A Year Down Yonder

Peck, Richard. 2000. A Year Down Yonder. New York: Dial. ISBN 0803725183.

Plot summary
This is the sequel to Peck’s Newbery Honor award winner: A Long Way to Chicago. The story is set during the Depression and told through the eyes of fifteen year-old Mary. Mary’s family, like most of the country, is facing hard times. Consequently, Mary will reside with her feisty grandmother for a year until her parents are able to get back on their feet.

Analysis
Don't feel you've got to run out and purchase the prequel to this book. No, sir. Reading it is not a prerequisite, but after reading A Year Down Yonder, you won't help but to RUN to your nearest library and read more about these endearing characters!
The book does not overwhelm the reader with numerous details describing the time period. In fact, I feel Peck would have done a good thing in providing us with more glimpses of the Depression.
While the story is told from Mary Alice's point of view, it is without a doubt, Grandma Dowdel's antics that quickly make this book a difficult one to put down.

But I was suddenly arrested by a sight that only
Grandma and I saw. Mildred's big gray horse was trotting away, past the porch,
free as air. Tied around its neck were Mildred's boots.

I suppose that will teach Mildred NOT to mess with Grandma Dowdel's granddaughter.
What I loved about the story is that Mary Alice is an ordinary girl,who is considered rich, since she's coming from Chicago, but she could be any girl sitting in a classroom struggling with Math just as Mary Alice did. I was Mary Alice. She is so very real.

My students enjoyed the "Hick Talk" as they put it. Phrases such as "Dag nab it! and "Hop to it like bed bugs," had them rolling!" They really thought their English was so much better. When the following exchange took place between Ina-Rae and Mary Alice, I could have sworn I was a stand up comedian.

'I thought this was English class,' I whispered across
to Ina-Rae. 'Wasn't that Shakespeare?'
'Who?' Ina-Rae said.

(The only reason my 4th graders know about Shakespeare was thanks to a field trip we had recently taken.) I did, however; appreciate the confidence my students demonstrated. I whole-heartedly believe they related to Mary Alice, because they truly saw themselves in her. Not only that but my students also had incredibly lovable, but prickly grandmothers at home.
There is a beauty in the love that grows between Mary Alice and her grandmother. So much so, that it is in her grandmother's home that she weds. That is a fairy tale ending. Here too I wish Peck wouldn't have done so. The influence of Hollywood is apparent. I would have rather relished she married another and not her high school sweetheart.
Reviews
"Between antic capers, Peck reveals a marshmallow heart inside Grandma's rock-hard exterior and adroitly exposes the mutual, unspoken affection she shares with her granddaughter. Like Mary Alice, audience members will breathe a sigh of regret when the eventful year "down yonder" draws to a close." - From Publisher's Weekly

"A Year down Yonder seems more a companion than a sequel to Peck's 1999 Newbery Honor book, A Long Way from Chicago. Peck shows his brilliance in setting up parallel structures and creating two very different books." - From Children's Literature

Connections
Other titles with the Depression Era topic are Out of the Dust by and Karen Hesse
Children of the Great Depression by Russell Freedman
Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp
A great book to display if your curriculum covers the Depression Era and also makes a wonderful read-aloud. This could also be used to incorporate journal writings during language arts or social studies.

Good Queen Bess: The Story of Elizabeth I of England

Stanley, Diane and Peter Vennema. 1990. GOOD QUEEN BESS: THE STORY OF ELIZABETH I OF ENGLAND. By Diane Stanley. New York: Collier Macmillan Canada.

PLOT SUMMARY

Diane Stanley teams up with her husband to relate the life of Queen Elizabeth I of England. In this picture biography Stanley uses beautiful illustrations to depict the Elizabethan era . We learn of King Henry VIII, the conflict that existed between the Catholics and Protestants, and how England kept peace with neighboring countries. We also learn of the love Queen Elizabeth had for her subjects.

Analysis

An Author’s note is included at the beginning of the book that sets the premise of the book. Telling the story of Queen Elizabeth I of England is no easy task! One must understand a great deal of background information in order to understand Elizabeth’s life, and the authors do a fantastic job of presenting the material in a logical and coherent manner. They do this without sugarcoating the truth. We are told that Mary, Elizabeth's Catholic half sister, burned almost three hundred of her subjects when they refused to convert to Catholicism.

Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema present Elizabeth's life with accuracy and outstanding attention to detail in the illustrations.Stanley’s rich, and precise illustrations of the dress of the time period are outstanding. I was amazed at the detail of the broaches the women wore! The illustrations alone are enough to drive a reader to want to know more! Even so, the authors present the sort of facts that spellbound youngsters.

Her court was a lively one, with everyone striving to outdo one another…The
meneven dyed their beards purple or orange to match their coats.

And teenagers think they are the first to think this up! Elizabeth was presented as authentic and devoted to her subjects, yet she is not glorified.

She usually rode openly on horseback so that everyone could see her.
Shestopped in little villages and listened graciously to long speeches, received
humble gifts or cakes or flowers, gave her hand to be kissed, and won the hearts
of her people.

With this description, the authors have explained how Elizabeth I became “Good Queen Bess.”

I especially appreciated Queen Elizabeth I not presented as a perfect woman. It was noted that she manipulated heads of state, threw tantrums and was conniving even with her councillors.

She rarely met with them as a group, since they might unite to overwhelm her.
She talked with them separately and sometimes played on their feelings of
rivalry to divide them.

The authors provide a bibliography that cites twelve works and they take the time to point out that three of these are intended for younger readers. Stanley and Vennema’s use of quotes are the finishing touches to an exceptional well written biography of Elizabeth I of England.

Though you have had - and may have- many mightier and wiser princes sitting
in this sear, yet you never had - not shall have - any that will love you
better.

My students were very inquisitive as a I read this book aloud to them, which thrilled me!Since the most significant facts are included, I could see this book also used to introduce the era, and in ESL classrooms

REVIEWS

" With their attention to period detail--most strikingly the elaborate Elizabethan dress, jewels and palace furnishings--Stanley's paintings transport readers back to an intriguing era." - From Publisher's Weekly

"Author/illustrator Diane Stanley and her husband, Peter Vennema charmed us with Peter the Great and now they have brilliantly brought to life Elizabeth I of England. In a mere 40 pages the reader learns of Henry VIII and his wives, his falling out with the Pope, the birth of Elizabeth, her rise to power, the pageantry of her Court, and her astute political savvy. Ms Stanley's illustrations depict the grandeur of the Court and the magnificence of the Queen's costumes." - From Children's Literature

CONNECTIONS

The authors provide a bibliography that has younger readers in mind as well.
Diana Stanley has written a great number of biographies: Bard of Avalon: The Story of William Shakespeare, Michelangelo, Joan Of Arc, Leonardo da Vinci, Peter the Great, and Cleopatra. It is important to note that this list is not complete. With the number of biographies one could easily do a author study. How did Diana become so involved in writing biographies? What is her inspiration? How much of her time is devoted to research? These could be great questions to tackle in an author study.

They Swim the Seas: The Mystery of Animal Migration

Simon, Seymour. 1998. THEY SWIM THE SEAS:The Mystery ofAnimal Migration. by Elsa Warnick. New York: Harcout Brace & Company. ISBN 0-8172-5765-9

PLOT SUMMARY
Seymour Simon educates us about the migration mysteries of marine animals and marine plant life ranging from alga to the blue whales. The book includes numerous watercolor illustrations as well as an additional section where he includes more in depth information regarding marine migration.

ANALYSIS
Simon's many years in education are evident in the production of this book. He presents the material in a manner that reads beautifully. We are not merely reading fact, after fact, after boring fact. This is his description of a herring:

"Their silvery bodies glint in the sunlight and ripple the surface waters like a passing wind."

While there are no headings throughout the book to make the various animals presented, there is a sequence. Seymour moves from the smaller, beginning with alga , to the larger, the blue whale. Reading non-fiction may be like reading a list of boring facts, not so with this beauty. Simon's use of comparisons allows the reader to more concretely understand the matter presented. For example, his comparison of an Elephant seal to an automobile.

"Elephant seals are the largest of the seals; males can weigh more thantwenty-five thousand pounds and can reach a length of eighteen to twenty feet -as big as an automobile."

Compounded with excellent writing are the marvelous watercolor illustrations that provide accurate visuals for the reader. What makes this a fantastic non-fiction read is the genius of providing just information to where we feel that we have gained new insight, but nevertheless, discovering a new found thirst to learn even more! To help quench that thirst, Simon has included a section at the back of the book where he provides more in depth information about the animals he covered.

REVIEWS
"The whole is graced with a multitude of delicately sea-toned watercolors depicting everything from minute plankton to massive gray whales, and a wide range of creatures in between. Though there is much grist here for the determined report writer's mill, the lyrical text and sea-lit watercolors will best suit as recreational reading for nature lovers."-From School Library Journal
"A rougher fit with the picture-book format is the book's continuous narrative, without organizational headings and with additional information about each migrator appearing in a five-page addendum titled, 'More About Ocean Journeys.' Still, Simon and Warnick beautifully succeed in capturing the wonder of the migratory process." - From Kirkus Reviews

CONNECTIONS
A companion book, Ride the Wind: Airborne Journeys of Animals and Plants, also covers migration, but this time focuses on birds, locusts, the North American monarch butterfly and plants.While this book is non-fiction, it makes a great read-aloud. The watercolor illustrations are sure to produce many "ooooooohhs".

What do You do When Something Wants to Eat You?

Jenkins, Steve. 1997. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN SOMETHING WANTS TO EAT YOU? Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-395-82514-8

PLOT SUMMARY
Using colorful paper collage artwork, Steven Jenkins depicts how fourteen animals that are about to perish, escape with their lives. One page introduces the victim-to-be, and the following page describes its defense mechanism. The book ends with a peculiar question aimed at the reader, "What would you do if something wanted to eat you?

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The cover and title are a clear invitation to pick up this book. The cover depicts a bird attempting to have a to-go dinner. This is the type of book you take from the shelf and sit in the same isle where you found it to finish reading it. Simon keeps the attention of the reader by using colorful paper collage artwork. The artwork is simple, but that works as a plus making it easy for young readers to focus their attention on the prey or the predator. The book reads like a suspense thriller. On one page we find the poor victim about to meet its untimely death, but on the following page we learn how it outwitted its predator.

When an octopus is threatened...
(next page)
it squirts a thick cloud of black into into the water, confusing its
attacker.

Simon also doesn't sugar coat the realities of the brutal animal world.

The glass snake is really a lizard without legs. When it is grabbed by the
tail...its tail breaks into many small, wriggling pieces.

This caused many "yukkkks!" from the girls , but lots of "Wow, cools" from my boys. This book never rested on my bookshelf, but rather traveled from one student to another.



REVIEWS
"In this absorbing tribute to nature's genius, cut-paper collages illustrate the built-in defenses of animals and insects..." - From Publisher's Weekly


"Useful for teachers introducing animal defenses and the terms that go along with the subject and a great choice for a story time." - From School Library Journal

CONNECTIONS

While all the animals in our book escape from death, this book is a great way to begin the study of life cycles. The book also makes for a fantastic read aloud, making each turn of a page very suspenseful!

Students quickly understood that the ellipsis meant there is more to come and thus a language arts lesson was incorporated.

Other books by Steve Jenkins: Move! , Actual Size , What do You do With a Tail Like This? , and Animal Dads, to name a few.