Civil Disobedience!

The Joyous book fairy presents...



(a.k.a.: what Thoreau really meant to say)

"Seen from a lower point of view, the Constitution, with all its faults, is very good; the law and the courts are very respectable...such as a great many have described them; but seen from a point of view a little higher, they are what I have described them."

(a.k.a. - if you are one of those amoeba based lifeforms, you won't see the flaws in our government. Lucky for you, I'm here to critique it.)

"If a man is thought-free, fancy-free, imagination-free...unwise rulers or reformers cannot fatally interrupt him."

(a.k.a.: you'd have to be really dumb to not notice the tragic effects of an idiot wielding power)

"If we were left solely to the wordy wit of legislators in Congress for our guidance, uncorrected by the seasonable experience and the effectual complaints of the people, America would not long retain her rank among the nations."

(a.k.a. Idiots, like our congressman, who like to hear themselves talk. They wouldn't get anything done if we didn't butt in.)

"This American government — what is it but a tradition, though a recent one...each instant losing some of its integrity?"

(a.k.a.: our government is corrupt!)

"I HEARTILY ACCEPT the motto, — 'That government is best which governs least' "

(a.k.a. Give us back our rights!)

Want to read more?

Well you can't.

This book is banned! Verboten!

Fahrenheit 451'd!

presents

BANNED BOOKS ONLINE

Visit them here at: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/banned-books.html

This digital library presents full text versions of books that have been banned throughout history. The reasons for each ban are presented as well as essays and other weblinks with information about the author and their work. Here you'll find Candide, the Canturbury Tales, Arabian Nights, and Macbeth (among others).

Care for something more recent? How about files from a legal suit when a research group took The Recording Industry of America up on a challenge to "break into their digital database"? Or a list of the most challenged books of the 90s? Books like Harry Potter, Bridge to Terebithia, Kaffir Boy, The Witches, Go Ask Alice, and Mommy Laid An Egg.

Thoreau, H. D. (1849). Civil Disobedience. Retrieved from http://onlinebooks.libraryupenn.edu/banned-books.html.

Tree Girl

I’m a dreamer. The only one in my family to go to school. My blood is Mayan. Proud. I am Gariela Flores.

I first started climbing trees in Guatemala when I was four. Ever since then, they have been my sanctuary. My home away from home. Now I am fourteen and the day of my quinceanera, the celebration of my passage into womanhood, is approaching quickly. So are the soldiers. War is on its way, and I must find a way to escape its path.

A fictional account of a Guatemalan refugee caught in the war between the government and guerillas. Like so many others, she will fight her way to the Mexican border, searching for herself…and her sister. If you find yourself teaching a unit on Latin America, please find a way to share this book with your students. Ben Mikaelsen’ s account of the savage effects of the wars in Central America on the mind of a young person is not be missed!

Mikaelson, B. (2004). Tree Girl. New York: HarperTempest.

The Wall

A Caldecott Honor Book!
(Not to be confused with that movie by Pink Floyd).

Peter Sis loved to draw. He would draw the things he saw around him. Shapes like red stars and flags…people… When he went to school they told him what to draw. He didn't mind. He drew tanks, sickles, and famous political leaders. He never questioned any of it. That is, until they started banning art, books, and music…anything that wasn’t Socialist. But it didn’t stop the West from coming in. And it didn’t stop Sis from painting in secret.



Want to know more about what Sis painted? Read The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain. Use it with your students to teach them first-hand what life is like under a Communist government. Peter’s diary of drawings is sure to drum up interest!

Sis, P. (2007). The Wall: Growing up behind the Iron Curtain. New York: Francis Foster Books.

A Wreath for Emmett Till

A Coretta Scott King Award Winning Book!

In 1955, Emmett Till was found washed up in a river with the fan of a cotton gin tied around his neck. It was later found that he was hung and severely beaten by five white men from Mississippi. His crime? Some witnesses say he whistled at a white woman. Now one woman is struggling to come to grips with a tragedy that rocked the nation and the hearts of African Americans everywhere. How does one deal with the effects of racism and injustice? The answer is in this book.

The story is told through a “heroic crown” of fifteen interlinking sonnets with Italian rhyme scheme. Through poetic verse, Marilyn describes the psychological effects of social injustice on our cultural psyche. Nelson concurs that it is our responsibility to speak out against injustice (despite social repercussions), lest we become slaves to fear and suffer the murderous consequences of future tragedy. Please share this book with your students, if for no other reason than to enlighten them about how our nation's past directly affects their future.

Image borrowed from Intuitive Roots, an online blog found at:
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mwright2/iroots/cat_a_wreath_for_emmett_till.html

Nelson, M. (2005). A wreath for Emmett Till. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Facing the Lion

My dream is to kill a lion. Then I will be the strongest warrior in my tribe. My people are nomads, meaning we make our home where the cattle graze. When the land dries up, we move with them. We belong to the Ariaal, a subgroup of the Masaai Tribe in Kenya. Come with me on my journey and I will tell you about how I become a Harvard graduate and come face to face with my first lion. In the end, you will find me bringing education to my people and educating people (such as yourself) about my culture.

This book gives the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child.” a whole new meaning. Read on to learn about the customs and traditions of a native African. Struggle with him as he tries to reconcile Western teachings with his own. Laugh as he scares the tar out of some American tourists with his own brand of tribal humor. This is the story of Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton, tribesman, teacher, human rights activist, and the most recent addition to the Parliament of Kenya. What a great book for that
7th grade geography unit on Africa!

Lekuton, J. L. (2003). Facing The lion: Growing up Maasai on the African Savannah. Washington D.C.: National Geographic Society.

Samir and Yonaton

My name is Samir. I’m a Palestinian and I live in the middle of a war-zone. I want to be like my brother Fadi…dying the death of a hero. Actually die…not fall off my stupid motorbike and land in the hospital like a coward cheating death. Never mind the fact that this is a Jewish hospital. How can it be that the only people who can save my leg are the same ones responsible for my brother’s death? How can anyone in this hospital understand me? Even if they are my age...

Samir and Yonaton is about a friendship forged from the ashes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As each child’s story unfolds, they will discover a deep humanity that leads to the tearing down of racial walls and emotional barriers. Use this book with your students to get them personally involved in a centuries-old conflict that still effects the world today.

Children of the Dust Bowl and Grapes Of Wrath

Dust.
You wake up to find yourself covered in it.

It gets in your teeth...in your eyes and nose.
Every morning you have to sweep piles of it out of your house.



It destroys the farmlands.
You're forced to leave the one place you called home.

An "Okie" from Oklahoma...trying to make it to California. A place where "Okie" becomes a curse word. Where families are forced to live in labor camps.

This is life during the Great Depression in 1930.

FYI....
this expose takes place right around the time Grapes of Wrath was banned. Oh come on! Grapes of Wrath? Please tell me you've at least heard of it. It's that novel by John Steinbeck written about an Okie family and their struggle to survive in California? The one where the oldest brother, Tom Joad finds himself in a murderous brawl? Oh, but you probably think that sort of stuff is boring.

Still....why would a "boring old book" that accuses the Californian Farming Association of being racist...and depicts the deplorable conditions of the New Deal labor camps....get banned? Is Steinbeck waging a war on American ideals...just because he told the truth?

Read these two books together to present a comprehensive look at the pros and cons of New Deal America, told from the perspective of the poor Okie and migrant workers who were hit the hardest.


Stanley, J. (1992). Children of the Dust Bowl: The true story of life at Weedpatch Camp. New York: Crown Publishers.

Steinbeck, J. (1939). Grapes of Wrath. New York: Viking Press.

Grimms Fairy Tales and Other Stupid Stories

A frog who thinks he's a prince?

"Ever since I
started wearing
this fake crown,
lovely girls have
kept coming up
and kissing me."



A girl who confuses a wolf with her granny?


"First off, I don't appreciate the comments about my face. And second, your granny lives next door. "












A witch hiding out in a gingerbread house?



"Of course
it's latex....
it's for
display purposes
only."






Can
this
be
for
real?




Humor, Horror, Romance, Adventure and Happy Endings...Grimms Fairy Tales has it all!

These are classic stories that have been passed down from generation to generation. They appeal to the child in all of us by invoking our dreams and our nightmares. And there's always a lesson to be learned! Leave it to the Grimms brothers to collect the first set of stories meant for a child’s enjoyment and education.


A Caldecott Award Winning Book!
Sarcasm, Idiocy, Screwed Up Plot Lines...and other fairly Stupid Tales.

This is a modern take on fairy tales that (according to Amazon.com) would have Mother Goose rolling over in her grave. There are no lessons to be learned here. Just silly sarcastic rips on the classics. This book is a lesson in breaking down the stereotypes of classic literature. Recommended for class clowns and readers who are tired of the same old happily ever after.


If you want to protect the oral tradition of story-telling...

Take these stories and pass them on!


Grimm, J. & Grimm, W. (1987). The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. (Zipes, J., Trans.) New York: Bantam.

Sciezka, J. (1992). The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. New York: Viking

Golem

A Caldecott Award Winning Book!

Golem is a creature of Jewish legend. A puppet being made from clay that can only be created by the holiest of men. Rabbi Loew is one such man. He has called Golem forth in 16th Century Prague to protect his people from the Christian attacks and riots caused by the “Blood Lie”. Will Golem be willing to give up his new-found life in order to save his people?

This is a fascinating look at Jewish mythology that will prompt your students to look at the relationship between history and religion. Although this book may not always be suitable for classroom use, it is still an excellent recommendation for students who wish to delve deeper into the subject outside of the classroom.

Wisniewski, D. (1996). Golem. New York: Clarion

Show Way

A Newberry Honor Book!

Imagine holding your four year old daughter in your arms and whispering to her a story that’s been passed down from generation to generation. This is the story of one family’s journey through history passed down through the art of quilt-making. These patch-work pages are sewn together with bright colors, famous quotations, familiar faces, and pictures of important places and events.

Show Way is a pictorial representation of history that your kids can’t afford to miss. Not only does it emotionally expose one’s history, it emphasizes the importance of cultural and generational heritage captured in the folk art and storytelling tradition.

Show the Way to your students!

For online interviews and read alouds from Jacqueline Woodson, please visit: http://www.teachingbooks.net/spec_athr.cgi?pid=3460&a=1

Woodson, J. (2005). Show Way. New York: G.T. Putnam's Sons.

Miss Crandall's School for Young Ladies and Misses of Color

A Notable Children’s Book!

This is a poetic account of the real life school in Canterbury, Connecticut told from multiple perspectives. This school stayed in operation despite racist persecution from 1833 to its forced closure in 1834. Can you imagine your students fighting to stay in school? Once they read this book, they’ll understand the true importance of an education and why a person would fight so hard to protect it.

This book is geared towards older students who are ready for an in depth look at racism and are mature enough to analyze and interpret more complex forms of poetry. It’s the perfect introduction to a high school unit on school segregation. Use this case study as a springboard to create a timeline of important schools, documents, and court cases, concerning school segregation.

Alexander, E. & Nelson, M. (2007). Miss Crandall's school for young ladies and misses of color. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong.

Daniel's Ride

Read this book online at the following website:
http://www.childrenslibrary.org/icdl/BookPreview?bookid=prydnlr_00180001&route=simple_265_0_0_English_0&lang=English&msg=

Meet Daniel. He is just sitting down to breakfast with his family when all of the sudden, the walls start to vibrate and shake. What could be causing it? Is it an earthquake? No way! It’s the stereo system from his brother’s brand spanking new car! Daniel is about to get the ride of his life with the coolest brother in the world!

Sponsored by:

A Library for the World's Children

Please visit the International Children’s Digital Library. You can find it at www.childrenslibrary.org. Here, you can read thousands of storybooks and novels that have been translated into twenty-two different languages! It’s a breeze to find literature from any culture or country to support your social studies and language arts curriculum! Myths, folktales, true stories, children’s books, chapter books, poetry...this site has it all!

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

A Newberry Award Winning Book!

Hannah Tupper? A witch? Hardly! She's just a quaker, an outcast of society. Outcast or not, I still visit her all the time. Secretly of course. My name is Kit. I moved to Connecticut from Barbados to live with Goodwife Wood and her family. I'm not accustomed to their harsh ways of life, or all of these courtship practices. I even helped with the village school although my "heathen ways" stirred things up. Still, I manage. At least until a mysterious illness strikes the town and causes the crazed townspeople to go on a witch-hunt. Life as I know it is about to go up in smoke!

Set in the 1600s, when the Puritan way of life reigned supreme, this piece of literature is an entertaining supplement to studies on early America. Students will identify with the plight of Kit and get a compassionate first-hand account of both the Puritan viewpoint, and the lives of those who forced to live outside of it.

Speare, Elizabeth. The witch of Blackbird Pond. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Black and White

A boy on a train?

Parents dressed head to toe in newspaper?



A burglar hiding in a herd of Holstein cows?

Southern Rail regrets any inconvenience this may cause you.

What could these four stories possibly have to do with each other? Read David McCaulay’s Black and White to find out!

A Caldecott Award Winning Book!

Black and White weaves together four different stories so that the events that occur in one story affect the events and outcomes of the other three. Why not use this book to introduce making a timeline of events? Or introduce ecosystems by making a concept map showing how one character (or organism) affects the others?

These are just some of the many ideas from Carol Hurst's Children Literature site. Check out her other lesson plans and units connecting popular childrens' books to the classroom! http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/blackandwhite.html.

Macaulay, D. (1990). Black and white. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.