Children's Literature Collection

       Julie and the Mango Tree by Sade Smith follows the story of Julie, a young Jamaican girl, waiting impatiently for the mango tree in her yard to have ripe fruit. Usually, Julie's dad will climb the tree to pick one for her, but he's in town and Julie can't reach any on her own! However, after a rainstorm, ALL the mangoes fall and Julie eats as many as she can, but still has many leftovers, so she decides to share.      This book is realistic, multicultural fiction. It features realistic people in a real setting doing realistic things (Galda, 2016). The story is plausible and follows a clearly defined, realistic plotline as well (Galda, 2016). The illustrations in this book are representational (Galda, 2016). They depict realistic people in realistic settings, while still being colorful. The illustrations look close to either gouache or acrylic paint, in my opinion.     This book is a great way to help children learn about Jamaica, and e...

       Tigger Comes to the Forest by A.A. Milne is part of the Winnie the Pooh book series, written by the author for his children. In this book, the character of Tigger is introduced into the Hundred Acre Wood. Tigger shows up outside Pooh's house in the middle of the night and ends up staying for breakfast. The next day, Pooh introduces him to everyone else in the Wood (Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit, etc.).      This book is classic children's fantasy, in more ways than one. The plot and characters are animals in a fanciful setting, doing things animals cannot typically do in real life (Galda, 2016). There is not much of a clearly defined world, other than stuffed animals are alive and carry on lives in the Hundred Acre Wood. The drawings in the book are smaller and look hand-drawn by the illustrator, Ernest H. Shepard. I would say they are representational, as they depict realistic creatures in fantasy settings (Galda, 2016).      This book ...

     " Florence Nightingale " by Sam Wellman details the life of Florence Nightingale, a woman who broke barriers and revolutionized what a hospital looked like. The book opens when she's around 7 and ends with her death, and covers all the amazing things she did in between. Florence Nightingale saw the way military hospitals, and hospitals in general, were and brought revolutionary change to the way the patients were cared for.      This book is considered a biography. It's non-fiction, details the true life of a real person, and offers a vivid representation of what her life was like (Galda, 2016). This book is for older elementary students, probably 4-6 grade. There are no illustrations except the cover art, but the book is written in clear, easy-to-understand phrasing and has a larger print, perfect for elementary students.      One way to start before reading this book is to ask the students what they know about hospitals in the time of ...

     The "Who Was" series are some of my favorite children's biographies. This one covers the life of the famous French naval officer and oceanographer, Jacques Cousteau. The book opens with his childhood, describes his life, and ends with his death.      This book offers vivid, yet child-friendly descriptions of his life and illustrations to support the text. This book is only 103 pages and is best suited for elementary school readers. In true biography fashion, this book is based entirely on the known facts of Cousteau's life, and even includes a bibliography page for the book itself in the back on the last pages. The illustrations are realistic and representational, depicting real people in real scenerios. The illustrations all add context to the text and provide a good mental picture of what is happening.      Some motivational activities that could go along with reading this book could be watching Cousteau's TV show to show the children ...