The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Author:  Elizabeth George Speare
Published:  1958
Newbery Medal

The Witch of Blackbird Pond is set in 1687 in Connecticut.  This is a story of Kit Tyler, a young girl and her first year in America.

Kit Tyler was raised by her grandfather in Barbados.  Both of her parents died when she was young and she could not remember them.  She had a good life in Barbados with her grandfather who taught her to read, to swim, and bought her the latest styles of clothes.  When Kit's grandfather died, she had no one to go to except to an aunt she had never met who lived in Connecticut.

On her journey from Barbados to Connecticut, Kit met several people who would eventually impact her life.  She met Prudence, the young daughter of Goodwife Cruff.  Prudence was abused and did not know how to read.  She met Nat, the son of the captain of the ship, The Dolphin.  Finally, she also met John Holbrook, a young divinity student who was planning on studying under Reverend Bulkeley, a strong supporter of the King of England and a doctor.

Kit missed Barbados and the life she had there, but she grows into a young woman who realizes the importance of every person.  She meets Hannah, the "witch," who is labeled a witch because she is a Quaker and she lives in a shack near the pond.  She is not understood, but feared in the community.  She is an outcast because she does not go to church on Sundays and because she is a Quaker.  Hannah is helped by Nat, eventually by Kit, and Prudence.  Kit helps Hannah survive a witch hunt, teaches Prudence how to read, and falls in love with Nat. 

As I was reading the text for the class, I remembered how much I hated social studies in school.  I couldn't force myself to remember the names of battles, dates, the order of events.  I really struggled.  I realize now that I really could have loved social studies. (My husband always wonders how I ended up being a Foreign Affairs major in college!)  Reading our text, I learned that I am not alone!  Social studies doesn't seem to relate to me and seems so impersonal.  Had my teachers taught me social studies by incorporating historical fiction, I would have probably enjoyed it so much more.  Interestingly, just today we had a staff meeting about how our district spends money on textbooks.  I am not a fan of textbooks.  Too many facts in one book that change quickly and that I remember boring and terrifying me as a child.  How about spending the money on books for the children to read that relate to the topics we are discussing!  I would have loved this books as a child.  I could definitely put myself in the place of Kit.  As I read I was anxious about the treatment of Hannah, the treatment of Prudence, worried if Kit would be accepted by her family, worried if Kit would be found to be a witch because she, like Hannah and Prudence, was so different from everyone else.

This book taught me about history.  I was interested in looking up a map of Connecticut and finding where The Dolphin had docked.  I was interested in learning about The Freemen.  I also liked that this book supported an honest, strong woman who made decisions based on what she thought was right.  She is a great example to any female no matter when the story is read!  (Unlike textbooks, this history will not change!)

Check this book out from your library! 

The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963

Author:  Christopher Paul Curtis
Published:  1995
Newbery Medal Winner
Coretta Scott King Award
 

My son had to read this book prior to entering the 6th grade.  I remember that he laughed during parts and asked me lots of questions.  He was affected by the story and interested in learning more about the history. 

This story starts in Flint, Michigan and ends in Flint, Michigan with a trip to Birmingham, Alabama in the middle.  It is the story of an African-American family with 3 children, Kenneth is the main character, Byron is his older brother, and Joetta (Joey) is the younger sister.  Wilona, the mother, was from Alabama originally, but soon after the boys were born she and her husband Daniel moved with the boys to Michigan.

The story starts with the family suffering in their cold house in the middle of winter and the parents reminiscing of their youth and warmer days in Alabama.  Joey and Kenneth laugh at their parents' antics, but Byron is too cool to react.  Byron is in the 6th grade and is friends with a "juvenile delinquent" named Buphead.  Byron and Buphead spend their time getting in trouble.  The way that Byron speaks does not seem to fit a 6th grade child, he seems older than he is, but then I realized that Byron had failed some grades in school.  He was in 5th grade at least two times.

Wilona and Daniel are at their wits' end and do not know what to do with Byron, so they agree to send him to Birmingham for the summer and if he doesn't straighten up during the summer, then he'll spend the school year there too.  Wilona's mom, Grandma Sands, is the one who lives in Birmingham.  The stories the children hear about Grandma Sands scares them and they know that she'll straighten Byron out, if anyone can.

Kenneth is in the 4th grade and very smart.  He is a very good reader and a good student.  The children at his school call him Poindexter and teachers always use him to represent the ideal student.  Kenneth has a lazy eye and he considers this to be one of the reasons he gets picked on in school.

Joetta is the angel in the family.  She defends Byron when he gets in trouble so his punishment isn't as severe and she keeps an eye out for Kenneth when he is about to get hurt.  She seems to be the only one in the family that everyone will do anything for.  That is, until we realize how close and loving the entire family is with each other.  Byron, Kenneth, and Joetta protect and love each other.

Now back to my son.  I thought it was wonderful that he had to read this book for several reasons.  First of all, he was really affected by the history in this story.  He read this book last summer after seeing The Butler at the movies.  Then, after he read this book, there was an article in the paper about the 50th anniversary of the bombing of the church in Birmingham that killed four little girls and blinded and wounded others.  We read articles together about the event and he printed articles out to share with his classmates at school.  I cannot find the article we read together, but here is a clip from PBS and an article from ABC.

Reading the article helped my son empathize with Kenneth and his family and their experience driving down to Alabama and the terror they experienced at the 16th Street Baptist Church.  Joetta went to the church that morning to attend Sunday school.  The Watsons had not yet acclimated to the hot weather in Alabama and she got up to cool off during her class.  Joetta thought she saw Kenny waving her out and she followed him home.  It was on her way home that the church was bombed and four girls lost their lives.  The rest of the family dressed quickly, ran to the church to search for Joey, but thankfully, Joey was safe at home. 

I have to admit that I kept falling asleep as I read the book.  It didn't move quickly enough for me, but that's just me.  My son who is in high school spoke up and said, "Oh yeah, I remember that book.  It had some good parts."  So, it has been about 4 years since he has read it, but he too remembered it.  So, it gets two thumbs up from the boys in the correct age group for this book.

I did enjoy the jokes the family played on each other, I enjoyed reading about the closeness of the family, and I enjoyed reading the mom's language with a southern accent.  I especially enjoyed the figurative language.  There were adults who were kneeling next to the girls who died at the bombing and "the adults' hands fluttered down toward the little girls, then, before they touched anything, fluttered back up, over and over.  Their hands looked like a little flock of brown sparrows that were too nervous to land."  The image of the sparrows is referred to again later in the book.  I did some research online about what the sparrow could represent and I found that the sparrow is a sign for freedom and loyalty.  The sparrow was an appropriate choice for this description considering this was set during the Civil Rights Movement.

Throughout the book there are also references to angels.  Kenneth describes Byron as "a god" of the school and that should make him a "strong angel," but he was just "another fourth-grade punk."  There are 22 more references to angels in the story.  The character most often described as an angel was Joey.  A neighbor gives Joey a doll that is an angel and reminds her of Joey and when Kenny is drowning, he sees an angel calling him to swim.  The angel was Joey and then Byron is able to drag Kenny back to the bank of the river.  I believe there is a reference to another angel as well.  I spent a lot of time thinking about when Joey left the church.  We, the readers, know that Kenny was at home when the bombing occurred, but Joey claimed to see Kenny at the church.  Kenny was laughing and asking Joey to follow him.   It seems that these children were each others' guardian angels.

I appreciate my sons' teachers having my children read this book.  6th grade is the appropriate age.  6th grade is such a big transitions year for children and for parents.  The kids go to a new school, they have multiple classes, start transitioning into young adults, have more concerns.  This book helped the children see how children might treat each other,  (Kenny was bullied at school for his eye and his smarts.) they are reminded that their parents love them even if we do seem goofy to them, and they learned about history in our country.  Middle school is a good time to remind children that we need to accept each other despite our differences.

Check this book out at your library!

The Giver

*************Updated March 23, 2014*****************
Conversation with my son
Check this book out from your library.
Lois Lowry
Movie Trailer

Questions I have after rereading the story:
1.  Why is the mom okay with the father breaking the rules?  She just smiles when she learns that he has figured out the baby's name, Gabriel. 

2.  If Sameness is the goal, then why is it that when twins are born one of them is released?

3.  On page 43 Fiona says, "He's cute.  But I don't like his name very much."  Then Jonas is thinking, "It wasn't a great name Jonas, thought, like - well, like Gabriel, for example  But it was okay."  Doesn't sameness apply to names?

4.  If the children have not been exposed to warfare, how do they know how to play the war game?


*************January 24, 2014************************

Author:  Lois Lowry
Illustrator:  Bagram Ibatoulline
Published:  1993
Newbery Medal Winner

The Giver by Lois Lowry is about a boy who lives in a world where everything is the same.  There is no color, no love, no music, and no memories of the distant past.  The children all "celebrate" their birthdays on the same day in December and are presented with something each year to help keep the community the same and safe.  The children look forward to the 12th year because that is when they become adults and are assigned their jobs.  Anything that does not fit with the Sameness is released.  You'll have to read to figure out what it means to be released!

At his 12th year ceremony, Jonas does not get a job like everyone else, but is selected to be the The Receiver.  As The Receiver he will be given all of the memories from the distant past.  The focus throughout the book seems to be memories, but I don't think that is really what is important.  Yes, memories of love and even memories of dreams that could lead to relationships are taken from the people, but the memory of the life they are now living is not taken from the people.  As a matter of fact, the people celebrate those memories at the end of their lives with a celebration for the old right before they are released.  The really important idea in the book is choice.  The ability to choose which toys to play with, which job you'll get, which person you will marry, or even what clothes you will wear is taken from the community for the sake of Sameness and for the sake of avoiding problems in the community.  

The only person really given some choice in the community is The Receiver.  He has choice only because he knows there are other options, unlike everyone else in the community.  He realizes that there is color, he feels love and wants to feel love from others, and he realizes that differences are good.  The problem is that he lives in a place where he is the only one to realize it.  

This book reminded me of the quote - and sorry if I do not have it correct - "those that do not know history are destined to repeat it."  Well, whether or not you know history, you will repeat mistakes from the past, but whether or not you make the same mistake should be up to you.  The Elders in The Giver do not allow the mistakes from history to be made because everything is so controlled and if there is something that comes up from the past, then The Receiver can look back on history and help avoid the same mistakes.

The book also reminded me of the books from The Divergent series.  Everyone is grouped by their sameness and life as we know it today is unknown or Elsewhere.  Unlike the Divergent series though, this book ended with the possibility of something better.  

I will have my middle school son read this book.  I'm looking forward to discussing it with him and learning what the book makes him think/wonder.

The One and Only Ivan

Author:  Katherine Applegate
Illustrator: Patricia Castelao
Published: 2012
Newbery Medal Winner

 Katherin Applegate is like the Lorax, she speaks for animals!  This story is fiction, but some of the characters in her story are based on actual animals and their experiences.

Ivan is a silverback gorilla who has been on display at a mall for years.  He had been born in the wild, but one day he and his sister, Tag, were captured.  While holding Ivan and Tag, his mother was killed and then his father was also killed.  His parents had their hands, feet, and heads chopped off.  Ivan saw an ash tray sold at a shop next to his cage.  The ash tray was a gorilla hand.

Bob and Ivan's stuffed animal, No-Tag

Mack purchases Ivan and keeps him in his home.  Ivan is treated like a child, he is taken to McDonald's is dressed in clothes, and rides in a convertible. Ivan becomes too big eventually to keep in the house so he becomes an exhibit at the mall.  He becomes the Gorilla at Exit 8.

Ruby and Aunt Stella

Ivan lives at this zoo with a few other animals, including a dog named Bob and an elephant named Stella.  George cares for the animals at Mack's zoo and cleans their "domains" or cages.  Julia is George's daughter and she works on her homework and artwork while her father works at the mall zoo.

Business is not going well at the zoo so Mack decides to make a new purchase, a baby elephant named Ruby.  Ruby and Stella form a strong bond and Stella becomes Aunt Stella.  Unfortunately, Stella has an injury on her foot that Mack has refused to treat because it costs money and ends up costing Stella her life.  Before she dies, Ivan promises Stella that he will care for Ruby and give her a better life, a life that does not involve the mall zoo.

The rest of the story is about Ivan's struggle to keep his promise to Stella.

The pictures in the book are soft and rounded.  It is how I would describe the animal characters in this book - soft.  I didn't expect all of the animals to be so kind and caring towards each other.  Emotion is evident on the animals' faces and I felt for the animals.  I was not expecting to like a book with talking animals, but I did.  This is a book that needs to be in my classroom library.  My students will want to read this book.

I'm sorry that I read this book so quickly.  I'm rushing through books to make sure I read everything I need to read for class, but I'd like to read  through many of these more slowly and savor each one.  This is another one on my list for this summer!

Ivan

The big push in our district now is project-based learning.  This book would be great for the beginnings of a project.  Children love animals and are always willing to help them.  We could read this book and then research animals that need our help, either locally or not and then design a project, like Julia from the book, to help an animal in need.

Check this book out from your library.
Watch a trailer for the book!
Watch Katherine Applegate answer questions.
The One and Only Ivan lesson plans 
NPR Interview:  Meet the Real Ivan 
Learn about another famous gorilla:  Koko