What to do about Alice?

What to do about Alice?

Citation:

Kerley, B. (2008). What to do about Alice? New York: Scholastic Press.

Plot Summary:

                WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE? is a biography about Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the daughter of Theodore Roosevelt. The story begins with Alice as a child before her father is elected President of the United States, and the book recounts what Mr. Roosevelt has done, but how he cannot figure out what to do about Alice! Every morning Teddy Roosevelt would carry Alice to breakfast, piggy back style. Alice had to wear braces on her legs for several years and she refused for anyone to take pity on her. Roosevelt decided it was time for Alice to attend boarding school, but Alice convinced her father that she could teach herself from his library. Alice grew up and became a goodwill ambassador for our nation. She christened yachts, went to Cuba and Asia, and became known as Princess Alice. She came back from abroad with many gifts from friends and strangers she has met, and a fiancé. Alice became the wife a congressman, but she continued to enjoy life wherever she went.

Critical Analysis:

                WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE? was a biography is written by Barbara Kerley and illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham. It was also a Texas Bluebonnet Nominee for the 2009- 2010 school year. The text is descriptive and hilarious with repetitive phrases that would make it easy to share with a child. The illustrations are colorful, amazing, and capture the essence of the Alice’s character and Kerley’s writing. The freedom of inhibition exhibited by this young woman is to be admired by any young person, and she is an excellent role model for young girls.

Reviews:

Booklist: "Irrepressible Alice Roosevelt gets a treatment every bit as attractive and exuberant as she was....The large format gives Fotheringham, in his debut, plenty of room for spectacular art." 

Kirkus: "Theodore Roosevelt s irrepressible oldest child receives an appropriately vivacious appreciation in this superb picture book.... Kerley s precise text presents readers with a devilishly smart, strong-willed girl who was determined to live life on her own terms and largely succeeded."

School Library Journal: "Kerley s text gallops along with a vitality to match her subject s antics, as the girl greets White House visitors accompanied by her pet snake, refuses to let leg braces cramp her style, dives fully clothed into a ship s swimming pool, and also earns her place in history as one of her father s trusted advisers. Fotheringham s digitally rendered, retro-style illustrations are a superb match for the text."

Connections:

-          Activities

o   http://suzyred.com/2009-what-to-do-about-alice.html

o   http://www.edhelper.com/books/What_To_Do_About_Alice_How_Alice_Roosevelt_Broke_.htm

-          Other books by Barbara Kerley

o   GREETINGS FROM PLANET EARTH

o   SONGS OF PAPA’S ISLAND

o   A COOL DRINK OF WATER

-          Other Texas Bluebonnet Nominees from 2009-2010

o   HELP ME, MR. MUTT! By Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

o   SOMEONE NAMED EVA by Joan Wolf

o   TWO-MINUTE DRILL by Mike Lupica

Dolphins

Dolphins

Citation:

Walker, S. M. (1999). Dolphins. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, Inc.

Plot Summary:

                DOLPHINS is a nonfiction children’s book by Sally M. Walker that describes the characteristics of the dolphin species. The book is filled with great facts about dolphins and their family. It is divided up into seven sections that can be read concurrently or as individual information pages. The pictures complement the pages with captions describing what is happening that allows the child to follow along. The pictures also create a stepping off point if the person reading does not have a lot of knowledge on the subject.

Critical Analysis:

                The pictures in DOLPHINS by Sally M. Walker are beautiful and capture the subject wonderfully. There are also enough pictures to keep a child interested in a nonfiction subject. The information is short and to the point without becoming dry. However if you are reading with a younger child, I would suggest reading a section rather than the book all the way through. The writing is informative with short sentences that would allow a younger reader to be able to read and comprehend themselves for a project or just for fun.

Reviews:

Parentschoice: “Whether preparing a report or reading for pleasure, this straightforward reference book provides older children extensive information on this popular aquatic mammal. While the color photographs are average, the text is detailed and covers many topics, such as physical characteristics, feeding, life cycle, communication, and conservation.”

Connections:

-          Activities:

o   http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/wild/dolphin.htm

o   http://www.dolphinkind.com/dolphin_fun.html

-          Other books by Sally M. Walker

o   FOSSIL FISH FOUND ALIVE

o   THE VOWEL FAMILY: A TALE OF LOST LETTERS

o   BLIZZARD GLASS: THE HALIFAX EXPLOSION OF 1917

-          Carolhoda Nature Watch Books

o   CHEETAHS by Diane M. MacMillan

o   KANGAROOS by Denise Burt

o   SHARKS by Ruth Berman

All reviews courtesy of Amazon.com

Balloons over Broadway

Balloons over Broadway: the true story of the puppeteer of Macy’s Parade

Citation:

Sweet, M. (2011). Balloons over Broadway: the true story of the puppeteer of Macy's Parade. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Plot Summary:

                BALLOONS OVER BROADWAY: THE TRUE STORY OF THE PUPPETEER OF MACY’S PARADE is a biography by Melissa Sweet about Tony Sarg. This biography focuses on his journey from boyhood when he was interested in how things worked to his ideas of how to float puppets down Broadway in New York City. As a child Tony was full of ideas, he created a pulley system to feed his chickens without getting out of bed in the morning. When Tony was a young man he moved to London and was aghast to learn that no one was making marionettes for children anymore, so he rectified that and word began to spread about Tony’s amazing puppets. After he moved from London to New York, Macy’s commandeered Tony to design a “puppet parade” for its windows. Macy’s approached Tony about making a parade for the immigrants of the company based on the street dancing and carnivals from around the world, and the parade was such a success that it became an annual tradition that happens every year on Thanksgiving. As the parade grew, so did the attractions, but Macy’s began to bring real animals that frightened the children. Tony was recruited again to come up with a solution: from there was born the puppets controlled from the streets. After few years of trial and error with the puppets, and the parade was a rousing success with each new experiment to make the balloons easier to handle, and so we have it: the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Critical Analysis:

                The first impression of this book BALLOONS OVER BROADWAY is the illustrations on the front cover. The book is done in scrapbook like art with clip out letters and pictures. The drawings are phenomenal with a mixture of characters and claymation objects. The biography itself is short enough to keep a child interested while long enough to touch on a person’s life. The backgrounds of the pages are each different colors with some of the pages focusing on the larger picture and others serving as simply a background color. Melissa Sweet does an excellent job of switching between paragraphs and choosing words and phrases to stand out. The ideas of showing Tony Sarg’s thought processes was simply wonderful and will make children want to find out how things work and are made.

Reviews:

New York Times Book Review: “Sweet’s brilliant combination of collage, design, illustration and text give Balloons Over Broadway an amazing richness. . . [no one] will ever see the parade in the same way.”

Booklist: “A joyous piece of nonfiction that informs and delights in equal parts.”

Kirkus Reviews: “This clever marriage of information and illustration soars high.”

Connections:

-          Other Caldecott Honor Winners:

o   THIS IS NOT MY HAT by John Klassen

o   A BALL FOR DAISY by Chris Raschka

-          Other Bluebonnet Nominees:

o   THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate

o   WHATEVER AFTER #1: FAIREST OF ALL by Sarah Mlynowski

-          Activity Kit: http://www.hmhbooks.com/kids/resources/BalloonsOverBroadway_ActivityKit.pdf

All reviews courtesy of Amazon.com

Red Sings from Treetops

Red Sings from Treetops