New Shoes

By Susan Lynn Meyer; Illustrated by Eric Velasquez

This story is about a young girl, Ella Mae, in the South during the time of segregation. All she had for shoes was her brother's hand me downs so her mother took her to Mr Johnson's shoe shop where she was told she could not try on the shoes there because of her color. Ella Mae was horrified and her and her friend, Charlotte decide to take old shoes and work endlessly to make them look like new and sell them to the public and let anyone try them on!

This story is classified as Historical fiction because it is a made up story but is set in a time period that actually took place in real life. The setting of this story is during the Civil War era where segregation was a real issue.

One activity I would have in my classroom would be to separate the children by eye color and treat each group differently and see how they feel being treated differently because of their eye color. Another activity I would have is have each child come up with what kind of shoes they would pick out at the shoe shop and describe what they look like and why they would pick those shoes.

Reader Response Questions
How would you feel if you were not allowed to try on the new shoes?
Do you believe that there is still any segregation in today's world?
Would you not want to be friends with someone because they are different than you?

This story has a connection to the core value of Respect because it shows the young girls sticking up for what they believe in and shows you an outlook on what they are feeling which gives you a great perspective on how black people felt during this time period. It gives you a feeling of respect towards them because of everything they have been through.

I really thought this book shows a great outlook on what segregation was like during the Civil War. It shows that children were deeply impacted by this and gives the children of today's world what those children had to go through and how much has changed since then.


Susan Lynn Meyer grew up in Baltimore and became a writer after she got her degree at John Hopkins and is now an English Professor at Wellesley College outside of Boston. She has 3 other books which include; The Skating with the Statue of Liberty, Black Radishes, and Matthew and Tall Rabbit Go Camping.

 Susan Lynn Meyer. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2016, from http://susanlynnmeyer.com/books/ 

Goldiocks and the Three Bears

Retold and Illustrated by Jan Brett

This book is a tale about a young girl who sneaks into the bears' home and messes up their home until she finds the little bear's things that are 'just right' for her. This is a classic tale that has been around for ages. 

This book would be classified as a folktale because it is a story that originated in popular culture, usually passed on by word of mouth. There are many details that can be different between each person's version but it typically has the same plot line between them all/ 

An activity I would use in my classroom would be to have the students draw out what they think each scene looks like as Goldilocks makes her way through each room of the house trying out their things. Another activity would be to have cut-out figures of the bears and Goldilocks and all their props and have the students role play the story. 

Reader Response Questions

Why do you think all of the little bear's things were 'just right' for Goldilocks?

Do you think she was wrong for going into their house?

Where do you think the bear family was at while Goldilocks was in their house?

This is a book I really enjoyed as a child, as most do. I did not read this one by Jan Brett but I have read some of her other works.

Jan Brett is a famous children's author with many talented works. Some of her other books include: The Mitten, Gingerbread Baby, and Trouble with Trolls. Most of her books are set in winter times which I believe is because she lives in Massachusetts where it is very often cold. 

 About Jan Brett. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2016, from http://janbrett.com/biography.htm

 Brett, B. J. (n.d.). Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Jan Brett | Scholastic.com. Retrieved September 30, 2016, from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/goldilocks-and-three-bears-1

Sick

“I cannot go to school today,”

Said little Peggy Ann McKay.

I have the measles and the mumps,

A gash, a rash and purple bumps.

My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,

I’m going blind in my right eye.

My tonsils are as big as rocks,

I’ve counted sixteen chicken pox.

And there’s one more—that’s seventeen,

And don’t you think my face looks green?

My leg is cut, my eyes are blue—

It might be instamatic flue.

I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,

I’m sure that my left leg is broken—

My hips hurt when I move my chin,

My belly button’s caving in,

My back is wrenched, my ankle’s sprained,

My ‘pendix pains each time it rains.

My nose is cold, my toes are numb,

I have a silver in my thumb.

My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,

I hardly whisper when I speak.

My tongue is filling up my mouth,

I think my hair is falling out.

My elbow’s bent, my spine ain’t straight,

My temperature is one-o-eight.

My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,

There is a hole inside my ear.

I have a hangnail, and my hart is—what?

What’s that? What’s that you say?

You say today is… Saturday?

G’bye, I’m going out to play!”

This is a poem about everything a child goes through to try and get out of school.

Shel Silverstein was one of my favorite poets as a child. I remember reading his book that had a collection of poems: Where the Sidewalk Ends. 

An activity I would use in my classroom to coincide with this poem would to have the kids draw what they think this child would look like if he really had all these illnesses. 

Reader Response Questions

What do you think about this poem?

Have you ever had a "sickness" that made you want to stay home from school?

 By Shel Silverstein, Famous Children Poem. (n.d.). Sick. Retrieved September 16, 2016, from http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/sick-by-shel-silverstein 

The Polar Express

Written and Illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg

This story is about a little boy who stops believing in Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve, he is awoken by a train outside of his house who picks him up with other children and are taken to the middle of the city where Santa and his elves are waiting to give out the first gift of Christmas. The boy is chosen to receive the first gift and a simple choice he made: A bell from Santa's sleigh. He realizes as he gets older, he is still able to hear the bell ring and others cannot. This is because everyone else stops believing in Santa where he does not. 

This book is considered fantasy because the plot cannot occur in the real world. A train would not magically appear in a neighborhood and Santa and his elves are characters of our imagination. 

An activity that I would use in my classroom would be to have the children illustrate what they think the train ride and meeting Santa and the elves would be like. Another activity would be to have the children write a list of what they want for Christmas because this is a Christmas children's book.

Reader Response Questions 

Would you have gotten on the train outside of your house?

What would you have chosen as the first gift of Christmas?

This book was one of my favorites as a child (and still is). The illustrations are beautiful and makes you feel like you are in the story with the characters. I love the story line because even as an adult, it makes you want to believe in Santa again. 

Chris Van Allsburg is the author and illustrator of the Polar Express. He also wrote Jumanji (which is also one of my favorite movies as a child) He was born on June 18, 1949 and is from Grand Rapids, Michigan.  

Boy + Bot

Written by: Ame Dyckman Illustrated by: Dan Yaccarino

In this book, Boy is out picking pine cones when Bot approaches him and they decide to play together. Bot's power switch accidentally switches off, so Boy takes him home and tries to feed him and read him a bed time story because he thinks he is sick. When Bot's switch accidentally turns on again and he sees Boy sleeping, he takes him home and tries to fix him by giving him oil and reading Boy the instruction manual. When they both realize that they are different from each other, they decide they still want to be friends and hangout the next day. 

This book is a chidren's science fiction picture book. It talks about robots which are part of science but has a child involved to show that it is fiction because kids cannot talk to robots. 

One activity I would include use in my classroom would be to have all the children talk about things that they would do for their friend if they were sick. Another activity I would have would be to have the kids make a list of all the qualities they like about their best friend that makes them different from themselves. 

Reader Response Questions

What else do you think makes the boy and bot different from each other?

Would you want to be friends with a robot? Why?

What would you do to make the robot better if you did not know he had a power switch?

I think this is a really cute book for children. It introduces them to the world of science fiction and shows them that is okay to be friends with someone that is really different than you. 

 Boy and bot - Google Search. (n.d.). Retrieved September 16, 2016, from https://www.google.com/search?q=boy and bot

 H. (2015, June 13). Pete the Cat Video Narrator PTU presents Boy and Bot | Bedtime Story for Kids | Audio Book. Retrieved September 16, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHkQkRu1QeA 

Duck for Turkey Day

Duck for Turkey Day is a multicultural children's book written by Jacqueline Jules and illustrated by Kathryn Mitter,

This book is about a Vietnamese girl, Tuyet, who goes to school in America where she learns about all of the traditional things that happen on Thanksgiving, including the food we eat and all of the things we associate with Thanksgiving. When she has her Vietnamese family over, she soon realizes that her family does not eat turkey on Thanksgiving, but duck. Tuyet thinks her classmates will think she is weird so she tries to get her family to buy a turkey so she will fit in. At Thanksgiving, Tuyet realizes that she loves eating the duck even though it is out of the normal. When she returns back to school and her teacher asks how everyone's turkey day was, Tuyet found out that her classmates also have many different traditions in their family too. Tuyet realizes that they all have one thing in common; family!

The genre of this book is Contemporary Realistic Fiction. The actions in this book could happen in real life and the characters are realistic. This book is intended for Preschool-1st grade.

Classroom Activity

I think a great activity that coincides with this children's book would be to have each child bring in a dish that is traditional in their family that is not traditional in all families. Each child should bring a family member and they can all try the different dishes and learn about each one and the culture that it comes from. It will teach the children to learn about other cultures and they may find a new dish that they want to make in their own home!

This book can be used as an example to show children that all families are different. It teaches them that because people come from a different background than you does not make them weird or unusual. I think this is a great book to read a young child to let them know early in life about the different cultures in the world.

St Leo's University has a core value of respect, These activites correspond with this core value because it teaches children to respect other diversities that they may come across in their lifetime. 

Reader Response Questions

What kind of foods does your family eat on Thanksgiving?

Do you think Tuyet should have been embarrassed to be eating something nontraditional?

Do you think it is important to learn about different cultures?

         Http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyoBHDhDFzujP6043FjEBkg. "Duck for Turkey Day." YouTube. YouTube, 21 Sept. 2013. Web. 06 Sept. 2016.

       Jacqueline Jules (Goodreads Author), Kathryn Mitter (Illustrator). "Duck for Turkey        Day." Goodreads. Albert Whitman & Company, 1 Sept. 2009. Web. 06 Sept. 2016.