BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Willems, Mo. 2004. KNUFFLE BUNNY. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN 0-329-41634-0
PLOT SUMMARY:
When Trixie and her father are walking home from the laundromat Trixie realizes that she left her beloved Knuffle bunny behind. Trixie who is only able to speak baby talk does everything she can to get her father to understand that she wants he favorite stuffed animal. Trixie arrives home and her mother quickly asks 'Where is Knuffle Bunny. They rush back to the laundromat and Trixie is reunited with her Knuffle Bunny and finally says her first words.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Mo Willems artistically portrays Brooklyn with photographic backgrounds and cartoon drawings. The illustrations help bring alive the story of a young girl named Trixie. The illustrations paints the perfect picture of what a neighborhood looks like in New York. The climax of the story is when trixie realizes that she has lost knuffle bunny and many students will be able to sympathize with the fact that Trixie is doing her best to tell her father what is wrong, but he just doesn't understand.
Mo Williams written baby talk not only adds such character and emotion to the young toddler, but allows for great conversations about how we can and should communicate our feelings. The story resolves itself beautifully when Trixie's father triumphantly finds Knuffle Bunny and the young girl can finaly say something more that baby talk.
REVIEW EXCERPTS:
Kirkus Review starred (August 1, 2004)
Willems is a master of body language; Trixie's despair and her daddy's frazzlement as expressive as her joy ("KNUFFLE BUNNY!") and his triumph at the excavation of the errant bunny from the washing machine.School Library Journal (October 1, 2004)
The concise, deftly told narrative becomes the perfect springboard for the pictures.CONNECTIONS:
* Discuss the different emotions that Trixie is displaying
* Play emotional charades. A student is given an emotion to act out and the other students have to name the emotion.
* Math connection: Have students find out what their first words were and then complete a classroom graph.
* Discuss the different emotions that Trixie is displaying
* Play emotional charades. A student is given an emotion to act out and the other students have to name the emotion.
* Math connection: Have students find out what their first words were and then complete a classroom graph.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Brown, Margaret Wise. 1947. GOODNIGHT MOON. ILL. By Clement Hurd. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-077586-5
PLOT SUMMARY: In this classic picture book a little bunny is sitting in a great green room and says goodnight to various objects before falling asleep.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS: This simple charming tale is conflict free story. It is a plainly written tale of little bunny going to bed. The main character, a bunny, is saying goodnight to all the things in a green room. As the story progresses the drawings of the moon get dimmer and dimmer until the bunny is finally asleep. Although, the writing is simplistic in nature the real reason this is such a fantastic picture book in the drawings which have an old fashioned sense to the artwork. A majority of the story is told through the pictures that are drawn with primry colors like red and green and black and white.
REVIEW EXCERPTS:
School Library Journal (September 2009) "clearly the best of the lot"
Book List "This classic bedtime story features black- and-white drawings alternating with the boldly-colored illustrations."
CONNECTIONS:
*Reading Connection: Have students do a sequencing activity ordering the objects that are being told goodnight.
*Writing Connection: Students can write a list of people or things they will say goodnight to.
*Reading Connection: Have students do a sequencing activity ordering the objects that are being told goodnight.
*Writing Connection: Students can write a list of people or things they will say goodnight to.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Stead, Philip C. 2010. A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE. ILL. By Erin E. Stead. New York, NY: Roaring Book Press ISBN978-0-329-85962-6
PLOT SUMMARY:
In this beautifully illustrated picture book, Philip C. Stead writes about on elderly zookeeper, who despite having a busy day, always makes time to visit his animal friends. One day Amos wakes up with a cold and is unable to go to the zoo. When his animal friends realize that Amos didn't come to work the decide to see if their friend is OK.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
The beautiful wood block prints add so much life to the character in this tale of good deeds by the character Amos McGee and the zoo animals. The friendship that the elderly zookeeper has with the animals is shown through the daily activities that Amos does with each animals. When Amos wakes up with a cold the reader can feel the impact of his absence by the worried look on the various animal faces.
Phillip C. Stead does a wonderful job of progressing through the day of Amos and the day when the animals decide to visit their sick friend. Through the writing and eloquently drawn pictures the reader gets a great sense of how much the characters care for each other. The story truly depicts how friends should act and would be a great piece of literature to read to encourage friendship and bounding in the classroom.
The beautiful wood block prints add so much life to the character in this tale of good deeds by the character Amos McGee and the zoo animals. The friendship that the elderly zookeeper has with the animals is shown through the daily activities that Amos does with each animals. When Amos wakes up with a cold the reader can feel the impact of his absence by the worried look on the various animal faces.
Phillip C. Stead does a wonderful job of progressing through the day of Amos and the day when the animals decide to visit their sick friend. Through the writing and eloquently drawn pictures the reader gets a great sense of how much the characters care for each other. The story truly depicts how friends should act and would be a great piece of literature to read to encourage friendship and bounding in the classroom.
REVIEW EXCERPTS:
Booklist 05/01/10 "Each scene captures the drama of Amos and the creatures caring for each other"
Horn Book (May/June, 2010) "the animals, while realistically rendered overall, display distinct personalities without uttering a word"
CONNECTIONS:
Writing: Students can write about a time the were sick or that they helped out a friend
Research: Have students pick one of the animals from the story to research and make a poster book report.
