14 Cows For America

14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy and Wilson Kimeli Nalyomah, illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez, shares the story of a great sacrifice that a village in Africa makes as a gesture to an American diplomat less than a year after the attacks of September 11. The start of the book shows Kemili, a Standford college student, returning home on his summer break and interacting with those in the village. As he recounts the events of September 11th, people of his village are deeply affected - enough to offer their 14 cows for America. The earlier sections of the book provide insights into just how huge of a sacrifice this was.

Told in third person verse with vivid, full page illustrations, this book conveys a lot of emotions. While Carmen Agra Deedy and Wilson Kimeli Nalyomah could have decided to recount the events through first person, telling it through third person helped to illuminate the event as a collective story, rather than his story, highlighting the decisions of people from his village.

The school library journal recommends this book for 2nd-5th grade. It could also appeal to older readers as well. The illustrations can capture the interest and inspire awe in a wide-range of grade levels, but depending on the grade level, the discussions and depth of understanding would be different. For example, in the younger grades, students will be able to understand that it was a great sacrifice and a kind gesture, while older students (or younger students with more background) will be able to understand a little bit more about economics.

Aside from the main focus of the book, there is also the underlying background of Kimeli as a college student returning home. We see him in his Standford jacket, "American clothes", and backpack, in contrast to the dress of the people of his village on the first pages. With a foot in two worlds, the book can prompt discussions about interacting with different cultures and having different experiences than most people in the community in which you grew up in and navigating similarities and differences. This book could be used with middle school to college students as an introduction to discuss identity, before pairing it up with other books appropriate for the target age group, such as Gloria Anzaldúa's Borderlands, Dancing Home, The Whole Story of Half a Girl, and Mexican Whiteboy.

You can see more background about the book, including a book trailer that shares more of the illustrations, on the site for the book.

Voyages: Reminiscences of Young Abe Lincoln

A parent gave me Voyages: Reminiscences of Young Abe Lincoln by Neil Walman as a gift at the end of a school year, knowing that I love books and am also interested in history. In an introductory page Walman explains that the book was inspired by primary documents providing glimpses into Lincoln's trips down the Mississippi River, which prompted him to think about slavery. Thus, the title refers to both the physical voyage and an internal voyage. The remaining book is divided into four sections (First Voyage, Second Voyage, Third Voyage, and The Auction Block).

Walman told the story in a unique way in first person through Lincoln's eyes. He noted that he would put direct quotes from Lincoln in brown text to distinguish between his own words and the president's, seamlessly incorporate Lincoln's own words without interrupting the flow. At the end of the book there is a sources page, which explains in more detail the documents where Walman excerpted Lincoln's statements. It seems that using this format, there would be some blurring between fact and fiction, much like memoir writing where it is necessary to fill in gaps at times in a best effort to preserve the events. Only, in this case, it was not Waldman's own experiences, so his intent would be basing his words on what he knew about the historical time period and from other documents. It would be helpful to discuss with the difference between the black and brown text and implications for interpretations. Even though the format is directly stated at the start of the book, it would still be pertinent to discuss.

The words, including those from Walman as Lincoln, have a historical flavor. Otherwise, there would have been a disconnect between the two types of text. This may present challenges for some readers who are not as familiar with phrases from the time period; yet, much of it can be grasped through context. In addition, the pages have a faint background coloring simulating worn, older documents also adding to the overall aesthetics of the book.

At 32 pages, this is a quick book, but it will provide readers with glimpses into events that shaped Abraham Lincoln's perspective as he was transitioning into adulthood.

We Are America: A Tribute From The Heart

As a teacher always wanting to familiarize myself with a range of YA/middle grades literature, I have read various Walter Dean Myers books, but We Are America: A Tribute From the Heart was the first picture book that I read by him. It is one of those awe-inspiring books that make you want to revisit it again and again both because of the text and the vivid paintings by none other than the author's son, Christopher Myers.

The initial pages of the book include a quote by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella accompanied by a painting followed by two-page spread, powerful author's and artist's notes printed on top of a mosaic of images, providing background and context for the book.

Then starts the heart of the book - two page spreads combining poetry and at times historical quotes, snapshots into U.S. history and cultures. Initially, the poems are told in the first person, representing various perspectives. Then the singular "I" poems shift to "we", a collective history merging from different backgrounds.

I especially like that the history and current depiction represents dichotomies, rather than solely portraying the good or the bad. Instead, it comes off as a balanced, thought-provoking experience. While younger kids would enjoy the book, the illustrations and depth of text, such as avenues for analysis to attempt to make sense of history, make it ideal for older readers as well.

With each flip of the page, I liked the book more and more. While reading, I was curious about those depicted in illustrations. There were some that I automatically recognized, but there were others that made me want to know more about who they were and/or the rationale behind the intentionality of including them. When I turned to some of the last pages and saw that the quotes were reprinted with additional background and explanations of where the quotes came from, I thought about how it was a perfect addition to an already strong text. The final page provides art notes to explain by page about the people depicted in the pictures. Just as the book sparked my curiosity, I can imagine students wanting to do additional research or inquiry as a result of reading this book.

Last night I posted about Dancing Home, by another parent-child team, and pairing the two texts together is an excellent example of complementary picture book/novel combinations. However, We Are America is versatile and aside from ideas already mentioned, it would be a good fit for many other curricular connections, including a mentor text for multi-genre writing and a background in U.S. History. It would be a perfect start of the year read aloud for a year in which the focus was on U.S. History. Then students could revisit the book multiple times throughout the year. Such a rich text!