Upside Down and Backwards

Upside Down and Backwards is by Diane Gonzales Bertrand. This book is a combination of English and Spanish stories. Half of the book is in English while the other half is in Spanish. Similar to the title, when a reader wants to switch from one language to the other, the reader has to flip the book upside down and backwards! I think it is so neat that both languages are in the entire book. This will allow students who are not fluent in one of the languages to still feel that they are on the same path as the other students in the classroom. There are many stories that make up the entirety of this book. All of them are short and well written with humor and creativity.

The Great Fuzz Frenzy - Book Review

My book review for The Great Fuzz Frenzy is posted on BarnesandNoble.com

The Name Jar

The Name Jar is by Yangsook Choi. In this book, UnHei is new to her school and quickly becomes aware that her name is different from the other students names in the American classroom. She becomes insecure about her name and tells the other students that she has not come up with her American name yet. Luckily, the other students try to help her by adding a bunch a names that they like to a jar to help UnHei decide on a new name. She soon realizes that she likes her name the best and decides to keep it. I liked this book because it shows that we all need to be proud of where we came from and that our names all mean something to the people who gave us our names. I also liked that they other students were so helpful to her. UnHei was so worried about her name that it was helpful that the students were so niced to her. She did not have to worry much about finding new friends.

When I heard the learn'd astronomer

When I heard the Learn'd Astronomer is by Walt Whitman and illustrated by Loren Long. This book follows a little boy who hears an astronomer speak in a lecture hall. As a reader, I was able to tell that the young boy enjoys space and planets because of one of the first pictures is him in his room that is decorated entirely in a space theme. Once the boy hears the lecture, he wonders by himself outside and his imagination run wild. I love how this book tells the story with little words and grand pictures. The pictures tell me the story through his imagination and I can see his mind creating images in his head. I love the illustrations in this story.

Los Gatos Black on Halloween

Los Gatos Black on Halloween was written by Marisa Montes and the unique illustrations were done by Yuyi Morales. Right from the beginning I liked this book. I knew that english and spanish would both be incorporated into the story and I love the aspect of bringing the two cultures together. The writing is done in a way that the spanish words are closely followed by the english words for children to better understand the spanish terms. There is also a glossary in the back with the meanings. I loved how the book led up to all the "creepy", "crawly" characters in the story who are not usually liked by humans, were ultimately scared of kids trick-or-treating. It is very likely that I will read this aloud to my classroom one day-maybe when they are all heading out the door on Halloween night!

I Love Saturdays y Domingos

I Love Saturdays y Domingos is a wonderful, culturally accurate story about a girl who spends the weekends with her grandparents. She spends Saturdays with her grandma and grandpa and they make her pancakes and she plays with her grandmother's cat. On Sundays, she spends the days with her abuelito and abuelita. They make her huevos rancheros, and she plays on her abuelita's farm with the chickens. I feel that this book shows a close comparison to the two different cultures. Every other page is english or spanish and it is helpful for young readers to see how english and spanish are closely related. I really like the part when the girl's grandpa would talk about how his family came from Europe and her abuelito talked about Mexico. The birthday story also stood out to me because it is important to see how the two different cultures celebrate birthdays. I would have this book in my classroom and I think it would be one of the favorites.

Into the Forest

Into the Forest is a book by Anthony Browne. This book is about a little boy who knows that his father is at his grandma's house. The boy misses his father very much so he wants to go bring some cake to grandmother's house to make her feel better, and he can also see his dad. This book reflects other fables such as Little Boy Blue and Hansel and Gretal and finally, Little Red Riding Hood.

I read this book as a Readaloud to my PostBac classroom, but I did enjoy practicing reading this book aloud to them. If I were reading this book to my classroom of students, I would have the oppurtunity to discuss with them how all of the other fables are introduced in the story. This book would be a wonderful introduction into fables and storytelling and fantasy.

My Name is Maria Isabel

My Name is Maria Isabel is an inspiring story about a new girl in school who is named Maria Isabel Salazar Lopez. Unfortunatly, when she comes into the class she is called Mary Lopez because her name of the name Maria is so common in the classroom. Maria Isabel becomes frustrated that the teacher keeps calling her Mary because she takes pride in her name because it comes from her family that she is very proud of. She is also frustrated when she is continued to be called Mary because she does not recognize that as her name, so she forgets to answer the teacher when she is called upon. She is left out of the Winter Pageant because she is unable to remember that she is called "Mary" by her teacher. When Maria Isabel was insprired by the books, Charlotte's Web she got enough courage to write that her greatest wish was to be in the pageant. Her teacher realized what mistakes have been made and soon, Maria Isabel was placed in the pageant and sang in front of her parents and the audience. She was proud of her new name and now she was happy to be at her new school.