Lewis, C.S. (1950). The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950) begins with four siblings who are sent away from London to live with a professor because of the heavy air-raids of the war. The house the professor lives in is extremely large with many doors, windows, rooms and passages. The first rainy day, the children set out to explore the vast, new dwelling. They discover nothing more than the before mentioned rooms and passages. Except for one of the children, Lucy, who discovers something far more adventurous than the house could have ever been. She steps into a wardrobe and soon finds herself lost in a fantastical world called Narnia. She meets a creature on this first trip to Narnia, Mr. Tumnus, who saves her from the White Witch and sends her back to reality. Lucy can't keep her secret contained, but to her dismay, her brothers, Peter and Edmund and her sister, Susan fear she has gone mad. Eventually, the group of four ends up in Narnia together and find themselves preparing for battle against the White Witch to save Narnia and their brother Edmund. Read this fantastical treasure to find out if they defeat the evil force to save their beloved Edmund and the land of Narnia.
This book falls into the genre of modern fantasy because it is merely fantasy to believe one can step into a wardrobe and into the world of Narnia or any other fantasy world. The story contains animals that speak, creatures that are half animal and half human, and people with magical powers.
The book is one of a series or a cycle format. It is actually the second book in the Chronicles of Narnia, but may be read alone. This book is the most popular of the series, also having been made into a major motion picture.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950) is a quest story. The characters are in search of Aslan, the lion that is the only one who can break the spell of the White Witch. They are in a battle of good against evil. The "Queen," as she calls herself is evil and must be defeated in order to get the forest back under the rule of good.
This story is a perfect example of a monomyth, in my opinion. The children leave the real world and enter a fantasy world. When they enter the other world, they soon realize that they are the ones that have to help fight the evil force and one of them is thrown into the role of being the leader. Once the battles are over, they may return to the ordinary world or remain in the land of Narnia.
BIG question: If you could travel to a world such as Narnia, what would it be like? How would you get there?
Henkes, K. (1993). Owen. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.
Owen is a mouse that has a fuzzy yellow blanker. He takes his blanket everywhere and his blanket loves to do everything Owen loves to do. Owen's parents thought it was time for Owen to give up his blanket so they told him about the "Blanket Fairy" that takes blankets and leaves fabulous treats. Owen hid his blanket from the fairy and the next morning Owen's parents were disappointed and tried to convince Owen to give Fuzzy up. Owen wasn't ready. Owen's parents tried many other tricks and nothing worked. Finally, Owen's mother came up with a fantastic idea that satisfied everyone.
I love this story because I know there are so many children that have a special something that they don't want to give up before school begins. This book could teach them about how to cope with letting go and how to compromise with parents about their "lovey" as some children call it.
The colors in the illustrations are very vibrant and the illustrator uses different brush strokes and ink strokes to show textures. One page shows Owen standing on a rug and the brush strokes are very thick and bold to show the rough texture of the rug.
Henkes, K. (2012). Penny and her song. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Penny arrives home from school anxious and excited to sing her new song to her parents and her siblings. She is s proud of her new song and is bursting with excitement to share it with her family. Her mother and father tell her that she will wake the babies, so Penny has to wait to sing her song. The anticipation drives her to her room to sing to herself and make funny faces in the mirror. When it is finally time to sing to her family, do they listen? Read Penny and Her Song to find out.
I enjoy Kevin Henkes books and most of them contain some sort of moral, but this one, not so much. I enjoyed the book, but I'm not sure how I would use the piece in the classroom. I suppose students could make a song of their own to sing to their parents and compare the reaction of their parents and Penny's parents. This book just didn't strike me as intriguing or interesting.
The author did do a great job building suspense because I found myself wondering if anyone was ever going to listen to her or what her reaction was going to be if no one listened. Her mother and father would listen to the first few words of the song and then tell her she was going to wake the babies. She finally went to her room and occupied her time until someone was ready to listen.
The illustrations were colorful and the brightest color throughout the story was on Penny's shirt to dominate the pages and draw your eyes to the main character. Many horizontal and vertical lines were used in the background of the illustrations, but the design on Penny's shirt was orange dots to draw your attention.
Vernick, A. (2012). Brothers at bat. New York, NY: Clarion Books.
Brothers at Bat is a true story of an all- brother baseball team. The story sequences the major life events of this family and their success as a baseball family. The brothers have a passion for the sport, but their game is put on hold for a period of time for another passion they follow. This book is inspiring for youngsters to follow their dreams and the closeness of family.
The illustrations are colorful drawings of the brothers throughout their lives. There are some pages that show brush strokes in the background, but the characters appear to be drawn.
Young boys would love this story especially if they are familiar with baseball and the family the story is written about. Girls might find it interesting that in this time period, boys were the only participants in sports.
BIG question:
If you had a family large enough, what would you like your family to be famous for? Why?
OR
Imagine you were a young girl in the Acerra family and you love baseball just as much as your brothers. How would you feel knowing that you could not be a part of the team?
Scieszka, Jon (1991). The frog prince continued. New York, New York: Penguin Group.
You think you know your fairy tales about the frog and the prince until you read about after the "happily ever after." The prince and princess find themselves in a "rut" and very unhappy. With all the nagging from the princess, the prince decides to do something about it. He sets out to find a witch to turn him back into a frog. On his quest, he discovers that his idea of "happily ever after" may have been somewhat skewed. Does he find a witch to grant his wish or.....to be continued...
I chose The Frog Prince Continued for this genre. I had never read the book and happened upon it when I was searching for another title by the same author. I am glad I did though! The book has very unique illustrations that aren't as juvenile as some picture books you might read. In my mind while reading, I was comparing the style of the pictures to the animations in the movie Nightmare Before Christmas. There is sometimes humor that children wouldn't pick up on what is hidden in the illustrations. A younger audience might have to be guided to find all the hidden messages and innuendos. Having said that, the older children would really find this book hilarious on their own, I believe. The younger ones might not recognize the connections to the fairy tales they all know and love without some guidance throughout the story.
BIG question- Give an example of a time when the outcome of your desires failed to meet your expectations.
Hello all and welcome to my blog! I am new to the blog world, so bear with me. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am a 26 year old mother, wife and teacher. I married my wonderful husband 5 years ago this April and we have a gorgeous, one year old daughter! She is our whole world! We live in a small, rural area in Western Kentucky. We farm cattle, tobacco, corn and soybeans. Farming is not only my husbands job, it is our life and we enjoy it. I teach kindergarten at one of the two elementary schools in our county. This is my second year teaching. I taught first grade last year and I love the little ones!
Some things that I enjoy in my "spare time," which I rarely find, are reading for pleasure, fishing, and planting flowers. Church and family are the most important in our life.
I am looking forward to this bi-semester and hopefully I will become more comfortable with a blog, so that I can keep it up after this class. (I can do anything else on the internet, surely I can figure this out! haha :))
