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.

The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale Review by Dana G. Williams

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY
Guarnaccia, Steven. The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale. Abrams: New York, 2009. ISBN 9780810989412

2.  PLOT SUMMARY
Three brothers, who are pigs, set out to build homes modeled after the styles of three famous architects, but a bully of a wolf comes out of the nearby woods and proceeds to ruin their fancy artistic homes in an attempt to eat the pigs! 

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale is a fractured fairytale version of a traditional Three Little Pigs story. The differences lie in the illustrations, which are both funny and functional, similar to some of the homes the pigs built, as well as the design of their housewares. This story is an ode primarily to Frank Lloyd Wright, as his concrete Fallingwater house is the one that withstands the most huffing and puffing, but also Frank Gehry and Philip Johnson. Each pig is drawn similarly to  these architects, wearing their particular style of clothing. In addition, the end sheets of the book are drawn to identify all of the household and architectural images (furniture, rugs, pieces of art) that are used, but not explained, in the story part of the book.

The story is also a trickster tale. By the time the wolf gets to the third little pig with the concrete house that cannot be blown down, the pig uses many different tricks to evade the wolf and still get through his day, so he can't be eaten while he is out and about. He also shelters his two brothers at his home.

I'm not sure using this book in a fairy tale unit is a particularly great version for children unfamiliar or unenthused with 20th century architecture. It certainly can be complementary, as it follows the traditional huff and puff model, but for teachers planning a unit on building, architecture and different kinds of homes, it would make a decent addition to the library and reading time because the images also show the steps and materials used in building a home. There are blueprints, building samples, cement trucks, measuring tools, etc., that could all increase a child's vocabulary about how buildings are built. A teacher can also draw parallels between the pigs' identities and the real architects biographies.

The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale relies on the familiar fairytale story, and seeing the pigs in a new light may renew a child's interest in fairy tales. Like many fairy tales, good triumphs over bad in the end, which is comforting, and can also lead to a conversation about how to identify and deal with bullies in the world.

This is a great tale to use for younger children because there's no death, but Guarnaccia does a great job of drawing the bad wolf complete with leather jacket, leather boots, spiked hair and sunglasses. He even rides around on a motorcycle like a bad boy!

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
From Booklist
"As in Goldilocks and the Three Bears: A Tale Moderne (2000), Guarnaccia combines a delightfully fractured fairy tale with an ultrastylish, kid-friendly primer of twentieth-century design. Here, each of the three little pigs is a porcine doppelgänger for a world-famous architect: Frank Gehry (who lives in a house of scraps), Philip Johnson (whose house is of glass), and Frank Lloyd Wright, whose sturdy, bring Fallingwater becomes the pigs' refuge from the wolf." 

5. CONNECTIONS
Other fractured fairy tales about the three little pigs to delight children:

• Sciesczka, Jon. The True Story of Three Little Pigs. ISBN 9780670827596
• Teague, Mark. The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf. ISBN 9780439915014
• Trivizas, Eugene. The Three Little Wolves and Big Bad Pig. ISBN 9780689505690

Other books about building for children: 

• Beatty, Andrea. Iggy Peck, Architect. ISBN 9780810911062
• Gibbons, Gail. How a House is Built. ISBN 9780823412327
• Newhouse, Maxwell. The House that Max Built. ISBN 9780887767746
• Ritchie, Scot. Look at that Building. ISBN9781554536962

While teaching pre-school, one of the always popular units with my students was building. We did it all the time in the block area, but any real life connections my students could make to adult jobs that they thought were important were always a hit. Fixing and building things was something my three-year-old students loved to do. So learning the vocabulary associated with building, seeing and using the tools, and learning about the trucks in all of our picture book reading was very exciting.

In addition to the usual blocks, train tracks and Duplos, we introduced the children to building structures out of toothpicks and marshmallows, which is a great way to work on fine motor skills at the same time. We built with different kinds of clay to build-up hand strength and creativity. We drew what the buildings looks like that we lived in and talked about structure (walls, floor, roof, windows). We took a tour of our school to see what else made up a good structure: closets, boiler room, bathrooms!

Children wore hard hats and tool belts around the class pretending to fix bookcases with tools. And, of course, we had lots and lots of trucks. Toy trucks in the sandbox, trucks to ride on, cardboard trucks that we painted and made out of old boxes and trips to Touch-a-truck events in our town. The pre-schoolers were fascinated by all the buildings that made up a town, and by the end of the three weeks, they would engage in side-by-side and interactive play by building a town out of blocks and moving the play people and cars around the town telling their own builder stories.

Rapunzel Review by Dana G. Williams

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY
Zelinsky, Paul O. Rapunzel. Dutton: New York, 1997. ISBN 0525456074

2.  PLOT SUMMARY
Long ago a young couple is expecting their first child when the wife gets a desperate craving to eat rapunzel from the garden next door. The garden belongs to a sorceress, but the pregnant woman cannot withstand the craving any more, so her young husband steals the rapunzel from the garden and gets caught! 

The sorceress gives him a choice between the life of his wife or relinquishing their child when it is born. Desperate to save his wife, the young father hands his only child, named Rapunzel, over to the sorceress. Rapunzel is raised by the sorceress, and she serves as an almost mother-like figure. 

When Rapunzel reaches adolescence, the sorceress takes her to a beautiful tower in the middle of the woods and leaves her there. The only way into the tower is to climb Rapunzel's beautiful, red-blonde hair.  One day a young prince hears Rapunzel singing and wants to meet her. He fools her and calls for her to send down her hair. Rapunzel does not realize he is not the sorceress until it is too late. The prince appeases Rapunzel with compliments and the two fall in love and marry. Soon Rapunzel is pregnant and banished by the sorceress. Alone and pregnant, Rapunzel must find her way to her husband to earn this tale's happily ever after. 

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Rapunzel is a classic fairytale from the 17th century. According to Zelinsky's expanded note at the end of the book, many different authors have changed the details of Rapunzel's story through the ages, but the overall idea that Rapunzel is a stolen child, who is kept in a tower that only allows access by climbing her long, beautiful hair remains the same from story to story. In this variant, Zelinsky dove into setting the tale during the Italian Renaissance. His beautiful oil paintings are the highlight of the book and offer incredible detail into the time period both in terms of architecture of the town Rapunzel's birth parents live in and the tower she makes her home. The intricate paintings keep the reader's attention searching for details in reflections, a peacock's tail and vast sceneries of the countryside. I also found it fascinating how in his paintings, you never really see the characters meet each other's eyes. They're close, but often times to show expressions of distress or sadness, characters are looking away from each other in this tale.  

The passing of time is illustrated through Rapunzel's growth from infant to child to young woman.  I loved how she started life with a kitten who grew up along side her and was still with her at the end of the story. It gives the sense that even though the sorceress visited her and she and the prince were together, that she was never really alone in that tower. And although the story never shows her with her parents again, her happily ever after comes from starting her own family with her husband, the prince. Her cherub painted twins are well cared for and the story ends with a happy family portrait.

Although the emotional aspects of the story give it weight and even a moral lesson, the child I read it to wanted to know how Rapunzel got into the tower to be able to let her hair down in the first place. This is a story that does require some suspension of disbelief and acceptance of magic, but adults should be prepared for more logical examinations of the fairy tale. 

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Rapunzel is a 1998 Caldecott Medal Winner. 

From Publisher's Weekly
"The text, like the art, has a rare complexity, treating Rapunzel's imprisonment as her sorceress-adopted mother's attempt to preserve her from the effects of an awakening sexuality." 

From Kirkus Reviews 

"Suffused with golden light, Zelinsky's landscapes and indoor scenes are grandly evocative, composed and executed with superb technical and emotional command." 

5. CONNECTIONS
Other Rapunzel tales:

• Berenzy, Alix. Rapunzel. ISBN 9780805012835
• Grimm, Brothers. Rapunzel. ISBN 9781530745869
• Isadora, Rachel. Rapunzel. ISBN 9780399247729

Caldecott Honor Books illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky: 

• Hansel and Gretel. ISBN 9780698114074
• Rumpelstitskin. ISBN 9780140558647
• Swamp Angel. ISBN 9780140559088

Many of today's modern Disney tales are adaptions of the traditional fairy tales and are often the only versions in which children are exposed. Introducing the traditional tales will introduce comparison and contrasting skills in young children. Be cautious though, as many traditional fairy tales can be gruesome, and younger pre-kindergarten children may not be ready for life or death consequences of protagonist's decisions.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble Review by Dana G. Williams

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY
Steig, William. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Simon & Schuster: New York, 1969. ISBN 9781416902065

2.  PLOT SUMMARY
Sylvester, a young donkey, likes to collect pebbles. While he is outside one day, he finds a red pebble that grants him wishes. During his play, he comes across an angry lion, grows afraid, and wishes to camouflage himself as a rock and is unable to wish himself back into being a donkey. His parents search and search for him, but over a year's time are unable to figure out what happened to their son, until a chance picnic brings them all together again. 

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is the story of a child separated from his parents for magical reasons and how the members of the family cope during their separation. Sylvester Duncan is a curious child who enjoys being outside. His community is drawn as a peaceful place full of neighbors who are various animals. Steig's illustrations portray emotions that move the story from crisis, when Sylvester magically turns himself into a rock to escape an angry lion, to his parents spending a year searching for their son, who is nowhere to be found, and onto the climax, where they are reunited. Time is illustrated in two different ways, once from Sylvester's point of view as the seasons change in the meadow where he lays as a rock, feeling sad and tired and hopeless, and also as his parents spend a year looking everywhere for their son. The illustrations, although full of color and light (except in the middle of winter), make the book accessible to the very young and breed hope for the family's future.

Steig's story depicts the lengths that parents love their children, no matter how long they are separated, and the feelings of sadness and despair by a child alone in the wilderness. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble teaches children that appreciating what you have is better than whatever magical development you could wish for, and the author uses a variety of diverse adjectives to describe emotions. The unifying theme of the story is how the feeling of love within a family gets the Duncans (and the readers) through difficult times. 

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is a 1970 Caldecott Medal Winner. 

From Kirkus Review
"Sylvester's 'only chance of becoming himself again was for someone to find the red pebble and to wish that the rock next to it would be a donkey' -- surely the prize predicament of the year and, in William Steig's pearly colors, one of the prettiest. How Mother and Father Duncan (donkey), despairing of finding their son, do eventually break the red pebble's spell and bring back Sylvester is a fable of happy families of all breeds."

From Horn Book 

"A remarkable atmosphere of childlike innocence pervades the book; beautiful pictures in full, natural color show daily and seasonal changes in the lush countryside and greatly extend the kindly humor and the warm, unselfconscious tenderness." 

5. CONNECTIONS
Other books about getting lost:

• Freeman, Don. Corduroy Lost and Found. ISBN 9780670061006
• Gami, Taro. I Lost My Dad. ISBN 9781929132041
• Raschka, Chris. Daisy Gets Lost. ISBN 9780449817414

More from William Steig: 

• Brave Irene. ISBN 9780312564223
• Doctor De Sota. ISBN 9780312611897
• Pete's a Pizza. ISBN 9780060527549

Getting lost is an unfortunate risk with children, but reading books about feeling lost and finding your way home to love again can engage children to talk about experiences they might have had being lost or fears they have about being lost. 

This is Not My Hat Review by Dana G. Williams

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY
Klassen, Jon. This is Not My Hat. Candlewick Press: Somerville, Mass., 2012. 9780763655990

2.  PLOT SUMMARY
A tiny fish steals a hat from a huge fish while he is sleeping. The small fish knows stealing is wrong, and he tells the reader all the reasons he thinks he "deserves" the hat. He also tells the reader how he is going to get away with stealing it. In the end, the big fish finds him and gets his hat back, and the reader knows that nothing good probably happened to the tiny fish when he was caught.

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Learning right from wrong is often a trial and error situation for children. Toddlers and twos may just grab what they want and not understand consequences. While older children may know in their heads what to do, but in their hearts they WANT something, so they lack the self-control to stop themselves from making the bad choices. Jon Klassen's book, This is Not My Hat, shows the unspoken consequences to bad decisions, particularly when you act out against someone who is bigger than you are. 

The setting of this story is in a cold, dark underwater environment illustrated on black pages. In the dark of the sea, no one will probably notice a small fish stealing a larger fish's hat. The morale of the story is that stealing is wrong and has serious repercussions, but the way Klassen chose to write and illustrate the story are both witty and humorous. The story is narrated from the thief's point of view, while the illustrations tell the big fish's point of view -- all through the drawing of just the big fish's eye. Without seeing the words and the illustrations together, the reader would not understand the humor or the inferred viciousness of the ultimate tale of this story. This is the second book in a three-book series of hat-related books by Klassen. His first, I Want My Hat Back, had a similarly comedic ending related to food chain justice. 

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
This Is Not My Hat was the 2013 Caldecott Award Winner and the 2014 Kate Greenaway Medal winner in Britain. Klassen is the first author/illustrator to win those prizes for the same book. 

From Horn Book
"The eyes have it in Klassen's latest hat book (I Want My Hat Back). Klassen manages to tell almost the whole story through subtle eye movements and the tilt of seaweed and air bubbles..."

From Publisher's Weekly
"Readers hope for the best, but after the big fish darts in, only one of them emerges, sporting the hat. It's no surprise that the dominant color of the spreads is black. Tough times call for tough picture books." 

5. CONNECTIONS
Other books about the consequences of making poor decisions or choices:

• Cook, Julia. Ricky Sticky Fingers. ISBN 9781937870089
• Shannon, David. David Gets in Trouble. ISBN 9780439051545
• Viorst, Judith. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. ISBN 9780689711732

More from Jon Klassen: 

• I Want My Hat Back. ISBN 9780763655983
• We Found a Hat. ISBN 9780763656003

Use these book as a great way to discuss the concepts about personal responsibility and how sometimes our hardest days come from making decisions without giving thought to what is right and what is wrong. Children ages 3-8 may have varying ideas about morals and philosophy that they want to put into words. Listening to their reactions and their own personal stories is very important. It's also a great way to teach opposites. If you cover the words and show them the illustrations first, have them tell the story to you. Then when they are able to read the story with the text, they'll see the opposite is true. 

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed Review by Dana G. Williams

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY
Willems, Mo. Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed. New York: Hyperion Books, 2009. ISBN 9781423114376

2.  PLOT SUMMARY
In this story, Wilbur, the protagonist, is a naked mole rat who is supposed to be -- naked. Instead, Wilbur enjoys wearing all kinds of clothes and costumes. His individual style attracts negative attention from a group of three other naked mole rats. The antagonists argue with Wilbur that wearing clothes is unacceptable. When Wilbur will not back down and instead takes their sarcastic suggestion to open a clothing store to heart, his peer group takes him to see Grand-Pah, the community's elder, for his opinion. After much consideration, Grand-Pah makes his proclamation that clothes do not hurt anyone and wearing them should be up to the individual. The news of his approval of clothes, and of trying new things, makes the community more accepting of differences.

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Children are very observant to the world around them. Often they see that what is similar is socially acceptable. However, in Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, Willems explores the importance of self-expression and individuality in society. The story addresses a common childhood problem where one child is considered "weird" by a group of peers. When the young mole rats are unable to solve the conflict themselves, they approach an adult, the elderly Grand-Pah, for a resolution at the climax. 

Willems' written theme is illustrated well. Life in the naked mole rat tunnels is very plain. The mole rats are pink; the background is light brown. Willems' uses simple, rounded lines to illustrate the mole rats' underground city and the only colors in their world comes from the vibrant clothing that Wilbur wears. Willems uses omniscient point of view to tell the main narration of the story and highlights the word proclamation in heavy set, large, bold type to visually impress the importance of Grand-Pah's words in his decision on the reader. In the end, children can understand that no matter how someone is different, they can all get to know each other, respect each other as individuals and have a great time together.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
From School Library Journal
"Willems has a talent for creating funny lines, verbally and visually. Beige backgrounds provide an uncluttered stage for his pink creatures with their oversize rectangular heads, each conveying a distinctive personality. Much of the humor resides in the subtle changes in Wilbur's eyes and, of course, in his colorful costumes."

From Booklist
"Willems’ art follows the simple style of his Elephant and Piggie books, and is dominated in color by (no surprise) naked-mole-rat pink. An ongoing horizontal line lends continuity to most of the pages, occasionally curving to add simple architecture to the scenes. But mostly it is Wilbur’s guileless observations that will have young readers feeling good about individual expression."

5. CONNECTIONS
Other books about the importance of individuality, self-expression and acceptance:

• Drescher, Fran. Being Wendy. ISBN 9780448456881
• Munsch, Robert. Stephanie's Ponytail. ISBN 9781550374841
• Seuss, Dr. The Sneetches. ISBN 9780394800899

More from Mo Willems:

• I am a Frog. ISBN 9781423183051
• I Love My New Toy. ISBN 9781423109617
• Knuffle Bunny. ISBN 9780786818709

Use as a playful and comedic way to introduce preschoolers and early elementary children to the importance of self-expression and tolerance within a caring community.