Module 10: Dandelions by Eve Bunting

Picture taken from

http://www.amazon.com/Dandelions-Eve-Bunting/dp/0152024077/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319999977&sr=1-1

Summary:

This pioneer tale is told from the point of view of Zoe, a young girl, who’s father, pregnant mother, and sister, move to the Nebraska wilderness to make a life of their own. Their new home has few trees, so they must make their home out of sod. The nearest neighbor is a three hour ride and the nearest town is a day’s ride away. The family goes to visit their neighbor and learn that the barren Nebraska wilderness lacks reminders of home like flowers and songbirds.

As supplies begin to run out, Zoe and her father must visit the town and pick up needed materials. Zoe states that the town is full of wonderful reminders of her grandparent’s home where she once lived. On their way back from the town Zoe finds some dandelions growing near the road. She gathers them up and hopes she can grow them to add some color to her new home. When she gets home she plants them on top of their sod house. Her mother, who is homesick, very pregnant, and unhappy, sees the dandelions and is given a little bit of comfort in the harsh Nebraska wilderness. 

Citation:

Bunting, E. (1995). Dandelions. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace & Company.

Impression:

As far as Historical Fictions go for young readers, this book does an exceptional job of telling the story of the American pioneer without talking down to the reader. It doesn’t seem like the author is softening the hardship of the pioneers for the sake of the reader. It is important that young readers understand the reality of the history in the story. 

The artwork in this book is beautiful. Illustrator Greg Shed does a good job of recapturing the essence of pioneer life. The paintings included in the book are brightly colored with a gritty undertone that does an interesting job of portraying the character’s feelings of hope of a bright future and the hard labor that went along with it. 

Reviews:

Kindergarten-Grade 3  Looking for a better life, a pioneer father moves his pregnant wife and daughters west. Both Zoe and Rebecca recognize their mother's isolation and depression as they arrive at their claim stake in the middle of the prairie, and try to work extra hard to please her. Zoe's first-person account describes a visit to neighbors (only three hours away) and a trip to town for supplies, where she finds something that she hopes will help cheer her mother: a clump of dandelions, which she and her father speculate came west as a seed on a wagon. They plant it on the roof of their sod home, and the story ends with the clump looking dry and lifeless. However, the closing words indicate that the family feels more hopeful about their prairie life to come; the last picture shows a panoramic view of their farm of the future, with the dandelions covering the roof and the fields plowed and fertile. The gouache on canvas paintings are grand and sweeping; they emphasize the vast expanse of open land that dwarfs and seems to swallow up everything that comes in contact with it. The characters are frequently shown in deep shadow underneath sun hats, as the sun blazes down on them. When their faces are shown, there is a hazy lack of focus in an almost impressionistic style that heightens the centrality of place and climate, rather than individual character. Yet these people make their mark and find their place; modern readers will identify with this family's experiences and concerns, and will admire their adventurous spirits. Bunting tells a poignant story, which is made even more affecting by its lovely illustrations. Ruth K. MacDonald.

Citation:

McDonald, R.K., [Dandelions] [book review]. School Library Journal. Retrieved from www.amazon.com
____________________________________

Gr. 2-4, younger for reading aloud. Zoe and her family have traveled by covered wagon from Illinois to the Nebraska Territory. As they build a sod house and meet new neighbors, Papa can barely contain his enthusiasm. Mama, on the other hand, remains quiet, thinking of the family and memories left behind. On a trip to town with her father for supplies, Zoe spots a mass of dandelions and realizes that the flowers are much like her family--they may be out of their element on the prairie, but they will survive and bloom in their new land. The gouache paintings capture the lonely panorama of the landscape, and the classically painted, sometimes faceless figures give the book a sense of universality. A solid choice for read-alouds, this may also be used with older, reluctant readers or students learning about the westward movement. Kay Weisman


Citation:

Weisman K., [Dandelions] [book review]. Booklist. Retrieved from www.amazon.com

Uses:

• Have a pioneer day when patrons dress in pioneer clothes and sing folk songs and hear folk stories around a bon fire. Invite local historians to help with the event.
• Host a homesteader’s tour. In South Dakota there are plenty of places where some of the homestead foundations still exist. Have member of the local historian society help out with the event. 

Module 10: Fever 1793 Laurie Halse Anderson

Picture taken from:

http://www.amazon.com/Fever-1793-Laurie-Halse-Anderson/dp/0689848919/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319931230&sr=8-1

Summary:

Mattie is a typical teenage girl, she likes her sleep and is full of dreams of becoming something different than her mother.  Mattie, her mother, and grandfather live together and own a coffeehouse. The business does well to support the family and Mattie’s mother hopes it will be someday be a good dowery for her daughter to marry a respectable young man. Mattie has no interest in marrying, she has dreams of someday owning the coffeehouse herself and making a few changes to modernize the place. 

All dreams and petty disagreements are put aside when Yellow Fever begins to sweep the city. Mattie must learn what its like to fend for herself. After her mother comes down with the fever  she is separated from her and left to fend for her grandfather and herself in a city petrified with fear and illness. Eventually, Mattie is reunited with her mother, but the amount of growing she must do in order to survive is amazing. 

Citation:

Anderson, L.H. (2000). Fever 1793. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Impression:

 Fever 1793 is well written and contained all the attributes that make it a good historical fiction. The main character is round and dynamic, the historical events are accurate, and the plot is engaging. With historical fictions, like Fever 1793, I always look for proof that the author did his or her homework. This novel has a listing of primary and secondary documents that the author used while writing the book making it even more heartbreaking and exciting a novel to read. Over all, this is a fantastic book containing adventure, heartbreak, love, family, and romance. 

Reviews:

The opening scene of Anderson's ambitious novel about the yellow fever epidemic that ravaged Philadelphia in the late 18th century shows a hint of the gallows humor and insight of her previous novel, Speak. Sixteen-year-old Matilda "Mattie" Cook awakens in the sweltering summer heat on August 16th, 1793, to her mother's command to rouse and with a mosquito buzzing in her ear. She shoos her cat from her mother's favorite quilt and thinks to herself, "I had just saved her precious quilt from disaster, but would she appreciate it? Of course not." Mattie's wit again shines through several chapters later during a visit to her wealthy neighbors' house, the Ogilvies. Having refused to let their serving girl, Eliza, coif her for the occasion, Mattie regrets it as soon as she lays eyes on the Ogilvie sisters, who wear matching bombazine gowns, curly hair piled high on their heads ("I should have let Eliza curl my hair. Dash it all"). But thereafter, Mattie's character development, as well as those of her grandfather and widowed mother, takes a back seat to the historical details of Philadelphia and environs. Extremely well researched, Anderson's novel paints a vivid picture of the seedy waterfront, the devastation the disease wreaks on a once thriving city, and the bitterness of neighbor toward neighbor as those suspected of infection are physically cast aside. However, these larger scale views take precedence over the kind of intimate scenes that Anderson crafted so masterfully in Speak. Scenes of historical significance, such as George Washington returning to Philadelphia, then the nation's capital, to signify the end of the epidemic are delivered with more impact than scenes of great personal significance to Mattie.

Citation:

Earley, L. (2000, September, 4).  [Fever 1793] [book review]. Publishers Weekly, Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-689-83858-3

Uses:

• Have a History Alive Night and discuss ways the youth can find out more about their heritage. Introduce family tree databases and books, like Fever 1973, that are interesting retellings of American history.
• Bring in a member of the community who works with history, like at a local museum, to talk about the history of the town or about possible epidemics that happened in the past 150 years and explain what students can do if such an illness were to happen again.

Module 9: The face on the Milk Carton by Carolyn B. Conney

Picture taken from:

http://www.amazon.com/Face-Milk-Carton-Caroline-Cooney/dp/038532328X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319398407&sr=1-1

Summary:

Janie Johnson discovers her picture on a milk carton for missing children while she is having lunch at school. Janie doesn’t believe that she has been kidnapped by her loving parents, but memories start to come back of a life long forgotten. As the mystery of her past unfolds, Janie discovers that her parents are her grandparents, her supposed mother kidnapped her, and her real family leaves in a nearby suburb. Now Janie must decide what to do to make the horrible past right. Janie discovers the true meaning of family, love, and friendship. 

Citation:

Cooney, C. (1990, March). The face on the milk carton. New York, New York: Bantam Books.

Impression:

The Face on the Milk Carton keeps the readers attention by weaving an elaborate mystery novel matched with a strong plot and well-developed characters. Cooney knows her audience as she writes about a young teenage girl who is faced with falling in love for the first time, friends, and 

parents-all the normal aspects of a realistic young adult novel. What makes this novel stand out is Cooney’s ability to add a sense of mystery that keeps the reader turning pages. 

Reviews:

There's a good bit of melodrama in the plot (a cult-influenced mother and a pair of nervous grandparents hiding from the Hare Krishna), as well as a sort of half-baked romance. But Cooney does not give in to facile resolutions, and her depiction of Jane's personal quandary, while not rendered with depth, seems real enough as it follows the girl's struggle to make sense of what's happened and to balance her feelings for the couple she knows as her parents with her curiosity about the family to which she once belonged.

Citation:

[The face on the milk carton] [book review]. (1990). Booklist, 861154. Retrieved from 

Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com

______________________________________

This is the kind of paranoid premise that junior high melodramas find highly enjoyable, and Cooney doesn't let them down, filling her story with suspenseful twists. While the plot is appealing and well-paced, the writing is often excessive, abruptly shifting gears between the satiric and the sentimental, and is populated with unlikely imagery: 'Energy spilled out of her like oil from a smashed tanker.' Although this is no match for the similarly situated Taking Terri Mueller by {N.F.} Mazer {BRD 1982} or Amy Ehrlich's Where It Stops, Nobody Knows {BRD 1989}, it's still an involving story.

Citiation

[The face on the milk carton] [book review]. (1990). Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 43133. Retrieved from Retrieved from http://bccb.lis.illinois.edu/

Uses:

• Have a mystery dinner night at the library and showcase a display of mystery books that showcase books like The Face on the Milk Carton.
• Have a missing children awareness month at the library and use the book in a display with related topics and information.

Module 8: Beastly by Alex Flinn

Picture taken from:

http://www.amazon.com/Beastly-ebook/dp/B004IK8Q2W/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1318801618&sr=1-1

Summary:

Beastly is a modern retelling of the classic fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast. The story is told through the eyes of Kyle Kingsman, a good looking, rich, vain teenager who insults a witch and is made into an ugly monster. In order to break the spell, Kyle must love and be loved in return.

Kyle’s father is just as vain and selfish as he is and actually moves Kyle out of their home and forces him to live alone with his tutor and maid.

Kyle has two years to grow as a person and gain the love of a women in his current ugly state. The witch gave him a magic mirror where he can look upon everyone he wants. He find himself attached to a girl who attended his high school. This girl is someone he never thought of before, but finds that she lives with her abusive father. Kyle ends up making a deal with her father, after he catches him trying to break into his home. The deal includes that the girl stays with him. Eventually Kyle befriends the girl, they fall in love an the spell is broken. 

Citation:

Flinn, A. (2007). Beastly. New York, New York: HarperCollins.

Impression:

Sweet, but generic story. Flinn recreates the Beauty and the Beast tale through the eyes of a teenage boy who is cursed by a vengeful witch. The story is good, but nothing about it sticks out as exceptional. Flinn does a fairly decent job of developing a dynamic character through Kyle, but the plot predictable and stale and the beauty character is flat and underdeveloped. I know that the story itself is well known, but I was hoping that the author would develop a more interesting way of retelling it. The ending was a big let down. Way too happy and perfect an ending. I want reality and believability.  

Reviews:

Flinn stays so close to traditional 'Beauty and the Beast' tales that her version becomes almost disappointing in its predictability, and the characterizations are similarly mundane. predictability, and the characterizations are similarly mundane. With a nod toward her contemporary setting, however, she does introduce the internet. . . . There is something insightful, if a bit sad, in [Kyle's] Beauty being the codependent daughter of a drug addict. . . . Though there are superior revisionings of the tale, readers may still be intrigued to see the beast find love in the contemporary world.

Citation:

Coats, K. (2007). [Beastly] [book review]. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 61(2), 84. Retrieved from http://bccb.lis.illinois.edu/
_________________________________

In this unusual foray into fantasy by an author best known for gritty realism, a wealthy, narcissistic ninth-grader, Kyle, plans a mean trick right out of Stephen King’s Carrie; less than 24 hours later, he has been transformed by his victim (an undercover witch) into a hairy beast and given two years to break the spell. The remainder of Flinn’s Beauty and the Beast retelling chronicles Kyle’s redemption from his own, rapidly evolving point of view, culminating in his sensitively forged relationship with houseguest-hostage Lindy, whose presence in the beast’s Brooklyn mansion is explained in a manner befitting the contemporary setting. Flinn’s storytelling is least convincing whenever the reality beyond the mansion intrudes, with comic chat-room interludes seeming especially jarring. Some readers may also question why a public outburst of violence committed by Kyle has no consequences. But through her character’s psychological transformation, Flinn finds ways to address some larger, painful truths about male adolescence, making this a rare fairy-tale-inspired novel with equally strong appeal for boys and girls.— Jennifer Mattson 

Citiation

Mattson, J. (2008, February 8). [Beastly] [book review]. Booklist Online. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/Beastly-Alex-Flinn/pid=1975165

Uses:

• Have a book and a movie night; first have students read Beastly and then watch the movie.
• Use Beastly in a display of modern fairytale retellings.

Module 7: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Picture taken from:

http://www.amazon.com/Speak-Anniversary-Laurie-Halse-Anderson/dp/0142414735/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318352691&sr=8-1

Summary:

Something has happened to 9th grader, Melinda, but she isn’t talking. Melinda’s ex-friends won’t talk to her, her classmates ridicule her, and her grades are dropping. Her parents and guidance counselors believe that Melinda needs a serious attitude adjustment. She is skipping school, not making friends, and failing her classes; not her normal behavior.

Melinda’s teachers are no help, they assume she is a typical lazy teenager. However, Mr. Freeman, a less than traditional art teacher, encourages Melinda to express herself through art. Mr. Freeman allows Melinda the freedom to find her voice. As Melinda begins to let herself feel the emotions that she has repressed, the reader discovers that she was raped at a party just before her 9th grade year began. The upperclass boy who did it, is still a student at her school and now dating her ex-best friend. Melinda is faced with the fear of reliving that horrific night or helping her ex-best friend. 

Citation:

Anderson, L., H. (1999).Speak. New York, New York: Penguin Group.

Impression:

Speak is a raw and powerful novel about a young girl who is faced with issues that she should never have to deal with. She is raped and her childhood and innocence is taken away from her in one evening. Its sad to think about the sheer number of young people who deal with this issue and don’t find their voices to speak out until they are much older. Anderson has taken a taboo topic, such as rape, and brought it to the light with her character, Melinda. I only hope that this book finds itself in the hands of a young person who would benefit from it.

Reviews:

In a stunning first novel, Anderson uses keen observations and vivid imagery to pull readers into the head of an isolated teenager. Divided into the four marking periods of an academic year, the novel, narrated by Melinda Sordino, begins on her first day as a high school freshman. No one will sit with Melinda on the bus. At school, students call her names and harass her; her best friends from junior high scatter to different cliques and abandon her. Yet Anderson infuses the narrative with a wit that sustains the heroine through her pain and holds readers' empathy. A girl at a school pep rally offers an explanation of the heroine's pariah status when she confronts Melinda about calling the police at a summer party, resulting in several arrests. But readers do not learn why Melinda made the call until much later: a popular senior raped her that night and, because of her trauma, she barely speaks at all. Only through her work in art class, and with the support of a compassionate teacher there, does she begin to reach out to others and eventually find her voice. Through the first-person narration, the author makes Melinda's pain palpable: ""I stand in the center aisle of the auditorium, a wounded zebra in a National Geographic special."" Though the symbolism is sometimes heavy-handed, it is effective. The ending, in which her attacker comes after her once more, is the only part of the plot that feels forced. But the book's overall gritty realism and Melinda's hard-won metamorphosis will leave readers touched and inspired. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)

Citation:

Farrar S., G. (1999, Oct. 25). [Speak] [book review]. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-374-37152-4
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Having broken up an end-of-summer party by calling the police, high-school freshman Melinda Sordino begins the school year as a social outcast. She’s the only person who knows the real reason behind her call: she was raped at the party by Andy Evans, a popular senior at her school. Slowly, with the help of an eccentric and understanding art teacher, she begins to recover from the trauma, only to find Andy threatening her again. Melinda’s voice is distinct, unusual, and very real as she recounts her past and present experiences in bitterly ironic, occasionally even amusing vignettes. In her YA fiction debut, Anderson perfectly captures the harsh conformity of high-school cliques and one teen’s struggle to find acceptance from her peers. Melinda’s sarcastic wit, honesty, and courage make her a memorable character whose ultimate triumph will inspire and empower readers. (Reviewed September 15, 1999)— Debbie Carton 

Citation:

Carton, D. (1999, September 15). [Speak] [book review]. Booklist Online. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/Speak-Laurie-Halse-Anderson/pid=456480

Speak Book Trailer

Uses:

• To coincide with Take Back the Night, a nationally recognized event set out advocate for victims of domestic violence and rape, have a Take Back the Night evening at the library which includes an informational session on how to report rape and how to care for oneself or someone else who has been affected by rape.
• This book was made into a great movie. Have a library movie night with Speak as the movie and set out copies of the books for anyone who would like check it out. 

Module 7: The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

Picture taken from:

http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Butt-Other-Round-Things/dp/0763620912/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318193699&sr=8-1

Summary:

Virginia Shreves follows a strict code of conduct for fat girls. She has developed lists and laws for what a girl of her shape can and cannot do. Virginia is the youngest in a family of beautiful smart people and she is convinced that she was switched at birth because she is so different from rest of her family. Her workaholic parents try to help Virginia with her weight problems, but the assistance causes Virginia to feel even more like an outcast.

It isn’t until her “perfect” older brother is accused of date rape that Virginia begins to see herself as more than her body size. Virginia can now see that many of the people she once placed on a pedestal have problems of their own. Virginia begins to take her life into her own hands and throws her fat girl code of ethics to live outside the box. Once Virginia discovers that she is so much more than her body size, she can finally be her wonderful self.

Citation:

Mackler, C. (2003). The earth, my butt, and other big round things. Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press.

Impression:

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, broke my heart and then put it back together again. Growing up with a less than perfect body myself, I found a real connection with Virginia.  This book is categorized as a problem or realistic novel with the point of connecting with the reader on a real level and personal level and Carolyn Mackler does a great job of doing this by telling the story from Virginia’s point of view.

Virginia had a lot against her; her mother, who grew up overweight, didn’t want her to deal with the same issues as she did and pushed her to lose weight, her father, who was infatuated with thin, beautiful women, pressured her to diet, and her siblings were both attractive and popular in high school. At school, Virginia was ostracized because she wasn’t like the other students, she even overheard one of the most popular girls say she would rather be dead than overweight like Virginia.

I believe the author did a fantastic job of showing the flaws in teenage society. In high school teenagers are accepted for fitting in and rejected for being individuals. I really hope that when young readers experience this book it changes them to be more accepting of themselves and others. I’m so happy this book exists. 

Reviews:

Virginia is lonely and uncertain; her best friend has moved across the country, her talented brother has gone off to college, and her gifted sister has gone off to the Peace Corps, leaving overweight, unaccomplished Virginia with her hard-driving parents. She's so convinced that her weight makes her unworthy that she's got a list, "The Fat Girl Code of Conduct," which bitterly sets out her limited expectations and firmly decrees that her exciting sexual grapplings with one Froggy Welsh III ("Go further than skinny girls. Find ways to alert him to this") can never translate into any public relationship ("Any sexual activity is a secret"). When her brother gets kicked out of college for date-rape and her family struggles to adjust, however, Virginia realizes that her perfect family is itself deeply flawed, that she's not the sole fallible member, and that she has a right to find her own persona even if it conflicts with her parents' expectations. This isn't exactly untrodden ground, plot- and character-wise, and some of the proceedings are a trifle cliched, but Mackler writes with a clarity and impact that lifts her material above the ordinary ("Sometimes my parents are so sure of what's best for me that I don't stop to think about what I really want"). The book is knowing about the relationship between image and self-image, and there's genuine understanding and a welcome absence of condescension in Virginia's exhilarating change of style as she moves from being her formerly fat mother's frumpy plus-size proxy to a cool chick at her current size, complete with piercings, purple hair, and thrift-store wardrobe. It's no particular surprise that Virginia has underestimated Froggy and his genuine affection, but Virginia's gone through so much to become her own kind of princess that readers will be pleased to see her find her frog. DS

Citiation:

Stevenson, D. (2003). [The earth, my butt, and other big round things] [book review]. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 57(2), 69-70. Retrieved from http://bccb.lis.illinois.edu/
________________________________

Gr. 7–10. Fifteen-year-old Viriginia Shreves is the blond, round, average daughter in a family of dark-haired, thin superstars. Her best friend has moved away, and she’s on the fringes at her private Manhattan school. She wants a boyfriend, but she settles for Froggy Welsh, who comes over on Mondays to grope her. The story follows Virginia as she tries to lose weight, struggles with her “imperfections,” and deals with the knowl- edge that her idealized older brother has committed date rape. There’s a lot going on here, and some important elements, such as Virginia’s flirtation with self-mutilation, are passed over too quickly. But Mackler writes with such insight and humor (sometimes using strong language to make her point) that many readers will immediately identify with Virginia’s longings as well as her fear and loathing. Her gradually evolving ability to stand up to her family is hard won and not always believable, but it provides a hopeful ending for those trying stand on their own two feet. —Ilene Coope

Citation:

Cooper, I. (2003). [The earth, my butt, and other big round things] [book review]. Booklist, 100(1), 115. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/

Uses:

• Have a girls only book display and use this book as a selection to depict self acceptance. 
• Virginia really gets into Kickboxing in this book as an alternative to traditional exercise. Introduce the book and then bring in a member of the community from the local YMCA to discuss fun and different types of exercise. 

Module 6: Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin

Picture taken from
http://www.amazon.com/Diary-of-a-Worm/dp/B001DO312Q/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1317523107&sr=8-6

Summary:

Diary of a Worm looks at life from the point of view of worm-child. The main character retells his days with journal entries that explain what its like to be a worm. The little worm explains things like worms help care for the earth by tunneling and that spiders and worms have very different purposes. 

Citation:

Cornin, D. (2003). Diary of a worm. United States: HarperCollins.

Impression:

I found this book endearing. I like the humor that the author took when explaining the day to day life of an earthworm. The author managed to make the relatively common earthworm an exciting and cute creature. I enjoyed how the author brought the main character to the level of the children who read the book by incorporating issues and concerns they would have and putting them into the eyes of a little earthworm.  

Reviews:

He wears a red baseball cap, likes to tease his sister, and sometimes gets in trouble at school. Oh, and he's also a worm. Pithy diary entries ("April 4. Fishing season started today. We all dug deeper") record the ups and downs of this worm's life at home, in the classroom, and hanging out with his pal Spider. Cronin (Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, rev. 3/00) places her protagonist in situations that every kid can relate to ("I forgot my lunch today"), then adds a humorous twist specific to worms ("I got so hungry that 1 ate my homework"). So when the students do the hokey pokey at a school dance, they quickly discover that, after putting your head in and taking your head out, there isn't much else a worm can do. And how does a worm insult his older sister? "I told her that no matter how much time she spends looking in the mirror, her face will always look just like her rear end." Bliss's whimsical cartoonish illustrations depict events from a worm's-eye view; objects above the ground — including a shovel a dog, and a girl playing hopscotch — dwarf the protagonist, who uses a bottle cap for a chair and a toadstool for a desk. The endpapers, which resemble scrapbook pages containing snapshots of the worm family on vacation (at Compost Island) and a report card (our hero gets an A in tunneling and "works well with others"), add to the fun. The book also includes the gentlest of ecological messages. Noting that tunneling worms help the earth breathe, the narrator concludes that, although people may not pay much attention to worms, "the earth never forgets we're here."

Citation:

Sieruta, P. D. (2003).[Diary of a worm] [book review]. The Horn Book, 79(6), 728. http://www.hbook.com/

_______________________________

PreS–Gr. 1. The verbal puns and the wry, colorful cartoons create a funny worm’s-eye view of the world in this playful picture book. There’s no sustained story here, as there was in Cronin’s wonderful Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (2000), but the hilarious vignettes of the worm-child with his family, friends, and enemies show the absurd in humans as much as in the wriggling crea- tures in the earth. When the worm forgets his lunch, he eats his homework, and he loves telling his older sister that her face will always look like her rear end. One advantage of being a worm is that he never has to go to the dentist: no cavities. “No teeth, either,” says Dr. D. Kay. The pictures are both silly and affectionate, whether the worm holds a pencil or hugs his favorite pile of dirt. And there’s always the elemental child appeal of how it feels to be tiny in a world of giants. —Hazel Rochman

Citation:

Rochman, H. (2003). [Diary of a worm] [book review]  Booklist, 100(3), 326. http://www.booklistonline.com/

Uses:

Use the Diary of a Worm in a book display with books that tell about life from different points of view.
Use the Diary of a Worm as an example for journaling. Have a night at the library where individuals can journal or scrapbook about their lives.