You Are Special, by Max Lucado, Illustrated by Sergio Martinez

            This book takes place in the village of Wemmicks, autonomous wooden people who care greatly for what others think of them. The Wemmicks award each other with star stickers for good deeds or looks and criticize each other with gray dots for not looking pretty or for lack of talent. Punchinello is one of the most criticized Wemmicks with a large collection of dots stuck all over him. He felt so bad about himself until he meets a strange Wemmick named Lucia. Lucia was strange because neither kind of sticker would stay on her. Punchinello asked her how she did this. She said that she sees the Wemmick-maker, Eli, every day in his woodshop. Punchinello gets the courage to visit Eli one day hoping to rid himself of dots. Surprisingly, Eli knows Punchinello’s name and warmly welcomes him inside. Eli tells Punchinello not to worry about the opinions of other Wemmicks because Eli’s opinion is the only one that matters since Eli made Punchinello. Eli tells Punchinello how special he is just because he belongs to Eli. Eli then tells his visitor that the only reason that the star and dot stickers stay on him is that he allows them too. When Eli’s love is more valuable than the stickers to Punchinello, the stickers will come off eventually. This is what happens at the end of the story. Punchinello begins to believe Eli’s words and one of his dots falls off. The book in which this story originated, Tell Me the Secrets: Treasures for Eternity, won the Gold Medallion Book Award in 1994.

            I would only use this book in a Christian school because of its strong Christian themes that could be controversial or uncomfortable in a public school. This book would be best suited for first through third grade because it is a picture storybook that is too detailed for kindergarteners and preschoolers to follow. I would love to use this book as a read-aloud to the whole class. This story connects really easily to God’s love for his children. Eli represents God and the Wemmicks represent humans. Because the concept of God can be difficult and too abstract for children to grasp, this story would be a fantastic way to make God’s love more concrete to young students. Additionally, since it is in a narrative format, the students will most likely remember the story better than just telling the students that God loves them. I could also engage the students in a conversation about what the star and dot stickers represent in real life. This helps the students think critically about symbolic ideas that they see in literature and how these ideas translate into their lives.

The Silver Boat II, by Ann Adams, Illustrated by Jeff Pace

            This story continues from where the first book ended. It begins with a seagull son asking his dad to tell him the story about the little girl and the silver boat again, so the dad seagull decides to show him what happens next. As the dad seagull tells the story, the gulls are placed in the story by magic while the events occur around them. The dad gull takes his son back in time to show what happened to the dragon. After the children make fun of and scare the dragon back into the forest, the dragon takes out his anger about being continually ostracized on the trees around him. He comes to the conclusion that he wants to change his ways to become friendlier. Then, he is enveloped in blue light and decides to fly towards the sea to find the warm and friendly land where the little girl wants to go. As he flies, he transforms into the swan that pulled the boat in the first book. He is shocked at his new appearance but follows the ethereal woman’s instructions to pull the silver boat for the little girl. On their journey, they meet dolphins who teach them how to play. However, a storm finds them at sea and nearly drowns them. In order to save the girl, the swan transforms back into the dragon and this scares the little girl who feels that she was tricked. After the storm, the dragon and the girl come to an understanding about themselves and about each other. They bond over their differences and create a strong friendship.

            Similarly to the first book, this continuation is appropriate for third through fifth grade and is a transitional book. Unlike the first book, this book is divided into two parts that resemble chapters in a chapter book. I would love to use this book with students who have issues with controlling anger. This book shows that anger can be appropriate and beneficial. It was the dragon’s anger at the storm that saved the girl and the dragon. However, it also demonstrates that unfocused and uncontrolled anger can cause loneliness. This book would also be helpful for students who are afraid of their own anger or someone else’s anger. The little girl felt tricked by the dragon and felt scared, but the dragon was able to control his anger and the little girl was safe. In an ELA lesson, this book would be good to use to compare and contrast. Students could compare and contrast their expectations of the book’s events and what actually happens in the book. Additionally, students could compare and contrast themes, characters, and events in the first and second books. This helps students build their critical thinking and trains them to think in this way automatically when they read. Throughout the story, the son seagull inundates his dad with questions about events he told in the story. This is a good model for students to see to form questions while reading and making predictions. Students could write down and share the questions and predictions that they have while the class reads the book.

The Silver Boat, by Ann Adams, Illustrated by Max Elbo

            This story is about a little girl who decides to leave her glum and abusive home to go across the sea to a welcoming place. Along her journey, she is visited by a mysterious, ethereal woman whose blue light helps the little girl along the way. To get to the sea, the girl must face the dangers within the forest. However, the ethereal woman instructs the girl to always remember, “You must think about what you want rather than what you fear.” This saying helps the little girl through her adversity within the forest. Additionally, the blue light is able to grant the little girl wishes. At the beginning of her journey, the girl thinks she will not be as afraid if she has other children to share in her journey, so she wishes for a group of companions. With her new group of friends, they face adversity. Some of the adversity comes from the creatures in the forest and some come from each other. The group reconciles when they have to fight a dragon together. At the end of the book, the group reaches the sea. When the boat pulled by a large swan appears close to shore, the group has to figure out who should ride in it since there is only enough room for one child. Eventually, everyone remembers that they originate from the little girl. Then, the little girl gets into the boat after her friends re-join inside her from where they came. The book specified that she did not live “happily ever after” because that is not true to real life. Instead, she faced more challenges in life, but each challenge gave her more wisdom and made her stronger.

            This book is most appropriate for third grade through fifth grade. It is a transitional book for students to begin reading chapter books. There are not too many words on each page but there are more words than a picture storybook. Additionally, not all of the pages incorporate illustrations. Furthermore, this book would be fantastic for a student who deals with anxiety, has suffered trauma, or has a low self-esteem because the book teaches coping strategies and has the theme of self-empowerment. Since the story is fantastical, it allows the students to learn to cope through a story that is not too near to reality to be frightening or overwhelming for sensitive students. In an ELA lesson, this book would be a great example to use when students learn about story arcs. This book has an easily identified beginning, middle, end, conflict, climax, and resolution. Since this book is slightly longer than a picture storybook, it has a more complex plotline that scaffolds students’ reading comprehension towards chapter books. Students could complete a plotline “rise and fall” graphic organizer shaped like a mountain where the peak is the climax or a “cause and effect” graphic organizer to analyze the chain of events throughout the story. Students could also predict what they think will happen in the second book based upon the events in this book.