Cultural Diversity Saturday: Rifka Takes a Bow by Betty Rosenberg Perlov and Illustrated by Cosei Kawa

Ages: 5 to 9
Pages: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben Publishing
*I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

Summary:
Rifka’s parents are actors in the Yiddish Theater in New York, but one day Rifka finds herself center stage in a special role!  A slice of immigrant life on New York’s Second Avenue, this is a unique book about a vanished time and a place – the Yiddish theater in the early 20th century -- made real through the telling of the true life story of the 96-year-old author as a little girl.

Review:
Rifka's parents are stage actors in the Yiddish theater.  They bring Rifka along and she explores backstage, talks with the other actors, and even gets to walk out on stage at the end and deliver a line!  The book talks about how ketchup is used for blood and how her Papa makes a fake beard and mustache for his makeup.  It explores parts of the set and the parts of making a production, including the actors, the stagehands, the orchestra, and the audience.

It's a cute book and I enjoyed learning about the Yiddish Theater because they even put an explanation of how the author grew up much like Rifka!

First Line: "Papa pastes on a brown, curly mustache and picks up a cane."
Penelope's Favorite Line: "There's a table with a beautiful birthday cake.  Papa says, "Don't try to taste it.  It's made out of plaster."
Best Words: Automat, Yiddish, rouge, plaster

Ben's Book Briefs:
ACM = Arts, Crafts, & Music
CD = Cultural Diversity

Kids! Penelope Panda wants to know:

• Have you ever been to see a play?
• Have you ever explored backstage like Rifka does?
• What would be exciting to find backstage?

Adults! Becca wants to know:

• How often do you read culturally diverse books to your kids/students?

Kiki's Pick of the Week: The Legend of Papa Balloon by C.R. McClure

Ages: 4 to 7
Pages: 40
Publisher: Schiffer Publishing
*I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

Summary:
Papa Balloon is the story of a unique, mysterious figure who magically appears in a land where the people have become divided and are in need of greater understanding and empathy for each other. Traveling through each of the four villages in this land and accompanied by the children who discover him, Papa Balloon teaches the villages a profound lesson in a simple way. Colorfully and brightly illustrated, and a page-turner of a tale, it is the perfect book for any parent who wants their children to learn about treating the traditions and viewpoints of others with respect, while putting forth the belief that we, as a group, are more united than we realize.

Review:
This is a story about diversity and respecting viewpoints that differ from ours under the guise of people living in four different villages loving and devoting their time to the Light in different ways.  The four villages are the Village of Red, the Village of Green, the Village of Blue, and the Village of Purple.  They learn from Papa Balloon that they actually have more in common than they thought and that the differences that they do have are beautiful, not something to fear.  What a wonderful lesson for kids!  (And adults, for that matter!)

I love that when the author talks about each village as Papa Balloon visits it, the words on the page match the color of the village.  


First Line: "There once was a beautiful land which was full of life, light, and lots and lots of colored balloons."
Best Line: "But the crowd wanted more, and they kept asking him in which village were the people living the best lives.  Papa turned to them and said that "it depends on how you act, feel, think, or just are."
Best Words: crystal, depends, concentrated, deflate

Ben's Book Briefs: 
CD = Cultural Diversity
E/S = Emotional & Social Development
I = Insightful
O = Open-Ended

Kids! Kiki Koala wants to know:

• Have you ever disagreed with someone before?  Maybe a brother or sister?  A friend?
• How did you solve your disagreement?
• Try looking at something from someone else's point of view- a sibling, a parent, a teacher, a friend, a neighbor, someone at school.  

Adults! Becca wants to know:

• Do you like this style of review?
• Do you think you will buy or borrow The Legend of Papa Balloon to read to your kids or students?

Review: No Ordinary Apple: A Story about Eating Mindfully by Sara Marlowe

Ages: 3 and up
Pages: 36
Publisher: Wisdom Publications
Release Date: June 2013
*I received this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.*


Summary: On an otherwise ordinary day, Elliot discovers something extraordinary: the power of mindfulness. When he asks his neighbor Carmen for a snack, he’s at first disappointed when she hands him an apple—he wanted candy! But when encouraged to carefully and attentively look, feel, smell, taste, and even listen to the apple, Elliot discovers that this apple is not ordinary at all.

Review: 
It's not always easy to get kids to slow down while snacking or to eat healthy, especially when kids are bombarded with advertisements that make candy and chips and McDonalds look cool.  Marlowe decided to tackle these challenge head on and write a book about a boy named Elliot who learns from his neighbor, Carmen, how to eat healthy by using all of his senses.  He thinks since he has eaten lots of apples, there was nothing new to experience, but she taught him differently. You can smell an apple.   What about the sound it makes when you bite into it?  Have you ever noticed that an apple is never just one color?  Using all of your senses heightens the experience of eating and makes you want to be able to use them with everything you put into your mouth.  It's actually a really good lesson for grown-ups, too.

Illustrator Phil Pascuzzo used lots of bright, bold, fun colors in his drawings, which I really liked.  Carmen has purple and pink hair, bright pink lips, and skin the color of mocha.  The apple is bright red making it look even more enticing.  Elliot's superhero cape is bright red  and green, not coincidentally I am sure, the colors of the most popular and easily recognizable apples.

Even though the story doesn't mention some of the things in the illustrations, there is a lot to talk about in them.  Like a magnifying glass (in which Elliot looks through to find out what makes an apple so special) and a telescope.  

While the book concentrates more on the mindfulness of eating, the book can still be used as a tool for eating healthier.  When's the last time you could smell a processed fruit snack?  Plus, Marlowe suggests trying to eat mindfully foods kids might not like, such as broccoli or peas.  

Overall, a smart and creative way for parents and children to learn to savor foods and choose foods that bring the senses alive the most!


First Line: "After school, Elliot went over to his neighbor Carmen's house."
Best Lines:

Best Words: observation, discover, spongy, familiar, smooshing, determined, fragrant


Ben's Book Briefs: 

E/S = Emotional & Social Development
I = Insightful
N = Natural World/Science
O = Open-Ended
Y = Yummy (Cooking with Kids/Nutrition)








Kids! Maalik Monkey wants to know:  

• Pick out a snack.  An apple, some carrot sticks, some crackers, or my favorite a BANANA! :D  Now, try to pay attention to how it smells.  What does it smell like?
• Now pay attention to what it feels like?  Is it soft or hard?  Is it mushy?  Crumbly?  Gooey?  
• What does it look like?  What color is it?  What shape is it?  Does the shape/color remind you of anything?  I think bananas look like yellow C's. 
• Now slowly taste it.  Hold it in your mouth.  Is it sweet?  Tart?  Salty?  Bitter?  Spicy? 
• SHARE your experience with me in the comments below!  I will write you back!

Adults! Becca wants to know:

• What do you think of eating mindfully?  
• Did you try it with your kids or students?  What was the outcome?
• Give it a try yourself.  Does it make you appreciate what you are eating more?  I know it did for me. 
• SHARE with me in the comments!

Review: In the Tree House by Andrew Larson, Illustrated by Dusan Petricic

Ages: 4-8
Pages: 30
Publisher: Kids Can Press
*I received this book for review from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

A little boy has just moved to a new house in a new neighborhood.  He is excited to have his own room, but he can't seem to sleep.  Maybe he misses his brother who is now in his own room.  Counting sheep didn't help, so instead he began planning tree houses.  His brother and father begin helping with the planning and soon they begin building one.  That summer is great as he and his brother hang out in the tree house.  The next summer, however, his brother has outgrown the treehouse.  One night as the boy looks out over the neighborhood, the power goes out.  It's completely dark.  Everyone comes out of their houses with candles and flashlights and play hide and seek and drink lemonade.  The boy's brother asks to come up into the treehouse and they read comics together like old times.  When the power comes back on, everyone goes inside.  But not the brother.  He stays and they play cards together and watch the twinkling lights of the neighborhood from their treehouse.

This is an endearing story about two brothers, one special night, and a treehouse that shows that childhood can be a place as much as it can be a time.  When I was young my sister and my friends and I played a lot in the unfinished basement of my house.  My parents didn't have money for a trampoline so they put an old mattress and box springs set down there and hung gymnastics rings from the ceiling.  We would jump on the bed-trampoline and do flips on the rings.  The bed and the rings are gone now but the hooks are still in the ceiling and every time I look up at them I am hit with a wave of nostalgia.

When the blackout in the neighborhood happens, I think the brother found comfort in the old tree house.  He is growing up faster than his little brother, but there is still some innocence left in him and that makes for a special night for the pair.


First Line: "It's hot. Really hot."
Best Line: "We stay up and watch the twinkling lights of our sleepy neighborhood."
Best Words: flick, twinkling, crackles, quicksand, blackout

Ben's Book Briefs:
DS = Developmental Stages
E/S = Emotional & Social Development
O = Open-Ended

Kids!  Penelope Panda wants to know:

• Do you have a treehouse?  What do you like to play in your tree house?
• If you don't have a treehouse, do you have another special place to play like I did in my basement?
• If you could build the perfect treehouse, what would you include?

Adults!  Becca wants to know:

• What was your special playhouse/spot when you were a child?
• Does your child have a special spot? 
• What do you think about the book?

5 Fun Rhyming Stories: Ultimate Boy's Collection by Lily Lexington

Ages: 2-6
Pages: 87 total


Sssssooo good to meet you!  I am Jake the Sssssnake and I love rhyming books!  They are ssssuper.  I want to tell you today about a collection of sssstories that iss all about the boyss!  5 fun rhyming sssstories with moral lesssons that are perfectly rhythmic and perfectly fun!   I think the illustrations are sssuper-duper, too!  Be sure to look at the bottom of the post for quessstions I want to assk you!

Danny and the Great Beast is about a little boy who dreams of saving a princess in a castle, only to find she doesn't need rescuing she is fine all on her own.  (Adults: I love the feminist undertones!  Girl power!)  

Best Stanza: 
He entered the tower, the grizzly beast roared.
Danny looked round while he reached for his sword. 
He announced, “I am here, as is my duty.   
“To rescue the princess, a true natural beauty.”

Best Words: fantastical, unwillingly, conquer, restrained

My Dinosaur is Scared of Vegetables is about Jack and his dinosaur.  The dinosaur is so scared of veggies that they refuse to eat them.  Jack gets very weak from not eating and realizes that he needs the vitamins from the vegetables to have energy for his activities.  He tries them and finds that the dinosaur is not scared anymore and that veggies are quite tasty! 

It was a little odd that Lexington spelled veggies as "vegies", but apparently that is also an acceptable way to spell it according to the Oxford Dictionary.  Must be the British version.  I had no idea.  

Best Stanza:

He’s frightened of carrots and broccoli and peas, 
Beetroots and squash cause the poor beast to sneeze. 
They will destroy him with one single bite, 
That is the reason he stays out of sight.”

Best Words: beetroots, vitamins, bleary

The Great Dinosaur Race is about two brothers who compete against each other by seeing whose dinosaur is the best in a series of obstacles.  When they fall into a hole, they realize they need to quit bickering and use teamwork to get out.

Best Stanza:

There once were two brothers, who loved to compete,
Losing was sour and victory was sweet. 
The brothers possessed their own dinosaur pet, 
“My dinosaur’s better,” the brothers had bet.

Best Words: bolted, transform, breached

The Six Pirates is about a band of close knit-friends, named in Seven Dwarfs style, who argue over the best island to sail to.  Finally Wise tells them to go to sleep and he takes control and sails to one place.  Then they work together to gather food and loot.  This was the weakest of the stories, but it was also fun.

Best Stanza:

He let loose the anchor. Their ship started moving. 
Wise took the helm and soon they were cruising.

Best Words: ballads, shanties, helm, aft, sharp tongues, persevere

Cowboy Billy and the Smelly Bank Robber has Billy dreaming up a fantastic story about a smelly bank robber after his mom makes him take a bath. One problem I had with this story was that I am not sure what the phrase "His mum followed wielding a broom" means, but it sounds like she hit him, doesn't it?

Best Stanza:

Smelly opened his mouth and flashed Bill a grin, 
He was missing his teeth, at least nine out of ten!   
Billy pondered and puzzled on how to defeat,
The Smelly Bank Robber with smellier feet.

Best Words: haste, frantic, flourish, foul

Ben's Book Briefs:
E/S = Emotional & Social Development 
F = Funny 
LC = Language Concepts
X = X Marks the Spot (Adventure)













Jake the Snake wants to know:

• Which of these 5 ssstories sssounds the most interesting to you?
• Have you ever dreamed of being a knight?
• Do you eat your vegetablesss?
• What do you think of a dinosaur race?
• Have you ever fought with your friendsss?
• How would YOU capture a Ssssmelly Bank Robber?

Review: Mr. Flux by Kyo Maclear and Matte Stephens

Ages: 3-7 
Pages: 32

Mr. Flux moves onto the street where nothing ever changes and no one tries anything new.  Mr. Flux shows Martin that embracing change doesn't have to be scary.   He helps Martin try new things, small at first, until Martin decides it is okay to embrace riding his new bicycle, which he had been too scared to do before.  

In fact, Mr. Flux makes an impression on everyone on the street and new things begin to happen.  Even children wake up early to see what the day has in store.  Then, much like Mary Poppins, once Mr. Flux has changed the people of the neighborhood so they are no longer stifled, he is off again.  

Mr. Flux is based off of a man named George Maciunas who developed an art movement called "Fluxus", which means change, in the 1960s.  The movement inspired people to look at the world around them in a new way.

Best Line: "The most surprising change was in people's thinking."
Best Words: cacophony, suspected, predictable


Ben's Book Briefs: 

E/S = Emotional & Social Development 
F = Funny 
I = Insightful 
V = Vocabulary Enhancement














Penelope Panda and Ben want to know:

• Do you know what Mr. Flux is looking through on the cover of this book?
• What do you think of change?  Fun?  Scary?  Both?
• What is something you can look at in a new way this week?

Books from A to Z - "A" is for Astronaut Books

 Hi!  I'm Dolly the Deer, a friend of Penelope Panda's.  I am here to introduce a new feature called "Books A to Z".  

Books A to Z is a list-type format that will feature a new topic once or twice a week that starts with each letter in alphabetical order.

So, if we are going in alphabetical order, which letter do we start with?  



That's right, "A", and the topic we are starting off with is "Astronaut Books" because Astronaut begins with A.  

So, look through the books below and when you see one that you want to read, be sure to write it down so that you can borrow it from the library or purchase it from your local bookseller!  You can also click on the title and it will take you to the Goodreads site, where you can make your own list of books you want to read!

If You Decide to Go to the Moon by Faith McNulty

Ages: 4-8 years

Pages: 48

Summary: 

Two artists at the height of their powers have created a beautiful book with an unforgettable message about the moon and an even more important message about the earth. A publishing event!

"If you decide to go to the moon," writes Faith McNulty, "read this book first. It will telly ou how to get there and what to do after you land. The most important part tells you how to get home.

Written in the second person, the text allows the reader to participate in every aspect of the journey, from packing ("don't forget your diary and plenty of food") to liftoff (at first you'll feel heavy; don't worry") to traveling through space (where "the moon glows like a pearl in the black, black sky"). The reader lands at the Sea of Tranquility, the site of the first lunar landing.

The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System

by Joanna Cole

Ages: 4-8 years

Pages: 48

Summary:

On a special field trip in the magic school bus, Ms. Frizzle's class goes into outer space and visits each planet in the solar system.

Space Boy by Leo Landry

Ages: 3-5

Pages: 32

Summary:

This world, decides Nicholas, is too noisy for him. Time to take a trip. He packs a snack, puts on his suit, and takes off . . . to the utterly quiet craters and vast deserts of the distant moon. In this utterly charming picture book, the allure of space travel and the longing for peace and quiet entice a young boy to take his space rocket to the moon for a picnic.

Me and My Place in Space by Annette Cable

Ages: 3-7

Pages: 32

Summary:

Where is the earth? Where is the sun? Where are the stars? Me and My Place in Space takes on the simplest questions about the universe and gives answers that young children can easily understand. Using clear language, drawings, and diagrams, space unfolds before a child's eyes. With our world as the starting point, we are taken on a tour past each planet and on to the stars--all through the eyes of a young girl. Colorful illustrations, filled with fun and detail, give children a lot to look for on every page. A glossary, included for further information, helps to provide an enjoyable, easy-to-read, and easy-to-use introduction to the universe. 

Astronaut Handbook by Meghan Mccarthy

Ages: 3-7
Pages: 40

Summary: 

DO YOU HAVE what it takes to be an astronaut? Meghan McCarthy blasts readers off to astronaut school in her new, young, nonfiction picture book. Take a ride on the “Vomit Comet” and learn how it feels to be weightless. Have your measurements taken—100 to be exact—for your very own space suit. Meghan McCarthy has created the perfect book to share with children who want to be astronauts when they grow up.

Neil Armstrong: Young Pilot by Montrew Dunham

Ages: 8 and up

Pages: 192

Summary:

Rich or poor, great American men and women lived out childhoods as vastly different as the adults they became. Here young readers will learn about the early years of the first person to step foot on the moon, a historic feat he described as "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream 

by Tanya Lee Stone

Ages: 10 and up

Pages: 134
Summary:

They had the right stuff. They defied the prejudices of the time. And they blazed a trail for generations of women to follow.  What does it take to be an astronaut? Excellence at flying, courage, intelligence, resistance to stress, top physical shape — any checklist would include these. But when America created NASA in 1958, there was another unspoken rule: you had to be a man. Here is the tale of thirteen women who proved that they were not only as tough as the toughest man but also brave enough to challenge the government. They were blocked by prejudice, jealousy, and the scrawled note of one of the most powerful men in Washington. But even though the Mercury 13 women did not make it into space, they did not lose, for their example empowered young women to take their place in the sky, piloting jets and commanding space capsules. ALMOST ASTRONAUTS is the story of thirteen true pioneers of the space age.

Dolly the Deer wants to know:

• Which book(s) did you pick?
• Why did you pick them?
• Can you leave me a comment telling me?  I'm a very curious deer!