Hatchet

Paulsen, G. (1987). Hatchet. New York: Scholastic.

This captivating survival tales opens with thirteen year old Brian Robeson sitting in the co-pilot’s seat of a small plane headed north to Canada to spend some time with his father during the summer. Brian’s parents are divorced and he holds a lot of anger and built-up resentment towards his mother, blaming her for the cause of it. After sometime in the sky, and a brief stint flying the plane, Brian’s journey takes a turn for the worse. The pilot suffers a fatal heart-attack and dies while flying the plane, leaving Brian to try to keep it stable until the plane eventually runs out of gas. While trying to get help unsuccessfully through broken radio signals, Brian eventually realizes he will have to “land” the plane the best he can. He contemplates landing it in water, deeming it will be safer than the trees surrounding him and does his best to make a crash landing in a lake. After escaping from the waters from inside the sinking plane, he drags himself ashore. After sometime spent recovering, Brian makes things simple, assessing the situation and remembering back to an old English teacher who told him, “You are your most valuable asset. Don’t forget that. You are the best thing you have.”  He uses this as his mantra to get motivated and decides two things are most important: food and shelter. 

He explores a stone ridge, deciding that he can use this as a shelter with some modifications to keep it safer and protected. Realizing at this point that his hunger has gotten out of control, he decides he is going to find food, specifically look for some berry bushes. He discovers some berries, by following birds and immediately begins to gorge himself on the big, round red berries. But once falling asleep, he awakens sick from the berries, which he begins to refer to as “gut cherries”, admitting to himself that these must be eaten in moderation. However, he realizes that there must be more or varied berries so he sets out to explore once more. This time, he discovers some raspberries, but in the process crosses paths with a bear. He begins to realize how dangerous the wild is and how careful he must be. After an incident with a porcupine, Brian realizes that feeling sorry for yourself does nothing, which he coins as the most important rule of survival. In his mind, Brian wrestles with the fact that he is hopeful for someone to come and rescue him but he must be realistic about his situation and do everything he can in order to help himself survive. He realizes that he must make a fire and spends a great deal of time learning that sparks from a hatchet on a stone wall are a long way from fire. However with his new found determination, he does create fire and comes up with a specific plan to keep it going. He gives himself things to do each day from that day forward: pick berries, keep the fire going, catch fish, cut wood, makes arrows, hunting foolbirds. This gave him a sense of purpose and tough hope. 

Brian goes through a series of “firsts” throughout the course of his time in the woods: first meat, first arrow day, and first rabbit day. Brian keeps track of his time in the wilderness through these events, making a mental journal of all the things that have happened to him. He realizes that he has changed, at one point saying, “In measured time, forty-seven days have passed since the crash. Forty-two days, he thought, since he had died and become the new Brian.” After a devastating tornado rips through where Brian is, the plane tail emerges from the lake. Brian sets out in search of the survival kit he hopes has not been completely destroyed by the initial plane crash.

Will Brian find the emergency survival kit? Will anyone ever rescue Brian from the wilderness? Read Hatchet to find out the dramatic ending to this novel!

I really enjoyed reading this book: in fact I read it start to finish in one setting! Paulsen wrote this novel in such a captivating way you are left yearning for what is going to happen next! Just when you think there may be a glimmer of hope for young Brian, something else devastating happens! You, as the reader, are cheering and rooting for Brian throughout the whole novel! The story is told in third person limited omniscient narrator: we know everything Brian, the narrator, knows as we move through the story. There is the use of “he” but we only have insights into the mind of Brian and no other characters in the story. This is a realistic fiction novel, more specifically a survival story, because young Brian must rely on his will and ingenuity to survive this plane crash in the wilderness by himself with nothing but the clothes on his body and the hatchet given to him by his mother.

There is frequent use of foreshadowing in this novel. On the third page of this novel, we are introduced to this mysterious “secret” that Brian knows about and has clearly caused him a great deal of pain and torment. We learn later in Chapter 4 that Brian has seen his mother and a man together, but it is not until Chapter 6 that we learn his mother is the one who asked for the divorce. And Brian does not reveal until Chapter 7 that he saw his mother and the man kissing, a secret he has keep inside from everyone and it is slowly eating away at him. However, as time passes in the wilderness, Brian slowly becomes less angry at his parents, realizing that like self-pity, the anger does nothing for him. He comes to term with the divorce and the secret; disclosing at the end of the story, while he came close several times, he never did tell anyone about the secret. 

Also, in another example of foreshadowing, on page seven, Brian refers to the emergency pack and survival kit stored in the plane in case of crash landing. But it is not until after the tornado leaves the tail end of the plane exposed in Chapter 17 that he realizes that the survival pack must still be intact. This is interesting that he never thought of it sooner, and probably wouldn’t have if it weren’t for the tornado, because it is him braving the lake and plane to retrieve that survival pack that eventually saves his life. 

The main theme evoked throughout the course of this novel is survival. Brian is thrust into the most horrifying and devastating situations: trying to survive in the wilderness with only himself and a hatchet. Through trial and error and a lot of ingenuity, Brian must learn to depend on himself in order to meet his basic needs. He learns the hard way that self pity will do nothing for him and he has to take matters into his own hands. Figuring out that he himself is his best resource, he uses what he knows and has available to him to make shelter, hunt, gather food, and survive to the best of his ability in the wild. Personally, if I would have been in Brian’s shoes, I am pretty sure I would have died! It is amazing to look at the feats he overcame throughout this story and makes the reader think about what they might have done if they were in Brian’s shoes. 

As I read, I used the “mark my words” strategy and came up with a list of words that may be difficult for students as they read: p. 8 hatchet (not knowing exactly what this was, it was helpful to look up a quick picture); p. 16 altimeter; p. 27 wrenching; p. 31 abated; p. 70 wuffling; p. 83 tendril; p. 148 unduly; 

I thought it might be a neat idea while reading to ask students what one thing, besides a hatchet, they would have wanted to be stranded with. Also, how the item may have changed after reading the story. 

BIG Questions: How might the changes in Brian and qualities he gained throughout the novel help him later in life? How does Brian learn to deal with his fear in the wilderness?  What do you think may have happened to Brian if he had never been rescued? Why is Brian’s idea that self-pity does nothing for anyone true? Why do you think Paulsen chose to title the book Hatchet?

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Silverstein, S. (1974). Where the sidewalk ends. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

 The very first poem of the book says, “Come on in…” and that is exactly what you do when opening this fabulous and profound book of poems by Shel Silverstein. This collection of poems will really open and engage the minds of young children exposing them to poems about a young girl who refused to take the garbage out to a poem about a boy’s giant friend. There are so many different poems to choose from in this wildly imaginative collection, I will just discuss a few of them! This collection of poems fits into the genre of the week, which is poetry because this whole book is an expression of Shel Silverstein’s unique and abstract thoughts and ideas. These poems are innovative and imaginative: it is no wonder that he is a staple among children’s literature. 

My absolute favorite poem in this book is, “Sick.” It is simply just a hysterical poem about a little girl, Peggy Ann McKay, who is just too sick to go to school. She goes on, for two pages, to list all of her ailments, from chicken pox, instamatic flu, and a shrunken brain. Finally, when the unknown person she is talking to explains to her it is Saturday, she jumps out of bed and off to play! Any kid could relate to trying to stay home sick at one point or another from school. This is definitely a narrative poem because this little girl is telling a story of all the sicknesses she ails from. There are many poetic elements in this poem as every two lines are a couplet with those two lines rhyming. In “Sick”, Peggy Ann says that her “tonsils are as big as rocks,” using a great example of a simile. 

Another neat poem in the collection is, “The Fourth.” This poem has excellent examples of onomatopoeia like “CRASH!”, “BASH!” and “BANG!” This is an extremely short poem about the Fourth of July but as you read the poem you can almost see the fireworks crashing into the sky! The use of onomatopoeia really adds to the dynamic of the poem. This would be a great poem to use with visualizing. You could have the students draw what they see as you read this aloud to them!

Another interesting poem in the collection is “Lazy Jane.” This poem is an example of a concrete poem. It is about this girl Jane who wants a drink of water so she waits for it to rain. The words are in a line one by one so it looks as if the words are the rain falling from the sky! 

“My Beard” is a hysterical example of a limerick, where lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme and lines 3 and 4 rhyme. It talks about how this man grew a beard so long he doesn’t wear any clothes, he simply just has a beard. Kids would absolutely crack up at this idea, as well as looking at the illustrations that go with this. Not only this poem, but the illustrations that go with many of the poems are very simple, done is simple pen, but they evoke and capture the nature of each poem, adding a slight touch of humor to go with the already laughable poems. They are not fancy or colorful but they seem to fit the poems perfectly. Kids writing their own poems could easily mimic these illustrations as well and would feel like a true poet! 

I could go on and on about the poems in this book. I used post-it notes to track my thoughts and also keep track of poetry elements in the book. After about 10 or 15 poems, I had to stop because if I kept going, I was going to use a whole pack! The collection is FULL of poetic elements that you could use just this book over the course of a school year to teach plenty of them to your students!

BIG QUESTIONS: Why do you think Silverstein titled the book, “Where the Sidewalk Ends?” What do you think that means? How does the use of consonance in the poem, “Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me, Too,” add to the flow and humor of the poem? Do you think there is a correct way to write poetry? Where do you think Silverstein gets his inspiration to write poems like these? How did the illustrations add to the poems? What was your favorite poem and tell me why? In the actual poem, “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” it says that only the children know how to get there- why is this important?

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Taylor, M. (1976). Roll of thunder, hear my cry. New York: Puffin Books.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a novel about the Logan family living in Spokane County, Mississippi in 1933. The Logan family is an African American family lucky enough to have their own land that they live on and plant their cotton. The Logan’s are extremely fortunate; they own their own land in a time and place when many people both black and white were living as sharecroppers on various plantations throughout the south and racially motivated crimes were common occurrence. However, with cotton prices dropping, money tight with trying to pay the mortgage left on half the land and greedy Mr. Granger trying to get their land back in his possession constantly, in the winter months, Papa Logan, David, works on the railroad. Left at home is his mother, Big Ma, his wife, Mary, and their four children, Stacey, Cassie, Christopher-John and Little Man. The four children attend school where their mother is a teacher. AS the story progresses, you learn that the Logan’s are trying to get people to stop buying at the Wallace store in town. They let the young African American kids drink, smoke, run wild as well as charge outrageous interest to families that are sharecropping on the Granger land there trying to buy the things they need to survive. The Wallace’s, you come to find out throughout the course of the story, are responsible for several burnings, like the Berry’s, and even tarring and feathering a man. Simply because they are white, nothing happens and no lawful actions are taken against them, even though everyone knows they are responsible. The Logan’s are trying to get others in the town to boycott their store and do their shopping elsewhere. The Logan’s offer to families living around them to make trips to Vicksburg in order to get the supplies they need. They get somewhere around 30 families to sign on. In order to back the credit, Mr. Jamison, a white man who is on the Logan’s side, offers to back the credit needed for all those supplies in his name so that they Logan family doesn’t have to use their land for risk of losing it. Word catches around as to what the Logan family is planning and the Wallace’s are not happy. On a trip back from Vicksburg, they ambush the wagon, shooting at them. Also, the bank demands that the loan for the land be paid in full immediately and Mama gets fired from her job. With everything and everyone still piling against them, the Logan’s stick together as a family and do not back down. When a friend of the Logan children, T.J., gets into some serious trouble, everyone in the Logan family becomes in danger.

To find out what happens to the Logan family, read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

Well, I feel like my summary does not even do the novel justice. What a detail packed and fantastic account of a community struggling with racial inequality in the south. It is simply phenomenal. I had never read this novel before and I was just on the edge of my seat every time I picked it up. I read the last half of the book in one sitting. Taylor, the author, does such a good job of keeping you on the edge of your seat and you never know what curve ball is going to be thrown at you next. There are so many characters and various angles, and everything is simply intertwined together perfectly. It is no wonder why this book won a Newberry Medal in 1977.  Our textbook characterized multicultural literature as books about people and the experiences they share either as a group or as individuals within a specific culture. This novel falls under the category of multicultural literature because the story centers on an African American family living in the south during a time of severe racial inequality.

Meg is the main character of the story and the protagonist. She is nine-year-old girl struggling with the world around her. The story is first person narrator, told from Meg’s point of view. You hear her thoughts, feelings, and emotions and as a reader you can truly connect with her as a character. Cassie is sassy, smart, and has a ton of confidence in herself. She is much like her Uncle Hammer, who is Papa’s brother that lives in Chicago, with a temper and quick to act. She often jumps into action without thinking or fully understanding the consequences of her actions. She is very family orientated and would go at great lengths to protect her family. When her little brother, Little Man, is about to get into trouble for an incident with a book, she interjects that she doesn’t want the book either; fully knowing she could get a whipping. Also, whenever there is some new drama unfolding at night, Cassie sneaks over into the boys’ room, knowing she is safe and comforted.  One of Cassie’s main flaws, however, is that she doesn’t understand the racial prejudices and attitudes of the people in the community around her. When in the general store in Strawberry, the owner starts and stops filling their order multiple times over the course of an hour, stopping to help white customers that walk in the door. She gets so mad and beside herself that she calls out the shop owner and causes a scene. They get kicked out of the store. When returning to the wagon, Cassie accidentally bumps into a young girl, Lillian Jean, who demands she apologize. Cassie tries to state it wasn’t on purpose but Lillian tells her to get on the ground. When she refuses, Lillian’s father comes and knocks her to the ground. Cassie does not understand that while she feels as if she is just as good as Lillian Jean or any of the other white kids, she is not equal to them at this time in society. That incident in Strawberry, Mama describes as one where Cassie had to grow up a little. As the story progresses throughout a year, Cassie does in fact grow up and start to realize the prejudices that she faces. Her character has to learn to deal with the life situations that she is faced with. When their friend T.J. is threatened with life on the chain gang after getting mixed up with the wrong crowd, she realizes that race does matter and it can sometimes be the difference between life and death in these times. While she is blessed with love, fairness, and equality on the land that her and her family live on, that is not the case in the outside world.

This would be a phenomenal text to read with young readers because of the story coming from the view point of this young girl, however, I would not recommend reading this book with a grade level younger than 5^th grade. Some of the incidents that happen in the book are graphic, like the tarring and feathering, the burning of the Berry’s, and the shooting. Also, racial segregation, inequality and the injustices that were occurring during this time are a tough subject to address with kids. While they need to be made aware, I think it may be difficult for younger readers to fully understand the gravity and severity of what was occurring during this time period. Kids would love this book for the relatability of the characters and the family as a whole: some person in the family will remind of someone in your own family. And the detail in which Taylor described them makes it easy to do. This would be an excellent novel to use in conjunction with studying American history from the early 1920’s and 1930’s in social studies. This is a realistic fiction story, with incidences like the ones occurring in the story happening all over the south during those times. There are so many occurrences in the book that happen that children would not believe really happened in real life. I thin kit would be neat to have kids track their thinking on post-its as they read and jot down their thoughts about what events are happening in the story. Then they could discuss those in groups or with partners and see how everyone’s feeling about the book were the same or different.

BIG Questions to use with students: Would you want to be friends with Cassie? Why or why not? Why do you think T.J. started running with the wrong crowd? Why is the land so important to the Logan’s? What do you think would have happened had the fire not been “started”? Do you think it was fair for Cassie to take her revenge on Lillian Jean? How do you think Jeremy feels about everything going on? Why do you think Papa brought Mr. Morrison to live with them? How would you feel if you were a Logan? Or a Wallace child? How might the story be different if it were told from the viewpoint of someone else? 

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Aardema, V. (1975). Why mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears. New York: Scholastic.

This is a West African folktale that was retold by Verna Aardema. It opens with a mosquito talking to an iguana about the yams he has seen a farmer digging up. Annoyed and uninterested, the iguana trudges away shoving sticks in his ears so he no longer has to listen to the mosquito’s ramblings. This sets off a series of events in the jungle. The iguana with the sticks in his ears does not hear the python talking to him so he fears he is planning some treachery. He flees into an underground tunnel, which causes the rabbit in there to scurry out in the open field. The crow, seeing the rabbit running for her life, alerts the jungle that there is danger. This sends the monkey in a frenzied panic through the treetops, where he breaks a branch, causing a young owlet to fall and die. The mother owl that is charge of waking the sun every morning does not do so because she is mourning the loss of her baby. As the night grows longer and longer, the King Lion gathers all the animals together to solve the mystery of what happened so the owl will wake up the sun once more. As they trace back the events of what happened, they summon back each animal in the chain of events. Finally, the iguana reveals that it was indeed the mosquito’s fault because he caused him to have to put those sticks into his ears because he was unable to stand the lie telling of the mosquito.

To find out what happens to the mosquito, read Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears.

Our textbook characterized multicultural literature as books about people and the experiences they share either as a group or as individuals within a specific culture. This book falls under the category of multicultural literature because it is a West African folktale. It originally started off as being an oral tale passed down from generation to generation. In this story, the reason why mosquitoes began buzzing in people’s ears is explained.

One thing that really struck me while reading this story was not only the humor in the story but the illustrations are fabulous. The illustrators, Leo and Diane Dillion, actually won a Caldecott Medal for this book, and they were the first African American illustrators to do so. The vibrant use of color is breathtaking and would really attract young eyes. The thing I love the most about them though is the contrast between day and night. When the animals are about and about in the daytime, before the incident with the owlet occurs, the background is white. The colors are bold but have a soft feel 

still about them. 

However, when mother owl does not wake the sun and it stays nighttime longer, the background is changed to black. Everything becomes much more dramatic and the colors really pop on the page. Each animal is so defined and the lines are accented. I really loved these illustrations.

Throughout the story, there is evidence of personification everywhere. The animals talk and converse as humans do. Also, they have reasoning and logic like people do. The King Lion works almost like a detective to retrace the events leading up to the baby owlet’s tragic death in order to figure out what happened. There are also a lot of sound devices, like onomatopoeia that are used throughout the book.  When the animals moved, it is stated, like the iguana went off, “mek, mek, mek, mek” as if he were trudging along. The rabbit scurries across the field, “krik, krik, krik” and the crow cries, “kaa, kaa, kaa”. When reading through a second time, it may be fun for the students to say those words.

There are so many extension activities that you could do with this book. I think something that would be really fun for the students to do is do this as a play or reader’s theater and act out the events of the story! Students really get into plays and more hands-on types of activities. Also, this would be a great book to teach cause and effect. The relationship of how each event in the story triggers another is a great model of this skill. Also, sequencing the events in the folktale would be another good extension activity with this story. You could also have the students try to replicate this style of art with an art activity. If you color with crayons bright colors on a big of construction paper, you can paint over it with black paint and then use an art tool to scratch away the black to create a drawing. This would be a neat way to sort of replicate the bright colors and dark contrast of Africa at night that the illustrator captured. We all know students love art projects!

BIG Questions to use with your students: Do you think the iguana would have put the sticks in his eras if he knew what was going to happen? How may the story be different if iguana wouldn’t have put the sticks in and heard the python? Why do you think mosquito still feels guilty to this day? Do you think this is a reasonable explanation to why mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears? If you had to write your own folktale, what would you want to explain or show how something came to be? Can you figure out which animal saw the whole thing happen from the very beginning? 

Ella Enchanted

Levine, G. C. (1997). Ella enchanted. New York: Scholastic.

In this modern version of the Cinderella tale, young Ella was given a “gift” by  fairy named Lucinda of obedience. Even though they pleaded, Ella’s mother and cook, Mandy, could not convince Lucinda to undo the curse. So, Ella lived her life, unable to deny the following of a direct command. A wish or a request could be ignored, but any order, Ella had to obey. She could try to fight it or delay, but it was inevitable. Ella’s mother, at a young age after an incident with a young girl in town, ordered her to never tell anyone about her curse. When Ella was fifteen, her mother got ill and died. At her mother’s funeral, she has he first encounter with Prince Charmont, which later she affectionately refers to as Char. He talks with Ella about how enjoyed her mother and how she always made him laugh. Ella seems to take the same sentiments with the Prince: he is continuously laughing at her clumsiness or humor. After the funeral, the reader is introduced to Dame Olga and her two daughters: Olive and Hattie. They are rude and ornery  girls who only care about their riches. After the Olga family leaves, Ella finds herself with Mandy, who reveals she is in fact Ella’s fairy godmother. She pleads with her to do magic but she refuses, stating that big magic is only for fairies like Lucinda. After the passing of his wife, Sir Peter, Ella’s father, decides to send Ella to finishing school. Here, once again, the Olga sisters come into play, as Ella accompanies them to finishing school. Mandy sadly says farewell, giving Ella her mother’s pearl necklace and an enchanted storybook. On the way there, Hattie figures out that if you order Ella to do something she must do it. She doesn’t understand that it is a curse but it is still dangerous to Ella. Once at finishing school, Ella struggles with needlepoint, singing, handwriting, and basically everything that they practice. She has gained an enemy in Hattie who uses her knowledge of Ella to benefit herself. But she also gains a friend in a young girl named Areida. Ella also figures out that her story book from Mandy is enchanted, letting her see her Father’s communications, as well as Char’s in the book. With some time, Ella begins to do better at finishing school but Hattie will simply not let her have any peace. While Hattie orders her no longer be friends with Areida, she decides to run away from finishing school and meet up with her father at a giant’s wedding where Lucinda will hopefully appear. In her travels, she gets surrounded by some ogres but learns to overtake them by using their language against them. In this fiasco, Prince Charmont and some of his men meet up with Ella. Char and Ella are happy to be reunited and many of the men notice how happy Char appears around Ella. Ella leaves Char and continues on to the wedding, where she confronts Lucinda, as an unknown, and asks her to undo the curse. Lucinda refuses and instead tells her to embrace the curse and love it. Ella returns home with her father, who now reveals he is broke. His only chance of redemption lies in marrying someone rich. Much to Ella’s dismay, he remarries Dame Olga and Hattie and Olive become  her step-sisters.  Char returns to her at the wedding, stating that he is off to travel to a different land for a year, as a custom . He and Ella agree to exchange letters. Dame Olga and her two step-sisters begin to treat Ella as a servant, as Ella’s father is out-of-town working. Ella never reveals this to Char and they send letters continuously back and forth. Finally, Char reveals his love for Ella and asks her to marry him. Ella is ecstatic at first, but soon realizes her curse would be a threat to Char and the kingdom. She replies to him, as Hattie, saying “Ella” has married someone new and that she has deceived him. Char is heartbroken and returns home after his year is up to throw a series of three balls. Ella wishes to go the balls and with the help of Lucinda, who has had a change of heart thanks to Mandy, helps her to go. The masquerade ball allows Ella to remain as an unknown, but can she ever win back the love of Char? What will happen to Ella? Is the curse ever broken?

Read Ella Enchanted to find out what becomes of Ella and Prince Char! 

This modern twist on an old classic fairytale would truly be an excellent fantasy reader to use with 5^th-8^th grade students. This is definitely a fantasy story having elements that are beyond the realm of possibility. There are fairies, ogres, giants, and even the classic pumpkin-being-turned-into-a-carriage escapade. Even Ella’s curse of being obedient is the magic that is thread throughout the course of the entire story. On page 202, the classic Cinderella details come to life. Lucinda turns a pumpkin into a carriage, mice into horses,  a rat into a coachman, and six lizards into footmen. In her travels to the giant’s wedding, Ella meets up with elves and ogres! All of these details and many more are outside the realm of reality, all contributing to this delightful fantasy tale.

One of the big issues in this novel is the issue of conflict. There are many forms of it that run through the story. There is a person vs. self conflict that Ella deals with the entire story. She tries very hard at times, to the point of being dizzy, breathless and almost passing out, to defy the curse but in the end she always loses. She is very resentful to Lucinda for bestowing this curse on her. Once Lucinda orders her to love and accept the curse, her frame of mind changes briefly, but she is still following an order.  At the very end of the story, around page 224, the final battle begins and Char asks Ella to marry him. She wants deeply to say yes but Hattie buts in and orders her to refuse. You read this battle going on inside of Ella’s mind where she is screaming inside to say “YES!” but the curse is not allowing her to do so.  There is also several person vs. person conflicts throughout the story as well. Ella is trapped in this battle with her eventual step-sister Hattie who figures out the curse and uses it to abuse Ella. There is a conflict between Ella and Lucinda, which Ella battles to prove to her that the curse is no good and she must undo it. Ella also have conflict with her father, who seems uninterested in Ella’s true well being, using her as simply a pawn to help clean of the mess he made with his life. 

The protagonist of the story is clearly Ella. She is fully described throughout the story and I think Levine gives the reader a great insight into her character by allowing the reader to read her thoughts and well as her actions. The battle with herself, in her mind with the curse, is clearly evident. She is a funny, quirky girl who cares deeply for those closest to her. Her relationship with Char and Mandy, those she cares about, as well as those with whom she despises, Olga and Hattie, are shown in great detail. 

Young girls would love to read this story and I think they would become entranced with Ella and the struggles she goes through. I had a really hard time putting this book down because you never know what will come next and what is going to happen. Every young girl struggles with some “weakness” in her life and Ella really overcomes this! There is this sense of good vs. evil and that is always intriguing to readers.

I think the Twitter Tweet activity would be great for this book. Levine gives the author so many insights on to what Ella is thinking that young students could easily replicate this is a humorous way. My tweet for Ella and the ogres would be: “Cook myself? Is that an order? #obdienceproblems.”

Some BIG questions while reading would be:  Why do you think Lucinda feels like these are “gifts” and not curses? Compare and contrast the original Cinderella with Ella Enchanted? What is the same? Different? How is Ella always in constant danger with the curse? What kind of man is Ella’s father? If you were Ella, would you rather be happy to live with curse or struggle with it? What do you think was the worst gift given by Lucinda?

The Girl Whol Loved Wild Horses

Goble, P. (1978). The girl who loved wild horses. New York: Scholastic.

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses is a Plains Indians tale of how the Native Americans express their love of nature and animals. In this story, a young Native American girl spends a lot of time with the wild horses that travel with their tribe. She would care and protect those horses constantly and everyone in her tribe knew of her love for the horses. On one hot summer day, she laid down and fell asleep with the fresh breeze and the scent of rain.  She is unaware of the brewing storm that is rolling across the plains. When a sudden bolt of lightning and thunder that shook the earth, she awoke to find the horses scattering in terror. She quickly jumped on the back of a black stallion and tried to calm the horses but her efforts were useless. The wild horses galloped away frantically to safety away from the storm, the whole time, the young girl stayed with them. They ran faster and farther away from the young girl’s camp and only stopped when they reached beyond the storm. They were in a place unknown to the girl and while she was afraid, she continued to comfort the horses. The next morning she was awakened by a miraculous sight: a beautiful, spotted stallion that was more handsome than any horse she had ever dreamed about, appeared to her and told her he was the leader of wild horses. He invited her to live and stay with them and she agreed. The people of her village looked for her tirelessly but to no avail. A year later, two hunters spotted her and returned to the village to share with the people what they had seen. They sent out many men on their fastest horses to find the young girl. They struggled to catch her on the beautiful spotted stallion and only caught her when the horse tripped and she fell off. They returned with her to the village. She was excited and happy to see her family yet she longed to return to the wild horses. Soon after returning, she fell ill and no doctor could cure her sickness. Everyone is at a loss on what to do! 

What will happen to the girl? Read The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses to find out!

  

This is a multicultural picture book that discusses the relationship that the Native Americans had with nature. The illustrations, which were also done by Goble, are remarkable. This was a recipient of the Caldecott Medal in 1979. It appears as if the illustrations have been done with oil paintings or some other bold media. The colors are vibrant and would appeal to children. The horses and other animals drawn in the book are very lifelike and would be easily recognizable to children. The illustrations complement the plot and allow for the reader to follow the story. The story is multicultural because it deals with the legends of the Native American people.The illustrations and the words on the page definitely display a sense of imagery. The words almost come alive as you read them. At one point in the story, the girl is on a black stallion trying to escape the hunters looking for her. Goble describes the horse saying, "His eyes shone like cold stars. He snorted and his hooves struck as fast as lightning." Goble's use of this and other similes really makes the story come to life in your mind. This would be a good trade book to use for visualizing as well.

 

This story would be an excellent cross-curricular trade book to read with students. In 2^nd grade, we study Native American tribes. One thing we learn about is their deep connection with nature and how they pass on legends from person to person. This would be the perfect example of a text to do that. In the past, I have used Tommie dePaola’s book The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush and this is a similar text that you could use to get the same ideas across. The illustrations in the book would be an excellent example to show how they lived in tipi’s, what kinds of things they wore as clothes and how they hunted on the plains. They also show great detail in the clothing that they wore and the various embellishments that the others in the tribe fashioned. The setting, on the plains, is very realistic and would give the readers a good picture of what life was like for these Plains Native Americans.

At the end of the story, there are two Native American songs about horses. After reading and discussing the story and the legend, you could also have students write their own songs or poems about a horse. Then they could illustrate their song or poem to match the style of Goble’s. Children could also, as another enrichment activity with art, design their own tipi’s to match those of the drawings in the book, mimicking the designs and patterns.

BIG Questions to use with students while reading this story: Why do you think the girl felt such a connection to the horses? If you were her family, explain how you would feel knowing she wanted to leave you and go live with the horses? Why do you think nature was so important to Native American people? 

Duck for President!

Cronin, D. (2004). Duck for president. New York: Scholastic. 

Duck for President is the comic tale of what happens when the duck at Farmer Brown’s farm gets bored with his everyday life. Mowing the yard, taking out the trash and grinding up the coffee beans are just no fun for Duck anymore! Duck is tired of doing these chores on the farm and he takes matters into his own hands and decides to have an election on the farm. Duck wants to replace Farmer Brown as the leader! After campaigning around the farm for a kinder, gentler farm, Duck wins the election and replaces Farmer Brown as the leader of the farm. After a while, Duck realizes what hard work it is to run the farm, and decides to run for governor. Duck and his staff campaign hard, giving speeches and going to town meetings. After all the votes have been counted,  Duck wins the election once again! After each day as governor, Duck starts to realize that it is hard work running a state as well! Duck makes a decision that being governor is simply not good enough and he begins to campaign for president! Duck hits the campaign trail, riding in parades, kissing babies, and even making appearances on late night television! After the election results are tallied, Duck wins in the presidency! After tackling the presidency for a bit, Duck realizes that running a country is very hard work! Duck decides that once again he needs a change! 

To find out what Duck gets into next, read Duck for President!

This comical story comes from author Doreen Cronin, who also wrote the popular book Click, Click, Moo: Cows that Type, as well as the book Diary of a Worm. That is the reason I was attracted to this book in the first place! I love Click, Clack, Moo and will read it several times a year with my students; there are so many strategies and skills you can use that book for and I was hopeful for the same in this book! And Cronin delivers once again with another hilarious tale of the animals at Farmer Brown’s farm.  In this fantasy picture book, the animals on the farm display an extreme amount of personification: they are equals to the people in the book. They are participating in elections, giving speeches and running for president! The illustrations definitely help with portraying the sense that the animals are like people.  The illustrations, which have been beautifully done with watercolor, are soft and warm on the farm, conveying a sense of home and comfort.  As the Duck wins elections and moves on, the colors become more vibrant and the lines in the drawings become more defined, which makes it appear more serious! Also, the illustrator, Betsy Lewin, was able to convey a lot of humor and even some of the plot through the illustrations. Like on the page where it is discussing Duck’s campaign for the presidency, they show him on late night television. Adults reading the story will realize from the picture that Letterman is in the background! Also, on the very last page, Duck is working on a computer and there is a typewriter in the trashcan next to him. If one has read, Click, Clack, Moo, they would understand the humor in this because at the end of the story the cows had given Duck the typewriter! Farmer Brown’s shock and horror as he gets out-voted as the leader of the farm is also shown in his expressions in the illustrations! 

This would be an excellent trade book for social studies, especially when learning about government leaders and the campaign/election process. It builds from leader of the farm, to the governor, to the president so it would be excellent to show leaders at state and national level in a fun and humorous way. Also when teaching students about elections and how candidates campaign, there are examples of the Duck going to town meetings, giving speeches and how the votes are counted to determine a winner! These sometimes dry and boring topics are given new life through this comical story! Students would love reading about this ambitious Duck but while they read, they would also be learning about our government in the process.  This would be an excellent book that would work for children grades K-5^th grade.  Even though it is a picture book, the humor and content would appeal to older readers. 

Some BIG questions you could discuss with the students while reading would be: How do you think Duck thought being President would really be like? Why do you think Duck kept running for a different office? Why do you believe that Duck was so unhappy on the farm? Do you think Duck would have done anything differently? What might that be? What do you think Duck enjoyed the most as he ran for office? Why do you think that? Would you ever want to run for President and why?