Book vs. Movie "The Bridge to Terabithia"

            “The Bridge to Terabithia” by Katherine Paterson was made into a Disney movie.  I was surprised at how closely the movie portrayal of the story was to the book’s portrayal especially after watching how different the movie of  “Tuck Everlasting” was from the book. 

            “The Bridge to Terabithia” is a story about a young boy who becomes best friends with the new girl at his school.  The two friends create an imaginative, ancient, magical world in the woods by their houses.  They have to swing on a rope over a creek to enter the world of Terabithia in which they reign as King and Queen.  The two friends must fight off evil creatures and protect their world. 

            Jess and Leslie also face problems at school in both the movie and the book.  There is a mean girl named Janice Avery who makes it her goal to bully all of the other students.  Jess and Leslie create a plan to get Janice back by embarrassing her about a secret crush that she has.  In the end, Leslie becomes friends with Janice because she talks with her about how her father has been beating her.

            The ending of the book and the movie both brought me to tears.  Jess goes to town with his music teacher and while he is out, Leslie decides to enter Terabithia on her own.  She ends up slipping and falls into the creek and drowns.  Jess takes the loss of his best friend hard. After being upset, he copes by building a bridge into Terabithia and inviting his younger sister May Belle to be the princess of Terabithia.

            The main difference between the book and the movie was the time period in which the story is set.  The movie is set in a more modern of time period than the book.  In the movie, the teacher talks about searching the internet and they use wireless phones.  The book is set in a time period before internet and wireless phones.

            Overall, I was very pleased with how Disney portrayed the story of “The Bridge to Terabithia.”  Although some of the animation and graphics were cheesy, the overall story of the movie was very similar to the book.  With such a powerful and timeless story, there was no need to change anything for the movie!     

International Children's Literature "Alexander the Great"

            “Alexander the Great” by Pavlos Valassakis was originally printed in Greece.  The text has been translated into English for American children to read.  “Alexander and Great” is an informative text about who Alexander the Great was and what important events took place in his life.  This text is effective in providing a large amount of information about Alexander the Great, but it is ineffective in engaging children in the story.

            “Alexander the Great” is 31 pages long with small print and dated pictures.  Although the text is accurate and informative, it is written in a format that makes it look and feel more like a textbook that a children’s book.  The author does not use any techniques to write in a tone that is child-friendly or fun, but rather writes in a dry tone and provides many facts instead of engaging stories.

            Since I read this book close to the end of the school year, and since I have little interest in Alexander the Great, I think that I did not enjoy the book as much as I could have.  I really enjoy reading colorful, engaging children’s book that are full of creative and fun stories, but this book did not catch my attention because of it’s strictly informative nature. 

            “Alexander the Great” reminded me of the children’s textbooks that we have at our school.  Both have headings and subheadings as well as pictures that display the events that are discussed on each page.  The visuals are effective in both texts in letting children visualize the historical events and figures. 

            Reading “Alexander the Great” taught me that chidlren’s literature is not always colorful and engaging.  This book taught me that I need to read through books keeping in mind the perspective of a child.  As I was thinking about my students while I was reading this book, I realized that this text would not be an effective teaching tool in my classroom because the students would not be engaged or motivated to read the text.  I would have to separate the text into smaller sections to make the reading more manageable and engaging for my students.                  

International Children's Literature "Equiano"

            “Equiano” by Jean-Jacques Vayssieres, was originally Published in Jamaica.  It is a tale of the journey of an African slave.  Equiano was sold into slavery when he was about ten years old.  He was a hardworking, intelligent, honest and loyal slave.  He was given positions under his Masters of great leadership and power.  He eventually earned enough money to buy his freedom and pursue his dream of being a navigator on the seas.  He also pursued an education and became a writer. 

            I really enjoyed this story because of how well it relates to historical events.  I love reading books that could also be used to teach American History.  This source gives the reader a first hand account as to what it would be like to go through the slave trading system.  Some of the stories in the text did seem to be exaggerated a little, which I did not enjoy about the book.

            Since I read this book in the middle of a busy season of life, I don’t think I was able to appreciate it as much as I would have if I had more time to enjoy the text.  Since the book what longer than a typical picture book, I got anxious in reading it and wanted the storytelling to go quicker.

            This book reminded me of “Unlce Tom’s Cabin” because it gave a first hand account of the life of a slave.  Although this book was simpler and geared towards children, it brought about many of the same ideas of injustice of slavery.  “Equiano” gave more background information about what Equiano did after he was freed from slavery than what most books do that are based on the topic of slavery.

            As I was reading this book, I learned that international children’s literature can be used to help children and adults in the USA to learn the historical perspective of how others were impacted by the actions of citizens in North America.  Equiano’s story opened my eyes to the hardships of slavery as well as what life would have been like before slavery.  It broadened my perspective of slavery in North America.

International literature for Children "Big Wold and Little Wolf"

“Big Wolf and Little Wolf” written by Nadine Brun-Cosme, was originally published in France.  In the book, Big Wolf lives under a tree all alone.  One day, a little wolf comes to join him and begins to mimic all of the actions of the Big Wolf.  At first, Big Wolf is not sure what to do, and does not talk to Little Wolf.  Big Wolf does give Little Wolf some food and a bit of his blanket.  Big Wolf walks to the forest, but when he returns Little Wolf is gone.  Big Wolf realizes how much he enjoyed the company and how lonely he was without it.  Little Wolf comes back to the tree and both wolves decide to live there together to ease their loneliness.

I really liked the transformation that can be seen in the Big Wolf in this book.  At first he is stand off-ish and unwelcoming to his visitor.  As I read the book I witnessed him transform into a loving and kind wolf.  I enjoyed that this book’s main idea what that you should always appreciate what you have before you lose it.  It reminded me to enjoy the people around me while I have them, because I will miss them once they are gone.  Since the book was translated from its original language of French, there were a few ways in which things were written that I didn’t like.  The author seemed to use a choppy style that did not always sound fluent and cohesive.

I think being recently engaged affected me as I was reading this book.  It’s easy in this phase of life to just want to “get through” all that I’m dealing with, but I don’t stop to think about the fact that I will miss this phase of life once it is gone.  Although “Big Wolf and Little Wolf” is a simple children’s story, it really made me think about the perspective I’ve held in life over the past month.  I think that I enjoyed this book more because of the personal life lessons I was able to take away from the story.

This book did not remind me of other books I have read that were published in other countries.  Even though there were a few moments where the word choice was not consistent with the rest of the book, the overall story was powerful and easy to understand.  Since the book did not have any specific cultural references to French culture, it was easy to understand.

In reading this book, I realized that children’s literature holds lessons that are important for adults to learn.  I used to think that children’s literature had simple life-lessons for children to learn, but now I realize that it also offers deep life lessons that all people need to be reminded of.  The lesson that one should always appreciate what they have is a lesson that I need to be reminded of daily.

Chapter Book That Addresses Diversity

                “The Liberation of Gabriel King” by K.L. Going is a chapter book that should be in ever school library media center collection.  This book should be accessible by all students because it teaches about the effects of racism after integration.  In the book, Gabriel King was best friends with an African American girl named Frita.  The two of them graduated from fourth grade and spent the entire summer becoming braver by facing their fears one at a time.  Frita was helping to liberate Gabriel from all of his fears. 

                Mr. Evans is an older gentleman in the book who threatens Frita and tells her that the Ku Klux Klan may come to find her if she’s not careful.  Gabriel realized that Frita was most afraid of Mr. Evans and the Ku Klux Klan.  Frita’s fears are made known to Gabe’s parents as well as her own.  The families organize a rally in their community to raise awareness about the mistreatment of African Americans.  Almost the entire town shows up to take part in the rally.  By the end of the story, Gabriel and Frita have both faced all of their fears and are ready to move up to the fifth grade.

                The main reason that each child should have access to this book is because it shows how racism still lingers even though there has been laws passed against it.  This book shows how detrimental racism is to a society and how the African American population has been impacted by a history of racism.  The author uses humor and a child-like perspective to engage children in the book and to teach valuable life lessons. 

Picture Book that Addresses Diversity

“Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave” by Laban Carrick Hill, is a book that was published in 2012 that addresses diversity.  Diversity is addressed through this text because the story invites the reader into the life of Dave, an African American slave.  The book discusses how Dave learned to form a life as a slave through molding clay.  Dave lived in a society that discouraged and threatened him for his brilliance in art.  Despite being looked down upon, Dave worked hard to create clay pots that were beautiful as well as functional.

                This story should be included in every school library because it teaches a variety of lessons. “Dave the Potter” shows the diverse culture of a man enslaved because of the color of his skin, but it also teaches the lesson that the thoughts of others should never define anyone.  If Dave had believed all that people had said about him, he would have never been the successful artists that he is known as today.  Since this book offers both historical lessons as well as important character lessons, it is important to share with every child in an Elementary school.

                “Dave the Potter” should also be included in every school library media center collection because of the vivid illustrations that display the art Dave produced in a vivid and beautiful way.  The illustrations will engage students in the text and allow them to see what life was like for Dave as a slave.  The illustrations will also show students how hard Dave had to work to create his clay pots.  “Dave the Potter” is an enlightening story that should not be missed!

Coretta Scott King Award Book-- "The Great Migration"

                The book “The Great Migration: Journey to the North” written by Eloise Greenfield and illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist is a book that displays the experiences of African-American families who left their homes to move North in search of better lives.  It explains the perspectives of each member of the family during the Great Migration.  The most meaningful part about the book is that Greenfield and Gilchrist both used their own personal experiences of being a part of the Great Migration to create the book.

                “The Great Migration” addresses diversity by showing the perspective of multiple African-Americans.  The book takes place between 1915 and 1930 and shows the fear that was embedded within the African-American culture of the Ku Klux Klan and the desire for a better life.  The book also shows how many African-American men had a connection with the land on which they worked.  The girl and the boy in the story are filled with wonder and excitement about the journey.  The woman has to do hard work for very pay.  She encounters signs wherever she goes telling her where she can go and what she can do.  The woman is ready to escape the southern town.  All of these examples show the diversity of African-American culture during the time of the Great Migration.

                The story of “The Great Migration,” shows how far the African Americans were willing to go to find a chance to make a good life.  They were willing to move their entire families based on the hope that things would be better further north.  The book emphasizes the courage needed for the families to pack their bags and move to a new city to start afresh. 

                In reading this book, the reader’s eyes are opened to the hardships and challenges that African-Americans had to face during the Great Migration.  The book hints at the segregation and limited opportunities that African-Americans were facing during the early 1900s.  The illustrations of the book convey the worry and stress that was placed upon African-Americans who took part in the Great Migration.  “The Great Migration” is an eye-opening tale about how the African-Americans sacrificed their comfort in search of a better life.