Reflection of Blogging

This semester was the first time I was introduced to a blog. When I was first assigned to create and write on my blog, I was a bit apprehensive. I have never been good with technology, so I was worried that this assignment was going to be very challenging for me. After a few days of experimenting with my blog, I realized it was not that bad. I actually came to truly enjoy weekly blogging. I feel like my responses to the children's books I read were more interesting since they were in blog format. I felt less restrictive regarding the content of my blog since the format of the blog was less informal. The colorfulness of my blog site made me feel more free and open, and not like I was writing in a Microsoft Word document.

Furthermore, I found a lot of high quality children's books this semester that were easy for me to connect to. I was very surprised as an adult, I could relate to the books. It shows that children's books are not meant for just children anymore, anyone can find some use from them. I had a lot of fun sharing stories that were similar to the books I read. It was also fun to revisit my childhood by rereading books I read when I was younger. I overall thought the blogging assignment was an excellent idea. Blogging is something I would like to use in my future class room because it connects children with technology, while also letting them respond to literature for anyone to see. This would be a great way for my students to give positive feedback to each other as well since they could comment on each other's blogs. I hope to continue to blog on my website, and I definitely know I will continue to read children's literature.

Blue Bowl Down

Blue Bowl Down an Appalachian Rhyme by C.M. Millen is a rhyming story that would be great to read to younger elementary students. I truly think younger students would enjoy this book because it includes a lot or rhyming, and it could even be made into a song. This book includes a story about a young boy making bread with his mother before he goes to bed. He wakes up, and is able to enjoy the homemade bread they made together. I think this is a book I would use to teach the idea of the magic of baking and cooking. I think making bread is something the students would be able to be actively involved with since they would could mix and knead the dough. I think it is so special as a very young child to see the transformation of separate ingredients, then the ingredients combining to make dough, the dough expanding and rising, and then the dough baking to make a loaf of bread. A lot of times young children cannot grasp the idea of baking because it is too abstract for them; therefore, I think it would be beneficial for them to concretely see the process of baking.

Christmas Cookies Bite-Size Holiday Lessons

This children's picture book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a great book that tells a story about Christmas cookies, while also enlightening students with the definitions of many words associated with the holiday season. The one word that stuck out to me in this story was tradition. Rosenthal said an example of tradition was,"Each year at the same time we make the same cookies and wear our special matching aprons". This word stuck out to me becasue I realized I have never been apart of the Christmas tradition of making Christmas cookies with my mom becasue we do not celelbrate christmas; however, I was lucky enough to form a tradition of making Christmas cookies with a friend of mine named Nancy. Nancy is the mom of a women I used to be a caregiver for. The women's name I was the caregiver for is Janet, and she has severe and profound Cerebral Paulsy. I was there to be an extra hand for Nancy. Janet required a lot of sleep so during Christmas time when Janet was napping, Nancy would invite me to make Christmas cookies with her. We formed a tradition out of this, and every year when Janet would wake up from her nap, we would all enjoy the Christmas cookeis I prepared with Janet's mom. This is a moment in my life that will always stick out to me because it brought me closer to Janet and her mom Nancy, while I was doing something that I loved, baking.

My Daddy and Me

My Daddy and Me by Jerry Spinelli is a picture book that has brought me back to my childhood. The book is about a young puppy that is so excited for his dad to come home from work so they can spend time together. They do many things together like bake, play tag, and dance to music; however, sometimes the dad is too tired to do anything but sing his son a lullaby. When I was younger my dad many times would work the night shift as a pharmasist at Walgreens, so a few days a week he would be home when I got home from Kindergarten, while my mom was at work. I was always so excited to spend time with my dad when he was not too tired from working. Some of the best memories I can remember is when he would take me to Banochburn, Illinois to get a Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookie, and then to Erehwon Mountain Supply to try on silly hats. We would both hysterically laugh at all the animal hats he would make me try on. Even if we did not have time to go all the way to Banachburn, I can still remember my dad making me lunch and resting with him on the couch. This book is a great book to make people take a moment to appreciate their dads.

The butter Man

The Buter Man By Elizabeth Alalou and Ali Alalou is a very informative children's picture book about a Moroccan family. One of my favorite hobbies is learning about cooking and baking. This book was an excellent book to interest me with me with one of my favorite hobbies, while also educating me about the Moroccan culture. After reading this story I discovered that the village of Tamazirt was mainly a farming town, where people earned money by selling their crops. I have disocvered that Coucous is a traditional North African dish served with an assortment of vegtables and meats. I also leared the term for father, grandfather, and grandmother in Moroccan. I think this book would be a great way to teach students about another culture, while also keeping them captivated by a story that makes you appreciate what you have.

Yum Yum! What Fun!

Yum Yum! What Fun! by Mara Bergman is a children's picture book about two little kids baking with their dog, while a bunch of animals come in through the window becasue they can smell the yumminess. I am so glad I found this picture book becasue it fits perfectly with what I have been learning in one of my education classes called Methods of Reading and Language Arts at the University of Iowa. We have been focusing on teaching reading for meaning, and this book is an excellent example that could aide students in reading for meaning, and especially for primary students. One thing we learned is that repetition is a good strategy to use to help students figure out words, and look for meaning. This book has the line, "Not Katie or James or their little dog Harry" repeted on almost every page. This line will let students know what to expect. Another strategy I have learned in class is finding book with rhyming words will help students read for meaning. This book has many examples of rhyming words which I think would benefit the reader. The last strategy this book includes which I have been focusing on in class is using illustrations to read for meaning. This book does an excellent job showing each animal that is coming in throught the window; therefore, when it comes to the page wnaming all the animals, many of the students will be able to name the animals by using the illustrations as a reference. Overall, this book is an excellent resource to use when a teacher is stressing the ideda of reading for meaning, and I would definitely incorporate using this book into a mini lesson I will teach in the future.

Meet Molly An American Girl

Meet Molly An American Girl Doll by Valarie Tripp is book one from the series of American Girl Doll books for Molly. It was very interesting to read this book because I have read this book along with many others from the American Girl Doll series when I was younger. I think my interpretation of the book is very different now, compared to when I was younger. After reading Stephanie Jones book I now have been critically analyzing all children's books I read. I thought critically about this specific book and realized that this book is not the norm for a family living during World War II. The family in this book had a housekeeper even though the rest of the country were trying to save money to send to the soldiers at war. This family portrayed the dad as the breadwinner and the man who makes the final decisions for the family. Though some of these things were more prevalent in the 1940's and 1950's, I thought it would be hard for children this generation to relate to this book. On the other hand, there were some positive aspects about the book. The author included some things that were true about the history of WWII, and included information in the back of the book explaining it. She included Victory Gardens in her story which were developed during this time so they could spend less money on tin in order to send tin to the soldiers. Also, the mom in the story volunteered at the Red Cross which was also a true part of WWII that many people participated in. They would collect blood and sew clothing items to send to the soldiers over seas. Though this book may be hard for many young girls to identify with, there are some aspects of the book that are very educational and teach you about the war.

My Mothers Sari

My Mother's Sari by Sandhya Rao is a children's picture book that includes some very interesting illustrations. After taking a closer look at each of the images, it seems as if the illustration of the little girl is a cartoon drawing or painting, while the illustration of the Sari on each page is a real photograph of a Sari. The two different styles of art combined had a very interesting effect that I highly enjoyed. It also exposed children to what a real Sari would look like. I think this book would be a great book to introduce the Sari to kids because it makes it easy for them to relate to if if they have no background information about Saris. This book explains how the little girl uses her imagination to make the Sari into a train, a rope, a river, a hiding place, and even a blanket to nap with. Since these are common things that many students would think of to do with a large piece of cloth, I think this book does a good job trying to not focus on the difference of all the cultures, but how all cultures can be similar.

The Old Woman Who Named Things

The Old Woman Who Named Things by Cynthia Rylant is about an older woman who has outlived everyone who she was close to in her life. She became sad because she did not have anyone who she could call by their name, so she came up with the idea of naming her belongings. She would only name things she could outlive so she would not have to deal with losing anymore people in her life. She named her car Betsy, her chair Fred, her bed Roxanne, and her house Franklin. The old lady discovers a dog who keeps coming to her house, but she does not want to name him because she thinks she will outlive the dog. She finally realizes the dog brings her happiness and keeps her company so she decides to keep the dog and name him Lucky. I think it is great that the old woman can find company in her belongings and dog because I have started to realize it is hard for senior citizens when their loved ones begin to pass away. They live with their wife or husband and are surrounded by close friends their whole life, and then all of a sudden everyone begins to pass away. It is very challenging to adapt to their new lonely life. My grandma is experiencing this same situation currently. Her husband passed away a year ago, and many of her close friends have passed away. She has been having a tough time living alone in her house, but just like the woman in the story, my grandma has thought of strategies to not feel so alone. She told me she reads everyday and feels she is in company with the character in the book. I think that is a great idea because though my family spends as much time as possible with her, she still feels lonely since she is use to always being with my grandpa.

My Mother's Voice

My Mother's Voice by Joanne Ryder seems like a book many people could relate to. The story discusses simple things the little girl loves about her mom. She loves hearing her voice in the different settings of her life, from her cheerful voice in the morning, to her thoughtful voice when she consoles her, or her singing voice when they are in the kitchen baking. I think this book is so easy to relate to because any child could think about someone they are very close to whether its their mom, aunt, grandma, or close friend. I feel like life goes by very quickly. Many times I have taken for granted everything my mom has provided for me. And being away from my mom at college, I have definitely started to appreciate and take time to thank her for guiding, supporting, caring, and loving me. This is the perfect book to slow down life with, and remember how much we love the ones who have raised us.

Thunder Cake

I was very excited to read Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco because I did my author study on her, and I have come to really appreciate the children's literature she writes. She seems to always write about something that I can relate to, or something that reveals an excellent message. What I think Polacco was trying to display from this book is that finding something you enjoy can distract you and make you forget about the bad in your life, or just something you are scared of. The little girl in the book gets distracted from the thunder because she is busy collecting ingredients, baking, and eating a Thunder Cake wither her grandmother. I am very similar to the little girl in the story because anytime I am sad, or upset, or just having a bad day, I can be distracted with cooking, baking, and eating with family and friends. The most memorable memories of this happening is with my sister freshman year of college. Throughout freshman year of college I would get very homesick. I loved being at college, and all the new friends I was making; however, at times I would miss that comfortability level from home. The good thing was that my sister also went to the University of Iowa and knew how to comfort and distract me. She would usually call me over once a week and we would search for yummy dinner recipes and desserts to make. We always would cook and bake when we were at home as well, so it brought comfort to me to do it at school. I did not realize how much fun I was having with my sister when we were cooking, and eating, and talking that I would slowly start to feel more comfortable being away from home. This memory really reminds me of Thunder Cake, and I think cooking and eating with people who are close to you is something everyone should try when they are sad, scared, or upset about something in their lives!

Giving Thanks

Giving Thanks by Jonathon London is considered a children's picture book; however, I believe it would be a great book as well for Jr. high, high schoolers, and even adults . The content of the book is not difficult to comprehend. It discusses the topic of nature and how thankful we should be that we were given the gift of nature. It has limited words on each page, and the words are not too challenging. Basically, an elementary school student would be able to understand the storyline of the book. Moreover, the reason I think it would be beneficial if the book was targeted to an older crowd is because they may better be able to grasp the message the book is trying to reveal. Go Green is a movement that has come alive during our present generation. It is a movement that is trying to preserve our Earth. People know how important the gift of our Earth is; therefore, people have come together to form a movement to start taking care of our gift. Many teenagers have actively got involved with this movement. There was a a student organization in my high school called Students for Justice. These students were really involved with the Go Green movement. They set up a recycle program for our school, they petitioned for Earth friendly products to be used, and they gave speeches to the rest of the school about the research they would find. Though there are so many teenagers actively trying to help take care of our precious gift, there are also so many teenagers who are caught up with being a teenager. They forget to think about other important things in the world besides their social lives. I think Giving Thanks by Jonathon London would be a great book to read to teenagers to expose them to the Go Green movement, and make them appreciate the world they are living in.

How Do Dinasaurs Get Well?

How Do Dinosaurs Get Well by Jane Yolen is a cute interactive book that teaches the correct manners for children when they are sick. It made me laugh while I was reading this book because I realized everything the dinosaur was told not to do when sick, I did when I was a little girl. The book asks if a dinosaur should whimper and whine when they are sick, and children are supposed to answer no. Though I do not think I was a big whiner when I was a child, whining was something I mastered when I was sick. I always took advantage of the attention my mom would give me and whine about everything that was wrong. Furthermore, the book asks if a dinosaur should fling all his medicine out of the door, and the kids are supposed to respond no; however, this is something I would do all the time. When I was young my parents got liquid medicine for me, and I would make the biggest fuss with my dad when it was time to take the medicine. My dad tried to come up with ideas to make it not taste so bad like eating food or chewing gum right afterwards, but it never worked. I would stand with the spoon over the sink with my dad for almost an hour, until I finally got the courage to take the medicine. Additionally, the book asks when the dinosaur is at the doctor does he hold his mouth closed when he's told open wide. I remember as a child I was horrible at he doctor. I would be so nervous they were going to hurt me so I cried all the way there, while I was there, and all the way home. My mom would come up with interesting ideas to try and calm me down. She came up with pretending to blow bubbles, and singing a song while we were at the doctor. Overall, this story is a good story to teach children how to act when sick, and I think it would have been very beneficial if my parents read it to me when I was young.

The Storm

The Storm by Anne Rockwell is a children's book that tells a realistic story about a horrible thunderstorm hitting a young girl's house by the sea. I would label this book as realistic because since most of the states experience thunderstorms, this story could have actually happened to many people. Though it is good to write about stories that actually could have happened, this story seems too typical; therefore, my interest was lost. I think it is good to write about things that kids could relate to; however, this story seemed too common. Nothing in the story caught my attention, or surprised me. Even though this was not my favorite book, I could see how a student would enjoy this book if they lived in a desert or in a country that did not get a lot of rain. This story would then seem unique, and it may strike their interest more.

Wish

Wish by Roseanne Thong is one of the most informative, interesting, and enjoyable books I have ever read. The book tells a little blurb about how different countries make wishes. This is an excellent book to include diversity in the class room. This book shows how countries are different because they have different traditions for wishing, but then it also shows how the countries are the same because they all have some form of wishing. This is a great book for students to read during reading workshop who have trouble finding a book that they are interested in. I have found many times kids enjoy reading lists of things, and they will not even realize it is a form of reading. This is also a great book to recommend for nonfiction reading because it is true text, but it is not dry and boring. After reading this book, it was also fun to see what wishing traditions America has borrowed from other countries. It seems we borrowed the lucky penny idea from Rome and Russia, we borrowed the blowing dandelion idea from Ireland, and we have borrowed the making a wish on an eye lash from Mexico.

Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale

Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale is a sequel to the original Rainbow Fish. These books are excellent books to share with the primary grades because they teach good lessons young children need to know such as sharing and bullying. Though this book is intended for younger children, as an adult I was able to take a lesson out of it as well. The book explains how the whale's feelings got hurt because the small little fish were making fun of him. This reminds me that a younger, smaller, or less educated person can still hurt a person's feelings, just like the small little fish was able to hurt the whale's feelings. An example of this has occurred in my life. When I was volunteering with an elementary school student she got very frustrated with me and told me she did not want to work with me anymore. Even though she is a much younger elementary school student, I still was bothered by her comment. I realize the status of someone does not matter, anyone's feelings can still get hurt.

The Zoo

The Zoo by Suzy Lee is a great picture book that uses illustrations as well as some help from text to tell a story. This creative book is a story you definitely would want to go back and read one or two more times to make sure you get the whole story. The first time I read, I only paid attention to the text. There was not much text in the book, so all I found out was that a little girl and her family went to the zoo, and went to various animal exhibits. After going back and reading the story, I concentrated more on the intricate illustrations. I found out from the pictures that while the family is at the zoo, the parents loose their little girl. They look at all the exhibits and cannot find her, nor do they see animals in the exhibits. After paying attention to the little girl's balloon she was holding the whole time, I realized the girl imagines being in a open jungle with all the animals, and that is why the animals are not at their exhibit. At the end, I notices the little girl has fallen asleep on the bench, and was dreaming her imaginative animal scene. Furthermore, I enjoyed reading this book because it reminded me how exciting the zoo is when you are a little kid, but also how you appreciate even more when you visit it as an adult. This message is what I saw in the book, it was a good book to read for the first time, but if you revisit the book, you realize so much more depth to it.

Year of Impossible Goodbyes

Year of Impossible Goodbyes is a great novel that informs readers about the war, while also teaching them about the Korean culture. I thought it was very interesting to learn about traditions such as praying to Buddha, writing Chinese characters, and meditating. I am glad I got the opportunity to read this book, and also So Far from the Bamboo Grove. I think it is a great idea to give elementary students the opportunity to read both of these books because it exposes them to two different perspectives of WWII. It is important to show students that there is not always one side of a story. These books are great parallels of each other because it shows that both the Koreans and Japanese civilians suffered. These two books are also great resources to use in an elementary school class room because when students learn about WWII they usually get the eurocentric side. These books show that the war was effecting other countries besides Europe and America. I think it wold also be a great idea to do a comparison and contrast with the two books. There are many similarities between the books concerning their struggle for food, money, schooling type, and family. I overall enjoyed Year of Impossible Goodbyes; however, I liked So Far from the Bamboo Grove a bit more. Year of Impossible Goodbyes did not go into as much descriptive detail as So Far from the Bamboo Grove. I felt like I was captured by the emotion of Yoko's story more. I could picture how she specifically was thinking and feeling.