Lightning

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simon, Seymour. 1997. LIGHTNING. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-688-14639-2.

PLOT SUMMARY

The dramatic weather phenomenon, lightning, is explored in this book. Facts about lightning and safety tips are presented accompanied by photographs of various types of lightning.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This photo essay book about lightning by Seymour Simon is packed with brilliant, exciting photos of lightning bolts in a variety of settings. Simon's explanations include references to objects that children can readily identify and that give them perspective on the size and power of lightning. For example, he says, "A single lightning bolt travels through twisted paths in the air about as wide as one of your fingers and from six to ten miles long." "...it pulses with hundreds of millions of volts and billions of watts, as much power as there is in all the electrical generating plants in the United States...." The author includes a little history (Ben Franklin and his kite experiment) and safety precautions to observe if you are outdoors during a lightning storm ("...crouch down with you hands off the ground and become 'a basketball with legs.'"). Although Lightning does not include a bibliography, Simon's reputation as a prolific author of over 250 nonfiction books for children, and his 23 years of experience as a science teacher vouch for the accuracy of the facts presented. The vivid photographs and engaging writing style of Lightning make this a science book that will enthrall young readers.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

School Library Journal: "Short, simple sentences make this topic accessible to younger readers but do not talk down to older report writers."

Booklist: "The subject is exciting, the information is amazing, and the full-color photographs are riveting, each spectacular picture more exciting than the last."

CONNECTIONS

>Watch a video or DVD of a lightning storm. Describe what you see using the vocabulary from Seymour Simon's book, Lightning.

>Discuss safety strategies one might use if caught outdoors during a lightning storm.

Michelangelo

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Stanley, Diane. 2000. MICHELANGELO. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-688-15086-1.

PLOT SUMMARY
Michelangelo, artist, sculptor, poet, and architect, was born into genteel poverty in Caprese, Italy in 1475. From infancy, he was left in the care of a stonecutter's wife until he was ten years old. This experience ignited his passion for the art of sculpture. For the next seventy-nine years, Michelangelo lived the life of a true Renaissance man. At the behest of popes and wealthy noblemen, he created enduring works of art until his death at age eighty-nine in 1564.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Diane Stanley's award-winning style is evident in the Orbis Pictus Honor Book, Michelangelo. She traces the long, incredible life of the Renaissance artist from his humble birth to his death in a very readable way. Stanley includes interesting pieces of information about Michelangelo's personality that make him human and accessible. For example, he was prideful, quick-tempered, and did not make friends easily until his later years.

Stanley illustrates her biography in an innovative way. She uses the Adobe Photoshop program to insert actual photos of Michelangelo's sculptures into her own watercolor scenes of the Maestro at work. This creates an almost 3D effect in the illustrations. Another visual access feature of the book is a colorful rendition of a map of Italy in Michelangelo's time. This is accompanied by the author's note that provides background material on the Italian Renaissance at the end of the Middle Ages. At the conclusion of the book is a brief bibliography and photo credits. Stanley's attention to detail in her illustrations, for example the dress and architecture of the time, is historically accurate and lends authenticity to her biography of the Renaissance Maestro, Michelangelo.

AWARDS
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year 2000
ABC Children's Booksellers Choices Awards 2001

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Publishers Weekly: "There is no one like Stanley (Leonardo da Vinci; Joan of Arc) for picture-book biography as she brings to the genre an uncanny ability to clarify and compress dense and tricky historical matter, scrupulous attention to visual and verbal nuances, and a self-fulfilling faith in her readers' intelligence. "

Booklist: "Stanley continues her series of outstanding biographies, but this time she puts a new twist on some venerable art by using computer images."

CONNECTIONS
>Read Complete Poems and Selected Letters of Michelangelo translated by Creighton Gilbert and edited by Robert N. Linscott to learn about the other passions in Michelangelo's life.
>Read Diane Stanley's biography of Leonardo da Vinci. Compare his life, artistic and personal, to that of Michelangelo.

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Murphy, Jim. 2003. AN AMERICAN PLAGUE: THE TRUE AND TERRIFYING STORY OF THE YELLOW FEVER EPIDEMIC OF 1793. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN 0-395-77608-2.

PLOT SUMMARY
This book tells the story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 in Philadelphia. President George Washington and other government officials live and work in Philadelphia, the temporary capital of the new nation. The long drought and primitive sanitation practices of the day have combined to foster conditions that are conducive to the spread of yellow fever. President Washington and Congress are wrestling with a variety of issues including the question of America’s involvement in the war between the French and the British. As the yellow fever epidemic spreads from the waterfront area of Philadelphia to the entire city, citizens, including local, state, and national government officials, leave town to escape the contagion. This exodus cripples the city’s ability to handle the crisis. Among the brave people who stay behind to tend to the sick, are the members of the Free African Society. In due time, the epidemic runs its course, the citizens return, and life continues.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Jim Murphy has written a gripping account of the yellow fever epidemic in 1793 Philadelphia. The accuracy of Murphy’s information is substantiated by an extensive list of sources in the back of the book. The sources are arranged conveniently into broad categories including "Firsthand Accounts: Nonmedical", "Firsthand Accounts: Medical", "All About Yellow Fever", "Blacks in Philadelphia", and "Other Plagues". A table of contents, a word about the illustrations and an index are other verbal access features included in Murphy’s book.

Murphy blends elements of science, medicine, history and politics into an inviting and readable story. The illustrations in the book are black and white reproductions of art from the period and facsimiles of maps and newspaper articles. These enhance and complement the text and lend authority to the account of this terrible time in Philadelphia history. The author closes An American Plague with a thought-provoking chapter about malaria - "A Modern-Day Time Bomb". Readers will want to investigate the sources in the back of the book to learn more about mankind’s delicately balanced relationship with the environment in which we live.

AWARDS
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year 2003
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award 2004
ALA Notable Books for Children 2004
NCTE Orbis Pictus Award 2004
Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards 2004
James Madison Book Award 2004

REVIEW EXCERPTS
School Library Journal: "Murphy chronicles this frightening time with solid research and a flair for weaving facts into fascinating stories, beginning with the fever’s emergence on August 3, when a young French sailor died in Richard Denny’s boardinghouse on North Water Street."
Publishers Weekly: "Archival photographs and facsimiles of documents bring the story to life, and a list of further reading points those interested in learning more in the right direction."

CONNECTIONS
>List the environmental, living, and social conditions of Philadelphia in 1793 and compare them to a present day region like Brazil, Paraguay, or Argentina where new outbreaks of yellow fever were reported in January 2008 according to the World Health Organization. (for one example see the following link - http://www.who.int/csr/don/2008_02_07/en/index.html )
>Pair this book with a fictional account like Paul Fleischman’s Path of the Pale Horse or Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. Compare and contrast the writing styles present in a fiction versus a non-fiction book.

Out of the Dust

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hesse, Karen. 1997. OUT OF THE DUST. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 0-590-36080-9.

PLOT SUMMARY
Billie Jo, age fourteen, struggles to survive the Great Depression and the Oklahoma dustbowl in the mid-1930s. She blames her father for the fiery accident that killed her mother and unborn brother. Her hands were burned severely in the incident, and she was robbed of her ability to play the piano. After a brief sojourn on a westbound train, Billie Jo returns to life on the family farm and reconciles with her father.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Karen Hesse's acclaimed novel, Out of the Dust, reads like a journal. The free verse poems are dated to indicate the passage of time. The poems are titled, complete works individually and differ from each other in form and length. Although the book contains no illustrations, Hesse uses well-chosen, descriptive words to paint vivid images of her tragic, downtrodden characters and the bleak landscape of the Oklahoma dustbowl in the 1930s. In "First Rain", she evokes the personal misery of Billie Jo's dust-filled existence, "Restless,/I tangle in the dusty sheets,/sending the sand flying,/cursing the grit against my skin,/between my teeth,/under my lids,/swearing I'll leave this forsaken place." The brevity of the shorter poems makes the reader feel the emotion of the words in an almost visceral way. The most striking example of this is "Broken Promise" - "It rained/a little/everywhere/but here." Some poems lend a historical perspective to the narrative by featuring real events like the birth of the Dionne quintuplets, FDR's birthday celebration, and the volcanic eruption of Kilauea in Hawaii. With each free verse entry in Billie Jo's life, Karen Hesse draws in the reader to share the joys, sorrows, hopes, and dreams of this remarkable girl.

AWARDS
Newbery Medal - 1998
ALA Notable Books for Children - 1998
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year Award - 1997
Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award - 1998
ABC Children's Booksellers Choices Awards - 1998
REVIEW EXCERPTS

Publishers Weekly (starred review): "This intimate novel, written in stanza form, poetically conveys the heat, dust, and wind of Oklahoma along with the discontent of narrator Billie Jo, a talented pianist growing up during the Depression."

Booklist: "The entire novel is written in very readable blank verse, a superb choice for bringing out the exquisite agony and delight to be found in such a difficult period lived by such a vibrant character."

CONNECTIONS

>Read this book in conjunction with a history lesson on the Oklahoma dustbowl.

>Study the factors, like the removal of the sod and the weather conditions, that led to the dustbowl.

>Look for areas of the world that are currently experiencing conditions similar to that of the 1930s Oklahoma dustbowl.

Stepping Out with Grandma Mac

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grimes, Nikki. 2001. STEPPING OUT WITH GRANDMA MAC. New York: Orchard Books - an imprint of Scholastic, Incorporated. ISBN 0-531-30320-9.

PLOT SUMMARY
A 10-year-old girl learns many valuable life lessons from her Grandma Mac. Grandma Mac is somewhat aloof and very proper, and she takes her job as rolemodel very seriously. She instructs her granddaughter by personal example about the intrinsic value of education, good-quality clothes, and etiquette.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Nikki Grimes' delightful tale of the relationship between a 10-year-old girl and her grandmother is played out through a compilation of 20 poems. A table of contents provides a list of the titles of the individual poems. Although the poems written from the granddaughter's perspective are capable of standing alone, there is a natural progression from one poem to the next that exemplifies the evolution of the relationship between the two characters. Three poems placed one after the other towards the end of the book serve as a turning point in the girl's perception of Grandma Mac. "Duet", "Grandma's Gloves", and "Keeping Secrets" each relate in exquisitely expressive language a facet of the grandmother's life of which the girl was unaware. In particular, "Grandma's Gloves" speaks poignantly of the gloves "worn and warm-/all loyal to the form/of work-weary hands/that have spared/Mom and me/more hard times/than we know." The simple vocabulary and short lines of the poetry give it a conversational quality.

Black-and-white pencil drawings by Angelo are used sparingly but to great affect in Grimes' book. The illustrations are almost photographic in quality, and the effect suggests that one is looking at a family photo album. The facial expressions and body-language of Grandma Mac and her granddaughter speak volumes about their personalities.

Stepping Out with Grandma Mac is presented in a slender, manageable size that even the most reluctant poetry reader will find appealing. Grimes' window into the strong, loving relationship between the girl and her grandmother may encourage children to share this reading experience within their own families.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
School Library Journal: "Simple metaphors and carefully chosen vocabulary make these selections read more like conversations that formal poems."

Booklist: "Angelo's black-and-white photorealistic illustrations in soft pencil are as hands-off as the words, just a glimpse of two strong people and their connection."

CONNECTIONS

>Make a list on a large piece of paper of all the titles of the poems in Stepping Out with Grandma Mac. Have each child in the group write their name next to every poem to which they can relate. Tally the results and discuss two or three of the most "popular" poems.

>Visit Nikki Grimes' website which includes a teacher's guide for another poetry compilation entitled Oh, Brother! about the relationship between stepbrothers in a newly blended family.

Insectlopedia

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Florian, Douglas. 1998. INSECTLOPEDIA. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company. ISBN 0-15-201306-7.

PLOT SUMMARY
This book is a topical collection of 21 poems about insects with accompanying illustrations by the poet.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Insectlopedia presents a whimsical look at 21 different insects including mosquitoes, termites, and ticks. Douglas Florian opens the book with a table of contents that enables readers to find a particular poem about their favorite bug. Each poem is varied in its verse form to suit the characteristics of the subject. For example, "The Inchworm" is a shaped or concrete poem in which the words form the shape of a bowed-up inchworm. The clever arrangement of the words in the opening lines of "The Army Ants" suggests the left/right, left/right movement of marching feet. In some poems, certain words are printed in boldface to create puns or a play-on-words. "The Dragonfly" is called the demon of skies, and "The Praying Mantis" swallows its victims religiously. The poet uses words sparingly in "The Walkingstick" and "The Mosquito" to suggest the minimal physical presence of these two insects. Each poem contains a similar use of language and sound to enhance the connection of the words to the subject.

Each poem is placed on a large white page facing the accompanying illustration on the opposite page. Florian constructs collages made of ink drawings and watercolor paintings with cutout letters to illustrate the subject of each poem. He cleverly inserts human elements into his illustrations such as the Father's Day card in "The Giant Water Bug" and hand-weights in "The Daddy Longlegs". The overall effect of the poetic and artistic elements produces a delightful anthology about a familiar topic for kids age 5-10.

AWARDS

ALA Notable Books for Children - 1999

Beehive Children's Poetry Book Award - 2002

ABC Children's Booksellers Choices Awards - 1999

REVIEW EXCERPTS

School Library Journal: "The words are arranged in pleasing patterns and the rhythms fit the characteristics of the subjects."

Booklist: "The artwork consists of collages of drawn and painted images and printed letters on paper that is cut and juxtaposed for effect."

CONNECTIONS

>Read other books of poetry by Douglas Florian such as beast feast, on the wing, and in the swim.

>Look at photographs of the insects represented in Insectlopedia and compare/contrast these images with Florian's artwork.