Ubiquitous by Joyce Sidman and Beckie Prange

Sidman, J., & Prange, B. (2010). Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors. Boston [Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. ISBN: 0618717196.

Annotation

Joyce Sidman combines poetry and science to examine some of the oldest living evolutionary survivors on Earth. Ubiquitous celebrates these survivors’ unique traits.

My thoughts

Ubiquitous means “somewhere that is (or seems to be) everywhere at the same time. Given that these species are prevalent and exist all over the world many of them are overlooked or assumed to be simple. This book reveals that these prevalent species are anything but simple. They are survivors for certain reasons and while this may seem mysterious, Joyce Sidman writes about some of the unique traits of these species that have made it easier for these species to survive.

This book highlights these special adaptive species and celebrates their unique traits for informational blocks, poetry, and detailed illustrations. Key pieces of information make this book interesting for children for example“…it is said that industrious squirrels plant more trees than humans do.” Crows have been “observed dropping large nuts at highway intersections so that passing cars will crack them open!” “Geckos can literally break their tail in two to escape from predators.”

The timeline in the beginning of the book is probably one of the better Earth timelines that I’ve seen for awhile. It really puts time into perspective. A mass of lines wind around each other like a giant fingerprint and spread across the inside cover and title page. For the scale, each centimeter represents one million years. It begins with Earth’s birth at 4.6 billion years. Humans, only come into the picture at the end of the timeline.

The prints are also creative and appropriate. Everything blends seamlessly.

 These are an impressive set of poems that tribute our planet’s survivors.

Curricular connections

Elementary school science- Biology

Students can reenact this timeline and bring their own timeline into the class using a 46 meters long string and cards to label the key events. Different colored string can be tied together to represent the different geologic periods.

Lesson Plan
See 'Lesson Plan' page

Literary devices

Use of Rhythm

First Life

(a diamante)

Bacteria

Ancient, tiny

Teeming, mixing, melding

Strands curled like ghostly hands

Winking, waving, waking

First, miraculous life

Use of Allusion

“… I am Sheath-wing, beloved of ancients. You have never seen armor like mine. As the sun-god rolls his blazing disk overheard, so I roll my perfect sphere of dung across the sands.” – Alluding to the Egyptians and the Sun-God Ra.

“Who swirled your whorls and ridges? Was it the shy gray wizard shuttered inside you? I hear he walks on one foot and wears a magic mantle, trailing stars. O shell, if only I could shrink! I’d climb your bristled back, slide down the spiral of your heart. I’d knock on your tiny door and ask to meet the mollusk that made you.”

Use of Sophisticated language

Adaptability, diamante, diverse, mutate, photosynthesis, prolific, organism, ubiquitous.

Reading level/ Interest Age

Age 6 and up.

Reviews and Awards

Awards and Honors: Starred reviews in Booklist, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Kirkus, Horn Book; Junior Library Guild Selection; Publisher's Weekly, Best Books of the Year; Washington Post, Best Books of the Year; Kirkus, Best Books of the Year; School Library Journal, Best Books of the Year; National Science Teachers Association/Children's Book Council, Outstanding Science Trade Books, K-12, 2011; Boston Globe, Top Ten Children's Books of 2010; New York Public Library's "100 Best Books"; Booklist, Top 10 Sci-Tech for Youth; Book Links, Lasting Connections for 2010; Finalist for the 2011 CYBILS Poetry Award; Association for Library Service to Children Notable Children's Book; The John Burroughs List of Nature Books for Young Readers

Author website: www.joycesidman.com/

Illustrator website: http://www.beckieprange.com/

Media: linocuts, hand-colored with watercolor

Genre: nonfiction, poetry

Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi

Satrapi, M. (2005)- author and illustrator. Embroideries. New York, N.Y.: Pantheon Books. ISBN: 0375423052.

Annotation

Ten close-knit Iranian women get together to sip samovar tea, ‘ventilate the heart,’ and gossip about sex.

My thoughts

Embroideries examines a facet of Iranian women’s lives and introduces the reader into the inner chamber of a section of feminine discourse. What is really great about this book is that is takes the delicate topic of sex/sexuality and a group of women who are cross culturally believed to be reserved and demure, and illustrates all the bawdy and very funny discourse in a skillful narrative that puts “Sex in the City” to shame.

This is a biographical memoir from the best-selling author of Persepolis. It opens with the family sitting at the family table with Marjane’s grandfather thanking her grandmother for such a great lunch. The grandmother humbly and primely replies that “Satrapi” flatters her. (Using his last name out of polite respect.) The tone changes after they leave the table. Marjane makes a special tea (opium based) for her grandmother. The afternoon and night tea includes discussions where the female member of the family, friends, and neighbors get together to speak and ventilate the heart. The book is the discussion that follows. And the reader is the lucky wallflower to these secrets of the heart and other regions.

Oh, and do they ventilate the heart. They tell stories of lost lovers, lovers that need to get lost, nagging husbands, adulteresses and husbands, husbands who are adulterers, inadequate sex, bad choices, lies, and personal wishes. Some of the stories are really funny while others reveal a patriarchal society where women are sometimes forced into arranged marriages. Importantly, the arranged marriage part of the story has a character (an aunt) who is modern and presents her point of view and encourages the mother to let her child marry for love and not wealth.

It is so nice to get a perspective from Tehran and Iranian women. In recent years, they have been forced around a shroud of secrecy and misunderstanding. It is really revealing to pull that shroud to see these extraordinary very modern women. Few books capture similarities rather than just showing the differences. This should be recognized as important in itself.

Curricular connections

Literary devices

Use of allusion:

“That’s life! Sometimes you’re on the horse’s back, and sometimes it’s the horse that’s on your back.”

Metaphor: The title and the association with historical female sewing/embroidery circles and the surgical restoration.

Reading level/ Interest Age

High school (Embroideries refers to the surgical restoration of one’s vagina to appear virginal. The mature ideas and the discussions about sex might be reserved for older high school students/ female readers interested in sex and gender).

Reviews and Awards

Best-selling author

Author website: No website found.

Media: Black sharpie

Genre: Graphic novel

Rose Blanche by Christophe Gallaz and Roberto Innocenti.

Gallaz, Christophe, and Roberto Innocenti. Rose Blanche. Mankato, Minn.: Creative Editions, 1985. Print. ISBN: 978-2921620802.

Author website: No website found.

Illustrator website: http://www.robertoinnocenti.com/

Media: oil paint

Genre: juvenile fiction, historical fiction

Annotation

Rose Blanche is fictional story about a German schoolgirl risking her life to secretly bring food to the imprisoned children in a nearby Nazi concentration camp.

Summary

Rose Blanche follows a group of Nazi soldiers after they arrest a fleeing boy and discovers a concentration camp. After seeing the imprisoned children, Rose tried to help by taking food to the camp daily until the town is liberated. Tragically, on the same day as the liberation, Rose travels to the concentration camp to bring food to the children and is deeply saddened to discover that the camp is gone. At this point, through the fog, “there was a shot.” Rose Blanche is killed by an allied bullet in the end.
 

My thoughts

Rose Blanche honestly depicts the atrocities of war. Because this is a story about World War II from the perspective of a young girl, the author does not provide historical details and doesn’t explain many things in the story. The effect of capturing the viewpoint of a young girl who does not completely understand the war is very effective. Most people usually do not understand what occurs during wars. Innocenti and Gallaz leave the reader intentionally unenlightened during many parts of the book to reinforce this feeling of limited knowledge.

Key concepts such as Nazi, Swasticka, Holocaust, Jewish, concentration camp, are also not mentioned but are descriptively shown in the illustrations. The tragedies of the Holocaust are expressed through imagery and limited language leaving the reader to follow visual cues and graphic allusions to the concluding events. This method of leaving symbols and events seen but wordless and unexplained is really a horrifying concept. These are unexplained tragedies, ruthless savagery, and horrifying monstrosities, but to Rose Blanche it is simple: she must help the children.

There is so much unspoken but implied in this book that will make it more appropriate for a mature audience. Then there is the disappearance of the children and Rose’s own death which was the result of a careless mistake. Even the final liberation is also not understood by the young child. Soldiers enter the town and are identified in the text as ‘speaking another language and wearing different uniforms.’ This book does an excellent job at bringing the experience alive but the reader should have a basic understanding of the war.

Innocenti’s powerful and very realistic paintings are amazing. These illustrations are what captured my attention when I was trying to decide on a book for this genre.

Banned Book

This is considered a controversial picture book. This is partially because of its graphic nature and mature content. This book truly captures the true horror of war and the feeling of being helpless. That is something that should not be banned. I do feel that teachers should teach the material to bring a complete understanding to young children to get the full picture. In addition, librarians should use discretion and should suggest this book for older readers already familiar with the Holocaust and World War II. But I don’t think that it should be censored or re-edited from the original text. Many things should be challenged, the Holocaust was a terrible event that many would like to forget. It is, however, important to keep younger generations educated and aware of these events and perspectives. Rose Blanche provides a springboard for discussion and allows children find a viewpoint that will in turn change their own. Hopefully, through witnessing Rose’s perspective young readers will become empowered. 

Literary devices

Use of symbolism: The main character is named after the "Rose Blanche" (or the French White Rose) was a group of young German protestors that were executed for their resistance to the war.

Curricular connections

Social Studies grade 4-8  (Holocaust, World War II, European front)

Humanities grade 4-8 (Discussion: historical fiction and narrative shifts)

Reading level/ Interest Age

There is controversy surrounding this book due to it graphic nature and deep topics. Because of this controversy and mature discussions (the Holocaust and Rose’s death), I would recommend this book for older students rather than elementary students.

Reviews and Awards

Roberto Innocenti received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Illustration, 2008

Mildred L. Batchelder Award, 1986. This award is given to an American publisher for an outstanding children's book that was originally published in a foreign country in another language.

Golden Apple, Biennale of Illustrators, Bratislava, 1985

American Library Association Notable Book, 1986

Boston Globe Horn Book Honor Book citation, 1986

John, Paul, George, and Ben by Lane Smith

Smith, L. (2006).  John, Paul, George, and Ben.  New York City, NY: Hyperion Books for Children.  ISBN: 9780786848935.

Annotation

The book tells the stories of young John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson with wonderful illustrations and wit to match.

My thoughts

Overall, this book is educational and fun. It teaches about the founding fathers and the early history of the United States with small bouts of laugh out loud humor. Lane Smith uses stories that show the ‘early signs’ of each adult personality (example: Paul Revere was loud) and how those traits (bold, noisy, honest, clever, and independent) would affect American history before, during, and after the Revolutionary War.

As a bonus, the book has extras such as facts on the Founding Fathers at the end. The also author admits to “taking liberties” with facts so he included a true/false section at the end of the book to “set the record straight” which is a necessary addition for readers.

Curricular connections

Grade school- Middle school: History: American Revolution

Literary devices

Use of Allusion: the titles link of the founding fathers’ first names to the Beatles and “Revolution” (Beatles song).

Reading level/ Interest Age

Ages 5 and up/ Preschool and up

Reviews and Awards

NY Times Best Illustrated Books: 2006

NY Times Notable Children’s Books: 2006

Publisher’s Weekly Best Children’s Books: 2006

SLJ Best Books for Children: 2006

Author website: http://www.lanesmithbooks.com/

Media: pen and ink. Texture was achieved by using oil paint on canvas, handmade parchment paper, and weathered pulp board.  Illustrations also used the collage technique to combine the media. (Information retrieved from the copyright page of the book.)

Genre: Juvenile picture book