A super-cold day today, so only a few came. Still, we had a great time!
This is the partner to my "Larger than Life Men" that I did in January.
Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart
Pat Mora, illustrated by Raul Colon
ISBN: 0375823379
This is a bit on the long side for my group, but it's very repetitive, so it's possible to skip over pages without missing anything if you really need to. We did the whole book today, but if the group was any larger, I was planning to take advantage of that if I had need. Dona Flor's mother sang to her plants and her child as she raised them, and each ended up being giant sized. Now Flor lives in a village and tries to be motherly and helpful to her neighbors, especially now that they're menaced by the sounds of an enormous angry puma. Lovely lovely lovely illustrations, sweet story, and a cute ending - no violence (except an accidental black eye).
Stand Straight, Ella Kate: The True Story of a Real Giant
Kate Klise, illustrated by M. Sarah Klise
ISBN: 9780803734043
Ella Kate was from a small midwestern town, and she grew to be a giant - 8'4" at her tallest! Thanks to a kind and supportive family, she never felt too down about being oversized, and even went on tour with a traveling circus to earn money and support herself (which was rare for any woman back then). I love the way the book ended with her coming back home to share stories of her adventures with her friends.
My Mom
Anthony Browne
ISBN: 0374350981
An older book, but a consistently good one for storytimes. Usually I'd do the short book (which this is) in the middle, but I liked the idea of bringing the theme from fantastical to historical to actual by ending on a family-oriented note. The repeated use of the floral motif makes for a lovely through-line. The repeated "very nice" is also sweet.
First Runner Up (not used today, but have in the past and will in future)
Brave Margaret
Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Sally Wen Comport
ISBN: 0689810725
This was also on the long side, so I wouldn't have been able to do both it and Dona Flor. I went with Flor because I wanted to be at least a little diverse when I can be, and also because of the Spanish vocabulary used. However, Brave Margaret is a lovely story, and when I do princesses or heroines, she's at the top of my list. I super-love the illustrations, and I like that Margaret is straightforward about what she wants, and her abilities to do it.
Next week? Owls!
Showing posts with label M. Sarah Klise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label M. Sarah Klise. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Stand Straight Ella Kate, Kate and M. Sarah Klise
Stand Straight, Ella Kate: The True Story of a Real Giant, Kate and M. Sarah Klise
ISBN: 9780803734043
Read December 2, 2013
Picture Book (SC Picture Book Award Winner for 2012-2013)
Ella Kate was perfectly normal, until she turned seven. After that, she grew at an astonishing rate, eventually topping out at 8'4" with size 24 shoes.
Beginning at age 17, she took her unusual height and used it to make a profit, working for a Chicago museum of oddities and making $1000 in a single month (which is an INSANE amount of money for anyone in 1890, let alone a 17 year old girl).
She got a taste of the wide world outside her small-town plains homestead, and continued touring for almost 20 years before her death at age 40.
The illustrations by Sarah Klise are deceptively simple - the expressions on the faces are spot-on and the body language is likewise quite deft for the otherwise flat "naive" illustrations. Perhaps the most interesting part of the book is the endpapers, where various factoids about Ella Kate are illustrated and recorded - everything from a full-size recreation of a glove, to her shoe-size, to the height of her dresser.
The story is told straightforwardly, with no extra sentimentality or excess, which I think well-suits what we're shown of Ella Kate's actual character. The story wisely ends with her on tour, planning to see as much of the world as possible, leaving it to the nonfiction coda (complete with an actual photograph) to tell about the end of her life.
Excellent for storytime, or for kids interested in "larger than life" folklore heroes or fairy-tale giants.
ISBN: 9780803734043
Read December 2, 2013
Picture Book (SC Picture Book Award Winner for 2012-2013)
Ella Kate was perfectly normal, until she turned seven. After that, she grew at an astonishing rate, eventually topping out at 8'4" with size 24 shoes.
Beginning at age 17, she took her unusual height and used it to make a profit, working for a Chicago museum of oddities and making $1000 in a single month (which is an INSANE amount of money for anyone in 1890, let alone a 17 year old girl).
She got a taste of the wide world outside her small-town plains homestead, and continued touring for almost 20 years before her death at age 40.
The illustrations by Sarah Klise are deceptively simple - the expressions on the faces are spot-on and the body language is likewise quite deft for the otherwise flat "naive" illustrations. Perhaps the most interesting part of the book is the endpapers, where various factoids about Ella Kate are illustrated and recorded - everything from a full-size recreation of a glove, to her shoe-size, to the height of her dresser.
The story is told straightforwardly, with no extra sentimentality or excess, which I think well-suits what we're shown of Ella Kate's actual character. The story wisely ends with her on tour, planning to see as much of the world as possible, leaving it to the nonfiction coda (complete with an actual photograph) to tell about the end of her life.
Excellent for storytime, or for kids interested in "larger than life" folklore heroes or fairy-tale giants.
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