Book Review

Apple Pie 4th of July by Janet Wong

Janet S. Wong(1962-) was born in Los Angeles. She graduated from UCLA with her B.A in history and then Yale Law School. She worked at Universal Studios Hollywood as a lawyer. However, she changed her career from a lawyer to a writer for children's literature. Janet has achieved many successes as a result of her career change, and she and her books have received many awards and honors. She has a Korean-American mother and a Chinese-American father, and these three different cultures are shown on her books. "Apple Pie 4th of July" also shows a different cultural aspect from America in the point of view of young girl. A girl who was born in America could not understand her parents who prepare to sell Chinese food even on 4th of July. She feels dissatisfaction about her parents since she thinks her parents do not understand the America Holiday. She wants to enjoy the America Holiday like other Americans but she is disappointed with the differences of her parents from others. The clear and colorful illustration describes well her feelings through her facial expressions. The girl full of discontent says, "Chow mein? Chinese food on the Fourth of July? No one wants Chinese food on the Fourth of July." Many children who have a different culture from the major culture where they live sometimes might feel shame or uncomfortable about their own culture. The parents and teachers need to let children whose culture is either the majority or minority know the variety of cultures in the world. In not only various countries, but also different homes in the same country, their own cultures exist. When children read this book, they can think about the diversity of cultures, and the parents and teachers need to guide children to have the correct concept about cultures.

Wong, J. S. (2002). Apple Pie 4th of July. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt, Inc.

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Digital Literacy Narrative

Video Book Talk 2: Dumpster Diver by Janet Wong and Illustrated by David Robert

Reading Journal: Ruby Lu, Brave and true

Reading Journal: Ruby Lu, Brave and true by Lenore Look, Illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf

Ruby is a lovely, smart, cheerful, and brave girl, and above all, she really loves her baby brother. Her family is Chinese American, and she lives nearby her grandparents. In this story, there are two main events: Driving the real car by herself with her young brother in the backseat, and arguing and then making up with a California girl, Cristina. When I read the driving part, I was really shocked. I have seen on the news that a four year old boy drove his parents’ car to the video shop. I believe that many young children hope they can drive the car. The more they have driving experience through the computer game or toy, the more they could have confidence about driving. Thus, the parents and teachers need to let children know how different real driving is from a game and how real driving is dangerous.
This book shows various aspects of young girl’s daily life such as her family’s culture, relationship with sibling, friends, and parents, using different language, and so forth.

Craft Lesson 3

Title: Connecting the story to my experience (Comprehension and Writing)

Resource: Ruby Lu, Brave and True by Lenore Look, Illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf

According to TEKS: (9) Reading/comprehension. The student uses a variety of strategies to comprehend selections read aloud. The student is expected to: (A) use prior knowledge to anticipate meaning and make sense of texts (K-3); (C) retell or act out the order of important events in stories (K-3). (15) Writing/composition. The student composes original texts. The student is expected to: (C) write to record ideas and reflections (K-3)

Discussion: There are many writing topics to choose from. However, it is not easy to find the topic that I want to write about. As one of good writing topics, I think that a book review or reflection can be a good topic for writing. After students read a book, if they need to write about what they read, they would read the book as a writer, as well as a reader. If they read a book as a writer, they would try harder to comprehend the text during their reading. In addition, when they write about what they read, they would have time to rethink and find what they missed during their reading. I think a book review or reflection is very helpful for students improve their comprehension and writing.

How to teach (2nd – 3rd grade): As homework, students would read two or three chapters of this book per day. Before they start to read, the teacher will let them know that when they finish reading this book, they are going to have time to write about this book. The teacher also would hand out a chart to the students. Whenever the students finish reading one chapter, they would write the main event of the chapter on the chart. After they finish reading the whole chapter, children would have time to share their chart. Then, the teacher would hand out several questions related to comprehension of this book for children. Children would write down the answers and hand them in to be graded by the teacher. The teacher would analyze what students hand in, and if there are specific parts that children do not comprehend well, the teacher would have time to discuss that part of the story in more detail. In addition, the teacher would give two main discussion topics to the students: Trouble with Christina and Ruby’s driving. Through this discussion, the students have time to think about friends and the danger of driving. Also, they can present their experiences related to these topics. After that, the teacher would let children write the reflection about this book or their discussion. Children also can choose their writing topic among their main event chart.

Reading Journal: Stuart Goes To School

Stuart Goes To School by Sara Pennypacker, Illustrated by Martin Matje

Though this book, I could better understand my son’s first day of starting a new grade and also be reminded of my own schooldays. The main character in this book, Stuart, is so cute. When his mother prepared his new clothes for his first day of second grade, he was worried with several funny imaginations. By mistake, he wears only his underwear with his feather cape. The picture of this scene made me laugh so much. Besides, there are several fun scenes in this story and every page’s illustration brings more fun to the story. I think every student might be nervous like Stuart on their first day of school, and the author has a good grip on children’s situations and thoughts. I also believe that when students read this book, they could know they are not only one who is worried before the first day of school.

Reading Journal: What Do you Do With a Tail Like This?

What Do you Do With a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

This book shows several animals’ characteristics categorized by body part. On the first page, this book shows only body parts and makes children guess which animal it is. The next page reveals the animals’ identity and explains the special features of the body parts from the previous page. From this book, I also learned several interesting facts about animals which I had not known before. The use of collage makes this book more attractive and lifelike in expressing animals’ characteristics. Most children might love this book because this book would enhance children’s curiosity related to animals. Also, this book provides more information in a glossary, and I believe this can compensate children’s remaining curiosity.