The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus

Brandenburg, A. (1994). The gods and goddesses of Olympus. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishing

I chose the picture book The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus by Aliki Brandenburg for the traditional literature selection. This particular text meets the criteria for traditional literature because it is a retelling of the oral tradition from the ancient Greek culture and has no known original author. I also chose this book because I teach a class on classical mythology and I am always interested in seeing how the stories differ slightly from orator to orator. This book covers the traditional creation story and stories of how the deities came to be in Ancient Greek society.

The format of the book varies from the normal format of a picture book in that this one contains 48 pages instead of the typical 32. Other than that, it follows the basic design. This book has pictures on every page. The book actually appears to be more of a series of pictures with captions under each one. With this type of formatting, the pictures really enhance the story being told. The pictures are framed, which means that they have borders and are contained to specific areas, except for the opening pages which are double-spread, meaning that the two opposing pages are actually form one image. On these pages the pictures actually surround the text, which gives it the illusion of framing the text, giving it importance. There is also a map of the area of the world from where the stories originated

The illustration type would be classified as cartoon of the graphic novel style. The pictures are not realistic, thus cartoon, but they are not done in a round and robust manner. They are more precise as to the actual images they represent. The shape of the drawings is complex with details given to both the subjects and the background materials, as is evident with the picture on page 11. In this picture everything is precise and detailed, even the objects in the background. The color is rich and adds detail to the illustrations. The line use is a combination of horizon and vertical/diagonal, depending on the mood of the scene being illustrated. In the illustration of the creation story (pg. 7), the lines are horizontal, which gives the picture an overall feeling of calmness and peacefulness. But in the illustrations on page 11, the vertical and diagonal lines give the impression of movement and action, which coincides with the content of the story (Rhea running to hide her baby and the scenes of Cronus swallowing the stone). The media use for the illustrations consist of pencil drawings. The drawings were then colored using washes of gouache paint and colored pencils.

The House on Mango Street

Cisneros, S. (1984). The house on Mango Street. New York, NY: Random House, Inc..

I chose The House on Mango Street at the suggestion of the media specialist in my building for a multicultural novel. The author, Sandra Cisneros, is the daughter of a Mexican father and a Mexican-American mother who grew up in Chicago. She uses the experiences from her childhood days in her Chicago neighborhood as the inspiration and foundation for this story, which is about a young Latino girl growing up in a white neighborhood in Chicago and the trials she faces. Bebe Moore Campbell, from The New York Times Book Review, states that "Cisneros draws on her rich [Latino] heritage...and seduces with precise, spare prose, creating unforgettable characters we want to lift off the page. She is not only a gifted writer, but an absolute essential one."

The setting of this story is both integral and a back-drop. It is integral because the experiences the main character, Esperanza, tells of would not be significant if the setting was rural. When she talks about being forced into an alley by a group of boys while she waited on her cousin reveals the harshness and unforgiving nature of life on the streets of a large city. And the simple things such as walking to and from school would be entirely different if she was walking in the wide-open space of rural Kansas or Iowa. In the same essence, these are the same things that set the stage and mood of the story (back-drop).

The style of Cisneros's writing is unique. While this would be considered a chapter book, the chapters are all short. Some are extremely short, such as the chapter "Hair" which is only two paragraphs long, contains 10 sentences, and is made up of approximately 140 words. Along with this is the actual sentence structure. Most are short and simple, such as in the passage from page 6: "Everybody in our family has different hair. My Papa's hair is short like a broom, all up in the air. And me, my hair is lazy. It never obeys barrettes or bands. Carlos' hair is thick and straight. He does not need to comb it. Nenny's hair is slippery--." She also write in a manner that mimics the actual dialogue of a small girl with her word choice. The entire story is told from a first-person perspective through the eyes and mind of Esperanza.

Cisneros also makes use of imagery that she creates with her word choice, similes, and sensory details. One such instance occurs when Esperanza is describing her mother's hair. She states, "But my mother's hair, my mother's hair, like little rosettes, like candy circles all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pincurls all day, sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you, holding you and you feel safe, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it, is the smell when she makes room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her skin, and you sleep near her, the rain outside falling and Papa snoring."

All of these details would make this a suitable book for younger children as a teacher read book. The simple structures and the short chapters would lend themselves to a shorter attention span. At the same time, this would be appropriate as an independent reading book for middle school aged students. The text contains enough abstract ideas to keep them interested and actively reading, such as in the chapter "Red Clowns" when she talks about being touched by boys inappropriately. This book is an easy read and offers many opportunities for leassons about literature and life.

The Giver

Lowery, L. (1993). The Giver. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company

This young adult book by Lois Lowery is a multiple-award winning novel. The Giver has received the John Newberry Medal and the Regina Medal, as well as being named a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, an ALA Notable Book for Children, a Booklist Editor's Choice, and a School's Library Journal Best Book of the Year. It is no wonder that this is a favorite of teachers and students alike.

This book falls in the category of a fantasy chapter book. The story's setting is an unknown time in the future in a community that has no name. The only reference we are given to a name of any place is when conversation about Release arises. This is when we hear about a place called Elsewhere. While the setting may be futuristic, the objects and activities in the story are recognizable to readers today, which adds to the believability of the story. The people in the story use bicycles as modes of transportation, which given the current debates and issues with global warming is acceptable and even understandable. Supplies are still delivered to the community via trucks and an airplane is even seen flying over the community. All of these add to the reality the author strives to provide.

The main character, Jonas, would be classified as being a round character because the reader observes several different aspect to his personality. We see him as a "model" son and brother when he interacts with his parents and sister. He participates in the family gatherings such as the Telling of Feelings and the Sharing of Dreams. We also see the side of him being a friend and companion when he talks and plays with Asher, his best friend. He is very conscious of Asher's feelings and tries not to say things to upset him. Possibly the most important side of his character is when we see Jonas questioning things that are universally accepted by the citizens in the community. We also see him as a serious and responsible person when he endures the assignment of Receiver.

Jonas is also dynamic in that we see him grow and change as an individual through the course of the story. As he gets older he begins questioning the way some of the things in the community are done. One of these is the Ceremony of Release. This happens when Jonas' father talks about the possibility of having to release a child named Gabriel. Once Jonas discovers what releasing a person actually means, he becomes willing to go against the system. The changes that take place within Jonas make this a true coming-of-age story that will appeal to both boys ond girls. This story can be used at many different age levels, depending on the concepts and ideas the teacher wishes to emphasize.

Where the Wild Things Are

Sendak, M. (1963). Where the wild things are. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers

In Where the Wild Things Are, a Caldecott Medal Award recipient, Max is sent to bed before he has the chance to eat dinner. While in his room, his imagination takes him on a trip through a land where Max is proclaimed the king of all things. He engages with all of the wild things in this amazing land until he grows tired and decides to travel back because he is missing his mom. The journey both to and from this enchanted land takes Max a very long time and he must travel by boat, but when he makes it back his room his mom has his food waiting for him.

The book is illustrated using the artistic style utilizing cartoon shaped drawings. The composition is primarily line drawing with color added to fill in the shapes. The initial lines are done with pen and ink, and the colors are soft and relaxing. All of the illustrations compliment the story and add significant details that help to enrich the story. The majority of the illustrations are done in a double-spread fashion and encompass both pages. This style promotes a feeling of importance and grandeur, as well as depicting wide-open spaces. There are also several pictures that spill over from one page to the next. This style has a tendency to keep the reader's eyes moving through the book.

I have seen the movie rendition of this story and personally, I do not care for it. The movie seemed to change the overall mood and feeling of the book. The book conveys a sense of innocence and love for family. This gets lost in the film. The film, in my opinion, lost this and did not seem to be geared for the same audience for which the book is.

Ben's Trumpet

Isadora, R. (1979). Ben's trumpet. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc..

Ben's Trumpet, a Caldecotte Honor Medal winner, is a story about a little boy that dreams of being a trumpet player in a jazz band. He can hear musicians playing from his front steps and listens to them whenever he gets the chance. He also stops by the club where the musicians play and watches them practice while he envisions himself playing. He pretends to play everywhere he goes until some kids see him and make fun of him for playing a trumpet when he doesn't have a trumpet. This has an adverse effect on Ben, but it is not the end of his dream. This story has both an internal (Ben & his desire to play music) and an external (Ben's desire to play & not having a trumpet) conflict, and Ben is a round character.

The illustration technique used in this book is primarily realistic with a few scenes of surreal drawings mixed in. The scenes of some of the musicians are very detailed and contain a lot of definition while others border on being abstract and surreal. The medium appears to be drawings done with pen and ink. The entire book is done in black and white, and several of the scenes are simple silhouettes with line outlines and white space for the remainder of the page.  The lack of color adds to the mood of the story, creating a sense of darkness and depression.

The Hello, Goodbye Window

Juster, N. (2005). The hello, goodbye window. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc..

I chose the picture book The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster because of the colorful cover. The bright yellow background with the oranges, reds, and greens really caught my attention. The cover artwork is done in an Impressionist style, and this continues throughout the book, including illustrations on the dedication page and the title page. The medium used by the illustrator appears to be water colors from the obvious brush strokes and from the parallel outer lines.

The story focuses on the narrator's grandparent's house, more specifically on the kitchen window. After reading the story it is easy to see how the title relates to the story. The story itself is simple and doesn't contain an actual conflict. It is more of a descriptive type of story, explaining why the window is important to the narrator, who remains nameless throughout the story. The narrator is a round character and reveals various aspects of her personality.

The composition of the artwork contains a lot of white space. This helps to provide definition to the objects and characters portrayed. This use of white space also adds the impression of brightness and light. While the white space offers some definition to particular items, it also demonstrates a lack of detail, which produces a vagueness that doesn't keep the reader focused on one particular thing too long. It adds a fluidity to the story.

The color choice also affects the story. For the most part, the illustrator uses a collection of bright, warm colors to convey a light and carefree mood. This choice of colors is used for the daytime and outdoor scenes, while darker, cooler colors are used for the nighttime scene in the center of the book. As soon as the story enters daytime again, the bright, warm colors return. The mood of the story is controlled by color choice.

The use of line is predominately vertical, conveying action and excitement. This also keeps the story moving forward effortlessly. In scenes where things settle and become quiet, such as in the napping scene and the nighttime scene, he utilizes horizontal lines to convey these feelings. He also incorporates swirls and curves effectively throughout the story. Overall, this Caldecott Medal winner is an easy read that should have no problem keeping the interest of the younger child.

Picture book reflection / No, David

Shannon, D. (1998). No, David!. New York, NY: The Blue Sky Press.

I chose this book because it was written by a Caldecott Honor Award author, David Shannon. I was also drawn in by the illustration on the cover, which is a picture of an obviously mischievous little boy getting ready to destroy a fish bowl. The fish in the bowl have an expression that reveals they are aware of what is happening and that this is normal behavior for the boy, David. In the introduction, the author reveals that this was actually written when he was very young. In fact, he was so young that the only words he knew how to spell were "no" and "David", which are the main vocabulary of the entire book.

The content of the book is mainly illustrations. This book meets the criteria of being a picture book in that it has pictures on every page, and the pictures help tell the story. The pages and text are large enough to be seen from a distance when shown. These are a series of pictures showing David doing a variety of things that are "normal" for a little boy. The illustrations are captioned with the words no and David in some form. There are a few pages that show David being punished for the things he did after being told not to do them. The message of this book is that although David does many things that his mother does not approve of, he isn't actually punished except when he continues to do things after his mother has to him not to. The ending reveals that although he does many things his mother does not approve of, his mother still loves him and accepts him for who he is. The overall theme could be interpreted as unconditional love.

As a character, David could be considered as a round character in that there are many different aspect of his character that are revealed through his various "adventures" he encounters. But on the other hand, he could also be considered flat because he is always doing things of which his mother disapproves. It would depend on the point the teacher wanted to make. David's mother would be considered round because even though she is always yelling at David, in the end she shows another side, a loving mother that accepts her son as he really is.

Picture book reflection / When Sophie Gets Angry...

Bang, M. (1999). When Sophie gets angry - really, really, angry.... New York, NY: Scholastic Inc..

This picture book, a Caldecott Honor Book and a Charlotte Zolotow Award recipient, is theme-based and can be used to teach specific ideas or lessons to the targeted audience. This book meets the criteria of being a picture book in that it has pictures on every page, and the pictures help tell the story. The pages and text are large enough to be seen from a distance when shown. The theme of this book is dealing with anger in a manner that does not injure other people. The story provides an opportunity for young children the chance to talk about the way in which they express feelings. I chose this book because the colorful illustrations in the book caught my attention. These were done in a combination of colors that were inviting yet showed the emotion being experienced by the character, Sophie. As the feelings changed, so did the color scheme. I feel this book would appeal to a younger audience since the word-to-page/picture ratio is low.

The events in the story are sequential and reveal both internal and external conflicts. The initial external conflict is person-against-person betwenn the main character and her sister. Sophie is made to allow her sister to take possession of a toy that Sophie does not want to give up. This perpetuates into a person-against-self conflict that the character must overcome, Sophie gets very angry. As a result of this anger, Sophie runs off to be by herself. She keeps running until she is far from home and all alone. This is when the changes take place in the character.

The illustrations were also inviting to young children. They were done in a simplistic manner that looks as if they could have been generated by a child. Items were drawn with heavy outlines and colored with minimal shading and basic colors. The plot line is also simplistic and easy for children to follow. The conflict is universal so all children will able to relate to it and will benefit from the message. Other than the sister in the beginning of the story, Sophie is the only character involved in the story. Her character is developed as the story progresses and is revealed through her actions and reactions. This is a great book for teaching children the various ways to deal with unpleasant feelings.

A little about me...

I am currently teaching English I, Honors English I, and Plays of Shakespeare/Classical Mythology at Ohio County High School in Hartford, Kentucky. I have been teaching as part of the Freshman Academy since its creation 8 years ago. In the past, I taught 7th grade for 1 year (1 was enough - God bless you middle school teachers) and also 10th grade and 12th grade English. I agreed to try 9th grade when the Academy was formed and I have not regretted it. I enjoy seeing the kids grow and develop this first year in high school. I do have the one elective class that helps me keep in touch with the upper level students. I also serve as the English Department chair and am a teacher representative on the SBDM council.

I am married and have two kids at home, Noah and Madi. Noah is currently a Sophomore. We just received notification yesterday that he has been accepted into the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at Western Kentucky University for next fall as part of the Class of 2015. He will finish high school there while earning up to 60 hours of college credit. Madi is in 6th grade. She will be making the move to middle school next fall. She is heavy into soccer and basketball. She plays both year-round, so we do alot of traveling around the area and the state. We have two dogs of our own; Ozzy is a 180 pound Old English Mastiff and Jasper is a 23 pound black Pug. We also foster dogs for the local animal shelter and PetFinder.

In my spare time....who am I kidding, I don't have spare time. But I try to do some woodworking when I can free up some time. I plan on doing a lot more once I am finished with this degree. I keep saying that I will be finished with school when I complete the Reading and Writing Specialist program, but I said the same thing when I was getting my first Masters. I just enjoy learning. It keeps my mind open and alert. Plus it shows my students that I value education and that learning is a life-long process.