Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

By: Simms Taback

Simms Taback is the same author that wrote "The Woman Who Swallowed A Fly." Joseph, an old jewish man, has a very large overcoat. As the story begins the coat gets worn and he makes it into a smaller coat, then that gets worn, and he continues to make the coat into new clothing. It is the classic story of "something out of nothing." If you want to understand how Joseph makes something out of nothing you will have to read the book to find out! (They have it in the Gallaudet library.) This book has great pictures that will keep the students interested, as well as many activities to go along with this book. Enjoy!

folklore

Arrow to the Sun is a Pueblo Indian tale written and illustrated by Gerald McDermott. The book tells of how light and spirit was brought to mankind from the sun.  The story is accompanied by lovely colorful images.

This book on folklore is wonderfully illustrated with many bright colors which is sure to keep the attention of any child with a story to match. I really enjoyed the story and how it tries to explain the world around us by involving the supernatural. This book brings about social awareness for different belief systems as well as different perspectives. While reading this book it would be beneficial, while reading this book, to show a respect for other cultures. By explaining why cultural acceptance is important it will be possible to build a community environment in the classroom where students feel accepted. This book is not entirely based in truth as it pertains to the cultural practices which should be kept in mind. Do research about the culture when looking for books!

Arrow to the Sun can be incorporated into class by using it in conjunction with learning about America, cultures, folklore, and Native American studies.

~AE

Chinese folklore - Tikki Tikki Tembo

This story discusses the old Chinese folktale about how the people of China came to give their children short names after traditionally giving their "first and honored" sons grand, long names due to one of the main characters Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sarembo Hari Kari Pi Chi Pip Peri Pembo's name leading to his death. Curious about what happend to Tikki Tikki Tembo....... read the book or full folklore :-) !

 I personally would read this book to my class as it has alot of repetition and can be a great predictive text as the story repeats itself twice. Although the book does not discuss any current social justice elements it can be said that this story mentions the social movement in Chinese culture about naming their first honored son's long names to naming them short names due to this accident. 

--> -->

poetry

Dinothesaurus is written and illustrated by Douglas Florian. This prehistoric inspired book is filled with paintings and poems. This book is filled with all sorts of dinosaur related poems and interesting paintings.

This book genre is poetry and although it does not contain hard hitting content relating to social justice it is a fun book to get children interested in poetry via their love for dinosaurs or to get children who love poetry interested in dinosaurs. The illustrations are colorful and the poems are funny. It is an easy read. The poems help with rhyming words, similes, comparing, logic, and history of different kinds of dinosaurs.

I thought this book was a fun way to introduce students to poetry by branching off of preexisting interests of my students.

Along with other books of poetry in various topics I would be able to present poetry in a fun way where my students would be able to relate to the new content being taught.

~AE

Poetry Picture Book

The book is different poems in the form of raps. A CD is included in the book for those who want to listen to the book auditorily. The pages and poems grammatically are similar to those of a hip hop or rap song and do not follow the English language rules that have been set up for us to follow. The pictures are very colorful but also abstract with diversity. Social Justice Elements included in this book, is self-love and knowledge, and raising awareness.

Poetry: If You Could Wear My Sneaker

If You Could Wear My Sneakers  is a book that talks about children's rights throughout the various poems the author created as a partner with UNICEF. The nonsense verses are conveys through the voices of the various animals  in a funny way discussing the serious subject of the rights of children to an education, adequate food, shelter and health care, safety, privacy, fair treatment, freedom of speech and protection from war throughout the authors playful verses and cartoons. I personally think the poems are very witty and have strong meanings behind their playful appearance and would use this book in my future classroom as it is based on the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child .

* If these were to be used in a Deaf education classroom using ASL they would need alot of practicing and translation as the words in English are wacky, let alone ASL ! Not easy to sign ! *

Here is my favorite poem: 

If you were me And I were you For just a day Or maybe two Then maybe you And maybe me Would see the me That you were tooBecause... The you I see You try to be Never ever Speaks to me

See... If you knew The me I am Or I could know The you you be I think we would Eventually Discover we liked Broccoli!Yeah... We could form The broccoli bunch Invite each other Out to lunch Share our little Broccoli trees Cover them With melted cheese

But... You pass me by Without a smile As if I were A crocodile Then look the other Way in case You see the me That's in my face If you could wear my sneakers (You might have to plug your nose) And if I could wear your shoes (Even if they crunched my toes) Maybe we could see the us We never got to meet The you and me That might have found More broccoli To eat

By Sheree Fitch

( The poem was to little to read via scan but the picture is clear as can be) I will bring this tomorrow ! 

Dear Hot Dog 

By: Mordicai Gerstein

This is a poetry book for young children. As toy notice I posted two pictures: one of the cover and one of the beautiful illustrations inside the book. This is one of the many pages filled with beautiful pictures, and interesting poems. This book has so many poems about everyday items. It talks about toothbrushes, pillows, crayons, all the way to scissors. It is a great book for children to look at the pictures and understand what the poem is conveying. I think this book takes the cake for amazing illustrations, I recommend you take a look, or buy!