Saturday, January 26, 2013

KITTEN'S FIRST FULL MOON by Kevin Henkes

1. Bibliography
Henkes, Kevin. 2004. KITTEN'S FIRST FULL MOON. New York. Greenwillow. ISBN: 0060588284

2. Plot Summary
When the kitten sees her first full moon, she thinks it is a bowl of milk.  She tries to reach the bowl of milk by stretching her neck, but cannot reach the milk.  She then tries to leap for the milk, but she still cannot reach the milk. She continues to chase the bowl of milk (moon) in the sky, but cannot reach the milk. She climbs a tree trying to reach the milk and see the reflection of the moon which she believes is a larger bowl of milk. She dives into what she thinks will be the bowl of milk only to realize that it was a pond. After getting wet, she begins her way home. 

3. Critical Analysis
The story line is simple and easy enough for young children to follow during a read aloud.  Early readers may struggle with a few words, but picture clues will help them to figure the words out.  This story is about imagination which helps children to have a connection to the book. The story is also about the kitten continually trying to reach milk and it takes a while for her to give up despite the previous disappointments. The children can see that she continues even though she failed the previous time.  This is a wonderful message for children to understand.

The pictures are simple black, white, and gray scale which helps the reader to focus on the kitten's emotions. Since the color scale is limited, the readers also have the ability to focus on the kitten and the moon in each picture. The text is bold black print which correlates to the illustrations in the book.

4. Review Excerpts
~Caldecott Medal - 2005
~Review in HORN BOOK MAGAZINE: "Anyone who has ever watched a cat spasmodically pounce and chase for no apparent reason will enjoy the imaginative, unpretentiously poetic method Henkes reads into this madness."
~Review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "is distinguished by its spare, lyrical language and lush, black-and-white illustrations."

5.  Connections
~Discuss with children the phases of the moon and chart the moon phases for a month.  Discuss why the moon has different phases.
~Brainstorm with the children why they think the author/illustrator chose to us gray scale illustrations. Have children paint using only gray, silver, and black markers. Follow up by letting the children show their painting and story or description that correlates to the painting.

Other books by Kevin Henkes:
~Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse
~Owen
~Old Bear
ARE YOU MY MOTHER? By P. D. Eastman

1. Bibliography:
Eastman, P.D. 1960. ARE YOU MY MOTHER? Random House. ISBN 0394900189

2. Plot Summary:
The story begins with a mother bird setting on her egg. The egg makes some movements and the mother bird knows that her baby will be hungry when it hatches.  While the mother is away, the egg hatches and the baby wants to find his mother. He looks for her while in the nest and cannot find her. He goes out and begins to look for her. During his search he finds various animals and asks each one if they are his mother.  Each animal says no. He comes across a car, boat, and plane. Finally he comes across a crane and the crane catches him in the shovel bucket. The baby bird is afraid and calls out to his mother.

3.  Critical Analysis:
In this fantasy fiction book, readers are not sure how the story will play out and are frightened for the baby bird. The story line is very simple for elementary children to follow.  The story keeps the children's attention because they are not sure how the story will end. The plot has tension during the encounter with the crane.

The illustrations are line drawings with little extras. This helps the children to stay focused on the baby and who he is meeting. The illustrations are also cartoon like and done with few colors. The story has simple sentences that go along with the illustrations. Repetition of many phrases are present in the book and should help many beginning readers.

The copy of this book from the library has a picture of the baby bird not seeing his mother as he passes by some rocks.  The picture is located at the very end of the book and also before the title page.  I found this to be very interesting to the readers.  When the readers first open the book, they get a chance to see this picture and wonder what the story is about.  When looking at the picture in the end of the book, the readers get a second chance to reflect on the story and how the baby and mother miss each other.

4. Review Excerpt
~Review in BOOK LINKS: "Eastman's repetitive sentences and suspenseful build-up make the happy ending all the more satisfying in this Beginner Book."

5. Connections:
~This story could be read around mother's day to help the children understand that everyone has a mother including birds.  We could discuss the work that mothers do to take care of their children.  A bubble map could be used to list some jobs that mothers do for their children.  This would help the children to see an appreciation of mothers.
~We could also discuss the different animals that were present in the story and talk about the correct names of their babies (i.e. dogs have puppies, hens have chicks).

Other books by P.D Eastman:
~GO, DOG, GO!
~A FISH OUT OF WATER
~BIG DOG...LITTLE DOG


Sunday, January 20, 2013

ARE YOU READY TO PLAY OUTSIDE? by Mo Willems

1. Bibliography
Willlems, Mo. 2008. ARE YOU READY TO PLAY OUTSIDE? New York: Hyperion Books. ISBN 9781423113478

2. Plot Summary
The two characters (Piggie and Gerald) plan to play outside, but it begins to rain.  Piggie gets upset because it is raining.  He notices some earth worms that are enjoying the rain.  After he throws a fit, hr finally decides he likes the rain and then the rain stops.  Piggie gets upset again because he wants to play in the rain.  So to make Piggie happy, Gerald sprays water from his trunk to portray rain.

3.  Critical Analysis
The illustrations of this fictional story are line based and simple enough that children can recreate a drawing for a story connection.  The pictures help to tell the story.  The white spaces help the children to focus on the character and do not have distractions due to unnecessary pictures.

The book is very simple for small children to understand.  Each child has experienced rain and not being able to play in the rain.  This helps to create a connection to all children who have experienced not being able to play outside during the rain.

The story also mentions earth worms and show that they come out during the rain.  Gerald's character shows compassion by feeling sorry for Piggie.  Gerald holds his ear up over Piggie to protect him from the rain.  This shows the children what a good friend would do.

4. Review Excerpts
~Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, 2009
~Starred review in BOOKLIST: "Accessible, appealing, and full of authentic emotions about what makes friendships tick, these titles will put a contemporary shine on easy reader collections."
~Starred review in THE BULLETIN: "These books will easily take their place alongside Seuss and Eastman as classics in the beginning-reader genre."

5.  Connections
~After reading the story to children, they mentioned that they liked the story and to play in the rain also.
~Activities could be brainstorming things to do in the rain, making a timeline of the story, and researching earth worms and what they do when it rains.
~We could also discuss why parents do not always let their children play in the rain.  We could focus on thunderstorms, temperature, and other possible dangers.

Other Works by Mo Willems include:
~CAN I PLAY, TOO? 
~ELEPHANTS CAN NOT DANCE!
~HAPPY PIG DAY!