Inside Out & Back Again

Inside Out & Back Again

Citation:

Lai, Thanhha. Inside Out & Back Again. New York: HarperCollins Children's Books, 2011. ISBN: 9780061962783

Plot Summary:

                Inside Out & Back Again is written in chronological order during the Vietnam War. As the book in verse begins the character Hà presents some questions, the most important: where is my father? The main character Ha has three older brother who tease her and a mother who lights an alter daily hoping for her husband’s return. As the story progresses, we travel with Hà, and the background changes from Saigon to a ship crossing to America, a refugee camp, and finally rural Alabama where her family settles into the strangeness of a foreign land. Once settle in Alabama Hà tries to adjust to lie in America and being different at school. This is an important aspect of the story because we see how cruel children can be to someone who is different from them. Finally at the end of Inside Out & Back Again we learn that Hà’s father is dead, but as the family mourns they heal and the brothers go to college for engineering and medicine, and to open a veterinarian practice. Hà wants to become a poet.

Critical Analysis:

                Inside Out & Back Again is an emotionally, heart wrenching story of a young girl’s struggle to fit in after fleeing her war torn homeland. The book is written in verse and is divided into four parts as Hà and her family flee from Vietnam during the 1970’s. Rather than using quotation marks for spoken words, Thanhha Lai uses italicized words. There is also the language barrier that Hà has to overcome and the author writes it as the character sounds out the words rather than simply writing the words which give the story personality and perspective. Poetry books flow in a way that novels do not because of the verse and the way almost every page has a new story. These books are excellent as children evolve from children’s novels to young adult fiction.

Reviews:

Booklist: “Based in Lai’s personal experience, this first novel captures a child–refugee’s struggle with rare honesty. Written in accessible, short free–verse poems, Hà’s immediate narrative describes her mistakes—both humorous and heartbreaking; and readers will be moved by Hà’s sorrow as they recognize the anguish of being the outcast.”

Publishers Weekly: “The taut portrayal of Hà’s emotional life is especially poignant as she cycles from feeling smart in Vietnam to struggling in the States, and finally regains academic and social confidence. An incisive portrait of human resilience.”

Kirkus Reviews: “An enlightening, poignant and unexpectedly funny novel in verse. In her not-to-be-missed debut, Lai evokes a distinct time and place and presents a complex, realistic heroine whom readers will recognize, even if they haven’t found themselves in a strange new country.”

Connections:

·         Vietnam War and Immigration history lessons

·         National Book Award winners

o   Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

o   What I saw and how I lied by Judy Blundell

·         The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein for a poetry connection.

Book Speak!

Book Speak!

Citation:

Salas, Laurie Purdie. Book Speak! New York : Clarion Books, 2011. ISBN: 978-0547223001

Plot Summary: 

                Book Speak! is a nonfiction book written in verse about the aspects of a book and their homes. Laurie Purdie Salas writes poems to teach about the different aspects of books, for example she explains a character, the index, and a book plate to name a few. The pictures are abstract and colorful, and the reader will have a good time digesting the information with the illustrations. The illustrations re-enforce the words the poems are explaining which helps them remember if they have something visual to match the word with.

Critical Analysis:

                Book Speak! was written by Laurie Purdie Salas in 2010 using poems to explain different concepts relative to books. Each poem tells its own story while using rhyming, repetitiveness, and clarity that would make it an excellent way for teachers to incorporate book information into a poetry unit. The flowing verse allows for children to easily follow along and interpret what they are reading or hearing. The use of poems also shortens the book because you do not have to read it all the way through. Each poem has an ending and can be used with younger children with shorter attention spans.

Review

Publisher’s Weekly: ““Put down the controller./ Switch off the TV./ Abandon the mouse and/ just hang out with me.” From the outset, this collection of poems makes its message clear: books are where it’s at.”

School Library Journal: “Some of these 21 poems are written in rhyme and meter, while others are free verse. They vary in length from a few to several stanzas, and all are well crafted and clever, covering a variety of aspects of books and reading.”

Children’s Literature: “One of the delights of this collection is that it draws attention to the way nature can be said to be writing; in ways like the tracks on snow or a line of birds on a telephone wire.”

Connections:

·         Introduction to poetry unit for children third through fifth grade

·         The Poetry Friday Analogy by Laurie Purdie Salas

·         Forgive me, I meant to do it: False Apology Poems by Gail Carson Levine 

When Gorilla goes walking

When Gorilla goes walking

Citation:

Grimes, Nikki. When Gorilla goes walking. London: Orchard Books, 2007. ISBN 978-0439317702

Plot Summary:

                When Gorilla goes walking is a book written in verse using a child’s pet as the subject. Gorilla is the name of the cat and it the story begins with the introduction of Cecilia and her best friend also named Cecilia. Cecilia wants a pet because her best friend Cecilia has three brothers and she is lonely. From the introduction of Gorilla the story in verse tells of visits to the vet, the trouble Cecilia and Gorilla gets into, and how they care for one another.

Critical Analysis:

                Nikki Grimes is an author known for writing children’s books in verse. Her collections of younger children’s books include rhyming verses that children easily follow because of the repetition. The pictures in When Gorilla goes walking are abstract with the focus being on the poem. On most of the pages there is not a complete picture, but rather a portion of something on the edge of the page. The rhyming scheme flowed and ebbed throughout the book. She used haikus and

Reviews

Booklist: “In interlinked poems, Cecilia, a young African American girl, introduces her "cool cat,"---a fierce, tailless, gray shorthair named Gorilla. Written in a variety of forms, from rhyming couplets to haiku, the poems celebrate Gorilla's idiosyncrasies and "everycat" habits.”

School Library Journal: “Enormous, lively illustrations are paired with an equally bouncy text in this winning picture book. In a series of delightful poems, a girl introduces her cat, Gorilla, and describes her pet's many interests, talents, and behaviors.”

Connections

·         A Pocketful of Poems by Nikki Grimes

·         http://www.nikkigrimes.com/teacher/goril1.html

·         Chocolate Me! by Taye Diggs and illustrated by Shane Evans who also illustrated this book. 

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

The True Story of the three little pigs- Jon Scieszka

Citation:

Scieszka, Jon. 1989. THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS. Ill. by Lane Smith, New York: Penguin Books. ISBN: 9780670827596

Plot:

            THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS is based on the idea that the Big Bad Wolf was framed for the crime. He is also known as Alexander T. Wolf. The basis for the story is that Wolf is making a cake for his “dear old granny” and he needed a cup of sugar.

Critical Analysis:

            The original of the Three Little Pigs is told in England using the rule of threes. The idea is that with each pig that the wolf eats, the next one will outsmart the wolf. The illustrations of this book remind me of the clay animation shows like Wallace and Gromit. Telling the story from the villain’s perspective is brilliant because children are constantly wondering: “why did they do that.” It gives old stories new outlooks and purpose.  

Reviews:

School Library Journal: “Victim for centuries of a bad press, Alexander ("You can call me Al") T. Wolf steps forward at last to give his side of the story. Trying to borrow a cup of sugar to make a cake for his dear old Granny, Al calls on his neighbors.”

Publishers Weekly: “Designed with uncommon flair.”

Connections:

Other Three little pig stories for comparing

Other books by Jon Scieszka

Books told from the villains’ perspective

-          Trisha Speed Shaskan books

Cactus Soup

Cactus Soup- Eric Kimmel

Citation:

Kimmel, Eric. 2004. CACTUS SOUP. Ill. by Phil Huling. Tarrytown: Marshall Cavendish. ISBN: 0761451552.

Plot:

            CACTUS SOUP is set during the time of the Mexican Revolution when soldiers were often marching through small towns and taking all of the food within the towns and leaving many with few supplies left after the army departed. This story is a variation of Stone Soup. The idea that a person can make soup of something as simple as a stone, or in this think case a cactus needle, is fascinating to the town people, but soon the leader of the soldiers is suggesting food items that would make the soup taste better and the people of the town bring the supplies willingly.

Critical Analysis:

            The illustrations of this book were phenomenal! The foreground pictures had exaggerated legs on both people and animals. The colors reflected the bright culture of the Central America. The variation of this folktale into a Mexican culture was genius because of the culture in our country. It was interesting to see the glossary in the back of the book, and some of the words may be hard to pronounce if you are not familiar with the language.

Reviews:

School Library Journal: “Huling's elongated watercolor cartoons provide just the right playful, brown-hued visual temperament for the all-round festive deception.”

Booklist: “How appropriate, then, that the two should team up to create a chile-infused recipe for stone soup. Their version is set in the Mexico of the Zapatistas.”

Connections:

Other books by Eric Kimmel

Stone Soup by Marcia Brown

Mexican Revolution facts

Beautiful Blackbird

Beautiful Blackbird- Ashley Bryan

Citation:

Bryan, Ashley. Beautiful Blackbird. New York: Athenum Books for Young Readers, 2003. ISBN: 9780689847318

Plot Summary:

            BEAUTIFUL BLACKBIRD is a Zambian folktale that explains about how the birds of Africa used to be all sorts of colors, and there was only one blackbird, who was voted the most beautiful of them all. This story is a reflection of how beauty comes from within, rather than the beauty on the outside. The blackbird agrees to paint the birds with markings either around their neck or on their wings. Today the marking are still reflected on the birds.

Critical Analysis:

                This story stresses the how the beauty comes from within each of the birds, and the colorful pictures allow children to understand the different personalities and colors of the birds. Blackbird carefully explains how this will change the birds, but they go through with it. Ashley Bryan captures the essence of the Zambian folktale with the bright pictures and simple dictation. This book is easily related to and can be used in a multitude of settings. This would be particularly beneficial for younger readers who are questioning the differences between themselves and their peers.

Reviews:

Publishers Weekly: “Bryan's collages make up for it with their exhibition of colorful splendor and composition. Scenes of the rainbow of wings are outdone only by a lakeside view of their colors intricately "mirrored in the waters."”

 

School Library Journal: “Adapted from an Ila tale from Zambia, this story delivers a somewhat contradictory message. Blackbird frequently affirms that it's what's inside that counts but his avian friends are certainly fixated on adding some black to their feathered finery.”

Connections:

Other books by Ashley Bryan

African Folktales: http://www.worldoftales.com/African_folktales.html

Whoever you are by Mem Fox