Posts Tagged ‘Animals’

The Ziz and the Hanukkah Miracle

Monday, December 14th, 2009


zizThe Ziz and the Hanukkah Miracle is the third in a series about the Ziz by Jacqueline Jules. The Ziz made his first appearance in 2001 in The Hardest Word: A Yom Kippur Story, a National Jewish Book Award Finalist and an Association of Jewish Libraries Notable Book for Young Readers.  The Ziz is king of all birds, who lived long, long ago in Jewish mythology. Whenever the Ziz has a problem, he goes to Mount Sinai to seek God’s advice.

In his latest adventure, the giant yellow bird has a hard time dealing with the darkness of winter. God gives him an oil lamp, but then asks him to share it.  A task he rebels against, until he overhears a conversation in the temple.  The Maccabees are ready to rededicate the temple but there is not enough oil.  It will take 8 days to make more.

This story offers an explanation as to how God went about performing this miracle.  It is a story about sharing and that the “light” is for everyone and burns brighter when shared.

“Light! Light! A Flicker, flame, or spark. Makes my heart happy in the dark.”

Sometimes sharing with others isn’t the easiest thing to do in the world. Through the help of some unlikely small friends, a solution to the light problem is found. By sharing, his problem is solved and so is someone else’s problem. “The Ziz and the Hanukkah Miracle” is a very good book for children ages 4-8. It does an excellent job highlighting the menorah which is a big part of the Hanukkah holiday.

GENRE: Picture Book

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Posted in Holiday, Picture Book |

What Do You Do When Something Wants To Eat You?

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

eatyouUsing cut-paper collage illustrations, author Steve Jenkins explores the many fascinating and unique defense mechanisms creatures use to escape from danger in his non-fiction picture book, What Do You Do When Something Wants To Eat You?

The book presents the reader with the question of what would they do if something wanted to eat them. Walk on water? Stick out your tongue? Hide or play dead? Animals in the wild use all kinds of methods to protect themselves from their enemies.

Predators are depicted in pursuit of prey on each right-hand side of the spread and with a flip of the page uncovers the clever escape mechanism employed by the would-be victim,

The Basilisk Lizard, for example, narrowly escapes the heron by running across the water’s surface. This unique talent has earned it the nickname “Jesus Christ Lizard” in South America. Other animals featured in this selection are the bombardier beetle, the puffer fish, the blue-tongued skink, and the pangolin to name a few.

This book is a fascinating look at the diversity of nature and survival skills that have developed to help animals defend themselves.

Teachers will find this book useful for introducing animal units focusing on their defenses and the terms that go along with the subject and is a great choice for a storytime! Very appropriate for ages 7 and up, but better suited to fourth grade if read independently by students.

GENRE: Juvenile Non-Fiction

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Posted in Juvenile Non-Fiction |

Dear Deer: A Book of Homophones

Monday, August 17th, 2009

deardearDear Deer: A Book of Homophones by Gene Barretta is full of sound-alike silliness. The book highlights use, meanings and spellings of identically sounding words in its tongue twisting text.

Barretta begins his book with a note to the reader where he introduces the book by explaining that homophones are words that sound alike, but are spelled differently and have different meanings, like ate and eight.

In the book, Aunt Ant, who lives in the zoo, is writing to her Dear Deer, telling him of the strange and unusual characters she sees at the zoo. These, of course, involve some amusing homophones. From a moose who loves mousse to a doe who kneads dough because she needs the dough.

All of the paired words are in bold type, though nothing differentiates one homophone from another and at times more than one set appears on a page at once.

Some of the homophones may be beyond the vocabulary of young readers, but the majority is fun and easy to understand. Even if the meanings of some of the words are not completely understood, the concept of a homophone is made perfectly clear throughout the book through the full page color illustrations.  This is a book that would make for great enrichment in the classroom and good gift for any teacher.

GENRE: Picture Book

For a homophone lesson plan link here

For word builder homophone picture cards link here

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Posted in Humor, Picture Book |
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