Shelly Gottlieb

EDUC 432: Childrens Literature in the Writing Curriculum

June 2014

1. A Year Down Yonder, Richard Peck, 2000, Penguin Putnam Books, New York
Narrative Fiction - Grade Levels: 5
th
- 8
th


Summary: Mary Alice, a native of Chicago, finds herself headed for a weary little
farm town to live with her Grandma Dowdel for an entire year. The neighbors know
and Mary Alice finds out that life with Grandma is unpredictable, demanding,
confusing and full of wonderful surprises.

Mini Lessons:
Vivid verbs
Appeal to the senses
Anecdotes
Character Analysis
Dialogue
Figurative Language (similes & metaphors)
Punctuation: dashes, ellipses
Humor
Short sentences


2. Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse, 1997, Scholastic Inc., New York
Historical Fiction - Grade Levels: 3
rd
- 7
th


Summary: This captivating story is told through voice of a teenage girl, Billie Jo,
whose family is struggling in the Great Plains during the Dust Bowl. Her free-form
verse diary entries describe drought, terrifying dust storms, poverty, and the loss of
hope that define the lives of the people in Billie Jos town. Suddenly, there is a
horrible accident that changes Billie Jos life forever.

Mini Lessons:
Sentence spacing
Description of weather
Exploding a moment
Appealing to senses
Compare and contrast framework current events in the story vs. current
events today
Build content by listing how things influence what we do in our lives
(pursuit of money, status, survival, hunger, friendship, love, beauty)
Comparing and contrasting peoples behaviors: how they used to talk to you
vs. how they talk to you now.
Rhythm and Repetition
Elongated sentences

3. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, William Steig, 1969, Simon & Schuster, New York
Fantasy, Picture Book - Grade Levels: preschool 2
nd


Summary: Sylvester collects unusual pebbles. One day he is amazed to discover a
magic pebble that makes his wishes come true. Unfortunately, frightened on his
way home, Sylvester makes a foolish wish that is immensely difficult to change.

Mini Lessons:
Vivid adjectives
Exact nouns
Emotions: excited, frightened, helpless, frustrated, sorrow, joy
Punctuation
Seasons
Wishes
Power of three


4. The Amazing Bone, William Steig, 1976, A Starburst Book Farrar, Straus and
Giroux, United States
Fantasy, Picture Book - Grade Levels: Kindergarten 3
rd


Summary: Pearl, the pig, enjoys a beautiful sunny day in the park when she
discovers a bone. Not on ordinary bone, a talking bone that can sing, make sounds
and speak in any language. If you think this bone would be valuable, you would be
right. Pearl and the bone have to fend off robbers and a fox to get home safely.

Mini-Lessons:
Exact nouns
Vivid adjectives
Strong verbs
Sensory details
Dialogue
Emotions: excitement, surprise, shock, fear, happiness
Nonsense words
Quotation marks


5. Hatchet, Gary Paulsen, 1987, Aladdin Paperbacks, New York
Survival Fiction - Grade Levels: 5
th
- 8
th


Summary: On his first plane trip, thirteen-year-old Brian is flying to see visit his
father. He is too preoccupied with his parents recent divorce and the dreadful
secret that caused it to be excited about the flight. Suddenly, the plane is without a
pilot and the single engine plane crashes into the Canadian wilderness. Brian must
put aside his emotions and concentrate on how to survive with only a hatchet his
mother had given to him as a gift.

Mini Lessons:
One word and short sentences
Stacking words, phrases, and short sentences
Punctuation dashes
Capitalization of important word the Secret
Metaphor pilot more a machine than a man, an extension of the plane
Repetition, Divorce, the Secret, stopped, help
Flashbacks
Appealing to senses
Exact nouns
Ellipses


6. The Giver, Lois Lowry, 1993, Random House Inc., New York
Science Fiction - Grade Levels: 3
rd
- 7
th


Summary: Jonas lives in a society where everyone has strict rules to follow so that
the community runs smoothly. A committee assigns the citizens their spouses, their
careers, and even the newborns they will raise as their children. No one feels pain,
sadness, stress, or any emotions that would upset the community. When Jonas turns
twelve, he is assigned to be the Receiver, the honored one who holds all the pain,
suffering and emotions of life for the community. It is a task almost impossible to
bear.

Mini Lessons:
Chapter 13
Punctuation dashes, ellipses, semi colons
Italics text for emphasis
Compare and contrast framework to consider safe and unsafe choices in
different cultures, in different times
Appositives and appositive phrases to add specific information She took
the object, an elephant, from the shelf.
Repetition
Power of three
Short sentences
Adverbs (grimly, bitterly, vaguely)


7. I Have A Dream, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1999, Scholastic Inc., New York
Speech - Grade Levels: 8
th
12
th


Summary: Dr. Martin Luther Kings I Have a Dream speech given during the 1963
Civil Rights March in Washington D.C. Powerful and colorful illustrations created
by fourteen different artists complement the text. At the end of the book, each artist
expresses how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. impacted their life and how they brought
those feelings to their artwork.

Mini Lesson:
Pages 11 15
Figurative language - metaphors (Declaration of Independence-promissory
note check weve come to cash, bank of justice, insufficient funds in the
great vaults of opportunity)
Repetition (one hundred years later, the negro, now is the time)
Vivid adjectives
Strong verbs
Appositives and appositive phrases to add specific information
Word choice: nouns appealing to emotions (urgency, luxury, drug,
promises, fatal, discontent, freedom, equality)


8. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou, 1969, Random House Inc., New
York
Autobiography - Grade Levels: 9
th
12
th


Summary: When Maya was three years old and her brother was four, their mother
pinned To whom it may concern, notes on their shirts and sent them by train to
live with their Grandma. They arrived in a stale southern town ripe with
segregation and prejudice. Years later, as an eight-year girl, Maya is brutally raped
by a much older man. Through art, writing, and the kindness of others, Maya finds
her voice and frees herself from her traumatic childhood.

Mini Lessons:
Chapter 5
Comma series
Appealing to the senses
Listing activities (to show how busy their days were)
Elongated sentences with repeated use of and
Condensed phrases powhitetrash and whitefolk to label groups of people
Capitalization of Store to show importance
Dialogue southern dialect and colloquialisms
Figurative language (metaphors, similes,)
Character analysis







9. I Hate English!, Ellen Levine, 1989, Scholastic Inc., New York
Fiction, Picture Book - Grade Levels: 1
st
5
th


Summary: Mei Mei has just moved from Hong Kong to New York and she is not
happy about having to learn English. This humorous book addresses the
frustrations of having to learn a new language.

Mini Lessons:
Isolating parts of sentences
Stretching out words
Dashes
Power of three
Comma series
White spaces within paragraphs
Repetition


10. Diary of a Worm, Doreen Cronin, 2003, Harper Collins, New York
Fantasy, Picture Book - Grade Levels: preschool - 3
rd


Summary: A humorous look at what daily life would look like in a worm family, if
the worms did human activities and had human responsibilities. Written in diary
form from the perspective of a young male worm, this story is entertaining and
charming.

Mini Lessons:
Personification
Captions
Speech and thought bubbles
Onomatopoeias
Font size
Labeling in illustrations
Dialogue
Dates to show diary writing


11. How Giraffe Got Such A Long Neck, Michael Rosen, 1993, The Trumpet Club,
Inc.
Folktale, Picture Book - Grade Levels: 2
nd
5
th


Summary: This East African folktale explains the story of why giraffes have such
long necks. Rhino and Giraffe search for man to help them reach the only green food
available in the desert. Man makes a magic potion.



Mini Lessons:
Onomatopoeia
Repetition
Regular and irregular past tense verbs
Noun verb agreement
Appealing to the senses
Punctuation: ellipses and dashes


12. Why Mosquitoes Buzz in Peoples Ears, Verna Aarderna, 1975, Scholastic Inc., New
York
Folktale, Picture Book - Grade Levels: Kindergarten 5
th


Summary: A West African tale that begins with a pesky mosquito and grumpy
iguana and builds to a tragedy in the jungle. In the end, theres a charming
explanation about why mosquitoes buzz in peoples ears. The striking illustrations
earned this book a Caldecott Award.

Mini Lessons:
Action verbs (snapped, stuck, hunted, lumbered, alarmed)
Vivid adjectives
Story that builds
Specific nouns (python iguana, owlet, crow)
Onomatopoeias
Comma series

13. Too Many Tamales, Gary Soto, 1993, Putnam & Grossett Group, New York
Fiction, Picture Book - Grade Levels: Preschool 3
rd


Summary: Maria is delighted to be old enough to help her mom prepare tamales
for the familys Christmas dinner. She is captivated by the diamond wedding ring
her mother lays on the counter for safe-keeping. Maria puts on the ring and then
loses it while making the tamales. How will she find the ring now that the tamales
are cooked?

Mini Lessons:
Appealing to the senses
Literary elements (introduction, rising action, problem, resolution)
Imitating text: prompt - doing something youre not supposed to do
Action verbs (pumping, plopping, snipping, stared, screamed, skidded)
Cultural and family traditions





14. Henrys Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, Ellen Levine,
2007, Scholastic Inc.
Historical Fiction, Picture Book - Grade Levels: Kindergarten 4
th


Summary: Henry worked as a slave in a tobacco warehouse with his family. One
day, the master dies and Henry is torn away from his loved ones to work on for the
masters son. Weeks later, Henry gains the help of a white doctor that helps him
escape to freedom by mailing Henry in a box to Philadelphia.

Mini Lessons:
Italics
Power of threes
Addresses
Appealing with the senses
Capitalization
Pronouns


15. Rubys Wish, Shirin Yim Bridges, 2002, Scholastic Inc., New York
Historical Fiction, Picture Book - Grade Levels: 2
nd
6
th


Summary: Ruby grows up in a wealthy Chinese family with hundreds of relatives
living in the same house. Ruby strives to get an education even though it is not
traditional for girls to learn anything other than housework and cooking.
Eventually, she does earn an opportunity to go to a university instead of getting
married.

Mini Lessons:
Cultural and family traditions
Cultural holidays
Family relationships
Gender roles
Italics
Free form verse