In the Small, Small Pond

Denise Fleming does an amazing job showing what the animals that live in and near the pond do. I think that this book is just amazing. The verbs used with each different animal are very vivid. One of my favorite parts of the book is that there is a frog that is printed on each page, in a different spot. So you could use this book for little kids to find where the frog is at on each page. This book has won a Caldecott Honor, so of course the pictures are just wonderful. The pictures are full-page pictures, with the words floating around in random places on the page. I can’t even describe the pictures; the colors are so bright and rich that the illustrations jump off of the page. My favorite pages of the book are the raccoon pages. The raccoon is sitting on the edge of the water with his paws in the water, adorable!

Childhood memories

Growing up I loved hearing stories. Made up stories, stories about my family, stories out of a book, any kind of stories, I loved them all. I can remember sitting in my bed with my father on one side and my mother on the other, and they would read story after story to me. Sometimes we had a family story night and we would all sit on or around the couch. It would be my older brother, my older sister, my little brother, my mom, my dad, and I, and we would spend the entire evening telling stories or reading stories. My little brother was the best story teller. He would tell us stories about how last night he chased a coyote all the way down to the river and then our dog, Buck, came and killed the coyote. Then he tried to carry the coyote back up to the house but it melted and disappeared. Unrealistic stories, but hilarious to hear.
I keep reflecting back to growing up and the importance that stories and literature had in my life. Regardless if a kid is hearing a story, help reading a story, or making up a story, they are having valuable interactions with literature which is very important.
One day when I start my own family I hope I can have a story night like we did.
Also, when I have my classroom one day, I hope to give my students opportunities to make memories like I have.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

I really like this book for many reasons. I think that it shows a myriad of different points. Obviously, the main one would be, be careful what you wish for.
I think it shows parents’ love for their children. This is portrayed while Sylvester’s parents stay up all night wondering what had happened, and how they went about asking all the neighbors, all the children, and even the police.
I think it shows community support when they dogs of Oatsdale go about searching for him behind every rock, tree, and blade of grass.
It also talks about the seasons. The days grew colder and the leaves changed color during the fall. The winds blew and it snowed during the winter. The Earth warmed up, the snow melted, the sun came out and the flowers grew during the spring.
My favorite part would have to be the last page. “Mr. Duncan put the magic pebble in an iron safe. Some day they might want to use it, but really, for now, what more could they wish for? They all had all that they wanted.” This shows that all you really need to be happy is your family and love.
I will definitely use this book in my classroom one day.

Wild Hogs

Once upon a time, in far off woods, there lived a family of wild hogs. There were a set of twins in this family; they were the babies of the bunch. One of them, Kris, was the big, black, bulky one that was so strong he could nock over full-grown trees with his head. The other twin, Trey, was the scrawny one that had less strength than a bird. Now Trey was skinny, so skinny that he could fit into anything he found in the woods, through fences, through vines, and into the tiniest holes. One night, on a cold, gloomy night, the twins were running around the forest. Kris, with his “I’m the best at everything” attitude, tried to show off when they came across a group of gilts, female hogs. The leader of the gilts batted her eyes because she loved attention. Kris, with his macho attitude, took off and tried to plow over a full-grown tree with his head. To his surprise, when he hit the tree he didn’t stop, he kept running and running and running until he hit a fence. He was so big that he stuck between the wires of the fence. While Kris was trying to wiggle his broad shoulders free, Trey was spending his time showing the leader of the gilts his secret hiding place that only him and her could fit in. Trey and the leader of the gilts spent the rest of their days rummaging through the forest finding their own little hiding spots, while Kris spent the rest of his days stuck in a fence.
Just goes to show how the little guys can come out on top and it’s not always the best thing to be big and macho.

Ever After

I really enjoyed the movie Ever After that we watched in class. I think I really liked it because I love the Cinderella story, and this was a Cinderella story with out the magic that makes the happy ending.
Danielle was a strong woman through out the entire movie. She stood up for herself against her stepmother and her horrid stepsister. With the help of the other servants, she could deceive her stepfamily and spend an entire day at a time with the prince, yet the stepfamily wasn’t smart enough to figure it out. The Queen had to tell them. I thought this was funny; the step-mom was very strict on Danielle, yet she had no clue that she would disappear all day with the Prince. How do you not know where one of your servants is?
I really liked this movie because for once the male in the movie was almost useless. He didn’t save Danielle one time. He ran from his home like a little child. In a lot of movies, the guy is the one that saves the girl over and over again; yet in this movie, Danielle was the rescuer for herself and sometimes for him as well.
My favorite lines out of the movie were: “I’m just here for the food!” (I thought it was really funny!) Also, at the end when Danielle says that she wants shown to her stepmother the same gratitude she had shown her. The look on the stepmothers face was priceless.
The stepmother and the horrible blonde-haired sister were the two characters that I disliked. They were so cruel and so stupid at times, they looked like complete idiots when they ran in at the end of the movie all dressed up, thinking the Prince was going to ask for her hand in marriage. The ending was really great!

Reading

I spend a lot of time thinking about different things. One thing I think about often is literature in children’s lives. Is it important to make sure that children are exposed to books at an early age? I think it is. I believe that children need to be exposed to books, any kind of books, early in life. Reading is something that you have to learn, not something that will just magically happen; therefore, before children can actually read the words on a page of a book, a child needs to act like a reader. Holding the book right and turning the pages are the very first stages of being a reader. I can remember as a little girl, my parents used to read to me every night. I couldn’t tell you the names of the books, but I can remember sitting in my bed with my brothers and sister and my parents and listening to story after story. My mom always tells me, “I remember when you were a little girl, you used to pick up the books and turn the pages, like you were actually reading. All you wanted to do was learn how to read.” Now I love to read, except text books. But otherwise, I love to read!
As a teacher, one day I hope to instill a love of reading into my students, the kind of love that I had and still have for reading.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

I love all the Walt Disney stories. I have more of those movies than anything else! As one of my picture books, I read Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Happy, Dopey, Grumpy, Sneezy, Bashful, Doc, and Sleepy, just hearing the names make me smile! In this book, I really like the illustrations, they make the story come to life. My favorite part is when they are giving Grumpy a bath, his face is hilarious.

Everyone knows about the story line, so I won't bore you with a summary!

I'm going to school to be a teacher so I always think of things to use in my classroom. I think I will use this book for a Picture Walk. I will cover the words of the story and let the children tell the story by the illustrations.
I can also cover the illustrations and let the children write the story in their own words.

Cinderella

I love Cinderella, it is by far my favorite story! I watch the Walt Disney Cinderella like monthly! As childish as that sounds, I really love the move and story. Out of all the Cinderella stories we read, my favorite was Cinderella and the Glass Slipper by George Cruikshank.

I found it very humorous how the step mother was a gambler and that she brought the family into poverty. I don’t know why, I just found it hilarious. But I think the main reason I liked this story so much was that it had so many parts that the Disney Cinderella has. In the Disney Cinderella the Fairy Godmother just appears magically while Cinderella is crying, in this story Cinderella is crying and the Godmother just so happens to come over.

Another comparison was how the Godmother turned the pumpkin into a carriage, mushrooms into wheels, six white mice into horses, green lizards into servants and rats into a driver. In the movie she turns a pumpkin and mice and a dog into the carriage and the team.

Bibbity-bobbity-boo. My favorite part of the movie! I even have that song on my cell phone as a ringer, but shhh, that’s a secret! In this story the song is, “Now, pumpkin, mushrooms, rat, and mice, and lizards, all change! To a coach-and six, with servants strong and tall, to make my darling daughter to the Royal Ball.”

Then the dress, of course there is the dress. “She found all her dingy, rough-working dress changed, in an instant, into one of the most beautiful dresses that can be imagined; her stomacher studded with diamonds, and her neck and arms encircled with the most costly jewels.” In the movie Cinderella has the prettiest dress on; it’s white and silver, fit for a princess.

In both the story and the movie, Cinderella must leave the palace before the clock strikes twelve, or the charm will be broken. And the glass slipper is also the same in each story.

I really enjoyed reading Cinderella and the Glass Slipper because it reminded me of my favorite movie!

Hank the Cowdog by John R. Erickson

Summary: One night on the farm, there was a murder. A white chicken was killed by the chicken house. Hank the Cowdog, the head of security, and his helper Drover tried to solve the case. Hank got sprayed by a porcupine. So the next night they had a stake out, and another chicken was killed. Hank was found the next morning with feathers all around him because he had eaten the chicken that was murdered. Loper and Sally May found him and tied the chicken head around his neck and hollered at him. Hank got upset so he ran away to be wild. He joined the coyote clan and lived with them. Then the coyotes decided to have a raid on the farm and kill Drover and all the chickens. As soon as they got to the farm, Hank joined Drover and they started fighting against the coyotes. Loper came out and shot his shotgun in the air twice and all of the coyotes ran off. Loper and Sally May were so excited that Hank came back the farm and Hank and Drover went back to running the security department at the ranch.

I loved this book as a little kid. I read every single one in the series over and over and over again! As a kid, I loved this book because everything took place on a farm or in the wild. I love the country and on our farm we had so many cowdogs, I felt that I related to this book. Because the book is narrated by Hank, it’s like you are there in the story the entire time. I laughed and laughed when I was rereading this book. Now that I have reread this book, I saw so many things that I didn’t pick up on as a little kid. One of my new favorite part of the book starts on page 96. Hank and two coyotes, Rip and Snort, were going carousing and they went to the silage pit. Silage is fermented and they were eating it all day, and they got drunk! It talks about how they were running down a cow path and it “kept wiggling around” and Hank had “a devil of a time trying to stay on it.” I thought it was pretty funny! I loved this book when I was in elementary school, and now that I’m in college I still love it just as much!

The Big City Apartment and the Big Farm

One upon a time, there were two cats. The first one, Princess Sofia, lived in a big city apartment where she spent the day laying in her soft cat bed and watching television. The other cat, Sandra, lived on a big farm where she spent the day chasing off mice from the barns and shops on the farm.

One day at the exact same time, Princess Sofia in the big city apartment and Sandra on the big farm said, “I don’t like my life, how I long to be somewhere else.”

Princess Sofia continued, “I am so bored sitting in the house all by lonesome, I wish I could live somewhere where I could spend the day running around.”

Sandra said, “I am so tired of working all the time. I am exhausted from running around all day, I wish I lived somewhere where I could lay around all day and do nothing.”

At that exact moment the ground start shaking, the cats screamed, and all of a sudden everything went black.

Once the cats woke up they realized their lives were changed forever. Princess Sofia woke up and found herself sleeping in a pile of hay. Sandra woke up and found herself in the softest bed she has every felt before. Because of their wishes, they switched places in life!

Princess Sofia saw a mouse shoot across the barn floor and with out hesitating she chased after the mouse until it was out of the barn, into the pasture, on the other side of the forest.
“Wow! What fun! I never want to go back to the city, ever!” exclaimed Princess Sofia as she chased another mouse, and another, and another. She spent the entire day chasing mice.

Sandra was busy changing the television channels from the Disney channel, to the Food Network channel, to TBS. She said, “Oh what the life! I could lay around and do nothing all day long. I never want to go back to the farm!” Sandra spent the rest of the day watching television and taking naps.

Now this went on for months. Princess Sofia chased mice all day long, all week long. Sandra spent her days laying in her soft bed and watching television. They both thought they were living the life.

After a while, Sandra said, “I am so bored. Everything on television is re-runs and I haven’t ran in six months.” She started to find her self missing her farm and working, she was really sad.
Meanwhile, on the farm, Princess Sofia started to cry. “I am so tired. All I do all day long is run and chase mice. I just want to sit in my soft bed and do nothing all day long.”

One day at the exact same time, Sandra in the big city apartment and Princess Sofia on the big farm said, “I am miserable! I should have never wished to change my life. What I would do to be back at home!”

At that exact moment the ground started shaking, the cats screamed, and all of a sudden everything went black.

When they woke up, Princess Sofia was in her soft bed in the big city apartment and Sandra was in her pile of hay in the barn on the big farm.

They lived happily ever after and never wished to live any where else again!

The Jolly Barnyard Activity

Since I am going to be a teacher one day, I try to think of activities I can use in my classroom. One idea I have thought of goes along with The Jolly Barnyard by Annie North Bedford. It would be for kindergarten level and I would read the book to the students and give a lesson on the different farm animals, their names, and the sound they each make. Then I would have a hands on activity they could do that involves classification of animals and using fine motor skills. The children will have a sheet that has pictures of different farm animals attached by Velcro. The students will also have a chart broken up into different categories labeled by the names and the sound the animal makes with spots of Velcro to reattach the pictures. The students’ job would be to move all the pictures of the cows onto the cow/moo row, all the pictures of the sheep onto the sheep/baa row, and so forth. I think The Jolly Barnyard would be a great story to use with this activity because it goes through the names of each animal and the sound that they make. Using the book to introduce the lesson and help aid the students will result in great success of the activity.