5183 Fall 2024 Information Resources and Services for Children discussion
Reading Responses 2 (Wk 5: 9/16-22)
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Pancakes for Breakfast
DePaola, T. (1978). Pancakes for Breakfast. Voyager Books Harcourt Brace & Company.
This is a wordless book about a lady waking up wanting to make pancakes. It goes through the stages of finding what ingredients she does and does not have, exploring the lesson if at first you don't succeed try try again.
I wanted to challenge myself in using this book for the response, as there are no words to tell the story. It follows the lady along solving her problems when she realizes she's out of each ingredient and what it takes to get them. When she's out of eggs, she goes to her chickens, out of milk, goes to the cows, out of syrup, goes to the store. It associates where things come from, and the art of not giving up. Then when she returns and the pets have destroyed her progress, she follows the smell to her neighbor's house where she finally gets pancakes. I feel as though the art was telling the story perfectly and was easy to figure out what it was trying to say.
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Hello Lighthouse by Sophie BlackallBlackall, S. (2018). Hello lighthouse. Little, Brown and Company.
Hello Lighthouse is the 2019 winner of the Caldecott Medal. The story follows the career and life of a lighthouse attendant and his family while living and working in a lighthouse on a small island.
As a child, I was interested in lighthouses and would have loved this book as a child. The artwork is both simplistic, yet detailed and very beautiful. This book deserved to win the Caldecott Medal. If a child wanted to copy the pictures from this book, they would not have a hard time copying. The artwork in this book makes it easy to follow the story of the lighthouse attendant. The book also teaches kids what it took to care for lighthouses and how important they are to the people who need them. The book shows how time is constantly moving and changing, such as at the end of the book when the lighthouse attendant is replaced by a machine that can operate the lighthouse.
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Jenkins, S. (2009). Actual size. Houghton Mifflin. The concept book, Actual Size, provides learners of all ages with vivid imagery showcasing the true-to-life size of animals and their body parts: a squid’s eye, the teeth of a great white shark, and the pygmy mouse lemur all become real on the pages as readers compare their own hands to the animals’ bodies in front of them.
Steve Jenkins answers the natural questions children have in regards to animals they do not encounter– how big is it, and am I bigger? The concept of size is driven home with detailed collage art, and Jenkins’ noteworthy captions create space for expanded knowledge. His impressive array of highlighted animals and their different body parts promotes creativity and contrast. Readers are able to compare animals on the pages and be in awe of the creatures they will most likely never meet. While the Siberian tiger’s colorful face consumes an entire centerfold, the brown Goliath birdeater tarantula seemingly crawls from one page to another on a completely white background. Jenkins captures the wonder and beauty of animals and their varying sizes, leaving the reader to desire more.
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1. Kerascoët. (2018). I walk with Vanessa: a story about a simple act of kindness. First edition. New York, Schwartz & Wade Books.
2. I Walk with Vanessa: A Story About a Simple Act of Kindness is a wordless book about how an act of kindness makes all the difference to someone without having to say a word. Showing the emotions of one person being bullied and another choosing to be kind the next day.
3. Wordless books are powerful in conveying messages while allowing the reader to also figure out what is happening without words. Sometimes people see others being bullied in school or going through a tough time, but one does not need to say words to be kind, sometimes it is the actions that mean the most. The art style is simple but has details for readers to notice something different in each illustration from emotions, like the use of red on page 6 to show the anger being used towards the character or the smiles on the faces at the end of the book on the children's faces.
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1. Boynton, S. (2005). Belly button book. Workman Publishing Company.
2. This board book by Sandra Boynton is all about belly buttons (specifically hippopotamus belly buttons).
3. I was unfamiliar with the author and her art style before reading this board book. I think it is a fantastic style for babies and toddlers. I would describe her art style as quite adorable and childlike. The illustrations are very simple and easy for young children to understand and they coordinate well with the words on the page. The first line of the book is “This tiny hippopotamus has something small to say…” After we, the readers, are told to listen quietly, this little hippo with a prominent belly button says “Bee bo!” in small text to match their size. Later in the book we learn this is how Hippos say “belly button.” It was just a really fun book for me to read as an adult, and I think that small children would really enjoy reading it with their adults.
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Zelinsky, P. O. (2002). Rapunzel. Puffin Books.
Winner of the Caldecott Medal in 1998, Rapunzel retells the well-known folktale with elaborate oil illustrations in the style of Italian Renaissance art.
Rapunzel’s readers, as long as they are old enough to absorb the text of the story, will appreciate the emotions portrayed in the vividly painted pictures. The pictures are intricately crafted, drawing on traditional French and Italian styles, with the rich color and fine detail of a lavish Italian countryside creating a backdrop for the range of human emotions that are expressed in the tale. In one doublespread, the witch does not look stereotypically evil, but is enraptured by the baby she whisks away while the nascent father’s expression conveys his doubt and worry about the deal he made to save his wife. The art weaves together emotions and setting to create a stirring and memorable experience.
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1. Harrison, V. (2023). Big (V. Harrison, Illus.). Little, Brown and Company.
2. Big by Vashti Harrison follows a young girl with big dreams and a big heart through the early years of her childhood; as she grows, she discovers that being big is no longer a compliment.
3. Big is one of the best illustrated books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Harrison very sparingly uses words to convey the plot of the story, and instead she relies on compelling, evocative illustrations that symbolically use the character's physical size to show her internal feelings. The high contrast illustrations show the main character from infancy to the day of her dance recital. After facing criticism for her size, she ultimately overcomes and begins to dance again. The chalk pastel illustrations give a soft, ballerina-like feel to the story, adding to the emotional warmth of the book.
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Wiesner, D. (2001). The three pigs. Clarion Books.
A unique take on the original Three Little Pigs story, David Wiesner takes the pigs out of the story and into new ones in order to escape the Big Bad Wolf. This picturebook is an excellent example of metafiction in action.
One big feature of the art in this book is the use of frames - they are used to show the pigs falling out of their story and stepping into new stories. Other really cool features of the art is the use of blank space, as well as how the stories are shown as separate from the pigs. In mostly white pages, the artist shows the pigs traveling from one story to the next. At one point the pigs are flying on a page from their own story that’s in the shape of a paper airplane. These elements add a really fun and playful style to the art and the story.
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1. Read, K. (2019). One Fox: A Counting Book Thriller. Peachtree Publishing Company Inc.
2. This counting book is as clever as its title character. Along with the eye-catching art, it tells a gripping tale through simply counting and describing the items on each page.
3. On each page of this book, the only text includes a number, adjective, and noun; examples include “One famished fox” and “Two sly eyes”. Although there are no verbs used at all, suspense is built through interpreting the art and reading between the lines. When one page says “Three plump hens” and the next “Four padding paws”, kids can understand that the fox is sneaking up on the hens to eat them! The collage art is bright and colorful, and fully as important in telling the story as the text. The structure of the story also provides a great opportunity for the adult reading the book to let the listening child practice predicting what will happen next as well as inferring what is going on.
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1. Schertle, A. (2008). Little blue truck. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
2. Little Blue Truck is a board book that tells the story of a blue pickup truck driving down the road. Along the way, he meets friends and must rely on them when he finds himself stuck in the mud.
3. Some of the words are different colors, pointing out words that should be emphasized. This is a rhyming book, so the emphasized words lend themselves to the cadence of the story. The illustrations in this book are warm and welcoming. That combined with the cadence make feel as if I was in the little blue truck myself rolling through the countryside. As I read through the book, both the words and illustrations helped me to feel the emotions of the truck as he went along: joy, fear, and gratitude. Overall, Little Blue Truck is a fun read, even for adults!
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1. Harrison, V. (2022). Big. First edition. New York, Little, Brown and Company.
2. The book Big by Vashti Harrison is one of the Caldecott Honor picture books I chose to read this week. This book follows a young girl as she navigates hurtful words and grows to feel confident in her own body.
3. I believe this book clearly illustrates the emotions and feelings described by the young girl. The artwork in the book is not only beautiful in its simplicity, but also very emotive and clear. For example... as the book progresses and other words begin to harm the girl more and more you notice that she becomes 'bigger' on the page to an unrealistic extent. This continues until she eventually "sees a way out" and the pages fold open appearing as if she will come out of the book. Once this happens we notice that she goes back to her regular self and she hands back the words that hurt her to the people who said them. Overall, this book is fantastic and I would highly recommend it.
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1. Santat, D. (2014). The adventures of beekle: The unimaginary friend. Little, Brown and Company.
2. This Caldecott Medal-winning picture book follows an imaginary friend born on a magical island who ventures out into the real world to find the child he is destined to become best friends with.
3. The art in this book reflects a near-universal theme of feeling lost and out of place. Beekle travels to a real world city full of adults where the color palette is muted and full of grays, nothing like the colorful and zany magic island he was born on. It makes him feel out of place and uncomfortable. It isn't until he reaches a park full of kids, their imaginary friends, and his new best friend Alice that the pages become more colorful and hopeful, much like back home. He's found a place among the big, scary city where he feels like he belongs.
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1. Cooper, E. (2017). Big cat, little cat. Roaring Brook Press.
2. This concept book follows the relationship between cats that live in the city. As the cats grow older, the little one now becomes the teacher of the new cat that enters the home.
3. The style of this concept book is both accessible and appealing to young children. Although the book seemingly follows cats as they grow, the concepts it attempts to portray are more advanced. For example, the 2 cats at the beginning of the story have a teacher-student relationship as the younger one learns how to properly live in a home. As they grow older, the eldest cat passes and it is a hardship that not only the younger cat faces but its owners as well. The art helps in highlighting how difficult the loss was by showing the little cat alone and then adding a silhouette of the family on the preceding page. However, loss comes with new beginnings and the family learns to love a new cat that is bought into the home. The cycle is repeated and the new cat becomes the student. This board book does an exceptional job of making the devastation of the loss of a pet more endurable for children as it puts it into the perspective of the family’s cats.
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1. St George, J. (2000). So you want to be president? Philomel Books.
2. In this Caldecott award winning book, we take a look into the lives and characteristics of previous presidents. Instead of looking at the presidents in chronological order, we group and compare them in random, quirky ways that show their humanity.
3. This book, which won the 2001 Caldecott Medal for David Small's humorous and highly expressive illustrations, brilliantly combines art and storytelling to engage readers. While I loved the silly illustrations, what really kept me hooked were the interesting tidbits about various presidents and how they compared to one another. The story humanized these historically significant men, with the artwork adding a lighthearted tone to the facts. For example, did you know that there are six presidents named James, or that presidents had come in all shapes and sizes and that looks don't matter much?The book reveals that some presidents loved the job, while others hated it; some excelled in their role, while others struggled. The illustrations perfectly capture these contrasting personalities and make the historical facts both memorable and entertaining.
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Circle1. Barnett, M., & Klassen, J. (2019). Circle. Candlewick Press.
2. This unique concept book features three friends, Circle, Square, and Triangle, who all play a game of hide and seek; but when someone does not follow the rules, the shapes encounter something unexpected.
3. Visually, the background is simple and white, providing a neat contrast to the earth tones of the characters and setting. Characters are used to provide instant associations for shape concepts. Over the course of the narrative, as they speak to one another, they are identified by their shape/name which really solidifies the concepts for children. The use of texture and light are essential in creating the sensations of a misty waterfall and a dark cave. This becomes relevant as the waterfall and cave are part of the conflict, which drives the plot, and allows for the characters to interact more. There are multiple messages to take from this book. One could be to follow directions and rules since the main conflict is instigated by the refusal of Triangle to do so. Another message of the narrative does not become altogether clear until the very end, when the shapes realize that an unknown shape does not necessarily mean that it is a bad one.
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1. Cordell, M. (2017). Wolf in the snow. Feiwel and Friends.
2. Follow along on a journey of kindness between humankind and “beast.”
3. The art style of this book is very good at telling this story. One example of its effectiness is showing how far the little girl and wolf puppy have traveled. The reader sees them positioned at the farthest right corner of the page with a long trail of footsteps behind them. Another great example was when the little girl finds the wolf puppy’s mom. The art shows a framed circle of the girl looking straight ahead in wonder on one page and the wolf doing the exact same thing on the other page. In that moment it is just the two of them looking at each other in awe. The next page shows the mom and puppy calmly walking, not backing away from the girl, showing that mom has no intentions to harm her for having her baby.
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1. A citation for the book, formatted in APA style.
Harrison, V. (2023). BIG. Little, Brown, and Company.
2. A brief annotation for the book, no more than two sentences.
This Caldecott picture book features a beautiful little girl that grows up to be bigger than her peers. The words and things that happen to her hurt and negatively affect her but she eventually finds strength to stand up for herself and focus on the good things about herself.
3. Provide a brief commentary on the book for the style and quality of the art and its usefulness in delivering the message. Include specific references to the book to back up your judgment. Your answers to #3 should be about 100 words.
The art is gorgeous and very detailed in this book. It relies a lot of exaggeration to get the ideas across. For example, once she starts to feel big, the illustrations make her much larger than life. It uses this to push the story along when she decides to make space for herself and she pushes the page to be bigger. It also uses little details like labeling the dress color as “husky grey” to further along the message. I think some of these go over the head of children, but some are pretty cool. I read this out loud to my kids and they were confused by the words that stick to her skin after the kids are mean to her like “cow” and ”moose”. They thought that the kids must have written on her. I think that the illustration method works, but some elements of it are aimed at the adults reading the books more than the kids. I like the message of this story and spent extra time explaining it to my kids, but it is was not instantly clear to them.
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We Are Water Protectors
1. Lindstrom, C. (2020). We are water protectors (M. Goade, Illus.). Roaring Brook Press.
2. In this Caldecott award-winning book, text and narration flow seamlessly together in a call to protect the Earth’s water, and therefore life, from harm.
3. The illustrations in this book took my breath away. The illustrator uses watercolor, heavily relying on cool blues, greens, and purples to convey a sense of tranquility and reiterate the book’s message that water is life. Flowy brushstrokes and a lack of black lines suggest an inner connectedness among people, animals, and the land, all made up of and nourished by water. The exception is the Dakota Access Pipeline, painted as the black snake as foretold in Anishinaabe prophecy, surrounded by a striking red background. This disrupts the book’s tranquility and invokes a sense of injustice. This book is successfully able to bring awareness to the destruction oil pipelines wreck on the natural environment, calling its readers for climate action.
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Flynn. (n.d.). Knight Owl. Paper Moon Publishing.
2. The Caldecott Honor book is about a young owl who is overcome obstacles and become a knight. While working his shift one night his skills are put the ultimate test against a major obstacle.
3. The art in this book is well done and do the job in visually assisting to tell the story. Christopher Dennis does a great job selecting a color palate with various shades of blue, green, gray and even some black that suits the nighttime element of the story with making too dark. There is also some warmth brought in with yellow for light. Another detail that I think is done fairly well is scale to show how the size of Owl compared to some of the other elements/characters. Dennis does a great job with visually capturing the characters and theme in the book and bringing them to life.
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1. Preston-Gannon, F. (2014). Hot dog, cold dog. POW! Kids books.
2. A rhyming board book showcasing dachshund dogs in various activities that introduces a few opposites concepts.
3. This board book uses creative and cute illustrations that are perfect for the age range that this book is intended for. The book also uses simple sentences with many repeating words, which is important for child language development. The book introduces the concept of opposites, although towards the end of the book, not every page includes opposites. My only complaint with the book is the use of cursive font on the pages. I think using regular print would be better for children to begin to recognize letters.
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1. Gerstein, M. (2003). The man who walked between the Towers. Roaring Brook Press.
2. This Caldecott Award-winning book tells the story of Philippe Petit, a tightrope walker who snuck to the top of the Twin Towers in New York City and walked between them in 1974. This book honors the legacy of the World Trade Center that was later destroyed in an act of terrorism.
3. "The Man Who Walked Between The Towers" is an age-appropriate text to honor the remembrance of September 11th, 2001 without going into graphic detail. This story is written in simple but engaging language and contains pictures that capture the movement and emotion of the situation. Instead of focusing on the lives lost, this story honors the existence of the buildings themselves, discussing their beauty and the way they inspired Philippe. This playful anecdote is a story of bringing joy to the community and remembering the good in bad situations. I feel that this story reaches its intended goal because it can act as a meaningful conversation starter in classrooms about remembering the World Trade Center without spending a great deal of time on topics such as terrorism or death, which may be sensitive to young audiences. The art ties directly to this effort by capturing the beauty of the Towers and the intensity of both Philippe's walk and the change in the skyline after the Towers fell.
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We Are Water Protectors:
Lindstrom, C. (2020), We are water protectors (M. Goade, Illus.). Roaring Brook Press.
A young Ojibwe girl acts with a larger indigenous community to protect the land and water from an oil pipeline. We Are Water Protectors, winner of the 2020 Caldecott Award, is a celebration of community and activism.
We Are Water Protectors is full of water color images that depict a variety of indigenous communities coming together to fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The artwork compliments the message as it fuses nature with the images of indigenous water protectors. You can see this when the main character's hair flows into the water becoming one being. This imagery is seen throughout the book to show the communities connection to the land and water. Overall, the images work together with the text to convey a powerful message of community, activism, and decolonization.
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Ten in a Hurry
Cole, L. (2021). Ten in a hurry (L. Cole, Illus.). Sourcebooks Jabberwocky.
A concept counting book that follows 10 fish being eaten one by one
Ten in a Hurry uses simple imagery that draws readers into a fun plot and concept. The book uses a variety of visual techniques to explore the concept of counting to 10. The different color fish stand out on a black background allowing for readers to focus on the concept and plot. In addition to the contrast, Cole utilizes different sizes of pages to further illustrate the counting concept. While the art and format are simple, Ten in a Hurry is an engaging book that allows for easy exploration of plot and numbers.
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Alphabet Zoo
Holmes,S. (2004). Alphabet Zoo (Parragon Publishing).
Alphabet Book:
This book is a book that goes through the 26 letters of the alphabet using animals as the characters. Throughout this book, it is also allowing the young readers to learn to spell animal names, look for the animals, and the letter they start with.
Alphabet Zoo uses a variety of colors and shapes throughout the book making it very kid friendly and easy to follow along. The book has many learning styles such as having a capital and lowercase for each letter, a sentence or two that almost rhyme but is also teaching objects using animal references. An example from the book states: "can you spot: A laughing lizard lying on a leaf" for the letter L. The book also gets the readers learning by using a "I-Spy" style of teaching/learning. This is a great learning tool for a PreK-Kindergarten age group! As an adult, I enjoyed this style of book.
5183 Fall 2024 Information Resources and...
Books mentioned in this topic
Alphabet Zoo (other topics)Ten in a Hurry (other topics)
We Are Water Protectors (other topics)
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (other topics)
Hot Dog, Cold Dog (other topics)
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The children's books that you read each week must meet certain criteria--see the Weekly Activities document for each week that a Reading Response is due in order to learn how many and what types of books you need to read.
This week you read Last Stop on Market Street, 1 board book, 1 wordless book, 1 alphabet book, 1 counting book, 1 concept book, and 5 Caldecott books (winners and/or honor books). You do not need to add Last Stop on Market Street; it’s already in the bookshelf.
Note: You may not be able to add a book, if the book has already been added to the group bookshelf by another student.
Part 2: Answer to the following questions in the comment area. Your response this week should focus on ONE book that you chose to read. Do not choose Last Stop on Market Street or the Caldecott book you shared with your group members for Group Activity 4.
1. A citation for the book, formatted in APA style. (Add a book cover/link to the book in the comment area, if possible. When you click on the link “add book/author,” a pop-up “add a reference” will appear where you can search for a book and add a link or book cover.)
2. A brief annotation for the book, no more than two sentences. Be sure to identify what kind of book this is: board book, wordless book, alphabet book, counting book, concept book, or Caldecott picture book.
3. Provide a brief commentary on the book for the style and quality of the art and its usefulness in delivering the message. Include specific references to the book to back up your judgment. Your answers to #3 should be about 100 words.