Reading blog is FINISHED!

It is actually bittersweet to have finished my blog. It was definitely a great deal of work, but also worthwhile. I loved learning how to blog, because I had never done it before this course. I want to incorporate some type of reading blog into my future classrooms, maybe a class reading blog. Students could share this blog with their parents and family, or with other classes. I have read some GREAT books during my reading blog journey! I can honestly say that I would highly recommend every book included within my blog entries!

Included below is a listing of each title included within my blog:
Caldecott Books:
1. So You Want To Be President?
2. The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins
3. Coming On Home Soon
4. The (Mostly) True Story of The First Hot-Air Balloon Ride
5. Noah's Ark

Newbery Books:
1. A Year Down Yonder
2. When You Reach Me

Corretta Scott King Award Book:
1. Elijah of Buxton

Book VS. Film Comparison:
1. Bridge to Terabithia
2. Sarah, Plain, and Tall
3. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

International Books:
1. Jethro Byrd, Fairy Child
2. "Let's Get a Pup," Said Kate
3. Lizette's Green Sock

Jerry Pickney Book:
1. Back Home

Laurence Yep Book:
1. Angelfish

Diversity Books:
1. Be My Neighbor
2. Ryan and Jimmy; And the Well in Africa That Brought Them Together

Diversity Chapter book "Ryan & Jimmy"

Shoveller, H. (2006). Ryan and Jimmy: And the Well in Africa That Brought Them Together. Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press, Ltd.

This book and author doesn't appear within our textbook, but I thought it was definitely worthy of being included under the diversity category in my blog. The story is for older elementary students and consists of eight chapters. I think Ryan and Jimmy should be included in every school media center library because it is a true story that was created from an actual TV documentary about a 9-year old boy named Ryan visiting a village in Uganda, Africa in July of 2000. Ryan visits the village to meet a young African boy named Jimmy (Akana was his African name). Readers learn how communication had started between the boys four years before through a pen pal project in Ryan's 1st grade classroom in Kemptville, Canada. Ryan's teacher started the pen pal project when Ryan became interested in raising money to help build water wells in areas of Africa that desperately lacked safe drinking water. This is a wonderful story of determination and global-awareness for students to read because Ryan takes the initiative upon himself to start raising money to have a well built in Africa. Ryan's peers and his teacher wanted to become involved in this mission to raise money and communicate with the pen pal children in Uganda. By the end of book, we learn that after Ryan's dedication to help build wells in Africa, a foundation was established called "Ryan's Well Foundation." It is now a well-known foundation and Ryan was even able to appear on Oprah to discuss his mission to help build wells.

I love how the book shows actual letters of correspondence between Ryan and Jimmy, along with pictures from Ryan's trip to Africa. Several maps are also included in the illustrations to help students pinpoint Ryan's trip.

I think this story would be eye-opening for students to read about how life is much harder for people living in Uganda villages in comparison to life in North America. Readers are able to see pictures and read descriptions of Jimmy's house made of only mud and a thatched roof. His family had to collect water in plastic containers. The author also focuses on teaching readers about the culture in Uganda, such as family life, school, social events, dress, political problems, and ect.

I would highly recommend this story for use with older elementary students and even into middle school. Students can learn that one student can help improve the lives of thousands of people across the world. In 2005, Ryan's Foundation had built 194 wells in Africa which provided clean and safe drinking water to over 350,000 people!

Book VS. Movie "Sarah, Plain, and Tall"

MacLachlan, P. (1987). Sarah, Plain, and Tall. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

The story takes place in the mid-west around 1910. A father named Jacob decides to request a mail-order bride. His wife passed away during childbirth of a son named Caleb. Jacob also has an older daughter named Anna. Sarah, a teacher from Maine responds to the request posted by the Kansas farmer, Jacob. After writing letters and corresponding several times, Sarah decides to come to Kansas. She is homesick for the sea at first, but learns to love this family. Jacob is cold toward Sarah in the beginning, but grows to love her. This story helps one realize the difficulties that families faced during the early 1900s.

I think the characters are more developed in the movie and viewers have the chance to get to know the characters on a deeper level, especially Anna and her father, Jacob. Many of the same lines are used in the book and movie. I was amazed at how similar they were! Both also express Sarah's love and yearning for the sea and emphasize the letter writing that occurred between Sarah and the family before her arrival. My most memorable moments from the book that also occurred in the film were when Caleb wrote Sarah and asked if she snored, when Sarah took the children swimming in the cow pond, when the family slid down a huge pile of hay and compared it to a dune in Maine, and the talks that Sarah had with Maggie, the neighbor.

I would highly recommend the book and movie. They are a wonderful reflection of each other and neither will disappoint. This is one of my all time favorite stories! I love how it accurately depicts the historical times of the early 1900s. It shows the good times and the struggles that were often faced.

Book VS. Movie "Bridge to Terabithia"

Paterson, K. (1977). Bridge to Terabithia. New York: HarperCollins.

This classic story was adapted for film by David L. Paterson and Jeff Stockwell. It was released in 2007 and directed by Gabor Csupo. I had heard this title mentioned for years and years, but had never taken the chance to read the book. I watched the movie a couple of months ago and loved it so much that I wanted to see how the book compared.

The movie followed along pretty well to Paterson's book. The story centers on a boy named Jess that is sort of an outcast at school, but he is fascinated with drawing. He has four sisters, one of which is named May Belle. She is several years younger than Jess and constantly wants to be at his side. Jess meets a girl named Leslie, who moves next door to him. Leslie experiences the same awkward treatment at school that Jess does. It takes the two a while to create a friendship, but once it is formed, the friendship is strong and centered upon their love of imagination. Jess and Leslie put their imagination powers together and create a magical forest that is home to a kingdom called Terabithia. Together they transform an abandoned treehouse into a fortress to protect their kingdom. One day Jess goes to an art museum with his teacher and comes home to learn that Leslie has had a terrible accident while swinging across a creek on rope to get to their special place, Terabithia. The story deals with death, bullying, sibling relationships, friendships, and how important one's imagination is.

In the movie, the viewer is able to see the intricate parts and characters that Jess and Leslie imagine. In Patterson's book on the other hand, the reader has to put together the clues and form their own image of the imaginary world of Terabithia. The movie involves a great deal of digitally animated creatures like large squirrels, birds, trolls, and other odd components of the children's imagination. The movie also takes some of the metaphors a little too far. A good example is in the movie when the troll is chasing Jess and Leslie in Terabithia. Paterson wrote this as a metaphor, comparing the troll to the school bully, Janice Avery. The movie makes this connection too obvious by having Janice's face appear as the trolls face.

I would recommend the book and movie. If you had rather rely on your own imagination to create the Terabithian creatures, you would probably enjoy the book more. Keep in mind that this story focuses on some pretty intense issues, such as dying and some negative references toward religion. This book is actually banned in some libraries due to language, witchcraft-like actions and references, and the negative religious references. I don't think these issues are serious enough to ban this book because they don't appear a great deal in the work. However, this is definitely for mature readers. I would recommend late middle school and up.

Newbery Medal Winner: "When You Reach Me"

Stead, R. (2009). When You Reach Me. New York: Random House, Inc.

This book received the 2010 Newbery Medal. The story revolves around the main character, Miranda. She is a 6th grader and lives in New York City with her mother. Miranda's best friend is a boy named Sal, whom also plays a major role in the story. The mystery starts to unfold when a series of several events happen. Sal is punched in the stomach, Miranda's hidden door key turns up missing, and she finds a weird note that reads: This is hard. Harder than I expected, even with your help. But I have been practicing and my preparations go well. I am coming to save your friend's life, and my own. I ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter. Second, please remember to mention the location of your house key. The trip is a difficult one. I will not be myself when I reach you. She keeps receiving these mysterious notes that make predictions and references for the future. Miranda receives 4 letters in all and tries her best to prevent what the letters are predicting!

The story captivated me from the first page until the last! The whole story is interesting, but not predictable. I had no clue what the meaning of the "homeless crazy guy" character was until the final chapters. I never imagined his character would have such as pivotal role and link with Sal's character. I have never read a book that contained so many discrete meanings, which you don't realize until you have finished the book and reflect back.

This book was written for ages 9-12, but I believe to fully understand the meaning of the story, one should be in middle or high school. As an adult, I even had a hard time fitting together the pieces and realizing what had occurred at the end. The author does incorporate some aspects of time travel in the story, which I found a little confusing but interesting. I loved how the book involved so many complexities, such as addressing life in the city, life in a single-parent home, friendship, and how we are all connected in some odd way.

I have heard that if you read A Wrinkle In Time by M. L'Engle, that it will help you understand Miranda a little better. She actually speaks of this title several times throughout the story as being her favorite book. I did a little research about A Wrinkle In Time and it makes references to past, present, and future occurring at once. This is very similar to how Stead's story unfolds. I have never read any other of Rebecca Stead's books, but after reading When You Reach Me, I would definitely like to look into more of her works.
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Book VS. Movie "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"

Brashares, A. (2001). Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. New York: Random House.

Brashares' novel was created into a film and released in 2005. I remember watching the movie a a sophomore in college, but I hadn't read the book yet. The story is centered upon the close friendship of 4 high school girls, Lena, Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen. The four girls have very different personalities, but they all connect together to make a support system for one another. We learn about the adventures and problems that occur over the course of their sophomore summer. The girls find that the summer takes them on four different paths. Lena is spending the summer with some family in Greece, Bridget goes across the country for a soccer camp, Carmen goes to South Carolina to visit her dad, and Tibby remains at home in Maryland to work at a local store. Before departing on their distinct journeys for the summer, the girls go shopping at a thrift shop. They discover a "magical" pair of jeans that fits each of their different body sizes. The friends make a pact to pass the jeans to one another during the summer. The girls also create a series of 10 rules that should be followed while wearing the jeans. Two of the rules were to never wash the pants and you must not tuck in your shirt and wear a belt with the pants.

The movie follows the books pretty well, with the exception of the Lena's character. The movie fails to include Lena's sister, Effie. In the novel, Effie was the complete opposite of Lena. The book emphasized that Effie wasn't as beautiful as Lena and had a more carefree personality than her sister. I found this sort of strange to leave Effie out of the movie entirely. The film also portrays Lena's summer fling (while she is in Greece visiting family) with Kostos a little differently than the book did. There is also an age difference in the book and movie. In the novel the girls are 15 years old and they are a couple months away from being 17 in the movie. Unlike the movie, the book also portrays Lena as being the oldest.

I would recommend the book and movie. This is probably more suitable for older readers, around 13 and above. The storyline of summer romance, friendship, family difficulties, and coping with hard situations would probably appeal most to teenage girls. Although the story follows the lives of four different girls, it is still easy to keep stay on track with the information for each girl. Some books confuse the reader by floating back and forth to different lives, but this one can be easily followed.

My favorite part of the story was Tibby's relationship with a young girl named Bailey. Of course I wasn't happy with Bailey's condition (leukemia), but I liked how Tibby realized how important Bailey actually was. At first, Tibby tries to ignore Bailey because she gets in Tibby's way. Tibby gradually starts to realize that even though Bailey is a kid, she still has insights worth listening to. I loved watching the impact that Bailey made upon Tibby!

Diversity Picture Book: "Be My Neighbor"

Ajmera, M. & Ivanko, J.D. (2004). Be My Neighbor. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.

This book doesn't appear within our text, but it is a quality children's book about diversity around the globe. It has even been recognized as a "Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People."

I definitely think that this should be on the shelf in every school media center. The authors do a wonderful job by describing the neighborhoods of children from around the globe. This picture book shows children how one can live in a village, town, or large city, but they are still part of a neighborhood. Neighborhoods are diverse depending upon the location and the cultures present in that area. Through photographs and descriptions, readers learn about how neighborhoods have certain characteristics such as places to play, schools, places to worship, and work places. These characteristics may be similar or different from your own neighborhood. Around 40 countries total are referred to throughout the book. The last two pages provides a world map with each referenced country labeled.

I love how the authors decided to use actual photographs taken of children living in their neighborhoods. Readers are able to see and read about children going about their daily lives in neighborhoods across the globe. The authors stress that no matter where one's neighborhood is located, it should be a place where you learn to cooperate, respect, and be a friend to others.

Ajmera and Ivanko have written many other children's works such as: To Be An Artist and To Be A Kid. Their books are usually filled with pictures showing great diversity among the characters in order to help children grasp the concept of diversity.

I learned a great deal from this story because it included popular countries, but also countries that we don't often learn about such as Brunei and Togo. It was interesting to see photographs taken of children from neighborhoods in these countries that aren't usually emphasized. The map included in the back helped me a great deal to pinpoint where the country was located.