Who is your favorite Author?

If you have kept up with my blog, you know that I have a passion for reading children's books, but do you know who my favorite author is? Nicholas Sparks! A couple of weekends ago I had the opportunity to meet Nicholas Sparks at the SOKY Book fest in Bowling Green. If you are unfamiliar with Nicholas Sparks, he is the author of The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Message in a Bottle, as well as many others! I was able to get an autograph from him, as well as a picture. How awesome it felt to be able to hear his inspiration for his books, and stories from his own personal life. If you were able to meet your favorite author, who would you want to meet?

The Secret of NIMH vs Mrs.Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - Book vs. Movie

When I was a 5th grader, I remember doing a literature circle in my class with the book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, by Robert C. o'Brien. I remember not liking the book at first, mainly because I had a fear of rats, but after the first few chapters, I loved the book! I ended up relating to widowed Mrs. Frisby because I too, only had one parent. Mrs. Frisby had to make the dreaded decision..move her family away from the destruction that was about to occur, risking the death of her sweet son Timothy or keep her ill son Timothy safe and hope that her home, and family aren't destroyed. The story unfolds as Mrs. Frisby makes alliances, and comes face to face with wise Nicodemus who eventually helps devise a plan to rescue Mrs. Frisby's family and home while keeping Timothy safe. As a 5th grader reading this book, I was intrigued by the intelligence that the rats of Nimh possessed and was rooting for tiny Timothy to overcome his illness. Chapter after chapter I was engaged in what was going to happen to Mrs. Frisby and her lovely family!

Not to long ago, I again came across the movie, The Secrets of Nimh. The movie was released in 1982 and very many similarities to the novel. However, I do believe that the movie left out quite a few details that the book documented. Such as, the part where Mrs. Frisby (Brisby in the movie) came in contact with the NIMH society. We could see the look of fear, worry, yet astonishment in her eyes in the film, but the book gave us a sense of what she was feeling through the descriptive words the author chose to say. When young Timothy was sick, the movie did a great job portraying Mrs. Brisby as a busy single mother trying to keep her well kids away from Timothy, but keeping Timothy isolated and taken care of. We could see the love and determination that she had for her son, and we knew early on that she was going to do whatever it took to get him well.

As a teacher, I see the love of a child through a teachers eyes, and through a mother's eyes, as I have a daughter of my own. Has there every been a time when you or someone you know has had to make a difficult decision for someone in your family? How did it make you feel?

Holes book vs. movie

When I was doing a higher level reading group last year with some of my students, they chose to read the book Holes by Louis Sachar and compare it to the movie.

Most of the students had already seen the movie, so I told them try not to compare the two just yet, read the book with an open mind. To my surprise when we finished the novel, most of the children said they enjoyed the book much more than the movie!

The book begins by young Stanley Yelnats IV being sentenced to a boys camp, Camp Green Lake for supposedly stealing a pair of Clyde Livingstons tennis shoes. While at the camp, Stanley and his camp mates are sentenced to dig holes to help build their character. After much digging, they find out the real reason they are digging holes is to find the treasure left by Kissin' Kate Barlow. As the story unfolds, Stanley and his silent friend Zero decide to run away. While running away, Zero becomes very sick and Stanley stays by his side and sings to him his family's lullaby. While singing, the generations of cursing that has been put on the Yelnats family is broken. Stanley and Zero decided to head back to Camp Green Lake. While there, they find the buried treasure, but it is surrounded by the deadly lizards that took Kissin' Kate Barlow's life. Thankfully, the scent of the magical onions turn the lizards away and the treasure belongs to the Yelnats family.

The movie, much like the novel does a great job portraying the characters as you would envision in the novel. One major difference in the book vs the movie was the fact that the main character in the book was teased for being overweight. In the movie, Shia LaBeouf is actually very skinny. In the book, some of the story lines were more elaborated, such as discussing the Yelnats family curse. Overall this another case where I enjoyed the book more than the movie. Although the movie was a wonderful adaptation of the novel, I love the creativity that you can play with as you are reading the novel.

Pollyanna movie vs. book

Growing up, one of my favorite books was Pollyanna. I know this might be an unusual choice for a favorite book, but something about Pollyanna's optimistic character just drew me in!

Pollyanna, the novel, was written in 1913 by Eleanor H. Porter and is now considered to be a classic. Pollyanna was a young orphan who was sent to live with her wealthy aunt Polly. Although they have similar names, their characters are much different! Aunt Polly is not used to being around children, and can come off quite rude, whereas Pollyanna always has a smile and a cheerful attitude to greet anyone. She gets this from a game her father taught her called "The Glad game" in which she tries to find something to be glad about in every situation.

When tragedy strikes young Pollyanna, the whole village, in which Pollyanna has helped turn into a "glad" village, cheers for her and tries to cheer her up by sending her optimistic encouragements. Pollyanna doesn't stay negative for long. Eventually young Pollyanna is able to come out of her tragedy with a positive outlook! I don't' want to give away to much of the plot in case you would like to read it yourself!

The novel was turned into 2 movies, but the one I remember was released in 1960 and starred Hayley Mills. In this case, I loved the movie just as much as I loved the novel. Although the movie left out more details of the relationship between Aunt Polly and Dr. Chilton, the love story was still there. As well, the movie was able to showcase Pollyanna's cheerful disposition into real life. Also, it was able to show readers just how lovely the wind chimes that Pollyanna loved really were.

There are not many novels turned into movies that I can say I truly enjoy, but this is one of those cases! I encourage all of you to act like Pollyanna and find the glad in all situations!

Two Foolish Cats - Yoshiko Uchida

As an avid reader, I had never heard of Yoshiko Uchida until this assignment, I was anxious to read a book of his, but when I went to the library to check a book out, they had no books by him! Therefore, I checked at my school and we had no books by him either! My last resort was stopping at Barnes and Noble next time I was around one, and I finally found a few titles by him. The one I read was Two Foolish Cats.

Two Foolish Cats tells of the folktale of two kittens are best friends. The problem with their friendship is they are both wanting the same rice cake, and aren't willing to share. Instead of working the problem out themselves, they feel they must take their problem to someone who will help them find a solution. TIME OUT!! Ok, immediately, I related this to my everyday life! How many times have I had to go tell my sweet 2nd graders to try to solve their problems. They are friends one minute, and then can't work out their own problems the next minute.

Ok, so I kept reading the story and it came about that the monkey ended up tricking them and eating both the rice cakes.

I truly enjoyed this story and plan on buying it to read to my class next year. How easily we can all relate to Yoshiko Uchida's tale of Two Foolish Cats.

I didn't have much time, after I had already spent well enough time at Barnes and Noble, but I plan on reading more by Yoshiko in the future. I may ask my local library if they can get some through Inter-library loan for me!
If you would like to read other books by YoshikoUchida here is a book list for your enjoyment:

http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshiko_Uchida

Caldecott? Newberry? What's the difference?

When I asked my husband to hand me the Caldecott Medal Winner book, he looked at me like I had lost my mind! "What is a Caldecott Medal, and how am I supposed to know that?"

The Caldecott Medal is an award given by the Association for Library Service to Children each year to a children's picture book. The Caldecott Medal is based on illustrations. It is the most distinguished medal that a picture book can be given. According to wikipedia, there are certain criteria that must be met:

1. The book must be published in English in the United States the preceding year.
   


2. The illustrations must be original work.



3. The artist must be a citizen or resident of the United States.



4. The book must be considered for the artistic artwork employed.
   


5. The book must display respect for children's understandings, abilities, and appreciations.
   


6. The book must be a self contained entity, not dependant on other media for its enjoyment

When a book is awarded with a Caldecott Medal, you will see the Caldecott Medal on the front of the book.
The first Caldecott Medal was awarded in 1938 to Dorothy P. Lathrop for Animals of the Bible.
The most recent Caldecott Medal was awarded to Erin E. Stead for A Sick Day for Amos McGee.
The year I was born, the Caldecott Medal book was awarded to Marcia Brown for the book Shadow. Can you figure out what year I was born? What book was awarded the Caldecott Medal book the year you were born?
http://http//www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecotthonors/caldecottmedal.cfm

Like the Caldecott Medal, the Newberry Medal is given annually to the most distinguished children's book the previous year. Unlike the Caldecott, the Newberry award is not given just for illustrations. The Newberry award was the first award given to a children's book.
The first Newberry Medal was awarded in 1922 to Hendrik Willem van Loom for the children's book The Story of Mankind. The most recent Newberry Medal was awarded to Clare Vanderpool for the children's book Moon over Manifest.
You can find a complete list of Newberry Award winners here

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberywinners/medalwinners.cfm
If you were in charge of giving out the Newberry Award, what book would you choose, and why?

Sam and the Tigers - by Julius Lester

Sam and the Tigers was recommended by a lady at our local library. She said her son loves the book, how fitting that his name is Sam! The author engages readers with the fantasy story of Sam versus the tigers. Julius is sure to use his humor in his writing, for example when he says, "Faster and faster and faster and faster the Tigers ran until - they melted into a pool of butter as golden as a dream come true" Readers are able to visualize in their head the images that Julius describes. Once again, Jerry Pinkney does a wonderful job explaining the story through his work of art.

Julius Lester has written over 40 other books, which include the titles:

• To Be a Slave




• Long Journey Home




• The Knee-High Man




• Day of Tears

For more information on Julius Lester you can visit his web page at:

http://http//members.authorsguild.net/juliuslester/index.htm