Eagle Book Club

We have begun our discussion of the Stone Age. We will finish chapter 3 next Monday, test on Tuesday, and complete the open response on Friday. Also, we will continue work on our ILP's on Wednesday and Thursday for the next two weeks.

A Jar of Dreams by Yoshiko Uchida is a very inspiring book. It takes place in California during the depression, and center to the story is an eleven year old Japanese girl named Rinko. Rinko finds herself at school feeling put down and demeaned because she is picked on cruelly by the boys and, even worse, completely ignored by the girls. She has dreams of becoming a teacher one day. Her parents put tremendous emphasis and effort into their kid’s college funds. Her older brother, Cal, is studying to be an engineer, but when he starts to give up on his dream, Rinko starts doubting whether she can ever be a teacher. That summer, her mother’s sister, Aunt Waka comes to visit. Aunt Waka brings her pride in their Japanese heritage with her and instills that pride in all her family members. The whole family comes under racial attack when a commercial laundry store tries to run her mother’s at home laundry business into the ground. Her little brother’s dog is even killed by the owner of this laundry store. Rinko’s father and their family friend stand up to the owner of that laundry store, and Rinko knows she and her family will never be the same after Aunt Waka’s visit.
This would be an excellent book for the middle school children I teach to read. It brings to light the hardships people from different racial backgrounds face. It puts you in their shoes, and you understand the pain they have to endure in situations such as these. The lesson is one that can be learned even on smaller scale situations; kids are often ridiculed by other kids for a lot less than the color of their skin.
This book reminds me of when I was in grade school. My father worked in the Peabody mines and was laid off one year. Because of that, my twin brother and I received free lunches. I thought that was the singularly most humiliating experience ever going thru that line and having to tell the lunch lady, “Free!” Of course, it seemed like she could never hear me, and I always knew the whole cafeteria would hear me yell free lunch. It was embarrassing to me because kids who received free lunch were always seen as a lower status than kids who paid. Now, I know there is nothing that I should have been ashamed of. But, I still feel very appreciative of the new systems in school cafeteria’s where you punch in a lunch number regardless of whether you’re “free” or you pay for that lunch.

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis is a Newbery Honor book and a Coretta Scott King Award Winner. This book was very touching. Elijah Freeman is an eleven year old boy who is the first child born free in the town of Buxton, Canada. He is very loved by his parents but often feels that he doesn't have their respect because they view him as "fra-gile". Being fragile entails everything from crying too much and getting scared too easily to believing stories of grown ups that do not make sense. He wants to be seen as grown up and not fragile and he struggles with that through the whole book. He is very talented at throwing rocks with uncanny accuracy and would rather ride a mule than a horse. In this book, you see him change from a fragile boy to a very brave young man. He works in the afternoons with Mr. Leroy chopping timber. Mr Leroy has been working solid for four years trying to save up the money to buy his family out of slavery in America when a kind, widowed neighbor gives him the money to buy his family after she learns of her husband's death. Sadly, the preacher of the settlement volunteers to buy Mr Leroy's family, but steals the money to gamble with. When Mr. Leroy finds out about this, he is devastated and a little out of his mind. The book doesn't elaborate, but he is more than likely out of his mind due to the situation and failing health as well. When Mr. Leroy dies on the journey, Elijah takes it upon himself to finish it.

I honestly can't say this book reminds me of any childhood experiences. It paints such a decisive picture of slavery and how slavery affects this free child. I do believe it is a very important book for young readers to experience. Getting a taste of what people went through in this era of our history is a very humbling experience.

Sadly, you still see acts of racism in schools and in the age group this book targets. Because of that, this book could be a very important learning tool in bringing to light the hardships the African race endured through slavery and, hopefully, change the mindset of kids.

The City of Dragons written by Laurence Yep was a touching story. We all have instances in our life where we have felt like we don't fit in or don't belong, and everyone can relate to that theme in this book. The story is about a boy with the saddest face in the world. He's not even given a name in the book, but just referred to as "the boy." He leaves his home when he feels as if his parents are being treated unfairly because of his sad face. He meets up with a caravan of giants who take him with them under the sea to the City of Dragons. There, his sad face proves invaluable when by his sad face, he causes the dragons to cry abundant amounts of pearls enabling the giants to make their money. He goes home a hero and all the people never tire of listening to his story of adventure, despite gazing upon his sad face.

I teach at a middle school and it is such a pivotal age for teenagers. Oftentimes, it's very hard to watch their struggles of trying to fit in, feeling like they don't fit in, and lowering their standards to feel like they're a part of something. This story really relates to what I've seen in my classroom when I see these kids trying to come into their own.

Books written by Laurence Yep:
The Serpent's Children
Mountain Light
Dragonwings
Dragon of the Lost Sea
Dragon War
The Case of the Goblin Pearls
City of Fire
City of Ice
The Tiger's Apprentice

How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have? written by Julius Lester is a compilation of African and Jewish folktales. I didn't particularly care for these folktales; these stories are not ones I would read to my own son. They are very vivid in description and paint a clear picture, too much so in some aspects. It is a wide range of stories. One story is an explanation of the placement of the sun and moon in the heavens and the water on earth. One story explains why dogs chase cats. Another story portrays a woman's longing for children, receiving them (in a roundabout way) and then losing them forever. Another tells an amusing tale of quick wit and intelligence in which a turtle, elephant and hippopotamus go toe to toe in a tug of war match. Despite my own personal opinion, I think it would be beneficial for kids to read these types of stories to broaden their horizons and become more aware of other culture's folktales.

Other books written by Julius Lester:
To Be a Slave
Black Folktales
The Knee-High Man and Other Tales
The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit
Long Journey Home
This Strange New Feeling

The Talking Eggs was written by Robert D San Souci, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney and is a Caldecott Honor book and a Coretta Scott King Award Honor book. I enjoyed this book. Who doesn't like reading a story about the person who has a good soul but gets mistreated getting the happy ending while seeing the greedy mean people who get what they deserve? The illustrations in the book were plentiful and blended quite well in telling the story. The story is about a mother who is mean, lazy, and hateful, and her two daughters who are opposites. Her daughter Rose is just like her mother and is her mother's favorite while her sister Blanche is kind but get mistreated by both of them. Blanche stumbles across a kind old witch-woman who rewards her good behavior with wealth and fine things. Of course, the Mom and Rose plot and try to acquire the same things from the witch-woman and get their just desserts. Young readers would do well to learn these life lessons in that good behavior is awarded by good things and vice versa. It's an entertaining story that will keep a young reader's interest while getting the moral of the story across. It's lessons like this that I try to incorporate into the classroom in order to instill some of these life's lessons along with the academics.

Jerry Pinkney has also illustrated the following books:
The Song of the Trees
The Tales of Uncle Remus
Back Home
John Henry
Sam and the Tigers
The Little Match Girl
The Nightingale
Little Red Hen
The Old African

Written by author E. B. White in 1952, Charlotte's Web is a classic children's book that is read by almost every kid in elementary school. The book tells the story of small pig being born and saved by a young girl named Fern. Wilbur, the pig, becomes Ferns pet even though he is sold to Fern's uncle after a few weeks. In the barn, the lonely pig becomes friends with a spider named Charlotte who eventually attempts to save Wilbur from the butcher by writing words in her web. Charlotte is very successful in her attempt to save Wilbur and they both end up at the county fair. While at the fair, Charlotte lays her eggs and dies. After having his life saved by Charlotte, Wilbur brings home her eggs and befriends the baby spiders.

I remember hearing this story as a child, but I never actually read the book. I also never took the time to watch the movie since it did not appeal to me as an adult; however, after reading the book and watching the movie, I must admit that I really enjoyed the book and thought the movie was decent. The movie followed the basic premise of the book with the exception of a few minor changes that didn't affect the overall story. For example, the movie includes a scene in which Fern bring Wilbur to school and gets in trouble for the mess he makes. The book does not mention this incident.

This book and movie reminded me of several pets I have owned in the past. While I have never owned a pig, I have owned a number of animals that had to be put down for various reasons. Unfortunately, my vain attempts to save the animals were never as successful as Charlotte's attempt to save Wilbur.

I have never read any other books by E. B. White, so I can't really compare this book to one of his other works.

While reading this book, I realized it is possible to have a happy ending in a children's book that contains a great deal of sadness. Throughout the story Wilbur was worried about becoming Christmas dinner. Fortunately for Wilbur, his friend Charlotte saved him; however, Charlotte died near the end of the story leaving her eggs behind at the fair. Wilbur takes the eggs back to the barn and befriends three of the spiders. In the end, they overcome the trauma of Charlotte's death and live happily ever after.

Savvy by Ingrid Law is a Newbery Honor book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Fascinating characters melded together to form an entertaining story. The Beaumont family receive their savvy, or special ability, on their thirteenth birthday. Mississippi Beaumont, or Mibs for short, is getting ready to turn thirteen and can't wait to see what her savvy will be when her father, Poppa, is in a terrible car accident. Mibs then hopes her savvy will save her Poppa. Mibs' grandmother could pick music out of the air and place it in jar where you could listen to it forever as long as you didn't completely let the lid off the jar. Mibs' grandfather can manipulate the earth itself moving mountains or turning one acre into multiple acres. Her brother, Rocket, can create and manipulate electricity. Her brother, Fish, caused a hurricane when he received his savvy but finally learns to "scumble" or control his savvy throughout the book effectively manipulating the weather. Her youngest brother Sampson possibly hasn't received his savvy yet. Her Mother's savvy is the ability to be perfect, perfect in everything she does; she calls it a knack for getting things right. Mibs' father, Poppa, doesn't have a savvy perse. Throw in possible love interest for Mibs in Will Junior, their preacher's son, Will Junior's older sister Bobbi and the driver of the bus they all stow away on, you've got an awesome story.
In a small way, the Beaumonts reminded me of my own family in their diversity. When we were at home, it was me and my twin, our older brother and parents; five completely different personalities that made up our family. It was nice to see a family with problems larger than ours overcome those problems to cherish what family truly means.

Illustrated by Steve Jenkins, What Do You Do With a Tail Like This is very informative, but in a fun way to catch the of interest of younger readers. By posing a question with a guessing game of what animal part you're looking at, it snags your interest in finding what animal that part belongs to and how they use it. The book kept the information brief and to the point making it easier to learn the fun facts about each animal. I respected this book's tried and true usage of making learning fun. The book reminded me of games I used to play with my Mom as a child to learn about the various animals and the sounds they make.

The Stray Dog, illustrated by Marc Simont, has to be very well liked by the children who read it. There was no lesson in the story which is most often found in children's books. It was just a wonderful true story that was, in my opinion, shared for enjoyment of the reader. A family goes to the park on a Saturday, befriends a stray dog, doesn't take him home despite protests from the children, and every family member worries about the dog all week until they can get back to the park the next Saturday. They are all overjoyed to see him, but even more so when they save him from the dog catcher and are able to take him home with them. It's so easy to stay entirely focused on the education of young minds and therefore easy to forget the fact that kids should like to read for enjoyment. This book puts that back into perspective.

I found Ella Sarah Gets Dressed, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine, to be a lighthearted and happy book. As a Caldecott Honor book in 2004, I smiled a lot while reading it. Ella Sarah wants to wear a completely mismatched and outlandish outfit while each of her family members tries to persuade her to wear something more sensible and in their own style. She refuses to conform to their sense of style and sticks to her own. When she has her playdate, all her friends are dressed in the same zany fashion, and she has her own niche with them. I thought it was a wonderful portrayal of standing up for yourself and not giving in to peer pressure and conformity. Living with my brothers, I always felt the need to find my own way to shine so I could compete with my oldest brother who seemed to be my Mom's favorite and my twin who seemed to be my Dad's favorite. So, I can relate to the pressure to conform to someone else's standards for approval instead of sticking with my own.

Kitten's First Full Moon illustrated by Kevin Henkes won the Caldecott Award in 2005. Personally, I didn't care much for this book because I failed to see the point in the story. Kitten mistakes the full moon for a bowl of milk. She then proceeds to get herself tired, wet and even more hungry trying to reach it. She never reaches it and dejectedly goes back home to find a bowl of milk on the porch. I felt relieved for that bowl of milk on the porch, but what was the point? I suppose it should be viewed as a lesson in perseverance because she was rewarded for her futile efforts when she made it back home, but I just felt too sorry for the poor cat to even see that.

My Friend Rabbit was illustrated by Eric Rohmann in 2002 and won the 2003 Caldecott Award. I found this book to be a very entertaining book for children. The forgiving nature of friendship is readily shown through Mouse and Rabbit. Being a picture book, there was very little text, but what it had was direct and to the point. The illustrations told a funny story as Rabbit tried to fix the problem of getting Mouse's airplane down from the tree. The friendship between Mouse and Rabbit reminded me of my own relationship with my twin brother when we were kids; I was always the responsible one while my brother could be counted on to get in trouble with our stuff. What surprised me about this book was that it took such an important lesson in the give and take of friendships and did a wonderful job getting that across in a very simple fashion.

In the 1950’s Dr. Seuss wrote the Cat and the Hat from a list of 225 vocabulary words provided by his editor. His goal was to create a more interesting reading book than was being used at the time and by most accounts, he was successful. The book contains a story about the conflict between good (the goldfish) and bad (the Cat). Personally, I can’t think of any modern children’s book that compares to the Cat in the Hat. Much like this book, the Harry Potter series is based on the conflict of good versus evil, but obviously, it is meant for a slightly older audience.

This book still appeals to children because of the colorful rhyming text and the crazy antics of the Cat. Children also enjoy the illustrations throughout the book that display some of the bizarre acts of the Cat. The book is very easy to read and most children read it repeatedly.


The Lorax is considered didactic because it entertains the reader while it teachers them a lesson. Written by Dr. Seuss, the Lorax is full of rhyming words and interesting plants and animals. Dr. Seuss uses the colorful story to teach a lesson about destroying the environment through industrialization. The story ends with the warning that the environment will be destroyed and never recover unless the reader takes on the responsibility of changing things. I believe that most children’s books written today are didactic. Most of the children’s books I read to my son are very entertaining and fun to read; however, each book also contains an important lesson for the child. For example, the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today written by Carol McCloud contains an excellent story that my son loves to hear. The book also has a lesson elegantly woven into the story about positive behavior.

The John Newbery Medal and the Randolph Caldecott Medal are awards given out each year by the Association for Library Service to Children. Both medals are equally important to children's literature and play an important role in recognizing excellence.

The Newbery Medal
• The medal is named after John Newbery who sold books in the 1700’s.
• The medal is awarded to authors of outstanding children’s literature.
• The Newbery Medal was the first award given out for children’s literature.
• The Association for Library Service to Children selects the winner.
• The medal is awarded to the author of an American children’s book only.
• Winner receives a bronze medal with their name engraved on it.
• Books that don’t win the award but are deemed worthy by the association are called honor books.

The following list outlines the terms for being selected for the Newbery Medal:
• The medal is awarded annually to authors of American children’s literature.
• The book must have been written the previous year.
• The author of the book must be a resident of the United States.

The committee members will examine the following aspects of the story in order to select books for the award:
• Theme
• Clarity and organization of the story
• Plot
• Characters
• Setting

The Caldecott Medal
• The medal is named after Randolph Caldecott who was an illustrator in 1800’s.
• The Association for Library Service to Children selects the winner.
• The award is given to artist of excellent picture books.
• Winner receives a bronze medal with their name engraved on it.
• Books that don’t win the award but are deemed worthy by the association are called honor books.

The following list outlines the terms for being selected for the Caldecott Medal:
• The medal is awarded annually to an artist of American picture book.
• The book must have been illustrated the previous year.
• The illustrator of the book must be a resident of the United States.

The committee members will examine the following aspects of the picture book in order to select books for the award:
• Technique
• Pictorial theme
• Style
• Explanation of plot and characters with pictures
• Audience

Horton Hears a Who is a story about an elephant who hears a voice on a speck of dust. After talking with the person on the speck of dust, Horton decides he must protect the speck of dust at all cost. Unfortunately, the other animals in the Jungle think Horton is crazy and attempt to destroy the speck of dust. Eventually, the Who's, the inhabitants of the dust particle, make enough noise for the other animals to hear them and their small world is saved.

I have never really taken the time to read Dr. Seuss books because they seemed a little bizarre to me, but I will read many more of them after reading this book. I really enjoyed reading this book to my son, but I did not enjoy watching the movie. In my opinion, the short rhyming story did not translate well into a full-length movie even though the movie followed the story closely. My biggest complaint is that the movie seemed to focus more on Who-ville than it did Horton’s world. This is somewhat different from the book since the book barely mentioned Who-ville or its inhabitants. Another major difference between the book and the movie is the character Morton. He is not mentioned in the book but he plays a major role in the movie.

I haven’t really read any other books by Dr. Seuss, so I can’t compare Horton Hears a Who to his other works; however, I believe this book is similar to many other children’s books that I have read. This book uses interesting rhymes to tell a story that includes a moral lesson. This is common in many of the other children’s books I’ve read, but Dr. Seuss’s may be more imaginative than the others.

This would have been an excellent book for my twin brother when we were younger. He was always much smaller than the other kids and I think he would have appreciated the message in this story. A person’s a person, no matter how small!

Fantastic Mr. Fox is a children’s story about a wily fox that steels food and cider from three neighboring farmers. Eventually, the farmers decide that the thieving fox must die, so they devise a plan to hunt down and kill the fox. Fortunately for Mr. Fox’s family and friends, Mr. Fox always finds a way to outsmart his pursuers.

I read this book to my six-year-old son and we both enjoyed it. The book is ninety pages long, so I read him the first half in the morning and the second half in the afternoon to keep from losing his attention. Later that night we watched the movie together and both of us liked the movie even more. Even though the movie contains most of the same characters and uses several lines from the book, the movie is considerably different. To begin with, the entire premise of why Mr. Fox is stealing is completely different in the movie compared to the book. In the book, Mr. Fox steals from the three farmers to feed his family with the support and admiration of his wife. In the movie, Mr. Fox is a "reformed" thief who now writes an article for the local paper and his wife is utterly opposed to his thievery. Another major difference is the character Kristofferson who has a major role in the movie but is not mentioned in the book. As Mr. Fox’s nephew, Kristofferson is very athletic and causes Mr. Fox’s wimpy son a great deal of grief.

Overall, I liked the book and the movie. Even though both contained the same basic premise, they were very different stories. As a kid, I always heard stories from my parents about how crafty a fox could be. They would tell me to make sure I didn’t leave the cats out at night or a fox might get them. After several warnings from my parents, I was always on the lookout for a fox sneaking around our yard.

Most children’s books portray animals as having the same characteristics as humans; however, this movie placed special emphasis on the fact that animals are wild by nature. After being chastised by his wife on several occasions, Mr. Fox would explain his behavior by saying that he is just a wild animal after all. The movie and the book also did an excellent job of displaying the special skills of each animal involved in the story. Each animal’s skill played an integral part of the group’s survival and eventual successful community.