Bibliographic Information
Yangsook Choi (The author and illustrator). The Name Jar. Alfred A. Knopf. New York. 2001.
Summary
This story is about a little girl who has just moved to America from Korea. Noticing it is hard for everybody to pronounce her Korean name, Unhei decides to pick a new name. But she doesn't know what to choose! One day at school, she finds a large glass full of names on her desk, so happily she discovers her classmates care about her and wants to help. She is thinking about different names, such as Miranda, Hannah, or Sarah. But, what she has to do with her real name? Whenever she touches her wooden stamp with her name carved in it that her grandmother gave to her in Korea, she has very strange feelings in her heart. A few days later, when she comes to class early to look at the names one last time, she notices the jar is disappeared. She thinks and thinks, and finally she decides to introduce herself to the class, "I liked the beautiful names and funny names you thought of for me, but I realized that I like my name best, so I chose it again. Korean names mean something. Unhei means grace." (P. 26)
Recommendation for Parents
If you have just moved to America, or your children have names that are very different from the common names in America or they are very difficult to pronounce, this story would be a great help and excellent choice for reading aloud. Because, with reading this book for your kids not only you foster their literacy, but also you teach them how to respect the characteristics of their own native cultures, or the others' cultures . More over, The bright and beautiful illustrations of the book help the kids' understanding of the story.
Recommendation for Other Teachers
This book is a very good read aloud book for all grades, especially in classes with cultural diversity. In upper grades, this book is a very good choice to open a discussion with students about different cultures, different names and their meanings, and different traditions. More specifically, a teacher can ask the students if they have the same experiences like the character in the story that they could share with others, how they felt, what they did in that situation, and what they will do if one of their classmates be in this situation in future. Also, the students can write about it. Through these conversations, writing, or re-reading the book, teachers can help children learn how to respect different cultures and how much they can care about each other.
Personal Note
when I saw this book in the book fair at UC Davis, I fell in love with it because my son had somehow the same experience like Unhei. Three years ago, my family and I moved to America from Iran, and my son started the kindergarten. At first, it was hard for his classmates to pronounce his Iranian name. His name is Radmehr and it has meaning, the generous sun. For a while , he didn't like his name, but gradually, when I talked to him how much in our culture the meaningful names are precious, and when his classmates learned how to pronounce his name correctly, he started to like his name again. I will keep this book in my bookshelf for ever.
Bibliographic Information
Bobbi Salinas (The author and illustrator). The Three Pigs. Piñata Publications. Third Edition. October 2001.
Summary
This retold, non-violent version of The Three Pigs takes place in the Southwest. One day, the three pigs decide to start a new life and seek new adventures, so each of them starts to build his favorite house. Miguel, the cleverest and the darkest of the pigs who builds the strongest house for himself, defeats the hungry tricky wolf, saves his brothers' lives, and ultimately destroys the wolf's power to deceive others.
Recommendation for Parents
The Three Pigs is a wonderful read aloud book. This is a Spanish version of a very popular old story that might the parents remember from their own childhood. Its illustrations, the shining sun and the warm colors, help the children have a clear image of the setting of the story in their minds and comprehend it better.
Recommendation for Other Teachers
This story is a good choice for a wide age range, from second through fifth grade. It is in English and Spanish, so the English learners (Spanish speakers) would enjoy it as much as English speakers. After finishing reading aloud, teacher has this opportunity to evolve students in a classroom discussion by asking some questions, such as what is the difference of these three pigs? What is the difference between their houses that they made? What is the reason of Miguel success? Have you ever compared the different results of different decisions that you made? I believe that through making connections between different texts, including this story, and their own experiences, students learn how to use this information in their daily lives.
In
addition, there is a glossary that
teachers and students can find definitions of Spanish wordsused in the
story. Along with these definitions, there is a “costume ideas for
classroom playacting”,
so teachers and students can cooperate,fallow the directions, make some
Mexican costumes and play the
story in the classroom.
Personal Note
The Farsi (Persian language) version of this book was one of my favorite books when I was a child. Now, my own kids love this story also because when they were at preschool age, this story was one of the stories that I was telling for them until they fell asleep, and after they learned how to read at school, they started to go through the three different versions of this book (Farsi, English, and Spanish) that are in my book shelf.