I Can Save the Ocean!

Who am I to disagree with The Horn Book Magazine! But I do. The reverenced publication of children and teen literature reviews disses Alison Inches picture book I Can Save the Ocean! The Little Green Monster Cleans up the Beach (2010 by Little Simon). The July 1, 2010, review says, "The cartoony illustrations of Max are mildly amusing, but the story is bland and the eco-friendly message is ham-fistedly delivered."

I say rubbish! When Max the little green monster realizes that his habits are contributing to the pollution of the oceans, he determines to change his ways and educate his friends, too. The book presents kids with things they can do to contribute to the care of our environment, and encourages personal responsibility for ones actions. I fail to see any "ham-fisted" delivery or bland story line. And I believe the colorful illustrations are kid friendly. I recommend this book for all library collections -- school, home and private.

Read Across America Day

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss.  The fun in your books spilled over into Read Across America Day.  At the library we provided Dr. Seuss book marks for kids to color; a Seuss is Loose story time; and a Dr. Seuss book display.  I wore my Dr. Seuss shirt, saved all year for this day, and my red-and-white stripped stove pipe hat.  Lorton Patch published my Read Across America Day guide for parents, reprinted below.  It was a good day.

A Parent's Guide to Read Across America Day

Grab a book! March 2 is Read Across America Day.

The National Education Association’s Read Across America Day is a reading motivation and awareness program “that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss.”

Adults are encouraged to read aloud to a child on Read Across America Day. For that purpose, here are four books recommended by school librarians as great read-alouds.

Green Eggs and Ham is one of 46 children’s books written by Dr. Seuss. “Do you like green eggs and ham,” asks Sam-I-am? The patter and pacing of the rhyme help children recall the story and anticipate the words. This generates participatory reading. Best of all, when the unnamed character finally tries green eggs and ham, he likes them! The next time a child tells you they don’t like something -- you can remind them of green eggs and ham.

Rattletrap Car by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Jill Barton, is another participatory read. On a hot June day, Jake, Junie, Poppa and the baby head to lake. Getting there is quite an adventure. If the reader prepares ahead of time, the sounds of Poppa turning the key to start the car will repeat at each juncture, and listeners can be encouraged to add the last “pop!”

Poetry is a great read aloud for children, especially when introduced in small doses. Small Talk: A Book of Short Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins provides just that. Thirty-three short, simple poems picture common events in a child’s life. For example, Aileen Fisher provides “Growing Up”:

"When I grow up
(as everyone does)
what will become
of the Me I was?”

Even older children enjoy hearing stories. The unexpected and frightening events in Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg captivate kids. And just when they think they have it figured out, Daniel and Walter Budwing set out with a long, thin box. Yes, the book is better than the movie!

These are just four of hundreds of books your local librarian can recommend for you to read to your children on Read Across America Day or any day.

You'll also find suggestions in a new book by the editors of Horn Book Magazine, a premier guide to literature for children and young adults. A Family of Readers: The Book Lovers Guide to Children’s and Young Adult Literature by Roger Sutton and Martha V. Parravano, provides essays and book recommendations from a variety of authors and editors.

A Family of Readers is divided into four sections: Reading to Them; Reading With Them; Reading on Their Own; and Leaving Them Alone. It covers everything from picture books to teen fiction, poetry to graphic novels, all in an engaging, conversational tone.

According to the NEA, “Motivating children to read is an important factor in student achievement and creating lifelong successful readers.” Read Across America Day is a perfect opportunity to model and motivate reading. For more information and resources, visit NEA’s Read Across America Day and Seussville, the official Dr. Seuss site.

Of Thee I Sing

My first thought when I saw it in the bookstore was, "I wonder if it's any good, or if it's published just because of the author?"  Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters is by President Barack Obama. I'm curious if the idea originated with him.

In this picture book, Obama tells his girls how wonderful they are, and he compares their qualities to people in history who have demonstrated that character.

On the left side of each two page spread, Malia and Sasha stand with their backs to the reader and are joined by other children as the book progresses. The right side of the two page spread features a large picture of a famous person with a short verse about them underneath. The book is interesting for the biographic sketches it provides of 13 "Americans." I like the additional information about these famous people on the book's last page.

Loren Long is the book's illustrator. His picture of Sitting Bull has caused a stir, discussed on the blog American Indians in Children's Literature. In her post, Debbie Reese quotes from an email she received from Horn Book Editor Roger Sutton.

"Loren Long chose to depict Sitting Bull as a sort of landscape, with buffalo for eyes, hills and cracked earth for nose and mouth, and some pine trees placed so they form eyebrows (and, dare I say, boogers). It's the old one-with-nature stereotype, which wouldn't be so bad had all of the other subjects of the book not been depicted realistically."

In a later post, Debbie Reese shares what Sitting Bull's great grandson Eric LaPointe thinks of the book. He said,"I told her [a reporter] my great grandfather was never American. He was Lakota." Of Thee I Sing labels Sitting Bull a Sioux and an American.

LaPointe also said that he does not appreciate his great grandfather being included in a book which honors George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, because of what they did to native peoples. He gives details.

Even the quote attributed to Sitting Bull is problematic. It reads, "For peace, it is not necessary for eagles to be crows."

As Reese points out, "that line did not start with 'For peace'." She gives the full quote from Vine Deloria Jr.'s God Is Red (p. 198). "Deloria writes that this was Sitting Bull's reply to a question about why he did not surrender and return to the U.S. to live on a reservation:

'Because I am a red man. If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans, in my heart he put other and different desires. Each man is god in his sight. It is not necessary for eagles to be crows.'"

While Fox News blasted Obama for including Sitting Bull in the book, they failed to check their facts. The first headline Fox Nation posted about the book read, "'Obama Praises Indian Chief Who Killed Custer." It was soon thereafter changed to "defeated." Sitting Bull, however, was not at the Battle of Little Big Horn.

There's been a lot of discussion around this one picture book. And while including a Native American was positive, it should have been done with respectful accuracy. Because of its inaccuracies, it should be pulled from all library shelves.