Elizabeth’s Comments (group member since Aug 28, 2024)

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

This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness

1. Sidman, J., & Zagarenski, P. (2007). This is just to say: Poems of apology and forgiveness. Houghton Mifflin Co.
2. A sixth-grade student, Jewel wrote this poem addressed to her dad, who was absent from her life at that time. His reply has been included here as well.
3.
The poems in this book are written in pairs, with an apology poem styled after the famous poem, “This is just to say…” by William Carlos Williams in part one, while part two consists of the replies to those apologies. I like this aspect of it because it sort of carries the reader through a sense of time and distance. The pair I selected are some of the ones that made me cry and were, in my opinion, the heaviest in subject matter. However, they were all heartfelt and loaded with emotion and experiences. It is apparent that this book was such a labor of love for the sixth-grade class who wrote most of the poems and the teachers who helped them write, edit, and illustrate it.

These poems are a raw depiction of a fractured relationship between a child and her parent. So much of children’s literature depicts uncomplicated, ideal relationships between parents and children, and while it’s important to represent and model that, the depiction of a difficult situation can help children understand it from multiple perspectives. It is also a wonderful example of the healing potential of apologies and forgiveness. I would definitely only use this poem with older kids since the subject matter is rather heavy.

Next Time (pg. 25)

You went away and left me.
It’s not the first time.

The first time, you left because I cried too much:
Screaming baby, waah, waah!
The second time, it was because I messed up at school:
Your daughter is “acting out.”
The third time, I came home early and saw…
Well, Forget it, you told me, so I did.

You see, I’m keeping track.

What did I do this time:
Is it the way I’m dressing these days,
Or the way I laught too loud?
Whatever it is,
I can fix it.

Please, please come back.
Don’t leave me spinning alone,
Like a slow, sad tornado.

I’m sorry, Daddy.

Next time I’ll be perfect.

-By Jewel

She sent him that poem in a letter. The response was a poem formulated by Jewel from a letter that he sent her.

My Poem (pg. 44)

Daddy wrote back.
He was late, but he wrote.
He was late, he was sick,
He was almost gone for good,
but he wrote to me.
“Dear Baby,” he said,
“You are perfect.
So perfect.
It’s me who’s not.
None of the stupid things
I have ever done
are even close to being your fault.”

He says he was at the end of his rope one night.
Then he saw my handwriting
on an envelope and it called to him.
He says he was going to leave this world
and my poem called him back.

He says my poem saved his life.

He says he is coming back,
really coming back to stay
if he can, and the first thing
he wants me to do
is teach him how to write poems like that.

That’s what Daddy says.
And this time
I think I believe him.

-By Jewel

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
1. Citation
Robinson, B. (1988). The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Harper.

2. Annotation
The annual church Christmas Pageant never changes, until it does, following the involvement of the town menaces, the Herdmans. The story of the Christ child is all new to them and with their fresh perspective comes a new appreciation for the meaning of Christmas.

3. Response
This book portrayed a reality that is all too real for a lot of children. Through the Herdmans we see the effects of benign neglect by the adults in their life and the emotional poverty that has spilled out in the form of bullying, destruction, and theft. I think that children’s books should be as real as children’s realities, short of details that would be age inappropriate. Unfortunately, some children experience horrible things, so a somewhat “tame” portrayal of these situations may inform them about how to handle said situations. For more sheltered children, realistic fiction can give them an avenue to explore unfamiliar situations and themes in a safe setting.  

The Lion of Mars
1. Holm, J. L. (2022). The Lion of Mars. Yearling Book.

2. Bell is an 11-year-old boy who lives in the U.S. settlement on Mars. Their settlement leads a peaceful, yet isolated life until trouble strikes and it’s up to Bell and his fellow Martian kids to get help from the other settlements—a possibility that has been taboo for as long as he can remember.

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?

The Lion of Mars is set on Mars in the year 2091 and is told in first-person perspective by the main character, Bell. The setting is integral to every part of the story from characterization to plot, and specifically central and peripheral conflicts. Their isolation is what kicks off the need for the kids to reach out to other settlements in an act of desperation amidst the introduction of rodent-borne novel-to-the-adults, virus. The characters of the story reflect contemporary society as they portray a family of sorts. As an isolated family unit, they have developed a culture all their own as evidenced by unique slang and the dispersal of roles among adults and children.

A Dragon's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans

1. Yep, L., Ryder, J., & GrandPré, M. (2016). A dragon’s guide to the care and feeding of humans. Yearling, an imprint of Random House.

2. Winnie and her mother move into her great aunt Amelia’s mansion when they are named her sole heirs. However, Aunt Amelia bequeathed a dragon along with her wealth. When Winnie accidentally brings her sketches of magical creatures to life, they must find and capture them before they are seen by too many non-magical folks.

3. I do believe that it was “true” in the sense that the little girl, Winnie has lived a very much modern reality up until the start of the novel. She has a human grounding that is a relatable sounding board and catalyst for explanations of the mythical and fantastical elements of the story. While developing their connection, Winnie and Ms. Drake together process their mutual grief over the death of Winnie’s Aunt Amelia. There is an element of logic to the fantasy as well, with practical explanations of some of the magic. The practical mechanics help blend a sense of true-ness and fantasy.

1.
Lovitt, C., & Sims, B. (2019). My little golden book about the first moon landing. Golden Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

2. This picture book story of the first moon landing by American astronauts provides a simplified, digestible account of the event with details about the space craft that were used for the Apollo 11 mission, as well as some information about the moon.

3.
a. What I did know: The lunar landing took place in 1969, Neil Armstrong was the first to walk on the surface of the moon, Apollo 11 was the name of the craft that took them there.
b. What I wanted to know: Who else was on the mission? What was the exact day? Did we learn anything about the moon from that mission?
c. Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were also on the mission and Aldrin was the second person to walk on the moon. Collins did not land on the moon at that time because he needed to be in orbit, piloting the command module. The exact day of the blast off was July 16, 1969, but July 20th was the official day that humans first stepped onto the moon. Because of the sample of 40lbs of moon rocks that were collected by Armstrong and Aldrin, NASA was able to study them to find out that the moon likely used to be part of the earth!

1. Yoshida, S., & Yagi, T. (2023). Houses with a story: A dragon’s den, a ghostly mansion, a library of lost books, and 30 more amazing places to explore (J. M. Cash, Trans., K. Kinebuchi, Ed.). Amulet Books.

2. A picture book with 33 different illustrations and floorplans of homes and dwelling places that could be fictional or real. Each one is accompanied by descriptions of the resident(s) and the reasons for why it is built as such.

3. Houses with a story: A dragon’s den, a ghostly mansion, a library of lost books, and 30 more amazing places to explore might appeal to a child in the US simply because of all the potential it has to stimulate a growing imagination. The dwellings depicted range from a Japanese book store, to a tree house, to a timid ogre’s hideout. A large portion of the homes are Japanese inspired but there is also a European castle and an abandoned subway station. Houses with a story can give children the imagery and language necessary to understand other works that are set internationally. It can also serve as abundant inspiration for budding storytellers. The sidebars are especially helpful in this regard, addressing subjects like roofs and toilets, and even providing a detailed diagram of the author’s own studio workspace with accompanying explanations for each detail.

Puss in Boots
1. Galdone, P. (1976). Puss In Boots. Houghton Mifflin.

2. A clever cat brings good fortune to his master through careful but bold planning and trickery. In doing so, he also disposes of a tyrant and earns himself some royal treatment.

3.
This book falls into Source note No. 5. The story of Puss in Boots is over 500 years old, with the most popular version originating with Perrault. On the copyright page, at the bottom with the ISBN, and Dewey numbers, are the cataloging tags, “2. Folklore—France” I can see a few moments where some context would have been helpful to better understanding the motivations of the story. For one, in the art it is evident that the story is set in France, but some additional context for the time period would have been helpful to understand the class system that Puss was able to break his master into.

Books read this week:
Cinderella Stories:
Pigling: A Cinderella Story by Dan Jolley, Ann Timmons
Dogerella by Maribeth Boelts, Donald Wu
Twisted Tale
Super Billy Goats Gruff by Sean Tulien, Illustrated by Fernando Cano
Ch 7 references
Myths: In the Beginning: Creation stories from around the world as told by Virginia Hamilton and illustrated by Barry Moser
Epics and Legends: Never Say A Mean Word Again by Jaqueline Jules
Folktales: Puss in Boots by Paul Galdone

1.
Barrett, J., & Barrett, R. (2012). Animals should definitely not wear clothing. Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

2. 
The author points out many reasons why animals like porcupines, camels, snakes, mice, sheep, pigs, chickens, kangaroos, giraffes, goats, walruses, moose, opossums, and elephants should not wear clothing, but makes an exception for dogs wearing coats on a freezing day.

3.
This book is suitable for early readers of ages 4-8 but will most likely require an adult for the younger side of that age range. Thanks to the large print and unfussy typeface, emerging readers will have no issue identifying the letters. The vivid illustrations are great prompts for discussion and further exposure to language both literarily and conversationally. It also introduces a dose of reality and logic for children that is not too real while managing to keep it silly and lighthearted. Though the situations depicted are absurd, they each correlate to the environments, physical, or behavioral aspects of the animals. The text does not always literally describe the pictures, allowing for a participating adult to gauge whether the young reader is guessing at the words.
Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing

Circle

1. Barnett, M., & Klassen, J. (2019). Circle. Candlewick Press.

2. This unique concept book features three friends, Circle, Square, and Triangle, who all play a game of hide and seek; but when someone does not follow the rules, the shapes encounter something unexpected.

3. Visually, the background is simple and white, providing a neat contrast to the earth tones of the characters and setting. Characters are used to provide instant associations for shape concepts. Over the course of the narrative, as they speak to one another, they are identified by their shape/name which really solidifies the concepts for children. The use of texture and light are essential in creating the sensations of a misty waterfall and a dark cave. This becomes relevant as the waterfall and cave are part of the conflict, which drives the plot, and allows for the characters to interact more. There are multiple messages to take from this book. One could be to follow directions and rules since the main conflict is instigated by the refusal of Triangle to do so. Another message of the narrative does not become altogether clear until the very end, when the shapes realize that an unknown shape does not necessarily mean that it is a bad one.

I Want My Hat Back

“I Want My Hat Back” By Jon Classen
1. Klassen, J. (2011). I want my hat back. Candlewick Press.

2. Theodor Seuss Geisel Award in 2012, New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year, and the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award in the picture book category.

3. A bear asks a series of other animals if they have seen his lost hat…with varied results. Will he find his hat, and what will happen if he does?

4. As far as picture books go, I am a huge fan of Jon Classen. I first saw this title in 2013 (I was already an adult by then, and as newlyweds my husband and I purchased it to eventually read with our future children). The humor of this book is that it is entirely left up to the reader. The animals seem expressionless, but while reading it, one can’t help but read it with expression and emotion. I think this book is well-deserving of its awards. Jon Classen’s “I want my hat back” and his other titles of the same art style and characters, display a trust in the reader to realize the author’s purpose, which seems to be to make adults and children laugh together. I would absolutely recommend this book to a child since it is an easy read for beginning readers, with large, clear, text and dialogue that is color coded to distinguish between characters (I don’t know about you but I have definitely read out a part in the wrong voice before).