Graphic Novel

Coraline

I have heard stories about the book Coraline but, I did not know that it was also in a graphic novel version. It tells the story of a young girl who moves to a new house with her family. When she goes into a door in the new house, she finds another house, that is similar to her own. She finds that it looks so much better than her own. When she gets there, the food is better than at home, and the toy box is filled with fluttering wind-up angels and dinosaur. When she looks around, there is another mother and father. It was odd to her that she realized that they wanted her to stay with their child as well. After she learns that these people want to change her into their family, she has to fully get back to her other lifestyle. I knew that's how the original story went and the same goes for this graphic novel as well. It seems like a great book to be interesting and engaging for the young readers. It is also in another format that can be appealing to them as well. The format has great pictures and sentences that the children can understand. The only exception that I would have about this story is that it might be a little scary for some readers knowing what the story line is about and knowing that they might lose their family. I would rate this book with an overall 4 out of 5 stars. 

Title: Coraline

Author: Neil Gaiman

Illustrator: P. Craig Russell

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publishing Date:June 24th, 2008

ISBN: 006082543X

Graphic Novels

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Another book that is definitely very popular today in schools and is great to blog about is the Diary of a Wimpy Kid. This books talks about a boy who finds himself dealing with a lot in middle school. There is experience with stress that he has at home and at school. After reading the book for my literature circle project, I have come to the conclusion that there is a lot of humor and relation with the book to children today. There are hazards of growing up and its revealed through words and drawings as Greg, the main character records them in his diary. There is testing of friendships and seeing what it is like for middle school students today. After reading the book and learning more about it, the author recalls his experiences with school and expresses aspects of what it is like in middle school. I thought the illustrations and excerpts in the book were displayed appropriately and different from regular graphic novels. The story is also realistic and relatable to the readers. I would rate this book with a 5 out of 5 stars.

Title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Author: Jeff Kinney
Publisher: Amulet Books
Publishing Date: April 1st, 2007
ISBN: 0810993139

Graphic Novels

Smile

It seems like this book is all the rage in a fourth grade classroom. At my field placement this semester, which is seventh generations charter school, all of the students are talking about this books. After looking at the content, flipping through the pages of the book, and read some parts, it seems like it is very appealing to children at this age. The pictures and graphics are appropriate and are relatable to the children at this age. The author writes the novel as a perspective of a sixth grader. The sixth grader tells the stories of her life as a normal sixth grader until one night after her girl scouts meeting when she trips and falls.  She severely injures her two front teeth. It seems as if there is a long and frustrating journey with on and off again braces, surgery, headgear, and a retainer with fake teeth. There is also stories about a major earthquake and boyfriend and friend troubles . After reading about this in the book and hearing stories from my field students, it seems like the students feel that the story is interesting to them and that they are able to read it well. Also, the language in the book is very appropriate for the students who are reading this book and I feel it is a great graphic novel to read. I would rate the book with an overall 5 out of 5 stars because of how appealing it was to me and how I was able to see how appealing it was to the students as well. 

Title: Smile
Author: Raina Telegemeier
Publisher: GRAPHIX
Publishing Date: February 1st, 2010
ISBN: 0545132053

Poetry

The New Kid on the Block

In this book, there are poems that many people may have never thought of before or even read about before. There are many animals that the readers are introduced with and associated with the silliest of things. For example, stories that have a creative side of boneless chicken, jellyfish stew, bouncing mice, and ridiculous dogs. There are even things like eating a dinosaur or having an alligator for a pet which can sound very interesting. I love how this book gives an edge to it and how the author allows the readers to think out of the box. It portrays that the children are able to understand that anyone can be creative and have their own way of thinking. There are over 100 poems in this book that allow children to be fully engaged. These poems are also very easy to comprehend with child friendly language. The illustrations are also bring light into the poems. I would give this book with an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars because of the creativity that is portrayed and how the poems are geared toward young readers in a unique way.

Title: The New Kid on the Block
Author: Jack Perlutsky
Illustrator: James Stevenson
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publishing Date: August 20th 1984

Poetry

The Napping House

In this picture book for children, there are many elements of poetry but also a cute sleepy story about children, a granny, and animals that carry an engaging story. There are many comical illustrations that are shown within moonlight until the sun comes up and that's when all of the color comes back to awake the household. It is great to see books that are in the form of poetry along with bigger books because many children might only want to read one story. I feel that it is good that authors can put stories into picture books. The book got many awards for its story and pictures. I would overall rate this book with a 5 out of 5 rating because it takes a twist that is different from other poetry books and the story is very appropriate for children to love. Lastly, the illustrations are very realistic for the readers and helps tell the wonderful story.

Title: The Napping House
Author: Audrey Wood
Illustrator: Don Wood
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publishing Date: September 1st 2000
ISBN: 0152026320

Poetry

Where the Sidewalk Ends

In this wonderful poetry book, there are many poems that are child friendly and appealing to young readers. In the book there is about a little over 100 short poems that relate to stories of children and their families and friends. The poems also mention many events that children might do when they are younger. The poems have characters of all kind including humans and animals. The author portrays a great sense of alliteration, rhythm, and rhyme of stories that can be funny and interesting to young children. Along with having great poems that children can read, there are also great illustrations that make the stories more lively. After looking through the book and reading some of the poems, I would rate this book with an overall 5 out of 5 stars because the poems are very relate able to children's lives. They are also again very engaging and realistic for young children to understand the story line as well.

Title: Where the Sidewalk Ends
Author: Shel Silverstein
Publishing Date: November 20th 1974
Publisher: HaperCollins Publishers
ISBN:0060513039

Historical Fiction

The Gardner

The story tells a little girl who has a suitcase full of seeds and brings it to a city to stay with her Uncle who is baker. The city is going through a lot during this time and wants to try to make people smile and be happy again. The city is in a dark era because it is during the Depression. She starts to work in the shop and bring smiles to the customers faces with the flowers that she grows. She also has a secret that nobody knows about and that is where she works on her garden. It is a rooftop garden that she hops will make her uncle smile and see that she can make things happen. The story is told through letters that are written at home and there are many illustrations that express what the Depression era was like and different observations that the characters make. I feel that this book expresses many elements of what it was like in the Depression era and also the connection between a girl and her uncle. Letter are also a reflection of how many people communicated back then. It is written in a child friendly way and you could see the culture back then. I feel that the book is a great representation of historical fiction but I feel that there should be a little more information on the depression era specifically. I would give this book a 4 out of 5 stars based on my explanations.

Title: The Gardner
Author: Sarah Stewart
Illistrator: David Small
Publishing Date: August 30th 1997
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
ISBN:0374325170