Book Talk: The Name Jar

Journal: The Talented Clementine--by: Sara Pennypacker

I felt that The Talented Clementine sent out a really positive message. Every child is unique and has their own talents. It just takes time for some children to realize what they are really talented at. This book showed that even the children who seem to be the most untalented in the classroom can have talent if they just look deep within themselves. With Clementine's 3rd grade talent show on the way, she is nervous about not having a talent; however, her surprising hidden talent ends up saving the talent show in the end.

I love how Clementine is always herself and that her family is very supportive and caring. I feel that this kind of story will help children realize that it is always good to be yourself no matter what. It will also help children discover that everybody has a talent and that sometimes it just takes time to help children realize what that talent may be.

Journal: Made you look--by: Diane Roberts

I thought this book was a hilarious and filled with real life situations. This is definitely a must read for the middle grade readers because it's something that kids can relate to. Jason's journey to try to get on his favorite game show, Masquerade Mania, was very eventful. When Jason's parents surprise him with a trip to California he is very excited to fly there and get on his game show until he realizes that the family will be camping the whole way in a camper that looks like a sardine. Jason faced all the troubles that young boys his age would face such as: having to deal with annoying siblings, embarassment of his mother turning his underwear pink, and his mother leaving his allosaurus head behind. Everything finally buffed out in the end when Jason got on the show and won a trip to Hawaii and free movie tickets for the whole summer. This book is a great book. Not only does it talk about real life situations, but it also lets kids relate to the feelings of the characters. This book is funny and I feel that every kid will enjoy reading it.

Book Review: The Name Jar—By Yangsook Choi (2003)

I have uploaded my book review on Barnes and Noble.

Yangsook Choi has written and illustrated many children's books including The Sun Boy and the Moon Girl, New Cat, and The Next New Year. Choi’s most recent work, The Name Jar, is a compelling story about a child coming from a different country and going to a new school. Unhei is from Korea and is very anxious to start at her new school in the United States. Unhei becomes worried when none of the children on the bus can pronounce her name. She becomes embarrassed when children in the classroom ask her what her name is, so she tells everyone that she hasn’t chosen a name yet. Unhei’s classmates decide to help her out by writing name suggestions and placing them in a jar. Unhei doesn’t know what name to choose. She finally decides that she likes her name (which means grace) best of all and teaches the class about her name and how to pronounce it. Unhei’s best friend, Joey, truly shows great friendship throughout the story by accepting Unhei’s name and wanting a Korean name for himself. This story is very moving. Unhei’s strength and courage at the end of this story are very inspirational. Choi includes several of her own experiences in this story of how she probably felt when she moved from Korea to the United States. This is a book that every child should experience because it helps children develop a sense of self and friendship.

Read Aloud: Colorful World--By: CeCe Winans

I read aloud a book called Colorful World. This story is based off of lyrics of a song by CeCe Winans. The book has a cd that goes along with it. I felt this book sent out a great message. I feel that we are all unique, with our own talents and abilities. When children figure out that it is not a bad thing to be different, then they will feel free to be themselves. We do live in a very diverse world and that is a wonderful thing. The world would be boring if we were all the same. It truly is a colorful world that we live in, a beatuiful world that we live in.

Journal: Upside Down and Backwards--By: Diane Gonzales Bertrand

I thought this book was a great example of how a collection of stories make even the ordinary problems of childhood bizarre. I felt that these short stories took children out on an adventure of all the struggles that children face in childhood. I liked how each story had a different setting, but each setting showed a strong relationship between family, friends, and teachers. This will be a great book to use in the classroom beause it is bilingual.

One of my favorite short stories in the book was called "Blue Ribbon". I liked this story because it shows how children will try to do whatever it takes sometimes just to make their family or friends proud. Alonzo loved all the attention he was getting for having the blue ribbon, that he had stolen just to impress his family. Alonzo's conscience then kicked in and he knew that he needed to give his ribbon back to the child that actually deserved it. It's heart warming to see how children want so much for their family and friends to be proud of them, but at the same time they have a conscience to know that stealing and lying aren't appropriate.

Journal: When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer--By: Walt Whitman

I really enjoyed this story by Walt Whitman. Even though this poetic book did not have a lot of text in it, I still thought it was a beautiful story. I felt that the pictures in this story were incredible and gave us a visualization of what the poem was trying to convey.

I feel this poem has a direct correlation to life in general. Sometimes people are too technical and try to break things apart and understand what everything means. When really people should be enjoying things for what they are worth. For instance, in the story the astronomer was lecturing about charts and diagrams. Whitman then tuned out and started to discover the real beauty of the stars on his own. I feel this story shows that you don't have to be so technical and try to understand everything because real discoveries lie without all the technicalities.

Journal: Los Gatos Black on Halloween--By: Marisa Montes

Despite of the differences in discussions we had today in class on this book. I think this book can still be taught to young children around the Kindergarten-First Grade especially for the children who love Halloween. I feel if some children or their parents have a problem with this book, then they can read another book while the rest of the class is reading Los Gatos Black on Halloween. I also know that you have to be very careful with books like this because it can be offending to individuals with religious backgrounds. I think that we as teachers need to introduce topics about this book before reading it to the class. For instance, maybe a week before this book was read in class, the teacher can talk to the class about Halloween traditions and Mexico's Dia de los Muertos and its traditions. That way children will have a heads up about Halloween traditions and the won't be completely scared when the book is read to them.

Some of the English/Spanish rhyming text may be confusing for children in the classroom. However, I feel that this books will give children the opportunity to pick up some new vocabulary terms. This book gives children a way of figuring out vocabulary words in context. Even if the child doesn't know the correct word, they can look at the pictures or use other context clues to figure out what the author is talking about.

Journal: I Love Saturdays y Domingos--By: Alma Flor Ada

I love how affectionate and revealing this story is about a bilingual girl that visits both sets of grandparents. This story does a great job of showing how families are very diverse nowadays. We live in a multicultural society. I felt this book did a great job of showing how the girl was lucky to have both sets of grandparents from different backgrounds and how it wasn't a big problem either.

I thought that this story did a great job of incorporating Spanish vocabulary so that readers could explore the meanings of spanish words in context. I feel that even though the little girl uses Spanish words and phrases in describing her Sundays with her Mexican American grandparents, for the most part the meanings are explained or can be inferred from the context. This book can be an opener to introducing Spanish vocabulary at a younger age.

Journal: The Name Jar--By: Yangsook Choi

I feel that this story touches on what a lot of individuals may go through when they are coming from a different ethnic background. When we as individuals go to a different geographical location, we often may question what we should take with us and what we should leave behind. In the story, Unhei realized her Korean name was different when none of the children on the bus could pronounce her name right. She wanted an American name and her classmates agreed to help her find one by placing suggestions of names in a jar.

I found it very touching at the end of the story when Unhei decided to keep her Korean name and taught the class about her name. Unhei finally realized the beauty and significance of her name. Her classmates realized that being different is a good thing and requested Korean names too.

I do not feel that an individual should leave behind their name and have to change it just so that they can "fit in" or be the same as everyone else. A person's name is part of their heritage and makes each individual unique. A name gives everybody a sense of self and individuality. Changing that would be taking a part of the individual's heritage away.

Journal: My Name is Maria Isabel--By: Alma Flor Ada

I feel like this story touched a lot of emotions. We can all relate to how it feels to start something new. Maria Isabel was starting a new school and I could feel her nervousness because I know how nervous I would be in that situation.

It is heartbreaking to see that Maria Isabel is hurt when her teacher decides to call her Mary to distinguish her from two other Marias in the class. Maria Isabel isn’t used to that name, and she is constantly in trouble because the teacher thinks she isn’t listening, when really it’s just that she doesn’t recognize the unfamiliar name. Worst of all, the teacher thinks she doesn’t want to participate in the Winter Pageant. Maria is proud of her name and heritage and wants to find a way to make her teacher understand. I know I would be upset if there were three "Alicia's" in the class and my teacher decided to call me "ALICE". I would feel like a very important piece of me was just taken away, my heritage. Our name is a part of us. It describes us and gives us character.

I love how Maria Isabel finally gets enough courage to talk about how proud she is of her name and heritage in a writing assignment and finally gets to participate in the Winter Pageant.