At Ellis Island: A History in Many Voices by Louise Peacock, illustrated by Walter Lyon Krudop

At Ellis Island: A History in Many Voices by Louise Peacock follows   the young girl in the present who is exploring the Ellis Island Museum in the Great Hall and learning about her family's history. Her great-great-grandmother arrived in America through Ellis Island. Another point of view in the story is Sera, who is from the early 1900's from Armenia looking for freedom in America. Finally, the story combines the story of real immigrants, their own suffering and their journey to America.  

Within my classroom, I would combine this nonfiction book into a history lesson about Ellis Island while studying the history behind the immigrations. It could occur during a study of the difference between immigration and emigration in science. Also, I could also utilize the book in a book pass about Ellis Island. 

On Board the Titanic by Shelley Tanaka, paintings by Ken Marschall (Nonfiction Literature)

http://prezi.com/r13qwpzlj_p3/on-board-the-titanic-by-shelley/

Shelley Tanaka's biography, On Board the Titanic, focuses on the story of Jack Thayer, a teenage boy, and Harold Bride, the man who runs the telegraphs to support communication between ships, on the Titanic's first and last voyage. The author also outlines aspects of the Titanic such as the gym, the swimming pool, and the Cafe Parisien. After Captain Smith hit an iceberg, the Titanic began to sink and over half of the people on board were not able to receive a life boat. Eventually the Carpathia, another cruise ship, came to rescue the remaining survivors from the life boats. 

In my classroom, I would use On Board the Titanic to incorporate history and literature. The students could create their own timeline of the events of the Titanic and compare it to the timeline in the story. Also, I could incorporate science with literature by having the students conduct experiments to discover why items float or sink and to explain why the Titanic sank.

Jumanji written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg (Modern Fantasy/Science Fiction)

When their parents leave them to go to the opera, Judy and Peter are left alone at their home to entertain themselves. Later that afternoon, Judy and Peter grew bored and wandered to the park to play. Underneath a tree in the park, they found a board game named Jumanji and decided to play. After reading the instructions, Peter and Judy quickly realized that each roll in the game made brought another piece of the game to life and they could not quit the game until they reached Jumanji. During the game, Judy and Peter encountered lions, monkeys, monsoons, forest guides, rhinoceros, and pythons. Once Judy rolled Jumanji, all of the elements from the game disappeared. When their parents returned home, they tried to explain what happened but neither of their parents believed them. 

I would have my students read Jumanji when we were studying modern fantasy or science fiction. Also, I would read the book for pure enjoyment for the kids or study the art design in the illustrations. 

Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Caroline Birch (Multicultural/International Literature)

Mary Hoffman's story, Amazing Grace, focuses on Grace, an imaginative African American girl who loves theatrics. She would pretend to be characters, such as Joan of Arc, Anansi the Spider, wooden gates of Troy, pirates, Hiawatha (Big-Sea-Water), Aladdin, and Mowgli. When Grace wants to try out for the play Peter Pan, her classmates tell her she cannot audition because she's a girl and African American. After she tells her mother and grandmother about the students' remarks, Grace's grandmother shows her a young African American woman who is from her grandmother's neighborhood and who is staring in Romeo and Juliet. With her mother and grandmother's help to practice, Grace lands the role in the play and makes a fabulous performance. 

In my classroom, I would use Amazing Grace with my students to help promote equity within my classroom community.  In regards to Natalie's comment about Grace being black, I would discuss with the students why her comment was inappropriate and inaccurate. Also, I would talk with the students about how we should treat each other in the classroom. 

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: A Graphic Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, retold by Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir, illustrated by Kevin Cornell (Modern Fantasy/Science Fiction)

Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir adapted F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button into a graphic novel. Fitzgerald depicted Benjamin Button, a man who ages in reverse, born as a seventy year old man and then becomes younger as the years pass. Reluctantly, his father and mother decided to raise Benjamin and tried to make him age like a normal child. He even tried to attend Yale University but they would not allow him to become a student because he looked old. As he and his father became closer in age, they became closer in bonds of friendship. When Benjamin was fifty, he met and married Hildegarde Moncrief. After a fifteen years of marriage, he began to grow bored in his marriage and chose to join the army and fight in the Spanish-American War. When he appeared to be twenty years old, Benjamin attended Harvard University and became a star football player. After he returned home from school, Benjamin had to stay with his son Roscoe because his wife Hildegarde lived in Italy. Embarrassed by his father, Roscoe asked Benjamin to pretend he was his uncle instead of his son. As he began to grow younger, his nurse Nana began to take care of him until he died.

Within my own classroom, I would use The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: A Graphic Novel to peak interest in the students for graphic novels in my students. Also, if the students were studying life cycles in science, I would have the analyze why Benjamin Button's case was so rare. In addition, I could read the book as a read aloud.

The Kite Rider by Geraldine McCaughrean (Multicultural Literature)

During the Song Dynasty, when his sailor father dies after being forced to be a wind tester, a young Chinese boy named Gou Haoyou, who is left to care for his mother, Qing’an, and his little sister, Wawa. Traditionally, when a ship is due to set sail, a man is volunteered to test the wind to see whether or not the conditions were fair for travel. After making a demeaning comment about his captain’s ship, Haoyou’s father is forced to be the wind tester and died. Following his father’s death, Haoyou had to fend off Di Chou’s (another sailor) advances to marry his mother and volunteers to be a wind tester that would take Di Chou away from his mother. Miao Jie, a circus leader for the Jade Circus, asked Haoyou to join his circus act and become a kite rider. After his great-uncle Bo's blessing, Haoyou travels with his cousin Mipeng through various towns until they found the Kublai Khan, a Mongol who overthrew the Song family to become the new ruler of Cathay. Unbeknownst to Haoyou, the Great Miao (or Miao Jie) was the grandson from the Song dynasty and whose mission it was to assassinate Khan. When Kublai Khan discovers the Great Miao's plan, he attempts to kill Miao but decides to exchange his life for Haoyou as a weapon for his army. However, when the Khan forced Haoyou to attack a rebellious town, a typhoon destroyed some of the town and the majority of the Khan's battle ships were decimated thus causing the Khan to leave Haoyou alone. At the end of the novel, Mipeng marries the Great Miao and they, along with Haoyou, Qing'an, Wawa, and Aunt Mo (Haoyou's great-aunt), leave their Great-Uncle Bo who had stolen money from their family to gamble. To help support his family, Haoyou made and sold kites to the people in Cathay. 

In regards to The Kite Rider, I would use this book in my classroom as a read aloud. Based on my reading of the book, I think the book is suspenseful enough to where I could read part of the book every day and the students would maintain interest. Also, I would ask the students to keep a journal every day after we read the book about what they would do if they were Haoyou.

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams (Modern Fantasy)

E.B. White's story begins will a little girl named Fern Arable who saves the life of a runt of a litter of pigs. She takes care of the pig and names him Wilbur. However, when Wilbur turns five weeks old, Mr. Arable forces his daughter to sell the pig to her uncle, Mr. Zuckerman. Although Fern tries to visit Wilbur everyday, he becomes lonely at his new home until he meets an unlikely friend, a spider named Charlotte. However, Wilbur's life changes forever when one of the old sheep on the farm tells him that Mr. Arable and Mr. Zuckerman plan to kill and eat him at Christmas. Desperate to help her friend live, Charlotte devises a plan to spin the words 'Some Pig' into her web to make Mr. Zuckerman realize he cannot kill Wilbur. Over the course of a few months, Charlotte spins the words 'terrific', 'radiant', and 'humble' to describe Wilbur and attract people from everywhere to come see this extraordinary pig. In the end, the Zuckerman's take Wilbur to a fair where he is awarded a prize for attracting so many people to the fair. Even though Charlotte saves Wilbur's life and spins an egg sac of five hundred and fourteen of her own eggs, she ends up dying alone at the fair. By the next spring, Charlotte's eggs hatch but her most of her baby spiders leave the barn except for three of them: Joy, Aranea, and Nellie. They stay with Wilbur until they have their own children and the cycle continues of new spiders who live in the barn until the end of Wilbur's own life. 


In my own classroom, I would use Charlotte's Web as one of the books we would study in my modern fantasy and/or science fiction unit or as a read aloud to the class. The students would have to identify elements of the novel that classify it as modern fantasy (i.e. talking animals). Also, I could have the students study the various types of spiders, such as aeronauts. 

Fireflies in the Dark: The Story of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and the Children of Terezin. By Susan Goldman Rubin (Non-fiction: Biography)

In Fireflies in the Dark, Susan Goldman Rubin portrays the hardships Jews faced in the Holocaust during the World War II era. Her main focus is on Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, a Jewish woman who helps children in the Terezin concentration camp cope with their depression by painting, reading, and/or acting. For instance, the children performed a Czech fairy tale called Fireflies to briefly escape the misery of their concentration camp. When she was ordered to leave for Terezin, Friedl packed art supplies for the students she knew she would be helping in the concentration camp. By allowing them to express their emotions and providing them with the resources to do so, Friedl helped to ease some of the pain the children were feeling while in the concentration camp. Sadly, Friedl was separated from her husband, transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and killed on October 6th, 1944. In addition to this tragedy, only 100 of the 15,000 children who passed through Terezin survived. 


In regards to Fireflies in the Dark, I would use Rubin's book in my classroom when I discussed the Holocaust with my students. Although I know the typical elementary school curriculum standards do not necessarily cover World War II, the Holocaust does represent racism and bigotry in the past. For an activity, I would have the students write about how they would feel if they had to attend a secret school and could not do things they enjoyed like the children in the Terezin concentration camp. Also, if I had enough time to cover the major events in World War II, I would have the students complete a time line of these events in conjunction with the events in this story as well as other Holocaust stories. 

Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin Jr. and John Arcahmbault, illustrated by Ted Rand (Multicultural Literature)

Knots on a Counting Rope depicts the story of a grandfather telling his grandson the story of how he was born. Each time the grandfather retells the story, he ties another knot on his counting rope so, by the end of the counting rope, the young boy will know the story by heart. His grandfather tells him about how he was born a blind, weak infant and almost died but they knew he would survive when two blue horses stopped to look at the boy (which is how he was named Boy-Strength-of-Blue-Horses). Also, the grandfather recounts a time where his grandson raised, trained, and raced a foal named Rainbow, which helped the young boy to gain confidence to overcome his blindness. 


When I originally chose this story for my book blog, I thought that it would be an effective illustration of Native American culture. However, after our multicultural discussion in class, I realized that the story showed an inaccurate representation mixture of cultures, such as the characters' hair styles and the clothing. With that being said, I would still use Knots on a Counting Rope in my class because it is a quintessential example of how you have to research information you find in a book to ensure that the information is correct. Also, I would have the students study various aspects of the Navajo culture and then read Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault's book to see if they could identify the false information.

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (Modern Fantasy)

     

Natalie Babbitt’s modern fantasy, Tuck Everlasting, follows a young girl named Winnie Foster who lived in the 1880’s in a town called Treegap. Winnie is an only child whose family is one of the wealthiest in town. Her parents will not allow her to explore anywhere other then her front yard. One morning, she hears the sound of a music box that her grandmother thinks belongs to elves. She decides to find the source of the music box but instead finds Jesse Tuck and a fountain that made his whole family immortal. Jesse, his brother Miles, his mother Mae, and his father Tuck, kidnap Winnie to ensure that she will keep their secret. However, as Winnie spends the next few days with the Tuck family, she becomes their friend and begins to enjoy their company. Once a man in yellow discovers the Tuck’s secret fountain and the kidnap of Winnie Foster, he asks the Foster family to sign over the rights to their forest that contains the immortal fountain so that they can safely return Winnie to her family. When the man in yellow attempts to take Winnie away from the Tucks and threatens to reveal their secret, Mae accidentally kills the man to prevent the secret to immortality leaking out to the world. As Mae sits in jail waiting to the hung for murder, she is rescued by Winnie, Jesse, Miles, and Tuck and the Tuck family is able to escape. However, Winnie is left with the decision to drink the fountain’s water to be with Jesse for the rest of eternity or continue living life as a mortal. At the conclusion of the novel, the reader discovers that Winnie did not drink the fountain’s water and lived a full, happy life.

            In my classroom, I would use Tuck Everlasting in my modern fantasy unit. While reading the book, I would have the students identify elements of modern fantasy within the story. Also, I would have the students choose a character, write a summary of the story from that character’s point of view, and then explain whether or not they would have done anything differently in the story. 

Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson, paintings by James Ransome (Multicultural Literature)

Deborah Hopkin’s story illustrates a young girl named Clara, who was separated from her mother when she was twelve years old. When Clara moved to her new plantation, she was taken in by Aunt Rachel, a woman who was not Clara’s biological aunt but had agreed to raised Clara as her own. When she began to grow tired of working with Young Jack as a field hand, she learned how to sew and moved to the Big House to help sew for their Missus. One day, Clara overheard some of the other slaves talking about the Underground Railroad to freedom and decided that she wanted to run away to Canada. Over the next few months, she gathered fabric pieces  that represented major landmarks and started to sew a quilt that represented a map to freedom.  During the summer, Young Jack attempted to run away but was caught five days later. Upon his return, Young Jack helped Clara to finish her map and quilt by giving her details of the major landmarks he saw during his escape. Soon thereafter, they left Home Plantation together, found Clara’s mother and new sister, and guided them to freedom. Because Clara left her quilt with her Aunt Rachel, other slaves from their own and other plantations used the quilt to find freedom. 

In my classroom, I would use Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt to focus on the Underground Railroad and slavery.  For a writing activity, I would have the students write about how they would feel if they were separated from their parents.  Also, I would have the students complete the following writing prompt: “Imagine if you were a white person living in the South during slavery and did not agree with slavery. Would you be a part of the Underground Railroad? How do you think it would feel to be a part of the Underground Railroad?”

Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (Historical Fiction)

Ellen Levine's story, Henry's Freedom Box, depicts the story of Henry "Box" Brown, one of the most renown runaway slaves. The story begins with Henry with his family at their master's house. His family's master had treated them well but, when his master died, he was separated from his family and was sent to the master's son's plantation. At his new master's factory, Henry worked with tobacco leaves. One day, Henry met Nancy, a slave from another plantation, they fell in love, married each other a few months later, and had three kids. When they started their own family, Nancy began to worry they were going to be separated from each other. Unfortunately, one day soon thereafter, Henry's entire family was sold at a slave market to another slave owner. Henry became depressed by the idea of not being able to see his family ever again and decided to escape to freedom. With the help of his friend James and Dr. Smith, a white man who did not believe in slavery, Henry climbed into a box and mailed himself to an address in Pennsylvania.  He arrived on March 30th, 1849 in Philadelphia to freedom.


In my classroom, I would include Henry's Freedom Box in my unit about the Civil War, slavery, and the Underground Railroad. Also, I would have the students create a timeline of significant events that occurred during slavery and the Civil War. On the other hand, I could give the students a writing prompt of writing from the perspective of a slave during the Civil War. 

Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold (Historical Fiction)

Faith Ringgold's story, Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky, begins with Cassie and her little brother Be Be, who are flying amongst the stars and discover a train in the sky. Before she can stop her little brother, Be Be jumps on the train, which was already carrying hundreds of other men, women, and children. As Cassie begins to cry, the conductor, Harriet Tubman, comforts her and explains that she helped African Americans to freedom through the Underground Railroad. To help Cassie understand the significance of the Underground Railroad, Harriet describes the history of slavery and the obstacles slaves faced, such as the law that African Americans could not read or write. Harriet also explains to Cassie that the train follows the same route of the Underground Railroad ever one hundred years and tells Cassie to follow her little brother to freedom and to listen for instructions from "Aunt Harriet." Each time she followed Aunt Harriet's instructions, Cassie was able to travel the Underground Railroad to various safe houses (i.e. a white farmer's attic, a blind railroad agent, an undertaker). At the end of the story, Cassie finally catches up with Be Be in Canada where they are both free.


In my classroom, I would ensure that the students' knew that the Underground Railroad were safe houses, which were places slaves who were escaping to the North for their freedom could hide. Also, I would be concerned that the story would confuse the students into believing that the Underground Railroad is actually a train and a railroad. However, I would use the book to discuss the slavery, the history of Harriet Tubman, and Underground Railroad with my students. Also, I would have the students write a story about if they were traveling with Harriet Tubman on the Underground Railroad and explain obstacles that they would face together on the trip to freedom.

Dear Benjamin Banneker by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney (Nonfiction-biography)

Andrea Davis Pinkney's book focuses on Benjamin Banneker, the first African American to publish an almanac. He grew up in Maryland along the Patapsco River with his two free African American parents. His mother Mary had always been free but his father Robert was a former slaved who gained his freedom before Benjamin was born. When Benjamin grew up, he tended to the hundred acres of tobacco farm (called Stout) that his parents left him. Over the years, Benjamin observed the moon's cycle and taught himself astronomy. Beginning in 1789, Benjamin observed the sky every night and made observations to help him write an almanac. Although Benjamin contacted William Goddard, one of the most renown printers in Baltimore, and John Hayes, a newspaper publisher, neither of the men would help him publish his almanac because of his race. However, in late 1790, James Pemberton, the president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, decided that he wanted to help publish Benjamin's almanac to show that black people were just as smart as white people. Unfortunately, they realized that it would be too late to publish an almanac for 1791 thus Benjamin would have to create new calculations for a 1792 almanac. On August 19, 1791, Benjamin wrote to Thomas Jefferson expressing his concern about how he was not leading by example in regards to "all men are created equal" and included a copy of his almanac. When Thomas Jefferson responded, he expressed that he wanted things to change and for people to see African Americans capabilities. In December 1791, stores began to sell Benjamin Banneker's Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia almanac for the year 1792 and the almanac immediately sold out. The almanac included cycles of new and full moons, sunrise and sunset times, and tide tables for the Chesapeake Bay. Benjamin published an almanac every year until 1797 and, in his 1793 almanac, he included the letter exchange between himself and Thomas Jefferson.


In regards to Dear Benjamin Banneker, I would use this book in my classroom when we were discussing racism and slavery. Also, I could read this book during Black History Month to highlight African Americans who have had a significant impact on American history. As an activity, I would have the students write a letter to Thomas Jefferson explaining why everyone should be treated equally. 

The Little Gold Star retold by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Sergio Martinez (Traditional/Folk Literature)

Robert D. San Souci's Spanish American Cinderella tale, Little Gold Star, begins with Tomas, a sheepherder, whose wife died and left him alone with their only child Teresa. Along with her two daughters, Inez and Isabel, a widow moved close to Tomas and convinced him to marry her. Because his wife nagged him everyday, Tomas stayed away herding his sheep longer and longer while his wife forced Teresa to do all of the chores. Even when Tomas gave his daughter a lamb as a gift, his wife killed the lamb and told Teresa to wash the lamb's fleece in the river so she could make a pillow. While she was at the river washing the fleece, Teresa had the fleece snatched away by a fish. As she began to cry, a woman robed in blue asked her what was wrong. After Teresa told her the story of what happened, the woman told her to visit a shack on the mountainside and to tend to the old man and child and sweep the floor in return for the fleece. Unknown to Teresa, the woman in blue was the Blessed Mary, the old man was Saint Joseph, and the baby was baby Jesus. Because Teresa was kind to the old man and the child and obeyed the woman's orders, the woman placed her finger on Teresa's forehead where a little gold star appeared. When Teresa returned home and told her stepmother about what happened, her stepmother did not believe her and when she tried to scrub off the gold star it only shone brighter and when she touched the clean fleece it became muddy. Each stepsister was instructed to wash the fleece the two following days and both sisters met the Blessed Mary. However, both sisters did not tend to the old man and baby in the shack on the mountainside. When the woman in blue gave each sister the clean fleece and learned of their behavior towards the old man and baby, she gave Isabel horns and Inez donkey ears. One night, Teresa and her family went to a fiesta honoring the patron saint of the town. Don Miguel, a rich man who lives in the town, danced with Teresa and fell in love with her. However, Teresa's stepmother told Teresa to go home and leave Miguel. Once Miguel realized Teresa was gone, he vowed not to rest until he found the woman and asked her to marry him. Yet, when he asked for her step-daughter's hand in marriage, Teresa's stepmother told Teresa that she had to fill ten bottles with birds' tears, stuff twelve mattresses with birds' feathers, and prepare a tableful of fine food. Desperate to complete these tasks and marry Miguel, Teresa asked the woman in blue for help. The Blessed Mary told Teresa to touch her gold star and that she would be able to finish all three tasks. Once she saw the three impossible tasks completed, the stepmother realized that Teresa was blessed and sent Miguel a letter agreeing to the marriage. As time passed and the stepmother and stepdaughters became less evil, the donkey ears and horns finally disappeared. 


In my classroom, I would use Little Gold Star by having my students compare and contrast the American Cinderella tale to the Spanish American Cinderella tale. Also, I would have the students rewrite the story, create their own story book, and draw their own illustrations for their book. Another example of how I could include Little Gold Star in my classroom would be to have a unit based on studying various culture's versions of classic folk literature such as Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, etc. 

The Storyteller by Patricia Reilly Giff (Realistic Fiction)

The Storyteller

Patricia Reilly Giff's The Storyteller focuses on Elizabeth, a teenager from upstate New York in the 21st century, and Zee, an adolescent from the 18th century during the Revolutionary War. Elizabeth is sent to live with Libby, her aunt on her deceased mother's side of the family whom she has never met, while her father is selling his crafted sculptures in Australia. Although Elizabeth is initially timid of her living situation, she and her Aunt Libby connect over an old portrait of one of their ancestors, a young woman named Zee. The two women bond as they unravel Zee's history and solve the mystery of their heritage during the Revolutionary War. During the flashbacks to the 18th century, Zee is left to fend for herself after her mother died and her brother and father left her to fight for the Patriots at Fort Dayton. She travels alone and wounded to find and fight with her brother and father for their land and freedom at the Battle of Oriskany.

I would incorporate The Storyteller  into my classroom by integrating both literature and social studies. As we read the book, the students would create their own timeline of the story and another timeline of the Revolutionary War to see how the events coincided with the story. Also, one activity I could do with the students to integrate literature and social studies would be to assign the male students to read The Storyteller and the female students to read a book from a boy's point-of-view during the Revolutionary War. Then the students would have to keep a journal log after each assigned reading and write about how they could relate to the characters and their favorite parts of the story. By having the students study opposite point-of-views, my students will be able to understand significant aspects of the Revolutionary War from multiple standpoints. 

The Twelve Dancing Princesses retold and illustrated by Rachel Isadora (traditional/folk literature)

Rachel Isadora's The Twelve Dancing Princesses is an African adaptation of the Brother's Grimm fairy tale. An African king had twelve beautiful daughters would sleep in the same bedroom. Every night, the king would lock their door and every morning the princesses' shoes were worn out. The king sent out a decree to his people that if any man were able to solve the princesses' mystery then he could choose any of the king's daughters to marry. However, if they failed to uncover their secret, the man would be killed. One day, a soldier passed an old woman on a side road and he told her of his plan to discover the princesses' secret. The old woman told the soldier not to drink the princesses' wine and then handed him an invisible cloak so he could follow the princesses. After the soldier arrived to the castle and pretended to drink the princesses' wine, the eldest princess tapped her bed and it sank into the floor. The soldier followed the princesses through a secret passageway and broke a twig from each of the three groves of silver, gold, and diamond leaves. Once the princesses arrived to a lake, they joined twelve princes, crossed the lake in twelve boats, and danced the whole night on an island. The following two nights, the solider followed the princesses and stole a cup to prove their secret. On the fourth day, the soldier tells the king where his daughters' sneak off to at night and shows him the three twigs and the cup as proof. After the princesses' told their father that the soldier was telling the truth, he decided to marry the eldest princess the very next day. 

After my class finished reading all three versions of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, I would have my students compare and contrast all three of the books. Each of the three books enough similar and different aspects that the students should be able to have a detailed Venn Diagram or essay. 

The Twelve Dancing Princesses retold and illustrated by Jane Ray (traditional/folk literature)

Jane Ray's adaptation of the the Brother's Grimm fairy tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, begins similarly to Sanderson's version of the fairy tale. The plot involves a king who has twelve daughters that are locked in their bedroom at night. Yet, in the morning, all twelve daughters shoes are completely worn through. Because buying his daughters' new pairs of shoes every day was becoming too expensive, he declared that the first man to discover his daughters' secret would be able to choose any of the princesses to marry and would rule over the kingdom when he died. However, if the man was not able to solve the puzzle in three days and three nights, he would be banished from the kingdom forever. The enchanting daughters' gave wine to each of the suitors who tried to solve the mystery until they fell asleep so they could discover the secret. One day, a poor wounded soldier offered half of his bread and cheese to an elderly woman who passed by him on the side of the road. To thank him for the food, the old woman tells the soldier not to drink the wine at the castle and gives him an invisible cloak to help him follow the princesses. On the night the soldier stayed in the castle, he pretended to drink the wine and then followed the princesses, who escaped through a door that magically appeared on the wall. Once the princesses passed through three gardens (silver, diamond, and gold), they met twelve princes and crossed a lake to dance inside another castle. After he and the princesses returned to their own castle, the soldier decided to wait two more nights to ensure he was correct about the princesses' secret. On the third day, the soldier told the king his story and showed him a twig from each garden and a golden goblet to prove that he was telling the truth. When the king asked his daughters if the soldier was correct, the eldest daughter admitted that the soldier had outwitted them and discovered their secret. In the end, the soldier decided to marry the eldest daughter and they lived happily ever after.


In my classroom, I would assign a group of students (about 3-4 students) a scene from the book. Then, after writing a script and creating props, I would have the students perform in front of the entire class. Or, if any students felt uncomfortable having their peers watching them perform, I would have the students film their project on a FlipVideo. Then I would coalesce all of the students' clips into a movie, show the movie while the students snacked on popcorn and candy, and then have the students write a movie review to compare it to the Jane Ray's version of the fairy tale. 

The Twelve Dancing Princesses retold and illustrated by Ruth Sanderson (traditional/folk literature)

The Twelve Dancing Princesses is a story that was originally one of the Brothers Grimm's fairytales but has been retold in various scenarios. Ruth Sanderson's version begins with a king who lives in his castle with his twelve beautiful daughters. Every night, the king locks his twelve daughters in their shared bedroom and every morning finds that their shoes have been completely worn out. The king offers any of his daughter's hands in marriage to any man who can solve the mystery of his daughters' whereabouts at night. However, after many princes tried to solve the mystery of the twelve princesses, each of the princes disappeared. One day, an old woman walking along a road stumbles upon Michael, a commoner who had heard of the mystery of the princesses' worn out shoes, and she gives him an invisible cloak to help him solve the mystery.  After Michael becomes the castle's gardener, he decides to follow the princesses' at night by using his invisible cloak. Every night, the princesses' used a trap door in their floor to leave the castle and to dance with the missing princes at a palace on a lake. Each prince drank a potion that set an enchantment for the men to only love dancing. After two nights of following the princesses', Michael tells the youngest daughter, Lina, that he has been following them and knows their secret. When the oldest sister discovers Michael knows their secret, she invites him to join them and plans to give him the potion that has bewitched the other princes. However, when Michael is about to drink from the cup, Lina stops him and tells him the truth about the drink, which frees the other princes from their enchantment. Once Michael tells the king about the twelve sisters' secret, he chooses to marry Lina and discovers he will one day inherit the throne.


In my own classroom, I would have the students identify the different components of a fairy tale as I was reading the story. For instance, we could discuss how the book begins with "Once upon a time" and the author incorporates magic into the fairy tale. Also, if we had already studied the components of a fairy tale, I would have the students write their own fairy tale by either using the beginning of the story as a prompt or by letting the students choose their own topic. 

Rosa by: Nikki Giovanni (historical fiction)

Nikki Giovanni's book illustrates the Civil Rights Movement era and the story of Rosa Parks, an African American seamstress from Montgomery, Alabama. One early December afternoon, she changed the course of history when she was arrested for refusing to listen to James Blake, the bus driver who asked her to move from the neutral section of the bus to the crowded black section at the back of the bus. As a result of Mrs. Park's courageous actions, she helped to inspire the Women's Political Council to initiate the Montgomery Bus Boycott to further the Civil Rights Movement. 


After conducting a read aloud with the entire class, I would have the students discuss whether or not Rosa Parks was treated fairly. I would have the students either discuss or write about what they would do if they saw someone being treated unfairly based on their race, ethnicity, or gender. In the future, I would use Giovanni's book as either a way to discuss equity and to promote classroom community.