International Literature Book Blog

A Ticket Around The World
Written By: Natalia Diaz, Melissa Owens 
Illustrated By: Kim Smith
Published By: Owlkids
Copyright: 2019
Pages: 32
Genre: International Literature 
Reading Level: K-2nd

Overview
This is a story about a young boy who visits his friends in 13 different countries. Each page takes you to a different country. On these pages you will find information about each country like the population total, weather, traditions, and even food that they eat. This is a great story to teach young children about the world around us! I could use this book to teach a social studies standard. An activity I would do would be to have the children pick one of the countries listed in the book and write or tell about why they would want to visit that country. For more advanced students I would have them maybe research a country not mentioned in the book and have them use the book as a guide for their research. 

Diverse Perspective Book Blog

Mama's Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation 

Written by: Edwidge Danticat
Illustrated by: Leslie Staub 
Published by: Penguin Group
Copyright: 2015
Pages: 36
Genre: Diverse Perspective
Reading Level: PreK-2nd

Overview

This story is about a young girl named Saya. Her mom has been taken away and is currently in prison due to immigration reasons. Her father writes multiple letters to the local government petitioning on his wife's release. His letters never got any attention, but as soon as Saya writes one she receives a response and within a week her mother gets brought before a judge. The judge agrees to let Saya's mom out of prison while she waits for her papers to come. This is a wonderful story to teach children about what many families face today. It is also a wonderful story to show just how powerful one voice can be no matter how small. An activity that children could do with this story would be to write about how they would feel if something like this were to happen to them. They could even write their own petition of why his/her mom should be released from prison! I would use this book in 2nd grade to help teach the social studies topic of immigration. 

Sources

https://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy-daily/2016/01/06/putting-books-to-work-em-mama-s-nightingale-a-story-of-immigration-and-separation-em

https://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=47104

"Hello, My Name is Octicorn" Book Blog

Hello My Name Is Octicorn

Written by: Kevin Diller and Justin Lowe

Illustrated by: Binny Talib 

Published by: HarperCollins Publishers

Copyright: 2016

Pages: 39

Genre: Picture Book

Reading Level: Kindergarten-2nd

Overview

This sweet story is about an octicorn who is sometimes "too" different. He has a hard time fitting in. This story emphasizes the importance of differences and how we are all unique. You really start to sympathize with Octi and want to become his friend, so he does not have to feel lonely. What a great way to teach children that you should never look down on others just because they are different from you and, although we are different, we are also similar!