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.