Tag: Kindness

Aaron Becker’s Journey: A True Picture Book

I was first introduced to Aaron Becker’s Journey while doing a teaching placement not too long ago. What I did not realize at first was how versatile this book would become, on not only an age level, but a conceptual and skill-teaching level as well. I have since read it to students at the primary and junior levels, and each time, this book has not failed to create a splash. Becker relinquishes the use of words to tell a story completely in the hands of a child’s imagination. He trusts our young readers, as we must, to make their own meaning out of this heartfelt tale.

I will intentionally not discuss the plot of this book, as I do want to create any skew toward a certain interpretation when the book provides for many. Suffice to say, this book is about a young girl who begins a journey and along the way, discovers much about herself and life.

Juxtaposing grayscale pictures with bold singular colour in the beginning, and then opening wide a world blossoming with colour as the book progresses, Becker unfolds a world that students can envelope themselves in. With magical crayons and castles, boats and hot air balloons, rescue missions and the king’s guards, this book will allow your students to draw the important messages of friendship, selflessness, generosity, imagination and compassion. The sensitively-coloured and poignantly-drawn illustrations provide your students with the opportunity to lose themselves in another world where they can tell you a story as it plays out in the turning  pages. For once, you will not be the one narrating, they will, and they will take much pleasure in making their own tale. The thing I love most about this book is that it allows for a variety of different levels of interpretation that your students can attach themselves to. It prods their critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, it allows them to use language to describe pictures, it helps them with recall and attention to fine detail, and at its best, it provides them with the opportunity to acknowledge the value of a variety of perspectives. It is especially great for those of your students who just do not like reading; a great place to start to show them that books can be fun and instructive, without the burden of a multitude of words.

Teachers, this book is well worth the investment, and a true gem that will prove timeless for your students each year.

 

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The Polacco Series: Gratitude

Some of you, and maybe a lot of teachers, might be familiar with the name Patricia Polacco. As educators, I think her books are essential components of our libraries. Polacco is a truly gifted author, who uses her life experiences and cultural heritage to write immensely touching books that, if you were being honest with yourself, border on a “tear-jerker”. Not only is this very talented author a moving writer, she illustrates her books with emotional sketches and tugging colours. I have done countless read-alouds with my students where we discuss her choice of colour for specific artwork, coming to the conclusion that like her words, her drawings are also bursting with meaning.

One of my favourite books from Polacco is the ADORED Thank you, Mr. Falker

This book weaves a heart-rending story of a young girl, Trisha, who faces challenges in her learning. She has dyslexia, and none of the teaching staff at her school are able to pick this up. This challenge makes our young protagonist a target for name-calling and bullying. And, unlike other children, when Trisha welcomes the chance to move to another city and start over at a new school, her hopes are met with despair, as she painfully navigates yet another school system stuffed with bullies and teaching staff who do not seem to care. Until of course she meets Mr. Falker. Mr. Falker, like a lot of teachers these days who get into teaching despite its hardships, is the teacher who makes a difference in this girl’s life. He takes a gamble on her and his gamble pays off, leading to a moment, brilliantly narrated with emotion, that changes Trisha’s life forever. Based on a true story, this narrative is packed with feel-goods.

Perfect for  grades 3-6, and abounding in themes of gratitude, compassion, bullying awareness, self-confidence issues in children, learning challenges and their effects, this book should really be read to every child out there. If nothing else, it lets children know that they are not alone in their struggles, and that they can rely on that one teacher to make a difference in their lives.

 

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The Munsch on a Lesson in Selflessness

No really, who doesn’t love Robert Munsch? Robert Munsch is one of those timeless Canadian authors who makes me proud to be Canadian. His books are always based on real-life people, and every now and then, amidst the hilarity and the true-to-form made-up sounds, there is a moral. Cue entry of this book, easily one of my favourites from the Munsch.

Ribbon Rescue by Robert Munsch is one of those books that leads readers on a journey to discover their inner selflessness. Based on a character who is of Indigenous origin, this book really gives voice to the culture of our Indigenous brothers and sisters in a light-hearted and compassionate way. It is true, a lot of books written by, or based on, Indigenous characters tend to be heavier, with sadder, and often horrific, undertones. While that entire breadth of literature is essential for our Canadian Literary Canon, to ingrain in our minds the requisite components of our Canadian history, Robert Munsch goes off on a lighter tangent to showcase the grace and kindness of this beautiful culture.

Our main character, Jillian, is a young girl who dons a traditional Ribbon Dress and throughout the story, she selflessly offers ribbons to different people who cross her path and seem to need them. Eventually, she is left with nothing and this puts her at a disadvantage, but is her selflessness enough to overcome that disadvantage?

Munsch weaves a compassionate story-line that allows parents and teachers alike to pose questions to young learners about what Jillian is doing. Teachers, your young students might describe Jillian as “kind”, and “nice”, and “sweet”, but herein lies a fantastic opportunity to teach them how to exercise the kinder and selfless side of their everyday selves. This picture book is ideal for a bedtime story or read-aloud with children aged 4-8, and offers plenty of invaluable teachable moments. So pick up a copy of Ribbon Rescue today, and like me, you’ll discover how much young readers (and YOU) will love it!

 

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Jeanne DuPrau, Junior Novel Genius: Citizenship Education

So, I don’t use the term “Genius” very often. Sure, Einstein was a genius and your dog might be a genius because he’s figured out which one of your twin nieces is Judy and which one is Jenny before you have, but in a world saturated with people trying to achieve the ultimate, my concept of genius is reserved for a scant few.

Jeanne DuPrau however, is a genius. With her The City of Ember Series, she not only captures the imaginations of young and adult readers alike, she uses her compassionate voice to galvanize our kinder selves. Here’s how:

 

Book#1: The City of Ember

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I happened upon The City of Ember, DuPrau’s first book, when one of my colleagues decided to do it as a novel study with his students. He meant to simply delve into the genre of Science Fiction with his class. A pilot project of a different genre, if you will. The result was not just his entire class yanking the books off every shelf to continue the series, but I too checked out this entire series from the local library.

This first book starts off with two very strong characters who find themselves partners in a journey to save their people, the Emberites, from total destruction. Young Lina is a fireball of energy and she has her conscience ground on tight. Young Doon has a few lessons to learn along the way, but he surprises everyone with his bravery at key points. The setting of the City of Ember unfolds a fantastic tale of an underground city built to survive destruction. The Emberites are not aware that they exist below the surface, they do not know what the sky or the sun are. Their daily existence is dictated by the timing of the floodlights that line their buildings and streets, lights that have been going on and off on schedule for nearly 200 years…until they start flickering. Can the people of Ember escape before the electricity that powers their daily lives gives out? Or will they be lost forever in an abyss of fatal darkness? This first installment explores themes of courage and perseverance. It explores themes of friendship and loyalty. It explores familial bonds and doing what is right. It explores our human need for survival even if severe risk-taking is the only option. This first book will leave you clamouring for the next three until the final, satisfying finish.

Book#2: The People of Sparks

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The second book in the series, The People of Sparks unveils what happens when different communities are forced to live side-by-side. It teaches readers of all ages the valuable lesson of how anger and violence can decimate relationships and entire societies. It promotes non-violence and peace, no matter how much hardship must be endured to find that peace. It brings forth the human desire for being good and giving good to our fellow human beings. However, it also shows our primal nature for self-preservation in the face of impending danger. Above all, it teaches the reader that there is a fine line between that choice, and making the wrong one can have catastrophic outcomes for all of mankind. Lina and Doon are back, but this time in a different place than their native Ember. This new world is strange and hard, but Lina and Doon, along with a whole lot of other characters are not crushed.

It is in this book, that the reader is made aware of the Great Disaster that nearly demolished all of mankind. Themes of human greed and kindness, wisdom and violence are explored with very compassionate conclusions. In many ways, DuPrau weaves morality and better ways of being into her books. And this is where her genius shines brightest, in her sensitivity to the evil that exists in our world, and her ability to find a way to take a strong stance against it. All this, with a non-violence the likes of Mahatma Gandhi. In this second book, readers are, or maybe just I was, moved to tears at the goodness of humankind. Cue #faithinhumanityrestored.

Book#3: The Prophet of Yonwood

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The Prophet of Yonwood is perhaps my least favourite of the series (if it is possible to have a least favourite in this series). It attempts to explain the existence of the riveting events in the first book, and guide along any predictions for the last and final book that the reader might have.

In this one a very flimsy story is built around a lady named Althea Tower and her “prophecies” as reasons for the way things are in a small town called Yonwood. We meet new characters in this book, because this one in chronological order, precedes The City of Ember and exists hundred of years before those events. Much of the story seems like a filler to explain minute details that I think the reader could have put together for him/herself with the help of a brief preface from DuPrau, in possibly the last book.

We meet the characters of Nickie and Grover, characters very similar to Lina and Doon in The City of Ember and The People of Sparks. These characters seem to slosh about in this book, biding their time until the very end when things are revealed to the reader. They plunge along sans meaning many at times, and they seem to know this as they take on bonds with animals to fill in their time in this book. Stories branch out of the woodwork and take on weak tangents before finding a quick and slightly bewildering path to an end.

However, this book is not all a waste of its 289 pages. It brings about the questions surrounding faith and how one comes to develop a sense of right and wrong. It is very profound in its exploration of this multi-faceted conundrum, and DuPrau manages to do this in a manner that does not patronize. The main character, Nickie, is plagued with her notions of what faith is and what is right and wrong in relation to what she believes and what other people tell her. Nickie trundles through the book and arrives a much-changed character at the end of the book where we see she has grown herself a strong foundation of morality and her own faith.

The question of the existence of God is put on the table, and even though much of this entire series has a strong Science-Fiction element to it, it is equally acknowledging and respectful of religion and faith. And this is one of the many things that makes DuPrau a must-read author. She offers always, both sides to the coin, not a biased version of just one perspective. In doing so, she positions her books in a very powerful position to help growing minds too, to see both sides to each coin.

Book#4: The Diamond of Darkhold

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The Diamond of Darkhold is the final book in the series, and what a joy it is indeed! It brings full circle with absolute brilliance, the journey of not just Lina and Doon, but the entirety of humankind. The very final secrets are revealed, and humankind seems to find herself back to the very threshold of the powerful beginning when things were simpler and war and disease did not devastate.

The courage of Lina and Doon make a comeback in this book, but DuPrau has become braver and she has reckoned that so has her audience, and as a result she plunges her readers into terrifying depths with this last installment.

Selflessness and the desire to contribute in a meaningful way are two ideas that are thoroughly championed throughout this book. So is the very important concept of forgiveness. Lina and Doon risk their lives to help their people lead a better life, and in doing so provide hope for the future. In this book too, DuPrau gets more creative and technical in her understanding of various scientific elements, specifically Electricity. She champions solar energy and clean living, other lessons that I believe are crucial to growing minds everywhere.

All in all, DuPrau offers hope amidst a destroyed civilization, always with the caveat to be good to each other and not live greedily. As she paints the pictures of evil and destruction and hardship, she places in all her readers the knowledge that our existence (with our inventions and lifestyles) are but mere grains of sand that can be wiped out in the event of major catastrophes. Extremely fragile. DuPrau attempts to instill a humility in a society too plagued with the self and airs of entitlement.

Conclusion

Throughout the series, you will laugh with, and cheer on the main characters, Lina and Doon. You will grow to revere Doon’s father and Mrs. Murdock and develop a sibling-affection for little Poppy. You will even feel a fondness of Maddy, the at-first gruff, but finally gentle-hearted roamer. Jeanne DuPrau’s books seek to explore the human psyche and the forces of evil and good that bubble just below our surfaces. She experiments with different scenarios to determine which force will rise to the forefront at any given moment. And she does this without the  jargon associated with many psychologists, both past and present. DuPrau allows us glimpses of our world’s outcomes depending on the decisions we make.

Until now, the only series that has really thrilled me has been Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. However, in many ways, this gem of a series by Jeanne DuPrau has the potential to go even further in being, not just stellar literature for young children (and adults) everywhere, but purposeful reading that can seek to bring positive change to our world. This entire series is a MUST-READ for students at the Junior Level (Grades 4-6), so teachers, take note! It helps with their Citizenship Development, making them into more responsible leaders for our future. I vow to teach this to my junior students someday, but until then, these four books will be making their way to the shelves of my personal library.

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“Words Are Not for Hurting”: Teaching Children to Be Kind with Their Words

“I don’t like you.”

“You talk funny.”

“Your hair looks weird.”

These days some children use their words to cause pain. They throw around harsh syllables strung together with absolute thoughtlessness. They are exposed to a barrage of media and other mediums that make them believe it is okay to spit out whatever they wish, without taking any responsibility for the consequences their words may have. They are not taught otherwise, so really, how can we blame them?

Words Are Not for Hurting by Elizabeth Verdick does a fantastic job of laying down the law around how to use words to help and not hurt. This book is essential in Kindergarten classes and homes of 4 year-olds everywhere. This culture of being rude and unkind willy-nilly is an epidemic that needs to be curbed. As teachers, often we are in very influential positions when it comes to how our students grow up. We can steer them towards being respectful and considerate, generous and tactful. And while it is important for students to learn the basics of Math and Science and Reading, it is more important for them to learn how to be good citizens of the world.

In her book, Verdick systematically charts out how words are formed, with letters, and then maps out what kinds of words there are, then seamlessly seguing into hurtful words versus kind words. She offers scenarios to explore feelings and play out different alternatives to addressing the pain caused by hurtful words. This book makes for a clever read-and-think-aloud. Students will pick up poignant details in the illustrations that display body language and facial expressions showing a range of emotions. They will bounce off ideas and deliver very clever and sensitively-thought-out reflections that will warm your heart, because really, there is goodness in all of us that just needs a firm foundation to build on.

So, add this book to your list of MUST-HAVE read-alouds, if you’re a kindergarten or even higher grade teacher. Sometimes, we all just need a little guidance to be a better version of ourselves.

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