Because of Winn-Dixie

This is the type of book that warms your heart, and makes you smile so hard that you sneeze! (Sorry, I had to. That was one of my favorite parts!)

I really enjoyed this novel by Kate DiCamillo. I fell in love with Winn-Dixie from the very beginning and I could tell Opal was a special kind of girl as well. The two had such a strong bond and Winn-Dixie was just what Opal needed to get her started in a new town.

In Chapter 8 of our Temple text, it discusses Realistic Fiction and provides many different categories and books that would fit into them. Because of Winn-Dixie is in the 'Books about Nature & Animals' and rightly so. I feel like it could also fit into the category of 'Books about Self-Discovery and Growing Up'. I say that because Opal developed so much through the relationships she built with the characters in the book, even with the Dewberry boys.
Opal Learned from Gloria Dump to not judge other people because of their past but to look at what they're doing now. That helped her to look at the everyone in a new light and give people a chance. Opal learns why Amanda is so 'pinch-faced' and Gloria tells her that sometimes 'the whole world has an aching heart'. I think that teaches Opal some empathy and allows her to relate better to people because of the aching heart she has from her mama leaving.

I think DiCamillo creates a very authentic setting with this book. It is in a small town with everyday people in a somewhat middle class area. None of the characters are perfect, and neither are the families. It shows that everyone comes from a different background, learns from what has happened, and helps other people to also understand what they have learned.

One of my favorite characters in this book was Otis, and it may just be because I have seen the movie and Dave Matthews plays this character. He is a very free-spirited person who just wants to play his music. The book made you feel sorry for him for having been put in jail. All he was doing was playing his music, not even asking money for it and the police had to go and cause a scene with it. Granted, I know I am guilty of rolling my eyes at people in big cities who stand at a corner and play their music with their instrument case sitting in front of them for anyone who wants to leave some spare change. It was intriguing how Otis was able to calm the animals with his music in the pet shop. I know music calms me down when I am stressed, so I can relate to the animals in that sense. It must really stress animals out when they are caged up all the time.

I really liked the idea of the Littmus Lozenges Miss Franny told Opal about. I know such thing doesn't actually exist, but I found a web page online a class made that has their own recipe for Littmus Lozenges, minus the ingredient of sorrow. The whole concept of the candy made me think that there are bittersweet moments throughout life. It is good to recognize them every once in a while to remember where you have come from, and how far you have come along since then.

The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!

Author/Illustrator: Willems, Mo
Publisher and Date: Hyperion Books for Children 2004
Genre: Picture Book
Age Range: K-1

Summary: In this book a pigeon finds a hot dog and is approached by a little duckling. The duckling keeps questioning the pigeon about the hot dog while the duckling takes notes. The pigeon gets annoyed and doesn't want to share the hot dog because he is the one that found it. In the end they split the hot dog and sit down to eat it together.

Response: I really liked the unique drawings of both birds in this book. Their eye takes up the majority of their head and the expression is shown by how much of the eyelid covers the eye.
The relationship between the two birds reminds me of that between an older and younger sibling. I am the younger sibling and have always been very inquisitive. My sister, on the other hand, did not always enjoy answering all of my questions all of the time. And though we are nine years apart, she still did not always want to share her things with me.

Teaching Ideas: This book would be good for a lesson on compromise and sharing with others. The duckling obviously wanted a taste of the hot dog and the pigeon obviously did not want to share its delicious hot dog with anyone else, especially the duckling. In the end they split the hot dog in half and each were able to eat some. This can teach children that even though they may not want to always share something with someone else, it is the polite and right thing to do.

Knuffle Bunny Too

Author/Illustrator: Willems, Mo
Publisher and Date: Hyperion Books for Children 2007
Genre: Picture Book
Age Range: K-1
Awards: 2008 Honor Book

Summary: This picture book is about a girl named Trixie who was excited to show her Knuffle Bunny to her friends at school. When she got to school she saw that another girl, Sonja, had the same Knuffle Bunny. Their Knuffle Bunnies got switched after the teacher had taken them away and the girls had their fathers switch them in the middle of the night. After the bunnies were returned to their rightful owners, Trixie and Sonja became best friends.

Response: I can relate so well to this book! I know it was absolutely awful to show up at school with the same anything as another kid in the class. After that happens though, you realize you have something in common with the other person and it usually would end in a friendship unless one of the children was a real bully!
Willems did an excellent job with the illustrations in this book. I loved how the background of the picture was a black and white photo and the characters were illustrated. The lighting from the photo was reflected in the illustrated characters, which really pulled the whole picture together. In the picture where Trixie's dad is talking to Sonja's on the phone, Trixie's dad is standing in front of a mirror and his reflection is drawn in on the mirror of the black and white photo. I think the pictures were my favorite part, I love it when artists mix mediums.
I liked how Willems was able to incorporate aspects of his other books into Knuffle Bunny Too. In the picture where Trixie's parents are putting her to bed she has a stuffed animal at the end of her bed which is actually Leonardo The Terrible Monster from one of his other picture books. This reminded me of the Pixar movies, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo. In Monsters Inc., the litter girl, Boo, has a fish mobile in her bedroom. In Finding Nemo, Pixar placed that mobile from Boo's room in the dentist office when Nigel, the pelican, flies into the office. [I've included pictures below and circled the mobile in red!]



Teaching Ideas: This would be good for encouraging the children to make new friends and find people they have things in common with. It is also good in talking polite manners and how to share your things with others.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Author/Illustrator: Selznick, Brian
Publisher and Date: Scholastic Press 2007
Genre: Illustrated Novel, Historical Fiction
Age Range: 4-6 grades
Awards: Caldecott Award Winner 2008

Summary: This book is about an imaginative young orphan boy named Hugo Cabret who lives behind the walls of a train station in Paris. He steals from local shops to survive keeps the clocks running to cover the disappearance of his uncle. Hugo's stealing brings him in the path of a famous magician and filmmaker, Georges Méliès who has tried to shut his past out of his life. Hugo is able to help bring Méliès' past back to life and Méliès gives Hugo a home and a family.

Response: I absolutely loved this book! Selznick's illustrations are so detailed and captivating, it made the book seem like a movie with subtitles. I like how it tells the reader to picture yourself in a theatre before the movie starts. It brought that type of anticipation and had me trying to guess what would happen next.
The description in the book was very well done! I loved the pages that described the automaton. It made me feel like I was right there watching it draw out the picture of the man on the moon with the rocket in it's eye.
I enjoyed the incorporation of actors, movies, and machines of the time. It made the story more realistic and had you learning some history without digging into a history book.

Some of the actors included:

• Tom Mix


• Louise Brooks


• Charlie Chaplin


• Jean Renoir


• Buster Keaton

I liked the extra information Selznick included at the back of the book. A link he provided shows a video of an automaton in action. I also looked up some of Méliès' movies on the internet and found a video of A Trip to the Moon on youtube. It is in French, but it is still really neat to see the actual film.

Teaching Ideas:
This book could be used as a lesson on the time period and the people that lived in it. Also could be used in an art or film lesson and look at works from that time period and how they differ from more contemporary works. For a more hands-on activity the children could draw or make out of clay their own automaton and write a story about what they would have it to write or draw. They could also reenact the movies mentioned in the book from their perspective. These could all be performed in front of the class as their own 'Georges Méliès' rememberence day.

Leonardo the Terrible Monster

Author/Illustrator: Willems, Mo
Publisher and Date: Hyperion Books for Children 2005
Genre: Picture book
Age Range: K-2

Summary: This picture book is about a discouraged little monster named Leonardo. He is not good at scaring like the other monsters. After much research he finds a boy named Sam to scare. Sam is having a bad day and is not scared by Leonardo. Leonardo decides to become a friend to Sam instead of being a terrible monster.

Response: I love the story of Leonardo the Terrible Monster! The illustrations were very well done and it reminded me somewhat of Where the Wild Things Are.
I think the story does good with the underlying theme of bullying. Most kids who are bullies do so because they are insecure about themselves just as Leonardo was. They feel better if they can pick on someone else and make them feel bad or upset. I like how in the end Leonardo and Sam become friends because Leonardo realizes that is really what Sam needs.
Something that made me laugh was the expression 'scare the tuna salad out of him' that Willems used in this book. It is just such a silly expression and it adds a lightheartedness to the story.

Teaching Ideas: This would be a great story to read any time to the class throughout the year. Bullying is an issue that never really dissipates among children and should be addressed, especially in younger grades. Children in the class could be challenged to make a new friend (like Leonardo made friends with Sam) or to make up with someone they did or said something mean to.