Let's Get a Pup!

Let's Get a Pup! is a sweet story about a family that wants a new puppy to complete their family. They begin their search in the local newspaper when they come across an ad about an animal shelter. They visit the shelter and see all kinds of different dogs, but none of them seem right until they met Dave, a small and energetic puppy. On their way out with Dave they meet Rosie, an older dog with a sweet and polite demeanor that touches their hearts. After a night with Dave they decide to go back and adopt Rosie as well. The two pups bring all of them what they had hoped for in a new pet as if they were meant to be all along.

This story was painfully sweet and cute. I loved that it promotes adopting shelter animals as opposed to paying thousands of dollars for special breeds. The story teaches children that puppies can be great but the older dogs need a good home, and can bring just as much joy. I used to work at the Humane Society and there were so many dogs in need of good homes, so I'm glad there are books like this one to encourage adoption.

I also liked that the family wasn't a stereotypical looking family. The mom has a septum piercing and tattoos and the daughter is a tomboy which I think a lot of children these days can relate to.
I would recommend this for K-3rd but I think its good for everyone to read to encourage adopting shelter animals!

"ISH" by Peter H. Reynolds

"Ish" is a sweet story about a little boy named Ramon who loves to draw. He draws anywhere and anytime, whatever he feels, whatever he sees. One day his older brother makes fun of his drawings asking "What is THAT?!" as Ramon drew a picture of a flower vase. Ramon started seeing his drawings as "not right" and crumpled them up and tried again until one day he just gave up. With his hopes crushed Ramon finds that he has an admirer. His little sister Marisol had been rescuing his drawings from the trash and hanging them on her wall. He tells her the vase doesn't look like a vase at all, she responds telling him it looks vase-ISH! This sheds a whole new light on Ramon's drawings and he begins drawing again despite his drawings not looking completely "right.."

I LOVED this story. I loved to draw as a kid and even into adulthood, I almost became an art teacher because I had such a passion for it. I think so many kids love to draw but are faced with such critical negativity for their creativity. I know growing up and even as an adult I was criticized for my drawings not looking "right" and it definitely discouraged me.

I think this story shows children that your imagination and creativity is unique in that it may not always "look right" to someone else, but that doesn't make it any less beautiful. It teaches children not to be so hard on themselves and to embrace their creativity.

I would read this book to my kindergarten class because of the simple language and illustrations. As a pre-k teacher I hear all too often "Her picture's ugly!" or "He's scribbling!" so I think this book could show them that not all people draw the same, or see things the same way. That's what makes us all so unique!

The Journey That Saved Curious George; The true Wartime Escape of Margaret and H.A. Rey

The Journey That Saved Curious George by Louise Borden is a children's biography of the life of H.A. Rey (the author of the Curious George series) and his wife Margaret. The German born couple existed during a time of war when Hitler was taking over and causing chaos among Europe. The author and his wife escaped the violence by biking through Paris, boating to Brazil, and then finally making it to America where Curious George was finally published.

This book is interesting in that it is ultimately a biography meant for children (3rd-4th grade). It has real photographs of H.A. Rey's personal calenders, passport, and illustrations as well as illustrations to go with the story. The reader learns a lot about where Curious George started (originally called FiFi the Curious Monkey) and the author who created him.

I liked this book because I have always loved Curious George and it was cool to learn a little more about the author and story behind the series. H.A. Rey had an interesting life and I think this book would be a good one to use in a 3rd grade classroom when introducing writing and researching authors, something I remember doing at that age. The story was long but full of interesting pictures to keep the readers attention.

I would highly recommend this book to teachers as well as anyone who would like to know more about this author.

Zen Shorts

 

Title: Zen Shorts

Author: Jon J Muth

Publisher: Scholastic Press



 

 

Zen Shorts by Jon Muth is a story about 3 little kids ( 2 boys and a girl) who meet a panda bear who shows up on their front door step one day. The panda, Stillwater, and the children become fast friends and Stillwater becomes a source for stories and life lessons.

In the story, each child spends their own time with Stillwater where they share their own questions, thoughts, and worries in their young lives. Each child is answered with one of StillWater's short stories that put things in perspective for them. Each short story is a kind, and thoughtful ledgend where the characters are very giving and kind to people who may not deserve it. The three stories are about giving, good and bad luck, and finally holding on to grudges.

My favorite story was the last one, told to the littlest boy about holding grudges. The boy is complaining about his older brother always telling him what to do, he remains so upset the whole day that he misses all the fun he's having with StillWater. StillWater tells him a tale of two Monks who are travelling when the come across a woman who needs help crossing the road. The first Monk carries her on his back across the road and she leaps off without so much as a thank you. The Second Monk becomes very upset by this and asks his friend why he is not more upset about her rudeness. He tells him "I put down that woman hours ago, why are you still carrying her?" I think that quote is amazing to show children that they will come across people who make them angry, but the best thing to do is to just let it go.

The illustrations in this story were also wonderful and I enjoyed all the short stories very much! I think this would be a good story to read to children of any age.

Book Talk 1 Manneken Pis

Manneken Pis is a legend from Brussels Belgium about a little boy who stopped a war using his bodily function. I was REALLY skeptical when I read the title because, well, its a little out there. However, I tried to read this with an open mind hoping I'd be surprised.

The story starts by introducing a small, beautiful town surrounded by a wall, and a little boy and his family living happily. Suddenly a war breaks out and the little boy loses track of his parents among the fighting. While looking for his parents out in the midst of a war the little boy hears "nature calling" and urinates where he stands among the wall built around the city. He urinates all over the fighting people who begin to laugh so hard that they stop fighting and laugh until they fall asleep. When everyone wakes up the war is over and the little boy finds his parents and is happy once again.

I'll start with what I liked about this book; The text was in an easy to read font that enlarged when it stated something important was happening, I think this is a good way for new readers to distinguish the importance of events in a story. I also liked the illustrations, they were straight forward and described what was happening very well. I also liked that the illustrations and the text were kind of child like, and the story was told through the perspective of a child.
This book appealed to me because I thought it was a good way to introduce some culture into a child's life and showed them that even the smallest people can make a big difference.

Overall however, I really didn't like this story...and I don't want to sound ignorant because it is a real legend that is obviously very important to the people of Brussels, because they erected a statue of this little boy somewhere in the city. I honestly didn't really think it was appropriate for children K-2 because it was just kind of....gross. Maybe for older kids who wouldn't giggle the whole time at the idea of this kid peeing everywhere and the image of his penis in the book...it would be a good read.
I actually don't think that this book would be allowed in most classrooms because of story which is a little disappointing because it is an important legend to another culture, but there are other more "appropriate" stories from other cultures that we can introduce to our students.
Again, I don't want to sound ignorant because this legend is probably in no way inappropriate or weird to the people of Brussels, but as we have been learning in class, people who come from different backgrounds have different tastes and opinions. I really did try to read this with an open mind but I really just did not enjoy it. I guess I have some work to do on my critical reading.

My only real connection with this book is that I chose it because I enjoy reading stories about other cultures, but I honestly just think that there are better books out there about other cultures that I would enjoy reading more.