Picture Book: The Race to the Beach

Title: A Race to the Beach
Author: Anna Shuttlewood
Publication: 2015

The Race to the Beach is an illustrated children's book about a diverse group of animals racing to the beach. Crocodile encounters a problem and Giraffe saves the day by helping him. Personally, I really enjoyed this book and made me reminisce about my times at the beach this past summer. I think this book would be a really great segue into summer for my children during the last bit of the school year. I could use this as a mentor text to get them thinking creatively about a writing workshop on "summer."

I also think this book would be helpful to get the students familiar with all the different types of animals. The author presents a story that uses a large array of animals, from big to small. This book is not as educational as Turtle Tracks and The Kid from Diamond Street but it is a more fun, pleasurable book for readers. This book lacks the educational component compared to the other books in my first two blogs, however it has a more light-hearted message.

Specifically, Shuttlewood uses certain techniques to help her writing come off more powerful to the reader. She uses alliteration with the "s" sound in her writing, "His scaly legs splashes through the water. His swishy tail moved side to side through the waves" (Shuttlewood). When reading this section out loud, the reader can almost feel the animal moving through the water. The reader also feels as if he or she is going along for a swim with the animals because of the cadence and alliteration in the sentences. The "s" sound here really creates this idea of motion, to add on to the effect of the beach story.

As Tunnell and Jacobs said in their article on "How to Recognize a Well-Written Book," music in language is key. Shuttlewood accomplishes this in her text through alliteration, sentence structure and cadence. As Tunnell writes, "The sounds of words increase the appeal and strength of a story as they blend together, create emphasis, repeat tones, establish patterns, provide a cadence, and add variety" (Tunnell, 23). Shuttlewood accurately creates all of these effects in her book, The Race to the Beach, making it a more enjoyable, fun and swimmingly suitable book for the reader.                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Novel Series Book: Clarice Bean Spells Trouble

Book: Clarice Bean Spells Trouble
Author: Lauren Child
Publication: 2004

For my novel series book, I chose Clarice Bean Spells Trouble, about a young girl and her life events, anything from preparing for the school play, to watching her favorite TV detective Ruby Redfort, or struggling to keep her friendships in order. I really enjoyed this book because I found it to be lighthearted and an easy read - something I would have picked up as a kid because I loved fun, easy reads. This book is great for the reader who wants a more leisure style book and not something so in-depth and educational.

Lauren Child's style of writing is very laid back and almost kiddish in nature, using words such as "sort of" and "like" often. The author even uses words that the main character makes up, giving it that youthful feel. Child takes on a stream-of-consciousness type approach to her writing, where is sounds as if Clarice Bean is just writing her thoughts down on paper. It's almost as if the reader is basically seeing inside the main character's head and able to experience everything she is thinking. To give you a better idea, here is a quote from the book, where Clarice Bean is reminiscing about playing a carrot in the play last year.

"I have no interest in playing a speaking vegetable. It's not realistic. I don't mind people using their imaginations to come up with strange and unusual things but this is not interesting because who wants to know what a carrot would say if it could talk? The answer is no one, that's who, because a carrot has spent its whole life underground, in the dark, growing into a carrot. And then it gets picked - so it has nothing to say for itself. It has not had an interesting life. Even if it has met a worm" (Child, 36). 

Not only is Child's book fun and easy to read, but she also adds small educational components to make the book a learning piece. Child adds spelling, dictionary word references, and even life lessons into the book, without the reader really knowing it. Child uses Ruby Redfort, the main character's favorite television detective, to weave morals into the overall story. The reader is focusing on the episodes of the show and doesn't even realize there is this "ah-ha" moment at the end. For example, in Chapter 15, in one of the episodes Ruby Redfort says, "Never let a good pal down." This quote helps the main character, Clarice, solve her problems with a friend. The reader can also use this as a take-away and apply the lessons to his or her own life.

Historical Fiction Picture Book: The Kid from Diamond Street

Title: The Kid from Diamond Street
Author: Audrey Vernick
Publication: 2016

When trying to summarize this book, writer Audrey Vernick does it well in her "Note from the Author" section of her book. She says, "Baseball isn't just numbers and statistics, men and boys. Baseball is also ten-year-old girls, marching across a city to try out for a team intended for players twice their age" (Vernick).

Personally, being both a female and an athlete, I was particularly drawn to this book because of the protagonist, Edith Houghton, a famous female baseball player. She defies odds by joining the female baseball team of women much older than her. In the era she was born, women were not known to play baseball. So by her playing and being good, she proved people and the status-quo wrong. I am all about female empowerment and defying the odds and showing people that women can be just as talented as men in sports. In particular, this book relates to my personal motto and resonated with me as an athlete and female. I hope other readers can gain a sense of "you can do anything you but your mind to" attitude, while also realizing that stereotypes like, baseball = men, are flexible and changeable.

Some of the elements I like most about the book were the ways Vernick ingeniously weaves in historical context with the storyline to give the reader a better understanding of what life was like during the early 1900's. Similarly to the Turtle Tracks book I posted about in my first blog post, Vernick adds a more in-dept detailed description of Edith Houghton at the end of the book to give the reader more information about the protagonist. By leaving the smaller details and facts for the appendix, Vernick is able to tell a more gripping and interesting story. Lastly, the element that stood out to me the most was the delicate, detailed, and beautifully drawn illustrations. The photos really catch your eye and keep the reader enticed to keep turning the pages of the book. I would love to use this book in my classroom to teach my kids about a historical figure, while also giving them an interesting story line, and helping them learn to reach for the stars.

Above, one of the beautiful illustrations I spoke of in my critique. 

Picture Book: Turtle Tracks

 

Title: Turtle Tracks
Author: Sue Trew
Publication: 2013

I purchased Turtle Tracks while on summer vacation in Antigua. It is about the regional turtles of the area, hawksbill turtles, and their nesting habits. I really enjoyed reading this book and think it can be a very informative text for readers. As a kid, adult or life-long learner, anyone can appreciate the beautiful drawings and explanatory writing of the picture book. The author is a Barbadian artist and writer whose purpose is to help inform others about local wildlife and nature, like the hawksbill turtle.

The author is especially good at making the story interesting, lined with an informative lesson. As Tunnell's Article, "How to Recognize a Well-Written Book," states about how to recognize good writing skills, "In good books, the story in primary and the lessons are secondary" (Tunnell, 26). Trew intricately intertwines an enjoyable story of a mother laying her eggs and the baby turtles hatching with small details that provide an educational component. In addition, Trew adds discussion facts at the end of the book to elaborate in detail about turtles. By doing this, the reader will be able to go to the end of the book to learn more about turtles and Trew's story-telling is not impaired by to much information.

For me, turtles have always been my favorite animal, and I think by reading about them and their nesting habits, one can learn to appreciate the beautiful process of their reproduction. By reading and learning more about turtle's and their lifestyle, I believe readers can come to better understand and maybe even protect turtles' lives. They will be more aware of potential sea turtle nesting sites while at the beach and conserving the oceans to protect sea life.