Angels, Angels Everywhere by Tomie DePaola

Angels, Angels Everywhere. Written and illustrated by Tomie DePaola. 2005. ISBN:0-399-24370-4. Nonfiction or Contemporary Realistic Fiction. Ages 3+.

In this book, angels are the main focus to help children understand that angels are everywhere. Angels can not only be angels, the heavenly beings, but also can be the people that help us to do everyday things.

Some of the angels in this book are the "wake up angel," the "kitchen angel," the "music angel," the "pet angel," the "tea party angel", the "popcorn angel," the "pajama and bathrobe angels," and the "goodnight angel."

It is really important to realize that even though some children's faiths may not support this type of story that the angels can also be viewed as the special people in our life who are always looking out for us. A fun activity to do after reading this book would be to have the children draw their favorite angel, which really could be anything. I think that mine would be the "pet's angel."

The Three Pigs by David Wiesner

The Three Pigs. Written and illustrated by David Wiesner. 2001. ISBN: 0-618-00701-6. Winner of the Caldecott Medal. Fantasy. Ages 5+.

In this book, the three little pigs story starts out as usual. But when the wold blows the house of straw down, he also blows the first little pig right out of the story board, which happens to save his life. The first pig helps the second pig escape and the third pig escape and they wander around in the world of storyboards.

They come to a nursery rhyme book, and quickly realize they do not want to be there! As they leave the nursery rhyme book the cat and the fiddle follow them. They come to a medieval book and help the dragon escape from the knight that is about to slay him. They all soon realize they would like to go home, and the dragon and the cat come back to the brick house where they all lived happily ever after!

This is a funny take on the original story. It is letting the pigs call the shots. The pictures are really an essential part of the story as they help to tell the story and are fun to watch morph. The art in the book is watercolor and pen, and each page is really beautiful to look at.

For an activity with this story it would be fun to have children (who may be older) create a new story of a classic children's tale. They could also combine different tales into a new one. It would be really interesting to see what each child came up with. They could also work in groups, as more imaginative ideas tend to emerge as children converse with one another.

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Charlotte's Web. Written by E.B. White. Pictures by Garth Williams. 1952. ISBN: 0-06-440055-7. Winner of the Newbery Honor medal. Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy. Ages 8+.

Fern, a young girl growing up on her families farm, saves a runt pig from her Father's ax, and decides to raise it as her own. He seems to be a special pig, and Fern names him Wilbur. They have an extremely close bond. When Wilbur is too big for fern to keep at her house, she sells him to her Uncle Zuckerman, and this becomes Wilbur's new home.

Wilbur quickly makes friends with the barnyard animals, including the Gander and Goose, Templeton the Rat, and the many sheep. He also becomes friends with a curiously eloquent speaking spider named Charlotte. Wilbur enjoys his days on the farm, getting fed slop and rolling in the mud and manure.

One day the old sheep tells Wilbur that the Zuckerman's are just getting him nice and plump so that at Christmastime, they can kill Wilbur for his meat. Wilbur freaks out and has a nervous breakdown. Charlotte, seeing all of this, comes up with a plan to help save Wilbur's life.

Charlotte spins words into her web that describe Wilbur. The Zuckerman's, as well as Fern's family, and people from all over come to see these words. "Some Pig," "Terrific," and "Radiant." As Wilbur goes to the fair to try to win a prize, Charlotte spins her final web to spell "Humble." At the fair, Wilbur and Mr. Zuckerman win a honorable prize, and Wilbur's life is spared.

Charlottle doesn't survive the fair, but her egg sac does, and Wilbur brings it home and watches over it until springtime when the eggs hatch and hundreds of baby spiders emerge. Three spiders choose to make Wilbur's pen their home.

This book is such a classic and uplifting story for young children to read. Obviously animals cannot talk in any language that we can understand, and so it does fall into a fantasy genre. As for how this book can be used in a classroom, there are lots of possibilities. I really think that it would be a great book to introduce animals and have the children each pick a farm animal to research and present a project on.

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

The City of Ember. Written by Jeanne DuPrau. 2003. ISBN: 0-375-82274-7. Contemporary (slightly) Realistic Fiction. Ages 10+.

The City of Ember is the first book in a three part series about the City and the people of Ember. It is Jeanne DuPrau's first novel. The two books to follow in the series are The People of Sparks and The Prophet of Yonwood.

In Ember, a city deep within the earth, life once thrived. The "Builders" or engineers of the underground city, created a place to ensure the survival of humanity. Ember's citizen's including Lina Mayfleet and her Grandmother and baby sister, as well as Doon Harrow, all have known of no other world besides Ember. The history books in school claim that Ember is the only place in the universe.

Lina Mayfleet has trouble believing this. She dreams of beautiful cities and wonders if the sky is actually blue instead of black. Doon Harrow, Lina's classmate knows that Ember is failing as a city, and he is determined to get to the bottom of it and save the city. Doon is correct, Ember is failing, as the city has housed it's inhabitants for longer than the Builders intended. The builders left instructions for a way out of Ember, and entrusted these instructions to the Mayor of the city, to be passed from Mayor to Mayor until the box finally opened on it's own and revealed how to get out of Ember for good. This never happened, as one Mayor, Lina's great great grandfather died before being able to pass the box along.

Doon and Lina begin an adventure to figure out how to save the city and its people from being trapped in the dark forever. They soon discover that the Mayor is selfish and evil and is no help, and so they are on their own. Lina finds the Builders Instructions, but only after her baby sister chews them up and half of it is missing. The deciphering and exploring take them all over the city, and soon they discover that the cities supplies and power are diminishing faster than they think. They figure out the Builders Instructions to escape and they plan to tell everyone, but they are accused by the Mayor for being vicious rumor spreaders and so they are forced to escape and save themselves. The two of them, along with Lina's baby sister, emerge into a world of blue skies, green grasses, forests and natural fruits. They soon discover the realization that Ember is underground, and the real world is where they are.

This book is fun and exciting and has suspense and action. It is a similar concept to that of the Giver, but not as extreme. I believe that this could be a fun class book to read out loud to a class, and then have them make predictions as to what will happen next, as there are a lot of twists and turns. This book also brings up an interesting concept on the topic of humanities survival. Do the children think this concept of living underground is possible? Would they ever volunteer to leave their life behind to go underground - or to another planet to live? Also, since this book is so descriptive, an art project would be fun for children to create a scene from the book.

This book has now been made into a film.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Giver. Written by Lois Lowry. 1993. ISBN 978-0-440-23768-6. Winner of the Newbery Medal (distinguished literature for children). Contemporary realistic fiction. Ages 10+.

Jonas, an Eleven year old boy, lives in the Community, with his two parents and younger sister, Lily. None of them are blood relatives to one another. During the annual Ceremonies, Jonas partakes in the Ceremony of Twelve. This is where each child turning twelve receives their Assignment as to what their job or contribution to the Community will be for the rest of their lives. Jonas is Selected, not assigned, for the Receiver of Memory. A prestigious position, and known as the highest honored within the Community.

As Jonas meets with the old Receiver, now the Giver, he begins to study his trade, and learn about the outside world. The memories Jonas receives are not only those of the Giver, but those of the entire world, for as long as history, back and back and back. Jonas starts seeing things in color and feeling things such as love. He also has to feel terrible things such as War and neglect. Jonas doesn't understand why the world was so beautiful once and now everything is in Sameness. He expresses these feelings to the Giver, and they agree that these memories should be memories that everyone should have. The devise a plan to have Jonas escape and go find Elsewhere, but it goes horribly wrong. Jonas and his baby brother Gabriel escape on bicycle, and are searched after. As Jonas runs for his and Gabe's life, he leaves the Community and Sameness behind, along with all of the memories he sets free, into the people of the Community. Jonas and Gabriel do finally find safety in Elsewhere, or the normal world with color and music and love.

This book is a fascinating read, and I enjoyed it much more as an adult than I did as a child. I believe that is because I probably understood it more. However, it is not too hard for young readers to get through, and the concepts are not difficult.

This book can bring up a lot of questions about how we are all individuals and unique. It can also bring about a discussion of "what ifs." What if the world were like the Community? What if we saw everything in black and white? What if everything we had known in our childhood turned out to be a lie?

Tales from Grimm by Wanda Gag

Tales from Grimm. Freely translated and illustrated by Wanda Gag. 1936. ISBN 0-8166-4936-7. Fairy tales and Folklore from the Brother's Grimm. Ages 5 and up.

Wanda Gag was a Minnesota author who received the Newbery honor for her books Millions of Cats and The ABC Bunny. She translated the original takes from the Brother's Grimm literally at first, but found that they tales then lacked a certain luster that she felt they held when told in German. She then decided to freely translate to try to recapture the luster and wonderment of each tale.

The tales in this collection are Hansel and Gretel, Cat and Mouse Keep House, Six Servants, Spindle Shuttle and Needle, Doctor Know-It-All, The Musicians of Bremen, Cinderella, Clever Elsie, Rapunzel, The Fisherman and His Wife, The Three Brothers, The Frog Prince, Lazy Heinz, Lean Liesl and Lanky Lenz, Snow White and Rose Red, and lastly The Dragon and his Grandmother.

These tales may seem unfamiliar or very familiar, but they all are as close to the original Grimm tales as possible. As I was unfamiliar with some and familiar with others, I decided to read a few of each.

The Fisherman and his Wife tells the tale of a greedy wife and her fisherman husband who catches a fish who is a magical Prince. The fisherman agrees to let the fish go and because of this the wife thinks it is justified to ask for something in return. At first she asks for just a modest home for them to live in, instead of the old vinegar jug that they live in currently. The fish grants this wish and the husbands wife is satisfied for a short time. She eventually becomes greedy wanting more and more and every time the fish grants her wishes. Each time a wish is granted the weather and the sea become more stormy and black. Eventually the Wife wishes for her to be God like- as to which the fish grants this and she is back in the tiny vinegar jug that she had to begin with. This tale is obviously about greed and how it can change a person. I couldn't help but think of the Disney movie Aladin and how it paralleled this tale.

I also read Cinderella as well as Rapunzel, as I was familiar with these tales as well. They were close to what I recall them being like, telling the classic tale of a poor maiden who eventually gets a Prince to fall in love with her and marry her, having her escape from her evil guardians.

Snow White and Red Rose had a much different take upon it than the Disney movie portrays. The two children are happy and live with their mother. They take in a friendly bear who is really a bewitched Prince. The gnomes are the evil characters in the tale, as they lie and steal and curse at the young sisters. Eventually the friendly bear breaks the spell he is under and the gnomes are scared away.

The tale that intrigued me the most would have to be Lazy Heinz. In this tale a lazy many marries and equally lazy woman. All they want to do is just be lazy and lay in bed all day and all night. They sell their goats to their neighbor for his honeybee hive, so that they don't have to take the goats for walks everyday. When the honeybees produce honey they lay around in bed all day and eat the sweet honey. When they accidentally break the honey pot, they are not concerned and continue to lay in bed being content and lazy. And that is the story. This goes against so much of everything that I have learned growing up about always being productive and learning as much as I can. In American culture, laziness is generally viewed as a negative behavior. This is why I was so confused by this story. However, when it was written I believe that laziness would be more similar to being "worry free" today, which could be viewed as a good thing.

All of the stories are fairy tale oriented and tend to have a magical aspect to them. However, these tales, all have some sort of moral lesson to be learned, as well as an element of fantasy to make them entertaining to all ages.

These tales could be used in the classroom to introduce all sorts of topics, such as morals being the obvious one. Disney has done an okay job reinterpreting these tales to make them more kid friendly and less scary, but the main story still resides somewhat. Overall, if anything these tales are a great way to connect to the past childhoods of parents and grandparents alike. A special night reading a tale with a Grandparent would be a wonderful assignment. The child could ask their grandparent to tell them a different tale that they may have been told as a young person. It could turn into a very cool bonding experience as well as a passing down of generational memories.

Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola

Strega Nona. Written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola. 1975. Caldecott Honor Book. ISBN 0-671-66283-X. Ages 5 and up. Fictional Folktale.

Strega Nona, called "Grandma Witch" by her fellow townspeople, is a magical woman, who can help cure any problem. Even the priest and nuns would go to her for help. When Strega Nona hired Big Anthony for help, she gave him a few rules, but the most important one was to not touch her pasta pot. Big Anthony discovers that her pasta pot is magical, and when Strega needs to leave for the day, he makes pasta for the whole town. At first he is viewed as a hero, but when the pasta keeps coming and coming and begins to take over the town, Anthony is now a criminal! In the end, Strega Nona returns to see what has happened, and she stops the pasta. She also decides that Anthony must have "punishment to fit the crime," and makes him eat all the pasta!

This book is a classic tale of how listening to directions and rules is important. If Anthony would have obeyed Strega Nona's rule of not touching her pot, nothing would have happened! It is important to teach this lesson to children early on, and this is a great story to tell.

Once again, this book could be used to discuss how it is important to obey rules, directions and laws. It reinforces that bad things will probably happen if you disobey. Strega Nona also seems to be from a different country, such as Greece or Italy. This could bring discussion about Geography as well, but mainly for younger children.

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf. Writing and pictures by Lois Ehlert. 1991. ISBN 0-15-266197-2. Young children (Ages 3 to 10) and their families. Ehlert has received honors for the Caldecott medal for other books, and has also received a New York Times Best Illustrated Picture Book award.

A young child and their parent describe the growth of a Sugar Maple tree from seed to full grown. Each season is chronicled nicely with Ehlerts delightfully crafty collages of seeds, roots, fabric, wire, watercolors, paper leaves and more!

The story takes the readers from wild sugar maple seeds in the woods, to surviving a squirrels appetite, to the trees very first roots, a trip to the garden center, and finally to our child's backyard, where it can grow wild again! The tree is known for it's beautiful red and yellow leaves in the Fall season, and the pictures capture the vibrancy of the leaves well.

After the child's story, there is a multitude of information on the sugar maple tree and other trees, and how your family could grow one of their own. It is thorough, but light, with enough information to peak your interest and get you thinking about planting a special tree in your yard!

This book is a great introduction book to the fall season as well as a good lead in for Arbor Day. Because of the unique collages in the book, a funky art project using different and random medium could be inspiring. Another project could be something to do with gathering different leaves from different trees, learning how to identify each, and then pressing them.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Where the Wild Things Are. Written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. 1963. ISBN 978-0-06-443178-1. Fantasy. Winner of The Caldecott Medal (picture/illustration award). Ages 5+.

Where the Wild Things are tells the story of Max, a boy who liked to use his imagination and dress up in costumes. Max uses his imagination to take him to the land of the Wild Things, which at first look very scary, but turn out to be Max's loyal subjects, as they make him their King. Max and the Wild Things have a great time, but Max's imagination is interrupted by his hunger, and he returns to the present where there is dinner waiting.

In this book, Max's story is told through the pictures. It shows how Max imagines these Wild Things and their exotic world, and how he believes that they act. It is a simple, yet interesting book. The pictures are fascinating to look at and help you connect with Max and his creative imagination.

This book could be used to introduce imagination or fantasy. It would be interesting to learn what types of magical lands and creatures exist within a child's mind. It could spur on a discussion about how looks can be deceiving, as the Wild Things are scary looking, but they are really nice and normal creatures too.

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen

Owl Moon. Written by Jane Yolen, illustrations by John Schoenherr. 1987. ISBN 0-399-21457-7. Caldecott Medal (picture/illustrations award). Contemporary Realistic Fiction. Caucasian. Ages 6+.

A little girl and her father go off into the cold winter night to go owling. Owling involves walking deep into the forest and being quiet, brave and hopeful that you will just get a glimpse of an owl. The little girl and her father do spot a beautiful owl, which is rare.

The prose and watercolors in the book are beautiful to look at and listen to. This book has a calming sense to it. It shows the connection that the little girl has with trusting her father. It also shows, more through the illustrations, that humans are a very tiny part of the beautiful nature surrounding us.

This book could be used for many things. After reading children could describe and illustrated/watercolor their own special event that they had with a parent or adult. This book could also be used to introduce owls or winter.