New York's Bravest

Title: New York’s Bravest

Author: Mary Pope Osborne

Illustrator: Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

Publisher: Knoph Publishers http://knopf.knopfdoubleday.com/

Publication Date: 2002

Genre: Folk Tale, Picture Book

Audience: Gr. 3 – 5

Overview: New York’s Bravest is a little know American Tall Tale about a New York firefighter from the 1840s named Mose Humphrey. Over the years, legends about Mose’s strength grew out of proportion and this book tells a tale about a heroic firefighter who was eight feet tale and was able to swim the Hudson in two strokes. Mose was afraid of no fire. He led his team of firefights to any and every fire. One day Mose and his team went to put out the fire, and once the fire was out, Mose was gone. Mose never return, but many say he is always there. Mose Humphrey is the spirit of New York City.

Activity: This book could be paired with a lesson about tall tales inspired by real people. For example, Johnny Appleseed. You could have he children create a class tall tale that is collaboratively written.

Reviewer’s Name: Paige Martin

Tsunami!

Title: Tsunami!

Author: Kimiko Kajikawa

Illustrator: Ed Young

Publisher: Philomel Books

http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780399250064,00.html

Publication Date: 2009

Genre: Folktale

Audience: Gr. PreK-2/3

Overview: Ojiisan is the wealthiest man but lives in a very simple house in Japan. One day he chooses not to go to the rice harvest celebration because he senses that something is not right. As he looks down upon the beautifully decorated village and the people dancing, he feels the ground rumble. The people down below continue to celebrate but Ojiisan knows that it was an earthquake and something more is coming. He sees the tsunami coming and sees as the villagers run towards the ocean, unaware of its dangers. Ojiisan has to help, so he lights the fields on fire to get their attention. As the villagers come running to see the fire, they turn back to see that the tsunami is coming. They watch as the village is destroyed below them. Though all his money is gone, Ojiisan has saver 400 lives. The people build a temple in his honor.

Activity: This book would be a good lesson on what a tsunami is for the younger students. It explains the cultures in Japan and the lifestyles and history. It could also be used in explaining what a sacrifice is. Have the children write about how Ojiisan sacrificed for 400 people and why he did that. The illustrations in the book are great for art activities and imagination.

Reviewer's Name: Emily Trees

Goldilocks

Title: Goldilocks

Author: Ruth Sanderson

Illustrator: Ruth Sanderson

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: 2009

Genre: Picture Book, Folktale

Audience: Gr. PreK-2

Overview: This version of Goldilocks adds a happy, enjoyable twist to the classic original Goldilocks tale. Sanderson's version is similar in that it is about a young girl who comes into the home of a Papa Bear, Momma Bear, and Baby Bear when they are gone. During her visit she tries their porridge, their chairs, and their beds. When the three bears arrive home they notice that someone has been trying all their things. After the three bears find Goldilocks, the story ends with her offering her blueberries, and Momma Bear, Papa Bear, and Baby Bear suggesting that they all make blueberry muffins!

Activity: One activity that could correspond with this book is reading it aloud to students, teaching them a little bit about different kinds of stories such as, fairy tales, folktales, and fantasy books. After reading them one picture book for each genre (this book being one), students would be able to create their own fairy tale, folktale, or fantasy story. This lesson would be longer than others and not completed in a day, but over an appropriate amount of time students could create a short story within one of the three genres that includes either words, illustrations, or both.

Reviewer's Name: Amanda Scocco

Mother Fox and Mr. Coyote

Title: Mother Fox and Mr. Coyote

Author: Victor Villasenor

Illustrator: Felipe Ugalde Alcantara

Publisher: Pinata Books

http://www.latinoteca.com/arte-publico-press/pinata-books

Publication Date: 2004

Genre: Folktale

Audience: PreK-Grade 2

Overview: This is a bilingual folktale about a mother fox and her three babies and a hungry coyote who tries to eat her and her three children. The folktale starts off with the the mother teaching her children to hunt for food and the fun adventures they have during the day trying to catch frogs. It became dusk and the foxes were having fun, but before they knew it a coyote appeared and was hungry. The mother fox was smart and tricked the coyote to think that the reflection of the moon in the middle of a pond was cheese and that he should eat the cheese instead of them.

Activity: This book could be used in a unit about folktales from different parts of the world, especially because the folktale was from Mexico. This book is also a great book to use in the classroom because it is a bilingual picture book that will help English Language Learners feel comfortable in the classroom and understand the story. One activity that could be done is after reading this book as a class the teacher could have the students draw pictures and write a story to create this own folktale. Another activity that could be done is having the students rewrite this folktale from the fox's babies point of view and what they would do if the coyote approached them and caught them off-guard.

Reviewer's Name: Jennifer Senkevich

The Son of the Sun and the Daughter of the Moon

Title: The Son of the Sun and the Daughter of the Moon

Author: Holly Young Huth

Illustrated By: Anna Vojtech

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Publication Date: 2000

Genre: Folktale

Audience: PreK-2

Overview: The son of the sun wants to marry the daughter of the moon. But the moon does not want her daughter to marry him. The sun gets very angry so the moon hides her daughter and she grows up and falls in love with someone else. The sun finds out about the relationship and goes after the daughter. The story sadly ends...

Activity: This would be a good book to read when talking about old folktales. The characters are simply symbolic and mythical and may help children to use imagination and think of the moon and sun as people. The story could be used for a simple class discussion of old stories/cultural and what kinds of stories and how they were made up a long time ago.

Reviewer's Name: Emily Trees

Anansi the Spider

Title: Anansi the Spider

Author: Gerald McDermott

Illustrator: Gerald McDermott

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company (http://us.macmillan.com/holtyoungreaders.aspx)

Publication Date: 1972

Genre: Folktale

Audience: Grades PreK-2

Awards: Caldecott Medal of Honor

Overview: This story relates a tale from the African tribe Ashanti about a spider with six sons. Each son is named after a special talent that he possesses. One day Ashanti gets into trouble on a journey. Each of his sons uses their talent to help rescue him. Ashanti wants to reward the son who saved him with a big light that he finds. Unable to decide which son is the most worthy, he gives it to the god Nyame to keep safe for him. Nyame places the light in the night sky. This story explains the origin of the moon. It's a great multicultural story, which was adapted using "authentic Ashanti language rhythms".

Activity: After reading this story to the class, in pairs, have students write their own "folktale" to explain the existence of something. Have the pairs illustrate their stories attempting to mimic the tribal art from this book. Students can share their work with the rest of the class.

Allison Parsons

The Billy Goats Gruff

Title: The Billy Goats Gruff
Retold By: Jane Bingham
Illustrator: Daniel Postgate
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd. http://www.usborne.com/
Publication Date: 2004
Genre: Fables
Audience: Gr. Pre-K - 2nd
Overview: The Billy Goats Gruff is a popular fable that has been told for years. It tells the story of three billy goats who are all brothers who run out of food at home and set out on a search for more food in a faraway land. However, the three billy goats are wary of traveling to that particular land because of a cruel troll that lurks under the bridge. Throughout their journey, they are warned by other animals not to cross the bridge because the troll will eat the, but the billy goats continue on for what they set out for. Once they arrive at the bridge, the first two billy goats come up with an effective tactic to distract the troll until the third one arrives. He quickly outsmarts the evil troll and the three brothers are free to collect food from the land and make it safe for all other animals to join them there.
Activity: This would be a great story to have students role play and practice problem-solving skills. It could also be used to talk about bullying.
Reviewer's Name: Moira Schafle

Wolf! Wolf!

Title: Wolf! Wolf!
Author/Illustrator: John Rocco
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
http://www.hyperionbooks.com/
http://www.roccoart.com/wolfwolf_making.html
Publication Date: 2007
Genre: Folktale
Audience: Prek-3rd
Overview: This story re-tells Aesop' classic fable of the boy who cried wolf. The setting seems to take place in ancient China. An old hungry wolf is tired of eating vegetables from his weedy garden. A boy from the village calls "Wolf! Wolf!", tricking the elders in the village into thinking a wolf had come and eaten one of the goats. The boy continues to shout "Wolf!", tricking the wolf and the elders to climbing up the hill. The wolf finally decides to trick the calling boy when the villagers do not respond. In order for the boy to convince the villagers a wolf had come and eaten a goat, the boy gives one goat to the wolf. Before the wolf eats the goat, he realizes the goat has eaten all of the weeds in his garden and vegetables have grown everywhere. The wolf decides to keep the goat as a friend and helpful gardener.
Activity: Because this story is a re-telling of a classic fable, where a lesson is taught, I would use this story to inspire the students to create their own re-telling of a folktale or fable, making it creative, humorous, dark, etc. They could even include their own illustrations. The illustrations in this story are very detailed and vibrant. I could cover up the words with sticky notes, and ask the students to create their own story to the pictures, or predict what is happening based on the illustrations.
Reviewer's Name: Rachel Bartee

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