In the culturally responsive book, The Jumbies by Tracy Baptiste, a young girl named Corinne was being bullied by some boys who stole her mothers’ necklace.  Corinnes mother had passed away when she was younger which made this necklace very special. But her necklace went into the woods where she might see the jumbies, which she has heard stories about.  This story takes you on an adventure to see what happens with the Jumbies and how her mother’s necklace helps save her. 

I chose this book because it was very engaging and was a unique and different story from what I had read as a kid.  I loved how the story was relatable for children who may be raised by a single parent and follow family traditions.  Everyone has something in their lives that means something to them, she had a necklace that she got from her mother before she passed away.  She wanted to keep it safe no matter what. This story is a great addition to your library.  

 

Book Extensions

-       Write a story about something that is special to you, why is it special and who gave it to you?

 

-       Thinking about the Jumbies and the woods that you see, draw a picture showing what else you might see in the woods where the Jumbies live. 

 

-       Use seeds and plant them. Make predictions about what you think it will grow into and make predictions about what will happen each week to the plant

  _{In the beginning of this story it starts out talking about a raja, who we find out is a king.  We are introduced to a young girl, Rani who is tricking the king.  She asks the king for a grain of rice but doubling it each day.  The king agreed not realizing how much it would be. This left the raja with no more rice to give.  But Rani had planned to give it to the people who needed it.  She wanted to the raja to promise not to take more than he needed from then on, which he agreed. This is a story about doubling, multiplying, and being honest.} 

      ^{The illustrations in this story were unique and different to a children’s picture book.  The pictures were unique for the culture of India where the story takes place.  It shows the different ways the people got around and also what they wear.  This story is diverse showing us some details about India.  I chose this story because it is an interesting way to introduce students to India culture and also about their culture.}  

  <sup>A man who lives in Ireland with his wife, is the laziest man.  He does not want to help his wife plant potatoes.  He ends up seeing a leprechaun who gives him a magic seed that gives him a humongous potato.  The potato causes problems because of its size too big to dig out and too big to move.  The whole town ends up getting a potato to eat but are sick of it by the time spring comes.  They promise to give Jamie food as long as he doesn’t plant another huge potato.  Jamie and his wife are provided with food and don’t need to worry anymore.  This is a great story to teach students about farmers and the work that they have to do to provide for their families.  

       Tomie DePaola books have great illustrations that allow you to see what is happening in the story without having to reading the words.  His illustrations are colorful and I love the way he draws his characters.  I chose this story because I love Tomie DePaola books, but it is diverse and teaches us a little about Ireland’s culture.  It shows the houses, land, farm, and gardens that people have to make a living.  This is a window for students who are unaware of different types of communities.</sup>

  <sup>This is an interesting story about Mufaro and his two daughters Nyasha and Manyara. It takes place in Africa and is similar to the story of Cinderella.  The king is looking for a wife and is looking for one that is suitable.  Manyara is mean to Nyasha, teasing her and not wanting her to meet the King.  Nyasha stops to talk to others and even a snake, then realizing it becomes the King.  The King thought that she was the right one for him so they got married.  

     The illustrations in this story are very detailed and show a lot of definition for what is being shown.  The pages where there are people they look realistic, almost as if they were photographs that were added in.  This story added to my diverse bookshelf because it is a different way to view the “Cinderella” story.  This story teaches students that they should be honest because it is a great trait.</sup>  

  <sup>The farmer starts out in the story saying that his children are old enough to get married.  The children need to go out and cut a tree and see which way the tree points to find their bride.  One sons tree fell pointing to the forest.  He walked in the forest but found no one but an empty house.  He then saw a mouse that could speak.  The mouse started to sing a song and realized that maybe it could his sweetheart.  His brother found a sweetheart that was human, Mikko started to lie about the mouse.  Their father asked for the sweethearts to weave a cloth to see which one was better.  Mikko brought home the nut but inside there was a cloth that was super long.  Mikko was worried and concerned about bringing home the mouse to meet his family.  His brother saw the mice and rats and kicked the nut into the stream.  Mikko was upset but his father noticed that there were four black horses, a coachman, and a princess.  A witch cast a spell on her and couldn’t be broken unless there was a brother who wanted to marry her and a brother who wanted to get rid of her.  This story is a fairytale that is passed down from Finland.

    The illustrations in this story are colorful and engaging.  The different illustrations allow you as the reader to see how the characters are feeling by their facial expressions and see what is going on throughout the story.  I chose this story because it is diverse and teaches us a little about Finland.  It opens up a window for readers to see how Finland’s culture is.  This also teaches children to be caring and open minded when making friends.    

Book Extensions

 -Writing- What would you do if you saw a talking mouse?</sup>

  <sup>Pattan and his wife Kanni, take care of the animals that are on their land.  They grew food on the their land and fed the animals also.  One day they grew a pumpkin and then it began to grow bigger and bigger.  Then Pattan had an idea, when a storm was coming to get his family and the animals he needed to use the pumpkin to get them to safety.  The animals watched as Pattan carved the pumpkin to make it hollow and big enough for everyone to fit inside.  The pumpkin saved his family and the animals from the storm.  Once Pattan and Kanni had children they all made homes on the land and looked after the animals and growing pumpkins.  

      The illustrations in this book are colorful and have a lot of detail.  Showing all of the different animals that are on the pages and the land where they live.  This story shows kindness and compassion for anyone reading the story.  It also shows how you can work together to help each other.  I think this story would be a great addition to a classroom library.</sup>  

  ^{The girl didn’t want to go back to school because no one could say her name right.  Her mom told her that her name is a song and has melody.  Her mom telling her that if she sings her name her teacher will learn her song also.  The kids in school tease her and make fun of her for her name.  Her mom is upbeat and positive and tells her to tell them where her name comes from and that they will learn to use their hearts too.  The teacher sings and taps out students’ words, but the girls name gets stuck in Ms. Anderson’s throat again.  The girl started to sing and everyone stared.  The girl sang everyone’s name as a song and then everyone sang her name also.}  

 

The Prince finds a girl that is the one for him.  His mother, the Queen, wanted to see if she was worthy enough for her son.  The Queen puts the princess to the test and see if she is good enough for her son.  Finding out what the Queen does to the girl to see if she is worthy is interesting to read in the story.  But also finding out that the Prince has a sneaky plan also.  This story is interesting how it includes both English and Spanish in the story.  It also has rhyming words that make the story engaging and fun to listen to.  This story is a great way to teach students some Spanish words and also rhyming.  

The illustrations in this story are unique showing different characters.  The pages show a lot of images that help the reader imagine what the town looks like around the characters.  This story is great because it teaches Spanish with some words in the sentences.  The story also can be used for so many different book extensions to be included in the classroom library. 

 

Book Extensions

-Create a Princess crown

- Pick something else that the Queen could put under the mattresses. Write about why you chose that

-Create the Princess on mattresses, deciding how many to put under her and filling in the blank matching your picture.  Sentence starter: The Princess is on ________ mattresses. 

 

       A woodcutter took gold that he found one day in the forest.  His wife was nervous that the gold belongs to robbers. So, she hid the gold and made tortillas.  When they awoke she told him that it rained tortillas last night and came through their broken roof.  She told him she learned about it in school and that if he didn’t he would need to go back.  The robbers came looking for him the gold but the wife said it was a made-up story that her husband said.  The wife used the gold to fix their roof but the woodcutter didn’t know how she found the money to fix it.  Seeing the different perspectives in this story is interesting.  It is a funny folktale that students would be engaged in wondering how it snowed tortillas. 

     When looking at this story you can see the different house that the woodcutter lives in and the village where they live. The illustrations also show the students the tortillas if they are unaware of what they look like. It allows for the students to see how the characters live in New Mexico.

 

 

Book Extensions

-       Research New Mexico finding out some important/ interesting facts
- Create images for the story

-       Write about what you would have done with the gold

-       Make tortillas and use them for different meals

 

This story is similar to Little Red Riding Hood but the setting is in China. The children call their grandmother Po Po who the wolf says he is.   The wolf lives close by and comes to the house where he tricks the children into thinking he is their grandmother.  He blows out a candle so the children can’t see who he really is.  The children then trick the wolf to climb a tree to get some food.  They put him in a basket and he ends up falling and dying.  This is a different story to use in the classroom so that children can see another variation of Little Red Riding Hood. 

The illustrations in this story have almost like a watercolor look.  There are not many stories that have these types of illustrations.  The story is a different way to view story Little Red Riding Hood and see how in China they tell the story.  This story helps view Little Red Riding Hood in a different and creative way and introducing China to children who may not know much about it.  

 

Book Extensions

-       Compare and Contrast Little Red Riding Hood and Lon Po Po.

-       Discuss what a Gingko tree is

-       Find out about different types of wolves, write a nonfiction book about one of your liking.

 

The pictures in this story are very colorful and detailed.  It shows the different culture and where they live.  It is telling the story about Rapunzel a little girl who gets taken away from her parents.  The sorceress locked her in a tower with no doors or stairs.  The only way to get up was by her hair.  Then a horse comes riding along past the tower on a donkey.  Would come back every day to hear her song but had no way to get to her. Called for her to let her hair down, but was tricked by the sorceress who had put Rapunzel in the wilderness.  This is similar to other Rapunzel stories where she gets trapped and ends up gets rescued.  This story has a different storyline getting married in the tower, Rapunzel getting kicked out of the tower, and the prince falling and going blind, and having Rapunzel’s tears heal him so he is no longer blind.  

The illustrations in this story are different and unique that piece different colors together that help show the characters and the images around them.  The illustrations help show the different culture down to the beads in Rapunzel’s hair.  This story is culturally diverse for the students who can look at the story as a mirror for them. 

 

Book Extensions

-       Create a castle where Rapunzel was trapped.

-       Measuring lengths of string, pretending it to be Rapunzel’s hair and graph the lengths.

-       Sequence the events that happen in the story.

 

Everyone was afraid of the Monks who were strangers that were hungry and tired.  They all closed their doors and would hide from them.  The Monks decided to make soup with a stone.  This is a story about working together.  When you work together you can create something great and become richer.  This story shows that everyone should work together and help one another.  This story may be unique for students who have never heard of the word Monk before.  Giving them different windows to see through the story.  

The illustrations in the story have very little detail but allow you as the reader to think about what is happening.  This story is diverse and includes characters that some students may not know of.  This story is showing kindness and teamwork to make something great out of something small.  

 

Book Extensions

 

-Math word problems based on the different ingredients coming from the people in the story.

-(Covid Restrictions lifted) Make stone soup with your class

- Writing: Why is it good to work together?

 

This story is similar to Cinderella and how the sisters are mean saying The Rough Faced Girl isn’t worth of the invisible being. The sisters were mean and caused her to get burned, which had them start calling her, The Rough Faced Girl.  The Rough Faced girl is being teased and bullied for having the burns on her face, hair becoming charred, and arms became rough and scarred also.  When she wanted to see the invisible being, she answered correctly allowing her to be worthy of marrying him.  She was able to clean herself up and with the water, her hair, face, and arms became clear again.  This book shows a different culture and where they live and what they wear.  Looking at Cinderella in multiple ways. 

 
The illustrations in this story are very realistic.  They allow you to zoom into where the character lives, what she looks like, and what she wears.  The Rough Faced Girl shows how others can be unkind and bully but she was honest which allowed her to be rewarded at the end.  

 

Book Extensions

-       Research villages and Wigwams

-       Create a Wigwam decorating the outside using different symbols

-       Compare and contrast Cinderella and The Rough Faced Girl 

 

The story starts out by letting us know that Raccoon didn’t always look the way he does now.  He taunts the other animals and wants to race them.  Starting to play tricks on the animals and wondering what he could do to the animals. Wanted the Grandfather rock to move, pushing him without wanting to, starts to roll and squish Raccoon.  The Raccoon needed help but no one would help him but the ants.  The ants helped him but he was plump and had shorter legs, which did not allow him to run fast.  This story teaches a lesson to be kind to others and to not play tricks.  It shows how being mean no one wants to help you when you need.    

The illustrations in this book are colorful and creative.  The illustrations allow you as the reader to see what the raccoon looked like before he got squished by the rock.  The story allows you to see and picture how the animals came to look different from this folktale.  I think this story will allow the students to find humor because of how the raccoon acts.  It also helps to teach children to be kind to each other and not tease.  

 

 

Book Extensions

 

-       Writing: Raccoon was good at running.  What is something you’re good at?

-       Research Nocturnal Animals

-       Art: Put together a raccoon 

Pattan’s Pumpkin

Lon Po Po

Racoon’s Last Race

The Princess Mouse

The Jumbies

 

 

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters

Rapunzel

The Rough Faced Girl

La Princesa and the Pea

 

 

Stone Soup

One Grain of Rice

The Day it Snowed Tortillas

Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato

 

 

Sing a Song

Your Name is a Song