Pride and Self Esteem

Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon

David Catrow

Molly Lou Melon may be a little different then everyone else with her buck-teeth but she never lets it get to her because her grandmother believes her in and teaches May Lou Melon to also believe in herself!  However, Molly Lou must move away from the life she is used to and most importantly move away from the grandmother who is her supporter   She will be faced with a bully who will try and break her but it is up to Molly to remember what her grandmother has taught her!

Molly Lou is proud as ever of her buck teeth.

The best part about this book was the authors writing.  I really liked the transition from beginning to end in the book.  I love how he dealt with the young girl gaining confidence in herself, I loved how she handled the bully, and I loved how the bully handled the situations as well.  Ever turn of the page has a learning opportunity through the words and that is not always an easy feat when reading a childrens' picture book.  I thought the illustrations were a little strange but I am sure children would love them!

This book would be a great book to read to students because it deals with self confidence, it deals with bully issues, and jsut had a lot of life lessons placed in this book.  However, something I really saw in this book was a learning experience for teachers, parents, and just adults in general.  It is up to "us" to empower the younger people around us because if we help them find that confidence with us they will have that confidence through the thick and the thin.  

Online reading of Molly Lou Melon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcLmweup7Wo

Spaghetti In A Hot Dog Bun:

Having The Courage To Be Who You Are

Maria Dismondy

A bully putting a crayon in her hair

There is a young girl that is just a little bit different but she doesn't care!  She is happy with who she is and doesn't care if people think it is weird that she puts spaghetti in a hot dog bun and ketchup on toast.  However, some of the other students do care and they decide to make fun of her and she doesn't understand why!  She will have to decide if it is more important to teach them a lesson using their own medicine or stay true to herself and show them what a caring heart can do!

A mean prank being played on her

I loved this book so much! The author did an amazing job writing a story that had so many messages that are worth sharing with students! Its all about being proud of who you are. Empowerment, is something that so many younger children need because it seems these days everyone is trying to be just like everyone else. Children should embrace their differences. I plan on buying this book and using it in my class and the best part is that the author has an amazing read aloud activity sheet to use after reading this book!  

Here is the link for that information:

http://www.mariadismondy.com/uploads/docs/Spaghetti-Readers-Guide.pdf

Here is a link for the read aloud on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cXWrUJlOK8

Everyone go read this book now!

Dear America

Color Me Dark

The Diary of Nellie Lee Love,

The Great Migration North

Chicago, Illinois, 1917

When I was younger I read a lot of Dear America books.  They were my favorites and I read them all the time.  I choose to read this one because it was one I have never read before and it is about a young African American women so I wanted to have some diversity options in my annotated bibliography.  

This book is all about a young African American women in America during the 1919's in Chicago, Illinois.  It is a diary book so the perspectives of what is happening is being portrayed to the readers as if we were reading her diary.  This book was made to empower women through a young womens' eyes as we read her feelings, her thoughts, and her struggles.  These books are great for young girls and even boys to read because it is an easy way to get students interested in history.  This would be classified in the genre of historical fiction and it is very important to tell students that not everything is 100% accurate or true but is based off of real events.

This was not my favorite Dear America book because I feel it could have been written a lot better but nonetheless I suggest  having these books in your classes because they are amazing reads!

List of all books in series.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_America

I also encourage anyone who is not aware of the history of Chicago in 1919 to research and learn something new!

My Name is Yoon

By Helen Recovits

America is the land of immigrants and this needs to be celebrated and remembered.

This week I read a wonderful story about a young girl from the country of Korea moves to America and absolutely hates it.  She is feeling very lonely and missing her home.  She does not like the traditions in America and is having a very hard time adjusting to America.  Her father tells her that she has to learn to write her name in English.  However, she hates it because she feels it is just lines and circles not beautiful characters like her name in Korean.  She must go to school and struggles with writing her name so instead she chooses to write her name as cat and cupcake and everyday the teacher jsut accepts her and waits patiently until she is ready to write her name.  One day Yoon decides to actually write her name and the teacher is ecstatic!

I thought this book was a great read and I think it would be a great book to read to children that are struggling with moving to a new country, new state, new city, or even a new school.  It is a very hard change to make for many students and even adults.  The reason I like this book is because the teacher was patient with Yoon and waited for her to relax and settle into her new surroundings.  I feel a lot of teachers do not do this for children and force them to try and change before they are ready.  This would also be a great book to introduce to children some cultures around the world and their language, Korean!  Super great book and I would read this book to my students on the first day of school or if I was working in a school where a lot of immigrants were living.