My VIllage: Rhymes from Around the World

My Village: Rhymes from Around the World

Collected by: Danielle WRight
Illustrated by: Mique Moriuchi

Elementary Grades

"My Village is a beautiful collection featuring nursery rhymes and verses from around the world: New Zealand, China, Australia, Norway, Ireland, Tonga, Jamaica, Japan, Zimbabwe, Fiji, Indonesia, Denmark, Iran, Germany, Samoa, Switzerland, Russia, Brazil, France, Holland, Iceland, and India. Readers delight in quirky, touching, and funny verses from the 22 different countries, brought vividly to life by the appealingly fresh artwork from exciting young illustrator Mique Moriuchi, who captures each verse with a uniquely beautiful and child's-eye focus. Danielle Wright has included some familiar rhymes along with others that are less well known. Internationally acclaimed poet and former Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen introduces the collection, discussing the origins of nursery rhymes as well as reviewing some of his favorites. Also endorsed by the International Youth Library, this book is an essential addition to any school or library."

**What I loved about this book when I read it is that the native language is printed right next to the English text throughout - Jennie

Product Description

Online Resources:
http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/my-village-rhymes-from-around-the-world/

Chains

Chains

Written by: Laurie Halse Anderson

Upper Elementary, Junior High and High School Grades

This beautifully written piece of historical fiction written by well-known young adult author Laurie Halse Anderson gives readers a very close up view of a young slave girls experience living in New York City during the time of the American Revolution. Isabel and her sister Ruth are sold to a couple who are very involved in the political scene in New York as Loyalists to the British crown. Isabel becomes involved with a boy whose master promises her freedom if she is able to deliver secret information to and from her master to the Rebel forces. Isabel endures many hardships including the loss of her sister Ruth whom her master sells right from under her without her knowing. She must dig deep to make the biggest leap of faith she has ever made by running away in the middle of the night to freedom. This story continues into the next novel, Fever which is the second in a series of three books written by Anderson. Readers will feel a connection to this time period in US history through the authenticity of the characters in this story. There is a very well written question and answer section in the back of the book that explains the historical aspects of this novel that readers will find as a great companion to this book.

This book has received numerous awards and honors including a National Book Award Finalist in 2008, and the 2009 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.

Jennie's Review

Online Resources:
http://madwomanintheforest.com/teachers/historical-chains/
http://www.slavenorth.com/index.html

Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told

Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told

Written by: Walter Dean Myers
Illustrated by: Bonnie Christensen

Upper Elementary and Junior High Grades

"Ida B. Wells was an extraordinary woman. Long before boycotts, sit-ins, and freedom rides, Ida B. Wells was hard at work to better the lives of African Americans.

An activist, educator, writer, journalist, suffragette, and pioneering voice against the horror of lynching, she used fierce determination and the power of the pen to educate the world about the unequal treatment of blacks in the United States. Award-winning author Walter Dean Myers tells the story of this legendary figure, which blends harmoniously with the historically detailed watercolor paintings of illustrator Bonnie Christensen."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://learningtogive.org/lessons/unit17/lesson4.html
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/african-american-journalist-wells-20660.html#websites

On My Journey Now: Looking at African-American History Through the Spirituals

On My Journey Now: Looking at African-American History Through the Spirituals

Written by: Nikki Giovanni

Junior High and High School Grades

"The songs written and first sung by African-American slaves were inspired by a host of human needs: to express emotion, to call God, to remain heartened under oppression, and, perhaps most importantly, to communicate covertly, often about the Underground Railroad. Giovanni brings these motives home in this short, impressionistic look at the lives of the slaves, beginning with their holding in places such as Cape Coast Castle and Goree Island, through the end of the Civil War, when members of divided families desperately attempted to track one another down. Giovanni is a poet, and the book has cadence; in tone, it almost reads like the transcript of a speech or sermon, as the author is generous with her own opinions and often refers to herself within the text."

School Library Journal Review

Online Resources:
http://nikki-giovanni.com/
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/nikki-giovanni