Melvin Might? By Jon Scieszka

Although some people would be offended by the fact that Scieszka specifically writes for boys and writes about boys topics which may not be liked by all little boys I think he is doing a fantastic thing. He's getting boys interested in reading! He is writing about what they want to read and what they are interested in. Sure not all boys like trucks, being dirty, and talking about bugs but it is a fact that in a lot of cases they do! That is how our society works and I have a feeling it will be like this for a while to come. He isn't pressing upon that boys have to read these books and he's not being exclusive by saying that only boys can read these books. He simply is doing the best he can to encourage young boys to enjoy reading! This book is also in the Trucktown series geared towards preschool aged boys. The characters are the same, but this time they have a different adventure. In most picture books there are not series of books so I think this is a cool idea. Series of books start coming into play more with chapter books. The colors again in this book are very bright and fill the entire page. The text is scattered around the pages and changes size depending on the expression. Another fun thing about this book is that there is a pull out page. It folds out once so you are looking at three pictures at a time. Interactive things in books are always fun!

Smash! Crash! By Jon Scieszka

This book by Scieszka was made especially for preschool boys. My nephew is two years old and I really think he would enjoy this book! It's about trucks, now what two year old boy doesn't like a book about trucks!?! The pictures are good they use a lot of primary colors. The pictures take up the whole page which is a great thing for preschoolers who may not know fully how to read yet. So looking at the big pictures would be beneficial and enjoyable for them. The trucks have faces on them which I thought was cute because everything is "real" in a little boys world at that age. Everything to them has a name and feelings. The text changes and gets big when they want to stress something like the trucks crashing or yelling. The font is also a large and fun looking. Some letters look like a child write it like the "g" doesn't sit on the bottom of the line like normal "g"s should.

The Book That Jack Wrote By Jon Scieszka

This book kind of reminds me of the book There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed A Fly. It sort of goes backwards. It starts with one thing- the book that Jack wrote- and then each page adds one thing that's in the book that Jack wrote, that's in etc. It's a very simple read since it repeats everything from the page before and then only adds one line. This would be great for beginning readers. I think this would be a fun read aloud book to the class. I think the class would have fun creating images in their heads about the things inside the book that Jack wrote. The pictures themselves are very detailed but do not take up the whole page. They are set in the center and have a border around them. The picture is always on the right page and the writing is always on the left.

Cowboy and Octopus By Jon Scieszka

This book is so cute! The pictures are cut outs from different textures and designs to give a very unique style. Also, on the top of every couple pages is a sort of a title. It's made out of what looks like magazine letters. They are like mini stories always with the same two characters but about different topics and things they do. I like the humor in this book. The characters are kind of sarcastic which isn't something you usually see in childrens books. You can also learn some things such as how to be a good friend, and that octopus have eight tentacles.



I did this author for my API and I really enjoy him as an author. He has a ton of different genres like picture books, chapter books, graphic novels, and books especially made for preschoolers. He has books for all ages and he is unique in the fact that he writes specifically for boys!! Since boys often times are not as into reading Scieszka makes it a point to write books specifically geared towards their interests. He also has two fabulous websites that I encourage you to visit. The first website is about him and his books, it is his official website, and then the next website is solely for boys. This website gives many recommendations for other books by different authors that boys of all ages would enjoy.

Anticipation Set for So Far From the Bamboo Grove

What does it mean to have courage?

"And inspite of my anguish I smiled at him, I was so happy at the way he spoke. "Keep smiling," he said, and went away."


Controversy: Japanese crimes being white washed. What do you think?


What do you think this sword represents? How do you think this will fit in the book?

"She gave me a harsh look, "Just shutup and keep on walking.""

"Why can't you be strong and good like your honorable sister?"

Korea under Japanese rule

Where does this all take place?

By: Kyley Bussewitz, Kaitlin Moulin, Ashley Tate

So Far From the Bamboo Grove

I really liked this book. It was a quick read, and it kept my interest the whole time. It was extremely sad and heartwrenching. I can not imagine going through things that this little girl and family went through. Not eating for days, seeing people get killed in front of their eyes, being hurt and infections for weeks without getting help. It is absolutely unreal. This is a very inspirational book that I think maybe older elementary or intermediate age kids could read in their classroom. I think there would be many great discussions that could come out of this reading. This book really made me think about how life could be and has been in the past during wars. We are in a war right now, and I can barely tell. It's so different from this story! I don't know much about the Korean or Japanese culture so it was interesting to take in the facts such as about their food like eating misu soup or that on New Years they celebrate their birthdays instead of on the date of their actual birthday. The one thing I didn't really care for in the book was the ending. It was too abrupt. All of a sudden the girls meet with their brother and immediately it's over. I wish it had been dragged out a little more to wrap up everything that had happened. Although I understand because it is a book for a younger audience the length probably could not have afforded to be much longer. I would suggest this book to read in a lit study group as long as it had time for discussion. I really believe you have to have discussion with this book because there is so much going on and because of the hardships these people faced. There is too much to think about and let sink in.

semester reflection

I have really enjoyed this class so far. We get the freedom to read the books we want to, as well as having some guidance on certain weeks. Blogging is a new experience for me, and so far it has been a positive one. I think it's a great thing to learn because technology is such a huge part of our society. I have a feeling it will become more of a common thing used in schools over the next few years. I like how there aren't certain things that we are required to write about each book. It encourages us to become creative in the items we want to discuss. I feel like I have become better acquainted with both the public library and the curriculum lab because of this class and also with authors of children's books. It's been so long since I have sat down to read and really think about picture books. I now have a checklist of things I tend to look for in good books as well as to know if I am not going to enjoy it. It's a great break from the text books we read in college!!