My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken and Me

Written by Maya Angelou
Photographs by Margaret Courtney-Clarke
Published in 1994

Ndebele is a young girl in South Africa and through vivid pictures of her homeland, she takes you on a journey of what it is like to be her friend. The photographs are real life photos of this young girl and her village, which creates an authentic feel for the reader. The title tells the story of her house and what the different designs mean in her native land. She takes us through her village and tells us of different customs going on. One special story is what the women wear to the village and how they are the best dressed women in the area because of their fine clothes and fine jewelry that are hand crafted. One of the most important themes in the book is friendship. The chicken is her best friend because it will never tell her secrets. When dealing with elementary students, this is a great book to discuss the elements of friendship and to have students determine what makes a good friend. One activity to do with your students is to create an outline of a body and each student write one word on the body that is a good trait of a friend.

Night Boat to Freedom

I've always enjoyed reading about slaves escaping to freedom. It's an unfortunate but fascinating part of American history. Night Boat to Freedom is one of those stories. Illustrations by E.B. Lewis set the tone for the story with the unclear and faded future that so many runaway slaves had before emancipation.

The reason this story is so cool is that the main character, Christmas John, is escaping from Kentucky, trying to get across the river to Ohio.

Reading this story to students looking to break free of their own private situations would be a great way to relate to those students.

Luba and the Wren

For anyone that has grown up on a farm and has dealt with the struggles that comes with farm-living, this book is very relatable and well-appreciated.

Luba and the Wren is written by Patricia Pollaco, just like Thunder Cake. Russian language and culture is depicted in this story by the main character, Luba, living on a struggling farm with her parents. Luba, given her role as the heartfelt child with a great outlook on life despite living in a bleak home environment, reminds me a lot of Young Ju from A Step from Heaven.

Kids can read this book and appreciate it because I'm sure there are so many kids that live in bleak home environments and Luba shows them that they can rise above the negativity that they face at home.

There are so many teaching strategies you could take from this book. The book, with questions, can be a way for a teacher to relate to students on a more personal level.

The illiustrations have the same characteristics as the other Pollaco book--dark and colorful. Luba's life is dark, but she makes it very colorful.

Thunder Cake

Anyone that has had any kind of relationship with their grandmother will love this story. My grandmother made me believe that I could do anything, like earn an "A" in my grad classes. Hopefully I'm almost there as I type this book review.

Thunder Cake is a story based on the author's real-life experiences with her grandmother helping her overcome her fear of thunder. Her "Babushka" would make a cake (calling it "thunder cake") every time she heard thunder. This would help the girl come out from under the bed when a storm was coming.

I can see so many teaching strategies from this book of helping children overcome mental obstacles that they may have. I can't wait to apply some of these ideas to my classroom this school year.

The illustrations and language used in the book depict a bit of Russian culture while the colors are dark yet colorful, which I think Babushka depicts storms to the girl in the same manner.

This story is enjoyable because it shows how simple that it can be to help someone overcome their fears.

A Step from Heaven

A Step from Heaven is a story about a Korean family coming to the United States and the hardships they face along the way. The central figure in the story, Young Ju, is the subject of a fascinating story in which she evolves into very much a heroine within her own family.

The book highlights the struggles that foreign families face when relocating. Those struggles culminate towards the end of the book, which is where Young Ju undoubtedly becomes the strongest figure in the book.

I enjoyed this story for the coming of age tale that it is. Young Ju evolves into a patriarch within her family, all while we see a consistent deterioration of character for one of the story's other key figures. Anyone that has faced these same struggles can relate to the story and will enjoy reading it for the good, not-too-demanding read that it is.

Spoken Memories

Title:  Spoken Memories (Marianthe’s Story: Two)

Author:  Aliki

Illustrations:  Aliki

Greenwillow Books (1998)

This is the continuing story of a young girl from a foreign land, who has begun going to school in America.  She is still has the same teacher as in Painted Words but she has now begun to learn the language.  It is life story time and it is her turn.  This book is a highlight of what her life was before her move to this country and the things she misses and gave up to come here.  She explains why they had to move, the hardships in her own country.  She explains that the school was two hours away from her village and not everyone got to attend, especially girls.  She is able to share her culture with the students in her class.  The theme of this story could be the story of any child and their family coming to America looking for a better life.

The illustrations are very appropriate as they accurately depict the life that Mari and her family left behind in their move to America.  It shows not only the hardships of their life but the joy and closeness they felt in family, friends and neighbors.  The pictures help the author to visually show the reader about Mari’s homeland.

I think the story and the pictures are an authentic representation of what it would feel like to leave everything familiar to you behind and move to a new land.  I think it leaves the readers with an appreciation for other people’s stories and more understanding of differences that may exist in people.  Any lesson on cultural differences could use this book as a resource.

I would recommend this to elementary school teachers as a way to help introduce diversity into a classroom or just to talk about things that students may have had to leave behind in their lives.

Painted Words

Title:  Painted Words (Marianthe’s Story: One)

Author:  Aliki

Illustrations:  Aliki

Greenwillow Books (1998)

This is the story of a young girl from a foreign land, going to school in America for the first time.  She did not understand the words being spoken and written around her but through body language and painting pictures she is able to tell her own story to the class.  In so doing, she has encouraged her family to learn and tell their stories as well.  The other students understand her story and in the end want to create stories of their own.  The theme of this story could be the story of any child being forced to move from their homeland, to a new school, new language and new culture different from their own and their struggle to become a part of their new environment.

The illustrations are very appropriate as they depict the feeling and thoughts of young Mari and the children and people around her.  It corresponds nicely with the fact that she is telling her story through her paintings.  As she tries to decipher the language being used around her the text reflects the distortions that she would hear as an English language learner.  As the story proceeds the words become clearer to her.

I think the story and the pictures are an authentic representation of what it would feel like for any ESL student new to an American classroom.  It shows Mari reacting in a positive yet truthful way when her feelings are hurt by one of the students in her class.  This part of the story would be a good segway into a discussion of diversity, bullying, etc.  The author’s purpose is to help the reader understand what it must feel like to be different from those around you.

I would recommend this to elementary school teachers as a way to help introduce a new student into class or the fact that different cultures do exist but we are all the same as people.

It Doesn't Have to Be This Way

Title:  It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way: A Barrio Story

Author:  Luis J. Rodriguez

Illustrations:  Daniel Galvez

Awarded: 2000 Skipping Stones Honor Award

Children’s Book Press (1994)

The introduction to this book includes pictures of the author and his family along with a personal reflection on his background in the gangs of Los Angeles and his current work in trying to persuade young people that there is another way.  The story is that of a young boy, 10 years old, who loves poetry being caught up into the gang world afraid to say no.  In an effort to persuade him to change his mind, his cousin when coming to his initiation gets shot by a rival gang.

This book is written from personal experience and effectively addresses the issues faced by many inner city kids today.  It is an accurate representation that most readers will find believable based on the author’s background.  The language in this book is authentic geared towards upper elementary grades or even middle school grades.  The illustrations in the first two pages are actual photographs of the author in his gang days and his family now.  The illustrations in the rest of the book are a fair representation of life in the Hispanic neighborhoods of Los Angeles.

I think students will be enthusiastic about this book as it presents the truth about Hispanic youth growing up in the gang-torn neighborhoods of Los Angeles.  This book lets them see that there are alternatives to joining the gang.  The author’s purpose in writing this book is to help young people see that there is another way.  The story is told in both English and Spanish which makes it a good resource for ESL students as well.

I think this would be a great book to read and discuss as a class as gangs are prevalent in most cities and they don’t know cultural boundaries.  They exist in all ethnicities.  Obviously teachers will have to use caution in talking about gangs but I think this has a lot of positive possibilities.