Graphic Novel: To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel

Title: To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel 

Author: Siena Cherson Siegel 

Illustrator: Mark Seigel

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2006 

ISBN: 978-0-689-86747-7

Summary: This story is actually a memoir written by Siena Cherson Siegel. She talks about her dreams of dancing when she was only six years old. She takes readers on her journey of dance starting on the beaches of Puerto Rico, moving to studios in Boston, and then finally performing on stage with the New York City Ballet. The story not only tells, but also shows through her comic strip format, her journey of dance.

Evaluation: I really enjoyed this graphic novel. I feel like it is sometimes hard to find graphic novels that are geared toward young girls. However, this one really speaks to them. It takes readers on a journey of an aspiring dancer. The illustrations in the book are great, and they really go with the theme of the graphic novel. They are sketch like while also appearing cartoon like at the same time. I like that the graphic novel has a true story behind it, and that it is inspiring to young girls.  This graphic novel also is a Robert F. Sibert Honor book. 

Rating: I would give this graphic novel 5/5 stars. 

Graphic Novel: Nursery Rhyme Comics

Title: Nursery Rhyme Comics 

Author: Multiple, Introduction by Leonard S. Marcus 

Illustrator: Individual for each nursery rhyme 

Publisher: First Second, 2011 

ISBN: 978-1-59643-600-8

Summary: This is a very unique book.  It takes many of the nursery rhymes that all children know and turn them into comic strips for children to read. This book is unique also in that it has multiple authors and illustrators for each nursery rhyme.

Evaluation: I really enjoyed this book. It took the classic nursery rhymes that children are used to and switched them up a bit by putting them into the comic strip form. Some of the nursery rhymes are easier to follow than others. Some have text and illustrations all over the place, and it is hard to tell where to read and in what order to read the text. Overall though, I think that the book has the nice touch of taking something all children know well and putting a new, different twist on the topics.

Rating: I would give this graphic novel 4/5 stars. 

Graphic Novel: Hiccup!

Title: Hiccup!

Author: Mike Herrod 

Illustrator: Mike Herrod

Publisher: Blue Apple Books. 2012

ISBN: 978-1-60905-255-3

Summary: This is a cute story in comic form of a bunny who has a play one day at school. He is very nervous about the play, and tries to get out of going to school, but his dad does not fall for his tricks. Then, the bunny gets the hiccups after eating a big breakfast. He and his friends spend all day trying different things to get his hiccups to go away before the big performance. In the end, the bunny's hiccups go away just in time for him to be a star in the play.

Evaluation: This was a cute story, and it was fun to read it in a graphic novel form. It could have easily been written in more of a picture book style, but the comic form made it very interesting to read. The illustrations went very well with the story. They were very cartoon like and colorful and enhanced the comic strip theme very well. Overall, this was a funny story about a bunny who has the hiccups told in a long comic strip form, and it was done very well. It was easy to follow the speech bubbles, which is something I sometimes have difficulty doing with certain texts, so that was a plus.

Rating: I would give this graphic novel 4.5/5 stars. 

Poetry: Little Poems for Tiny Ears

Title: Little Poems for Tiny Ears

Author: Lin Oliver 

Illustrator: Tomie DePaola 

Publisher: Penguin Group, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-399-16605-1

Summary: This book is a poetry book filled with a lot of nice, short poems for the youngest audience. The poems are about things that infants and babies are learning about, such as walking, their toes, their first word, peekaboo, and daddy's beard. The poems are all very unique and are focused for the smallest children. 

Evaluation: I thought this poetry book was just adorable. I never thought of poems for babies, but after reading a bunch of the poems it makes perfect sense. I like that the poems are geared toward such a young age, and that they are aimed for learning. The poems are all about things that curious babies are always interested in or wonder about. The rhyming is also good for babies, as it can be soothing to them. The illustrations are also engaging...they are bright and colorful, and feature all small babies. 

Rating: I would give this book 5/5 stars. 

Poetry: Book Speak! Poems about Books

Title: Book Speak! Poems about Books 

Author: Laura Purdie Salas

Illustrator: Josee Bisaillon

Publisher: Clarion Books, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-547-22300-1

Summary: This is a book that is filled with poems about books and reading. The book has many little poems within it. All of the poems relate to reading in one way or another, whether it be a poem about paper, or a poem about the aspects of books, such as the index.

Evaluation: I really liked this poetry book! The illustrations were amazing and really kept me engaged. Also, the fact that the book is filled with poems about books and reading is genius to me. It's a way for kids to learn about reading and learn about elements of reading while physically reading a fun book as they do it. 

Rating: I would give this book 5/5 stars. 

Poetry: A Family of Poems

Title: A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children 

Author: Caroline Kennedy

Illustrator: Jon J. Muth

Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children, 2005

ISBN: 00-7868-5111-2

Summary: This is a big book full of multiple poems for children. In the beginning, the ooh actually has a table of contents, which breaks the poems down into categories. Some categories are About Me, That's So Silly!, Animals, The Seasons, The Seashore, Adventure, and Bedtime. There are even foreign poems in other languages that are part of this poetry book. 

Evaluation: This book is full of awesome poems for children. All of the ones that I read I really enjoyed. Each poem also has an illustration with it, which can make it more fun for children. Some poems are short and some are long, but they are all entertaining. I like that the author specifies in her introduction that these are her favorite poems specifically for children. The book is full of color, life, and poems. 

Rating: I would give this book 5/5 stars.

Historical Fiction: Pink and Say

Title: Pink and Say

Author: Patricia Polacco

Illustrator: Patricia Polacco

Publisher: Philomel Books, 1994

ISBN: 0-399-22671-0

Summary: This is a book about the Civil War. In the story, a young 15-year-old white man named Say is shot, and a young black man finds him, named Pink. Say talks about how he had never seen someone of color up close before. Then, Pink carries the wounded Say all the way back to his mother's home, where they stay to heal. While at home, the boys each talk about their war experiences, and how they survived. Pink also tells Say about the days of being a slave in the south, as he and his mother still live on the rubbles of the plantation where he was born.  The boys then made a plan to leave and head back to war, as staying at home was putting the mother in danger. Before they could leave, though, the marauders were at the door, and everyone was in danger. In the end, the mother gets shot trying to protect the two boys, and the boys try to escape, but end up in a Confederate camp.

Evaluation: Overall, this book was very informative about the events that went on during this time period. It not only talked about the war, but it also talked about slavery too, which added even more history to it. The illustrations were well done and seemed to go with the time period, more than being modern. The text was sometimes hard to follow, as it was written with accents in it, and it was even hard for me to sometimes figure out what the character meant to say. I definitely think that this picture book is aimed at an older audience. There are some harsh illustrations, and the story itself is mature and tough to read. However, it is extremely informative and would teach a lot to children about this historical time. 

Rating: I would give this book 4/5 stars. 

Historical Fiction: The Cart that Carried Martin

Title: The Cart the Carried Martin

Author: Eve Bunting 

Illustrator: Don Tate

Publisher: Charlesbridge, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-58089-387-9

Summary: This is a historical fiction picture book about the cart that was used to carry Martin Luther King Jr. to his funeral services. The story begins with people finding the cart, and then they have to borrow the cart from the store, because the store was never open for them to buy it. They painted the cart green, just like he would have wanted. The story then progresses through the journey that the cart makes, carrying Martin Luther King Jr.'s casket. In the end, readers learn that the cart was placed in a museum, so others could admire its great historical significance. 

Evaluation: I liked this picture book. It was interesting to me that the book was about King's death, rather than about what he did. However, there were lines in the story that hinted at what King stood for. The story was actually more about the cart than it was about King himself, which was an interesting twist on the usual Martin Luther King Jr. stories that most children may be used to. The illustrations were done well. There was a lot of color, but nothing was too bright, as the book was related to a death. Overall, the book talked about a historical event, but took the event from a different angle, which made the picture book different from others on the topic. 

Rating: I would give this book 4.5/5 stars. 

Historical Fiction: The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart

Title: The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart 

Author: Kristiana Gregory

Illustrator: None

Publisher: Scholastic, Inc., 1996

ISBN: 0-590-22653-3

Summary: This book is part of the well-known Dear America series. These books take young readers through the lives of girls who lived during important parts of our history. This book is the diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, who lived during the Revolutionary War. It took place in Valley Forge, Pa in 1777. The book takes us through each of Abigail's days as a young girl during this tough time in American history.

Evaluation: Growing up, I absolutely loved the Dear America series. I owned and read every single book in the series, and The Winter of Red Snow is one of my favorites. There are no illustrations in the books, which make them more appropriate for older, independent readers. However, they are both educational and entertaining. As a reader, you get to feel like you are actually experiencing these historical events because the book is written in the form of a diary. With the Winter of Red Snow, you can feel like you really experienced the Revolutionary War. At the same time, though, while fiction, it is still very informative of the actual events that went on during the war.  This book series is a great way to teach about historical events, while making it fun to read about, and not like you are reading out of a text book.  A downfall, however, is that they do not appeal to young boys, as they are always written from a young girl's perspective. 

Rating: I would give this book 5/5 stars, along with all of the other Dear America books in the series. 

Informational Text: Goodnight America

Title: Goodnight America 

Author: Adam Gamble 

Illustrator: Suwin Chan

Publisher: Our World of Books, 2006

ISBN: 978-0-9777979-5

Summary:  This is a board book that is also informational. The idea of the book is that it takes children all around America, to different things that America offers. The children visit the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon, the city, the desert, the islands, Niagara Falls, along with many other places. At each stop, we learn a little something about each place. "Wow! See the Grand Canyon, carved into the land by the Colorado River" is an example of how the author informs readers about the place the children are visiting on their journey.

Evaluation: I thought that this informational text was unique in that it is telling the information from the perspective of the children in the book. Through the book, readers learn about a lot of the great things that America has to offer. The illustrations are very cartoon-like, and the children are present in every place that they go, so it is almost as if the child reading the book is there with the children in the book. Overall, I liked that the book took children to all sorts of different places and that the author really made the information presented in the text relatable to children.

Rating: I would give this book 4/5 stars. 

Informational Text - Fire! Fire!

Title: Fire! Fire! 

Author: Gail Gibbons 

Illustrator: Gail Gibbons

Publisher: Scholastic, Inc., 1884

ISBN: 0-590-46478-7

Summary: This is an informational text about what happens when there is a fire. It talks about things that start fires, how the fire company responds to the fire, what the fire company does when they get to a fire, and the lives of the firemen. It also talks about different kinds of fires that can happen, and different places fires can occur, such as in an apartment building, in the country, in the forest, and on the waterfront. At the end of the book, it teaches readers about fire fighting equipment, ways to prevent a fire, and what to do if there is a fire.

Evaluation: I thought that this book was definitely full of information. This could also be a hard subject to talk to children about, so telling it in a story form could be a way to help capture their attention. I really enjoyed how Gibbons was really just explaining and giving information throughout the text, but she really made it sound like a short story. The illustrations were very cartoon like, but also very realistic, especially when looking at the fire trucks and equipment. Overall, this book was filled with information on a very important topic to teach to children, and this book could easily be something that a child finds enjoyable to read, as it still sounds like a story.

Rating: I would give this book 5/5 stars. 

Informational Text - Move!

Title: Move!

Author: Steve Jenkins

Illustrator: Robin Page

Publisher: Houghton Muffin Company, 2006

ISBN: 978-0618-64637-1

Summary: This is an informational texts that teaches readers all about different animals and the way that they move. It begins by telling the readers that animals move in all different ways. Then, the book goes through different animals and how they move, such as swinging, walking, diving, sliding, floating, and waddling. 

Evaluation: This book was definitely informational. The illustrations were a lot of fun to look at and added some fun to the topic. The way the words were positioned on the page to help demonstrate the movement that was being covered was a unique addition. The book also spoke about the animals in the right context, such as a "colony" of penguins. At the end of the book, in a sort-of glossary format, the author explains each animal that was presented in the text, which could definitely be useful to children because Jenkins used some unusual animals that children may not know exist, such as an armadillo to a jacana.  Overall, I liked the concept of the book, I liked that Jenkins used some unconventional animals, and the illustrations were very realistic. 

Rating: I would give this book 4/5 stars. 

Fantasy - Zathura

Title: Zathura 

Author: Chris Van Allsburg 

Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg 

Publisher: Houghton Muffin Company, 2002

ISBN: 0-618-25396-3

Summary: This is a story about two brothers who are always fighting. During one of their fights at the park, the little brother, Danny, found the game Jumangi. Danny took the game home and started to play it, while his brother watched TV. When he was finishing, he found another board shoved in the bottom of the box. This one was a game about space. Danny did not do anything to the board, but a green card popped out of the board on its own. The card said "meteor showers, take evasive action". As Danny was asking his brother what evasion meant, the sky grew dark and something began crashing into their roof...meteors. The boys had to play the entire game to get out of space and back to earth.

Evaluation: This was a great story that incorporated fantasy with the realism of sibling relationships. There were typical brothers in the book who were always arguing, and the older brother wanted nothing to do with his younger brother, something that a lot of children can most likely relate to. The fantasy aspect of the book came in when they started to play the boar game. The boys were then in outer space until they completed the game. They saw planets, meteors, aliens, and even a black hole while playing the game, all from out of their windows and front door. The idea of fantasy really made this book fun to read. The illustrations were in all black and white, but were very detailed and very large. However, with the theme of space, I do think that adding some color to the illustrations here and there could have made the book more visually appealing, especially for children.

Rating: I would give this book 4/5 stars. 

Fantasy - Where the Wild Things Are

Title: Where the Wild Things Are

Author: Maurice Sendak

Illustrator: Maurice Sendak 

Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, 1963

ISBN: 9780060254933

Summary: This is a story about a little boy named Max. Max gets into all sorts of mischief. His mother yells that he is a wild thing, and sends Max to bed without supper. When Max goes to bed that night, his room suddenly begins to transform. He ended up in a world of the wild things, and he had fun being the king of the wild things. In the end, the wild things get too wild, and Max tells them to stop. He sails back to the world of his bedroom, where his supper is waiting for him, still hot. 

Evaluation: I really enjoyed reading Where the Wild Things Are, as I have never read it before. I love the aspect of adventure that the book brings to life. The illustrations are filled with texture and dimension, making them very appealing and fun to look at for children. The world that is created by Max's imagination shows children that using their own imagination can be a lot of fun.

Rating: I would give this book 5/5 stars. 

Fantasy - The Polar Express

Title: The Polar Express

Author: Chris Van Allsburg 

Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg 

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985

ISBN: 0-395-38949-6

Summary: Most of us know the story of the Polar Express. It is about a little boy who is losing his belief in Santa. He wakes up in the middle of the night to a train sitting on his street. After much, debate, he gets onto the train and goes for a magical journey with a lot of new friends to the North Pole. The little boy gets the special first gift of Christmas, which was one of Santa's bells. Only true believers could hear the bell ring. Even after the little boy's friends had all lost the sound of the bell, he could still hear it.

Evaluation: I love this Christmas story. There are definitely fantasy elements present in this book, as a magical train just appears to take the children to the North Pole to see Santa. Another form of fantasy is present in the whole aspect of being able to hear the bell.  I think that this story would be very entertaining for children, I even still love the movie as an adult. The illustrations in the book are also very life like and realistic, which can make the children feel like they are on the Polar Express, as well. This book allows children to open their imaginations while also enjoying the fun of Christmas.

Rating: I would give this book 5/5 stars. 

Realistic Fiction - Too Much Glue

Title: Too Much Glue

Author: Jason Lefebvre

Illustrator: Zac Retz

Publisher: Flashlight Press, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-9362612-7-7

Summary: This is a story about Matty, who has a habit of using too much glue in art class at school.  His teacher warns him about using too much glue, but Matty and his dad love glue, and play with it at home all the time to make neat things. However, one day at school Matty uses way too much glue, and he end up getting stuck in the glue after he jumps into it. His friends, his art teacher, the school nurse, and even the principal try to get Matty out of the glue, but no one is successful.  In the end, it is Matty's dad who gets his son out of the glue. The principal suggests that Matty use tape instead of glue, and that is exactly what Matty and his father decide to do. They spend their evening making fun things out of tape instead of out of glue.

Evaluation: This realistic fiction book was also very cute, and I think it is something that a lot of kids can relate to, because a lot of kids tend to use too much glue. This story turns a matter that children may get scolded for into something fun for them to read about. The illustrations are also very fun. The entire book is extremely colorful and detailed. The illustrations take up the entire page and are definitely the focus of the book. The font used for the text goes with the illustrations very well, too. It was also nice to see a father figure in this book, which is something that a lot of picture books don't typically have. 

Rating: I would give this book 4/5 stars. 

Realistic Fiction - Knuffle Bunny Free

Title: Knuffle Bunny Free 

Author: Mo Willens

Illustrator: Mo Willems

Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, 2010

ISBN: 978-0-06-192957-1

Summary: This is a story about a little girl, Trixie, who is going on her first big trip to visit her Oma and Opa in Holland. She is excited about the traveling experience, and takes readers on her entire journey through the airport. When her and her family get to Holland, Trixie realizes that she has lost her stuffed toy bunny.  Her and her family search for it and call the airline to see if anyone has found it, but the plane was already on its way to China. Oma and Opa try to make Trixie feel better by buying her a new, better version of her stuffed bunny, but it does not satisfy Trixie. When the family is ready to go home and they get back on their plane, there is a small baby who won't stop crying. At the same moment, Trixie looks and sees her stuffed toy in the back of the chair in front of her. She is so happy that she found her old friend! In the end, she gives the stuffed bunny to the crying baby to make him happy.

Evaluation: I thought that this realistic fiction book was very well done. It taught children about traveling, and also about losing something that they are very close to. The text was fun to read, and the illustrations were very different.  The illustrator actually took black and white pictures of scenes and then put his colorful cartoon characters into the pictures, which is something that is very different and is a lot of fun to look at as well. The plot took readers through Trixie's entire trip, from the airport, to spending time with her Oma and Opa, to finding her beloved stuffed bunny in the end. Overall, I thought that this book was adorable and a fun read.

Rating: I would give this book 5/5 stars. 

Realistic Fiction - When I was Young in the Mountains

Title: When I was Young in the Mountains

Author: Cynthia Rylant

Illustrator: Diane Goode

Publisher: Pengiun Group, 1982

ISBN: 0-14-054875-0

Summary: This is a realistic fiction story told from a little girl's perspective.  The little girl tells readers all about her life living in the mountains.  She talks about her daily activities, things they do for fun, and chores that have to get done around the house, too.  In the end, the little girl tells readers that there is no where else she'd rather be, because the mountains are her home.

Evaluation: This was a very cute story of the life of a little girl.  The story was definitely realistic. It could easily take children into the past with its details about the kinds of foods they ate and how they got warm water to bathe. I liked the historical aspect of the book because it was still fun to read, and wasn't simply about the historical facts.  The illustrations in this book were lovely to look at. They were detailed and followed the time of the setting of the book. Overall, this book was enjoyable to read, while it still taught about a time of history that many children may not know about.

Rating: I would give this book 4/5 stars. 

Traditional Literature - Anansi the Spider

Title: Anansi the Spider, a Tale from the Ashanti

Author: Gerald McDermott

Illustrator: Gerald McDermott

Publisher: Henry and Holt Company, 1972

ISBN: 0-0850-0310-25

Summary: This is a folk tale about 7 spider, a father spider and his six sons. Each of his sons has a special gift or talent. When the father spider gets into trouble and needs some help, each of the sons uses his special gift to help get their father back to safety. When they return home, the father spider sees a bright, light globe, and decides that he will give this as a gift to his son who helped save him. But which son does he give the gift to, as they all helped? The father turns to Nyame, the God of All Things. They decide that since all of the sons helped to save their father, no son was more deserving of the prize than another. In the end, the brightly lit globe stays up high in the sky for all to see, and it is still there tonight.

Evaluation: I wanted to pick a story that I did not know about for one of the blog posts on traditional literature. I definitely did not know about this story, and I really enjoyed it. The illustrations are very original, and actually has a Caldecott Award Honor medal. This book definitely followed a folk tale theme. In the beginning of the book, there is a prologue (I assume for parents) that tells readers about the culture that the folk tale is from. I thought this was a neat addition, as parents can then educate their children on it, and use it as a bonus to help tell the story. Overall, the illustrations were so much fun to look at, and the folk tale taught a nice story of siblings working together to save their family member.

Rating: I would give this traditional literature book 5/5 stars.