The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) by Barbara Kerley and Edwin Fotheringham

Kerley, Barbara, & Fotheringham, Edwin. (2010). The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy). New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN: 978-0-545-125086.

Annotation

Based on thirteen year-old Susy Clemens’ secret biography of her famous writer father Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain).

My thoughts

Barbara Kerley shows a side of Mark Twain by using quotes from Susy Clemens’ journal. The book tells about Twain’s family and personal life and interspersed are Susy’s comments about her father. It starts off with Susy stating that most people don’t really know Mark Twain and that he was so much more than a humorist. Susy proceeds to describe her father. She writes about his flaws (smoking too much), his likes (billards), makes observations about his temperament, and describes his physical appearance. Susy gives the reader an honest account of one of America’s greatest writers.

Edwin Fotheringham’s bright glossy digital illustrations add humor and details that bring the reader back to Twain’s time. The illustrations support the text without distracting the reader. The journal “mini-book” pages inserted between the pages written with cursive with the misspelling of youth give insight and make this a good example of primary and secondary sources.

The book includes a timeless of Mark Twain’s life in the back along with instructions about how to write a biography.

Curricular connections

Elementary school 5^th grade- Middle school: Humanities/English: biographies

Using the page in the book, Writing an Extraordinary Biography (According to Barbara Kerley*), as a guide for students to learn how to write a biography. Then have them write a biography on someone who they know well utilizing observation, research, examples and quotations, and specific details. Students can use the mini-diary for inspiration.

Lesson Plan

See 'Lesson Plan' page

Literary devices

Use of Alliteration:

“the busiest bee in the household hive”

Use of Repetition

The cursive line work in the background of the illustrations which seem to represent Mark Twain's verbose nature and remind the reader that this is a story told from a young perspective. 

Reading level/ Interest Age

Grade 3-6

Reviews and Awards

2010 CYBILS Nonfiction Picture Book Award

NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended Book

Best Children’s Books 2010 -- Publishers Weekly

Best Books 2010 -- School Library Journal

Best Books for Children and Teens 2010 -- Kirkus Reviews

Best of 2010: Books for Young Readers -- Washington Post

Oregon Book Award Finalist

Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee

Author website: www.barbarakerley.com/

Illustrator website: www.edfotheringham.com/

Media: digital media

Genre: Juvenile fiction, biography

Memories of Survival Esther Nisenthal Krinitz and Bernice Steinhardt

Krinitz, Esther Nisenthal and Bernice Steinhardt. (2005). Memories of Survival. Illustrated by Esther Nisenthal Krinitz. Hyperion, New York.

Reader’s Annotation: Memories of Survival is Esther Nisentha Krinitz’s memoir of her daring survival during World War II in Poland, which she tells through her own amazing artwork made of embroidery and fabric collage.

Evaluation: When the Jews of Esther’s Polish village are forced to leave for a concentration camp, she decides not to follow orders, and it turn runs away with her sister, Mania. Memories of Survival is the true story of Esther Nisenthal Krinitz whose life and happiness was turned upside down by the arrival of the Nazis in Poland in 1938. Each page of this moving memoir features a large and colorful illustration that Krinitz embroidered and sewed herself in order to tell her story. Krinitz also wrote captions to go with each of her illustrations. Her daughter also contributes to these pages by adding additional details about Esther’s life or facts about Poland, Jews or World War II.

Memories of Survival is a heartbreaking, yet uplifting, story about a young woman who survived in the midst of turmoil and death. Her beautiful and meaningful artwork is a testament to her unwavering spirit and her book is a must-read for any reader interested in learning more about World War II and its debilitating effects on Jewish people.

Interesting links: Art and Remembrance Foundation at: http://artandremembrance.org
was created by Krinitz’s two daughters who also helped write and publish this book.
Media: Needlework, including embroidery and fabric collage.
Curricular connection: Middle school History: This book would be a great addition to a middle school lesson or unit of study on the Holocaust or World War II.

Luba: The Angel of Bergen-Belsen by Michelle R. McCann

McCann, Michelle R. (2003). Luba: The Angel of Bergen-Belsen. As told to Michelle R. McCann by Luba Tryszynska-Frederick. Illustrations by Ann Marshall. Tricycle Press, Berkeley, CA.

Reader’s annotation: Based on the true story of Polish Jew, Luba Tryszynska, who rescued fifty-four abandoned Dutch children outside the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where she was also imprisoned.

Evaluation: After reading this remarkable story readers will be amazed at Luba’s capacity for love in the face of her own grief. Just having arrived at Bergen-Belsen and grieving the likely loss of her husband and young son, she hears children calling outside. Her investigation finds fifty-four children standing in the frozen darkness having been spared by the German guards who were to shoot them. The haunting image of an infant lying in a pillowcase on the ground instantly puts the reader in Luba’s shoes - what would you do in that situation? Luba immediately snaps into action and hides the children in her barrack. As a camp nurse, Luba had some small degree of freedom and she was able to access scarce resources for the children. Her determination, resourcefulness, and love for her lost son saved these children.

The Prologue and Epilogue provide further details of Luba’s life and further information about World War II and the Holocaust. This additional information puts this story into context and would give students an appreciation of the danger that Luba put herself in to save the children. This book would also be a good segue to discussions on bravery and resistance during the War. 


Focus on the artwork:
The artwork is a combination of oil and collage and provides a true sense of what traumatic memories are made of - dreamlike, blurry edges combined with sharp, searing clarity. This patchwork effect is extremely effective since it is soft, yet detailed, and moves the readers focus to different areas of the picture - sometimes the characters faces, and sometimes a distant object like clothes on a clothesline.

Author website: No author website.
Illustrator website: http://66.147.244.106/~annmarsh/
Media: Oil and collage.
Curricular connection: 7th grade History: Concentration camp and Holocaust survival.
Awards: 2004 Jane Addams Honor Book award.

Irena’s Jars of Secrets by Marcia Vaughan

Vaughan, Marcia. (2011). Irena’s Jars of Secrets. Illustrations by Ron Mazellan. LEE & LOW BOOKS Inc., New York.

Reader’s annotation: This is the true story of a selfless, Catholic, Polish-born social worker, and how she smuggled thousands of children and babies out of Nazi-controlled Poland during WWII.

Evaluation: This book highlights what it meant for Jews to live in a Nazi-occupied region and what it meant for those who assisted them in evading Nazi capture. The seriousness of Irena's actions by defying the Nazis resulted in her life being threatened while interrogated by the secret police; however, she did not tell where she and her associates relocated over 2,500 children. Her heroism doesn't stop with only saving lives - she thoughtfully recorded and concealed the children's original names, false names, and where she relocated them. While many families faced losing each other and their children, Irena bravely offered them an alternative. She offered her best to save them, and families soon realized that the chance to save their children was far better than what was ahead of them if they remained.

The full-page artwork is painted in dark, muted colors artistically suggesting the oppressed feelings and attitudes of that period in history. Not until the last two illustrations there are brighter colors, suggesting the post-war period. In the Afterword, the reader learns in more comprehensive detail about Irena's life and how she finally received well-deserved international recognition for her heroism.

Author website: No author website.
Illustrator website: http://ronmazellan.com/
Media: Oil on canvas.
Curricular connection: 5-7th grade History: Heroic acts of resistance from non-Jewish people during the Holocaust.

The Harmonica by Tony Johnston

Johnston, Tony. (2004). The Harmonica. Illustrated by Ron Mazellan. Charlesbridge, Watertown, MA.

Reader’s annotation: After the Nazis invade Poland, a boy is separated from his parents. Forced to play his harmonica for a concentration camp officer for survival, the boy unknowingly brings joy to fellow prisoners.

Evaluation: Based on a true story, this is a beautiful and heart-wrenching book that follows a Jewish boy as he is separated from his parents by the Nazis and taken to a concentration camp. Allowed to keep the harmonica that his father gave him, the boy is forced to play Schubert songs for a Nazi camp officer. Unknowingly, the boy also brings joy to his fellow prisoners as he plays the familiar, beautiful music. Aptly named, this story highlights the universal nature of music and its ability to give hope in even the most horrible of conditions.

This is the first children’s book Ron Mazellan illustrated. The strong use of color to convey tone and mood draw your eyes to the illustrations. Warm earth tones are used to capture the connection and happy times the boy and his parent share, which then changes to cold and sombre blue and grey tones, representing the Nazi’s arrival and the boy’s new existence in a concentration camp.

Ron Mazellan has recently illustrated Irena’s Jars of Secrets, also included in this bibliography.

Author website: No author website.
Illustrator website: http://ronmazellan.com/
Media: Mixed media on illustration board.
Curriculum connection: 5-7th grade History: Concentration camp and Holocaust survival.
Literary element: Use of simile - “who might hear the notes and be lifted, like flights of birds."
Awards:
2004 Notable Children's Book of Jewish Content
AJL Sydney Taylor Notable Books for Older Readers
Independent Book Award Finalist (Picture Book 7+)
IRA/CBC Children's Choices
Jewish Stars: Recommended Books w/Jewish Themes
National Jewish Book Award finalist
Storytelling World Award -- Honor Title.

Why? by Nikolai Popov

Nikolai Popov- author(1996). Why? New York: North-South Books. ISBN: 1558585346.

Author website: No official web site found.

Media: pastel

Genre: juvenile fiction, war

Annotation

A story about a conflict between a frog and a mouse that starts out as a simple act of jealousy and quickly escalates into a full-blown war between mice and frogs.

My thoughts

This wordless tale, about a frog and mouse in a meadow, turns into a meaningful commentary on the futility and pointlessness of war. At first, this story was registered a giggle of understanding. This response quickly changed as the story and ploys accelerated.

The story begins with a frog sitting happily on a rock with a flower. Nearby, a straight-faced mouse also is sitting but with a yellow umbrella. The mouse looks over at the frog and decides that he wants that particular flower even though there are a dozen others of that same flower growing in that vicinity. The mouse casts his umbrella aside and bombards the frog with both fists scaring the frog and using the opportunity to snatch the flower for his own self. Two larger frogs defend the smaller and scare the mouse away. They dance and joyfully celebrate throwing dozens of flowers until the mouse returns with friends in a mouse boot tank arms with guns. The two parties each have loses and victories until the final catastrophe and they are left in a battle-scarred field. Everything is gone. There are no more flowers for anyone.

The seemingly simple and avoidable incident between the frog and mouse and shows how events can easily accelerate into a crisis’s then warped into a full-blown war. It demonstrates the importance of not only avoiding potential incidents that can accelerate but also the need for conflict resolution. This book would work well in a war related lesson plan to get children thinking about the effects of war. Being wordless, will allow students to interpret the story and draw their own conclusions. This should encourage students to become more comfortable with discussing this difficult theme.  

Curricular connections

History 4^th grade and up

Literary devices

Use of Metaphor: The battle between frog and mouse can represent war in general. 

Reading level/ Interest Age

Grade 4 and up.

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

Cinderella Skeleton by Robert D. Souci and David Catrow

Robert D. Souci- Author. David Catrow- Illustrator. San Diego: Silver Whistle/Harcourt, 2000. 32 pages. ISBN: 978-0152050696.

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

Ilustrator website: http://www.catrow.com/

Media: Pencil and watercolor.

Genre: Fairytale/ folklore, Halloween

Annotation

A retelling of the classic fairytale, Cinderella, told in a rhyming macabre verse, with characters that are ghoulish skeletons, and is set in a graveyard. In this story, however, Cinderella Skeleton loses more than her shoe.

My thoughts

Cinderella Skeleton is another retelling of the timeless fairytale with a touch of Tim Burtonesque dark humor that should draw giggles out of unexpecting audiences. Cinderella, as most expecting audiences know, is traditionally a story of unjust oppression and triumphant reward. There are thousands of Cinderella stories adding up to millions of words that generally fall into these same concepts and storyline. Cinderella is bullied by her stepsisters and mother, finds escape in a ball thrown by the Prince, also finds love in the ball, loses love, she finds love again, and then the happy ending.

The words for most Cinderella stories stay mostly the same. Except for the words in Cinderella Skeleton. This poetic rhyming book is very different than other versions of Cinderella. Through rhyme, alliteration, and its ghoulish concept, Robert D. San Souci makes this a unique and cleverly written tale that becomes more about the experience of the language rather than Cinderella’s standardized plight. Examples of alliteration in this story are “decayed decrepit/ withered wreath/ common clay/ pursuing prince/ witch’s warning/ burnished bones.”

In addition, this storyline and setting is completely displaced from the ordinary and usual version because of the unique slant. This is a story of the undead dead and takes place in a graveyard and its mausoleums. In contrast to the traditional character, this Cinderella “hung up cobwebs everyplace, arranged dead flowers in a vase, littering the floor with dust and leaves, fed the bats beneath the eaves: she shad no time for rest or fun.”

Contributing to the text are David Catrow’s spooky illustrations that compliment the lushness of the language. The skeleton stepmother is adorned is a lush fur collared dress while the stepsisters are more skeleton’s do fou-fou. Color schemes suggest the sunset, night, or sunrise with the exception of a bright yellow spread dedicated to the moment of Cinderella’s first connection with Prince Charnel. They add just the right amount of spooky creepy to keep the book light and humorous.

The challenging vocabulary, complex rhyme scheme, and the macabre theme made this book more suitable for readers in Grades 3-7 than preschoolers or a Halloween storytime for older listeners. I found this copy at the Taipei Public Library Da’An (Main) Branch.  

As a side note, I recognize that this might not be considered an “outstanding” picture book. The one that I was going to write about, American Born Chinese, is only considered to have folklore as a subgenre. I still would recommend it because it includes a basic telling of Monkey King and is a good book, but I did not know if it ‘qualified’ for this discussion post since the folklore part was not the book’s main focus. Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to investigate an adequate pictorial Monkey King/ Journey to the West this week, but it will make it onto my blog when I find it. I love the stories of Monkey King.

C01總館
398.2 S229	1	書刊	Due: 2012/7/11

Literary Devices
Use of Rhyme

Cinderella Skeleton

Heard Charnel say, “Your beauty burns

Like bonfires ablaze at night.

Your brightness fills me with delight!

Dance with me, lady, I implore.”

She smiled; he led her to the floor,

Where they waltzed with

Graceful dips and turns.

Use of Alliteration:

decayed decrepit/ withered wreath/ common clay/ pursuing prince/ witch’s warning/ burnished bones

Reading level/ Interest Age

Grades 3-7