The Right Word

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sweet, M. (2014). Right word - roget and his thesaurus. William B Eerdmans Publishing.

PLOT SUMMARY
For shy young Peter Mark Roget, books were the best companions -- and it wasn’t long before Peter began writing his own book. But he didn’t write stories; he wrote lists. Peter took his love for words and turned it to organizing ideas and finding exactly the right word to express just what he thought. His lists grew and grew, eventually turning into one of the most important reference books of all time.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This biography and story of Peter Roget tells of his many lists that began as a young child. The illustrations are a feast for childrens’ eyes with sometimes too much to see from cover to cover. The pages are filled with collages of all sorts displaying just the right amount of information about Roget for children to get a sense of his accomplishments as a young creator.
The style of writing is neither too complicated nor simplistic for readers. The bonuses at the end include a detailed chronological time-line as well as lengthy author’s note and illustrator’s note that provide more value. A great addition to any classroom.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Booklist starred (August 2014 (Vol. 110, No. 22))
Grades K-3. Bryant’s and Sweet’s talents combine to make the lowly thesaurus fascinating in this beautifully illustrated picture-book biography of Peter Mark Roget. In brilliant pages teeming with enthusiasm for language and learning, Bryant and Sweet (A Splash of Red, 2013) joyfully celebrate curiosity, the love of knowledge, and the power of words.

Publishers Weekly (July 7, 2014)
Sweet envisions Roget's work as a shadow box crammed with the wonders of the natural world, adorned with exuberant hand-lettered typography. Together with Bryant's sympathetic account, Sweet's gentle riot of images and words humanizes the man behind this ubiquitous reference work and demystifies the thesaurus itself.

School Library Journal (October 1, 2014)
Expertly researched and well written, Bryant's narrative not only details the creation of the thesaurus; it also conveys a sense of Roget the man: his shy nature, his keen intelligence, and his passion for knowledge. There truly was a particular blend of artistry and intellect that went into Roget's book, as evidenced from a reproduced page from the original thesaurus. The book contains extensive back matter, including an incredibly detailed time line that goes into the man's other inventions (the slide rule, the pocket chess set) and an author and illustrator's note, as well as Roget quotations that are sure to inspire if not a love of language then at least a search for the perfect turn of phrase. An excellent illustrated biography.

AWARDS
·         Booklist starred, 08/01/14
·         Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 11/01/14
·         Caldecott Honor, 2015
·         Christian Library Journal, 09/01/15
·         Horn Book Guide starred, 04/01/15
·         Horn Book Magazine starred, 11/01/14
·         Kirkus Reviews starred, 08/01/14
·         New York Times, 11/09/14
·         Publishers Weekly starred, 07/07/14
·         Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, 2015
·         School Library Journal starred, 10/01/14

CONNECTIONS
·      Thesaurus Feud:
This is played the same as Family Feud.  Divide into teams.  Have the first person on each team go to the front and stand on each side of a table with two bells/buzzers on it.  The teacher names a category/word.  The first person to respond with a word in the category may decide to play or have their team pass to the other team.  Each person on the playing team must give a synonym for the word given.  As each team member answers correctly the play moves down the line. For example: if the category/word is large the answers may be huge, big gigantic, enormous, monstrous, etc. The teacher will decide if she is looking for 6 answers or 10, etc.  This depends on the word. Once there are 3 missed answers the opposing team will have the opportunity to steal the points by coming up with a word from the category.  The opposing team will huddle and try as a group to come up with the word. If they succeed they will get the points you have decided upon.  If they miss the original team will get the points. You can get the words and categories from a thesaurus.  At the end of play read all the possibilities that were listed in the thesaurus.

·       Wheel of Fortune:
Make a spinning wheel with $ amounts just like on Wheel of Fortune.  Include lose a turn, bankrupt, etc.  On a whiteboard draw the blanks for each letter of the words.  Play just like Wheel of Fortune.  The answers will not be phrases, titles like on the game show.  Instead all the words they will be solving are synonyms found in the thesaurus for a specific word.  After the 3 or more words are solved from a round they will get a bonus if they can name the category.  Example words that mean a large size. They will not win money.  You need to figure out the prize.

What to do About Alice

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kerley, B. (2010). What to do about alice? Weston Woods Studios.

PLOT SUMMARY
Theodore Roosevelt had a small problem. Her name was Alice. Alice Lee Roosevelt was hungry to go places, meet people, do things! Father called it running riot. Alice called it eating up the world. Whether she was entertaining important White House visitors with her pet snake or traveling the globe, Alice bucked convention and turned every new experience into an adventure! Brimming with affection and wit, this spirited biography gives readers a peek at family life inside the White House. Prose and pictures spring, gambol, and two-step across the pages to celebrate a maverick American heroine.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This tale is of the early years of Alice Roosevelt’s life as the vivacious daughter of President Roosevelt. Beginning from when she was a young child, the creative use of figurative language has a way of capturing young readers and taking you through her wild life through adulthood.
The design of this children’s book is of great quality with its vibrant colors on oversized pages. This book is sure to be of interest to young readers as they learn about a prominent figure of the past.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Library Media Connection (February 2008)
The illustrations perfectly capture an exuberant Alice as she flies down the White House stairs with her brothers and sisters, greets visitors with her pet snake, and dashes around Washington in her jazzy car. A subdued palette with touches of red highlights the vitality of the subject matter. Large cartoon-like images of Teddy and Alice effectively convey their larger-than-life personalities. The contrast between her famous father's heroic accomplishments and his helpless inability to control his daughter provides lots of humor. While Teddy was clearly flummoxed by his strong-willed daughter, his love for her and appreciation of her adventurous spirit and goodwill efforts during his presidency come through as well. Alice's antics will have plenty of child appeal. The book does an excellent job of conveying a lot of history in an entertaining way as it illuminates the life and personality of one of America's icons. Highly Recommended.
School Library Journal (March 1, 2008)
This book provides a fascinating glimpse into both a bygone era and one of its more interesting denizens as well as a surefire antidote for any child who thinks that historical figures are boring.

AWARDS
·         ALA Notable Children's Books, 2009
·         Book Links, 10/01/09
·         Book Links starred, 03/01/08
·         Booklist starred, 01/01/08
·         Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 03/01/08
·         Horn Book Magazine starred, 03/01/08
·         Kirkus Reviews starred, 02/01/08
·         Library Media Connection starred, 02/01/08
·         New York Times, 01/11/09
·         Publishers Weekly starred, 03/31/08
·         Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor, 2009
·         School Library Journal starred, 03/01/08
·         Wilson's Children, 10/01/10

CONNECTIONS
·         Alice described her zest for life as "eating up the world."  Ask students what they think this phrase means.  Reread the book as a class, noting the kinds of things Alice did to experience everything life had to offer.

·         As a follow-up, have students consider what kinds of things they would like to do to "eat up the world."  Invite them to share their ideas orally, in a written paragraph, or through making a poster.

Down, Down, Down

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jenkins, S. (2016). Down, down, down: A journey to the bottom of the sea. New York: Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 139780618966363

PLOT SUMMARY
Includes bibliographical references. Collage illustrations display the ocean from the birds and waves down to the deepest, darkest bottom; and feature jellyfish, squid, whales, and more.
Oceans cover more than two-thirds of the globe’s surface, and well over more than a mile deep. We have only explored a small fraction of the oceans. In this book, we’ll descend from the ocean’s surface to the sea floor and travel through one of the most extreme environments on earth. Along the way we will encounter some unusual creatures.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This book is made up of colorful double page illustrations of the animals high and low that are found near and within the deep, deep ocean. Beginning with The Surface, the labeled animals are shown to approximate scale to each other. The information includes facts about their habitat and eating habits. Deeper into the Sunlit Zone, the appealing illustrations encourage readers to continue through the pages.
The included diagram of the depth of the ocean on each page lets readers know just how far down each zone really is. The descriptions of the various zones contain factual and easy to understand text that informs the reader of the light quality, contents, and temperature.
The sections of The Twilight Zone and The Dark Zone were the areas that most appealed to my students. They were intrigued by the information about bio-luminescence.  And the added bonus of the pages that students can use to flip back and forth on, was a creative way to explain how the animals might look in complete darkness.
The back of the book contains more detailed information about the animals included within the book. You can find a labeled diagram of each page that makes it easy for children to identify the specific animal they want to know more about. These pages also include a comparison of each animal next to a human hand and body silhouette so they may compare the animal size to themselves. 

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Booklist (April 1, 2009 (Vol. 105, No. 15))
Thorough endnotes give greater detail on each of the featured creatures and help make this a most welcome introduction to the sometimes-surprising world of marine biology.

Horn Book Guide starred (July, 2009)
With his signature collage, Jenkins sinks readers from the surface of the Pacific down nearly 11,000 meters to the bottom of the Marianas Trench. On each double-page spread, several paragraphs of text explain the environmental conditions of the featured depth, as well as adaptations of the species therein. Excellent details, including additional facts and to-scale comparisons to humans, are appended.

School Library Journal (April 1, 2009)
The bold views tend to emphasize the weirdness of these little-known species, but the repeated message that humans have much to explore and learn in the deeper ocean is intriguing and inviting. This is a good complement to Sneed B. Collard's The Deep-Sea Floor (Charlesbridge, 2003), which introduces some of the same animals and offers more information about recent exploration.

AWARDS
·         ALA Notable Children's Books, 2010
·         Booklist, 04/01/09
·         Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books starred, 07/01/09
·         Horn Book Magazine, 05/01/09
·         Kirkus Reviews, 04/15/09
·         New York Times, 12/06/09
·         School Library Journal, 04/01/09
·         Wilson's Children, 10/01/10

CONNECTIONS
• Students can research more information on the different ocean zones and create a project to represent them.
• Since many of the creatures included in this book were not commonly familiar to the students, they might choose one and research more on that particular animal.

What do You do When Something Wants to Eat You?

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jenkins, S. (2001). What do you do when something wants to eat you? Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

PLOT SUMMARY
What would you do if something wanted to eat you? Walk on water? Stick out your tongue? Play dead? Animals in the wild use all kinds of methods to protect themselves from their enemies. Using dynamic and intricate cut-paper collages, Steve Jenkins explores the many fascinating and unique defense mechanisms creatures use to escape from danger.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This book is an introduction of various animals and insects of all sorts, along with the distinctive ways of survival against their predator’s attack. Its visually appealing pages will hook readers with its fun facts and catchy patterns.
Although the book would be complemented with a reference page of additional information about the unique animals, the text was very appropriate for its audience. The layout of information on each page is perfectly placed to encourage curiosity and wonder. It has a quality of “less is more” with its cutouts of contrasting colors and patterns that help to make the animals stand out and almost seem real.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Kirkus Reviews (1997)
The art of camouflage works on several levels here: Jenkins (Big and Little, 1996, etc.) cleverly conceals a factual compendium of 14 animal and insect defenses as a colorful picture book. Predators are depicted in pursuit of prey on each right-hand side of the spread; a flip of the page uncovers the clever escape mechanism employed by the would-be victim, from the bombardier beetle that can spray hot chemicals up to 500 times a second, to the glass snake that conveniently segments its tail. Whether curling up into an armor-plated ball, squirting clouds of ink, or imitating a leaf, the tricksters are described in a couple of sentences that invite further investigation of these survival techniques. Layered cut-paper collage animals are positioned in dramatic stances against textured handmade-paper backgrounds. In a few instances, the black typeface is difficult to discern when it is superimposed on the dark green of leaf or grass. One final question, “What would you do if something wanted to eat you?” takes readers into their own cat-and-mouse scenarios. A dashing look at natural escape routes.

Publishers Weekly (November 10, 1997)
In this absorbing tribute to nature’s genius, cut-paper collages illustrate the built-in defenses of animals and insects. Using collage to represent a diverse range of critters from the leathery lizard to the airy silkmoth, Jenkins (Big and Little) artfully matches handmade papers to fur, feathers, scales and skin. The artistic diversity is surpassed only by the animals’ modes of escape—such as camouflage (a harmless hoverfly takes on a wasp’s appearance), surprise (a skink flashes its bright blue tongue and wags it side to side), chemical warfare (a bombardier beetle shoots poison out of its rear end) and even levitation (a basilisk lizard runs on water). Although the forthright text lacks the dexterity of the collages, the high interest of the subject matter is sure to delight readers—and may prompt them to discover more about the intelligence, humor, eccentricity and stamina to be found in nature. This is the kind of book that awakens the scientist in young readers. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)

AWARDS
·         Booklist starred, 12/01/97
·         Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, 12/01/97
·         Kirkus Reviews, 09/15/97
·         L.A. Recommended Foreign Language, 02/01/99
·         Library Talk, 05/01/98
·         School Library Journal, 11/01/97
·         Wilson’s Children, 10/01/10

CONNECTIONS
• Create a visual representation of an animals displaying its unique way of survival
• Using patterned scrapbook paper, students will draw the pattern on their chosen animal to mimic that of the patterned paper; hence causing their animal to blend in with its surroundings.
• Students will create a unique way that they themselves can use to deter a predator should they be attacked.