Poetry

Harlem By Walter Dean Meyers with Illustrations by Christopher Myers

Publisher: Scholastic Press (1997)

ISBN:  9780590543408

Harlem paints the picture of immigrants coming to America to achieve a better life.  They are told Harlem, NY is the place to be free from their chains.  This culturally diverse city comes alive with words; which describe their singing, dancing and colors.

Rating:

I give Harlem a BIG SMILE.  It was an easy to read poem, that created rich cultural imagery of the urban Harlem.  It shed a new light on this city that I haven't seen before.  It seems to be from the viewpoint of a child, which made it more straightforward.

Jim from Cautionary Tales by Hilaire Belloc with Illustrations by Edward Gorey

Publisher: Templegate Pub (1998)

ISBN: 9780872432345

Jim is a little boy, who ran away from his nurse.  He had good friends who brought him all types of treats and read him books.  When his friends brought him to the zoo, he unfortunately was eaten by a lion.

Rating:

I give Jim a LITTLE SMILE.  The language is simple and very appropriate for children.  There is rhyming at the end of each line, which is pleasing to read and lyrical.  Right under the title, it says that Jim was eaten by a lion, which ruined it for me.  Since the actual context of the poem does not state that Jim was eaten, there is no gory explanation.  Although, there is no imagination to how the poem ends, since it's spoiled at the beginning. 

Binker from Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne with Illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard

Publisher: Puffin Books (1992)

ISBN: 9780140361247

We follow a little girl, who has a friend named Binker.  She plays with him when no one else has the time and he's always around.  The only downside is that her mommy and daddy cannot see Binker, because he's imaginary.

Rating:

I give this poem a BIG SMILE.  This is a nice reminder that it's normal for young children to have imaginary friends.  This little girl seemed like an only child.  She adores her mother and father, but they are busy.  So, she turns to her imaginary friend to keep her company.  They can pretend to be whoever they like, and Binker can be whoever she needs.  There isn't always rhyming, but the repetition of her mother and father keeps a familiar beat. 

Historical Fiction

The Red Badge of Courage By Stephen Crane

Publisher: Dover Publications Inc. (1990)

ISBN: 0486264653

We meet a young farm boy named Henry Fleming.  His mother threw every excuse in the book for him to not join the infantry, but he did it for the glory anyways. Once on the battle field, he realizes that war isn't what he thought it was.  He and then other cavalrymen painfully wait day after day to hear any advancement in their plans, while gossiping about what they heard.

Rating:

I give The Red Badge of Courage a LITTLE SMILE.  This rating is more subjective for me because I found this story hard to read.  There definitely is an expectation of knowing military background knowledge and 1800s vernacular.  I do think this would be a great historical perspective read to those who enjoy war-based books, but it was a little much for me.

Train to Somewhere By Eve Bunting & Ronald Himler

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers (2000)

ISBN: 978-0618040315

We follow a little girl named Marianne and her journey on the orphan train.  She is deemed undesirable of all the orphans, and stop by stop she watches the other orphans get adopted.  She copes with the thought that at the next station, she will be reunited with her mother.  

Rating:

Train to Somewhere gets a BIG SMILE even though it is a sad story.  This perspective taught me about the orphan trains, something that I did not know about.  Though I am relieved at the end when Marianne is adopted to a loving family and is not left alone as an orphan.

NightJohn By Gary Paulsen

Publisher: Delacorte Press (1993)

ISBN: 0385308388

A plantation owner named Waller buys a new slave named John.  One fateful night, he goes looking for some tobacco and all he has to trade is learning how to read.  A 12 year old girl named Sarny is intrigued and takes him up on this offer.

Rating:

NightJohn deserves a BIG SMILE.  Honestly, I would give it a mega smile if my scale could reach.  I could not put this book down.  It's a first person account from a fictional girl named Sarny.  It is an emotional journey from Sarney being excited about learning the alphabet to Waller punishing John and Mammy for hiding this from him.  Waller said that is was illegal for the slaves to learn how to read and write.  **Spoilers**  So Waller chops off each of John's middle toes as punishment.  Two days later, John actually escapes and says he will be back.  Waller becomes enraged that his dogs cannot find his slave for the first time.  Then John comes back late in the night and brings Sarny to his school to teach her the rest of the alphabet.  I loved this book because John was dedicated to teaching slaves how to read and write in order to tell their accounts of the atrocities that they face.  In this book we encounter raping for breeding, escapes, brutal deaths, and hope.  It displays the perspective of slave life and how awful it is to treat humans in this way.  The inside cover depicts how Gary Paulsen meticulously researched his facts in order to write this story, and the quality truly shows.

Informational Texts

Climate Change: A Hot Topic By Dan Green

Publisher: Kingfisher (2014)

ISBN: 9780753471760

Climate Change is a child sized book, which reminds me of a board book in size.  It discusses many aspects of climate change, but in simpler terms for a middle school child to understand.  The book begins by explaining concepts, such as the sun, land, and the ocean.  Then, they discuss why each is important to maintaining homeostasis.  Then Climate Change goes to discuss each of the green house gases and their effect on the Earth.  Finally, the last chapter gives examples of ways that people can decrease their carbon footprint to preserve our Earth.  Examples include Geoengineering (catching carbon dioxide and reducing the sun's heat to Earth) and renewable energy.

Rating:

I give Climate Change a BIG SMILE because it is a very important topic.  This book did a great job of incorporating factual material, yet making it easier to understand for a younger audience.  It is a lengthier book, but is broken down into chapters to read periodically.  There are cartoon pictures that go with each description to make it more visually appealing.  The text is not overly wordy.

Frogs By Seymour Simon

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books (2015)

ISBN: 9780062289124

Frogs discusses the different types and lifestyle of frogs.  Their life begins as tadpoles that feed off rocks, their yolks, or plants in the water.  Their gills develop into lungs and they metamorphosis into having arms and legs.  They generally live in slow running water to stay in one area.  When it comes time to reproduce, the male attracts the female through it's croaking call.  From there the eggs are laid in the water and fertilized by sperm and the life-cycle restarts.  Frogs contains much more detailed information that is very interesting.  

Rating:

I give Frogs a BIG SMILE.  The text is easy to read and gives explanations of bigger words, such as exothermic.  This is very informative about the life and types of frogs, but I would not say it's all inclusive.   I feel that the amount of information is appropriate for a younger audience and is not overwhelming.  The font is large and has pictures on every page.  The pictures are high definition photographs that extenuate the facts given. 

Families Around the World By Margriet Ruurs

Publisher: Kids Can Press LTD. (2014)

ISBN: 9781894786577

Families Around the World is from the perspective of a child.  There are fourteen children, each from a different country,  The backgrounds are very diverse,  One example is Nkoitoi from Kenya.  In the morning he helps his family by gathering water and firewood to make food.  Their pet is a goat, unlike an American pet.  They are taught from home.  The aunt teaches how to read and count, while the mother teaches them skills like basket weaving.

Rating:

This title deserves a BIG SMILE!  I love cultural diversity, and this book exemplifies diversity through the child's perspective.  This book reads like a children wrote each story.  The stories are short yet rich with information.  At the end, the author prompts the reader to think if they identify with a story from the book.  Examples include having one parent or both of the same sex, or living in a different country than you were born, or live with extended family.  I think this book not only introduces different lifestyles to children, but shows how similar they are.