Module 5: Funny Bones

Summary:
This is the story of how the calaveras (skeletons doing everyday tasks or participating in festive activities) that are associated with the Day of the Dead came to be. Lupe Posada is the artist who created them and this book provides background into his life as an artist and the history of calaveras. Tonatiuh's illustrations earned this book the Pura Bulpre Honor award. It was also the winner of the Sibert Award for most distinguished informational book of 2015.

Reference:

Tonatiuh, D. (2015). Funny bones: Posada and his Day of the Dead calaveras. New York, NY: Abrams Books for Young Learners.

Impressions:
I completely understand how Tonatiuh's illustrations helped this book win the Pura Belpre Honor award. The choice of details and colors create a festive look that coincides with the Day of the Dead celebrations described in the book. Posada's story is very interesting and is not one that is commonly told. Tonatiuh did a great job of creating a picture book that is informative and easy to follow for younger children. Posada's use of political cartoons to express opinions is outlined in the second half of the book. Many of Posada's calaveras are shown with the question, "Was Posada saying that..." and pose a question for young readers that allows children to think about some of points Posada was trying to make with his artwork. This was a clever way of opening up those discussions for young readers.


Professional Review:
"This exceptional picture-book biography profiles Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada (1852–1913), who is remembered primarily for his portrayal of calaveras, the droll skeletons prominent in Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations. Posada, who loved to draw as a child, later discovered printmaking, the art form that would shape his career. He learned lithography, engraving, and etching, three techniques that are succinctly explained here and illustrated through cartoonlike panels of drawings. As an adult, then known as Don Lupe, Posada’s images of calaveras amused the public by poking fun at politicians. In the second half of the book, every other page reproduces a Posada print and asks a question, such as, “Was Don Lupe saying that . . . even powerful leaders one day become calaveras?” The use of questions works well, encouraging readers to engage with the art, while the clearly written narrative continues on the facing pages. Appearing throughout the book, Tonatiuh’s illustrations are digital collages notable for their controlled energy, vibrant colors, and a wonderfully rhythmic arrangement of forms on the page. The final scene, a witty, updated version of grinning calaveras, depicts them as young people today. Playful but informative, this picture book offers a fascinating introduction to the artist and his work."

Phelan, C. (2015). [Review of the book Funny bones: Posada and his Day of the Dead calaveras]. Booklist, 111(21), 52.

Library Uses:
After reading Funny Bones, invite students to create their own calaveras masks. Gather paper plates, markers, popsicle sticks, and scissors. Show students how to cut the skull shape out of the plate. Next, have students add eyes and nose and then decorate their creations. Last, add a popsicle stick that students can use to hold up the mask.

Module 4: Holes

Summary:
Stanley Yelnats comes from a long line of unlucky men due to a curse put on his great-great grandfather by a gypsy.  Bad luck has struck once again and Stanley has been sentenced to juvenile detention for a crime he didn't commit. He's been sentenced to digging holes at Camp Green Lake, Texas. As Stanley's story unfolds, we are also told two other stories simultaneously. One is the story of how Stanley's great-great grandfather came to be cursed. The other story is of Kissin' Kate Barlow, an outlaw who buried treasure in the same area in Texas where Stanley has been sentenced. The plot takes many twists and turns and the reader is sure to enjoy working to solve the mysteries that unfold throughout the story.

Reference:

Sachar, L. (1998). Holes. New York, NY: Yearling.

Impressions:
Sachar's novel is crafted in such a way that the reader is pulled into a page-turning experience. There is mystery, love, adventure, and an underdog story all wrapped up in a book that is sure to entertain. The way Sachar has woven three stories together creates a unique twist of Realistic Fiction and Tall Tale rolled into a fun combination of interesting characters. All of the characters are colorful and larger-than-life and they keep the story moving a pace that is sure hook readers into the plot.

Professional Review:

"Middle-schooler Stanley Yelnats is only the latest in a long line of Yelnats to encounter bad luck, but Stanley’s serving of the family curse is a doozie. Wrongfully convicted of stealing a baseball star’s sneakers, Stanley is sentenced to six months in a juvenile-detention center, Camp Green Lake. “There is no lake at Camp Green Lake,” where Stanley and his fellow campers (imagine the cast from your favorite prison movie, kid version) must dig one five-by-five hole in the dry lake bed every day, ostensibly building character but actually aiding the sicko warden in her search for buried treasure. Sachar’s novel mixes comedy, hard-hitting realistic drama, and outrageous fable in a combination that is, at best, unsettling. The comic elements, especially the banter between the boys (part scared teens, part Cool Hand Luke wanna-bes) work well, and the adventure story surrounding Stanley’s rescue of his black friend Zero, who attempts to escape, provides both high drama and moving human emotion. But the ending, in which realism gives way to fable, while undeniably clever, seems to belong in another book entirely, dulling the impact of all that has gone before. These mismatched parts don’t add up to a coherent whole, but they do deliver a fair share of entertaining and sometimes compelling moments." 

Ott, B. (1998). [Review of the book Holes]. Booklist, 94(19), 1750.

Library Uses:
This book creates a great opportunity for a librarian to work with a teacher who is using Holes as a classroom read aloud or novel study.  Invite students into the library for a lesson on timelines. Holes has three different stories interwoven and this creates an excellent opportunity to explore noting important events and when they occurred. Using Capzles.com, students can create a timeline and insert images, videos, or text to create a multimedia experience.

Module 3: The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend

Summary:
Beekle lives on a far away island where imaginary friends live...before they are actually imagined by a real child.  After Beekle is tired of waiting to imagined, he takes it upon himself to journey to the real world to find his friend. Once he is in the real world he does eventually meet his true friend and it is everything he dreamed it would be!

Reference:

Santat, D. (2014). The adventures of Beekle: The unimaginary friend. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.

Impressions:
The Adventures of Beekle is sure to please young readers with its premise and it's colorful, fun illustrations. This story holds great lessons of taking matters into your own hands and finding friendship. Beekle is an instantly likable character who I was cheering for the whole time. Readers will be cheering for Beekle through the story and the ending leaves room for the imagination to run wild with possibilities as to what might happen next!

Professional Review:

"If an imaginary friend is unimagined, does it become a real friend?

Beekle (a crowned white gumdrop of lovable cuteness) lives on a fantastic island with other creatures “waiting to be imagined by a real child.” After seeing his companions leave, one by one, Beekle loses faith that he will ever “be picked and given a special name,” and so he does “the unimaginable” and ventures forth to find his friend. Upon arriving at a port city, he observes adults going about their daily lives in monochrome, dingy settings that lack any spark of color or vitality. Perspectives that often isolate the tiny Beekle in corners or surround him with large figures accentuate his loneliness. Everything changes when he arrives at a playground awash in color and sees children playing with their imaginary friends—many of whom had been on his island. But even here, he still cannot find his special friend. Feeling sad, he climbs a tree, and from his perch, he hears a voice calling to him. Lo and behold, he meets his special friend, Alice. She’s imagined him after all, as evidenced by the picture he retrieves for her, which is of himself handing her a picture. In a delightful comic sequence, the pair become acquainted, and “[t]he world began to feel a little less strange.”

Welcome, Beekle. It’s nice to know you."

[Review of the book The adventures of Beekle: The unimaginary friend]. (March 2014). Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/dan-santat/the-adventures-of-beekle/

Library Uses:
After reading The Adventures of Beekle together and discussing the imaginary friends in the story, provide students with a variety of play dough, google eyes, pom-poms, and pipe cleaners. Then, invite students to create and name their own imaginary friend. Depending on the age of the students, you could also invite them to write a story about something they could do with their imaginary friend.

Module 2: The Important Book

Summary:
The Important Book takes everyday objects and describes them by their most important qualities.  The book is deceptively simple in its game-like rhythm. It is sure to spark children's imaginations and have them creating what is important about other objects they see in their everyday lives.

Reference:
Brown, M. (1949). The Important Book. (n.p.) : HarperCollins.

Impressions:
I enjoy reading this book with young children because the objects in the book are such simple everyday objects and this book gets right to their most important qualities. It makes one think, what's important about me? What makes me...me? It has the reader think about the qualities of objects and people around their own worlds and think about their importance.

Professional Review:

"A perfect book for very small children, one that will go on long after the printed word has been absorbed, for the text establishes a word game which tiny children accept with glee. The text is a series of word songs, the child's first conception of poetry, dealing simply and repetitively with each object pictured, whether grass or sky, an apple, shoes, rain, or what have you. Children go on from there, picking out the important thing about other familiar objects around. The Weisgard pictures have that imaginative quality so characteristic of him. This is tops- with us." - Kirkus Reviews

[Review of the book The important book]. (May 1949).  Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/margaret-wise-brown/the-important-book/.

Library Uses:

Students can brainstorm important people around the school such as the principal, custodians, librarian, and art teacher (to name a few). After being divided into groups, students can list characteristics that are unique to the important person assigned to their group. Then, mimicking the text of The Important Book, students can create their own Important Book about the school. These groups of students can take digital pictures of these important people and add them to the pages of their book.  This would take more than one library visit to complete which could build anticipation for students to finish the project. This would also provide students time to think about their important person and re-evaluate if needed when they return to finish the book with their groups.

Module 1: The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore

Summary:

Morris Lessmore is content writing his own story until one day a tornado devastates his town and everything in his life is scattered: including his story. A mysterious lady being pulled along by flying books entices Lessmore to follow her. He discovers a magical library full of flying books that love having their stories told. Morris Lessmore stays with the books for many years until he finishes his own story and is ready to leave. The books are sad to have lost their friend but notice Morris Lessmore has left his own story behind for others to enjoy.

Reference:

Joyce, W. (2012) The fantastic books of Morris Lessmore. New York, NY: Antheneum Books for Young Readers.

Impressions:

The story is simple and sweet but it is transformed into something truly special by Joe Bluhm's illustrations. They are detailed and realistic and there are nods to the classic Wizard of Oz. Only this time, the tornado has taken all of Mr. Lessmore's joy and he is drained of color. It's only when he discovers the fantastic books that he regains his color once again.

The author's note tells us of the struggles the author, William Joyce, went through to see his book through to completion. Much like Morris Lessmore's story, Joyce had much of his hard work destroyed by a natural disaster, hurricane Katrina, and his progress was interrupted. Mr. Joyce also had setbacks to the completion of his book due to eye surgeries and so it ended up that the wordless short film and a story app were both released before the book's final release 13 years after Joyce first began to write the story.

It is evident that Joyce's personal trials contributed to the evolution of Morris Lessmore's character and the result is a true gift. This story is one that should be shared with children who are being raised in a generation that holds video games in higher regards than the written word.

Professional Review:
"First it was an Academy Award–winning animated short. Then it was an intuitively interactive iPad story app. And now it’s a regular old book, which is fitting given that the story is all about the lasting power of books to transport and nourish the soul. Our hero is a bibliophile modeled after legendary children’s-literature advocate William Morris (in spirit) and Buster Keaton (in looks), whose gray-colored world is colorized when he sees a woman fly past, pulled by “a festive squadron of flying books.” One such book leads him to take custodianship of a house full of rambunctious stories. As the years pass, he writes one of his own, which in turn inspires a young girl after he is gone. The message-heavy narrative is lifted by Joyce’s superb artwork, presenting nostalgic, picket-fence scenes with a modeled, dimensional feel built on the animation but given a lustrous polish for the printed page. Perhaps most fascinating, the movie, app, and book taken together present an entirely kid-friendly opportunity to talk about the interplay between content and format. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The movie and app iterations of this work have attracted gobs of acclaim and attention for the book to capitalize on."

Chipman, I. (2012). [Review of the book The fantastic flying books of Morris Lessmore]. Booklist, 108(20), 70.

Library Uses:

The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore has an interesting backstory (explained in the Author's Note) and is unique in that the wordless animated short film was released prior to the book's release. Read the book and show the film to students and have them compare and contrast the book to the short film. Have them note the differences and similarities that they notice between the two and create a list.