Soldier Bear

Tak, B. D. (2011). Soldier bear. Ill. by Philip Hopman. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. ISBN978-0-8028-5375-2

Taken in by a group of liberated Polish soldiers, a bear cub named Voytek, becomes a well known attribute to World War II. Voytek experiences war as he travels with this soldiers from Iran, to Egypt, to the war fronts of Italy and helps by carrying bombs for his company, catches a spy within his soldiers camp, and provides endless entertainment for the company. With his continuous mischief, Voytek keeps his fellow soldiers on their toes and steals the hearts of some of the hardest military officers, as well as the reader’s. When the war comes to an end and the soldiers disperse back to their native homes, it is Voytek who finds a permanent home he never really had and continues to provide entertainment to patrons on a daily basis.

Readers are introduced to a contributing soldier of World War II. There is just one thing different about him, he is a bear named Voytek. Tak provides a story about Voytek and his unit as they experience the war from behind to the front of enemy lines. Adolescents will find how not only humans fought in past war, but can see how they contribute to today’s unfortunate global events. They can compare how Voytek assisted then and how America uses dogs to assist in battle now.

Students are able to visualize Voytek in his mischievous behaviors and can emotionally connect to wanting to be seen and loved. Teachers can use such a text to discuss inferencing and predicting what Voytek will do next as well as teach cause and effect. Along with Holocaust units taught in school, students can parallel read Soldier Bear and find a piece that is uplifting and has a happier ending than most World War II texts.

Other books that could be used to pair with Soldier Bear include the following:

·      Wojtek the Bear: Polish War Hero by Aileen Orr

o   ISBN 978-1843410652

·      War Hero Bear by Jenny Robertson

o   ISBN 978-1780272276

REVIEWS

Kirkus Review

A bear cub purchased by a pair of Polish free soldiers in the Iranian desert in 1942 becomes a private in the Polish army, a member of the 22nd Transport Company and an active participant in the war in Italy.

Tak bases her novel on actual facts: Wojtek (spelled phonetically as Voytek in Watkinson's translation) was a real Syrian brown bear, really in the Polish Army and really the artillery-carrying subject of his company's emblem. But her humans are fictional characters, a group of five soldiers including Peter, the bear cub's new "mother," Stanislav, who purchases him and figures out how to feed him, and Lolek, who adopts the monkey who eventually becomes his friend. The narrative focuses on the bear's antics, which both enliven the soldiers’ lives and cause them difficulty. Originally published in Holland in 2009 as Soldaat Wojtek, this is smoothly translated and engagingly illustrated with sketches and helpful maps. Funny, fresh and heartwarming, it doesn't ignore the horrors of war but concentrates on the joy of having an animal friend, albeit a difficult one.

Readers of any age do not need to know anything about the complicated history of the Polish free forces or even World War II to enjoy this tale of “a friend and a mascot who made the war easier to bear.” – Kirkus Review

I tend to become emotionally wrapped up with my characters from time to time. I fell in love with Voytek and his mischievous actions, but also his attachment to his “peoples.” When Voytek is left behind at the zoo, I cried a few tears. The idea of separation from his unit he grew up within, tugged at my heart. Knowing not all would see one another again tugged even harder.

I found the book easily read for older young adults, not complicated to grasps. With a lot of material about soldiers and individual stories, it was nice to see a story about an animal and how they contributed to such a devastating historical global event.

I found these websites to offer a more personal approach to Voytek and his contributions to WWII.

http://thesoldierbear.com/wojtek.html

http://soldierbear.com/index.html

 

Dog in Boots

Gormley, G. (2011). Dog in boots. Ill. by Roberta Angaramo. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 978-0-8234-2347-7

After reading one of his favorite books, Dog decides he wants to find the perfect pair of shoes for him to wear and use. After seeking the shoemaker, Dog finds that not all shoes will work for everything. Dog cannot run in high heels nor can he scratch behind his ear with flippers. But there is one pair that will work for everything Dog wants to do. His very own paws!

Dog presents to the reader a lesson that all children in one way or another learn eventually, that sometimes what you are looking for is what is already in front of you, it just needs to be recognized. Greg Gormley provides a story of Dog trying to find the right pair of shoes to be or do something that is does not necessarily fit him. Through trials, it is brought to Dog’s attention that he already had the perfect pair of shoes, his paws. Gormley brings in one aspect that highlights European culture, hierarchy. When Dog discovers his own paws, he swims in the Queen’s lake until he is told to leave. This is something that American children and adolescents do not experience on a day-to-day basis and Gormley brings to light a snippet of royalty into his story.  

Other books that could be used to pair with Dog in Boots include the following:
I am the Dog by Daniel Pinkwater

• SBN 978-0060555054

·     

REVIEWS

Kirkus Reviews

“Inspired by the story “Puss in Boots,” Dog decides that he needs some splendid boots of his own, so he trots off to his local shoe shop to purchase a pair. While the boots are quite handsome, they are not particularly well-suited for digging, so Dog brings them back. Galoshes are great for digging, but not so much for swimming, so... The very appealing illustrations, replete with liveliness, warmth and charm, show Dog as he enthusiastically tries out a variety of footwear options and the ever-patient shopkeeper as he makes helpful suggestions and maintains an unusually generous return policy. After Dog’s failed experiments with the original boots, some galoshes, flippers, high heels and skis, he returns again, asking for “…something that’s good for digging and swimming and scratching and running. Oh, nice and furry too.” Could it be that Dog may already have what he needs? After getting an answer―and having an extremely gratifying romp―Dog returns home to start a new book, this one about a girl with a striking red hood. Uh oh! Children will identify with Dog’s good-natured struggle through trial and error, fall in love with the evocative and funny illustrations and laugh out loud at the satisfying ending. A truly enjoyable selection and a nice follow-up to a favorite fairy tale, just right for reading aloud.  –Kirkus Reviews

I thought this was a cute book that I could use when teaching problem and solution, cause and effect, theme, and so much more. I thought about my special education and LEP populations and how I could use this book for small group intervention.

I read this book as well to my two year old. Each page we identified Dog, shoes, the cat, fish, water, different birds, and of course the ball on the last page. I again asked questions about colors and facial features on both the shoemaker and Dog. Just like any other picture book I read to the youngest of two, I had to read it several times before we could move on to something else. 

Good Night, Sleep Tight

 Fox, M., & Horacek, J. (2013). Good night, sleep tight. New York: Orchard Books. When Bonnie and Ben do not want to go to sleep, their babysitter, Skinny Doug tells them stories he heard from his mother. Without repeating his stories, Skinny Doug recites nursery rhymes that many young children are familiar with. The colorful pages and cheerful dialogue engages younger children in a before bed story.

The purpose of Mem Fox’s picture book was to bring to light nursery rhymes that children across America and Europe are familiar with. Mem Fox provides repetition within the text of Bonnie and Ben wanting to hear more, ‘“We love it! We love it!’ said Bonnie and Ben. ‘How does it go? Will you say it again?’” This keeps young children engaged and on the edge of their seats waiting to see and hear what is to come next. She highlights that nursery rhymes have been passed down from one generation to another as Doug offers to continue the night with more that he has heard from his mother, “But I’ll tell you another I heard from my mother.” Fox also brings to light that not only females can babysit. With society’s ideal image of a babysitter being female, Fox knocks the stereotypical image down and fills the role with Doug, the male babysitter, who cares for Bonnie and Ben. Judy Horacek provides pages full of color and simplistic illustrations that children can easily identify with.

When introducing poetry, Good Night, Sleep Tight is simplistic enough that it can be used to identify literary devices, such as rhyming, repetition, alliteration, and imagery.

Other books that could be used to pair with Good Night, Sleep Tight include the following:

·      Baby Bedtime by Mem Fox

o   ISBN 978-1481420976

·      Time for Bed by Mem Fox

o   ISBN 978-0152010669

·      The Full Moon at the Napping House by Audrey Wood

o   ISBN 978-0544308329

Booklist

“Ben and Bonnie’s babysitter, Skinny Doug, has a cool way to put his charges to sleep—with familiar rhymes. Familiar to him, that is. “Good night, sleep tight. / Hope the fleas don’t bite!” is one. “This Little Piggy” and “Pat-a-cake” are others. But they are new to the children, who say the same thing after each recitation: “‘We love it! We love it!’ said Bonnie and Ben. ‘How does it go? Will you say it again?’” Skinny Doug does not repeat, though. Instead he says, “I’ll tell you another. / I heard from my mother.” (This interplay does get the tiniest bit tired by the book’s end.) While a couple of the ditties will be new to American audiences (like “Round and round the garden / Like a teddy bear”), most will have children chanting along. The Quentin Blake–style pictures alternate between simple, warm scenes of Doug and his charges and the amusing ink-and-watercolor pictures that illustrate the rhymes, sometimes quite intricately. A fun book that will remind parents to pass along the golden oldies. Preschool-Grade 1. --Ilene Cooper”

Good night, sleep tight was a hit with my two year old. As he climbed into my lap, he was engaged with the text and illustrations. When reading each nursery rhyme, I acted out each one such as “It’s raining, it’s pouring,” “this little piggy,” and “pat-a-cake.”  I also took this opportunity to ask him to identify certain shapes and colors, such as stars, pigs, cars or as he call them, “beep, beeps.” We even identified facial features such as eyes, nose, and head. I ended up reading three times to appease him. I enjoyed his enthusiasm for wanting to read, even more that he wanted to look at the pictures before I turned the page to continue the story.

An Abundance of Katherines

 Green, J. (2006). An abundance of Katherines. New York, NY: Dutton Books.  No matter what the child prodigy, Colin, seems to always get dumped by his girlfriends, who happen to all be named Katherine, all nineteen of them. After the nineteenth Katherine, Colin and his best friend, Hassan, take a road trip to get over his break up. When arriving in Gutshot, TN, Colin and Hassan take a job recording the towns history. While there, Colin works on decoding his theorem of love and relationships, falls for a local girl, Lindsey, and expresses his worry and want to be known, for leaving his mark within society. Colin is forced to evaluate his traits and habits to learn that everyone counts in one way or another. 

The Fault In Our Stars

 Green, J. (2012). The Fault in Our Stars. New York: Dutton Books.  Cancer sucks. Especially when is takes ahold of your life and ones that you love and care for. Although her cancer is not terminal, Hazel, attends a support group where she meets Augustus Waters, who she falls for. Their friendship becomes much more when Augustus uses his wish to take Hazel to meet her favorite author overseas. It is when they return that life takes a turn for the worst when not Hazel's, but Augustus's cancer returns for the worst. 

This story of friendship, young love, and heartbreak captures the young adult audience in a way that pulls them into the lives of the characters, making them feel apart of the love story. With messages throughout the story, Green presents lessons to the readers about dealing with lose and heartache and dealing with those individuals who are negative and hurtful around us. 

School Libraries and Facebook

When I think of and log into Facebook, I do so for personal entertainment as well keeping in touch with family and friends spread across the country and the world. As I dive deeper into my graduate studies, I see that Facebook can be used for so much more. For example, advertising products, events, various media, and in this case promote school library and literacy programs.I focused on my districts many levels of Facebook pages. Looking at the pages, all seem to be active and posting messages or events. Dobie High School offered book lovers exercise tips, while Pasadena High School offered free audiobooks for the summer as well as a post of the library receiving a grant for their media center.

Our feeder school, Pasadena Memorial High School library has two pages; Maverick Lib and Pasadena Memorial Maverick Library Media Center. Maverick Lib recognized the senior class graduating this week with memes. A post that Maverick Lib posted was by ALA and how, “Employers Are Looking For Great Communicators, Not G8T Communicators.” The ALA states that employers are wanting individuals with strong communication skills and that although texting is great, like everything else, there is a time and place for such skills. The ALA also seeks for individuals to help pass the word along and becoming involved by clicking on the hyperlink provided. Maverick Lib also provided links for high school students to apply for volunteer hours through the City of Pasadena, Texas as well as events at the public library, such as publisher Penguin Random House discussing new books, trends, and give out freebies. With information for students to use for personal reasoning and entertainment, they also offered information regarding end of year procedures and hours, logging pages online for summer reading, and promotes district events and announcements. Many books that were promoted on the page were books that I had read this past summer for my Young Adult Literature class. 

As for posts on the Pasadena Memorial High School Library Media Center, there were not as many as Maverick Lib. Posts were timed randomly, sometimes once a month to every other month, while post consisted mainly of students or other’s associated with the high school checking in. Recent posts included ReadSquared to track summer reading online and the weekly ebook on Overdrive. 

Following the high schools allows me to see what my previous students have been doing and offer events and ideas for my current students. This is one advantage with having Facebook pages and following fellow campuses. Other advantages includes seeing what campuses are doing for students academics, the library and media center, and volunteer events. Another advantage I see is that students became involved in the post and are engaged. 

Some disadvantages I found were how some of the same materials were posted on the multiple pages. One disadvantage in having more than one page per school library is one may tend to be left or forgotten, such as Pasadena Memorial High School Library Media Center. As I look through the different school library pages, some schools offered more posts than others, whether they were reposted, shared, or original. Having a tool to help communicate to the student body about events, promotions, or information regarding the library and its services is a critical key to academic success. Not utilizing it to its full potential doesn't allow for equal opportunities for students within schools throughout our district. 

With so many different social media options available, Facebook seems to be user friendly for all ages and any institution. Currently information can be posted for viewers to see, keep fiends and family connected, and allow for networking among individuals. 

I created a Facebook page for my library, Patriots Library. The goal for the Facebook page is to provide the student body information regarding events, promotion, or materials for my students to look forward to and become engaaged in within not only the school, but throughout the physical and online communities. Post have already been made with information about logging pages for summer reading and post will continue to be made for books I am reading as well as anything I come across from Twitter or other online and social medias that I find appropriate for my student body. 

In viewing the different Facebook pages of our districts high school, I see what the librarians are wanting their students to become engaged in and how often they participate in social media. I hope that by viewing  and following these pages, I can do the same for my library and student body.