This K-3 picture book looks at Mauritania, a Muslim country in Western Africa. Told through the eyes of a young Muslim girl wText-to-World connections
This K-3 picture book looks at Mauritania, a Muslim country in Western Africa. Told through the eyes of a young Muslim girl who longs to wear a "malafa" like her mother, sister, and grandmother, the book's main focus is on the purpose of the garment. Informing the reader about aspects of the Muslim culture in a very positive way. While many westerners see traditional female Muslim clothing and coverings as repressive, the perspective of Cunnane's book explains that it is a choice and a show of faith.
This is often true in the real world. Western thinkers often view women of the Muslim faith as having no rights, forced to adhere to the antiquated traditions of their culture where men decide everything, and women are property. What I think often gets left out is the feeling of belonging within a culture. Not everyone wants the same things, and while I am very thankful to be a Christian living in the United States, I'm sure there are many Muslims in Mauritania who are thankful to live in Western Africa. Lalla, the little girl in Kelly Cunnane's book sees wearing the malafa as token of beauty and describes her how her mother and grandmother look as they complete tasks through out the day in their beautifully colored malafa's. However, Lalla's mother points out that the malafa is not just something to feel beautiful and mysterious, it is also a symbol of faith. Only when Lalla tells her mother that she wants to wear the Malafa so that she can pray like her mother, sister, and grandmother does she finally get to.
Bloom's Taxonomy Questions Remembering: What is a malafa? Understanding: Can you explain why all the women that Lalla talks to tell her what the malafa is not for? Applying: What examples from the story can you find to support the respect that the adult women in the story have for the malafa? Analyzing: What are some of the motives the author might have had in writing this story from a young girl's perspective? Evaluating: What influences could this story have on young readers? Creating: After reading this book and Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns what other books could be used to respectfully show cultural traditions? What other cultures would you explore? ...more
Text-to-text connection 2nd-4th Grade Picture book reminds me of other books about the Jews fleeing during World War II. The Diary of Anne Frank and thText-to-text connection 2nd-4th Grade Picture book reminds me of other books about the Jews fleeing during World War II. The Diary of Anne Frank and the Whispering Town by Jennifer Elvgren. While this book is set in the early 1900s around World War I, the exodus of the Jewish people fleeing persecution (in this case from Czarist Russia) is similar in the way it emphasizes tradition, faith, and family. This text holds true to other Jewish traditions and parables describing the kindness and humanity strangers demonstrated in order to shelter the Jews.
This book is different in that it has an autobiographical connection to author's great grandmother. It is also a prequel to the Keeping Quilt, also written by Patricia Polacco more than 25 years ago. It is told from Anna's perspective as the czar's soldiers come to their Russian town to burn the temple and expel all the Jews.
Blooms Taxonomy Questions: Remembering: What did Anna's mother carefully pack to take with them as they fled? Understanding: Describe what happened to Papa while they fled... Applying: What would have happened if the doctor hadn't sheltered them and bought them passage to America? Analyzing: What evidence from the story can you find that shows how much this family valued the tea cup? Evaluating: Why do you think the family places so much importance on passing the tea cup down through the generations? Creating: Retell the story by formatting it as a graphic novel... would you keep the same charcoal and color format or would you redraw the images with more color? ...more
Text-to-world Connection This K-3 picture book identifies colors in relation to the Muslim culture. This book reminds me of a guest speaker I heard in Text-to-world Connection This K-3 picture book identifies colors in relation to the Muslim culture. This book reminds me of a guest speaker I heard in a comparative religions class as an undergraduate in college. While the book focuses on words and colors connected to the Muslim faith and culture, it is told from the perceptive of a young Muslim child as she explains what all the colors mean...
"Red is the rug Dad kneels on to pray, facing toward Mecca, five times a day." "Blue is the hijab mom likes to wear. It's a scarf she uses to cover her hair."
The book describes words from the Muslim culture in a poetic rhyme scheme with detailed illustrations of words. All of the things that the little girl describes are true reflections of the Muslim culture and the author presents them in a quietly refined way. The book depicts may traditional concepts about the Muslim faith.
Bloom's Taxonomy Questions Knowledge: How many times a day does the little girl's father pray? Understanding: What is the yellow box that they fill on Eid used for? Applying: How is the Muslim culture similar to your own? Analyzing: How would you contrast the Muslim culture to a Christian culture? Evaluating: What do you think is the most unique aspect of the Muslim culture? Creating: Research and find two more words important to the Muslim culture how would you describe them and illustrate them to go along with the current format of the book?...more
A new take on many famous nursery rhymes and a few new ones as well. While the traditional nursery rhyme text is there the cartoonists took some liberA new take on many famous nursery rhymes and a few new ones as well. While the traditional nursery rhyme text is there the cartoonists took some liberties to add their own style and flair to these classic rhymes. The illustrations are unique to the variety of artists who contributed their talents. Some hold true to the traditional nature of the rhyme "Three Little Kitten's" while others take a more modern twist "There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe" featuring a tattooed, rock n' roll grandmother-like babysitter, and "Jack Be Nimble" with a young boy with a major attitude and burned bare bottom from trying to jump over a candle. Others still might be a little disturbing to very young readers "Solomon Grundy" and "This Little Piggy" the first drawn in somber, disturbing colors and motifs and the second showing what happens to the little piggies when the wolf is added to the story.
This book would provide the perfect opportunity to do a cross curricular unit with history or social studies as well as research into the country of origin of the rhyme or the historical significance. For Example: "Ring Around the Rosie" could be used to introduce a unit on the black death and how the nursery rhyme developed because of it.
Because of the varying view points of the individual artists there is sure to be at least one rhyme and corresponding graphics that will appeal to all audiences regardless of their age, but some topics might be a bit to dark or disturbing for very young readers even though children have been skipping rope to some of these for decades....more
This K-2 introductory graphic novel uses simplistic rhyme and brightly colored graphics that allow for social expansion for all ages. With only one toThis K-2 introductory graphic novel uses simplistic rhyme and brightly colored graphics that allow for social expansion for all ages. With only one to two graphic boxes per page, this is a great book to introduce the concept of graphic novels to young developing readers.
The little girl builds the robot out of spare parts and then they engage in all sorts of activities where the robot essentially takes on the role of the little girl's slave from the moment the little girl says the words "Go Bot!" the robot is tasked with playing all the games she wants to play, doing all the activities she wants to do, "Throw bot, Blubble Blow Bot, Row Bot..." and when the robot rebels the little girl essentially throws a fit.
This book could be used to teach social niceties like manners, friendship, turn taking, or the ever important "it's not always about you" etc....more
Simplistic in it's design and a very easy read (there is only one word "Ball") this is a book for all ages. The excited antics of a young girl's dog aSimplistic in it's design and a very easy read (there is only one word "Ball") this is a book for all ages. The excited antics of a young girl's dog and his/her (it's difficult to tell what gender the dog is, but he seems like a boy) ball move the story along very quickly. An early language book with lots of things to point out, make this great for any age but especially for very young readers. The dog's primary focus is the ball and all the things he likes to do with it, but when his human leaves for school he must look to others in the family to continue his fun. When he can't find anyone to play with he returns to his human's bedroom and takes a nap and the story continues as an adventure through the dog's dreams. The funny antics of a space chase when the cat steals his ball, and a giant diaper clad baby will have young children and adults chuckling.
This book would also work for ELL students where additional vocabulary support could be added to describe the antics of the dog. Because of the (very) limited text this book could also be used for young students as a writing project to create their own thought bubbles to tell the story. ...more
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