Fiction/ Picture Book/ Stories in Rhyme-Poetry

Title: Madeline’s Rescue

Author: Ludwig Bemelmans


About the Author: Ludwig Bemelmans was a painter, illustrator, and writer for both children and adults. The Madeline books are among the most honored children's books of all time. Mr. Bemelmans died in 1962 after completing his sixth story about Madeline, Madeline's Christmas.

Age Level: 3-8

Synopsis: When Madeline falls into the river and nearly drowns, a courageous dog comes to her rescue. She names the dog Genevieve and it is now Madeline’s pet that all of the other girls envy. Genevieve goes everywhere with Madeline. Miss Clavel finds it a problem that all twelve girls are fighting over one dog.

Pre-Reading Activities: Doing good deeds can be very rewarding. Discuss with the class how important it is to help others. Discuss the importance of going out of your way to make a difference in someone’s life. Have you ever had someone do something nice for you? Have you ever done something nice for someone else? Have you helped someone in need?

Post-Reading Activities: What was your favorite part of the story? Did you think a dog would have been the one to rescue Madeline from the river? If you could give Miss Clavel advice, how would you solve the problem that there is only one dog for twelve girls? Did you think Genevieve would have puppies? After the reading, students will write a story in their journal describing a time when they helped someone in need.

My Reflection: I love all of the Madeline stories! I used to read them all when I was little! I like this story because it comical yet it has a serious side to it also. It shows that both characters (Madeline and Genevieve) are heroic. This book shows that it can be very rewarding to lend a helping hand to someone else. It shoes that doing good deeds and making a difference in someone’s life is something that we should do as much as possible in our own lives.

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Poetry

Title: The Snowy Day

Author: Ezra Jack Keats




About the Author: Admired as much for his inventive, colorful illustrations as his simple, earnest stories, Ezra Jack Keats literally changed the face of children s literature by introducing African-American characters into a mostly white genre. His gentle, big-hearted books have been loved by generations of children of all races.

Age Level: preschool-8

Synopsis: This is a story about a little boy named Peter who goes outside to play on a snowy day. He takes a journey and explores many things throughout the day. Before he comes inside, he makes a snowball and puts it in his pocket. When he goes to bed he dreams that the snow
is gone but he wakes up to another snowy day!

Pre-Reading Activities: The excitement of the first snowfall of the year. What do you like to do when you play in the snow? Have you ever built a snowman? What materials do you use when you build a snowman? Discuss with the class why it snows, how it snows, and why it’s cold. Allow and encourage students to ask questions.

Post-Reading Activities: What was your favorite part of the story? What kind of things did Peter do on the snowy day? What did Peter put into his pocket before he goes back inside? After the reading students will receive three pieces of paper with three different sized circles on them. They will cut the circles out and glue them one on top of the other. The two bigger circles (the body of the snowman) will have lines in the middle of them. The students will then write a description about what they enjoy doing on a snowy day. When they are finished writing, they may decorate their snowman, and put a face on the smallest top circle. The snowmen will be handed in and hung up on the wall.

My Reflection: This is such a wonderful book! It is a classic! The little boy in the story is able to experience something new for himself. Any reader of all ages can relate to this book. This book also delves into minorities and race and could have a much deeper meaning when critically analyzed. The illustrations are wonderful and the book is a simple story of a boy exploring a snowy day.

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Literature Book Club #3- Poetry

Title: Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems)

Author: Linda Sue Park (illustrated by Istvan Banyai)




About the Author: Park is the author of a Newbery Medal (Single Shard). She lives in Rochester, NY. She is daughter of Korean immigrants. Park has been writing poems and stories since she was four years old, and her favorite thing to do as a child was read. When she was nine years old she published a poem in a magazine and was paid one dollar for it. She continued to write poems during elementary and high school. She went to Stanford University and obtained a degree in English. She met a man and moved to Dublin. Park started a family there and then moved back to the U.S. She taught ESL to college students in Dublin and continued when she moved to the U.S. She finally realized that she wanted to write books for children.

Age Level: 5-8

Synopsis: A sijo, a traditional Korean verse form, has a fixed number of stressed syllables and a humorous or ironic twist at the end. Like haiku, sijo are brief and accessible, and the witty last line winds up each poem with a surprise. The verses in this book illuminate funny, unexpected, amazing aspects of the everyday—of breakfast, thunder and lightning, houseplants, tennis, freshly laundered socks. Carefully crafted and deceptively simple, Linda Sue Park's sijo are a pleasure to read and an irresistible invitation to experiment with an unfamiliar poetic form. Istvan Banyai's irrepressibly giddy and sophisticated illustrations add a one-of-a-kind luster to a book that is truly a gem.

Theme(s): poetry, sijo

How it can be used in the elementary classroom: This would be a great book to do a poetry unit with. The teacher can teach students how to create sijo poems. This book is full of fun and interesting examples of Sijo poetry, but there is also an explanation of the sijo poem and tips for writing your own. Tap Dancing on the Roof can be read as a class and then the students can experiment writing their own sijo poems. The whole class could write and illustrate their poems and compile a book and each student could have a copy. There could be a unit that combines sijo and haiku poetry that could involve reading examples of the poetry and creating their own.

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Literature Book Club #3- Poetry

Title: Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems

Author: John Grandits



About the Author: Grandits lives in Red Bank, New Jersey. He is an award winning book and magazine designer. He is a poet, typographer, art director, designer, & writer. He’s written cartoons, articles, humor pieces, fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. He has also art directed adult trade and children’s textbooks. For a short time he was owner and publisher of Film and Video News magazine. He has written and designed books, book jackets & covers, brochures, advertisements, periodicals, record jackets, corporate logos (although he hated doing it), posters and, of course, poems.

Age Level: Young Adult

Synopsis: A 15-year-old girl named Jessie voices typical—and not so typical—teenage concerns in this unique, hilarious collection of poems. Her musings about trying out new makeup and hairstyles, playing volleyball and cello, and dealing with her annoying younger brother are never boring or predictable. Who else do you know who designs her own clothes and writes poetry to her cat? Jessie’s a girl with strong opinions, and she isn’t shy about sharing them. Her funny, sarcastic take on high school life is revealed through concrete poetry: words, ideas, type, and design that combine to make pictures and patterns. The poems are inventive, irreverent, irresistible, and full of surprises—just like Jessie—and the playful layout and ingenious graphics extend the wry humor.

Theme(s): poetry, shape poems, concrete poems, visual poetry

How it can be used in the elementary classroom: This would be a great book for a poetry unit. The teacher can teach students how to create concrete poems. Concrete poems are words, ideas, type, and design that combine to make pictures and patterns. It could really allow your students to be artistic and creative in writing their poems. Blue Lipstick can be read as a class and then the students can experiment writing their own concrete poems. The whole class could write and illustrate their poems and compile a book and each student could have a copy.

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