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.