Name:
Alyse Hamilton
Title:
A Taste of Colored Water
Author:
Matt Faulkner
Age of Reader: 1st- 4th grade
Why?: I
chose this book because it adds a touch of whimsical humor to the serious topic
of racial segregation. I thought that this would be a fun book to read to
students during black history month or while learning about the civil rights
movement.
Plot Summary: This is a book about two children who hear about the
“color” water fountain in a nearby town. To their naïve ears, this sounds like
a water fountain full of fruity, colored water. When they are
told they aren’t allowed to drink the water, the story goes on to tell about
the racial segregation in the town and water the, “colored” water fountain
actually is.
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Theme 4: Historical
Fiction
Your name:
·
Alexandra
Hodge
Title:
·
Henry’s
Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad
Author:
·
Ellen
Levine and Kadir Nelson
Age of reader:
·
Grades
3-5
·
Reader
level 1.9
Why you chose this book:
·
I
bought this book this weekend at the Stillwater Book fair for 25 cents and it
just caught my eye and seemed like it would be very interesting.
Plot summary:
·
It’s about a man, named Henry, who was born into
slavery and gets sold from his mother. When he gets to his new place of work,
he is a good worker and never gets into trouble. While in town once he met a
woman who eventually became his wife and mother of his children. His children
and wife were sold and he never saw them again, this really upset him and made
him want to get out. He asked a white man to help him get out, so he found a
box and put himself in it and was shipped to Philadelphia to get out of the
slavery ring. Henry “Box” Brown was one of the Underground Railroad’s most
famous runaway slaves.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Sam Hughes
Title: Dandelions
Author: Eve Bunting
Age of reader: 5-8
Why you chose this book: I decided
to choose this book because it is about an important part of history that is
told from a young girl’s point of view, making it more appealing to young
children. It has religious references that are not specific and are relatable
to how people who lived on the prairie spoke. This book is great for teaching
concepts about the essential needs to survive. It also gives insight into how
families overcome challenging obstacles together in life.
Plot summary: The story begins with
a young girl named Zoe explaining about how her family has been traveling to
Nebraska for a long time with their oxen, Brownie and Blackie. She explains
that they left their grandparent’s which is far away. Her father is happy
because of all of the new land they’ve encountered. He promises that they will
not be lonely because they have each other and a new baby. The story continues
to talk about their journey and traveling through rivers and on ferries in
their covered wagon. They sometimes travel up to seventeen miles a day, which
is exhausting. Mama is lonely because of all the open land that is empty. They
get the well dug and the house made out of sod and it begins to feel like home
for everyone except Mama. She feels that their house just disappears into the
plains when they walk away from it. Zoe finds dandelions and she plants them on
the roof. The house becomes so much more beautiful when they begin to grow and
make the roof a beautiful yellow color. Everyone begins to feel like they
belong to the land.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Your name: Jessica Kamp
Name of Book: Dandelions
Author: Eve Bunting
Age of reader: 5-8 years
Plot summary: This book is about a family who moves
from their home in Illinois to the prairie in Nebraska. It shows how the family
travels by wagon to their new home, which is really just a field of land. Mama,
Papa, Rebecca, and Zoe are the main characters, and the story is told from
Zoe’s point of view. She describes how Mama is sad about the move and how they
have to build their home and dig a well when they arrive at the new place. She
and Papa try to cheer Mama up and help her not be sad anymore. When Papa took Zoe
to town for supplies, she returned with some dandelions to plant on the top of
their sod house. When they didn’t bloom the next morning, she told Mama that
they were strong like them and that they would bloom one day. The story ends
without showing whether the dandelions bloomed, but the illustrations depict
hope that both the family and the dandelions will thrive.
Why I chose this book: I chose this book because it has
beautiful illustrations and does a good job depicted life at that time in
history. It showed the struggles that many families had to endure when they had
to move to the Prairie, and it showed a different style of life than most
children have today. It told a fictional story about a real time in history in
a way that was hopeful, informative, and interesting. I think my students would
like this book.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Casey Rollins
Title: September 12: We knew
Everything Would Be Okay
Author: Masterson Elementary
Students
Age of Reader: Any School Age
Why you chose this book: I chose
this book because September 11th is such a recent event that the
horror and effects are still fresh on the minds of many Americans. I feel that
since it is such a recent event that everyone is expected to know about it. It
is crazy to think that 6th graders today were not born when September
11th happened. I wanted to find a book that talked about the events
so that children would be informed. This book stood out to me because of the
positive spin that it puts on the event. The students of Masterson Elementary
used a tragic event to illustrate the idea that there is always a new day.
Plot Summary: While the book
September 12th lightly touches on the events of September 11th,
it focuses more on September 12th and that the world kept going. It
talks about things in their lives that are constant from one day to the next;
for example: recess, homework, sunshine, and that 2+2 still equals 4. I love
this theme. It is so applicable to children’s lives today. No matter what
happened today, there is still a new day tomorrow. The children are informed
about the tragic day with the comfort of knowing that the world did keep going,
and always will.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Children’s Literature Review 4: Historical Fiction
Katelyn Smith
Title: Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground
Railroad
Author: Ellen Levine
Age of Reader: 3rd graders (7-9 year olds)
Why I chose this book: This historical fiction book would be
amazing to read when students learn about slavery and the Underground Railroad.
This story has a very powerful message and places the readers into Henry’s
shoes.
Plot Summary: This story is based on the story of a slave named
Henry “Box” Brown. Henry decides to escape when he is separated from his family
by climbing into a box and mailing himself north, to freedom.
Activities: Create with the Class a K-W-L Chart on slavery and the
Underground Railroad.
Students can create their own
“freedom box”: Ask students what place
represents freedom for them. Teacher asks questions such as “Why is this the
place where they feel most free?” or “Were would you ship yourself to find
freedom?” Have children choose a place that represents freedom and then write
the name of the location on a sheet of paper. Then have them explain why they
would go there on the note. When finished, the students can place their
finished work in a box that the teacher provides.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Heather Stott
Children’s
Literature Review: Theme 4- Historical Fiction
Title: Dust for Dinner
Author: Ann Turner
Age: Reading Level: 2nd or 3rd grade
Interest Level: Kindergarten through 3rd grade
Author: Ann Turner
Age: Reading Level: 2nd or 3rd grade
Interest Level: Kindergarten through 3rd grade
Dust for dinner is about the time
period of the dust bowl and the Great Depression. This book is a simple chapter
book. The first chapter sets the story up by talking about how the rain stopped
coming and the dust started to blow. The second chapter talks about how the
family has to sell their farm and move to California like their neighbors. The
mother tells the children to hide the radio so they don't have to sell it. The
young girl is upset because they have to sell her sheep. The third chapter is
about the family moving. The papa finds work some days along the way, but some
days he doesn't. In the fourth chapter, the papa gets a real job on a farm.
Shortly after being there, the son's dog kills one of the farmer's chickens.
This caused the papa to lose his job and forced the family to move once again.
In the final chapter, the papa finds a great job and the family gets a house of
their own again. The family sits around together and listens to their radio as
a family.
The reason I
chose this book for the theme of historical fiction is because it is an interesting
topic, especially for Oklahoma since it is a story that is close to home. I
think this book is easy to understand the basics of the dust bowl.
Name: Cheyenne Taylor
Title: Number the Stars
Author: Lois Lowry
Age of Reader: 3rd-6th
grade
Why you chose this book: I
remember my 4th grade teacher reading this book to us every day
after we came in from recess. I looked forward to it almost more than actual
recess, because I was so enthralled in the lives of Annamarie and Ellen and how
she is on a mission to save her best friend and how she got by in World War
II.
Plot Summary: The story is told
by Annamarie, a 10 year old girl who is living in Nazi-occupied Denmark. Word
gets out that the Nazi’s are relocating Jews and eventually sending them to
death camps, and Annamarie’s family goes into action to hide her best friend’s
family from being taken. Annamarie’s best friend Ellen’s family is Jewish, so
her family went into hiding, while Ellen stayed with Annamarie’s family and
pretended to be Annamarie’s sister. The story tells about the young girls’
triumphs, fears, and their life of hiding and sneaking around trying to avoid
the sharp eyes of the Nazi’s.
Childrens Literature review #4
Title: Ben
Franklin and the Magic Square
Author: Frank
Murphy
Illustrator:
Richard Walz
Detailed summary
of the book, characters and defining characteristic: This book introduced
Benjamin Franklin as a person rather than just an inventor. This book went
through the years of Ben’s life starting when he was 11 years old. The book
continues through the years leading up the writing of the declaration. The
second part of the book focuses on one invention in particular the “magic
square” and it explains how to make it.
Why I chose the
book: I choose this book because it focuses on a historical figure and it was
one of the few books in the historical fiction section of the library that had
a kindergarten interest level. A five year old could not read this on their own
but a teacher could read this book to a class to introduce inventions,
presidents or Benjamin Franklin.
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