Island; Shipwreck by Gordon Korman

In Gordon Korman's Island we follow six teenagers that are placed on boat for the purposes of  character building experience. They face the shipwreck and fortunately manage to get to an unknown island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.  The writing in the novel is very suspenseful and it quickly drew me in.
The novel seems to be teaching the reader about sailing and the author does it at the same time as the couple of the characters are learning.  The whole story represents sailing-learning experience for the children and it includes some good life lessons. The characters are developed to truly represent their age.  The joke they make at the First Mate's expense is typical of children of their age.  The overall story line is very interesting and the ending made me interested in other novels of the same series. This novel would be good for teenagers who love adventure, excitement, exotic places.
The very idea of teenagers being in secluded island far in the sea would probably seem appealing to children.
The novel can also serve the purpose of teaching responsibility.
In order to teach this novel I would first explore some facts about sailing and present it to the classroom. Then I would have all the classroom discuss several topics in the novel, maturation of the characters, sailing, possible predictions of the events, survival.
On the wall I would have posters of boats. We would also learn about its important parts.

Misfits by James Howe

I enjoyed  this book and the message it portrayed . I would however prefer it there was less slang. I understand that slang is necessary to represent the realistic conversation of teenagers and high school setting.
I have to admit that bullying in high school is a phenomenon that I did not see in my high school or growing up. If there was a person that somebody did not like in the classroom it never went to the extent that was harmful and destructive for the individual. I have heard about bullying only through the movies and documentaries.  This novel can serve a good lesson to young adolescents to teach them about complexity  of human character and the psychological damage bullying can cause.  The author portrays realistically difficulties of school social life through the characters of four teenagers: Addie, Bobby, Joe  and Skeezy. They form a group Gang of Five and  they meet every week to discuss important issues.  Name calling is an issue that many teenagers experience in their lives.  This novel made me think about the misfits in general, people who do not conform, who think out of the box, independently. The authors shows that there are people and friends in this world for everyone.  It is important to be who you are, rather then give in to the majority opinion, and do things just because it is popular or expected of you.

In that sense this novel can serve as a way to teach teenagers to believe in themselves. It should also show to them that people are complex personalities and that names they get called in school do not fully represent who they are. There is much more to a person than outer appearance.

I would have the classroom share their experiences of the novel, discuss important issues they feel are being part of their every day life in school.

The Napping House by Andrew and Don Wood

It is a raining day and in the big house everybody is sleeping. Granny is sleeping in her cozy bed. A sleepy boy pops on top of granny, then a dog crawls up on the boy. Then there comes a  cat and a mouse and they all sleep on top of each other.  In the end the wakeful fee by biting the mouse sets off the chain of events which results in a broken pile and even a broken bed.
This picture book is excellent for beginning readers and for ESL because of  repetition of phrases at each page.
One way of using the book in the classroom would be to have children find all the synonyms related to sleeping.
The perspective in the book changes as we go through the pages.
Children could discuss what is going on in the house.
We could also discuss which are day and which are night animals.
This story is also good for practicing preposition "on" with students.

Babushka's Doll by Patricia Polacco

 

In this fine story we meet the little girl Natasha with her granny. Natasha is little bit spoiled and impatient with her grandmother demanding everything at once. That is why grandmother leaves the girl with special doll that comes to life. The doll teaches Natasha a lesson how to be patient and polite. Excellent way for children to see through the behavior of the doll how some of their own behavior can affect our relatives and friends.
I would have children discuss the character traits of Natasha and doll after reading the story to them.
We would also point out to what doll made Natasha do for her and how Natasha changed as a character in the end. I loved the illustrations in the book.  This story  can serve as a moral lesson for any child that is selfish and self -centered.

Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young

What an interesting fable to introduce children to the seven days of the week,  ordinal and cardinal numbers and ranges of color.  I loved the illustrations emphasizing the colors of the creatures that appear in the book.  I firmly believe it would catch the attention of the young reader or listener.  Each day one mice goes to investigate the unusual Something by their pond. They are all blind so they rely on their other senses. But each of them makes their estimation based on partial observation. Only the last mouse on Sunday takes all the features of Something into account is able to give insight and explanation to other mice of what the Something is.
What a wonderful way to explain to children that when trying to understand something in life they need to take many things into consideration.  Children would surely enjoy and laugh at the mistakes mice make in their descriptions of an Elephant they cannot see.
I would have each child read the words of one mice. We would have discussion of what the mice are missing to mention in their report on the big creature by their pond. The children could choose the mice they like and draw and color it. We could have a jar with strips of paper on which adjectives that represent the Elephant would be written. Children could assign adjectives to the mice which used them in his description.
I would ask children to explain how they understand  the mouse moral in the end with a little bit of my clarification. 

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Giver by Lois Lowry made such a strong impression on me that I can say it is the best novel I have read in long time. It reminded me of  Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.  In both novels, "Brave New World"  and " The Giver" most of the population  lives according to community's dystopian rules foregoing individual pursuits for the community's gain, submitting to government surveillance, and substituting  group mentality for intellectual inquiry.  The novel surely makes one think about the rules our societies are governed, the unwritten rules we all abide by and hardly question them.  The speaker in the novel that gives announcements I would compare with public media in our world. A lot of our opinion on certain events is formed by public media. And even in best democracies media can be governed in certain direction to suit the interests of the corporations. One just wonders how it would be to live in such  society. It was certainly intriguing to discover as I moved forward trough the pages all sorts of unusual rules. Some of the most striking were that  people were not allowed to read books. Society favors sameness and sitting and reading books encourages people to draw too deeply into themselves rather than participate in activities that help the community or strengthen social bonds between members of community.

Giver's society is deprived of pain, passion and true love.  For elite classes of society it is allowed to ignore the rules, preferring the artifacts of culture they left behind to the amusement of society they govern and maintain.  Great works of art, often inspired by passion, pain, suffering, and other  disorderly influences are always powerful and relevant even in societies that claim to have gotten rid of passion and pain.
The end of the novel is ambiguous. We are not certain what happened to the main character.  There could be two possibilities. Either he found the happy Elsewhere with people who are free to make choices and living as in his memories or he and Gabriel froze to death.  I would definitely love to see some sort of sequence to this story.
I believe this story develops imagination and creativity of thinking of children. It may be little bit difficult to grasp for Elementary school children.  The classroom would definitely need some sort of my introduction to this story, explanation of basic terminology author uses. We would definitely reflect on rules and functioning of our own society and compare to the one in " The Giver"
After reading this novel I am very eager to read all of Lois Lowry novels. The whole world of beloved science fiction awakens in me.

Alphabet Mystery by Audrey and Bruce Wood

In this picture book letters of the alphabet are represented as little children with human personalities. They reside on Charlie's bookshelf. They have their own beds and go to sleep every night. They work together with Charlie and help him in many ways.  This picture book would be a very effective and humorous way of introducing children to the alphabet. I believe it would  surely keep their attention as the letters would be seen in completely different light. They would become all of sudden little helpers that every child could rely on to help them with many tasks that they weren't even aware of yet.  The author also gives emphasis to X, letter with which few words begin.
How to use this book in the classroom? The idea that comes to my mind is perhaps to have collection of cut -out letters in different colors both small and capital. As I would read the book to children I would point out to each letter the books discusses. I would also have several sets of alphabet for children to play with and organize them in several ways. We would together reconstruct with out set of letters pictures in the book.
 Children could look at the pages and for each page find out the letters in their own set that appears on the page. I think this book is excellent way to introduce alphabet, to affirm the knowledge of it with the kindergarten and first grade children.

Molly's Family by Nency Garden

 In Molly's Family by Nancy Garden we see kindergarten children getting ready for Open School Night. Every child's family is invited to visit. Children start drawing their families and then putting their drawings on the wall.  Little boy Tommy looks at the picture Molly has drawn and he comments that her family is not a real family because she has two mothers.  After talking to her family, Molly realizes that even if her family is different from others, it is still happy, loving and real family. In the class teacher encouraged Molly that should should bring the drawings she felts uncomfortable to leave on the wall of school classroom. Teacher encouraged everybody to bring their families and she pointed out that families can be all kinds and that they can all come to the Open School Night.
 I understand that representing homosexuality in children's books can be controversial in the school.
Coming from the culture where homosexuality is not explicitly shown or as accepted I find this children'book completely new and mind opening to all my understanding of homosexuality. Would I be able to use it in the classroom?  That is very relative. It would depend on the type of community where I would teach, how liberal people are, to which extent they accept idea of homosexuality being explained to children.
If the community, principal and the school board would not have anything against me teaching this book I would then do it.
I personally  am still adjusting to this aspect of my new country. However, I do think it would be good  to teach children that  differently organized families do exist and I believe children should be aware of that even if it may be against their parents' religious belief.

Everything for a Dog by Ann M. Martin

"Everything for a Dog" is novel about love that develops between a child and a dog. The story is told in three alternating points of view. The first story is of Bone, stray dog, who after living briefly with three different families, wonders the countryside season after season, picking food from garbage and searching for permanent home. The second story is of Henry,young boy who desperately wants a dog. His parents do not share his idea. The third story is of Charlie, whose brother dies by accident at a young age. Charlie's dog helps him go through that difficult period of his life.   As a reader I felt very touched by the difficulties the stray dog Bone goes through until he finally get the committed and loving owner little boy Henry.  The story makes you think about all those stray dogs on the street or animal shelters that await somebody to adopt them.  For some reason I feel more for suffering of animals then humans as animals have less choices and power to change things in their lives. Our pets are especially dependent on us.  I bought my dog in Israel and my parents were not too eager to bring it back to Bosnia with us once the time to move back came. I managed to convince my mother to bring the dog with us. The only reason mother was concerned was that back in Bosnia we live in apartment and that is not big enough space to a dog of German Shepard size.  When I was about to immigrate to the US I took serious care to bring my dog with me.  I could never imagine leaving her behind. After certain time you feel that shepard dogs  are so intelligent. They are like humans in dog's fur.The books shows us how dogs can enrich our life and help us heal in times when we experience serious losses and problems in life.
I would have a discussion  in the classroom about Henry, Bone and Charlie.  They have different stories but they share something in common.  We would determine in which way they are similar when it comes to their dreams and hopes and in which ways they are different.

What about Me? by Ed Young

"What about Me?" originates from the Middle East and has its roots in the Sufi tradition. The Sufi, were Middle Eastern master of the fable and their tales, much like that of Aesop, were meant to entertain but also to teach. 
This is a great story about a boy who seeks knowledge from a wise Grandmaster. Before the Grandmaster grants him knowledge the boy will have to give him a small carpet.  As the boy tries to acquire the small carpet, he crosses path with many people: carpet maker, sppiner woman, goat keeper,  goat seller, carpenter, matchmaker, merchant. All these people are willing to help him, but they want something in return. Each person the boy encounters says: "I have needs. What about me?" Boy manages to find and bring wife to a carpenter and then he gets all the things necessary from all the people he came across to get a carpet for the Grandmaster. Finally, when he carries the small carpet back to the Grand Master, he is told that is already has all the knowledge he needs. Grand Master leaves the boy with his two morals. The first moral that the Grand Master  h shares is: "Some of the most precious gifts that  we receive are those we receive  when we are giving." The second moral he shares is :  " Often knowledge comes to us, when we least expect it." The boy learns a valuable lesson that it is better to give than to expect.
I was really drawn into the intricate tale wondering what the boy will do to acquire the knowledge and at the same time helps everybody whose help he needed. Very imaginative and wise story for children. Folk tales from all over the world have some sort of moral that is applicable in our days too.  I believe it will draw older children quite curious and interested.  I love old legends and folk tales so this story inspired me to read other great books by Ed Young.
In the classroom we will discuss about the ways we can gain knowledge. We will also explain the difference between the wisdom and knowledge.  We would discuss the ending quote/moral. 

The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

Parvana is 11 year old girl that lives with her family in Afghanistan. She has older sister Nooria, five year old sister Maryam and baby brother Ali. They live in war-torn Kabul that has come under the rule of Taliban. Talibans have strict religious rules of life that they impose on all of the population of Afghanistan. They have closed school for girls and have banned them from attending. Other prohibitions that relate to women are even worse. Women are not allowed to walk by themselves or the be seen alone in the streets. Each time they go out of their homes they have to be chaperoned by a man even if that means a small boy. Women's rights are to great extent abolished and threatened. Women are not allowed to be seen in public without burqas.
Parvana's parents are educated people who completed their studies in England. Father limps on one lag as he suffered an injury to his leg after his school was bombed. Parvana goes with him to the market to sell the old valuable stuff they still possess. A lot of people in Afghanistan are poor and pretty much everybody comes to the market to sell and buy old goods.  Great percentage of Afghanistan population is illiterate and Parvana's parents are among the raree ones that can read and write. Her father keeps his foreign history books deeply hidden in special compartment in his closet.

One day Talibans storm into their apartment and take away father to prison. The reason? He is educated in the West and Western ideas they don't like and perceive as threat to their way of life.
 Even though Parvana;s mother tries to get him out of jail, she is beaten along with Parvana in front of the jail by the soldiers. In that scene we get to feel how cruel their society is governed by Taliban militia. Human life hardly has any value. People are easily killed in their homes, on the street or taken to prison for ridiculous reasons. As father is not coming back from prison, family has to find ways to support itself financially so they decide to mask Parvana as little boy. They cut of her hair and she goes everyday to market to earn money like her father by reading and writing letters to people.  Dressed as a boy, she has no trouble being recognized as a girl and she can manage to feed her family. In the market she accidentally bumps into a tea boy, who turns out to be her school friend,Shauzia in the days when they attended school. Shauzia is also dressed as boy and sent to the market to earn for her family. The two of them develop friendship. Parvana's mother is very depressed and Mrs Weera, family friend moves in. Mrs. Weera with her strength of a character helps to organize Parvana's family now that father is away and tends for Parvana's ailing mother.  With every day that goes by on the market Parvana, becomes more self -confident and reliant in supporting her family and making the decisions for herself. Her older sister Nooria goes with their mother and siblings to Mazar-e-Sharif in the northern part of Afghanistan where there is no Taliban rule.  Parvana stays with Mrs Weera alone in their apartment. After certain time father is released from prison and they take care of him.  One working day Parvana comes across another girl hiding in the old bombed out building. She takes this girl home where they hear her sad story. This girl escaped  from Mazar -e -Sharif just after the Taliban captured the city. They killed a lot of people among them girl's parents. The girl managed to get to Kabul in a truck and was hiding where Parvana found her. At that point Parvana was very scared for her mother and siblings and got very depressed.  Her friend Shauzia manages to get Parvana back to work at the market.  By the end of the novel Parvana and her father decide to go to refugee camp near Mazar-e -Sharif where they will look for Parvana's mother and siblings. When saying goodbye to her friend Shauzia, Parvana and her agree to see each other in twenty years in Paris, on the top of the Eiffel tower.
I was deeply moved by the life and destiny of the main characters in this story. I felt so much for them and followed their every move in their survival and pursuit of happiness. The novel made me explore documentaries on Afghanistan, its people, history and current situation. By watching some of the PBS documentaries, I was able to get more insight into the lives of these people that have suffered so much. It also made me wonder what kinds of conditions are necessary to cause one country to fall under religious fundamentalism. I would have students write paper where they compare and contrast the main character's life to their own. I would have to explain the students some of the rules Taliban introduced when they came to power in Afghanistan. We would write down all the unfamiliar words and find explanations for them, specifically the ones that relate to the Afghan culture.  We would research about different types of veiling that exist and the possible reasons it is used in the Arab world.

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Williams

Knuffle Bunny is a cautionary tale that tells the story of what happens when a father and his daughter go to the laundromat together.  Little girl, Trixie, who is not yet able to speak forgets her bunny in the laundromat and it mistakenly gets into a washing machine.  Trixie tries tries to explain to her father in all possible ways that she can that they have to go back to get the bunny. Father of course does not understand as the little girl is jabbering. However mother understand immediately what the problem is.   Author's, Mo Williams, black and white photography provides nostalgic backdrop for the adventure that ultimately reunites baby and bunny. Beside  recapturing  his beloved neighborhood Brooklyn, Williams memorializes the story of his daughter's first words: "Knuffle Bunny"
I would discuss with the students before reading the story what they think the story will be about, and what they think will happen.  We would talk about the possibility of  story being true and why the author wrote it.
I would have students write their own story and dedicate it to somebody they like.

The Wall by Peter Sis

Through the wonderful and insightful illustrations of Peter Sis, we learn about growing up in Czechoslovakia, author's homeland under Soviet Union dominance during the Cold War. Life in the country was dictated by the rules imposed by the communist Soviet Union. Whole generations of children were raised to be pioneers, members of the communist youth movement. Society as a whole had to compulsorily  follow certain sets of beliefs that were imposed and were never supposed to be questioned.  The world outside the Iron Curtain was represented as evil. without really giving people a realistic picture of what is going on outside. People were not free to leave the country and did not have freedom of speech in any sphere of life. I myself grew in communist country that luckily did not belong to the Eastern block and was not under the  strong and the dominating influence of Russia. That is one of the reasons I can emphasize with the author. My society also was happily living in one sort of propaganda emanated by the communist government but we were free to leave the country and travel.
However, we never knew to which extent life in the Eastern block was controlled and dominated by communist party and its demagogy.  This book definitely makes me curious to find out about the life in Czech republic in the Cold war period.
I would initiate discussion in the classroom on the  activities that were compulsory in the Czechoslovakia during the  Soviet leadership.  We would talk about activities that are compulsory for students at home and in the school.  Certain books, and music was prohibited too during that period.  I would have student talk about possible reasons that they think this happen.  We would talk about events that happened in the world that students think have had impact on them.  I would have students express their understanding of Peter's life in communist Czechoslovakia the way they feel it in their drawings.

The Three Golden Keys by Peter Sis

In "The Three Golden Keys" Peter takes us with him on a journey to the old city of Prague where he grew up. His hot-air balloon is blown of the course and he lands in Prague. He finds the way to his old home where he sees the old family cat which he follows around the city. The old family home has three rusty padlocks on the door for which he must finds the keys. He follows the family cat through the empty streets to the library, Emperor's garden,  and the famous town-square clock. In each of these old places figures from the past emerge from the wall and unroll a scroll that holds the key and relate to traditional Czech legends of Prince Bruncvik and his magic sword, the Golem and Hanus, the clockmaker.  The three golden keys will unlock the door of his past and secrets of his soul.  Peter Sis is celebrating the cultural heritage of Prague that was reborn after  forty-five years of communist rule.  This picture book created an interest for for  the Eastern block in the  post World War II period of Eastern Europe and their experience with Soviet dominance. It also triggered my interest and desire to explore Prague. I had felt all of sudden desire to follow in the footsteps of author through the pathways of this lovely European city. It made me wonder how the author must have felt for all those years he was not able to visit Prague as he got political asylant. What was his feeling when he visited Prague after so many years when Czech republic was not communist country and under Soviet domination.  I have heard all the best thing of Prague. They call it golden Prague. 
After reading the story I would show children pictures of Prague that I would find online, I would show them atlas of Europe, the way it looks like now and during the Cold war. I would show them some photos that represent Czech republic in general so we can learn about the country.  I would also have students write about the places they  have visited, about countries they would like to visit and  to explain why those in particular.

The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle

"The Grouchy Ladybug" follows a ladybug through her day providing some humor along with little bit of learning. Ladybug has very negative attitude and is self centered.   She challenges every creature she sees to a fight. When her challenge is accepted she spits : " Oh you are not big enough!" and flies away. As she keeps flying, ladybug encounters bigger animals on her way, until she finally meets a whale who dramatically puts her in her place.  Ladybug asks him if wants to fight but the whale doesn't even notice her and as he slaps his fin he throws the ladybug to her starting point from which she left in the morning.  Grouchy ladybug learns her lesson in life and as she lands on the plant with the ladybug that was polite to her she shows some politeness and appreciation to the other ladybug.
Each page of the picture book shows the trajectory of the son,  as the day goes on, and the small clock with two hands is drawn in the corner of each page to  show the hour that has elapsed.  This story is most likely to appeal to preschooler and early elementary students.  They can benefit from the story  from using it as an exercise in telling time.  The ladybug absurd and arrogant behavior provides humorously dramatic example of how pride can deceive people into acting in self-destructive ways. Young children will enjoy the silliness even if they don't manage to understand the moral message of the story.
The grouchy ladybug made me think of all the selfish people and realize how unhappy they are.
I would have students demonstrate understanding of clocks and tell time to the minute.  We would have a class discussion about  importance of time.  Students would give examples of when it is important to know the time.

All Kinds of Families by Mary Ann Hoberman

In "All Kinds of Families" Mary Ann Hoberman introduces children to the notion of family and tries to show us in her poetry that all the things around us can belong to some sort of family. All sorts of objects from celery stalks to bottle caps, silverware, animals when grouped together in specific relations can form groups of families. It teaches children to see various relationships between objects and animals, its size, color and shape. Children get insight and understanding of their own family and the relationships withing it. As we grow our families grow too.

I would like to use this picture book to introduce children to poetry, different ways of associating things in this world, and to teach them about relationships within the family. I loved the illustrations and the rhyme.  It makes me think about all possible combinations we can make by grouping objects with various criteria in mind.  I would have students ask questions about the family groups Marry Ann Hobberman mentions.  We would discuss characteristic of a family  throughout the reading of the book.  We would then find some things in our classroom  that we could group together to form a family.  I would also have students draw and write about their own families.

Intend to Read List

The following are the children's novels and pictures books that I intend to read:

• Parvana's Journey by Deborah Ellis

• Mud City by Deborah Ellis  

After reading " The Breadwinner " by Deborah Ellis I got very much interested into destiny and life of the main character, Parvana, her family and friends. I was completely immersed in Afghan society under Taliban rule that I wanted to know much more about the changes that have occurred  in Afghanistan and the changes that are still under way. I wanted to know more about that type of patriarchal society and what were the forces that made such strict rules for women.Not only that. I became curious to learn what happens in one society so that fundamentalism gains control over it.

• "Tales of Wisdom and Wonder" by Hugh Lupton ( author) and Niamh Sharkey ( illustrator)

Last year while I was trying to find various children's books for my daycare children I came across Barefoot  Books publisher. It was a whole new discovery of wonderful selected books with outstanding illustrations that kept attention of my children. I used their sing along books  and after seeing how children loved them I decided to explore other titles from the same publisher. I was always drown by the Old Celtic tales and legends and I thought explorations of old legends and stories from other cultures might bring special charm to the teaching children literature and at the same time expanding their knowledge about far away countries and cultures.

• "The Giving Tree " by Shel Silverstein ( author and illustrator)

 Once I came across the online version of this book and it was very interesting. It told the story of relationship between the child and the tree. I actually never read it fully but I remembered the title of if as something very special for children.

• "The Gigantic Turnip" by Aleksei Tolstoy, Niamh Sharkey ( illustrator). As child, mother read to me short stories by Chekov and I saw a lot of Russian cartoons that were very creative and imaginative, so while I was exploring Barefoot books I came across this Russian children story that I thought would be worth getting to know.

• "Communication" by Aliki ( author and the illustrator)
• "Feelings" by Aliki
• "Manners" by Aliki

When I was listening to the presentation of one group of students on the author study Aliki came to my attention and since then I wanted to explore the works of this children's author. I am curious how did the the authos presented the ideas of communication, nice manners and feeling to children.

• " The Color of My  Words"by  Lynn Joseph

One of the students had to present this children's novel in our class and I am now interested to find out more about it.

• "A Dog's Life" by Ann M. Martin;

After reading "Everything for a Dog"by the same author and getting introduced into the life of its main character stray dog Bony and its sister Squirrel I got interested into reading a book that is dedicated to his sister Squirrel.

• "Gossamer" by Lois Lowry; After reading " The Giver" by the same author I got really interested into Lowry's portrayal of the future societies.  Thrilled by the idea of Giver, special individual who keeps the whole collective memory of the community I wondered about the purpose and character of the Little One from the "Gossamer". I see from the review that the Little One that passes dreams. I wonder in what kind of futuristic society she lives and what are the rules there.
• "Babushka Baba Yaga" by  Patricia Polacco;  I can recall Baba Yaga as some character from the folk and fairy tales I read as a child.  They all have moral lesson. After reading "Babuska's Doll" I got interested into Russian folk tales for children from which Patricia  Polacco gets her inspiration.

• "Tomorrow's Children" by Isaak Asimov; I always loved science fiction as a child. My father was reading short stories by Isaak Asimov, but I was too young to understand them. I did read one short story by Asimov but I cannot remember which one was it. While watching Cosmos documentary series by Carl Sagan, I read his autobiography and found out that it was Isaak Asimov who described  Sagan as one of only two people he ever met whose intellect surpassed his own. If I was to explore science fiction for children then I definitely wanted to read novel by such celebrated author and genius. 

• Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder;  I heard about this novel from a friend. Read the reviews and saw that it is a story of little girl on the quest to get to know history of philosophy. Exploration of philosophy from  the child's perspective immediately caught my attention.
• Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo by Zlata Filipovic; I knew that Sarajevo was under siege during the civil war in Bosnia. I knew of suffering people underwent during that siege. I wanted to learn about war that took the best years of young generations that were growing up in the 80s. Three years of war seem short but in real life it feels like eternity. I was lucky not be in Sarajevo during the civil war but would love to read about experiences of its citizens during devastating war in Bosnia.
• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. It only seems natural that I was always interested in the history and suffering of  Jewish people in the WWII. My grandmother's family was lucky to survive Bergen Belzen concentration camp in Germany.  A lot of my grandfather's family was killed by the Croatian Ustashas that collaborated with the Nazis in the WWII.
• Built to Last by David Macaulay; One group of students had author representation on this author. Some of the books that they showed in the classroom drew my attention. This book is also recommended on the web site Reading Rockets for parents and teachers in the reading lists under topic Science.
• The Tree is Older Than You Are; Poems and Stories from Mexico by Naomi Shihab Nye
• Is This Forever, or What Poems and Painting from Texas by Naomi Shihab Nye - I went to some of the web site that were dedicated to this author and I listen to few of her poems. It got me very interested in further exploring her work.

• "Actual Size" by Steve Jenkins
• "Never Smile at a Monkey" by Steve Jenkins
• Biggest, Strongest, Fastest" by Steve Jenkins
• "Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution" by Steven Jekins

During one of the presentations in the class I had an opportunity to hear about his book "Actual Size". Then I went and explored his web site and the books he has written.  I like the unusual perspective of his books, the way things are presented and illustrations. I am very eager to read all of his books.

• "The Three Pigs" by David Wiesner

• "Art & Max" by David Wiesner

While I was searching the picture books in Barnes and Noble David Wiesner books cought my attention and I also remember one of the students talking about his works  and lovely illustrations.

• "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick. I saw this book at the lectures and saw some students carrying it. I got interested at it also when I saw it on the shelves of Barnes and Noble book store.

 

 

 

The Wall by Peter Sis

The Wall by Peter Sis
interview with Peter Sis about his book Wall, about growing up in communist Czechoslovakia.

http://www.bookexpocast.com/authors-studio/wp-podcasts/SisPodcast.mp3

About Peter Sis

Peter Sis grew up in communist Czechoslovakia in a loving, happy family that encouraged him to draw.  He was formally trained at the Academy of Arts in Prague and Royal College of Art in London. He followed in his father’s footsteps and became a filmmaker. At the age of 30 Sis was sent to the US by his government to produce a film on the 1984 summer Olympics. This trip turned out to be the turning point of his life.  Czechoslovakia along with rest of Eastern bloc decided to boycott the Olympics ending the film project.  Ordered to return home, Sis refused and got a political asylum in the US.

He first worked as a teacher at the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.   An art museum director he had met on his film project set up a meeting with Maurice Sendak, the famous author of the “Where the Wild Things Are” Sendak assumed Sis wanted to illustrate for children and he set up and arranged introductions to New York publishers.  In the beginning Sis struggled financially illustrating book covers. His obvious talent landed him jobs with Newsweek and Times magazines. Like many artists, illustrating other authors’ work gave Sis confidence to try writing.  Early books “Fire truck” and “Madlenka” reflect his fascination with his own children and their development.

In an exclusive interview with Reading Rockets (national multimedia project by US Department of Education) Peter Sis talks about his winding path that led him to New York City, his children and his father’s Tibetan journey that all have influenced his work.

When his children were born he thought he needs to leave some legacy or some message to them. So he did book about Prague for his daughter Madeleine called “The Three Golden Keys” so that she knows what her father was alike.   He wrote a book about Galileo “The Starry Messenger”.  He thought he needed to write a book about somebody special to show his son that sometimes life can get very difficult when he has to answer all the questions like Galileo had to answer to cardinals.

When his children grew up a little bit he realized they were not interested in that all. He was trying to observe them and see what they like.  So that is how he wrote little older books for his son, which were about fire trucks that he loved, and bulldozers, ships and dinosaurs. Books like "Ballerina" and the whole series of Madlenka were for little girls, for his daughter.  

Madlenka is a little girl who lives on the bloc in the big city. She meets people in her bloc that are from different countries and cultures. She wants to let them know that he tooth is wiggling.   When the author was growing up, people in Prague did not like to speak to each other because they were afraid to. The political regime and climate was very terrible.

What is unique or captivating about this person’s body of work?

Peter Sis is also the illustrator of his own books.

Peter Sis was  influenced by his father trip to Tibet.  His father was sent to China to make a film about the construction of the road to Tibet.  Father was supposed to come back by the next Christmas but he stayed 19 months.  For Peter it just looked like his father was gone forever.  When he came back he could not really talk about what he really saw in Tibet, about Tibetan Buddhism and Dalai Lama. He was supposed to talk only about working class in China. The only person he could talk with about his adventures was Peter. Inspired by his father trip he wrote  "Tibet trough the Red Box"

In one of his latest books is "The Wall" Peter describes growing up in communist Czechoslovakia, during the cold war.