Bibliographic Information: Weird Parents is written and illustrated by Audrey Wood.  Dial Books for Young Readers published Weird Parents in 1990.

   Summary:  Weird Parents is about a young boy who has weird parents who do weird things.  The young boy may at times be uncomfortable with his parent's weird antics, but the book also reveals the special   things that his parents do especially for him.  In the end, the boy's parents may be weird, but they are his parents and his alone so it doesn't matter if they're so different after all. 

Recommendations for Parents:  Weird Parents like all of Audrey Wood's books contain an undeniable child-centered humor further exemplified through her illustrations.  In fact, the illustrations connect so well to the story, it makes the story fun and easy to follow along with or have children read by themselves.  Weird Parents is a great book for children to read at home because it deals with home life--a connection that every child will have. 

Recommendations for Teachers:  Weird Parents is an excellent read aloud for the classroom especially when working on a family unit or just to spark discussions regarding different family lives and possibly culture at home.  The book shows that having parents who do abnormal things is special and unique and not a bad family quality.  This issue may be especially relevant for minority students who may feel abnormal culturally within the school society.  Reading this text could be useful to introduce discussions and conversations of different family traditions that each student has.  This book is also excellent for EL learners because the illustrations help guide understanding of the meaning of the text.  There is also a lot of fun repetition within the book
along with colorful and busy illustrations that students will surely want to revisit.

Personal Note:  I really enjoyed this book because I think we've all felt that our families were weird at one time or another, however, that is what makes each family special.  I believe that children need to feel like their home life is valued in the classroom and I feel this book can lead students in that positive direction while having fun at the same time. 
 



 Bibliographic Information:  The title of this book is Rum-A-Tum-Tum, written by Angela Shelf Medearis and illustrated by James E. Ransome.  Rum-A-Tum-Tum was published by Holiday House in 1997.

Summary:  Rum-A-Tum-Tum is set in New Orleans' French Quarter where a young girl describes the sounds she hears from the street.  From street vendors to a marching jazz band; this lively book has so much New Orleans spirit shown through the young girl and her experiences in her neighborhood throughout the day.  The entire story is told through rhyme which creates a jazz musicality to it and makes the story that much more fun to read. 

Recommendation for Parents: This book truly gives a parent and child the chance to discover a whole other world together.  Rum-A-Tum-Tum is a rhyming celebration of New Orleans culture.  With the recent hurricane devestation in the New Orleans area, Rum-A-Tum-Tum keeps the Creole tradition alive with a catching beat that parent and child can sing on their own.  This book really makes reading fun especially with the anticipation of the next event on the street as well as the next rhyme that will sing out to you. 

Recommendation for Teachers:  This books takes readers into the world of a unique culture native to the United States. New Orleans is such a great place to learn about especially because it is the birthplace of the United States of America's first original art form--Jazz.  This book takes Jazz qualities and celebrates them while the readers can sing along to the beat of "Rum-A-Tum-Tum."  The rhyming quality of this book allows for great "word finds" especially with English language learners.  Having students guess the word at the end of each rhyme will help develop word knowledge and strategies for using context clues while being a fun activity at the same time. 

Personal Note:  I absolutely love this book!  The form of melodious ryming lines really mimics the sounds of Jazz making this book unique to a culture that I'm enthralled with.