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.

Becoming Bach

Leonard, T. (2017). Becoming Bach. Roaring Brook Press.

40 Pages, Grades Preschool-3, Biography/Picture Book, ISBN 9781626722866

Becoming Bach talks about how music had influenced the famous German musician Johann Sebastian Bach throughout his life. When Bach was young, there was always music around him, and his family members were all musicians. Bach learned how to play several instruments during his early life. After his parents passed away, his eldest brother taught him about the patterns of music. Later on, he became a church organist and produced lots of melodies.

It is a wonderful book to introduce the German musician Johann Sebastian Bach to young kids. First, the author uses the first-person perspective with simple and short texts in writing Bach's story. The content is more understandable for kids, and they can be more engaged in it. Also, the illustrations that the author uses are matched to the period of time Bach had lived at, which is the 17th-century classical style. The illustrations are very authentic which can help visualize the scenes for kids to look at. The portrayal of Bach in this book is well developed and accurate, which the author describes major events and achievements of Johann Sebastian Bach in it. I like how the author mentions specific names of Bach's family and specific dates in his illustrations. It helps kids know better about the facts of Bach. I also like the last page of this book because it gives more detailed information about Bach with a timeline of his life. It will be a useful book for kids to read when learning music and when learning social studies about influential people in European history.

Reviewed by Liu, Yulin.

The Ancient Aztecs

Greenberg, Imogen & Isabel. (2017). The Ancient Aztecs. London: Frances Lincoln Children's Books.

32 Pages, Grades 3-6, Historical Graphic/Comic Picture Book, ISBN 1847809502

The Ancient Aztecs is one of the four books in the series of ancient empire books by Imogen and Isabel Greenberg.  All of their books follow a similar style as far as content, illustrations, and layout.  This book in particular focuses on the history of the Aztec Empire.  The text includes both narrative and speech bubbles resembling a comic book.  There are several topics this book addresses: rulers, the city of Tenochtitlán, the Aztec calendar, gods, an origin story, sacrifice and afterlife, wars and warriors, society and daily life, art and poetry, the Spanish conquistadors, and a few others.  Included is also a map and a timeline.  Overall one of the goals of the book is to show children that "the Aztecs were normal people, just like us."

Personally, I had a lot of mixed feelings about this book.  Initially I was drawn to the book because of the shape/size and artwork.  The artwork did not disappoint; Isabel Greenberg maintained an Aztec theme throughout the book and included just the right amount of details.  I did, however, feel somewhat disappointed with the text.  I am a fan of comics/graphic novels, that being said, I did not appreciate most of the speech bubbles in this book.  Much of that text repeated what was said in the novel or it made all of the characters sound like children, which could in fact make kids think that the Aztecs were just like them.  Examples of the dialogue include "Woo-hoo!" and "Oh yeah? Come over here and say that to my face!"  Reading text boxes like these make it clear why this book did not receive an award for social studies.  Although, children ages 9 to 12 might find this book entertaining.  Other than the illustrations, I also liked that there were labeled sections that were brief and for the most part interesting.  I feel like having the students create books like this while studying ancient history would be much better than simply having this book for students to read.  I would not buy this book, but I appreciate the book as a mentor text for a wonderful social studies and language arts project.