Module 3

This Is Not My Hat
Summary
A story about a little fish who steals a hat from a big fish and thinks he got away with it.  The big fish comes to get the hat and in the end does get it back after going into the weeds to find the little fish.  You are left to imagine what happened as the next thing you see is the big fish with the had and no sign of the little fish.

Bibliographic Citation
 Klassen, J. (2012).  This is Not My Hat.  Sommerville, Mass. :Candlewick Press.

Impression
 I have not read any other Klassen works so I had no idea what to expect.  I thought it was a cute little book but a little mysterious in the beginning to middle.  Then you get to imagine what happened in the seaweed, that was interesting.  It seems like this could be a little controversial for small children.  Not really sure if they would be traumatized or think it is funny.  Very likely would make for some interesting conversation.  I liked the illustration and overall story.  Not a lot of words but the pictures do a very good job of telling the story. Overall, I liked it and wouldn't mind comparing some of the author's other works. 

Review
Chipman, Ian. Booklist; 8/1/2012, Vol. 108 Issue 22, p67-67, 1/5p. Retrieved from Literary Reference Center 17 Sept. 2013.

Grades K-2. Klassen’s authorial debut, I Want My Hat Back (2011), became one of the surprise picture-book hits of the year. This follow-up is really only related in its hat-theft theme, animal characters, deadpan humor, and a suggestively dark conclusion. Which might seem like everything, but whereas the first book featured light sleuthing by a semi-dopey bear looking to find his lost lid, this is a similar story from a fishy absconder’s point of view. “This hat is not mine. I just stole it,” claims a minnow darting through the deep-sea black. He tells how he lifted it from a bigger fish. At each stage, the minnow reassures himself that he’s gotten away with his perfect crime. We see it ain’t so, as the big fish trolls along right behind him, right down to the minnow’s final, prophetic double entendre: “Nobody will ever find me.” Once again, the simple, dramatic tension and macabre humor mesh splendidly with Klassen’s knack for tiny, telling details and knockout page turns. Who knew hat thievery was such a bottomless well? HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Klassen’s debut was a #1 New York Times best-seller and Geisel Honor Book. The publisher is rolling out a 15-city tour and pulling out all the publicity stops in support of this release.

Uses
 This could be a good book talk because of the thievery and the imagining of the result.  You could discuss following the law, punishments.  You could also have the students come up with their own versions of what happened in the seaweed. 





f.






A Ball For Daisy

Summary
This is a story about a dog with a ball.  The dog and its owner go the park to play with the ball.  While there, another dog accidently pops the ball and everyone is sad.  Daisy mopes around and misses the ball.  They end up meeting the other dog again at the park and the other dog gives Daisy a new ball.  They both play with it and things are all better.

Bibliographic Citation
Raschka, C. (2011).  A Ball For Daisy.  New York: Schwartz & Wade Books. 

Summary
I dont know exactly why but this one did not do much for me.  The no words thing is a little bit weird to me.  I really did not particularly like the illustrations either.  I think it was probably water color and I though it was pretty crude.  I could follow the story through the pictures so it was not confusing or anything but I found myself not really knowing what to get out of the book.  It was nice of the other dog to replace the ball but just not really sure of the lesson exactly. 

Review

Kraus, Daniel. ( 2011) Booklist (June 1, 2011 (Vol. 107, No. 19)) Retrieved from Literary Reference Center 17 Sept 2013.

Preschool-Kindergarten. This story about loss (and joy) is accomplished without a single word, which is perfect—it puts you directly in the head space of its canine protagonist. The title tells us her name is Daisy, but she is a pretty anonymous little thing, drawn by Raschka as just a few indistinct yet somehow expressive squiggly lines. What’s clear is that she loves playing with her ball, both indoors and out, until the fateful moment that another dog bites too hard on the ball and deflates it. In a heartaching series of nearly identical paintings, Daisy slumps into a sofa as depression overtakes her. Dogs, of course, don’t know that there are more balls in the world, which makes her glee at the end of the book all the sweeter. Raschka uses fairly sophisticated comic-book arrangements—long, narrow, horizontal panels, and so forth—but masks them with soft watercolor edges instead of sharp corners. The result feels like something of pure emotion. Pretty close approximation of what it’s like to be a dog, probably.


Uses
Have some older students act out the book for younger ones.  Ask the students if they can tell what the author is trying to say in the book.

Module 2

Module 2
Mr. Popper's Penguins

Summary
  A painter who has trouble making enough money ends up with a group of penguins.  An explorer, whom the the painter has written a fan letter, sends a penguin to the painter.  The penguin starts to act differently and the painter takes him to the zoo where he acquires a female.  They soon have 10 and he tries to figure out how to make money off of them.  This does not go very well and decides to have the explorer take them back to the North Pole. 

Bibligraphic Citation
 Atwater, R., Atwater, F., & Lawson, R. (1938). Mr. Popper's Penguins. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.

Impression
  The book was funny.  I thought that the premise that he was sent a penguin for really being such a big fan of exploration and animals was an interesting way of setting up the story.  I enjoyed the little things about his wife and how she felt about the situation and how it all ties in with the need to provide for his family, which becomes even harder with the penquins there. 

Review
Reid, Rob. Mr. Popper's Penguins. Book Links; Jun2010, Vol. 19 Issue 4, p30-31, 2p. Library & Information Science Source 17 Sept 2013.
 

Gr. 1—4

A penguin named Captain Cook arrives at Mr.Popper's house courtesy of Admiral Drake. The penguin is sad until the Poppers purchase a second penguin—Greta. Captain Cook and Greta have 10 chicks. "They were Nelson, Columbus,

Louisa, Jenny, Scott, Magellan, Adelina, Isabella, Ferdinand, and Victoria." The Poppers run out of money feeding the
penguins and altering their house, so they become a traveling show—the Popper Performing Penguins. This book made its first appearance in 1938.

lO'Minute Selection:

Read Chapter 6, "More Troubles," which opens with the line, "The children were the first to notice the policeman." The officer is responding to a complaint about Captain Cook. Later on, Mr. Popper tries to find out "what the municipal ordinance about penguinsis." He gets nowhere. Skip to Chapter 8, "Penguin's Promenade." Mr. Popper takes Captain Cook on a neighborhood stroll. People refer to the penguin as a goose, a pelican, and a dodo. Mr. Popper and Captain Cook escape into a barbershop. Finish with Chapter 9, "In the BarberShop." The barber throws them out. Mr. Popper hails a taxi and they return home. The passage ends with "He went to lie down, for he was quite exhausted from all the

unusual exercise, while Captain Cook had a shower and took a nap in the icebox."

Uses
Try to get an animal that the student do not know very well or that looks similar to many others and have them guess what it is.  The people in the book didnt even know what penguins were. 
 Module 2

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Summary
 Harry Potter lives in an awful situation with his aunt and uncle.  On his 11th birthday he begins to get letters from a place called Hogwarts.  Despite every attempt to keep the letters from Harry by his relatives, he finds out that he is a wizard and is invited to wizarding school.  There he finds out that he is already famous and that he has a mortal enemy.  He makes friends, who help him greatly,  as well as foes, who try to make sure he fails.   He has many issues do deal with and ends up having to save the sorcerers stone from falling in to the hands of his enemy, Voldemort.  He, by luck and skill, is able to thwart the plans of Voldemort and temporarily delay his return to the world. 

Bibliographic Citation
 Rowling, J.K. (1998).  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. New York: Scholastic

Impression
  This book has been so well regarded that I had to read it.  I thought it was one of the best I have ever read.  The teen fiction genre is great and this is one of the best.  Rowling makes the book come to life and I wanted to be a Hogwarts.  The adventure, drama, comedy are all woven it to make it a great story.  It is also a little bit of a mystery because you really wonder what is going to happen next.  I can definately see why this is so popular.  I am plugging through the whole series now.  (very hard with so much other reading to do).  All of the characters mesh together.  There are the bad guys and the good guys but there is always some doubt on the motives of some of the characters so that adds intrigue.  I thought Quiddith was genius and the battle between Voldemort and Harry is classic. 

Review

J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; illus. by Mary Grandpre

309 pp. Levine/Scholastic 9/98 ISBN 0-590-35340-3 16.95 (Intermediate)

Orphaned Harry Potter has been living a dog's life with his horrible relatives. He sleeps in the broom cupboard under the stairs and is treated as a slavey by his aunt and uncle. On his eleventh birthday, mysterious missives begin arriving for him, culminating eventually in the arrival of a giant named Hagrid, who has come to escort him to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry learns that his parents died saving him from an evil sorcerer and that he himself is destined to be a wizard of great power. Harry's astonished introduction to the life of wizardry starts with his purchase, under Hagrid's guidance, of all the tools of an aspiring sorcerer: wand, robes, cauldron, broomstick, owl. Hogwarts is the typical British public school, with much emphasis placed on games and the honor of the House. Harry's house is Gryffindor, the time-honored rival of Slytherin: he becomes a star at Quidditch, an extremely complicated game played with four different balls while the whole team swoops about on broomsticks. He studies Herbology, the History of Magic, Charms, Potions, the Dark Arts, and other arcane subjects, all the while getting closer to his destiny and the secret of the sorcerer's stone. He makes friends (and enemies), goes through dangerous and exciting adventures, and justifies the hopeful predictions about him. The light-hearted caper travels through the territory owned by the late Roald Dahl, especially in the treatment of the bad guys--they are uniformly as unshadedly awful as possible--but the tone is a great deal more affectionate. A charming and readable romp with a most sympathetic hero and filled with delightful magic details.

 

Flowers Ann A.  Horn Book Magazine; Jan/Feb99, Vol. 75 Issue 1, p71-71, 3/4p  Library & Information Science Source. 17 Sept. 2013


Uses
Have a Harry Potter night.  Dress up in costumes.  Have refreshments.  Give awards for the best costumes.  Have a sorting and put the students in Houses. 

Module 1

Module 1

Rainbow Fish
Summary
a. A pretty fish will not share his scales and has no friends in the beginning of the book.  He finally realizes that if he does not change, he will never have friends.  He starts to share his scales and the other fish begin to welcome him. 

Bibliographic Citation
b. Pfister, M. (1996). The Rainbow Fish. New York: North-South Books.

Impressions
c. The book is relatively short and the version I had was a large book and very colorful. I believe this is the boardbook edition.   I thought the book had a good message and that kids would be able to relate pretty easily to it.  The illustrations were very colorful and offer a clear visual of the story. The sparkle on the rainbow fish really added a good cue to understand the difference between it and the other fish.  I had never read it to my kids so this was a new book to me.  I think young children would be attracted to it because of the pictures and then be able to learn a lesson as well. 

Reviews
d. Ages 1-3. This board book presents a bare bones version of the original picture boo story: the vain, lonely Rainbow Fish relinquishes his pride and gives away almost all his special, shiny scales to gain friends. About half the original watercolor paintings appear here, reduced in size and cropped to fit the more compact format. Children too young to sit through the original story will enjoy this version, complete with those irresistible, iridescent fish scales.
Phelan, Carolyn. (1996)."The Rainbow Fish Board Book." Booklist 15 Mar. 1996: 1269. Literature Resource Center. Web. 15 Sept. 2013.

Uses
e. This book would be great for storytime in lower elementary. 







The Giving Tree
Summary
a.  Follows a boy to manhood and a tree that he visits frequently.  The tree gives everything it has to keep the man happy until there is nothing left to give but a stump for the old man to sit on. 

Bibliographic Citation
b. Silverstein, S. (1992). The giving tree. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. (Original work published 1964).

Impressions
c.  I thought it was a little bit of a sappy story but I think there are some good lessons in it.  Never read this to my kids as well but if I ever read it myself, I didn't remember it.  I enjoy Silverstein poetry so I wanted to see what this is. I found myself wishing the tree would just say no but that is not the message.  I guess there is a moral to the story and there are a couple of things that could lead to good discussion. Very typical Silverstein illustrations, black and white and simple. 

Review
 Horn Book (Fall 2003)
“This book about a boy and a generous tree, who gives him all she has, has long been cherished as a tale of unconditional, selfless love, and likewise condemned as a story of complete codependency. Its controversial themes now live on in a new format, with the same short text per page and evocative line drawings now made larger for easier sharing with a group.”
Horn Book. (Fall 2003). The Giving Tree Full-Text Reviews. Retrieved from http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=4553b1df4ca0aae30f7f9e8c59614c07

This popular classic of modern children's literature was first published in 1963 and has been embraced both by children and adults. It has just been released with a CD narration of the story by Shel Silverstein. This parable teaches lessons on love and acceptance, is simply told. It is illustrated with black and white line drawings and a straightforward text describing how a little boy comes to visit the "giving tree" every day. The tree gives the boy everything from its apples to a place to swing and slide. As the boy grows up, he demands more and more from the tree until finally the tree seems to have nothing left to give. At the end, the boy is an old man and returns to the tree and finds that the tree provides him with one more thing.

The CD operates well, but the recording is not perfectly clear as Mr. Silverstein is close to the microphone at times. But children will love hearing his tender and soulful voice and the melodious harmonica background music. The recording is close to six minutes long and fits into a pocket inside the back cover.

The book's theme of love and the cycle of life will resonate with adults and will provide many discussion points when shared with children.

Highly Recommended.

Douglas, Lorraine. The Giving Tree CM: Canadian Review of Materials; 6/18/2004, Vol. 10 Issue 21, pN.PAG, 0p Retrieved Literature Resource Center. Web. 15 Sept. 2013.


Uses
e.  This book can be used in a poetry book talk.