Myths and Tiffs by the D'Aulaires

D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths

Published by: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.

Written and Illustrated by: Ingri & Edgar Parin D’Aulaire

In their classic collection of Greek Mythology, Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire speak to countless generations of learners.  Originally published in 1962, D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths can still be found in classrooms and bookstores—even in the limited children’s literature section of the William and Mary College Bookstore.  The D’Aulaires met at the Hans Hoffman School of Art in Munich, fell in love, got married, and started separate careers as author/illustrators.  Once they started collaborating, they were a force to be reckoned with.  They have authored and illustrated a number of historical picture books for children and even won the Caldecott Medal for Abe Lincoln in 1939.  Where did I learn all of these fun facts?  From www.dedicatedteacher.com which sells a guide for using this book in the classroom! (http://www.dedicatedteacher.com/estore/product/TCR0423I?SEARCH_TERM=Greek+Myth&search.x=0&search.y=0&search=+Go%21+&ResultSetSize%3aint=8&query_index%3aint=1) Although I could only view a few sample pages from the Guide online, it was published by Teacher Credited Resource, Inc. in 1993.  The Guide divides the book into five sections with suggested quizzes, activities, interdisciplinary connections, and real world connections. 

Even without the Guide, D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths is an informative and easy-to-navigate collection of about forty Greek Myths spanning almost two hundred pages.  My favorite page is the lithographic illustration opposite the title page which features a full-page family tree of all the Greek gods and goddesses featured in the book.  I always had a hard time keeping track of the familial relationships in Greek literature, so this was especially helpful to me.  The bright, bold, comic-book-like illustrations also help hold my interest.  Lithography (the method of illustration used in this text) is a type of printmaking in which the artist(s) draw the desired image on a slab of stone with an oil crayon and then, through a series of acid washes, lightly etching the image into the stones surface (for more detailed information check out this site: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/477079/printmaking/28308/Lithography ). 

As an undergrad, I was an Art minor so I had the pleasure of taking a few printmaking classes, so I was really drawn to the astounding simplicity used by the D’Aulaires in this book.  After reading through the first few pages, it becomes clear that the D’Aulaires had children in mind when writing and illustrating these classic stories; in fact, they dedicate the book to their son who apparently helped them along the way.  I love the comic-book-esque action shots of Ares in his chariot, blissful landscapes under Selene (goddess of the moon)’s careful watch.  There are too many stories to mention from this book, but the ending passage and accompanying print bring the collection to a highly stylized close:

Everything must come to an end, and so did the rule of Zeus and

the other Olympian gods.  All that is left of their glory on earth are broken temples and noble statues.  Also the Muses fell silent, but their songs live on to this very day, and the constellations put up by the gods 
still glitter on the dark blue vault of the sky.

I Found A Golden Story

A Story, A Story

Published by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

An African Tale Retold and Illustrated by Gail E. Haley

*Recipient of the 1971 Caldecott Medal*

 This book would be a great teaching tool in a kindergarten or first grade classroom to stimulate class discussion, inferences, and reflections, and there are a number of activity based resources available on the internet.  Some of the best that I found focus on group and individual prediction formation (http://www.teachervision.fen.com/skill-builder/lesson-plan/48712.html) and, shockingly, fractions (http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/lessonplan.jsp?id=1019).  I found the Scholastic lesson on basic fractions (wholes, halves, maybe fourths) to be especially useful because many teachers have trouble incorporating them in interdisciplinary lessons.   This story presents the perfect opportunity to discuss some practical uses of fractions and expose younger students to the idea of dividing a whole (you’ll see why!) 

A Story A Story is actually an African fable about how stories came to the people of the earth.  It is timeless myth of a remarkable human, Ananse (pronounced A-Nancy) who wants to make the world a better place by bringing the stories of Nyame, the Sky God, to earth.  Ananse, who is also known as “the Spider man” because of his ability to spin webs like a spider, spins a web of a ladder to up into the sky to ask Nyame face-to-face if he could buy his golden box filled with stories from him and bring them back to earth.  I found it particularly interesting that in this legend, the human and the god get along relatively peacefully.  I am definitely more familiar with Greek and Roman myths than I am with African tales; however, I can gather from Ananse’s quest that ancient Africans had much more civil relationships with their gods than the ancient Greek. 

This tale teaches a number of important lessons, starting with Ananse’s desire to purchase the Sky God’s stories, not steal them.  Ananse and Nyame diplomatically discuss Ananse’s proposition and negotiate a deal.  Both sides agree to the proposed plan, and Ananse doesn’t rest until he fulfills his end of the bargain.  Maybe I like this book so much because I have always been fascinated by legal terminology, but its messages of morality and community made a real impact.  I love that Ananse—who is depicted as an older man—is the one to take charge in the village in the hopes of bringing the eternal happiness that comes along with story-telling to his community.  After some browsing on Gail Haley’s website (http://www.gailehaley.com/), I found a link to a short film produced by Weston Woods Studios—a division of Scholastic—in 1971, the same year Haley received the Caldecott Medal.   The film can be found on Scholastic.com (even though it says that it can be on Haley’s website), but it is available on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFnOCCq0y-w&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_715401).  The quality of the animated version of A Story A Story isn’t great, but the narrator’s voice and accompanying instrumentals really add to the cultural significance of Hayley’s text.  I was interested to learn that Haley is also an international master puppeteer!  Although she did not do puppetry in the A Story A Story film, it might be something fun to try with students as part of an author study. 

Her website also has a link to an interview with the author video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNkGIYdP03s&feature=player_embedded), in which she discusses her interest in children’s literature and illustrations.  I am amazed by her artistic variety—she paints, she writes, she draws, she carves linoleum stamps—and truly appreciate how she tailors her illustrations to the tone and context of the story she is trying to tell.  Unfortunately, the biographical film cuts off after a little more than two minutes, but that’s more than enough to see why she was a Caldecott Award Winner.   I am very interested in reading more of her books and seeing more of her beautiful interpretations of ancient tales from around the world.

Tengo gusto de las fresas maduras y rojas

El Ratoncito, La Fresa Roja y Madura y El Gran Oso Hambriento 

(The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear)

Publicado por Scholastic

(Published by Scholastic)

Por Don y Audrey Wood

(Written by Don & Audrey Wood)

Illustrado por Don Wood

(Illustrated by Don Wood)

Traducuido por Teresa Mlawer

(Translated by Teresa Mlawer)

Who wouldn’t love an inquisitive little mouse on a tiny little ladder?  Especially when your first reactions to the said mouse are, “Wow he’s small compared to that giant strawberry,” and “is he making eye contact with me?”  As you might be able to tell from the cover image below, the red ripe strawberry (or la fresa roja y madura) is actually HUGE or GRANDE.  Also, the little mouse is making eye contact with you.  This book is a wonderful learning tool for beginning readers of both English and Spanish because it pulls the reader into the story and engages him or her in a one-way dialogue with el ratoncito.  

Because this text is readily available in both English and Spanish, it is a good tool to help English language learners who are familiar with Spanish experience conversational English in written form (if they’re reading the English version of the text) and students who are fluent in English could have an opportunity to learn a little Spanish.   The dialogue is simple and Teresa Mlawer did a beautiful job of consolidating the translations into very basic Spanish.  It is obvious that special care was taken to present both versions of the written text in the same format—for example, Mlawer uses the slang term “el ratoncito” instead of the more formal “el raton pequeno” because the former is much easier for a young reader to process.   If you have ever had a conversation with your dog, cat, fish, etc., you know that all animals have the ability to be great listeners and that, sometimes, great conversationalists.   This text has one-to-one  dialogue and illustration, making it even easier for beginning readers to get engaged. In fact, after reading this book three or four times (in two languages), I nearly have it memorized.

 This book would be a great teaching tool in a kindergarten or first grade classroom to stimulate class discussion, inferences, and reflections, and there are a number of activity based resources available on the internet.  Some of the best that I found focus on group and individual prediction formation (http://www.teachervision.fen.com/skill-builder/lesson-plan/48712.html) and, shockingly, fractions (http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/lessonplan.jsp?id=1019).  I found the Scholastic lesson on basic fractions (wholes, halves, maybe fourths) to be especially useful because many teachers have trouble incorporating them in interdisciplinary lessons.   This story presents the perfect opportunity to discuss some practical uses of fractions and expose younger students to the idea of dividing a whole (you’ll see why!) 

I Got a Pocket, Got a Pocket Full of Soap Suds

A Pocket For Corduroy

Published by Puffin Books

Written and Illustrated by Don Freeman

This is a classic story of how a girl and her teddy bear are tragically separated and joyfully reconnected—with many subtle twists.  First of all, it isn’t the girl who accidentally abandons her comfort object in this story; the bear, Corduroy, gets caught up in his own curiosity while at the laundry mat (spelled Laundromat in this story).  I could not help but look into the unusual spelling.  Over the course of the story, observant readers can deduce that Pandro is the name of the Latino owner of the laundry mat because of his Spanish name and his use of the word “senorita” when talking to Lisa, Corduroy’s owner.  I knew that “Laundromat” was not Spanish for laundry mat (it’s “lavandería”), but I still couldn’t place it.  I happened to glance at the dedication/publisher’s page of the book and noticed that it was published in 1978, so, I did what any student of the twenty-first century would do and Googled it.

 

According to Wikipedia—yes, I realize that Wikipedia isn’t the most credible source, but it is suited for this task—“Laundromat” is a trademark name of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-service_laundry).  Interestingly, if you click on the link to the Wiki page about the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, it tells you that the Corporation was founded in 1886, making it amongst the first major electric companies! 

Another great thing about this book is the diversity of the characters in its illustrations.  Because this book was authored and illustrated in the late 1970s, there is definitely a dated quality to it; however, the cultural representations within the laundry mat are very similar to what we readily see in the world today: there are apparently single mothers and fathers, Asian women, black families, white families, artists, and little old ladies. This was one of my favorite books as child, and I was surprised and thrilled to see that two of my present hobbies—painting and sewing—are both featured in this book.  It is really quite remarkable because it is almost guaranteed that every child will relate to someone in the book, and if they don’t, there’s always Corduroy!  

Teachers Can't Dance

Giraffes Can’t Dance

Published by Orchard Books (Scholastic, Inc.)

Written by Giles Andreae

Illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees

Gerald the giraffe, like me, the teacher, is not confident with his dance moves.  Gerald's "knees were awfully crooked and his legs were rather thin,” he was clumsy, and, sometimes, awkward.  Those of you who have seen the VoiceThread I published at the beginning of the school year know that Gerald and I could swap a few stories about running into a tree or not posing properly for a group picture.  Those of you who haven’t have probably felt awkward or uncomfortable at some point in your lives, so you can relate.  Plus, it is hard not to be excited about a book with a brilliant yellow giraffe doing a back flip on the cover.  Parker-Ree’s illustrations transport readers into a beautiful, warm and bright African landscape which is sometimes remind me of what a dream sequence might look like in Disney’s The Lion King—a stereotypical African jungle only with blurred edges and unusual hues.

The story picks up at the annual Jungle Dance—the event of the season, according to sociable wild animals in Africa.  Gerald watches in awe from the sidelines as “warthogs waltzed” and “lions tangoed,” but when it’s finally his turn to perform, he freezes up in the center of the circle.  Whether or not we have personally experienced being exposed in the center of a circle of peers, most people in contemporary America have seen a movie or a TV show where a central character has that unfortunate experience.  Like many of those fictional characters, Gerald runs away from his taunting peers only to find himself face-to-face with a true friend who helps him find his inner dancing fool.  I almost cried (seriously), when I read the following passage, sung by Gerald’s friend the cricket:

Listen to the swaying grass

and listen to the trees.

To me the sweetest music

is those branches in the breeze.

So imagine that the lovely moon

is playing just for you—

everything makes music

if you really want it to.

If that doesn’t get you to read this book, I don’t know what else can… except, maybe, the John Travolta-esque pose that Gerald strikes towards the end…

Let us stay up late until Mom and Dad come home...

Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go To Sleep

Published by Harcourt Brace & Company

Written by Joyce Dunbar

Illustrated by Debi Glori

...is what the three boys I babysit for were really thinking when I asked them about one of the picture books on the top of their bookshelf. After a few hours of me helping them complete their homework, I was not so sure that they’d be willing to help me finish mine; however, they jumped at the opportunity to help someone old (I guess at 22, I’m old now) do homework. They got even more excited when I told them about how my homework was “teacher homework” and that I had to find some really great books and write about them to help make me a better teacher. Well, if I learned anything from this assignment, it’s that students of all ages feel a little bit better about their homework situation after realizing that someone, usually the teacher, worked to create that assignment.

Since it was supposed to be bedtime, I asked the boys to pick out one of their favorite bedtime picture books from when they were younger (they’re too mature for picture books now). The first thing that came to their minds was Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep, by Joyce Dunbar. Although I did not read the book until after the boys were asleep they told me all about how it was “sorta babyish” because it was about rabbits, not people and that they were always “really jealous of the bunk beds.” Judging the book by it’s cover, I assumed that the book was about a mother helping her daughter get to sleep. Turns out, it’s about an older brother, Willoughby, helping his younger sister, Willa, fall asleep (I guess the “sorta babyish” rabbits are a little cutesy). I could not help but be charmed by little Willa in her carrot-and-lettuce-print footsie pajamas, clutching her polka dot teddy bear.

It was not until page four that I was officially introduced to Willoughby, the kindest, coolest, big brother who, of course, gets the top bunk. When Willa is having trouble falling asleep because she is scared of having a bad dream, Willoughby is there to show her some of the many reasons why she has no reason to be afraid. The first thing Willoughby does is tell his scared little sister to look under her bed and, thankfully, what’s hiding under the bed isn’t scary at all—it’s Willa’s chicken slippers! I have to comment for a moment on Debi Glori’s amazing ability to express human emotion through animals. Her rabbits cover their eyes with their big floppy ears when they’re sad, trip over their too-big-in-the-toes pajamas when they’re nervous, and hold their breath as they tip toe down the hallway. Glori is so attentive to detail that her version of nighttime in the forest includes bluish-grayish bumble bees sleeping in daisies and birds cozied up in their nests. I loved her pictures so much that I am determined to read the Mr. Bear series which Debi Glori wrote and illustrated (http://www.jacketflap.com/persondetail.asp?person=36493). It was nice to read a story in which the older sibling takes charge while the parents are either asleep (or tip-toeing through the hallway) or otherwise occupied, and it has the potential to be anyone’s bedtime favorite!