Picture books

 

 

 

Title: Love You Forever

Author: Robert Munsch

Illustrator: Sheila McGraw

Publisher: Firefly Books

Copyright date: 1986

Number of pages: 31

Awards: Parents’ Choice Award, Vicky Metcalf Award, North Dakota Flicker Tale Children’s Book Award

Genre: Fiction

Author's website: http://robertmunsch.com/

Short Summary:

 Love You Forever is about a mother’s continual love for her son and how that love turns full circle when the mother grows old and the boy has to sing to and take care of his mother. This book presents the unconditional love that parents have for their children. Despite all the naughty things the boy does, at the end of the day, his mother still loves him with all her heart. The boy loves his mom and passes on that love to his daughter. The reciprocation of love that is present between mom and son is important in allowing that love to continue to exist and blossom with the next generation.

Cover:

·         Is the cover attractive? I love this cover. It is a great representation of the mayhem children cause and how hard they can be to deal with. When I read the title after I look at the cover I realize that despite all the naughty things the boy does, he is still loved.

Story:

·         Are the stories interesting to children? The story is definitely easy for children to connect to because they know they are loved by their parents and they know, they too, love their parents.

Organization:

·         Do the spacing and placement of the words make the passages easy to read? Components of the book are repetitive, which makes it an easy story for children to follow along with. The passages are a good length in that they are not too short and not too long.

Characters:

·         Do characters represent people from a variety of cultural groups? The book only has one cultural group who look to be of European decent.

·         Are females as well as males depicted in leadership roles? This book does a good job of putting the mom in a leadership role when the boy is young, then switching those roles as the two grow older. At the beginning, the mom takes care of the boy and at the end, in turn, the boy takes care of the mom because that is what you do when you love someone.

Themes:

·         Does the story offer children a variety of things to think about, to question, and to consider? The story can produce a variety of questions and discussion topics, many of which would help the students relate to the reading. (e.g. How do your parents show they love you?, Can you be angry with someone and still love them?, Do you need a reason to love someone?, Why are we embarrassed to tell someone we love them?, Do you think the story would be different if it was a father instead of a mother?, Is it okay for boys to say “I love you?”, )

·         Are there lessons to be learned? This book does a nice job of addressing some of the stereotypes that society holds about boys and girls. It is important to understand that gender should no define our ability to love and show affection. It also allows children to think about love in their lives and what love really is and the reciprocity of love.

Settings:

·         Do the stories reflect a variety of settings? A majority of the book takes place in the house the boy is growing up in. It also briefly goes to her son’s house.

Illustrations:

·         Are diverse populations represented in the illustrations? Limited diversity. Illustrations seem to only depict people of European decent.

·         Are the illustrations large, clear and bright? The illustrations are well-defined. (Especially for its publication date).

·         Do the illustrations invite the reader to explore the text? The illustrations parallel the text well.

·         Do the illustrations explain and enhance the context? The illustrations do a good job of depicting the text.

Other Considerations:

·         Will the stories encourage discussions? The story explores a variety of avenues, which allows for a variety of discussions to open up. Some possible discussion areas could include love, gender roles, happiness and fulfillment, and life and death.

·         Are the stories age appropriate to ensure children can understand what is presented? The target age group is toddler and older and I think this book could easily branch out into older kids. There is a variety of themes and life lessons in this book that have the potential to grow more complex depending on the intended age group.

Reading level scale

7	highly difficult
6	difficult
5	moderately difficult
4	challenging
3	above average
2	Average (for young readers (6+ years)
1	highly readable

 

Classroom application:
If I were reading this book to a young group (kindergarteners) I would start off asking “Looking at the cover, what do you think this book is about?” “What do you think this boy’s mother is thinking right now?”

After reading the title “Love You Forever” I would ask “Who do you love?”

While I read the book I could have the students repeat the song the mother sings with me. I could also ask them, after they repeat the song, what the mother is saying to her son. Some of the students will share their connections, such as if their parents sing to them and what songs their parents sing to them.

As we finish the book, I could ask if the students think that the mother’s love is helping her son grow up.

Upon completion of the reading, as a connected activity each student could make a mobile like the one on the last page of the book, with pictures of his/her family.

Rating: 4/5. I love this book!

Title: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Author: Bill Martin Jr.

Illustrator: Eric Carle

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. LLC

Copyright date: 1967

Number of pages: 26 pages

Awards: 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow up, Indies Picture Book Hall of Fame, IRA Children’s Choice Reading List, Library of Congress Children’s Literature Center Children’s Books

Genre: Children’s literature
Author websites:
Bill Martin Jr's: http://www.billmartinjr.com/
Eric Carle's: http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html

Short Summary:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is a picture book with very simple words and colorful pictures. It is a great book for beginning readers. Each page presents the question “What do you see?” and introduces new characters, with an accompanying illustration. One character sees another character, then on the next page, that character is revealed. The book is predictable and allows the children to go through the book and see each character that was named, repeating words, colors, and animals. This is a great book to use to practice colors and animals with young children. This predictable picture book can also serve as a medium for a fun question and answer game between the teacher and students.

Cover:

·         Is the cover attractive? All the illustrations, including the cover, are simple, yet delightfully colored.

Story:

·         Are the stories interesting to children? The book is large and has large bright pictures on each page. The words are presented in an orderly fashion that is easy on the eye. There are not too many words on the page either, which allows the children to be able to read slowly and not get frustrated.

Organization:

·         Do the spacing and placement of the words make the passages easy to read? The lines are easy to memorize and encourages children to “read” along.

Characters:

·         Do characters represent people from a variety of cultural groups? Toward the end of the book there is a variety of children on the page, all of whom look and dress differently.

·         Are females as well as males depicted in leadership roles? n/a

Themes:

·         Does the story offer children a variety of things to think about, to question, and to consider? There are opportunities to ask some critical thinking questions to children while reading this book, such as what other types of animals could have been in the story? When we look at our daily lives, what do we see? In relation to some of the colors of animals in the story, what are some animals and their colors we see in real life?

·         Are there lessons to be learned? This a great book for teaching colors and animals. It also allows children to experience and enjoy patterned texts.

Settings:

·         Do the stories reflect a variety of settings? A discussion could develop determining where the animals in the story live, since it is not explicitly stated.

Illustrations:

·         Are diverse populations represented in the illustrations? Toward the end of the story, children are introduced to pictures that are very colorful and of all different races and ethnicities. Each child has different hairstyles and clothing on as well on these pages.

·         Are the illustrations large, clear and bright? These illustrations are spectacular!

·         Do the illustrations invite the reader to explore the text? Those involved during the reading can practice identifying colors and animal words.

·         Do the illustrations explain and enhance the context? The illustrations directly parallel what the passage discusses. The words directly correspond to the pictures, allowing the child to understand and wee what each animal is and what they are seeing next.

Other Considerations:

·         Will the stories encourage discussions? The simple structure provides opportunities for parents and children to talk about the animals and make up different storylines. Children can also identify realistic animals and more fanciful ones on the pages.

·         Are the stories age appropriate to ensure children can understand what is presented? . The repetitive structure makes it a perfect read-aloud with very young children because they delight in guessing what animal comes next. This is a fun and easy book to follow. The big pictures and simple structure allows for children to not be distracted by anything else on the page.

Reading level scale

7	highly difficult
6	difficult
5	moderately difficult
4	challenging
3	above average
2	Average (for 5-6 year old readers)
1	highly readable

 

Classroom application:
During the reading of this story, the teacher should encourage the students to chime while reading the predictable text. They have fun predicting and name each animal that comes next. As the children follow along, invite them to use voices that sound like the different animals on each page. To encourage and develop predicting skills, teachers can ask “Did you know which animal was coming next in the text?” “What were some clues that helped you know?” To tap into students’ critical thinking skills the teacher could ask “Why do you think the authors depicted animals in the nontraditional manner that they did using the colors that they did?”

After reading the story, children can make their own animal art, being as creative as they wish. Being provided a blank paper book, children can create their own patterned book, but feature the animals they wish to. An addition to this project could be having the students including their own illustrations to the pages of their book. Instead of traditional illustrations, the students would have to use tissue paper, just as the illustrator of Brown Bear Brown Bear did. This will be challenging but very engaging for the students.

Rating: 5/5! This is a great book for it's intended age group!!