Amber's comments (member since Jan 30, 2009)

Amber's comments from the Spring 09 LLED, Altoona group.

Amber Long
60 Sylvan Heights Drive
Hollidaysburg, PA 16648
anl5049@psu.edu
3/26/2009
Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
21 West 12th Street
New York, NY 10011

Dear Mr. Parnell and Dr. Richardson,
My name is Amber Long and I am writing to present to the authors of And Tango Makes Three an award. My children’s literature class at Penn State Altoona was assigned to create an award, have the class nominate books, and choose a winner. The award I created was called “The I Love You Award”, which would be given to the book that best demonstrated love and friendship for children.
I chose to award this book because it was the book that best illustrates for children how love can exist in different forms. I had read this book before and loved it. I did not know children’s books existed that discussed the controversial issue of same-sex relationships. I thought it was a wonderful story, especially considering the fact that it was based off of a true one. It is great that Tango’s story could be used to create a book that introduces children to some of the uncomfortable subjects that our society is dealing with today. As a future teacher, I will definitely make the decision to share this wonderful nonfiction picture book with my students to help them understand and be aware of same-sex relationships. I think this will also be a great benefit to a classroom for students that do have families that are similar to Tango’s.
I would like to thank you for taking your time to read this letter. This book gave a wonderful example and demonstration for the meaning of love. This award may be a small one, but I think you should know that this book is touching many people. I will continue to share this book with others and encourage other teachers to read and share the story.

Sincerely,

Amber Long

Cooking Wizardry for Kids I nominate "Cooking Wizardry for Kids" by Kenda and Williams. I nominate this book because it gives good direction for kids and cooking including safety tips. The book is great because the recipes are low-fat and low-sugar recipes written by children. All the recipes are fun for children to make and include all the calorie, fat, sodium and cholesterol per serving. The book also follows an easy format for children to follow.

I nominate the book, "This Place I Know: Poems of Comfort" for the Gracie's Cry Award. The book could be used in almost every grade, but mainly grades 4-6. This book is an anthology of poems written by children about the September 11th events. I nominated this book because I think it has a strong relationship to us all presently and could definitely be used in any of our classrooms in the near future to teach about these horrific events.

Dragons hate to be discreet ; a story I nominate the book, " Dragons Hate to Be Discreet" by Winifred Rosen. This book is good for grades 2-4. Instead of looking at all of the more popular books, I chose to look at a picture book that I had never heard of. I nominated this book because of the way it kind of introduces fictional creatures. In the story, a girl is friends with the dragon and tells how the dragon can be nice and friendly, but will breathe fire at the "right moment". This is an interesting picture book that would be good for a read aloud.

I choose to nominate the book, "Hansel and Gretel" retold and illustrated by Jane Ray. This particular Hansel and Gretel book should be used in grades 3-6. The illustrations in this book are different than most versions and give it a new, interesting twist. I chose to nominate this book because of some of the morals there are to learn from this story. All of us as human beings are curious, and in this case, that curiosity gets them stuck in a bad situation. It's kind of a harsh story and I think that as a student I would learn the lesson for these siblings by just reading the book.

Cinder-Elly I nominate the book, "Cinder-Elly" by Frances Minters. This book is good for grades 2-4. The story is just a twisted version of the story about Cinderella. I nominated this book because of the fun illustrations and the rhyming that goes along with it. An older story is taken and twisted into a new one. It's a fun twist and would be good for a read aloud.

I nominate the book, "My Great-Aunt Arizona" by Gloria Houston. This book is geared toward grades 2-4. The story is about a young girl that grows up to become a teacher back in the 1800's. I nominated this book because of the great story it tells about how a woman becomes a teacher. During this time, it would be more difficult teaching without books, being in the school buildings they had, and continuing to keep in touch with family. She goes through some hard work and hard times, but keeps a positive spirit and begins her teaching career. She leads a good life and stays dedicated to her students.

I nominate the book, "Tommy's New Sister" by Gerda Marie Scheidl for "The Sibling Addition Award". The story is about a boy named Tommy who lives at home with his Mom, Dad and dog, Muffin. His parents have a new baby that they bring home, and name her Wendy. I nominated the book because of the way Tommy reacts to his new sister. The way he deals with a new sibling is typical of any young child. For example, he tries to put his baby sister into the box that he brought his dog home in when he was a puppy to send her away. The illustrations are also great and this book would be appropriate for grades 2-4.

I nominate the book, "God Bless the Child" written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr. This book is written from a song and even has a CD to go with it. It just tells a short story about the lives of African Americans right after slavery. The illustrations are great and help give the reader an image of what the author is trying to get across. Billie Holiday composed the song, "God Bless the Child" in 1941. This book would be good for grades 3-5. I nominated this book because of the great illustrations and the positive vibe the book gives. After all the hard times African Americans had gone through, they are able to keep up their lively spirit, work hard and stay close as a family.

I nominate Madeleine L'Engle's "The Other Dog". This book is narrated by a poodle who lives with a man and woman, that end up bringing home a baby. The poodle refers to the baby as "the other dog" and must learn how to share the attention she has been getting with the baby. The book is funny and gives an interesting viewpoint that a dog might have. This book would be for grades 1-3.

I nominate the book, "Franklin Plants a Tree" by Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark. The story is about Franklin the turtle and how he wants to plant a tree. This book is targeted toward K-2 grades. The story does not elaborate on environmental issues, but gets across the idea for students this age about little things they can do to help the earth.

I nominate the book “Good Luck, Mrs. K!” by Louise Borden. This book is about a girl who starts third grade and falls in love with her teacher, Mrs. Kempczinski. Soon, Mrs. K becomes sick and the students learn that she has cancer. The students make her cards and notes while she is in the hospital. I think this would be a good read aloud book if there is someone the children know, like an adult, that they learn is sick with cancer. It shows how a group of children deal with someone that is close to them having cancer. The story gives hope and gives a small lesson of how children face the illness.

One, Two, Three O'Leary

I nominate the book, "One, Two, Three O'Leary" by Malachy Doyle. The book is about ten O'Leary children that are playing and jumping around in a big bed. It has lots of made up words that make it fun to read and rhyme. This book would be a lot of fun for a read aloud and has great illustrations to go along with the words. It's almost like a song and it is a catchy book for anyone to read. I actually laughed out loud when I read this and even shared it with some of my friends!

The I Love You award is named for all books that are written about love and friendship. WIth Valentine's Day just around the corner, and children being full of love, books like these allow children to relate their stories to their own loved ones and remind them of the happiness they bring to their lives. A great example of this can be found in the book Antonio's Card as the book reads, "He writes TE QUIERO --I love you-- on a napkin and draws a heart around the words. He puts the napkin in his mother's purse while she looks for the house keys." This is only a small example of love shown from one person to another in a short story book. Halliday's article on the Relevant Models of Language says, "He has used language in many ways-for the satisfaction of material and intellectual needs, for the mediation of personal relationships, the expression of feelings and so on." Halliday also states that language has an effect subconsciously depending on the child's experience. This award will go to a book that best demonstrates love and friendship for children.

There is no type of genre or format required for this award and all grade levels can be looked at.

Nominations should be posted by March, 5 2009!