The Man Who Tricked a Ghost / Laurence Yep and Isadore Seltzer

Laurence Yep retells an ancient Chinese ghost story from the third century A.D. in The Man Who Tricked a Ghost. Yep shares the story that follows the protagonist Sung, a brave young man who is scared of nothing. On his way home from a friend's house, Sung runs into a ghost. Not scared at all, he befriends the ghost who eventually reveals to him that he is on his way to find a man by the name of Sung because he has heard that Sung has been bragging that nothing scares him. Sung tricks the ghost into believing that he is a ghost as well, and he also gets him to reveal that human spit is the ghost's greatest weakness. After several tactics and trickery, the ghost eventually transforms into a ram, and Sung spits on him, sells him to local farmers, and reaps the benefits of not being afraid of ghosts.

Yep does a wonderful job of bringing this ancient Chinese folktale to life for children of today's generation. In addition to his wonderful storytelling, Seltzer's bold illustrations complement the story perfectly. The illustrations keep the Chinese tradition and flair in mind, being remindful of ancient Chinese prints; however, they are bold, using brilliant colors and dynamic shapes to help tell Yep's story.

Yep's story would be extremely useful for children who are perhaps afraid of what lies beneath their beds because it showcases how good things can happen to someone who is not afraid. In addition, the story's main character, Sung, epitomizes how a young man who uses his intelligence to his advantage can overcome many obstacles. So, whether a parent wants to use Yep's story as a lesson in overcoming fears or as a lesson on how intelligence can be beneficial, children can definitely reap the rewards of this ancient Chinese folktale re-told in a dynamic, fun, modern way.

Laurence Yep's novels have many times focused on Chinese Americans, and they have won numerous awards, including the Newbery Honor, the ALA Notable, and the Boston Globe-Horn Book. These books include The Starfisher, The Rainbow People, Dragonwings, and Child of the Owl (Yep, 1993).


Nate Smith

Resource:
Yep, L. (1993). The man who tricked a ghost. Mexico: BridgeWater Books.

Noah's Ark / Jerry Pinkney

In all honesty, this was the only book available at my local library that was illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. There were several others that the library has in their collection, but all others were currently checked out. I am not a religious person at all, and I literally had an inner debate in the stacks of my library's children's area as to whether I should check out this book, or if I should just wait until another book is returned. I decided to take the road most convenient and check out Jerry Pinkney's Noah's Ark, and after reading the book, I did not regret my decision at all.

Jerry Pinkney, in Noah's Ark, tells the very familiar tale of Noah and his family. God tells Noah that a "storm" is coming and that he should start building an ark to keep him and his family safe. The ark should be big enough to house all of the earth's animals, as well as enough food to eat and for the animals to eat. The townspeople mock Noah, but the storm comes and Noah's family is safe aboard the ark. The storm ends, and Noah releases the animals back into the wilderness.

Anyone who grew up in church knows the story of Noah, but it is not the story itself that makes this book so unbelievably wonderful; the illustrations are spectacular. Noah's Ark showcases Pinkney's talent extremely well, allowing him to draw every animal the mind can think of, Noah and his family, as well as the beautiful landscape that serves as the backdrop of the story. My favorite image within the book is actually the two-page spread of the ark under construction. Pinkney's illustrations make the reader feel as if he or she is transported to another time, another place, watching Noah build this amazing ark. This story may be a religious one, but religious or not, no reader can debate the wonderful talent of Jerry Pinkney's illustrations.

Jerry Pinkney has also illustrated Aesop's Fables, as well as four Caldecott Honor books, including John Henry, The Ugly Duckling, Mirandy and Brother Wind, as well as The Talking Eggs. In addition to these honors, Pinkney has also received the King Honor twice, the Coretta Scott King Award five times, and four gold medals from the Society of Illustrators (Pinkney, 2002).


Nate Smith

Resource:

Pinkney, J. (2002). Noah's ark. New York: SeaStar Books.

Caldecott Medal Winner # 5 / The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

Mordicai Gerstein's The Man Who Walked Between the Towers tells the story of Philippe Petit, a tightrope walker, who, in 1974, dared to string a rope between the "Twin Towers" in New York City and walk across. As you can imagine, Gerstein's book discusses the controversy that this feat caused amongst the onlookers and passersby; in addition, the book showcases Petit's run-in with the police and what punishment accompanied his daring challenge. The story is an interesting one that constantly encourages the reader to ask, "Did this really happen?" This encouragement of questions showcases how much a single book can affect a reader and how much a book can want to know more.

The artwork within the book is a beautiful collection of ink and oil paintings. The perspective of the drawings is the most interesting aspect of the artwork, showing the huge feat from above Petit and making the entire city visible below him. The book also has two pull-outs that create huge panoramic views that are spectacular for the reader, and the artwork varies from whimsical images of Philippe Petit to more serious views of New York City.

Perhaps the most impactful aspect of this children's book is its place in history. Seeing that the Twin Towers no longer exist in New York City, this book provides not only beautiful imagery and artwork that can help children visualize something that they will never be able to see in person, but also a bit of history about a man and a city that leaves them wanting to know more. In any case, this book is beautiful, and the book allows the reader to imagine a whimsical bit of history in something that is now a very serious topic.

Mordicai Gerstein is both the author and illustrator of The Man Who Walked Between the Towers; in addition, he has written over thirty other children's books, including What Charlie Heard about Charles Ives (Gerstein, 2003).


Nate Smith

Resource:
Gerstein, M. (2003). The man who walked between the towers. Brookfield, CT: Roaring Brook Press.

Caldecott Medal Winner # 4 / So You Want to Be President?

So You Want to Be President? is a delightful, fun-filled reading experience for children that is supplemented with hilariously accurate drawings and images of the presidents from both the past and present. Judith St. George gives us a wonderful fact book of the presidents, ranging from telling her readers various physical characteristics of the presidents to sharing what presidents liked to eat, what presidents liked to do as their hobbies, and what presidents enjoyed the company of an animal as a pet during their tenure in the White House. David Small, the illustator of this fact collection, does a splendid job of capturing the essence of each and every president in brilliant caricature style.

The book does a nice job of sharing its purpose with its title. Asking its readers "So you want to be president?" showcases an opportunity to share the numerous facts about the presidents with the aspiring-to-be-president readers. Even the front illustration captures the overall purpose of the book, showing a caricatured Mt. Rushmore. I will admit, however, that the book got a little tiresome with the countless facts; I understand that there must be an inclusion about every president, but several presidents "show up" numerous times in the book, leaving this reader a little exhausted with presidential knowledge. However, I will be the first to say that I have never been a true fan of American history; the scandals and love affairs of European history has always attracted me more.

Interestingly, I had my stack of children's literature books that I had just checked out of the local Louisville Public Library in my high school classroom, and one of my students asked what they were for. I was explaining my graduate school class and its purpose while, at the same time, describing the books I had chosen to read. I offered my students a loose description of each one, only mentioning that one was "about presidents," and immediately, one of my high school juniors asked, "Is it So You Want to Be President? I loved that book!" I told him it was, in fact, that book, and he came bounding out of his seat to re-live his elementary school level favorite book. This revelation sparked an interesting discussion in my class, each student wanting to share what his or her favorite books were when they were growing up. I found the discussion delightful, and while I may not have fallen in love with So You Want to Be President?, one of my students would have taken it home with him if I would have allowed it.

Judith St. George has written a wide variety of books, but it is her non-fiction books for children that have gained her the most notoriety, including Sacagawea, To See With The Heart: The Life of Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse. David Small also won a Caldecott Honor Medal for the 1998 book The Gardener, which was written by Sarah Stewart (St. George & Small, 2000).

Nate Smith


Resource:
St. George, J., & Small, D. (2000). So you want to be president? New York: Philomel Books.

Caldecott Medal Winner #3 / Kitten's First Full Moon

Kitten's First Full Moon, written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes, is a well-deserved Caldecott Medal Winner. This children's book is written with the very young child in mind; it discusses the world of curiosity and how many times, this curiosity can be quite disasterous. Tackling curiosity makes perfect sense for a children's book written for this age level because the entire world is a world of curiosity for children of a pre-kindergarten age. In Henkes story, a small kitten sees her first moon and is convinced that it is a giant bowl of milk in the sky. The kitten struggles to reach the moon, and then, she sees the moon's reflection in a pool of water and dives right in. The "soaked" kitten struggles back home only to find a bowl of milk on the front porch. While in this case, the curiosity did not "kill the cat," it most certainly made her a little wet behind the ears.

The images in Kitten's First Full Moon were initially not impressive to me. I thought to myself, "This book won a Caldecott Medal!?!" But then, I looked again. When I gave the book a second glance, I saw something more than I saw the first time. I saw wondrous black and white images, tones of grey, and a quiet subtlety that has not existed in my other Caldecott Medal Winner selections. At first, I was looking at what was not there that was in my other selections, but as I said, with my second glance, I noticed what this book offered that the others did not. In fact, Kitten's First Full Moon tells such a complete story visually that the words are almost unnecessary.

I must admit, I chose this book at first because I love cats. From that initial choice, I connected with Kitten's First Full Moon on more levels than just that first one. I grew to love its imagery; I fell in love with the protagonist; I laughed when I saw the kitten jump into the pool of water; I smiled when she finally got to enjoy her bowl of milk. I would definitely recommend this selection for young children and for parents who are "itching" to have that conversation about curiosity with their children.

Kevin Henkes has written thirty-three other books for children, including the bestseller Wemberly Worried and the Caldecott Honor Book Owen (Henkes, 2004).

Nate Smith


Resource:

Henkes, K. (2004). Kitten's first full moon. New York: Greenwillow Books.

Caldecott Medal Winner # 2 / The Hello, Goodbye Window

The Hello, Goodbye Window is a collaborative effort between author Norton Juster and illustrator Chris Raschka. The concept of a collaborative effort in a children's book makes perfect sense to me; someone may have a wonderful idea for a story, but can not create the images that would appeal to a child. Together, Juster and Raschka have created a wonderful story with beautiful, watercolor-like imagery.

The concept behind the story is a fairly simple one: there is a window from which a child's grandparents would always be to either greet or say farewell with a wave. In the book, the authors explore the different uses and possibilities that exist with the window, from looking a one's reflection at night to greeting the brand new day with a robust yell. As I said, the story is a simple; however, the graphics and images within this book are stunning. Raschka utilizes unconventional "coloring" techniques to tell the story of this book. He colors outside of the lines, using block coloring as someone would see when a four-year-old is trying to stay inside the lines with a magic marker. In addition, Raschka juxtaposes colors that one would not conventionally choose to put together, and puts blocks of colors throughout that are not necessarily connected to anything and are not necessarily meant to represent anything, but are just there to provide a colorful background.

Another aspect of this beautiful children's book that I enjoy is the inter-racial relationship that exists between the grandparents, and when the parents show up to "pick up" their child from the grandparents' house, the reader also sees that the parents are an inter-racial couple as well. It is not only wonderful to expose this progressive concept to children through their literature, but also, it is wonderful to help them realize that not only new couples can be inter-racial, but couples as old as grandparents can be inter-racial. This story could have been told with a conventional Caucasian couple, a conventional African-American couple, but the authors chose to share their simple and beautifully illustrated story with an inter-racial couple, and I applaud them for that choice.

Norton Juster is also the author of the famed classic The Phantom Tollbooth, and Chris Raschka has written Happy to Be Nappy, little tree, and another Caldecott Honor Book Yo! Yes?.


Nate Smith


Resource:

Juster, N. & Raschka, C. (2005). The hello, goodbye window. New York: Michael Di Capua Books.

Caldecott Medal Winner #1 / Flotsam

David Wiesner's 2007 children's book Flotsam is a wonderful selection. When I first opened Flotsam, I'm not sure that I knew what I expected. Up to this point, I have not really exposed myself to a lot of children's literature; I do not have children myself, and I do not come across many opportunities to share children's literature with other friends' children. So, when I went to the local library to choose my Caldecott and Newbery winners, I really did not have anything to guide me other than basic intuition.

I chose Flotsam because of the title; I thought it was a "sophisticated" title for a children's book. If and when a child chooses to read this book, he or she has an automatic opportunity to increase his or her vocabulary. Overall, the book impressed me as not only a children's book, but also as a philosophical piece of literature. Flotsam is a picture book, telling the story of an underwater camera that washes up on shore. A young boy finds the camera and develops the film, finding a wonderous world that exists underwater that no one knows about, and he also finds a photograph of someone holding a photograph, holding a photograph, etc. He gets a microscope and sees that this tradition has been going on for years, so he takes his own picture holding the picture and send the camera back out into the sea.

This book appeals to my love of photography; I have always been amazed how the simple art of "taking a picture" can capture a moment or memory and help it exist for a lifetime. Appropriately, the "pictures" and images in Wiesner's book are wonderful; the pictures range from realistic images of the boy and his world to the fantastical images of underwater worlds. Also, I am fascinated by the intense philosophical possibilities with this children's book. If I did have children, I would use this book as an opportunity to share how we, as human beings, are part of something much bigger. Life has existed before us, and life will exist after us.

I am extremely impressed by David Wiesner's Flotsam; I would recommend it to anyone. I have never read a children's book like this one, and I hope that, over the course of this class, I run across other books that impress me as much as this one has.

Wiesner has also won two other Caldecott Medals for Tuesday and The Three Pigs and two Caldecott Honors for Sector 7 and Free Fall (Wiesner, 2006).


Nate Smith


Resource:

Wiesner, D. (2006). Flotsam. New York: Clarion Books.