The City of Ember

DuPrau, J (2003). The city of ember. New York: Yearling

Can you imagine finishing school and going to work by twelve years of age, working with no technology, and only ONE light bulb that lights the entire city?  Well, that is exactly what happens in “The City of Ember”, told from a third person omniscient point of view. The light comes on at 6:00 a.m. and out at 9:00 p.m, and the darkness goes on forever outside the city limits, or that’s what the people of Ember believe, except for Lina and Doon!  These main characters are experiencing a person against society conflict, because the mayor and his guards are trying to keep the city of Ember darkened. 

Lina, a protagonist, has always wished to be the messenger, because they spend most of their days outside. However, when it came time for the mayor to draw names for the jobs, she received Pipeworks (which is underground and dirty).  On the other hand, Doon, another protagonist, has always wanted to help the city in some way, but he drew the job as messenger.  Now, both Lina and Doon were upset with their jobs, so they decided to trade in order to have equal happiness, or so they thought.

Now the lights have begun flickering!  Lina has a strong imagination and she has dreamed of a new city outside of Ember, but will she ever find it?  Well, Lina finds a document that she thinks is important to finding a new city, but her little sister has torn it to shreds.  As well as they could, she and Doon put the pieces together to decipher the instructions. Little did they know, the document would unlock the unknown. But will they be brave enough to endure all the terrible things, such as the mayor, the guards, and their fears, that will get in their way to search for the new city?

For those of you that really appreciate fantasies, this book is for you!  All two hundred seventy pages were so entertaining that I could not put the book down.  I actually read it all in one day!  The City of Ember is a part of a series, and I’m looking forward to purchasing the next book which is called The People of Sparks. 

Thundercake

Polacco, P. (1990).  Thundercake. New York: Philomel Books.

Thundercake is a narrative picture book.  It is about a little girl that is afraid of thunderstorms.   While visiting her Babushka(grandmother), she helps her granddaughter overcome her fear of thunderstorms.  She tells her that it is perfect “thundercake” baking weather and takes her on different adventures.

In my opinion, she is such a stupendous illustrator that she could tell the story just through the visual elements.  To visualize movement throughout this story, Patricia uses a doublespread layout.  This is when the illustrations go off one page and onto the next to keep the reader’s eye moving.   She also uses a very cool color palette to show a dark, gloomy, and scary time throughout the book until near the end.  At this time she begins to add in some warm colors when the thunderstorm is over and she isn’t scared anymore.

I would really suggest that you use this book to introduce narrative writing. I’m definitely going to!  The story had great use of dialogue and figurative language, which are two large components of writing narratives.  One form of figurative language used was onomatopoeias.  They were written in large font, for example, ZIP, RRRRUMBLED, BOOOOOMED, CRASHED, and BBBBAAAAARRRRROOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMED.  She also wrote other words in large font to show intensity such as ROARED and ROLLED. Go check this book out at your local library and enjoy!

The Junkyard Wonders

Polacco, P.(2010).  The junkyard wonders. New York: Philomel Books.

This is another exceptional story told by Patricia Polacco!  It is about a little girl named Trisha that decides to move to a new school so she wouldn’t be “different” anymore.  However, when she arrived at the new school, she found out that her new class was called “The Junkyard.” She was so distraught over this because once again she was being labeled.  Nevertheless, Mrs. Peterson, her new teacher, wasn’t going to allow the labels to affect the lives of her students.  She allows the students to see exactly who the kids truly are through their talents.  You’ll have to read this book to learn about its great theme. 

Patricia composes her illustrations by using many diagonal and upward moving lines which creates a scene that is full of action and emotion.  She creates such a realistic picture through the warm color palette and texture. This makes you feel like you could just jump right into the page and become a character in the story.

This would be a excellent book choice to teach theme because of its great theme.  I know that every class has some students that will be harsh to other students around them and this story could help them think twice about their actions.

Something About Hensley’s

Polacco, P. (2006).  Something about hensley’s. New York: Philomel Books a division of Penguin Young Readers Group.

Patricia Pollaco is an outstanding author and illustrator that is known for creating stories from her real life experiences.  I absolutely love her books, and I have used many of them to teach different skills in reading. 

Something About Hensley’s is a great story because it is about an elderly man that owns a store that helps all the different people that come there.  Hensley’s  is one of those stores that you go to when you can’t find what you are looking for anywhere else, but you know that Mr. John Soncrant will have it.  Whether it is discontinued China, track shoes, or fiddle strings, you can find it at Hensley’s.  Old John can tell what everyone needs before they even know they need it.  Until one day when a new family moves in with a challenge.  Little Molly has asthma and a mother that is just a student in school who doesn’t have the income to give her what she needs.  You’ll have to read to find out if Old John was able to give Molly what she needed!

Patricia’s artwork was extraordinary!  As I was reading the book, I felt like I was a character in the store because the illustrations just pull you in. She uses Old John as her focal point by on the majority of the pages.  Sometimes, he may seem to be the largest visual on the page, but then when he is shown smaller, he is making a movement that draws your attention straight to him.  She also uses a warm color scheme to show the happy and welcoming mood throughout the story. 

I would use this book to teach how a character responds to a challenge because Old John is faced with the challenge of Molly’s asthma.

A Taste of Colored Water

Faulkner, Matt. (2008). A Taste of Colored Water. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division.

 

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like being a bystander during the Civil Rights March and witnessing all the brutality?  Well, this picture book set in the 1960’s tells the story of segregation from a youthful white kid’s perspective that loses her purity when she comes face to face with bigotry and cruelty towards African Americans. It starts off with a little girl named Abbey going into town on a shopping trip with her mom.  She saw a water fountain that said “Colored Water” hanging above it.  So when she met up with her friends Julius and Lucresia, she couldn’t wait to tell them about it.  It was hard for them to believe because they had never seen “colored” water before.  They rode into the city with their Uncle Jack to check out this colored water and once they found the bubbler they were so excited.  However, when they turned the handle they found something they had never saw before and that was a large crowd holding signs, singing, marching, policemen, and firemen. What would happen next took away their innocence!  They were yanked away from the fountain by an angry policeman and his ferocious dog and observed so much malice that left them very confused. 

The author/illustrator also showed the loss of innocence with a quote in the book and through the illustrations. The quote states, “Daddy, what color does a person have to be to get a taste of colored water?” Wow, what a way to pull the audience into the moment!

I really loved this book, and I feel that it would be a great resource to lead into the Civil Rights Movement during Social Studies. However, I would also use this book to discuss the different viewpoints by comparing the book to an interview in a Junior Scholastic Magazine of Carolyn McKinstry, which was one of the children who was involved in the march during Reading Class.

 

 

 

Duck for President

Cronin, Doreen. (2004). Duck for President. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division.

If you are searching for a picture book to introduce your government unit, look no further because Duck for President is a great choice!  This book is in the Fantasy genre category since the majority of the characters are talking animals.  However, the concepts they are discussing are government related. 

As you can tell by the illustrations on the cover, the plot of the story is hilariously told because Duck doesn’t like his life on the farm and he is searching for a better life. Therefore, he tries new career paths including being in charge of the farm, becoming governor, and finally running for the president of the United States of America.  Duck finally thought he knew what he wanted to do in life until one day he read the help-wanted ads.  I would have never dreamed the course he chose, so you’ll have to read the book to determine what path he ended up choosing. 

I thought this book would be a great introduction for a government unit because it mentions aspects of local, state, and national government levels.  Another reason I would choose this book to teach government is because of the vocabulary terms used, such as, election, voters, campaign, ballots, governor, state, presidential election, president, country, speeches, parades, and Secret Service Agents.   

The illustrator, Betsy Lewin, a Caldecott Honor, did an awesome job enriching the mood of the text because of the character’s facial expressions and color palette she chose. 

If you choose this book, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Introduction

Hello, my name is Kelli Sparks, and I'm a 5th grade ELA teacher at Montgomery County Intermediate School. I'm also pursuing a Master's Degree in Reading and Writing Specialist. In addition to teaching, some of my hobbies include: photography, scrapbooking, and enjoying time with family, friends, and my spoiled rotten dogs (Border Collies)on the farm. I'm really excited about this class because I'm always searching for new strategies to incorporate technology into reading class!