Stone Girl, Bone Girl: The Story of Mary Anning by Laurence Anholt

Stone Girl, Bone Girl: the story of Mary Anning was written by Laurence Anholt and illustrated by Sheila Moxley. It was published in 1998 by Orchard Books and is a biographical children’s book about Mary Anning and young fossil hunter who makes a huge discovery at the age of 12.
Mary Anning was born in England and when she was only a baby she was struck by lightening. Her parents didn’t think she could survive something like that, but Mary surprised her parents and started out her life in an extraordinary way. She kept up her extraordinary ways after her father, Pepper, showed her a fossil down by the sea. Mary was fascinated and spent all of her time their looking for “curiosities,” as she called them. As time went on Mary developed a large collection of curiosities, but she did not develop a large amount of friends because she spent all of her time along by the sea. The other kids would tease her and sing, “Stone girl, Bone girl. Out-on-your-own Girl!” Mary would always run back to her father who she loved most anyways. One day she met some of her father’s friends, the Philpot sisters, who also collected curiosities. They told Mary about a sea monster hidden somewhere in the cliffs by the sea that would be a great treasure to find. Mary’s father soon grew ill and her story saddens with his death, but a dog finds Mary and helps her keep looking for her treasures. Mary begins to sell her curiosities to help her mother support the two of them. Then one day Mary and her puppy find the sea monster that the Philpot sisters had talked about! Mary became known as the “Fossil Girl” and made enough money from her discovery for her and her mother to live off of for the rest of their lives.
This story has a lot of sadness in it, but it also has a happy ending. I thought it spoke a lot to individualism, because Mary did not fit in with her peers. She sticks with her passion though and makes a huge discovery that even adults could not find. I also thought this book did a good job of dealing with death. Losing a parent is one of the scariest things for kids, and talking about it or reading about it might make it easier for kids to not be so worried about their parents dying. The pictures in the story were really colorful. They really helped tell the story by giving visuals of where Mary was searching for fossils. I loved the little fossils that were drawn in the rocks, it makes the reader know where the sea monster is hidden before Mary even finds it. This is exciting for kids and helps them understand about fossils more. Overall I thought this was a great example of a biography for younger children.

A Biographical Poem on Mary Anning:

MaryExtraordinary, Loner, Exploratory, Perservering
Daughter of Pepper, mentee to the Philpot Sister’s, friend of the little dog,Lover of curiosities, Pepper and exploring.Who feels fascinated by fossils, worried for her father and a bit left out by her peers.Who finds happiness in discoveriesWho gives support for those who don’t fit in.
Who would like to see the alleged sea monster that the Philpot sisters talked about.
Who enjoys digging up cool things from the earth.
Resident of Lyme Regis, England.
Anning

Mama by Jeanette Winter an informational text about the Tsunami Disaster of 2004

Mama is written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter. It was published in 206 by Harcourt Inc. It is basically a picture book and also an informational text about the tsunami disaster in 2004. It is the story of a baby hippopotamus who spends all of his time with his mama. One day they are swimming in the ocean when a huge tsunami comes and separates the mama and son. The baby is found by people from a zoo and is taken to live in the zoo with other animals because he cannot find his mama. The baby hippopotamus is sad at first, then he finds a stand-in mama in an old tortoise.
This story is beautifully illustrated. The colors are bold and beautiful and compliment each other very well. You wouldn’t think that basic lines would create good drawings, but this is the technique that Jeanette Winter uses. The lines just grab your attention because of the boldness and are so beautiful because they are so basic. The text is bold and a bit playful. The only words in the entire story are “mama” and “baby.” I love that though there are only two words in the book, there is an entire story in the pages. The story includes family bonds, separation, sadness, a struggle between holding onto the memory of the hippo’s mama and finding a new home and mother figure at the zoo. This is truly a heart breaking story, but it can be read almost by 2 year olds! The author’s note at the end gives a more detailed description of the tsunami and the facts behind this picture book. It explains that the baby hippo was really found and brought to the zoo and that one day they hope the hippo will form a bond with another mother hippo that is also living at the zoo. I was almost mad at first that they took the hippo to live at the zoo, but the author’s note helped me realize that the hippo was in need to protection and camaraderie that he may not have found by himself in the wild.I have really fallen in love with this story. It is so beautiful and easy to understand for younger kids. I think it has a great lesson to teach and include in any classroom.

First Thoughts on Informational Texts

My first gut reaction to this assignment was that we were going to have to read textbook-like accounts of some famous dead person. I was not excited about the thought. It didn’t even occur to me, at first, that there would be children’s literature or even picture books that could be considered informational. When I picked out the books I wanted to read I got more excited but a little confused. I was still confused as to how they were going to be entertaining for small children and also informational and aligned with historical facts. I guess I was very skeptical of the assignment as a whole. I think students, especially at the elementary level will have basically the same reaction. Kids will hear biography or historical and their eyes will immediately glaze over. I know there must be better books out their to address these subjects and I'm excited to read a few to see what is being written.

Cinderella and Why Meat Loves Salt

I chose to compare Cinderella by Judy Sierra and Why Meat Loves Salt by Nina Jaffe.  Cinderella is basically the well known story picked up by Walt Disney while Why Meat Loves Salt is the Jewish version of the traditional Cinderella story.  I read through Cinderella just to remind myself of the story.  I thought it was a neat difference that the step mother and one of the step sisters called her "Cinderbottom" because she always sat in the ashes from the fireplace.  Int he Disney version, there is no explanation for why she is called "Cinderella."  Then when I started to read Why Meat Loves Salt I was confused.  The story does not start out similar to the traditional story at all.  Mireleh is the main character and she comes from the nucleus family consisting of her mother, father and two sisters.  Neither of her parents have passed away and her family loves her very much.  Then when Mireleh answers her father's inquiry as to how much she loves him with the statement, "As much as meat loves salt," he is unhappy with her answer and drives her from the house.  She meets a mysterious man along the way who gives her a magic stick to grant her any wish and goes to stay with a rabbi and his wife and son.  She decides she wants to attend a wedding with the family so she uses her magic stick to produce a dress and beautiful slippers.  The slippers are the one concrete similarity between the stories.  Most of the other details are different.  At the wedding the rabbi's son dances with Mireleh and tricks her into losing her shoe.  He, much like in the traditional tale, vows to marry the girl who fits the shoe and goes looking for the girl who is right in his own home.  She explains what she has done and after his parents have a dream about the mysterious man, he agrees to marry her.  At the wedding Mireleh tells the cooks not to put any salt into the food.  Mireleh's family comes to her wedding not knowing that it is their estranged daughter/sister who is getting married and when her father grimaces over the lack of salt on the meat he realizes that his daughter really does love him and everything works out in the end.   I liked this story, but it is very different from the Disney version that I am used to.  I thought it was kind of odd story because of the father testing his daughters and because of the drastic measures he takes without even asking her to explain her answer.  The art work was well painted with great colors.  The characters didn't have clear facial features and some of the lines were blurred.  I thought the illustrations portrayed the story very well.  This book was a neat look into Jewish culture and the traditions.  it mentioned the stomping of the glass and the use of hoopah's during wedding ceremonies.  It also mentioned the nature of most Jewish fathers and the way Mireleh's father through those feelings out the window when he was mad at Mireleh.  I think this is a great book to use when discussing other cultures and religions, especially if you happen to have a Jewish child in your classroom.

Swamp Angel

Swamp Angel is written by Anne Isaacs and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky. It is a tall tale and is appropriate for grades k-5. The story is simple enough for lower levels, but also has enough of a story to appeal to older grades.
This is the story of Angelica Longrider, a little girl born in Tennessee. Angelica was born a rather large baby and grew up with talents to match her size. One day when a wagon train got stuck in a swamp she came to their rescue and lifted the wagons out of the swamp. From then on she was called Swamp Angel. In the area where Swamp Angel lived, there was a bear who was ravaging all the people's food cellars. The people in the area decided to make a contest out of catcing the bear and Swamp Angel decided to join the hunt. No matter how much the men in the contest made fun of her, Swamp Angel would not give up and eventually she was the last one left out hunting for the bear. The bear and Swamp Angel met up and proceeded to have to battle of the century all over Tennessee. The two of them fought and fought and even fought in their sleep. Swamp Angel eventually kills the bear when she snores so loud a tree falls on the bear. The people of Tennessee have a great party with all kinds of bear soups and cakes and muffins. Swamp Angel uses the bear's pelts to make the Shortgrass Prairie of Montana and when she threw the bear into the sky she was said to have made a constellation shaped like a bear. These are reminders of the great fight between the great bear and Swamp Angel.
I loved the endearing dialect used in this tall tale. There is something about the way the author uses the language to tell such an astounding story that grabs you pulls you into the story. I can just imagine the way a child would become enthralled with this tale. The illustrations in this story really help to create the story. They never come right out and say that Swamp Angel is larger than normal, but the pictures show how she can perform the feats that she does. The coloring of the pictures puts you into the mind set of back country Tennessee and really shows the beauty of the land. I think tall tales like this one will really grab kids attention.
This story opens the door for teachers to teach about tall tales. The real life applications that may or may not be true is a cool way for kids to be creative. Reading this story and discussing whether or not their really is a constellation of a bear and then having students right their own tall tales is a different way to have kids write that may help them enjoy writing.

Jack and the Beanstalk and The Giant and the Beanstalk

I compared Jack and the Beanstalk by Steven Kellogg and The Giant and the Beanstalk by Diane Stanley. Jack and the Beanstalk is the traditional story of Jack and his adventures in climbing a beanstalk and stealing from a scary giant. The Giant and the Beanstalk is a variation of this story told from the Giant's perspective. It gives a new insight to this old tale and introduces a different take on a classic story.

Here is my full poster:

Here is the Jack and the Beanstalk side of the Venn Diagram:

Here is The Giant and the Beanstalk side of the Venn Diagram:

Here is the center of the Venn Diagram:

Lon Po Po

Lon Po Po is the Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood. It is translated and illustrated by Ed Young. It is a fairy tale and is appropriate for grades K-3.
Lon Po Po is a story based closely off of the story of Little Red Riding, but with some key changes. A chinese mother of three children leaves their home one day to go and visit the children's grandmother for her birthday. The three sibling promise to be good and lock the door after their mother leaves. Soon after there is a knock at the door and the children are suprised to hear their Po Po or Grandmother outside the door. They figure it is ok to let in their grandmother and they open the door. What they don't realize is that it isn't their grandmother outside, but a wolf trying to trick them. As soon as they open the door the wolf blows out their candle so that the children cannot see that it is really a wolf. The children and the wolf, who they think is their grandmother soon get into bed and the children become curious about their granmothers appearance. The wolf has a tail and sharp claws and just like in Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf makes up excuses for these things. When the oldest child, Shang lights a candle, she gets a glimpse of the wolf for a split second before the wolf blows the candle out again. Instead of jumping up and screaming, Shang decides to be sneaky and tell the wolf about the Gingko nuts that are so good to eat and right outside their house. The children climb the tree and start to eat the nuts without the wolf, until Shang has an idea. Shang says that if the wolf gets in s basket and throws a robe to the children that she will pull the wolf up to the top of the tree to eat some of the delicious Gingko nuts. The wolf agrees because his stomach is so hungry. The children "accidentally"drop the wolf twice, but on the third time they pull the wolf up high, they let go of the rope and the wolf "breaks his heart."
This story shows courage and cunning on the part of the children in the story. I would suspect that most of my future students would have no idea what to do if wolf came into their homes pretending to be their grandma. I thought the story was well written and gave a good twist on the original story of Little Red Riding Hood. There was a lot of text on each page, but the story still leaves a lot up to the reader to infer. For instance, Shang sees the wolf, but she never has an "aHA! moment" where she lets her siblings know. Shang just goes to work with her plan, and we just have to assume that she has it all planned out and that the other kids will follow along. I loved the illustrations in this book. The pictures are all painted, probably water colored. Each page is divided into vertical pictures. There are very few harsh, clear lines in the art work. The majority, if not all of it has blurred edges. Some of the paintings even swing towards being interpretive. The pictures are not clear cut, so interpretation is left to the reader. This gives the chance for different readers to get different impressions of the sane picture. I really loved that this was the style of this book.