Tuck Everlasting

Babbit, N. (1975). Tuck everlasting.  New York: Scholastic Inc.

This modern fantasy story is about a family that becomes immortal by drinking from a hidden spring in the woods. It is beautifully written and the progressive plot makes it easy for readers to follow.  It is written in the third person omniscient point of view because the narrator has access to the characters' thoughts throughout the book.  I feel that there are two different kinds of conflict going on throughout this book.  I feel that the Tucks have a conflict with their immortality, especially Tuck the father.  I also think that the conflict could be person-against-person, because the Tuck's have to stop the man in the yellow suit from kidnapping Winnie and also from selling the water from the spring that made the Tucks immortal.  This story full of figurative language, symbolism, imagery, personification, and metaphors.  We can see an example of a simile on page 3, "The first week of August hangs at the very top of the summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning".  I feel that this passage also uses imagery to help the reader visualize what they are reading.  A good example of a metaphor comes later in the book... "The sun was dropping fast now, a soft red sliding egg yolk, and already to the east there was a darkening to purple".  There were several instances of personification.  One example is on page 6 "...enclosed by a capable iron fence some four feet high which clearly said "Move on-we don't want you here.""  Another example of personification in on page 22 "The sun was only just opening its own eye". There is so much symbolism in this story. One instance of symbolism is Mae's music box. I feel that it symbolizes peacefulness and happiness.  Another instance is the Ferris wheel.  I feel that this symbolizes the Tuck's lives, a never ending circle that just keeps spinning around.  Of course, you can't mention symbolism without talking about the toad that keeps popping up throughout the story.  In the beginning of the story, I feel that it symbolizes freedom to Winnie, because it can do whatever it wants, and doesn't have any troubles, unlike Winnie who feels like a prisoner because she cannot leave the yard.  In the end, it represents living forever (thanks to Winnie pouring the magic spring water over it). I feel that this is an excellent book for young adults.  It has suspense, action and a love story all combined into a somewhat short, easy to read story. 

 

Piggies

Wood, A. and Wood, D. (1991). Piggies. Florida: Harcourt Brace & Company


The naughty and nice piggies in this book helps us learn to count from 1-10 in an entertaining, fun way.  Told from a child's perspective, children of all ages will enjoy reading and looking at this book.

This is one of my favorite books to read to small children.  The vivid, colorful illustrations help create the light, fun mood of this book.  The different piggies that are assigned to each finger such as "two fat little piggies" for the thumbs, and "two long little piggies" for the middle fingers, and "two wee little piggies" for the pinky fingers make it easy for small children to relate their fingers to the illustrations.  The book uses a double spread page layout with an illustration of each hand on the seperate pages.  The child can look at his or her hand and see the corresponding hand on the pages they are viewing.  I have read this book to every child in my family since 1996 and also used it in my Head Start class.  Even my 3rd graders love to read it, and will periodically pull it off the shelf to share with each other.  The hardcover makes it durable, although the paper pages would be easily torn for small children, so I would suggest keeping it out of reach of toddlers and share it at bed time. 

Officer Buckle and Gloria

Rathman, P. (1995). Officer Buckle and Gloria. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Officer Buckle and Gloria is a hilarious tale of a safety officer and his talented dog.  Officer Buckle loves to go to different schools to teach the students about safety, but he has a little problem...he's boring and the students fall asleep.  That all changes when he gets a partner, a dog name Gloria.  When Gloria joins the team, students take notice because she has a talent for acting, but Officer Buckle is clueless to her abilities.  Only after seeing one of his safety speeches that had been televised on the news did he realize that it was Gloria, not him, that were captivating the students of the schools he visited.

I love this story!  It was funny and interesting.  The antics of Gloria were laugh out loud funny.  You actually kind of feel sorry for Officer Buckle.  The illustrations in this book add to the story because they helped you visualize the words that were written on the page.  The cartoon illustrations are fun and colorful and make the book exciting and entertaining. Children from Kindergarten and up would enjoy reading this story.

A Story A Story

Haley, G. (1970).  A story A story.  New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.


This story is an African Folktale that explains how the Africans got their stories.  Ananse, the Spider Man, wished to buy the Sky God's stories.  After visiting Nyame, the Sky God, Ananse is given three impossible tasks to complete in order to win these stories.  The clever ways Ananse complete these tasks will entertain the readers of A Story A Story.

A Story A Story  won the Caldecot Medal in 1970.  It is written in rich text and is illustrated in the folk artistic style with mostly soft, neutral colors.  The illustrations compliment the text by enhancing the story. Gail Haley used repetition such as "So Ananse tied the leopard by his foot, by his foot, by his foot, by his foot" in several places in the book.  I found it interesting that there were no page numbers in this book.  The fact that this story is written in third-person omniscient and you knew what the characters in the story were thinking, made the story enjoyable.  The literary device onomatopoeia was used to describe sounds that the Sun God made when he chuckled("twe,twe,twe"), and the running feet of Ananse (" yiridi, yiridi, yiridi").  These fun sound will make it fun for the children to hear and repeat.

If You Give a Pig a Pancake

Numeroff, L. (1998). If you give a pig a pancake. Mexico: HarperCollins




In this story, something so simple as giving a pig a pancake can lead to a domino effect of messes.  It's a cute story with colorful illustrations that would hold a child's attention and having them pointing to the pages.  This would be a great story to read to preschool aged children as well as kindergarten.  The alliteration and simple text would also make it a good read for beginning readers. 

Introduction

Hi everyone.  My name is Kristin Kreitzer and I teach 3rd grade reading and science at Stinnett Elementary in Leslie County, KY. I have 2 beautiful daugters ages 18 and 14.  I love my job and I have always loved to read thanks to my grandmother, and some wonderful teachers I have had.  I hope to instill in my students the same love of reading that I have had throughout my life.

Johnny Appleseed and the Bears

Novak, D. (1995). Johnny Appleseed and the bears. St. Petersburg, FL: Riverbank Press

Johnny Appleseed is on another of his many adventures in this delightful story.  In this story Johnny is busy doing what he does best...planting appleseeds, when he decides to take a break.  As he was peeling an apple he heard a loud growl.  Across the meadow he sees a big black Papa bear coming his way, but instead of panicing, hw offered the bear a bite of his apple.  After helping eat the apple the bear thanked Johnny and walked off into the woods.  Next thing you know, Johnny hears two growls and out of the woods comes Papa and Mama Bear and once again Johnny shares his apples (minus the seeds, of course) and walked back into the woods.  Pretty soon he hears three growls and out walks Papa, Mama, and Baby Bear.  Once again he share his apples and the bears thank him and walk back into the woods.  Pretty soon, out came the whole Bear family, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins! Some how Johnny found enough apples to feed them all until they were full, but they seemed like they wanted something else.  They wanted scratched because they were itchy from wearing the same suit of fur everyday!  After the bears were asleep, Johnny began wondering what the bears would eat after he was gone, and then he had a wonderful idea.  He planted a seed for each bear, picked up his sack and tiptoed away. It is said that those same apple trees still stand today, after if you go past them, you may see a black bear snacking away on the gifts that Johnny left years ago.

I found this story very enjoyable, and the illustrations were great.  It would definitely hold a 1st, 2nd and maybe even 3rd graders attention.You could use this story in your classroom to teach students the importance of natural resources, or you could use it in reading class to teach the genre of fantasy or folktales, or 3rd person point of view.  It would be a fun read for all ages!