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

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

Dear Mr. Murphy:

I am a returning adult student at Penn State Altoona. I am currently studying to be an Elementary teacher. In our Language arts class , we were given an assignment to think of a topic that is important to us. Once we selected a topic, we were to write an award describing what we were basing the award on. Then we were to call for a nomination of books that fit our category from our classmates.

My award is called the Next Generation. I am pleased to tell you that your book, Earth Day-Hooray has won the award. I chose your book because I really like the way it shows the children getting the community to work together to better the environment. I also like the way you incorporate math into this story and the facts that you show about recycling. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. I will definitely make it part of my classroom someday.

We will be holding our award ceremony in Altoona at the Altoona Public Library on March 26, 2009. I would like to invite you to attend. If you are able to that would be great! If you are unable to attend, I would like to mail you your certificate. Would you be able to give me your address?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Corby Lancaster

I nominate "Barfburger Baby, I was Here First", by Paula Danziger. This story is about a little boy who becomes a big brother. He doesn't like it at first;he creates all sorts of names to call the baby brother. Then as the story goes on, he decides it's not so bad being a big brother. This would be a humorous read aloud book.

I nominate "Don't Bump the Glump" by Shel Silverstein. This is a fantastic collection of poems using made up words and rhyming words. Children love to hear and experiment with different words. Reading these poems will spark their creativity. It is sure to entertain children of all ages.

I nominate "Twenty Jataka Tales" by Noor Inayat Khan. This is a collection of tales that contain many mythical creatures, all of which have important morals to teach.
This book would be great to use in grades 1-6. Excellent way to get children talking about issues they may face.

I nominate "Zen Shorts" by Jon Muth. This is a Caldecott Honor Book. This is an excellent story of a wise panda sharing his wisdom with three children. The children visit the panda individually and he is able to share important life lessons with them. The panda is personified as a wise person. This would be a great book for grades k-3. This would be an excellent read aloud book.

I nominate "Thirteen Moons on Turtle back" by Joseph Bruchac and Jonathan London, illustrations by Thomas Locker. This is a beautiful book of poems representing legends of the Native American culture. There are thirteen moons in a yearly cycle. This book of poems shares the legends of each moon. This book has beautiful illustrations and a wonderful message of wisdom. This book would be appropriate for grades k-4.

I nominate "The Paper Bag Princess" by Robert Munsch. This is not your typical girl meets boy and lives happily ever after story. In the story the princess out wits the dragon to save her prince. When she reaches the prince, he dismisses her because of what her clothes look like. The princess realizes at this point the prince is not worth having. This story includes an outstanding lesson, don't judge a book by it's cover. This is an extremely important message to young people, just because someone may have the nicest clothing, doesn't mean he/she is the nicest person. This also works the other way around, someone may not be able to have nice clothing, but it doesn't mean he/she is not a person worth knowing. Unfortunately, people are judged by what they wear alot. Wouldn't it be great if we could instill the importance of it's not what's on the outside that counts, it's what's on the inside that counts.

I nominate "Snowy, Blowy Winter" by Bob Raczka, illustrations by Judy Stead. This book would be wonderful for children in kindergarten. The few words that are on each page give rhyming descriptions of winter time. This book also includes a recipe for snowy, blowy ice cream, sounds delicious. This would be an excellent emergent independent reading book. The illustrations are beautiful. The children will love reading this book.

I nominate "The Lemonade Club", by Patricia Polacco. This is an extraordinary story based on actual events of a little girl's battle with Leukemia. The little girl is in fifth grade when it is discovered that she has the disease. Her fifth grade teacher has always taught the class that if life hands you a lemon or two.. to make lemonade. As the little girl is going through her treatments she makes the remark that no one knows how she feels, to her astonishment her teacher shares her news of being diagnosed with breast cancer and she has been going through treatments also. This is an inspirational story of how when people come together to support one another that it does make a difference. There is an interesting twist at the end, but you'll need to read it to find out what it is. It will touch your heart. This book deserves the Hope Award.

I nominate "Chicken Sunday" by Patricia Polacco. Patricia's maternal grandparents are from Russia and her paternal grandparents are from Ireland. That is some background of the author. The story of "Chicken Sunday" is about a group of friends (that are racially diverse) who are wrongfully accused of doing something that they did not do. They work together to prove their innocence. The story includes a combination of Russian, African American and Eurocentric characters. "Chicken Sunday" is a heartwarming story of friendship. This would make an excellent read aloud book. Appropriate for ages K-5. Willis states that there is more need for diverse literature in the classroom (Willis, 1995).

I nominate "Nutik, the Wolf Pup", by Jean Craighead George, illustrations by Ted Rand. This is an excellent story of a young eskimo boy (Amaroq) whose family takes in two sickly wolf pups. Amaroq's sister Julie, was saved by the wolves when she was lost and starving. Julie is able to communicate with the wolves and she lets them know that when the pups are fat and healthy she will return them to the pack. She warns Amaroq not to fall in love with the pups because one day they will go back to the pack. The day comes when the wolves call Nutik back to the pack. This story has a twist at the end. You'll need to read to find out what happens, but I think this book deserves the I Love you award. The story shows how a young boy even though he thought of himself as strong was not able to deny falling in love. This book would make an excellent read aloud. Children love stories with animals in them. As Taberski states, it is important to pick "just right" books (Taberski, 2000).

I nominate "Thank You, Mr Falker" by Patricia Polacco. This is an excellent story of a little girls struggle of learning to read. She manages to slip through 5 grades without being helped (how sad). The other children would make fun of her and call her names. She grows to hate school and she feels dumb. Her family has an opportunity to move. This excites her, she thinks if she moves no one will know she is dumb, but things don't change there. The children continue doing the same things there as in the other school. Then one day things change; there is a new teacher, Mr. Falker. Mr. Falker takes notice and goes the extra mile to help her. By the end of the story she is able to read and feeling much better about herself. This would not have been possible without Mr. Falker. This is the kind of teacher we all want to be. We want to make a difference in children's lives. This book deserves the Here you go award. This would be an excellent read aloud book. Appropriate for ages K-5. As stated by Cramer, read, read, read everything (Cramer, 2001).

I nominate "Holy Guacamole and Other Scrumptious Snacks" by Nick Fauchald, with illustrations by Rick Peterson. This is an excellent book full of recipes that children can make with little adult supervision. This book includes a page with the food pyramid on it. On each recipe page, the food pyramid is pictured. It tells what category of the food pyramid that the recipe fits into. This is an excellent resource for parents and children to adapt to healthy snacking. It includes recipes from easy to advanced and includes a special tips glossary for definitions of baking vocabulary. Making these recipes will get the children up and moving around. As one of Jenson's seven good reasons to have children move around, circulation gives the body a break from musculoskeletal tensions (Jenson, 2000).

This award will go to the best children's literature that addresses environmental concerns. In the book "Sami and the Time of Troubles", Sami's grandfather speaks of "The day of the children." He was speaking of the days before there was war and chaos. Much like Sami's world was threatened, our world too, is threatened by environmental and social factors. Sami's grandfather was trying to instill hope just as we need to instill hope into the younger generations that they to could inherit a better world through present actions.

Taberski says, "While we're unable to expand the physical area of our classroom, we can make decisions about what goes into it" (Taberski, 2000, pg.19). The same principle applies to our outdoor environment as well. One should attempt to use products that create less of an impact on the environment in which we live


The books can include anything from keeping the earth clean and/or recycling to saving the rain forest. Poems may be submitted also.

Please choose books or poems appropriate for ages K-6.

Nominations due no later than March 5, 2009.

Works cited: Heide, F.P., Gilliland, J.H. (1995). Sami and the time of troubles. Port Orchard, W.A: Sandpiper.

Taberski, S. (2000). On Solid Ground. Portsmouth, NH