A Fine St. Patrick's Day

Title: A Fine St. Patrick’s Day

Author: Susan Wojciechowski

Illustrator: Tom Curry

Publisher: Random House

http://www.randomhouse.com/

Publication Date: 2004

Genre: Fairy Tale

Audience: Gr. PreK-2

Overview: The towns of Tralee and Tralah have a competition every year on St. Patrick’s Day to see which town can better decorate for the holiday. Tralee has never won, but this year they have a master plan thanks to six-year old Fiona. Her idea is to paint the entire town green (except for the mailboxes and fire hydrants). The people of Tralah decide to cut out shamrocks and hang them from every branch of every tree. While both towns are busy preparing, an odd man rides into Tralah trying to find help for his cows, who are stuck in the mud. No one in Tralah will help him because they are too busy trying to win the competition, so he rides to Tralee to seek help there. The town desperately wants to beat Tralah, but they decide helping the cows is more important. They give the strange man help, but do not have enough time to paint the town. The people of Tralee give up and decide to wait until next year. The next morning, the people awake to find that Tralee has turned completely green! They win the competition, but no one can find the strange man. Instead of trying to beat Tralah again next year, Tralee decides to celebrate and appreciate their special win on St. Patrick’s Day annually.

Activity: This book could be used to introduce St. Patrick’s Day themes if conducting a lesson or unit around the holiday. The students could also be asked to think of their own way to celebrate the holiday, and think up their own ways they would have decorated their town.

Reviewers name: Zack Zajaczkowski

May I Bring a Friend?

Title: May I Bring A Friend?
Author: Beatrice Schenk De Regniers
Illustrator: Beni Montresor
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 1964
Genre: Fairy Tale
Audience: Gr. PreK- 2nd
Awards: 1965 Caldecott Award
Overview: May I Bring A Friend is a short fairy-tale type story about a young child who receives an invitation from the King and Queen to attend a tea party at their house one day. The child asks to bring a friend to the tea party and the King and Queen allow it. The friend happens to be a giraffe. The King and Queen continue to invite this child to their castle for lunches and dinners, and more special animal guests are brought along, all the while the King and Queen are encouraging their guest to bring more and more friends.
Activity: I think this book would be perfect to teach young children about the importance of being welcoming to others. If you have something to share than you should be generous. It can teach that one can never have too many friends. If there happens to be a problem within the class with students not allowing others to play in their group, this story could be used to confront that situation.
Reviewer's Name: Moira Schafle

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale

Title: Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale

Author: Retold By: Carmen Agra Deedy

Illustrator: Michael Austin

Publisher: Peachtree Publishers

http://peachtree-online.com/index.php/book/martina-the-beautiful-cockroach.html

Publication Date: 2007

Genre: Folktale/Fairy Tale/Picture Book

Audience: Gr. 3-5

Awards: 2008 Pura Belpre Medal (honor book)/ ALA/ALSC/REFORMA, National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos

2008 Amelia Bloomer Project Nominee/ ALA Booklist, Feminist Task Force

2008 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People/ National Council for the Social Studies and the Children's Book Council

Overview: This book, Martina the Beautiful Cockroach, is the Cuban version of the "Martina Folktale." Martina, a 21 day old cockroach, has reached the time in her life where she is ready to get married. Every woman in the family offers Martina something to make her more attractive to the suitors she is going to be choosing from. However, Martina's Abuela offers her advice that will help her choose the right husband. She tells Martina to spill coffee on the suitor's shoes because their reaction, how they lose their temper, and how they speak to her will show her their true colors. Surprisingly to Martina, the coffee tests works and she is able to find her one true love.

Activity: I think there are many great activities that can be done with this book. First, this book could be used as an introduction to a lesson or unit on Folktales. This book could also be used as a cultural lesson where the students are able to learn about different cultures and the stories that come from these different cultures. Next, this book could be used for learning Spanish vocabulary words, since many are used throughout. I really enjoyed this book because it can be used in a wide range of lessons and units, and there are countless activities that can be created around it.

Reviewer's Name: Amanda Scocco

Yeh-Shen

Title: Yeh-Shen

Author: Ai Ling-Louie

Illustrator: Ed Young

Publisher: Philomel http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/publishers/yr/philomel.html

Publication Date: November 5, 1982

Genre: Fairy Tale, Multicultural, Picture Book

Audience: Gr. PreK-4

Awards: A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award Winner; An ALA Notable Children's Book; A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year; An IRA Children's Choice. An IRA Teachers' Choice.

Overview: The story is Yeh-Shen is the Chinese equivalent of Cinderella. It tells the story of a beautiful girl that befriends a fish with golden eyes. When her horrible stepmother discovers the fish, she kills it leaving Yeh-Shen very upset. But a mysterious man tells Yeh-Shen to keep the bones of the fish because they are magical and will grant her deepest desires only when she was in serious need. The time of serious need finally comes when the spring festival arrives where she hopes to meet a man that will take her away from her stepmother’s house.

Activity: An activity to do would be to compare & contrast this story to Cinderella. Depending on the age group, it could either be a discussion or a writing prompt. Another question to discuss or write about could be “What would you ask the fish bones for”.

Reviewer’s Name: Alexi Lemper

The Twelve Princesses

Title: The Twelve Princesses

Author: Gordon Fitchett

Publisher: Phyllis Fogelman Books

http:/www.penguinputnam.com

Publication Date: 2000

Genre: Fairy Tale

Audience: Grades 3- Grade 5

Overview: The king and queen have a problem with their Twelve Princesses. They all go to bed in a locked room and when they wake up in the morning all their shoes are worn out, with holes in them and broken heels and no one knows how it happened. The king made it known that if anyone could discover what happened that made the princesses shoes worn out, he could marry whichever princess he liked best and would become king. But if he did not succeed after three days and three nights he would be put to death. Read to find out if the king and queen ever figured out where the princesses went at night.

Activity: One of the activities that the teacher can do is to pause the story while reading and have the students either write or draw their prediction of why the princesses shoes are all worn out when they wake up in the morning from their locked room.

Reviewer's Name: Jennifer Senkevich