International Literature for Children...

My final post will discuss international literature for children. 

One international literature award is Hans Christian Andersen Award.  Some refer to this as the “Nobel Prize for children’s literature”.  This international award is given biennially.  One award is given to an author and one is given to an illustrator. 

Another international literature award is Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.  This award was established by the Swedish government in 2002 in honor of Swedish children’s book writer Astrid Lindgren.  The award is given annually and may be award to writers, illustrators, narrators, and/or promoters of children’s literature. 

Another award, the Carnegie Medal is an award given annually in the United Kingdom. 

Ruby Holler is the 2003 Carnegie Medal winner written by Sharon Creech, who is also a Newbery Medal winner also.  Ruby Holler is a place that is beautiful, mysterious, and magical.  Tiller and Sairy, a peculiar older couple live there and two orphan twins are invited to stay with them.  The older couple and the orphan twins are very different people and it is unique to see them grow and become a family.  I found this book interesting and unlike any other book that I have read before.  I loved how this story takes the reader on an adventure and shows how people can grow, become a family, and love one another even though they are different from one another. 

The Canadian Association of Children's Librarians gives an award annually to an outstanding illustrator of a children’s book.  The award is called the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award.   The Award is given for books that are suitable for children up to age 12.  The illustrator must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada to be eligible for the award. 

In 2003, Mélanie Watt’s Scaredy Squirrel won the award.  This is certainly a book to go “nuts” over!   This is actually the first book in a series of books including Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend, Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach, and Scaredy Squirrel at Night.  After reading this one I will need to find the others to read as well.  This book is about a scared squirrel that is afraid to leave his nut tree.  He is so scared that he even has his own emergency kit.   The squirrel has an infectious personality that is very quirky and one that the reader can relate to.

Australia also has an award for illustrators of children’s books.  The Children’s Book of the Year Award: Picture Book is presented annually by the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA).  In 2005, author/illustrator Alison Lester took the award for Are We There Yet?  A Journey Around Australia.  This is a picture book about a family with three children who take a trip around native Australia.  They visit Australia’s landmarks, wildlife, deserts, points of interest, and so much more in this three-month trip with their old camper being pulled behind the car.  This is a great book that gives readers a glimpse of what Australia is like.  The illustrations are interesting, vivid, and feel as if you are right there with them on their journey. 

Diversity: The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida

The Bracelet was written by Yoshiko Uchida.  This is a story about friendship, diversity, and extreme racism.  It is about a 2nd grade Japanese American, Emi, who is sent with her family to an internment camp during World War II.  Before Emi leaves, her best friend, who is Caucasian, gives her a bracelet as a parting gift that she says she will never take off.  Unfortunately, the bracelet slips off and is lost.  After frantically searching, with no luck, she realizes that she does not need the bracelet to remember her beloved friend. 

I enjoyed the book and the theme of friendship and how material things are not needed to remember memories and to keep the ones we love with us in our hearts.  The full color illustrations are beautiful and are very realistic.  I also thought that the book showed readers how the Japanese American families suffered during World War II and gave a look at the absurdity and injustice of how these families were treated such as Emi’s.   

I would recommend this book to others and I would love to have it in my classroom collection.  It is a great book that shows history, diversity, and teaches a great lesson of the importance of friendship and family. 

Here are just a few more books (of many) by Yoshiko Uchida

The Dancing Kettle and Other Japanese Folk Tales (1949)

New Friends for Susan (1951)

The Magic Listening Cap: More Folk Tales from Japan (1955)

Takao and Grandfather's Sword (1958)

The Forever Christmas Tree (1963)

Samurai of Gold Hill (1972)

The Birthday Visitor (1975)

Jar of Dreams (1981)

Best Bad Thing (1983)

Picture Bride (1987)

The Lion & the Mouse: Jerry Pinkney

The Lion & the Mouse is the 2010 Caldecott Award winner, by Jerry Pinkney.  The story is based on one of Aesop’s fables.  The story is about a lion that spares a mouse that he had planned on eating.  Later the mouse comes to the lion’s rescue and frees him from a hunter’s trap. 

I can barely find the words to describe this almost wordless book.  It is simply beautiful!  The pictures of this book tells the entire story, there are no words except for a few that are within the pictures.  When I first picked up this book I had no idea that the story is told completely with the pictures. 

The illustrations are breathtaking and are so vivid.  The characters are very expressively illustrated and the gorgeous African landscape is the perfect backdrop.  I can certainly see how this stunning book won the Caldecott Award.  There are not many picture books out there where the story is told completely though the illustrations and the ones that are out there have not seemed to capture my attention as well as this one. 

Jerry Pinkey is a very well-known, award winning children’s book illustrator.  Here are just some of the many titles that he has illustrated....

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

John Henry

The Little Red Hen

The Patchwork Quilt

The Ugly Duckling

Three Little Kittens

The Little Match Girl

Little Red Riding Hood

Book vs Movie: Charlotte's Web

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Charlotte’s Web was another one of my favorite books as a child.  Also, as a child I loved watching the animated movie that was produced in 1972.  I remember watching the movie over and over again to the point of being able to recite lines. 

For this entry, because I hadn’t watched it yet, I decided to focus on the more recently produced movie, produced by Nickelodeon and Paramount Home Entertainment in 2006.  This movie does have many similarities.  Both have the same characters (except for an addition of a horse named Ike in the movie that is not mentioned in the book) and same names for each of the characters.  They also both share the same story line about Wilbur, the pig, becoming friends with Charlotte, the spider, and their life in the barn.  Another major shared story line is Fern’s care for Wilbur and Charlotte’s devotion for Wilbur and helping to save him from becoming Christmas dinner. 

One major difference from the movie and the book is that the book does not discuss the incident that happens at Fern’s school.  Wilber is brought to school by Fern without anyone knowing and Wilbur ends up causing commotion and getting Fern in trouble.  Another part that is not included in the book is when Fern’s mother becomes concerned and asks a doctor about why Fern is spending so much time with the animals.  The final major difference between the book and the movie is that in the movie Fern is able to understand the animals as they talk with each other. 

I thought that this 2006 movie was enjoyable to watch, but I personally prefer the novel and the animated movie much more.  I do appreciate the fact that this movie shared many similarities and story lines because the novel is such a classic, beautifully told story. 

Book vs Movie: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

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Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, written by Judi Barrett was my absolute favorite book when I was younger!   So, naturally I was ecstatic to watch the movie as well!

Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with the movie.  In this case since the book is a relatively short book I understood that it was going to take some imagination to make it into a full length film, but the movie is certainly just “inspired by” the book because there were many more differences than similarities. 

First the characters in the book and movie are very different.  In the book Grandpa tells his two grandchildren about a town called Chewandswallow who gets all of its food from the sky.  None of these characters are in the movie.  In the movie, the main character is Flint Lockwood, who is a young inventor who creates a machine that turns water into food.  Another main character of the movie is a young weather intern, Sam Sparks.  By the end of the book these two characters fall in love.  Neither of these two characters wer from the book.

Another big difference between the movie and book was the name of the town.  In the book the town is cleverly named, Chewandswallow, where in the movie the town was called Shallow Falls.

The movie is enjoyable to watch and has an entertainment value, but I am disappointed that it wasn’t more like the book.  The book is a classic in my eyes because of its creativity, simplistic nature, and the silly nature of the town of Chewandswallow.   The book will remain my favorite of the two. 

Book vs Movie: Because of Winn Dixie By Kate DiCamillo

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Because of Winn Dixie is one of my favorite books, so naturally I wanted to watch the movie as well!  Because of Winn Dixie, the book, is written by Kate DiCamillo.  The movie, which shares the same title, was released in August 2005. 

There are a lot of similarities between the movie and the book.  They both share the same story line, a little girl named India Opal that finds a scruffy dog in a Winn Dixie store and then brings him home to stay with her and her father, the preacher.  Also, many of the characters and stories are the same.

However, there are some differences between the two.  First, even though many of the characters in the story are similar, there is one exception.  The landlord of the trailer park where India Opal lives with her father, the preacher, was never mentioned in the book.  The movie portrays the landlord as a man that does not want the dog on his premises, but by the end of the movie he changes his mind about Winn Dixie.

Another major difference is that in the book the preacher tells Opal a lot more information about her mother, but not as much information in the movie.  In the book, her father told Opal exactly ten things about her mom, including that her mother liked to drink. It explained a lot about why her mother left, and although hinted to in the movie, it was really never discussed.

I did enjoy the movie and the book.  I especially enjoyed how they both show love and the importance of friends and families.   

Diversity: Honor Book for the 2003 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award: Rap a Tap Tap: Here's Bojangles: Think of That!

Rap A Tap Tap:  Here’s Bojangles:  Think of That! is a simple picture-book tribute to African American tap dancer, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, who is known as the greatest tap dance of all time. 

The cute, simple “Rap a tap tap – think of that!” phrase is repeated often thought the book which young children would love.  This addition gives a fantastic repetitive, dance sort of rhythm to the book.  Also, there were several instances where the author used smooth alliteration and rhyming words which also make it a fun book to pick up to read. 

The illustrations are bold, attention-grabbing, and go perfectly with the story!  Many of the illustrations are made up of basic shapes with deep colors.

This book shows diversity because it tells about the life of an African American man and how he became famous for tap dancing.  It tells the story of how he started out dancing in the street and then at the end of the book it shows that with his hard work and talent he became a famous dancer.  The book also gives some biographical information at the end of the book.  Bill “Bojangles” Robinson was a great dancer and I learned that during the Great Depression he was the highest paid black entertainer who shared his wealth with the less fortunate friends and neighbors around him.

Again, this is another book that I would recommend to others and it is one that I would like to add to my personal collection!