Sarah’s Comments (group member since Jan 16, 2010)

Sarah’s comments from the LLED, Spring 2010 group.

Nomination for Kevin: Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine, & a Miracle
By Major Brian Dennis, Kirby Larson, and Mary Nethery

Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine, & a Miracle is a story about a soldier that befriends a dog in Iraq. The two become nearly inseparable, and they share food and often play. The dog makes a 70-mile trek to be with the soldier through Iraq. The soldier saves the dog from the hard living conditions and has him sent back to the United States. This story truly shows care and respect for animals. This heartwarming story is very deserving of the Children’s Humanitarian Award.

The Balto Book Award Winner is...Stanley's Party by Linda Bailey! It was nominated by Teeny Probst.

Nomination for Josh: Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
By Doreen Rappaport

Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a biography of the great Civil Rights Movement leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. The story describes events of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, such as seeing ‘White Only’ signs as a boy to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The book is focused on historical events of the Civil Rights Movement and the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This book could easily be incorporated into classroom lessons, such as lessons about the Civil Rights Movement, Black History Month, the 1960s, great leaders or speakers, or American heroes. Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a worthy choice for the Historical Relevance Award.

Nomination for Katee: If I Only Had A Green Nose
By Max Lucado

If I Only Had A Green Nose is a tale about trying to fit in. Punchinello and his friends have their noses painted so that others accept them. They realize that they don’t want or need to be like everybody else, and it is okay to be oneself. The message in this story is that every person is unique and different, and being unique and different is okay. If I Only Had A Green Nose is an exemplary choice for the Best Message Award.

Nomination for Tamara: The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig
By Eugene Trivizas

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig is a must read fractured fairytale. The roles of the traditional story are reversed in this twisted tale. The three little wolves try to stay protected from the big bad pig by building houses out of different building materials. Usually, the big bad pig destroys the house. However, the manners in which he does this will shock the reader. All in all, this fractured fairytale is the best candidate for and deserving of the Fractailed Fairyture Award.

Nomination for Jess Tirko: Jumanji
By Chris Van Allsburg

Jumanji is a fantasy story about a board game that comes to life for two children, Peter and Judy. Peter and Judy begin playing a board game called Jumanji. The game comes to life when lions, a snake, a volcano, a stampede, and more come to life in their home. The game takes over their house, and they can’t get rid of the things until someone wins. Judy wins and shouts, “Jumanji.” Thus, she ends the game and everything returns to normal. This book allows children to imagine that they are apart of this new world that Judy and Peter are in and feel as if they too are playing Jumanji. Jumanji is a commendable recommendation for the ‘A World of My Own’ Award.

Nomination for Jessica Minnoia: Snowflake Bentley
By Jacqueline Briggs Martin

Snowflake Bentley is the story about the man who first photographed snowflakes, Wilson Bentley. The picture book describes how Bentley discovered the universal shape of a snowflake and how no two snowflakes are alike. This biography of Bentley could be incorporated into a science lesson about weather, precipitation, or winter. This picture book would be more interesting than a textbook and would allow children to feel like they were reading a story rather than learning science. Snowflake Bentley is the best choice for a non-fiction picture book for science and deserving of The Young Einstein Award.

Nomination for Chelsea: Pancakes for Breakfast
By Tomie DePaola

Pancakes for Breakfast is a story about a woman trying to make pancakes for breakfast. She doesn’t have all of the ingredients, so she must go and collect the ingredients. Even without words, the story is told clearly by the illustrations in the book. The book doesn’t need words and allows children to use their own imaginations to explain the plot of the story. Pancakes for Breakfast is worthy of the Wordless Stories/Imagination Award.

Kevin, Chelsea, and Katee, the books I nominated for you have changed. Please refer to my newest post with the paragraphs explaining why I nominated the books that I did.

Nomination for Teeny: Pink and Say
By Patricia Polacco

Pink and Say is a tale of a friendship that occurs during the Civil War. Pink, a slave, rescues Say and brings him home. Say is nursed back to health, and the boys form a friendship. The boys try to meet back up with the Union Army, but they are captured by the Confederates and taken to Andersonville. Say is released in a few months weighing less than 100 pounds, but Pink doesn’t make it out alive. This book is a retelling of a true story passed down through a family and remembers the bravery of Pinkus Aylee during the Civil War. Pink and Say is a story deserving of the Cost of Freedom Award.

Nomination for Jessica Minnoia: Snowflake Bentley
By Jacqueline Briggs Martin

Snowflake Bentley is the story about the man who first photographed snowflakes, Wilson Bentley. The picture book describes how Bentley discovered the universal shape of a snowflake and how no two snowflakes are alike. This biography of Bentley could be incorporated into a science lesson about weather, precipitation, or winter. This picture book would be more interesting than a textbook and would allow children to feel like they were reading a story rather than learning science. Snowflake Bentley is the best choice for a non-fiction picture book for science and deserving of The Young Einstein Award.

Nomination for Chelsea: Pancakes for Breakfast
By Tomie DePaola

Pancakes for Breakfast is a story about a woman trying to make pancakes for breakfast. She doesn’t have all of the ingredients, so she must go and collect the ingredients. Even without words, the story is told clearly by the illustrations in the book. The book doesn’t need words and allows children to use their own imaginations to explain the plot of the story. Pancakes for Breakfast is worthy of the Wordless Stories/Imagination Award.

Nomination for Katee: If I Only Had A Green Nose
By Max Lucado

If I Only Had A Green Nose is a tale about trying to fit in. Punchinello and his friends have their noses painted so that others accept them. They realize that they don’t want or need to be like everybody else, and it is okay to be oneself. The message in this story is that every person is unique and different, and being unique and different is okay. If I Only Had A Green Nose is an exemplary choice for the Best Message Award.

Nomination for Josh: Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
By Doreen Rappaport

Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a biography of the great Civil Rights Movement leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. The story describes events of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, such as seeing ‘White Only’ signs as a boy to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The book is focused on historical events of the Civil Rights Movement and the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This book could easily be incorporated into classroom lessons, such as lessons about the Civil Rights Movement, Black History Month, the 1960s, great leaders or speakers, or American heroes. Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a worthy choice for the Historical Relevance Award.

Nomination for Kevin: Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine, & a Miracle
By Major Brian Dennis, Kirby Larson, and Mary Nethery

Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine, & a Miracle is a story about a soldier that befriends a dog in Iraq. The two become nearly inseparable, and they share food and often play. The dog makes a 70-mile trek to be with the soldier through Iraq. The soldier saves the dog from the hard living conditions and has him sent back to the United States. This story truly shows care and respect for animals. This heartwarming story is very deserving of the Children’s Humanitarian Award.

Nomination for Tamara: The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig
By Eugene Trivizas

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig is a must read fractured fairytale. The roles of the traditional story are reversed in this twisted tale. The three little wolves try to stay protected from the big bad pig by building houses out of different building materials. Usually, the big bad pig destroys the house. However, the manners in which he does this will shock the reader. All in all, this fractured fairytale is the best candidate for and deserving of the Fractailed Fairyture Award.

Nomination for Teeny: Pink and Say
By Patricia Polacco

Pink and Say is a tale of a friendship that occurs during the Civil War. Pink, a slave, rescues Say and brings him home. Say is nursed back to health, and the boys form a friendship. The boys try to meet back up with the Union Army, but they are captured by the Confederates and taken to Andersonville. Say is released in a few months weighing less than 100 pounds, but Pink doesn’t make it out alive. This book is a retelling of a true story passed down through a family and remembers the bravery of Pinkus Aylee during the Civil War. Pink and Say is a story deserving of the Cost of Freedom Award.

Nomination for Jess Tirko: Jumanji
By Chris Van Allsburg

Jumanji is a fantasy story about a board game that comes to life for two children, Peter and Judy. Peter and Judy begin playing a board game called Jumanji. The game comes to life when lions, a snake, a volcano, a stampede, and more come to life in their home. The game takes over their house, and they can’t get rid of the things until someone wins. Judy wins and shouts, “Jumanji.” Thus, she ends the game and everything returns to normal. This book allows children to imagine that they are apart of this new world that Judy and Peter are in and feel as if they too are playing Jumanji. Jumanji is a commendable recommendation for the ‘A World of My Own’ Award.

The Balto Book Award

The Balto Book Award will be bestowed to the book that best exhibits a dog as a character involved in the plot of a book. I chose this topic for my award because I have always loved animals, but I was never able to have any growing up. Therefore, the closest I could get to dogs was through books. Reading about dogs helped me develop my love of reading and opened me up to other types of literature.

My book award is about the literary elements of character. For this award, one of the main characters of the nominated books must be a dog and play a role in the book. Rebecca Lukens states on page 76 of A Critical Handbook of Children's Literature, “In literature, however, the term character is used to mean a person, or in the case of children’s literature, sometimes a personified animal or object. Each of the living beings in a story, play, or poem is a character.” Although Lukens states that a personified animals may be a character, the animal or in this case a dog doesn’t always have to be personified, such as in a non-fiction story. For this award, the literary element of character must be present in the form of a dog.

The nominated books must be pictures books for elementary school-aged students and may be fiction or non-fiction. Dogs come in all shapes, sizes, and colors; therefore, the nominated books could be fiction or non-fiction and for kindergarteners or sixth grade students. Nominations are due no later than March 25, 2010.

Nomination for Jess T.: Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg

Nomination for Tamara: Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas

Nomination for Jess M.: Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs

Nomination for Katee: Friends to the End by Bradley Trevor Greive

Nomination for Josh: Martin's Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr. by Doreen Rappaport

Nomination for Chelsea: The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

Nomination for Kevin: The Stray Dog by Marc Simont

Nomination for Teeny: Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco

The Balto Book Award

The Balto Book Award will be bestowed to the book that best exhibits a dog as a character involved in the plot of a book. I chose this topic for my award because I have always loved animals, but I was never able to have any growing up. Therefore, the closest I could get to dogs was through books. Reading about dogs helped me develop my love of reading and opened me up to other types of literature.

My book award is about the literary elements of character. For this award, one of the main characters of the nominated books must be a dog and play a role in the book. Rebecca Lukens states on page 76 of A Critical Handbook of Children's Literature, “In literature, however, the term character is used to mean a person, or in the case of children’s literature, sometimes a personified animal or object. Each of the living beings in a story, play, or poem is a character.” Although Lukens states that a personified animals may be a character, the animal or in this case a dog doesn’t always have to be personified, such as in a non-fiction story. For this award, the literary element of character must be present in the form of a dog.

The nominated books must be pictures books for elementary school-aged students and may be fiction or non-fiction. Dogs come in all shapes, sizes, and colors; therefore, the nominated books could be fiction or non-fiction and for kindergarteners or sixth grade students. Nominations are due no later than March 25, 2010.