Response to writing an I-Poem for 2 voices

My I Poem:

Please click here to view my Cinderella I Poem for two voices.

The two versions of Cinderella I chose to read about were Moss Gown written by William H. Hooks and illustrated by Donald Carrick and Raisel's Riddle written by Erica Silverman and illustrated by Susan Gaber. The first book is about a young woman who lives on a traditional Southern Plantation. Her father is growing old and wishes to make plans for his daughters for their future. He says that the amount to which they each prove their love for him will determine the amount of his land they will inherit. The author makes it obvious to the reader that Moss Gown loves her father the most and the feeling is mutual, but her father does not understand her replay of "more than meat loves salt" and he gives the plantation to his two eldest daughters who subsequently throw Moss Gown out of the house (and later on, also their father). Moss Gown is forced to walk through the woods on her way to find a place to work. There she finds a "green-eyed witch woman" weaving a magical gown of moss that will turn gossamer each evening she wears it "as long as the Morning Star does shine." Moss Gown finds a job working in the kitchen of the house of the Young Master whom she subsequently falls in love with at a Southern Ball. Eventually, her father finds her and she is able to explain (through a meat-filled meal without salt) just how important salt is to meat. The second book is about a young Jewish girl who is very close to her grandfather and learns much from him during his life. After his passing, she has little inheritance and goes home-to-home in search of work, finally arriving at a home where the reluctant cook offers her a job working in the kitchen; she accepts. Eventually, she falls in love with the rabbi's son when she meets him at a traditional Jewish party where all the invitees dress as famous people who surrounded Queen Esther during her lifetime. (Raisel is dressed as the queen in the story.) She tells this young man a riddle one night that her grandfather once told her about learning and the rabbi's son is so intrigued by it (and her) that he searches for her after the party.

About writing I Poems:

I did a project earlier in the semester about Paul Fleischman, who has written several poems for two voices as well as poems for four and many voices and came to really like this idea through my research of his work. I believe that the poems for two voices are a wonderful idea and are very creative! If this were to be implemented into a upper-elementary classroom, it would be necessary to have a pre-designed format for them as we had on this assignment so the students could more easily focus their attention on the poem.

Personally, I really enjoyed writing my I poem for two voices. It was like a Venn Diagram in that it helped me see many of the similarities and differences between the two stories as well as compare it to the traditional Cinderella story. I think that this writing assignment could easily be done in a fourth or fifth grade classroom instead of a traditional Venn Diagram as perhaps a more interesting and upper-level way to compare and contrast literature.

The process of writing a poem for two voices requires a good amount of effort and a careful reading and comprehension of the text as the writer mush return to the works often throughout the process in order to compare and contrast the works for their poem. It might be helpful for students to make a chart or sketch their own Venn Diagram as a beginning point for the writing of their poem for two voices.

I learned much about the Jewish tradition through my research as well as a little more about the South. I have read Gone With the Wind, which does chronicle some of the truth of the South around the time of the Civil War, as well as many of the exaggerations of the time and took a class on Southern Literature and Culture, so I was already fairly well-versed in this topic before embarking upon the reading of this work. However, I did come across several interesting web sites that told of many Southern sayings and gave a humours look at the South and the ways we do certain things, some of which were actually helpful in my writing of the I poem. This sight was especially funny and interesting to me and did have links to very good information. About Judaism I learned about the traditional items Jews likely have in their homes, such as Havdalahs (braided wax candles) and Mezuzots (used as a way to keep evil spirits out) and the significance of this party and the re-enactments within to the Jewish culture. In addition, I learned about the Jewish Talmud, which is a collection of Jewish people’s laws and traditions, and contains the debates, humor, and wisdom of the Jewish people.

"Friend on Freedom River"

Friend on Freedom River
Written by: Gloria Whelan
Illustrated by: Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen
Published in 2004 by Sleeping Bear Press in Michigan
Genre: Historical Fiction (Multicultural Work)
Ages: Grades 3-5

Summary: A boy named Louis takes care of the farm while his father is away working in the logging camps. One night, as Louis is tying up his boat, he hears a noise in the bushes and finds three runaway slaves there--a mother and her son and daughter. The river on which Louis was tying his boat is the last thing they must cross in order to be in the free land of Canada, but it is a very cold night and dangerous to cross the river. Despite the danger of the police, which are just as dangerous to Louis as to the slaves, he decides to do what his father would, and help take the slaves to freedom over what would come to be called "Freedom River."

Response: I must admit that the pictures in this work where what drew me to it. They truly are remarkable! The emotion on the faces of these people depict the pain and fright they must feel. The colors are mostly dark since they traveled at night, but in addition to browns and blacks, a lot of oranges are used in this work. Every picture in this work is a double-page spread of watercolor art. The textures that Mr. Frankenhuyzen places in this work make readers want to reach onto the page and touch them. The one thing I was disappointed in was the depiction of Louis. There is just something about his face that did not seem quite right to me, but I cannot determine what exactly it is. Overall, though, the illustrations were remarkable.

Gloria Whelan's text in this work really makes readers feel as thought they are experiencing the fear of crossing this fog-covered dangerous river along with these individuals. One can almost hear the song the mother sings as they depart from the US shore about keeping them safe through their journey. One thing I learned from this book was that there were specific questions a white person could ask if he thought he was in the presence of slaves. This question and response session would tell the slaves they were in the company of friends. The white man would say: "What do you seek?" and the reply would be "Freedom." They he would ask: "Have you got faith?" and the answer would be "I have hope." Before reading this work, I never knew about those two questions helping slaves know to not be afraid of certain people. I also never knew about Freedom River until I read this book. I thought it was a refreshing change to hear about others helping slaves besides the traditional story of Harriet Tubman.

One of the most interesting quotes from this work is "Darkness is just daylight turned inside out." I think those words speak volumes. The quote really has less to do with the slaves and is more about the boy becoming more like his father, but the image that statement provides is vivid. It makes nighttime less frightening if one sees it in such a way, but I have never thought of night like that before!

Teaching Connections: I would have students write a song about escaping from slavery and completing their frightening journey. Students could use the song that the slave mother, Sarah, sings on page 32 of the work as an example.

Another idea is to have students continue the story. the teacher could facilitate this writing assignment on the overhead. Students could give ideas of what they think happens to Sarah and her children after they reach the safe house and whether Louis visits them the next summer as he promised and what he finds then doing if he returns. Then, the class could vote on which direction the story should flow based on those ideas.

(Image retrieved from http://www.embracingthechild.org/bsfriendfreedom.jpg on 4 April 2008)

"The Music of Dolphins"

The Music of Dolphins
Written by: Karen Hesse
Cover illustrations by: Greg Harlin
Published in 1996 by Scholastic, Inc. in NY
Genre: Science Fiction?
Age: Grades 3-5

Summary: A teenage girl covered in barnacles and salt is found on an uninhabited island off the coast of Florida. She is placed in the care of two research doctors who help her regain her knowledge of the human world and add to what little knowledge she originally possessed. This book details her struggle to recognize her humanity in a world she barely remembers anything about. She does not understand the television and locked doors of this world, yet she is faced with those elements of our culture regularly. Mila befriends another girl who was rescued from a condition similar to hers, named Shay. Sadly, Shay never seems to make the progress Mila does, despite all the assistance Mila provides for her. (Mila's success is also relative to interpretation.)

Response: The first thing readers will notice upon seeing this book is the text. The first thirteen chapters and the last ten chapters have very large print. This font represents the gap between her dolphin world and her human world. Everything in the middle has a regular-sized font, which represents things that happen to her in the human world. Sections in the book written in italics detail about her life with the dolphins and provide factual information about the lives of these creatures. This method of having text with a visual interpretations of an underlying meaning is very powerful. I believe it is something that teachers will certainly have to point out to heir students and discuss it with them for them to have a solid understanding of why the author may have written this way.

One of the most curious characters in this work, aside form Mila and Shay, is Doctor Beck's son Justin. He is somewhat similar to the two girls because he has come to accept that his mother will never find him as interesting as her clients, and so he has become introverted and less a part of the world in which he lives.

Mila is very passionate about music. Perhaps this is because she has lived with the ecolocational sounds of dolphins for the majority of her life and has become very in-tune with musical sounds. She is enthralled with Mozart and the fact that one day she might learn enough about the recorder to be able to play a song as complex as one of his! I believe that the idea behind the title is that nothing will ever be as beautiful to Mila as the music of dolphins--her family. Mila says: "I fell the music inside me. It says something more than just he notes, more than just he sounds. It is hearing with more than the ears. Like the way it is when I am with the dolphins. Or when I see Justin and Doctor Beck together. Or when Sandy talks abut her father who is dead. There is a way I feel when Sandy hugs me so good and long and her stiff hair brushes my ear and her good smell fills my nose" (76). Mila is describing how the feeling she gets when she is around music makes her feel happy just like being around family.

In this novel, one can see how society changed Mila's thoughts about the world and her life. When she sees her former self on television, she states that "I was afraid. I saw the girl with no clothes. I thought, this is a bad girl. She has no clothes. I saw her long wild hair. I thought, This girl is ugly with her long wild hair. I saw the girl with her eyes showing white. I thought, This girl has fear. I thought, I am happy not to be that girl. But I am that girl" (106-107). When Mila was first brought from that island she was unafraid and completely happy with herself, but once she got clothing and had her hair cut, she thought it was ridiculous to look like her former self.

Teaching Connections: After reading this novel with a class, I think it would be a great idea to have students take the idea of this story (perhaps with only the knowledge they are given in the initially newspaper article in the book) and have them re-write their own stories about this lost girl. Encourage students to think about making their text represent something in their stories as this author did with her novel.

Another teaching idea is to have students who are learning to play the recorder themselves write a short song that resembles the sounds of dolphins to them.

(Image retrieved from http://www.mlms.logan.k12.ut.us/%7Eckircalli/images/jpeg/music_dolphins.jpg on 4 April 2008)

"Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China"

Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China
Translated by: Ed Young
Illustrated by: Ed Young
Published in 1989 Penguin Putnam Books in NY
Genre: Traditional Tale--Folk Tale, Animal Tale (Multicultural Work)
Ages: Grades K-2
Award: Caldecott Medal Winner (1990)

Summary: This red-riding hood tale is quite different from the one most Americans are familiar with. In this tale three children are left home alone when their mother leaves to visit their grandmother one night. The wolf outside hears of her departure and decides to play a trick on the young girls. He poses as their grandmother, their "Po Po," and, of course, they believe that that is who he is. They allow him into their home, but one girl spots his hairy face despite the darkness. The girls plan a trick for the wolf by telling him that he will live forever if he just picks ginko nuts from a tall ginko tree in their yard and, because the wolf cannot climb, the girls climb the tree and then attempt to raise him to the top in a basket because the nuts only work if one picks them oneself. Eventually, the wolf dies from a fall in the basket that the girls planned for their own survival.

Response: I was really amazed at the similarities between the story I am familiar with and this one, especially considering that they were written in such completely different cultures. The illustrations in this work are very interesting and actually won the Caldecott Medal in 1990 for most distinguished picture book. I would consider this artist's renderings impressionistic because the lines in this work are not well-defined. In these watercolor illustrations, everything is very "fuzzy." The colors are blended together and not stark. All but two pages in this work are double-pages spreads and many of them are sectioned works, which are a favorite type of mine! There exists much color in this work, which is muted somewhat by the blending the author uses.

One illustration that I found very interesting was on pages 11-12. To depict and emphasize the wolf's hairy face that one of the girls noticed, Mr. Young painted the wolf's face with blue, green, orange, and yellow. I believe this was a very creative way to emphasize this and it certainly did catch my attention!

Another interesting thing I noticed about the illustration on page 24 is that when the girls are letting go of the rope, there are only five hands in the picture, not six. I wonder if the author did this intentionally, and if so, why, or if he simply failed to realize his mistake.

Everytime I read one of these stories, I hope that the children will realize that the wolf is not their grandmother before they let her into the house! However, this never seems to be the case. At least they do think of a very creative way to get rid of the wolf by themeselves before he hurts (or eats) them!

I thought the girl's idea of the ginko tree was very creative! It made me wonder what ages these children were. Obviously, they were old enough to be left alone. I also wondered why they did not go with their mother to visit their grandmother. Obviously, that would not have given the opportunity for the story, but one would think that they would want to visit their grandmother on her birthday!

Teaching Connections: Obviously, one thing a teacher could do with this work would be to do a Venn Diagram comparing the original story and this one. A teacher could even do a shaped Venn Diagram like the one mentioned with The Little Red Hen.

Another suggestions is to, after having read both of these stories, have students write their own red riding hood story from another country and illustrate it, possibly in sections the way Ed Young did this book.

I think this work teaches a great lesson to children that they need to be sure of who they let into their homes, not because it could be a wolf, but because bad things can happen from simple mishaps of mistaking one person from another. I think when reading this book to young children that it is important to stress the point of safety and I believe that this book offers that opportunity.

(Image retrieved from http://www.valdosta.edu/%7Erltowns/LON_PO_PO.jpg on 4 April 2008)

Picture of "The Little Red Hen" Creative Venn Diagram

For the two books: The Little Red Hen and The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza), I created a Venn Diagram of shapes/things represented in each of these works. For the traditional story, I made a loaf of bread and for the post-modern tale I created a pizza with the ingredients the book listed that the hen placed on her pizza (including the eight anchovies).

If I did this activity with my class, I would have made the cards with similarities and differences ahead of time, as I have already done, for this activity. When the class began, I would first read the traditional tale and then the new one. Then, I would get my cards out and call on students to choose a card and then, read it aloud to the class and then place it on the bread, the pizza, or in the middle, depending on which story it related to.

An added area of difficulty I put in my Venn Diagram ensures that students double-check where they believe the cards must be placed. I drew pepperoni and miniature versions of hens and wheat. Because pepperoni must go on the pizza, bread is made from wheat, and a hen is in both stories, a specific picture goes with each card. For example, if a student read a card that says: "The hen asks for help from reluctant friends," then that student will decide that that occurs in both stories, chooses the miniature picture of the hen, and places the picture on the center of the board. It is important to take blank cards and miniature pictures to the class that day so that students can add their own comparisons and contrasts to the diagram.

Because I placed handy tack on the back of the miniature pictures I drew, they attach themselves to the cards and the cards to the board. This also allows the cards and pictures to be easily removed from the board for use in subsequent years. The Velcro which connects the three pieces also allows for easy transport to and from school for the teacher!

"The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza)"

The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza)
Retold by: Philemon Sturges
Illustrated by: Amy Walrod
Published in 1999 by Scholastic, Inc. in NY
Genre: Traditional Literature: Post-Modern Tale, Fable
Ages: Grades K-2

Summary: In this modern version of the traditional tale of The Little Red Hen, the hen is hungry again after she finishes her bread and decides she wants a pizza. She is missing some ingredients, so she has to go to the store, but she cannot get any of her friends to go with her. When she returns to make the pizza, she asks again if anyone will help, but they all refuse. When the pizza comes out of the oven, she realizes that it is huge and she will need some others to help her eat it, so she asks her friends to join her and they accept. Unlike in the traditional tale, she does let them eat with her, but when she asked if the would help her with the dishes, they did!

Response: It was nice to have a better ending to the story than to the traditional tale. I always felt a little sorry for the animals who did not get to eat the bread even though they got what they deserved since they did not help the hen. Still, I was surprised that the animals helped her with the dishes in the end! It teaches the lesson that give and take is a big part of the world and we should help one another.

There are many similarities and differences between this book and the original. The hen is present in both, and her friends never seem to want to help, but are always ready to eat. Some differences include: the food the hen is making, the humor in the book with the addition of "and...some other stuff" on many pages when the author does not want to list everything the hen bought or did, the illustrations, and the animals that her friends are.

The illustrations in this work are cut-paper collage. Amy Walrod does a wonderful job making her illustrations look 3-D bu layering the pieces of paper. She uses many different colors to make her illustrations very interesting. She also utilizes a vast amount of detail work that makes readers want to remain on the page long after the words have been read. She takes the time to put colorful lids on jars, spokes on wheels, and words on jars. She even makes the main character look unique. I had to look at the book carefully several times before I found that the little red hen only has eyelashes on her right eye! Her picture is throughout this work numerous times and yet I had to really look carefully to find these small details! Many of these illustrations are double-page spreads that create a great flow through the work.

The text in this book creates suspense because on one page it will ask the audience to ponder how the animals will respond to the little red hen's request for help. This is also very interesting at the end of the book, when the answer has always been that the others will not help and they decide to take part in finally helping the hen. I think that will really stay in the memories of students because of the surprising ending!

Teaching Connections: I think that the project we are doing for my World Literature for Children class would also be a great idea to do with children. Teachers could use a traditional fairytale and a modern version of it, make the shape of something in each book, and use those pictures as the Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the two stories. (Please refer to the picture in the above post.)

(Image retrieved from http://www.toysandbooks.com/Fall99/LittleRedHenMakesPizza2.jpg on 4 April 2008)

"The Little Red Hen"

The Little Red Hen
Edited by: Diane Muldrow
Illustrated by: J. P. Miller
Published in by in 1990 by Random House in NY
Genre: Traditional Literature--Animal Tale, Fable
Age: Grades K-2

Summary: The little red hen finds a grain of wheat and decides to plant and harvest it. She asks all of her friends if they will help her in each of the processes in making and harvesting the wheat and they all reject her invitation. Once the wheat is harvested, she decides to make a loaf of bread and again asks each of her friends if they will assist her, but again they refuse. Once all of the work is done and the bread comes out of the oven, she asks who will help her eat the bread and then everyone wants to partake of the food. She decides that since they have not helped her at all with the process of growing the wheat or making the bread that they should not be able to eat it, so she dines alone.

Response: I remember reading this book when I was little. It taught me that if I want the rewards for something I need to help with the process of getting to the reward as well. I think that children need to understand that things we receive in life come after hard work. This book teaches, since it is a fable, that we should help one another to be friendly and because it will make us feel good to have helped. The bread would have tasted a lot better to the hen than it would have to the others because she worked so hard for what she got out of that little grain of wheat. The rewards we get, though we should not focus on the reward, but rather the act of helping, are much sweeter when we have assisted others and we should not be rewarded for not helping others. The other animals we just having fun and relaxing while the hen worked in the hot sun to plant and reap the wheat for her bread. They were not even doing anything to help themselves! I believe that the lesson that this book teaches is very beneficial to young children.

The illustrations in this book are very lively, colorful, and realistic (in a personified way). The lines are well-defined and their is a good mixture of single and double-page spreads in this work to make the story flow well. The last page of the work shows has no words, but shows the hen in bad reading a book and looking very happy with her decision to not share her food since she did not receive any help from her friends in cultivating and harvesting her wheat.

Teaching Connections: Teachers could have students write about how they think the animals felt at the end of the book when the hen told then they could not have any bread because they did not help. Also, ask students to decide if they believe the hen's actions were just or unjust and explain why or why not.

(Image retrieved from http://www.pureimaginationtoys.com/prod_images_large/4BECF4FA-A155-30BF-DD39D36FA1037242.jpg on 4 April 2008)

"Swamp Angel"

Swamp Angel
Written by: Anne Isaacs
Illustrated by: Paul O. Zelinsky
Published in 1994 by Puffin Books in NY
Genre: Traditional Literature--Tall Tale
Ages: Grades K-2
Awards: Caldecott Honor Book

Summary: This book is about an extremely tall young lady named Angelica Longrider, or Swamp Angel. She is of a quite unusual size for a human and is very confident in her abilities. One day she decides to sign up in a contest to win the prize for killing a bear that has tormented her town for years named Thundering Tarnation. Everyone says that getting rid of this bear is man's work, but the men find out how intelligent and strong this bear is and soon Swamp Angel is the only one left to fight the bear. She struggles through many trials and tribulations, but she ultimately defeats the bear--by accident!

Response: I did not quite know what to expect from this book when I first picked it up, but I was happily surprised that it was a feminist approach to heroism. I liked the book because it showed a girl as a hero to her town. Normally men get these exciting roles in books, but this time the fame went to a girl heroine!

All three types of characters that are traditionally found in this type of literature are present in this work. Swamp Angel is the hero (heroine), Thundering Tarnation is the rival, and a tree is the helper.

Most of the pictures in this work are double page spreads of watercolor and many of them are oval-shaped. Every picture has remarkable color. They are well-defined, yet of medium tone, except that the sky in each picture and anything in black shine through with amazing depth and clarity. All of the pictures are set within a border that resembles a tree trunk to reiterate that this story takes place in the forest. Forest settings are said to depict wild and dangerous things, and Thundering Tarnation certainly is that!

There exist a lot of very humorous aspect to this story, which make it very interesting. Swamp Angel's size is one of those humorous qualities as is the community though that waiting until she was two years old to build her first log cabin was a long time to wait, and having her pick up a raincloud and move it over a burning house to stifle the flame. She even used a tornado to help lasso Thundering Tarnation and drank an entire lake full of water when the bear was fighting with her! The character's names in this work are also quite humorous. Angelica receives the name of "Swamp Angel" because she rescued several wagons from Dejection Swamp and one woman called her an angel for her assistance. Thundering Tarnation gets his name from the words commonly used when he was spotted in the town.

There are several great similes in this work that stood out to me. Two of my favorites are: "To this day, stories about Swamp Angel spring up like sunflowers along the wagon trail" (5) and "Swamp Angel...swung the twister around like a giant lasso in the heavens" (16). Great similies make a reader see the image the author is trying to convey in one's mind. I certainly believe that Anne Isaacs accomplishes this with her similies!

The very end of the story seems to me to make it a little like a Pourquoi Tale because it says that Swamp angel took her bear pelt to Montana and it became the Shortgrass Prairie and that one can still see the imprint the bear made when she threw him into the sky. as a constellation. Because it seems to explain these things, I think this work might also be considered a Pourquoi Tale.

Teaching Connections: A great thing to do with this book is to bring in more traditional stories where the main characters are male heroes and compare and contrast those stories to this one. I believe that children will be able to easily identify numerous characteristics within this book that are similar and some that are unique as well. I think it is important to encourage the girls in the the class as well as the boys and give them literary examples of how they are heroes too!

A teacher could also use this book as an example of great similes in a language arts lesson.

Other teaching ideas are offered on Anne Isaac's website.

(Image retrieved from http://annettelamb.com/library/s/swamp_angel.jpg on 4 April 2008)

"Because of Winn-Dixie"

I watched the movie about this book several years ago, and although it was good, I must admit, that, as usual, the book was so much better than the movie!

The descriptions in this story are very unique. I love the way that Opal talks to Winn-Dixie; it truly makes him seem like a character with dialogue in this story. She never neglects to tell us how she thinks he feels, or what she thinks he is thinking about. For example, Opal asks him if he's ever been to north Florida and "Winn-Dixie looked down as the ground, like he was trying to remember if he had" (21). These descriptions really personify this dog.

There are other great descriptions in this novel as well. Although they are not all very detailed, Kate Dicamillo does not fail to give readers just enough information to intrigue readers and help them get the exact image of a place in their minds. She says that the church where her father preaches used to be a "Pick-It-Quick store" (32) and still has the store motto on the floor at the entrance, though her father did his best to remove it. From this imagery, one can almost see this small, older, country country town in Florida and the homey church.

There are implicit life-lessons in this book, which I think make this a wonderful classroom read. For example, Gloria Dump says: "...You can't always judge people by the things they done. You got to judge them by what they are doing now" (96). This is a great lesson for children to learn about not judging people before you get to know them. Another lesson this book teaches is about the Civil War and how war changes people. This could be a very interesting topic to possibly discuss with children since they probably know people fighting in a war right now. "Because of Winn-Dixie" also teaches about learning to let go. Gloria says that: "There ain't no way you can hold on to something that wants to go...You can only love what you got while you got it" (159). This is a very hard lesson, but in the context of a dog like Winn-Dixie who was a stray and helped Opal learn to adapt to her new surroundings in the town of Naomi, it is very applicable to children. In addition, this story also teaches about synonyms. Opal says the lozenges make her feel sad and then Gloria links them to sorrow, and her father connects them to melancholy. This helps increase students' vocabulary, which I believe is always a good thing, especially when done in such a subtle way as this book does.

Reading this book gave me two good teaching ideas if I were to use this novel in the classroom. Since the lozenges' secret ingredient is something that makes people remember sad times, teachers could ask the students to create a recipe of a lozenge that included a secret ingredient that would make them feel happy, like chocolate, etc. Also, since lists of ten are prominent in "Because of Winn-Dixie," relating to Opal's mother and Winn-Dixie himself, teachers could ask students to make a ten-item list about things about a special family member or pet.

(Image retrieved from http://syndetics.com/hw7.pl?client=crrlp&isbn=0763607762/MC.GIF on 19 April 2008)

Double Entry Diary for "The Thief Lord"

"Snowflakes whirled through the alley. They fell so densely from the off-white sky that Bo squeezed his eyes shut. Suddenly everything was gray and white--as if someone had erased all the colors of the city while they were in the shop."..."[The children] only had eyes for the snow. The cold flakes settled on their faces and in their hair. Bo gleefully licked one off his lip. He stretched his arms wide as if he wanted to catch them all. Hornet just looked up into the sky blinking. It hadn't snowed in Venice for years. The people they passed looked just as enchanted as the children. Even the shop assistants stepped into the street to look up at the sky" (191).

I love this passage! When I read it I feel like I am in Venice amazed at the snowflakes falling for the first time in ages. I really like the images in this passage of Bo tasting the snowflakes and trying to catch them all. The author's language truly makes me "see" the snowfall in this section. I can picture everyone being so amazed at the snow because they have probably never seen it before and are so excited to get to experience such a thing in their lifetime. One might expect the children to be fascinated by such a thing as snow, but the author takes this one step further and tells readers that even the adults were fascinated by this remarkable event in their city and came outside as if to see if it was really happening. I remember it snowing at my house when I was younger and how much I enjoyed it. I know I always had such a goofy look on my face because I could not contain the excitement of being outside and playing in the snow. This passage brings back those memories of my first few experiences with snow. It also shows that no matter what age we are, we always are somewhat child-like, with the image of all the adults' amazement with the snow event.

"The Thief Lord"

After reading this novel, I feel like I have just been to Venice myself, without the jet lag. Mrs. Funke's imagery makes readers "see" the city and the actions of the characters; she makes the words jump right off the page.

This work definitely embodies the qualities of outstanding children's literature that we spoke of in class. Many passages expand awareness of Italy, such as the descriptions of "...the maze of alleys in which every visitor to Venice gets lost in at least once" (339), and her description of the horses and winged lion in the Basilica, which actually exist there, as well as those of Venice itself, with its "houses on stilts, the roads made of water, [and] the lion's with wings" (132). She also made this work an enjoyable read by not overtly teaching. The aforementioned examples reference that, as do her lessons from Prosper throughout the book depicting his hesitance to steal, and the sporadic Italian words such as "Pronto" (145), as a way to detail how Italians answer the phone, and "Arrivederci" (239), as a way to say goodbye. These "mini-lessons" are not explicit, but are a part of the text and are lessons to be learned from this novel. Thirdly, this novel tells the truth of how humans would feel in certain situations. For example, Prosper and Bo run away so that they can stay together, which is a likely action to take as brothers. In addition, near the end of the novel, Scipio and Prosper want to grow up--Scipio so that he could control his own life, and Prosper so that he could become "...big and strong" (250). Throughout childhood we all have times when we want to become adults so that something in our lives will be different. In this way, Scipio and Prosper's feelings do reflect those of real children. This novel also embodies quality. One of my favorite descriptions in The Thief Lord was in Barbarossa's shop where "Riccio made faces at the masked lady smiling down at them from a large painting on the wall. This was his regular joke, for behind the lady's mask was a peephole through which Barbarossa kept and eye on his customers" (39). Mrs. Funke could have just said that Barbarossa spied on his customers, but instead she used vividly descriptive language so that readers could actually see the shop, the painting, and Barbarossa spying on his customers in their minds. Her descriptions show that this work does embody quality. This book also has integrity with a detailed and interesting plot set in Venice, Italy, well-developed characters that come alive in the reading, surprising plot-twists, and a remarkable writing style. Finally, this novel embodies originality, for example, I have not ever read a novel which detailed a story of an enchanted merry-go-round at an orphanage. All of these aforementioned aspects ensure that The Thief Lord embodies the qualities of a piece of outstanding children's literature.

I believe the most intriguing plot twist in this work to be when readers discover the truth about Scipio! I had thought all along that possibly he was not orphaned, especially since he did not sleep in the theatre, but I had not yet made the connection that he was so closely connected to the owner of the theatre, until I read that section of the book.

Mrs. Funke does a remarkable job of integrating fantastical elements into Venice. She incorporates the merry-go-round and the idea of being able to change from child to adult and vice versa into her real-world descriptions of the fantastic city of Venice. This incorporation makes the fictional parts of the story seem more real to readers simply because of the truthful descriptions of the setting.

In this novel there were also numerous connections to Carnival at Candlelight. Besides the setting in Venice, the most notable comparison was the lion imagery. From the very first pages of this novel, lions were prominent. There were lions in the story Prosper and Bo's mother told them of Venice, lions in Victor's office, lions in the Basilica, and Riccio even gave Bo a stuffed lion. Of course, the lion on the merry-go-round and it's wing were also critical aspects to the story.

The end of this novel left me with many questions, such as: How did Victor know that he had a meeting with Esther if she made the appointment while he was at the theatre? Even though Esther was so ready to break all connections with her nephews when she went to Ida's house, why did she not question that there was no sign indicating that that location was the orphanage? How did they fake the adoption papers for Barbarossa?

Even though I had several questions after reading this novel, I thought the overall story was very exciting and I believe that many fifth graders would enjoy reading it.

(Image retrieved from http://www.kidsreads.com/art/covers/0439404371.jpg on 19 April 2008)

"Carnival at Candlelight"

Carnival at Candleight

Written by: Mary Pope Osborne

Illustrated by: Sal Murdocca

Published by Random House Children's Books in 2005 in NY

Genre: Fantasy

Ages: Grades 2-4

Before reading "Carnival at Candlelight" I had not ever read any books in the magic tree house series; however, now I cannot wait to read more of them and eventually incorporate them into my classroom! What I loved most about this book was that it was more than just a fantasy novel for children, it also had many interesting facts about the city of Venice, Italy. I believe that the incorporation of such facts in a book of this type is a great way to teach students about a place they have never been without utilizing traditional methods of teaching.

One thing that I found most interesting about this book was that even the context of the story teaches children. Possibly because "Jack loved maps" (27), that might spark an interest in the same thing in a child reading this book. This book also teaches about patience because Jack's sister Annie continuously reminds him to exercise patience in their journey. Even though Jack is very excited he has to remain calm so they can both complete the journey successfully. "Carnival at Candlelight" also teaches students to make wise choices, not imprudent ones since Jack and Annie must ration their magic so it lasts for four trips.

Besides the wonderful story by Ms. Osborne, this story holds the interest of its readers because even from the first two pages, readers become aware that after this story, there are still three more missions to come for Jack and Annie before they know whether they will be able to use magic on their own! Not only does "Carnival at Candlelight" begin by grasping the interest of its readers, but at the end of the story Jack shares a remarkable discovery, making readers very excited that the next few books in the series could reveal if Jack's suspicions are correct!

As far as a lesson plan idea with this book, I think it could be used to enlighten students of customs in other parts of the world, to teach about a very famous ancient city, famous artists, and to present students with an interesting story they want to read. I think this would be a great book to use in the classroom!

(Image retrieved from http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/13770000/13777473.JPG on 19 April 2008)