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Module 12 - The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain

Biography

Sis, P. (2007). The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain.  New York: Frances Foster Books.

Summary

Relying heavily on drawings, Peter Sis tells about his life in Prague, from the time he was born up until the time the Berlin Wall came down in 1989.  Sis tells of the things he was taught in school and that during this period of schooling he was being brainwashed.  Sis also includes excerpts from his journals he kept while growing up.  As a teenager, he starts to rebel by secretly listening to music from America and Great Britain, and by joining a rock group.  This was short lived, however.  The government clamped down on the small freedoms some were beginning to have.  At this period, Sis explains that things got progressively worse, but he still dreamed.  And in the end his dreams came true with the fall of the Wall.

My Thoughts

This was an interesting look into what it was like living without the freedoms we all take for granted.  I especially liked the way Sis used his drawings to help portray just what was going on such as neighbors spying on neighbors.  I also really liked reading the journal excerpts because it really makes it more real.

Reviews

“This picture-book autobiography for older readers portrays Sis’ growing up in Prague under Communist rule.  The illustrations, which alternate between comic-style panels and full-page scenes, show young Sis drawing and expressing himself against claustrophobic black-and-white back-drops with red Communist symbols as accents.  Only the artist’s work and other images symbolizing free thought appear in full color.  Excerpts from Sis’ journals will help readers relate to the history and show how his art sets him free in a time when ‘people are followed, monitored, harassed, imprisoned, deported, and tortured.’  This deeply personal history is a chilling look at life behind the Iron Curtain.”

Tillotson, L. (Jan 2008). [Review of the book The Wall: Growing Up behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis]. Book Links, 17(3), p 23

Ideas for Use

I think this would be a great book to use in the classroom when studying history or other cultures.  A challenge could be issued to the children to go one week without radio, TV, etc. in order to give them just a little understanding about how it would have been to live behind the Iron Curtain.

Module 11 - George Washington's Teeth

Biography

Chandra, D. & M. Comora.  (2003). George Washington’s Teeth. (B. Cole, Illus.). New York: Farrar Straus Giroux

Summary

As the title tells us, this picture book is about the dental problems of our very first president.  The story is told in rhyme as we get a humorous account of how he loses each of his teeth, whether it was in a dentist’s chair or during battle or while eating a nut.  After losing all of his teeth, George and his dentist used plaster to make false teeth for him.  At the end of the book, Chandra and Comora provide a timeline that includes some important events in the president’s life, including all the information about his dental problems.

My Thoughts

Before I read this book, I had no idea that George Washington had lost all of his teeth.  As I began reading the picture book, with its humorous rhyme, I wondered to myself if the authors had embellished the facts a bit.  But they had not, as the timeline and sources in the back proved.  It sure does explain why he is not smiling in any of his portraits!  As an information book for children, I think this book was excellent.  It was exciting and funny and grabbed my attention from the beginning. 

Reviews

“Written in rhymed verse and illustrated with attractive watercolor illustrations, this book opens with an entertaining account of our first President’s dental problems and succession of false teeth.  The second section consists of an extensive time line with thumbnail pictures featuring portraits of Washington and a photograph of his last set of dentures.  Notes within the time line support the initial story and provide details about Washington’s life.”

Christolon, B. (Aug 2005). [Review of the book George Washington’s Teeth by Deborah Chandra and Madeleine Comora].  School Library Journal, 51(8), p 48

Ideas for Use

This book would be a good introduction into a lesson on dental hygiene for young kids.

Module 10 - Turtle in Paradise

Bibliography

Holm, J. (2010). Turtle in Paradise.  New York: Random House

Summary

This story takes place in 1935 and follows a girl named Turtle who is sent to live with an aunt and cousins in Key West because her mother’s new employer does not like children.  Even though none of the kids own shoes and everybody has odd nicknames, Turtle finds adventure in Key West.  She tags along with her cousins, the “Diaper Gang,”  as they take neighborhood babies around in their wagon and change their diapers; she accompanies Slow Poke, a man from her mother’s past, on his boat to fish for sponges to sell; she learns she has a grandmother who is the meanest old lady in Key West, and manages, with her tenacity and stubbornness, to win her grandmother over; she finds a map of Black Caesar’s buried treasure and sets out to find it with her cousins.  Through all of her adventures, Turtle learns the importance of family.

My Thoughts

I really enjoyed this book because it was filled with adventure and even though it is a historical fiction book, the story is told in a way that makes the characters easy to relate to.  The mix of fictional characters based on real people and events really brings the story to life.

Reviews

“Narrator Turtle’s voice is tart and world-weary, and she is under no illusions about her own kind, declaring, “Kids are rotten.”  It’s 1935, and when her housekeeper mother’s new job doesn’t allow children, she is sent to live with her aunt in Key West, where everyone goes without shoes and is called by a nickname like Pork Chop or Slow Poke.  With her stoic nature and her quick wits, Turtle is able to fit in with her boy cousins and their friends (though they won’t let her help with their Diaper Gang babysitting business), and she even manages to outmaneuver the elderly woman she is sent to feed who keeps knocking her food to the floor.  The episodic novel includes details, events, and figures from history (including those from Holm’s own family), and Turtle’s narrative is peppered with references from the time, as she compares herself to Little Orphan Annie and gladly avoids going to a Shirley Temple movie.  Modern-day readers will have no trouble relating to Turtle, though, and the fast-moving plot will keep them interested to the end.”

Lempke, S. D. (2010). [Review of the book Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm]. Horn Book Magazine, 86(3), p 81-32

Ideas for Use

This would be a good book for a discussion about how Turtle is really like a turtle: she was hard on the outside, but inside she had feelings and vulnerability.  Kids can come up with nicknames of their own that describes their character and something about them.