David and Goliath, Retold by Bill Yenne and Timothy Jacobs

           
              This book summarizes and illustrates the story of David from the Bible, specifically the events leading up to the fight with Goliath. The story starts with the prophet Samuel selecting Saul to be king of Israel, but Saul did not always obey God. Because of this, God told Samuel that he wanted David to be king one day. David was in charge of watching and protecting the family’s flock of sheep in the field. However, Saul would often become sad, so he had David play beautiful music for him. When Saul’s people were challenged by the Philistines, they were too afraid to fight them because the Philistine warrior named Goliath was almost a giant. David is the only one that faces Goliath armed with only a sling, some stones, and no armor. He was angered that Goliath disrespects God. The stone that David slings hits Goliath in the head, and Goliath falls. At the end of the book, the story jumps far into David’s future saying that he eventually becomes one the best kings of Israel.

            I would most likely use this book in a private Christian school with kindergarten through second-grade students. There are not many words on each page and the illustrations are vivid and fill each page. This story teaches the strength that God gives and how God can help his people overcome challenges. During a Bible or English lesson, this story could empower students in a Christian school and is engaging enough for them to listen to and remember the story. If I used this book in a public school if allowed, I would incorporate other religious stories from different religions and cultures in the form of a picture storybook. This way, no one feels inferior for following a different religion. All religions and cultures are celebrated. In a secular setting, the story would teach students about the culture and beliefs about the Christian and Jewish religions during a Social Studies lesson. The students could also compare and contrast different stories and parables from the religions to gain a better understanding of their world.

Jamie O’ Rourke and the Big Potato, Retold and Illustrated by Tomie DePaola

            In this story, Jamie O’Rourke, an extremely lazy Irishman, must find food for the winter after his wife injures herself digging potatoes. Instead of digging the potatoes himself, Jamie takes a walk through the woods and stumbles upon a leprechaun. Typically, leprechauns offer their pots of gold for ransom when they are captured, so Jamie captures the leprechaun hoping for this reward. However, this leprechaun offers him a seed that will grow a huge potato and Jamie accepts. After planting the seed, the potato grows so large that it takes the entire town to move and eat the potato all winter long. In the end, the townsfolk became so tired of eating potatoes that they gladly feed Jamie O’Rourke and his wife for the rest of their lives as long as Jamie never grows a huge potato again. His wife agrees that Jamie was not so foolish after all, but the last picture shows that the Leprechaun has a huge pot of gold.

            This story would be ideal to use in a first or second-grade classroom. I would love to use this book when studying positive character traits like “diligence.” The story focuses on laziness but idealizes it since Jamie is rewarded for being lazy. Therefore, this book could create an analytical conversation about laziness not always being rewarded in real life. This would also be a great book to use when students learn about the difference between reality and fantasy. This book incorporates many realistic aspects like relying on one’s garden as a source of food, but the leprechaun and giant potato create themes of fantasy throughout the book. Students could discuss what can and cannot be real from this story. Furthermore, the beginning of the book offers insight into the religious beliefs of the Irish. For instance, they mention the saints and that Jamie was going to see a priest for confession. This book would be interesting for students to study the culture of the Irish especially since this may be the heritage of some of the students.

Why Ducks Sleep on One Leg, by Sherry Garland, Illustrated by Jean And Mou-Sien Tseng

            Through Vietnamese folklore and culture, this story explains why ducks naturally sleep standing on one leg. After creation, all of the animals were built well and were happy with how they were created. However, the ducks were doomed since they only had one leg. Because of this, they could barely walk, swim, or catch food. In order to get an additional leg, the ducks decided to petition the Jade Emperor who rules over the universe. After the help of a kind goose and rooster, the ducks decide to visit the village guardian who acts as an intercessor between the village and the Jade Emperor. Thành-Hoàng, the village guardian, refuses to intercede for the ducks and instead lets them use the extra golden legs from the incense burner. He warns the ducks to guard the golden legs from thieves. The ducks heed the warning from the guardian and sleep with the golden leg tucked under them. When ducks from other places see them sleeping this way, they imitate them since they find that it is comfortable. The tale says that to this day, ducks sleep with one leg because of the ducks from this village.

            This story would fit well in a second-grade classroom. The illustrations are vivid and the story has a quick enough pace to captivate second graders. Because the story incorporates aspects from Vietnamese culture, it would accompany a history lesson well. The book gives insight into religious beliefs since the setting takes place right after creation and involves deities and intercessors. At the beginning of the book, the author describes some aspects of life in Vietnamese villages, and this introduces new vocabulary. For example, a “dinh” is a meeting place for the village community where the village guardian resides. From the given factual information in the story, the students could compare and contrast other cultures with the Vietnamese culture. Furthermore, this book would be beneficial to have in my classroom library because there is a large Vietnamese population in this area of the U.S. The students could feel comfortable seeing their culture represented in the classroom.

The Seven Chinese Brothers, by Margaret Mahy, Illustrated by Jean and Mou-sien Tseng

            This story tells of seven brothers from China who each has a special power. First Brother has super hearing, Second Brother has super sight, Third Brother has Super Strength, Fourth Brother has unbreakable bones, Fifth Brother can lengthen his legs, Sixth Brother never overheats, and Seventh Brother cries ocean-sized tears. Upon learning how cruelly the Emperor was forcing his people to build the Great Wall of China, Third Brother intervenes and finishes the wall. This greatly enrages the Emperor, so he sentences this brother to be beheaded. However, the Fourth Brother trades places with him since his neck will never break. Throughout the story, the Emperor changes the punishment and the brothers keep switching places until the first six brothers endure a punishment. When Seventh Brother can no longer bear this conflict, he cries two ocean-sized tears that sweep the tyrannical emperor away and save his brothers. The book ends with the brothers reunited and dining together after a grueling week.

            This story would be most appropriate in a third-grade classroom because it is simplistic in its vocabulary and structure, but is intense due to the severe punishments sentenced by the Emperor. I would most likely use this book when the students learn about Chinese history. The book takes place during the construction of the Great Wall of China, and this is a valuable part of Chinese history. Additionally, the editor’s note at the beginning of the book goes into detail about Emperor Ch’in Shih Huang, who is the emperor in this story. While the story is fiction, there are many real facts about this ruler in China’s history. Because of this, the book would also help third-grade students learn the difference between fiction and non-fiction. We could have a class discussion after the book that differentiates the realistic aspects and the fictional aspects of the tale. Furthermore, this story would add cultural diversity when studying tall tales in an English Language Arts classroom.

The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks, by Katherine Paterson, Illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon

             In this story, a lord who enjoys collecting beautiful items finds a duck with gorgeous feathers and takes him captive. Since this duck is separated from his mate, he becomes less beautiful because he hangs his head low and does not speak. When a kitchen maid named Yasuko notices that the bird misses his mate, she releases him. However, a servant named Shozo receives the punishment for Yasuko’s actions. Shozo and Yasuko eventually fall in love but are punished when the lord thinks they secretly planned to release the duck together. In the end, mysterious messengers save and take in Shozo and Yasuko from the woods and nurse them back to health. In the morning, the messengers have disappeared and the couple sees the two ducks that seem to thank them for their kindness. In the end, Shozo and Yasuko live long, joyful lives and have many children.

            I would most likely use this story with third and fourth graders. There is a lot of text on each page and there is not enough action to capture the attention of children younger than third grade. However, this story teaches an amazing lesson about being kind and kindness being reciprocated. Additionally, it teaches values of Eastern Asia cultures like deep respect for one another and for nature, so this would be a great book to use in Social Studies when learning about these cultures. The illustrations also reflect these cultures, so it would be engaging for the students to investigate and compare these illustrations with other cultures.

            Furthermore, since there are different elements and layers to this story, the class can work in groups or as a whole to make inferences. For example, they could conjecture about who the mysterious messengers are. They could also think about the insights given concerning the values of the people who started this tale long ago.

Wonder, by R.J. Palacio

            This story follows the journey of a young boy named August (or “Auggie”) as he enters school for the first time in fifth grade. However, he does not experience the typical transition that a homeschooler might have because he looks different than the other students due to birth defects. This adds extra challenges for his first year in middle school. However, August’s support system is solid at the beginning of the book and builds throughout the story to include his entire class. At first, August experiences verbal bullying from a few cruel students. The rest of the students stare at him relentlessly. Throughout the year, the dynamics of school change when he gains many new friends, and no one stares at him because they have come to know him. His family dynamics change too. His older sister begins high school which brings its own challenges, and the whole family experiences a shared loss. At the end of the book, August wins the Henry Ward Beecher medal for his grace under pressure and perseverance through hardship. When the principal announces that August is the winner of the award, the whole auditorium gives him a standing ovation. As he and his family make their way to his graduation party after the ceremony, his mother, amazed at August’s strength and resilience tells him that he “a wonder.” This book was selected for the Texas Bluebonnet Master List, Texas Lonestar Reading List, ALA Notable Children's Book, and many more honors and awards.

            I would love to use this book with a fifth grade English class. The overall message of acceptance, perseverance, and kindness is a timeless and ageless lesson. Additionally, the vocabulary and structure are geared towards students in this grade. The book is more suitable for upper-elementary students due to some of its mature themes as well. For instance, August experiences deep betrayal when he hears Jack, whom August thought was a dear friend, say to another student that he would commit suicide if he looked like August. This does teach an important lesson about the reality of the impact that students’ words have on one another. Therefore, this book would be incredible for studying a character trait of the month such as kindness or compassion and is grade-level appropriate conceptually and in readability.

            Wonder would be a fantastic book to use when teaching about point of view because the story is told from the point of view of August, his friends, his sister, and his sister’s boyfriend in the first person. This teaches students to see stories from all characters involved because they do not view everything the same. Students could then try to imagine other stories from multiple characters’ points of view even when it is not in the text. Imagining an event from another point of view helps build empathy and understanding, both of which are well developed in Wonder. Furthermore, each character has a unique voice in the text, so it is a good example for students developing their own voice and studying voice in literature.

Introduction

In this blog, I will review 50 children's books that cover a variety of genres, awards, and cultures. I created this blog for my EDRE 4320 Children's Literature class and am excited to share my literature discoveries.