Poetry is defined as literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm. Poetry can arouse insight into our deep feelings, making us laugh, cry, be sad or angry. The beginning of poetry started in folklore with verses written for children such as with Mother Goose.






The Giving Tree
Author and Illustrator: Shel Silverstein

The Giving Tree is about the relationship between a boy and a tree. The boy enjoys playing with tree, climbing her trunk, sleeping under her shade, eating her apples, swinging from her branches, playing hide and go seek and picking her leaves to make a crown and playing "king of the forest." The boy and the tree loved each other very much. As time went on and the boy started growing up, he went to visit the tree less and less, leaving the tree alone. One day the boy visited the tree. He told the tree that he needed to make money so the tree gave him her apples for him to sell in the city. This made the tree happy to be able to give something to the boy. After time went by, the boy who is now a man, came back and said he needed a house. The tree gave him her branches to build a house. This made the tree very happy. The boy came back and said he would like a boat to sail away and be happy. The tree gave the boy his trunk to build a boat. This made the tree happy. The boy came back a tired old man and needed a place to sit and rest and the tree offered him her stump to sit on. The illustrations in this book are very simple, sparse, and minimalistic as is the message of the book. Both the tree and the man seem to be very minimalistic in what they need and what makes them happy. I think the illustrations, along with the message work well together. This sweet, simple message would be drowned out if the illustrations were busy, loud, and colorful.

My reaction to this  story is that this is a great book to teach our kids about relationships. There is a two way street of giving and taking from each other. This shows that happier people are the ones that share, give of themselves and are generous. The unhappy people are usually very selfish and always seem to take without ever giving back. This story ends with the tree being very happy that she was able to give to the boy while he grew up. The boy, while turning into a man didn't seem happy at all and I would gather he died a very lonely old man. Although very sad, this book is perfect to teach many virtues from.

Where the Sidewalk Ends:
Author and Illustrator: Shel Silverstein
This book is an anthology or collection of poems written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein.
The book begins with the short poem called, Invitation, inviting readers to come in and explore and ends with a short poem called that The Search as if to say, you've come to the end of the rainbow with your pot of gold. The poems in the book are an equal mix of funny, silly, sad, weird, and naughty. This book appeals to kids as much as does adults. This book use to be my youngest sons favorite book. I have fond memories of reading this to him in bed. In fact, he mentioned this book and how much he loved the poems even though some of them didn't make sense to him. Shel Silverstein uses pen and ink in his trademark minimalist style that carefully illustrates each poem. This anthology truly is a good mix of poems that touches on every emotion and reaches all ages.

Historical Fiction

What is Historical Fiction? It is literary genre defined as stories made up but is set in the past and sometimes borrows true characteristics of the time period in which it is set. History has always been my favorite subject because it is the story of the world and how it has unfolded since the beginning of time. It's the story of humans and cultures from all over the world and how they have risen and fallen and changed through out the years. Henry's Freedom Box and The War That Saved My Life are two examples of how the authors infused historical facts into their fictional story about either real or imagined people.


Henry's Freedom Box
Author: Ellen Levine
Illustrator: Kadir Nelson

Henry's Freedom Box is the winner of the 2008 Caldecott Honor for its illustrations in this picture book. Kadir Nelson's paintings for this book were inspired by an antique lithograph of Henry "Box" Brown. Kadir Nelson cross hatched pencil lines, and then applied layers of watercolor and oil pant that adds to the character and emotion as shown in the scene where Henry watches his wife and three kids being sold off to another master. Henry himself was sold and separated from his mother as a young boy. When he goes off to his new master's tobacco farm, he meets, falls in love, and marries another slave. They have three kids. As soon as Henry was feeling happy with his family, the master sold them off thus inspiring him to seek help of an abolitionist doctor by mailing himself in a wooden crate to a place where there are no slaves, Philadelphia. The illustrations of showing the cutaways while Henry was en route in the cramped crate makes the reader feel the uncomfortable conditions and sacrifice Henry went through to seek a better life. Henry does make it to his doctor's friend on March 30, 1849. My reaction to this story is that of complete awe for Henry that he had the mental capacity, strength, and resolve to continue to fight and seek freedom. After having being ripped away from his mother when he was a little boy and then having his wife and three kids ripped away from him as a grown man, I think most people would have lost the will to live. Henry chose to live and do something extraordinary in the face of despair. He gives us great inspiration for us all to never give up hope when we are faced with difficult times in our lives.












The War That Saved My Life
Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

The War That Saved My Life is the winner of the 2016 Newberry Honor award as well as the 2016 Schneider Family Book Award. The setting is in England during World War II. Ten year old Ada runs away from her abusive mother to join her younger brother Jamie while he joins the evacuation of children to the British countryside, Kent. Ada is afflicted with a condition called clubfoot. This something that her abusive mother is humiliated about so she kept Ada locked up day and night. Upon arrival to the English countryside, Ada and Jamie are both filthy and live infested so nobody wants to take them in. Lady Thornburg takes Ada and Jamie to Susan Smiths house and talks her into taking Ada and Jamie. Over time, Susan Smith, Jamie and Ada's lives change for the better. Ada and Jamie now have clean clothes, a warm bed, regular meals, a pony, and kitty. Ada and Jamie experience love and kindness for the first time. They both learn how to help with the war effort making them both feel useful. Ada is now able to go outside and communicate with other people and now has established many friendships along the way. She learns how to sew, read and write, and ride a horse. She even captured a German spy and helped to feed and care for the soldiers. She gained her confidence and realized her clubfoot has nothing to do with her intelligence.  One day unexpectedly, Ada and Jamie's mean mom shows up and takes them back to London. They return to their nightmare way of life. One night, the bomb alarms go off and Jamie and Ada ran into an underground bomb shelter. After the bombing was over, they came above ground and noticed that everything was decimated and suddenly they see Susan! Upon arrival back to Susan's house, they saw that her house was also bombed. All the village people were digging through the rubble trying to find Susan, Jamie and Ada. They were all excited to see them walking up. Susan told Jamie and Ada that they saved her life.
My reaction to this story is that of surprise that in the end Jamie and Ada saved Susan's life. All three of them together saved each other from abuse, neglect, and loneliness. The saved each other. I love how this story intertwines factual realities of WW II and how each character was faced with true to live situations during this time period in History. The rationings, victory gardens, taking care of soldiers, land girls, evacuation of children, German spies are all Historical moments that really happened. I love Ada and Jamies courage to overcome their weaknesses and to finally come into their own selves and love Susan's courage to take a chance at loving someone again. This book left my heart happy and hopeful.

What is realistic fiction? It is a genre consisting of stories that could have actually occurred to people or animals. These stories have  real life situations, and fictional characters within the stories react the same way real people do. These stories have plots that highlight social or personal events or issues that are similar to contemporary life. Realistic fiction stories tend to take place in the present or recent past and have characters who are involved in events that could happen. These characters live in places that could be or are real. The characters seem like real people with real issues solved in a realistic way. The events portrayed in realistic fiction makes the reader question how they could face the events in everyday life. 

Today I Feel Silly & Other MOODS That Make My Day

Author: Jamie Lee Curtis

Illustrator: Laura Cornell

This book is about a little girl who is feeling, exploring, and expressing her many moods. Silly, cranky, excited, or sad, everyone has moods that can change each day. This book encourages kids to do just that and it encourages families to identify and talk about different moods and why they happen. I think this is a great metal health book for kids and adults. I think our children could use more books like this to help them understand and identify why they may be feeling the way they feel.The illustrations also carry the very valuable message that we all have moods and will be happier if we learn to expect, understand, and explore them. As the little girls moods change, so does the clutter, and colors change too. When she feels silly, bright, dramatic colors, and geometric shapes fill the page, when she feels confused the page goes sideways as if to say I'm so confused, I don't know which way to turn. At the end of the book, there is an interactive cardboard face that you can turn to express all of the moods. There is also a question, How do you feel? I love this book and hope you will enjoy reading it too!

What is Contemporary Realistic Fiction? They are stories and novels that mimic the real world which includes historical fiction. 

The Time Warp Trio: Oh Say, I Can't See

Author: Jon Scieszka

Illustrator: Adam McCauley

This story is a fictional story that involves General George Washington crossing the Delaware River so he could surprise the British enemy troops and win the war. Samantha, Joe, and Fred are the time warp trio who time warp into various events that have taken place. Only The Book can take them there and bring them back home. This story happened in the middle of Christmas night in 1776 in a surprise attack, General George Washington led his American Colonial troop across the Delaware River to New Jersey. There the Americans battled the British and and won! The illustrations throughout the book are humorous and go well with the plot and theme of the story. I enjoyed this little gem and look forward to reading the other books in this series. 

What is Folklore? They are the oldest stories in the world from all over the world, handed down by storytellers from centuries ago. Folklore includes nursery rhymes, folktales, myths, epics, legends, fables, songs, and ballads. Before people could read or write, stories were told to entertain, teach cultural values and societal norms, and traditions. Almost every culture has their own folklore and I find it interesting to read folklore from other countries. Although many folktales have made it into books, it's important to remember that they all began as oral stories.

I chose two books from two different country's so that I could discuss the similarities and differences between them while also considering the illustrations. The first book is The Perfect Orange A Tale from Ethiopia, written by Frank P. Araujo, PhD, illustrated by Xiao Jun Li. The second book is Paul Bunyan, written an illustrated by Steven Kellogg.

The Perfect Orange A Tale from Ethiopia
Author: Frank P. Araujo, PhD.
Illustrator: Xiao Jun Li

In the back of this book. the author wrote a personal note explaining how he collected this story while he was working on an economic development program in the Harare region of Ethiopia. He heard different versions of this story in Eritrea and Somalia, however he liked the Ethiopian version the best. He also included a glossary of ten Ethiopian Terms so that his readers could understand what the words mean as they read the story. I really enjoyed learning a little bit about the Ethiopian culture along with the terms while reading this folktale.

The story is about a young, Ethiopian, orphan girl named Tshai. She was well liked by her neighbors because she was sincere and generous. One morning Tshai noticed the perfect orange while working in the orchard. She decided to gift it to the great Nigus (the ruler). While walking to the great Nigus' house, she passed by the evil, greedy Lord Hyena. He wanted her to give him the orange in exchange for a gourd of water, but Tshai refused the offer. The evil Lord Hyena began to make fun of her and her gift. When Tshai entered the castle and got in front of the great Nigus, she presented him with the orange. He was pleased and offered her gold and jewels in exchange. She refused the offer. She didn't want anything in return for her nice gesture. The great Nigus was even more impressed. When Tshai left, Nigus asked one of his servants to follow her and gift her with his finest donkey, a purse of gold, and a casket of jewels in the saddle bags. Tshai was thrilled with the donkey, not realizing that he was also carrying gold and jewels. When she passed the Lord Hyena's house, he was surprised at her gift over the orange. He began to scheme a plan to present the great Nigus with his cattle and a deed to his land, hoping he will also get jewels and gold. Instead, the great Nigus gifted him with the perfect orange in return.

The book is illustrated in soft watercolors of soft brown, orange, pink, and blue that contrast with the crisp, white traditional Ethiopian dress. Both the story and the illustrations seem to work well together, delivering the plot of this story.

Paul Bunyan
Author/Illustrator: Steven Kellogg

Paul Bunyan is an American folktale about he and his blue ox named Babe, along with his fellow loggers from Minnesota who cleared the path for frontier settlers. Paul Bunyan is an unusually giant man who had many challenges growing up, however he remained kind and humble. His strength to knock down trees and clear the way, helped the settlers on the move.

Steven Kellogg's illustrations are as exaggerated and giant as Paul Bunyan is huge. His illustrations are done with pen and ink. It is a combination of two art forms, telling the story visually and verbally. One art form doesn't out shine the other.

Both the story of Paul Bunyan and The Perfect Orange: A Tale from Ethiopia are similar in that they teach moral reasoning, concern for positive relationships and making a difference without expecting anything in return. They are different in that The Perfect Orange is a softer tale, illustrated in soft, watercolor while Paul Bunyan is an exaggerated, high activity, busy, zany kind of tale.

I enjoyed reading both of them and I hope you will too!

What qualifies as a picture story book? In picture storybooks, language and illustrations are combined to shape a narrative by creating a plot, setting, characters, mood and theme of the story. Here are three picture storybooks that I enjoyed reading!

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear
Author: Lindsay Mattick
Illustrator: Sophie Blackall
Won the 2015 Cladecott Medal for Illustration

Sophie Blackall used Chinese ink and watercolors to illustrate this book. Her warm illustrations and detail to the time period of the story paired well with the theme and plot of the story. Her end page in the beginning of the book is a beautifully illustrated forest and the back end pages looks like an old photo album, showing real pictures of the main character of the book, Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian who went to fight in WWI. There are real pictures of him, his personal diary showing where he wrote about buying the bear for $20.00. There are real pictures of Harry, the bear, and other soldiers along with official records showing that he placed Winnie at the London Zoo. There is also a photo taken of Winnie and Christopher Robin. Christopher Robin's father, A.A. Milne was inspired to write Winnie the Poo.

The book is told by a mother, the author Lindsay Mattick, telling a story of her great-grandfather to her son. Lindsay Mattick's grandfather is Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian going off to serve in WWI. He found a bear cub at the train station in Winniepeg railway station for sale for $20.00 This is why he name her Winnie. The bear quickly becomes the mascot for the soldiers, however when the soldiers have to move to France, Harry decides to donate Winnie to the London Zoo where she will be safe and well cared for. The bear becomes a favorite attraction for many children, especially Christopher Robin, inspiring A.A. Milne to write the story of Winnie-the-Pooh.

Overall, both the story and the illustrations are well coordinated to tell a heart warming story about the worlds most famous bear.


Knuffle Bunny
Author and Illustrator: Mo Willems
Won the 2005 Caldecott Honor 

Mo Willems uses a very unique way to illustrate by using real life photographs in the background and would lay his art work over the photos of real places for the setting. The illustrations work well with the simplicity of the text and the story. This helps the reader to use their own imagination as the story unfolds.

The plot of the story is about Trixie, who can't talk goes to the laundromat with her father and took her best friend, Knuffle Bunny. Trixie helps her father load the laundry in the machine and put the money in to turn it on. On the return home, Trixie realizes she has lost Knuffle Bunny, however she is unable to explain this to her father. Trixie begins to get very frustrated and upset, causing her father to become upset. When mom realizes that Knuffle Bunny is missing, all three of them run back to the laundromat. After digging through the wet laundry, they finally find Knuffle Bunny. That's when Trixie speaks her first words.....Knuffle Bunny!!!


Olivia
Author and Illustrator: Ian Falconer
Won the 2000 Caldecott Honor

I love Ian Falconer's minimalist style of black and white images with little pops of red. Ian also inserts real artwork by famous artists such as Degas and Pollock. This book gives off a fun New York vibe.

Along with the minimalist illustrations, so too are the text as the plot of the story shows a very energetic pig named Olivia who loves to dress up, sing songs, dance, paint on walls, wear her mom out, and argue and love on her brother. She is a typical little girl with the exception of being a pig.

Hello Lighthouse
By: Sophie Blackall - American Author
Caldecott Medal for Illustrations - 2019

This picture book is a story about a new lighthouse keeper arriving to take up duties as he lives day and night in the lighthouse. During the story there are a series of snapshots of what a lighthouse keepers life is like which is a mixture of routine jobs such as tending the oil lamp, updating the logbook, trimming the candle wick, cleaning the lamp and windows along with excitement such as rescuing sailors from a shipwreck, welcoming his wife and the birth of their child. Inside the lighthouse, life rotates and expands within the lighthouse walls but the lighthouse is still constant. Outside, life also rotates as seasons change bringing the whale migrations, northern lights, angry storms, calm sunsets and sunrises, and warm days, followed by icy winters. The book ends with the family having to move out because of the invention of new machinery and automation making lighthouse keepers obsolete.

The family life inside the lighthouse is illustrated with the geometric shape of circles. The circles begin small as the lighthouse keeper moves in by himself and gradually gets bigger as his family grows with the arrival of his wife and their child. The geometry of the drawings accentuate the spiral staircase and the round rooms and rugs in the lighthouse. The details accentuate the passing of time with the circular spread showing the keepers wife pacing in a circle before giving birth to their child.

The illustrations and spreads for this book were done in Chinese ink and watercolor on hot press paper. This technique adds to the lightness and movement of images on the paper. The illustrations of the ocean match each mood and occasion using tiny watercolor waves along with big, circular dramatic waves accentuating the beauty and drama of the ever changing sea and passage of time.

In the book there are a few surprises such as a cutaway of the lighthouse showing its seven floors in detail of the light, study, bedroom, dining room, store room and entrance. There is also a gatefold in the book which uses warm colors to express warmth and calmness of the sea as the lighthouse keeper and his family move to a new house not too far from the lighthouse, conveying reassurance that they will still be near their beloved lighthouse.

The book is tall and narrow and the pages alternate between exterior and interior of the lighthouse showing the passage of time with both, however the lighthouse is always the same, tall, constant, beaming it's light out to the sea.

The seascapes take over the double page spread. The end pages form the pages of the keepers journal, scattered with objects from the sea. The back end page has information about what life was like as lighthouse keeper and how the author was inspired to write this book. While brainstorming for this book, the author studied the history of lighthouses,  and read keepers logbooks and memoirs.

The overall quality of the book with its relationship between the text and illustration is excellent. Her use of color and geometric, circular shapes along with the long, narrow book helped convey the feeling of what it might feel like to be inside or outside a real lighthouse. I enjoyed this book and I hope you will too!

The Lion & the Mouse By: Jerry Pinkney

The Lion & The Mouse By: Jerry Pikney

Jerry Pikney became the first African American to win the Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in this book. The illustrations were particularly lauded for showing such realism and balance between the characters with their surroundings. This book was published in 2009 and is a nearly wordless picture book that is an adaptation of Aesop's fable of The Lion and the Mouse. In Jerry Pinkney's book, The Lion & the Mouse, he beautifully illustrates the story of a mouse's life spared by the lion. After the lion becomes captured in a hunting trap, the mouse sets the lion free. Because this book is almost wordless, and the illustrations are so beautifully presented, this book allows for many levels of readers to capture the story's message suggesting the week can help the strong and differences can be overcome thus creating a strong friendship once they each understood one another.