THE UGLY DUCKLING



BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Pinkney, Jerry.(adapted and ill). 1999. The Ugly Duckling. New York. Morrow Junior Books.

ISBN: 0-688-15933-8

AWARDS:

Caldecott Honor Book 2000

ALA Notable Children's Book

PLOT SUMMARY:

     In this classic tale first told by Hans Christian Anderson and adapted by Jerry Pinkney, a baby swan's search for friends and acceptance is poignantly portrayed. Not knowing that one day he will become a beautiful swan, the little duckling spends the first year of his life being hated, ridiculed and bullied by all except his mother. He leaves his home and sets out on a journey to find a place where he fits in. During his journey, he survives many trials and the dangers of the hunters and ice covered ponds. The duckling finally finds a place where he can belong and fit in. The tale ends with the duckling discovering that he has turned into a beautiful swan and finding a place of love and acceptance with other swans.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

     Any child who has ever been the object of ridicule and bullying will relate to this story. Pinkney's  illustrations are in keeping with the time in which it was originally written and the new characters he introduces makes the story even more interesting. The simple plot of the duckling's journey to find a place to belong and the conflicts he faced, serve to make the entire book an inspiration to others who have traveled down that same road.

     The watercolor illustrations are big and simply beautiful. They make you feel like you are right in the pages with the duckling as he goes through his first year. Having them spread across two pages keeps the book from looking "busy," meaning that it incorporates so much on a page that it distracts the reader.

Looking at the farm on the first page, one really feels like they are looking across the fence at a farmhouse. Pinkney's illustrations are like this on every page. The combination of text and pictures reach out and pull the reader into the story so they feel like they are actually there.

REVIEW EXCERPTS:

KIRKUS: "Outstanding illustrations and some new characters make Pinkney's retelling of a familiar tale

          memorable."

CHILDREN'S LITERATURE: "A truly lovely adaptation of this classic story."

CONNECTIONS:

     This book would be excellent to get children to open up about their feelings about bullying and how people should be treated no matter what they look like. Other versions of the story could also be read to compare and contrast the different versions.

     Other related books to read are:

          The Goose Girl by the Brothers Grimm

          The Berenstain Bears and the Bully  by Stan Berenstain

THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Scieszka, Jon. 1989. The True Story of The 3 Little Pigs! Smith, Lane ill. New York.Viking Penguin.
ISBN: 0-670-82759-2

AWARDS:
Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award for Picture Book (1991)

PLOT SUMMARY:

     “I was framed,” says the Wolf.
     In this delightful and fun variation of the classic The Three Little Pigs, Alexander Wolf (aka Big Bad Wolf) tells his side of the story. It seems that he was baking a birthday cake for his dear old grand-mother and ran out of sugar. Having a cold and being victim to random bouts of sneezing, he proceeded to his neighbors’ houses to try and borrow a cup of sugar. The neighbors just happen to be the little pigs. Through a series of misfortunate events, the first little pig’s house of straw was knocked down when the wolf sneezed due to his cold. The same thing basically happens at the second pig’s house and at the third pig’s house, the wolf gets upset because the pig insulted his granny. The wolf got mad and was trying to break down the door when the cops showed up. Then the newspapers embellished the story and reported the “Huff and puff and blow your house down.”

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

     Jon Scieszak has taken the classic story to a new level. Children will love hearing about the misfortunate events and probably will relate to a time when they were misunderstood. Scieszak uses each conflict with the pigs to create a semi-credible spin to the story.
      Add to that the illustrations of Lane Smith and the children will love this tale. Smith portrays the wolf with glasses and a tie. The illustration of the wolf in this manner takes away some of the pre-conceived notions children have that the Big Bad Wolf is mean and terrifying. He comes across as a slightly older, mild mannered character. If you do not look closely, some of the details in the illustrations may be missed. For example, the bunny ears sticking out of the cake bowl and the “sneezing remnants” which could be mistaken as cake batter. The pictures of the little pigs’ bottoms sticking up from the rubble of the house are also sure to strike a chord of laughter with the children. Even though the story is humorous, Smith’s use of muted colors and dark shading gives the story an underlying sense of menace. The illustration and text of this story complement each other and make for enjoyable reading.

REVIEW EXCERPTS:

Booklist:
“Jon Scieszka's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (1989) turned the favorite porkers' story upside-down by allowing the grossly misjudged wolf to tell his side of the story.”

School Library Journal:
“……the bespectacled wolf moves with a rather sinister bonelessness, and his juicy sneezes tear like thunderbolts through a dim, grainy world.”

CONNECTIONS:
     Compare and contrast the original Three Little Pigs story with this one. Other enrichment activities could be to show the pictures to the students and have them to predict what they think will happen. Picking out noun and adjectives would also make a good activity. Read another book by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith:
     The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

ONE EYE, TWO EYES, THREE EYES

Bibliography:

Kimmel, Eric A. (reteller) 1996. One Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes.

Dirk Zimmer, ill. New York. Holiday House.

ISBN 0-8234-1183-4

Plot Summary:

            One Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes is a Hutzel tale retold by Eric Kimmel from a story originally told to him by his grandmother. It is the story of Larissa, a young, beautiful girl who because of her father, went into the forest to live with a three eyed witch and her ugly daughters. Larissa had a magic goat who was her only friend in the woods.

The witch and her daughters treated Larissa abominably and made her work hard. When the witch discovered that the goat was helping Larissa with her work, she killed the goat and let Larissa have the hooves and horns which she buried in the forest and watered with her tears. Overnight a beautiful apple tree grew and when no one but Larissa could reach the apples to give to the Prince, he fell in love with her and took her away from the witch. This made the witch so mad that she struck the tree with a stick. When she did, lightning struck the tree and the witch and her daughters were never seen again.

Critical Analysis:

This story seems to be a cross between Beauty and the Beast, in the way that the father makes a deal which costs him his daughter and Cinderella, in the way that the witch and her daughters are cruel to Larissa and make her do all the work. As in both the stories mentioned above, this tale continues with the theme that good triumphs over evil and everyone lives happily ever after (except for the evil ones). The magical aspects of the story such as the witch, the goat and the tree further adds to the style of this traditional tale.

The illustrations of David Zimmel are primitive yet truly complement the story. The drawings of the witch and her daughters truly illustrate how ugly they are. The reader has no trouble imagining their ugliness and hatefulness. The book is also illustrated in color with the exception of one illustration depicting Larissa and her goat in black and white. This extends the words on the page which are “Little Goat, my only friend. Will my sorrows never end?” This stark illustration in black and white seems to portray the despair that Larissa felt.

Connections:

            Considering that there is more than one version of the story, a comparison between Kimmel’s version and Aaron Shepard’s version would be an excellent extension activity. Another comparison activity would be to compare this story with Cinderella.

Other tales retold by Eric A. Kimmel:

            The Story of Esther:A Purim Tale

            The Spider’s Gift: A Ukranian Christmas Story

The Gingerbread Man

Reviews:

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE: “Great storytelling! The witches are truly ugly!”

BOOKLIST: “In a useful author's note, Kimmel talks about his sources and about the universal theme of the person who makes a foolish vow and must give up a beloved child.”

KNUFFLE BUNNY: A CAUTIONARY TALE

KNUFFLE BUNNY: A CAUTIONARY TALE

Bibliography:

Willems, Mo. 2004. Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale. New York, New York:
          Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN 0-7868-1870-0

Plot Summary:

            Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale is the story of Trixie, her mom, dad and her favorite toy named Knuffle Bunny. One bright morning Trixie and her dad left the house to run an errand. They walked through their neighborhood and the park to the laundromat. Once there, Trixie and her dad began to put the laundry in the washer. They started the laundry and had left to walk back home when Trixie, who cannot talk yet, began trying to tell her daddy something. He does not understand and in a placating manner tells her they are going home. All the way home Trixie tries to tell her daddy that Knuffle Bunny was gone. Trixie is frustrated and upset and begins to throw temper tantrums which in turn makes her dad frustrated and upset. They get home and immediately Trixie’s mom asks where Knuffle Bunny is. The family runs back to the Laundromat where Knuffle Bunny is rescued from the washer and Trixie says her first words…

“Knuffle Bunny.”

Critical Analysis:

            Mo Willems has created a tale that children as well as adults can relate to and has captured the age old dilemma of miscommunication between parents and children in a humorous way.  All parents and children have trouble communicating at sometime in their relationship and frustration sets in. This happened with Trixie and her dad. Just because Trixie is young and cannot talk yet, does not mean she cannot get frustrated. She thought she was trying to tell her dad that they lost Knuffle  Bunny, her dad did not understand her babbling and got frustrated by Trixie’s behavior.

Willems’ illustrations are the best part of her book. The way she expresses the action through the illustrations, such as the frustration on the face of Trixie’s dad, adds to the believability of the characters. Willems uses digital pictures which were taken in Brooklyn and have been altered by computer. Her characters, which are hand drawn ink, are cartoonish in nature and are blended with the pictures. The blending of these two types of media makes her characters stand out in a very effective manner and make the book not just an ordinary picture book.

Connections:

            Other books by Mo Willems are:

                        Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity

                        Knuffle Bunny Free

                        Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus

Awards:

            Caldecott Honor Book

            Irma S. and James A. Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature

           

Book Reviews:

School Library Journal

A seamless and supremely satisfying presentation of art and text.

Booklist

            This comic gem proves that Caldecott Medal-winner Willems, the Dr. Spock and Robin Williams of the lap-sit crowd, has just as clear a bead on pre-verbal children as on silver-tongued preschoolers.

THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT

Bibliography:

Potter, Beatrix. 1902. The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Ill by David McPhail. Scholastic, New York.  ISBN 0-590-41101-2

Plot Summary:

     Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit is a book which has been enchanting children for over a hundred years. First published in 1902, it is the story of Peter and his three siblings Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail. Peter’s siblings are very good rabbits, however Peter is a little on the naughty side. Peter disregards his mother’s instructions to stay out of Mr. McGregor’s garden. While Peter is eating vegetables from the garden and getting sick, Mr. McGregor spies Peter and chases him. Peter is very scared and knows if he is caught, he will end up in a rabbit pie like his father before him. After finally finding a way out of the garden, Peter runs home where his mother puts him to bed and makes him camomile tea. Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail however, have bread, milk and blackberries for dinner.

Critical Analysis:

     Children who read this book will identify with Peter. Who among us has never disobeyed our parents which led to trouble? Even though Peter did not get caught and did not get into trouble with his mother, hopefully he learned a valuable lesson about disobedience. From this book, children can learn how the choices they make have consequences. Since he disobeyed his mother, Peter spent the evening sick in bed but Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail had a good dinner because they followed their mother’s instructions.

     David McPhail’s illustrations complement Potter’s story and assist the reader in getting a mental picture of the action. From the mother pointing her finger at Peter warning him to stay out of the garden to the surprise on Peter’s face when he comes across Mr. McGregor, the details that McPhail puts into his art will delight young readers. His use of muted colors gives the book an old fashioned feel which lends itself to the classic timelessness of the book.

Connections:

     This is a great book for lessons on disobedience and consequences. It would be a great book to share at the beginning of school when classroom rules are set and discussed.

Other books that would be good to share with a class at this time would be:
     David Goes to School by David Shannon
    No, David by David Shannon
    David Gets In Trouble by David Shannon

Review Excerpts:

AMAZON.COM:
     “Beatrix Potter's animal stories have been a joy to generations of young readers."

BOOKLIST:

     “Undoubtedly one of the most famous books for children, this enduring classic has been reprinted more than 100 times in the 80-plus years since its debut….”

MY FRIEND RABBIT

Bibliography:
Rohmann, Eric.2002. My Friend Rabbit. Brookfield, Connecticut: Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 0-7613-2420

Awards:
2003 Caldecott Medal Award Book

Plot Summary:
My Friend Rabbit is a humorous and delightful story of the friendship between Mouse and Rabbit. It seems that even though Rabbit means well, he is always causing some kind of trouble. When Rabbit helps Mouse fly his plane, Mouse falls out and the plane ends up stuck in the tree. Rabbit, of course, immediately has a solution. His solution consists of using animals stacked on top of each other to reach the plane and get it out of the tree. As the animals come crashing to the ground, Mouse jumps for the plane and ends up rescuing Rabbit from the herd of angry animals. The story ends with the plane stuck in the same tree. Only this time, Mouse and Rabbit are stuck in the tree with the plane and once again Rabbit has an idea.

Critical Analysis:
In actuality, this book does not have many words and the illustrations tell much of the story. The way Rohmann uses the illustrations to actually show the reader Rabbit’s solution to the dilemma will keep children laughing and guessing what animal Rabbit will drag or carry to stack next. He uses this same method to portray the part of the story where the animals come crashing to the ground. The illustrations are well suited to the story and even though the reader can tell that the story takes place out of doors on a sunny day, the simple use of the blue sky and grass allows the reader to fully appreciate the detail and expressions on the animals’ faces which are priceless.

Connections:
Children will relate to the friendship between Mouse and Rabbit due to the fact that at some time or another, they have been frustrated or upset with their friends but have forgiven them because they are a friend. This book lends itself well to discussions of friendship, feelings we have for our friends and how we can deal with situations that arise. Also using Rabbit’s “solution” as an example, children can discuss why or why not his plan works as the story is being read and they can predict what will happen next.


Review Excerpts:
KIRKUS REVIEW: “Young readers and pre-readers will chortle at the silliness of it all while enjoying the sometimes-demanding friendship between these disparately sized chums.”

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “ The text is minimal; it’s the illustrations that are the draw here.”