Messenger

Lowery, L. (2004). Messenger. New York:  Delacorte Press.

What starts out to be a normal story of a child who is troubled and then saved by a man, definitely made a big turn.  Matty, the troubled young man, was a brought to the village by Seer, a blind man, to be healed and to become a better person.  Anyone living in the village had no secrets from the town’s people, everyone knew everything about everybody.  It was a way of the living.  The town progressed by a means of trading, until one day it seemed as if the trading of good turned into bad.  People started trading for themselves and it all turned into greediness.  The town’s people then decided that they didn’t want any more outsiders to come to their village because they thought that it would only bring more trouble, using Matty as an example.  The only difference was that there were people in the town that had certain powers, the Leader had the power to see beyond, Matty had the power of healing, and Kira, daughter of Seer, had power to see ahead.  Once the town had decided to take a vote on letting outsiders in, and it came back to not allow it, Matty had made the decision that he would make the journey through the changing forest to get Seer’s daughter.  This was a dangerous journey, but he knew that this was a journey that he had to make for someone that took him in as his own. 

This story is a Modern Fantasy, again a genre that does not catch my attention.  Having to read this book, I was a little reluctant because of the plot.  It starts out in a normal integral setting of a small village and people living their normal lives until Matty discovers that he has powers of some sort that he couldn’t quite understand.  He sees this frog that has been apparently gobbled up and spit out, and his leg is dangling.  He naturally picks him up to put into a safe place, and begins to feel something weird happen to him.  Needless to say the frog is now healed because of his powers.  The plot then moves into the town changing into a place of greediness and the forest that everyone is so afraid of is changing as well.  This is the forest that Matty had to travel through to get to Seer’s daughter.  It is like the fantasy of this story changes.  The town turns greedy; the forest turns me and tries to kill those who go through it.  The troubles and tribulations that Matty and Kira have to go through to get back to a town of greediness strikes me as strange because who would really want to live that way.  I know that I wouldn’t want to, even though we already live in a society that people are sometimes forced to look out for themselves.

I find myself drawn to this book because in high school we had to read Giver and I never took the opportunity to read this one.  I found it interesting to see how quickly someone can change because of something they want so badly.  I think find myself thinking that I am a little crazy to think that these things don’t happen.  They happen every day!  We either choose to see it or we do not.  It is our choice!  I did enjoy reading this book and am glad that I am being told to read outside my normal genres.  Definitely a good read!!  I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a book where you can get entrapped and see the good in people again.  There are still people who do well for others.

Big Question:  If you had special power such as Matty and good do well, what would your power be?  How would you use this to better mankind?  Would this be something that you would be proud?

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse

Henkes, K. (1996). Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. New York:  Greenwillow Books.

Lilly is a little girl mouse who loves everything about school; she loves her desk, her pencils, and most of all; she loves her teacher, Mr. Slinger.  She goes to school everyday looking forward to listening to her teacher and helping him as much as possible.   One weekend she goes shopping with her “Grammy” and gets a new pair of sunglasses, three shiny quarters and a purple plastic purse that plays music when it’s opened.  She cannot wait to take her new things to school and show them to her classmates.  During and after school, Lilly learns a very good lesson and decides that she wants to be just like Mr. Slinger again and be a teacher when she grows up.  In every situation, there is a lesson to be learned.

Kevin Henkes books can be very helpful to young children because of the lessons that can be taught to an individual.  I can relate to Lilly in this story because there were times when I was younger that I wanted to do a particular thing and had to wait and I just couldn’t.  With my actions always came consequences, as the same with Lilly in this story.  She got her purse taken away for disturbing the class.  There is always a time for everything and I think with this story it portrays a students idea of a teacher very well.  This is how children think, or so I believe this is the way children think, when something bad happens to them in front of peers, they are embarrassed.  When finishing the story, everything always works out for the best.  I followed Lilly’s character very closely in this story, trying to see her view of things as well as an outsider’s view.  I could see that she was about to get in trouble and then I could feel her anger.  Lilly made me remember that jumping to conclusions is never good and can only lead to regret.  The style of Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse is one that is shown in many of K. Henkes books.  The author uses third-person perspective to tell the story as someone who is omniscient.  This story was constructed with a plot that has multiple conflicts.  Lilly is put up against her teacher, person-against-person, when her belongings are taken away from her but then has a fight against herself, person-against-self, when she discovers that the teacher was only doing his job and was still the nice teacher that she believed him to be.

When choosing books, I am always drawn to illustrations.  The art of anything definitely catches my eye and the illustrator’s use of color is what draws me into a book.  I now, not only read books, but I pay very close attention to the detail of how characters are created so that I can get a sense of their personality.  Makes reading fun!

Big Question:  In this situation, what lesson do you think Lilly learned?  How do you think this is going to affect the way she acts from here on out in the classroom?

Wemberly Worried

 

Henkes, K. (2000). Wemberly Worried. New York:  Greenwillow Books. 

 

Wemberly is a young mouse who is constantly worrying about every little thing.  She worries about the smallest to the biggest things, and with everything fun or normal she finds something to worry about.  This story is absolutely one of the cutest that I have read because it shows the things that children may worry about on a day to day basis.  The characterization that the author uses for the reader to know the character is on point.  While reading this book, I got a feel of how this little girl was reacting to situations and could understand why she was worrying.  She couldn't help but worry, it was her personality.  Wemberly is a great

example of character development.  In the beginning, she worried about everything that she encountered, and by the end she was a little bit of a different mouse.

 The page layout for this particular book keeps me interested.  It uses the whole page with no boundaries, which I like.  The author tells the story and adds little blurbs of what Wemberly would be thinking in a different font so that it is distinct that it is her thought.  These blurbs add more character than just telling the story with words and illustrations alone.  The creators of this story used each page to it's fullest by placing the illustrations at different places on the pages and the words went along.  This book is a new favorite of mine for the use of color alone.  The illustrator uses watercolor and a black pen to add detail.  The artist has great control of the water just as much as the use of color.  The value adds just the right amount of detail and then coming back in with a pen to add a little more gives the story the character that it needs.  I can always get myself stuck on paying attention to detail when it comes to the pen work in a book.  I literally can get my face in the book to see the types of strokes an artist may

have used to create that particular look.  Amazed! 

As I continue to read Kevin Henkes books, I notice that his “mouse” books all have the same type of characterization when it comes to the illustrations.  The mice in Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse and Wemberly Worried use the exact same style of watercolor usage and pen work.  The colors in each also compare very well.  Even though the stories are completely different, they relate in so many ways because of the artist. 

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone because the characterization is so relate able.  I would hope that this would help children see that they are not alone and that there are ways to deal with fears. 

Big Question:  How would you, a friend of Wemberly, help her to overcome her fears? 

Owl Moon

Yolen, Jane (1987). Owl moon. New York:  Philomel Books.

A cold, snowy, night, a father takes his daughter on an owling trip.  This young girl has been looking forward to going out with her father for quite some time.  Her brothers have been owling multiple times and it was now her turn and she had so much excitement.  The duo headed out one night when the moon was at it's brightest to find a horned owl.  The little girl was so excited she didn't seem to mind the cold weather whatsoever, she was just glad to be apart of the adventure.  This quality time that she got to spend with her father will never be replaced and will always be cherished.

With every book that I come or across or read, being interested in art, I always notice the type of media used to create illustrations.  In Owl Moon, the illustrator used a mixtured of watercolor and ink.  Watercolor was used as a base and pen and ink was used to add a more detail to the landscape and characters.  The cool colors that were selected for this story gave it more of the realistic night image.  The writer created great imagery with this story to the sense that the little girl explains how she did certain things, such as how she had to run after her father every so often to keep up with him.  When she became cold,  it's as if she explains it so well that you could feel it yourself.  The "who-who-whooo-whooo" that her father used to call with was explained to great depth to how owling is done and what all it entails, from the cold weather to being absolutely quiet to having that hope that an owl would return the call.  The heart and hope behind the imagery to tell this story makes my heart melt for this little girl.  When reading this story you could just feel her excitement to be out with her father doing something that he always takes part in. 

Owl Moon  is a book that has received the Caldecott Medal and definitely caught my attention because of the snowy night.  I am a person who absolutely loves the snow and everthing that comes with it.  I felt this book was fitting to my personality as well.  As I am someone who cherishes every minute that I had with my father, this book makes my heart melt.  It caught my attention because of the father/daugther bond and adventure that they shared.  This particular book, one that I've never read, definitely touched home for me and is a book that I would recommend to any parent or child. These are the moments that everyone should cherish. 

Big Question:  What is a great adventure that your Father takes part in?  Have you been apart of this adventure?  If so, what was your first reaction?  If not, what is something that you would like to do with your Father?

Kitten's First Full Moon

Henkes, Kevin (2004).  Kitten's first full moon.  New York: Scholastic Inc.

Kitten's First Full Moon is a picture book based on a kitten's adventure to get to a bowl milk.  Everyone knows that kittens love milk and this wonderful book has many illustrations that tell the story.  The story is told during the night hours, which I would think is midnight because of the full moon; takes place at the owner's home and surrounding yard.  The full moon sits high in the sky for the kitten to see and her first reaction is that it is a great big bowl of milk.  She wants it!  In not so many words, the kitten goes through a few adventures to reach her goal.  I am definitely a cat person, so after reading this book I could definitely compared this to my cat.

The setting of this particular picture book is one that stands out to me the most.  If this story were to be told at any other time of day, it wouldn't have the same affect.  The kitten sees this big bright thing in the night sky to be a bowl of milk, and if it were daylight the sun would be up and the bowl wouldn't be visible to her, as she probably knows the sun.  This full moon was her first.  The story contains a plot that has a person-against-self conflict.  The kitten is trying to reach her goal by getting to the bowl of milk and will do whatever it takes to get to it.  This book has few words in it, but by looking at the illustrations the story is very well told through picture.  I believe that the illustrator did a wonderful job creating the style to go along with what the author created.  They meshed very well together in my opinion.  I thought this story was very cute and could teach any child to reach for "the stars".  Children in the age group of 3-5 would be able to follow along with the story because of the illustrations.  Not having worked with children much, except my nephews, I've watched how they react to pictures in books and how they follow along with a story line.  

When going to the library, I knew that I wanted to read books by the "mouse book guy", how I knew him.  The author is Kevin Henkes and while looking on the shelf at his books, I came across Kitten's First Full Moon, a book that I had never read.  So automatically since I love cats, I found this book very fitting for myself.

BIG Question:  Just as the kitten did, what would you do in order to reach your goal?  What adventures would you go on to complete the goal?

Hello!

My name is Beth Wooley and I am from Sebree, Kentucky; a graduate of Webster County High School and University of the Cumberlands.  I am currently working at the University of the Cumberlands as the Admistrative Assistant for the Health, Exercise and Sport Science Department as well as the Art Department.  I started working here in August 2006 after I graduated with my Bachelors Degree in Art.  I then entered into the Master of Arts in Teaching Program and have two classes to complete to finish the degree.  

I have been coaching cheerleading here at UC for 5 years, with next year being my 6th season.  The team cheers all home games for football and basketball as well as compete.  I love coaching these young adults; they are a ton of fun.  I enjoy pushing them and watching them reach their goals.  Being able to coach is one of the best parts of my day and year.

On my off time, the time that I get, I like to do anything, ANYTHING, with art; crafts count too.  I really enjoy all sports but mainly basketball (UK of course), football, and baseball.  If there are cheerleading or dance competitions on, you can catch me, for sure, watching them.   I have a cat named Tuffy who resembles a black and white spotted cow, minus being big because he's actually a small cat.  He gets some of my free time too!