Bud, Not Buddy (11)

Book cover.

Curtis, C.P. (1999). Bud, not Buddy. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf.

Imagine all you have fitting into a single suitcase held together by a piece of twine. That all you have is a blanket, some rocks, a few old paper flyers, and not much else. That you pack it all up to go on a Great Depression era journey to find out who you are. And imagine you're only 10 when you do it.

Bud, Not Buddy tells the title character's journey from orphan to sojourner to determine who his father is. Since his father had never been in his life, Bud was left alone at the age of 6 after his mother died unexpectedly. Unsatisfied with life as an orphan and a mistreated foster child, Bud embarks to find out more about his father, all the while adding humor to the story with his ongoing insights on life as told through his guidebook Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar out of Yourself. The rules he lists demonstrate the life journey he's endured as well as the insights he's had into his surroundings, as seen in "Rules and Things #16: If a Grown-up Ever Starts a Sentence by Saying "Haven't You Heard," Get Ready, 'Cause What's About to Come Out of Their Mouth is Gonna Drop You Headfirst into a Boiling Tragedy." 

Grab a copy of the Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award winning Bud, Not Buddy and see what other guidelines he has to make your own life funner*.

*Please note that it is supposed to say funner, as used by Bud in the book! :) 

Amiri & Odette: A Love Story (9)

Myers, W.D. (2009). Amiri and odette: a love story. New York: Scholastic Press. 

Book cover.

In the multicultural poetic retelling of the ballet Swan Lake, Amiri and Odette: A Love Story, Walter Dean Myers makes use of a variety of poetic devices to tell the story of a young couple from a housing project who fall in love and must overcome substantial obstacles. Although an engaging and powerful narrative poem, it should be used with mature audiences (approximately eighth grade and up) and would be particularly useful paired with a unit on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet due to similar content.

Like the original ballet version of Swan Lake, the plot of Amiri & Odette is divided into four acts. The brief Act I depicts one of the main characters, Amiri, talking with his mother, who pleads with him to live his life carefully, even offering to host a party so that he may find a suitable girlfriend and avoid the rough life in the projects that she has endured. Act 2 begins with Amiri playing a game of basketball with friends, where he soon notices Odette, the other main character, watching from the sidelines. They soon meet and Odette reveals that she is indebted to work for the antagonist, Big Red, whom it can be inferred is most likely a pimp (hence the need for caution regarding the story's subject matter). In Act 3, Amiri's party occurs, where he confesses his love for Odette. However, Big Red soon appears, throwing their plans askew. As the story ends in Act 4, Amiri and Big Red battle for Odette, with Amiri winning not only Odette's freedom, but their chance for love and a life together as well.

Throughout the poem, Myers incorpoates numerous sound patterns to create a sense of rhythm within his writing. He uses an abundance of differing kinds of rhyme. For instance, internal rhyme appears in the line, "In a cluttering, fluttering, flurry of wings...". End and exact rhyme surface frequently in such lines as, "Is happy chance alone gladly greeted/ And Big Red so easily defeated?" and, "Yo, Amiri! Come on! It's time to get down!/ Way past the moment to be rid of that frown!" (which also demonstrates the poem's use of colloquialisms). In addition to rhyme, Myers also uses assonance, consonance, and alliteration. For instance, consonance is demonstrated with the letter s in the lines, "Amiri, my son, I've paid my dues./ Trust me on this one, it's/ choose right or lose." Assonance is used with the letter e in the line, "To nearly stop and tender dreams to start...". Alliteration appears with the letters d and s in such lines as, "Dark clouds drift across a starless sky/ And streak the fat, doom-heavy moon." Repetition also occurs in the lines, "Ball against concrete/ Ball against steel/ Ball against hurting..." further enhancing the rhythm created by the language of the poem.

Besides the appeal of the language, the picture book's illustrations are equally enthralling. Illustrator Javaka Steptoe uses both collage and paint to depict the story. Vibrant hues are consistently used in what appear to be expressionistic illustrations, expressing the emotions felt by the characters within the story. 

Emotion is frequently expressed in the poem's expressionistic illustrations, as
shown in the sorrow of Big Red's defeat in the above painting/collage illustration.

Despite the presence of potentially controversial content, Amiri & Odette is a strong example of powerful and effectively written poetry that could draw in even the most skeptical of students.

Once a Mouse (8)

Book cover.

Brown, M. (1961). Once a mouse. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

The Caldecott Medal winning book Once a Mouse as told by Marcia Brown recalls the Indian fable of a hermit who uses magic to help a mouse defend itself against predators. The hermit helps the mouse by transforming him into the same animals against which he must defend himself, only the mouse becomes too proud and is ultimately transformed back into the lowly state of a mouse.

The doublespread picture book contains remarkable woodcut illustrations in warm colors of yellow, brown, and orange. Such a medium helps to convey the classic nature of the fable. Adding to the illustrations is the use of enjambment, or carrying one line of text to the next page, in order to create a sense of suspense (For example: "A cat came to the hut with whiskers...straight and tail held high.") as well as add to the repetitive plot of the mouse's image being continually transformed as more and more predators come his way (For instance: "...he quickly changed him into a stout cat," and "changed the cat into a big dog.").

The book contains woodcut illustrations in warm colors.

The Devil's Arithmetic (7)

Yolen, J. (1988). The devil's arithmetic. New York: Scholastic Inc. 

Book cover.

Jane Yolen's young adult fiction novel The Devil's Arithmetic chronicles the story of 12 year old Hannah Stern in a flashback plot. The novel begins in modern America at the dinner table of Hannah's relatives, where they are celebrating the Jewish custom of Seder (the dinner marking the beginning of Passover). During the dinner, Hannah is chosen to open the door to welcome the prophet Elijah (another Jewish custom). As she opens the door, the sees not the hallway of the apartment building she and her family are in, but turns around to find unfamiliar surroundings and people she doesn't know. The majority of the remainder of the story is set during the 1940s in Europe, where Hannah, now known as Chaya, struggles between her future and the "present" past in which she finds herself. Hannah gets swept into the action of her new surroundings, being taken to the wedding of her uncle Schmuel with her aunt Gitl. She soon makes new friends on the journey to the wedding, which is in a neighboring village. However, upon arriving in the village, Hannah and the group of wedding guests are taken captive in Nazi trucks, and ultimately arrive at a concentration camp. Although no specific setting is identified, the integral setting of 1940s Nazi occupied Europe is easily distinguished. Hannah then strives to survive in the concentration camp as more and more of her new friends and family die. Ultimately, she realizes the importance of remembering, the key theme of not only the book, but of the holiday she and her family had been celebrating at the story's start.

Clearly, with a strong focus on Jewish culture and traditions as well as the Yiddish language, The Devil's Arithmetic makes for an eye-opening multicultural selection. Even the main character of Hannah is surprised to find that she can absorb what should be unfamiliar language and customs as part of the magic of her time-traveling experience. Because of the presentation of much Yiddish language, the book would make for an excellent presentation on teaching students to be aware of jargon and cultural influences on texts.

The Devil's Arithmetic has received numerous awards. Among numerous others, the book received the Sydney Taylor Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries, the Jewish Book Council Award, and the National Jewish Book Award for Children's Literature in 1989. The book was also made into a film version. Although the content contains some indications of the violence typical of of discussions pertaining to the Holocaust, it is a work that would be powerful for pre-teen and early teen audiences.

Always Room For One More (4)

Leodhas, S.N. (1965). Always room for one more. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 

Book cover.

The multicultural folktalke Always Room for One More by Sorche Nic Leodhas depicts a traditional Scottish folk song that has been orally handed down. Because of its representation of the language of the culture, much of it can be tricky to understand; however, thankfully, a glossary is included in the back of the book to define such terms as bairns (children of middle age range), blether (foolish talk), and och ("Oh.").   


The 1966 Caldecott Medal winning picture book makes use of primitive/folk pencil line illustrations that are well suited to the story's simple conflict, which is to find enough room for the ever-growing number of people who come by the home of the protagonist, Lachie MacLachlan and his wife and ten children. Perhaps reflecting the hospitality of Scottish culture, the MacLachlans at last solve the problem of more and more people stopping in by building a bigger house, insuring that there is indeed "always room for one more."

As previously mentioned, much of the language of the story can be somewhat confusing for those unfamiliar with the Scottish culture and language. However, this makes it a book very well suited to teach culture, jargon, and discerning word meanings based on context clues. It could even be easily used with a high school audience for the same topics, and provide a great opportunity for variety in instructional strategies for older audiences.

Olivia Goes to Venice (3)

Falconer, I. (2010). Olivia goes to venice. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

I've seen the Olivia series of books on store shelves countless times, but never had a chance to read any of them. However, I am very grateful that I did! The content of the story Olivia Goes to Venice, written and illustrated by Ian Falconer, was so humorous (even to an adult reader) that on the first read-through, I was barely able to absorb the wonderful mixed-media illustrations, which incorporated color photographs with pencil and ink cartoon drawings, typically in white, black, and red. 

An excellent depiction of the mixed media illustrations used within the book.

The plot of the story centered around a family vacation to the Italian city of Venice, where Olivia, a young female pig, and her family spent time soaking up the local sites, tastes, and overall culture. Because of the setting, the story presented a great deal of specialized vocabulary, such as gelato, gondola, gondolier, prego, and basilica. Because of the use of such terms as well as the inclusion of local landmarks, the book would be a remarkable addition to a study of European cultures.

Book cover.

Though the story was a picture book featuring animals as the characters and the major conflict seemed to be attaining a constant supply of gelato (or perhaps not destroying any of Venice's remarkable landmarks), it could no doubt be enjoyed by a wide audience. The humor of the story was irresistible and often supported by the illustrations, both of which would captivate any age group. 

The original Olivia.

Although this book in particular hasn't been accredited with any majors awards, its predecessor, Olivia, was a Caldecott Honor Book in 2001. Such an acknowledgement, not to mention the pure enjoyment I was given from reading the book, encourages me to read the other books in the series...and to hope they are equally entertaining.  

The Always Prayer Shawl (2)

Book cover. 

Oberman, S. (1994). The always prayer shawl. Honesdale: Boyds Mills Press.

The Always Prayer Shawl by Sheldon Oberman presents an immediate focus on things that change versus things that remain the same. The story focuses on the main character, Adam, a boy who is born and raised in Russia, but, because of the conflict of war and famine, must immigrate with his family to the United States. Prior to leaving Russia, Adam spends time talking with and learning from his grandfather, who teaches him that circumstances may change, but some things--such as what the prayer shawl he gives Adam represents, or the fact that Adam will always be Adam--never change. The events of the plot thus make the story one that is realistic fiction and to some degree historical fiction (some events occur in the past, while some are closer to present time).

The illustrations transition from black and white
to color to mark Adam's transition from childhood to adulthood.

The illustrations of the picture book are significant to the story line. For approximately the first half of the book, that presenting Adam's childhood, the book has only black and white illustrations. However, when the story transitions to Adam's adult life, the illustrations become color. All of the artwork is realistic, detailed, and completed in the medium of paint.

The story is strongly focused on Jewish culture and traditions, including that of family, heritage, and prayer. Thus, with a focus on change, it is easy to detect a theme of conditions changing, but faith remaining constant. Even though readers of different faiths may read the book, they could easily relate to the contrasts it draws between what Adam experiences as a child and what his grandson experiences ("I got eggs from a chicken, not from a store. I chopped wood for heat. I did not turn a dial."), a conversation that occurs between generations of all cultural and religious backgrounds.

The story proved easy to read, with some patterned, repetitive sentence structures that were easily understandable and provided rhythm. The author also used repetition throughout the book, in such lines as, "So he sewed on a new one," and, "Some things change. Some things don't." 

Despite cultural differences, I found the story very relatable and relevant. It has no doubt been widely well-received, as indicated by the abundance of awards it has received, including the Sydney Taylor Book Award and the National Jewish Book Award. It was also featured on the ALA Booklist's Best Books Of The Year list and as a Reading Rainbow Book.