Leah Chapman Literature & Elementary Reading Task 8 Annotated List of Multicultural Books Craighead George, Jean. Julie of the wolves. Harper Publishers. 1972. New York, NY. Julie of the Wolves is a fiction novel that would be appropriate from children ages 10-14, or grades 5-8. It is a captivating tale about a young Eskimo girl who runs away from home and finds herself lost in the Alaskan tundra. The story depicts Julie’s fight for survival as well as the fight within herself. She is torn between two sides of herself, and must decide whether she will be know as Julie, her white people name, or Miyax, the Eskimo girl.
This book would be considered to be in the adolescence genre, as well as the Native American genre, as the book tells about Julie’s family and the “old ways” of Eskimo people and their way of life. This book received many awards including: ·1973 John Newberry Medal ·National Book Award finalist ·One of the 10 Best Children’s Books in 200 Years (by the Children’s Literature Assoc. ) DePoala, Tomie. The legend of the indian paintbrush. G. P. Putnam‘s. 1988. New York, NY. The Legend of the Indian paintbrush is a colorful depiction of the Native American Indian legend of the Indian paintbrush flower and how it came into being.
It is a children’s book that would be appropriate for ages birth-10 or grades K-4. The book is a re-telling of the legend of Little Gopher, a Native American boy who cannot run or fight like his peers. However, Little Gopher does have a gift most unique—he is a very talented artist. Little Gopher wants to paint a sunset but is never happy with the colors of his paintings until one night when he has a “dream vision” and he is told by the spirits where he can find paint brushes filled with the colors of the sunset. He does, and he creates a beautiful masterpieces.
Afterwards, he strews the magic brushes all over the hillside, which root and become the beautiful Indian Paintbrush flowers. This book is clearly about Native American culture. Author and illustrator Tomie DePoala has received numerous honors and awards but none specifically for this book. Frank, Anne. Anne Frank: The diary of a young girl. Doubleday. 1953. New York, NY. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl is a non-fiction autobiographical collection of writings from the diary of a young Jewish girl named Anne Frank. This book would be most appropriate for children ages 11-18 or grades 5-12.
The entries in the diary were written between 1942-1944, the time during the Nazi-Occupation of the Netherlands at the beginning of World War II. Anne Frank’s diary is one of the most moving and most enduring accounts of what happened during the Nazi occupation and what was experienced by the families living in hiding during that time. Anne tells her diary (whom she nicknamed “Kitty”) all of her secrets, her frustrations, and her aspirations to become a journalist, which tragically, never come to pass, for after they are discovered, Anne and of her family members are sent to a concentration camp where Anne dies just shy of her 16th birthday.
This book will help readers paint a mental picture of European life during World War II and the Nazi invasions, and offers a glimpse into this turbulent time from a young person’s point of view. This would be considered an autobiography as well as a book about European culture during the 1940’s. It was made into a feature-length motion picture in 1959 which garnered numerous awards, including 3 Academy Awards. The book has received worldwide praise and reception and has been honored with many awards including: ·1952 New York Times Best-Seller ·1955 New York Times Best-Seller 1996 ALA Best Books for Young Adults Award ·1997 Waterstones Books of the Century Award ·2003 ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Award ·2004 ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Award Jaffe, Nina. Older brother, younger brother. Viking Publishers. 1995. New York, NY. Older Brother, Younger Brother is the re-telling of a popular Korean folk story. This book would be appropriate for children ages 4-8, or grades P-3. This book tells the story of the two brothers Nolbu and Hungbu. Nolbu is the older brother, and is very mean and hard-hearted.
Hungbu is the youngest, and unlike Nolbu, is kind and generous. After their father dies, Nolbu inherits the family wealth and banishes Hungbu and his family. The story tells how even through struggle and destitution Hungbu remains kind and selfless and in turn reaps great rewards because of his kind acts. This story is fiction folklore and gives children insight into Korean customs and traditions. Author Nina Jaffe has received numerous awards and accolades for her writings and children’s books, but none specifically for this title.
Krebs, Laurie. We all went on safari: a counting journey through Tanzania. Barefoot Books. 2003. Cambridge, MA. We All Went on Safari: a Counting Journey through Tanzania is a lively rhyming book that takes children on an exciting adventure with the Maasai people through Tanzania. This book would be appropriate for children ages 3-8 or grades P-3. In this book, children are introduced to the Swahili language as well as the people and animals native to the African country of Tanzania.
The rhyming text is complimented by the bright colorful illustrations of the African grasslands. This book is a fiction poetry story about Massai culture and life in Tanzania. Honors bestowed to this book include: ·2003 Child magazine’s Best Book of the Year ·2003 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award Long, Loren. Otis. Philomel of The Penguin Group. 2009. New York, NY. Otis is a fictitious heart-warming tale of a tractor named Otis who becomes best friends with a young calf who lives on the farm. This children’s book would be appropriate for children ages 4-8 or grades P-2.
This book is about Otis, who is a friendly little tractor who loves his life on the farm until he is replaced by a big yellow tractor. But when Otis’s best friend the little calf gets in trouble, it is Otis, not the big yellow tractor, who comes to her rescue. This book gives delightful depiction of life on a farm and rural American culture. This book has received many awards including: ·2010 Texas 2X2 Reading List, Recommended ·2010 Indies Choice Awards, Finalist ·2010 Buckaroo Book Award, Nominee ·2010 Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Awards Winner 2010 Capitol Choices, Recommended ·2012 Monarch Award, Nominee McDermott, Gerald. Anansi the spider: a tale from the ashanti. Henry Holt & Co. 1972. New York, NY. Anansi the Spider: A Tale From the Ashanti is a delightful retelling of the traditional Ashanti folktale involving the mischievous spider Anansi and his six spider sons. This book is appropriate for children ages 3-9 or grades P-3. This story is an account of Anansi, a loveable hero who is popular folk story character in Ashanti tales in Africa. In the story, Anansi goes on a journey and encounters many difficulties.
Each of his sons use their unique talents and abilities to help their father, and at the end he wants to reward them with a beautiful glowing globe he has found, but Anansi can’t decide which son deserves the prize. This story is a children’s folklore book that will introduce young readers to Ashanti African culture. This book has been honored with the following awards: ·1973 Caldecott Medal ·1973 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award Politi, Leo. Three stalks of corn. Simon & Schuster. 1994. New York, NY. Three Stalks of Corn is a children’s fiction storybook that tells the story f Angelica, a Hispanic heritage girl who lives with her grandmother and learns about her heritage and the important role of corn in their culture. This book would be appropriate for children ages 4-10 or grades P-4. In Three Stalks of Corn, Angelica and her grandmother live in Poco Riveria, California. The book tells how Angelica learns about her heritage and her native country when her grandmother explains all of the legends and the various uses for corn, and in turn, Angelica gains a new understanding and respect for the three stalks of corn growing Abuelita’s garden.
The end of this book features recipes for making homemade tortillas and other corn dishes. This fiction book would be a great way to introduce young readers to Mexican or Hispanic culture. This book has not garnered any notable awards or recognition. Spinelli, Jerry. Maniac McGee. Little Brown Books. 1990. New York, NY. Maniac McGee is a fiction novel about an orphaned boy named Jeffery Lionel who runs away from home and has many exciting adventures, meets unique and interesting people, and ultimately becomes a legend in his own backyard.
This book would be appropriate for children ages 10-14 or grades 4-8. This book tells the story of Jeffery, a boy who is left an orphan after a tragic trolley accident kills both of his parents. Tired of living with his aunt and uncle, Jeffery runs away from home. Along the way he makes many friends (and a few enemies) and accomplishes many amazing feats, including breaking the racial barriers between the feuding East Side and West Side. This book introduces students to many complicated topics such as racism, homelessness, and the search for personal identity.
This book is a compelling and challenging read for both elementary and middle school students and would be considered a book about urban American culture. This book has garnered an astounding number of awards including: ·1990 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards[-;0], Fiction Winner ·1991 Carolyn W. Field Award[-;1] ·1991 John Newbery Medal [-;2] ·1993 Arkansas Charlie May Simon Children’s Book Award[->3] ·1993 Missouri Mark Twain Book Award[->4] Taylor, Mildred. Roll of thunder, hear my cry. Penguin Books. 1976.
New York, NY. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor is a fiction novel about a young African American girl growing up in rural south during the Great Depression. This book would be appropriate for children ages 8-14 or grades 4-8. The book tells the story of Cassie Logan, a nine-year old girl who belongs to a hard-working land-owning black family during the 1930’s. Cassie has grown up very sheltered and protected, and could never imagine that a white person or any other stranger would ever cause her family harm.
The opposite proves to be true in this novel that challenges readers to face difficult issues such as racism, poverty, violence, and betrayal. This book is a children’s and young adult fiction novel that depicts rural American culture during the Great Depression, as well as offering insight into the life and customs of African American families during that time period. This book has been honored with the following distinguished awards: · 1977 Newbery Medal Award · 1991 George G. Stone Center Recognition of Merit Award · 1977 Jane Addams Book Award · 1977 Coretta Scott-King Award 1977 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book C. Fry Readability Graph Activity 1. Explain the specific steps you took to determine the grade level. For this activity I chose to evaluate Maniac McGee and Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl. For both books I chose a passage and counted out 100 words in the passage. After the 100 words were counted and marked, I then counted how many sentences were in each passage and how many syllables were in each passage. Here are those figures for the passages from these two books: Number of Words Number of SentencesNumber of Syllables Maniac McGee:1008. 5139 Anne Frank:1004. 129 2. Identify the determined grade level for each of the two books Grade Level As Determined by Fry Readability Graph Maniac McGee:6th Grade Reading Level Anne Frank:7th Grade Reading Level [->0] – http://www. literatureplace. com/awards/award_title. asp? AwardTitleID=5 [->1] – http://www. literatureplace. com/awards/award_title. asp? AwardTitleID=13 [->2] – http://www. literatureplace. com/awards/award_title. asp? AwardTitleID=25 [->3] – http://www. literatureplace. com/awards/award_title. asp? AwardTitleID=54 [->4] – http://www. literatureplace. com/awards/award_title. asp? AwardTitleID=55
