SLIS 5420 - Module 2 - Book Blog - "Ramona and Her Father"

Pub. Date: May 1990
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Format: Paperback, 192pp
Age Range: 8 to 10
ISBN: 0380709163

Beverly Cleary is one of my favorite authors (I named my son Henry Huggins, after her book of the same title). She is a fantastic author who always manages to capture the innocence of a child without making children seem too naive. In this particular book she tackles many tough topics: smoking, unemployment, and of course fear. Ramona is a well developed character with a personality that is both typical and atypical for a little girl. Love reading about her relationship with her family and especially her father.


Ramona loves her family and she just wants them all to be happy. Ramona begins this adventure by making her Christmas list, which is quickly altered when her father loses his job. Ramona struggles with the way her family reacts to their changing circumstances, she feels to blame for things that go wrong and worries desperately about her father's smoking habit. How will Ramona cope and help her family through this experience?

Reviews:
Children's Literature


Author Beverly Cleary's book is only one title in a series about a girl named Ramona. This book was first published in the seventies but is now a re-illustrated Harper Trophy edition. Ramona's adventures have been many, but in this book, Ramona tries to come to her father's aid when he loses his job. One day Ramona decides that maybe she can make a million dollars by making a TV commercial. She practices by dressing up and placing a crown on her hair. But her hair becomes entangled in the crown and her dad has to cut her hair. Ramona tells her dad she wants money for him, but dad tells her he would not trade her for a million dollars. That makes Ramona feel good. Ramona is also worrying about something else. Her dad smokes and she wants him to quit. She tapes a picture of a cigarette on the refrigerator and crosses it out with a big black X. Under it she prints in big letters BAD. She is definitely on a campaign to get her father to quiet smoking. One day, Ramona takes her father's cigarettes and throws them in the garbage. Mr. Quimby is not happy about this, but he tries not to smoke. Ramona's father has lots of time on his hands now that he is out of a job, and he and Ramona are spending more time together and not always getting along. But even when Ramona is acting like a brat, her father loves her. When Ramona becomes annoyed with her dad, she makes sure he knows she loves him. Beverly Cleary's books are always funny and insightful. Black-and-white illustrations are included.

Library Uses
I think this would be a great book to read sections aloud to students working on projects about marketing or persuasion. Ramona and Beezus both go to some extraordinary lengths to try to convince their father that smoking is bad, a great example for students on persuading.

SLIS 5420- Module 2 - Book Blog - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Pub. Date: April 1982
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Format: Paperback, 32pp
Age Range: 4 to 8
ISBN: 0689707495

Such a cute book that has really stood the test of time. I loved the illustrations throughout this book and really think they add such detail and dimension to the story. Really like the point made through this story that sometimes things might seem like a good idea but it's important to look at as many points of view as possible before deciding you want something to be a certain way. You might not think there would be anything wrong with your food falling from the sky at first, but the book makes it very clear that too much of a good thing is not good.


In the town of Chewandswallow, food falls from the sky morning, noon, and night. The townspeople have no choice about what makes its way to their plates. For a while things are great and the food is delicious, but the weather soon changes and becomes more dangerous; the food becomes less and less appetizing. The sanitation department has a busy job that they soon find they simply cannot do. What will the people of Chewandswallow do?

Reviews:

From Booklist

In the tiny town of Chewandswallow, only food falls from the skies—“it rained soup and juice. It snowed mashed potatoes and green peas. And sometimes the wind blew in storms of hamburgers.” But one day the weather takes a turn for the worse, and the town is inundated with peanut butter and mayonnaise over brussels sprouts, a thick fog of pea soup, storms of pancakes, 15-inch drifts of cream cheese and jelly, and a tomato tornado. Conditions soon become so bad that life rafts are fashioned from stale bread, and the villagers set sail for a new land where rain and snow fall from the sky, and food is bought in supermarkets. Told as a story within a story (a breakfast of pancakes motivates Grandpa), this wildly inventive tall tale might work better without an extra plot topping the end and without going on quite so long, but the humor is proportionately heightened in straight-faced, closely lined pictures washed in exaggerated colors. Prediction: children dreaming up their own weather menus are sure to follow up on the fun.— Barbara Elleman


Library Uses
I would use this book to demonstrate to students how the illustrations of a book can add to the story and even tell another story at the same time. I would share it with the students by making large copies of some of the illustration and having them tell a story about what's happening in the illustration.

SLIS 5420 - Module 1 Book Blog - "Miss Malarkey Leaves No Reader Behind"

I really enjoyed this book as a teacher, librarian, and parent I think the importance of finding something a child wants to read is mandatory. I enjoyed the lengths Mrs. Malarkey went to, to find that one book he would want to read.

Miss Malarkey wants to find a book for everyone! The school is having a contest to read 1,000 books as a school, if they succeed, the principal will dye his hair purple AND sleep on the roof of the school. One boy has decided he just doesn't like to read and Miss Malarkey spends the entire book trying to find a book for him. She learns so much about the boy and his interests that she finally discovers the perfect book for him, but will he like it?


Reviews:

From School Library Journal


Kindergarten-Grade 2–During the first week of school, Principal Wiggins promises that if the students read 1000 books by June 12, he will dye his hair purple and sleep on the roof. Miss Malarkey tells her class that they will be doing the Everybody Reads in America program and promises that all of the students will find books they love before the end of the school year. She picks some for each of them, engaging even reluctant readers. One boy remains unable to find a book he likes until June 10, when Miss Malarkey chooses one that has aliens, race cars, funny jokes, chewing gum, hot sauce, and cannonballs. It becomes number 1001 read by the students and the story ends with everyone wishing Principal Wiggins (whose hair is now purple) a good night on the roof. This title will resonate with those who choose math, video games, and sports over books. O'Malley's illustrations, done in markers and colored pencils, enhance the text with expressive pictures of the students and their teacher as they explore (or choose not to explore) the joys of reading. The illustrations lend humor and credibility to the reluctance of some of the students. A must-have for all libraries.–Rebecca Sheridan, Easttown Library & Information Center, Berwyn, PA

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
 
From Booklist


Gr. 1-3. Ace teacher Miss Malarkey returns in a picture book narrated by a reluctant reader. Although comfortable within his small group of video-game-playing buddies, a boy wants to contribute to the schoolwide goal of reading 1,000 books in hope of seeing Principal Wiggins "dye his hair purple and sleep on the roof of the school." Trying one of Miss Malarkey's suggested books after another, he rejects them all--until she finds the perfect one to match his eclectic interests. Expressive cartoon-style illustrations, brightened with markers and colored pencils, create a series of lively scenes in which speech balloons record conversations and comments not found in the text. With an unstated moral, this is one volume that librarians won't soon forget. Short lists of recommended books, including a bibliography of adult books that recommend children's books, are appended. Carolyn Phelan

Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
 
Library Uses:
 
I would use this book as a read aloud at the beginning of the year to show students the possibilities of books and subjects. I would have the students complete interest surveys after we read the book to help me get to know them.