Written by: Liz Garton Scanlon
Illustrated by: Marla Frazee
Recommended for: Children Ages 4-8
Themes: Fiction, Poetry, Multi-culturalism, Character Education
Summary:
A wonderful rhyming poem that points out that all around the world there are people doing similar things. While the words in this poem are beautiful, it is really the pictures that tell the story. Through each section, children are able to see different cultures and different places.
Children will enjoy the illustrations and making connections to them as they listen to the poem. Each and every illustration help the children with their comprehension as they go hand-in-hand with the words of the poem. The illustrations aide the children in making connections to the theme of the poem: that we are all living under the same sky and are the same despite our differences.
Suggestions for the Classroom:
This is a beautiful book to use to discuss with children that although our classroom is filled with children from differnt cultures, we all have many similarities. It will also help them to connect to children all around the world who also go to school, visit the beach, and watch the birds fly by.
*Pre-Reading Activities: Show students two pictures of children of different culture who are in different places, for example: one being of a white child sitting on the beach playing in the sand and another being of a mexican child standing in an outdoor market. Ask children to tell you what is the same or is similar about the two pictures (both are children and they are outside). Record their anwers using a Venn Diagram. Now ask them what is different or is a difference between the two pictures (the color of their skin, and one is in the sand while the other is on a street). Again, record their answers on the Venn Diagram.
*During Reading: Allow time for students to take in the illustrations as you read the poem. Ask some questions to the students, pointing out the different characters/cultures included in the illustrations. Give them opportunities to share connections that they make: text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world.
*Post-Reading Activities: Give students a piece of white paper and ask them to draw a picture of something that is the same everywhere in the world (they can use examples from the book). Model this for them by drawing a sunset. Use the story starter: All over the world ____________ (All over the world the sun sets), and encourage them to write a sentence to go with their picture.
About the Author:
Liz Garton Scanlon grew up in Wisconsin and Colorado, but currently lives in Austin, Texas. She describes herself as a mother, and author and a teacher. Scanlon says that she has always loved reading and traveling, that and her daughters have been her inspiration for writing childrens books. Which she says that she enjoys because it makes her happy, gives her hope, and she feels that writing for children brings out the best in her. When she isn't writing or traveling, Scanlon enjoys playing cards on the floor, spending time with her children, yoga, and taking her old white dog for walks. She also maintains her own blog which she invites her fans to visit.
About the Illustrator:
Marla Frazee currently lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband, three sons, a dog and a cat. Frazee states that this is the town where she was born and where she has lived her whole life, as many people insist that she must be from New York. Not only did she graduate from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, she has also taught children's book illustration there for 20 years. She works out of a small studio cabin under an avacado tree in her backyard.
I love the theme of this story--making relations with people around the world with the things that we do every day that are so familiar to us. I think this kind of book easily allows students to see how the rest of the world works, and they definitely do need to see it as everyone isn't granted the opportunity to travel. I would like to see students use this book to explore a culture that may have piqued their interest while reading the poetry, and do some research that they could bring back to their classroom, and maybe create their own poem from another culture's perspective. I will definitely need to buy this one, great selection :)
ReplyDeleteThe illustrations in this selection were wonderful! I would pick this book to share for the illustrations alone but the story and theme were also very touching. I never thought about using it to pique their interests about learning about other countries; thanks for sharing this wonderful idea!
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