Module 13: Rapunzel's Revenge

Full Citation

Hale, Shannon, Dean Hale, and Nathan Hale. Rapunzel's Revenge. New York, NY: Bloomsbury, 2008. Print.

Summary

The classic tale is re-imagined in the Wild West by Shannon Hale, the author of the Newbery Honor-winning Princess Academy, along with her husband Dean and illustrator Nathan Hale (no relation.) Rapunzel lives in luxury with Mother Gothel, who controls the surrounding territory like a dictator with her "growth magic." When Rapunzel finds out the truth of where she came from and rebels against Gothel, Gothel traps her in the forest in a magic tree. The growth magic causes her hair to grow to its famous lengths, allowing Rapunzel to escape, not to mention giving her a rather useful weapon at her disposal, which will come in handy as she teams up with a bandit named Jack to save her birth mother and get her titular revenge on Gothel. 

My Impressions 

A clever retelling of the classic story that utilizes the western setting perfectly. Rapunzel's no damsel in distress here, and readers of all ages will be rooting for her and Jack. The Old West setting turns out to be the perfect setting for the fairy tale, as Rapunzel is able to use her long locks as a whip and a lasso. The graphic novel also turns out to be the perfect format for this story, as it keeps the action running and really sets the up the scenes for this adventure. If you're still on the fence about the value of graphic novels, as I once was, this may just be the book that wins you over. 

What Other Reviewers Said

The popular author of Princess Academy teams with her husband and illustrator Hale (no relation) for a muscular retelling of the famously long-haired heroine's story, set in a fairy-tale version of the Wild West. The Hales' Rapunzel, the narrator, lives like royalty with witchy Mother Gothel, but defies orders, scaling villa walls to see what's outside--a shocking wasteland of earth-scarring mines and smoke-billowing towers. She recognizes a mine worker from a recurrent dream: it's her birth mother, from whom she was taken as punishment for her father's theft from Mother G.'s garden. Their brief reunion sets the plot in motion. Mother G. banishes Rapunzel to a forest treehouse, checking annually for repentance, which never comes. Rapunzel uses her brick-red braids first to escape, then like Indiana Jones with his whip, to knock out the villains whom she and her new sidekick, Jack (of Beanstalk fame), encounter as they navigate hostile territory to free Rapunzel's morn from peril. Illustrator Hale's detailed, candy-colored artwork demands close viewing, as it carries the action--Rapunzel's many scrapes are nearly wordless. With its can-do heroine, witty dialogue and romantic ending, this graphic novel has something for nearly everybody. Ages 10-up. (1)


Gr 5 Up-- This is the tale as you've never seen it before. After using her hair to free herself from her prison tower, this Rapunzel ignores the pompous prince and teams up with Jack (of Beanstalk fame) in an attempt to free her birth mother and an entire kingdom from the evil witch who once moonlighted as her "mother." Dogged by both the witch's henchman and Jack's outlaw past, the heroes travel across the map as they right wrongs, help the oppressed, and generally try to stay alive. Rapunzel is no damsel in distress-she wields her long braids as both rope and weapon-but she happily accepts Jack's teamwork and friendship. While the witch's castle is straight out of a fairy tale, the nearby mining camps and rugged surrounding countryside are a throwback to the Wild West and make sense in the world that the authors and illustrator have crafted. The dialogue is witty, the story is an enticing departure from the original, and the illustrations are magically fun and expressive. Knowing that there are more graphic novels to come from this writing team brings readers their own happily-ever-after. (2)


Suggested Activities

With Rapunzel taking center stage in theaters this week in Disney's latest animated feature Tangled, now is the perfect time for her to take center stage at your library or in your classroom, too! This article provides some ideas for a Rapunzel-themed display or book discussion time. 

Other Citations 

(1) "Rapunzel's Revenge." Publishers Weekly 255.31 (2008): 63. Vocational and Career Collection. EBSCO. Web. 21 Nov. 2010.

(2) von Wrangel Kinsey, Cara. "Rapunzel's Revenge." School Library Journal 54.9 (2008): 215. Vocational and Career Collection. EBSCO. Web. 21 Nov. 2010.

Module 12: Knucklehead

Full Citation

Scieszka, Jon. Knucklehead: Tall Tales & Mostly True Stories about Growing up Scieszka. New York, NY: Viking, 2008. Print.

Summary


Jon Scieszka, the author of favorites such as The Stinky Cheese Man and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs tells of his childhood growing up in Flint, Michigan. In brief chapters and photographs, Scieszka recounts various adventures in Catholic school, Cub Scouts, and growing up with his five brothers.

My Impressions


Both sweet and irreverent in equal measure, this book will definitely appeal to young readers, especially those with a high tolerance for toilet humor. I wish the book had gone beyond Sciezka's childhood into his early writing days, instead of summarizing it in an epilogue, though.


What Other Reviewers Said


In this arch, glib, unapologetically shamefree outing, Scieszka, who grew up as the second of six sons, has written an autobiography about boys, for boys and anyone else interested in baseball, fire, and peeing on stuff. The format of the book is perfectly suited to both casual and reluctant readers. The text is divided into two- to three-page nonsequential chapters and peppered with scrapbook snapshots and comic-book-ad reproductions. The accessibly irreverent language pushes the boundaries of moderation even as it reflects a sort of skewed wholesomeness. But the real testosterone payoff here is in the stories, which range from losing battles with fractious parochial-school nuns to taking turns “watching” little brothers (wherein the author watched brother number six eat a cigarette butt and charged neighborhood kids to watch him do it again). By themselves, the chapters entertain with abrupt, vulgar fun. Taken together, they offer a look at the makings of one very funny author—and a happy answer to the dreaded autobiography book report. - Thom Barthelmess (1)



Starred Review. Grade 3–6—Just try to keep kids away from this collection. Inspired book design makes the volume look like an old-school comic. The front cover features an elementary-aged Scieszka popping up out of a military tank, surrounded by explosions and bombers, while the back advertises a "Treasure Chest of Fun" and displays chapter titles and excerpts along with nostalgic graphics. Scieszka answers the oft-asked question, "Where do you get your ideas?" with a slew of childhood anecdotes and his family's escapades that have given him plenty of material from which to draw. Born in 1954, the second of six brothers, he writes about Catholic and military schools, buying gifts, chores, and hand-me-downs—all familiar experiences related with a specific Scieszka twist. His mother, a nurse, insisted that her sons use proper terms for anatomy ("rectum" rather than "butt") and bodily functions ("urinate" rather than "pee"), making way for several laugh-out-loud moments. Some stories are just amiably funny, such as wearing recycled Halloween costumes, while others help readers understand more about how the author developed his unique sense of humor. Although it includes the car trip story from Guys Write for Guys Read (Viking, 2005), Knucklehead is aimed at a younger audience. Family photographs and other period illustrations appear throughout. Entertaining and fast-moving, silly and sweet, this homage to family life is not to be missed.—Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA (2)

Suggested Activities

Have kids make a personal scrapbook using photographs and other memorabilia to tell their own funny or serious personal stories.


Other Citations


(1) Barthelmess, Thom. "Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka." Booklist 105.1 (2008): 92. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.

(2) Whitehurst, Lucinda S. Rev. of Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka. School Library Journal. Amazon.com. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. <http://tinyurl.com/38eqsux>.

Module 11: Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11

Full Citation

Floca, Brian. Moonshot: the Flight of Apollo 11. New York: Atheneum for Young Readers, 2009. Print.


Summary


The story of Apollo 11 and the first moon landing, from lift-off to the first steps to the return to earth, is recounted with colorful illustrations and free-verse poetry.

My Impressions


This book is a perfect demonstration that "non-fiction" doesn't have to mean "reads like a textbook." Floca instead captures the feelings and the little moments that went into the historic first moon landing. The moon landing tops my list of historic events I regret not being born early enough to see, but this book helped me feel like I was there. Floca leaves an author's note at the end filling in the rest of the details.

What Other Reviewers Said


Grade 2–5—Large in trim size as well as topic, this stirring account retraces Apollo 11's historic mission in brief but precise detail, and also brilliantly captures the mighty scope and drama of the achievement. Rendered in delicate lines and subtly modulated watercolors, the eye-filling illustrations allow viewers to follow the three astronauts as they lumber aboard their spacecraft for the blastoff and ensuing weeklong journey ("…there's no fresh air outside the window;/after a week this small home will not smell so good./This is not why anyone/wants to be an astronaut"). They split up so that two can make their famous sortie, and then reunite for the return to "the good and lonely Earth,/glowing in the sky." Floca enhances his brief, poetic main text with an opening spread that illustrates each component of Apollo 11, and a lucid closing summary of the entire Apollo program that, among other enlightening facts, includes a comment from Neil Armstrong about what he said versus what he meant to say when he stepped onto the lunar surface. Consider this commemoration of the first Moon landing's 40th anniversary as a spectacular alternative for younger readers to Catherine Thimmesh's Team Moon (Houghton, 2006).- John Peters, New York Public Library (1)

Forty years after NASA’s Apollo 11 mission first landed astronauts on the moon, this striking nonfiction picture book takes young readers along for the ride. The moon shines down on Earth, where three men don spacesuits, climb into Columbia, and wait for liftoff. On a nearby beach, people gather to watch the rocket blast the astronauts into space. The astronauts fly to the moon, circle it, land on it, walk on its surface, and see “the good and lonely Earth, glowing in the sky.” After flying back to the orbiter, they return to Earth and splash down, “home at last.” An appended note discusses the mission in greater detail. Written with quiet dignity and a minimum of fuss, the main text is beautifully illustrated with line-and-wash artwork that provides human interest, technological details, and some visually stunning scenes. The book’s large format offers plenty of scope for double-page illustrations, and Floca makes the most of it, using the sequential nature of picture books to set up the more dramatic scenes and give them human context. The moving image of Earth seen from the moon, for instance, is preceded by a picture of a lone astronaut looking up. A handsome, intelligent book with a jacket that’s well-nigh irresistible. - Carolyn Phelan (2)

Suggested Activities


Take your own "trip" to the moon as a library or classroom. You can buy astronaut foods such as freeze-dried ice cream at various stores. (Here in North Texas, at least, you can find it at Fry's Electronics.) For older readers, be sure to check out The Dish (rated PG-13 for some strong language), the hilarious and heart-warming story of a small Australia town that played a crucial role in ensuring that TV viewers world-wide could see the first images of the moon landing.


Other Citations

(1) Peters, John. Rev. of Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11. School Library Journal. Amazon.com. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. <http://tinyurl.com/35qkj22>.

(2) Phelan, Carolyn. "Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11." Booklist 105.12 (2009): 80. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.

Module 10: Boxes for Katje

Full Citation


Fleming, Candace, and Stacey Dressen-McQueen. Boxes for Katje. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. Print.


Summary 


In 1945, as Europeans begin to deal with the devastation left by World War II, Katje, a girl from the Dutch town of Olst, receives a package with soap, new socks, a chocolate bar, and a note from Rosie Johnson in Mayfield, Illinois. Rosie sent the package through the Children's Aid Society, which was working to help children in Europe. When Katje writes Rosie back, it begins a correspondence that changes both Olst and Mayfield in exponential ways.

My Impressions


I've failed three times to get through this story without crying. It's a brief and beautiful story about the power of compassion and friendship. The illustrations perfectly bring the time and places to life. This historical fiction picture book (inspired by a true story from the author's mother) would be perfect for a variety of classroom activities, from an elementary lesson on charity to a high-school history classroom.


What Other Reviewers Said


Amidst the deprivations of life in post-WWII Holland, young Katje receives a care package from an American girl. Katje writes a thank-you note to Rosie, who, when she hears about Katje's generosity with the handful of gifts, begins recruiting friends and neighbors to help send bigger and bigger packages to Katje, who shares the bounty with her friends and neighbors. Fleming has carefully shaped her story so that Katje's heartfelt letters unintentionally inspire further gifts from Rosie (a clothing drive at Rosie's church results from Katje's innocent mention of how the box of food made everyone so happy they forgot about the holes in their shoes). The opening endpapers show Rosie's Indiana neighborhood in 1945; closing endpapers feature the same scene two years later, each yard overflowing with color--from the tulip bulbs Katje's community sends to express their gratitude. First-time illustrator Dressen-McQueen keeps the sentimentality of the story at bay with artwork that matter-of-factly presents Katje's poverty and Rosie's relative prosperity while, like the text, emphasizing their similarities: the secure warmth each experiences at home and their desire to help others. Reflecting the story's theme about friendship's ability to bridge long distances, the multimedia illustrations often overlay a scene from Katje's hometown with one of the girls' handwritten letters and a snapshot-like picture of Rosie's home. An author's note provides further information on the actual events that inspired Fleming's story. (1)


K-5 This well-written story set in post-World War II Holland is based on events that really happened. Charities such as the Children’s Aid Society encouraged American students to send boxes of needed items to Europe to offset the devastation left by the war. In this story, Katje, a young girl in Olst, Holland, is one of the lucky recipients. Rosie of Mayfield, Indiana, sends a box filled with a cake of soap, wool socks, and chocolate to her. Katje, in appreciation, writes a letter of thanks. This leads to the beginning of a correspondence, which in turn eventually triggers an outpouring of help from the people of Mayfield. Katje and her friends and family survive the harsh winter in large part due to the kindness of Rosie and the Mayfield community. The warm-colored pencil and oil pastel pictures complement the story reflecting the architecture, dress, and emotion beautifully. The story itself would be an excellent starting point for a discussion on the importance of giving and sharing. It shows that one person truly can make a difference. This is also a good book to read for Thanksgiving or even as a reminder during the study of war of the toll war takes on people in general. Recommended. - Bridget Slayden, Educational Reviewer, Fordland, Missouri (2)

Suggested Activities


Have children think of examples of "Katjes" today, both around the world as well  in their own hometowns. With the holidays fast approaching, now is the perfect time to implement a class-, school- or library-wide food and clothing drive for a local homeless shelter or community outreach.

Other Citations

(1) Brabander, Jennifer M. "Boxes for Katje." Horn Book Magazine 79.5 (2003): 596. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 7 Nov. 2010.


(2) Fleming, Candace. "Boxes for Katje (Book)." Library Media Connection 22.6 (2004): 56. Computer Source. EBSCO. Web. 7 Nov. 2010.