Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! was written and illustrated by Mo Willems in 2003 and received a Caldecott Honor in 2004. I completely love this book. I like that the book is very interactive. From the start, the driver draws reader in by talking to him or her. The pigeon keeps the dialogue between reader and character going and makes you feel like you are actually participating in the fate of the pigeon. The pigeon is a likeable character that children can relate to. How many times have you heard a kid say, “I NEVER GET TO DO ANYTHING!”

Mo Willems has written and illustrated several children’s books including Knuffle Bunny, Knuffle Bunny Too, and several more in the Pigeon series. His books have loveable characters that the reader can easily slip into. I can’t wait to read this book with my class and play around with it!

Book vs. Movie 3 - The Spiderwick Chronicles

The Spiderwick Chronicles was written by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. I chose this book to compare to the movie because I have read the series and enjoyed them very much. The fantasy world created by DiTerlizzi/Black is exciting and keeps you on the edge of your seat. When I enjoy a book as much as I did these, I try not to see the movie if one is released. The movie hardly ever does the book justice. However, Spiderwick Chronicles comes pretty dog gone close. I was surprised to see how well the movie followed the story line of the book. What impressed me the most though was how the fantasy characters of the movie truly reflected the illustrations in the book. The special effects team of the this movie did an great job of trying to capture the look of the look of DiTerlizzi’s trolls and sprites. This is one story I thoroughly enjoyed seeing on the movie screen.

A Lester/Pinkney Selection

Black Cowboy Wild Horses A True Story written by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney was published in 1998. This book is about Bob Lemmons, a freed slave who went west to become a cowboy. Lemmons tracked a herd of mustangs, convinced the horses he was a horse, then took the herd over and brought them back to the corral to be tamed.

Julius Lester was inspired to write this story after reading an interview that Lemmons did in his eighties about the event. He was contacted by friend Jerry Pinkney and when they discovered they shared a fascination with black cowboys, they embarked on the journey to create this book. The story is truly inspiring. In the back of the book Pinkney comments on the fact that as a child, he did not even know there were black cowboys and learned later that on in three cowboys were either black or Mexican. Julius Lester’s depiction of the hero that Bob Lemmons was is an inspiration to young African American children everywhere.

Jerry Pinkney’s artwork in this book is incredible. The water colored paintings are so detailed and realistic. The picture on the page where Lemmons takes over the herd is probably the best in the book. The picture depicts the horizon with the mountains in the background and Lemmon and the herd in the foreground. The colors are beautiful. In the clouds above the horizon, Pinkney has outlined horses running with the herd. It is truly inspired.

Pinkney comments at the end of the book about how young boys’ (from is childhood) self esteem would have been enhanced had they even known the existence of heroes like Bob Lemmons. This book is a wonderful step in righting that wrong!

Julius Lester’s other books include From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, To Be A Slave, and Long Journey Home: Stories from Black History. Some of Jerry Pinkney’s othe works are The Nightingale, Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman and The Talking Eggs. Together they have worked on Sam and the Tigers and John Henry just to name a couple.

The books I chose to reflect the Cat in the Hat are the Junie B. Jones books written by Barbara Parks. I chose this character because she is constantly getting into trouble and making the adults in her stories crazy. Junie is constantly causing mischief of one kind or another without even realizing she is doing so or that she has done anything wrong. I think the Junie B. Jones books appeal to children because they can relate to her. They understand the way she thinks and why she does what she does. If I ask my students, “Why would Junie do that?” they can always explain it to me and explain why it is wrong.

The Lorax is didactic because of the lesson it teaches about how we must care for our environment. It is irresponsible to destroy our planet just to turn a profit. Are didactic children’s books published today? While searching for this answer, I have come to the conclusion that no…not so much. I believe this is because of the continually rising publication of quality multicultural children’s books. It seems that didactic children’s literature of the past was predictable and only focused on the dominant societal race. Minorities were usually not portrayed in these books and if they were, the portrayal was negative. Now that publishers are addressing this problem, didactic literature has fallen back or been rewritten to reflect our multicultural society.

Rosa - Coretta Scott King Award Winner

Rosa was written by Nikki Giovanni and illustrated by Bryan Collier in 2005. This book won the Coretta Scott King Award for best illustrator in 2006. This book also received a Caldecott Honor in 2006.

This story is about Rosa Parks who was arrested on a Montgomery, Alabama city bus for not giving up her seat to white people. The courageous act of this brave woman started a movement in Alabama and across our country. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. got involved with non-violent protest, the country started to pay attention to the injustices being forced on minorities. This book is beautifully illustrated with images pieced together in a collage fashion. The story is a wonderful depiction of the events that happened in the 1960s.

I truly enjoyed this book. Stories of historical events always hold my interest. This story reminds me of The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles. Both of these books depict the courage of truly courageous individuals.

Book vs. Movie 2 - Where The Wild Things Are

Where The Wild Things Are was written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak in 1963. This is a story about a little boy who, after getting into some trouble, imagines another world in which he is the king of the wild things. He has a great time romping with the wild things until he realizes it is time to go home. He returns to find his mom waiting for him with dinner. This book was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1964.

The movie for this book was released in 2009 and the Max in the movie runs around in the same wolf suit, after getting in trouble he takes off on a boat, and the wild things completely resemble the illustrations in the book. In my opinion, the similarities end there. I know that movie makers are faced with the problem of taking a children’s book and stretching it out into a film but I feel this one could have been handled better. This movie is very hard to follow. The wild things have some kind of relationship going on between them that the viewer is never really given access to. I find it hard to believe that many children would enjoy this movie because of the way it drags on.

The book has been a favorite of mine for a long time and I highly recommend it. The movie on the other hand was a total let down. Don’t waste your bucks renting it.