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Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Forum discussion: The appropriate literature for children
As we have been seeing and discussing in class, there doesn't seem to be any limit to the topics children's literature can handle. The question to discuss then is, should there be any limit for the stories that we choose to work in class? What topics are proper or improper for the classroom? Why?
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Join the discussion!
Sunday, July 13, 2014
El Amor y la Amistad (review)
El Amor y la Amistad by the philosopher Oscar Brenifier is a well-written book for children and preadolescents. The characters are very nicely illustrated by Jacques Després. Through this piece of literature the author handles with two relevant feelings: love and friendship.
This is an unusual book for its lack of a sequence of events. It shows different points of view concerning love and friendship, which allows not only kids but also preadolescents to relate the book’s situations with their everyday life. Moreover, the audience can interact with the reader giving their own opinions about the issues dealt, inviting them to reflect upon their own experiences with those feelings.
By using engaging pictures and flashy colours, the authors create an enjoyable book. Images and sentences go hand in hand. Through the pages contrast is portrayed with different colours and facial expressions in each character. The most meaningful and philosophical phrases are highlighted in every paragraph.
Even it´s not a typical book, Oscar Brenifier and Jacques Després let us reflect upon feelings and relationships. Presenting different perspectives about facts of life, El Amor y la Amistad is a perfect and different piece of literature that everyone should have in their bookshelves.
This is an unusual book for its lack of a sequence of events. It shows different points of view concerning love and friendship, which allows not only kids but also preadolescents to relate the book’s situations with their everyday life. Moreover, the audience can interact with the reader giving their own opinions about the issues dealt, inviting them to reflect upon their own experiences with those feelings.
By using engaging pictures and flashy colours, the authors create an enjoyable book. Images and sentences go hand in hand. Through the pages contrast is portrayed with different colours and facial expressions in each character. The most meaningful and philosophical phrases are highlighted in every paragraph.
Even it´s not a typical book, Oscar Brenifier and Jacques Després let us reflect upon feelings and relationships. Presenting different perspectives about facts of life, El Amor y la Amistad is a perfect and different piece of literature that everyone should have in their bookshelves.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Grandma Rabbitty's Visit (review)
Amilcar Ferrero - Nahir Penelas
BARRY SMITH
TODDLER STORY BOOK, DK PUBLISHING
1999
Two Little rabbits and their mother are waiting impatiently for Grandma Rabbitty’s visit. They look through the window all the afternoon checking out whether grandma arrives or not. Sounds and colourful pictures will catch children’s attention throughout this short story written by Barry Smith.
The author is capable of creating suspense about grandma´s arrival. Pre-schoolers will be absorbed from beginning to end, waiting for the resolution, which will be funny and unexpected. After watching different means of transports coming and going without Grandma Rabbitty, she surprises us arriving in her motorbike. What a trendy granny!!
With simple drawings, Smith creates real life situations and sets the story in a familiar environment. He shows a mother doing the cleaning and taking care of her children, while they are playing with their toys. Onomatopoeias, written with different fonts, colours and sizes, appear several times depicting the noises of transports, toys and electrical appliances. This strategy invites children to imitate sounds and participate during the reading of the story. That’s why Grandma Rabbitty’s visit is a good story for parents to share time with their children.
Using short and simple sentences, the author creates an enjoyable story that can be read to children before saying good night. Kids will love this gripping colourful story that encourages them to participate.
BARRY SMITH
TODDLER STORY BOOK, DK PUBLISHING
1999
Two Little rabbits and their mother are waiting impatiently for Grandma Rabbitty’s visit. They look through the window all the afternoon checking out whether grandma arrives or not. Sounds and colourful pictures will catch children’s attention throughout this short story written by Barry Smith.
The author is capable of creating suspense about grandma´s arrival. Pre-schoolers will be absorbed from beginning to end, waiting for the resolution, which will be funny and unexpected. After watching different means of transports coming and going without Grandma Rabbitty, she surprises us arriving in her motorbike. What a trendy granny!!
With simple drawings, Smith creates real life situations and sets the story in a familiar environment. He shows a mother doing the cleaning and taking care of her children, while they are playing with their toys. Onomatopoeias, written with different fonts, colours and sizes, appear several times depicting the noises of transports, toys and electrical appliances. This strategy invites children to imitate sounds and participate during the reading of the story. That’s why Grandma Rabbitty’s visit is a good story for parents to share time with their children.
Using short and simple sentences, the author creates an enjoyable story that can be read to children before saying good night. Kids will love this gripping colourful story that encourages them to participate.
Pulling it up together! (review)
Jessica Vega, Gabriel Castillo
The Great, Big Enormous Turnip is an adorable story about and old man who plants a turnip and wants it to grow big and strong. What he doesn’t expect is that his wish comes true in an extraordinary way. With a captivating plot, Alexei Tolstoy achieves an entertaining piece of writing.
When the old man sees that the turnip reaches a huge size, he anxiously wants to dig the vegetable out. Tired of pulling it up and not getting any success, he searches for some help and calls his wife. The old couple makes a big effort but they not even together can pull the turnip up. After the failure, they decide to call some other characters, and some animals are included among them. They all together pull and pull the turnip up.
Tolstoy’s narrative is intelligible and uncomplicated. He uses a simple vocabulary and a repetitive line of events which make the story completely suitable for children. Moreover, a message of cooperation is present throughout the story since everybody contributes to solve the conflict. No matter the helper’s size or strength, help is always valuable and respected.
Helen Oxenbury’s illustrations are outstanding, clear and incredibly funny when it comes to introduce the characters. Drawings are well-defined and colours are vivid. Oxenbury draws an endearing final picture which shows that the long and arduous work during the whole story is worthwhile.
With a simple but catchy narrative, a likeable message of cooperation and appealing illustrations, The Great, Big, Enormous Turnip is for sure a reliable choice for children.
The Great, Big Enormous Turnip is an adorable story about and old man who plants a turnip and wants it to grow big and strong. What he doesn’t expect is that his wish comes true in an extraordinary way. With a captivating plot, Alexei Tolstoy achieves an entertaining piece of writing.
When the old man sees that the turnip reaches a huge size, he anxiously wants to dig the vegetable out. Tired of pulling it up and not getting any success, he searches for some help and calls his wife. The old couple makes a big effort but they not even together can pull the turnip up. After the failure, they decide to call some other characters, and some animals are included among them. They all together pull and pull the turnip up.
Tolstoy’s narrative is intelligible and uncomplicated. He uses a simple vocabulary and a repetitive line of events which make the story completely suitable for children. Moreover, a message of cooperation is present throughout the story since everybody contributes to solve the conflict. No matter the helper’s size or strength, help is always valuable and respected.
Helen Oxenbury’s illustrations are outstanding, clear and incredibly funny when it comes to introduce the characters. Drawings are well-defined and colours are vivid. Oxenbury draws an endearing final picture which shows that the long and arduous work during the whole story is worthwhile.
With a simple but catchy narrative, a likeable message of cooperation and appealing illustrations, The Great, Big, Enormous Turnip is for sure a reliable choice for children.
To Greed, or Not to Greed (review)
Mariana Figueredo
Camila Rico
“Two Greedy Bears”(1976)
Retold by Mirra Ginsburg.
Aladdin Paperbacks.
A big round cheese to divide and two bear cubs who want exact equal parts. In this adapted version of a Hungarian Folk Tale, storyteller Mirra Ginsburg brings us the story of two selfish bear cubs (and their two big tummies) who go on an adventure and learn a worthy lesson. Combined with Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey’s colorful and simple illustrations, Ginsburg succeeds in portraying the values of sharing and being grateful, or more precisely, the consequences of not being so.
Our two little bears are out to see the world, but they find some problems as soon as they leave their home. After some walking, a yummy cheese appears on their way, and a clever fox as well. Arguing and growling, the two bear cubs try to divide the cheese into two equal parts. But pretending to be a friend, from a hidden bush, the fox shows up and offers some help. “Don´t worry,” she said, “I know what to do.” Repeatedly eating more from one piece than the other, the sly one makes sure both bears complain that there is no equality. The more they shout, the more she eats, till finally there are only two tiny crumbs.
Ginsburg plays with a tragicomic sense of greediness, which will make readers feel sympathetic to the two poor bears. Thus, text and pictures are organized in such a way that makes both equally important to convey meaning and to create a humorous atmosphere around the problems these two little bears face in their journey.
Funny and straightforward, Two Greedy Bears wisely exemplifies how greed leads to losses and brings little bears to tears.
Camila Rico
“Two Greedy Bears”(1976)
Retold by Mirra Ginsburg.
Aladdin Paperbacks.
A big round cheese to divide and two bear cubs who want exact equal parts. In this adapted version of a Hungarian Folk Tale, storyteller Mirra Ginsburg brings us the story of two selfish bear cubs (and their two big tummies) who go on an adventure and learn a worthy lesson. Combined with Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey’s colorful and simple illustrations, Ginsburg succeeds in portraying the values of sharing and being grateful, or more precisely, the consequences of not being so.
Our two little bears are out to see the world, but they find some problems as soon as they leave their home. After some walking, a yummy cheese appears on their way, and a clever fox as well. Arguing and growling, the two bear cubs try to divide the cheese into two equal parts. But pretending to be a friend, from a hidden bush, the fox shows up and offers some help. “Don´t worry,” she said, “I know what to do.” Repeatedly eating more from one piece than the other, the sly one makes sure both bears complain that there is no equality. The more they shout, the more she eats, till finally there are only two tiny crumbs.
Ginsburg plays with a tragicomic sense of greediness, which will make readers feel sympathetic to the two poor bears. Thus, text and pictures are organized in such a way that makes both equally important to convey meaning and to create a humorous atmosphere around the problems these two little bears face in their journey.
Funny and straightforward, Two Greedy Bears wisely exemplifies how greed leads to losses and brings little bears to tears.
A review about the story “The great, big, enormous turnip” by Alexei Tolstoy
Roxana M. Cabana
Roxana Borreda
The story “The great, big, enormous turnip” takes place in a farm in which an old man plants a little turnip and says “Grow, grow, little turnip, grow sweet. Grow, grow little turnip, grow strong”. When the moment to pull it out comes, he realizes that he cannot do it on his own so he asks the old woman for help. Since they still cannot remove off the ground the turnip, they resolve to call for more help, and so, more and more characters are added to the scene. Finally, after having made a terrible effort, they together pull out the enormous turnip.
Cooperation and friendship are values that rarely are seen in society and that appear in Alexei Tolstoy’s story. The book shows a mix of characters such as human beings and animals which make little readers get involved with the plot. Moreover, the text is written with no complex vocabulary, with repetition of sequences, simple verbs and nouns which are very common for children and that will make the reading easier and more fluent for them. The appealing illustrations of Helen Oxenbury are joined and explain perfectly the plot. The funny and visual pictures let young readers enjoy the story.
The book is truly recommendable. Perfect to read for story times or by children on their own, the story brings lost values to our children.
Roxana Borreda
The story “The great, big, enormous turnip” takes place in a farm in which an old man plants a little turnip and says “Grow, grow, little turnip, grow sweet. Grow, grow little turnip, grow strong”. When the moment to pull it out comes, he realizes that he cannot do it on his own so he asks the old woman for help. Since they still cannot remove off the ground the turnip, they resolve to call for more help, and so, more and more characters are added to the scene. Finally, after having made a terrible effort, they together pull out the enormous turnip.
Cooperation and friendship are values that rarely are seen in society and that appear in Alexei Tolstoy’s story. The book shows a mix of characters such as human beings and animals which make little readers get involved with the plot. Moreover, the text is written with no complex vocabulary, with repetition of sequences, simple verbs and nouns which are very common for children and that will make the reading easier and more fluent for them. The appealing illustrations of Helen Oxenbury are joined and explain perfectly the plot. The funny and visual pictures let young readers enjoy the story.
The book is truly recommendable. Perfect to read for story times or by children on their own, the story brings lost values to our children.
The importance of Sharing (review)
Lorena Birra
The Doorbell Rang is a children’s story written by Pat Hutchins. The moral purpose of this story is to teach children the importance of sharing with others. The story also has a didactic value since it helps children to learn how to count and divide things, so it may be a useful tool for English ´s teachers, who are teaching numbers in fourth grade. Another important thing is that it has big illustrations that help small children to understand the story and the message beyond.
The characters of this story are a mother, her children, children´s friends and the grandmother of the children. While the mother is cleaning the kitchen’s floor, her children wait to eat the delicious cookies she has prepared for them. Children compare the cookies with the ones that grandma always makes:
“No one makes cookies like Grandma” said Ma as the doorbell rang.
Eventually, some friends come into the house and the mother invites them to stay and share the cookies. The most important thing is that we, as readers, can understand the message of the author, that the only thing that matters is sharing what we have with the rest.
However, the author stereotypes the character of the mother and her role in the family. On the other hand children should ask where the father is and if they have, because the whole story talks about the role of the mother, the father is not mention.
I recommend the story because it has a moral purpose and it is appealing for children since the author uses clear and big illustrations that help little children to understand it and catch its message.
The Doorbell Rang is a children’s story written by Pat Hutchins. The moral purpose of this story is to teach children the importance of sharing with others. The story also has a didactic value since it helps children to learn how to count and divide things, so it may be a useful tool for English ´s teachers, who are teaching numbers in fourth grade. Another important thing is that it has big illustrations that help small children to understand the story and the message beyond.
The characters of this story are a mother, her children, children´s friends and the grandmother of the children. While the mother is cleaning the kitchen’s floor, her children wait to eat the delicious cookies she has prepared for them. Children compare the cookies with the ones that grandma always makes:
“No one makes cookies like Grandma” said Ma as the doorbell rang.
Eventually, some friends come into the house and the mother invites them to stay and share the cookies. The most important thing is that we, as readers, can understand the message of the author, that the only thing that matters is sharing what we have with the rest.
However, the author stereotypes the character of the mother and her role in the family. On the other hand children should ask where the father is and if they have, because the whole story talks about the role of the mother, the father is not mention.
I recommend the story because it has a moral purpose and it is appealing for children since the author uses clear and big illustrations that help little children to understand it and catch its message.
When the Elephant Walks (review)
Mariela Alvarez- Melina Acosta Clenar
When the Elephant Walks, by Keiko Kasza is a well-written story for children. Plenty of humorous pictures, the tale introduces the feeling of fear through dynamic images and refers to situations that make us feel afraid of. All of us could be scared of something at any time of our lives. Even the enormous elephant in the story is afraid of something.
The story begins with a mighty Elephant who scares a big Bear and this scares a fierce Crocodile. When the reptile decides to swim for his life, he scares the Wild Hog who runs fearful from the predator, frightening at the same time a smaller animal. The story elapses up to the end, with different animals that frighten others. The author of this book tries to leave a message to readers, a kind of moral to reflect upon.
When the Elephant Walks is not only a well worth reading book for children, who love funny stories of animals, but also for adults who want to teach values to their sons. The funny pictures and its enjoyable reading, make the book definitely very readable.
When the Elephant Walks, by Keiko Kasza is a well-written story for children. Plenty of humorous pictures, the tale introduces the feeling of fear through dynamic images and refers to situations that make us feel afraid of. All of us could be scared of something at any time of our lives. Even the enormous elephant in the story is afraid of something.
The story begins with a mighty Elephant who scares a big Bear and this scares a fierce Crocodile. When the reptile decides to swim for his life, he scares the Wild Hog who runs fearful from the predator, frightening at the same time a smaller animal. The story elapses up to the end, with different animals that frighten others. The author of this book tries to leave a message to readers, a kind of moral to reflect upon.
When the Elephant Walks is not only a well worth reading book for children, who love funny stories of animals, but also for adults who want to teach values to their sons. The funny pictures and its enjoyable reading, make the book definitely very readable.
The Gingerbread boy (review)
ALBARRACIN, Patricia
CHAO, María Paula
Debby Slier is one of the most famous publisher adapter, author, illustrator and photographer of children´s books. She retells The Gingerbread Boy, a Read Along With Me book. Through humour and tenderness, the writer captures children's attention during the whole narration.
Slier presents the narrative describing an old couple with no children. One day, when the old lady is baking gingerbread cookies, she makes one of them in shape of a boy. At the precise moment she opens the oven, he comes to life and runs out of the kitchen singing "Run, run, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me! I'm a Gingerbread Man. I am! I am!” He gets away from the old man, the little old woman, a horse, a cow and a mouse .Next, he comes to a river and trying to cross it, he is cheated by a clever fox that, finally, eats him all up. In all likelihood, this sharp unhappy ending spices up the story.
All sequences of events described in the story, repetitions of words and phrases encourage children to follow the Gingerbread Boy’s adventures with enthusiasm until the last page. In addition to this, there are words replaced with drawings in the margins of each page. Adults can help children to identify the symbols that stand for these words and figure out grammatical structures. The book would serve as a bridge to join playing and learning.
The story will keep children amused at the time they pick up reading. Don´t miss the opportunity for sharing this outstanding work with them. Take my word for it: you will enjoy this marvellous tale as much as kids will!
CHAO, María Paula
Debby Slier is one of the most famous publisher adapter, author, illustrator and photographer of children´s books. She retells The Gingerbread Boy, a Read Along With Me book. Through humour and tenderness, the writer captures children's attention during the whole narration.
Slier presents the narrative describing an old couple with no children. One day, when the old lady is baking gingerbread cookies, she makes one of them in shape of a boy. At the precise moment she opens the oven, he comes to life and runs out of the kitchen singing "Run, run, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me! I'm a Gingerbread Man. I am! I am!” He gets away from the old man, the little old woman, a horse, a cow and a mouse .Next, he comes to a river and trying to cross it, he is cheated by a clever fox that, finally, eats him all up. In all likelihood, this sharp unhappy ending spices up the story.
All sequences of events described in the story, repetitions of words and phrases encourage children to follow the Gingerbread Boy’s adventures with enthusiasm until the last page. In addition to this, there are words replaced with drawings in the margins of each page. Adults can help children to identify the symbols that stand for these words and figure out grammatical structures. The book would serve as a bridge to join playing and learning.
The story will keep children amused at the time they pick up reading. Don´t miss the opportunity for sharing this outstanding work with them. Take my word for it: you will enjoy this marvellous tale as much as kids will!
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