Module 8- July 25-July 31 Qwerty Stevens Back in Time by Dan Gutman

 





                       Qwerty Stevens Stuck in Time with 
                       Benjamin Franklin by Dan Gutman




Summary:
After accidentally sucking Benjamin Franklin into the twenty-first-century of  New Jersey with his Anytime Anywhere machine, thirteen-year-old Qwerty Stevens and his best friend almost wind up stuck in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776 when they try to send him back. This is a great book that blends fact and fiction into  time-travel packed with twists and turns along with great characters.

Read it Again?
Yes, this is a fun book with all kinds to twists and turns about time travel and the fun exploration of history.  It would be fun to do activities and research on time travelers.

Library Use:
This could book could be used in a unit about Benjamin Franklin and would be fun to do a mystery book club and read alouds with for 4th and 5th grade students.  It would be fun to have book scavenger about time travel.  I would also like to have students write their own stories about time travel and award a winner for the best story.

Reviews:

Horn Book Guide 4/1/2003 Qwerty, who discovered the Anytime Anywhere Machine in The Edison Mystery, accidentally causes the device to bring Benjamin Franklin into the twenty-first century. Qwerty and his friend Joey then travel back in time to witness the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The writing is breezy, but much of the novel's historical information is didactic, while its overdrawn villain seems straight out of a B-movie. Copyright 2003 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.  Booklist 9/15/2002 Gr. 4-7. In this funny sequel to Gutman's Qwerty Stevens Back in Time: The Edison Mystery (2001), Qwerty accidentally sets Thomas Edison's secret "Anytime Anywhere Machine" into action once again. The machine first transports Benjamin Franklin into Qwerty's bedroom, then returns him, along with Qwerty and his pal Joey, back to eighteenth-century Philadelphia. Franklin emerges as a colorful character with original opinions, a keen appreciation of modern technology, aphorisms for all occasions, and manners that charm even twenty-first-century women. Franklin's juxtaposition to the modern world, and particularly his visit to Qwerty's seventh-grade classroom, provides a great deal of humor as well as some thought-provoking moments. Less amusing but certainly instructive is the boys' quick trip to colonial Philadelphia. It provides an accessible, unusually human fictional portrayal of the approval of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, complete with a snappish Adams and a snarling Jefferson. In an appended section, Gutman separates some of the historical facts in the book from its fictional framework. --Carolyn Phelan

References:
www.mackin.com


Bibliography:
Gutman, G. (2002). Qwerty Stevens back in time: The edison mystery. New York: New York. Simon & Schuster. 

Module 7- July 17-24 Bodies from the Ash: Life and Death in Ancient Pompeii by James Deem

 


       Bodies from the Ash by James Deem






Summary:
Pompeii was destroyed by the Vesuvius Volcano in AD 79.  The entire city was destroyed and buried under several feet of ash.  It wasn't until a 100 years later that Pompeii was uncovered by archeologists and the excavations of Pompeii began. The book discusses how excavation revealed buildings and jewelry as well as  the remains of Pompeii residents preserved by volcanic ash.


Read it Again?
Yes, this was a great informational book.  Deem did a great job of telling the story and investigating the story of Pompeii.  It had a lot of great pictures and illustrations which really made the story come to life.   

Library Use:
This is a good book for students to use if they are studying Pompeii.  It gives a lot of great details and information about the bodies discovered in Pompeii and what is being done to preserve the plaster casts.


Reviews:

School Library Journal 12/1/2005

Gr 4-8-In A.D. 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted and within 24 hours, ash, pumice, and volcanic rubble had covered, and annihilated, the city of Pompeii. It was not until the 18th century that workers began to uncover the remains of this nearly forgotten, except in legend, city and its inhabitants. In this well-researched account, Deem retells the story of this devastating eruption, combining a lively text with photographs of the bones and artifacts that have been unearthed through the years. In 1863, an excavator discovered a fascinating way to study human remains. As bodies covered in hot ash and enveloped by volcanic material decayed, spaces were left around the skeletons. After the hollow areas were filled with plaster, the surrounding debris was chipped away, resulting in detailed plaster casts that preserved "imprints of the people's dying moments," showing their facial expressions and body positions as well as their clothing and possessions. Deem explains how scientists have used these molds and other evidence to piece together the life styles and final moments of some of the victims, and conveys these heart-wrenching tales. Dramatic photographs of the casts capture the horror of this event and help readers to envision day-to-day life in this civilization. With incredibly engrossing images and narrative, this is a powerful and poignant piece of nonfiction.-Jodi Kearns, University of Akron, OH Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. 

Booklist 11/1/2005

Gr. 5-8. On August 24, 79 C.E., the long-silent Mt. Vesuvius erupted, and volcanic ash rained down on the 20,000 residents of Pompeii. This photo-essay explains what happened when the volcano exploded--and how the results of this disaster were discovered hundreds of years later. A tragedy this dramatic demands an affecting text, but this one begins rather ploddingly with the events of August 24 and 25, and moves through the rediscovery of the city and the surrounding areas, with progressively more being learned. What the text lacks in excitement is made up for by the enormous amount of information Deem offers, some of which was acquired in on-site research. The excavations and body preservation techniques are explained in detail; everyday life in the city and the later tourist activity centered in Pompeii are also highlighted. But the jewels here are the numerous black-and-white (and some color) photographs, especially those featuring the plaster casts and skeletons of people in their death throes. The horizontal format, with pages looking as though they were partially bordered in marble, makes an attractive setting for the art. Excellent for browsers as well as researchers. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2005 Booklist

References:
www.mackin.com


Bibliography:
Deem, J. (2005).  Bodies from the Ash. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Module 7- July 17-24 What if you met a Pirate? by Jan Adkins

                     What if you met a Pirate? by Jan Adkins




Summary:
The author explains what life was really like aboard a pirate ship. Lively illustrations depict the more demanding chores the sailors actually performed: braiding each others hair and pumping out the bilge water, hard work and few baths. The book presents pirate lore, and information on their ships and equipment. This  book is a fun look into life on the high seas. It will definitely appeal to young readers.

Read it Again?
I would read this book again.  It had great detailed illustrations of Pirates and their ships.  I learned a lot about Pirates and what they used to sail and what they did all day.  This was a very good informational book.

Library Use:
This book would be a great resource for research on Pirates.  Boys would really enjoy all of the details included in this book.

Reviews:

Horn Book Guide 4/1/2005 Each double-page spread is headed by a question, such as "Who got to be a pirate?" and "How did pirate ships sail?" The answers are provided in a clear text that presents basic facts about pirate life while dispelling some familiar legends ("walking the plank" was never an actual pirate practice). The color illustrations have a rugged quality well suited to the subject matter. Glos., ind. Copyright 2003 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.  Booklist 10/15/2004 Gr. 3-5. Can it be that walking the plank was a fictional punishment invented by illustrator Howard Pyle? In this appealing book, Adkins gives readers the lowdown on what life under the pirate flag was really like. After setting up the conventional portrait of swaggering, singing sailors in colorful duds, he replaces it with a more realistic picture of hard-working sailors who might swashbuckle just a few hours each month and bathed considerably less. Yet this realistic portrayal of pirates and their activities is even more intriguing than the romanticized version he debunks. Adkins strikes just the right note in the text, always informative and frequently entertaining as well. Bright with color washes, the excellent, energetic drawings show pirates engaged in a variety of activities, from pumping out the bilge to braiding each other's hair to using the open-air bathroom at the front of the ship. In a send-up of current book marketing, the back cover carries appreciative comments by the likes of Queen Elizabeth I and Leonardo da Vinci. Where pirate fever runs high this spirited presentation will find an enthusiastic audience. For more titles, see the Read-alikes, Ship Ahoy! BKL S 1 04. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2004 Booklist

References:
www.mackin.com


Bibliography:
Adkins, J. (2004). What if you met a pirate?  Connecticut: Roaring Book Press

Module 6-July 11-16 Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine

 




              Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine






Summary:
Henry Brown doesn't know how old he is. Nobody keeps records of slaves' birthdays. His entire life he dreams about freedom, but that dream seems farther away than ever when he is taken from his family and made to work in a warehouse. When Henry grows up and get married, he is devastated when his family is sold at the slave market. One day, as he lifts a crate at the warehouse, he decides what he should do.  He decides to mail himself to the North. After very hard journey in the crate, Henry finally has a birthday.  He celebrates his first day of freedom.

Read it Again?
Yes, this book was great.  It did a great job of depicting what happened to slaves. It was really heart wrenching when Henry's family was sold at the slave market.  This was a great example of the underground railroad.

Library Use:
I would use this book in Black History Month as well.  It is also a great book that helps teach about slavery and what people went through before slavery was abolished.  The kids will really enjoy how Henry got in the book and shipped himself to the North.

Reviews:

Booklist 2/1/2007 Although the cover shows a young boy staring intently at the reader, this book is really about Henry Brown as an adult and a staggering decision he made to achieve freedom. Henry, born a slave, hears from his mother that leaves blowing in the wind are torn from the trees like slave children are torn from their families. When his master grows ill, Henry hopes that he will be freed; instead, he is given to his master's son, and his life becomes worse. Eventually, Henry marries and has children; then his family is sold. With nothing left to lose, he asks a white abolitionist to pack him in a crate so he can be mailed to freedom. The journey is fraught with danger as he travels by train and then steamboat, but 27 hours later, he reaches Philadelphia. A brief author's note confirms the details of the story, but it's the dramatic artwork that brings the events emphatically to life. According to the flap copy, an antique lithograph of Brown inspired Nelson's paintings, which use crosshatched pencil lines layered with watercolors and oil paints. The technique adds a certain look of age to the art and also gives the pictures the heft they need to visualize Brown's life. Transcending technique is the humanity Nelson imbues in his characters, especially Brown and his mother--her dream of freedom deferred, his amazingly achieved. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2007 Booklist

Publisher's Weekly 1/1/2007

Levine (Freedom's Children) recounts the true story of Henry Brown, a slave who mailed himself to freedom. Thanks to Nelson's (Ellington Was Not a Street) penetrating portraits, readers will feel as if they can experience Henry's thoughts and feelings as he matures through unthinkable adversity. As a boy, separated from his mother, he goes to work in his new master's tobacco factory and eventually meets and marries another slave, with whom he has three children. In a heart wrenching scene depicted in a dramatically shaded pencil, watercolor and oil illustration, Henry watches as his family-suddenly sold in the slave market-disappears down the road. Henry then enlists the help of an abolitionist doctor and mails himself in a wooden crate "to a place where there are no slaves!" He travels by horse-drawn cart, steamboat and train before his box is delivered to the Philadelphia address of the doctor's friends on March 30, 1849. Alongside Henry's anguished thoughts en route, Nelson's clever cutaway images reveal the man in his cramped quarters (at times upside-down). A concluding note provides answers to questions that readers may wish had been integrated into the story line, such as where did Henry begin his journey? (Richmond, Va.); how long did it take? (27 hours). Readers never learn about Henry's life as a free man-or, perhaps unavoidably, whether he was ever reunited with his family. Still, these powerful illustrations will make readers feel as if they have gained insight into a resourceful man and his extraordinary story. Ages 4-8. (Jan.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

References:
www.mackin.com


Bibliography:

Levine, E. (2007). Henry's Freedom Box.  New York: Scholastic Press.

Module 6-July 11-16 Fly High by Louise Borden

 

                      
                         Fly High: The Story of Bessie Coleman by Louise Borden





Summary:
When Bessie Coleman was a child, she wanted to be in school reading and not working  in the cotton fields of Texas, helping her family earn money. She was the 10th child of thirteen children. She wanted to be somebody important in the world. So Bessie learned as much as should could under the circumstances in her life and read the bible every night. At the end of every day in the fields she checked the foreman's numbers -- made sure his math was correct. This was the beginning of a life of hard work and dedication that really paid off.   Bessie moved to Chicago at 23, where she got a job as a manicurist.  Bessie moved to France to learn how to fly, and that's how Bessie became the first African-American to earn a pilot's license. 


Read it Again?
Yes, this is a great story to read to students for social studies.  It is a great biography and shows that if you have determination and work hard you can accomplish anything. It gave a lot of information and followed Bessie all the way through her life as she learned and traveled until her death in plane crash.

Library Use:
I would use this book during Black History month.  This is a good book to introduce biography's to the younger students in the school. It does a good job describing Bessie and her life.


Reviews:

Booklist 2/15/2001 Ages 6-9. This short, highly illustrated biography introduces aviatrix Bessie Coleman, who in 1921 became the first African American with a pilot's license. Coleman, who picked cotton as a child in Texas, moved to Chicago as a young woman and was seized with the desire to fly an airplane. When that opportunity was denied to her in America, she saved her money, learned French, and moved to France, where she earned an international pilot's license. Throughout the text, the authors emphasize Coleman's determination to "be somebody," a resounding inspirational message for youngsters. The writing is clear and informative. Even the potentially difficult section on Coleman's death in a plane crash is handled with plainspoken dignity. Flavin contributes a series of soft-edged gouache paintings that express beauty and harmony in every aspect of Coleman's life. Pair this with Reeve Lindbergh's Nobody Owns the Sky (1996) for the same age group.  School Library Journal 1/1/2001 K-Gr 4-The authors' flair for imparting history soars in this biography of the first African American to earn a pilot's license. From her difficult childhood spent picking cotton in Texas to her grand achievements in aviation, Coleman's personality shines through. The warm illustrations done in gouache on colored paper mix exciting images of the aviator flying her plane with quieter glimpses of her interacting with friends and family members. The straightforward sentence structure keeps the action moving and will capture reluctant readers. Coleman's affinity for children will captivate youngsters, who will freely mourn the early demise of the "tr s chic! aviatrix" who often told others, "You can be somebody, too." A first-rate follow-up to Borden's Good-Bye, Charles Lindbergh (McElderry, 1998).-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

References:
www.mackin.com


Bibliography:

Borden, L. (2004). Fly High: The story of Bessie Coleman.  Fort Worth: Texas. Aladdin.

Module 5 July 4-10 James and the Giant Peach by Roald, Dahl

 





                                James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl





Summary:
James loses his parents in a horrible accident and is forced to live-miserably-with his two mean aunts. James is given some magic crystals that give him hope for a new life. But when he accidentally spills these crystals on an old peach tree, strange things begin to happen. A peach starts to grow and grow until James is able to climb inside and escape his awful aunts! James learns through this adventure and makes some interesting friends, including Grasshopper, Earthworm, Miss Spider, and Centipede, and finally finds a place where he belongs.


Read it Again?
Yes, this is a fun book to read.  I had fun visualizing all of the insects and bugs through out the book.  It is a great book for kids to use their imagination.  I would recommend this book to 3rd and 4th grade boys and girls to read.

Library Use:
I would use this book a a read a loud for library visits.  We would read the book weekly during class visits. This book is a great book for the kids to use their imagination. When the book is finished we would watch the movie and compare and contrast the movie to the book.

Reviews:

Horn Book Guide 9/1/1996

Fiction: I The text in this new edition remains unchanged, but the book is updated with Smith's black-and-white pencil sketches. His interpretation of the fantasy -- which contemporary young readers will recognize from Disney's film version -- is not quite as magical as Burkert's delightful renderings in the original edition. The new edition will suffice, but readers shouldn't skip the first. Horn Rating: Superior, well above average. Reviewed by: sjb 

Kirkus Review 4/15/1996

James and the Giant Peach ($16.00, $4.99 Puffin paperback; April 1, 1996; 126 pp.; 0-679-88090-9, paper 0-14-037424-8): This newly illustrated edition of an avowed children's favorite has all the makings of a classic match-up: Milne had Shepard, Carroll had Tenniel, and now Dahl has Smith. Yes, there is a movie tied in to all of this, but more importantly, author and illustrator were made for each other, and it's of little consequence that it took almost 35 years for them to meet. (Fiction. 6-12)

References:
www.mackin.com


Bibliography:
Dahl, R, & Blake, Q. (2011). James and the Giant Peach. New York: New York. Puffin.

Module 5-July 4-10 Savvy

 




                                  Savvy by Ingrid Law




Summary:
Each member of the Beaumont family, except for Papa (he married into the family), gets  a supernatural talent (“savvy”) on their 13th birthday. With her 13th birthday quickly approaching, Mibs is excited to find out what her savvy will be. Will she be able to move mountains like Grandpa Bomba or travel through time via a sneeze like Great Aunt Jules? To her disappointment, Mibs is blessed with telepathy, but she soon finds out how important her talent is when a horrible accident lands Papa in the ICU of the hospital. 

Read it Again?
Yes, I would read this again.  It was a fun book and kept my attention.  I really enjoyed the characters in the book and the story line as the characters grow and change through out the story.

Library Use:
This would be a fun book to read as a "Read it Forward" book.  I think 3rd, 4th, and 5th
grade students would have fun with this book.  It would be fun to read Scumble after the kids read Savvy.

Reviews:

Booklist 5/15/2008 *Starred Review* Upon turning 13, each member of the Beaumont family develops a supernatural ability, or savvy, which must then be tamed. Well aware of the problems savvys can bring (the family had to relocate when one child had difficulty controlling his storm-producing savvy), 12-year-old Mississippi (Mibs) awaits her birthday eagerly but with a bit of trepidation. Then Poppa is seriously injured in an accident far away, and Momma goes to his side, leaving Mibs and the rest of the family to cope with Mibs' 13th birthday on their own. Initially believing that her savvy is the ability to restore life, Mibs sets her course for Poppa. Joined by her brothers and the local preacher's kids, she sweet talks her way onto a traveling Bible salesman's bus. On the journey, however, Mibs realizes her savvy isn't what she thought, which opens the way for a number of lively adventures both geographic and emotional. Law's storytelling is rollicking, her language imaginative, and her entire cast of whacky, yet believable characters delightful. Readers will want more from Law; her first book is both wholly engaging and lots of fun.--Goldsmith, Francisca Copyright 2008 Booklist  School Library Journal 5/1/2008 Gr 4-7-Mississippi Beaumont ("Mibs" for short) simply cannot wait for her 13th birthday. There's the allure of finally becoming a teenager, of course, but in the Beaumont family, 13 is when family members get their "savvy," or unworldly power. For Mibs's older brother Fish, it's control over the elements, and for her mother it's the ability to do everything perfectly. Unfortunately, Mibs's excitement is cut short when her father is injured in a car accident. Convinced that her new powers will be able to save her Poppa, she and some new friends climb aboard a bus toting pink bibles on her birthday, in the hopes of getting to the hospital. Instead they find themselves headed in the wrong direction with the cops looking for them, Mibs's powerful brother seriously angry, and the son of a preacher man she has a crush on coming dangerously close to figuring out the Beaumonts' secret. Mibs's real savvy isn't what she expected, and neither are her traveling companions. Though the story never lives up to the brilliance of its opening chapter, Law has a feel for characters and language that is matched by few. With its delightful premise and lively adventure, this book will please a wide variety of audiences, not just fantasy fans. Definitely an author to watch.-Elizabeth Bird, New York Public Library Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

References:
www.mackin.com


Bibliography:
Law, I. (2010). Savvy. New York: New York. Puffin.