GRANDPA GREEN - Lane Smith

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Smith, Lane. 2011. Grandpa Green. New York: Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 9781596436077

2. PLOT SUMMARY
In Grandpa Green, a young boy takes the reader on a tour of his great-grandfather’s garden. The topiaries represent memorable moments in his life, from his childhood, to going to war, to the generations of his family. The boy explains that while there are things his great-grandfather has trouble remembering, the topiaries keep those memories alive. Tending the garden is an activity the great-grandfather and the great-grandson share, helping to pass the stories of his life to a new generation and teaching the boy how to contribute his own topiaries to the collection.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The narrator of Grandpa Green is the great-grandson. He does not have a name or age given in the text. He is old enough to tell the story with words like horticulture, but still has an innocence in how he presents his great-grandfather’s life. He has heard the stories, but may not understand them fully yet. He is completely accepting of his great-grandfather and his forgetfulness, always willing to help out. The great-grandfather could be anyone who fought in a World War, from any country. The setting is the garden, which is spacious enough to hold a lifetime. The story takes place in one day, though it is clear from the boy knowing his grandfather’s routine that they spend this time together regularly.

Lane Smith conveys much of the story content through the topiaries themselves. The text is minimalist, and serves more to point the reader to what to look for in the topiaries. The vibrant greens of the topiaries which Lane has painted contrast against the white background and ink details. Visual jokes include a crying baby, rabbits on a carrot-shaped topiary, and red berries representing chicken pox. Older readers will more easily grasp allusions to books, movies, and history. In a moment of irony, the topiary on the page where the boy talks about his great-grandfather forgetting things is an elephant.

Grandpa Green opens the door to exploring relationships with grandparents or great-grandparents. In addition, a loved one who is losing his or her memories is a situation that children may encounter. This book presents an older person’s forgetfulness as a part of who they are, but not one that has to get in the way of the relationship. It gives dignity to older individuals and meaning to intergenerational relationships.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) AND AWARDS
The New York Times Best Illustrated Books, 2011

Publisher’s Weekly Top 40 Children’s Books, 2011

ALA Notable Children's Books - Younger Readers Category, 2012

School Library Monthly: “The illustrations are the star of the story, and readers will notice additional subtleties each time they revisit the book.”

Publishers Weekly: “…Lane's young narrator serves as a poignant reminder that the things we create--stories, memories, art (in whatever form it might take)--endure long after we do.”

Horn Book Magazine: “…a thoughtful, eloquent, and elegantly illustrated book to explore, consider, and read again.”

5. CONNECTIONS

- Explore other books focusing on memory loss, including

Langston, Laura, and Gardiner, Lindsey. Remember, Grandma? ISBN 067005898X

Bahr, Mary. The Memory Box. ISBN 978-0-8075-5052-6

Fox, Mem. Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge. ISBN 0-916291-04-9

- This could be used for Grandparents’ Day, in conjunction with titles like

Carlson, Nancy.  Hooray for Grandparent’s Day. ISBN 0-670-88876-1

Byrne, Gayle. Sometimes It’s Grandmas and Grandpas, and not Mommies and Daddies. ISBN 0-7892-1028-2

- Children could write letters to grandparents, grandparent-figures, or a local assisted living center.

- Children could interview older family members to learn about a meaningful event in their lives and draw a topiary to symbolize what happened. These drawings could be labeled with a one or two sentence description, similar to what is in Grandpa Green.

THE RAINBOW TULIP - Pat Mora

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mora, Pat. 1999. The Rainbow Tulip. Ill. by Elizabeth Sayles. New York: Puffin Books. ISBN 9780329326005

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Pat Mora’s The Rainbow Tulip is the story of Estelita, a young girl who bridges two cultures: the American, English-speaking culture of her school, and the Mexican, Spanish-speaking culture of her family. She feels a tension between loving her family and wishing she was like everyone else in her class. In this story, her class is getting ready for the May parade, and her costume is a multi-color tulip dress. At first she is nervous, because her dress is different than everyone else’s. This is a story about finding acceptance for just who you are.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
While this story is based out of the childhood of Pat Mora’s mother, it is a timeless situation. The message is as relevant to children today as it was when the real events took place. Elementary-aged children want to fit in and find friends, and they are at an age where they are starting to perceive similarities and differences. Estelita tells her story as a child, in a way that children will understand and relate to.

She describes both what happens and how she feels. Her shyness is captured in phrases like “my smile is hiding” and “I feel quiet as a snail inside.” Estelita’s excitement and nervousness build up to the May parade, which is a turning point in her understanding of how she fits in her world. At the beginning of the day she is nervous, by the end of the parade, she has found a new confidence. Based on Estelita’s descriptions, the reader will understand why that change takes place. Whether the situation is cultural and linguistic as in The Rainbow Tulip, or something else, readers will see that you don’t have to change who you are to try to fit in.

The Rainbow Tulip is an excellent multicultural book. Woven through the story of Estelita and the May parade, Mora incorporates Spanish phrases with translations of some to aid comprehension. She describes Estelita’s home culture in positive, respectful terms and shows where that differs from the culture of the community. The portrayal of the cultural components should resonate with Hispanic children and offer an interesting introduction to children of other cultures.

Estelita describes her mother as quiet and gentle, and that is the tone of the whole book as well. Elizabeth Sayles’s soft pastel images blend perfectly with the quietness of story. The illustrations are realistic enough to be clear, and colorful enough to hold the reader’s attention. There are instances where Sayles’s illustrations capture a part of the story not specifically described in the text, like Estelita dancing in a rainbow of flowers when she describes what her dress should look like, the dress fitting with her aunt, or what a Maypole dance looks like. This, in particular, may be something that children are not familiar with, so the illustration can help children understand or serve as the basis for additional explanation. The illustrations also convey the emotional reactions of Estelita, adding an additional layer to the story.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) AND AWARDS
Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, Texas nominee, 2000

Featured in Kaleidoscope, a Multicultural Booklist for Grades K-8 (NCTE, ISBN 0-8141-2539-5)

School Library Journal: “…this tale of family love and support crosses cultural boundaries and may remind youngsters of times when their families made all the difference.”

Kirkus Reviews: “With warmth and directness, Mora celebrates diversity, but provides a balanced view of assimilation as well…”

5. CONNECTIONS

- Pair The Rainbow Tulip with a nonfiction book about Mexican-Americans, like I Am Mexican American by Isobel Seymour (ISBN 0-8239-5004-2).

- Extend the conversation about different cultures by examining other stories where children are acclimating to the United States, for example I Hate English by Ellen Levine (ISBN 0-590-42305-3), or where children talk about their cultural differences, like The Sandwich Swap (Queen Rania of Jordan Al Abdullah and Kelly DiPucchio, ISBN 978-1423124849).

- Discuss reasons why children may feel like they do not fit in. Take care to avoid embarrassing any students. Engage in role playing of how to make other children feel welcome.

MILLIONS OF CATS - Wanda Gag

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gág, Wanda. 1956. Millions of Cats. New York: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780881035605

2. PLOT SUMMARY
In Millions of Cats, author-illustrator Wanda Gág introduces us to an elderly couple, lonely because they live by themselves. When the gentleman’s wife wistfully comments how she would like “a sweet little fluffy cat,” he sets out to find her one. Instead of one, though, he finds millions. Each one is precious, so which shall he bring home to his wife? How can he choose? Sometimes, what you set out to find isn’t what you find in the end. And sometimes, what you find is better than what you thought you wanted.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In Gág’s Millions of Cats, it is the cats who are the focus of the book. There is little character development in the story, and the couple doesn’t even have names. The human characters are more important as a device to introduce the cats than because they contribute to the story. However, the man’s affection for his wife, and even the cats, is clear. He isn’t very decisive, and in the end, it is the cats who decide how to handle the situation. Exactly what happens is never explained, but the couple is satisfied with the surprise resolution. While the characters are flat and the situation exaggerated to an extreme, children may identify with feelings of loneliness or the desire to have a pet. Children may also feel that some choices can be overwhelming, though the book does not offer any guidance for how to actively make a choice in that situation.

Gág’s hand lettering and black and white illustrations are quaint and folksy. The illustrations give a flavor of European peasants through their clothing. The specific setting is never identified, and does not need to be for the purposes of the story. The illustrations are stylized, but give enough detail to see the personalities of many of the cats. It would be impossible to draw millions of cats, but Gág succeeds in creating the impression of multitudes.

Children may enjoy the repeated chorus of “Hundreds of cats,/Thousands of cats,/Millions and billions and trillions of cats.” The text has a dated feel to it, but does not contain words that children today would not know. The narrator speaks in an adult voice. There is an oral storytelling quality to the text, like the narrator is sitting with children and telling the story from memory. This adds the feeling of a personal connection between the narrator and the reader.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) AND AWARDS
Newbery Medal Honor, 1929

Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, 1958

“Most highly recommended” by H. W. Wilson’s Children’s Core Collection

The New York Times: “A perennial favorite.”

Children’s Literature: “An outstanding example of a book in which text and illustrations seem to flow together.”

5. CONNECTIONS

-          After the man finds all the cats, students could give predictions for what they think will happen in the last part of the story and why. Students could brainstorm what they would do in the man’s situation, faced with millions of cats.

-          Students could discuss what criteria they would use to select a cat or other pet, and they could include black and white illustrations to go with their descriptions.

-          The element of exaggeration could be the starting point for looking for similar books the children might know, like David Shannon’s Too Many Toys (ISBN 978-0439490290). They could compare and contrast how the characters wound up with so much and what they decided to do about it.

-          Children could write their own “millions” story individually, in groups, or as a class.

-          Millions of Cats could be paired with Deborah Kogan Ray’s Wanda Gág: The Girl Who Lived to Draw (ISBN 978-0670062928), a biography which won awards for ALSC Notable Children's Books and NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People in 2009.

Module 1 Book Reviews: Picture Books

Here are three reviews of picture books: Millions of Cats, The Rainbow Tulip, and Grandpa Green. I’m putting them up as separate posts to try to make it easier to read them. Enjoy!