Folktale Book Reviews

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ketteman, Helen, 1997. BUBBA THE COWBOY PRINCE: A FRACTURED TEXAS TALE. New York: Scholastic Inc. ISBN 0590255061

2. PLOT SUMMARY
This is a fractured version of the classic "Cinderella". Bubba is a hard working cowboy that does all the around the ranch for his wicked stepdaddy and his two lazy stepbrothers, Milton and Dwayne. Bubba enjoys working on the ranch and never complains about the chores given to him, no matter how ridiculous. Miz Lurleen, "who lived down the road a piece", decided to throw a ball to find herself a "feller". On the day of the ball, Milton and Dwayne work Bubba so hard that he in nowhere near being presentable enough to attend the ball. Just in the nick of time, Bubba's "fairy godcow" comes to the rescue and gives him the purtiest set of cowboy duds. While Bubba is at the ball, the spell wears off and his true self it revealed. Bubba runs back to the ranch and Miz Lurleen is left standing alone. Miz Lurleen sets out to find her cowboy and finally sets her eyes, or rather her nose, on Bubba and instantly knows he's the one. They ride off together into the sunset with his stepdaddy and stepbrothers in their dust.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This comical version of "Cinderella" is filled with stereotypical representations of Texas and Texans. This version has all of the standard parts of the classic, including a protagonist that is worked too hard and a stepfamily that is not accepting. In this version, the protagonist is a boy and is rescued by the girl down the road. This is a great aspect of the story that shows both boys and girls that their role in the story is not always the same. The illustrations in the story really make you feel like you have stepped into the desert and onto a ranch.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT
From Kirkus Review: "so appealingly whimsical makes it easy to accept the classic tale's inversions"

5. CONNECTIONS
This is a great book to pair with other versions of the "Cinderella" tale. The students could do comparisons between all of the versions and even write their own version.
Other "Cinderella" books:
Gross, Ila Lane. CINDERELLA TALES FROM AROUND THE WORLD. ISBN 0971364915
Climo, Shirley. EGYPTIAN CINDERELLA. ISBN 0064432793

It would also go great with a unit about Texas as long as there are other books read to show that not all Texans are cowboys and live on a ranch.

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kimmel, Eric A. 1996. ONIONS AND GARLIC. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 0823412229

2. PLOT SUMMARY
This is a tale from Talmud about a boy named Getzel. Getzel was a kindhearted and trusting person. His brothers called him Getzel the Fool because every time he went to town with goods to trade, he would often sell his merchandise for less than what it was worth because he was so kind and trusting. His father eventually stopped letting him go to town to sell until he convinced his father to let him go away to sell something that was not worth much. His father agreed and sent him on a ship to sell onions. Getzel was not having any luck selling his onions. He was sent overboard by a storm that hit and ended up on an island. On the beach of the island were tons of diamonds. The people on this island had never heard of onions and thought they were invaluable. They sent Getzel home with one hundred sacks of diamonds, which were not very valuable there. When he got home his brothers were so impressed that they decided to go to this island with garlic. The king thought this was even more impressive and thought diamonds were not worth enough. So he sent them home with the most valuable thing on the island.....onions.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This old tale has great storytelling ability with its exciting action of the ship caught in the storm and the humorous twist at the end when the brothers receive onions in exchange for the garlic. Although it is still able to portray its lesson of greed. Kimmel makes sure to give information at the front of the book to tell where this version of the story is from and where he heard it. The illustrations add to the rustic feel of the book.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
From Publishers Weekly: "this traditional tale serves up a pungent lesson in greed and humility"
From School Library Journal: "Arnold's bright acrylic and watercolor pictures, outlined with heavy black lines, give a lighthearted tone to the story"

5. CONNECTIONS
Other Jewish Folktales:
Kimmel, Eric A. THE ADVENTURES OF HERSHEL OF OSTROPOL
Wisniewski, David. GOLEM
Silverman, Erica. RAISEL'S RIDDLE

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sierra, Judy. 2005. SCHOOLYARD RHYMES. New York: Random House. ISBN 0375825169

2. PLOT SUMMARY
This is a collection of rhymes and chants that can be heard by children on the playground around the world. They are silly and at times nonsensical, many of which I had chanted as a child or hear on the playground now with my students.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
These chants and rhymes all have great rhythm and rhyme that lends itself well to playing jump rope games and hand games. Not all of the rhymes were as I heard them, but I could tell which rhyme it was like. The illustrations in the book really add to the silliness of the rhymes and you can see the movement of them in the illustrations. The fun way they rhyme and the silly content make them irresistible to share with others and pass on to future generations.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
From School Library Journal: "The rhythms and nonsense rhymes are irresistible, compelling memorization and participation in the fun"
From Booklist: "Sweet's comical, mixed-media art adds to the wackiness of the rhymes"

5. CONNECTIONS
Other books of children's chants and rhymes:
Cole, Joanna. ANNA BANANA: 101 JUMP ROPE RHYMES.
Cole, Joanna. MISS MARY MACK AND OTHER CHILDREN'S STREET RHYMES

Picture Book Genre

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Willems, Mo. 2009. NAKED MOLE RAT GETS DRESSED. New York City, NY: Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN 142311437X

2. PLOT
This picture book is about a mole rat named Wilbur that, unlike the rest of his clan, enjoys wearing clothes. The other mole rats find this very odd and do not like it one bit. After failing to make him stop this madness with their teasing, they decide to take Wilbur to visit Grand-pah, whom they think is going to set Wilbur straight. Grand-pah surprises all of the mole rats and declares that it is okay for Wilbur, and any other mole rat that cares to, to wear clothes.

3. CRITICAL ANALySIS
This is a simple story that has a great message. The main character, Wilbur, is one that children can connect to and understand the problem that he is facing. Most children have been teased for something and can sympathize with how Wilbur feels.

The illustrations in this book are simple, but they seem to really add to the storyline and the emotions of the story. At one point in the story it says, "Wilbur thought that was a great idea. The other naked mole rats did not." The illustration of the other mole rats picking up Wilbur and carrying him off really adds to how much they did not like him opening a clothing store. In this story, Willems also uses a symbol to show emotion. He uses the squiggly line above their heads to show their frustration instead of using words. The squiggly line goes much further in showing their frustration that words could.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT
BOOKLIST Review: "An ongoing horizontal line lends continuity to most of the pages, occasionally curving to add simple architecture to the scenes.

5. CONNECTIONS
*This would be a great book to pair with a non-fiction book about mole rats. The students would be able to learn true facts about these fascinating characters.
*Show the students the part where he uses the symbol of a squiggly line to show emotion and brainstorm other symbols they could use in their writing to show othe emotions.
*Look at this non-fiction book about mole-rats:
Rake, Jody Sullivan. THE NAKED MOLE-RAT. ISBN 142961739X

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Marcus, Leonard S. 2001. SIDE BY SIDE. New York, NY: Walker & Company. ISBN 0802787789.

2. PLOT
This book features 5 authors and illustrators who have worked together to create picture books. Marcus shows the collaborative efforts for beloved books such as Louis and the Fish, The Glorious Flight, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Sam and the Tigers, and The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses. Marcus shows how each of these teams collaborated together to create their picture book.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In this book you are given a glimpse of what it takes to really make a picture book come to life and end up on the shelves. Each of the five stories showed different ways that authors and illustrators can collaborate. It showed that some teams work together for only a few books, like Yorinks and Egielski, and some work with each other for a life time, like Alice and Martin Provensen. The book also did a great job at showing the stages they take for making the book, which I find to be the most interesting part of the book. It showed how Egielski goes from thumbnail sketches to full sketches to the full colored page.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Publishers Weekly Review: "Readers snared by their interest in the teams behind favorites such as the Magic School Bus series and The Stinky Cheese Man will appreciate the insights into the inner workings of bookmaking, and may well end up appreciating the books more for the energy and ingenuity it takes to create them."

School Library Journal Review: "In this fascinating look at the collaborative process involved in creating picture books, Marcus examines how and why five different teams work together."

5. CONNECTIONS
*This would be a great book to use with an author study on one of the authors from this book. The students would get the opportunity to sort of see behind the scenes.

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Juster, Norton. 2005. THE HELLO, GOODBYE WINDOW. New York, NY: Scholastic, INC. ISBN 0439897505.


2. PLOT
This story is told from the perspective of a little girl going to her Nanna and Poppy's house. When she goes to see them, they have a ritual of waving to each other from a special window they call The Hello, Goodbye Window. Together, they play in the kitchen looking out the window and playing different games. At the end of her visit she is happy to go home, but sad to leaver her Nanna and Poppy. As she leaves, she waves goodbye to them from the special
window.


3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The author does a great job at portraying this story from a young child's eyes. It really adds to the simplistic nature of the story. It also helps the reader, most likely a young child, connect to the main character. The plot is also simplistic in nature, but has some deeper ideas that could be talked about, such as the ending notion of being both happy and sad at the same time.

The illustrations in the story are colorful, bright, and childlike. Not only do the words make you feel like this story is coming from a child, so do the illustrations. The pictures give you a warm feeling of love and family and really show the happiness that the main character is feeling while visiting her Nanna and Poppy.


4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Booklist Review: "More intrinsic is Juster's honest portrayal of a child's perceptions (a striped cat in the yard is a tiger) and emotions (being happy and sad at the same time "just happens that way sometimes")."


School Library Journal: "The artwork is at once lively and energetic, without crowding the story or the words on the page; the simple lines and squiggles of color suggest a child's own drawings, but this is the art of a masterful hand."


5. CONNECTIONS
*This book would be a great book to use during writing time and have the students think about a time when they visited someone that is important to them and to write their own story.
*Other books about visiting family to read:
Wild, Margaret. OUR GRANNY. ISBN 0395883954
Rylant, Cynthia. THE RELATIVES CAME. ISBN 0689717385