The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus Review by Dana G. Williams

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bryant, Jen. The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans Books for Young People, 2014. ISBN 9780802853851

2.  PLOT SUMMARY
An informational picture book on the extraordinary life of Peter Mark Roget who had the spirit of a scientific explorer and loved to classify the words he learned from his life experiences into an organized thesaurus for all.  

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Author Jen Bryant's collaboration with illustrator Melissa Sweet is a beautiful picture book on the life of and important contributions that Peter Mark Roget made in science, medicine, and informational organization. The book is a chronological account of Roget's life, and Bryant's clear and fluid writing makes it perfect for younger elementary aged students. Not only that but Roget's lifelong love of learning presents as a wonderful role model for children and adults alike. Bryant's research into his life reveals a smart, loving man with a desire to find "the right word."

Sweet's use of illustrations feel like a scrapbook and welcome young readers into Roget's life almost as an image-based timeline. Her artistry makes his classification system, extraordinary life experiences, and love for words stand out.

I have to admit that I never gave much thought to how the thesaurus came to be, and I've been using one since fourth grade. But I was surprised to learn how Roget's Thesaurus wasn't his great life achievement, instead it was a book created as a the result of his lifelong commitment to education and his accolades and successes in the fields of science and medicine. For example, Bryant's timeline of important dates and happenings in Roget's life is presented with other important world events. Her extra notes and sources teach readers how Roget wrote for Encyclopedia Brittanica and also wrote the first scientific paper on optical illusion. The extra access points will appeal to readers who want to know more than what the prose conveys. The bibliography, suggested readings, and sources back up Bryant's research, while the notes by the author and illustrator give important background into how and why the artists created this award-winning book.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) and AWARDS
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
Caldecott Honor Book 2015
CLSC Young Reader's Selection for 2015
Kirkus Prize Finalist 2014
NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book 2015
School Library Journal Best Books 2014
Texas Bluebonnet Master List 2015-2016
ABC Best Books Catalog
Horn Book Magazine Best Books of 2014
Junior Library Guild Selection
SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Illustration

From Horn Book
"Bryant's linear telling follows Peter closely, expressing his curiosity, sensitivity, and populist spirit in language that is both decorous and warm." 

From Kirkus Review
"Bryant's prose is bright and well-tuned for young readers. She goes gently, omitting Roget's darkest traumas...Exemplary back matter includes chronology, author's and illustrator's notes, selected bibliography, suggested reading, quotation sources, and a photograph of one of Roget's manuscript pages." 

5. CONNECTIONS
Other books by Jen Bryant:

• A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams. ISBN 9780802853028
• Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille. ISBN 9780449813379
• A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippen. ISBN 9780375867125

Other books for early elementary school students to discover the power of lists and organizing information:

• Ash, Russell. Fantastic Book of 1001 Lists. ISBN 9780789434128
• Foresman, Scott. Roget's Children's Thesaurus. ISBN 9780673651372
• Thermes, Jennifer. Charles Darwin's Around-the-World Adventure. ISBN 9781419721205

By kindergarten, children start to learn that written words have power whether it's writing grocery lists or hall passes or birthday wish lists. In the case of Roget, he used his lists to collect and organize words because he loved them. In Darwin's case, he needs to record the scientific information he collected and his observations while traveling the world.

With younger elementary students creating a class list of favorite foods, chores to do, and books that they've read can show them how to create and organize mini databases on paper. In addition, older students who are independent writers might be interested in creating their own book of lists or putting together a vocabulary journal based on words they learn at school, in their every day lives, or from the books they are reading.

Brown Girl Dreaming Review by Dana G. Williams

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY
Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming. Nancy Paulsen Books: New York, 2014. ISBN 9780399252518

2.  PLOT SUMMARY
Author Jacqueline Woodson traces her childhood history moving from Ohio to South Carolina to New York City through a plethora of free verse poems that illustrate a beautiful narrative of personal experiences that molded her into a writer at a very young age. Young Woodson introduces us to the the south she celebrates, the influence of family on her growth and how she survived frequent separation from parents, siblings, extended family and friends. 

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In Brown Girl Dreaming Jacqueline Woodson's autobiography, written in free verse, illustrates common themes in the writer's life: transition, loss, and exploration. Woodson's writing flows from page to page like a perfectly profound diary of a young girl's experience growing up while her basic needs were often in flux and death and worry were frequently knocking at her door. Her poem, "One Place" expresses Jacqueline's worry that her young brother might never come home to live with them after suffering from lead poisoning. Woodson's verse elevates the reader's anxiety and fear for the young boy:

"For a long time, our little brother/ goes back and forth to the hospital, his body/ weak from the lead, his brain/ not doing what a brain is supposed to do./ We don't understand why he's so small, has tubes/ coming from his arms, sleeps and sleeps.../ when we visit him." The imagery paints a sad and upsetting picture of the very real frailties of her baby brother. As a reader, I feared for him, for her and what the loss of that child would do to her world.

In essence, Woodson spends her biography being pulled away from people she loves: her father in Ohio, her mother when she leaves the children with grandparents in South Carolina to look for work in New York, her grandparents, her Uncle Robert, her Aunt Kay, etc.

The only reassurance Woodson is able to give herself in these situations is that she is loved by each and every one of those people, but somehow life isn't easy for them. Her family's religion as Jehovah's Witnesses focuses on having faith through hard work and prayer. In the end, Woodson's experience lead her write the poem "What I Believe," which expresses how her experiences have allowed her to have faith in more than just religion and in the many people who have influenced her life. "I believe in God and evolution./ I believe in the Bible and the Qur'an./ I believe in Christmas and the New World./ I believe that there is good in each of us/ no matter who we are or what we believe in." The poem and the sound of the words brought me to a place of self-acceptance and inspiration to seek out a life that fits me rather than seeing myself as someone who needs a place to fit into.

The most affectionate portrayals Woodson saves for her life in South Carolina. Her descriptions of weather, smells, the neighbors and her life there, bring the reader back to an earlier time. It was for me, nostalgic for my own childhood spent in a slower-paced city, when children were allowed to roam free and explore the world unattended.

Jacqueline's portrayal of her interest and determination to be a writer and her complete success at the profession as an adult are inspiring. The author's note in the back of Brown Girl Dreaming focuses on the research and family who helped her to write the book, as well as her appreciation for the long history of storytelling within her family that helped her make connections between the past and the present as a woman and as a writer.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Newbery Honor 
National Book Award for Young People's Literature
Coretta Scott King Award
NAACP Image Award

From Booklist
"What is this book about? In an appended author's note, Woodson says it best: "my past, my people, my memories, my story." The resulting memoir in verse is a marvel, as it turns deeply felt remembrances of Woodson's preadolescent life into art, through memories of her homes in Ohio, South Carolina, and, finally, New York City, and of her friends and family." 

From Horn Book
"A memoir-in-verse so immediate that readers will feel they are experiencing the author's childhood right along with her... Most notably of all, perhaps, we trace her development as a nascent writer, from her early, overarching love of stories through her struggles to learn to read through the thrill of her first blank composition book to her realization that 'words are [her] brilliance.' The poetry here sings: specific, lyrical, and full of imagery. An extraordinary -- indeed brilliant -- portrait of a writer as a young girl."  

5. CONNECTIONS
Other books by Jacqueline Woodson for children:

• Feathers. ISBN 9780142415504
• The Other Side. ISBN 9780399231162
• This is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration. ISBN 9780399239861

Other biographies told with poetry:

• Alexander, Kwame. Out of Wonder: Poems about Celebrating Poets. ISBN 9780763680947
• Katz, Susan. The President's Stuck in the Bathtub: Poems About Presidents. ISBN 9780547182216
• Shane, Ntozake. Ellington Was Not a Street. ISBN 9780689828843

It's true that many poems tell emotional stories, but some of them also share history in a vibrant method of storytelling. Introducing children to biographies through poetry is a novel way to bridge the gap between fiction and non-fiction and to illustrate writing style and methods.

Creating a poetry-based free writing activity where children can focus on the lives of their heroes (living or dead) lets them be in the driver's seat to showcase what they know about poetry. Reading these biography books allows them to see and hear different ways writers tell historical stories about their lives or the lives of others and the people who influenced them.