Woods Runner

This Historical fiction novel was written by Gary Paulsen. There is no illustrator 

in this story as it is a chapter book. It is intended for readers Grade 6-8, it is 

cautioned for readers, because of some violence.

Author Gary Paulsen grew up in a rough childhood and ran away from home at the

age of fourteen. His love for books all started when the local Librian gave him his

first card and a book. He discovered then that books could be a great companionship.

Woods Runner is set in the Revolutionary War with thirteen year old Samuel. Samuel  and his parents live off in the woods and one day while he is out hunting alone British soldiers come and destroy his village, and kidnap his parents. Frantic Samuel chases after them, meeting a host of great characters along the way. One of which is good ole Coop, Coop and his men find young Samuel after an Indian almost kills him with his tomahawk. Samuel survives this attack and sets off again to find his parents. He next comes along a great family with a young little girl named Annie. After Annie's parents are killed and her home destroyed. He takes Annie with him as he runs into a few other men who welcome them in and help rescue young Samuel's family. The story leaves you in suspense as they rescue Ma and Pa from the British, only to be caught again. 

This story is great for young readers, as they can imagine being in Samuel's shoes, only to discover all their hard work may have not paid off. A lot of my students where I work would be able to relate to this story as many of them are avid hunters and survivors. I am not one to like reading, but this story kept me captivated and on my seat t see if Samuel would again find his family and get out alive. 

Thought Provoking Questions:

• Do you think at the age of just thirteen, you would be able to survive and rescue your parents from the British?
• What do you think will happen to Samuel and his family after the end of the story?
• What made Samuel decide to take little Annie in and not just leave her to be, after only knowing her a few hours?

Motivational Activity:

Students can reference the different vocabulary throughout the text and learn more about different words they do not know or understand. They can also place themselves in the shoes of the different characters and retell the story from their point of view (this you will see in the video below, created by my last semester class). This story can be used to explain different things that went on during the Revolutionary war and have them compare and contrast from them until now too. 

Reference:

 Paulsen, G. (2010). Woods runner. New York: Wendy Lamb Books.

 Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen | Scholastic.com. (n.d.). Retrieved February 12, 2016, from        http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/woods-runner#cart/cleanup 

Little Red Riding Hood

This bilingual tale of Little Red Riding Hood was written by The Brothers Grimm, and illustrated by Pau Estrada. It is intended for readers Kindergarten through 2nd and published in 1993.

Authors The Brothers Grimm are well known story tellers and nothing is different in this classic retold story of Little Red Riding Hood.

In this version little red is going to se her ill grandmother deep within the forest. She is to bring her some honey and pie, but the sly ole wolf has other plans for little red. After running into her in the forest he sneeks off and beats her to grandmothers. Quickly gulping down grandmother, he changes into her nightgown and jumps into bed. Waiting for the unsuspecting little red to show up.

Once she does though he wastes no time in gulping her up too. Only to find himself full and sleepy he lays down and takes a nap snoring away. It's this snoring that catches the ear of hunter in the woods. Thankfully for grandma and little red, he comes to the rescue cutting them out of his belly and free at last form the evil wolf. Before he awakens red stuffs two rocks in his belly and sews him up, and shortly after the wolf dies.

Illustrator Pau Estrada uses colorful images to turn this grim story into a more bright and happy ending. The use of simple pictures throughout make this classic tale come to life once again even in the darkness of poor grandmother and little red.

I love how the story is told just as the classic tale, but has a few changes that make it softer and more unique. I enjoyed being able to see it both written in English and Spanish, and with this and a few other classics think it could make for some easy understandings. As it's language and use of pictures is quit simple and pristine.

Thought Provoking Questions:

• Do you think that Red should have listened to her mother when she told her not to dally through the forest, and make it right to grandmothers house?
• Why do you think this story has a different ending than the other Little Red Riding Hood stories you've heard before?
• If you were Red do you think you would have stopped along the way and talked to a wolf?

Motivational Activity:

This story and all of the other LRRH stories teach a great lesson within. One I think would be a great time to discuss with the children, and what they think could happen if little red hadn't talked to the wolf. Children can rewrite the story and put in their own endings and parts, or can tell the story from another characters point of view. Have them think about what the wolf, or red's mother would think and how would they retell this story? 

Reference: 

 Sn̈z, B. A., & Garcia, G. (1993). A Gift from Papa Diego Un regalo de Papa Diego. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press. 

A Gift from Papa Diego

A gift from Papa Diego was written by Benjamin Saenz
and illustrated by Geronimo Garcia. It is an ESOL endorsed
story for children Kindergarten through 2nd.

Author Benjamin Saenz grew up in Mexico on a farming village. Growing up in Mexico and having a family that mostly only spoke English, Saenz had to learn much of his English from his siblings and watching cartoons. This story was inspired by those cartoons, as he loved to watch Superman, Spiderman, Batman, and all the heros.








In this story Little Diego lives far away from his Papa Diego,
but wishes to be close to him, because he misses and loves
him so much. Little Diego is having trouble trying to understand
why his Papa can't be with him. As his father tries to explain
it to him, he gives him some old comics he use to love to read as a child.

As Little Diego reads his new comics, he dreams of flying like
Super Man to go and visit his Papa in Chihuahua. With his
birthday in just 2 weeks, he prays and prays for a Super Man
suit. He instead gets a surprise on his birthday when his Papa
comes all the way to El Paso to visit him and fulfills his birthday
wishes.

Illustrator Geronimo Garcia really brings this story to life with his use

of clay sculptures and bold colors. One can see the emotions and expressions 

needed to capture this heart felt story. Garcia even take the clay workings 

throughout the story by adding them in on the words of the story too.

Adding a few special touches with little pictures to match what is

going on at that moment.

This story can be used in the classroom with bilingual children in it and also 

ones without. One of the great features this story offers is a story page

split in two and one side is in English and the other in Spanish. Really

allowing for diversity and encouraging both reads to learn more.

Discussion Provoking Questions:  

• Do you think that Little Diego believed he could fly and go see his Papa?
• Have you ever been away from someone that you missed and loved very much? If so what did you do to help you feel better?
• Why do you think they retell Little Diego the story of his birth every year on his birthday?

Motivational Activity:

I thought with Valentine's right around the corner and a story full of love! What a better way to incorporate them together. In this story Little Diego loves his Papa very much but he can't understand how his Papa can love living in Mexico and love him all at the same time. So, this activity would have students making hearts out of construction paper. They can use whatever color they want and once finished completely they could decorate, After they have cut out their hearts start talking to them about different things they love and why they love it. Then ask them to choose someone they know, who they would like to give their big heart of love to, Have them write or draw pictures on their heart showing or telling that person all about why they love them. This is a great way for children to express themselves and learn about loving one another. 

Reference: 

 Sn̈z, B. A., & Garcia, G. (1998). A Gift from Papa Diego Un regalo de Papa Diego. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press. 

Jack and the Red Beanstalk

Jack and the Red Beanstalk was written by Aphrodyi Antoine and Illustrated by Ebony Glenn. Intended for ages 5-9 or grades 1st-5th.

Aphrodyi Antoine is a mother of 2 young and very energetic boys. With having her boys she wanted to give them assess to, an appreciation of, and an understanding of different cultures.

She did this by writing this classic tale of Jack and the Beanstalk and turned it into Jack and the Red Beanstalk. Just as in the classic Jack wants to please everyone, but what happens turns out to be something different than young Jack would have thought. 

Jack dreams of being the town hero and just as in the classic tale he visits a world of giants in the town of Hewa. Jack's Grandpa tells him stories and those stories than unfold into Jack's own life. With the help of Grandpa and some very special tools past down from generation to generation. Jack is able to too defeat the giants and become a hero.

               Ebony Glenn's use of  whimsical, light-hearted, and 

colorful designs, bring this known classic to us

 and gives it a nice twist. Even traditional folktale

 loves alike will be drawn in by this new style 

and tale of Jack. 

Discussion Provoking Questions: 

• If you were Jack, could you be as brave and visit Hewa?

• What similarities do you see between this story and the original Jack and the Beanstalk?

• Do you think it was right for Jack to take the bean out of Grandpa's pocket?

• What do you think would have happened if Jack's parents got home and things weren't back to normal?

Motivational Activity:
How do seeds grow Science project. Give each student 3 different types of seeds, Corn, Bean, and Radish. They are all large seeds and are all shaped differently. Once sprouting, they all have different types of leaves and grow quit quickly. While handing out the seeds, you can talk with the class about the differences we see in each seed and how they think they will grow. Will they be as big and tall as those in our story? Students will get 3 ziplock baggies and paper towels. Have them wet the paper towels and place a seed in each paper towel and close it inside the ziplock baggie. The seeds will start to grow within 2-4 weeks and throughout the students can take notice of the changes from each bean and mark on a daily worksheet. 
  

Reference:

 KidZone ScienceHow Do Seeds Grow? (n.d.). Retrieved February 03, 2016, from http://www.kidzone.ws/science/seeds.htm

 Robot Check. (n.d.). Retrieved February 03, 2016, from http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Beanstalk-Heritage-Collection-Volume/dp/0990870804

I Love the Skin I'm In

  

The story I Love the Skin I'm in is written by Mayma Rapheal

 and illustrated by Haily Cryan. This story is 

intended for young children ages 3-8 and was published in 2012.

Mayma Rapheal, a young mother wanted to create this book to better

help her own daughter in understanding about the many different

colors of her friends. After her 3 year old daughter came to her

asking questions about why her skin was not the same as her friends.

Mayma set out to explain and give her daughter a better understanding.

Unfortunately she wasn't able to fully fulfill her daughter's curiosity and

decided to write an publish her own book, to better give young children

and answer. 

The story is colorfully illustrated and captures young reader eyes,

and in turns opens their eyes to the world and colors around them.
The illustrators use of pastel colors throughout brings an intensity
to the drawings within. The saturation of bright colors really draws
your eyes into this interesting and inquisitive adventure all about
loving the skin your in and your friends around you.  

Little Ruby and her mother engage readers by capturing and 

answering their questions about the many different skin colors.

This story gives readers a simplified version of how to answer 

some of those awkward questions about the world around us. 

While also teaching them to love themselves and everyone

around them.

This is a great book to help teach and show children that everyone

is different, but we are all the same inside and should respect each other
 for that. The artwork illustrated in the story keeps children engaged and the
content helps them to understand that differences are ok. Teachers will
appreciate the lesson taught within this book about multicultural diversity on

some, sometimes uneasy subjects. This book helps evoke answers

to questions many of our young readers. 

Discussion Provoking Questions:

•  Do you believe that the color of our skin makes us who we are? 
• Can you imagine a time when because of the color of your skin you couldn't sit by, or be friends with someone? How would that make you feel?
• What similarities did you notice about the children throughout the story?
• What differences did you notice about the children?
• Do you think that we should love and respect everyone no matter what their skin color is?
• When you think about skin color, what do you think?

Motivational Activity:

• First show the children an array of apples in different sizes and colors. Have the children make inferences about what they think they will find inside of each apple (Ie. brown, white, green, red). After have the children make a chart on which apples they think will be what color inside. Take the apples and and cut cross ways, so each apple makes a star shape inside. Show the children that no matter what color, shape, or size we are. We are all the same inside and inside all of us is a star!

 Raphael, M., & Cryan, H. (2012). I love the skin i'm in. Yorktown Heights, NY: Mom Pub.