The Paper Crane

Author: Molly Bang
Photographer: Ned Manter
Published in 1985

     There once was a restaurant sitting on the busiest street in the town. Customers through all mornings and nights until the highway was built. All of sudden, business is dead. Molly Bang writes a story about how a simple paper crane can bring so much life to this once deserted restaurant and see an explosion of business. The illustrations create a 3D visual of paper cut outs photographed by Ned Manter to create the realistic approach for readers. The text is simple to read and the pages are filled with images of the story. Any student in an elementary would enjoy this text as a read aloud with Kindergartners to a pair reading with second graders. A neat activity would have student to do an origami activity in which students create their own animals and writes stories of how this animal fixed a problem in life. Students can then display their animal and read their stories aloud to their classmates.

Anansi does the Impossible: An Ashanti Tale

Retold by Verna Aardema
Illustrated by Lisa Desimini
Published in 1997

     What a courageous tale of a spider, Anansi, and his adventure to receive all the folk tales from the Gods. Anansi seeks to be the storyteller of the village but the only person who knows all the stories is the God. When Anansi confronts the God about being able to tell the stories of the village, there is a catch and Anansi and his wife take the reader through his journey to be the ultimate story teller. One feature of the book includes a glossary of all the African words used throughout the book so the reader can know the definition of the word and how to pronounce the unfamiliar term. The illustrator, Lisa Desimini, does a great job with the pictures of the book depicting the story through picture. For classroom implications, this book can be used with older elementary students and use the theme of overcoming adversity and can be used as a culture story, in the fact of preserving one's history.
 

In My Family

Title:  In My Family / En Mi Familia

Author:  Carmen Lomas Garza

Awarded: Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award

                 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List

                 International Reading Association Notable Book

Children’s Book Press (1996)

This book is really a collage of the author’s memories from her childhood.  She is first an artist, secondly a writer.  She painted pictures of her childhood, the cultural background of her family and then put stories to them.  She spoke of family traditions, religion, and food.  She tells of the Easter Eggs filled with confetti, the piñata at her sister’s birthday party and the blessing her cousin received from her mother on her wedding day.  The last two pages of the book contain a question and answer session with the author.  It gives the reader a glimpse into why she paints pictures and writes.  It also gives some insight into her personal thoughts.

The language and illustrations utilized in this book are very appropriate for elementary school age children.  The text is easy to read.  Each page has the story in both Spanish and English making it student friendly for a diverse classroom.  The language used is easily understandable.  The illustrations are colorful and depict scenes familiar to the Hispanic culture.  It is a celebration of all the good memories of her childhood, all the things that she grew up cherishing as her culture. 

This book is an accurate depiction of the Hispanic culture as it is painted and written through the eyes of someone who lived it her whole life.  She wanted to share that culture with others.  It was realistic.  It showed the positives of her heritage without dwelling on any of the negatives.  The illustrations (paintings) are consistent with what she remembers growing up.

For teachers of very young children it would be great for a read-aloud and class discussion.  It would be a little much for them to read on their own.  It would be appropriate for a little bit older elementary school student (maybe 3^rd – 5^th grade).  It definitely could be used in a Spanish class.

Langston's Train Ride

Author: Robert Burleigh

Illustrator: Leonard Jenkins

Publisher: Scholastic 2005.

Langston's Train Ride is a realistic portrayal of the reflective thoughts and creative thinking Langston Hughes may have had while traveling by train to see his father who abandoned him when he was young. Hughes imagines what life was like for his ancestors as he passes through several states. This book doesn't just touch on the historical significance of "my people" as Hughes says, but it also reflects on the thoughts and struggles of a writer. This story highlights the importance of observing and paying attention to little details to gain inspiration to write. Hughes also expresses how essential it is to record those insightful thoughts that come to you - anywhere - so they are not forgotten. I really enjoyed hearing his thoughts as he crafts his poetry.

The vibrant illustrations depict what the view of the world from a train window would look like through the eyes of a poet. However, not all of these images are picture perfect. The illustrations stay true to the time period and show realistic snapshots of "tar-paper shacks and broken down sheds where my people - the Negro people - live." A scene from the Harlem Renaissance is also accurately depicted on the first page of the book showing the style and look of the people lingering the streets.This picture book conveys the message of staying determined to reach one's goals, and having faith in oneself. 

Bein' With You This Way

Title: Bein’ With You This Way

Author: W. Nikola-Lisa

Illustrator: Michael Bryant

Published: Unknown

            In the book “Bein’ With You this Way” the author creates a song about all the different features throughout the world (straight hair/curly hair, brown eyes/ blue eyes, dark skin/light skin, etc.). Throughout the book the little girl whose singing the song talks about how they are different, but yet still the same. This book could be used for students in grade K-2. If I were to use this book in my classroom I would create a posters of the lyrics from the book, and make this song one of the songs we sang at the beginning of the day during morning meeting. As an extension to this activity I would add physical characteristics my students have to the song.

Hello World

Title: Hello World

Author: Manya Stojic

Published: 2003

            The book “Hello World” teaches students how to say hello in forty-two different languages. This book could be used for students in grades K-5^th. An elementary school teacher could use this book during morning meetings. Every morning teachers could teach their students a different greeting from another language. They could also use this book for a mini lesson at the beginning of an activity. During the lesson students will be asked to pick one language from the book, do some research on that culture, and create a poster presentation for that culture. I would recommend this book as a piece of multicultural literature, because this books gives you insight into forty-one other different cultures (languages). 

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters

Title: Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters
Author/Illustrator: John Steptoe
Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Books, NY 1987

This gorgeously illustrated tale of two sisters set in Africa is sure to get children of all ages thinking about what is important in life and to ignite conversations in the class. It is a folktale that highlights the importance of virtue over beauty and kindness over pride. The two sisters are both candidates for becoming queen and make a journey to the capital to see the king. The lessons they learn on the way are the real test of whether they are queenly material or not.
The illustrations are vivid and help the reader understand the story as well as set it in the lush jungle landscape of Africa (namely Zimbabwe).They really draw the reader into the fantastic story. The moral message is a very important one for young children who may be experiencing similar strife between their siblings. The characters are portrayed accurately as is the rich African culture (from my knowledge anyway). This was one of my absolute favorite books growing up.
I think teachers should use this book as a group read aloud for elementary kids (grades 1-5) and offer it as individual reading for grades 3-5. Some of the African terms may take some explaining but the message is clear. This book is a valuable classroom tool for discussion and cultural exploration.