Midterm and Final Reflection

I thoroughly enjoyed reading and responding to children's literature. This was a great class to take because it exposed me to so many children's books that I had never read before. I remember the first class when we had to pick our favorite book when we were younger. I couldn't think of one... because I didn't have one. For me books have never been a part of my life. I never liked reading and I was in the "slow" reading group when I was younger. I have always struggled with reading, especially when it comes to reading in a certain amount of time. That is why I decided to specialize in reading. I wanted children to love reading unlike I did. And I say did because I have really started to enjoy reading much more. I never realized how many great books there were out there. Yes I know, I read children's books, but there are some amazing children's books out there! I have found some new favorite books because of this class. I have also learned how to pick out good books and how to use them in my classroom. I also never knew how many different types of books there were in children's literature. Before this class I only thought of story books with people or animals. I had no idea there were great wordless books and graphic novels and controversial books and historical fictions and tons more. I loved all the books I got to read this semester. And I only blogged about maybe half of them! Reading some of these books really made me consider teaching a younger grade because of all the great picture books there are. Although there are some great chapter books as well. I have to say my favorite book I read this semester in the class was the Misfits. I never would have picked up that book own my own and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to read it. I'm glad I had the opportunity to take this class. I really enjoyed this semester. The only thing I did not enjoy was blogging about books. Well I didn't not enjoy it but it was extremely difficult when I did not have a computer or Internet access when I needed it. I would have enjoyed a journal more. I also am not the biggest fan that anyone can read my blog but then again it's good to have published writing :) lol. I just get nervous that an author will see what I wrote about their book... and what if I didn't like there book? Ahh! Either way blogging or no blogging I enjoyed this course very much. I think class time was very enjoyable and I really learned a lot from you Jen. I also learned a lot from other classmates as well. This class was one of my favorite classes I have taken at the University of Iowa so far! :)

So Far From the Bamboo Grove

So Far From the Bamboo Grove is a true story told by Yoko Kawashima Watkins about her own life during the war. This was an extremely impactful book. It was very emotional for me to read but very enjoyable as well. As much as it was sad I think it was a necessary read. Reading text books and other non fiction books can be very dry and unemotional and dull to read. And lets be honest half of the time students don't even read their text books and never really learn the information. I know I did it a time or two. This book on the other hand tells a story and tells you about one individuals story and how her life has been impacted by these events. I can not believe the hardships Yoko and her family faced. I am not a strong person at all and would never be able to handle war, especially under the conditions they were in. And I think that she had every right to complain... life was scary and hard and sometimes complaining just feels good. It feels good to get it out. Another element of the book I really liked was that the book switched back and forth between Yoko's journey and her brother, Hideyo's journey to Japan. It made the book very interesting and it was great to hear different perspectives of life at that time. This book is one that I would love to have in my classroom as well. As we saw in class, I would love to have the students in my future class read this book as well as year of impossible goodbyes and compare the two. I think it is interesting to hear two stories from two perspectives from two different young girls in different countries. You can't help but feel so bad for both of them.

The Year of Impossible Goodbyes

This was a great book. This book takes place in the 1940s during World War II. Sookan is the main character and is only a child having to live through this time of war. She tells the story of her family and her troubles she faces to get to freedom. Her father hide in Manchuria and her older brothers was in Japanese labor camps, Sookan and her remaining family members run a sock factory for the war effort. Sookan goes to school and is brainwashed by the Japanese who have taken over their school. Eventually the Russians come in and save them... or so they think. They actually come in and do the same thing the Japanese did. Her family decides that the only way to freedom is to escape across the 38th parallel. Part of the family goes while the others stay so that the Russians don't notice. During the escape they are tricked and their mother gets detained at a Russian checkpoint. Sookan and her younger brother, Inchun, have to make it on their own across the parallel and find their family on the other side. This book was heart wrenching and intense. I loved this book. I especially loved the description of them trying to run to the parallel on page 160 and 161. I felt like I was part of the story. I could imagine myself in Sookan's shoes... or bare feet to be politically correct. I was nervous for her and Inchun the entire time. I could only imagine the pain they were in. This book is certainly a new favorite of mine. I will certainly use this book in my classroom if it fits the grade level.

Shipwreck on the Pirate Islands

This book is about Geronimo Stilton and his adventures on an island. His sister Thea talks him into going on this trip but boy do they run into some trouble. This book is cute, funny and a fun book to read. The chapters are very short and there are some pictures in it as well. One of my favorite parts was how the words were on the page. Some of the words were bolded or in crazy fonts or were all over the page. Sometimes there would be an image in the place of a word. It was fun not only for me as a reader but also for my second grader that I read to during child study for block A. She really enjoyed this book and I did too. She would always want me to read just one more chapter... which was easy to do when we were on a time constraint because they were short. I would love to read the other books in this series. I am definitely considering having some of these in my classroom.

Ms Hannah is Bannanas!

Ms Hannah is Bananas is another my weird school book. I enjoyed miss daisy is crazy so decided to read this one as well. The teacher sure is Bananas. She wears dresses make of pot holders and collects garbage! The reason I chose this book was because I enjoyed the series and I liked to see what other crazy teachers AJ has. I also like that Miss daisy was included in this book as well as well as Principal Klutz. I know my cousin Emma liked this series and I think I like it too.

Halloween Night on Shivermore Street

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was a cute book about children on Halloween on Shivermore Street. The reason I love this book the most was the illustrations. They are breath taking! I honestly felt like I was watching a movie because the illustrations looked like a animated movie as I flipped the pages. They are colorful and detailed and just great. I like this book for my future classroom for Halloween. I just liked this book because it was cute and simple and beautiful illustrations.

King and King

I found that most of the books that I choose at controversial books are ones that addressed Homosexuality. King and King is a book about a Prince and how he must find a mate to become King. The queen is too tired of being the queen so wants the price to take over and wants a new queen to step in. But princess after princess seem to be the wrong fit for this prince and then all the sudden the perfect person comes around. It is a prince. The two princes get married and become prince and prince of all the land and live happily ever after. Although it is a child's story about princess' and princes and kings and queens it divulges into a controversial issue that is quite popular today. Homosexuality as well as gay marriage. Iowa recently legalized gay marriage but there are very few that have and that probably ever will. I liked this book and that the characters live happily ever after, although I don't think happily ever after is ever realistic... but a great ending for children's stories. I also liked the illustrations in this book. They are colorful and fun. I also liked the word placement. The words were all over the page which made it fun to read. The thing I found most interesting about the book though was the last page. The two kings are kissing but there is a heart over their kiss. What does that say about our acceptance of homosexuality? Just a thought.