Lunch-Box Dream

Lunch-Box Dream

Lunch-Box Dream was written by Tony Abbott, this book is intend for children between the ages of 6-12 years old.  Abbott's writing style is fast, compelling and engaging, which you will discover upon reading this book. This book has a lot of history with in so at times it could get boring to a child but this is information a child should be taught. Tony Abbott uses an interesting technique for the book's narration. Rather than having just one narrator, he uses multiple ones. The story is told from the points of view of Bobby, Jacob, Hershel, Louisa, Cora, Grandma, Frank, James and Ruth, with Bobby. A list of characters and their relationship to each other is given at the beginning to avoid confusion, which  makes it easier for the children to picture each character. This Story presents racism, and segregation from multiple perspectives. In this story of witnessing without understanding, a naïvely prejudiced boy, in brief flashes of insight, starts to identify and question his assumptions about race. Bobby and his family are visiting Civil War battlefields on the eve of the war's centenary, while inside their car, quiet battles rage. When an accident cuts their trip short, they return home on a bus and witness an incident that threatens to deny a black family seats. Long after the Civil War ended, but before the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965 became law, segregation was alive and well in the South. This story takes place in 1959, a time when the South had separate water fountains, entrance doors, service counters, bus seats, and schools for blacks or "coloreds people," as they were called. People with dark skin weren't permitted to mingle with the "white folk" in public. Slavery is a huge topic that should be addressed to young child so that they understand that everyone is equal. 

Watch this video for help understanding!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-tiWi8j31U

Discussion Questions:

1. What are the different themes throughout the book? 
2. How do you think the cost of living differs from then to now?

Class Activity:

• Since He starts the book with a poem, have the children make up their own poem to go along with the theme of the book. 
• The whole class should research the cost of living in 1959. What was the average price of every day Items? Things to include should be: gasoline, candy bar, loaf of bread, ice cream cone, milk, first-class postage stamp. Make a chart.

Others book written by Tony Abbott are:

• Firegirl 
• The PostCard 
• The Golden Wasp
• The Great Ice Battle 

Abbott, Tony. Lunch-Box Dream. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2011.

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Charlie and the Great Class Elevator is a science fiction children's book written by British author Roald Dahl. The illustrations were done by Joseph Schindelman on the first US edition.It as first published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. in 1972, and in the United Kingdom by George Allen & Unwin in 1973. This book is the sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, continuing the story of young Charlie Bucket and eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka as they travel in the Great Glass Elevator.

The story picks up immediately where the previous book left off, with Charlie and his whole family aboard the flying Great Glass Elevator, en route to the Chocolate Factory which Mr. Wonka intends to give to him. The height to which the Elevator ascends frightens Charlie's family sending the Elevator in the wrong direction. As a result, the Elevator goes into orbit, where Wonka docks them at a Space Hotel. While checking into the space hotel the President of the United States  get a notification and thinks that it is an invader. Things start to tense up. Mr Wonka wants to give Charlie's and his family secret info into the business. Along the journey there was fights and a wide mix of emotions. The follow up book to this book is called Charlie in the White House.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you like this book written to follow the story of Willy Wonka? 
2. What do you think happens in the White House?
3. Why do you think that Mr.Wonka wants to give his factory away to Charlie? 

Classroom Activity:

• Have the children make up and act out their on extend scene to this movie? Children will be placed into specific groups.

{"isAjaxInProgress_B000AQ0WGQ":"0","isAjaxComplete_B000AQ0WGQ":"0"} Roald Dahl (Author) › Visit Amazon's Roald Dahl Page Find all the books, read about the. “Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator Paperback – August 16, 2007.” Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator: Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake: 9780142410325: Amazon.com: Books, Alfred A. Knopf, 1972, www.amazon.com/Charlie-Great-Glass-Elevator-Roald/dp/0142410322.

Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream

*Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream* 

Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream was written by Jenny Han, illustrated by Julia Kuo and published by Little Brown in 2011. This is an award winning contemporary realistic fiction/biography book that us intended for children in the grades 3-6. Jenny Han won the Horn Book Award back in 2011.

One day little Clara Lee wakes after having a dream that her Grandpa has been killed by the mustache man. When she reveals her fear of the dream to her grandfather, Clara discovers that in her Chinese culture dreams where people die are actually a sign of good luck. So Clara sets to counting all of the good things that happen to her throughout the day, and most importantly giving a speech for the Little Miss Apple Pie contest. The contest is something that she wanted to wind so badly. The only thing that was making Clara feel insecure was the fact that she was not American like her other classmates. She was worried that she would not be able to find history on her family like her other classmates. With a little luck on her side and some encouragement from Grandpa, Clara Lee discovers that she may actually be more American than she thinks. This novel explores the challenges of being a minority in small town America and is appropriate for young readers who enjoy a little comedy and a heart-warming story.

This story can teach children how to have confidence in loving yourself and where you are from. With the support from her family she gained the cofindence and knowledge she needed to succeed.

Discussion Questions:

1. How many children do you think this happens to daily? 
2. How would you have dealt with the situation? 
3. What did you like the best about this book? What did you like the least? Why?
4. Clara Lee is Korean American. What did you learn about Korean American culture from reading this book? 

Classroom Activity: 

• Make a contest for the children to create something from their culture and present it to the class and the best things wins. The student with vote anonymously and the teach with anncouce the winner. 

If you liked this book, check out other books by Han:

• Burn for Burn
• Shug
• Always and Forever, Lara Jean 

Han, Jenny, and Julia Kuo. Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream. Little, Brown, 2011.

A Light in the Attic

A Light in the Attic..

A Light in the Attic is a book of children's poems written  and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. Silverstein is famous for her poems and have written over hundreds. The first poems were published by Harper & Row in 1981. In this book there is over 100 poems, a few of them are named: 

1. A Light in the Attic
2. How Many, How Much
3. Moon-Catchin' Net
4. Hammock
5. How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes
6. Stop Thief!

It was received serval awards and it a book read to your children. It helps expand their imagination and sparks of conversation where you could teach your child new things. “A Light in the Attic” is an excellent book about silly poems and silly people who do crazy stunts and it will surely be an instant for many children young and old. I would recommend this book to children ages six and up since smaller children might be a bit disturbed by the suggestive and morbid content displayed in this book. Parents should definitely supervise if their children are reading this book but I think most of the poems throughout the book are very funny. 

Honestly i don't think the poems are bad I think that the illustrations are weird and thats why children might think they are odd and get scared by them. Overall, I think this book of poem is great for children that are older and interested in poetry. 

Discussion Questions:

1. How many poems do you think are in the book before even opening it to read it.
2. What is you reaction to the poems and the illustrations? What do you think the illustrator could change?
3. Do you think the book should add color or do you like it black and white?

Classroom Activity:

• Have the children write their own poems about whatever they want and then at the end put the poems together in a book and read them aloud to the class.  

If you liked this book of poems check out Silverstein's other poem books:

• Falling up 
• Where the SideWalk Ends
• Different Dances 

Silverstein, Shel. A Light in the Attic: Particular Books, 2011.

Mr. Wuffles

Mr. Wuffles

Mr. Wuffles is a picture book written and illustrated by David Wiesner. This book had barely any words to it but the detail in the illustrations are great. I have posted a video below of the author explaining how it came to making and finishing this book, it was very interesting to watch. The topics of this book are great to keep a child entertain, some of the topics are animals, cats, dog, outer space, toys, aliens. The age level for children reading this book was be around 5-9, being read with the children will make this book more interesting for the children. The book was the winner of the 2014 Caldecott Award and was recognized way thousands of people.

The cat in the story is about the authors real cat in real lifeboat he just added more of a spin to the story. Mr. Wuffles does not want anything to do with the hundreds of cat toys we was bought because he found a cooler toy. He is more interested playing with a little spaceship full of aliens. The aliens were not prepared to deal with a cat ten times the size of them hitting their space ship so they were frightened. The aliens are trying to think fast and get away from the cat and they meet different types of insects that live  the walls of the house. Throughout the story the aliens and the insect help each other to get away from the cat. Mr. Wuffles wants to just play but the aliens are more frightened than ever.

Discussion Question:

1. Who do you think wins the fight?
2. Wh do you think Mr.Wuffles only picks one toy to play with?
3. What is your favorite type of animal?

Classroom Activity:

• Ask students to tell the story from the perspective of Mr. Wuffles and then to switch and tell the story from the perspective of one of the travelers, or one of the insects.

• Ask students to design, plan, and create their own comic or graphic novel. How do the pictures tell the story? If they choose to add dialogue, how does the dialogue move the story along. (use limited dialogue)

If you liked this picture book by David check out the other one he wrote: 

• Fish Girl
• SPOT
• Tuesday
• Art & Max 

Here is David the author explaining some of the reasoning behind this story:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjNSxn3MVaM



Wiesner, David. Mr Wuffles! Andersen Press, 2014.

Seven Blind Mice

Seven Blind Mice

Seven Blind Mice was written and illustrated by Ed Young. This this a popular folktale that is loved by many children and their families. This is a good read for children between the grades of Pre-K to 5th grade. This folktale is about seven different mice who go on an adventure to explore something, they each think that it is something different so each of the mice tell there own story. 

Each mouse is a different color, each mouse to to explore this "strange something" that is near their pond but come to find out that they need all the pieces of the story to know the whole truth about something. The illustrations and colors used will help and children stay more interested throughout reading the book. Along with the pictures standing out the book can teach children a few different things. It can help with improving days of the week, colors, numbers and even introduce the idea of themes. ( For children who are old enough to understand)

Each mouse is a different color helping the children remember colors as well as what they thought the strange something was. As well as being colorful the mice are also blind so they have to work harder to find out what the something is. This book is great for teacher to use at story time to read to their students and get them to be engaged with what is going on in the story. 

Discussion Question:

1. What did you like best about the illustrations throughout the book?
2. What do you think help the mice find out what the strange something was?
3. How do you think the mice felt after looking for so long and finally found out what the strange thing was?

Classroom Activity:
A classroom activity that would be helpful for the kids would be once which i explained earlier.
Read this book at story time on the rug and have the children interact with each other.
Or you could have the students create a similar story with all seven mice and have them make up their own ending --- then share at story time.



If you like this folktale read more books written by Ed Young:

• The Cat from Hunger 
• Lon Po Po
• Hook
• Beyond the Great Mountains 

Here is a Book Trailer of Seven Blind Mouse:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3vMvfAdW88




Young, Ed. Seven Blind Mice. Philomel Books, 2012.

The Skin You Live In

 "The skin you laugh in; the skin you cry in; the skin that you look to the sky and and ask, why in." 

This quotes gives an example of the rhyming scheme that will entertain and engage children while still teaching a very strong message. 

The Skin You Live In is a multicultural nonfiction story written by Michael Taylor and illustrated by David Lee Csicsko. This book is intended for new young readers between the ages of 4 to 6. It shows the relationship that people can have no matter what the color of their skin is and what culture they are from. This a a very rhymed filled text and it helps children explore all the diverse skin colors of people while promoting different actives for children from different cultures. Some actives being hugging, playing tag, catching different types of insects, jumping in puddles, and sharing different foods. Throughout the book you will see a various amount of different skin colors, ranging from different shades of black to white. I think its good for children to learn about this type of thing earlier on because they will understand that everyone is a person and has feelings. 

Discussion Questions:

1. What was your favorite thing about this book?
2. how does this book make you feel about other children cultures that are different from your own?
3. How do you think you can make a difference is someone else life? 
4. How you ever had a conflict with someone who practiced a different culture than your own?

This picture here shows the different types of skin colors the author and illustrated present in the book. All of the kids are getting along and have happy smiles on their faces. When children at the young age learn that everyone is equal it has a huge impact on their outlook of life. The rhyming keeps the children interested and the book promotes self esteem in every child.

Classroom Activity:

Children could be put into small groups and they would all be from different cultures. (if possible). They will chose a topic, for example, music. And each student would explain their cultures music type or favorites. Then at the end each student will present another students culture. 

If you like this kind of book check out more books that are similar:

• The Color of Us by Karen Katz
• Whose Knees are Those by Jabari Asim 
• Whoever You Are by Merri Fox

Tyler, Michael, and David Lee Csicsko. The Skin You Live In. Chicago Children's Museum, 2016.

The Moon and I

The Moon and I 

The Moon and I was written and illustrated by Besty Byars. This is a memoir and Betsy starts in out like any of her other novels, a potential problem which she is going to solve. This is written for ages of children between the 3rd and 6th grade. The first problem that Betsy comes across is a snake. She is sitting on her porch and a snake is crawling through the rafters. She starts the beginning with a problem ad throughout the book you get to learn about her life and how she loves to write.

When Betsy began writing this narrative she started telling us about her subsequent adventures with the snake, whom she named Moon, while the subplot so to speak contains flashbacks about her life. For example, in the first few chapters Byars relates the snake to when she was growing up and how she wanted to work at a zoo. While growing up her and her best friends would play 'zoo' and they would pretend to take care of baby animals who were abandoned. It also meant they were always on the alert for new acquisitions. she explains that one day the two girls came across some eggs and brought them home. When her egg hatched into a snake, Byars wanted to keep the snake but her mom made her give it away. And so now as an adult, she kind of wants to keep that overhanging blacksnake she saw on her porch as a pet.

Byars tells us that she loves to type title pages. And so even before she has figured out how her memoir will transpire, when all she has the characters and the setting, she types a title page: The Moon and I. For Byars, there is no single moment in her life that brings her more satisfaction than a title page. Personally, I think its harder to right the title first, for me I have to write the story before i write the title. But even with having the title, she still doesn’t know how to develop The Moon and I and so she begins to research. While doing doing some research, she reads many charming and not-so charming stories about snakes. She also decides to try and touch Moon ( a snake). As part of her becoming an authority on her topic, which all authors must do. And in the course of getting to know Moon, Byars discovers his dark side. The dark side bites her.

The elements of her story are: plot, characters, setting, and scraps. Byars says that “Plenty of good scraps are important in making a book as in the making of a quilt,”. Now that Moon had bit her, she has her first scrap. For Byars she has a hard tie letting go. Eventualy the snakes that she finds have to go into hibernation and she begins to feel a mix of emotions. At the end she finds a solution to deal with the snakes going away for a away.

Classroom Actives:

For each student have them choose something that is very important to them and have them write a paragraph explaining the importance and relating it back to a specific event in their life. After they are done writing, if they would like to share with the class they can.

If you liked reading this book, check out more written by Byars:

• The Golly Sister Books
• The Ant Books
• The Joy Boys
• The Little Horse Books

Byars, Betsy. The Moon and I. Beech Tree Bks, 1997.