Bre’s Comments (group member since Aug 19, 2024)

Bre’s comments from the 5183 Fall 2024 Information Resources and Services for Children group.

Rules

1. A citation for the book in APA format.


Lord, C. (2006). Rules. Scholastic Press.




2. A brief annotation for the book, no more than two sentences.


Catherine is a 12 year old with and autistic brother and she tries to teach him to be “normal”. She makes some great new friends and realizes that normal is not really a thing anyways.


3. Your response to these questions: Does the book honestly portray the realities of life for today’s children? In your opinion, how real should a children’s book be? In other words, are children harmed or helped by reading a realistic portrayal?


This novel accurately portrays how during the preteen stage of life many children think that there are simple answers to life’s more complicated problems. The thinking pattern of Catherine and her friends is realistic. Although the portrayal of her autistic brother is an abnormal presentation of a mix of independence and dependence, it still conveys the difficulties of having a life that depends heavily on how a family member is doing. It is realistic enough to be very relatable. I think that children are helped by having realistic portrayals, especially ones that have been slightly exaggerated to make them easier to understand like this one. It gives them modeling on how they can tackle problems of their own. I think that this is a helpful genre and I am sure that is part of why it is the most popular one in children’s literature.

The Girl Who Built a Spider

1. A citation for the book in APA format.
Brewington, G. (2024). The girl who built a Spider. Godwin Books/Henry Holt and Company.


2. A brief annotation for the book, no more than two sentences.
A girl and her two best friends build a solar powered spider and win the science fair. She meets another kid scientist that has uncovered an evil plot to take over the world and helps him save the day.


3. Briefly describe the setting of the book (i.e., time and place). Does the setting play an important part of the story or is the setting backdrop? How does the society or community in the book reflect (or does not reflect) contemporary society? Your answer to #3 should be about 100 words in length.
The setting of the book is a typical middle school and middle school experience. The setting is definitely more of a backdrop piece for this story. Unlike a lot of science fiction, there is very little world building that is needed aside from catching the reader up on what types of science exist in this version of the world. This world has a few incredible advancements in robotics, but many similarities to our contemporary society. I think that this is pretty important to make this story relatable to the kids that are reading it. This is a soft science fiction that can introduce readers to the excitement of imagination when applied to what can happen in the real world that we live in.

Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls

1. A citation for the book in APA format.
Rivera, K. (2022). Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls. Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.


2. A brief annotation for the book, no more than two sentences.
Cece must secretly become a bruja (magic wielder and healer) to save her sister. Her sister was kidnapped by a dark magical creature.


3. Your response to this question: Author Ursula K. LeGuin said that fantasy is not real but it is true. Do you think the book you read is “true” in some sense of the word? Explain. Your answer to #3 should be about 100 words in length.
The strongest remnants of truth in this story tie back to themes in growing up and community. Throughout her journey, Cece must learn to listen to the wisdom of the elders that she has heard around her as it is the only way to keep her safe and to save her sister. She has to be respectful of the very real dangers that are present where she lives (a desert) and although she thinks that she must do this alone, eventually she learns that you need others around you to help and support you on your journey. So it is true in the sense that while the magic and kidnapping exaggerate the story, these are lessons that many must learn as they are growing up, particularly in areas that take so much knowledge to stay safe in.

All in a Drop: How Antony van Leeuwenhoek Discovered an Invisible World


Part 2: This week you choose to write on either (1) the informational book OR (2) biography for children you selected to read. 


1. A citation for the book in APA format.
Alexander, L. (2021). All in a drop: How Antony van Leeuwenhoek discovered an invisible world. Clarion Books.


2. A brief annotation for the book, no more than two sentences.
A working class dutch boy grows up to run a successful fabric shop and build a microscope that allows him to discover the existence of microbes.


3. The K-W-L method can be used to facilitate active reading of expository text (See Pattee's article for more about the method.) In about 100 words, discuss (a) what you did know about the topic that your nonfiction book presents about, (b) what you wanted to know, and (c) what you learned about the topic. 
What I knew about Antony van Leeuwenhoek was that he discovered bacteria and mites.I knew that he did this without speaking Latin like other scientists at the time. I did not know how he found them or what all small organisms he discovered. I wanted to know both of those things. I also wanted to know how he got his discovery out in the world since he did not speak the language that science business was conducted in at the time. I learned that he did not speak English, but got to look at a book about the first microscope that had pictures in it and he thought the pictures were amazing so he built his own microscope. He hired an artist and funded these ventures with his successful fabric store. He discovered microbes by looking at water and seeing all of the little things that were alive and moving around!

Later, When I’m Big
1. A citation for the book in APA format. I chose the Mildred L. Batchelder Award book that I read this week.
Leeuw, M. de. (2023). Later, when I’m big (L. Watkinson, Trans.). Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.


2. A brief annotation for the book, no more than two sentences.
A little boy is going swimming and daydreams of all the things that he will do when he is bigger and braver. He imagines all kinds of wild adventures and then decides at the end to do them later when he is big.


3A. If you respond to the Mildred L. Batchelder Award/Honor book: 


Discuss the book’s potential appeal to the child audience in the U.S. In what sense do you think an American child can relate to the book originally produced in a foreign country? Your answer to #3A should be about 100 words in length.


This book would have great appeal to children in the U.S. The child imagines all sorts of fun adventures that they could do all over the world and describes animals and places from all over the globe that American children are also interested in. It is sweet to know that children from all over daydream about animals and the North Pole. The imagery focuses on the grand adventures and there are not any images that I think would confuse children from America.

The Tortoise & the Hare

1. A citation for the book, formatted in APA format. (Add a book cover/link to the book in the comment area, if possible.)
Pinkney, J., & Aesop. (2013). The Tortoise & The Hare. Little, Brown and Company.


2. A brief annotation (no more than two sentences) for the contents of the book.
A rabbit and a tortoise both enter a race. The rabbit goes very fast but gets distracted and digs a hole to eat cabbage and take a nap while the tortoise keeps going at a slow and steady pace and the tortoise wins the race.


3. Evaluate your picture book based on Betsy Hearne’s article “Cite the Source: Reducing Cultural Chaos in Picture Books”. According to Hearne’s source note countdown, where does the book fall into? Your answers to #3 should be about 100 words.
The original source was included in a section at the end and it also included an illustrator’s note about the inspiration for the cultural choices for the background characters also being inspired by Aesop. That would make it fall into category 3 for the Hearne article. This version of the fable relied heavily on imagery and contained very few words. The general idea was that in a slow and steady way (just like the tortoise) we keep getting one more word to the sentence “Slow and steady wins the race.” as the tortoise keeps pushing on. The lack of words makes it more approachable to people of many cultures.

Nothing Fits a Dinosaur: Ready-to-Read Level 1

1. A citation for the book, formatted in APA format.

Fenske, J. (2021). Nothing fits a dinosaur. Simon Spotlight.

2. A brief annotation (no more than two sentences) for the contents of the book.

A little boy is playing and his mom tells him that it is time for bed so he imagines all the household objects that he would wear as pajamas if he was a dinosaur.

3. A brief commentary on the book, stating whether you think it is effective as a beginning reader book and why or why not. Your answers to #3 should be about 100 words. 

The biggest thing that stands out to me about this book as an early reader is how silly and fun it is. I think that it works well as a beginning reader book in part because of how interesting it is for a child. They have likely not imagined putting a lamp on their head as a hat or using pillowcases as socks before. It makes you want to giggle and keep on reading. Some of the words are pretty big, like pillowcase so this is best read with an adult still for a beginning reader. There are excellent and simple pictures to go with each page though so if they do not have an adult with them, they can likely still tell what is going on in the story. I also enjoyed that the main character is a black boy with natural hair and that POC representation is very important with this age group. They need to see themselves and the people that they interact with regularly in the books that they read so that they stay interested and feel like they are a part of it. It also contains several easy to spot sight words like “ my, inside, is, and, a’ and repeats them frequently. This is a good beginning reader book.

1. A citation for the book, formatted in APA style.
Harrison, V. (2023). BIG. Little, Brown, and Company.
2. A brief annotation for the book, no more than two sentences.
This Caldecott picture book features a beautiful little girl that grows up to be bigger than her peers. The words and things that happen to her hurt and negatively affect her but she eventually finds strength to stand up for herself and focus on the good things about herself.

3. Provide a brief commentary on the book for the style and quality of the art and its usefulness in delivering the message. Include specific references to the book to back up your judgment. Your answers to #3 should be about 100 words.  
The art is gorgeous and very detailed in this book. It relies a lot of exaggeration to get the ideas across. For example, once she starts to feel big, the illustrations make her much larger than life. It uses this to push the story along when she decides to make space for herself and she pushes the page to be bigger. It also uses little details like labeling the dress color as “husky grey” to further along the message. I think some of these go over the head of children, but some are pretty cool. I read this out loud to my kids and they were confused by the words that stick to her skin after the kids are mean to her like “cow” and ”moose”. They thought that the kids must have written on her. I think that the illustration method works, but some elements of it are aimed at the adults reading the books more than the kids. I like the message of this story and spent extra time explaining it to my kids, but it is was not instantly clear to them.

1. Lloyd, N. (2023). Hummingbird. Scholastic Press.
2. It won the 2023 Schneider Family Book Award
3. A young girl with osteogenesis imperfecta convinces her family that she is ready to go to public middle school and make friends. A magical bird is coming to visit her town and she resolves to wish for normal bones if she gets a chance with the bird. She does get to make a wish from the magical bird and chooses to wish for her stepbrother’s dog to come back safely. She is happy with the life she has and begins making friends at her school.
4. This book won an award specifically designated for books that show disability representation well. This book absolutely deserved this award. The main character lives with her disability and deals with the uncertainty of adolescence is such a way that is both inspiring and heartwarming. I would absolutely recommend this book to a child and as a matter of fact, I already have. It has family bonds, representation, glitter, theater, birds, middle school, a clumsy pelican, and literally saving a puppy all in one story. We should all read it! It is important as well for children to hear the perspective of someone that is living life in a wheelchair and how they are not sad about it, but rather it is just one facet of who they are.