job of keeping the main point to the story without digressing too much and adding too much "fluff" to the plot. My children also really enjoyed the book and the movie as well.