So, I received a copy of a book called “Finding my Sacred” by Shell Silversmith and man, was this book extremely interesting to read!
This book is abouSo, I received a copy of a book called “Finding my Sacred” by Shell Silversmith and man, was this book extremely interesting to read!
This book is about author Shell Silversmith’s life journey through finding clarity in the spiritual path and it contains stories of her childhood and how she embraced her spirituality.
I always loved reading books that detailed an author’s life and Shell Silversmith did a fantastic job at detailing her life story about discovering her spirituality throughout her life. I always wanted to read books about spirituality and this book was fantastic in describing the concept of spirituality and present it in such a meaningful and emotional way.
Overall, “Finding my Sacred” is a fantastic book about discovering your spirituality and embracing that aspect of yourself. ...more
Now, I have been reading many of Patricia Polacco’s books over the years and even though I continued to be mesmerized by her childhood stories,[image]
Now, I have been reading many of Patricia Polacco’s books over the years and even though I continued to be mesmerized by her childhood stories, I have always wondered how Patricia Polacco became such a prolific artist, as well as being an effective storyteller. So, when I got around to reading one of Patricia Polacco’s newer books “The Art of Miss Chew,” I finally found out how Patricia Polacco became such a talented artist!
After Trisha spent the summer with her grandmother who was a talented artist, Trisha wanted to become an artist herself. Unfortunately, her school does not have an art class that Trisha could participate in until her Irish teacher Mr. Donovan, suggested that Trisha could join a special art class at the high school that is being taught by none other than Miss Chew! Trisha loved having Miss Chew as her art teacher, as Miss Chew helped Trisha learn the language of art and how she could see the objects she draws in a whole new light. Unfortunately, a tragic day happened when Mr. Donovan’s father passed away and Mr. Donovan had to attend his father’s funeral, leaving his students in the care of a substitute teacher named Mrs. Spaulding. Mrs. Spaulding was often cruel towards Trisha as she would not give Trisha enough time to work on her tests, since Trisha was a much slower learner than the other students; and Mrs. Spaulding even threatened to have Trisha thrown out of Miss Chew’s art class since she believed that the art class was distracting Trisha from her studies.
Can Trisha and Miss Chew convince the student board that Trisha should stay in art class?
Read this book to find out!
What I always loved about Patricia Polacco’s works is that her books allow the readers to take a look at her childhood and be inspired by the various teachers that helped her throughout her school life. I always loved the emotional touches that Patricia Polacco brings to her work as you truly feel her sorrow as she struggles through school due to her learning disability and it was great that she had teachers that really cared about her and try their hardest to help Trisha pass her classes. As soon as I picked up this book, I knew that I was going to automatically fall in love with both Miss Chew and Mr. Donovan! Even though Mr. Donovan’s name was not in the title of this book, I loved the fact that Trisha had another teacher who was supportive of her and the fact that he was from Ireland and loved his father dearly really made me love his character! But let us talk about the true star of this book and that is Miss Chew herself, as she was clearly the one who inspired Trisha to fulfill her lifelong dream to become an artist! I loved the fact that Miss Chew showed Trisha how to look at the objects she draws in a different light and I also loved the way that she continues to encourage Trisha to follow her dreams of becoming an artist no matter how impossible the odds may be. I really loved the fact that both Mr. Donovan and Miss Chew were teachers that came from foreign countries (Mr. Donovan came from Ireland and Miss Chew came from China) as it brought a whole new perspective of the teaching experience for young children. Patricia Polacco’s artwork is magnificent as the characters look so realistic and gorgeous and I loved the fact that we have a book in Patricia Polacco’s works that detailed her inspiration in becoming an artist!
Overall, “The Art of Miss Chew” is a truly beautiful and touching book about the power of art and the importance of supporting students who are struggling in school. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the length of the book might be a bit difficult for some smaller children.
So, when I was looking through the illustrations of this book, I was thinking to myself:
“Hey, wait a minute... I seen these illustrations be[image]
So, when I was looking through the illustrations of this book, I was thinking to myself:
“Hey, wait a minute... I seen these illustrations before!”
It was then that I realized that Allie Brosh, the author of the book “Hyperbole and a Half” had actually made a blog called “Hyperbole and a Half” and she had turned the artwork from her blog into a book! How amazing is that? “Hyperbole and a Half” is one book that any fan of crazy and creative artwork definitely has to check out!
This book basically details both the adulthood and childhood events of Allie Brosh through comedic artwork (which includes an image of a blond headed stick figured woman with a pink dress running amuck throughout the book). We get to see Allie go through various situations such as eating a whole cake to get back at her mother as a child, dealing with a psychotic goose that sneaked into her and her boyfriend Duncan’s house and raising two dogs who seem to have mental problems.
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Wow…
That one word pretty much summed up how I felt about this book! When I saw the bizarre child-like artwork on the cover of this book, I knew that I was going to get into something crazy and creative! Allie Brosh had done an excellent job at both illustrating and writing this book as the combined result ended up being something truly amazing! Allie Brosh’s writing is witty and full of humor as I was seriously rolling on the ground with laughter at every comedic and embarrassing thing that happened in Allie Brosh’s life! Probably my most favorite part of Allie Brosh’s experiences in this book was the incident where a psychotic goose sneaked into her and Duncan’s house and preceded to terrorize them! Another experience that I really enjoyed in this book was when Allie’s mother took her and her younger sister out into the woods and they ended up getting lost in the woods! I really enjoyed these experiences that Allie Brosh wrote about because they hit so close to home for me as I used to travel into the woods with my sisters and my father when I was younger (although we never got lost) and it was great seeing a similar experience pop up in this book. I also loved the parts where Allie Brosh wrote about her inner insecurities with herself such as exploring about how depression works and finding her own identity. I really enjoyed these parts of the book because even though as a whole, this book is all for humor, the parts where Allie Brosh explores how she feels about herself really brought so much depth to the stories and I often find myself agreeing with the situations that Allie Brosh had went through throughout the book. But probably the best part of this book were Allie Brosh’s illustrations as they are drawn in a childlike manner with stick figures littering the pages and having wide grins on their faces whenever they are about to do something sneaky (something I always see appear on the pink dressed Allie Brosh figure throughout the pages)! I also loved the special effect feel of the artwork such as whenever the characters get extremely energetic, you can see the figures blur out whenever they are running around like crazy!
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If there is a problem with this book is that there is some strong language littered throughout this book and anyone who does not like reading strong language in a book might want to skip over the words whenever they are reading this book.
Overall, “Hyperbole and a Half” is definitely one book that you must check out at all costs, especially if you are a huge fan of witty humor, crazy situations and cute stick figured drawings!
I have been reading Patricia Polacco’s works for many years now and after reading one of her works My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother, I just h[image]
I have been reading Patricia Polacco’s works for many years now and after reading one of her works My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother, I just had to read more about Patricia Polacco’s brother Richie! So, I just recently picked up “Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare” and I have to say that I was really impressed with this book!
Trisha knows how hard it is to deal with her annoying older brother Richie, especially when he starts making fun of Trisha’s ballet class! So to teach him a lesson, Trisha dares Richie to perform in the ballet recital with her. But Richie will only do it on one condition: Trisha has to play the big hockey game with him!
Wow! I was totally amazed by this book! Patricia Polacco, as always, has done a brilliant job at telling the readers her life story as a child, with her “Richie” books being the funniest among her collection! I loved the way that Patricia Polacco showed the sibling rivalry between her and her older brother Richie as it was interesting to see and it slightly reminded me of how I get along with my siblings! I also loved the plot of this story about Trisha wanting to show Richie that ballet is not as easy as it look with Richie doing the same about letting Trisha play hockey with him. I like how the two siblings learn to have a better understanding of each other as they both try out the different activities that the other sibling usually plays at and it was interesting seeing how their experiences with doing different activities made them grow as characters. Patricia Polacco’s illustrations are as usual gorgeous to look at as the characters look extremely realistic and I loved the outfits that Richie and Trisha are both wearing as Trisha wears a lovely pink ballet costume and Richie wears a large red hockey suit with “Beavers 13” printed on it.
Overall, “Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare” is a brilliant follow up to “My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother” and anyone who is a huge fan of books about sibling rivalry will definitely enjoy this book! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the name calling that Trisha and Richie engage in such as Richie calling Trisha “twerp” might be a bit inappropriate for younger children.
Many of the books I had read by Patricia Polacco were extremely emotional and sad like The Junkyard Wonders and Thank You, Mr. Falker, but none of them had hit me so close to my heart than her book “Pink and Say.” “Pink and Say” is a story about the friendship between two boys of different races whose ending will make you want to cry for many years to come.
Sheldon Russell Curtis was a young soldier who was injured during the Civil War and was left for dead until a young African-American boy named Pinkus comes to his aid and brings him home with him. Pinkus lived with his mother, Moe Moe Bay who was kind and treated Sheldon like her own son. Unfortunately, Sheldon and Pinkus knew that they were putting Moe Moe Bay in jeopardy since they escaped from the Civil War and the marauding Confederate troops were chasing after them. Now they must find a way to get away from Moe Moe Bay before it is too late!
Reading most of Patricia Polacco’s books, I have noticed that all of her books always have an underlying theme of accepting other people, no matter how different they are while tying these stories to her real life experiences, which I always believed made her stories even more memorable to read. Now, after reading this book “Pink and Say,” I have to say that Patricia Polacco has truly defined the importance of accepting other people’s differences even under hardships such as war. I loved the way that Patricia Polacco had portrayed the relationship between Pinkus, a young African-American soldier and Sheldon, a young Caucasian soldier, as they treated each other like good friends, despite being of different races. It was fantastic and emotional seeing what the Civil War had done to Pinkus and Sheldon and my heart was actually breaking when they were scared of getting anyone hurt in this war, but they know that they have to fight this war to put an end to slavery. I have always read books about the Civil War, but never had I read a book that actually showed me how the Civil War had affected the people fighting in it in a more up close and personal way. Patricia Polacco had done a brilliant job at showing the horrors and painful emotions that the characters suffered through this war, while stating that war itself is terrible, but you must fight for what you believe is right. Patricia Polacco’s illustrations are as usual, gorgeous to look at as the images of Sheldon and Pinkus communicating with each other was a truly beautiful scene to look at. I also loved the way that the characters look as realistic as it really brings so much reality to this story.
Parents should know that this picture book has some images of characters getting shot and blood leaking out of their wounds. This might disturb younger children who want to read about the Civil War, so parents might want to read this book to see if it is appropriate before reading it to their child. Also, the ending was extremely sad as it involves the death of one of the characters (which I will not reveal because I do not want to spoil this book for anyone) and parents might want to read over these scenes before they read it to their children.
Overall, “Pink and Say” is easily Patricia Polacco’s saddest yet most emotional book to ever be written and anyone who wants to read about the Civil War through a personal account should definitely check this book out! I would recommend this book to children ages seven and up since the scenes of characters getting shot might disturb younger children.
When I have heard of Uri Shulevitz’s most recent children’s book, I was excited at reading this book! “How I Learned Geography” is a Caldecott Honor bWhen I have heard of Uri Shulevitz’s most recent children’s book, I was excited at reading this book! “How I Learned Geography” is a Caldecott Honor book by Uri Shulevitz that details author Uri Shulevitz’s experiences as a young Polish refugee during World War II and how he lived in Kazakhstan and how a map made him realize the beauty of the world. “How I Learned Geography” is a truly brilliant book for children who want to learn about author Uri Shulevitz’s life during World War II and want to look at the beauty of the world through a map.
When World War II started, a young Polish boy had escaped the land with his mother and father and they headed to a country called Kazakhstan where they lived their lives as refugees. One day, the boy’s father went to the bazaar to buy bread and he ended up buying a map instead. This ended up making both the boy and his mother furious at the father for letting them starve that night, however the next morning; the boy’s father put the map on the wall of their little room, which covered the entire wall. When the boy started looking at the map, he discovered that the map can open up a world that he has never known existed right before his eyes!
Oh my goodness! This book was truly a wonderful experience for me! I never would have realized that a map could help a person see the true wonders of the world through their own eyes and help them get through tough times during their lives! Uri Shulevitz has done a brilliant job at writing about his childhood during World War II and it was truly written in such a dramatic and heartwarming way that I often find myself sympathizing with the boy in the story many times. It was interesting seeing how the family had to run away from their home to find safety from the war and Uri Shulevitz has certainly done a brilliant job at detailing the hardships and pain that he and his family had to go through during the war, such as not having enough food to eat. I loved how Uri Shulevitz pointed out in the book that he found happiness in the dreary life he was thrown into by witnessing the wonders of a map through his mind. Uri Shulevitz’s illustrations are extremely colorful as there are detailed images of the country Kazakhstan with images of small houses that are made of clay, straw and camel dung, in the background. I also enjoyed Uri Shulevitz’s colorful images of the different countries that the boy visits through the map such as running across the beach and jumping about in the dessert sand. My favorite image in this book was of the boy flying all around the world and you can see various buildings from Europe to North America standing beneath him.
Overall, “How I Learned Geography” is a truly amazing and imaginative book that detailed the magic of viewing a map in an exciting and inventive way and children might be interested in witnessing the lives of many refugees during World War II in this book. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since some of the countries that the boy mentions might be difficult for smaller children to understand and the themes of war and hunger might upset smaller children.
I have read many children’s books that take place in China, but I had read a children’s book that is as inspirational and heartwarming as “Rub[image]
I have read many children’s books that take place in China, but I had read a children’s book that is as inspirational and heartwarming as “Ruby’s Wish!” “Ruby’s Wish” is an Ezra Jack Keats award winning children’s book by Shirin Yim Bridges along with illustrations by Sophie Blackall that is a heartwarming experience that the whole family would relive over and over again!
In ancient China, there lived an old man who had an enormous family of over one hundred children and out of all of the children, there was a little girl named Ruby who was the most unique out of all the children, as she is always shown wearing a red outfit for any occasion due to the fact that red is her favorite color. Back during those times, even though all of Ruby’s grandfather’s children were able to attend school, only the boys were allowed to learn how to read and write, while the girls were only allowed to learn how to cook and keep house for their future husbands. Ruby, however, has managed to obtain a special talent in learning calligraphy and she desperately wishes to go to a university instead of getting married.
Will Ruby be able to attend the university just like she always wanted?
Read this book to find out!
Wow! This book was simply amazing and brilliant! I never would have thought that I would read a children’s book that really stresses the importance of education while also teaching children about the importance of equality in the school system. Shirin Yim Bridges did a brilliant job at writing this book as Ruby is shown as being a gentle yet independent girl whose only desire is to attend a university just like her male cousins, despite the fact that she was not allowed to attend university due to her gender. I loved how Shirin Yim Bridges was able to tackle such a tough subject such as how women were not allowed to attend schools while men were and gave us a protagonist who was determined to break the norms of society to get want she truly desires and that made me really root for Ruby throughout the entire story since I believe that education is extremely important to anyone and everyone should have the opportunity to obtain a good education for themselves. Sophie Blackall’s artwork is truly amazing to look at as we get to see how ancient China looked like and I really loved the exotic clothing worn by each character, especially by Ruby who is constantly seen in a different variety of red clothing.
Overall, “Ruby’s Wish” is a truly beautiful and inspiring book that teaches children to stand up for what they believe in and expresses the importance of a good education for everyone. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.
I like to thank my Goodreads friend Gundula for recommending me this book!
As a young girl, author Patricia Polacco was diagnosed as dyslexic and she was put inito special classes, however in this book, “The Junkyard Wonders,As a young girl, author Patricia Polacco was diagnosed as dyslexic and she was put inito special classes, however in this book, “The Junkyard Wonders,” young Patricia Polacco has discovered a very special teacher named Mrs. Peterson who teaches her and other students like her that they are special no matter what anyone says about them! “The Junkyard Wonders” is truly one of Patricia Polacco's best works ever created for children!
Beautiful, simply beautiful! I have read many books that depicts Patricia Polacco's troublesome childhood when she was coping with dyslexia, but never have I read a book that truly showed the power of true friendship in such a hopeful light! Patricia Polacco has done a magnificent job at both writing and illustrating this book about a group of kids who each have a disability and how they learned to believe in themselves through an inspiring teacher. Patricia Polacco's writing is dramatic and heartwarming at the same and I truly felt sad for Trisha and her friends as they were teased at school because of their disabilities, but I loved the way that Trisha and her new friends stick together through all the hard times they had at school and I also loved the way that Trisha and her new friends spend so much time with each other after they met which proves how close they are to each other. What I truly loved about this book was the teacher, Mrs. Peterson and it was so inspiring about how she helped the children with disabilities believe in themselves and see that they are special in a good way. I also loved her definition of a genius as it defined that everyone in that classroom are all geniuses and it does not single anyone out. I also loved the fact about how Mrs. Peterson showed the class about making new objects out of something old in the junkyard and it was truly special in how they built an airplane together since it showed how everyone came together to make something that represented the whole class. Patricia Polacco's illustrations are truly beautiful and heartwarming at the same time and I loved the illustrations of Patricia Polacco as a child as she always wears pigtails and a dress and has a hopeful expression on her face. My favorite image was of Mrs. Peterson coming into her class and you can see all the children including Trisha staring up at Mrs. Peterson thinking that she was intimidating, however I really loved the appearance of Mrs. Peterson as she does have an appearance of a strict teacher as she wears a gray dress, wears glasses and has her hair in a bun, but she has such a kind face and wisdom beyond her years that I immediately fell in love with her!
All in all, “The Junkyard Wonders” is a truly memorable book for children who have disabilities and want to believe in themselves. It makes me really want the teachers that Patricia Polacco had when she was small because they were all truly inspiring teachers! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up due to length of the book being a bit too long for children....more
This is like my tenth book I have read by Patricia Polacco and it is called “My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother.” In this book, a young Patrici [image]
This is like my tenth book I have read by Patricia Polacco and it is called “My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother.” In this book, a young Patricia tells the audience about her annoying older brother, Richard, who outdoes everything she does and she wished to do something better than her brother! “My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother” is a brilliant book that children who also have problems with their siblings will enjoy for many years!
This book was so brilliant and will easily relate to any child who has older or younger siblings who pick on them! Patricia Polacco has done an excellent job at both writing and illustrations her life with her older brother Richard and I loved how Patricia Polacco’s writing is so sweet natured that I was seriously feeling all cuddly inside whenever I read this book. I also loved the love/hate relationship between Patricia and Richard (which is what I always see in every book that describes your typical sibling rivalry) and I also loved what Richard does for Patricia at the very end of the book (I will not tell you what happened) for it showed that no matter how much Patricia and Richard argue with each other, they still love each other! I also loved seeing some the family traditions that was shown in Patricia’s family, such as when Patricia and her grandmother saw a shooting star in the sky, Patricia’s grandmother spitted twice between her fingers and then slapped her chest whenever she is making a wish and that was the part of the story I truly favored. Patricia Polacco’s illustrations are extremely beautiful, especially of the images of Patricia and Richard themselves as Patricia is always seen wearing pigtails throughout the book, while her brother Richard has red hair, wears glasses and has freckles on his face. I also loved the way that Patricia Polacco illustrated the facial expressions on each character as they look realistic and hilarious at the same time. I really loved the smug looks that Patricia shows whenever her brother teases her about not being able to do things that he can and I also loved Richard’s goofy grins on his face every time he beats Patricia at something. But my favorite images from this book were on the endpapers of this book as the endpapers show real life photos of Patricia Polacco’s family and her older brother Richard.
Overall, “My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother” is a really cute story about sibling rivalry that every child will easily relate to and also love for the rest of their lives! I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.
What I love so much about Patricia Polacco's works is that her books are mostly based on her real life as a child. Well, her book “Chicken Sunday” is What I love so much about Patricia Polacco's works is that her books are mostly based on her real life as a child. Well, her book “Chicken Sunday” is such a book and it shows the multicultural friendship that Patricia has with two African-American boys, Stewart and Winston and the story details the three friends' determination to prove their innocence when a group of rough boys threw eggs at Mr. Kodinski's shop! “Chicken Sunday” is truly one heartwarming book that you should definitely check out!
Amazing! This book is beyond amazing! Patricia Polacco has certainly out done herself in writing this book about the importance of true friendship. What I really loved about Patricia Polacco's writing is how she shows the multicultural relationship between Patricia and Stewart and Winston as Patricia is Jewish-American while Stewart and Winston are African-American and these three friends are clearly inseparable as they treat each other like they are brothers and sister, a type of relationship you would never find in many children's books. I also loved the relationship that Patricia had with Miss Eula as she truly treats Miss Eula like a grandmother, especially after hearing that her babushka (her grandmother) has died some years back and it was truly wonderful seeing the relationship between Miss Eula and Patricia blossom into love. I also loved the fact that when Patricia, Stewart and Winston all got into trouble, they stood by each other no matter how harsh the situation was and that truly showed me how strong their friendship was. Patricia Polacco's illustrations are truly magnificent in this book as all the characters are drawn in a realistic and effective way that has actually made me speechless every time I looked at the images. I loved the way that Patricia Polacco drew the characters' facial expressions as they ranged from sad to surprised expressions that made the book truly amazing to read. My favorite image in this book was of the image of Mr. Kodinski looking at some eggs that Patricia and her friends had brought to him and you can see the intense yet surprised expression on his face and that truly made my heart melt with sympathy for him as I can imagine everything he has gone through when he moved away from his homeland. I also loved how Patricia Polacco gave Mr. Kodinski an old fashioned yet sophisticated look about him as he wears a large black hat, a white shirt, black suspenders and has a shaggy white beard that truly details his personality.
Overall, “Chicken Sunday” is a wonderful experience for children who love reading about multicultural friendships and learning about the true meaning of having a family. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the length of this book might be a bit too much for smaller children.
I have read many children’s books that deal with the racism that many African-Americans had to face during the 1950s, but I have actually come upon a I have read many children’s books that deal with the racism that many African-Americans had to face during the 1950s, but I have actually come upon a book that was a true inspiration to me! “Ron’s Big Mission” is a children’s book by Rose Blue and Corinne J. Naden and illustrated by Don Tate and it details the big mission that a young boy named Ron must accomplished. “Ron’s Big Mission” is certainly one brilliant book about the importance of standing up for yourself that many children will love for many years!
The book starts off with a young boy named Ron McNair getting ready to complete a mission. Ron’s mission was to go to the library and check out a book, since during that time, it was forbidden for African-Americans to check out books in the library. So, when Ron tried to check out a book from the library and the desk clerk refused to let Ron check out a book, Ron decided to make a stand and demanded that he checked out a library book.
Wow! This book was just so simply amazing as it told the life of an African-American boy in 1950s South Carolina in an extremely simplistic way! Rose Blue and Corinne J. Naden did an excellent job at writing the biographical story about an African-American boy named Ron McNair who was based off the real Ron McNair and his struggles in trying to check out a book from the library. It was really tragic in seeing how African-Americans had to struggle to get their rights during the 1950s and when I saw the page where Ron actually stood on the library desk and demanded to check out his books like everyone else, I was completely blown away by this image! Whenever I read this book, I always think to myself that if I was in Ron’s position and I wanted the right to check out a library book like everyone else, I definitely would have done the same thing that Ron had did in this book. Rose Blue and Corinne J. Naden has done a splendid job at presenting the nonviolent nature of Ron’s stance on racism and I loved the way that Ron never resorted to violence to stand up for his rights as a citizen. Don Tate’s illustrations are extremely cute and effective, especially of the images of Ron standing on the desk at the library as he tried to tell the librarians that he wanted to check out books like everyone else. Even though I will admit that Don Tate draws the characters with large heads, the facial expressions on the characters’ faces were extremely effective in portraying the message in this story.
Overall, “Ron’s Big Mission” is a truly inspirational book for children who want to learn more about racism in the 1950s and about how to stand up for what they believe in and children all over the world will definitely enjoy reading this wonderful book for years to come! I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since the format is simple enough for small children to read and understand.
I like to thank my Goodreads friend Gundula for recommending me this book!
“The way to right wrongs is to turn to light of truth upon them.”
That was one of the memorable quotes by Ida B. Wells herself and there ar“The way to right wrongs is to turn to light of truth upon them.”
That was one of the memorable quotes by Ida B. Wells herself and there are more quotes coming along in this review! “Yours for Justice, Ida B. Wells” is an inspirational children’s book by Philip Dray along with illustrations by Stephen Alcorn and it is about an African-American woman named Ida B. Wells who made history by exposing the horrors of lynching through the newspaper. “Yours for Justice, Ida B. Wells” is clearly one of the best books about Ida B. Wells ever written!
Whew! This book was a stretch to read, but it was worth it! Philip Dray has definitely done an excellent job at writing this inspirational story about an African-American woman’s struggles in promoting awareness to the mistreatment of African-Americans during the 1800s. I loved the way that Philip Dray made this biography extremely intense and uplifting at the same time as I truly felt pure passion for Ida’s pursuits in stopping segregation during that time and I was truly horrified at the mistreatment that blacks had to endured during that time, including being lynched for no reason and cutting them out of society. I also loved the various quotes from Ida B. Wells that Philip Dray provided in this book. Some of my quotes were:
“I had hoped for such great things from my suit for my people and just now if it were possible [I] would gather my race in my arms and fly away with them.”
Stephen Alcorn’s illustrations are truly creative and inspiring especially of Ida herself as she is shown to be a beautiful and independent woman and I really loved the illustrations of how they literally take the situation shown in the book, such as illustrating the school that Ida goes to as a huge opened book while Ida and her mother walk towards the huge book and how the situation about blacks being denied their freedom was shown as an image of a huge hand pushing a black man away while having a “whites only” sign on its arm and I also loved the way that Stephen Alcorn made Ida seem like she is flying across each page, which makes her seem like an angel and a savior to African-Americans.
Parents should know that this book is pretty lengthy and smaller children might be bored with this book in one day. Also, the heavy themes of racism in this book might be upsetting to smaller children, especially the scenes where African-American men are being lynched. Parents need to explain to their children about the terrible experiences that African-Americans had to go through during the 1800s and how they can also help in stopping racism and prejudice from spreading like Ida did.
Overall, “Yours for Justice, Ida B. Wells” is a truly brilliant and inspiring book that actually goes into the depths of racism and prejudice that every child should really enjoy. I would recommend this book for children ages six and up since the book is too long for smaller children and the racism themes might be too intense for smaller children....more
This is another book that I was reading for the Children’s Book Club for Black History Month and I will admit that I just loved this book to d[image]
This is another book that I was reading for the Children’s Book Club for Black History Month and I will admit that I just loved this book to death! “Henry’s Freedom Box” is a Caldecott Honor Book by Ellen Levine along with illustrations by Kadir Nelson and it is about a runaway slave named Henry “Box” Brown who thinks of a clever plan to get out of slavery after his family is sold. “Henry’s Freedom Box” is a truly inspiring and dramatic book for children who want to learn more about the horrors of slavery.
I am so glad that I had the opportunity to read this book because I wanted to learn more about black history, being that this is black history month and I wanted to learn more about the horrors of slavery for blacks. Ellen Levine had done an excellent job at writing this true story about Henry “Box” Brown’s clever escape from slavery. I loved how Ellen Levine made this story extremely dramatic and breathtaking at the same time as I was really moved by Henry’s loss of his family and how he wanted to escape from the cruel life of slavery and I was so amazed at how Henry escaped slavery by mailing himself in a box to freedom because that idea sounded so ingenious and risky that I was practically worrying about Henry’s safety in arriving to a land of freedom. I also loved how Ellen Levine provided a note at the end of the book about how Henry Brown was one of the most famous runaway slaves and how there were over four million slaves living in the United States and that information alone was enough to let me ask myself about how could we have so many innocent people as slaves? It really gave me so much knowledge about Henry Brown that I never knew before and how his plan made him such a famous runaway slave, which I think that his recognition in black history is greatly well deserved because his plan was so brilliant. Kadir Nelson’s illustrations are extremely beautiful in this book as they realistically portrayed the pain and sorrow that Henry has to endure during his days of slavery. The image I really loved was a close up shot of Henry’s sad face after his wife Nancy told him that their children might be sold and you can see the sadness on Henry’s face and what truly made this image so breathtaking was how the light from the window reflected off of Henry’s face, which seems to make this image look like a foreshadowing about what is in store for Henry.
All in all, “Henry’s Freedom Box” is a truly touching book that children who want to learn more about slavery and the heroic figures during slavery will easily enjoy this book! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up due to some sad scenes.
Speechless… I am just totally blown away by this recent book I have read by Patricia Polacco! “The Keeping Quilt” is a beautiful picture book by PatriSpeechless… I am just totally blown away by this recent book I have read by Patricia Polacco! “The Keeping Quilt” is a beautiful picture book by Patricia Polacco that details the life story of Patricia Polacco’s family that has emigrated from Russia and how her Great Gramma Anna passed down her precious quilt to her children for four generations and has remained to be a wonderful treasure to her entire family. “The Keeping Quilt” is truly one of the best books written by Patricia Polacco ever written!
Patricia Polacco’s Great-Gramma Anna emigrated from Russia many years ago and when she went to school, she took her blue dress and her babushka (even though I am sure that “babushka” means “grandmother” in Russian). Soon afterwards, when Anna’s dress and babushka got old and Anna’s mother made her a new dress, her mother decided to make a quilt out of Anna’s old dress and babushka so that way it would remind them of their home in Russia. When Anna grew up, she got married to Patricia Polacco’s Great-Grandpa Sasha and Anna’s quilt was used as a huppa for her and Sasha’s wedding. Later on, Patricia Polacco’s grandmother Carle was born and Anna wrapped her quilt around her new born daughter.
What can I say? This is clearly Patricia Polacco’s most memorable and greatest work ever written! Patricia Polacco has done an excellent job at both writing and illustrating this book as it details the story about how important Great-Gramma Anna’s quilt was to the family. What was so inspiring about this book is that it details Patricia Polacco’s family history and I loved the way that she put so much emphasis on how the keeping quilt was such an important family heirloom and I loved how her family used the quilt for their family traditions such as using it as a huppa for each family member’s weddings. I can easily relate to the importance of family heritage in this book as my family has special heirlooms that were passed down from generation to generation and we get the opportunity to learn more about our heritages through our family heirlooms. It was also interesting learning about Russian traditions within Patricia Polacco’s family since I am always interested in learning about different traditions from other countries. Patricia Polacco’s illustrations are extremely beautiful and creative as the illustrations are shown in mainly black and white colors, however the quilt is the only image in the book that is colored and it helps signify the importance of the quilt to the entire family. I also loved the way that Patricia Polacco made her family look extremely realistic and heartwarming as they have realistic facial expressions that range from sadness to happiness, which truly made me feel so much emotion from the characters.
Overall, “The Keeping Quilt” is a truly beautiful and inspiring book about the importance of celebrating your family traditions and the importance of being a true family that many children will easily enjoy for many years! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since some of the Russian terms like “babushka” and “huppa” might be too difficult for smaller children to understand.
Patricia Polacco is truly one amazing author! She has written books like “Mr. Lincoln’s Way” which discusses racism, “Thank you Mr. Falker,” which disPatricia Polacco is truly one amazing author! She has written books like “Mr. Lincoln’s Way” which discusses racism, “Thank you Mr. Falker,” which discusses dyslexia and “Babushka’s Doll” which discusses patience and all of these books are truly inspirational! This time, Patricia Polacco has written a book about cancer called “The Lemonade Club” and it is about how Traci and her teacher Miss Wichelman try to help Marilyn through her cancer. “The Lemonade Club” is clearly one of Patricia Polacco’s most mesmerizing books ever created!
Oh man! Patricia Polacco can write about any issue and bring it to the audience in a sophisticated and engaging way! Patricia Polacco has most certainly done an excellent job at writing this book as it is both inspiring and dramatic at the same time! Never would I have thought that Patricia Polacco would talk about the concerns of cancer in such a realistic way and I always felt sorry for Marilyn as she had to go through so many struggles to get through her cancer and I loved the way that Traci and Miss Wichelman stayed by Marilyn’s side through her hour of need since it showed true friends Traci and Miss Wichelman really are. What really amazed me about this book was that Traci, Marilyn and Miss Wichelman were real life figures in Patricia Polacco’s life as Traci is her daughter and Marilyn was Traci’s best friend who was actually affected by cancer. I always loved the way that Patricia Polacco based her works on her real life and that is what is truly inspiring about her books! Patricia Polacco’s illustrations are just as beautiful and realistic in this book as ever before! Patricia Polacco makes her characters extremely realistic and my favorite images in this book were of Miss Wichelman herself as she is seen smiling throughout each image which greatly embraces her kind character.
Overall, “The Lemonade Club” is truly a remarkable book about dealing with cancer that many children who have also gone through cancer treatments will greatly appreciate! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the topic of cancer might frighten small children.
Boy, am I on the roll with reading various by none other than Patricia Polacco herself! This time, Patricia Polacco writes an autobiographical [image]
Boy, am I on the roll with reading various by none other than Patricia Polacco herself! This time, Patricia Polacco writes an autobiographical book called “Thank you, Mr. Falker” where it details the life of a young girl named Trisha who struggles with learning how to read and how an inspirational teacher named Mr. Falker tries to help her read. “Thank you, Mr. Falker” is certainly one of the most memorable children’s books to be created for children who also have trouble learning how to read.
Oh my goodness! Imagine my surprise when I realized that this book is actually based on Patricia Polacco’s real life problems with learning how to read! It was this aspect of this story that really drew me into this book! I loved the way that Patricia Polacco (Trisha in this book) relates her own experiences to the audience since I felt like this would greatly help children who also have problems with reading and who were teased by this problem, which bullying is a big issue for many schools. What I really loved about this book was the teacher Mr. Falker himself as he was a truly inspirational teacher who tried to do his best to help out Trisha and I believe that with teachers like Mr. Falker who try to help out students with their problems and try to give them confidence in themselves are the best kind to have in any school! Patricia Polacco’s illustrations are just as gorgeous in this book as they were in her other books as the characters look extremely realistic, especially the characters’ facial expressions that convey their emotions. The image that truly stood out the most for me was the image of Trisha crying after the kids started teasing her and Patricia Polacco had effectively illustrated Trisha’s face being slightly red and the way she covers her mouth to hide her sadness made this a truly emotional image.
Overall, “Thank you, Mr. Falker” is truly one of the most inspirational children’s books about children who have problems learning how to read that children will easily relate to. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the bullying scenes might too upsetting for smaller children.
"My Great-Aunt Arizona" is a biography about the inspirational life of Arizona which is written by Gloria Houston along with illustrations by Susan Co"My Great-Aunt Arizona" is a biography about the inspirational life of Arizona which is written by Gloria Houston along with illustrations by Susan Condie Lamb and it is about the inspirational life of Gloria Houston's great aunt Arizona's career as a teacher. "My Great-Aunt Arizona" is truly one of the most inspirational books about teaching that both children and adults will for many years!
Basically, this is about the life of Arizona and about how she was interested in learning new things as a child as she loved to read. Also, it details her family life with her parents and her younger brother Jim as she and Jim both go to school together and learn so many things from school. Unfortunately, when Arizona's mother died, she had to drop out of school to take care of Jim and her father until her father remarried again and she was able to attend school again and become a teacher.
This book truly amazed me as I was astonished to learn that this book was about Gloria Houston's real life aunt Arizona and her inspiring dreams to one day become a teacher and show her students all the different places that they will go when they grow up. Gloria Houston has truly made this book extremely inspirational and touching as the mood of the book is full of hope and a yearn to learn more about the world. I love the way that Gloria Houston always identified her great aunt Arizona as a woman who always wore long full dresses with a pretty white apron, high button shoes and many petticoats, making Arizona truly stand out as a breakthrough character in this book. Another highlight of this book was Susan Condie Lamb's gorgeous illustrations as the background colors are truly beautiful and realistic, especially when Susan Condie Lamb draws the green meadows and forests with such beauty that I usually found myself just gawking at the beautiful landscape of Arizona's hometown. I also loved the appearance of Arizona herself as she wears old-fashioned clothing such as a long white apron, but she always looked so wise and her face was always full of excitement and tenderness as she always told her students that they can go to the far away places she mentions.
"My Great-Aunt Arizona" is truly one of the most inspirational books for children and adults who would love to be a teacher someday and teach their students everything they need to know about life. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.
I like to thank all my Goodreads friends and the Children's Book Picture Book Club for recommending me this book, since it truly was inspirational and I would gladly recommend this book to anyone else who loves to learn the joys of teaching children!...more
"Stone Girl, Bone Girl" is a brilliant biography about Mary Anning, who was known for digging up extraordinary fossils back in her day. In this tale, "Stone Girl, Bone Girl" is a brilliant biography about Mary Anning, who was known for digging up extraordinary fossils back in her day. In this tale, Mary Anning loved digging for strange rocks called "curiosities," but when she meets the Philpot sisters, who were famous scientists, they told Mary that the "curiosities" were actually fossils and that one of the fossils, that belong to a giant sea monster, is the greatest treasure of all. Will Mary find the fossil of the giant sea monster? Read this book to find out!
Laurence Anholt has done a fantastic job at telling the story of Mary Anning's adventures in finding the fossils of the giant sea monster. Laurence Anholt makes this story dramatic and emotional at the same time, especially during the scene where Mary Anning was struck by lightning as a baby, but survives, which I found to be truly amazing since I have never heard about a baby being struck by lightning and surviving the accident. What made this book truly worth reading was the fact that Mary was engaged in an activity that was not common for children to do back then and I loved her devotion to collecting fossils, since I love collecting various items also and I can relate to her devotion in collecting fossils. Sheila Moxley's illustrations are colorful and beautiful at the same time as the characters look lively, especially of the image of Mary Anning herself as she wears a brown and white dress, indicating that she is an adventurer. Sheila Moxley also makes her illustrations somewhat chaotic, especially of the images of the houses in Mary Anning's neighborhood as they look disordered, but they give this book a creative look.
"Stone Girl, Bone Girl" is an excellent book on the real life adventures of Mary Anning and anyone who loves learning about dinosaur fossils and collecting various things for hobbies will definitely enjoy this book! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the scene of baby Mary being struck by lightning might scare smaller children....more
When I was a child, I always wanted to learn more about the life and death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while at the same time, I wanted to see a picWhen I was a child, I always wanted to learn more about the life and death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while at the same time, I wanted to see a picture book for children that details Dr. Martin Luther King Junior’s life in an uplifting way. Well, I just found such a picture book detailing Martin Luther King Junior’s life and it is called “Martin’s Big Words.” “Martin’s Big Words” is written by Doreen Rappaport along with illustrations by Bryan Collier and has won many awards including the Caldecott Honor book award, the New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book and the Coretta Scott King Honor book award. This book details the life and death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a picture book format and is easily one of the most inspirational pictures books ever created!
When I saw that this book won two honors and a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book, I was so intrigued because I had not seen a book win so many awards since Audrey Wood’s “The Napping House” and I think that this book richly deserves the awards it had won. Doreen Rappaport has done an excellent job at detailing the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and has indeed done her research on his life as there is a list of events that happened during Martin Luther King Junior’s life at the end of the book that I think will definitely help children know about the various events that happened during Martin Luther King Junior’s life. Doreen Rappaport makes this book extremely effective by using large and bold texts to describe various phrases that Martin Luther King Jr. used during his life such as he was a child, he uses the phrase “When I grow up, I’m going to get big words too” and the phrase is in blue, large and bold letters, which I think is effective in describing the various phrases that Martin used during his life to inspire the effects he had on America. Bryan Collier’s illustrations are extremely beautiful and effective, especially of the images of Martin Luther King Jr. speaking inside the church as you can see the stained glass windows at the background and they look extremely realistic and colorful. Also, Bryan Collier has done an excellent job at creating a dramatic atmosphere to the characters, especially of the image of Martin Luther King Jr. preaching in church and you can see the white light glow on him, which might indicate that he is angel sent to Earth as the light glow on him in an extremely effective way.
“Martin’s Big Words” is a true masterpiece on describing the life of Martin Luther King Jr. through the eyes of children and many children will definitely enjoy the book immensely. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children might be a bit upset at the racism themes displayed in this book, even though this book is telling the audience about the trials that Martin faces during his life.
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