All Night, All Day: A Child's First Book of African American Spirituals

I found All Night, All Day to be a very culturally intriguing book. As an Caucasian American, I expected to be reading or seeing songs I had never heard before. However, I wasn't. To summarize what the book contains, there are twenty African American Spirituals intermixed with about a dozen illustrations in vibrant shades of blue, yellow, red, orange, and green. The piano accompaniment and guitar chords are include for each song. These illustrations capture the experiences and joyful emotions portrayed in the songs. Songs include, "This Little Light of Mine," "Wade in the Water," "O'When the Saints Go Marching In," and "I'm Going to Eat at the Welcome Table."

To be perfectly honest, I did not recognize many of these songs as African American Spirituals. However, after some thought they obviously have the markers of the culture, soulfully religious and a strong will to overcome adversity. In his ending note, Bryan says that this genre of music is "America's most distinctive contribution to the world of music" (page 48). Initially, I was prepared to argue this point. What about Jazz? Or the Blues? Then, I had an 'ah-ha' moment and came to the realization that these African American Spirituals were the forerunners of both genres of music.

These songs are true traditional literature and fit firmly in with most folk tales for several reasons. As Bryan says, "The names of the individual creators of these songs have been lost, but we know they come from the musical genius of African American slaves."

This book has won the Coretta Soctt King Award and is recommended for four to nine year olds. School Library Journal's Susan Giffard states that "these illustrations are dynamic and full of movement, and the people and angels radiate an unearthly light." Bryan has other books of spirituals, including Let it Shine: Three Favorite Spirituals. The text for my course also offers high praise for Beautiful Blackbird.

I'm not a musician, so I couldn't play the songs and for the ones that I didn't know, I could only guess at the tune. However, I think that young children would enjoy the accompanies pictures if they could hear others sing and play the songs. This book most likely belongs in the libraries of most churches, African American or not.

As a teacher, I can see elementary school music teachers asking students to "draw" a song, as Bryan has done here. Most would recognize "This Little Light of Mine" and would understand the assignment when show the drawing that accompanied the song in this book. An assignment like this would give teachers the opportunity to guide students with thoughtful and creative expression, as well as an opportunity to teach students to appreciate music.

In my course text by Sylvia Vardell, Bryan writes "There are so many ways in which we learn about life and self. Each day opens paths to this exploration. For many of us, books play a major role in that adventure" (page 88). I feel that Bryan has hit that mark with this book. Personally speaking, books have and will continue to play a major role in my exploration of life. This book, though intended for children, helped me to realize the influence that African American culture has had on my own life.

References:

Bryan, Ashley. All Night, All Day: A Child's First Book of African American Spirituals. Musical arrangements by David Manning Thomas. New York: Maxwell Macmillan Publishing Company, 1991. ISBN: 0-689-31662-3.

Vardell, Sylvia. Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2008.

The Three Little Dassies

The Three Little Dassies is the much beloved Three Little Pigs with an African spin. Three sisters, Mimbi, Pimbi, and Timbi move away from home, with the very untypical warning to watch out for the eagle. The sisters each build their own houses from different materials, grass, driftwood, and stone in the Namib Desert of Southern Africa. The eagle gives his warning of "I'll flap and I'll clap and I'll blow your house in." Then, with the help of their new neighbor, the sisters (and maybe even the readers) learn a very valuable lesson about hard work.

The art is done in watercolors and gouache. The airbrush backgrounds were created by Joseph Hearne. One large picture graces the center of the page and two side panels float in the margins. Each drawing is framed or bordered with culturally bright prints and fabrics. These side panels provide additional visual images and let observant picture book readers know more about what is or will be happening in the main frame of the story.

Booklist's Andrew Wedlar gives high praise to Brett's drawings. He states "Brett invokes the African setting with details of the desert landscape and the animals' colorful patterned clothing. The last page turns the story into an inspired pourqoui tale about dassies' habitat and soot like coloring of native eagles. School Library Journal's Carrie Rogers-Whitehead states that "Children will enjoy following both stories and will linger on each page following the exciting detail of the setting; the desert, the characters, the decorative boarders and all the small touches in between. This tale will captivate children and introduce a setting and unfamiliar animals to most of them." Though no awards were noted, this book has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list, as well Publisher's Weekly's list.

The dassies, by their more technical name of rock hyraxes, resemble a cross between a prairie dog and a Kola bear. Their cute little paws and charming noses make them wonderful damsels in distress for the Agama Man, a colorful lizard, to save from the eagles nest.

In the tale, the dassies are wearing colorful versions of traditional African dress. As a matter of fact, as is characteristic of many traditional tales, animals are often given human characteristics or repurposed. For example, a turtle assumes the role of a pack mule as the dassies move away from home.

This variant was written by Jan Brett and the fact that she is not African is the only strong criticism that I can muster. She says in the jacket that she was inspired to write the story of the three little dassies after seeing them on vacation. I realize this is a children's tale. However, the fact that she wrote this after a vacation makes me question some of the attempts at authenticity. Prints and certain colors are often of tribal and regional significance throughout Africa. I feel that this significance would be difficult to detect as a vacationer.

On the other hand, this variant offers teachers and students the opportunity to study nature and wildlife in the desert. After studying the different types of predators and prey that exist in the desert or other ecosystems, perhaps students could write their own variant of the three little pigs. This would give students the opportunity to research different ecosystems and to be creative when they work at adapting the tale. For example, they would have to decide what kind of resources would be available to the animals with which to build their houses. Students could also discuss the evolutionary purposes for a black eagle that appears in the pourqoui ending of this variant.

Before reading this tale, I would ask students what they think it would be like to live in the desert or to move away from home on their own. After reading this tale, I would ask students about which dassie they think is the most intelligent and why she was rewarded.

Other unique cultural variations of The Three Little Pigs include The Three Tamales by Eric Kimmel and Valeria Docampo and The Little Cajun Pigs by Mike Artell and Jim Harris.

I find so much value in this text. The text reads evenly and could be mastered by a young independent reader. That reader would most likely know the plot and could focus on the words. He or she would still have the rewards of mastering a book that might be considered difficult. Young readers can learn so much about different animals, cultures and ecosystems and the importance of hard work.

Reference:

Brett, Jan. The Three Little Dassies. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, Penguin Young Reader's Group, 2010. ISBN: 978-0-399-25499-4.

Reference

The Lion & The Mouse

This book is a wordless adaptation of an Aesop fable. The tale is staged in the African Serengeti of Tanzania and Kenya. In the tale, a mouse disturbs a lion in his sleep, but the lion lets the mouse go. The mouse later returns the favor of the lion by freeing her from a poacher's net. The moral is simple: No act of kindness is ever wasted.

As I was reading this tale, I found myself "talking" the story out loud even though I wasn't reading it to anyone. The drawings, prepared with pencil, watercolor and colored pencils on paper, make up for the lack of words because you have to read them so closely, by repeating to yourself what is happening in the picture. You might say to yourself "The lion is walking into the trap that the poachers just set! Oh No!"

Awards this book won include Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books, the Caldecott Medal, School Library Journal's Best Books of the Year, Boston Globe Horn Book Awards. The Lion & The Mouse also appeared on the best seller lists for the New York Times, Amazon.com, Publishers Weekly, and Barnes and Noble. A review from School Library Journal states "This story starts on the cover with the glorious, golden countenance of a lion." The review also states that "Moments of affection and humor complete the drama."

The beauty of Pinkney's version of this classic is in the fact that the story is told through the glorious drawings. They are more engaging than any words could ever be. This is obvious in the high sales and massive number of awards that grace the cover of this "text."

As an adult, "reading" this story with children in mind, it is obvious to point out what is happening early in the story, but after you have modeled a few pages to ask children "What do you see happening here?" Then, perhaps younger children who don't know how to read can feel the rewards of being a reader.

Before reading, be sure to ask kids "What do you think would happen if you woke a lion up from a nap?" Of course, this tale is easily acted out by children after a close "reading." Some drawings, like the one on the opening flap of the book might be useful to a class studying the Serengeti.

In my humble opinion as a library science student, I believe that this "text" belongs in every library collection of children's books. The art and the moral of the story will be timelessly captivating.

Pinkney, Jerry. The Lion & The Mouse. New York: Little, Brown and Company, Books for Young Readers, 2009.

UPTOWN

When I went to return Goodnight Moon and Make Way for Ducklings, I discovered a lovely book that was not on my reading list for my course. Uptown by Bryan Collier caught my attention for several reasons.

The plot appears simple but would inspire pride in any African American or resident of Harlem. A young boy takes readers on a tour of the most important parts of Uptown, Harlem. We visit the Apollo, have chicken and waffles, and listen to Jazz and the Boys Choir of Harlem. The young boy not only takes pride in what he shows us but gives readers a culture and history lesson. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I had to Google "Van Der Zee."

Collier and the boy leading the tour don't come off as preachy. As a matter of fact, they teach children a valuable lesson: Be proud of where you come from even if that place produces strange combinations like chicken and waffles.

One of the reasons I wanted to read this book was because it had a Coretta Scott King Medal on the front cover. It also won the Ezra Jack Keats award. Also, I found the following reviews.

• "A young boy provides a particularly inviting, personally guided tour of his uptown home... Collier's evocative watercolor and collage illustrations create a unique sense of mood and place"- School Library Journal, starred review
• "This is a visual love song that makes it easy to see why the narrator loves it uptown."- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
• "Collier debuts with a set of dazzling paint and photo collages paired to a child's tribute to his Harlem neighborhood"- Kirkus Review

Speaking of these illustrations, I was first captivated by the color. Then, I stopped on the page that reads "Uptown is a row of brownstones. I like the way they come together when you look at them down the block. They look they're made of chocolate." This is when I started getting closer to the picture. The collage was made from actual chocolate bars. How clever and entertaining for children and adults. When I started looking at the pictures very closely, I started trying to figure out what Collier had cut up to make is collage, actual photos, a pair of jeans, and some really interesting African prints.

As I started looking for connections for this text, I discovered that Collier was an illustrator on several the Caldecott Honor Books Rosa by Niki Giovanni and Martin's Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr. by Doreen Rappaport. A lot of the art looks like that of Ezra Jack Keats in Snowy Day. Imitating the collage aspect of the art could be interesting to children. However, Collier combines that with water color. This book might be a good lead in to a study of music or poetry by members of the Harlem Renaissance. Simply put, cultural connections abound and this would be a great February read for African American History month.

Reference:

Collier, Bryan. Uptown. New York: Henry Hold and Company, 2000.

ISBN: 0-8050-5721-8

Make Way For Ducklings

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard begin this tale with a search for a place to raise their ducklings. No place will do for Mrs. Mallard and after a false start, a close encounter with a bike, and a flight over Boston, they settle on an island in the Charles River. The tale ends with Mrs. Mallard's and the 8 ducklings march through Boston aided by friendly police officers. Once to the Public Garden, the ducklings and Mrs. Mallard live a happy life filled with peanuts with Mr. Mallard.

The tales charcole drawings show talent and give enormous vale to this tale of family and kindness. The pictures are charming and detaled and are worthy of the Caldecott they won McClosky. This is not the standard 32 page picture book by any means. It provides readers with more food for thought (what does our world really look like from an animal's point of view?) and beauty. My favorite drawing in the book is the one where Mr. Mallard almost gets hit by the boy on the bike. The boy is completely oblivious to the harm he almost caused!

This book is the winner of one of two Caldecotts for McClusky and has sold over 2 million copies. When published, the New York Times provided raving reviews. Also, this is the official children's book of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. There is even a bronze statue of Mrs. Mallard in the Public Garden in Boston. All of this combined makes me wonder: How did my mother not read me this book as a child. I loved animals and being outside. This book would have been one that I loved!

There are so many learning opportunties with this book. On a teacher's level, a kindergarten teacher having trouble with classroom management could use this book to teach children the importance of following directions and about lining up. Children will most likely point out that the ducks look real and can learn some great vocabulary (molt and migration). Because the book it longer than the standard 32 pages, it will take longer to read aloud in story time. However, it will keep children engaged because it is fast pased.

If I were a teacher or a librarian in Boston, this would be an important part of my teaching. Field trip opportunties abound. Most picture books are set ina fictional place. Thus, this one is different and remembered for over 70 years because of the unique setting.

I've included some links and books that will help you to find the opinons of others and comments of the career of Robert McCloskey.

http://nytimes.com/2003/07/01/arts/01MCCL.html

McCloskey, Jane. Robert McCloskey: A Private Life in Words and Pictures. Seapoint Books. ISBN: 978-0-9786899-6-4

Reference

McCloskey, Robert. Make Way for Ducklings. New York: Viking Press, 1941

ISBN: 0-670-45149-5

Goodnight Moon

I have no doubt read this book before, but when the text for my course referred to it several times, I couldn't remember the book well enough to understand what my course text was saying. Thus, I check it out from my local library and thought that I would add a review here.

The story is a simple yet classic tale that has been used to put children to sleep for a very long time. A child, in the shape of a rabbit, takes account for everything in the room and then says goodnight to each item.

This book has been in publication for over 60 years and sold 14 million copies. Margaret Wise Brown won the Caldecott Medal in 1947 for a different book. Her accomplishments as a children's author put her on par with the greats! Translations have been made into countless languages as well. Opposite is a cover from one such translation.

The writing and drawings may be extremely simple, but they work well together to provide a calming tale. The front jacket of the book calls the illustrations "lulling." The purpose and the choices that the author and illustrator made were directed at comforting and settling down a child for sleep. Many of the drawings are in black and white, adding to the therapeutic sense and making the color photos all the more beautiful.

To be honest, I have trouble seeing this book in a library story hour. Children would be sleeping on the floor of the library. This book allows children to develop a vocabulary much like other classics like Brown Bear, Brown Bear and The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. Children can point to the telephone and the red balloon when the adult reads the word. They can also hunt to find the mouse in every colored picture.

As with many classic texts, there a so many resources that can accompany this text and the publishers do well but selling different versions with toys attached. I found some "printables" on the HarperCollins website that might be great for activities at a library or in a classroom before nap time. Their website is http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/. Incidentally, as I attempted to find out what awards this book had won, I also discovered a game called "Goodnight Moon" based on the book. It was a matching/ memory game.

Bibliographic Information:

Wise Brown, Margaret. Goodnight Moon. Illustrated by Clement Hurd. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1975.*

*The original copyright for this book in 1947 by Harper & Row. I'm sure that book collectors would be happy to take this off some one's hands, should you find dusty copy in the attic.

A PIÑATA IN A PINE TREE: A Latino Twelve Days of Christmas

Children's book author, Pat Mora, has adapted the traditional Christmas carol to include Latin flair. Each day "mi amiga" gives the young girl a new gift. Finally on the last day the young girl is given 12 angles to celebrate the birth of her baby sister.


This picture book as received favorable reviews from Horn Book, Kirkus Review, School Library Journal, Booklist, and Publisher's Weekly. It was also named to the 2010 Americas Commended List.


This picture book might not have an extensive plot, however, Mora creates an interesting story by blending two cultures and presenting both in a positive manner. This texts puts a cultural spin on a favorite song. The book itself offers multiple learning opportunities:

• to count the gifts of each day on the page.
  


• to learn Spanish numbers and Spanish pronunciations.

Each picture is engaging because they provide the pronunciation for the gift and the number embedded cleverly into the picture. At the end of the text there is a glossary and pronunciation guide. The colors in the drawings are vibrant and representative of latino culture. Morales uses acrylic paint to achieve this vibrancy. The Author's and Illustrator's notes at the end of the book provide quality explanations for the cultural differences and the inclusions of some of the gifts like spinning tops, trompos girando, and bells ringing, campanitas sonando.

This books offers opportunities for a read aloud during the holiday season. If children are allowed the opportunity to take extended views of the pictures, they can learn the pronunciation of words or practice counting to twelve/doce.

The learning opportunities abound with this book, from counting to a foreign language. This is a great book recommendation for parents who hope to raise bilingual children, be they primarily Spanish-speaking households or primarily English-speaking households.

Bibliographic Information:

Mora, Pat. A Pinata in a Pine Tree: A Latino Twelve Days of Christmas. Illustrated by Magaly Morales. New York: Clarion Books, 2010.

ISBN-13: 978-0-618-84198-1