Dragon Dancer

Chng, J. (2015). Dragon Dancer. UK: Lantana Publishing.

Dragon Dancer talks about a legend of Chinese dragon dance. The main character of the story is boy named Yao, who is a young dragon dancer. The story happened in the Chinese New Year’s eve, and Yao was just about to prepare his costume by waking up the sleeping Shenlong. At the moment Shen Long opened his giant eyes, Yao’s fantastic journey of casting out bad luck had begun. Before Shenlong went back to rest again, he complimented Yao for his good work on dancing with him. The story in this book is a really beautifully told story for Chinese New Year.

As a Chinese reader, reading and reviewing a book about my own culture like this is quite interesting. First of all, I would say the illustration of this book is wonderful and fascinating. The illustration of this book is a stunning spot not only because it is colorful and well-drawn, but also its unique technique of highlighting the important parts. As a whole, the illustration is kind like the Chinese ink painting. As for the content, I assume the legend in this book is made up by the author or at least recomposed because I have never heard about the legend nor searched the same legend online. However, due to the positive atmosphere in the story, I still think it would be a great book about Chinese festival in your classroom library. You could also use this book as a read-aloud book in 1st-4th-grade classrooms.

Reviewed by Xiaochen April Huang 

ISAAC THE ALCHEMIST

Losure, Mary: ISAAC THE ALCHEMIST. (2016). Kirkus Reviews.

Isaac Newton was born on Dec 25, 1642. He was born in Woolsthorpe, England. Isaac didn’t get the chance to see his father because he was died before he was even born. His mother remarried to another guy when Isaac was still young. He was raised by his uncle. He went to the grammar school and Trinity College in in 1661. He pursued his bachelor of arts in 1665. Isaac found three greatest discoveries in optics which is the study of light. He also developed great things such as his theory about the light which is the mixture of other colors of light that came from a prism which called a spectrum. Also he developed his mathematics which including a binomial theorem and calculating the curve’s slope and the area under. He became a professor in Mathematics at Trinity College in 1669. In 1672, he became a scientist to the Royal Society. He was elected to the parliament in 1691. Newton never married but he loved histories and biblical prophecy. On March 20, 1727, Newton passed away and he buried in Westminster Abbey.

I like this book because it has great and fact information such as the time line of Isaac’s life. The drawings help shows more the meaning of the context. The book contains a lot of vocabulary and their meaning where teachers can use it on their word wall. Teachers can make activities according to the places where Isaac learn things. The book shows a lots of Isaac’s science things where teachers can teach kids as well. The book has a great information about how Isaac became so smart and this book can encourage and motivate kids in school. Teachers can focus on theme like “Working hard in school”, or “Being a good citizenship” because this book talks about how Isaac became a smart person on earth.

A Single Stone

McKinlay, M. (2017). A Single Stone. Candlewick Press.


272 pages, Fiction, ISBN-10 0763688371.

This book is about a girl named Jena who helped saved her village from being isolated from the world after the mountain shook. For this village, the thing called mica is very essential to their life-sustaining. The people can't get their food or their needs so Jena and other six girls are assigned to go tunnel deep into the earth in order to provide for the well-being of the village. Jena was a leader of the group and she was so brave and the girls respected her and rely on her. There are lot of bad things could happen to the girl during their tunnel deep such as Rockfall but Jena was still brave. Jena learned that the mothers are training their little daughters to become great tunnelers in the future and made her think of a lots of things. Jena finally discover a Single stone that can save the village by bringing down the mountain.

As I read this book, I learned that Jena was a very good girl to her village. There are lots of topics in Social Studies that you can use this book as your examples for. For instance, you can use this book to find example of being good citizenship. Jena is a great example of a good citizenship to her village in leading her team. Also we can related to Families. Students can identify what are the positives and negative things that the families in the village did. Also we can talk about the discovery of a Stone and tied to other famous fact stories about some men that they discovered something in life. For instance, we can talk about Issac Newton and some other men. Then we can encourage our students to try think of something that they can discover or invent on their own as their project.

LIFE FANTASTIC

Ketchum,L. (2016). Life Fantastic. Ohio:Simon Pulse.

256 pages, Historical Fiction, ISBN 978-1440598760.

This story is a fictional story is a fictional story based on the 1900’s. It talks of the life of a young girl named Teresa who longs for nothing but to be on stage sharing with the world her beautiful voice. She is a white girl full of so much talent who was told by her Father to in stead use her perfect pitch to work at the tuning factory for organs instead. Determined to live out her dream, she runs off to New York City and joined vaudeville troupes along side Pietro, an African American tap dancer and his father. There as she travels with this troupe, she was able to see the segregation, racial inequalities, and so much more happening during this time, especially when it come to performing with her friend, Pietro.

I would definitely recommend this book to be used in social studies because it shows real problems and struggles that were happening during the 1990’s even though it is a Fictional book. It shows the problem with segregation, inequality, indignities and prejudices, and a lot more issues including being forced to perform in blackface. This book also gives insights to what the places they went through (Colorado, NYC etc) would be like during this time and it was very descriptive of how things looked. This book does a great job in helping the reader feel what the characters of this book feel, or what people during this time period may have felt dealing with issues like the ones Teresa and her friends dealt with in this book.

You Talking to Me?

Ham, Catherine (2017) You Talking to Me?: Discover the World of Words, Codes, Emojis, Signs, Slang, Smoke Signals, Barks, Babbles, Growls, Gestures, Hieroglyphics & More. MoonDance Press. Picture. 

96 pages. Grades 3-7. ISBN: 1633221555

This book is about communication. It addresses different forms of communication from the change of languages, loss of language, types of written languages, unspoken forms of communication, cultural norms, animal communication, and many other forms. The sections transition well, from one topic to the next. It does not go into depth about any specific form of communication. 

This book had illustrations that related to the topic appropriately. The content 5-7 grades would relate to this age group especially since they are exposed to more forms of communication and cultures. The content flowed really well to the next topic. Although, some of the content may not be completely correct or biased. Some choices of what goes into certain forms of communication and what does not, maybe place inappropriately. It does not seem intentional, but knowing some information on a few forms and that they were presented incorrectly causes an unsettling feeling. Overall this book would be a good introduction to forms of communication but not the main source of knowledge. 

CAROLINE'S COMETS A TRUE STORY

McCully, E. A. (2016). Carolines Comets, a true story. Holiday House. 31 pages. Grade Level: 1st to 4th grade. Picture/Biography, ISBN 978-0823436644

Caroline was a sweet girl that loved her family and the stars. Caroline, was born in 1750 in Hannover, German speaking. Caroline learned how to knit and help with the house chores. When Caroline was ten years old she caught typhus, and smallpox. Her family worried that no man will marry and support her. Caroline loved her brother William. When William left to England to avoid being called to war and to make a living from singing and piano lessons. After a couple of years William, requested Caroline to move to England with him. William promised to give her a job and to teach her how to sing. One night, William wondered what is on the solar system and asked Caroline to help him build the most unique telescope, William, and Caroline worked hard to build the perfect telescope to explore the universe. The first telescope was built and was the best telescope in the world. William, and Caroline discovered new planets and universes that caused the visit of King George III which ordered telescopes from them. After William got married he made a telescope to Carolien. King George agree that Caroline will become the first professional women scientist. Caroline was now known as "The Hunter of Comets."

This book has a great story. I feel like every child needs to read the story to know that everyone is capable of doing great things such as Caroline. The illustrations and the small details of the story is what makes this book amazing. I love the emphasis and how they explain Caroline's life so well. From the beginning to the end of the story illustrates how through hard work people can make their dreams/goals happen. This book can be used for several topics in the classroom, geography, society, moral values, etc. This is a must have book in the classroom library. 

Rivers of Sunlight: How the Sun Moves Water Around the Earth.

 

Bang, M. & Chisholm, P. (2017). Rivers of Sunlight: How the Sun Moves Water Around the Earth. New York: The Blue Sky Press.

48 pages, Grade Level: Preschool-3, ISBN-13: 9780545805414

Do you know how the sun moves water about the earth? Are you curious what you could do to protect our planet and the precious resources on it? In this most recent Sunlight Series book, you will find out the constant movement of water and how the sun makes this great change work. The main character and the storyteller of this book is the sun. Throughout the book, the sun explains how the water changes and moves in cycles and describes each part of the water cycles in details. Another character in this book is a little, and he seems to be the listener of the sun. After explaining the water cycles, the sun also talks about the current situation of the water distribution on the earth and appeal to every reader to protect Earth's water. At the very end of this book, there are notes about this book, which introduces readers more facts about the water.

River of Sunlight: How the Sun Moves Water Around the Earth is one of an environmental book in Bang and Chisholm's Sunlight Series, which is a very famous scientific explanation book series. After reading this book myself, I think it is perfect for readers of all ages although its target reader is 6-8-year-old kids. I love the illustration of this book as well because of its color match and graphic scene. The illustration will definitely help younger kids' understanding of the content of this book. This book can be a great resource when teaching geography or environment-related topics in social studies.