Fourth Grade Weirdo

Martha Freeman's Fourth Grade Weirdo is the perfect adolescent chapter book to read. The developing years are filled with awkward moments, peer pressure and moments when you think that the entire world is against you. As soon as Dexter, the main character, enters the fourth grade he realizes that the world is not made up of perfect math equations or spelling bees. Being the only fourth grader who carries a briefcase to class and who is relieved to hear calculus test, this world of creativeness that his fourth grade teacher Mr. Ditzwinkle is pushing him to discover is creating many bumps in the road. Dexter finds himself getting into some trouble both at home and at school while on his journey to figure out who he really is. 

Like I mentioned earlier this book covers a lot about the pressures of being a fourth grader. Whether it being a  dad demanding perfection or a "crazy" teacher who picks on a students piece of work in front of the class. Dexter lives through it all. The story emphasizes that you can;t always judge a book by its cover, because they might surprise you when you really start to get to know them. I think the end message that it's okay not to be perfect and sometimes we do make mistakes, but it is what we do following our mistakes that really count. 

The book is set in a fourth grade classroom. In middle school clicks and popularity is at its prime and could really damage a fourth grader's self-esteem if he or she is not included. I think this book would address both sides to this click issue in schools today. If "popular" students read it, they could see the outcome of their actions on their "prey" and how much words can hurt a person. On the other side, for all the "fourth grade weirdos" out there, I was one of them, it lets them know they are not alone in this terrible phase of life, and that the best thing you can do is be the best you can be. It will all work out in the end. This is how I would want my students to feel after they read a book like this one. 

Being 150 pages long, it is a book that is long enough that students will feel accomplished and proud after they finish reading it. However, the words aren't too advanced and I found myself laughing at some of the funny things that happen to poor Dexter in the fourth grade. The book also has larger print which makes it easier for students to read. 

The Day the Goose Got Loose

Along with the last book, this wasn't one of my favorites. The only reason I could see myself using this book in my classroom would be because the words rhyme. I could maybe also use it during a unit about feelings, but I think that might be stretching it a little. But the other animals and farm people do mention their feelings when they found out that the goose got loose. Maybe, if I worked in a school districts were a lot of families lived on farms, the students would relate to it then and they could possible share stories of when or if their animals ever got loose and what happened. 

But other then that I can't really see myself using this book. I don't like it because it is all over the place one minute it's talking about how the other farm animals feel about the loose goose situation and then on the next page with no transition the narrator says "my dad was annoyed". The illustration is of a man with his shirt off and throwing his arms in the air with a look of rage on his face. There are also policemen in front of him, so I got the impression they were there because he was acting crazy, which isn't really appropriate and has no correlation with the farm animals on the previous page. The ending is totally random as well. The first time I read it I thought it just ended with a little girl sleeping in her bed, but then I got to thinking, is this her dream that she's having? I still don't really know the exact answer, but the story would make a lot more sense if it were a dream because there is no order whatsoever. The illustrations are also very cluttered, there is so much to look at and it is distracting from the actual story. Which would make sense if it is a dream because dreams are often crowded with a lot of random information. 

Delilah D. at the Library

When I sat down to read this book, I was excited and thought it would be a cute, fun children's book about an experience going to the library. I also thought that the message would be one that involved making the library interesting to children so they would want to experience it for themselves. BUT! I should have known not to judge a book by its cover! I never really took a liking to this book. It is a very stereotypical book that displays the father not really having a role in his children's life, the mom as a rich snob and of course the babysitter that comes and takes the kids to the library is a skinny blond teenager wearing a belly shirt and high heels. Another thing that made me mad was that even when the characters arrived at the library, EVERYONE in the library looked the same. There was no diversity whatsoever. What kind of message is this sending to our students? That only white, rich kids can have their nanny or babysitter take them to the library where they can read and checkout books? This hidden message could really hurt and have a harmful effect on a child who isn't Caucasian in your classroom. 

This book also displays libraries as places with a lot of strict rules that are not always kid friendly, which in reality is totally wrong. As I read and saw what was going on in the illustrations I found myself cringing many times. The first thing I noticed was the babysitter just left the two little kids and was shown in the back on a computer with hearts on the screen (probably meaning she was talking to a boyfriend or doing something inappropriate when she was suppose to be working.) The librarian working would always be the one saying "no, we don't do that in our library" to Delilah whenever she wanted to do something that her pretend land could do. 

I would not read this book to my class because although I believe it is important to have an imagination like Delilah did, that isn't how a library should be portrayed in a children's book. 

Journey To Freedom

In classes that I have been taking in the College of Education at University of Iowa, one of the messages my classmates and I are taught is open up our future classrooms to diversity. This isn't always the easiest thing to do especially when you teach in a school district like the one I grew up in, about 98% of the students were Caucasian. I think part of being an American has to do with all the struggles we have over come in our history. Children in schools should have the opportunity to learn about these struggles and be proud of how this great nation came to be.

The book Journey to Freedom would be a great book to share with your class when discussing the topic of the underground railroad and slavery. The reason why I would choose this book compared to any other book that has to do with the underground railroad is because Joshua, the main character is eight years old. The story is told through his point-of-view and students can relate to the character in many ways. I especially like the page when Joshua first sees and describes snow. During one of the most dangerous journey's in this child's life, he and his family are able to enjoy the first time of seeing snow, they don't even care that it will delay and make their journey to freedom even harder. However, Joshua doesn't only describe happy things such as the first snow, he also makes a point of describing the hunger that has taken over his body. He knows that his parents are hungry too, but thankful that they are sacrificing their own food for their children's. 

I do believe this book also has some downfalls to it. I think the most important that I am going to focus on is its length. I realize that there is a lot of interesting information that needs to be told in this book, but there is no way that a kindergarten or first grade class will be able to sit through that entire book. It must be read to an older class that has then attention span to sit and stay focused for that long. 

Throughout the story there are many educational facts that are added in to make this book even more appealing for teachers to read to their students. There is so much history from this time period that it can become confusing to students. In the back of the book there is also a message from the author, Courtni C., Wright. It is just more facts that were not added in the book that are very important about this event. I think this little section in the back could be also read in the beginning before the story to set the tone and prepare students for what the story is about. 

I Love It When You Smile!

I think the old saying, "smiling is contagious" is true. A little, simple gesture such as seeing a familiar face smile at me has the power to change my dumpy day into a delightful one. Sam McBratney one of my favorite children's book authors, wrote this book, "I Love It When You Smile", to cheer readers up even on their grumpiest of days. Charles Fuge, the illustrator does a great job and the combination of the way the story is written and the bright pictures make this a book that I can see myself reading aloud to my students when my classroom is infected with the Monday morning blues. 

One of the reasons I believe children will love this book is because the pages switch from horizontal to vertical to show motion and height of the two main kangaroo characters. Also, no matter what the reader's background is, everyone can relate to this book because everyone has had a bad day and is not always in the mood to smile. Although this book doesn't really have a solid, strong, educational message, I sill think  it is good to have these little, light stories mixed into the curriculum. 

On each page of the book there is so much to look at, for example, I didn't even notice the first time I read it that Roo has his friends: a duck, mouse and bee follow him throughout the whole story. Having animals, especially kangaroos, play the main characters make the story what it is. If the Sam McBratney had humans be the main characters, it wouldn't have the same light-hearted effect on readers as it does now. It also has the power to let children know humans aren't the only ones who have bad days. It is okay not to always be in a good mood, but when you smile, it makes not only your day better, but also people around you better as well. 

By using such detailed illustrations and adding different activities that kangaroos like to do, readers can learn a lot about kangaroos and the environment they live in. 

At the end of this book I do have to confess... I smiled:). 

Mister Seahorse: Carle Does It Again!

Eric Carle has always been one of my favorite authors and illustrators. The way he brings together facts about nature with big, bright and beautiful images is truly fascinating. With so much color and detail his books have the power to capture any child's attention. This holds true for his book Mister Seahorse. After writing this book Mister Seahorse, Eric Carle received the Laura Ingalls Wildre Award which is quite an honor.

As I sat down to read about this wonderful journey of a father seahorse I couldn't help but realize how many facts about sea life this book contains. As Mr. Seahorse drifts through the sea taking good care of Mrs. Seahorses eggs, he encounters other sea creatures such as trumpet fish, lionfish, leaf fish, and stonefish hidden in their natural environment. The way that Carle shows some of the fish hiding hiding from Mr. Seahorse is by using a translucent page in between two pages. So when you show children the page with Mr. Seahorse on it they can't really see what the next fish will be, until you turn the transulsent page. I really enjoyed this and think that this is a good way to involve students in the story as well and keep them on their toes and guessing. He also has Mr. Seahorse pass by other father fish that take care of their young eggs as well. These included stickleback, tilapia, kurtus, pipe and bullhead. All the fathers are nervous, but at the same time excited to have all their babies be born. A lot of the time, especially in today's society, women are usually portrayed as the caretakers. But this story challenges that by showing that the father can do just as good of a job. As the story progresses readers see how Mr. Seahorse gets larger and larger until finally at the end the baby seahorses come out and he is a proud father!

This factual, funny story was enjoying to read and the over all message of fatherly devotion to their children is a good one to leave readers with. I could defiantly see myself as a teacher reading this book to my class either during a lesson about under the sea and sea creatures or even a lesson on family roles.