Pool

Author: JiHyeon Lee 

Publication Date: 2013

Type of Book: Wordless Picture Book 

This picture book told the story of a young boy who goes to the town pool. He is all ready to go swimming when a swarm of townspeople come barging into the pool. Soon the pool is filled from one end to the other with people of all shapes and sizes. The little boy uses the small section that isn't filled to go down into the water away from the chaos. Under the water he meets a little girl and together they have a wonderful time exploring the bottom of the pool. They see all different types of mystical creatures, some large and some small. When it is time to get out of the pool the townspeople are all sad and don't want to leave but the two children are content because they had experienced something wonderful. They even took a shell as a souvenir. 

I really loved how the illustrations were drawn using only colored pencil. The colors stood out really well against the simple baby blue background of the water. I liked how this story showed just how large a children's imagination can be. This little boy could have looked at the unfortunate situation of the pool being overcrowded and walked away. Instead the little boy found a way to escape the crowd and enjoy the time he had in the pool. The creatures they ran into while swimming were also very unique and creative. 

I would recommend this story to children of any grade level. There is a lot that could be done with this story. Children could do a writing or art project about a time they had an adventure. They could also work on a writing assignment where they could pretend to be marine biologist and write about the different creatures from the book and tell readers all about them. This could also just be used as a fun read aloud with the class. 

Image References

http://thispicturebooklife.com/pool-by-jihyeon-lee-pool-floats/

Unspoken

Author: Henry Cole
Publication Date: 2012
Type of Book: Wordless Picture Book

This wordless picture book tells the story of a young girl who lives during the time of slavery. She lives and works on her families farm. She is spooked one day when she sees someone in the stacks of corn stalks in the barn. She doesn't tell anyone that she saw something but she keeps going back to get a better look. During dinner she stashes some of the food in a napkin and brings it to the barn and leaves it outside of the cornstalks in hopes that the person hiding would eat it. One day she is listening in to the adults in the room talking about an escaped slave. The little girl knows that the person hiding in her families barn is the slave but she doesn't turn them in. When she goes back out to the barn later that night she finds a doll outside of the cornstalks were she was leaving food for the stranger each night and knows that they have moved to another hiding place.

The story told in this picture book was very interesting. I was personally surprised that the little girl didn't tell her family that she thought someone was living in their barn. I would have been so scared if I saw someone that I would have screamed. The girl is so kind and keeps bringing the stranger food because she knows that they must be hungry. I was also surprised that the little girl didn't turn the slave in for the reward. I felt that in the end since the little girl never turned the slave in, the reward she received was the doll given to her by the slave. This was a perfectly good reward for the young girl. I also really loved the illustrations in the story. The pictures all looked like they were sketched using a pencil. They were so detailed yet very simple all at the same time. It wasn't overwhelming looking at the images but they did a fantastic job in telling the story.

I would recommend this story to anyone learning about the underground railroad or slavery. This book doesn't tell you what to think because it is wordless, so students really have an opportunity to use what they know about this time to help interpret the book. This book should definitely be looked at more than once because there are so many conclusions you can come to each time you read it. I didn't even make the connection the first time that this little girl was participating in the underground railroad. Even though this is mentioned on the cover page, I didn't even think about it while reading the story the first time around.

Image References
http://www.amazon.com/Unspoken-Story-From-Underground-Railroad/dp/0545399971

BlueBird

Author: Bob Staake
Publication Date: 2013
Type of Book: Wordless Picture Book

This story is about a young boy who is very lonely. He is bullied by boys at school and doesn't have any friends. One day he notices this little bluebird that had been following him. The boy and the bluebird became friends and had many fun adventures. This story ends tragically when the bluebird is killed by the bullies. The boy is then lifted up into the sky by birds of all different colors so he can bring his friend to heaven.

This was a very powerful picture book but do NOT read it unless you want to be depressed for the rest of the day. When I first started reading this story I was thinking how sad it was because the boy had no friends and he was being bullied at school. Then this little bluebird came around and befriended the little boy. They had so much fun together and I was so happy for the little boy. Then thats when everything went downhill. The boy and the bird ran into the bullies and they killed the bird when they threw a stick and it hit the bird. I did not expect this to happen! I was shocked and so sad because I couldn't believe the bird was actually dead. Then it became a little more uplifting when birds of all different colors came and carried the boy up to the sky, so the he could bring his friend to heaven. This book was very intense for a picture book so I would make sure the audience you read it to is mature enough to handle the topics brought up.

Since this is a wordless picture book I would use recommend this book  for small groups. Students could work in their groups to interpret the book and use a graphic organizer if necessary. Once they finish the story the whole class could get together and discuss what the different groups thought the story was about. They can also discuss why they came to the conclusions they did. This book can be used for any grade level but if it is used in lower elementary school the teacher should make sure their students will be okay handling the topic of death.

Image References
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15799165-bluebird

The Ride

Author: Kitty Griffin
Publication Date: 2010
Type of Book: Historical Fiction Picture Book

This historical fiction book tells the story about the legend of Betsy Dowdy. Betsy lived during the time of the Revolution. When word got out that the redcoats were coming to Great Bridge to take supplies, Betsy knew she had to do something. The only person who could stop them was General Skinner and his militia but his camp was very far away. Betsy took the initiative to go tell General Skinner the news herself even though the ride was very treacherous. Once Betsy made it to General Skinner's camp she warned him of the redcoats coming and he prepared to fight. In the end the colonial soldiers won defeating the British troops.

My favorite part of this picture book was the illustrations. The images were drawn in way that resembled water colors. Each page had images that were very bright and colorful. The pictures were very descriptive which is helpful for readers who are struggling with the text. One aspect of the book that made it more challenging was the choice of words. A lot of the vocabulary was specific to the time period and horse back riding. This made it challenging to understand some parts of the text because I didn't know what all of the words meant. Overall I really liked the message behind the story which was, there is always something you can do to help.

I would recommend this story to upper elementary school students. As I previously mentioned some of the vocabulary words were challenging, so younger students wouldn't be able to make sense of the text on their own. Sine there are a lot of tricky words the teacher could write down words that the students didn't know during the read aloud. Then at the end of the story the students could work on figuring out the definitions of the unknown words. The teacher could also use this story to introduce students to legends since it is based on the famous legend of Betsy Dowdy.

Image References
http://www.amazon.com/The-Ride-Legend-Betsy-Dowdy/dp/1416928162

Lillian's Right To Vote

Author: Jonah Winter & Shane W. Evans
Publication Date: 2015
Type of Book: Historical Fiction Picture Book

This book is about an African American woman named Lillian. Lillian has lived for a very long time and during those years she has seen the struggle African Americans have faced, especially when it comes to voting. Lillian reminisces about the struggles faced by African Americans during this time and those brave individuals who pledged to make a difference. The story ends with Lillian finally getting to vote as a full fledge American citizen.

This story provided readers with a lot of information about the struggle African Americans faced regarding the right to vote. The authors packed a lot of important information into the pages of this book. I wasn't the biggest fan of the illustrations. It was an interesting type of art that didn't really appeal to me. I am a bigger fan of crisp images. I did however like how some of the information presented in the story was repeated more than once. This way readers would hear it again and this would help them remember it. It was interesting how the story was written in a timeline format, but it went back and forth between the past and present. The story had so much information on each page that it was exhausting at some points, but this was helpful in showing the tiring struggle African Americans felt on the road to being able to vote.

I would recommend this story to students in upper elementary school and up. There is just a lot of information in this story that students who are younger wouldn't understand. Before students can read this book and truly understand it they have to have strong reading skills. What could help students understand the information in this story is to create a timeline while reading. This visual could help students see how long it took for everyone to have the right to vote.

Image References:
http://www.amazon.com/Lillians-Right-Vote-Celebration-Voting/dp/0385390289

Henry's Freedom Box

Author: Ellen Levine
Publication Date: 2007
Type of Book: Historical Fiction Picture Book

Henry's Freedom Box is a historical fiction picture book about a little boy who grew up as a slave. When he was just a young boy he was sold to another master and separated from his mother. Later in his life he met a women who he eventually married. They had three children together and were fortunate enough to live together even though they had different masters. One day Henry received the horrible news that his wife and children had been sold. Henry lost everything that mattered to him and decided he couldn't live as a salve anymore. With the help of a white doctor they crafted a plan to help Henry escape slavery for good. They packed up Henry in a box with a shipping address of Philadelphia. After a long journey Henry arrived in Philadelphia and was a free man.

The most distinct quality of this book is the illustrations. The people are all drawn using crosshatching. I had never seen illustrations like this before. The illustrations also did a good job in portraying the sadness felt by the characters. This story really showed readers what life was like for someone brought up in slavery. My heart felt so heavy for Henry and his family. They couldn't help that they were African American, yet they were punished for it anyways. Their lives weren't their own and they were in constant fear of being separated and sold.

I would recommend this book for students of any age. This is a wonderful text to teach about slavery and the Underground Railroad. The text may be too challenging for younger elementary school students  to read on their own, so that is why a read aloud would be best. Even though the words are complex the message can be understood as long as the teacher provides background information and time to ask and discuss questions. In upper elementary school the students can read this on their own or in groups and use it to support their learning about this time period.

Image References
http://www.amazon.com/Henrys-Freedom-Box-Underground-Railroad/dp/043977733X

Bud, Not Buddy

Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
Publication Date: 2002
Type of Book: Historical Fiction Novel

Bud, Not Buddy is a novel about a young boy named Bud. Bud is alone in the world with no family to call his own. His only possessions are the memorabilia of his mother that he carries around with him in his suitcase. Since Bud's mother died when he was 6 years old, he has been taking care of himself and living in and out of homes for children with no family. Bud is determined to find his father and thinks he knows just who it is. After a long tiresome journey to see his father, Bud and the rest of the people he meets at his final destination unravel a crazy truth. Bud's mother always told him that when one door closes another door opens. In the end of the story, Bud is very excited to see what this new open door will hold for him.

This story was not my favorite book I've read but it also wasn't the worst. As I was reading I felt so horrible for Bud because of his sad living situation. It breaks my heart to think that some children lived like that and that they still do today. I did like that the story had a happy ending and all of the questions you had along the way were finally answered. The text was interesting in some parts because it was written in slang terms. It was helpful that in the end of the book the author included an afterword that explained more about the story. It was neat how pictures were included as well. While reading you develop images in your mind of what the characters look like, so it is interesting to see how your mental images compare to the real thing.

I would recommend this book to upper elementary school students as a book the whole class reads. Since the story takes place in history many students may have a lot of questions. What would be helpful is that students either read chapters on their own or with groups and then come together to discuss what they read. This would provide students with an opportunity to discuss and further their understanding of the text.

Image References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud,_Not_Buddy