Paul Bunyan

Paul Bunyan
Retold by: Bill Balcziak
Illustrated by: Patrick Girouard
Traditional/Folk Literature

This book retells the life of Paul Bunyan and how his stories began. The beginning starts out from the time when several storks carried a very big baby to the Bunyan family. Much larger than everyone else in the village, Paul Bunyan rolled out of his crib on night and into the water causing a flood. The angry villagers instructed the Bunyans that they must leave to raise their child elsewhere. After moving during a great snow, Paul heard a noise outside and found an enormous blue ox buried in the snow. He named the ox "Babe" and took him on all of his adventures. When he turned 18 his parents sent him West to find work in the lumber camps. Paul Bunyan and Babe headed to Michigan in search of gold where Babe dug five huge wholes, which we now call The Great Lakes. They finally settled in Minnesota where they started the biggest lumber camp in the world and where people had to be at least 10ft. tall to work. All though Paul Bunyan is rarely seen anymore people still share stories of his many adventures with Babe. The book ends with an interesting thought; "Isn't is interesting to think of Baby slipping across some ice and skidding across Dakota territory? Now you know why the plains are completely flat and treeless! Could it be true? Or is it a tall tale?"

One thing I really enjoyed about this story other than the retelling of the tall tale itself was details of how it was believed to have come about. One of the last pages tells that it was believed to have originated in Canada during the 1800's in logging camps. I think this would be an interesting book to use in the classroom. You could use it to discuss differences with your students and how it is important to never treat people differently simply because they possess an odd characteristic. It would be fun to have students write an adventure that they think Paul Bunyan may have had during his life and have them to act it out in groups. You could also have your students use mixbook.com to make there own story book about Paul Bunyan similar to the one I created.

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The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac

The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac
Written by: Dawn Casey
Illustrated by: Anne Wilson
Traditional/Folk Literature

I first picked up this book because I am interested in the Chinese Zodiac, so I thought this would be an interesting idea of how they came about. The people had no calendar so they had no way to measure time. The Jade Emperor decided that something must be done so he came out with the idea to start a calendar and name each year after a different animal. His problem was that he didn't know how to decide what order the animals should go in so he decided to have a race. He decided that the winner would be the first year on the calendar. All the animals gathered, including Rat and Cat who were best friends. They made a plan to out smart the other animals by riding on Ox's back in the water. Ox agreed and it was such a smooth ride through the water that Cat fell asleep. Rat knew that since Cat was sleeping he could be well rested when they reached the shore for the run so he pushed him into the water. Rat jumped off of Ox's back when they reached the shore and ran to the finish, coming in first place. All the animals came in leaving Cat as the 13th animal to finish, so that is why he is not on the Chinese calendar and the reason why he and Rat are now enemies.

This book can be a good introduction to help students learn more about the Chinese culture. You could also have them devise their own plan of how they would name each year if they could re-make the calendar we currently use. This book can also be used as a lesson to show students that doing something mean to one of your friends can cause you to no longer have a friendship. Encourage them to think about the importance of friendship in comparison to other things like winning a race. Ask them to think about and discuss questions like: "What would you do if you were Cat?" "How could they solve this issue and stay friends?" Use this opportunity as a chance to have students understand the value of friendship and kindness.

How the Ostrich Got Its Long Neck

How the Ostrich Got Its Long Neck
Retold by: Verna Aardema
Illustrated by: Marcia Brown
Traditional/Folk Literature

This is a funny retelling of the story of how the ostrich got its long neck. In the story the ostrich starts out with a short neck, where he must sit down to catch insects on the ground, cannot reach berries that are high in the trees and has to spread his legs wide to drink water from the river. In the meantime, there is a crocodile in the river who is crying because he has a toothache. Hoping to have someone look at his tooth, he asks a Kudu and Mama Baboon to help him. They refuse and run away when the fish eagle in the sky tells them not to do it because the crocodile is dangerous. Then comes a long ostrich. By this time the crocodile is in so much pain that he tells ostrich to help him and he promises not to hurt him. Ostrich is hesitant and at first backs away, but then decides to help him. When the ostrich sticks his head inside the crocodile's mouth, the crocodile remembers how hungry he is and clamps his jaws down. Trying to get out the ostrich backs up, pulling away from the crocodile and the further he backs up the longer his neck becomes. Crocodile's toothache begins to hurt worse and he finally lets go. The ostrich notices his neck is now long and he can reach the ground and the berries in the trees much easier. He is so happy for this, but he learned not to ever trust a crocodile again.

I thought this was a very fun book and could be used in the classroom in different ways. For one idea, you could have your students act out the story and record it using a flip cam. You could also ask them to be creative and work in groups to think of their own story for how the ostrich got its long neck. After they have thought of their own versions have them work in groups to make a video of the story or have them act it out in front of the class. This can be a fun and entertaining experience for the children.

My Teacher is an Alien

My Teacher is an Alien
By: Bruce Coville
Science Fiction

This book is about a young girl named Susan who discovers her teacher is an alien. Her class becomes disappointed when they go to school one day and realize Mrs. Schartz, their teacher that they loved, has been replaced by a unreasonable man named Mr. Smith. When Mr. Smith picks up a note Susan wrote about him with her assignment, she tries everything she can to get it back. When her least resort is going to her house. She is surprised to hear weird noises and suspects Mr. Smith is in trouble. After entering the house she sees him remove his mask and is shocked to find out he is an alien. She decides to tell Peter, the science fiction lover of her class what she discovered and they decide to get evidence by going back to his house. They are frightened to find Mrs. Schartz in his attic surrounded by a force field. She communicates to them telepathically and tells them to warn the other children that the alien plans to take five students with him back to his planet on May 26th. Susan then tries desperately to unmask him by fainting in class and trying to grab his ear, but instead ends up with a bump on her head. Susan is asked to stay after class when Mr. Smith discovers she, Peter and Duncan were in his home earlier that day. They were disappointed to find out the pictures they had taken of Mrs. Schartz in the force field were only pictures of blue streak. People at the school became nervous when they head of the alien invasion and they were scared "Broxholm" may choose them as one of the kids to take back. At the music concert Susan got the idea to play her picollo because she knew how much Broxholm hated music. The whole class began to play and told him they would only stop if he removed his mask. It worked, but then Peter opened the door helping "Mr. Smith" (Broxholm) escape and they returned to space in his ship. Susan imagined Peter must be happy because he finally got to see what space was like after reading about it in his science fiction books. Mrs. Schartz was also freed.

This could be a good book to use in the classroom because it can inspire lots of creativity in the classroom. One way to use this in the classroom could be having your students write a letter to someone trying to convince them that someone they know is an alien. Also, you could have them draw pictures of the alien they have just discovered. Another way to implement this in the classroom would be having your students continue the story by writing what they think would happen next.

Call It Courage

Call It Courage
By: Armstrong Sperry
Multicultural

This book is about a boy named Mafatu, the son of Tavana Nui, who was the great chief of the Hikueru people. Mafatu feared the sea, possibly because that was were his mother's canoe was swept away when he was only three years old. While he survived, she died shortly after reaching the shore. Mafatu struggled to fit in because his people wondered how someone who was afraid of the sea could ever become a great fishermen. They were sure that "Stout Heart" (Mafatu) would never earn his place in the tribe. After the boys in the village continued to laugh and make fun of him he decided that he would have to gain courage and face the seas. With his albatross Kivi and his dog Uri, he set out to sea in his canoe. When a storm came he lost all of his weapons, food and the clothes on his back. When the canoe hit something, the boy and his dog were flung into the water where they swam to the island. While exploring the island he discovered an idol that had bones all around it and he realized he was on the Forbidden Island, where there were "eaters of men." He became thrilled when he touched the marae and got a spearhead to hunt the while bull, because he knew this act took courage Mafatu thought about how proud his father would be when he found out he had built his own shelter, cooked food from the fruits of the island, found or made his own weapons and started a fire. He was determined that when he returned home they would never again call him the "boy who was afraid." When a shark breaks open his fish trap and begins to go after his dog Uri, Mafatu has no choice but to save his companion and stabs the shark; killing it. Still brave, Mafatu was able to kill the wild boar he had his eyes on the whole time on the island. After he finished building his canoe, he was forced to dive into the deep dark waters and fight an octopus when trying to retrieve his knife. The day he was going to head back to Hikueru he was woken by the arrival of the "eaters of men." When he got on his canoe to escape they chased after him and he began to pray for Maui (the God of the Fishermen) help once more. When Kivi arrived he was finally directed back home where he arrived to a very proud father. He collapsed in his fathers arms.

Personally, I would probably not recommend this book to my students just because I didn't particularly enjoy it. I felt that at times it became boring and that exciting events would happy occasionally. If my students were to read this book there are a few ideas I have for activities in the classroom. Since the ending of this book is kind of vague you could ask your students to write a continuation of what they think will happen next. They may interpret the ending as Mafatu died in his fathers arms or they make just assume he passed out from exhaustion. This book could also be used in an art lesson. You could have your students work in teams to build small canoes with sails similar to what Mafatu built and then have them test them out on water using a fan to see whose canoe travels fastest,farthest,etc. I think that students could really enjoy this activity because it allows them to be creative and who doesn't love a fun competition?

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
By: Mildred D. Taylor
Multicultural

This book is told from the point of view from a young girl named Cassie Logan during the Depression of the 1930's. Cassie lives with her mother (Mary), father (David) and her three brothers (Stacey, Little Man and Christopher John). This book is about how the Logan family is struggling to try and keep the small area of land they own, which a man named Harlan Granger is trying to buy. The story starts out with the children walking down a dirt road on the way to their first day of school; Cassie wearing her Sunday dress. The blacks during this time struggle to make it through life because of the segregation and racism. Unusually, the Logan children have a white friend named Jeremy who walks with them to school. The Logan family finds out that a black man named Berry dies from being burned by a white man in their town and the black community becomes furious when the crime goes unpunished. Angry that the school bus that the white children ride always drives by covering them in dust and mud, they decide to dig holes in the road to make the bus get stuck. Even after their father warns them not to go to the Wallace store, Stacey, his friend T.J. and the other children go there after school to fight. When they get home they find out that Harlan has been talked to Big Ma (their grandmother who owns the land), about buying it. When Stacey admits they went to the Wallace store, his mother takes him to see a man who survived being burned by the Wallaces. Knowing that they are the ones who burned Mr. Berry, Ma urges people to boycott the store. When they go to the town of Strawberry, Big Ma makes Cassie apologize to a girl named Lillian Jean that she accidentally bumped into, but after acting like her slave for a while Cassie ends up beating her up. The children stop being friends with T.J when their mother gets fired because they found out he told Kaleb Wallace she wasn't teaching what she was supposed to. When Stacey and L.T (a man who works on the farm) go to Vicksburg, they are attacked and Papa's leg gets run over by the wagon. Injured, Papa has to borrow money from their Uncle Hammer to pay for the loan. When T.J. shows up to the Logan's house injured, a mob arrives to beat him and his family because they are being held responsible for a robbery that two white boys did. Papa starts a fire on their land to distract the mob, which ultimately brings together everyone when they try to put it out.

I think this book would be most appropriate for 5th grade AIG students or higher grades. I believe this because some of the language may be difficult to read and some parts of the book can be confusing. There are several activities that could be used in the classroom with this book. For one, you could have your students think about what it must feel like to live during this time as a black. Ask them to write a story about how it would make them feel and what they may do to try to change the way they would be treated. Ask students to think about how our world has changed since we have become a "melting pot." Encourage them to discuss how these changes have made the world a better place and an easier environment for everyone to live in. You could also ask your students to find someone different from them (race, gender, sexual orientation) and then have them talk with their partner about the challenges they face because of this difference.

The Election Book: The People Pick A President

The Election Book: The People Pick A President
Scholastic
Nonfiction

This is an informational book filled with knowledge about the president. It reviews such things like; how voting works, the jobs of the President, eligibility for becoming president, political parties, campaigns, election day and the electoral college. This book has a couple parts that I thought were very useful and neat. For example, there is a glossary of political terms that can help students to more clearly understand the reading. It also has a section with election websites that children can use to further their knowledge on how the President is chosen. The last part of the book was actually my favorite, because there was an interesting and useful section. It was a chart with each campaign year and who ran and won that year along with their parties and the number of popular and electoral votes they received.

This can be used in the classroom in multiple ways. One way would be to encourage your students to run for different classroom positions including things like president, vice president, mayor, etc. This would give them an opportunity to have their own campaigns and to allow them to more clearly understand what a campaign is like. This will also provide a chance for them to vote, similar to how we vote for the President. You could also use the websites in this book to have your students do further research on the election and then have them present their new discoveries to the class. Using technology you could have your students use the information they learned from the book and research they have done about the election to create a Wordle (www.wordle.net) similar to this one:

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