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"Isabella
Abnormella and the Very, Very
Finicky Queen of Trouble" By J. Patrick Lewis, Illustrations by
Kyrsten Brooker.
Published in 2000 by Dorling Kindersley Publishing Inc.
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There
was a town
called Trouble Lay , this town was in trouble because of all the
problem that the queen was having. She tiptoes to her "twinkle room" to
take a nap, but all the sheets of silk or
velveteen couldn't help the queen sleep. She would toss and turn
without a
day of sleep, so she pouted at the dogs, the prince, and the
servents, at weddings, funerals and anniversaries. On one day the
queen would say that her mattress was too hard, and one day it was too
soft,
she wanted a bed that was "in-between". So, they sent a message out to
town to make a comfortable bed, one person suggested a casket,
another suggested a wheelbarrow,a wicker basket, a hammock
and a trampoline. Finnally Isabella Abnormella comes forward and says
she can make a comfortable bed, which leads to the invention of the
water bed.
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This
book is a great
book for parents to read to their kids, especially for kids grades
kindergarten through third grade. The book is filled with beutifull,
colorful pictures. The book is very funny and the pictures are just as
funny to match. The words rhyme, and the sentences on each page are
short so, it makes it easy to go through. I would definitly
recomend this book to any parent who enjoys reading stories to their
children, and who enjoy getting a laugh out of a book.
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This
book is great
for teachers as well, not only because the pictures are so wonderful,
the kids will be amazed by the pictures. This is a rhyming book
so it is a great learning tool for children having trouble with
sounding out specific letters- this helps students listen to the
differnt sounds that the letters make as they are enjoying the book.
The book is also a great tool for vocabulary because there are many
words in here that kids may not understand, which can lead to great
conversations about the book, while also learning new words. I would
definitly recomend reading this book as a read aloud, especially for
the primary grades.
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I
had not heard of
this book before, but as I was walking through the library, I couldnt
help but get drawn by the cover, by both the illustration and the
title. I skimmed through it and decided to take it and it turned out to
be such a laugh. Although I have recomended it for mostly primary
grades, I think that adults would enjoy this book just as well- as I
have.
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"
The Name Jar", By Yangsook Choi.
Published in 2001 by Alfred A
Knopf Inc.
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This
book is about a little
girl, Unhei, who has just moved to the United States from Korea. On her
bus ride for the first day of school, a group of students ask her what
her name is, she replies "Unhei." The students start making fun
of her and she feels really bad. when she arrives at school and is
introduced to the classroom, when she is asked her name she replies " I
haven't picked one yet, I'll let you know next week. The next day when
she arrives at school there is a glass jar on her desk with small
pieces of paper. Each piece of paper had a name that the students were
recomending to Unhei. Throughout the week the jar continues to grow
with various names from the student's classroom. One day when she is
visiting the Korean grocery store near her home she sees a boy,
Joey from her classroom at the store. The store owner sees her
and says "hello Unhei", the boy hears her name and says in awe
"your name is Unhei?" She ignores his question and Joey runs off
towards home. The next day at school the name jar was missing but there
was one piece of paper on her desk. She goes up to the class and
introduces herself as Unhei and explains that her name means grace.
Later that day Joey shows up at her house and brings the name jar with
him and says he is the one that took the name jar because he wanted
Unhei to keep her name.
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This
book is a great book for
parents to read to their kids because it covers so many different
things. This book has a very multi-cultural perspective in the sense
that it shows the way that students who have a different name or a
different culture feel when the come to the United States. It also
teaches kids acceptance and understanding of a different culture so if
they do come across someone that is different they would not be so
quick to judge. This book is filled with wonderful, colorful pictures
for your kids to enjoy.
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This
is a great book to read for teachers to read to their students because
it discusses so issues that students face when they come from another
country. If you are teaching in a state like California, which is
filled with people of different ethnicities and cultures this is
especially important. This is a great way to bring different cultures
into the classroom and also making students feel comfortable about
sharing their family history and background. This is also a great way
to introduce a new topic or lesson which involves kids discussing their
family background and culture. It is so important to make kids feel
like they are welcome and accepted in a classroom despite their
background, culture, or race and this book really helps do that.
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I
really enjoyed this book. I came here from Afghanistan when I was real
young and though I may not understand Unhei's experience exactly, I do
have a sense of where she is coming from. Having a name that is so
different and hard to pronounce, I always felt subconscious about my
name, however as I have become older I have learned to love and
appreciate my name. I definitly recommend this book for anyone despite
their background or culture.
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