Controversial Picture Books

"Rose Blanche"
 is a controversial picture book written by Roberto Innocenti and Christophe Gallaz.
I give this book 5 ***** out of 5 stars.

Summary: Rose Blanche is a school age girl in Nazi Germany. She sees the soldiers in the streets with tanks. She is very descriptive of the sights and sounds she experienced. One day she witnesses a young boy jump out of the back of a truck and try to run away. Soldiers with guns stop him (pictured below) and force him back into the vehicle. She is interested in where the tank is going and decides to follow it. She follows it to a concentration camp where she becomes friends with the children inside. Over the course of the next few days, she steals food and feeds the children. One day, Rose left school early to run to the concentration camp. She saw the soldiers driving the opposite direction from the camp, confused she runs to the camp where nothing stands. In the scene, Rose places a flower on the barbed wire and there are soldiers in the background shooting. These soldiers are dressed different than the Nazi's she is used to seeing. The next scene shows a damaged town and Rose's mother is awaiting Roses return. The seasons begin to change with no return. The last image is the flower rose once held, wilting away on the barbed wire.

This book is extremely controversial. The images are very vivid. You open the book and the first thing you see is Nazi Germany with swasticas plastered everywhere. When Rose finds the concentration camp the children are very thin and only become thinner as the story progresses. Although the images and content are controversial I believe the story it tells allows children to visualize what happened during that time period. We can teach them fact after fact but this story, although fictional, gives them a perspective from someone who would have been around their age. It is also rather educational and can be used as a "mini-lesson" when talking about this time period. Parents may disagree with your choice to use this book in your curriculum and you need to be prepared to defend your choice.





"Where Did I Come From?"
is written by Peter Mayle, illustrated by Arthur Robins and designed by Paul Walter.

I would give this book 2 ** out of 5 stars.

Summary: This book explains to children how babies are made. They begin by the mother and father loving each other very much (pictures included) and explain the act of making love. What happens when making love is over and how a baby progresses throughout the nine months they are inside the mother. This book also describes the labor process and why children have belly-buttons.

This book is helpful for parents whose children are asking questions such as where do babies come from? But I do not believe this book has a place in an elementary education classroom. The content is not vulgar but the pictures that accompany are a little inappropriate for children in first or second grade to see. This book may also send some parents into an up roar. Parents may not be ready to tell their children about this process and may believe that a classroom at this age is not appropriate either. This book would be helpful for children of all ages who ask these types of questions but I am not sure if it is right for the classroom.

Fairy Tales and Dr. Seuss

Fairy Tales 


"The Princess and the Pea" after the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen is captured by Polly Borland and Lauren Child.


I would give this book a 4 **** out of 5 stars.


Summary: The Princess and the Pea is about a Prince whose parents are encouraging him to find a wife. He would like to marry someone who is mesmerizing, fascinating and has that "certain something". His parents only had one wish, for his wife to be of blue blood and equal in royalness. His parents held a ball where the prince found no one who sparked his interest. The Prince travelled to many kingdoms in search of a wife, but he found no such women who fulfilled his wishes. One night, a women with dark, dark hair decided to take a walk to see the moon. She soon became lost and stumbled upon the castle. The King and Queen opened their doors and allowed the young women to stay the night in the castle. The Queen put a small pea underneath a bed made up of many layers of bedding. Her test was to see if the young women would sleep well, and she did not. The women lied to the Queen in order to be polite, she went down to breakfast and locked eyes with the Prince. The two were soon married.

-I am very fond of this book. I have heard this story many times and this is a very interesting re-telling of the tale. The pictures are exquisite. They are packed with color and they include some 3D images. They are very captivating and interesting, as well as the cover. The cover is eye-catching, with bright colors and fantastic pictures. I would use this book for children who are in first grade all the way up until fifth grade. This book contains some difficult language that would challenge students in an appropriate way. This book also teaches some valuable moral lessons. This book teaches children about manners, being polite to others and taking care of each other when they are in need. This book also brings up the idea of marrying for love instead of status or money (which I know children of this age do not have to worry about but it is an important concept that is brought up often in our society).






"The Little Match Girl" 
was written by Hans Christian Anderson, retold by Christine San Jose and illustrated by Anastassija Archipowa. 

I would give this book 3 *** out of 5 stars. 

Summary: It is the New Year and a small girl is trying to sell matches to the townspeople for pennies to bring back to her father who is abusive and an alcoholic. She is unsuccessful in selling matches and is afraid to go him. She decides to light the matches and when she does she sees beautiful visions of Christmas trees, burning stoves and delicious dinners. She lit a match and saw her grandmother in heaven, she knew the image would fade if she did not light all of her matches, so she did. She begged her grandmother to take her to heaven with her and her wish was granted. The next day the townspeople find the young girls body in the street and the story ends with the young girl and her grandmother sailing off into the light.

-This book contains some very controversial issues and illustrations. The Little Match Girl is afraid to go home without money because her father might beat her. Her father is also depicted as an alcoholic. These are prevalent issues in our society that many children experience. This book could offer those children comfort and let them know that they are not alone in their ordeals. The little girls grandmother also dies during the story. Her grandmother was very important to her. She states that her grandmother was the only one who loved her. Many children experience loss and tragedy and they may be able to identify with character and her emotions. The little girl sees her grandmother in heaven and they talk about God, the next morning the people in the village find her body in the street. This is a very dark fairy tale, it is not your typical happy ending but it does pose some real-life problems and issues children may face. I would use this book with children who are in 3^rd grade but I would keep this book in my classroom library if I taught younger children as well. I believe some parents may have issues with this book existing in classrooms but I believe it is important for children to know these things happen to everyone and that if they experience loss or tragedy they are not alone.

Dr Seuss

"The Sneetches" is written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss. 

I would give this book 5 ***** out of 5 stars. I would use this book with children in grades kindergarten through 4th grade. 

Summary: This book is about two groups of Sneetches, who either have stars on their stomachs or don’t. The Sneetches with stars exclude the Sneetches with stars in every activity. One day Sylvester McMonkey McBean comes along with a solution to the problem. He told the Sneetches he could give them stars on their stomachs for 3 dollars each. The star-bellied Sneetches were very angry when they could not tell themselves apart from the starless-bellied Sneetches. Sylvester McMonkey McBean tells the star-bellied Sneetches he can remove their stars for 10 dollars each. This was a constant cycle, the Sneetches were never happy while Sylvester McMonkey McBean made an enormous amount of money. He drove away saying Sneetches will never learn their lesson and that day they did. They learned that it does not matter if you have stars or not they are all the same.

I absolutely love this book, Dr. Seuss is one of my favorite authors. These books contain rhythm and rhyme and teach children valuable lessons. Children will be entranced by the rhyming words and comical drawings, and little do they know that this story is teaching them things about life that are important. This book in particular teaches them that diversity is something that should be valued and embraced. It does not matter what other children look like, they are all equal and deserve to be treated so. 

 

"The Zax" is written and illustrated by Dr.Seuss

I would give this story 4 **** out of 5 stars.




"The Zax" is a short story about two Zax's who are heading in opposite directions (one traveling North and the other traveling South) and find their paths crossing in the middle of the desert. Each Zax is set on sticking to the path they sat out on and will not move out of each others way. They stand in the same position for days and eventually years, both too stubborn to move to the side in order to continue on their travels. Eventually, the desert becomes a highway and the Zax's are still standing where they started years later.

This short story is another great story to use with children. This book has a very specific message it wants to convey. In my opinion, this book is trying to tell children that you may run into problems with people that you feel like you do not want to solve, but being stubborn does not get you anywhere. It is not productive to hold grudges with others. It is more important to talk about your issues, compromise and come to a resolution. I would use this book towards the beginning of the year, I could read this book and the class and myself could come up with things to do or say when you are having a disagreement with a peer.














"Daisy-Head Mayzie" is written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss. 
I would give this book 3 *** out of 5 stars.

Summary: This book is about a young student named Daisy. She is sitting at her desk trying to complete her work when a daisy sprouts out of her head. The teacher is then in a panic and rushes her to the principles office. The principle then calls her parents and pretty soon the entire town knows about Daisy's problem. An agent enters the picture and convinces Daisy to sign with him in the hopes of one day having her name in lights. Soon after that, everyone wanted to be like Daisy. Daisy was famous! She was making a lot of money but she was very unhappy. She did not have any friends and this made her very sad. The daisy growing from her head came to the rescue, its petals began falling off saying "they love her, they love her not.." when the last petal fell the daisy said "Don't worry Mayzie, hey love you". Daisy flew home to a warm welcome. Everything went back to normal as did Daisy's head but you never know when that daisy will pop up again.


I would read this book to children who are in 1st of 2nd grade. This book, along with many other Dr. Seuss books, has intricate vocabulary and has exception lines that rhyme. Everyone in the community accepted Daisy when the flower sprouted from her head, but she was unhappy when she was famous because she thought no one loved her. This book sends the message that money is not the only thing that can make you happy. I believe children will love this book because of the illustrations and the fact that a young girl has a flower grow from her head. The lesson is something that some may catch on to and I think this is a wonderful addition to any classroom library.

Focus Question

How can we use literary elements to “bring into existence” the story of Lucky?

Lucky is an amazing novel containing many literary elements that make the story exciting and eventful. There are a variety of characters that had different backgrounds and characteristics. Which allow many different types of people to relate in their own unique ways. You have Lucky, Brigitte, Miles, HMS Beagle, and Lincoln. You always have "secondary" characters like the people in the AA meetings and Lucky's mother and father.  These characters were dynamic, they grew and changed as they coped with events that happened throughout the book. Lucky coped with her mother's death which changed her, her father leaving, Brigitte coming into her life, Brigitte possibly leaving her life and so on. These characters bring the story to life. Language is a strong literary element that is present in this book. The descriptions of the setting, events and characters create vivid mental images in the readers mind. It feels as though you are actually in the story. You can picture yourself sitting in Lucky's rusty chair listening through a hole in the wall to the stories being told. The hot sun beating down on you and the sounds the chair and people in the scene make. Most of the book is from Lucky's point of view. The setting of this story is unique as well. Not many people know what it is like to live in the middle of the desert in a town with a population of 43. The author does an amazing job explaining the setting and the events that happen in the novel that allows readers who do not have the schema of a small town to understand what it is like. Another literary element featured frequently in this book is the theme of conflict. Lucky's whole life has been about horrible things happening to her and her trying to find that higher power to solve all of her problems in life. 

Caldecott Winners

This wordless picture book, Tuesday, is written and illustrated by David Wiesner. This book's target audience is Elementary students. The great thing about wordless picture books is that they can be read by children in kindergarten and they can also be read by adults. 


Summary: This story takes place on a Tuesday night. Frogs have the power to fly around town on their lilly pads. They fly past a man in his kitchen eating his sandwhich and fly through clothes on a clothesline. The frogs then fly through the window of a sleeping women's house and begin to watch the TV she left on. At 4:38 in the morning, the frogs have a scary encounter with a dog. On one page, the frog seems frightened by the single flying frog coming towards him and the next page is the dog running scared with an army of flying frogs following close behind. Then the sun begins to rise, and the frogs begin to fall from their lilly pads. They have to hop back to the pond where they live and while sitting on their floating lilly pads the frogs appear bored. The police and the search dogs in the town are puzzled by the lilly pads scattered around the neighborhoods. At the conclusion of the book, it is a week later and frogs begin to fly, which could mean the possibility of a sequel. 

Rating: I would give this book 5 ***** out of 5 stars. 


I absolutely love wordless picture books. They can be used for any grade level and can be read by students with different reading abilities. I will definitely use these books in my classroom. They allow children to use their imagination and put their own words to the pages. These books are great tools for children who are hesitant readers and writers.

This wordless picture book entitled The Lion and The Mouse is written and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. This book also has an extremely large target audience. Children of all ages and abilities as well as adults. 


Summary: The book starts with a mouse scurrying across and open field, almost getting eaten by an owl. The mouse unknowingly resting on the lion, the lion wakes up and grabs the mouse in his claws. Instead of eating the mouse the lion decides to let the mouse go. The mouse runs back to its home where it greets it's babies. Then a group of hunters enters. They are setting up traps to catch lions. The lion stumbles into their trap and is hoisted into the air by a rope net. He lets out a gigantic RRROAAARRR! that the mouse hears. The mouse runs to the lion's aide. The mouse chewed through the rope freeing the lion. 

Rating: I would give this book 5 ***** out of 5 stars. 


This book is also great to use for children who are hesitant readers and writers. I also love this book because it teaches children that anyone can be your friend and that if you do something nice for someone they may do something nice for you in return when you truly need it. I love wordless picture books and as a future teacher I will use them as often as possible. 

This fiction picture book titled The Three Pigs is written and illustrated by David Wiesner. This book's target audience is children between 1st and 4th grade. 


Summary: This is the story of The Three Pigs,  but not the conventional fairytale we are all used to hearing. The book begins as the fairytale does, the first pig builds a house out of straw and the wolf comes threatening to blow his house down if he is not let in. The wolf huffs and he buffs and he blows the house down, and along with blowing the house down he blows the first little pig right out of the story! The wolf is confused and moves onto the next pigs house which is made out of sticks. After he threatens to huff and puff and blow their house down the first pig comes from outside of the story and tells the second pig to join him. The two pigs find the third pig and discover that they can mess up the pages of the story they were in. The pigs proceed to fold the pages into a paper airplane and fly around. After a crash landing, one of the pigs discovers a page from the fairytale Hey Diddle Diddle. They jump into that story and decide to invite the cat to come with them! After that, the pigs and the cat jump into another story and save a dragon. All of the animals return to the brick house to defeat the wolf. They all become friends and live happily ever after. 

Rating: I would give this book 5 ***** out of 5 stars. 

This is a great book for children who enjoy reading fairy tales. This would be a useful book for an opening or mini lesson, after reading this book children could take their favorite fairy tale and create an alternate ending. This is by far one of my favorite picture books that I will utilize and recommend to students. 

This fiction picture book is entitled Smokey Night.  It is written by Even Bunting and illustrated by David Diaz. This book's target audience is students between 2nd and 5th grade. 

Summary: This book is about the race riots that occurred in the past. It is the story of a young boy and his mother looking out the window of their apartment. They are witnessing these riots occur and the young boy is confused as to why these horrible things are happening. His mother explains the situation to him and they witness various shops being vandalized. After a while they decide to go to bed. In the middle of the night the mother wakes up her son. Their apartment building is on fire, they flee the apartment leaving Jasmine (the cat) behind. The boy is very concerned about his cat's whereabouts. Firefighters arrive at their apartment and once again the boy asks about his cat. A women approaches the crowd informing them about a nearby shelter. The streets are destroyed. At the church shelter, the adults are talking about the horrific events while the young boy again asks about his cat. His mother shouts and his attention turns to a firefighter carrying his cat. Mrs Kim's cat is found as well. The cats are different colors and the firefighter tells the story of how the cats banded together to survive the flames. The cats then share a bowl of milk and the adults chat about how they thought the cats did not like one another and come to the conclusion that the two simply didn't know each other before this. 

Rating: I would give this book 4 **** out of 5 stars. 

I love this book for the history. It is a good book to incorporate into a history lesson about segregation and the times of the riots. It also teaches children that it doesn't matter what the color of your skin is, people can be friends and get along with one another. Maybe even help each other in times of need. This book also has very interesting illustrations, along with what is happening in the story whatever is talked about on that page is represented in the background. For example, one page talks about Mrs. Kim's grocery shop and the background is cereal. I really enjoyed this book and find it useful for history lessons in classrooms. 

This children's fiction book titled Where The Wild Things Are is written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. This book's target audience would be students 1st-6th grade.                                          

Summary: The story begins with a little boy who is dressed up in his wolf suit making mischief, and his mother sends him to bed without any dinner. Max's room begins to turn into a forest and an ocean came by with a private boat for him where he sailed for a long time. He stumbled upon an island where the wild things were roaring and showing their claws. Max tells them to be still and tames them with a magic trick. The wild things were very scared and called him the most wild thing of all. They made him king of the wild things and the whole night they dance around the island. Max then demanded the wild things stop and go to bed. He was very lonely and hungry. He smelled something delicious in the distance and decided to relinquish his title as king. The wild things beg him not to leave but Max hopped in his boat and sailed away. He sailed into his own room and found his supper waiting for him. 

Rating: I would give this book 3 *** out of 5 stars. 

This illustrations in this book are amazing. This book could also be used to teach children about using your imagination and while you are using your imagination anything is possible. This could also be used to teach children about the unusual and amazing friendships that can be made everyday. After the book was made into a movie, I believe children will like to read this book and it will definitely be a part of my classroom. 

Melissa Sweet Picture Books

5 Picture Books 

The children's fiction picture book Charlotte in New York is written by Joan MacPhail Knight and illustrated by Melissa Sweet. This book's target audience would be 4-5th grade students.

Summary: This book is set in 1894, a young girl named Charlotte writes in a journal as she travels with her family. She records her impressions of the journey her family takes from France to New York City. Her father is an artist and this is the reason her family is taking this wonderful journey. His paintings will be displayed in an exhibition. Each page consists of the exact date the journal entry was made, the location and pictures of what occurred that day. She details her feelings, the people she meets and the events that take place.

Rating: I would give this book 3 *** out of 5 stars

This book would be a great opportunity to teach students about the different forms of writing and the benefits of journal entry writing. This could also express to children the idea that writing can be something they can enjoy and something that can be extremely personal to them. This would always be a good way to introduce how writing and art can go hand in hand. This would be a great book to read over a long period of time because it is rather long compared to Melissa Sweet's other illustrated books. This would also be a good way to teach about some historic events that have occurred and specific attractions in New York City. You can also use this book in your classroom to teach some French vocabulary. Charlotte is from France and in her journal entries beside the pictures is the word in French. This is a fun book to read and offers many teachable opportunities.





This children's fiction picture book, Carmine, is written and illustrated by Melissa Sweet. This book's target audience would be 1-2nd graders.




-Summary: Carmine has a very special bond with her Grandmother and her dog Rufus. Her Granny taught her how to read using the letters in alphabet soup and whenever she visits her Granny they always make soup for lunch. Carmine plans to visit her Granny, grabs her art supplies and heads out the door with her Granny's thoughts playing in her mind "Beware of dangers along the way!". Carmine likes to take her time while riding her bike and look at the beautiful scenery. On the way to Granny's house, Carmine stopped to paint a picture while Rufus gets himself into some trouble. Rufus meets a wolf and the wolf finds his way to Granny's house. From a distance, Carmine could hear the screams of her Granny rushed to Granny's house to find her house a mess. Carmine followed Granny and the Wolf's footprints. She found Granny in her closet hiding and the wolf no where to be seen. Granny and Carmine ate their alphabet soup, hung artwork on the wall, and promised to never dilly-dally again.

-Rating: I would give this book 4 **** out of 5 stars.

I really enjoyed this book. The story is similar to Little Red Riding Hood. This would be a good story to read during free time or in reading groups. This book includes bits of poetry and introduces new and difficult vocabulary. This would also be a great book to base spelling activities or tests off of. It introduces words such as clutter, lurking, mimic, nincompoop, omen and quiver. These are just a few of the words this book introduces and these words are also accompanied by pictures and use in sentences.



This children's picture fiction picture book, Giggle-Wiggle Wake-Up, is written by Nancy White Carlstrom and Illustrated by Melissa Sweet.

Summary: This book is about a boy named Sammy who is on his way to his first day of school. It portrays his morning routine of his cat waking him up, his mother making him breakfast. trying to get dressed and out of the door. The book follows Sammy through his first day at school, all the people he meets and all the fun and exciting activities they do.

Rating: I would give this book 4 **** out of 5 stars.

This book would be used with younger students. Kindergarten or first grade students in particular. This book uses repetition and rhyme which would could lead into an activity about making your own story for your morning using these elements. This book could also be used to teach routine. Activities could be done asking students what their routine is in the morning and what they do to get ready for school.

This fiction children's book, Good for You, is written by Stephanie Calmenson and Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. This is a book that would be used at a Kindergarten level.

Summary: This is a rather long children's picture book. It consists of over 60 pages. There are rhymes for different occasions. Such as; My Room, My Potty, At the Playground and Things We Do. These books teach valuable lessons to young children.

Rating: I would give this book 5 ***** out of 5 stars.

This would be a great book to use over a long period of time as well. If you are teaching a lesson on colors the first rhyme is an amazing way to start a lesson. This book is a great tool because it offers many different lesson options, accompanied by funny pictures. I believe young children will really enjoy this book.

Melissa Sweet-Illustrator

Favorite Children's Book

My favorite book when I was a child was 'My Goodnight Book' by Eloise Wilkin.

This book was a gift from my Grandmother and Grandfather. My parent's knew how much I loved this book and would read it to me before I went to sleep. They would come into my room to tuck me in and find me sitting in my bed staring at the pictures in this book. When I finally learned how to read, this was the book I would choose to read aloud and was very enthusiastic about. Until one day when my parents discovered I had read and heard the story enough times to recite the words from memory. Needless to say, 'My Goodnight Book' was no longer on the list of items to read before bedtime. I would still secretly read it from time to time and still have a copy of it in my closet along side my favorite baby doll. I am saving it to hopefully share a piece of my childhood with my future children. I loved everything about this book, from the story to the pictures and was happy that my parent's continually read it and listened to me read it until they found out my sneaky ways.