The Ant and the Grasshopper

by Luli Gray and illustrated by Giuliano Ferri

Week 7:  Folklore

           The thing that I love about folklore is that it almost always teaches a lesson and "Ant and Grasshopper" is one of my favorites.  Luli Gray takes the original story and adds some fun twists that kids enjoy. I also choose this version because the illustrations are amazing.  In the story Ant is busy gathering food for the winter, and mocks Grasshopper for just playing music and dancing instead of preparing.  However, Ant too finds himself getting distracted by the music and dancing.

  

          However, when the harsh winter hits and Ant finds Grasshopper cold and hungry in the snow, he can't help but bring him inside. Only when after opening his home to Grasshopper does Ant realize that music, dancing, and laughter have their place in his life, too.

          The story of the "Ant and the Grasshopper" dates back to 620 B.C.  to the Greek storyteller Aesop.  This story teaches that it is good to have fun, but it is better to get your work done and be prepared.  There will always be time for enjoyment but if there is no joy if you are in a bad situation  and you understand it is because you didn't put in the work.   

         In class, this story has a lot of fun activities and lessons that can be incorporated into the lesson plan.  I like to teach "cause and effect" with this story because it really puts it in a way that first graders understand. 

 Crave

by Tracy Wolff

Week 7:  Fantasy 

            When I began this book I didn't realize it was a "young adult" book.  I have recently gotten into where I love listening to audio books, because I can cook, clean, and be productive while listening to a good book.  My new favorite audio books are the ones done by a company called "Graphic Audio."  They not only read the book, they have actors come in and read different parts and put music and sound effects to the book.   It's like listening to a movie.   I had just finished  "Fourth Wing"  by Rebecca Yarros and it was done by Graphic Audio, it was not a young adult book. However, I enjoyed it so much I started looking for other audio books by the same company and "Crave" was one of them. 

        I could tell right off that this was made for a younger audience, so I started researching the book and saw that it was indeed a "young adult" fantasy book. It felt like a newer version of "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyers, which I never read it but saw the movie.  It's about a girl named Grace whose parents are killed in a car accident and she has to move to Alaska.  There her Uncle runs a boarding school that is very isolated in the mountains. It looks like a normal school until events start happening that are not normal.  She meets a boy named Jackson and after some time learns that he is a vampire. I prefer not to give too much of the books away in my blogs in case someone ones to read it, I don't want to spoil it. 

             This is not a normal book that I would read but it was entertaining, so I did manage to make it through the book.  Where in "Twilight" there are vampires and wolves, this book has students that are witches, dragons, wolves, and vampires.  They all have their own cliques also.  The book did leave me longing to find out "what happens next."  So I looked and "Crave" is the first of a series of seven books.  "Graphic Audio" did make one for the second book called "Crush."  I figure I'll listen to it also. I do think that book series are good for young readers because it makes them want to keep reading.   

            I'm glad that I did read it though, in spite of it being for a younger audience, because now if a teacher asks if it is age appropriate I can tell them. "Crave" was better than some that I have read, there were no explicit sexual scenes that were inappropriate for a young adult. It does have some inappropriate language and cussing if that is a concern of a parent or teacher.  If it was a movie I might give it a PG-13 rating due to language and some violence.  I do know that there are lot of books are being read by young adults right now that are not age appropriate and parents don't know they aren't.  They are learning about them on social media and teachers and parents don't know they reading adult books.  We do need to make sure that the books that our young adult readers are reading are age appropriate and not for adults only.  I'm not talking about banning books, I'm talking about making sure the content is not to explicit for young readers.  "Crave" is a good book that I would feel comfortable with older students reading and feel good about it because I have read it as well.        

 The Long Winter

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Week 6:  Historical Fiction 

"The Long Winter" is one of my favorite of the "Little House" Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I even read it aloud to my third grade class one year.   I enjoy historical fiction because it is entertaining while teaching about history at the same time.  Every winter I think of this book, and when I feel cold I just remember Laura and her family with snow up to the top of their house with very little fire to keep the house warm.  Most of us have never experienced anything like what they went though.

The winter that Laura is talking about did happen.  In the year 1880-1881 in the Dakota Territories, it is one of the worst winters in history.  Laura was 14.  In the book she writes of an old Native American man  that comes to the general store in town to warn the settlers that a hard winter comes in seven-year cycles and the hardest comes at the end of the third cycle.  Laura and her family make the decision to move to town for the winter after hearing this information.   One of the historical facts that is mentioned in the book is about how there was so much snow and ice that the train could not bring supplies to the town. 

Laura and her family then have to ration food and fuel for the rest of the winter.  They have to grind their own wheat because there was no other flour to make bread.  They had to become very creative in finding ways to heat the house and make candles.   

I'm not sure why this book stuck with me more than the others because I loved them all.  I guess it was just what they had to do to survive.  We thought the pandemic and quarantining in our houses was horrible, they had to for seven months.  For seven months blizzard after blizzard came,  keeping them confined to their homes for much of the time.   This is one of those book that when winter comes you can think "well at least it wasn't that bad." 

Johnny Appleseed 

by Reeve Lindbergh

Week 6: Historical Fiction 

Even though some consider "Johnny Appleseed" just folklore, it is also historical fiction.  Johnny Appleseed was a real person.  His name was John Chapman and he planted many apple orchards along America's Western Frontier.  Even though the children's books have altered his story to be more like a folktale,  educators can still use his books for a historical lesson. 

 

         

I chose this version of the "Johnny Appleseed" story because it is written like a poem.  Books with rhyming poems help students with phonemic awareness. This illustrations are also really fun and pretty to look at.  It goes through the story of how Johnny Appleseed planted many apple trees across the United States. 

Many school across the United States, Pre-K thru First Grade, celebrate Johnny Appleseed's birthday.  We dedicate that whole week to activities with apples.  We do crafts where students learn the different parts of an apple,  we have an apple tasting to see what color apple students like the best, we do a writing assignment about Johnny Appleseed, and we make applesauce.  It makes the whole school smell wonderful.  There are so many fun and engaging lessons that can be done during this week and we look forward to it every year.  

 

 Black Birds the the Sky

by Brandy Colbert

Week 5:  Native American/African American Literature

This week's theme was to find young adult books about Native American or African Americans as the lead characters or topic.  As I was trying to find a book for this theme I googled "Young Adult African American literature"  This sent me to a list of books considered "young adult" of about 25 books for suggestions.  "Black Birds in the Sky" was one listed and it mentioned that it was about the "Tulsa Race Massacre."  I thought this sounded like a good read because I live in Oklahoma and know some about the Tulsa Race Massacre but not as much as I would like. The book does cover how the negro part of Tulsa were attacked and many were killed in 1921. 

I found the book on my public library app on my phone and downloaded it to read.  I prefer holding a book but this was easier.  Right away I could tell that this was not a read for "entertainment."  It was not a personal story (which I was hoping) it was more of an informative text.  It reads like something straight out of a history book.  It even goes into the history of Oklahoma becoming a state.  

I understand that in order to talk about the "Tulsa Race Massacre" there is a lot of background knowledge to cover in order for it to make any sense of what events lead up to it happening.  However this was not very entertaining book, unless you just love historical facts.  For this reason, it was kind of a hard read.  If it had been written as a story it would have been much more enjoyable.  Honestly, the best part of the book were the quotes from the actual survivors and the photos. 

 I made it through the book, and some of the stories were very interesting.  I just didn't feel that this type of book would be something that many young adults would find entertaining.  It just depends on the person reading the book and what they are wanting to get out of it, entertainment or information or both.   I was hoping for both.

 The Snowy Day

by Ezra Jack Keats 

Week 5:  Native American/African American Literature

"The Snowy Day" is the story of Peter and experience in 1962, when he wakes up and the world is covered with snow.  He puts on his red snowsuit and goes out and has little adventures in the snow.  It's a simple book, but there is something magical about being apart of Peter's day.  Student s can all relate to what's like to have a day to just go play and explore in the snow.

Ezra Jack Keats won the 1963 Caldecott Medal for "The Snowy Day" and it has been a classroom favorite every since.  Even though Ezra Jack Keats was not an African American it was important for him to have multiracial characters. His books opened the door for other books to have a African American as the lead character. 

“If we could see each other exactly as the other is,” he wrote, “this would be a different world.”]

In the classroom "The Snowy Day"can be used as a week long book study with each day covering a different reading strategy. The kids love it because they can relate the Peter's adventures in the snow.  There is also a short comprehension quiz at the end of the week.  It is perfect for a week in the month of January. I like to do a fun craft of Peter in his snowsuit.  It makes for a fun bulletin board. 

 Narwal: Unicorn of the Sea

 by Ben Clanton

Week 4:  Graphic Novels

Narwhal by Ben Clanton is a cute graphic novel for younger children.  It is easy to read and they love the graphics. This series had five books, "Unicorn of the Sea" is the first of the series.  The "Narwhal" series is popular with both boys and girls.  

"Narwhal" is a Narwhal in the ocean who discovers a new friend "Jellyfish."  Even though they don 't have a lot in common they become good friends.   The book has three different stories in the book, one where they become friends, one where they make a "pod" of friends, and one where they discover "the best book ever."   It's a great beginning book for learning how to read. 

In the classroom I would go over reading comprehension questions.  There are worksheets that have questions that they can answer independently and then can be discussed in a whole group. There are also writing crafts that can be done for a bulletin board.