Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt

Schmidt, G. D. (2015). Orbiting Jupiter. New York, NY: Clarion Books.

Jack's parents were told two things about Joseph, the 14 year old foster boy coming to live with him. First, he almost killed one of his teachers. Second, he is a father to a baby girl. Everything else they learn from Joseph as he slowly unravels from the depth of anger and hurt that he has and we learn the story of his love for Jupiter, his baby. The story is told through the eyes of Jack, a 12 year old and is heart wrenching. The author has created characters that you love - Joseph, Jack/Jackie, the parents, and several teachers and some you will wish would just go - the vice principal who does not believe that Joseph can ever change, Jospeh’s dad, and the bullies.

Assignment # 3 - Evaluation Criteria

The characters and setting are the evaluation criteria that exude from this book.  The characters tug at your heartstrings, are relatable and believable right from the start.  Jack, the narrator, is the storyteller who is courageous and should be admired, revered and cheered.  Then there’s Joseph, the main character, to be cracked, analyzed, approached with caution, loved, saved and eventually mourned. 

             

The setting on a rural farm in Maine lends to the small town, “everybody knows everything” feel of this book.  The setting shows the boys working hard on the farm, completing chores, bonding, even though it’s mostly Jack bonding with Joseph.  The animals help Joseph begin to trust but he is bullied at almost every turn, all the while remaining focused on finding his daughter, Jupiter, so he won’t be alone.  Only in the end realizing that Jack always has his back, so he must do the same, which leads to tragedy.

Author Interview:  https://bookpage.com/interviews/18869-gary-d-schmidt#.V471blUrLX4

Author Interview:

Book Trailer:

              

Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

Cleary, B., & Zelinsky, P. O. (1983). Dear Mr. Henshaw. New York: W. Morrow.

This cleverly written book is a series of letters. Leigh writes a letter to a beloved author, Mr. Henshaw in first grade. Leigh continues to write to his favorite author and then in 6th grade, his teacher assigns the whole class to write letters to an author and ask them questions.  Mr. Henshaw writes back to him with questions of his own which his mother makes him reply to.  They develop a relationship and Leigh divulges his family situation and Mr. Henshaw encourages Leigh to continue writing in a journal.  He does although it feels strange writing to a book so he writes to the Fake Mr. Henshaw.  It is touching and inspiring.

Assignment #3 - Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation criteria in Dear Mr. Henshaw are the characters and the theme.  Children can relate to the challenges the main character, Leigh Botts, and his family experience.  Leigh, his mother and father come through the pages as being genuine and real, all with their own issues and baggage.  Leigh is struggling with his parent’s divorce and starting in a new school, while his mother is a single parent attending school, something many children can relate to.  

The theme of this book is seen through letters to Leigh’s favorite author, Boyd Henshaw.  The book begins with Leigh writing to him of his own volition. Then it becomes an assignment given to him by his 6^th grade teacher where he must ask the author questions.  The two end up developing a relationship that later turns into entries in a journal with his letters addressed to Dear Fake Mr. Henshaw.

Teaching Plan: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/dear-mr-henshaw-teaching-plan

Literature Unit:  http://edhelper.com/books/Dear_Mr_Henshaw.htm

Book trailer:

How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg

Bragg, G., & O'Malley, K. (2011). How they croaked: The awful ends of the awfully famous. New York: Walker & Company.

This book is about famous people in history who met some pretty awful ends.  Most of the people in this book are famous or infamous for the way they lived their lives but this book highlights they way that they died.  It is gruesome but very cleverly written and super entertaining. Each entry contains the facts about the person like where they were born, what day, where they died and what day plus their age at death.  Then it goes in to detail about how they died.  At the end of each chapter it gives you facts about that person and their death. 

Assignment # 2

I believe that the Accuracy and Design of this informational book is what brings this subject matter to life, so to speak. It has a Table of Contents and Index so that you can read only what you are interested in. The sources on each person are extensive as well as the “Further Reading and Surfing” links.  The Design of this book is quite clever with it’s pencil sketches of each subject and the font used draws you in to the topic.  At the end of the book there is a time line showing connections of each person to one or more of the other historical figures. This also lends to the accuracy of the book plus adds to the Design.  The writing itself is very clever and skillfully entertaining at the same time.

Author website:  http://georgiabragg.com/

Illustrator website:  http://www.booksbyomalley.com/

Non-fiction Writing Activity: https://ktwelve.wikispaces.com/Non-Fiction+Writing+Activity+using+the+book+How+they+Croaked

Learning Unit:  https://sites.google.com/site/kbeachler30/learning-unit-2

Book Trailer:

We Are The Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson

Nelson, K. (2008). We are the ship: the story of negro league baseball. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children.

This book tells of the courageous, talented and inspirational players and owners of the Negro League and how the league was formed and thrived until 1947.  They overcame obstacles such as racism, low pay, terrible playing conditions, hatred to do the thing they enjoyed the most: play baseball/

Assignment # 2 - Informational - Evaluation Criteria

Organization, Style and Accuracy are the criteria that really stand out to me in this book.  The chapters are organized by Innings because the topic is baseball.  There are End Notes expressing what is in each chapter, an Index and an extensive bibliography lending to the accuracy of this book. The style of the paintings, type face and personal quotes from the players helps you feel the time period of this informational book. It was hard to narrow down just one or two evaluation criteria for this book because I believe it touches on each one.

Author's website http://www.kadirnelson.com/

Author Reading:  http://www.scholastic.com/teacher/videos/teacher-videos.htm#3193530830001/1902520201

Lesson Plans:  https://springborofplibrary.wikispaces.com/We+are+the+ship

Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

Jeffers, O. (2014). Once upon an alphabet. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

This is a very cleverly written alphabet book.  Each letter has a story to tell.  Some stories have a moral or teach a lesson, others are nonsensical but entertaining, while others are just a funny story. Alliteration is in play for many of the letters which makes for a lot of read-aloud fun.  Activities: https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/10/23/once-upon-an-alphabet-oliver-jeffers/

Author website: http://www.oliverjeffers.com/picture-books/once-upon-an-alphabet

Interview with the author: http://www.npr.org/2014/10/13/354811653/in-this-alphabet-o-is-for-helpful-owl-and-c-is-for-escapist-cup

Meet the Dullards by Sara Pennypacker

Pennypacker, S. (2015). Meet the Dullards. New York, NY: Balzer Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins.

This is a comical take on being boring.  The Dullards want their children Blanda, Borely and Little Dud to be as boring as can be.  They try really hard even moving into a house in another city because the one they are in is becoming too much of a circus.  They can't decide between painting the room gray or beige, both are boring either way.  They decide to combine the two. While they are starting at the walls the children sneak out to play outside, heaven forbid!

Author's website: http://www.sarapennypacker.com/index.htm

Rodeo Red by Maripat Perkins

Perkins, M. (2015). Rodeo Red. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree.

This sweet story is about a big sister who has a baby brother that sidles into her life and messes things up for her, including stealing her favorite stuffed dog.  She outsmarts the little dickens and gets her dog back but not without getting sideways with the Sheriff and the Deputy (mom and dad).  The tone of this book is marvelous with it's western metaphors to boot!

Activities: http://geolibrarian.blogspot.com/2015/03/picture-book-review-and-activity-ideas.html

Download the free ebook  https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?docid=1VUYQIdBv1zpzt3K8onSdc2FgS7QA58cXy2kFKMpn#rows:id=1

A Big Guy Took My Ball! by Mo Willems

Willems, M. (2013). A big guy took my ball! New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children.

Piggie tells Gerald that a big guy took a ball that he found. Gerald goes to Piggie's defense only to find out that the big guy that took the ball is bigger than he is and not only that, but it is NOT Piggie's ball to begin with. It is the Whale's ball.  A discussion ensues about who is big and who is little and they all decide that they can have big fun with a little help.

Author's website:  http://www.mowillems.com/

Teaching guide  http://books.disney.com/content/uploads/2013/10/Elephant-Piggie-TG-%C6%92.pdf

Piggie and Elephant Activities http://ckisloski.blogspot.com/2014/05/we-love-piggie-and-elephant.html

Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of the Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet

Sweet, M. (2011). Balloons over Broadway: The true story of the puppeteer of Macy’s Parade. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.

Have you ever wondered how the Macy's Day Parade and all those wonderful floats came about?  This story will tell you. Tony Sarg is the mastermind behind the puppets that eventually became the balloons in the parade in 1924.


Assignment # 2 - Informational - Evaluation Criteria

The Evaluation Criteria of Design lends to the readability and delightfulness of this book about Tony Sarg’s life as the mastermind behind the floats in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  The author/illustrator of this book used some of the pictures from Tony Sargs own book The Tony Sarg Marionette Book.  Ms. Sweet made toys and puppets that she used to help her with the illustration process.  The type face and fonts on many of the pages also give you the feeling of an old fashioned type setting machine which brings the 20s and 30s time period to life.

Author page:  http://melissasweet.net/

Activity Kit http://www.hmhbooks.com/kids/resources/BalloonsOverBroadway_ActivityKit.pdf

More Activities:  https://suzyred.com/2013_Balloons_Over_Broadway.html

Rosa by Nikki Giovanni

Giovanni, N., & Collier, B. (2005). Rosa. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, LLC.

This is a lovely book based on the life of Rosa Parks. This book illustrates the courage it took to take the stand she made that triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott that hoped to put an end to segregation laws.   It gives you a glimpse into her personal life and her inner struggle as she stood up for herself and all those around her.

Assignment #2 - Informational - Evaluation Criteria

The Design and Style of this book are evident on each page.  I did some further research beyond this book to figure out how the illustrator created his drawings.  I found a video interview with Bryan Collier, the illustrator at http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/collier  explaining how he created the art for this book.  He starts out by doing sketches but then he adds cut outs from old magazines to do the patterns and make collages that he thinks represent the images he is trying to portray on each page.  Then he adds watercolor to finish out many of the images.  The collage style and design of each page adds to the effectiveness of bringing the reader into Rosa Parks’ life.

Lesson plans:  http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonplans/bookfairs/currconnection/rosa.htm