The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

The Lorax is like other Dr. Seuss books in that he uses nonsensical words that cause children to figure out the meaning based on context. Unlike other Dr. Seuss books, this one has a moral tale to go along with the humor, which makes this book didactic. The pictures of time when the Truffala trees were still growing are colorful and bright. The beginning and end of the book showing the same area after the trees are gone have dark and depressing colors. Children sit in horror as the Once-ler comes to town and begin hacking the trees. The message is very clear, but I don't think it is a bad thing. All of the books from my unit on the Environment and Conservation taught the same message. Another that is older that I did not include because of its age is Wump World by Bill Peet. The message wasn't about saving the trees, but was more about civilization coming in to an area, ruining it, and then having to move on to a new place to ruin. I think The Lorax is here to stay also and will probably remain one of his more popular books.

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

I think that this is a timeless book that children will continue to enjoy in future generations. Children enjoy reading books where the character is doing something wrong and have the suspense of possibly getting caught. The fact that the fish is telling them that this is not a good idea reminds me of Jiminy Cricket being Pinocchio's conscience. The Cat in the Hat is entertaining with all of the things he can juggle, but the reader is just waiting for them all to fall down. You know it is going to happen. It's just a matter of time. This book is much more appealing for beginning readers than many of the other controlled vocabulary books on the market today. I was trying to think of books where one character tries to make good choices and the other just does what is fun and couldn't think of one off the top of my head. A couple of books by Don and Audrey Wood that provide suspense are The Napping House and The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear. The latter questions the reader as does The Cat in the Hat at the end.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

This book was written and illustrated by Selznick and won the Caledecott medal in 2008, which he so richly deserved. The size of this book may intimidate young readers, but with 284 pictures the large size is more manageable. In this book the pictures actually move the story along as much as the pages with text do, which make this a unique book. There is a lot of action that can be shown through the illustrations, vindicating the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words". Hugo Cabret, a young orphan, is trying to continue his uncle's job as the timekeeper at the train station so he can complete his automaton. He is positive this automaton will give him a message from his dad, although not from his dad, the completion of the picture does change his life forever.

There are many reasons that someone should read this book. The three biggest are the pictures, the story line, and the message. The idea that this boy who has no family and no money still feels that his life has a purpose is inspiring. George Melies, who Hugo becomes involved with after being caught stealing toys to fix his automaton, was an actual person, which invites further study.

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

The book and movie both concern a little boy who is having serious doubts about the existence of Santa Claus. He is not sure if he believes any more or not. This book was the Caldecott winner in 1986, but the movie, although good, was not as good as the book. Chris Van Allsburg creates illustrations that I think I could recognize without seeing his name. Any child would love to entertain the idea of taking a on a train ride to the North Pole to see Santa off on his sleigh. He receives a bell on his trip, but loses it before he gets home. Santa finds it and leaves the bell on his tree. His parents are disappointed because they think the bell is broken, but only those who believe in Santa can hear the ringing. This boy continues to hear the bell through adulthood showing he still believes in the spirit of Santa. The movie is entertaining, but like all feature length films made from a picture book, a lot must be added. Although, the book and the movie are different I believe the essence of the book is still captured during the movie. I thought that the train ride that swerves and swoops was included just for the effect seen in 3-D, which was great. As an adult seeing all of the roles that Tom Hanks played in the movie was interesting. This is one where both and the book and the movie are going to be classics.

The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida

I had never read anything by this author before, actually I had never even heard of this author, but think this would be a great addition to our school library. I don't think we have any books covering the Japanese being sent to internment camps during WWII. I don't remember how old I was when I found out, but I remember being shocked that our country did that to people who had not given the government any reason to distrust them. This particular book is about Emi and her family, minus the dad, who had already been sent away, leaving their house to move into a prison camp because they were Japanese. I think the book captures the feeling well of someone being forced to leave their house and belongings behind and the inhumanity of making them move into a horse stall. Emi's friend Laurie gives her a gold bracelet to remember her by before they leave, but Emi loses it somewhere during the move and is unable to find it. Her mom shares with her that even though the bracelet and their house is gone the memories stay in their hearts. I thought Uchida did a great job at weaving the human side of this story in with the factual side. I recently read another adult book on this subject titled On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, which was also a good read. There aren't too many titles out there on this subject, especially not children's books. Other books by this author include The Best Bad Thing, A Jar of Dreams, and Journey Home, which all seem to take place in California during the Depression.

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Weatherford

The illustrator is Kadir Nelson, who also did Henry's Freedom Box. This book was the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winner in 2007 and was also a Caldecott Honor book that same year. Once again Nelson does not disappoint with the illustrations. I would hang these on my walls! Several of the pictures show night scenes and Nelson uses such a slight variance of color to depict the scenes so the readers gets a good idea of how dark it was in the swamps and forests. The author uses a variety of different fonts to show what is going on in the story. The narrated text is written normally, but Harriet's thought are written in italics, and when God is talking the text is larger, all caps, and a different color than the rest. The story takes the reader on Harriet's journey as she first escapes to freedom. Her fears and triumphs are shared as well as her first attempts to help other escape too. There is a foreword at the front of the book sharing some facts about slaves in early American and the Author's Note at the end share much more information about Harriet Tubman personally. I think this is a must have for any library!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

This is one of the few titles where I love the book and the movies. I am going to choose to talk about the original movie with Gene Wilder in comparison with the book not the remake with Johnny Depp. There were a couple of things in the newer movie that I liked better than the old one. Technology and the special effects have come a long way since the first movie, so some of the scenes definitely looked good enough to eat and were more realistic looking. I'm not sure why the first movie is my favorite of the two. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the book, was written by Roald Dahl and is well-liked by everyone I've known who has read it.

Charlie's family is so poor that there is never enough food in the house, and he receives one 10cent candy bar for his birthday, which also shows how old the books is. He has to walk by Wonka's Chocolate Factory everyday and smell the wonderful chocolate without ever being able to taste any. When Wonka announces the contest with the Golden Tickets he is realistic enough to realize that he will probably not find one, but on his birthday is excited at the prospect, none the less. He doesn't find one then nor when Grandpa Joe gives another ten cents to him in secret, but when he finds a dollar in the snow, he hits the jackpot when he isn't really trying. He's just so hungry that he wants to eat!
He and Grandpa Joe get to be with the lucky few to enter the factory along with Violet Beauregarde, Veruca Salt, Mike Tevee, and Augustus Gloop. When on the discussion board we were talking about characters with socially redeeming qualitites, this book comes to mind, although it is not multicultural. Each of the characters, besides Charlie, has glaring character flaws that Dahl maximizes, and each meets his or her demise at least in terms of continuing the tour, as the book progresses. At the end only Charlie remains and finds out he is going to inherit the factory, which Dahl has also set up the fact that he is the only one deserving of this.

This book definitely uses humor throughout and has laugh out loud funny parts! The director did a great job casting Gene Wilder because he can act a little crazy, and Dahl made his character out to be that way, too. This movie followed the book fairly closely with only a few changes.
In the movie there is a man who wants to entice Charlie into being a spy for a competing candy company. In the book Wonka has had trouble with spies, but none approach Charlie. The Oompa Loompas in the book wear leaves and the children wear nothing. The movie has them in clothes and orange. There is a fizzy lifting drink in the book, but Charlie and Grandpa Joe don't break the rules and drink it as they do in the movie.

The book is very worth reading, and the movie is worth watching, also!