Martindale's Musings

There are a variety of awards that ALA gives to authors and illustrators. One that peaked my interest was the Pura Belp ré  Award.  I have created a GoogleSites to share some of my findings after researching.

Thompson, H., & McFerrin, G. (2011). Orchards. New York: Delacorte Press.  ISBN: 978-0-385-73978-8 Plot Summary: Kana is an 8th grader biracial Japanese-Jewish girl, who has a friend that has committed suicide. She has since found that her friend was probably bipolar and her other friend Lisa gave her a not that may have been the one to put her “over the edge”  Because of this, she is sent off for the summer to reflect in Japan to her mother’s family farm. She finds herself feeling the stresses of traditional Japanese farm life and a grandmother who is not so warm and welcoming. Analysis: Kana spends her long, hot summer days working in the Mikan Orange orchard, remembering and questioning about her friend Ruth's death.  She can’t understand why and how she did not see it coming. Over time she begins to enjoy the traditions, family, and work in the orchards. She even feels like her grandmother is coming around when she finds out another tragedy has hap

Hoberman, M. A., & Fraser, B. (2006). The llama who had no pajama : 100 favorite poems. Orlando, Fla.: Harcourt. ISBN: 0-15-200111-5 Plot Summary: This collection of 100 poems are all illustrated. There are several instances of more than one poem to a page.   There are different types of poems that compile this collection, which could be classified as an individual poet compilation.  Fraser’s illustrations are done in bright colors using watercolor and are mostly small and include details. Analysis: This book of poems can be a great introduction to poems for young readers. The varying level of reading complexity in the different poems allows to have a large range of students to benefit from this collection, as they are not overwhelming for early readers.  The range of subjects from animals, people, childhood fun, and other concepts like time, opposites, and up comparisons, would make this a great addition to an elementary campus/classroom library. One t

Lewis, J. P. (2005). Monumental verses. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic. ISBN: 0-7922-7139-4 (Library Edition) Plot Summary: Lewis put together a self written group of poems. Each poem takes up a two-page spread that has the monument in the background. The page spread has a small amount of facts and data about each location, before starting the poem.  There is a variety of poems types, from the acrostic poem about the Golden Gate Bridge to the Shape poem about the Great Pyramid of Cheops. The poems include many descriptive and historical details about the monument it describes, and readers learn much about the area of interest.  The epilogue is a great resource as it contains a map showing where the monuments are located along with a tidbit about each monument. Analysis: This collection of poems is enjoyable, it could be organized as a thematic book as all of the poems fall under the theme places, and it could also be classified as individual poet compilation.

  Florian, D. (1994). Beast feast : Poems and paintings. San Diego: Harcourt Brace. ISBN: 0-15-295178-4 Plot Summary:     Florian includes 21 short poems about animals along with his interpretation of the animal in the form of a watercolor painting.  The poems are funny and use rhyme to describe a good variety of animals. The watercolor paintings that are paired with each poem follow the same format and use the same amount of space on the page. Analysis: This collection of poems is enjoyable, it could be organized as a thematic book as all of the poems fall under the theme animals, and it could also be classified as individual poet compilation.  The book, or individual poems, could be used to introduce children to animals they may not know very much about as Florian uses his words to describe his animal subjects very well. The watercolor paintings are all the same concept of keeping the work within a set space on the page, and are a bit more on the comical and not necessaril

My next reviews will be based on poetry. Did you know that there are different types of poetry books for children? YES! Here are the types: General Anthologies Topical or Thematic Collections Individual Poet Collections Poem Picture Books Verse Novels Other Sources of Poetic Language