Module 4: Moon Over Manifest

Book Cover Image


Summary
Moon Over Manifest is a story told by a two different characters. Abilene is the main character. She is a young girl who starts out on a train to Manifest, Kansas. Her Father sent her there to live with his friends while he worked. Abilene was curious to find out what her fathers connections were in Manifest. The 1930's were hard times in Manifest and the town had obviously been influenced by many people back in 1917 and 1918 and Abilene was determined to find out what the big secrets were. Her answers came from an unexpected source, the towns diviner. As it turns out, a young boys trickster mind helped to save the town. The question is, will Abilene learn of her fathers past and reconnect with him at the end of the summer?


APA Reference


Vanderpool, C. (2010). Moon over manifest. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.


My Impressions
I personally loved this book as I particularly enjoy historical fiction novels. Clare Vanderpool details the life of those in small town in Kansas during the hard times of The Great Depression as well as World War I. I particularly enjoy books that tell a story within another story from history. The mystery of who Abilene's father held through to the end. Of course, I had my guesses, but certain details made me question if my predictions were true. This book won the Caldecott Award for 2011, and rightfully so. I have already been recommending this book to the older students in my school. I would love to see this story made into a movie!


Professional Review

MOON OVER MANIFEST (reviewed on September 15, 2010)

Kirkus Review

Retrieved from : http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/claire-vanderpool/moon-over-manifest/#review

When 12-year-old Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kan., in 1936 to stay with her father’s boyhood friend, little does she know her sojourn will take her back, via mesmerizing tales, newspaper clippings, curious mementoes and World War I letters, to Manifest as it was in 1918—and into the life of the mysterious boy nicknamed Jinx. This young con man effected extraordinary change in the lives of the mostly immigrant residents and the fortunes of the mining town in that year. Abilene and readers get so caught up in the past in this richly detailed, splendidly written novel that they easily make the transition between the Depression and WWI eras and long to learn more about the town that once was. Readers will love guessing how Abilene’s dad fits into all the stories and townspeople’s memories. The absolute necessity of story as a way to redemption and healing past wounds is at the heart of this beautiful debut, and readers will cherish every word up to the heartbreaking yet hopeful and deeply gratifying ending. (author’s note)  (Historical fiction. 10-14)

 Library Uses

Moon Over Manifest would be a great recommendation for students interested in reading books during the time of The Great Depression or World War I. If students are researching the era, this book would help them understand what it was like in a small town during the era. 

Module 3: A Ball for Daisy

Book Cover Image

Summary

A Ball for Daisy is a wordless book for younger readers. It is about a dog named Daisy who loves her red ball. The story begins with Daisy playing with her red ball. She loves it so much she snuggles up to it when she sleeps. Daisy also likes to take her red ball to the park, until it goes over a fence and another dog begins to play with it. To Daisy great misfortune the ball is popped by the other dog. She goes home without her favorite red ball. Next time Daisy goes to the park, the other dog's owner has brought daisy a new ball, only this time it is a bright blue color. 

APA Reference

Raschka, C. (2011). A ball for daisy. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books. 

My Impressions

 The story of A Ball for Daisy is the latest Caldecott Winner (2012). The author does a superb job of showing the emotions and play of the little dog, Daisy only through pictures. You can feel the puppy's emotions through her facial expressions and mannerisms. Chris Raschka makes it look as if watercolor paints were used to make this book a winner! The watercolor look gives it a young and childlike feel, but has the sophistication of a true artist. This will be a favorite of all young readers who have a love for dogs. 

Professional Review

This story about loss (and joy) is accomplished without a single word, which is perfect—it puts you directly in the head space of its canine protagonist. The title tells us her name is Daisy, but she is a pretty anonymous little thing, drawn by Raschka as just a few indistinct yet somehow expressive squiggly lines. What’s clear is that she loves playing with her ball, both indoors and out, until the fateful moment that another dog bites too hard on the ball and deflates it. In a heartaching series of nearly identical paintings, Daisy slumps into a sofa as depression overtakes her. Dogs, of course, don’t know that there are more balls in the world, which makes her glee at the end of the book all the sweeter. Raschka uses fairly sophisticated comic-book arrangements—long, narrow, horizontal panels, and so forth—but masks them with soft watercolor edges instead of sharp corners. The result feels like something of pure emotion. Pretty close approximation of what it’s like to be a dog, probably.

— Daniel Kraus

Kraus, D.(2011). Booklist.

Library Uses

Though, this would be difficult to read aloud to students in a library, it would be a great opportunity for students to write the story in words for the author. 

Module 3: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Book Cover Image

Summary

Sylvester is a young donkey who finds a pebble that is capable of granting wishes. In order to have your wishes granted you must actually touch the pebble. Sylvester begins making wishes as soon as he figures out it can help him in times of need such as a rain storm. Later, Sylvester is frightened by a lion and wishes for the rock to disguise him. Unfortunately, this puts him in a rather depressing predicament. Sylvester must find a way to get back to his parents through the magical pebble. 

APA Reference

Steig, W. (1969). Sylvester and the magic pebble. New York, NY: Windmill Books, Inc. 

My Impressions
This is an older book, but it is still a good one. It has a magical message and reminds me a bit of a version of Aladdin with the genie in a bottle. This book was awarded the Caldecott Award which is known for it's illustrations. The animals had cute features and were imaginary of course, as most of the four legged creature stood on their hind legs on a regular basis. The colors are bright and appealing to the eye. The clothing on the animals is a bit on the comical side in my opinion. Obviously, animals don't wear clothing, but in Steig's story they would look funny without clothing being on their hind legs all the time. 

Professional Review
William Steig's Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Children's book review by Steve Barancik
Ages 4-8
When I began reading Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, I quickly checked back for the copyright date. 1969.
That's because I noticed immediately that it didn't read like a contemporary picture book. There were more words. Modern picture books have about 1000. I haven't counted, but I'd guess this one has more like 3000.


I'm pleased to report that the number of words is the least of what sets Sylvester apart from more recent books. The most remarkable aspect of this book is where Steig takes us with those words.
The nature of fiction is that it enables us (and our children) to experience another character's highs and lows. A book with a happy ending is sure to have had a less happy middle.
For whatever reason, the lows in picture books have been getting less low over time. The old fairy tales featured children being eaten by wolves! These days a story's low might be that a child doesn't get his favorite toy...until the end.
I find it ironic. As TV and the internet expose our kids to ever more disturbing information at ever earlier ages, our inclination is to shield them more and more in the material we present to them.
I think it lessens our credibility. As they graduate from a world in which we control their information flow to a life in which they (and their peers) do, we must seem sadly out of the loop. No wonder it's they who end up shielding us from what's really going on!
That's why Sylvester and the Magic Pebble so refreshed me. There is very real, very pronounced sadness in this book. It still has a happy ending though!
Sylvester is an only child. He likes to collect unusual pebbles. But talk about unusual; the one he finds this day grants wishes, so long as you're holding it. It's all great fun...until a hungry lion appears. Sylvester wishes he could become a rock. Lions, after all, don't eat rocks.
Unfortunately, rocks don't hold pebbles. Sylvester can't wish himself back.
As a rock, he's still sentient, just not animate, and Steig does a brilliant job of conveying the abject sadness of that - one aspect being how badly he misses his parents.
His parents become incredibly sad too as they start to realize Sylvester isn't returning home. Steig doesn't hold back here. Mom and Dad are as bereft as you would expect real parents to be whose child has mysteriously disappeared, and whom the police hold out no hope of finding.
(A crazy aside here. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble was banned in some schools and libraries when it was first published, because the police were depicted as pigs. Absurd. Sylvester and his parents are donkeys - that is,asses - and their next door neighbor is a female pig - clearly not a policeman. The police are depicted as sympathetic, not buffonish. I refuse to believe Steig was trying to make any kind of political statement.)
Now, I don't want to give away the clever ending, but it is nearly miraculous and - here's the important part - more joyous as a result of the depths of sadness that preceded it.
Steig won the Caldecott Award for illustration for Sylvester, but 40 years on it's the story that stands out.
It seems every day there's a missing child case blaring from the TV. Parents, eventually some of that slips through (and then, later on, all of it is going to slip through). Instead of pretending you can hide your kids from the real world, it might be better to simply try to moderate the dosage.
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is the picture book version of a missing child case, with the elation of a picture book ending. When the real world starts slipping through and reaching your child, I'll think you'll be glad you had this one on your shelf.

Barancik, S. (2012).  Retrieved from: http://www.best-childrens-books.com/sylvester-and-the-magic-pebble.html.


Library Uses
If there is an art exhibit on campus, Caldecott winning books can be of great use win art exhibit come to the school. Students can learn how art is everywhere even in books.

Module 2: Miss Rumphius

Book Cover Image

Summary

Miss Rumphius is a tale of a woman who was given a challenge to do three things in her lifetime. Her challenge was to go to faraway places, live by the sea, and most importantly make the world more beautiful. She was challenged by her grandfather. Many years pass by and she eventually does all the things except the last, make the world more beautiful. She loves lupine flowers and plants them before she becomes ill. Once she is well, she sees that her flowers have spread all over her town. In the end, she also challenges her great niece to do the same. 

APA Reference

Cooney, B. (1982). Miss rumphius. New York, NY: The Viking Press.

My Impressions

This was a sweet book that shows how time after time tradition and advice from our elders should be taken.  The wisdom from our elders can often be the best and most rewarding advice. Though this is an older book, the message is still clear and can be related to the present seeing as time still passes and wisdom is often passed on from generation to generation. I could almost smell the flowers as the author described the jasmine and lupine. 

Professional Review

When Miss Rumphius was a small girl, her grandfather told her she could travel and live by the sea as she wanted, but she must also do one more thing—in some way make the world more beautiful. She grows up, works, and travels, but how she can accomplish the charge given her is still a puzzle. After an injury lays her low and gives her time to think, she hits upon an idea. She will plant lupines—blue, purple, and rose-colored flowers—all over the fields and lanes near her house. Now an old lady, she passes this legacy of duty on to her great-niece, the narrator of the story. Cooney is in a tranquil mood here, and both the quiet text and serenity of full-color acrylic paintings portray this feeling. The artwork, almost primitive in style, is masterful, but the story itself has an adult feel and, without adult guidance, not all young children will respond. — Ilene Cooper

Cooper, I. (1982). Booklist.

        http://www.booklistonline.com/Miss-Rumphius-Barbara-Cooney/pid=2653208?    pid=2653208

Library Uses

The library can use this as a lesson on how in the Spring when flowers are blooming and in places they were not growing at another time, can be taken by the wind and the birds. 

Module 2: The Hundred Dresses

Book Cover Image

Summary

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes is about a young school girl who is teased by other school girls about her clothing. Wanda wears the same blue dress to school everyday. During a playground conversation between classmates Wanda states that she has 100 dress at home. The girls do not believe her because she wears the same dress everyday. The teasing continues until suddenly Wanda no longer shows up at school. She communicates through letters. Two of the girls begin to feel bad for the way they treated Wanda and go to find her at her old house. She was not found but her dresses showed up at school through the an art presentation. They were drawings of dresses. The girls in the class loved them.  The story ends with a message of forgiveness in a letter. 

APA Reference

Estes, E. (1944). The hundred dresses. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, Inc. 

My Impressions

I enjoyed this book. I feel like the message is timeless. It is relatable to students in 2012. In my class, I have students who wear the same clothing often, sometimes every day. Students begin talking and gossiping about one another at a young age. The message of forgiveness weighs heavy on my heart as I have tried to relay the message in my classroom. Maddie's heart is not worn on her sleeve, but her actions to make things right ring true. Even though her friends may not agree, she took a risk. In the end, it turned out Peggy (the taunter) wanted to also make things right. It can be shown as an out for the bully. It shows someone who may hide behind their insecurities by bullying that there is forgiveness without ridicule. I love that the illustrations in The Hundred Dresses leave a bit of a mystery as to how old the book is. I would have never guessed that it was written and illustrated in 1944. 

Professional Review

The Hundred Dresses

by Eleanor Estes
96 pages, Historical Fiction
Reviewed by Aslan's Lamb

An intelligent, original story with characters that kids will find it easy to relate to.

Plot

Wanda Petronski is the outcast of her fifth grade class. She is poor and and foreign and doesn't belong. One day, she tells the other girls that she has a hundred dresses in her closet. The others find this very funny and question her every day about the dresses. Secretly, a girl named Maddie sympathizes with Wanda but she's afraid to speak up; she might become a target as well. One day, Wanda moves away. But the results of an art competition reveal a whole new side of her. Now Maddie and her best friend want to somehow let Wanda know they're sorry, but it might be too late.

Morality

This story explores why girls participate in bullying. The main characters change and grow for the better.

Spiritual Content

None.

Conclusion

A story that explores bullying from an unusual point of view, not that of the person being bullied, but that of the bystander. Maddie's internal conflict and the way the girls change towards the end make this story a delight.

Violence
None.
Drug and Alcohol Content
None.Sexual Content
None.Crude or Profane Language or Content
The word "Polack" is used. In the context, it is understood that it is an offensive name.Conclusion

Library Uses

 With bully prevention on a rise in schools, this would be a great book to read to students during a anti-bullying week/day celebration. 

Catching Fire Book Trailer

Umbrella Summer Book Trailer

Moon Over Manifest Book Trailer

Module 1: Miss Malarkey Leaves No Reader Behind

Book Cover Image
Miss Malarkey Leaves No Reader Behind
Written by,
Judy Finchler & Kevin O'Malley
Illustrated by,
Kevin O'Malley


Book Summary
Miss Malarky is determined to find the perfect book for each student in her class. Though it may be tough, with some of them only interested in particular subjects like video games. The students are challenged to read a large amount of books in order for their principal to wear a purple wig as well as sleep on the roof of the school building. The book is told from the point of view from one of the students who refuses to read because he is faced without a book to peek his interest. He and his friends all seem to be struggling, until up to the very end the boy realizes all of his friends really have been reading, but too shy to admit it. 


APA Reference
Finchler, J., & O'Malley K. (2006). Miss Malarkey Leaves No Reader Behind. New York, NY: Walker      Publishing Company, Inc.


My Impressions
Miss Malarkey Leaves No Reader Behind is a definite read for teachers or librarians who have students are NOT eager to read. This is a great example for teachers and students looking for a variety of ideas for reading topics. I will definitely be reading this book to my students. Miss Malarkey always finds a way to help her students.


Professional Review

Ace teacher Miss Malarkey returns in a picture book narrated by a reluctant reader. Although comfortable within his small group of video-game-playing buddies, a boy wants to contribute to the schoolwide goal of reading 1,000 books in hope of seeing Principal Wiggins “dye his hair purple and sleep on the roof of the school.” Trying one of Miss Malarkey’s suggested books after another, he rejects them all—until she finds the perfect one to match his eclectic interests. Expressive cartoon-style illustrations, brightened with markers and colored pencils, create a series of lively scenes in which speech balloons record conversations and comments not found in the text. With an unstated moral, this is one volume that librarians won’t soon forget. Short lists of recommended books, including a bibliography of adult books that recommend children’s books, are appended.

— Carolyn Phelan
Phelan, C. (2006). Booklist.



Library Uses
Perhaps your school is in need of a reading challenge. Your school's principal could be next to wear the purple wig and spend the night on the schools rooftop. Maybe your school librarian could read this book to the students of the school and come up with your own personal school challenge.