Amy's LIS 721 Blog

  Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre is written by Carole Boston Weatherford, a children’s writer who writes books that, according to her website, focuses on bringing joy and justice to topics that include forgotten struggles and the African American resistance.  The author has personal connections with the racial tension in the South that dates back to the 1920s, and she has done extensive research on the racial tensions that date back even earlier.  The scope of coverage of this book is narrow; it focuses on the history of Tulsa and Greenwood Oklahoma, setting the stage for what is yet to come, the massacre of hundreds and the destruction of Greenwood, a thriving African American town. The story is told in a narrative format that starts with the positive growth of the community of Greenwood and the promising direction of the town, and the repetition of the phrase “once upon a time” suggesting a fairy tale start, but the racial tensions proved to be too much and led d...

  This book by Amanda Gorman, the youngest presidential inaugural poet in U.S. History, is a narrative poem that includes couplets on each page telling the story of how important it is to enact change.  Each set of facing pages includes an illustration that depicts a story that is not necessarily connected to the words, but connected to the theme of change.  Further, each set of illustrations contains at least one musical instrument whether it’s being played, shared with other children within the illustration, or set among the setting within the pictures.  At times, the instruments are large, while other illustrations show the instruments as a shadow or as a very small part of the picture.  The musical instruments correlate with the words “anthem” and idea of “change sings” in the title. The illustrations show a wide variety of characters from various backgrounds, ethnicities, and religions, showing that change is made possible by all who are willing, and clearl...

  These 27 tales were chosen by the illustrator to be featured in the book of translated tales originally published in the early 1800s. There is not an introduction to identify why each of the tales were translated and included, but the brief synopsis on the back lets the reader know that the tales include compromise stories that are both familiar and unfamiliar to readers.  Some stories are lengthy and a few others are short, very reminiscent of fables. Maurice Sendak is the illustrator of a popular children’s book– Where the Wild Things Are –and his illustrations of the characters and settings seem to correlate with that book, one in which many children have read. The illustrations are hand drawn in pencil and featured only in black and white.  There is one illustration embedded in each story which takes up a full page, and each illustration focuses on only one important plot element or character of the story. While the intended audience are children of late elementary ...

  Counting Book       This book contains a rhyme scheme with the minimal words on each page.  Every two pages makes up a short couplet rhyme with a corresponding illustration. The repetition of “1-2-3-4” on multiple pages helps young children to begin counting, and the use of illustrations focusing on the counting of fingers and toes also allows for children to count along as the book is being read. The lines on the pages are curved, with a broad, dark line outlining the images on each page and soft, painted lines that fill in each form. PINKNEY, A. D. illus. by Brian Pinkney.  Count to love! 10 p. Scholastic. Oct. 2021. $8.99. ISBN 9781338672398. Alphabet Book . The illustrations are at the forefront of this text.  As the book progresses through the alphabet, there is a clear illustration on each page, along with the letter at the top.  There is a very short sentence describing the illustration as well. There are very bright colors on each page,...

  Wolf in the Snow This is a wordless picture book that clearly reflects the mood of the story.  A little girl, on her way home from school, finds a wolf pup in the snow and works to find the pup’s pack.  Then, because she traveled so far from her original path, she gets lost.  The wolves, after knowing the girl reunited them with the pup, protects her until her family comes and finds her.  The pictures show the caring moments between the girl and the wolf pup, and also the uplifting mood when the girl is finally rescued in the snowy forest by her family.  Since this is a wordless book, the illustrations clearly help to move the plot along.  The illustrations are reminiscent of Little Red Riding Hood in that the girl is often alone on a page with a bright red coat with a hood walking through the snow.  The girl’s coat is contrasting with the white snow that shows how far she is walking to find the wolf pup’s home.   The illustrations hav...

There are a few ideas the first week that stuck out to me.  First, I really liked to read the "Reader's Bill of Rights".  Oftentimes I think children/students need to be told that it's okay to not finish a book.  I have that conversation with my own children and my students (when my students choose their independent reading).  I always encourage my children and students to give a book a couple of chapters to determine if it's something that they would like to continue reading since reading should be active, encouraging, and interesting.  The right to browse and the right to reread is also very important.  Rereading a text--whether it's a board book or a chapter book--allows the reader to engage differently each time.  Details are noticed upon rereading that may have been missed the first time, so there's something to be said about continually engaging with a book.  I also really like to see students browse for books.  This tells me that they ...