The year of Impossible Goodbyes

This is the story of a 10 year old girl names Sookan, living in North Korea during World War II when it was occupied by the Japanese. Her family ran a sock factory. When the war ends, the family thinks that they are free until they hear that the Russians are threatening to take over. In order to escape, her, her mother and her younger brother, Inchun take a journey to South Korea. Along the way they get separated from their mother. After a few terrible weeks, they make it to the South.

I really did not enjoy this book as much as the other but I feel like it may have been because I read that one first. I felt like I was really able to get to know each of the characters and feel the emotions that each of them went through. Sookan was so strong throughout the journey and there were some parts that were very hard for me to read. The fact that this book consisted of many real parts of the author's life only further created that emotional attachment. It was hard to believe that two young kids could be so mature and have to go through so much all by themselves.

I think that this book would be good to teach along with So Far From the Bamboo Grove because it has a different viewpoint of the war. It would be great to let kids see two sides of an issue. This could help them to understand that not everything that happens in war is black and white. Although we feel like we are hurting the bad guys for a legitimate reason, those people being hurt have real emotions and lives just like us. I think that this would be hard to do with kids under 5th grade, but it definitely needs to be addressed in upper elementary.

Mighty Max by Harriet Ziefert

The drawings throughout really make this book a fun and interesting children's book. They all look like they have been drawn by little children which makes it very relateable for the student that is reading it. This could be a great example/reference of what students can do with their writing. It is important to be able to put drawing into writing in order to make it more exciting. It is really cute how the bubbles of what Max is picturing in his head show him really big and bulky like a real superhero. This really relates to dreams and imaginations that kids may have about being big and strong and saving the world. There are many things that Max does and then imagines himself doing. When he rides his bike, he imagines himself riding a motorcycle. When he jumps in the air, he imagines himself flying. The entire time Max is running around, his dad is chasing after him telling him to stop. It is really funny because he doesn't like to listen to his dad and has a mind of his own. The author adds really great sound effects in order to add to the story and make the reader connect more to the story. I also really like that the words are all over the pages and not in one standard order.

Atomic Ace by Jeff Weigel

This is a great book for any little boy who loves superheroes. It is fun because the pictures are full of actions and little captions of what each person is saying. It seems like a comic strip made into a picture book, which is great because it is much bigger and has actual reading along with the pictures and captions. This is great for kids that do not like to read but love comic strips. The author even included some inset pictures to show what the superhero dad is doing while the rest of the family is at home being normal. This is a very unusual superhero story because instead of saving everyone, the hero got defeated by a villain. The little boy is always sad because his dad is never there since he is always off fighting crime. He is embarrassed that his dad lost against the villain but when his dad saves the day and captures the villain, he becomes really proud. This teaches kids a lesson not to be ashamed of where you come from. Throughout the entire book, the author makes it fun and easy to read by adding rhyme in every couple of lines. I love seeing rhymes in children's books because it really keeps the reader's attention, flows well and makes the read seem really fast. I would definitely recommend this book to one of my students that has an interest in superheroes.

Love that Dog by Sharon Creech

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was great to see something written from a kid's point of view. I think this would be great to bring into my classroom during my poetry unit in order to show kids that poetry does not have to take on one particular form. Just writing down your thoughts can be a form of poetry. I also like how Jack puts in everything he is thinking and never would have expected Mr. Walter Dean Myers to actually come to his school and then he actually does. This shows children that they should embrace their dreams and ideas, even if they seem impossible to reach. It is great to see Jack grow in becoming more and more comfortable with poetry. At one point, he says "I guess it does look like a poem when you see it typed like that" and at another part he is finally able to allow his teacher put his name on his poetry. It is also great to see the development of the dog throughout his poetry. This shows that seeing examples of poetry really does have a great impact on students because he was able to take what he saw in class and use it in his own poetry. He starts to add descriptions and images and finally is comfortable enough to talk about the death of his dog. It is great how much Jack's mind changed through the course of the year about his view of poetry. In the beginning he refuses to even write an poetry and by the end of the book, he is so inspired by poetry that he takes his favorite and puts it on the wall above his bed. Also, he is scared at first to show Mr. Myers his poem inspired by him but in the end you can really see how much more confidence he has in his own writing when he decides to send his poem. I like how the author of this book let it be all of Jack's thoughts and did not put any of her own writing into the book. This book teaches students the many different functions of writing including; letters, poetry, getting out your feeling, etc. It is a great read for students to be inspired and also for teachers to learn a great way to go about poetry. The poems in the back are a great resource for teachers to use.

Spoken Memories by Aliki

This book is upside down and in the back of the previous picture book that I read. I like this because it is a sequel to the first book but instead of having to check out a separate book, the child can have both of them at the same time. The little girl, Mari tells the class all about her life. I really like that the author takes the reader back in time to the little girl's previous home when she was younger. The pictures seem so realistic that I started to believe that the book was taking place in that time period. All of a sudden, Mari starts to talk about war and the pictures turn to black and white and have a depressing feel. This part begins to be very sad and Mari even tells about her baby brother that died in the famine. Having this be a memory and not the actual present is a subtle way to bring about such a tough topic. This book is great because the little girls tell her classmates about living such a hard life. Normally, kids would read this and just think that it is just something that does not affect them. However, since it is from the perspective of a little girl in a regular classroom, it is very relateable. She even talks about losing her father and being told that she shouldn't go to school because she is a girl. This is a very sad story that most kids don't ever have to deal with. Reading a book like this would be a great way to show kids that everyone comes from different backgrounds and they should be aware that their classmates may have been through many hard times without even knowing it.

Painted Words by Aliki

This is a book about a little girl that goes to a new school and does not speak English. I love that the author shows the story from the girl's point of view and shows the impact that the other teasing children have on her. The little girl slowly began to become more comfortable with the people around her by leaning how to communicate without words. Other children smile at her and she learn to paint in order to express how she feels. One day after she was teased by a classmate, she drew a picture of herself with an arrow through her heart. When the other classmates saw this picture, they began to realize how much they had heart her. The little girl is finally able to learn English and tells the other classmates her story of who she is. This is a great way to teach children not to bully. This book could be used when there are bullying problems within your classroom or even at the beginning of the year for prevention. This also teaches children that they need to accept children that may not be able to fully communicate with them. All children come from different backgrounds and I think that this is a topic that really needs to be addressed in an elementary classroom. A picture book is a great, easy way to talk about this topic without picking out certain students in particular.

So Far From the Bamboo Grove

This horrifying story was told in a really great way through the eyes of a little girl, which makes it really relateable for elementary students to read. i think that this is a topic that does not get given enough attention. When talking about WWII, I normally just think of Pearl Harbor. I think that a lot of times history is just seen as something that does not effect me. War doesn't seem to effect me because I live in a place where I do not have to experience it. I think that it is really important for kids to see that war does not just effect people that go off to the army. To hear the story of a child at such a young age would be very eye-opening for many elementary students. It was hard for me to read some parts of this little girls story. She had to grow up so fast and learn to take pain, act like a boy and be separated from family. I really loved how Yoko's personality really showed starting in the beginning when the soldiers came and she bit them. You can tell that she is independent and doesn't like to be told what to do. I also saw this when her sister would yell at her to keep up and instead of thinking that her sister is just watching out for her, she gets really upset and says that her sister is being really mean. I love the part in the story when they are crossing the bridge and Ko ran ahead of Yoko and their mother. Yoko gets really mad and tells mother that she is beginning to hate Ko. Then, she sees Ko running back to take Yoko and mothers bags so that they can get across easier. This is an important lesson that Yoko learned about trusting family members during hard times to help each other out. It really surprised me to see that the three girls dressed in boy's uniforms and cut off their hair. I little girl reading this part would probably be really surprised to see that they had to do such hard things to get by. Along with them looking like boys, it also shocked me to see that they had to pee like boys in order to not be taken advantage of by the drunken Koreans. This is another thing that most little girls would not feel comfortable doing and boys would be surprised to see that they had to do this. It is also crazy to me to see Ko act like the father now that Hideyo is not in the picture. She is always pushing Yoko and mother to keep going and is always running ahead to see what is coming. In the end of the fifth chapter when they are on the boat and they think that everything is going to be fine from now on. It is sad as a reader to know that the book is not even half over, so their hope is only going to turn into more tragedy. I like that the author also brings in Hideyo's story because it gives more than one perspective and makes the book also interesting for boys to read. A really hard part for children to read would be when the mother dies. It is terrible to think that these two girls are left alone without their brother or both of their parents. This could be a good opportunity to bring up the death of a parent for discussion in the class. As a teacher, I would rather discuss it when we come across it in a book, instead of waiting for it to actually happen to one of my students.
I do believe that at times this book can get a little too graphic but I think that it is important for children to be exposed to these stories because it is no like they don't see violence and tragedy on the T.V. everyday. Kids need to know how lucky they are to live in a country that they do not have to be afraid of their own government and where they get to see their family members on a daily basis.

Danny Diamondback by Barry E. Jackson

This is another great snake book that has a twist and some creativity. For my child study, the little boy I am working with loves to learn about snakes and is beginning to write a story from a snake's point of view. I brought him this book, in order to see a how he could go about writing his story. The pictures are great because they take up the entire page and look very realistic, even though this is a make-believe story.
The snake does not understand why no one will be his friend and is very sad and lonely. The only one that will be friends with him a little prairie dog that cannot find his glasses to be able to see that he is a snake. He welcomes him and gets the other prairie dogs to like him. They form a band and the snake makes a maracas sound with his tail. He eventually gets banned from the prairie dogs, but is able to return when he saves them from being eaten by coyotes. The prairie dogs learned to love him and he became a member of their family.
This story is very imaginative and fun for little kids. The little boy that I work with decided to use some ideas from it to make a story about a snake who saves the humans from some bat-coyotes. This is a great alternative to some of the more boring non-fiction books about snakes. I also like that there were a few Spanish words throughout the book. This brings in a different culture and teaches a child a few simple new words.

Gum Chewing Rattler by Joe Hayes

This is a great book because the picture are so animated and fun. I love that there is a picture of the author on the first and last pages telling a story to a bunch of little kids. This gives it a real storytelling feel and makes the reader wonder whether this interaction with a snake really took place. Hayes tells a story of when he was a little boy and he was living in Arizona. The pictures are great to show what Arizona looks like for those children that have never seen or heard anything about the state. I also like that the pictures take up the entire page and the words just seem to be accessory details to the story. This is a really fun twist on an interaction with a snake that could have been very dangerous and deadly. The little boy accidentally stepped on a rattlesnake's tail. The snake tried to bite the boy but ended up biting into the gum that was in his pocket. He got the gum stuck between his teeth and was not able to bite the little boy. Instead, he blew a huge bubble with the gum. This part is really entertaining and fun because it is not something you would normally see a snake do. Then the boy passed out and when his mom got there and he told her the story, she did not believe him. It is cool that Hayes talks to the reader directly on the last page and asks if the reader believed his story. This leaves the question open, as to whether or not it is a true story. This is a great twist on a story about a snake. It even teaches children that do not know what a rattlesnake is, what it looks like and that it uses it's tail to warn people of it's bite.

A River Dream by Allen Say

In this book, a little boy receives a gift from his uncle and it sparks a memory of his first fly fishing experience. When the memory is described, it is so vivid that I was able to picture it in my mind. Mark is very sick and everything around him begins to change. He looks out the window and instead of his usual view of houses, he sees a river. Say does a wonderful job of sweeping the reader away in this dream that the little boy is having. This book is so fun because you know that the entire time the little boy is floating around the river, it is a dream because he is still in his pajamas. All of the text has a sense of laughter in it. The uncle says that it must have been magic that he was able to send him real flies in a box. It is hard to tell if he is serious or just joking. The uncle tells the boy that it is the magic hour and lets him try to catch a fish. Mark catches a fish that is so big, it looks unreal. I like that the boy makes his own decision not to kill the fish and is not told whether or not he should. This is really relatable to all children because it does not just talk about fish. It brings in a sense of magic with the references to mermaids and shows that fishing is not all about killing what you catch for food. It is funny in the end because the parents see what the uncle sent Mark and say that they are just fishing lures and not real flies. This shows a sense of imagination and creativity that children have.