The Avid Reading Mom

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is written by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline.  This book is the incredible story of Edward, a very selfish china rabbit who is deeply loved by a girl named Abilene.  One day, while traveling on a boat with Abilene and her family, Edward is lost at sea.  Edward then is taken an a remarkable journey of discovery and he learns how important love is and the need for love in our lives.  One statement in the book really sums up the whole theme of this book": "If you have no intention of loving or being loved, then the whole journey is pointless." (p. 199)

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane could be classified as historical fiction.  The settings throughout the book take place over several years during the early to mid 1900’s.  According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 17, it explains that historical fiction tells a story set in the past; it portrays events that did or could definitely occur.  The illustrations in this book, though there are very few of them, are very detailed paintings.  The illustrator really took time to get the details correct in every illustration within this book. 

This book is recommended for students ages 7-10 years old.  I would agree with this recommendation, although I do believe students older than 10 would really enjoy reading this remarkable story and would learn a lot through the journey of Edward.  The story line is very easy to follow and the chapters are very short so struggling readers would feel great accomplishment after finishing each chapter.

I think this book would be great to include in a unit study on love, maybe during Valentines Day.  Some activities to include when using this book within your classroom could be:

1.  Have each student choose a different character, major or minor, and draw his or her portrait. The cast of characters should include everyone from Edward to the crows in the garden. Label each drawing with a paragraph describing the character and his or her relationship to Edward.

2.  Throughout Edward’s journey, there are folks who are kind to Edward, some who love him, some who are indifferent, and others who are downright cruel. Make a chart of these characters and discuss their differences.

3.  Throughout his journey, Edward Tulane yearns to go home, which he considers to be Egypt Street. And yet he spends many happy years with people who take him in and give him new homes. Make a list of things that mean home to you.

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:
1.  Why does Pellegrina tell the story about a princess who loves no one and is turned into a warthog by a witch to Abilene and Edward?

2.  What are some of the life lessons Edward learns on his journey, through good times and bad?

3.  How and why do all adults (except Abilene’s sharp-eyed grandmother, Pellegrina) condescend, or talk down, to Edward?

4.  Is there a difference between the love Edward receives from Abilene at the beginning of the book and the love he receives from Sarah Ruth?

REFERENCES:
Candlewick Press Teachers Guide on The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.  Retrieved from http://www.edwardtulane.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Yny-zUwaGF0%3d&tabid=76

DiCamillo, K. (2006). The miraculous journey of edward tulane. (1st ed.). Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.

The Golly Sisters Go West is written by Betsy Byars and illustrated by Sue Truesdell.  The wagon is ready.  The songs and dances are ready.  The horse will not go.  As soon as the horse goes, then the adventures begin.  The Golly sisters, May-May and Rose, encounter some pretty hilarious adventures as they make their way west.  Their story is told in six short stories that will leave you laughing as you turn each page.

The Golly Sisters Go West is one of three books written by Betsy Byars about the hilarious tails of May-May and Rose, two sisters who travel west and have some very hilarious adventures.  According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 17, it explains that historical fiction tells a story set in the past; it portrays events that did or could definitely occur.  It is made up of stories that take place in a certain time or place in the past.  Real historical figures and events can be included in the story.  The illustrations throughout this book are line drawings.  They were drawn to look very cartoonish which goes along with the funny stories. 

The book is recommended for ages 4-8.  It is an I Can Read level 3 book so it is written with larger text and fewer, simple words on each page.  I would agree with this age.  The stories are very easy to read and understand.  They are written in a way that children will realize that the sisters are having some very fun adventures.  The book would be a good book to include on a unit study about settlers in the old west.

When including this book in a classroom unit, I would recommend the following activities:

1.  Have children brainstorm a list of resources they could consult to learn what life was like during this time period. Examples include old newspapers, the Internet, etc. Record responses on chart paper. Use these resources to find
images from this period.  Have students pick out on of the pictures and write a fictional story based on the example they find.  Make sure the students understand to keep the historical setting accurate.

2.  Have students write a seventh adventure to go along with this book.  What new adventure would May-May and Rose encounter had their been a seventh chapter to the book.

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:
1.  When and where does the story take place?

2.  How do you know it takes place then?

3.  How do you think the writer knew what life was like during that time period?

4.  How do you think the illustrator knew what life was like during that time period?  Make this answer differ from question #3.

REFERENCES:
Byars, B. (1985). The golly sisters go west. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.

I Can Read books classroom activity guide.  Retrieved from http://www.icanread.com/educators/downloadables/icanreadclassroomguide.pdf

Independent Dames: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution was written by Laurie Halse Anderson and illustrated by Matt Faulkner.  We have all heard about the amazing men who made a difference in our country during the American Revolution, but, what about the women?  What role did the women play during that time?  Who were these remarkable women?  This book tells about women who played an integral part of the lives of the men during the Revolutionary War.

Independent Dames: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution tells the story of real women who were an integral part of the Revolutionary War.  The book begins with a who’s who which gives definitions for words such as parliament, patriots, loyalists, etc.  From that point forward, there is a timeline that runs along the bottom of the pages that begins in 1763 and runs through 1920.  The timeline chronicles the details of our American history and also includes the lives of the women within the pages of this book.  As you can tell from the pictures above, the book is written like a cartoon.  Each page includes a text box with information on the women being discussed then there is a cartoon drawing with word bubbles that put that text box information into simpler terms.  This is a great example of a non-fiction biography and includes a large number of text features that make the book fun to read and engaging.   According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 18, it explains that nonfiction books are informational sources that explain a subject.  It also further explains that biography tells about a real person’s life.  The book concludes with a few additional pages of information on more important women who were part of the war.  It just gives facts about them in regular text writing.

This book is recommended for ages 6 and up.  I think this is a good age to introduce this book to students.  I think it would be an important book to include in a unit study on the Revolutionary War or a unit study on Women Who Made a Difference in our United States.  There are so many things you could do with this book within the classroom.  There are so many different unit ideas that this book would be perfect for.

Some activity ideas I would include when using this book within the classroom would be:

1.  Have students create riddles of the women within the pages of this book.  Have them write their riddles on index cards.  Students will then have the opportunity to share their riddle and see if other students can guess who they wrote their riddle about.

2.  Create a brief introduction about themselves as one of the women discussed. They will give information about a their lives with a focus on their actions during the Revolutionary War. They will also be asked to comment on the feelings they had during this difficult time.

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:
1.  How did the contributions of women during the revolution differ from the men?

2.  What kinds of daily jobs or chores did women have then?

3.  How do women support wars today?

4.  How did women affect the economy during the war?

5.  How did women protest and oppose British taxes and actions?

REFERENCES:
Anderson, L. H. (2008). Independent dames: What you never knew about the women and girls of the american revolution.
     New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.

Teaching American History lesson plan.  Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CEcQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mrpk.k12.ca.us%2FLinkClick.aspx%3Ffileticket%3DxohCLc_wxSs%253D%26tabid%3D1288%26mid%3D5583&ei=fm8hUYDwJZDa8wSNioCYBA&usg=AFQjCNEWbnIHBiVPjg0vaK3EsHJlJKaK5Q&bvm=bv.42553238,d.eWU&cad=rja

The Frog Prince, Continued was written by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Steve Johnson.  This story is the continuation of The Princess and the Frog.  Some people may think they know the true ending to the story, but they didn’t live happily ever after.  The princess is tired of the prince’s froggy ways and the prince is tired of the princess always nagging him.  One day he gets fed up and runs away to find his happy ending.  He meets up with three witches along the way who give him advice, but in the end, does the prince get his happy ending?

The Frog Prince, Continued is another great example of a fractured fairy tale based on the story The Princess and the Pea.  According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 15, it explains that folklore, another name for fairy tale, is composed of stories that have been passed down from generation to generation, by word of mouth.  The story has no known author.  Folklore comes in many different forms, including rhymes, fairy tales, fables, and many more.  Fractured fairy tales are explained in further detail on page 198 of the textbook.  It states that many authors have created their own literary fairy tales which are stories patterned after traditional tales.

This story is recommended for ages 6 and up.  I would agree with this.  The story line is fun but some of the illustrations throughout the book are dark and dreary and they might frighten littler children.  The story is written in a really easy way that makes the story easy to understand. 

When including this book into your classroom, I would suggest you include the following activities:

1.  Have students look at each witch that is included in the story.  Ask students to write a description of a horrible witch of their own.  They should describe how she looks and how she behaves.  Then have children draw a portrait of their witch and display the portraits and descriptions around the classroom.

2.  For a science project, break students into three groups.  Have one group research the frog life cycle.  Have another group find out where frogs live and what they eat.  The last group can find out about different kinds of frogs.  Have groups create an informational poster describing their findings.

3.  Have students perform this story by doing a reader’s theater.  Here is a great script for this project.

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:
1. What do you think the frog prince’s “worse” thoughts are while he was a carriage?

2. How do you think the princess will feel about being a frog?

3.  How can you change the ending of this book to make it become “happily ever after”?

REFERENCES:
Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.

Scieszka. (1991). The frog prince, continued. New York, New York: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated.

The Frog Prince Continued activity guide. Retrieved from http://www.liveoakmedia.com/client/guides/24905.pdf

The Frog Prince website and resources for the classroom.  Retrieved from http://rileycenter.msstate.edu/pdf/frog-prince.pdf

You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer was written by Shana Corey and illustrated by Chesley McLaren.  Would you DARE to bare YOUR underwear?  If you like CLOTHES and people with the courage to SKIRT conventions and adDRESS injustice then Amelia Bloomer and her unFITTING ideas will charm the PANTS off you! (This description is taken directly from the inside cover of the book because I love how it was written).  Amelia Bloomer was a rebellious reformer and early women's rights activist who invented bloomers (baggy pantaloons worn with a short skirt over them) and liberated women from the dangerous and oppressive clothing of the mid-nineteenth century.

You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer has a style all it’s own.  It is a non-fiction biography.  According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 18, it explains that nonfiction books are informational sources that explain a subject.  It also further explains that biography tells about a real person’s life.  This book is a very good example of a non-fiction biography in that it explains a person’s life by giving information. The book has very colorful and whimsical illustrations that flow throughout the entire story.  The font style uses large and small font sizes to make various points throughout the book. 

This book is recommended for students ages 4 and up.  I am not sure that I would include children that young into this recommendation.  While the writing is simple and there are pages with few words on them, the story line may be hard for children that age to understand.  I would recommend students in 2nd grade and up for this book.  I think, with some background information, they would be able to understand the history behind this story and can learn a lot from it.

When presenting this book to your students, I would include the following activities:

1.  If you are in a school where your students wear uniforms, have the students write letters, or create an article for a newspaper (just like Amelia Bloomer did) to spread their opinions about the dress code. It could also be used if the students were not required to wear school uniforms, it could be a hypothetical situation such as "How would you feel if...?"

2.  In the 1800s, women wore clothing that weighed between 20 and 40 pounds. Let your students experience how difficult it was to move carrying all that weight. Place a large book-bag on a bathroom scale. Let students take turns adding books, one at a time, until the scale reads 20 pounds. Give each child an opportunity to lift the bag and walk around the classroom. Repeat by adding more books to weigh 40 pounds and have students life that bag.  Ask them to imagine wearing all that weight every day! Ask: How much do you think pants and a shirt weigh? Take out a child’s shirt and pants (bring them to school in advance), and place them on the scale. Compare the weight of the pants and shirt to the weight of women’s clothing in the 1800s.

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:
1. How and why did Bloomer change women’s dress and how did people react to these
changes?

2.  Are there any styles today that your parents disapprove of? Do you agree?

3.  Would you wear styles that your parents disapprove of? Would you object to other people wearing them?

4.  Does the school have a dress code? What is it?

5.  Do you own any clothes that you can’t wear to school because of the code?

6.  Do you think it is fair for schools to have dress codes?

REFERENCES
Brooklyn Public Library women’s unit.  Retrieved from http://www.bklynpubliclibrary.org/civilwar/lesson_plans/cw_lesson3_1.pdf

Corey, S. (2000). You forgot your skirt, amelia bloomer. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.

You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer blog post. Retrieved from http://6elementssje.blogspot.com/2011/10/you-forgot-your-skirt-amelia-bloomer.html

You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer extended activity.  Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/you-forgot-your-skirt-amelia-bloomer-extension-activity

The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-To-Be was written and illustrated by Mini Grey.  The story is based on the fairy tale The Princess and the Pea.  The story is about a queen who wants her son, the prince, to marry.  The prince goes out in search of a true princess.  After a year of searching, the prince returns home with no bride.  So, she takes matters into her own hands and places a special pea underneath twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds.  She told the prince that any princess who can feel the pea underneath all of those mattresses would be his true princess.  After many months and many princesses, no true princess had be found.  One stormy night, the gardener girl showed up at their door.  Thinking she was a princess, they invited her in to sleep.  The pea then takes matters into his own hands and the next morning, the prince had discovered his true princess.  They were married and lived happily ever after.

The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-To-Be is a great example of a fractured fairy tale and is also a fictional story.  According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 15, it explains that folklore, another name for fairy tale, is composed of stories that have been passed down from generation to generation, by word of mouth.  The story has no known author.  Folklore comes in many different forms, including rhymes, fairy tales, fables, and many more.  Fractured fairy tales are explained in further detail on page 198 of the textbook.  It states that many authors have created their own literary fairy tales which are stories patterned after traditional tales, such as The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-To-Be which is patterned after the fairy tale The Princess and the Pea.

The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-To-Be is recommended for ages 5 and up.  I think this book would be great for that age group.  The story is told in a fun, whimsical way.  The illustrations throughout the book are very expressive.  The color is bright and cheery and will definitely draw students into the story. 

When including this book into a lesson plan, I would suggest the following activities:

1.  Have students take various strips of decorative paper and cut out 20 mattresses and 20 feather beds.  Glue them to a paper to represent the mattresses in the story.  Have them take an actual pea and glue it to the bottom of the stacks of paper.  Have them draw a princess on top of the mattresses and use their imagination on whether she is a true princess or not.  Then, have them turn over and write a brief narrative of why the chose to make the princess a true princess or not and some details from the story to support their decision.

2.  This story is a lot like a job interview.  Have students pretend they are the prince looking for their true princess.  Have students list the characteristics they would look for in their princess and then come up with a test that will help them find the right candidate.

3.  Using information from the Harvest of the Month handouts on peas found here and here, do a unit on peas which could include cooking peas in class, growing and harvesting peas, reasons to eat peas, how much do you need to eat, etc. 

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:
1. How can someone so delicate, who can feel a pea under 40 mattresses, live in the world?

2. What was wrong with all those other princesses?

3. What do you think the moral of the story is?

REFERENCES:
Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.

Grey, M. (2003). The very smart pea and the princess-to-be. Knopf Books for Young Readers.

The Princess and the Pea lesson plan.  Retrieved from http://www.myfreshplans.com/2010-07/princess-and-the-pea/

The Rough Face Girl was written by Rafe Martin and illustrated by David Shannon.  This amazing story is a fractured fairy tale based on the fairy tale Cinderella.  The story is set in the Algonquin Indian Village.  The story is about an invisible being who wants to marry one of the ladies in the tribe.  All the ladies wanted to marry this being because he was rich and powerful and handsome.  In order to be considered, the lady how to prove to the beings sister that he was a real being.  Every lady in the village tried to convince the sister but no one could.  Then one day, the rough face girl came to prove to the sister.  The was all scarred up from working over the fires.  She was able to prove to the sister that the being was real.  She was transformed into a beautiful young woman and married the being.

The Rough Face Girl is a great example of a fractured fairy tale and is a fictional story.  According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 15, it explains that folklore, another name for fairy tale, is composed of stories that have been passed down from generation to generation, by word of mouth.  The story has no known author.  Folklore comes in many different forms, including rhymes, fairy tales, fables, and many more.  Fractured fairy tales are explained in further detail on page 198 of the textbook.  It states that many authors have created their own literary fairy tales which are stories patterned after traditional tales, such as The Rough Face Girl which is patterned after the fairy tale Cinderella.

According to the Saint Leo University Core Values, respect is a vital part of our program.  This book is a great example of showing respect.  The rough face girl respected herself enough to put her trust into the hands of an invisible being to provide for her happiness for life.  Even though she looked all scarred up, she had a great amount of self respect, which is vital to survive in a life where people treat you badly because of how you look.

The book is recommended for children ages 8 and up.  I would agree with this recommendation.  The story is such a beautiful alliteration of the Cinderella story which most, if not all, students will know.  There is such an amazing lesson to be learned in this book, too.  Being able to read a very beautiful story to teach students to be themselves and by being true to themselves, good things will come to them.

When teaching this in the classroom, I would suggest the following activities to be included in your lesson plan:

1.  Students will write their own “Cinderella” story based on what they know about the story of Cinderella and what they have learned about fractured fairy tales.

2.   Create a Venn diagram based on the story of Cinderella and The Rough Face Girl.

3.  Students will research the Algonquin Indians and learn about their culture.  Then students will write a story based on facts they learned about the Algonquin Indians through their research.

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:
1.  How do you think Rough-Face Girl felt when her father couldn't give her the same beautiful things as her older sisters to go courting the Invisible Being?  How would you have felt?

2.  How did Rough-Face Girl show courage?

3.  What does it mean "to see all the way down to your heart"?

4.  Why was Rough-Face Girl able to see the Invisible Being where the other women of the village couldn't?

5.  Is it more important to look on someone's outer beauty or what they are like on the inside?  Why?

REFERENCES:
Cinderella Stories: A Multicultural Unit.  Retrieved from http://www.education.ne.gov/forlg/elementary/cinderella.pdf

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.

Martin, R. (1992). The rough face girl. New York, NY: PaperStar Book.

The Rough Face Girl literary project.  Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=the%20rough%20faced%20girl%20activities&source=web&cd=7&sqi=2&ved=0CGAQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mssunana.com%2Fuploads%2F5%2F8%2F3%2F4%2F5834463%2Flfu_-_rfg.docx&ei=bJUOUcrAEIn2qQH12YGoAw&usg=AFQjCNEKXIFuiRKRTUJhbLwniNidD3MX3w

Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson was compiled by Amy Ehrlich and illustrated by Wendell Minor.  The story is about Rachel Carson.  She was a very curious girl who loved being outside, taking walks with her mother, and naming the insects and birds. Rachel had a lifelong dream of protecting the nature that she loved so much.  After years of research, Rachel wrote a book titled Silent Spring which changed the world.  The book warned about the dangers of poisons that were everywhere.  

Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson is a great example of a non-fiction biography.  According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 18, it explains that nonfiction books are informational sources that explain a subject.  It also further explains that biography tells about a real person’s life.  This book is a very good example of a non-fiction biography in that it explains a person’s life by giving information. The illustrations in this book are absolutely beautiful watercolor paintings of places Rachel visited or loved to visit.  They are very vividly painted and include great detail.

The book is recommended for ages 5 and up.  I think a child at the age of 5 would not really understand this book.  I think it really would be better for children 7-8 and up. 

If you were going to be presenting this book in a classroom setting, I would suggest including these activities to really bring the book to life:

1.  Design a diorama for either an eco park or an eco system and display them in the classroom.

2.  Have the students write a biography but include what they would do to change the world they live in today.  This might include things like inventing or saving something, not a super hero or something of that nature.

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:

1.  If you had access to all the resources how would you deal with the problem of poisons in the world?
2.  How would you feel if you were Rachel Carson but no one listened to you when you wrote a book about poisons on the earth?
3.  What do you think about Rachel Carson and her discovery?

REFERENCES:
Ehrlich, A. (2003). Rachel: The story of rachel carson. New York, NY: Harcourt, Inc.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.

Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson book club guide.  Retrieved from www.lywam.org/education/WendellMinorGuide.pdf

Sailing Home: A Story of a Childhood at Sea is based on the journal kept by Captain Madsen and his daughter Ena.  It is told by Gloria Rand and illustrated by Ted Rand.  The story is about the Madsen family and their life at sea.  The story describes the day to day lives of family as they sail around the world on their father’s ship.  Two of the children were born aboard the ship.  They had animals on the ship, played games on the ship, learned how to use signaling flags and name all the stars and planets, and even had a tutor on board the ship that taught them school six days a week, mornings and afternoons with an hour off for lunch.  The story ends with them riding out a really bad storm that lasted for days during Christmas.  At the end, it looks like the ship will go down and the family with it but the ship rights itself and they end with a big Christmas celebration.

Sailing Home: A Story of a Childhood at Sea is a great example of historical fiction.  According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 17, it explains that historical fiction tells a story set in the past; it portrays events that did or could definitely occur.  It is made up of stories that take place in a certain time or place in the past.  Real historical figures and events can be included in the story, for instance, the Madsen family and the ship.  The illustrations in this book are a great example of ink drawings that are water colored to give them a realistic feel.  The attention to detail is shown in the drawings, even down to the labels on the books.  The facial expressions are very genuinely added to give the people a lifelike characteristic.

This book is recommended for ages 7 and up.  I would agree with that recommendation.  The story line, while exciting throughout, does get a little dramatic toward the end.  A child would definitely be able to handle that type of drama at this age. 

When presenting this book to your classroom, I would suggest adding the following activities:

1.  Using information from the story, explain how the activities the children participated in were similar to those of children living on land?

2.  Have the students do a timeline, sequencing the events in the story.

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:

1.  What do you think would be the most difficult part of living on a ship?
2.  Explain why the Christmas celebration described at the end of the story was so special.
3.  Do you think living on a ship is a good or bad thing?  Explain your answer.
4.  How would you feel if you had to go to school six days a week with no recess?

REFERENCES:

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.

Rand, G. (2001). Sailing home: A story of a childhood at sea. New York, NY: North-South Books Inc.

Old Thunder and Miss Raney was written by Sharon Darrow and illustrated by Kathryn Brown.  This fabulous story, which is set in Oklahoma tells of Miss Raney, who has previously been disappointed in her efforts to win a blue ribbon at the county fair, and her horse, Old Thunder, who is swaybacked and slow, but much beloved. The story, which begins with a tornado that sweeps them into the sky on the way home from the store, continues with Miss Raney using the cyclone-sifted flour to bake up a batch of exceptionally light biscuits. Disappointed that someone else wins the blue ribbon again this year, she feeds the remaining biscuits to Old Thunder, who astonishes her by entering the plow horse race and winning. The judges then give Miss Raney's biscuits a blue ribbon for "best horse feed."

Old Thunder and Miss Raney is a great example of historical fiction.  According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 17, it explains that historical fiction tells a story set in the past; it portrays events that did or could definitely occur.  While the actually story, if written without the illustrations, could be classified as contemporary realistic fiction, when adding the illustrations to the mix, it definitely makes it set in a historical setting.  The illustrations in this story are a great example of ink drawings that are then water colored to give them a whimsical feel.

This book is recommended for ages 4 and up.  I would definitely agree with this recommendation but, for a child to be able to read the book on their own, they would definitely need to be a good reader.  It is written with a 1800’s feel so some of the verbage leans toward words like “giddyup”, “indeedy”, “ain’t a-goin”, etc.  Readers will need to be able to figure out words that are not normal vocabulary. 

If presenting this book to your students in your classroom, I would suggest adding the following activities to bring the book alive:

1.  Have students rewrite the story, telling what recipe they would make and what ingredient would get mixed up in the tornado.  Then have them end it with whether their recipe won the blue ribbon or not and give supporting details on why/why not.

2.  Have students create an advertising poster that advertises Miss Raney’s Sooner High-Energy Horse Biscuits and display them on a bulletin board outside the classroom.

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:

1.  How would you feel if you were Miss Raney and you were convinced your biscuits would win the blue ribbon?
2.  Can you create new and unusual uses for Miss Raney’s biscuits?
3.  What are some of the problems of this story?
4.  Can you explain what must have happened to the flour when it was mixed in the tornado for it to make Old Thunder win the race?

REFERENCES:

Darrow, S. (2000). Old thunder and miss raney. New York, NY: Dorling Kindesley Publishing, Inc.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.