Module 5 - Novel by Asian American Author - Minfong Ho - TWU - Multicultural Literature

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Ho, Minfong. 2003. THE STONE GODDESS. New York: Orchard Books. ISBN 9780439381970.

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Even though I was born in the mid-sixties, I have to admit that I know hardly anything about the Asian Wars that have been fought during my lifetime. I don't remember watching the news about it, or movies, or even TV shows. In school, I never got past WWII, so I completely missed it. Reading this book was a real learning experience for me, because I vaguely remember hearing the term "Khmer Rouge," but I had no idea what it was all about. My husband is a real history student, and when I completed this story, I shared with him what I had learned. He told me that I needed to educate myself on this aspect of history and perhaps even watch some movies about Cambodia. I am feeling very ignorant about this subject, but I believe that this little book has provided me with an interesting introduction.

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The Sokha family are as normal as any Cambodian family can be prior to the invasion of the Khmer Rouge. The father is university educated, the mother is a dance teacher to her two daughters as well as other girls inside the palace. There is an older brother who is on his way to becoming a Buddhist monk, and a very young pre-school age brother. One day soldiers come by and tell everyone in the city that they must evacuate, and the capital city of Phnom Penh will be attacked very soon. The family packs a few belongings and slowly makes their way to one of the sets of grandparents living in the countryside. It doesn't take long for the Khmer Rouge to round up their father and send him for "reeducation," and he is never heard from again. The main character of this book, Nakri, along with her older sister and brother, Teeda and Boran, are sent to a work camp for several years. When the war finally ends, and the Khmer Rouge are forced out of Cambodia, Nakri and Boran return to reunite with their mother and brother, and to also tell them that Teeda died in the camp. The struggling family is finally able to immigrate to the United States, where they begin the very slow transition beginning a new life.

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I really enjoyed this story of hardship, loss, courage, and perseverance. Nakri had so many obstacles to overcome and she had to deal with some truly horrific circumstances. As stated earlier, I was not familiar with the warfare and oppressive conditions in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge regime. This book was teaching me, as well as drawing me into the story. I like that it was written with a lot of the history woven into the story. It helped me to understand something so much better than if it had been just casually mentioned. The story is geared toward young readers, and so the brutality of this story is there, but not as graphic as it could be. It allows the reader to learn at an introductory level, without being forced to suffer through the gruesomeness of the subject that is obviously a very real part of this part of history.

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The story has a lot to do with the traditional Cambodian dancing, done by young girls in representing the goddesses, or apsaras of old. The bookcover illustrates the very beautiful costume that the young dancers wear as they perform. Teeda and Nakri were both being trained by their mother to perform the apsara dance. They were both very talented and practiced for many hours each day, putting in the years of disciplined training that it took to do it properly. This beautiful dancing actually helped the girls as they were in the work camps, as they would imagine the movements and music, and talk each other through it as they suffered the harsh working conditions. When Nakri finally immigrates to the U.S., the music and dancing once again are the therapy that she needs to make the difficult transition to a new country and culture. It ties her to the past, helping her maintain her cultural identify, while giving her the courage to conquer a new language and way of life.

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Minfong Ho was born in Burma and grew up in Thailand. When refugees from Cambodia started pouring into Thailand, she was a relief worker in the refugee camps. Ms. Ho is the child of Chinese immigrants and she and her family were forced to move several times due to political turmoil. She is an "insider" and writes about what she knows well, and has had in an interesting position to observe and research very closely.

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This book is full of cultural markers to assist the reader in learning about the Cambodian culture. One of my favorites is when the family gets up early to see Boran walking to the temple with the other monks:

" Lifting aside the mosquito netting around my bed, Ma reached in and shook me gently. 'Get up,' she whispered, 'if you want to see Boran.'

Boran! My brother had just recently been ordained as a novice monk at the temple, and would be walking barefoot down our street with the other monks, ready to accept our offerings of food this morning. I had not seen him for weeks. Quickly, I got out of bed, and followed my mother downstairs.

In the kitchen she bustled about slicing vegetables, her cleaver deft and rhythmic against the wooden chopping board. I helped her ladle out fresh-steamed rice onto squares of banana leaves, as she folded the leaves into neat little pyramids."

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I like this part because it feels like a happy family scene, but with the uniqueness of the Cambodian culture. Later, as the family is forced to leave, the reader is able to feel the "new culture" of oppression, with everyone dressed in black, the lack of conversation and music, the slave labor, the beatings of the workers, the lack of food, the amputees laying in make-shift hospitals after having stepping on landmines left by the Khmer Rouge, etc. Cambodia was basically destroyed during this wartime, but the survivors are resilient and determined to work toward a better life for themselves and their families. Some made the choice to remain in Cambodia and rebuild, and others sought out opportunities to relocated to other countries, including the United States.

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I am anxious to discuss this book with history and social studies teachers in my school district and to seek out a way to use this book in the classroom. Currently, our school has an extremely small number of Asian American students, and I don't think any are from Cambodia, but this is a story that students need to be made aware of. This little novel is an excellent introduction of this overlooked part of our world history, and I think that it can easily be integrated into a classroom lesson on Asia. The story is very interesting and engaging, and I really believe that students will want to know more as they read this book. Sometimes it takes the librarian bringing it to the attention of a teacher, to get them to use it in a classroom setting and to create interest on a subject.

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I like this book very much and I will place a copy of it in my school library. I am now anxious to read other books by Minfong Ho.

Booklist
Gr. 6-9. When the Khmer Rouge takes over Cambodia, the Sokha family flees Phnom Penh along with thousands of other city dwellers. Nakri, almost 13, winds up in a brutal labor camp along with older siblings Teeda and Boran. Trained as a classical dancer, Teeda nurses Nakri through an illness and inspires her with her dedication to dance. Only Nakri and Boran survive the camp, rejoining the remnants of their family who journey to a refugee camp on Thailand's border. Eventually they immigrate to the U.S., where Nakri begins a confusing new life. It is dance that ties the story together, as Nakri prepares to follow in her sister's footsteps in her new country. Nakri's first-person account includes a great deal of cultural information that American readers need, but this slows the narrative and diminishes the emotional impact. Although it lacks suspense, this is a compassionate portrait of a young Cambodian refugee that will also supplement social studies units.

Module 5 - Chinese American novel by Grace Lin - TWU - Multicultural Literature

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Lin, Grace. 2006. THE YEAR OF THE DOG. New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316060004.

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This was a very pleasant little chapter book that tells the story of a Chinese American girl, searching to find her talents during the Chinese "Year of the Dog." This chronological story tells a delightful tale about a young girl living in two different cultures, enjoying both very much, and the fun experiences that she has in trying to discover herself. Pacy, or Grace, as her American friends call her, lives in a large and loving family. They celebrate the Chinese holidays and traditions. Pacy and her sisters are the only Chinese/Taiwanese Americans in their school, until Melody and her family move in. Pacy quickly becomes best friends with Melody, and so their adventures begin, everything from science experiments gone bad, to pining for the same boy to look their way.

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This story has plenty of fun characters, drawings, and Chinese culture. I must admit that I didn't know very much about the Chinese/Taiwanese American culture before I read this book. Whatever I did know prior to this book came from TV and movies, and not much of that. For some reason, as a reader I was never much drawn into the Asian cultures. But, I really enjoyed this story, and I think that I learned a lot about this culture. Before reading I did not know that each of the Chinese years were based on animals and that they had special significance. I did not know about the special "red" envelopes and "red" eggs that are given as presents in the Chinese culture. I like some Chinese food, but I did get a really hungry as I read about all the food that Pacy's mother prepared for the various holidays. I also didn't realize about all of the different and delicious Chinese vegetables that Pacy's mother worked so hard to grow in her garden. These "ugly" vegetables became the topic of Pacy's book that she wrote and illustrated, and later won a prize for. It was all very interesting and new for me, and I liked it. I would like to read more books by Grace Lin, and other Chinese American authors.

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Grace Lin writes as an "insider." She is a Chinese American author and illustrator. She states why she wrote this book. "I wrote it because this was the book I wished I had growing up."

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There are a multitude of Chinese cultural markers in this book. There were some Taiwanese words in the text and they were all explained in the same section.

"But Auntie Kim, Uncle Leo, Grandma, and Grandpa and lots of other cousins, aunts, and uncles came out and welcomed us inside. They were all wearing their special silk clothes, and in the moonlight we shimmered like a stained-glass window. Grandma's dress was a silky, silver gray. She glowed like a pearl ring. All our relatives hugged and kissed us and asked, 'Ja-ba, bei?' over and over again. That meant, 'Have you eaten yet?' in Taiwanese."

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There were descriptions of the family's dark hair color, consistent with the Chinese peoples, and the traditional Chinese clothing, food, holidays, gifts, dolls, and stories. These cultural markers made it easier to visualize the culture and the story.

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Pacy's mother is a story teller, and several times in the book, she would pause and say, "Did I ever tell you about that?" Then she would launch into a story about her childhood or someone else in her family. This "flashback" element to the story added another dimension to the cultural markers. We could see into the past of what it was like to be a child in a traditional Chinese/Taiwanese school and home. It also allowed the reader to see how important financial success is to this culture and how hard they work at developing their skills and talents for some future financial comforts. It was intriguing.

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There is some discussion in the story, and the author's notes about the confusion of Taiwanese people being just Taiwanese, or Chinese, or both. This points back to the political struggles that have occurred throughout the years about whether Taiwan is part of China or not. They share many similarities, and even the people who have immigrated to other parts of the world are still not sure of how to explain what to call themselves. Pacy has this issue in her life, even though she does not see it as a problem. However, when she attends a Taiwanese camp, she is criticized by other Taiwanese American kids for being a "Twinkie," yellow on the outside, and white on the inside. This is due to the fact that she only speaks English, and not Taiwanese or Chinese. This is a cultural bias among the Taiwanese Americans themselves.

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Pacy has some issues in coming to grips with being Chinese American, in that she really wanted to play "Dorothy" in the upcoming school play of "The Wizard of Oz," but someone pointed out to her that Dorothy was not Chinese, and Pacy then refused to try out for the part, because she believed it to be true. This led her to start looking for books, movies, TV shows, and plays about someone just like her. She couldn't find much, so that is why she wrote a book about herself and Chinese vegetables.

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In the Chinese "Year of the Dog," Pacy does discover some of her talents, finds a Chinese American friend, and learns more about herself and the two cultures that she embraces. She has a positive environment, with a happy home, good friends, and lots of extended family love and support. This is a happy book with a good message, that also just happens to inform the reader about a culture that they may not be so familiar with. I would strongly recommend it to young readers. It may also be just the book that a young Asian American child is looking for, so that she can identify with someone in a book.

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I would like to share this book with a social studies teacher from the upper elementary grades, as supplement to a unit on Asia, or perhaps world holidays. Not only is it interesting for young students to note that there are many wonderful cultures, holidays, and traditions throughout the world, but when people from around the world immigrate to the U.S. they bring these traditions with them. This book is a good example of a family keeping their culture alive. Parts of this book are great for "read-aloud" opportunities, and students should enjoy this type of story as part of their social studies lesson to gain a greater insight into the Chinese/Taiwanese American culture.

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5–A lighthearted coming-of-age novel with a cultural twist. Readers follow Grace, an American girl of Taiwanese heritage, through the course of one year–The Year of the Dog–as she struggles to integrate her two cultures. Throughout the story, her parents share their own experiences that parallel events in her life. These stories serve a dual purpose; they draw attention to Graces cultural background and allow her to make informed decisions. She and her two sisters are the only Taiwanese-American children at school until Melody arrives. The girls become friends and their common backgrounds illuminate further differences between the American and Taiwanese cultures. At the end of the year, the protagonist has grown substantially. Small, captioned, childlike black-and-white drawings are dotted throughout. This is an enjoyable chapter book with easily identifiable characters.

Module 5 - Picture Book by Allen Say - TWU - Multicultural Literature

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Say, Allen. 1999. TEA WITH MILK. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 9780395904954.

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I had only read one book by Allen Say, GRANDFATHER'S JOURNEY, so I headed off to the largest library in my area to read as many more as I could by this author and illustrator. I found six others, and I spent the morning enjoying myself. He is a fantastic storyteller, in both word and illustration, and I have really fallen in love with his work. I found a wonderful message within each book. I am currently a high school librarian, but I am going to get in touch with the elementary librarian in my district and make her aware, if she is not already, of this fantastic author, and his picture books.

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I picked TEA WITH MILK because I think that it is a book that will appeal to a variety of ages. It is the story of a young Japanese American girl raised in America, but taken back to Japan when she is a young adult. She immediately feels cultural conflicts in everything from the name she prefers, to the food she eats, to the type of schooling that she is subjected to, and worst of all, having a matchmaker pick a husband for her.

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This book is full of contrasts and comparison. She has a Japanese name, but she prefers an Americanized version of it. In America, her parents speak to her in Japanese, but everyone else speaks to her in English. She eats Japanese food at home, with green tea, but at her friend's houses, she eats very American food, and tea with milk and sugar. There are pictures of her wearing a kimono, and also westernized clothing. She speaks perfect English, but when back in Japan, no one at her school will speak to her in English. She is ridiculed and considered a foreigner there. Her parents have her learn traditional Japanese activities for a lady, such as flower arranging, calligraphy, and the tea ceremony. All she really wants to do, though, is go to college, have a job and an apartment, and to be an independent woman. These are activities that she could have pursued in American, but ones that are very difficult to achieve in Japan.

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As told on the last page of this book, this is really the story of Allen Say's mother. It is a beautifully told story of knowing that "home is really where the heart is."

"May, home isn't a place or a building that's ready-made and waiting for you, in America or anywhere else."

"You are right," she said. "I'll have to make it for myself."

"What about us?" Joseph said. "We can do it together."

"Yes," May said, nodding.

"We can start here. We can adopt this country," he said.

"One country is as good as another?" May smiled. "Yes, Joseph, let's make a home."

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Allen Say's illustrations are gorgeous, and they tell the story as much as the words do. The first picture is of a little girl standing straight and tall under an American flag, and the next picture is the same girl grown up, but wearing a kimono, slouching and depressed. The picture of May standing all alone in the school yard is devastating to ponder. This young girl is so lost and forlorn, and she has no one to reach out to. The idea of marrying someone with the help of a matchmaker is truly horrible to her, and the picture of her sitting next to a potential husband is another excellent example of how miserable she is.

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The watercolor paintings are full of details that reflect the cultural conflict that May feels. There is an illustration of her in western clothing walking through a department store, and the other women are dressed in kimonos. May's facial expressions tell the story, and are so well depicted. She finally meets a kindred spirit, a young Chinese banker. They have both had a variety of experiences in their lives, and both of them know what it is to feel cross-cultural conflicts. They are able to help one another to find happiness, and the illustrations of these two characters together are happy and more peaceful, with the illustrations showing contents from both worlds, such as western clothing, but Japanese lanterns or the Kobe harbor lighting the backgrounds.

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The cultural markers are very obvious in the text and the illustrations, but this story can be applied to any character trying to live in two different cultures. The characters are drawn with Japanese features, like dark hair, brownish skin tones, traditional Japanese clothing, depictions of the traditional tea ceremony, and a Japanese flag flying on a building in the city.

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The text contains cultural markers as well, such as:

"Once they arrived in Japan, she felt even worse. Her new home was drafty, with windows made of paper. She had to wear kimonos and sit on floors until her legs went numb. No one called her May, and Masako sounded like someone else's name. There were no more pancakes or omelets, fried chicken or spaghetti. I'll never get used to this place, she thought with a heavy heart." These details do not sound sterotypical to me of the Japanese people. There are actual details here that I was not familiar with, like the windows being covered with paper, or the women sitting on the floor for long periods of time.

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Allen Say is an "insider" writer of the Japanese, and Japanese American culture. He was born in Yokohama, Japan. He came to the United States as a teenager, and he studied art. He lives in San Francisco with his family, and I found mention of San Francisco in some of his books, so again, he writes about what he knows.

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From Publishers Weekly
Say's masterfully executed watercolors tell as much of this story about a young woman's challenging transition from America to Japan as his eloquent, economical prose. Raised near San Francisco, Masako (her American friends called her May) is uprooted after high school when her parents return to their Japanese homeland. In addition to repeating high school to learn Japanese, she must learn the arts of a "proper Japanese lady"flower arranging, calligraphy and the tea ceremony and is expected to marry well. Declaring "I'd rather have a turtle than a husband," the independent-minded Masako heads for the city of Osaka and gets a job in a department store. With his characteristic subtlety, Say sets off his cultural metaphor from the very start, contrasting the green tea Masako has for breakfast in her home, with the "tea with milk and sugar" she drinks at her friends' houses in America. Later, when she meets a young Japanese businessman who also prefers tea with milk and sugar to green tea, readers will know that she's met her match. Say reveals on the final page that the couple are his parents. Whether the subject is food ("no more pancakes or omelets, fried chicken or spaghetti" in Japan) or the deeper issues of ostracism (her fellow students call Masako "gaijin" a foreigner) and gender expectations, Say provides gentle insights into human nature as well as East-West cultural differences. His exquisite, spare portraits convey emotions that lie close to the surface and flow easily from page to reader: with views of Masako's slumping posture and mask-like face as she dons her first kimono, or alone in the schoolyard, it's easy to sense her dejection. Through choice words and scrupulously choreographed paintings, Say's story communicates both the heart's yearning for individuality and freedom and how love and friendship can bridge cultural chasms.

Module 4 - Novel by Cynthia Leitich Smith - TWU - Multicultural Literature

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Smith, Leitich Smith. 2001. RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME. New York: HarperCollins Publisher. ISBN 9780688173975.

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I really enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. The cover of the book threw me a little and I wasn't sure of what I was getting. It turns out that this 14 year-old girl lives in Kansas, but with Native American ties to Oklahoma. In the beginning of the story, her best friend is killed, and she must deal with this terrible loss. She had also lost her mother in the last few years. This is a huge burden for a young teen to deal with. She has a loving family, and they allow her the time and space to discover who she is and the best way for her to deal with these terrible losses.

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Sometimes I felt like I was missing something in the story, and I would have to flip back pages, and reread sections, looking for details that I thought I had overlooked, but I found out that is just how the story is written. I had to do some reading "between-the-lines" and piece together some of the story on my own. At first this bothered me, but after awhile I grew used to it, and I kind of liked it. When I finished, I pondered the book and I decided that the story felt real and true as to how a teenager might deal with these types of problems. Her father lives in Guam, on a military base, but he remains in close contact with the family by phone. Despite the difference, a crucial conversation to the story between father and daughter, helps Rain to deal with some of her issues, and the distance does not seem a problem. She has an extremely loving, and involved brother and grandfather, not to mention a great-aunt, and a "soon-to-be" sister-in-law that listen to Rain and help her figure out ways to go on with her life.

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Rain is a "mixed breed" Indian. Her mother was Muscogee Creek-Cherokee and her father has an Irish and German background. She doesn't look Native American, but she feels some ties to her mother's side. In the book, she doesn't want to actively pursue her great-aunt's "Indian Camp," but nevertheless she figures out a way to be a part of it, without actually being a part of it. She ends up feeling a strong connection to the other kids in the camp, and also being able to explain to a news reporter what it is to be a Native American.

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I liked that this story was a non-traditional look at Native American youth. Rain loves computers, and has created a website, and has studied computer programming. She likes science fiction, and movies, and walking her dog. She has friends that are Native American, African American, and White. She is an honor student at school, reads teen magazines, and likes Cherry Coke and CrackerJacks. This is a side of Native American youth that we don't often see in books, and many readers are going to be surprised by this.

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It mentions in the book that Rain's mother was born and raised in Eufala, OK, and then went to a semester of college in Haskell, KS, at the Cherokee college there. I live very close to Eufala, OK, and in fact my town's high school football team used to play them each season, before we had to change divisions. Some of my local Cherokee high school students choose to go to Haskell, KS, for college. This all felt very real and accurate for me as a reader, and I really connected with it. I want to place this book in my high school library, because I think this will be one of the reasons that the students will enjoy it.

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Cynthia Leitich Smith was raised in Kansas, and went to college there. She is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, so she writes this book as an insider. I have a Cherokee heritage, and I work and live inside the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. There is a high population of Cherokee students in my school district, and I work in the high school. I felt very comfortable with this story as feeling authentic, and there wasn't anything that felt out of place culturally.

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One of the cultural markers that I found in the book was when Rain's Native American friend tried to give her an Indian dream catcher. I liked her reaction to it: "This looks like what you want, " Dmitri said, jumping down from his doorway, holding a dreamcatcher. "Hang it above the bed." "It's beautiful," I said, "but dreamcatchers are kind of....trendy, don't you think?" "My mother made it," he answered. What with that foot crowding my mouth, I could hardly find a reply. Too bad Dmitri couldn't sell me a word-catcher to let good ones through and trap the rest. It was just that I'd seen so many tacky-looking dream-catchers over the years, the kind with fakelore gift tags and flamingo-pink feathers. I looked again, more closely this time. The one Dmitri had shown me was beautiful. Being the real thing made a huge difference.

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Another cultural marker that I found was in Rain's 3rd grade class the teacher gave an assignment,. The kids were required to dress as an important person and to give a report about that person. Rain "got it in her head that she wanted to pick an Indian woman, and a trip to the library narrowed her choices to Sacajawea or Pocahontas. She chose former Kansas senator Nancy Kassebaum instead." I really enjoyed that Rain finally felt that she could think outside her "cultural box" and be who and whatever she wanted to be. This is an important lesson.

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I would be thrilled to suggest this book to high school students. It is a well-written book that has an interesting story and I think students will be able to relate to it. It is a great story of friendship and family love, and it deals with some important issues like the loss of a loved ones, and also finding your true identify within yourself. It is great for independent reading, and could be grouped with other novels by popular Native American authors. I also hope that there will soon me more books like this as I think that they will prove to be popular reading.

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From Publishers Weekly

Multiple plot lines and nonlinear storytelling may make it difficult to enter Smith's (Jingle Dancer) complex novel, but the warmth and texture of the writing eventually serve as ample reward for readers. The sensitive yet witty narrator, 14-year-old Cassidy Rain Berghoff, grows up in a small Kansas town as one of the few people with some Native American heritage. That experience alone might challenge Rain, but Smith creates a welter of conflicts. Rain's mother is dead (she was struck by lightning), and as the novel opens, her best friend is killed in a car accident just after he and Rain realize their friendship has grown into romance. Six months later, her older brother urges her to go to her great-aunt's Indian Camp. At first she shrugs it off, but later volunteers to photograph the camp for the town paper and begins to share her Aunt Georgia's commitment to it. When public funding for the camp becomes a contested issue in the city council, Rain decides to enroll. Some of Smith's devices such as opening each chapter with a snippet from Rain's journal add depth and clarify Rain's relationships for readers, although other elements (the detailing of song lyrics playing in the background, for instance) seem stilted. Even so, readers will feel the affection of Rain's loose-knit family and admire the way that they, like the author with the audience, allow Rain to draw her own conclusions about who she is and what her heritage means to her.

Module 4 - Picture Book by Joseph Bruchac - TWU - Multicultural Literature

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Bruchac, Joseph and James Bruchac. 2004. RACCOON'S LAST RACE. Ill. by Jose Aruego & Ariane Dewey. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780803729773.
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This is a clever little fable about how at one time a raccoon had long legs and was a fast runner, and in fact, he was the fastest of all the animals. He loved to challenge the animals to races, and he would always win, but he was not a gracious winner, and would taunt the others in a very ungraceful manner. Due to this, he was not popular, and the other animals did not want to have anything to do with him. He finally challenges a "rock" to a race, and finds out the hard way that racing a rock is not the best idea, as it leaves him very injured. He has the opportunity to redeem himself in the forest, but he makes a very bad choice and ends up having to live with some dire consequences.
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Joseph Bruchac begins this book with an "author's note" that states that the "Azban the Raccoon" stories are very popular with children in the Abenaki Indian culture. I really liked that this group of people tend to use stories rather than physical punishment as a means of disciplining children. Stories easily illustrate the results of bad behavior. Mr. Bruchac and his son authored this book from listening to a great Abenaki storyteller, their good friend Wolfsong, "whose voice and generosity of spirit are missed by all those who loved him and learned from him." Also, they worked with Abenaki elders in the preparation and publication of this book.
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Joseph and James Bruchac, father and son, are members of the Abenaki Indian culture and feel a deep commitment to the preservation of their culture and language. Knowing this helps the reader to feel the authenticity of the story and to feel that it is an appropriate book to place in a library collection.
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One thing that I learned in selecting books that correctly reflect the Native American culture is that they will follow the rule of 4. In reading this book, I found the "4" and it did seem to fit correctly in the story. Raccoon races 4 times in the story: with bear, fox, rabbit, and rock. He also asked for help after his injury 4 times: from bear, fox, rabbit, and an ant. The idea of 4 is something to look for in authentic Native American stories. Any other number would be incorrect.
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Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey are the two illustrators in this story. The book flap states that they are award-winning artists and have illustrated over seventy books. They used pen-and-ink, gouache, and pastel to create these fun illustrations. There is lots of color and movement on the pages, and the pictures support the story very well. The animals and rocks are drawn in a "cartoon-like" state, and they are very engaging.
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Since this was an animal book, and not a story depicting Native American peoples, I had to really search for some cultural markers in both the text and the illustrations to state that this book was a Native American story. If you had not read the author's notes, the reader may not know it at all. It is a story with an excellent moral that may very well show up in a similar form in other cultures. However, through careful searching I found the following. The name "Azban" tends to lead the reader to the idea that this is not just another animal story. Also, when he approached a large rock on a high mountain, Azban called the rock, "grandfather." Grandfather, are you a fast runner? I am Azban. I am the fastest of all the animals." This title of respect would be correct in a Native American story.
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The cultural markers that I found in the illustrations are the colors that are chosen for the illustrations, with the animals being drawn in browns, blacks, and oranges. The pictures had a nice feel to them and they fit the story nicely.
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If I were using this in a classroom setting, I would pair it with a similar Aesop fable and have the kids compare and contrast the two. Also it would be interesting to give more details on the Abenaki Indian culture and to find other stories about "Azban the Raccoon." Both Mr. Bruchacs state that there are other stories like this, and it would be fun to search the Internet and see what the students could find.
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From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 4–A solid retelling of an Abenaki legend. Long ago, Azban the Raccoon was a gifted athlete, but years of terrible sportsmanship have left him almost completely friendless. Having run out of animals to annoy, he finally challenges a large boulder situated atop a hill to a race. To his surprise, the boulder overtakes and flattens him, leaving Azban to beg unsuccessfully for help. After a colony of ants–one of the few creatures whom he had not yet offended–works together to restore some movement to his limbs, Azban impatiently brushes them off and trots away before they can finish the job. Noticing too late that he is still misshapen, and with no one left to take pity on him, he has had to live with his lumbering build ever since. The text reads aloud smoothly and keeps the action moving quickly. Done in pen-and-ink, gouache, and pastel, the illustrations accentuate the humor of the tale. The boldly colored animals are set against softer backgrounds, and occasional close-ups add variety to the scenes. An authors' note provides some background for the story. A strong addition to picture-book collections.–Catherine Threadgill, Charleston County Public Library, SC

Module 4 - My Choice Native American Picture Book - TWU - Multicultural Literature

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Tingle, Tim. 2006. CROSSING BOK CHITTO, A CHOCTAW TALE OF FRIENDSHIP & FREEDOM. Ill. by Jeanne Rorex Bridges. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press. ISBN 978093831777.

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Some awards for this book:

American Library Association, Notable children's Book, 2007

Oklahoma Book Award, Best Children's Book, 2007

Oklahoma Book Award, Best Illustrations, 2007

Texas Institute of Letters Best children's Book, 2006

Texas Bluebonnet Master Award List 2008-2009

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This story was a wonderful experience for me. I was not aware of any of the details in the story and it was a real treat to read this book. It is a story of friendship between a young Choctaw girl and a young slave boy. There is a river called the Bok Chitto that cuts through Mississippi in the days before the Civil War. It is a boundary between the Choctaw Indians, and the white plantation owners and their slaves. If a slave made it to the side of the Choctaws, the white man could not follow. It was the law. Martha Tom is sent to pick berries and she ends up on the wrong side of the river, setting up this story of friendship that eventually leads to assisting her new friend and his family to freedom.

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I was really impressed by this story. It was immediately interesting, and the pictures really enhanced the story. The young girl in the book was dressed in a pioneer style calico dress and apron. Later in the story, the Choctaw women were dressed in long white cotton dresses that skimmed the ground. The Native American men were dressed in simple dark colored pants, and shirts, with hats common to the 19th century. These details are something different than the stereotypical Native American styles that children may expect. This should stimulate conversation about the specifics of the Choctaw tribe and their uniqueness.

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Other Choctaw cultural details that I found were details of a traditional wedding ceremony. Wearing their white dresses, the Choctaw women stepped out of every doorway.....their shiny black hair fell well below their waists. The women formed a line and began a stomp dance to the beat of the chanting, gliding to a clearing at the end of town. When they reached the clearing, they formed two circles, the women and the men, and the wedding ceremony began. The old men began to sing the old wedding song. It is still sung today in Mississippi and Oklahoma, just as they sang it then. "Way, hey ya hey ya, You a hey you ay, A hey ya a hey ya! Way, hey ya hey ya, You a hey you ay, A hey ya a hey ya!"

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Also, Martha Tom describes her mother as "cackling like a mad crow on the outside, while inside she would coo like a dove with love for her daughter", after she has been caught disobeying her mother. There is a strong feeling of love, both in family and friendship in this book. There is love among the Native Americans depicted here between mother and daughter, and also love among the slave family that is described. The love and respect between two friends from two completely different worlds is the basis of this story. What a wonderful kind of story to read and share with others! It is very positive, especially in dealing with a very difficult story of the slavery and the possibility of slave families being split up on the whim of a white master.

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This story feels good, and based on the author notes and author biography, I feel like the story is authentic. There wasn't anything that felt stereotypical about these Choctaws. In fact, I felt like I was learning something completely new about this group of people. Mr. Tingle provides some excellent notes in the back of the book about the source of this story. Mr. Tingle is an "insider" of the Choctaw, as he is a member of the tribe. He spends his time collecting stories and writing them down. Joseph Bruchac commented that "Mr. Tingle honors the Choctaw traditions of his ancestors."

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There are cultural markers in both the text and the illustrations of this story that help to portray this culture. The Choctaw skin tones are a soft brown. Their facial features show dark hair and eyes, and high cheek bones. Sometimes their hair is loose and sometimes it is in a simple braid, both men, women and children.

In the text, Martha Tom sings a song that she had heard the slaves singing, only she sings it in Choctaw. "We are bound for the Promised Land!" "Nitak ishtayo pikmano, Chissus ut minitit. Umala holitopama, Chihot aya lashke!" This use of Native American words adds reality to it, even though the words are not interpreted for the reader. It does not matter though, because the reader understands the message of the words. It works beautifully in this story.

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Jeanne Rorex Bridges is an award-winning artist of Cherokee ancestry. She has won many awards in Native American art shows. CROSSING BOK CHITTO is her first book illustration. I loved the pictures in this book. The faces are beautiful and clear and they face the reader straight on. The colors are soft, with lots of details, especially in the clothing. The scenery of the river and surrounding woods are well depicted and help to support the story.

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This is a fantastic read aloud book in a classroom or library setting. This could be a wonderful choice to use while teaching a pre-Civil War unit. We don't often think of American Indians in the context of helping slaves escape to freedom and this story adds a different tangent to history. Students could even do some Internet research to find out more about the Choctaw Indians, both historically and currently. They could present their details in small group discussions, or even make a poster of their findings.

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Publisher's Weekly

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Bridges, a Cherokee artist making her children’s book debut, joins Tingle (Walking the Choctaw Road) in a moving and wholly original story about the intersection of cultures. The river Bok Chitto divides the Choctaw nation from the plantations of Mississippi. “If a slave escaped and made his way across Bok Chitto, the slave was free,” writes Tingle. “The slave owner could not follow. That was the law.” But Bok Chitto holds a secret: a rock pathway that lies just below the surface of the water. “Only the Choctaws knew it was there, for the Choctaws had built it,” Tingle explains. When a slave boy and his family are befriended by a Choctaw girl, the pathway becomes part of an ingenious plan that enables the slaves to cross the river to freedom-in plain view of a band of slave hunters during a full moon.

Bridges creates mural-like paintings with a rock-solid spirituality and stripped-down graphic sensibility, the ideal match for the down-to-earth cadences and poetic drama of the text. Many of the illustrations serve essentially as portraits, and they’re utterly mesmerizing-strong, solid figures gaze squarely out of the frame, beseeching readers to listen, empathize and wonder. - March 13, 2006

Module 3 - Novel by Gary Soto w/Latin Focus - TWU - Multicultural Literature

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Soto, Gary. 2003. THE AFTERLIFE. Orlando: Harcourt, Inc. ISBN 9780152047740.

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This is the story of 17-year old Chuy. While on a date with a girl that he really likes, he goes into the restroom of a night club, compliments a "boy wearing yellow shoes," and ends up being stabbed to death. He then finds himself a ghost that is able to move around using the wind. He can walk through walls, make people feel his presence by blowing on them, and see other ghosts like himself. Chuy begins to realize that his ghostlike existence is limited, as his ghostbody starts to slowly disappear. He makes his way to all of the people that he really cares about to say good-bye, and even goes to a Raiders football game, and gets a kind of close-up experience like no other. Chuy learns some life lessons, and to feel sympathy for those who are suffering. He is able see life with a different perspective and learn more about himself.

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I am normally very excited about Gary Soto books, stories, and poetry, but this one was a huge disappoint for me. It started out very exciting, and I kept thinking, where is he going with this ghost story, but I never really found out. The Chuy ghost just went way, and the bad guy got away, and there was just no resolution to the story. This book was one of those that I just thought, "huh?" It didn't impress me and I am not sure how to approach students with it, other than to just say it is a ghost story.

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There are several Spanish words in the story, and due to my high school and college Spanish classes, I was able to keep up, but for those who don't know a little Spanish, I think that turning to the glossary in the back is going to be cumbersome. There was one Spanish word that I came across that wasn't even in the glossary. That confused me.

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Some of the words were either explained right in the same sentence, and could be figured out through the use of context clues, like "This was better than a telenovela. I watched the scene while kicking back in the recliner, feet up. I had to agree he was a cabron, a weak-brained guy making a scene in front of his children. And in the apartment complex, the neighbors were probably dunking pan dulce into their coffee and gossiping. Such was the pastime of neighbors--all chismosos and chismosas--with time on their hands."

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This book felt Latino, in the way that Gary Soto described the California setting and the characters. The characters describe themselves as Mexicans, and there is mention of Latino food and family member names in Spanish. This book starts with violence, and there is the suggestion of more of it, as Chuy's mom wants his cousin to seek retribution for his death. She gives him a big gun, and begs him to do it as some type of family honor thing. Gary Soto tries to make this feel like this is part of the Hispanic culture. There is also the mention of Mexican Americans working as field hands in the California vineyards and farmlands. Chuy's father had him do this type of manual labor one summer so that Chuy could see how tough this was, and hopefully work harder in school.

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Here is an example of how Gary Soto sets the scene for the Latino influence on this story. "From the Section Eight apartment, I drifted toward Angel's house, or tried to drift, because the October wind blew me westward to Chinatown, where the bars were now open--Mexican rancheras were hollering for attention from jukeboxes. A couple of gold-toothed borrachos staggered down the street, slurring in Spanish. "

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I can not argue that Gary Soto's book, poetry, and stories are not culturally authentic, because he writes about what he knows, lives, and is. I think that the stories do reflect real Mexican American characters, life, and situations. In this regard, this book may be enjoyed by those wanting to see more of their culture reflected in literature, or readers wanting to learn more about the Latino culture in America. This book would be useful for that purpose.

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I am sorry to say that I just did not like this book. The story did not make sense to me. I wanted it to be good, and it was set up to be good, but it just did not go anywhere. For my high school students coming to the library and looking for Gary Soto books, I will give this one, and even for those wanting a ghost story, but I will not be able to recommend it as a really cool story. I will let the students judge for themselves, and it will be interesting to see if they feel the same way I do, or if they think differently.

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From School Library Journal

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Grade 6 Up-Soto's twist on the emerging subgenre of narratives in the vein of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones (Little, Brown, 2002) offers a compelling character in the person of 17-year-old Chuy, murdered in the men's room of a dance hall the evening he plans to connect with the girl of his heart's desire. Unfortunately for both Chuy and readers, what happens after death is that the teen's once engaged and engaging spirit seems to dissipate along with his "ghost body." He floats around Fresno, CA, making seemingly random sightings of his murderer, local kids, and-only after a couple of days and at a time when his ghost body is beginning to dissolve limb by limb-other ghosts. He finds a new heartthrob in the form of a teen who has committed suicide and is befriended by the wise ghost of a transient whose life he tried to save. Grieving friends and family unknowingly are visited by Chuy, and he is startled to discover that his mother wants violent revenge for his death. This plethora of plot lines wafts across and past the landscape of a narrative as lacking in developed form as Chuy finds himself becoming. After a strong start, The Afterlife seems to become a series of brief images that drift off as though in a dream. Soto's simple and poetic language, leavened with Mexican Spanish with such care to context that the appended glossary is scarcely needed, is clear, but Chuy's ultimate destiny isn't.Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA

Module 3 - Latino Picture Book by Pat Mora - TWU - Multicultural Literature

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Mora, Pat. 2008. ABUELOS. Pictures by Amelia Lau Carling. Toronto: Groundwood Books. ISBN 9780888997166.

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This is a very pleasant picture book about a brother and sister discovering a part of their cultural heritage, "An old New Mexican tradition-'los abuelos." As the story goes, "On a cold December evening, old men of the mountains - los abuelos - would come down to make sure that the children had all been good." The little girl, Amelia, is scared and worried about this happening to her family, but her grandpa assures her that this is part of a party that includes food and dancing. Amelia's brother Ray teases her about these los abuelos coming and chases her around trying to scare her. One evening, her uncle comes to the door and tells Amelia's family that the abuelos are coming. The children find a large bonfire outside with many family and friends around it. There is lots of food and fun. The scary abuelos do show up, running and asking whether the children have been good. Amelia is scared, but she soon figures out that one of the abuelos is her uncle wearing a mask. She isn't scared any more, and has a wonderful time playing, eating, and dancing the rest of the evening.

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This story is fun and scary at the same time. Pat Mora states in the author's note that she was interested in the cultural traditions of the Santa Fe, NM, area. She read about the los abuelos tradition and she was very intrigued. She said that the scariness of this tradition reminded her of Halloween, but that this New Mexico tradition had much stronger ties to the family, and a multi-generational closing fiesta.

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I really enjoyed the artwork in this book. Amelia Lau Carling is an award winning author, illustrator, and graphic designer. She grew up in Guatemala, which I believe you can see this cultural insight in her art in this book. The illustrations were done in watercolor with pastels and colored pencils. The pictures are colorful and relate to the story very well. The los abuelos are described as old mountain men, and I think that you can see scary faces of old men in her depictions of the mountains. The colors that she uses in these mountains are soft blues, browns, pinks. Their shapes are pointed, curved, craggy, rounded, etc. They are fanciful and really let your imagination go wild pondering these mountain men hiding in them. I especially enjoyed her family members sketches. They are simple, but well drawn, and allow you to feel the movement of the characters and to see the action of the story.

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There are multiple Latino cultural markers in this book. In the illustrations, the characters are drawn with black hair, dark eyes, brown skin. There is an adobe fireplace in their home. Amelia has a doll sitting in her window dressed in a Hispanic costume. She also has a colorful blanket on her bed that makes you think of Latino styles. There are peppers hanging from the ceiling, and the mother cooked up some empanadas for the fiesta, and they are sitting in the window, cooling.

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In the story, Pat Mora included some Spanish words. They are either defined in the same sentence or are easy to figure out through context clues. "Que frio!" Papa says, coming in after me. Help me build a good fire, Amelia. He rubs his cold hands together and then rubs my hands in hims So, what do you think of your first winter in these New Mexico mountains."

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Also, "They're coming, he says. The abuelos are coming. Vamos, let's go, my parents say, helping us put on our coats." The use of a few Spanish words does not distract from the story, and makes it more interesting for its cultural authenticity.

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This is a very fun book to read aloud to young children. They will be thrilled with the slightly scary side of the story. It would be a fun one to tie in with other Halloween books and to discuss the similarities and differences with Halloween. It may be fun to offer some food treats that are mentioned in the story, such as the empanadas, or bizcochitos, anise cookies, etc. so that the children can sample some.

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I think that this book would be a great addition to a children's library collection. It is a very well-done story of a New Mexico tradition that is not widely known, but very interesting.

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From School Library Journal

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Grade 2–4—Ray and Amelia have a typical sibling relationship—he is a slightly annoying older brother who enjoys scaring his sister. They have moved to New Mexico, where they now live with their extended family. Their father tells them the story of los abuelos—sooty, hairy mountain men who come down each winter to make sure that the children are well behaved. While the story frightens Amelia, her family reminds her that the reenactment of the abuelos' arrival includes a big party. At the end of the book, Amelia ends up rescuing her brother from one particularly scary abuelo who seems very familiar to both of them. Mora, as always, is a master storyteller. In her hands the framing story of Amelia's family and the retelling of the folktale blend seamlessly. This book is not bilingual, but there are many Spanish phrases throughout the family's conversations. Carling's pastel and colored-pencil illustrations are uneven; while the landscapes are beautiful and evoke the crispness of a snowy winter night, the people seem awkwardly posed and slightly unrealistic. However, this story will be welcomed in libraries across the Southwest. Abuelos will be fun to add to traditional winter stories.—Susan E. Murray, Glendale Public Library, AZ

Module 3-Latino Picture Book Illustrated by Yuyi Morales-TWU-Multicultual Literature

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Johnston, Tony. 2009. MY ABUELITA. Ill. by Yuyi Morales. Boston: Harcourt Children's Books. ISBN 9780152163303.

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What a delightful surprise! I loved this little picture book! This is a story of a young boy and his grandmother. She is an incredible person and he admires her very much. This story is her preparations for going to work. She follows the same pattern each day, and he loves it. The surprise occurs at the end of the story when the reader finds out what the Abuelita's occupation is.

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Tony Johnston is a storyteller and she writes her books sprinkled with Spanish words and a feeling of Mexico. She lived in Mexico according to the book notes, and this is where she gained her insight into this culture.

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Yuyi Morales's illustrations are incredible. She is also a storyteller through her art, and she is an award winning author and illustrator. I was so amazed at the artwork in this book. It is vibrant and bold, and very engaging. The book notes state that "the illustrations were creaetd with polymer clay, wire, felting wool, acrylic paints, fabric, wood, metals, and Mexican crafts, then photographed and digitally manipulated." This book has to be viewed to be able to appreciate how intricate and gorgeous it is, and how well it assists in telling this beautiful story about a boy and his grandmother.

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In examining these illustrations, there are cultural markers everywhere. The soft brown skin tones easily fit these characters. Abuelita is an old woman and she is described as "old as the hills, maybe older. Her hair is the color of salt. Her face is as crinkled as a dried chile. My abuelita is round. Robust, she says, lika a calabaza. A pumpkin. She doesn't mind. She likes pumpkins. 'Being round gives me a good round voice. Just the voice for my work'."

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The pictures are very colorful and on almost everyone you can identify something that relates to the Mexican culture, such as a picture of Frida Kahlo on Abuelita's pillow. The cat is also named Frida Kahlo. The toys and furnishings are painted bright, bold colors with designs painted over these. The kitchen table and chairs are yellow, with placemats in multi-colors like purple, orange, green, pink, red, etc. When she is ready and dressed for work, Abuelita packs "her carcacha, or jalopy, with things she needs for work: rustling stalks of maize, a magnificient plumed snake, a king and queen as brown as beans, a calaca, skeleton; one sun; one moon; one feathered crown. "

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There are a few Spanish words spread throughout this book, and they are mostly explained or

translated to English right beside the Spanish word. The way it is done provides an easy flow in the story for children enjoying this book. At the end of a book is a sign that says, "Bienvenidos! Welcome! hanging over the stage where the grandmother will do her work. Right after this is a picture of the stage with a sun, moon, star, colorful snake, skeleton, a variety of children with all skin tones, some dolls in Mexican culture costumes, and the top of an ancient Mexican temple.

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This story is a wonderful one to read aloud to young children. They will be enthralled with the illustrations. There is so much to look at and so much color. The story is fun, and they will be trying to guess at what Abuelita's work is, since it is a mystery until the end of the story. The few Spanish words in the story are simple and not intimidating. This book could be paired with others about the love between a child and their grandparent. Kids will enjoy discussing this familiar topic. Also, a fun art project could be tied in with this. Many of the illustrations appear to be various types of art, and it would be fun to try and duplicate some, such as making small dolls with clay and pieces of fabric, or perhaps a long, painted wooden snake.

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I highly recommend this book to children's librarians. It has a wonderful, simple message of familial love, and the illustrations are so creative and representative of the Mexican culture.

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From School Library Journal

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PreSchool-Grade 1—A boy describes the morning routine he shares with his grandmother as she prepares for work. Flights of fancy enliven the tasks of bathing, eating breakfast, and dressing. When the pair arrive at her workplace, readers discover that Abuelita is a storyteller—a calling that her grandson shares. Spanish words are sprinkled throughout, often followed by brief definitions. For example, the boy says, "I live with my grandma…I call her Abuelita." Johnston effectively engages young readers' interest by mentioning the woman's work, but not revealing what she does until the final page. Morales's bold, innovative illustrations brilliantly reinforce the text. On one spread, Johnston writes that Abuelita is "robust…like a calabaza. A pumpkin." On the left, children see a cheerful, round person, while a mirror on the right shows a pumpkin with Abuelita's smiling face. The illustrations represent a fresh new direction for Morales. Characters molded from polymer clay are dressed in brightly patterned fabrics and placed among images that evoke Mexican art. Abuelita's mirror is framed by traditional metalwork, and her storytelling props include a winged serpent and a Day of the Dead skeleton. While the story is firmly placed in a Mexican context, children of all ethnic and racial backgrounds will be drawn to the eye-catching illustrations and the universal story of a loving intergenerational relationship.—Mary Landrum, Lexington Public Library, KY