The Mad Potter: George E. Ohr, Eccentric Genius by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan

The Mad Potter: George E. Ohr, Eccentric Genius

by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan

                                                        

1.      Bibliography

Greenberg, Jan and Sandra Jordan.  The Mad Potter: George E. Ohr, Eccentric Genius.  New York: Roaring Brooks Press, 2013.  ISBN 159643810X

2.      Plot Summary

George E. Ohr, the self-proclaimed’ Mad Potter of Biloxi’ was an eccentric potter not recognized for his artistic genius until 50 years after his death.  George grew up the son of a Germany immigrant to New Orleans.  He apprenticed to be a blacksmith in his father’s smithy.  When, he grew tired of that, he went to work in his mother’s grocery store. He was soon restless again so, he struck out on his own.  At first making practical pottery in the style of the day but George wanted to make art.  He went to the World’s Fairs of his day to learn from the style of the art pottery masters of the period.  George knew that his work was the best however, he was not recognized for his artistic genius during his lifetime.

3.    Critical Analysis

Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan are a well-known and respected duo in informational books for children.  And, this book is no exception.  It is thoroughly researched and cited.  The photographs of George Ohr, his family, his life and his works are displayed well and each carefully marked.  The book is logically laid out, mostly chronologically with examples of his pottery throughout.  The chapter headings give a hint as to their context without being too obvious such as: “Fire” and “The Last Hurrah”.  There are a few appendixes that add to the books use such as the one about the Ohr Museum or how to throw your own pot.  And, the one I find most helpful, to the art teachers, would be “How to Look at a Pot”.

The design is attractive with more illustrations than words which is fitting for a book about an artist.  It is mostly about his art and secondly about the artist.  About half of the pages have some text in bold to highlight a quote or saying of Mr. Ohr’s.  The style of the book is slightly eccentric with some random quotes, photographs or pictures of the art scattered around or in a different font.  However, this seem perfectly fitting for The Mad Potter.

4.      Review Excerpts

2014 Robert F. Sibert Medal Honor Book

2014 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Recommended Book
ALA 2014 Notable Children’s Books, Middle Readers
Booklist 2014 Top 10 Books for Youth, Arts
Booklist 2014 Top 10 Books for Youth, Biography
Booklist Editor’s Choice: Books for Youth, 2013, Nonfiction
SLJs Best Books of 2013, Nonfiction

From Booklist: Starred Review. “The artist comes to life in this clearly written narrative, full of well-chosen details and anecdotes. Fine vintage photos show Ohr at work and with his family.”

From Kirkus Reviews: ““A fascinating introduction to an innovative artist.”

From Publishers Weekly: “...will certainly prod them to ask themselves if they're really living life to the fullest.”

From School Library Journal: Starred Review. “The authors do an excellent job describing this larger-than-life character through quotes and plentiful color photos of his pottery, or “mud babies” as he referred to his creations.”

5.      Connections

Gather and use other books by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, such as:

      Action Jackson.  ISBN 0312367511
      Vincent van Gogh: Portrait of an Artist. ISBN 0440419174
      Ballet for Martha: Making of Appalachian Spring. ISBN 1596433388

Gather and use other biographies about artists, such as:

      Martin, Jacqueline Briggs.  Snowflake Bentley.  ISBN 0547248296
      Rosenstock, Barb.  The Noisy Paint Box.  ISBN 0307978486
      Tonatiuh, Duncan.  Funny Bones.  ISBN 1419716476

Gather and use other books about artist ahead of their time, such as:

      DK Publishing.  Frank O. Gehry: Outside In.  ISBN 0789426773
      Escher, M.C. and Michael Solomon Sachs.  The Pop-Up Book of M.C. Escher. ISBN 0876548192

Use in an art lesson on pottery

Becoming Ben Franklin: How a Candle-Maker's Son Helped Light the Flame of Liberty by Russell Freedman

Becoming Ben Franklin: How a Candle-Maker’s Son Helped Light the Flame of Liberty

 by Russell Freedman

 

1.      Bibliography

Freedman, Russell. Becoming Ben Franklin: How a Candle-Maker’s Son Helped Light the Flame of Liberty. New York: Holiday House, 2013. ISBN 0823423743

2.      Plot Summary

Becoming Ben Franklin tells the story of our great statesman and inventor and how became the great American we all know. Born to a candle-maker in Boston, he apprenticed with his father and brother before he set out on his own (ran away) to Philadelphia to find his independence.  He sought neither fame nor fortune but achieved both.  He retired from the printing business at the age of 42 to pursue his study of science.  He discovered the conductivity of electricity and invented the lightening rod.  He was drafted into his statesman role, representing the United States to England twice and France late in his life.  This book captures Benjamin Franklin, and all of his quirkiness and eccentricities, all through his amazing life.

3.      Critical Analysis

The life of Benjamin Franklin will serve as an example for American children possibly forever.  Not only as a founding father, but as a self-starter and someone who always strives to be a better person.  Reading a story about his life not only teaches the history of our country but puts context to the life and times of its people during this historical time in our history.  His story serves as a good role model, and would be of interest, to any child who wishes to pursue a life in the trades, politics or the sciences.  But also, it serves as a shining example to anyone who wishes to work on the betterment of self.

Dr. Franklin strove to be a better person and focused on what he thought were the most important virtues of industry, frugality, resolution, humility, vanity and pride.  He was more successful in some virtues than other but he would continue the pursuit his whole life. The book does not shy away from Franklin’s faults as well as his virtues.  It points out that the man had a child out of wedlock, was estranged from one of his children and was known for gluttony. The book is meticulously researched with many original sources sighted.  The pictures included are mostly famous paintings done during Franklin’s life.  The book flows naturally through Franklin’s life, telling all the high points through narration and quotes.

4.      Review Excerpts

ALA 2014 Notable Children’s Books, Older Reader

Booklist 2013 Lasting Connections, Social Studies

Booklist Editor’s Choice: Books for Youth, 2013, Nonfiction

BooklistTop 10 Books for Youth 2013, Biographies

Kirkus Reviews Best Children’s Books of 2013

School Library Journal’s Best Books of 2013, Nonfiction

2014 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Recommended Book

From Booklist: Starred Review. “Russell Freedman writes perceptively about every stage of Franklin’s life, weaving in lively anecdotes as well as quotes from his Autobiography and other writings”.

From School Library Journal: “Biographers make decisions about what to leave out as much as what to put in, but Freedman is consistent in connecting his discussion to primary sources. The result is an account that examines the whole of Franklin's remarkable life but does not overwhelm readers”.

5.      Connections

Gather and use other children’s biographies about Benjamin Franklin, such as:

        Byrd, Robert. Electric Ben. ISBN 0803737491
        Fleming, Candace. Ben Franklin's Almanac. ISBN 0689835493
        Schanzer, Rosalyn. How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning. ISBN 0688169937

Gather and use other Russell Freedman biographies, such as:

        The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane. ISBN 082341082X
        Lincoln: A Photobiography. 0395518482
        The Life and Death of Crazy Horse. ISBN 0823412199

Use in a history lesson about the Revolutionary War.

Use in a social studies lesson about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States or American government.

Use in a science lesson about Electricity.

Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

 

 

 

1.      Bibliography

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Hitler Youth: growing up in Hitlers shadow. New York: Scholastic Nonfiction, 2005. ISBN 0439353793

2.      Plot Summary

Hitler Youth tells the story of the young people who were either brainwashed by the Nazi regime or resisted the Nazi movement.  It gives the back-story of the youth group and how it was built to be the back bone of a movement for the fascist regime.  It is a historical, non-fiction, chilling account of the passionate, energetic children who were indoctrinated to do the bidding of the Nazis.  The story is told through the eyes of those children who were actually there, who lived it.  Each one is tracked through their experience to include how they got involved, how they were controlled and what became of them.  Both sides of the story are told; those that were brainwashed and did what they were told and those that resisted and suffered major consequences for their opposition.

3.      Critical Analysis

The author did a great deal of research to ensure to depict an accurate representation from both sides.  She spent years and has many credible sources.  She takes time to try to avoid any stereotypes and be factual in telling the story.  The telling of the youth’s story makes you feel sympathy for them because you know they were brainwashed and manipulated into doing what they were told to such an extreme that they would rat out their own families.  However, I take issue with any medium that tries to explain or rationalize the reasons people oppress and destroy others.

The book is laid out well with each chapter rotating between stories of those children who were indoctrinated and those that resisted.  It mostly follows along historically so the fascism and programming builds.  The photographs lend to the telling and the appendixes add to the information.  They include an epilogue of each child, a timeline of the Hitler Youth program and the Nazi’s rise to power.

4.      Review Excerpts

Newbery Honor medal 2006

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal 2006
Horn Book Fanfare Award 2005
American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults 2006
American Library Association Notable Children's Book
National Council for Social Studies Notable Social Studies Trade Book
National Council for Teachers of English Orbis Pictus Honor
American Library Association Sibert Informational Book Honor 2006

From the Booklist: Starred Review.  “Bartoletti draws on oral histories, diaries, letters, and her own extensive interviews with Holocaust survivors, Hitler Youth, resisters, and bystanders to tell the history from the viewpoints of people who were there.”

From The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books: Starred Review. "This solid offering deserves wide readership by today's young people, and it is certain to promote extensive discussion."

From Horn Book: Starred Review. "With clarity and apt quotation, Bartoletti takes readers from the prewar beginnings of Hitler Youth, through its significant role in gaining Hitler the government, to its ultimate position as a feeder for the German war machine."

From Kirkus Review: Starred Review. "Case studies of actual participants root the work in specifics, and clear prose, thorough documentation and an attractive format with well-chosen archival photographs make this nonfiction writing at its best….Superb."

From Publishers Weekly: Starred Review. "Bartoletti's portrait of individuals within the Hitler Youth who failed to realize that they served “a mass murderer” is convincing, and while it does not excuse the atrocities, it certainly will allow readers to comprehend the circumstances that led to the formation of Hitler's youngest zealots."

From the School Library Journal: Starred Review. Bartoletti “summarizes the weighty significance of this part of the 20th century and challenges young readers to prevent history from repeating itself.”

5.      Connections

Gather and read other books by Susan Campbell Bartoletti such as:

      They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group. ISBN 0544225821
      Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850. ISBN 0618548831
      Kids on Strike! ISBN 0618369236
      Growing Up in Coal Country. ISBN 0395979145

Combine with a historical fiction book by Bartoletti which takes a closer look at one of the young men in this book: The Boy Who Dared, ISBN 9780439680134

Gather and read other books that deal with children during WWII and the Holocaust such as:

     Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl. ISBN 9780553296983
     Boyne, John. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.  ISBN 0385751532
     Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars. ISBN 0547577095
     Yolen, Jane. The Devil's Arithmetic. ISBN 0142401099
     Zusak, Markus.  The Book Thief. ISBN 0375842209

Use during a history lesson about WWII.

Use during a unit to discuss fitting in, growing up or patriotism.

Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones

Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones

 

1.      Bibliography

Sones, Sonya. Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Sister Went Crazy. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1999.  ISBN 0439250706.

2.      Plot Summary

Stop Pretending is a memoir of a 13-year-old whose big sister suddenly shows symptoms of manic-depression.  The narrator doesn’t understand what is happening to her sister.  And, the situation affects her relationship with her sister, the relationship with her parents, the relationship between her parents and the relationship with her friends.  She tells about the initial reaction to her sister’s hospitalization, her parents fighting and the secret that she keeps from her friends.  Eventually, her sister’s treatment helps to even out her temperament, the narrator’s friends accept that she has not changed and she finds her first love.

3.      Critical Analysis

The author uses blank verse which lends itself to the power of images and is a compelling and is a provocative memoir. Read individually, each poem seems ordinary enough, but when read altogether their power is remarkable. Many of the poems can be sad or depressing to read, but the book ends much happier. The free verse used has very specific punctuation marks, pauses and spaces embedded into the poems which help with the rhyme of the story. All of the elements of plot come together with the climax being about three-quarters of the way in, and the resolution is not an ending but rather a new start, leaving the reader with a sense of gratification.

The author’s use of spacing in words and lines also demonstrates concrete ideas throughout the book. The poem that tells when the author mustered the courage to tell her two best friends about her sister is titled “Molly, Kate,        and Me”. The space between the other two girls and the author shows the gap the two girls place between themselves and the narrator after they learn the specifics of her sister’s illness. Board games are a recurring theme in the book as well. Approximately one-third of the way through the book, there is a poem entitled, “Trying to Play Monopoly”. This enterprise doesn’t turn out well, ending with the author’s sister throwing a tantrum. The last poem of the book, “In the Visiting Room”, features the family playing Scrabble. This event goes much differently than the last. In comparison to the monopoly game, this time the family is happier.

4.      Review Excerpts

2000 American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults

2000 Quick Picks for Young Adults from Books for Reluctant Young Readers

From School Library Journal: “All of the emotions and feelings are here, the tightness in the teen's chest when thinking about her sibling in the hospital, her grocery list of adjectives for mental illness, and the honest truth in the collection's smallest poem."

From The Boston Globe: “Stop Pretending is a tour de force debut.  It celebrates truth-telling and has a purity and passion that speaks to the heart.”

From Kirkus Review: “The poems take on life and movement, the individual frames of a movie that in the unspooling become animated, telling a compelling tale.”

5.      Connections

Gather and read other books by Sonya Jones, such as:

      What My Mother Doesn’t Know. ISBN 1442493852
      One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies. ISBN 1442493836

Gather and read other books about mental illness, such as:

      Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. ISBN 0060837020
      Green, Hannah. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. ASIN B001ZR08FE
      Neufield, John. Lisa, Bright and Dark. ISBN 0451166841

Gather and read other children’s memoirs such as:

      Uwiringiyimana, Sandra.  How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child.  ISBN 0062470140
      Buergenthal, Thomas.  A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy. ISBN 0316339180

Have students create their own free verse poem about a time in their life that was a challenge.

Use in a Psychology Class when discussing mental illness.

 

First Food Fight This Fall by Marilyn Singer

First Food Fight This Fall by Marilyn Singer

                                         

 

1.      Bibliography

Singer, Marilyn. Illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa.  First Food Fight This Fall and other School Poems. New York: Sterling, 2008 ISBN 1402741456.

2.      Plot Summary

A group of young children, who ride the school bus together, tell about what their school experience is like in poetry.  They follow the school year through from the first day, talking about the classes they love and the ones they don’t like so much, highlights of their year, first snow, field trips, class pictures, field day and finally the last day.  They share the everyday experiences such as cleaning erasers and trading lunches and the extra ordinary experiences like food fights and water fights. Each child takes turns telling the story from their point of view so that you can share the feelings and emotions of the event from different viewpoints.

3.      Critical Analysis

Each poem tells a piece of the story, throughout the school year and, in the voice of each different child.  The poems are in various styles including haiku, quatrain, acrostic, free verse and others and various tones.  The tone of poems such as First Day, First Food Fight This Fall or Field Day are joyous and exuberant.  While, poems such as Math or The Class I Hate are serious.  The tone and tenor of the poem Indoor Storm is serious, as if to show the remorse the children feel in the aftermath of the food fight.  Especially fun is the poem When Ms. Mundy Read Us a Poem.  It feels like an inside joke by the author to show she understands that readers all have different reactions to poetry.  By the end, you celebrate with the children as they move on to the summer knowing that they will rejoice in their summer activities.

The illustrations are in a cartoon style.  They are bright and done in acrylics, pastels and collage.  There is always a lot going on in the illustrations and children will enjoy finding each of the children in the picture to see what they are doing as the story unfolds.  Inside of the front cover, there is a “photograph” picture of each of the characters so as children read they will know who is telling the story and they can look for the characters throughout the book.  There is a table of contents of the poems to make it easy for the reader to find their favorites.

4.      Review Excerpts

Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best, 2009.

From Kirkus Review: The interesting combination of identifiable poetic forms and Yoshikawa’s amusing illustrations should make this a popular choice for classroom reading, as students recognize at least some of their own school experiences in the poetry.

From School Library Journal: The poems resonate with mischievous good cheer.  This collection will surely strike a familiar note with young readers.

From Booklist: Children will enjoy the poetry and find comparisons and contracts to situations in their daily routines.

5.      Connections

Gather and read other Marilyn Singer books such as:

      Tallulah’s Tutu. ISBN 0547173539
      Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems. ISBN 0525479015

Gather and read other children’s poetry books such as:

      Lewis, J. Patrick. National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry. ISBN 1426310099
      Grimes, Nikki. One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance.  ISBN 1619635542
      Florian, Douglas. mammalabilia.  ISBN 0152050248

Gather and read other books about children’s experience at school, such as:

      Baer, Edith.  Illustrated by Steve Bjorkman. This is the Way We Go to School.  ISBN 0590431625
      Creech, Sharon.  Illustrated by Harry Bliss. A Fine, Fine School.  ISBN 0060007281

Read the Math poem during math, the Spelling poem during spelling, the Tag poem during physical education, the Science Fair poem during science, etc.

Use in a poetry unit to teach the various forms of poems.

Birmingham, 1963 by Carole Boston Weatherford

Birmingham, 1963 by Carole Boston Weatherford

 

1.      Bibliography

Weatherford, Carole Boston. Birmingham, 1963. Honesdale, Pennsylvania: Wordsong, 2007 ISBN 1590784405

2.      Plot Summary

Birmingham, 1963 is a story told in free verse poetry and photographs.  It is a retelling of events as might be told by a 10-year-old attendee of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on a fateful day in September of 1963. And, while the narrator may be fictional, the basic information and events of the story are not. Birmingham was a highly segregated city and the suppressed citizens were protesting their treatment. The Ku Klux Klan fought against integration by bombing churches in the neighborhood culminating in this event which brought national attention to the situation.

3.      Critical Analysis

The story, told in free verse uses long sentences giving the story a movement toward its intended course.  Each sentence fills a page with a facing photograph; telling a portion of the story in words and black-and-white pictures; setting a mood for the time period and tone of the story. The repeated use of the phrase, “The year I turned ten”, is a constant reminder that this is a day in the life of a child.  It makes the reader celebrate with the child, at first, when she is happy.  Then, makes the reader concerned as she tells of her concerns for her city.  And, finally, these words serve as a tragic reminder that this event happened to children.

The writer’s choice of song titles and words included in the poem sets the stage for the time period and for the sense of the child’s community.  Songs referenced, “We Shall Overcome”, “This Little Light of Mine”, “Jesus Loves the Little Children” and “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” are strategically placed in the poem to give voice to the emotion the story is evoking. After the story, the author includes a memorial section, in remembrance of the children heartbreakingly taken on that day.  And, the author’s notes at the end put the story in context for anyone who does not know the history of the event.

4.      Review Excerpts

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award

Jefferson Cup

Jane Addams Children’s Literature Honor

From Kirkus Reviews: Starred Review.  "A gorgeous memorial to the four killed on that horrible day, and to the thousands of children who braved violence to help change the world."

From School Library Journal: Starred Review. "An intimate experience. An emotional read, made even more accessible and powerful by the viewpoint of the child narrator."

From Library Media Connection: Starred Review. "Filled with emotion. This is a book that should be in every library collection.”

5.      Connections

Gather other Carole Boston Weatherford books to read, such as:

      Becoming Billie Holiday. ISBN 159078507X
      Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hammer: Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement. ISBN 0763665312
      Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. ISBN 0786851759

Gather other books about Birmingham’s role in the civil rights movement, such as:

      Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watson’s Go to Birmingham – 1963. ISBN 044022800X
      Mayer, Robert H. When the Children Marched: The Birmingham Civil Rights Movement. ISBN 0766029301
      Levinson, Cynthia.  We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March. ISBN 1561458449

Gather other freestyle poet books to compare, such as:

      Lai, Thanhha.  Inside Out and Back Again. ISBN 0061962791
      Nelson, Marilyn.  How I Discovered Poetry. ISBN 0147510058
      Woodson, Jacqueline.  Brown Girl Dreaming. ISBN 0147515823

Use in a social studies segment about segregation, civil rights and/or the 1960s in America.

Use in a music lesson about civil rights music, protest songs or spirituals.