What We Wear: Dressing Up Around the World

What We Wear: Dressing Up Around the World
Written by: Maya Ajmera
Charlesbridge, 2012
32 pages
Multicultural

 

                Are you looking for a book to show your students all about how different cultures dress? Did you know that the way you dress can symbolize how we worship, where we go to school, or how we represent our heritage? What we wear expresses our individuality.  But the one thing that we all have in common is that we are all unique and beautiful.  Learn about the many different clothing’s around the world by reading What We Wear: Dressing Up Around the World.

                The pictures in this story do a great job at capturing the individuality of each child in their traditional dress.  This story is a celebration in bright, beautiful photographs.  What We Wear: Dressing Up Around the World inspires young children from all around the world to explore how clothing makes them feel and how it tells about them.  Each student will be encouraged to want to know more about each other’s heritages after reading this book.

                For this story I would have my students have a dress up day.  Each student will be encouraged to go home and ask their parents or grandparents about their heritage and come to school dressed in their heritages traditional clothes.  Then I would have my student write a brief description about their heritage and how it came to be about.  Then I would do a history lesson and allow my students to find their Native Heritage and tell the rest of the class about it, by showing it on a map, pictures, and facts.  

Hiding from the Nazi

Hiding from the Nazi
Written by: David A. Alder
Illustrated by: Karen Ritz
Holiday House, 2000
30 pages
Historical Fiction

                Have you ever wonder exactly what happened during the Holocaust? We all know what happened from an adult’s perspective but we've rarely heard it from a child's. In Hiding from the Nazi we finally get to see what happened from a little Jewish girl named Lore Baer. Take a trip back in history and see what all happened in Lore's young life.
                Karen Ritz uses watercolor to illustrate this story. She uses a lot of dark, murky colors to tell the story through pictures.  I believe that because this is such a raw and emotional story she has to use those bland colors. I would much rather read this book to my fourth or fifth graders because I feel like at that age they would have a better comprehension of what happened back then.
                For Hiding from the Nazi I would do a history lesson to explain to my students what happened during the Holocaust and how it had an effect on our society.  I would also have my students write a narrative on what their perspective of what happened in Lore's life. For example, I would ask them each to take a minute after I read them the story and think about the events that happened in the story. Then I would have them write what they think happened in their own words. Lastly I would have my students do research about the Holocaust and compare and contrast it to the book.  

 

Titanicat

Titanicat
Written by: Marty Crisp
Illustrated by: Robert Papp
Sleeping Bear Press, 2008
40 pages
Historical Fiction

                Have you ever heard of a cat on a boat? Aren't most cats supposed to be afraid of water? Well this tortoiseshell lives on the ship 4-0-1 also later on called the titanic. Young John Mulholland is in charge of this cat that is named after the ships construction number 4-0-1. Find out if 4-0-1 and John actually go on the Titanic’s first voyage to America.
                 The illustrations in the story are very warm and soft looking. The baby kittens look like they could actually jump right off the page and onto your lap! Robert Papp does a great job at portraying the Irish heritage by giving John red hair and green eyes.  Papp’s illustrations really portray what the people and things actually look like in real life.
                I would first do a history lesson on this book and tell my students about the tragic story of how the titanic sank. I would also like to have my student’s do a reenactment type thing by having my students look up individuals on the ship and tell about them.  They could do a play and dress like them.  Then I would have my students write a narrative using the before-middle-end words to tell the sequence of what happened during the story.

Drumbeat in Our Feet

Drumbeat in Our Feet
Written by: Patricia A. Keeler
Illustrated by: Julio T. Leitao
Lee & Low Books, 2012
32 pages
Multicultural

 

                If your feet can keep a beat, then you can surely dance.  If you have a voice, then you can surely sing.  It may not be the best and you may not be able to keep a tune but in Africa it doesn’t matter when it comes to their African dance.  Take a journey with a children’s dance troupe as they learn and preform a traditional African dance in the Drumbeat in Our Feet.

                Julio T. Leitao did a fantastic job at creating such beautiful, colorful, and vibrant illustrations.  They go along so well with the story line.  She captures the traditional and cultural essences in each page.  A section in the back of the book provides photos and information about Batoto Yetu, a well know troupe of children’s dancers.  One of the things I really liked about the book was that it had a pronunciation guide and a map of Africa.

                I would use this story to show my students that there are many different heritages and traditions all over the world.  First I would allow my students to listen and watch a traditional American dance routine and then show them a video of an African troupe children’s dance and allow them to compare and contrast the differences and things they had in common.  Then I would have my students read another story about Africa and learn more interesting facts.  Lastly, I would have my student do a geography lesson by having them search different places where famous troupes are from and what difference they have in their dances.

               

The Rice Bag Hammock

The Rice Bag Hammock
Written by: Shaeeza Haniff
Illustrated by: Swafeha Khan
     Shaeeza Haniff, 2011
 26 Pages
Multicultural

                A simple rice bag can be made into a hammock? Who knew? Or it can be made into a grocery bag? The Rice Bag Hammock tells a story of an ordinary burlap bag. Shaeeza Haniff does a great job at telling the memories of her past through this story. This is such a warm and inviting story for your children.
                Swafeha Khan does a great job portraying the warmth and comfort throughout the illustrations.  The illustrations in this story are beautifully made.  She uses such soft colors to portray how the illustrations are used. I believe that the repetitive text and use of feeling words to describe family situations.

                For this story I would have my students go on a journey just like the rice bag did.  I would have them write a short narrative about places they visited and things they saw.  Then I would have my student’s research where the rice bag was first used and who created it for a History lesson.  Lastly, I would have my students estimate about how many piece of rice can be put in a rice bag for a math lesson.  I would also have my students list all the many different ways a rice bag can be used.

 

 

Ice Cream

Ice Cream
Written & illustrated by: Elisha Cooper
Greenwillow books, 2002
40 Pages
Nonfiction

                Have ever heard the saying, "We all scream for ice cream?" Well when I was a kid every time the ice cream man would drive by that's all you could hear.  Have you ever wondered how ice creams made? Or how long it takes?  Well in this story, Ice Cream, Elisha Cooper does an amazing job telling just that in a kid friendly kind of way.
                Elisha Cooper uses small scale art to tell the story through pictures. The text is spread in wild was throughout the pages. Each illustration precisely shows what steps are taken to make ice cream.
                I would have my students find onomatopoeia as one of my activities for this story.  Then I would have my students do a science lesson and create their own ice cream.  Everyone loves ice cream, so why not make some? Lastly, I would have my students find how many different mammals have milk.  I would have them look up different ways that the milk is used, whether it is for their young or for human usages.  

SIT-IN How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down

SIT-IN How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down
Written By: Andrea Davis Pinkney
Illustrated by: Brian Pinkney
Little Brown and Company, 2010
40 Pages
Nonfiction

                "We must... Meet hate with love." Those were the six words by Dr. Martian Luther King Jr. that got them started.  Four men all looking for the same thing... An end to segregation. They set in a "white only" restaurant called Woolsworth. To find out more about their courage read SIT-IN How Four Friends Stood Up by Siting Down!
                Brain Pinkney does a great job at embracing a new artistic style creating expressive illustrations filled with such raw emotions. Emotions that capture the strength, hope, and imagination of these for men and so many others. These illustrations are so expressive that you actually feel like you are experiencing the story as it is told.
                I would use this book as a history lesson. First, I would have the students do research on segregation. Then I would have them reenact this story so that they can see how harsh segregation used to be.  Next, I would have my students write their own story about segregation and what it means to them.  Then I would allow them to draw a picture with it to express their feelings in a different way.