Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal by Paul Fleischman

I've read the story to my daughter 100 times, but never looked deeper into the meaning of Cinderella. Looking the name up (Cinderella) I found that it means "one whose attributes are unrecognized, or one who achieves recognition or success after a period of neglect." Who would have thought??

This particular randition begins with the front cover of the book. It has this deep red color that definitely sets the book off from the rest. The title is written in black bold letters with the note "A worldwide Cinderella" which I now understand the meaning.

Each page that the author, Paul Fleishman, writes a bit of the story on has an illustration that is depicted in the country written in the corner of the page. For instance, the words "Mexico" is written on the first page, left corner. The story is told in a similar variation that we've heard before, but the illustration is of the couple from Mexico (as if Cinderella is a Mexican princess). On each page the author moved through the story as that we've heard, but the illustration depicts many different cultures such as those in Zimabwe, Appalachia, Indonesia, Japan, West Indies, Iraq, Poland, Ireland, China, France, Iraq, and Korea. In fact, when you open the cover of the book a map of all of these places is labeled. Now I know why this map was placed in this book. This is definitely different than the typical story of Cinderella I've read in the past.

I like this story because it opened up my mind to the idea that the United States isn't the only place in the world to tell this story to their children. It shows you how closed mind you can be even over the simpliest things such as the story of Cinderella. I'm assuming it is true for the rest of the Disney stories like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, etc...

I enjoyed the colors and illustrations throughout the book. Lots of deep reds, oranges, yellows, and greens are used throughout the book. I think the use of these colors really set off the pictures. The pages are covered with illustrations of the various countries as if the author wanted you to believe that the background is part of your "idea" of the country depicted in the main picture.

Now I'm excited to find other variations of this story.

The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy

Margaret Mahy, the author, a well-known New Zealand author of children's and young adult books wrote many books providing her characters with strong supernatural elements.  She has written more than 100 picture books, 40 novels and 20 collection of short stories.  Among her children's books, The Seven Chinese Brothers has been considered a national classic.

Publishers Weekly stated that this book was different in that she elaborated it by spicing it with more action and adding ironic humor.  The moral of the story, Working together, will be swept up by the readers.

The Seven Chinese Brothers is about courage, strength, and working together.  Seven identical brothers, that looked so much alike the it was hard to tell them apart, lived together.  Each one of the brothers had an unusual gift.  First brother could hear "a fly sneeze form a hundred miles away," second brother could see just as far as first brother could hear, third brother could lift mountains if they got in his way, fourth brother  had bones of iron, fifth brother had legs that could grow as tall and thick as tree trunks, sixth brother never got hot, and seventh brother cried but each tear could flood a village.

One day the emperor felt that if someone was that powerful they should be put to death, the only problem was that he didn't know seven brothers existed.  He thought there was only one.  The emperor had a  brother captured.  Just as he was about to be put to death another brother was switched out so that the method of death was overcome by the brother's gift.  This happened until at last the emperor has going to kill by arrows.  There was no one who could overcome this, until seventh brother began to cry and this caused the emperor and his men to be swooped up by the flood of tears. 

The moral of the story is that working together can conquer anything.

The illustrators, Jean and Mou-sien Tseng, did a fabulous job intertwining ancient pictures paintings with the story by the author.  Simple watercolors provided just the right feeling of softness in the clothing and shading to complement the swords.

It turns out that there are similar stories like this of the ancient Seven Chinese Brothers tale.  The Wizard of Oz gave powers to the tin man and the lion and the scarecrow.  This story is often compared to Mein Kampf, five identical Chinese brothers having similar supernatural abilities.  A story that dates back to 259-210 simply has to be copied to today's times for our enjoyment.

Misoso retold by Verna Aardema

A great collection of Folktales originating from south of the Sahara Desert along the coast....."from the Temmes of Sierra Leone, down the west coast to the Khoikhoi of Southwest Africa; then up the east coast, beginning with the Zulus of south Africa, north to the Swahilis of the eastern African Coast; then westward overland to the Emo-Yo-Quaim of Nigeria," as the author describes in the Introduction of this book.  A map is provided so that the readers can visually make their way down to each region as the stories are told.

Misoso means Once upon a Time.  It comes from the Mbundu tribe of Angola and it is told that these stories are told for entertainment purposes but if they teach a lesson that is just a plus.  The book encapsulates 12 folktales.  LeeLee Goro is a Temne Tale, Anansi and the Phantom Food is a tale from Liberia, The Boogey Man's Wife is a Mano Tale, Half-A-Ball-Of-Kenki is an Ashanti Tale and The Hen and the Dove is an Ashanti Fable, The Sloogey Dog and the Stolen Aroma is a Fang Tale, The Cock and the Jackel is a Khoikhoi Fable, No, Boconono is a Zulu Tale, Toad's Trick is a Kanuri Fable, Goso the teacher is a Swahili narrative Poem, the Hapendeki and Binit the Bibi is a Swahili Tale, and finally Kindai and the Ape is A Tale of the Emo-Yo-Quaim.

LeeLee Goro was a bit curious to me because it was about a little girl that fought.  Animals in a neara by village needed fire.  They knew where to go but in order to get it they would have to ask Mammy for it.  Mammy was somewhat of a witch doctor.  She told each animal that if they could beat up her young daughter they would get what they wanted.  Each animal thought this was an easy task but instead got beat themselves.  Elephant, spider, antelope, and lion were all not strong or crafty enough for this task.  Along came snail.  Snail had an idea to rub slippery spit all over so that the little girl would slip.  Sure enough it worked.  The consequences were that the animals got back their fire and Mammy and baby cried because of what occurred which brought crying back into the world.

One fable that is simple yet one we try to teach children everyday was the Toad's Trick.  One day a toad and a rat were talking.  The toad told the rat that he could do something that the toad could not.  The rat thought this was purpostuous!  Toad made a bet with rat that he could go right through some men who were sitting under a ficus tree without being harmed.  So, the toad did.  He went right through the men only to hear by them that frogs were good because they ate frogs.  When the rat tried to do the same the men ran after it to the woods trying to hit it all the way.  The moral of the story was that there are some things that each and everyone of us can only do and no one else can.

Reviews by Booklist and The School Library Journal gave this book high marks stating that the lighthearted stories combined with a good lesson is just right for children ages 5 - 10 years old.  I agree.  These short little stories make the reader more likely to stay focus to the lesson while enjoying each word.

The illustrator, Reynold Ruffins, stayed with dark colors giving the book an African appeal (maroons, black and white, orange, and pastels were used throughout. Full-color illustrations using pencil and acrylic complemented each story and the characters in each.

The author, Verna Aardema, has been writing traditional tales and folklore since 1960 (when she published her first set of stories, Tales from the Story Hat).  Many of her stories about Africa came from her love of reading herself.  She has retold many of the tales she read.

Lions at Lunchtime by Mary Pope Osborne

Lions at Lunchtime is #11 is the Magic Tree House Series.  This children's Science Fiction sequel takes Jack and Annie on an African Safari after being lured back up to the Magic Tree House by their mystical friend, Morgan le Fay.  "She looked ancient and lovely," as ever (p. 2, Osborne).

Jack and Annie have shown interest in being Master Librarians, and Morgan le Fay is helping them get there by her wonderful inside world to research.  This time she handed over the book The Plains of Africa.  Just then, as all of there great adventures to other lands start, the wind started to blow and the tree house started to spin.  The next thing Jack and Annie knew they were looking out of the window at Zebra's, Giraffe, tons of birds, and tiny gazellas.

Jack and Annie use the book provided to look up random animals along the way.  The first entry read was,   
                                "Every year, in late spring, thousands
                                 of zebras and gazelles and millions
                                 of wildebeests (will-duh-beest)
                                 migrate from the dry plains of
                                 Tanzania to Kenya."

As the two discover new animals, they look them up and read some interesting facts that would appeal to children (even adults).  The author, Mary Pope Osbourne, also throws in some crazy adventures and twist and turns before the kids get back to their tree house with a riddle (that Morgan le Fray gave Jack and Annie in the form of an ancient scroll) answered.  This time the riddle was:
                                   I'm the color of gold
                                   and as sweet as can be.
                                   But beware of the danger
                                   that's all around me.
                                   What am I?
This time Annie got stuck in some mud that felt like quick sand.  Jack was able to get her out just in time, but he got pretty muddy in the challenge (which he apparently does not to do).

Mary Pope Osborne came up with a fantastic children's book that leaves the reader with a bit more than he/she started with before they picked up the book.  The stories are short and energy packed!

The author has written over 80 books mostly of the adventurous type.  She loves to travel and a lot of her inspiration comes from her own imaginative adventures in the places that she investigates.  She is also a huge theater buff (acting in plays in her spare time).  Take a look at her web page and you can see how she likes to tie theater into her everyday works...http://www.magictreehouse.com/#home




               

Anansi and the Talking Melon retold by Eric A Kimmel

Anansi the Spider is back (after two other books Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock and Anansi goes Fishing).  This African Fable is targeted for students in grades kindergarden through second grade.  This time Anansi borrows a hole in a melon.  Anansi eats so much he can't make his way out!  So he decides to have a little fun until his stomach goes down.  Elephant is tricked first.  Anansi begins speaking from inside of the melon.  Elephant can't believe it so he decides he must show King Monkey.  But, on his way to King Monkey he runs into a Hippo, a Warthog, an Ostrich, a Rhino, and a Turtle.  Each on totally being tricked by Anansi into thinking a melon was actually talking.  Elephant finally makes it to the King Monkey.  King Monkey can't believe it so he wants to see/hear for himself.  King Monkey asks the melon to talk but of course it doesn't....Anansi stays quite.  King Monkey demands the melon to speak, but now Anansi is enjoying the King getting irrated so Anansi stays quite.  The King has a fit and kicks the melon until it onpens up.  Anansi basically insults everyone by suggesting that who possibly believe that a melon can talk.  Thankfully he finds himself on top of a banana bunch now.

This book would be great for reading to children.  It is repeative and talking animals are a hit. 

The illustrations, by Janet Stephens, are creative, bright, and children alluring.  As a review from Booklist stated, "The setting is vaguely tropical, and Stevens' double-page comic illustrations show the furious animals in all their ridicuous contortions." http://www.amazon.com/Anansi-Talking-Melon-Eric-Kimmel/dp/0823411672

Janet Stephens is the author and illustrator of many award-winning books including the Caldecott Honor Book Tops & Bottoms, the Texas Bluebonnet winner Cook-a-Doodle-Doo!, and the Texas Bluebonnet nominee And The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon.
http://www.harcourtbooks.com/authorinterviews/bookinterview_stevens.asp

No Way Out by Peggy Kern

No Way Out by Peggy Kern is the third book of the Bluford Series.  The Bully and Someone to Love me were the first two where you met Harold, a high school freshman.

Harold was a bit overweight, his grandmother had just taken a horrible fall that put her in the hospital for a few days, and his fear of having to move due to the state taking over the situation is just a little bit too much for this high school student to endure.  Thankfully, Mr. Harris (a neighbor who lived in the same apartment complex) stepped in to help.  Mr. Harris allowed Harold to live with him a few days while his grandmother was seeking medical attention.

His grandmother comes home from the hospital but Harold is left to care for her.  He had to change her bandages, make dinner now (as his grandmother tried to assist from her chair), and continue to go to school and do the homework. 

One day Harold caught a glimpse of the bills that were stacking up, and unfortunately he got a glimpse of the notice from the state saying that unless his grandmother acknowledged a next-of-kin on the papers that they sent, Harold would have to be placed in a foster home by the state.  He knew he had to do something to help, but he also knew that his grandmother would not agree on him getting a job.  He took a chance anyway and got a job at the Supermarket. 

Harold's first check came in and when he opened it he realized that even with his help he could not make a dent in the bills that continued to come in the mail.  He decided to take Londell James, the local drug deal who had been in and out of jail, up on his offer to run drugs for him.  He knew this was wrong, but he convinced himself that he had to do this for his grandmother. 

One day, while delivering, he saw a family who was involved.  Harold just couldn't believe what had come of him, and he wanted out.  He realized he was so caught up in the business, that now there was NO WAY OUT.

Thankfully, Mr. Harris came to his rescue.  He was able to call the police just in time, and Londell was taken away again. 

The book was entertaining.  It kept me interested, but it was a little too basic for me.  However, many of my middle and high school students enjoy it.  They actually gave me the recommendation.

The author Peggy Kern was born and raised in Westbury, New York.  She was one of the few white students in a predominately black and Latino community.  She attended LaSalle University where she discovered literature and writing.  No Way Out was her first Bluford book.

Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen

Lawn Boy, published on June 20, 2007, is narrated by a twelve-year old boy who was given a lawn mower by his grandmother for his birthday.  The lawn mower belonged to his late grandfather.  “I looked at the mower.  Very old, low, small.  It looked like it only cut about a two-foot-wide area, it was nothing like the new machines.” (Paulsen, 2007, p.5)  The narrator, who remains unnamed, starred at his present and began thinking back to a time when his grandmother was talking about his grandfather saying that he used to be a, “tinkerer”.  He was always puttering with things, taking them apart, putting them back together.  When he was around nothing ever broke.  Nothing ever dared to break.”  The narrator looked at it differently.  So, he sat on it and felt as though he and the mower were connected somehow.  He was determined to get this piece of machinery moving.  Once he got the old mower turned on, which wasn’t easy, it leaped forward and he started mowing the lawn.  Because his family had a small lawn, the job didn’t take long, and he got very good at maneuvering the mower around shrubs and flowers.  While he was in action, a neighbor came to the fence and asked, “How much?” and that is how this young man’s story of learning about Business, Capitalism, Increasing Product Demand, Capital Growth, Labor Acquisition, Portfolio Diversification, and Team Management. His business grew as neighbors (and friends of neighbors) continued to request his lawn mowing services.  However, the time came when he was mowing more lawns than there was daylight.  He needed help.  Thankfully, he met Arnold, a stay-at-home stockbroker.  Arnold looked as though he had just stepped out of the seventies, “…he looked like someone who flunked clown school.” (Paulsen, 2007, p. 17)  Arnold inquired about the narrator’s lawn service, and the narrator learned for the first time about negotiations and bartering.  Arnold made a deal with him where he would invest money in a stock in lieu of giving him cash.  The narrator agreed because he was carrying around too much cash in his pocket already.  The narrator did not like to leave the cash at home because he didn’t want his family to see how much money he made not because he was sneaking, but because he didn’t want his family--who didn’t make that much money--to feel bad that he made so much in so little time.  The narrator and Arnold became business partners.  Arnold helped him find employees in order to meet the needs of his growing lawn business.  Arnold helped him learn about the stock market and split funds, he helped him learn about treating employees with dignity, and he helped him learn the dirty business of dealing with angry competition. 

Fortunately, Arnold also made the narrator a one-hundred-percent interest sponsor in a heavyweight boxer who lived in the same area.  His name was Joseph Powdermilk, Jr., nicknamed for boxing purposes, Joey Pow.  When the Lawn Boy’s (the narrator) business became so lucrative, the competition became restless and dangerous. 

One crucial problem the Lawn Boy kept contemplating throughout the book was that he never told his parents anything regarding his lawn mowing enterprise (the increasing stocks that he owned illegally because he was underage, the ever-growing business that he created with fifteen people working for him, the partnership he had with Arnold, and the boxer he now sponsored).  These secrets became more and more problematic when the competition became restless and things got out of control.  Rock (the competitor) and his workers threatened to harm Arnold if the Lawn Boy didn’t pay him what he wanted.  The Lawn Boy was finally forced to confide in his parents.  He knew his parents would be supportive when he told them.  Although they were shocked, his parents and grandmother knew exactly what to do.  Utilizing a major resource, Joey Pow, they were able to get Arnold out of harms way without getting the police involved. 

The biggest shock came when Arnold told everyone how much money was now sitting in stocks, four
hundred and eighty thousand dollars!  As his father faints (just as Lawn Boy did when he first found out the amount of money he was making from his business and stocks) his grandmother states, “You know, dear, Grandpa always said, take care of your tools and they’ll take care of you.” (Paulsen, 2007, p. 88)

In relation to other books within the Realistic Fiction genre, it is excellent.  It is funny, it is interesting, and it is down-to-earth.  As the reader, you feel that you are thinking for the narrator and trying to come up with ideas to make his venture successful.  You feel for the reader when he has to finally tell his parents and the author has made this character so alike many other twelve-year-old boys that you believe this truly happened to someone.  “Readers will find this madcap story a wise investment of their time.” (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Lawn-Boy-Returns/Gary-Paulsen/e/9780385746625)  “When it comes to telling funny stories about boys, no one surpasses Paulsen, and here he is in top form.” (John Peters, Amazon)  But, again, this book is so different from the books he received awards for and sits on so many library shelves.