Move!

  Move!

By Kelly Hartman

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jenkins, Steve.  Move! New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 ISBN 061864637X

PLOT SUMMARY

Animals move in a variety of ways.  Spouses Jenkins and Page team up in this informational book and describe the differences and connections with each animal's motion.  From a gibbon's swing to a penguin's waddle, the authors give simple, yet accurate information about how animals "get around". More research about each animal is added at the back of the book.  

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

In Move!, Jenkins and Page give accurate descriptions of animal movements. The authors provide research-like information at the back of the book to assure readers that Move! is no storybook.    

Jenkins and Page effectively organize their text with bold, yet simple lettering for each action verb and then move towards more specific, complex thoughts with a complete sentence. The authors make a clear decision to link the movement of one animal to the animal described on the following page.  In this way, readers understand that animals move in multiple ways and that movements are shared among different types of animals. The reader quickly learns that the turn of each new page will reveal a new connection. Large bold lettering followed by an ellipses is a thoughtful design to communicate movement from left to right.  The reader glides through this informational text by tracking both text and illustration flowing from one page to the next.  The style is simple, yet does not talk down to young readers.  Those curious about animals' movements will find the information to be accurate, yet not overwhelming.  Jenkins' collages of cut and torn paper engage young and old readers alike.  

AWARD AND REVIEW EXCERPTS 

2006 New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of the Year

Jenkins's cut-paper collages stand out against the white background, reinforcing the action and begging listeners to identify both the creatures and the verbs.— Horn Book

In this lively collaboration by spouses Jenkins and Page, a host of animal movements are sure to leave children wanting to imitate the animals' swinging, waddling, and jumping actions.— Booklist

CONNECTIONS

Author Study

About Steve Jenkins

List of Books

Resources

Illustration 

How Move! was made

Students will watch the video and using the ideas from the video will draw their own animal.  They will use a photograph and sketch an animal of their choice and then use various textures to creature an illustration.  

Connect with Steve Jenkins

Use this gallery to get ideas about how to write a letter or send a drawing to Steve Jenkins.  Contact him individually or as a class.

Grammar Connection

Use the book to study action verbs. Students can research an animal, choose an action verb and write one sentence to describe the movement. Instead of : Animal is _________ students will learn that action words make sentences come alive.  

The Crossover

 The Crossover  Review 

By Kelly Hartman

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alexander, Kwame. The Crossover. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2003 ISBN 9780060092795

PLOT SUMMARY

Josh Bell, and his twin brother Jordan, are ballers, thanks to their once-upon-a-time basketball star dad. The family is close and supportive, but mom, a school principal, is no nonsense when it comes to her expectations of her boys.  When Jordan begins to date a new girl, Josh is overcome with feelings of abandonment.  Ultimately, those feelings cause a rift on and off of the court.  In the midst of all of this change, their dad is neglecting some health issues.  In the end, Josh and Jordan have to pull together to face the greatest challenge of their lives.    

CRITICAL ANALYSIS 

From the first, "MOVING & GROOVING", "POPping and ROCKING", readers will feel Josh Bell's beat in their hearts and won't stop until they've followed him down the court and to the net.  Alexander's verse novel, The Crossover "swoops" in and engages the middle school reader, sports fanatic or not.  

Told in first person, Josh Bell, also known as Filthy McNasty, has a poetic, yet youthful, way with words. Kwame Alexander allows the reader to hear Josh's voice loud and clear within each line. Josh isn't just a great basketball player; metaphorically, he says, "I'm on fire. When I shoot, I inspire. The hoop's for sale, and I'm the buyer." With those rhymes, the reader is "all in" to buy what Kwame is selling; a riveting story about a boy coming to terms with growing up.  

The reader will be thrilled with Alexander's thoughtful organization and design of each section of his novel.  Just like a basketball game, the introduction is titled Warm-Up, and continues on to a First Quarter, Second Quarter, and so on until the ending of an Overtime.  

When on the court, Alexander speeds up McNasty's voice with "SHAKING AND BAKING" and "SMOOOOOOOOTH" moves.  But off of the court, Alexander is intentional in showing a softer side of Josh, like in Ode to My Hair.  The language slows down and Alexander successfully captures Josh's love for his dreadlocks: "If my hair were a tree, I'd climb it. I'd kneel down beneath and enshrine it. I'd treat it like gold and then mine it." With each couplet, Alexander creates a vivid mental picture in the reader's mind.  

Like a basketball moving up and down the court, Kwame Alexander's The Crossover dribbles into the hearts of his readers.  

 

AWARD AND REVIEW EXCERPTS 

New York Times bestseller

Newbery Medal Winner 

Coretta Scott King Honor Award 2015 

"The Crossover crosses over as a gift to all ages." -Ashley Bryan, Two Time Coretta Scott King Award Winner. 

"You don't have to be a basketball fan to feel the exhilaration of a game well played in Kwame Alexander's novel.  You don't have to be a poetry fan either to appreciate the verve and variety of verse, but chances are, after reading this book, you'll become one." -Marilyn Singer, author of MIRROR MIRROR and FOLLOW FOLLOW

CONNECTIONS

Author Study

Becoming Muhammed Ali 0316498165

Gather More Verse Novels 

Booked 1328596303

Rebound 0544868137

Inside Out and Back Again

Out of the Dust 

May B

Brown Girl Dreaming

Writing Connection

Students choose a topic that interests them.  Discuss the onomatopoeia and action verbs that Alexander uses to describe and to evoke emotion and the feel for playing basketball.  Students will brainstorm verbs and sounds associated with their topic of interest.  Students will write a poem incorporating those verbs and sounds.  

Autumnblings: Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian

  Autumnblings: Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian Review 

By Kelly Hartman

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Florian, Douglas. Autumnblings. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2003 ISBN 9780060092795

PLOT SUMMARY

Throughout the 48 poems in this collection, Autumnblings is an invitation to celebrate fall. Florian uses various poetic elements such as whimsy, concrete poetry, and wordplay to share his love of this beautiful season. With the turn of each new page, the reader is given a fun and fresh perspective of "all things" autumn. 

CRITICAL ANALYSIS 

Readers of all ages will find themselves captivated by this short collection of 48 poems all dedicated to the season of fall.  The youngest readers will observe and be amused by Florian's positional words like falls and tumbled cascading down the page; and older readers will appreciate the wittiness of the poet's purpose in doing so. 

It's the simple things found in this collection that the reader will find so appealing.  For instance, Florian uses a rhyming couplet to list things he loves and then hates about autumn.  Readers will find themselves agreeing or disagreeing with Florian, and most likely to attempt their own lists in the same poetic style. 

In Autumnblings, Florian takes common experiences of the fall season, like apple picking, the wind, and animals, but gives a new fresh perspective to each. His whimsical way of introducing nonsense words like autumnatically, autunm-ation and hi-bear-nation becomes a delightful surprise, offering a special pop to what could be an otherwise boring topic for his audience.  Florian knows that his audience will appreciate the visualization and imagery offered in his concrete poems A Falling Out and Geese Piece. Furthermore, Florian's watercolor drawings and paintings compliment the feelings of warmth and whimsy created by his poems. Each page is clearly designed to welcome the reader into a familiar, fun, fall-time experience.     

Whether you anticipate autumn or are indifferent to this season, Autumnblings may just blow in and make you fall in love. 

 

AWARD AND REVIEW EXCERPTS 

Cooperative Children Book's Collection selection, 2004

"The 48 rhyming poems include explorations of traditional fall symbols and experiences such as pumpkins, migrating birds in flight, and changes in fall leaf colors and weather. There is nothing traditional about Florian’s poetic style, however, and his crisp, colorful poems continue to surprise and delight the reader." Kirkus Review August 2003

CONNECTIONS

Author Study

Highlight Douglas Florian the month of March since he was born on March 18th.     

  Website

  Teaching Books interviews, blogs, and all titles written by Douglas Florian 

Gather Seasonal Poetry

Summersaults 0060292679

Winter Eyes 0688164587

Expository Writing Connection

Read “What I Love About Autumn” (page 10) and “What I Hate About Autumn” (Page 13) aloud. Chart the reasons for loving and hating autumn.  Brainstorm more reasons and add to chart.  Students can choose one reason to elaborate for an expository writing prompt: Explain why you love or hate the autumn season.  

TexQuest Resources 

Study these concepts from Autumnblings using our TexQuest resources in our virtual library. See Mrs. Hartman for the username and password.  

Hibernation

Harvest

 

Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement

   Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement  Review 

By Kelly Hartman

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Weatherford, Carole Boston. Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2015 ISBN 9781518115851

PLOT SUMMARY

Written in free verse, Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement tells the true story of Fannie Lou Hamer. Born to a sharecropper's family in the deep south in 1917, Fannie discovered that she must use her voice to fight for the freedom and rights all black people deserved.  This collection of poems serves as a timeline from the unfairness she endured as a child to the brutality she faced as an adult when she dared to stand up against the racial inequality in the south. In the end these poems celebrate all of her accomplishments and contributions as a female leader in the civil rights movement.  

CRITICAL ANALYSIS 

In Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, Carole Boston Weatherford balances a story with beautifully crafted verse paired with hard, cold facts about Hamer's difficult journey. Cleverly designed for younger and more advanced readers alike, Weatherford shares the central theme of racial injustices, while weaving her story through short poems about this iconic leader.  Each poem pays tribute to pivotal events in Hamer's life. With carefully chosen titles like, FAIR and Worse off than Dogs, the reader is enticed to read on to encounter a historical timeline in free verse. Told in first person through Fannie Lou's eyes, the reader is emerged in her life story. 

The pages drip with Fannie Lou's voice and her slave roots are evident within each poem. Phrases like "Chile, I am proof that the Delta birthed the blues" and "Our so called share of the crop, never be enough to pay back the money we borrowed from the owner" beg for this book to be read aloud to students.  

With poetic elements of imagery in, "We stole the president's thunder, and our support swelled like a storm cloud.", Weatherford displays her strength to give her readers something to visualize and to feel as they read each line.  Metaphor and simile phrases like "Where the soil was as rich as black folks was poor, where cotton was king and Jim Crow was law." help the reader to not only know that this was the harsh reality of racial inequality; the verse invites the reader to feel it with their heart, as well.  

Weatherford's deliberate use of sound helps this story to roll off of the pages and off of the reader's tongue. Alliteration helps to effortlessly move the plot along in phrases like, "Sunup to sundown; dew to dark, can see to can't; doggone dirt poor doing without." and "Same sorry situation every season." When Weatherford wants to drive home one of Fannie's points, she uses repetition like, "Hardship after hardship.";  "Songs that really sank down in me, powerful message songs." and "not a single minute, not a single note." 

Within each poem, the reader is left with Fannie Lou Hamer's mommas's message, "Black is beautiful." The poems pay tribute to a woman who had reason to sing the blues throughout her life, but Weatherford focuses on the bigger theme with the last line of the poem, "Maybe I had won after all." The appendages of the author's notes, timeline, source notes, and other resources serve as a reminder that Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement is much more than a beautiful poem; it is a record of Hamer's contribution to civil rights in our world.  

AWARD AND REVIEW EXCERPTS 

Coretta Scott King Award, 2016

John Steptoe Award for New Talent, 2016

Caldecott Honor, 2016

Robert F. Sibert Honor, 2016

“This majestic biography offers a detailed, intelligible overview of Hamer’s life while never losing the thread of her motivations, fears, and heroic triumphs, and places the civil rights movement in personal, local, national, and international contexts." -Horn Book Review by Claire Gross, 2015

CONNECTIONS

Gather More Biographical Poetry

Nelson Mandela 0061783749

Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave 031610731X

Audio Recordings

Black American Freedom Songs 

Online Resources

Testimony Before the Credentials Committee, Democratic National Convention

Oral History with Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer Sings

Timeline

Students will choose 10 key events in Fannie Lou Hamer's life and create a timeline.  With the timeline, students will add an illustration for each event.  The illustrations by Ekua Holmes will serve as an inspiration. 

Writing Connection

Using Voice of Freedom as a mentor text, students will choose three events from their lives, create a subtitle for each event, and write a free verse poem for each.   

Beautiful Blackbird

 Beautiful Blackbird Review 

By Kelly Hartman

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bryan, Ashley. Beautiful Blackbird. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2003 ISBN 0689847319

PLOT SUMMARY

Even though all of the birds of Africa are colorful, Blackbird is honored as the most beautiful of all. Ringdove is the first to request a ring of black around his neck, so Blackbird obliges by creating a "blackening brew in his medicine gourd." Soon all of the birds want a a touch of black with a painted line or a dot. In the end, all of the birds celebrate that black is beautiful, but Blackbird focuses on the importance of inner beauty.  

CRITICAL ANALYSIS 

In his retelling of a Zambian tale, Ashley Bryan manages to create a story unique to the African culture while sending a global message of tolerance and acceptance. From the rhythm of the Show Claws Slide-"wings flip-flapping" and rap-like chants of "Black is beautiful, UH-HUH", Bryan invites the reader to participate in a celebration of his ethnicity. Ringdove's personal request of a ring of black sparks an interest in all of the birds of the forest; yet Blackbird is clear: "Color on the outside is not what's on the inside." Confident of his beauty, Blackbird is happy to share with the other birds; but ultimately he believes that the birds should stay true to self: "Just remember, whatever I do, I'll be me and you'll be you." In the end, Beautiful Blackbird balances the importance of pride in one's own culture while appreciating another.  

Bryan's artwork won the 2004 Coretta Scott Illustrator Award. By showcasing his mother's sewing and embroidering scissors on the endpapers, Bryan pays homage to his own heritage. In an author's note, he states that these were the scissors that he used to create the design of cut-paper for his story. Readers will be mesmerized by Bryan's cultural collage of colors and yet drawn to his focal point, Blackbird.  

AWARD AND REVIEW EXCERPTS 

2004 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winner

Texas 2 x 2 List

"In this simple adaptation of a tale from the Ila-speaking people of Zambia, the message is clear: "Black is beautiful." "Ready-made for participative storytelling." Julie Cummins from Booklist 

CONNECTIONS

Author Study

   

    Introduction by Ashley Bryan and Read aloud of Beautiful Blackbird

    Official Website 

    Beautiful Blackbird Children's Book Festival 

Activities

    Learn the Show Claws Slide 

    Create Beaks and Claws

Gather more African Folktales 

A Story, A Story; An African Tale  9780689712012

Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti 9780805003116

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters 9780688040451

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears: A West African Tale 9780140549058

    

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig

 The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig Review 

By Kelly Hartman

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Trivizas, Eugene. The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1993 ISBN 0689505698

PLOT SUMMARY

As the three little wolves venture out into the world, their mother offers a word of advice: "Beware of the big bad pig." Even though the wolves build strong homes with proper materials, the big bad pig is determined to find the means to knock it down; if not by huffing and puffing, then by more destructive measures.  In the end, the wolves opt to use an unorthodox building material, and it surprisingly resolves their biggest issue.  

CRITICAL ANALYSIS 

With this twisted plot, Trivizas spins a tale that readers will find familiar and comforting, yet pleasantly unpredictable. Elements like "once upon a time", good versus evil, and repetitions of three in a simple plot are carefully structured as the framework for this fairy tale.  However, readers quickly understand that the fractured details, such as a bad pig trying to destroy sweet wolves, make for an interesting story that begs to be read again and again. From beginning to end, Trivizas cleverly balances the new with the old to keep readers wondering as they turn to the next page. Instead of straw, sticks, and bricks, the wolves begin with the sturdiest of building materials like concrete, and iron bars; and instead of giving up, the determined pig is successful in knocking down the houses by any means, such as fetching a sledgehammer, drill, or dynamite.  Yet readers will delight in the familiar chants of "No, no, no...by the hair on our chinny-chin-chins" and "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down."  All in all, the reader will be satisfied with the resolution when the pig and the wolves are able to live happily ever after.

The watercolor illustrations appeal to the youngest of readers. Oxenbury's drawings complement Triviza's story by matching its sophisticated wit. Advanced readers will delight in discovering more depth in the details of her drawings.  

AWARD AND REVIEW EXCERPTS 

School Library Journal Best Books of the Year

ILA/CBC Children's Choices

Booklist Editor's Choice 

"Among the wittiest fractured tales around." -Publishers Weekly(starred review)

CONNECTIONS

Writing Connection

Create a Recast.  Students will create a plot diagram with the story elements.  Then they will change on element on the plot diagram to create their own tale.  In addition, students can choose another familiar fairy tale to Recast into a fractured tale. 

    Writing Lesson

Gather...More Fractured Tales

Sleeping Ugly by Jane Yolen 9780698115606

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka  9780140544510

Cinder-Elly by Frances Minters  9780140561265

The Three Little Pigs Libguide(versions and variations)

Musical Connection-Wicked(a fractured tale)

Listen to songs from the musical, Wicked and compare to the plot of The Wizard of Oz. 

    

Swamp Angel

 Swamp Angel Review 

by Kelly Hartman

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Isaacs, Anne. Swamp Angel. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 1994 ISBN 0525452710

PLOT SUMMARY

Born in 1815 in Tennessee, Angelica Longrider stands taller with obvious supernatural strength even if those around her seem to think she's a normal infant.  At just the age of twelve , Angelica emerges from the fog to rescue stranded settlers and is crowned with the name Swamp Angel.  When a grizzly bear, Thundering Tarnation, threatens the peace and food supply, many hunters compete to put an end to its menacing ways. When the hunters prove to be no match for the huge bear, Swamp Angel is left to rescue the settlers once again. The foes battle back and forth with Swamp Angel coming out as the victor.  

 

CRITICAL ANALYSIS 

From the very beginning of Anne Isaacs' folktale, the reader is mesmerized by the "larger-than-life" description of Angelica and entertained by the blasé reaction of her parents and the community living with her. The storyteller solidifies her strong female hero-type the moment Angelica emerges from the mist to save desperate settlers, and makes the reader want to cheer with that one cry, "It's an angel." Pivotal to a folktale's plot, the reader is captured by the action-oriented challenge between Swamp Angel's good and Thundering Tarnation's evil.  Despite the exaggeration of the tale, the reader is satisfied with cultural markers set by Isaacs; the explanation of The Great Smoky Mountains-the fight stirring up so much dust; and Ursa Major-Swamp Angel throwing Thundering Tarnation up to the sky. In the end, all is resolved when Tarnation is defeated and all storehouses in Tennessee are stocked with bear meat.  Isaacs is successful in capturing the spoken language of the Appalachian culture, making this a story best read aloud in the accent of that region.

Paul Zelinksky's painted oils on cherry, maple, and birch veneers set the perfect backdrop for Swamp Angel, "the greatest woodswoman in Tennessee." The illustrations add to this story by giving the reader insight even when the narrator doesn't seem to understand the unrealistic nature of the tale. 

AWARD AND REVIEW EXCERPTS 

1995 Caldecott Honor Book

A New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year

Winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award

"Move over, Paul Bunyan, you are about to meet Swamp Angel, an original creation in the tall-tale tradition whose exploits are guaranteed to amaze and amuse a wide swath of readers. . . Visually exciting, wonderful to read aloud, this is a picture book to remember." -- starred review, Horn Book, March/April 1995, M.M.B.

"There are very few tall tales about extraordinary women in American folklore compared to those that extol the virtues of men, and this comic rendition about a gifted, powerful and helpful woman is in all ways superb." -- New York Times, 11/13/94, by Jack Zipes

CONNECTIONS

Writing and Storytelling Connection

Have students write a short script retelling the story.  Practice storytelling with voices, gestures, and props.

Gather...More Tall Tales 

Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nolen 9780152164720

Mike Fink by Steven Kellogg 9780688135775

Extension 

    Teacher Activities from the author

    Ideas 

Use our TexQuest Library Resources to Research(use permalink: un:roe; pw: hawks) 

•     Learn about Geography 
• Great Smoky Mountain
• Learn about Astronomy
• Ursa Major 

Another book by Anne Isaacs 

Dust Devil 9780375867224