A Strom Called Katrina

A Strom Called Katrina

Author/Illustrator: Myron Uhlberg/Colin Bootmans
Genre: Historical Fiction
Awards: Booklist Editor's Choice: Books for Youth (2012)
Age Level: 7-11 years old

Summary: This is a  story of a 10-year-old boy who experiences the dark and scary time of his life witnessing Hurricane Katrina. As we see through the eyes of this young boy, Louis Daniel, life is precious and sometimes calls for immediate decisions. When the storm hit, Louis had to leave behind a puppy he sees floating on a couple boards as they passed him. His loving heart wanted to save his possessions including the lost puppy. The family leave their home using paddles and debris as they tried to float to safety. They headed to the Superdome in hopes for safety and dryness. When they arrived, they were physically safe, but they were stuck in the middle of babies crying and people talking in this tragic situation. Louis realises that he has lost his cornet and asks his Daddy to help him find it. Louis' cornet serves as a "safety blanket" for him and now that it's lost, he is devastated. Louis goes missing to retrieve it and his family is worried sick. Once he has found his cornet, he plays a loud note and his Mama and Daddy hear the noise and come running to him. Finally, the storm had passed and when the buses come to take them home and the same puppy shows up by his feet, Daddy agrees to keep the little puppy. They head to their home safe and sound. The experiences in this story are true and relevant to the devastation of the families from the hurricane. Illustrations seemed to be painted on with high contrast colours.

The Other Side

The Other Side

Author/Illustrator: Jacqueline Woodson/ E.B. Lewis
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Awards: Louisiana Young Reader's Choice Award
Age Level: 11-12 years old

Summary: The book The Other Side is a story about two young girls living on opposite sides of the fence. Sandra lived on the side with the yellow house and "White people lived on the other" (Woodson 1). Each day, the two girls would see each other from the distance and hope to play. Everytime they asked they're mom, they weren't allowed to look at the other girl let alone play with her. The girls would pass each other that summer in the market but had to pretend as if the other girl didn't even exist. Finally one day the two young girls decided to break their parent's boundaries and play with each other in the field. After Sandra helps Annie down from the fence they begin to jump rope together. They realized that they enjoyed each others company and wish to keep playing together no matter their parent's wishes. The Illustrations in the story used dull colors and bold fonts. Although the pictures of the girls weren't in too much detail, the reader could easily see the joy in the girls faces when they played together.

Cinderella

Cinderella

Author/Illustrator: RH Disney/Marcia Brown
Genre: Traditional Literature
Awards: 1955 Caldecott Award
Age Level: 4-8 years old

Summary: Throughout the story of Cinderella, the reader sees a theme of perseverance. In this classic fairytale, Cinderella is a young princess who we first see living with her mom and dad. In the beginning of the story, Cinderella's mom passes away and is left with her father who gets remarried to a terribly mean stepmother.  Soon after, her father passes away and now Cinderella is left with her old stepmother and two cruel stepsisters. Meanwhile, the King is planning a big ball for his kingdom to find the right princess for his son. Cinderella works hard and makes her own dress out of fabrics and jewels from her own fairy godmother that shows up. Once her stepmother  hears word that Cinderella is planning on going, she tries to destroys her chances in making it to the ball. This however, was a worthless effort because Cinderella had her own personal assistants (mice and fairies) to help her on her way. When she arrives at the ball she tries to spend some time with the prince before midnight when her magic would disappear. After spending time with the prince, she realizes its time to rush home leaving her glass shoe behind. This leaves the prince stunned and in wonder of who that amazing girl was.  The prince searches the Kingdom and sends his men out to find the women that fits the shoe. Finally after much tribulation, the prince finds Cinderella and they live happily ever after.
I liked the illustrations in this version of the book, Cinderella. The drawings were beautifully intricate and the color looked like watercolor.

The Dot

The Dot

Author/Illustrator: Peter H. Reynolds
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Awards: Chapman Awards for Best Classroom Read-Alouds,  Chicago Public Library Best Books For Children's and Teens, Nick Jr. Family Magazine - "Best of 2003" Awards- "Most Inspiring Book"
Age level: 5+ years old

Summary: Vashti sits at her chair staring at a blank piece of paper as her art class comes to an end. Her teacher encourages Vashti and tells her to just make a mark and see where it takes her. Vashti is a student who believes that she is just "not creative." After her teacher tells her to just start with a make, Vashti tries to make her point by slamming down her paint brush on the piece of paper. Going to class next day, Vashti sees that her teacher has put her artwork in a frame. This gives value to Vashtis' artwork and begins the process of self discovery. The story, The Dot, is a reminder to us all that there is a creative spot in us just waiting to be revealed.
Illustrations in The Dot were simple in detail and used minimal colors. The pages were filled with mostly warm colors and bold/black lines. I believe that the illustrator  may have wanted the focal point of the story to be using our own personal creativity.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Author/Illustrator: Judith Viorst/ Ray Cruz

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Awards: ALA Children's Notable Book, Georgia's Children's Book Award

Age level: 6+ years old

Summary: This story is a humorous children's book about a boy named Alexander. He experiences the most horrible day of his life. From the moment he wakes up and finds the gum stuck in his hair, to no present in his cereal box. Alexander feels like everything is going wrong. When he gets to school, the teacher reprimands him and he gets demoted to third best friend. Can Alexander's day get any worse you ask? Yes,  he gets lima beans for dinner and getting bath soap in his eyes. Alexander says several times throughout the story that he believes that life would be easier if he could just move to Australia. At the end of the story, Alexander's mother assures him that everybody has bad days no matter where the live or who they are. This is a very important lesson that Alexander and his mother teaches us all.
Illustrations in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day were very detailed with minimal coloring on each page. Definitely a fun and relatable read!

Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum

Author/Illustrator: Kevin Hawkins
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Awards: ALA Notable Children's Book, Horn Book Fanfare
Age Level: 5-7 years old

Summary: In the children's story there was a mouse named Chrysanthemum. She loved her name and was very proud of it. Her brothers and sisters had more common names such as Sue and Joe. When Chrysanthemum arrives at school, another mouse named Victoria, is getting her and her friends to bullying Chrysanthemum. The little mice were all preparing for a school play and wouldn't stop calling her names.This causes Chrysanthemum to have a low self-esteem. She begins to hate her name and wishes that it would be something more similar to everyone else. Just then Miss Twinkle, the music teacher, overhears and announces that she is naming her baby, Chrysanthemum! She tells the class how lovely of a name it is and thinks that flower names are beautiful. Now Chrysanthemum can feel confident in herself during the class play and all the girls making fun of her changed their minds about flowers as names. They all wished they had flower-like names. The illustrations were colorful and cartoon-like. I think the young readers would benefit from reading this book by relating the theme to real life scenarios in the classroom. The mice are talking, yes, but they sure have some wise words to be accountable to. Be kind to everyone and don't be judgmental just because someone is different then you.

Best Best Friends

Best Best Friends

Author/illustrator: Margret Chodos-Irvine
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Awards: Caldecott Honor Winner
Age level: 3-7 years old

Summary: In Best Best Friends, the author illustrates a loving best friend relationship between two girls named Mary and Clare. On Mary's birthday, she gets special treatment in the classroom with pink cupcakes and a golden birthday crown. Her friend Clare gets very jealous of her friend Mary and the attention that she is recieving. Mary attempts to make Clare insecure about what she is wearing and her favorite color. The two girls get so angry and ignore eachother the rest of the school day. After nap, Clare decides to make a birthday card to give her friend Mary. They become best friends again and look forward to seeing eachother the next day at school.
The illustrations are vibrant and simple. Perfect for the age level of the readers. Young students will be able to use this book as a model for forgiveness in their own relationships.