Module 1: Miss Malarkey Leaves No Reader Behind

Summary:  At Miss Malarkey’s school, the students are participating in a reading program for the year.  The goal is for the school to have read 1,000 books, Miss Malarkey’s class room is responsible for reading 300 books.  The main character is a young boy who does not like to read and would rather play video games.  As the year goes on, more and more of his classmates find books they like to read and the young boy finds himself isolated in a world of passionate readers.  Miss Malarkey makes it a point for all her students to find at least one book by the end of the school year that they liked.   After several failed attempts to find the right book for this young boy, Miss Malarkey finds the perfect book for the young boy.   At the end of the school year the students achieved their goal by reading over 1,000 books.

Citation: Finchler, J., & O'Malley, K. (2006). Miss Malarkey leaves no reader behind. New York: Walker & Co.

Impression:  I enjoyed the vibrant illustrations accompanied with accurate facial expressions from the characters.  The illustrations added drama to the story and the reader was able to grasp the anxiety, frustration, and exhilaration of the students and Miss Malarkey as they found books they liked to read.  

Review:

Deana Groves (Library Media Connection)
It is the beginning of the school year and Principal Wiggins has agreed to spend the night on the roof of the school if the students read 1,000 books during the year. This incentive is not enough to convince a group of young boys more interested in video games, math, sports, and drawing that they too can find pleasure in reading a book. Miss Malarkey takes on the challenge of matching boy with book; one-by-one she works to identify a good book suitable to each boy's interests and by the end of the school year the principal is sleeping on the roof. This familiar story of reluctant readers is told through the voice of the last hold-out in this group of friends. O'Malley's quirky illustrations burst from the confines of each page; this visual technique of bleeding off the page encourages readers to turn the page to see what happens next. The colorful illustrations, humor, and the overall lighthearted feel of this book will appeal to reluctant readers. This book could also serve as a step-by-step guide for teachers and librarians to use to encourage the love of reading. 
Groves, D. (2006, November/December). [Review of the book Miss Malarkey leaves no reader behind, by J. Finchler & K. O'Malley]. Library Media Connection. Retrieved from http://www.librarymediaconnection.com/lmc/

Uses:  This book could be used for ESL courses held by libraries, community centers, and at schools.  The book gives great examples of the different kind of genres in literature and hopefully inspire readers to select one of those genres.  

Module 2: The Hundred Dresses

Summary:  A poor girl with a different kind of last name than all the other students in her class repeatedly gets picked on for saying that she has a hundred dresses in her closest.  Two girls in particular find this incredible and tease her everyday about this statement.  The girl with a hundred dresses stops showing up to school and the students start to wonder where she could be.  The two girls become deeply guilty for what they did and try to track down the girl with a hundred dresses to say they were sorry and they indeed liked her. 

Citation: Estes, E., & Slobodkin, L. (1944). The hundred dresses. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co.  

Impression:  Although an older book, it has proven to be a timeless treasure for girls in transition into teenage hood.  I loved this book and I wish I had read it 20 years earlier when I was going through troubled times as a youth.  Social acceptance and criticism is a common theme amongst adolescent girls and this could be helpful to anyone in need of remembering that we are all human and have feelings.  

Review:
Linda Silver (Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter)
This new edition of a classic story of prejudice begins with a Foreword by the author’s daughter, describing how it came to be written. Originally published in 1944, The Hundred Dresseswas one of the first children’s books to deal with ethnic intolerance. None of the characters are Jewish, however. Charmingly illustrated and written with a childlike perspective that does not diminish its theme, it is still an important story for children not yet ready for books about the Holocaust to read and discuss. 
Silver, L. (2005, February/March) [Review of the book The hundred dresses by E. Estes]. Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter, 24(3). 

Uses:  The library could team up with Big Brothers and Big Sisters and promote this book among the youth that visit the library or at the school library.  This book could be given to adolescent girls who are struggling with social acceptance or those who may be teasing or bullying others for their differences and are not aware of  how their actions affect others.  

Module 3: The Glorious Flight

Summary: The historical recount of Louis Bleriot's aeronautical achievements. The story follows Louis Bleriot's several attempts with different experimental aircraft and ends with the first successful flight over the English Channel.

Citation: Provensen, A., Provensen, M., & Viking Press. (1983). The glorious flight: Across the Channel with Louis Blériot, July 25, 1909. New York: Viking Press.

Impression: I love learning about other nations that experimented with flight. Often times we learn about the infamous Wright Brothers but we don't hear about the other aeronauts from around the world. This is a wonderful book for children who want to learn about the origins of flight as well as historical biographies.

Review:

Alice and Martin Provensen (The Horn Book Magazine)
The Provensens' sublime picture book (winner of the 1984 Caldecott Medal) about French aviation pioneer Bleriot, the first man to fly across the English Channel, is once again available in hardcover. With breathtaking perspectives, gorgeous colors, engaging characters, and a tres droll text, the book not only transports readers to turn-of-the-twentieth-century France but also conveys the experience of flight with immediacy.
Provensen, A. & Provensen, M. (2010, November/December) [Review of the book The glorious flight by A. & M. Provensen] The Horn Book Magazine, 86.6, 126.

Uses:  This book could be used at an elementary school to inspire students about experimentation and creativity. It could be read before a science fair or used to teach about aviation history.

Module 3: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

Summary:  In 1974, Philippe Petit tightroped between the World Trade Center, the twin towers.  A Caldecott medal book, tells the story how Petit accomplished this daring feat.  

Citation: Gerstein, M., Tuosto, F., & Roaring Brook Press. (2003).The man who walked between the towers. Brookfield, Conn: Roaring Brook Press.


Impression:  This is a unique approach to looking at the World Trade Center post 9/11.  The story gives a new light to how the towers were once viewed and the many stories that go with them. Through the vivid images of Tuosto's illustrations, the World Trade Center becomes something more than our memory of 9/11.   

Reviews: 
Hazel Rochman (Booklist)
Here's a joyful true story of the World Trade Center from a time of innocence before 9/11. In 1974 French trapeze artist Philippe Petit walked a tightrope suspended between the towers before they were completed. Gerstein's simple words and dramatic ink-and-oil paintings capture the exhilarating feats, the mischief, and the daring of the astonishing young acrobat. He knew his plan was illegal, so he dressed as a construction worker, and, with the help of friends, lugged a reel of cable up the steps during the night and linked the buildings in the sky. As dawn broke, he stepped out on the wire and performed tricks above the city. Gerstein uses varied perspectives to tell the story--from the close-up jacket picture of one foot on the rope to the fold-out of Petit high above the traffic, swaying in the wind. Then there's a quiet view of the city skyline now, empty of the towers, and an astonishing image of the tiny figure high on the wire between the ghostly buildings we remember. 

Rochman, H. (2003, November 1). [Review of the book The man who walked between the towers, by M. Gerstein & F. Tuosto]. Booklist, 100(5).

Stacey King (Children's Literature)
This eloquently written and craftily illustrated book details for children the true story of famed French aerialist Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. In the bulk of the book, Gerstein captures the awe-striking beauty of the event with lyrical words and simple but dramatic oil-and-pen illustrations. The somewhat awkward mention in the last two pages of the events of September 11, 2001, though, may be a bit abrupt and may confuse children about the relationship between it and the tightrope feat. In those pages, however, Gerstein manages to both address the issue that could not very well be left out of a story about the twin towers and give children a glimpse of the shock and dismay that the world felt at their fall. 

King, S. [Review of the book The man who walked between the towers, by 

M. Gerstein & F. Tuosto]. Children's Literature. Retrieved from http://www.childrenslit.com.

Uses:   Gerstein's book can be used as a read and discussion piece for children around the 9/11 memorial each year.  As this book talks about the World Trade Center before 9/11 the librarian can facilitate a discussion about what the World Trade Center towers were about and maybe add some other unique stories about the buildings.  

Module 4: The Tale of Despereaux

Summary: An outcast mouse seeks friendship with a young princess, who's mother died the year before from eating soup! All throughout the kingdom soup is forbidden. Although the story takes place in a castle with a princess the tale unravels with a different twist than your traditional folklore tales. Despereaux combats evil and hopefully regains respect from his mouse peers. 

Citation: DiCamillo, K., & Ering, T. B. (2003). The tale of Despereaux: Being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread. Cambridge, Mass: Candlewick Press.

Impression: This was one of my favorite books I read all semester. At first I though I was in for a traditional folktale but the unique writing style and creativity of character building made the book special and one to remember. The good and evil that DiCamillo portraits is very vivid and real but the main characters are talking mice and rats. The illustrations bring on greater understanding of the characters with their exaggerated facial expressions. This is a wonderful book for all readers, young and old.

Review:
Tree (BookHive)

Poor Despereaux. He is too small, his ears are too big, and he just doesn’t seem to be able to get the hang of being a mouse. Drawn upstairs by the sound of music, Despereaux sees and is seen by the Princess Pea and immediately falls in love with her. However, his life is not a fairy tale and Despereaux will face many struggles before he finds his “happily ever after”. Banished to the dungeon for having been seen by the Princess, his quest begins. It is up to Despereaux to come to terms with his love of music, his love of the Princess, and his desire to be her knight in shining armor. An amazing tale that leads us through the darkness to the light of understanding as we are able to see how our lives affect the lives of those around us. An amazing novel worthy of the 2004 Newbery Medal. 

T. [Review of the book The tale of despereaux by K. DiCamillo]. BookHive. Retrieved from http://bookhive.org

Ilene Cooper (Booklist)
Forgiveness, light, love, and soup. These essential ingredients combine into a tale that is as soul stirring as it is delicious. Despereaux, a tiny mouse with huge ears, is the bane of his family's existence. He has fallen in love with the young princess who lives in the castle where he resides and, having read of knights and their ladies, vows to "honor her." But his unmouselike behavior gets him banished to the dungeon, where a swarm of rats kill whoever falls into their clutches. Another story strand revolves around Miggery, traded into service by her father, who got a tablecloth in return. Mig's desire to be a princess, a rat's yen for soup (a food banished from the kingdom after a rat fell in a bowl and killed the queen), and Despereaux's quest to save his princess after she is kidnapped climax in a classic fairy tale, rich and satisfying. Part of the charm comes from DiCamillo's deceptively simple style and short chapters in which the author addresses the reader: "Do you think rats do not have hearts? Wrong. All living things have a heart." And as with the best stories, there are important messages tucked in here and there, so subtly that children who are carried away by the words won't realize they have been uplifted until much later. Ering's soft pencil illustrations reflect the story's charm. 

Cooper, I. (2003, July 1). [Review of the book The tale of despereaux by K. DiCamillo]. Booklist, 99(21).

Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
In 2000 Kate DiCamillo got the Newbery Honor award for Because of Winn-Dixie (Candlewick, $5.99, ages 9-12), the story of a lonely young girl who finds sense of community because of a dog who discovers her. This year DiCamillo captured the Newbery itself with the help of an extraordinary character, Despereaux, the winning hero of The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread. He's a tiny mouse with a huge heart who loves a princess and would do anything for her. But he's not the only unique character, the book is divided between other remarkable personalities and their engaging stories. There's Roscuro, a dungeon-born rat who seeks light, Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who only wants to be listened to, and the Princess herself, who still grieves for her mother. Each character's desires, hopes and fears combine in this marvelous questing fantasy. This is a tale made for reading aloud and family enjoyment. If reading aloud is not your forte, there's a wonderful recording by Graeme Malcolm.

Wilde, S. [Review of the book The tale of despereaux by K. DiCamillo]. Children's Literature. Retrieved from http://www.childrenslit.com/

Uses: This book could accompany a book display celebrating folklore because it has traditional folklore features with a modern storytelling twist. The book display could contain the traditional folklore like Robin Hood, Rapunzel, and King Arthur and the Round Table while including some modern folklore like the Tale of Despereaux, Rapunzel's Revenge, and the True Story of the Three Little Pigs. In a book display it is fun to be creative so that the display attracts other readers who may be turned off by the traditional folklore but may really enjoy the modern folklore.

Module 4: A Wrinkle in Time

Summary:  Three witches visit earth to find three children in their quest to fight off evil in other galaxies.  The main character, Meg, tries to find her father who has been missing for a few years and she thinks that the three witches knows where he is.  

Citation: L'Engle, M. (1962). A wrinkle in time. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Impression:  This was a fast read for me because the characters and storyline were well written.  I can see why this is a popular book for young adolescents because of the mixture between science fiction and fantasy genres.  

Review:
Tammy (BookHive)
Meg worries about school and fitting in. She also worries about her father, who has been gone for almost a year. One stormy night, the strangely dressed Mrs. Whatsit blows into the Murry family's kitchen. During her visit she informs them that "..there is such a thing as a tesseract". Meg and Charles learn that Mr. Murry was working on tesseracts when he disappeared. After meeting Mrs. Whatsit's friends, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, Meg and Charles join the trio of strange ladies and a boy named Calvin on a quest to find Meg's missing father. Read and learn about tesseracts, the "Black Thing", "IT", and other out-of-this- world phenomenon in this exciting, adventure story.
T. [Review of the book A wrinkle in time by M. L'Engle]. BookHive. Retrieved from http://www.bookhive.org

Barbara L. Talcroft (Children's Literature)
Winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, L’Engle’s work of fantasy and science fiction combined with some Christian theology has now been read by several generations of young enthusiasts. The author went on to write three others, forming a quartet based on the Murry family, and including themes like the power of love and the need to make responsible moral choices. In this story, Meg Murry, her extraordinary little brother Charles Wallace, and schoolmate Calvin O’Keefe make the acquaintance of eccentric Mrs. Whatsit and friends (who turn out to be extraterrestrial beings). Together they journey through a wrinkle in time, a tesseract, to rescue the Murrys’ missing father from an evil presence (likened by some interpreters to a black hole), and a sinister brain called IT. Although this is fantasy, the characters are portrayed realistically and sympathetically; it is Meg’s ability to love that enables them to return safely to Earth and make secure the right to individuality. L’Engle herself claims that she does not know how she came to write the story; “I had no choice,” she says, “It was only after it was written that I realized what some of it meant.” A plus with this new edition is an essay by Lisa Sonne that explores scientific concepts related to the story--multiple dimensions, dark energy, and string theory. Each of these concepts were conceived since the book’s 1962 publication but are amazingly applicable to A Wrinkle in Time, and help to ensure that this imaginative book will be read for a long time into the future.
Talcroft, R.L. [Review of the book A wrinkle in time by M. L'Engle]. Children's Literature. Retrieved from http://www.childrenslit.com

Uses:  This book could appeal both male and female readers because it infuses both science fiction and fantasy into the story.  The book could be a great introduction to chapter books for young adolescents because the chapters are short and it is a quick read.  

Module 5: Jazz

Summary: Myers, both father and son, take us on a journey through the beginnings of Jazz music in America. The book is written in poetry form that gives the story a more melodic feel and accompanies the vibrant illustrations beautifully.

Citation: Myers, W. D., & Myers, C. (2006). Jazz. New York: Holiday House. 

Impression: I loved this book and I even learned quite a bit about the history of jazz. The book is not completely for children because the poem is a well written poem that would appeal to adults as well.

Review:
Elizabeth Bush (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books)

The father/son team follows Blues Journey (BCCB 6/03) with a jazz encore, a splashier, if somewhat more uneven, effort. Fifteen poems spotlight a variety of jazz forms, from New Orleans funerals to be-bop, from stride piano to blues. W. D. Myers goes far to corral the various styles and translate them to the printed page in boldly counterpointed alternating lines (the left hand of the stride piano), script-font asides that weave through the bluesy “Oh, Miss Kitty,” and musical direction that changes the pace halfway through the “Good-Bye to Old Bob Johnson.” At their best, poems startle with flashes of playful imagery: “Heard a sad song/ Swung it into joy/ Heard a bad tune/ Spanked it like a naughty boy.” Others, though, are more predictable: “Sweet and gentle, so surprising/ Music fills us, hear it rising/ Like a charming angel choir/ Reaching, preaching souls on fire.” C. Myers creates a gallery of instrumentalists and divas whose slightly elongated, sinuous forms are sometimes contemplative, sometimes snaking in fluid motion, often ignited in primary colors, occasionally flanked by deep, moody shadows. Although only black performers are visually represented here, Myers’ introduction does address the fusion (collision?) of influences from African and European traditions that gave birth to this American musical idiom. Additionally, the appended glossary of jazz terms is likely to contribute to fuller enjoyment of the poems, and a timeline of jazz greats (which does not explicitly coordinate with subjects of the poems) provides additional information. 

Bush, E. (2007, February). [Review of the book Jazz by W.D. Myers & C. Myers]. The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 60(6).

Uses: This would be a great book to display at the library during Black History Month since it provides information about the founders of jazz and blues. Also, this book is a great introduction about Jazz to children, it could be a required reading for a music class. The book is written in poetic form and provides wonderful examples of onomatopoeias in music that could be helpful to English teachers when teaching both topics.