THE GIRL WHO LOVED WILD HORSES --- Book Review for module 2

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Goble, Paul. 1978. THE GIRL WHO LOVED WILD HORSES. NY: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-02-736570-0.

PLOT SUMMARY
A Native American girl truly loves horses, gets to live with them, and finally becomes one. She also loves her people. This is a story of becoming who you are meant to be while loving the family you are born to.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Paul Goble managed to capture the simplicity and complexity of the Native American way of life with his retelling of the folktale THE GIRL WHO LOVED WILD HORSES. The art is reminiscent of ancient Native American drawings and perfectly matches the cultural feel of the tale. The storm scene with angry black clouds even looks like an angry stallion with flashing eyes and a thrashing mane.
The spotted stallion took the girl as one of his herd and they were very happy, even though the girl missed her human family. The entire village knew of the girl's love for horses and accepted the special affinity she had for them, but they were still surprised when she decided to go live with the spotted stallion forever. She had to explain to them, "They are my relatives. If you let me go back to them I shall be happy for evermore."
The simple tale is quite full of symbolism. The love we must feel for nature, with her love of the horses. The pain parents feel when a child makes her own decisions, leaving their home to make one of her own with the partner of her choosing. The joy she can bring to them as an adult, yearly bringing them a spotted colt or a grandchild.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
*Winner of the Caldecott Medal, 1979
*ALA Notable Children's Book
*NCSS/CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies
*Children's Literature --In this Caldecott Medal book, Goble tells the story of how a girl so loved horses that, according to this Native American legend, she eventually became one. Beautiful, bright color illustrations on every spread expand upon the spare, but effective text. A true delight for those who love folklore and horses. The text closes with two Native American songs celebrating horses.

CONNECTIONS
*Before Reading The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses
Remind the children that Native Americans value having a very close relationship with nature. From the title of the book, can the children guess what aspect of nature this Native American story is about? Ask the class to tell how many of them have ever had the chance to ride a horse or to get close to a horse. What were their reactions to their experiences? (http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collateral.jsp?id=389_type=Book_typeId=59)

*After Reading The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses
Have the class leaf through the book's illustrations to find symbols that they readily associate with Native Americans (e.g., arrows, feathers as hair ornaments, tipis, men with long, braided hair, etc.). What new information did the class learn about Native Americans from reading this book? (http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collateral.jsp?id=389_type=Book_typeId=59)

*Tie in with a science lesson on horses

*Read in a series with Goble's other Native American tales -- BUFFALO WOMAN (ISBN 9780689711091), THE GIFT OF THE SACRED DOG (ISBN 9780020432807), or STAR BOY (isbn 978-0689714993) to discover commonalities in Native American folk tales.

Book Review for Vardell 5603 -- Talking with Artists

1. Bibliography
TALKING WITH ARTISTS: CONVERSATIONS WITH VICTORIA CHESS, PAT CUMMINGS, LEO AND DIANE DILLON, RICHARD EGIELSKI, LOIS EHLERT, LISA CAMPBELL ERNST, TOM FEELINGS, STEVEN KELLOGG, JERRY PINKNEY, AMY SCHWARTZ, LANE SMITH, CHRIS VAN ALLSBURG, AND DAVID WIESNER. 1992. Compiled and edited by Pat Cummings. NY: Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-724245-5.

2. Plot Summary
Cummings collected written responses from 14 successful children's book illustrators. Each illustrator had a two-page spread called "My story" and then each answered eight questions regarding work habits, inspiration, and how they got their big break. Each illustrator also included an early picture and at least one example of their published work.

3. Critical Analysis
Each illustrator had the opportunity in the "My story" section to become a real person to children, often telling of childhood art projects, first pictures, or early disappointments. Children can identify with the narrative style of the biographical sketches, which each included at least one surprising fact about the illustrator. The illustrators also introduced technical terms to the children in easy-to-understand language, explaining terms like painterly, charcoal, pen and ink, and agent. Each illustrator answered the same eight questions:

• Where do you get your ideas from?
• What is a normal day like for you?
• Where do you work?
• Do you have any children? Pets?
• What do you enjoy drawing the most?
• Do you ever put people you know in your pictures?
• What do you use to make your pictures?
• How did you get to do your first book?

After reading all fourteen mini biographies of the children's book authors, children should have an understanding of what is involved in illustrating a children's book. If they are interested in art, the book also serves as a wonderful inspiration to pursue art as a career.

4. Review excerpts

Boston Globe -- Horn Book Award (Non-Fiction, 1992)

Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (1993)

School Library Journal -- "Young artists will learn a lot; teachers and other children will also love it. Well designed and well conceived, this book will be welcomed in all those classrooms in which children's literature has become central to the curriculum."

Publisher's Weekly -- "Unfortunately, the often poignant reminiscences and outstanding talent on display cannot overcome the book's unimaginative layout and distractingly pragmatic text."

5. Connections

*Great for inclusion with a unit on careers.

*As an art lesson, share one of the interviews with students and have them look at several examples of the interviewee's illustrated works. Students could discuss the similarities and differences in each book and why it was or was not effective for a particular story.

*Collect all volumes of Cummings's TALKING WITH ARTISTS and have students find the section on their favorite illustrator, read it, and report to the class.

Book Review for Vardell 5603 -- Thunder Rose

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Nolen, Jerdine. 2002. THUNDER ROSE. Ill. by Kadir Nelson. Orlando: Harcourt. ISBN 0-15-216472-3.

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Jerdine Nolen creates a tall tale of the largest ptoportions with THUNDER ROSE, who sits up on the stormy night of her birth and proclaims that she will want to do more than grow up to be good and strong, "Thank you very kindly!" From that moment, Thunder Rose proceeds to amaze her parents while providing valuable assistance in their ranching efforts -- herding cows, building fences, and saving the ranch from ruin by a stampeding herd. She also is credited with such inventions as barbed wire. The larger-than-life antics of this young girl will astonish readers.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The story is a tall tale, and as such includes subtle allusions that children may or may not understand. The tale is somehwat predictable, with Thunder Rose always conquering the stampede, the double tornadoes, or whatever she encounters, but the story is still a charming one with the main character's being a young girl.

Kadir Nelson's illustrations, on the other hand, steal the story. For not only is the main character a girl, Nelson chose to portray her as an African American girl. The pictures are oil, watercolor, and pencil works of art. Each illustration captures expression, light and shadow, and exquisite detail, even down to the look of surprise on the cow's face as Thunder Rose lifts up the cow's hindquarters to more easily reach the milk. A predictable tall tale becomes a true multicultural prize due to Nelson.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS.

*School Library Journal -- "The oil, watercolor, and pencil artwork is outstanding. A splendid, colorful, and most welcome addition to the tall-tale genre."

*Booklist -- "A terrific read-aloud."

*Kirkus Starred Review -- "Throughout, [Thunder Rose] shows a reflective bent that give her more dimension than most tall-tale heroes: a doff of the Stetson to her and her creators."

5. CONNECTIONS

*Place with a collection of other tall tales for children including PECOS BILL, by Steven Kellogg (ISBN 0-688-05871-X), FELICIANA FEYDRA LEROUX: A CAJUN TALL TALE, by Tynia Thomassie and Cat Bowman Smith (ISBN 978-0316841252), or PAUL BUNYAN AND HIS BLUE OX, by Patricia Jensen (ISBN 978-0816731626) for a full unit on tall tales.

*Have children make up their own tall tales with themselves as the hero. They can illustrate or "hire" a friend as illustrator.

*Write, or have children write, a Reader's Theater script and take turns performing for one another or another class.

*Use the collection of tall tales to discuss fact/opinion or fiction/non-fiction.

Book Review for Vardell 5603 -- The Hello Goodbye Window

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Juster, Norton. 2005. THE HELLO, GOODBYE WINDOW. Ill. by Chris Racshka. NY: Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN 9780786809141.

2. PLOT SUMMARY

The kitchen window in Nanna and Poppy's house is special. It is called the Hello, Goodbye window. As the unnamed narrator visits with her Nanna and Poppy, we experience life through the eyes of a child. It is part magic, part real, part serious, and part not.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Juster's characters are fully realistic, and the book has a simple, easy plot line. Raschka's illustrations are very simplistic water color and look like they have been done by a child. Many may feel that the simple illustrations contribute to the overall feel of comfort and imagination, but I do not. I feel that many excellent opportunities for superior illustrations were missed with the surreal/almost abstract form of the illustrations. The one spread that was effective was the starry night. The dark sky contrasted extremely well with the lit window framing the faces of Nanna and the narrator.

In light of the many awards and starred reviews, I realize that my opinion is in the minority. I do, however, still feel that children need quality illustrations in books. If they are to be suggestive and stimulating for the imagination, they can be so without being childlike.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS

Kirkus starred review -- “Juster adopts the voice of a child with a steady, sweet candor” -
School Library Journal starred review -- “Raschka’s visual interpretation of this sweet story sings… this is the art of a masterful hand”
Booklist starred review -- "Two well-known names come together in a book that speaks to the real lives of children.”
Publishers Weekly starred review -- "Juster crafts an endearing portrait of a grandchild and her grandparents in this endearing book illustrated in paintbox colors by Raschka. . . Grandparents will be especially charmed by this relaxed account of how a child's visit occasions everyday magic." -
The Horn Book -- “Say hello to Raschka at the top of his form.”

5. CONNECTIONS**

*Have children visualize thier own homes or their grandparents' and have them draw and color the kitchen.
*Sing "Oh, Susannah" with the children
*Have children fold a piece of drawing paper in quarters. In each quarter, they can
draw a window frame. In each frame they can draw and label one thing the little girl
saw looking in or out of the window.

**These story connections and more are available from Hyperion Books for Children teaching guide available at http://www.hyperionbooksforchildren.com/data/books/tgpdf/07868091401500.pdf

THE website on gaming

When in doubt, go to ALA. Of course they have a website to help librarians who are getting started, who want to get started, or who are just browsing about games in libraries. Vistit the site: http://www.ala.org/ala/pio/presscentera/piopresskits/nationallibraryweek2008a/gl08.cfm
If you are interested in other library gaming initiatives, I found this and others through Yahoo search and by linking from the Mecklenberg County blog. I told you, they are great!

Benefits of gaming!?

I found the following article with a simple building block search through the PROJECT MUSE database. It provides librarians with the needed data to justify what we already knew... gaming does not automatically produce brain-dead kids, but can enhance skills needed for success in different fields.


The Future of Children
Volume 18, Number 1, Spring 2008[Version Español] -->
pp. 63-85
E-ISSN: 1550-1558 Print ISSN: 1054-8289
DOI: 10.1353/foc.0.0004
Media and Attention, Cognition, and School Achievement
Marie Evans Schmidt and Elizabeth A. Vandewater



From this search, I tried a successive fraction on LibLit (I LOVE this database for LSIS research!) and ended up with this other article, again, worth reading. If you can't see the image, here is pertinent data:

Title:
Gaming Unplugged
Personal Author:
King, Kevin A. R.
Journal Name:
Voice of Youth Advocates
Source:
Voice of Youth Advocates v. 29 no. 6 (February 2007) p. 510-11
Publication Year:
2007
Subject(s):
Young adults' library services/Michigan; Young adults' library services/Activity projects; Games; Kalamazoo Public Library

Not that you can see it very well, but if you do a building block search of ERIC using (gaming OR game* OR gamer*) AND (program* OR event* OR service*) AND (librar* OR (public AND librar*)), you will get about 70 results. I recommend limiting your search by the subject suggestions on the left, or, on the right by full text or date.

The screen to the right shows how simple it is in LexisNexis to search. I used gaming within two words of public libraries, then used the on-screen helps to add the limiters libraries ande computer games. This retrieved 11 articles that are dead-on gaming in libraries. Just to show off that I finally figured out how, I will put another screen shot of some of the results.