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Genre/Text Type - Modern Fantasy
Bibliographic data - Sendak, M. (1963). Where the wild things are. New York. Harper Collins Publisher.
Brief plot summary - Max is sent to bed without supper after dressing as a wolf and acting naughty. His mother calls him, "a wild thing" he then tells his mother that he'd "eat her up"  prompting the banishment to his room. Max goes to his room angry.  As his frustration builds, his room begins to turn into a jungle and he imagines that he sails across the world to a place where wild things are ferocious but they are scared of Max and he makes himself king of the wild things. After a night of dancing and amusement Max begins to feel sad and wants to be somewhere that people truly love him.
Critical response analysis - This book is full of imagery and lessons about anger management and the love of a mother. In the beginning Max is a mischievous child who gets angry and frustrated when he's sent to bed without dinner. Max uses his imagination to escape what he deems as unfair banishment when his room becomes a jungle and he sets sail across the world to the land of the "wild things." Max continues to create an outlet for his frustration by taming the wild things and making himself "king" of the wild things, thereby asserting his control over his own actions and the actions of others. As the night goes on, Max announces "let the wild rumpus begin" again demonstrating his independence free from his mother's reach. Max's anger and frustration begin to wane as the night goes on and he begins to realize he's not very happy in the land of the wild things and misses his mother's love. When he sails back from his imaginary trip and enters his room, his mother has left his dinner on his table and the last line of the book states, "it was still hot" inferring that Max hadn't been gone nearly as long as his imagination has led him to believe.
Connections - This book is what Johnson and Giorgis (p. 53) would consider "response-rich literature." It is an excellent way to begin community building and chats about anger and anger management. As we embark on a whole new social order filled with anxiety, anger, frustration, and depression teachers have to spend time in the classroom building community and helping students understand their feelings, such as anger, sadness, loneliness, and frustration. This book encourages higher order critical thinking to understand the embedded lessons within the story. There are now many picture books dealing with anger, but I would pair Where the Wild Things Are with How to take the Grrrrrrrrrr Out of Anger by Elizabeth Verdick and Marjorie Lisovskis that speaks to children about anger giving them strategies to help them move through the emotion.
I would divide students into groups of four, with large chart paper, and have them create a bubble map describing Max and his feelings of anger. I would ask the groups to present their map and engage in discussion with their classmates on the different perceptions each group had about Max, his feelings and how he worked through his feelings.
Awards - Caldecott Medal
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Genre/Text Type - Book by Jon Scieszka
Bibliographic data - Scieszka, J, Smith, L. (1989). The true story of the 3 little pigs. New York: Puffin Books.
Brief plot summary - Based on the story of The 3 Little Pigs, this book is about the wolf's side of the story. The wolf begins by telling readers that he has gotten a bad wrap that the original story wasn't exactly how things went. He wanted to bake his granny a birthday cake, but he was out of sugar, so he went to his nearest neighbor's house, the first little pig. He blames the huffing and puffing down of the pig's houses on a cold he had and some unfortunately timed sneezes.
Critical response analysis - What a fun twist on the childhood favorite of The 3 Little Pigs. I enjoyed the illustrations of this book, the soft muted colors with soft lines, it made the story seem less aggressive, which is exactly what the wolf is trying to prove: he got a bad (and incorrect) reputation for being a "Big Bad Wolf."
Connections - This would be a great book for retelling stories and point of view. I would tell the students we are going to read two different stories about The 3 Little PigsI would start off reading the original 3 Little Pigs story and have the students retell the story writing key elements either on chart paper as a whole group or broken up into community groups of 4 students. We would also discuss from whose point of view is this story told from and what were they feeling while telling the story. I would then read this book, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs and have the students follow the same retelling, key details and point of view routine. Once these were completed and we discussed the two stories simultaneously, I would have the students create a double bubble map (Venn diagram), comparing and contrasting the two stories. This is another book that Johnson and Giorgis would consider "response-rich literature." Most children have heard the story of the 3 Little Pigs, this story creates a fun and rich way to elicit discussions about being blamed for something you didn't do and/or taking responsibility for your actions.
Awards - N/A
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Genre/Text Type - Modern fantasy picture book
Bibliographic data - Paterson, J. (2018). I am the rain. Nevada City: Dawn Publications.
Brief plot summary -  This book is a personification of the water cycle. The pronoun "I" is used throughout the book as if the water is speaking. The reader is taken through the entire cycle beginning with a rain cloud. The water tells the story of its different properties throughout seasons and weather conditions.
Critical response analysis - This book is beautifully illustrated with watery, fluid colors. The story has a rhyming rhythm that lends to its fantasy. While this is a fantasy book, because water is personified with the pronoun "I" the underlying story is non-fiction because it is actually telling the reader about the water cycle. This book is both literary and scientific and can be used as a catalyst for discussion about the states of matter. In the back of the book is an actual water cycle chart and a section called "The Science Behind the Poetry" that explains why things happen with water; condensation, rainbows, what color is water? Why does life depend on water?
Connections - I would definitely use this book to open my science unit on matter and water cycle. This would be my hook to get my students interested in this concept. Again, this book is what Johnson and Giorgis (p. 53) would consider "response-rich literature." This book has the potential to engage readers and to make connections with experiences and what they are learning in the science unit. I would pair this book with the picture book, "What is the World Made Of?" by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld because it's all about states of matter. To begin our writing response we would create a flow map to show the cycle of water.
Awards - N/A
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Genre/Text Type - Wordless #1
Bibliographic data - Kerascoet. (2018). I walk with Vanessa. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books.
Brief plot summary -  Vanessa has moved to a new neighborhood and school. Vanessa doesn't have any friends in the beginning and is bullied by a boy. Another young lady witnesses this and spends the evening wondering what she can do to help. The next morning the girl goes to Vanessa's house before school, walks to school with her, introduces her to her friends, standing up against the bully in favor of Vanessa.
Critical Response Analysis - This is a lovely wordless picture book that tells a story about loneliness, bullying, bravery and friendship. The illustrations depict everything you need to know about this book. The author uses color in the illustrations to convey mood along with facial expressions.The first four pages of the book show the loneliness and isolation Vanessa is experiencing by depicting her as isolated from the crowds of other students. On pages 5 & 6, the illustrations detail the bullying with mean facial expressions, the color red surrounding one of the pictures, pointing fingers and shaking fists. Pages 7 & 8 show a clearly upset Vanessa and the girl who witnessed the event feeling empathy and remorseful for what has occurred. The subsequent pages show how the girl helps Vanessa meet new friends while standing up against the bully.  With bullying being so prevalent in schools and social media, this book addresses what it means to have empathy and stand up for those who have fallen victim to bullying. It also shows the power of community with the masses of friends who begin to accept Vanessa and isolate the bully.
Connections - This is definitely a book I would use to build inference skills. I would begin this in small group, asking the students to tell me what is occurring on each page and then taking what we've inferred from small group to build a whole group discussion.  This book also fits perfectly with what Johnson and Giorgis call, "The Presence of Literature to Build a Community" (pgs. 17 - 39). This book would help create community discussions that center around bullying, empathy, standing up for what it right and what it means to be a friend. This book would also help students understand what it feels like to be in someone else's shoes and what they can do to help others.
I would pair this book with Enemy Pie by Derek Munson about neighborhood conflict that can only be solved my making enemy pie. I would provide pudding cups and toppings for my students to make their own enemy pie, but they can't eat their own, they must exchange it with someone else.
Awards - N/A
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Genre/Text Type - ALSC Notable Children's Book
Bibliographic data -  Clark-Robinson, M. and Morrison, F. (2018). Let the children march. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Brief plot summary - This is a historical fiction book about the Children's Crusade in Birmingham, AL in 1963. When the adults/parents had to work and take care of families the children and teenagers took on the task of making their voices heard in response to the civil rights movement. Many children were arrested and injured, but still they marched on in peaceful protest.
Critical response analysis - The illustrations and storyline evokes strong emotions about the struggles black people endured before, during and after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech.  The illustrations of the facial expressions show the anguish and also the passion these children had during this time of change. The reader is taken through the effects of segregation, the emotions that surround the protests, marches, violence, arrests, failures, and successes.
Connections - In Reading Literature in Elementary Classrooms, Short states that literature "shows children how to locate, explore and critique their own cultural identities and views of the world for social understanding and change" (Lewiston, Leland and Harst). I would ask students to make personal connections to this story by asking, "how do you think this Crusade affected your life?" "did it affect your life?" "how different would life be right now had the Crusade not been successful?" This would be a great community building conversation while connecting with cultural identities, discussing what makes us the same and different. This would be a great way to talk about tolerance and acceptance of others.
I would pair this book with another historical fiction book, Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968, which is about a child who witnessed the Sanitation Strike of 1968 after two black men were killed while working on unsafe equipment.
Awards - Coretta Scott King Award
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Genre/Text Type - Wordless #2
Bibliographic data - Lee, S. (2008). Wave. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, LLC.
Brief plot summary - This is a wordless picture book about a small girl who visits the ocean with her mother. At first, she is frightened of the waves as she is pictured running from them, but then she raises herself on her tiptoes and roars back at the waves as if to scare them away. But the waves continue to come and then recede. She gleefully splashes along the shore only to be chased by huge, menacing waves that pound her. She looks quite dejected until the waves recede and she finds a treasure of seashells the waves have left.
Critical Response Analysis -  This is a wordless picture book with a very limited color palette of blue, gray, black and white. The illustrations show the emotions and decisions of the girl through facial expressions, body movement and the ebb and flow of the ocean waves. The seagulls also played an important role in the story, helping the reader understand the direction the story was moving because they followed both the girl and the waves. The illustrations of the waves were particularly important because they showed the water movement. When they were calm the swirls were low and gentle, sometimes flat, but when they raged they were high, full of spray and splashes that made them look angry. In the end, the girl and the gulls are shown to be quite triumphant and excited to find the shells the sea left for them.
Connections - Because this is a wordless picture book, I again, would begin in small group asking students to infer what is happening in the story. What is the girl thinking/feeling, how do you know? I would continue with a whole group writing project, asking the students to write their own story using only illustrations. This is book students could connect with by either remembering their own experiences or imagining what that experience might feel like. The illustrations are so vibrant and moving that it's hard not to hear the waves crashing, the wind blowing and the seagulls squawking. In "The Wonder of it All" Johnson and Giorgis ask, "How does literature create a foundation that promotes inquiry?" This book, because it is wordless and has such dramatic illustrations, promotes prediction and inference that prompts inquiry and rich discussion. I would also use the book, "Hello, Ocean!" by Pam Munoz Ryan because it is a whimsical poetic book about how the ocean feels, sounds, looks and tastes.
Awards - Best illustrated children's book by New York Times; Gold medal for original art by the Society of Illustrators.
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Genre/Text Type - Coretta Scott King Book Award
Bibliographic data - Cline-Ransome, L. & Ransom, J.E. (2017). Before she was Harriet. New York: Holiday House.
Brief plot summary - This book is about who Harriet Tubman was before she changed her many different names and became Harriet Tubman. This book takes the reader through her years as a child slave, how she helped her parents escape to Canada, how she was a Union spy during the Civil War, how she ran the Underground Railroad and finally how she worked as a Suffragette.
Critical Response Analysis - This is such a powerful book that is beautifully written and illustrated. It is written as a poem with a lyrical rhythm. The way this is written, along with the illustrations, you can begin to feel the struggles Tubman faced throughout her entire life that started as a young slave and the empathy and courage she had to help so many others at a great risk to her own well-being.
Connections - This book is a must read when learning about the Civil War, slavery, civil rights and women's rights. There are so many books this could be paired with, but I would start with, History for Kids: The Illustrated Life of Harriet Tubman, by Charles River Editors because it contains actual photographs and quotes from Tubman and a timeline of major events in her life. Crumpler and Wedwick (2010) cite studies that suggest students reading interest begins to decline in middle school. It has been my experience that reading begins to decline at the end of 4th grade and most have lost interest throughout 5th grade (based on my school's 2017-2019 AR data). The above two books are a great way to get students engaged in reading while learning about a vital piece of our history. I love picture books and thinking maps as a way to get students writing. I would use a simple circle map to define things like the Civil War, slavery, civil rights. I would have a brainstorming whole group session to really develop good discussion about what it meant to be Tubman in a time when she could have been put to death for helping others escape slavery.
Awards - Coretta Scott King Book Award; Audie Award for Young Listeners
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Genre/Text Type - Banned/Challenged Book
Bibliographic data - Richardson, J., Parnell, P. & Cole, H. (2005). And tango makes three. New York: Little Simon.
Brief plot summary - Roy and Silo live at the Central Park Zoo. They develop a strong bond and become penguin partners. The zookeeper recognizes their relationship, gives the couple an egg to care for. A baby girl penguin is born and is named Tango.
Critical Response Analysis - This is a challenged book because of the same sex relationship between Roy and Silo. I love this book for so many different reasons. This is a true story based on penguins at the Central Park Zoo that the authors and illustrator use to talk about real world situations and lives. This book could be wordless because the illustrations are so well drawn and tell the story on their own. Not only does this book focus on real life social issues, but it also gives a great introduction to penguins and how they mate for life, build nests, and lay and tend eggs.
Connections - I would use this book in whole group as a read aloud to generate community discussions about different relationships while encouraging students to have an open mind about families that are not like their own. I would also connect this book to my science curriculum when studying the differences between mammals and non-mammals (birds) and when studying life cycles. I would also use the non-fiction book, "The Majestic Emperor Penguin," by Tanya Turner. This book is full of fun facts about Emperor Penguins.
In The Wonder of it All, Johnson and Giorgis reference Louis Rosenblatt's idea that, "reading is always a particular event involving a particular reader at a particular time under particular circumstances" (1991, 445) ( p. 45). With the evolvement of the family unit this book elicits conversation about differences in families and discussions about how differences are not wrong.
Awards - American Library Association Notable Children's Book (2006), Gustavious Meyer Outstanding Book Award (2006), ASPCA's Henry Bergh Award (2005), Nick Jr. Family Magazine Best Book of the Year (2006), Bank Street Best Book of the Year (2006), Cooperative Children's Book Council Choice (2006)
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