The Keeping Quilt, Written and Illustrated by Patricia Polacco
        This story is an autobiographical picture storybook and it tells about an important quilt from Polacco's heritage. The story begins when her great-great-grandmother comes to America with her parents. Her dress and babushka remind her of home. These items become part of the quilt that the family creates then to remember Russia. Many different articles of clothing are sewn on to it and the babushka creates its border. The quilt sees many weddings, celebrations, and children coming into the world and is passed down to Polacco's great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, and then to herself. She plans to pass the quilt to her daughter someday. This quilt was wrapped around her own daughter after she was born as well. It tells the story of their heritage so they never forget home.
       This story would be most appropriate for second and third-grade students. The language is simple and the illustrations carry the story. This would be a great way to introduce the idea of "heritage" to students. After reading this story as a read-aloud to the class, they could reflect on the importance of remembering the past. The students could share or create items that help them remember where they originate whether that is in the U.S. or from another country. No matter where anyone is from, every student has a cultural identity. It is important to foster this identity and this book would be a great way to start this.

Something from Nothing, Written and Illustrated by Phoebe Gilman,
      This story originated from a Jewish folktale and is about a boy named Joseph and his grandfather. Joseph's grandfather makes him a blanket when he is born. The blanket wears out and Joseph takes it to his grandfather. He makes the blanket a jacket. The jacket eventually is too small and his grandfather turns it into a vest. Eventually, the material becomes so worn that there is only enough left for a button. Joseph wears this button proudly until he loses the button. Joseph's grandfather says that he cannot make something new without any of the blanket. Joseph does not lose heart and says that he can make a story out of all of these events. In this way, he made "something from nothing."
       This story is most appropriate for first and second grade. It has a lot of repetition, so the students can find comfort and confidence in knowing and saying some of the words with the teacher during a class read-aloud. Additionally, the illustrations add to the story and do not only tell the events. For example, the scraps of the material of the blanket end up with the mice that live below the house. The mice can be seen on each page with curtains, clothes, and tablecloths made out of the blanket. This would help the students be engaged in the story. The students could also reflect on what it means to create "something from nothing" and if that is truly possible.

Ada's Violin, Written by Susan Hood, Illustrated by Sally Wern Comport
       This story is set in a poor town in Paraguay where the people live at a dump. Most of the people there make money by scavenging around the dump for recyclable materials to sell, but this does not pay very well. A young girl who lives here, Ada, eventually fears that this could be her future. However, her grandmother who loves music with such a passion signs up Ada and her sisters for string instrument lessons as soon as a music teacher makes this available. Ada becomes so excited at this. However, there are not enough instruments for all of the children to use and instruments are high money items that could easily get stolen in this town. So, some resourceful men figure out how to make cellos, violins, and other instruments with material from the dump. This is how Ada gets her own violin that she treasures dearly. While other children quit lessons because it is so difficult, Ada never gives up. Her perseverance is rewarded as the orchestra gets asked to perform at local and eventually national gigs. The orchestra's biggest invitation is to open for a famous rock and roll group. Ada gets nervous at this performance but soon forgets her nerves when the crowd celebrates their orchestra with cheers and encouragement. The book ends with an author's note that talks about Ada and "Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay." This note contains real pictures, links to videos, and other resources.
       This book would be most appropriate for third, fourth, and fifth-grade students. This book uses collage for the illustrations which is truly interesting to see. This would be a great inspiration for students to make their own collage about an experience that has formed who they are. Additionally, this book shows what perseverance can do in impacting someone's life. If Ada had quit early like some of the other students had, then she would not have had such amazing experiences outside of her town. It was her perseverance and her passion that allowed her to travel and play for huge crowds. Additionally, it shows students that some people are forced to live in such heartbreaking poverty. Students need to read stories like this to gain a global view of the world around them. This story definitely portrays in an age-appropriate way that some people do not have all of the luxuries
that most people in the U.S. get to enjoy.

Arrow to the Sun, Retold and Illustrated by Gerald McDermott
     This Caldecott-winning story is originally a Pueblo Native American story that talks about a son that was born into the world when the Lord of the Sun sent light into the world to a lady's home. The boy grew up and wanted to meet his father. He asked many people around him if they knew his father. Everyone said that they did not until he met the Arrow Maker who saw that the boy was the son of the Lord of the Sun. The boy turned into an arrow and the Arrow Maker shot him from a bow into the sun to meet his father. To prove that he really was his son, the Lord of the Sun made him pass several endurance tests and the son passed all of the tests and became like his father. The father sent his son back to Earth to give them the light and the people on earth celebrated this with a dance.
       This book would be most appropriate for first through third-grade students. The illustrations are elaborate, colorful, and engaging and the story is easy to follow and read. Because this story is a Native American story, it would be great to accompany a lesson about Native Americans. It makes historical facts come to life. Students get to see that they told stories to each other in a similar way that people do today. Additionally, this book would be a fantastic example of a legend when students study different types of literature.

In My Mother's House, By Ann Nolan Clark, Illustrated by Velino Herrera
     This book is composed of a collection of poems by Tewa Native American children who live in New Mexico. This collection, however, is not several isolated poems, but rather one long poem written by different children. This reflects the collectivist culture of the people as well. The poems cover many different aspects of Tewa life. It talks about agriculture, family and friends, livestock, wild animals, and more. My favorite part is the beginning where the narrator is talking about what his or her mother does and how the narrator relates to the mother. The poem describes the mother as hardworking and loving. I also love how the end of the book is a circular ending because it finishes with the idea that all creatures and ideas in the poem come together to create "a strong chain" that ties the narrator to his or her cultural roots that begin "in my mother's house" (56).
    This book would be fantastic to use when studying Native American culture and would be most appropriate for first through fifth. It spans so many grade levels because the language is simple but the ideas are ageless. Ideas such as family, friends, community, and livelihood are relatable to many ages. When studying the history of Native Americans, this book would be fantastic to use since it is told from a child's perspective in first-person voice. this makes the Tewa people come alive to the reader. Even though this is not a historical book, students can compare and contrast the way of life of the Tewa people in this book to the way of life of the historical Native Americans. Additionally, when students learn about different roles in communities and different types of communities, this book would be a fantastic resource to allow students to experience a community that may be very different from theirs. Students could also compare concepts that are similar to their own community. By doing this, students will hopefully see that even though these communities are very different, they also have unshakeable similarities.
   

Zlateh The Goat and Other Stories, by Issac Bashevis Singer, Illustrated by Maurice Sendak
       In this collection of traditional short stories, Sendak beautifully brings to life Singer's tellings of stories surrounding Jewish villagers. Two of my favorite stories in the book are "The First Shlemiel" and "Zlateh the Goat." In "The First Shlemiel," a wife decides to leave her lazy husband for the day. While she is gone, he is responsible for taking care of the rooster and the baby. However, Shlemiel, her husband, is extremely lazy and loves anything sweet. He ends up letting the baby get injured and losing the rooster. Fearing his wife's wrath when she gets home, he decides to eat a pot of jam his wife made on the stove that she called poison to kill himself. However, he is not dead when his wife gets home and she says it is because it was not poison but jam. She hoped that telling him it is poison would keep him from eating it. In the end, the baby is safe, the rooster returns, and the Shlemiel's have a very happy Hanukkah. In "Zlateh the Goat," a family of villagers has to sell their beloved pet goat named Zlateh because they cannot afford her. Aaron, the family's son must take the goat to sell but gets stranded in a snow storm. Aaron and Zlateh find shelter in a haystack covered in snow. In this haystack, they remained for three days while waiting for the snow to stop. The goat ate hay and Aaron drank the milk of the goat to stay alive. In this time, Aaron became very attached to the goat and did not sell her. In the end, he brings the goat back to his frantically worried family that is glad they have returned and they did not sell the goat. Instead, his father's business begins thriving again and they have more money than they need to have a great Hannukkah. This book has won the Newberry Honor Award.
        This book is most appropriate for fifth and sixth-grade students. I would like to have this book in my classroom library. However, some themes may be too extreme to keep freely in an elementary classroom. For example, even though Shlemiel's suicide attempt may be painted as humourous in the story, it still is not truly appropriate for young students. Therefore, I would have to pick and choose which stories to share with the students. I would love to read "Zlateh the Goat" out loud to the class because it allows readers to delve into an unfamiliar agricultural society. The students could try to put themselves in the father's shoes and Aaron's shoes. It would be a similar situation if one of the students had to sell a pet that they loved because their parents could not afford to feed it anymore. This connection could allow students to see that even though another culture may have different customs and use different words than they do, they can connect to them in some way through similar experiences. Because of this, these stories would be great to share when the students study about Poland in a World History class. Both the author and illustrator of the book have Polish roots and this is evident in their collection of traditional short stories that were all translated from Yiddish by the author.