Shannon's comments (member since Jan 31, 2009)

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

Dear Abigail and Adrienne Ackermann,

My name is Shannon Amici and I am a junior at Penn State Altoona majoring in Elementary Education. For one of our assignments, we had to choose a genre of literature that we would like to award. I created The Hope Award for Children Touched by Cancer. The next assignment was for my classmates to nominate certain books for this category and I had to pick the winning one. The Hope Award for Children Touched By Cancer is an award for children's literature that explains cancer in ways that a child can relate to. I wanted this book to be able to help children "empathize with distant situations and sorrows and joys” (Nye, 1998, 1). This children's literature award was aimed to go to a book that offers comfort, hope, and understanding to children of all ages who are dealing with and are touched by cancer in some way.
I am proud to present The Hope Award for Children Touched by Cancer to you both on behalf of your courageous work in Our Mom Has Cancer. Your book entitled each and every detail I wanted to include in my award. It is an honest hopeful story about survival and I can only imagine how many families you have touched. Our Mom Has Cancer offers a tremendous amount of emotional support to all struggling families who are dealing with cancer in some way. After reading this story, one can know exactly what to expect when someone you love is battling such a horrible disease. The pictures are so surreal and they match the text beautifully. I can see how millions of children would be able to relate to your story because of how real it is and how gently you handled it. I would like to take this time to congratulate you on your fabulous heartfelt story and your undetermined strength. I truly feel honored to have had the chance to hear your story.

Sincerely,


Shannon Amici

I nominate "Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You" by Holly Black. This book is perfect for the Is That Elvis? Award because it enables readers to learn about and have fun with 14 fantastical creatures featured in the series, and they'll be delighted by an additional 15 creatures featured in this elaborate volume, including mermaids, gargoyles, and more. Mythological readers will love emerging themselves in this book! Great for grades 3-6!

I nominate "Vroomaloom Zoom" by John Coy. This book is about Carmela who has a "car" in her nameAlikes to be lulled by a revving motor. Her and her dad ride across mountains and past waterfalls, with sound effects to match the scenery. Carmela keeps her eyes open as long as she can, always telling her father, "Keep driving." Coy uses onomatopoeia on every page. For example, the "wurgle lurgle" of a swamp and the airy "swoosh awoosh" of the car rushing forward. This book deserves to win The Hooper Humperdink Award for Best Use of Inventive or Unusual Language because children would have so much fun figuring out how to make the sounds come alive.

I nominate "Recycle!: A handbook for kids" by Gail Gibbons. This story explains the process of recycling from start to finish and discusses what happens to paper, glass, aluminum cans, and plastic when they are recycled into new products. The theme of this book is to make our planet a safer and healthier place to live with a habit that is fun and easy: recycling! This book is great for grades 2-4!

Bully

I nominate "Bully" by Judith Caseley for The Best Moral Award. This story is about a boy named Mickey who notices a bully named Jack at school. Mickey's parents and sister suggest ways to understand and solve the situation. They tell him to use brave words because bullies are cowards. And to try to be nice because Jack must be feeling unhappy. At last, the boy is able to bring about a truce with some cookies and laughs. The bully in this story is feeling neglected and out of sorts because of a new sibling at home. The friendship is fixed, and even though Jack does not apologize, children will understand that his behavior change means that he, too, was unhappy about the way he was acting. This book would be perfect for The Best Moral Award because it will really teach children a valuable lesson. Great for grades k-3!

I nomintate "The Sissy Duckling" by Harvey Fierstein. This book is about a duck named Elmer. He is covered by a wispy comb of feathers and wears a pink backpack with daisies on it. Elmer is one happy duckling doing all the things he loves to do, such as baking cookies and having puppet shows. Papa Duck, an big mallard duck, tries to get Elmer to play baseball. Elmer strikes out and heads for home, unfazed. He later finds out that everyone is calling him sissy duck and started getting bullied at school so he runs away. Elmer learns that his father is injured and rushes home to be the hero. At the end of the story Elmer realizes the most important thing is to stay true to his identity. This book deserves to win The Best Personification Award because Elmer takes on characteristics most of us can relate to and in the end Elmer is personified as the hero. This book would be great for grades k-2!

I nominate "My Friend John" by Charlotte Zolotow. This book is about a young boy and his friend John. They know everything about one another including secret places, secret fears, and even which girl the other likes. Their strengths and weaknesses compliment each others. These two boys are best friends and do nice things for each other everyday, including keeping each others deepest secrets. This book should win the Hear You Go Award and would be great for 2nd and 3rd grade!

I nominate "I Love Saturdays y Domingos" by Alma Flor Ada. This book is about a bilingual girl's weekend visits to her two sets of grandparents. It sends the message that flopping between two worlds can be a blessing rather than a hardship. The left of each spread shows the main character spending Saturdays with her paternal grandparents, with whom she speaks English; on the right, she spends los domingos (Sundays) with her Mexican American Abuelito and Abuelita and converses in Spanish. The situations in the two households share similarities which make it easy for readers to understand many of the words in spanish. This book deserves to win the Hear My Cry Award because the author, Alma Flor Ada uses both english and spanish to show kids the beauty of having different cultures in their family.

I nominate "Food Rules" by Bill Haduch. This book is claimed to be the most comprehensive book on food and nutrition ever created for kids. Not only is this book factual, but its entertaining. It includes facts about nutrition, the food pyramid, safety in the kitchen, fun family recipes and many more. This book would be perfect for the Bon Appetit Award!

I nominate "What to Expect When Mommy's Having a Baby" by Heidi Murkoff. This book uses a dog named Angus to help answer questions. This book extends a hand to children and parents as they try and help each other understand what it is going to be like with a new member of the family arriving. This book deserves to win the Sibling Addition Award because it goes through each step before the baby comes and explains it in terms a child would understand.

Quiet Storm Voices of Young Black Poets

I nominate "Quiet Storm" by Lydia Omolola Okutoro. It is a story of voices of young black poets. It is a book of poems from young people all over the world from Canada, England, and US. The selections were written by teenagers and display an awareness of parallel cultures while acknowledging a common heritage. This book deserves to win the Hear My Cry award because of its emotional aspect that draws readers in.

You Are to Me

I nominate "You Are to Me" by Rebecca Doughty. This books about a pig and a bunny who tell one another what they are to each Other. For example, "you're orange juice and clementine." They go throughout the book explaining how much they mean to each other. The story ends with with pig telling the bunny, "you are the very best to me." This book deserves to win the I love You Award because it is easy for children to relate to and it gives off the emotion of love very well.

I nominate "Silly Lilly and the Four Seasons" by Agnes Rosentiehl. This book is best used for early readers. Lilly who is about four years old, enjoys simple and familiar activities through the four seasons. In the spring, she plays in the park; in the summer, she's goes to the beach; in the fall, she picks and eats apples; in the winter, she plays in the snow. Lilly is a character with a childlike appearance who children could relate to. The illustration colors are warm and bright according to the seasons. This book has the potential to excite children about the seasons and get them reading more books.

"Silly Sally went to town, walking backwards, upside down!" I nominate "Silly Sally" by Audrey Wood. This book has bright pages that make the story pop. It follows each of Silly Sally's encounters. Sally, appears to be able to coerce anybody into almost anything, and soon has the townspeople walking backwards, upside down. This book deserves to win the Reading is Fun, While Enjoying Some Sun award because it uses rhyming to promote silliness and fun! This book would be perfect for K-3.

I nominate The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson for the best bedtime story. This story contains glowing pictures that explore the origins of light that make a house a home. This bedtime book names nighttime things that are both comforting and intriguing to kids. The House in the Night offers a sense of reassurance before bedtime.

The Hope Award for Children Touched By Cancer is an award for children's literature which explains cancer in ways that a child can relate to. This possible award winning book should be able to help children "empathize with distant situations and sorrows and joys." This children's literature award goes to a book that offers comfort, hope, and understanding to children of all ages who are dealing with and are touched by cancer in some way.

The final date for nominations will be March 5, 2009!

Work cited:
Nye, N. S. (1998). The flag of childhood: Poems from the Middle East. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks (introduction)