Newbery Award – “The Graveyard Book” By: Neil Gaiman

http://www.amazon.com/Graveyard-Book-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0060530928#_

       The Graveyard Book is about a family who is murdered by a man named Jack.  However, the toddler in the family escapes to a graveyard, where a group of ghosts decide to adopt him and raise him.  The ghosts decide to name him Nobody and is sometimes called “Bod.”  As the story goes on we see how Nobody grows and learns the ways of the world and how to survive in the graveyard.  Another ghost, Silas, helps get food and anything a human might need to help Nobody survive.  In the end, Nobody confronts the secrets of his past and faces off with Jack. 

            While reading the first chapter I was very shocked that this was considered a children’s book.  The descriptions of the family being murdered and a baby being raised by ghosts frightened me.  However, as the story continued there wasn’t any more violence or anything too scary until the end where Nobody, the ghosts, and Jack are fighting.  I would only recommend this book to older children in fifth grade or above. 

            When I first started reading the book I thought it would be a fun book about ghosts and in my head I thought it would be kid friendly, like Casper.  During the first half of the book I didn’t enjoy it because I had a set mind of what I wanted the book to be life.  As I started to finish the book, I understood why it has won so many awards because it really hooks the reader. 

Caldecott Medal – “The Three Pigs” By: David Wiesner

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Pigs-David-Wiesner/dp/0618007016/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323023321&sr=1-8#_

            The Three Pigs at first seems like the same story I had heard since I was a little kid.  The wolf comes to the first pigs out and blows his house down, but instead of eating the pig, the pig escapes and blows the pig out of the story.  The wolf continues to the next pig’s house and the same thing happens.  The story goes into an adventure as the pigs go on a paper airplane ride.  The pigs even meet with the cat in the fiddle.  In the end, the pigs find their way back home to the brick house and out of harm’s way from the wolf.

            The first time I read The Three Pigs was to my third grade class.  We first talked about the original story of The Three Little Pigs and what happened.  I told them to read the story and compare and contrast.  The kids laughed so hard throughout the entire book.  A lot of the students commented on how they liked the bubbles or dialogue balloons.  We were able to come up with a wonderful list for comparing and contrasting.  I would recommend this book to teachers who wanted to grab student’s attention and who are doing a lesson on comparing and contrasting.

Feature Film and the Book – “Breaking Dawn”

Book – Stephenie Meyer 2008

 Movie – Bill Condon 2011

       Breaking Dawn is the fourth book in the Twilight series written by Stephenie Meyer.  In the fourth book Bella Swan marries Edward Cullen who is a vampire.  The book tells about the wedding and honeymoon to a tropical island.  Near the end of the honeymoon, Bella realizes she might be pregnant.    Edward doesn’t believe Bella should have the baby because he fears the baby could kill her.  Bella decides to go through with having the baby anyways.  In the middle of the drama surrounding the baby, Jacob Black, a werewolf, who has been in love with Bella since the first book, doesn’t believe she should have the baby either, but knows that there is no stopping her.  After Bella gives birth to the half human half vampire baby she almost dies and is turned into a vampire to save her life.  Another vampire sees the baby and believes that Bella and Edward have turned a human baby into a vampire, which is a law for vampires.  When the Volturi, who are similar to the government of Vampires find out about the baby, decide to find the Cullens and destroy them.  The Cullens decide to invite an army of vampires to stand by their side to give themselves enough time to explain the truth to the Volturi. 

            The film is called Breaking Dawn Part 1 because it only covers the first part of the book up until Bella gives birth to the baby and is turned into a vampire.  There are a lot of changes to the movie that were not in the book.  A large portion of the film is about the werewolves being upset about Bella having the baby and they want to destroy all of the Cullens, including Bella.  Jacob turns against his pack and decides to help the Cullens, along with two other werewolves.  The film has an entire scene with the vampires and the werewolves fighting, which is not in the book.  Also, I feel the film drags on and tries to stretch out the wedding and the honeymoon for too long.

            Breaking Dawn is not for younger children, but is for intermediate to high school level readers.  The book and movie are not graphic in any way and are suitable for children.  Once aspect of the series I like is that Edward and Bella waited until they were married to have sex.  A lot of television shows and movies kids watch today do not show that and I think that it is a good quality of the book. 

            This is one where I have to say the book is ten times better than the film!   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Breaking_Dawn_Part_1_Poster.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Dawn-Twilight-Saga-Book/dp/B005VCL4PW/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323024239&sr=1-3

Address Diversity – Chapter Book – “Esperanza Rising Written By: Pam Munzo Ryan

       Esperanza Rising is about a girl who is forced to leave her ranch in Mexico and flee o California.  The story takes place during the Great Depression and Esperanza and her mother must stay at a camp for Mexican farm workers.  Throughout the story she has a hard time transitioning from the life she has in Mexico with money, nice clothes, and a beautiful home to doing hard work.  Throughout the story she tells about how Americans view her and her family and the difficult times that her family goes through.

            I believe that Esperanza Rising should be in every school library media center because it teachers about the hardships some go through financially and of being of a different race.  

http://www.amazon.com/Esperanza-renace-Spanish-language-Rising/dp/0439398851/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323029123&sr=1-2

Address Diversity - Picture Book – “Whoever You Are” Written By: Mem Fox

Whoever You Are is a picture book for elementary students that explain that no matter where you live, what you look like, what school you go to, what language you speak, that all children still love, smile, laugh, and cry.  I believe that every school library media center should have this in their collection because it teachers about accepting each other no matter what they look like.  I know that every school is different, but when I think about our schools we have few students of different races or that speak different languages.  I think with younger students who are not around students of different cultures that using literature will really help them.

http://www.amazon.com/Whoever-You-Reading-Rainbow-Books/dp/0152060308/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323026824&sr=1-2-fkmr1#_

Books Published in Other Countries – “Pigs Might Fly” Written By: Dick King Smith Illustrated By: Mary Rayner

       Pigs Might Fly is about a small piglet named Daggie Dogfoot who heard others talking about pigs flying.  Daggie believes that if he trained really hard that he could fly.  As Daggie trains to fly, the other animals on the farm try to help him achieve his goal. 

            The book is very comical and I loved the British feel to the story.  The library media specialist was the one who told me about the book and she suggested if I read it to anyone, to read it in an English accent.  She said that she read Pigs Might Fly to her daughter and they would laugh and laugh at the accent.  I guess I need to start practicing!

Books Published in Other Countries – “Millions” Written By: Frank Cottrell Boyce

       Millions is about a fourth grader named Damian Cunningham who is going through a rough time in his life.  His mother has passed away and he had to transition into a new home with a new school.   Throughout the story, Damian is obsessed with Saints and often quotes the Saints.  One day Damian finds a bag of money or pounds that have fallen off of a train.  Damian and his brother are in a rush to spend the money because the government is switching to the euro.  The story is quite comical at times to see what the boys spend the money on and how they buy other kids at the school stuff so they will do favors in return.  The story is also sad at times because Damian is having a hard time coping with his mother’s death and his fear of losing his father.

            The book is very entertaining and I think students of all ages would enjoy it.  I would love to see what my students would do if they found a bag full of money.  This could be the start of a creative writing piece!