Picture Book Tributes to Teachers from Patricia Polacco

The Junkyard Wonders
 




This picture book by Patricia Pollacco made me cry when I tried to read parts of it to a friend on the phone.    The book is a very wordy picture book.  I think for groups of children  in a classroom, I wouldn’t try it until grade 4 or 5, but reading it one-on-one at home you could try an 8-9 yr old.  Beware that a child dies in the story.

The Junkyard Wonders follows Patricia’s book Thank you Mr. Falker which is a tribute to her teacher, Mr. Falker, who helped her learn to read.  It is a lovely, honest story about the struggles a child faces in school when her abilities are not in synch with school learning  expectations.  Here’s a quote from Patricia's website about the book:

This story is truly autobiographical. It is about my own struggle with not being able to read.

This story honors the teacher that took time to see a child that was drowning and needed help. I am dyslexic, disnumeric and disgraphic. Can you imagine what it was like to try and learn along with other students when I needed specialized help...help that wasn't available in those days. I remember feeling dumb, that terrible feeling about myself was compounded by being teased by a bully. That boy changed my life and made me feel so unsafe and so sad that I didn't want to go to school anymore. Mr. Falker, my hero, my teacher, not only stopped this boy from teasing me, but he also noticed that I wasn't reading well and got a reading specialist to help

To this day, I remember the first day that words on a page had meaning to me...Mr. Falker had reached into the most lonely darkness and pulled me into bright sunlight and sat me on a shooting star. I shall never forget him...so this book was written both to honor Mr. Falker, but also to warn young people that mean words have a terrible power...and that they should do all that they can to see that teasing stops at their school.

Thank you, Mr. Falker,
Patricia Polacco

The Junkyard Wonders is also a tribute to a teacher and an autobiographical and poignant tale.  Patricia asked her separated parents if for one year she could go to school where her dad and grandma lived for she had made a friend during her summer stay there.  She thought that perhaps she could start on an equal footing in this new school and not be known as “the dumb kid.”  She finds herself in the junkyard, the name the other children give to this classroom filled with students who are different.

On the first day of class the teacher, Mrs. Petersen, starts the day by reciting the definition of genius from a dictionary.  She has the students copy this definition on the board and on notes and asks them to place the notes on mirrors, walls, etc. so that they can read it everyday,  memorize it, and know that this is the definition of who they are – geniuses.

A wonderful story follows.  The ending is so satisfactory – and makes me cry.  In the postscript of the book she tells a little bit about the grown-up lives of her classmates from the junkyard.  One of the children became artistic director of the American Ballet Theater Company in New York.  Another a textile designer in Paris, and another an aeronautical engineer for NASA.  And Patricia became and is a well-known, respected writer and illustrator of children’s books.  They all made it to the moon!

I love all of Patricia’s books.  Many of her books have autobiographic material woven into them .  Her stories envelope me in a sense of warmth and family.   The Junkyard Wonders reached deep into my heart and helped illuminate some of feelings from childhood school experiences.   It makes me want everyone who works, lives, or takes care of children to be like Mrs. Peterson and tell the children in their lives that they are geniuses.  Thank you, Patricia Polacco!

Two fall stories - a chapter book and a picture book and one more picture book

The Cricket in Times Square by George Seldon

This delightful story has brought pleasure to many for 50 years.  First published in 1960, this story about Chester Cricket, Harry the cat, and Tucker the mouse is a great family read aloud.  Chester arrives in New York City in the basket of some picnickers and ends up in Times Square where Mario finds him and buys a cricket cage for him.  Mario keeps Chester in his family's newsstand.  The news stand is not doing well.  Even though at first Mario's mother is not happy to have a cricket in the stand (Chester inadvertently eats a dollar bill), he wins the hearts of the adult Bellinis with his talent for music.  Chester can chirp opera and other music he has heard.  His talent helps the Bellinis to make the make their newsstand more successful.  I won't give anymore of this delightful story away.

Illustrated by Garth Williams

Family reading: 7 yrs old and up
Classroom reading: Grades 4 and 5


Applebet, an ABC  by Clyde Watson illustrated by Wendy Watson

"A is for apple as everyone knows.  Can you follow this one whereever it goes?"
The story follows Bet and her mother as they bring their crop of apples to sell at the market.  The author introduces words in alphabetic sequence,
"Soft C is for Cider made first thing today
We'll keep a jug handy to drink on the way
CH is for Cherry, the little red mare
Giddy-up, Cherry - we're off to the fair!"


I really enjoyed the relationship between mom and daughter.  It's so positive and warm.  The illustrations by Wendy, Clyde's sister, are a perfect fit and add just the right touch to make this a book you and your children will enjoy many times.

Family reading: 2 yrs old and up
Classroom reading: Kindergarten, Grade 1 and 2

This sister team has collaborated on other books.  My other favourite book of theirs is Father Fox's Pennyrhymes.

I read this book to my children so many times, that I can still recite it from start to finish.

"Dilly, Dilly, Piccalilli
Tell me something very silly:
There was a chap his name was Bert
He ate the buttons off his shirt."

"Let the fall rains fall

And the cold snow snow

And the rain rain rain 'til April:

Our coats are warm

And the pantry's full

And there's cake upon the table."

Family reading: 2 yrs old and up
Classroom reading: Kindergarten, Grade 1 and 2

Girls named Betsy and a Summer story

We just had a wedding at our house and it made me think of Summer Story by Jill Barklem






This delightful book and the others about the world of Brambly Hedge delighted my daughter for many years.  All the Brambly Hedge stories are filled with the everyday stories of daily life of the mice who live in Brambly Hedge.  The illustrations call out to me and make me want to live there, too. 

You can find out more about Brambly Hedge and its creator Jill Barklem here http://www.bramblyhedge.co.uk/

And two books about girls named Betsy

B is for Betsy by Carolyn Haywood





Betsy starts first grade in this book, going to school for the first time.  She has a number of adventures with Eddie who becomes her friend.  She meets a friendly policeman, helps one of her classmates feel less afraid, and begins to learn the things that one learns in first grade.  This book was first published in 1939 so it describes a time that no longer exists, yet it still captures the flavor of being 6 years old.  I enjoyed reading the whole series of books about Betsy and Eddie to my children.  The books are fairly easy to read and can provide a transition for children from early readers to chapter books.  Carolyn Haywood was born on Jan. 3, 1898.  She died on January 11, 1990.  What an incredible amount of change she saw in her lifetime.  She wrote many books about Betsy, Eddie, and Ellen and other children as well. For 5 and up

Understood Betsy by Eileen Canfield Fischer



A different Betsy - slightly less spunky at the beginning than the previous Betsy but she becomes quite resilient and resourceful by the end of the book.  This is one of my favourite stories to read aloud.  It was written by the woman who brought Maria Montessori's ideas about education to America.


Betsy is sent to live with her dreaded Vermont cousins on her mother's side as a result of illness in the relatives on her father's side who have been taking care of her for many years.  Life is so very different in the country in rural Vermont compared to the city.  At first Betsy is uncertain and frightened.  School is a one room school house and children are not divided up by grades instead each one works at whatever level she can in various subjects.  Betsy finds that her skill at reading outloud brings pleasure to others, something she'd never imagined.  Chores, woodstoves, animals, and the simple pleasure of daily life begin to fill Betsy's life.  She is surrounded by love and blooms in her new surroundings.  For 6 and up