The Bookmark

Bibliography Zelinsky, Paul. (1986). Rumpelstiltskin. New York, NY: E.P.Dutton. ISBN: 0-525-44265-0 Summary A young girl is locked away and told to spin straw into gold or she will die. Lucky for her, a tiny little man comes to her rescue multiple times and only asks for her first born child in return! She doesn’t want to give up her baby boy so she must guess his name to save her child. Analysis I have to start this by sharing something I found when I opened this book. This is the exact same copy of Rumpelstiltskin I read when I was just a kid, (probably 20 years ago), and it was no less wonderful two decades later. The storyline follows the typical Rumpelstiltskin tale we all know and love with only one or two little details that may be changed from culture to culture. This Rumpelstiltskin rides around on a magic spoon and does not rip himself in half when robbed of his infant prize. There is really nothing special about the actual text in the story. It does a good ...

Bibliography Pinkney, Jerry. (2009). The Lion & the Mouse. New York,NY: Little Brown Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 978-0-316-01356-7 Summary A mouse is chase by an owl and stumbles (literally) upon a lion who takes pity on her and lets her go. Later, the mouse is able to show her appreciation to the lion by saving his life. Analysis This book has no words other than the occasional animal onomatopoeia. This in no way takes away from the storyline, however. The tale is quite clear and, for some, well known even without the aid of words. It would be an absolutely wonderful tool for creative storytelling for readers of all ages since the vocabulary used can just elevate to suit the audience. The illustrations in this book are so vivid and detailed that the characters can be quite easily “read” and understood. The beautiful mice and lion have individual hairs and the owl has clearly defined feathers. This method and skill of illustrations give the animals and their e...

Bibliography Wiesner, David. (2001). The Three Pigs. New York, NY:Clarion Books. ISBN0-618-00701-6 Summary This book is just your standard three little pigs tale, except that it isn’t! These pigs are a little more feisty about outwitting the wolf and they end up building  their own rag-tag family in the process. It starts out with the basic huff-and-puff and chinny-chin-chin spiel and then takes a hard left when the reader gets to the pig in a brick house. The story becomes a build-your-own-adventure with the three pigs in charge of their fate. They choose to use the wolf as a paper airplane and jump from one popular story to the next. Along the way they pick up a few friends before heading back home. Analysis Unlike many children’s books, the illustrations in The Three Pigs are quite realistic. In the beginning, thing take place in a standard cartoon, storybook world. As the tale progresses, though, the pigs start to look like real, farm fed pigs and not shiny p...

Bibliography Kimmel, Eric. (2006). The Lady in the Blue Cloak. New York,NY: Madison House Inc. ISBN: 0-8234-1738-7 Summary This book contains a compilation of stories about the various Missions around Texas and explains the origins of many folk tales Texans hear from childhood. It includes tales about the Blue Lady, San Antonio, Mission San Jose and the Padre, most of which float around the city today as an oral tradition. Analysis The tales are artfully told in a way that manages to be both clearly understandable, (even by early readers) and very descriptive. Because of this storytelling, this book would be entirely appropriate for readers of all ages and I think would be very popular among parents of Hispanic and Catholic backgrounds. It does have a running theme of faith overcoming all tribulations. Multiple characters sacrifice their love for another in the name of their faith and find fulfilment in their choice. It also teaches the reader to trust that if they con...

Bibliography ·          Eastman, P.D. (1998). Are You My Mother? New York, NY: Random House.              ISBN0-679-89047-5 Summary ·          Shortly after hatching, a young bird sets out on an adventure to find his mother and finds many other creatures along the way. Analysis ·          Since this book is part of the vast Dr. Seuss collection, it is practically a requirement for houses with children. I did not like the taupe-tinted illustrations in this book at first, but it soon became apparent (upon the 20 th reading or so) that they served a purpose. They keep the book from being too distracting for the child to grasp the story line. The images of cows, chickens and kittens (some fan favorites) could detract from the story.      This book uses the oldest trick in the…book… to entertain...

Bibliography ·          Gag, Wanda. (1956). Millions of Cats.New York, NY: Putnam & Grosset Group. ISBN 0-399-23315-6 Summary ·          A very old couple go in search of a cat and find quite a bit more than they bargained for! Analysis ·          I hadn’t immediately remembered reading this book until I started reading it to my daughter tonight, then it hit me like a train full of cats. Somebody must have read this to me as a very young child! The black and white illustrations are very simple and to-the-point, but the storyline is a ringer. Every young child dreams of asking for one pet and receiving a trillion instead! The featured cats are even drawn with their tiny personalities showing through in their illustrated antics, as they are surprisingly individual despite their monochromatic coloring.     Though this is a bit lon...

  Bibliography ·          Klassen, Jon. (2012). This is Not MyHat. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN 978-0-7636-5599-0 Summary ·          This book recounts the journey of a fish who has stolen the hat of another, much larger, fish. The mischievous small fish believes he has gotten away with his crime, but the large fish is onto him and manages to get his long-lost hat back. Analysis ·                Jon Klassen’ s simple style wonderfully tells this story by leaving just enough to the imagination of the child. The small fish admits to the wrong he has done on the first page and draw in the young reader with a hint of rebelliousness. It could potentially serve as a great lesson in morality, (or karma) for a parent and child to share.      Because of it’s bare-bones style, much of the stor...