The Cats in Krasinski Square

Hesse, Karen. The cats in Krasinski Square. Illustrated by Wendy Watson. New York: Scholastic Press, 2004. ISBN: 978-0439435406.

Author Website: None

Illustrator Website: http://www.wendy-watson.com/

Awards: Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2005. California Young Readers Medal, Picture Books for Older Readers, 2007.

Media: Watercolor Paint on Paper

Use of Rhyme: (p. 8) “I have no food to spare. / The cats don’t care.”

Use of Personification: (p. 15) “the big room dances with light.”

Use of Repetition: (p. 11, p. 19) “I wear my Polish Look, / I walk my Polish Walk.”

Special Notations: Poem

Curricular Connection: History Social-Science Content Standards for California, Grade Five, Standard 10.8, Students analyze the causes and consequences of World War II: 5. Analyze the Nazi policy of pursuing racial purity, especially against the European Jews; its transformation into the Final Solution; and the Holocaust that resulted in the murder of six million Jewish civilians.

Annotation: A young Jewish girl manages to pass as Polish and live just outside the Warsaw Ghetto walls. The girl befriends numerous stray cats that eventually play a role in a Jewish Resistance effort.

Personal Reaction: “I wear my Polish Look, / I walk my Polish Walk.” (p. 11) says the young, Jewish narrator passing for Polish in this moving story about the Warsaw Ghetto. In late 1939, the Jewish population in Warsaw was forced to live in an area just over one square mile in size, divided by a wall from the rest of Warsaw. During the next few years, the Gestapo committed atrocity after atrocity against the Jewish population in Warsaw. The Jewish Resistance fought back in spite of food shortages, overcrowding and disease in the Ghetto. Newbery Medal award-winner Hesse uses poetry and the viewpoint of a young girl who manages to pass for Polish and live just outside the Ghetto to tell this heartbreaking story. The girl has befriended dozens of stray cats and comes up with a plan to use the cats to disrupt the Gestapo’s (German police) efforts against the Jewish Resistance. The girl’s older sister, Mira, and her friends have coordinated a large-scale food smuggling scheme to help the people in the Ghetto. The girl gathers the cats and lets them loose in a train station to prevent the Gestapo from interfering with the food distribution to Ghetto residents. I was touched by the poetic quality that Hesse uses to tell a story that references a period of great horror. Watson’s watercolor illustrations in gray, red, orange and yellow hues support the beauty in the young girl’s actions and the bravery of the Jews who fought back against the Gestapo. An author note and historical note at the back of the book provide details about a real life incident involving cats in Warsaw that inspired Hesse to write this story, as well as factual background data about the Warsaw Ghetto.

Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf

Holm, Jennifer L. Middle school is worse than meatloaf: a year told through stuff. Illustrated by Elicia Castaldi. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2007. ISBN: 978-0689852817.

Author Website: http://www.jenniferholm.com/

Illustrator Website: http://www.eliciacastaldi.com/

Awards: ALA Notable Children's Books, A Junior Library Guild Selection, Charlotte Award Ballot (New York), Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Master List (Vermont), South Carolina Book Award Nominee.

Media: Digitally Rendered Collage using Photographs and Photoshop

Use of Repetition: “too expensive! Wait for Christmas!” Ginny’s Mom writes several times throughout the book in response to Ginny’s wish list for various items.

Special Notations: Personal Top Ten, 2009 Students’ List

Annotation: Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf chronicles the very bumpy seventh grade experience of Ginny Davis as she navigates dressing cool, adjusting to a stepdad, troublesome brothers, babysitting, friendships, homework and her first dance.

Personal Reaction: Twelve year old Ginny Davis’ seventh grade school experience is told though to do lists, poems, bank statements, receipts, notes, report cards, homework assignments, calendars and horoscopes and the result is a heartwarmingly realistic story that pulled me right back to my own seventh grade experience. Ginny has a juvenile delinquent brother named Henry (her favorite brother) and a little brother named Timmy who wears a cape everywhere (not her favorite brother). A drunk driver killed Ginny’s father, readers learn through one of Ginny’s essays for English class. It comes as a bit of a surprise to Ginny that gaining a stepdad takes some adjustment; Ginny was the one who set her mother up with Bob the insurance salesman, after all, and she really liked Bob. That was before Ginny and all of her friends saw Bob’s orange boxer shorts with polka dots during Ginny’s birthday slumber party. Ginny’s older brother is funny and impulsive and prone to stealing things like garden gnomes and cars. Ginny just wants to have the right sweater, be friends with Mary Catherine Kelly, take a flattering school photo, and convince her older brother to “chill out,” (p. 7). Instead Ginny gets a sweater with lipstick stains, loses the part of the sugar plum fairy in the local ballet production to Mary Catherine Kelly, a school photo with chopped off pink hair and an older brother who lands himself in military reform school. Readers can see how Ginny is faring by reviewing her report card. Ginny’s grades start out in the A-B range, except for a C in art, and plummet steadily as the school year goes on. I empathized with Ginny as she negotiated her way through meatloaf day in the school cafeteria, teen girl magazine advice columns, toilet seats left up by the male members of her household and a broken arm sustained trying to get her little brother Timmy out of a tree. I laughed out loud at notes from Ginny’s Mom, signed “the management,” Ginny’s regularly updated to do list, dwindling bank balance and Ginny’s decision to never babysit the nose-biting Tiffany Kurtz ever again, no matter how much she needed spending money. Ginny’s year takes a turn for the better eventually, thanks to the support of her Grandpa Joe, “a.k.a. the old guy in Florida,” as he signs his letters (p. 15), supportive teachers, a loving mother and an invitation to the Spring Fling from a boy in her class. Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf is a perfect read for six graders and shows the range of the gifted Jennifer L. Holm. Holm has won the Newberry for Our Only May Amelia, a Newbery honor for Penny from Heaven and delighted countless readers with her graphic novel series BabyMouse, co-authored with her brother Matthew. Elicia Castaldi’s digitally produced artwork is a visual treat and demonstrates that there’s more than one way to tell a good story.

Previously

Ahlberg, Allan. Previously. Illustrated by Bruce Ingman. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-0763653040.

Author Website: None.

Illustrator Website: http://www.bruceingman.com/

Awards: North Carolina Children's Book Award

Media: Acrylic Paint on Paper.

Use of Repetition: (throughout the book) “Previously he / she / they had . . .,” “running like mad,”

Special Notations: 2009 Students’ List

Annotation: A reverse recitation of well-known fairytales begins with Goldilocks “running like mad” (p. 4) through the woods and ends with the book’s catchword, “previously.” Jack and Jill, the Frog Prince, Cinderella and others make appearances in this endings first story.

Personal Reaction: This clever compilation of familiar stories encourages readers to think in reverse and consider events from a fresh perspective. Ahlberg ties together a litany tales about Goldilocks, Jack, Jill, a frog, a prince, Cinderella and the Gingerbread Boy in delightful, reverse storytelling narrative. Readers are left with a group of babies, cubs, tadpoles, trees, and a sense of the power of looking at things from a fresh angle. Ahlberg doesn’t deviate from the original story content, but freshens up some of the stories with comments such as this one about Jack, “Previously, he has been playing soccer with his little pals. Previously, he had come tumbling down the high hill with his argumentative little sister . . . “ (p. 11). Ahlberg does a wonderful job pulling the stories together with seamless transitions. Ingman’s painterly illustrations are bright and contribute a cheerful continuity to the different stories. I enjoyed re-visiting these stories in reverse and would use this book for a creative writing assignment for upper grade elementary school students. Ahlberg demonstrates a flair for highlighting a storyline, as well as suggests how fun it can be to re-write a classic with your own twist.

Laika

Abadzis, Nick. Laika. Colored by Hilary Sycamore. New York: First Second, 2007. ISBN: 978-1-59643-101-0

Author / Illustrator Website: http://www.nickabadzis.com/

Colorist Website: None

Awards: YALSA Great Graphic Novel for Teens, Top Ten Graphic Novel; Kirkus Best Book of the Year; Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books of the Year

Media: Pen, Ink and Colored Markers.

Use of Repetition: (p. 6, 15, etc.) “I am a man of destiny.”

Special Notations: 2009 Students’ List, Personal Top Ten, Graphic Novel

Annotation: in the 1950’s, Premier Kruschev charges a Russian space engineer to trump the Sputnik launch. This historical graphic novel offers insight into Russian politics, the race for space and tells the story of Laika, the first dog in space.

Personal Reaction: Laika would be my number one recommendation for readers who consider themselves above comic books. With Laika, writer and artist Nick Abadzis proves that graphic novels can compete with quality historical fiction. I have always sided with Gordon Korman when it comes to stories about dead dogs, but Laika pulled me in with Russian politics, realistic drawings and a history lesson on the race for space. “I am a man of destiny,” (p. 6) is Korolev’s mantra when he is escaping from a gulag (Russian prison) and when he is the head engineer on the Sputnik launch nearly two decades later. Unfortunately for Korolev, this is 1957 and Russia is determined to outpace the United States in the space race and Premier Kruschev’s satisfaction with Sputnik is fleeting. Kruschev demands that Korolev launch something spectacular within a month’s time. Hence, Laika is identified as the first “cosmodog.” The story is historically based and Abadzis provides a factual afterword, as well as a bibliography and list of websites for learning more about the Russian space program and animals.

Coraline

Russell, P. Craig and Gaiman, Neil. Coraline. Colored by Lovern Kindzierski, lettered by Todd KleinNew York: HarperCollins, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-06-082543-0.

Author / Illustrator Website: http://www.artofpcraigrussell.com/ (Russell)

Author Website: http://www.neilgaiman.com/ (Gaiman).

Awards: School Library Journal Best Book. ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice.

Media: Ink and watercolor.

Use of Onomatopoeia: (P. 12) “KREEE. . . . . . .EEAAAK.”

Use of Simile: (p. 23) “The mist hung like blindness around the house.” (p. 71) “a tiny doubt inside her, like a maggot in an apple core,”

Use of Repetition, Rhythm and Rhyme : (p. 14) “We are small, but we are many, we are many, we are small. We were here, before you rose, we will be here, when you fall.”

Special Notations: 2009 Students’ List, Graphic Novel (Fiction)

Annotation: Coraline is bored after moving to a new home and her parents never seem to have time for her. Everything changes when Coraline discovers a mysterious door and a creepy parallel world in the empty flat next door.

Personal Reaction: “Because when you’re scared but you still do it anyway, that’s brave,” (p.67) Coralline tells herself as she pushes herself to search for her missing parents. Coraline’s parents never seemed to have time to play and they were fond of rules and dinners made from recipes. Coraline longs for adventure and she certainly gets it when she discovers an empty flat (apartment) next to her own family’s flat. Coraline meets her “other mother and father,” creepy versions of her real parents who have black buttons for eyes. These other parents have all the time in the world for Coraline if only Coraline will let them sew black buttons on her eyes. Graphic novel adapter Craig uses one of these same buttons to “dot” the “i” in the title Coraline on the cover. The other parents also steal away Coraline’s real parents. Coraline meets a host of unusual characters in her new home and these same characters’ not quite right mirror images in the strange and frightening mirror world on the other side of the door. In the end, Coraline comes to realize that she is strong enough to overcome her fears and she learns to appreciate the boundaries set by her parents. This graphic novel adaptation stands on it own based on the strength of Craig’s drawings and character development. Craig judiciously uses bright colors to highlight toys, books, videos and a theater marquee in the book while the majority of the illustrations feature a gloomy, ominous color palette. On page 173, Coraline pulls out her old dolls and tells her mother that “they’re protective coloration,” as she plots to defeat her “other mother.” I am a Gaiman fan and missed some of the details in the original Coraline, but Craig succeeds in conveying the frightening mood of Gaiman’s original and maximizes certain aspects of the story, such as Coraline’s curiosity and penchant for following her dreams, which are often nightmarish.

The Composer is Dead

Snicket, Lemony and Stookey, Nathaniel. The composer is dead. Illustrated by Carson Ellis. New York: HarperCollins, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-06-123627-3.

Author Website: http://www.lemonysnicket.com/ (Snicket)

http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&composerId_2872=3094 (Stookey).

Illustrator Website: http://www.carsonellis.com/

Media: Ink and watercolor.

Use of Simile: (p. 14) “making you act like birds.”

Use of Alliteration: (p. 22) “battered the band, agitated the audience, rattled the roof.”

Use of Repetition: (p. 6) “I will find them if they are lurking,” is repeated four times. (pages 11, 13, 16, 21) “AHA! The Inspector cried.” (p. 26) “Beethoven—dead! Bach—dead! Mozart—dead! Haydn—dead!”

Use of Personification: (p. 9) “second violins, who are more fun at parties.” (p. 11) “Don’t be ridiculous! The violins said.” (p. 12) “Everyone forgets about us,” said the violas bitterly.”

Special Notations: 2009 Students’ List, Personal Top Ten

Annotation: An amusing and theatrical police inspector attempts to solve the mystery of a deceased composer. Snicket introduces readers to instruments in an orchestra and includes a CD of an original composition by Snookey played by the San Francisco Orchestra.

Personal Reaction: The Composer is Dead is a special book from cover to cover; the front cover is illustrated as a theater marquee and the back cover is the stage door. Once I opened the book and stepped into the theater, I found a CD of music composed by Stookey and performed by the San Francisco symphony. Lemony Snicket added to the entertainment with a humorous mystery, reminiscent of the Pink Panther. Snicket’s trademark humor and writing style will be welcomed by The Series of Unfortunate Events fans; Snicket even offers a definition of the term, “composer.” The narrator is a police inspector with a murder to solve. Snicket injects plenty of humor into the inspector’s dialogue: “very handsome and intelligent, not unlike myself,” comments the inspector (p.8). Readers are treated to an introduction to the different parts of an orchestra as the inspector accuses each of killing the composer. The inspector repeatedly shouts, “AHA!” and whirls around in anticipation only to find that the violins, brass, violas, strings, and others have valid alibis. Ellis’ artwork plays well with Snicket’s text as she uses ink lines to convey swirling motion around her watercolor drawings of the inspector and his accusatory finger (p.13). This book would make a fantastic read aloud for a music teacher of first time orchestra members.

For Liberty: The Story of the Boston Massacre

Decker, Timothy. For Liberty: The Story of the Boston Massacre.

Asheville, North Carolina: Front Street Press, 2009. ISBN: 9781590786086.

Author/Illustrator Website: www.timothydecker.com

Media: pen and ink

Awards and Honors: 2009 Cybil Nominated title for Non Fiction (MG/YA)

Use of Onomatopoeia:

"Bells pealed throughout the city."

"They could hear the growing din as the talked."

"The throng of colonists grew as did the roar of their cries."

"The bells continued to ring as if signaling the new tragedy."

Use of Sophisticated Language:

"Quarter no fiendish soldiers in your homes. Welcome no ill bred thieves to your hearth. Protect your liberties in this doleful and dark time."

"...soldiers quartered in a populous town, will always occasion two mobs where they prevent one. They are wretched conservators of the peace."

Use of Rhythm/Repetition:

"The mob swelled.

The reasonable men went home.

The bellicose remained."

"Surely the mob would not assault a trained soldier.

Surely his men would not fire for fear of shooting their officer.

Certainly a show of force would dissolve the anger."

Curricular Connection: 5th Grade History/ Social Studies, California State Board of Education Standards, 5.5: Students explain the causes of the American Revolution: 1. Understand how political, religious, and economic ideas and interests brought about the Revolution (e.g., resistance to imperial policy, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, taxes on tea, Coercive Acts).

Annotation: A stark, graphic novel style account of the Boston Massacre, one most significant events in the lead up to the Revolutionary War.

Personal Reaction: The Boston Massacre was a serious event with sweeping repercussions for the city of Boston, the colonies and England. Decker honors the gravity of this confusing evening that made the history books by keeping his graphic novel style drawings simple and spare. Readers come to understand that this massacre actually began after a great deal of pent up emotion and anger over taxes on the colonists side and colonist abuse of the British soldiers on the British side. Students gain insight into the mindset of young Private White who cries “fire,” in a moment of stress and aggravation. The consequences of this moment are a rebellion, the death of five men and a trial watched by all. This book offers and excellent opportunity to teach students about the American legal system. None other than John Adams defends the British soldiers responsible for firing on an angry mob of colonists, not because he sided with the British, but because he believed in the right to a fair trial and counsel. For Liberty is a nice, contemporary styled book to introduce the study of the American Revolution. It also works nicely as a supplemental source for a biography study of John Adams.

Boxes for Katje

Fleming, Candace. Boxes for Katje. Illustrated by Stacey Dressen-McQueen. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. ISBN: 0-374-30922-1

Author Website: http://www.candacefleming.com/

Illustrator Website: None

Media: Colored Pencil, Oil Pastel and Acrylic Paint.

Use of Rhyme: (p. 15) “sweet beat.”

Use of Metaphor: (p. 16) “They have five children who are skin and bone.”

Use of Alliteration: (p. 24) “tulip bulbs buried beneath the snow.”

Use of Repetition: (multiple pages) “There is plenty to share,” Katje says after every package delivery.

Special Notations: 2009 Students’ List.

Detailed Artwork Discussion: Stacey Dressen-McQueen used a combination of colored pencils and oil pastel and acrylic paints to illustrate Boxes for Katje. Every page of the story features multiple patterns reminiscent of fabrics and wallpapers popular during the 1930’s and 9140’s in Holland. The illustrations contain a great deal of movement and drawings of people are frequently superimposed on backgrounds of gardens, snow, cobblestone and grass. The drawings are rich in details; heads of lettuce growing in a garden are painted with depth and dimension, emphasizing the layers of leaves (p. 13). People “move” with exaggerated motions, adding even more movement to the drawings. When the postman delivers a box, his leg is drawn lifting way up in the air, giving him a jaunty gait, obvious from just one drawing (p. 18). Katje’s family and friends’ joy upon opening the boxes from America is made obvious by the scattered placement of the objects in the illustrations. By looking at Dressen-McQueen’s haphazard location of teddy bears, chocolate bars, socks and coats, the reader senses that Katje might have joyfully flung each object out of the box as she opened it. Vibrant coloring paints a picture of the village of Olst that is endearing and optimistic. Dressen-McQueen’s style of folk art using mixed media is lively and more than competently conveys the emotions of Fleming’s characters in this story.

Curricular Connection: English-Language Arts/Writing, History/Social Science, Grade 5, Students connect social studies through literature analysis.

Annotation: An aid organization in the United States connects a girl from Indiana with a young girl in Holland after World War II. Care packages from Rosie to Katje provide nourishment, clothing and joy for Katje and her friends and family.

Personal Reaction: Boxes for Katje is a deceptively simple picture book loaded with meaning and lessons about caring and helping. The story is based on the similar real life experience of author Fleming’s mother just after World War II. Fleming’s spin on the story features a young Indiana girl named Rosie who makes a connection with a young girl named Katje in Holland via an American aid organization. Katje’s village is suffering from food and supply shortages after the war and Rosie sends Katje a care package. Katje generously shares the contents of the package with the postal carrier and her family. The girls strike up a correspondence and Rosie sends more care packages. While the text is brief, it suggests much about the devastation of war, the impact on resources, the necessary rebuilding after war and human kindness. This story would be a nice introduction for students studying the impact of World War II on the home front in the U.S. or for students working on compare and contract writing skills. The lives of Rosie and Katje are well suited for a comparison assignment. Social studies students might also examine the role of aid organizations during and after wars.

Action Jackson

Greenberg, Jan and Jordan, Sandra. Action Jackson. Illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker. Brookfield, Conn: Roaring Brook Press, 2002. ISBN: 978-0312367510

Author Website: http://mowrites4kids.drury.edu/authors/greenberg/, http://www.jangreenbergsandrajordan.com/

Illustrator Website: None

Media: Watercolor

Awards: Robert F. Silbert Honor

Use of Alliteration: (p. 4) “scent of salt,” “blackberry bushes,”

Use of Onomatopoeia: (p. 7) “flies buzz,” “sliding doors rattle,” (p. 17) “Fireworks splatter of rosy pink.”

Use of Repetition: (p. 7-8) “Not Jackson.” (p. 23) “Some angry. Some confused. Some excited. Some filled,”

Use of Rhythm: (p. 20) “Paint, paint and more paint, dripping, pouring, flinging.”

Curricular Connection: California Standards for Visual Arts, Grade Five, Standard 1.0, Artistic Perception, 1.2: Identify and describe characteristics of representational, abstract, and nonrepresentational works of art.

Detailed Artwork Discussion: Robert Andrew Parker’s watercolor illustrations are simply beautiful and are the perfect means of communicating Jackson Pollack’s artistic genius. Parker imbues his art with the emotions of Jackson at every point in the story. We see Jackson’s messy collection of ordinary paint from the hardware story, drawn with messy dabs of watercolor (p. 9) and we feel the emotion of Pollack’s creative process in the black splatters of paint when he initiates “Lavender Mist,” (p. 11). On a day when Pollack doesn’t paint, but reflects on his work in progress, Parker uses light-filled colors of aqua and sandy beige to convey Pollack’s calm mood (p. 15). Telling Pollack’s story might be daunting for another artist, but Parker’s illustrations are superb and reinforce the power of Pollack’s art and art in general.

Annotation: Action Jackson is the story of how artist Jackson Pollack created his work entitled, “Lavender Mist.” The story offers insight into Pollack’s artistic inspiration and working style.

Personal Reaction: I’m a fan of Pollack’s work and I’ve seen a movie about him and viewed many of his works in museums, but this picture book gave me a unique sense of Pollack the artist at work. Greenberg and Jordan’s decision to show Pollack as he creates a single piece of work takes the reader into Pollack’s world. The reader understands the creative process, what it is about Pollack’s style that sets him apart and how he spends his time when he’s not painting. Details make this man’s life resonant: “If a penny fell out of his pocket, he would leave it. An insect lands in the wet paint, and there it stays,” (p. 19). The story ends with a photographic reproduction of Pollack’s actual finished piece, “Lavender Mist,” (p. 23) and a two-page biography of the artist (p. 28-29).