New Book Alert: The Red Bicycle (Pacing)

Title: The Red Bicycle: the extraordinary story of one ordinary bicycle
Author: Jude Isabella
Illustrator: Simone Shin
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Year: 2015 (March 1st, ARC provided via Net Galley)
Word Count: unavailable (lots)
Top 10 Element: Pacing

I am participating in Picture Books 14:14, a challenge created by Christie of Write Wild that encourages bloggers to review 14 picture books in 14 days, starting on Feb. 14th.

The Red Bicycle is a powerful story of the life of one red bicycle and its multiple reincarnations through donation. The story traces the bicycle from its initial purchase by a young boy in North America (Canada) to a young girl in Africa (Burkina Faso) to a young hospital employee (also in Burkina Faso) and beyond. This is a great story for sharing with kids the power of one person (or one bike) to make a difference.

Analysis: Pacing

The pace of a story depends on many factors, from the macro scale of how the story itself is laid out across the 32 pages of a picture book to the micro scale of sentence length and formation and the placement of paragraph and page breaks. With an information-dense picture book such as this one, it is the pacing of the story across the pages and the pull of the page turn that keep us reading on.

The story is focused around the first three owners of the book. (Each layout referenced below actually refers to a two-page spread.)

• Leo (Canada) - two layouts with the bike, one layout packing up the bike, one layout of the bike's journey across the ocean

• Alisetta (Burkina Faso) - one layout unpacking the bike, one layout learning to ride, one layout for the impact of the bike, two layouts for deciding to send the bike on

• Haridata (Burkina Faso) - one layout to rehab the bike, one layout choosing the bike, one layout of the impact of the bike, and one layout for the conclusion

• The book wraps up with two final layouts for What You Can Do to Help and A Note for Parents and Teachers with more information about organizations involved in bicycle donation and reusing including http://www.worldbicyclerelief.org/

The approximately similar amount of time devoted to each owner of the bike helps add to the even pacing and feel of the book, while the short duration for each owner (only 4-5 two-page spreads) keeps the reader engaged and wondering what will happen next. This page-turn suspense is highlighted especially by the emotional connections for each character as they say goodbye to the bike without being able to follow it (though we, the readers, can). 

"Leo feels a lump in his throat as the door closes."

"Alisetta wheels Big Red to the pickup truck, pats the seat, and whispers, 'Thank You.'"

You'll have to wait until the book is published and available next week to read the final emotional goodbye and conclusion!

Want more picture book analyses? Click here to read my other posts for Picture Books 14:14 or check out these other great posts for the Picture Book 14:14 Challenge going on the rest of this month.

Deep in the Sahara - point-of-view and patterns

Title: Deep in the Sahara
Author: Kelly Cunnane
Illustrator: Hoda Hadadi
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books
Year: 2013
Word Count: 521
Top 10 Element: Patterns
Awards: A Junior Library Guild Selection

I am participating in Picture Books 14:14, a challenge created by Christie of Write Wild that encourages bloggers to review 14 picture books in 14 days, starting on Feb. 14th.

Deep in the Sahara is an immersive picture book told in second person, placing you, the reader, as young Lalla, a Muslim girl living in Mauritania in west Africa. During the course of the book, Lalla explores why she wants to wear the malafa like her mother and relatives.

Analysis: Patterns

The language in this brief picture book is lovely and rhythmic, and the second-person point-of-view is unique and unexpected. The patterning of the language matches the patterning of the story and helps reinforce the character's journey (and ours) to understanding the malafa and all it represents.

Each time, Lalla sees a different person in her malafa and expresses her wish in a lyrical way. The first one is, "More than all the stars in the sky, you want a malafa so you can be beautiful too." But then Lalla's request is rebuffed, as her mother tells her, "'Lalla, a malafa is for more than beauty.'"

For each pair of two-page spreads, the verbal patterning continues. The malafa is for more than being mysterious, the malafa is for more than being like a lady, and so forth. It is only when Lalla requests a malafa so that she can pray like her mother does the pattern stop with a powerful one-line, two-page spread. "Mama stops and looks at you." Only then is Lalla's questioning and understanding rewarded.

Second-person, present tense narration is tough to pull off and generally rare in literature, but I think that it works well in this book because most of us readers know as little about the malafa and its importance in west African Muslim communities than does Lalla. Through her eyes and through the patterning of the text, we all learn an important lesson.

Want more picture book analyses? Click here to read my other posts for Picture Books 14:14 or check out these other great posts for the Picture Book 14:14 Challenge going on the rest of this month.

New Book Alert: Emmanuel's Dream (character)

Title: Emmanuel's Dream: the true story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah
Author: Laurie Ann Thompson
Illustrator: Sean Qualls
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books
Year: 2015
Word Count: unavailable
Top 10 Element: Character
Awards: A Junior Library Guild Selection

I am participating in Picture Books 14:14, a challenge created by Christie of Write Wild that encourages bloggers to review 14 picture books in 14 days, starting on Feb. 14th.

I was thrilled to find out that I won a copy of Emmanuel's Dream from a giveaway hosted by Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers. It arrived earlier this month, and I realized that it would be a great fit with the PB14:14 analysis challenge.

Analysis: Character

When we think about the term "character" in relation to books and stories, we often think about the qualities we ascribe to the invented peoples, animals, and objects that populate them. But character also refers to qualities of real people and to what it means to be a person with a strong or positive character.

Emmanuel's Dream is the powerful true story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, and I want to use the opening lines of the book to introduce him to you.

In Ghana, West Africa, a baby boy was born:

Two bright eyes blinked in the light,

two healthy lungs let out a powerful cry,

two tiny fists opened and closed,

but only one strong leg kicked.

Emmanuel is a boy who does not let his disability define himself or his character, and this book highlights his constant perseverance and determination. In order to learn, he hops to school, two miles each way, and must earns the respect and friendship of his classmates. Emmanuel even learns to ride a bike with only one good leg.

What is even more remarkable about his accomplishments is the negative attitudes and stereotypes that he faced. His father left him and his mother shortly after his birth and some people felt that his disability meant that he was cursed or bad luck. People mistreated him or mistook him for a beggar, even when he was working to put himself through school and to support his family through his jobs.

Through the story, the author emphasizes Emmanuel's strong character and his belief in himself. Emmanuel eventually came up with a plan to raise money and create positive awareness of people with disabilities - he completes a long-distance bike ride across Ghana!

This book is a great story and a great tribute to a young man who is still working to change laws and the minds of people. Emmanuel is now a man of great character, and this book will inspire children to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of those around them too.

Want more picture book analyses? Click here to read my other posts for Picture Books 14:14 or check out these other great posts for the Picture Book 14:14 Challenge going on the rest of this month.

Rain School - analysis of beginnings and endings

Title: Rain School
Author and Illustrator: James Rumford
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Year: 2010
Word Count: 451
Top 10 Element: Beginnings and Endings

I am participating in Picture Books 14:14, a challenge created by Christie of Write Wild that encourages bloggers to review 14 picture books in 14 days, starting on Feb. 14th.

Rain School highlights some of the struggles that children face in getting an education, as well as the great lengths that people will go through to go to school - even if involves building the school itself! The story was inspired by the author's own experiences in Chad as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Analysis: Beginnings and Endings

Rain School is a bit of a circular story, which makes it an ideal candidate for studying the importance and interrelationship of beginnings and endings. The story opens with the first day of school.

"In the country of Chad, it is the first day of school. The dry dirt road is filling up with children. Big brothers and big sisters are leading the way."

Children can easily imagine themselves in this situation, due to the familiarity of experience first days of school, and this connection is drawn out by the constant questions young Thomas asks as he walks to school for the very first time.

The big twist is revealed on the third spread, "Thomas arrives at the schoolyard, but there are no classrooms. There are no desk. It doesn't matter. There is a teacher. 'We will build our school,' she says. 'This is the first lesson.'"

The story continues from there and documents the process of building the school and some of the lessons that the children learn. The last day of school coincides with the beginning of the rainy season, and the strong winds and heavy rains demolish the mud brick school. The story then ends, back where it began.

"Come September, school will start over. Thomas will be a big brother then, leading the children on their first day to school. They will all stand in front of their smiling teachers, ready to build their school again."

As the end-is-the-beginning concludes, it helps students to see the impact and importance of this yearly process and how hard these children work for their education. Powerful stuff.

Want more picture book analyses? Click here to read my other posts for Picture Books 14:14 or check out these other great posts for the Picture Book 14:14 Challenge going on the rest of this month.

Swahili Alphabet and Counting Books

We have only a few more weeks left in our Africa unit of study. Before we move our focus on to the next continent of study (Asia), I wanted to share some of my favorite Swahili alphabet and counting books. I have found that students find learning new languages and words appealing, and these are a great way to introduce students to some of the wide-ranging diversity of the people, places, and history of central and Western Africa.

Moja Means One: a Swahili counting book by Muriel Feelings and illustrated by Tom Feelings (a Caldecott Honor book). This classic picture book introduces children to the numbers one through ten in Swahili and includes a pronunciation guide. Each number also introduces a fact about one of the many Swahili-speaking countries and peoples in Africa. The detailed black and white illustrations are fascinating and were awarded a Caldecott honor.

We All Went on Safari: a counting journey through Tanzania by Laurie Krebs and illustrated by Julia Cairns. We All Went on Safari is a more recent take on the Swahili alphabet and introduces children to the numbers one through ten as well as some of the more popular animals found in Tanzania. A section at the back of the book includes the Swahili word (and pronunciation) for each animal as well as some brief facts about them. There is also information about the Swahili names in the story and the qualities that those names represent. Additional information describes the Maasai people as well as the country of Tanzania in general.

Jambo Means Hello: a Swahili Alphabet Book by Muriel Feelings and illustrated by Tom Feelings (a Caldecott Honor Book). This follow-up book introduces different Swahili words for each letter of the alphabet. Each word is followed by a short paragraph that explains more about the word selected and additional details are provided by the illustrations (which, again, won a Caldecott Honor). The hardcover version of the book has a fascinating end note about the illustration process and the two-toned printing process.

Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Mustgrove and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon (Caldecott Medal). This final book is a bit of an outlier, as it is broader than Swahili-speaking countries, but its alphabet organization makes it a natural fit. Here the alphabet is used to introduce readers to 26 distinct African tribes through brief paragraphs and detailed, colorful illustrations. This is a great book for helping to reinforce the idea with students that Africa is not a country, it is a continent of diverse countries and diverse peoples. (You may also want to pair this with another book that highlights the diversity of urban Africa as well, such as the Jamela series of books by Niki Daly, which I share with my students.)

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday Challenge is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and is a weekly roundup of educator blogs that are sharing nonfiction picture books. Click the link to check out other nonfiction posts.

Anansi the Trickster, part 2

Trickster tales are one of my favorite type of folktales. Last week I introduced five stories about Anansi the Spider retold by Eric Kimmel and illustrated by Janet Stevens. This week I have brought together a range of other Anansi stories from a variety of sources.

More Anansi Trickster Tales

Anansi the Spider: a tale from the Ashanti retold and illustrated by Gerald McDermott (a Caldecott Honor book). This Anansi story includes an informative prologue about Ghana, the Ashanti people, and Anansi's role as a folk-hero and trickster.In this story, Anansi gets into trouble and is saved by the cooperation of his variously-talented spider sons. When he tries to give them a gift in thanks, he cannot decide which son deserves it, so his bright shining gift becomes the moon up in the sky.

A Story, A Story retold and illustrated by Gail E. Haley (a Caldecott Medal winner). This story also has a prologue about Ananse and about the choices of African words and phrasing in the book. In this version, Ananse is depicted as a man, but he can spin webs and tricks many. Ananse uses his skills to fulfill the tasks laid out for him by Nyame, the Sky God, and he succeeds in winning the golden box of stories and bringing them back to the people.

Why Spider Spins Tales: a story from Africa (First-Start Legends series) retold by Janet Palazzo-Craig and illustrated by Dave Albers. This is another version of the same tale in A Story, A Story, geared towards younger readers. Spider is depicted as human but with four arms and four legs. (The afterward attributes the story to the Akan people of West Africa.)

Ananse and the Lizard: a west African tale retold and illustrated by Pat Cummings. This is another story when our trickster finds himself tricked. Ananse wishes to learn the name of the Chief's daughter so that he can marry her and become the chief himself, but Lizard tricks him into revealing the answer. My students last year loved their story so much they created their own Readers' Theater version of it to preform for the rest of the class. (Retold from a story found in a bookstore in Accra, Ghana.)

Spider and His Son Find Wisdom: an Akan tale retold by Melinda Lilly and illustrated by Charles Reasoner. In this story, Ananse is depicted as more of a man-spider hybrid, as is his son. Ananse seems himself as wise and thinks he holds all of the wisdom in the world - and he is determined to keep it for himself! But his son teaches him a lesson, and they decide to share wisdom with the people. (Attributed to the Akan people of Ghana.)

First Palm Trees: an Anancy Spiderman Story by James Berry and illustrated by Greg Couch. In this story, Anancy wants to win a reward from the King by being the first to create a plumed tree. But when he tries to enlist the Sun-Spirit to help, he soon finds himself negotiating between all four of the major spirits (Sun, Water, Earth, and Wind). Though in the end he cannot prove that he created the new palm trees, in time, people give him the credit.

Don't Leave an Elephant to go and Chase a Bird retold by James Berry and illustrated by Ann Grifalconi. This version opens with an author's note explaining some of the links between Anansi in Africa and his Caribbean descendant, Anancy. Here, Anancy is depicted as a man in a wood-cut style. He feels something is about to happen, which kicks off a round of trading-up items until Anancy is promised a baby elephant. However, he gets distracted by a pretty bird and winds up with nothing. (The author's note bases this retelling on the original collected in R.S. Rattray's Akan-Ashanti Folktales.)

Anthologies that Contain Anansi Stories

Misoso: once upon a time tales from Africa retold by Verna Aardema and illustrated by Reynold Ruffins. This wonderful collection of illustrated short stories from Africa includes on from Liberia entitled "Anansi and the Phantom Food." In this tale, a spider-version of Anansi sets off to try and find food for his starving village, but he encounters an increasingly-appealing series of food-based villages. Continuing in his greedy, he heads towards one last village only to discover that he is back home, has nothing to show for his trip, and no one will believe him.

Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories by Harold Courlander and George Herzog with drawings by Madye Lee Chastain (a Newbery Honor book). This classic collection of West African folktales includes several stories featuring Anansi or spider, including "Anansi's Fishing Expedition" (the likely inspiration for Anansi Goes Fishing),  "Anansi and Nothing Go Hunting for Wives," and "Hungry Spider and the Turtle" (a likely inspiration for Anansi's Party Time). The end of the book includes detailed footnotes about the provenance of each story.

Ashley Bryan's African Tales, Uh-Huh written and illustrated by Ashley Bryan. This wonderfully-illustrated collection of African folktales opens with an Anansi story: Ananse the Spider in Search of a Fool, which is a retelling of the same story in Anansi Goes Fishing and "Anansi's Fishing Expedition" (above). The credits at the end of the book attribute the story to R.S. Rattray's Akan-Ashanti Folktales.

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday Challenge is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and is a weekly roundup of educator blogs that are sharing nonfiction picture books. Click the link to check out other nonfiction posts.

Anansi the Trickster, part 1

Every year, my students fall in love with Trickster Tales. This sub-genre of traditional tales never ceases to delight with its tricky heroes and unexpected twists. Since Africa is our first unit of study, Anansi is often the first trickster we meet during the course of the year. This post will provide a quick overview of the five Anansi tales retold by Eric Kimmel, and next week I will introduce Anansi stories by a variety of authors and illustrators.

Anansi Trickster Tales retold Eric Kimmel

Eric Kimmel has written a series of picture book based on African Anansi tales, which Janet Stevens illustrated. These are a delightful way to introduce your students to Anansi.

Anansi and the Talking Melon. I usually introduce my students to Anansi through his story, either this version, or through the Reading A-Z version, Anansi and the Talking Watermelon retold by Kitty Higgins and illustrated by Patrick Girouard. Greedy Anansi is busy eating melons in elephant's garden when he finds himself so stuffed that he cannot get back out. Instead, he decides to trick elephant by convincing him that he is, in fact, a talking melon. (Based on a West African folktale.)

Anansi and the Magic Stick. The plot of this story derives from a Liberian story called The Magic Hoe but it will be quite familiar to The Sorceror's Apprentice in Fantasia and Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola. Anansi kidnaps Jackal's magic stick only to find that his laziness in giving directions leads to disastrous consequences!

These last three are a bit different than the first two. Anansi is successful in Anansi and the Talking Melon and suffers no real consequences in Anansi and the Magic Stick, but in these last three tales, our trickster finds himself on the end of some tricks.

Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock is probably my favorite of the bunch. Last year I turned it into a quick Reader's Theater-style play that my third graders ended up performing in front of the whole school, and it was riot. Here, Anansi discovers a strange moss-covered rock with the power to knock its viewer unconscious, and he uses it to trick a variety of animals. But little does Anansi know that he is being observed, and he ends up being tricked himself. (No attribution to this story.)

Anansi Goes Fishing. Anansi sees his friend Turtle's success at fishing and concludes that he can trick Turtle into doing all the work. But soon Turtle agrees to "get tired," while Anansi does the work and split the jobs up that way. Students find it quite hilarious to watch Anansi get drawn deeper and deeper into Turtle's nonsense. (No attribution in this book, but a similar story, Anansi's Fishing Expedition appears in The Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories and is sourced to a recording in Ghana.)

Anansi's Party Time. Anansi has decided to get even with Turtle for tricking him in the previous book and so invites Turtle to a party that is doomed to fail.What Anansi does not anticipate is Turtle "returning" the favor and inviting Anansi to a similar party. (No attribution in this book either, but a broadly similar story, Hungry Spider and the Turtle appears in The Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories and was recorded by author Harold Courlander from an Ashanti in Ghana.)

Next week I will introduce some of the wide-range of other Anansi stories available in picture books and compilations suitable for children.

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday Challenge is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and is a weekly roundup of educator blogs that are sharing nonfiction picture books. Click the link to check out other nonfiction posts.

New Book Alert: Dear Wandering Wildebeest and Other Poems from the Water Hole

I was very excited to get the email from our local library that Dear Wandering Wildebeest had arrived. The timing was perfect, as we are set to begin our Africa unit in another week or so.

Dear Wandering Wildebeest by Irene Latham is a combination poetry and nonfiction resource inspired by a series of photographs taken around a water hole in Kenya. Many of the poems focus on an individual species, and each two-page spread offers gorgeous illustrations of the animal as well as a text book with additional information. The poems themselves range from factual to humorous and cover a wide range of styles and forms.

Irene Latham hosted the Poetry Friday round up last month and shared some of the process behind creating the book. Her post. Poetry Friday ... is Missing!, even contains a poem that was cut from the book, along with the reasoning behind the revision. I am looking forward to talking with students more about the poetry writing (and poetry revision!) process and being able to share a little "inside information" with them about this book.

This week's Poetry Friday Roundup is being curated by Laura at Writing the World for Kids. See the whole list of hosts at Poetry Friday by Kitlitosphere.

---

As for my students and Poetry Friday, writing alliterative poems has become the runaway hit of the last few weeks. What started as a group of boys sharing a poem nearly entirely brought to you by the letter D has spawned a flurry of letter-based poems, some that their creators find so amusing they can barely share them with the class without howling in laughter. (The alliterative poem craze has also sparked a student-inspired run on using the dictionary to expand their poems, and two other students discovered the rhyming dictionaries last week, which led to some amazing tongue twisters.)

Anyone have good leads for alliterative poems?