"All the Way to America: The Story of a Big Italian Family and a Little Shovel" was written and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino and published in 2011. Th"All the Way to America: The Story of a Big Italian Family and a Little Shovel" was written and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino and published in 2011. This book tells the story of Mikel who immigrated from Sorrento Italy and the generations who came after him. There is a big emphasis on family, food, and hard work, they repeat “work hard, but remember to enjoy life, and never forget your family” the original advice given when Mikel immigrated at the start of the book. This book would be a good read-aloud for younger aged studs, preschool and kindergarten. I would use this book as one to talk about family, traditions/to have students learn more about their own family tree/line.
"The Name Jar" was written and illustrated by Yangsook Choi and published in 2003. This book tells the story of when Unhei and her family move from Ko"The Name Jar" was written and illustrated by Yangsook Choi and published in 2003. This book tells the story of when Unhei and her family move from Korea to the United States. When she goes to school on the bus the first morning the other children are having trouble pronouncing her name. The book tells about how she goes from wanting her own "American name" to loving and appreciating her own name. I would recommend and use this book in my classroom to talk about diversity and the positive impacts of each of us being different from one another.
"Under the Mesquite" was written by Guadalupe Garcia McCall and was published in 2011. This books tells the story of her life with some fiction mixed "Under the Mesquite" was written by Guadalupe Garcia McCall and was published in 2011. This books tells the story of her life with some fiction mixed in, but still realistic fiction. It tells the story of how her family immigrates to the United States and the other events of her life growing up, including how her passion for writing grew as she grew up. This book is an own voices book as it is written by a Latina women about her own experience. This was the first book that I has seen with this form of poetry where you are just reading a story. I would use this in my classroom as a way to show a new side to poetry and engage my students with viewing poetry as easier than they think, something where they can just write about their lives. I think that this book would be appropriate for upper elementary and middle school aged students. It also won a Pura-Belpre author award....more
"inside Out & Back Again" was written by Thanhha Lai and was published in 2011. This book tells the story of Ha and her family during the Vietnam war "inside Out & Back Again" was written by Thanhha Lai and was published in 2011. This book tells the story of Ha and her family during the Vietnam war through poetry. It tells about what happens when Ha has to leave Vietnam with her family and go to America. This books style was very engaging and I would use this in the future in my classroom as a way to talk about poetry as an avenue for storytelling, or to talk about refugees. This book would be good for upper elementary aged students or middle schoolers....more
"Interstellar Cinderella" was written by Deborah Underwood and published in 2015. This book is a spin-off of the classic Cinderella story set in space"Interstellar Cinderella" was written by Deborah Underwood and published in 2015. This book is a spin-off of the classic Cinderella story set in space with Cinderella as a mechanic. This book provides a different ending to the story as well as give Cinderella a special talent instead of more of a focus on her looks which I think is valuable. I would use this as a read-aloud for lower elementary grades and talk to them about what is different about the story and their opinions on it. I could also use it to talk about dreams because Cinderella had a dream about what she wanted to do, what are some dreams you guys have?
This book tells the story of Mia Tang, a girl who dreams of being a write- that is when she isn't working at the Motel where her and her parents hide This book tells the story of Mia Tang, a girl who dreams of being a write- that is when she isn't working at the Motel where her and her parents hide immigrants. This story shows a unique family dynamic and life experience and would be interesting for kids to read about. Additionally there is an aspect of suspense because if the owner of the motel finds out what they're doing they will be in big trouble. Mia's writing dreams are not supported by her mom who thinks she should do math since her first language is not English so this book also shows the main character following what she wants and persevering. This would be a good read for kids around the ages of 10-13....more