Jessica Costa

Dr. McKool

Literature Paper

February 17, 2011

Prelutsky, J.(2006). WHAT A DAY IT WAS AT SCHOOL. New York: Scholastic Books
(HarperCollins).

Summary
A teacher’s pet writes about a day at school from the beginning and end of the school day in a
journal read by his mother.

Theme
Consists of an implicit theme that if you may develop a strong skill for something if you practice
doing it.

Style
Free verse poetry with rhyme

Design and Layout

The book is large in height with bold colors on the cover and through out the story to grasp the
readers’ attention. Poetry is placed around the illustrations in bold to follow pictures so that the
child can relate the poetry to the pictures.

Reflection
A book consisting of poetry is great in expanding a child’s knowledge in literacy. The author
wrote the book in free verse poetry with rhyme to keep the book fun and alluring to keep a child
reading poetry on various topics. However, if a child didn’t know that they were reading poetry,
the author did a great job informing his readers within the last poem that he in fact was writing
poetry in the whole journal.

Bethel, E. (2008). Michael Recycle. London: Meadowside Children’s Books (Jonas).

Summary
A super hero called Michael Recycle that fly’s into a town called Abberdoo-Rimey and educates
the people of the town about recycling. When the people are educated and help Michael
Recycle, they see how Michael Recycle has benefited their town and begin take initiative to
maintain their town’s pollution.

Theme
The book is understood by an explicit theme of recycling. Clearly read on the cover and through
out the book, the message to the readers is how much recycling can benefit the environment they
live in.

Style
The author used various words of onomatopoeia such as, clunk and thunk to add a variety of tone
and imagery to the text. Also, the use of bold and enlarged texts show the emotion of the
characters in the book to grasp the similar emotion from the reader.

Design and Layout

The book is wide in length with many colors but with a majority of green. The author purposely
did this because he wants his readers to “go green”. Going green consist of recycling because
when you recycle a lot more plants, and trees can grow to produce oxygen. The pages are also
shiny so it produces the colors to be bold and capture the focus of the reader.

Reflection
I believe this is a great informative book for children of all ages to read. Reading this book to
children of a young age or them reading it themselves can help them develop persistence at a
young age to keep the environment clean as they grow older. Not only will people in their
generation be appreciative for their concern of the environment, but generations before them
when they have a clean environment because of their choice to “go green”.
Pugliano, C. (1998). Jake Bakes a Cake. United States: Children’s Television Workshop Books
(Addison Wesley Longman).

(No picture available)

Summary
A dog named Jake has a great skill for baking cakes but develops an issue when his friends visit
him. Jake makes numerous amounts of cakes because he wants everyone to be able to have a
slice of cake. However, dividing the slices of cakes is difficult for Jake, but luckily his friends
are there to help him.

Theme
The theme of the story is explicit because the message is apparent that every time a friend of
Jakes’ visits him, he will have to divide the cake in equal slices.

Style
The style of this book involves mathematics. A short story but at the end of the book the reader
will be able to divide objects into halves, thirds, and fourths which are fractions.

Design and Layout

The book is small in height but very colorful by using various bold colors. The design of the
cover is especially inviting to those who like dogs and baking. With not many words written on
each page, the reader can focus on the visuals for the mathematics easily.

Reflection
I believe this is a great book for children to learn the basics of fractions. Even though the book
doesn’t state that they are using fractions, it does state that they are dividing. So a lesson can
follow up teaching students how dividing leads to fractions. This book can also serve another
purpose on how to divide in equal amounts among peers so children can learn how to share.
Meek, A. (2005). I’m Special, I’m Me! New York: Scholastic Books (Magi).

Summary
A boy named Milo has a great imagination but finds him self seeking only the bad characteristics
of various people and animals. With the help of his mother, Milo and his peers look at him
differently pinpointing the positive attributes one can have.

Theme
The theme in I’m Special, I’m Me! Book is implicit because it isn’t until the end in which you
see moral of the story.

Style
The style of the book is to teach a moral to the readers. The moral of the story is that even though
a person or animal may have negative and positive attributes to society or the environment, it’s
always better to point out the positives rather than negative in people or animals.

Design and Layout

The cover really shows the happiness the boy has being himself and allures the reader to see why
this boy is so happy being himself. Even though the text is long on each page for the book, the
pictures are detailed as well. There seems to be a balance between the text and pictures. With
pictures so detailed, it engages the reader to want to read the long text. If a reader is not at that
level to read, they can grasp a lot of meaning from the pictures but not the moral.

Reflection
The more books written about morals to increase self-esteem and seeing the positive attributes in
life can only benefit a child in being more comfortable with them self. However, a few children
may not get a moral out of the story but simply say Milo is creative and has a great imagination.
This is when a parent, guardian or teacher needs to explain why Milo thinks he is special and
why Milo continued to become happy quickly after he was sad from school.
Rylant, C. (1985). The Relatives Came. New York: Scholastic Books (Bradbury).

Summary
A family is visited by their relatives from Virginia who stays for a couple weeks in the summer
and enjoys one another’s company until the summer is over. However, during the visit the
relatives create a different environment for the family that creates an adjustment during and after
their visit for the family.

Theme
The theme in the story is neither implicit nor explicit to the reader. Considering the story is about
a specific family’s relative the reader can only make predictions on how the relatives spend their
summer with the family. There is no apparent or underline meaning to the story for the reader to
figure out.

Style
The style of the book is family oriented that causes the reader to think about their own family
vacations.

Design and Layout

The design and layout of the book keeps the reader engaged because it can relate to how things
may happen and have in their house hold. The pictures are recognizable but all different on each
page. There is a lot of activity displayed in the pictures that after the reader reads the text, time
is taken to see all the different things that are on each page.

Reflection
I believe this book is great for the first day of school or first day back from a vacation within the
school year. A great journal entry can derive from this book on what the children did on their
vacation and make connections with the story. A lesson in literacy is hard to make from this
book, but it certainly can help practice the student’s writing from writing a reflection on their
summer.
Aylesworth, J. (2003). Naughty Little Monkeys. New York: Dutton Children’s Books
(Scholastic).

Summary
The book Naughty Little Monkeys is about twenty six monkeys that all have a different name
starting with a different letter who create all sorts of mischief around the house individually.

Theme
The theme of the book is explicit because the reader can tell that the message the author is trying
to convey is how many letters are in the alphabet and various things someone can do or objects
that start with each letter of the alphabet.

Style
The style of this particular book allows the reader to practice mathematics and literacy.

Design and Layout

The book is large in height but I believe for the reason is to fit such detailed illustrations
demonstrating each mischief a monkey does that involves a letter from the alphabet. Also the
colors surrounding the monkey’s seem to be quite dark to enhance the bright colors the monkeys
are reading to keep the readers focus on each monkey.

Reflection
This book is great for teaching the ABC’s and counting into double digits. Not only does the
book give words that start with each letter of the alphabet, but each letter is individually shown
so the reader is able to easily determine what letter comes next in the alphabet. Also, at the end
of the book I loved how all the monkeys are lined up with a shirt with a different letter going in
order from A to Z. This allows readers to do their ABC’s and practice counting up to twenty six.
O’Connor, Jane. (2010). Fancy Nancy My Family History. New York: HarperCollins Children’s
Books (Harper Collins).

Summary
A girl named Nancy receives an assignment from school to write up a report on her family
history. Nancy wants her report to be the most interesting in the class, but is having trouble doing
so from the information her grandfather gives her. Nancy is then put in a tough situation to
impress her class or impress her family.

Theme
The theme of the book is a mystery because the author puts the main character (Nancy) in a
situation to determine if the truth or impressing others is more valuable. However, at the end of
the book a moral is taught on how you shouldn’t lie to impress others.

Style
The style of the book is very interesting because it involves a lot of literacy lessons that can be
taught during the reading. After reading this book a child can develop how pronounce words and
definitions of certain words such as ancestors and exaggerate.

Design and Layout

The cover of the book is detailed in describing how a family history can be found by finding
pictures taken previous years ago. This book is different than all the other books I have chosen
because the pictures seemed to be sketched looking rather than solid lines to finalize a drawing.
Subtle colors are used but because there are so many objects drawn on each page with little text,
this helps the reader focus more on the bold words than the pictures.

Reflection
Fancy Nancy My Family History is a great book to practice how to pronounce words and define
what may be considered a big word for a first grader to understand. The definition of the words
are included in the text but if the child forgets what a word may have meant when they finished
the book, the last page offers a review of the words the author defined during the story.
Milton, J. (1985). Dinosaur Days. New York: Random House Children’s Books (Random
House).

Summary
Dinosaur Days takes the reader back into prehistoric time to see how dinosaurs were created,
what types of animals lived in prehistoric time, the different types of dinosaurs, and the mystery
of why we don’t see dinosaurs today.

Theme
To enlighten readers on how animals developed millions of years ago along with their
descriptions and purpose of their existence.

Style
The style developed for this book is to be history related in a fun yet informative way. Also,
since many dinosaurs names are hard to pronounce, the author included syllables with hyphens
to help pronounce words a lot easier.

Design and Layout

The cover of the book may be a little frightening for younger children for how angry the
dinosaur looks. The cover isn’t inviting but the pictures within the book are drawn out well with
subtle colors and the text fitting nicely around the pictures.

Reflection
This book is incredibly useful toward a history lesson. Learning about prehistoric time is crucial
for children to know. To understand the present one must understand the past first. This book
allows children to familiarize themselves with prehistoric time and also practice using syllables.
(2009). Mad About Tractors Trucks diggers and dumpers. Nashville: Make Believe Ideas Books.

Summary
There are different forms of transportation other than cars. In this book the reader will see
various tractors, trucks, diggers, and dumpers that serve a purpose other than for driving.

Theme
The theme is quite explicit in this book because it’s simply informing children what all the trucks
or tractors do that they see on or on the side of the road.

Style
The style of this book doesn’t pertain to any specific subject in school but it does pertain to the
world outside of school. Whether or not the child sees one of the tractors or trucks on the road or
at a farm, they will know the significant purpose of the tractor or truck.

Design and Layout

The design of the book is very colorful and consists of pictures so clear of the tractors and trucks
that have the layout made perfectly. The layout has one tractor or truck taking up two pages with
arrows pointing at every detail on each tractor or truck. There are many facts listed on these
pages about the tractors and trucks but are each put in color boxes so a child can easily pin point
a fact they may want to share.

Reflection
This book is a great book to see what is outside of the classroom. Things they may see their
family using and heard of but never developing the significant purposes for why they exist. This
book does over a lot of information but the pictures of the trucks and tractors are so big and
detailed it’s hard to not remember majority of them. However, what is nice about this book is
that it offers a review in the back of pictures of the trucks and tractors to refresh the child of what
they just read.
McBratney, S. (2006). Yes We Can. New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books
(HarperCollins).

Summary
The story consists of adventure set out by a kangaroo, duck, and mouse to build a huge pile of
leaves. However, things take a turn when challenges are made to try one another’s skills from
being a particular animal. Challenges are made, risks are taken, but a friendship falls into
jeopardy.

Theme
The theme is explicit at first but becomes implicit toward the end of the story.

Style
A moral is taught to take risks in the beginning of the story in which the title of the book is
frequently mentioned but then turns into another moral. Taking risks may be difficult but
shouldn’t be made fun of because everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. With no support
someone may never develop strength if they are afraid to take a risk because of others mockery.

Design and Layout

The cover of the book is very inviting, the characters look happy and bright colors catch a
seeking reader’s eye. Through out the book the pictures and text are large, and some of the text
is enhanced to encourage emotion from the character. Overall, the layout and design of the book
is balanced and reader friendly.

Reflection
This is a great book to encourage students to take risks in and outside of the classroom. This
book can also tie into developing rules for the classroom about respect which is definitely
important among peers and toward the teacher.