The Red Hen is created into many different books. It is about this Red Hen, and throughout the book she is baking a cake. Her three friends are a cat, mouse, and frog.  As she is going through the process of making a cake she asks her friends who would like to help her. None of the friends want to take responsibility for the share of the work. The Red Hen makes the cake by herself. Finally the time has come to eat the cake, she asked who will help her eat it, and of course all the friends want to eat some. Although she says since she made it by herself, she is going to eat it herself. The cat, mouse, and frog were lazy and didn’t want to do their share, so they learned a lesson that if they don’t pitch in they can’t enjoy the reward.

I love the lesson to this story. It is a great way to teach children responsibility, and that it is not all about them. The one thing I didn’t like about this book is the illustrations. It was more abstract without a distinct picture. I would recommend this book for kindergarten or first grade. The end of the book has the cake recipe (made from scratch) and how to bake it. This might be a great activity to do with the children by making the cake at home, and having them share the cake because of a reward for doing something throughout the day.

    

 

“When I grow up” is a simple book about a boy who is thinking about what his future. Throughout the different pages he thinks about his surrounding and what they are going to become in the future. It isn’t your typical jobs, but more about how nature becomes an adult in a sense because they change. The raindrop turns into a stream…etc. In the end the boy paints out who he wants to become.  He finds his inspiration from someone close to him, his father. The illustrations are significant for this book because they explain the words. The illustrations are silent words that speak to the readers. I would recommend this book for kindergarten age level. I think it is a lesson that everyone deals with and children love to imagine their future.  

The title Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal, A Worldwide Cinderella explains what the book is about. Cinderella is a story known worldwide from country to country, although the story is changed to fit the lifestyle of the country. This book is all of those different viewpoints of Cinderella made into one story. It is still the same story plot, but it shows the diversity of other cultures. Each page is about a different place whether it be Iraq, Korea, India, Japan Ireland...etc. These different places explain one part of how the story goes according to that society. From an American perspective Cinderella had a fairy godmother that gave her a dress and carriage for her to go to the ball, but in Indonesia a crocodile came and brought her a sarong of gold...etc. This continues throughout the whole book about the different stories around the world put into one combined unique story.      

Paul Fleischman created a wonderful story that everyone knows and loves. He found a unique way to piece together this book. This book teachers children about other people’s cultures and that their perspective isn't the only one in the world. For the readers it opens up a whole new perspective of the many versions of Cinderella throughout the world. Julie Paschkis does an excellent job using illustrations to demonstrate the different cultures. The illustrations are different from what children view from other books. I would recommend introducing this book into a classroom. I would say that 2nd through 6th would benefit the most from it. Younger ones could be read to, but I think older children would get more from the story. Great book and interesting to read for any age.   

The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster is about a girl named Katerina-Elizabeth who was a picky eater. She hates oatmeal most of all. She went on a trip to visit her grandmother in Scotland and for breakfast each morning she gets oatmeal. Throughout the trip she throws the food overboard, and soon finds out this snake-like worm is eating the food. Katerina-Elizabeth gets off the ship in Scotland by Loch Ness. The worm gets worried that the children around Scotland will move away, and he wouldn't get any more unwanted food. In order to fix the problem he allowed himself to be seen occasionally and that is how he became a tourist attraction. The monster is very grateful to the picky eater.

 The illustrations are essential to the story, and allow the students to picture what the worm looks like and how big it grows. It discusses Scottish children, and some foods they eat, which show diversity within people. I would be cautious about the reality of the monster, and how children perceive the tale. I recommend doing research to find out if the opinions of Scottish foods are correct. It is a nice tale, but children might take it literally. As an adult I enjoyed this fun way of telling the tale, and related to it because of all the stories of the Loch Ness Monster. For an activity there are many options: you could show them YouTube videos of the believed monster, or have the children discuss what foods they dislike. Give a lesson on Scotland and show pictures of the food discussed in the book. For the most part this book is an entertaining way of talking about picky eaters, but to me it portrays that being a picky eater is ok.

A closer look is written and illustrated by Mary McCarthy. Her goal throughout this book is to create pages for children to use their imagination. The setting starts zoomed in on a lady bug, and continue till the full picture is exposed. The main character of the book is a lady bug that enables the reader to use their imaginations to see what the next pages will bring. The conflict is deciphering what the next page brings. To a certain extent I would say that the mood of this book is suspense. The pages capture the reader by making them curious of what the picture is.

A closer look is a picture book, with little words. I would recommend this book to pre-school or kindergarteners. It is a fun book to entertain the children and allow them to interact with the classroom. The illustrations are important and the main reason the book was created. From looking through the cover I would have never imagined what the book was about. Although after reading the book I understand the title.

This book is a fun way of first learning to read. It has few words so the children can understand and grasp the words. The pictures are simple and made of paper collages that were handmade by Mary herself. I would recommend this book because few books these days ask for the reader's imagination, although it's not the best for learning about literature. This book is all about being open and letting your mind run wild. The children will enjoy using their imagination and it will make learning fun. I enjoyed the book even as an adult and the pictures still stumped me. Therefore if you’re just looking for a fun book that focuses on imagination, that the children will enjoy then look no further.