Module 3: Many Moons by James Thurber & Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig

Summary: Many Moons by James Thurber is about a princess named Lenore who is sick. She asks her dad, the king, to being her to moon so that she could get better. The king calls upon all of his subjects such as the Lord High Chamberlain, the royal wizard, and the royal mathematician but they all claim different reason as to why they cannot bring the moon to him. He calls for the Court Jester to explain his problem and the Court Jester figures out a solution. The Court Jester races to Lenore’s room to ask her how big and what she thinks the moon is made of. She tells him it is no bigger than her thumb nail and is made of gold. The Court Jester goes to the Royal Goldsmith to make a thumb nail made of gold to be put on a necklace for Lenore. He gives it to her and she feels so much better. The king is satisfied but only for a short while because soon Lenore will see that they moon is shining outside and it’s not actually on her necklace. He calls his royal subjects once again to help him think of how to hide the moon from Lenore. He sends them all away because none of them have acceptable answers. The Court Jester is summoned once again to figure out a solution. He runs up to Lenore’s room, who is staring at the moon outside, and asks her why the moon is shining when it’s around her neck. She tells the Jester that the moon has grown back like flowers do when they are cut. The Court Jester hadn’t thought of that and soon after Lenore falls asleep.   

Citation: Thurber, J. (1943) Many moons. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace & Company

Impressions: This story deserved to be a Caldecott winner. I have come to enjoy the simplicity of all of these stories. It has the same repetition scheme that I’ve noticed in most of the books. I think that these books are truly extraordinary for their cleverness. I hadn’t thought about the many ways the moon was portrayed. It listed many that were familiar to me as a child. The characters were light hearted and comical. I thought that the lists of things that the royal subjects has said were very detailed and funny. The drawings seemed minimal and there wasn’t much color either. Again, this is another trend for these books that I’ve noticed.

Reviews:

From School Library Journal                                       PreS-Gr 3-- Although the Caldecott-winning edition illustrated by Louis Slobodkin (HBJ, 1943) is the one that many parents and librarians grew up with, this new full-color version by Simont has a charm of its own. His illustrations are more modern in appearance, although the essentially periodless style of dress on the characters has the timeless look that this literary fairy tale demands. Backgrounds are generally sketchy, giving the characters center stage. The clever Jester, dressed in fool's motley, is still the only one of the King's advisors who has the sense to ask Princess Lenore just what she expects when she asks for the moon. The pompous Lord High Chamberlain, the skatty Wizard, and the absent-minded Mathematician are as helpless as ever, and the little princess with her common sense and gap-toothed smile is charming. This will delight a whole new generation of children. -- Cerny, R.  (2010). School Library Journal. Retrieved from Bowker Books in Print From Kirkus Reviews

The 1944 Caldecott winner is delightfully reillustrated by another Caldecott medalist. Slobodkin's facile impressionistic line is replaced by Simont's gentle caricatures--less elegant, perhaps, but a fine way to introduce this splendid, rather long story to new readers. Libraries will want to have both editions. Associates of Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus Review Online. Retrieved from Bowker Books in Print.

Suggestions: This book would be great to use during lessons about the moon. Children could dream up what they thought the moon was made out of and turn it into an activity to share among others. All of the Caldecott winners could be placed in a special area for a few weeks for students to become familiar and enjoy.

Summary: Sylvester Duncan enjoys collection pebbles. One gloomy day he finds a unique pebble. As he examines it he wishes for the rain to stop. The rain suddenly stops and Sylvester can’t believe his eyes. He gets so excited that he starts wishing for different things. He could not wait to get back home to show his parents the magic pebble. Upon returning home he spot a lion. Out of the many things to wish for he wishes to become a rock. The lion examines the rock claiming to have seen a donkey, Sylvester. Sylvester was stuck as a rock since he could not pick up the magic pebble. His parents questions the neighbors, go tot the police, ask all of the children, but no one has seen Sylvester. They send out a search party in hopes to find him but no luck. A month goes by and they start to lose hope in finding Sylvester. They tried to think about happy memories and move on with their lives. One day, they go on a picnic and decide to place their food on a rock. Sylvester’s dad finds a unique rock and places it on the rock. The Duncan’s start to eat and Sylvester suddenly appears after noticing the pebble on his back. The family is overjoyed and places the rock in a safe. They had gotten everything they ever wished for.    

Citation: Steig, W. (1969). Sylvester and the magic pebble. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers.   

Impressions: I know that it is early in the modules but this has become one of my favorite stories. It is a true tale of be careful what you wish for. I like that the characters were drawn as animals instead of humans. It reminded me of Napoleon from animal farm when I saw that the pigs were the police. The search dogs were very fitting as well. The drawings were much more detailed and there was a lot more use of color. I noticed that as each module passes the books become more and more detailed story wise and illustration wise.   

Reviews:

From Publishers Weekly

Thanks to the rediscovery of the original watercolor artwork, in preparation for an exhibit of William Steig's work (see Children's Bookshelf, Oct. 27), newly restored edition of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, complete with Steig's acceptance speech for the Caldecott Medal, makes the book look better than ever. This tale of a donkey who wishes on a magic pebble has charmed a generation of readers and will no doubt go on to attract a new one. Associates of Publishers Weekly. (November 21, 2005). Reviews. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved from Bowker Books in Print From the Publisher On a rainy day, Sylvester finds a magic pebble that can make wishes come true. But when a lion frightens him on his way home, Sylvester makes a wish that brings unexpected results. How Sylvester is eventually reunited with his loving family and restored to his true self makes a story that is beautifully tender and filled with true magic. Illustrated with William Steig's glowing pictures, this is a modern classic beloved by children everywhere. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is a winner of the Caldecott Medal. Retrieved from Amazon.com

Suggestions: This book could be used in a wish lesson. Sylvester did not intentionally wish to be a rock but it was the first thing that came to his head. I want to know what students wish for. There could be a wishing rock or tree set up in the library so that all students can participate and read their peers wish.

Module 2: Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett & Millions Of Cats by Wanda Gag

Summary: Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett is about a grandfather telling his grandchildren about a town Chewandswallow. The town existed some place far far away and what was unusual about the town was the weather. Each day the weather changed and instead of rain, snow, and fog, the sky gave the town their favorite foods! Each day would bring different entrees for breakfast and dinner. People would even save they food for a snack later. Each day the Sanitation Department would feed all of the cats and dogs before throwing the left over food into the ocean. One day, the weather took a turn for the worst. The townspeople could not live on the odd combinations of food falling from the sky. The last straw was the tornado of tomato and giant meatballs that destroyed the homes and schools. The townspeople decided to leave Chewandswallow and journey some place safe. That is when they found a new land without food weather and actual supermarkets. Grandpa’s story ended there and the kids went to bed. When they awoke in the morning, it had snowed. As they got dressed to go outside they noticed that the snow looked like of like mashed potatoes.  

Citation: Barrett, J. (1978). Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Impression: I had never read this book as a child. I did see parts of the movie and enjoyed it so I thought that I should read it for this module. I didn’t like that some of the pictures did not have any color. The lines were drawn very close together which created some great shading but I expected an array of colors. It kind of reminded me of Dr. Seuss and his artwork. Overall I thought that this book was entertaining and it should be a book that deserves great attention.  

Reviews:

From Kirkus Reviews

A flying pancake at breakfast triggers Grandpa's bedtime story set in the far-off land of Chewanswallow, where the food comes out of the sky and ""whatever the weather served, that was what they ate."" Most of the book consists of nothing more than elaborations on this conceit, with running menu information decked out in weather report terminology, but Judi Barrett's examples are nutty enough so that kids won't tire of the gag--even though Ron Barrett's flippy pop cartoons are too literal to enlarge it. The plot thickens with the maple syrup, and at last the portions grow so large that the people are being bombarded and buried by food--and so they all sail off on peanut-butter sandwiches to a land where food is purchased at the supermarket. A dubious improvement perhaps, but Grandpa's imaginings are very close to a little kid's funny bone--which everyone knows is located somewhere along the intestinal tract. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

From the Publisher

The tiny town of Chewandswallow was very much like any other tiny town except for its weather which came three times a day, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. But it never rained rain and it never snowed snow and it never blew just wind. It rained things like soup and juice. It snowed things like mashed potatoes. And sometimes the wind blew in storms of hamburgers. Life for the townspeople was delicious until the weather took a turn for the worse. The food got larger and larger and so did the portions. Chewandswallow was plagues by damaging floods and storms of huge food. The town was a mess and the pople feared for their lives. Something had to be done, and in a hurry.

 

Retrieved from Amazon.com

 

Suggestions: I like this book and how fun and entertaining the story was. I think that it would do well in a library by being displayed among an unusual weather theme. The theme in the library could change from week to week so that each subject gets recognition. There could be activities for students to part take in such as fun discussions on their favorite foods and what would their town’s weather be like.

Summary: Millions Of Cats by Wanda Gag is about an old woman who wants a cat. The old man, her husband, sets out on a journey to retrieve a special cat for his wife. When he come to a valley of cats he can’t decide which one to choose so he take all of them home. When he arrives home his wife tells him that they cannot take care of all of the cats. The old man says okay and decides to ask the cats “who is the prettiest cat?” in hopes that one cat would want to stay with the couple. All of the cats think they are the prettiest and end up eating each other up. One straggler stays alive because he does not think he is pretty. The couple takes him in and feeds him till he grows strong and pretty.  

Citation: Gag, W. (1928). New York, NY: G.P Putnam’s Sons.

Impressions: I thought that this book was very enjoyable. I am used to seeing more color in books these days so it strikes me as odd to see these books without color. I believe that these books are true classics for that reason because of their simplicity. The text often times rhymes or repeats which is great for younger readers.

Reviews: 

Amazon.com Review

Millions of Cats is a wonderful tale of vanity versus humility, written and illustrated by the singular Wanda Gag. An old man and his wife decide to get a cat, so the old man goes out in search of the prettiest cat of all. When he is forced to choose from "hundreds, thousands, millions and billions and trillions" of cats, he (naturally) brings them all home. When the wife points out their inability to support the legion of felines, it is left to the cats to decide who among them is the prettiest. Anyone who has ever owned more than a single cat can tell you what happens next. Gag's simple, appealing black ink drawings are perfect for the story, somehow capturing at least the idea of millions of cats in a single page. Repeated lines and the sing-song title refrain make this a read-aloud natural.(Ages 4 to 8) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

 

"This Newbery Honor winner is distinguished by innovative design and a strong storyteller's cadence." (School Library Journal's "One Hundred Books that Shaped the Century")
"A perennial favorite." (The New York Times)

Retrieved from Amazon.com

Suggestions: I think that this book could be promoted among books about cats. The display or theme could be showcased for animal projects or even pets. There could be various books about cats, dogs, turtles, hamsters, etc. It could even be placed on a display for classic books or classic black and white books.

Module 1: Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

Summary: Love You Forever by Robert Munsch is about how the love of a mother never changes as a child grows older. The story begins with the mother expressing her undying love to her son as a new born baby while rocking him in her arms. She sings him a lullaby “I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be” every night while he is asleep. The boy at the age of terrible 2 is at the stage in his life where he is exploring, wrecking the house, and making his mother go crazy. The story continues to the age of 9 where he learns terrible words and recites them to her. Then the child becomes a teenager where he obtains bizarre interests, interesting friends, and funny clothing. Lastly, the son becomes an adult and moves away. The mother expresses that she is frustrated with him along his life but no matter what she always ends up singing to him at night while he is asleep. The story ends with the elderly mother being rocked by her son who sings her the lullaby since she is no longer able to pick him up anymore. The son continues the tradition of his mother and sings to his new baby girl the same lullaby.

Citation: Munsch, R.N. (2000). Love you forever. Buffalo, NY: Fireflybooks.
Impression: There was some controversy on this book between the mother and child. People were saying that the mother was a little too creepy and some of the context was taken literally. I don't think that there is anything literal about her love. I believe that it is all metaphorical for the purpose of the book. The mother is not really watching her little boy sleep all night. She doesn't sliter like a snake into his room to watch him either. The author is just projecting the mother's love to an extreme to demonstrate to the reader how great that love is. The boy understands it and passes it on to his child. I'm sure the next generation will do the same.

Reviews:

Amazon.com Review

The mother sings to her sleeping baby: "I'll love you forever / I'll love you for always / As long as I'm living / My baby you'll be." She still sings the same song when her baby has turned into a fractious 2-year-old, a slovenly 9-year-old, and then a raucous teen. So far so ordinary--but this is one persistent lady. When her son grows up and leaves home, she takes to driving across town with a ladder on the car roof, climbing through her grown son's window, and rocking the sleeping man in the same way. Then, inevitably, the day comes when she's too old and sick to hold him, and the roles are at last reversed. Each stage is illustrated by one of Sheila McGraw's comic and yet poignant pastels. (Ages 4 to 8) --Richard Farr --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

The one book that has the most meaning to me. (David Maloof Boston Globe 20020915)

There is a powerful, age-old resonance to the story, centered on that intangible, steadfast bond between mother and child. (Shelley Fralic National Post 20060515)

No one can read this without the tears falling. (Sharon Owen Madera Tribune 20030508)

There are certain books about a parent's unconditional love for a child that are timeless--and this is one of them. (Baltimore's Child 20100120)

One of my all-time favorites... I dare anyone to read this story and not shed at least one tear. (Dana Lenetz Forbes 20100420)

A humorous, sentimental page-turner that rarely - let's say never -- leaves a reader with a dry eye. (Gayle MacDonald Globe and Mail 20061101)

 

Retrieved from Amazon.com

Suggestion: This book is great for story times because the librarian can tie in an overall theme of books that have to do with having a new baby, family, or growing up. I could choose for example You were loved before you were born by Eve Bunting and Karen Barbour for example to continue this theme and so on.