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Orbis Pictus Award- Olinguito, from A to Z! Unveiling the Cloud Forest 

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Orbis Pictus Award- Olinguito, from A to Z! Unveiling the Cloud Forest 

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a. Genre/text type Orbis Pictus Award Book

b. Bibliographic data ¡Olinguito, de la A a la Z! Descubriendo el bosque nublado / Olinguito, from A to Z! Unveiling the Cloud Forest. Written and illustrated by Lulu Delacre.

c. Brief plot summary A unique ABC book, in which the alphabet introduces animals, plants and other living things that are discovered while helping a zoologist search the Ecuadorian cloud forest in the Andes, to find the mysterious Olinguito.

d. Critical response and analysis.
The beautifully illustrated pages make the informational non-fiction book seem like a picture book that is realistic fiction. Carefully researched and instructional however, it teaches scientific content about The Ecuadorian cloud forest in their Andes Mountains. Using rich vocabulary, the author illustrator Lulu Delacre, introduces the various species in the unique environment. Some of the living creatures introduced in the book, begin with the letter it exemplifies, only in Spanish. Once in English, many use different name. Ms. Delacre does a lovely job highlighting the Spanish word and initial letter, in both languages. Aesthetically delightful to look at, and a wealth of information, the book also has a glossary in the back which briefly details the scientific names and role of each species in the cloud forest.

e. Connections.
A series of lessons for plant adaptations, the mountains, cloud forest, rain forest, and various geographical sub-habitats, as well as environmental education could use this book to kick off instruction.  Spanish bilingual students would benefit greatly from this as a reference for specific vocabulary and starting point for research topics to learn about for the science unit. Another book that would make a good pair with this one is one that teaches about raccoon-like animals and their habitats so that it can be compared to the Orlinguito, which was discovered in 2003 in the cloud forest.

f. Awards won Best Books: Orbis Pictus Award- This award commemorates the work of Johannes Amos Commenius, whose book, Orbis Pictus (World in Pictures), is historically considered to be the first work created exclusively for children. Given by the Orbis Pictus Committee of the National Council of Teachers of English, this award honors distinction in non-fiction for children.

Kirkus Reviews; Lasting Connection Title Book Links; Starred Review School Library Journal; Starred Review Booklist; Starred Review Publishers Weekly; Starred Review Kirkus Reviews.

g. Photo of the book cover.

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A. Genre: Folktale

B. Bibliographic Data: Anansi the Spider. Written and illustrated by Gerald McDermott. Published in 1987 by Harcourt School Publishers.

C. Brief Plot Summary: A traditional tale of Anansi the spider, a hero of the indigenous people of the area near Gulf of Guinea, who comes across mischief along a journey. His six sons, each with distinct talents, help their father out of trouble along the way. He cleverly decides how to reward them all. The story tells how the moon got in the sky.

D. Critical Response and Analysis: The story of Anansi begins in Ghana in West Africa presumably thousands of years ago. People believed that Anansi was the powerful son of a great sky god. It was said he could make it rain, or tell the oceans where they should be. His likening to mischief and troublesome tricks often led him to trouble. One day, Anansi's father got so upset with his son that he turned him into a spider and took his powers away. Anansi remained very smart and often tricked animals to free him or rescue himself out of trouble. In this story, Anansi relies on his gifted sons to rescue him.

E. Connections: This folktale teaches cooperation and the importance of family working together to support one another. During an interactive read aloud, I would nurture my students’ responses to literature by eliciting conversation about how this relates to self, text, and world. This could be extended by allowing partners to work together to write sticky notes to flag thinking and then either facilitating a fishbowl discussion variation of a socratic seminar as a class, and/or a written response task sharing the connections they could make with the story, at my teacher led center.

F. Awards Won: Caldecott Honor Book. The Caldecott Medal is an American literary award presented each year for outstanding illustration in a picture book.

G. Picture of the book

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Myth- Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky

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Myth- Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky

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a. Genre/text type Myth

b. Bibliographic data Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky. Written by Elphinstoe Dayrell. Illustrated by Blair Lent. Published in 1968 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. New York, NY

c. Brief plot summary A unique African folktale explains why the Sun and his wife the Moon are forced to move to their permanent homes in the sky.

d. Critical response and analysis.
The minimalist art, using muted browns, greys and blues keep the readers focused on the words that tell the creative porquoi explanation of why the sun and moon are in the sky. They used to live on earth with their buddy, the water, and once he has to continue growing to accommodate a constantly increasing number of friends (sea life & other creatures) visit them, the sun and moon were forced to move to the roof of their home, and eventually to the sky.

e. Connections.
Aside from speaking & listening standards, and analytical responding tasks concentrating on a unit about fables, tales, folktales, myths and legends like writing or illustrating there can also be a compare & contrast lesson with other porquoi tales, fables, and stories that have been passed down generationally, like Anansi the Spider. This helps readers find similarities and differences among the messages with a secondary lesson on the lessons or morals learned. Another culminating lesson could be to have the students sit in a circle to play “telephone”. They can participate in a discussion at the end that analyzes changes and reasons for changes, between what the original message was and the last message that is announced.

f. Awards won Best Books: Caldecott Honor Book, 2000. The Caldecott Medal is an American literary award presented each year for outstanding illustration in a picture book.

g. Photo of the book cover.

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a. Genre/text type Fable

b. Bibliographic data Town Mouse Country Mouse. Written and Illustrated by Jan Brett. Published in 1994 by Putnam & Grosset Group in New York, NY.

c. Brief plot summary The classic tale of a town mouse and a country mouse creatively retold and beautifully illustrated with amazing attention to detail. Two mice are eager to escape from the monotony of their everyday lives, but quickly become overcome with challenges that relate to their inexperience with the unfamiliar lifestyle.

d. Critical response and analysis.

In an unusual twist to a familiar fable, Jan Brett introduces a character for both the town and the country settings. In the town, we meet a clumsy kitchen cat who causes one calamity after another for the town mouse. In the country, an awkward, gawky, country owl complicate things for the country mouse. Each of the unsuspecting mice cleverly become acquainted with these characters as they lurk in beautiful images from each page’s borders. Finally a dramatic climax sends the mice racing for their own homes, and brings the cat and the owl face-to-face in a surprise ending.

Through a story filled with suspense and humor, a lesson about appreciation for what is yours and “the grass is not always greener on the other side” is learned. Illustrations of rich, dark green country scenes with wooden textures and smoldering colors alternate pages with the bright and light yellows, saturated reds, and sophisticated details of a fine Victorian town house , making this a extraordinarily beautiful picture book.

e. Connections.

This book is perfect for second and third grade age students. It can be used for instruction related to themes of tales, settling disputes, acceptance and an appreciation of wit. Lessons about craft and structure of folktales can be taught using guided reading instruction of this book and making predictions can be revisited throughout a unit of folktales. A book that can complement The Great Ball Game are any variations of this tale and similar Native American tales.

A series of lessons for the compare & contrast skill could be taught.  Following a gradual release direct instruction model a teacher could use the two mice in this book to model a Venn Diagram or T-Chart graphic organizer teaching how to distinguish similarities and differences. For the guided portion, students could use the same book but focus on setting, or another version of the book such as Aesop’s version, to compare the two sources. Of course, there is always the social/emotional lesson learned. Students may be allowed various options for means of expression to show what moral was learned from the story. Depending on interest and considering differentiation for abilities, they may be asked to write (accepting varying lengths according to need), illustrate (using different mediums) or another performance task to demonstrate understanding.

f. Awards won NONE

g. Photo of the book cover.

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a. Genre/text type- Folktale

b. Bibliographic data
The Great Ball Game: A Muskogee Story. Retold by Joseph Bruchac & Illustrated by Susan L. Roth. Published in 1994 by Penguin Putnam Inc.

c. Brief plot summary
This version of the tale is based on a story from the Muskogee (Creek) Indian Nation that lived in the area we now call Georgia. It tells how the animal people once settled a disagreement through a ball game described as being similar to lacrosse, as was often done to settle disagreements.

d. Critical response and analysis.
Written versions of ball games settling disputes among land animals with teeth and winged animals like birds exist. They originate from northeast, southeast, and the plains region. Bat, who has both wings and teeth, plays an important part in a game between the Birds and the Animals to decide which group is better. This story explains why birds fly south in the winter.
The illustrations are created by using paper, many of them handmade, from all over the world to create collages. A few of the papers used in this story include red umbrella paper from Thailand, cranberry colored envelope paper from Tibet, blue paper from Japan, dark green from Italy, and many other places.  They are ripped, crinkled, crumbled and arranged to create texture as they depict the animals’ appearances and the settings.

e. Connections.
This book is perfect for second and third grade age students. It can be used for instruction related to themes of tales, settling disputes, acceptance and an appreciation of wit. Lessons about craft and structure of folktales can be taught using guided reading instruction of this book and making predictions can be revisited throughout a unit of folktales. A book that can complement The Great Ball Game are any variations of this tale and similar Native American tales.

A Project Based Lesson on this book could be to create a folktale written as a play. Learning style interests could determine different roles for the assignment. For example, groups would be established based on artistic/creative—to create props and costumes, technologically advanced students could record the performance and post to a podcast, or audio record a narration, a strong writer could create the scripts and characters from the story would dramatize the elements of the folktale.

f. Awards won NONE

g. Photo of the book cover.