Guts

Bibliography:

Murphy, Jim. 2003. An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. New York. Clarion Books. ISBN 0-395-77608-2

Plot Summary:

Every day we mindlessly stuff pizza, sugar-filled candy, preservative-filled meats, and such “junk” into our mouths without giving careful consideration as to where it is going or what it is doing to our body. Seymour Simon, in the book Guts: Our Digestive System, opens our eyes with his accessible facts and vivid illustrations. Simon travels the same route as the food we eat, “…three meals and several snacks a day. That adds up to several hundred pounds of food in a year. The digestive system turns the truckload of sandwiches, milk, salads, and pizza that you eat each year into the energy and nutrients that your body needs.” Simon takes us on a narrative and visual tour of our digestive tract, “(it) begins in the mouth and runs through the esophagus, the stomach, and the small and large intestines.” Along the way the reader learns information about the colon and sees what an unhealthy colon looks like. The functions of such organs as the liver and pancreas are also included.

Critical Analysis:

Seymour Simon is a well-known author of trusted nonfiction children’s books. Seymour Simon has a strong science background, having been a science educator for many years. He connects with the reader as he relates facts but abstains from subjecting the reader to his own opinions. In this book Seymour Simon has not listed any references, which is disappointing. He gives very detailed facts such as, “In 1822 U.S. Army doctor Dr. William Beaumont treated Alexis St. Martin who had accidentally shot himself in the stomach. St. Martin recovered from the wound, but the hole remained. For years, Beaumont looked into the patient’s stomach and experimented with foods to see how they were digested.” This does not seem like common knowledge, and it would be nice to know where Simon found this information. Additionally, it would provide a good example for children who are beginning to learn the importance of giving credit to their research sources.

The organization of this book follows the path of the digestive system. He begins with the teeth, explaining the mechanics of chewing and even includes suggestions of things to try. “The enzyme in saliva changes starch into sugar. You can see this for yourself by chewing on a piece of bread and letting it stay in your mouth. Bread is a starchy food without much taste. But after a few minutes, the bread will begin to taste sweet. Now try chewing on a piece of non-starchy food such as a peanut or a piece of cheese. These won’t taste sweet no matter how long you keep them in your mouth.” From the mouth Simon follow the bolus (wet, chewed food) down the esophagus to the stomach, where he discusses gastric juices and the pyloric sphincter. The food then travels through the small and large intestines and along the way we learn about the gallbladder, liver, and pancreas. In the end the food exits the anus, and to wrap it all up Simon gives meaning to the phrase, “You are what you eat.” He says, “The food that you eat travels from your mouth to your esophagus, then to your stomach and to your small intestine, and finally to your large intestine and out of your body. Along the way the food is broken down into substances that your body can use. Truly you are made of the fruits and vegetables, cereals and breads, dairy products, meat and fish that are digested in the journey through your gut.”

The layout and design of this book is sequential and logical. Unfortunately, subtitles and graphic tools were missing from the images on each page that would show where in the digestive journey the reader is. However, the pictures have a good variety, including diagrams, microscopic views, and cadaver photographs.

The author’s style of writing is very approachable; he includes a lot of factual information but relates well to the reader. The very first sentence is, “You probably eat three meals and several snacks a day.” Right away Simon has found a connection with the reader who has schema for the subject of food!

Review Excerpts:

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6–Simon's specialty of drawing in readers through large, detailed, breathtaking photos and then entertaining them with facts is again in evidence. Beginning with the teeth, esophagus, and stomach, the information then winds its way through the small and large intestines, with the importance of the pancreas and liver included. The text is enhanced with detailed colored X rays, computer-generated pictures, and microscopic photos. The material is detailed, with terminology that may be difficult for children with no background, but not sophisticated enough to need a medical degree for interpretation. Students will find the book fascinating as well as a bit gross. Writers of health-related reports, as well as casual browsers, will surely put this title to use.–Sandra Welzenbach, Villarreal Elementary School, San Antonio, TX
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. The latest in Simon's books about the human body explains how the digestive system works. In his signature style, accessible without being cute or condescending, he describes the complex facts and processes of the physiology, from the time food enters the mouth until all the various organs transform it into energy, nutrients, and waste. Some of the text is quite dense, but the clearly labeled, full-page color photos show the anatomy close-up, from an X-ray of the colon and a photo of a dissected pancreas to a microscopic view of what heartburn looks like in the stomach. Simon also includes a page about a healthy diet. The facts of how the body works are astonishing. Readers older than the target audience may want to look at this, too. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Reviews accessed at:

http://www.amazon.com/Guts-Digestive-System-Seymour-Simon/dp/0060546514/ref=sr_1_1/102-8469801-1224113?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193367760&sr=1-1

Connections:

Simon, Seymour. 2000. Muscles: Our Muscular System. Harper Trophy. ISBN 0688177204.

Simon, Seymour. 2006. The Heart: Our Circulatory System. Collins. ISBN 0060877219.

An American Plague

Bibliography:

Murphy, Jim. 2003. An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. New York. Clarion Books. ISBN 0-395-77608-2

Plot Summary:

It is the summer of 1793, the streets of Philadelphia are “particularly ripe this year.” (p.1) The bustling port city has the putrid stench of “roasting meats, strong cheeses, days-old sheep and cow guts, dried blood and horse manure.” (p. 3) When many of the city’s poorest citizens become gravely ill in the raunchiest of alleyways, no one seems to notice. It doesn’t take long for the fatal illness to reach the city’s middle and upper class, causing those with financial means to flee the city. Philadelphia, as the capital of the burgeoning United States, finds itself in the throws of a deadly plague. Members of the government, including President George Washington, leave for safer havens. Only the mayor, the poor, and the few brave are left as the Yellow Plague reeks havoc, claiming victims with out mercy. There is much controversy among doctors as to which method of cure is the most effective. One very controversial doctor, Benjamin Rush, prescribes a treatment of ten grains of mercury and fifteen grains of a poisonous root to purge the body of the toxins. This poisonous concoction results in violent bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. Despite doctors’ best efforts, the mortality rate continues to be high, reaching 120 on the worst days, and many doctors, nurses, and caregivers find themselves stricken by the terrible illness. In desperation the mayor of the city pleads with the Free African Society to care for their sick white brothers and sisters. Despite having faced less than equal treatment by white people, the leaders of the society found compassion in their hearts and rallied the black community of Philadelphia to nurse the sick. When November cold begins to settle in over Philadelphia, the Yellow Fever seems to come to an end. Those who left the city begin to return, including the President. The people of Philadelphia are encouraged to keep better sanitary conditions, and despite their best efforts, the Yellow Fever continues to return to the city during the summer months. It is not until 1900 that the source of the illness, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, is identified.

Critical Analysis:

Jenkins is a well-known author of nonfiction books for young adults. This particular book received several accolades including a Newberry Honor, National Book Award Finalist, and The Robert F. Sibert Medal. The author of this accurate account of the Yellow Fever Epidemic makes use of firsthand accounts from citizens such as, Elizabeth Drinker, “Tis a sickly time now in Philada, and there has been an unusual number of funerals lately here.” (p. 17). The author used 96 resources in the making of this very enjoyable book.

The organization of this book follows the events of the plague epidemic in Philadelphia. The book narrates the events of the summer of the epidemic of 1793 in Philadelphia, but the author satisfies the reader with information about the subsequent findings regarding the Yellow Fever. It is suggested that the Yellow Fever, even today, is a “Time Bomb” with no vaccines currently in production.

The layout and design of this book is appealing and well-planned. The names of the chapters are interesting to the reader, such as, “No One Noticed, All Was Not Right, Church Bells Tolling.” The author has included both a table of contents and an index. There are many illustrations of interest--pictures or portraits of people, drawings and renderings from the time of the yellow fever, and many copies of newspaper and book covers. These pictures add interest to this historical account.

The author’s style of writing draws the reader in from the beginning, “In Philadelphia itself an increasing number of cats were dropping dead every day, attracting, one Philadelphian complained, ‘an amazing number of flies and other insects.” (p. 1) This book reads more like a novel with Murphy’s descriptive style. He intertwines the factual knowledge and true accounts like a master weaver; the facts never become cumbersome to the reader.

Review Excerpts:

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-10-If surviving the first 20 years of a new nationhood weren't challenge enough, the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, centering in Philadelphia, was a crisis of monumental proportions. Murphy chronicles this frightening time with solid research and a flair for weaving facts into fascinating stories, beginning with the fever's emergence on August 3, when a young French sailor died in Richard Denny's boardinghouse on North Water Street. As church bells rang more and more often, it became horrifyingly clear that the de facto capital was being ravaged by an unknown killer. Largely unsung heroes emerged, most notably the Free African Society, whose members were mistakenly assumed to be immune and volunteered en masse to perform nursing and custodial care for the dying. Black-and-white reproductions of period art, coupled with chapter headings that face full-page copies of newspaper articles of the time, help bring this dreadful episode to life. An afterword explains the yellow fever phenomenon, its causes, and contemporary outbreaks, and source notes are extensive and interesting. Pair this work with Laurie Halse Anderson's wonderful novel Fever 1793 (S & S, 2000) and you'll have students hooked on history.
Mary R. Hofmann, Rivera Middle School, Merced, CA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 6-12. History, science, politics, and public health come together in this dramatic account of the disastrous yellow fever epidemic that hit the nation's capital more than 200 years ago. Drawing on firsthand accounts, medical and non-medical, Murphy re-creates the fear and panic in the infected city, the social conditions that caused the disease to spread, and the arguments about causes and cures. With archival prints, photos, contemporary newspaper facsimiles that include lists of the dead, and full, chatty source notes, he tells of those who fled and those who stayed--among them, the heroic group of free blacks who nursed the ill and were later vilified for their work. Some readers may skip the daily details of life in eighteenth-century Philadelphia; in fact, the most interesting chapters discuss what is now known of the tiny fever-carrying mosquito and the problems created by over-zealous use of pesticides. The current struggle to contain the SARS epidemic brings the "unshakeable unease" chillingly close. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Reviews accessed at:

http://www.amazon.com/American-Plague-Terrifying-Epidemic-Newbery/dp/0395776082/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-8469801-1224113?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193361345&sr=1-1

Connections:

Murphy, Jim. 2006. The Great Fire. Scholastic. ISBN 0439203074.

Murphy, Him. 1993. The Boys War. New York. Clarion Books. ISBN 0395664128.

Dogs and Cats

Bibliography:
Jenkins, Steve. 2007. Dogs and Cats. Boston, MA. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-50767-1

Plot Summary:
The title of this book, Dogs and Cats sounds very common and brings to mind images of a worn out library book, but this book is not ordinary. Jenkins, a dog and cat-owner, has created a book that satisfies the thirst for knowledge about two very popular animals--the cat and the dog. Many features make this book unique, perhaps most of all is the wealth of knowledge in a reader-friendly format. The author begins with the history of these animals, asking important questions along the way. For example, when introducing cats, the author asks, “How did these fierce and independent hunters become our companions? What makes them act the way they do?” He goes on to answer the question and relates intriguing facts along the way, “Originally, people kept these cats to control pests. Cats were very valuable in ancient Egypt—some were even worshiped as gods. Killing a cat was a crime punishable by death, and taking a cat out of the country was forbidden.” Finding out that killing a cat was punishable by death is a tidbit of knowledge that can keep a young reader motivated to keep turning the pages. Jenkins has done a stellar job creating a great depth of information in this book. For example, “When a cat rubs against a person’s legs, it’s not just being friendly. It is using a special scent gland to leave a message for other cats that says, ‘this person belongs to me.” If the reader begins with the cat side, he is teased with facts about dogs in the corners of the pages along the way-- begging for the book to be turned over to where the reader can then read about the other species.

Critical Analysis:
Jenkins is a well-known author and illustrator of nonfiction books for children and has won the Caldecott Honor for two of his books, What Do You Do With a Tail This Size? and Actual Size. The facts in his book Dogs and Cats seem to be accurate, but without a reference list or acknowledgement page, one does not know where he gained his knowledge to write such a factual book. It is just assumed that he is an expert on the subject.

The organization of this two-for-one, flipside book is simple, using subtitles to organize the information such as, “A mind of their own, Millions of cats, Out of Africa, The wildcat, Follow that mouse, I know what I like, From kitten to cat, What’s so special about a cat, I wonder, Amazing cat facts, and Friends or enemies.” While some of the subtitles seem vague, the illustrations on the page give further clues. This system of organization makes it more accessible, allowing the reader to pick and choose topics of interest.

The aforementioned flipside layout of this book is novel and appealing. It seems very appropriate for cats and dogs to be on the flipside of the same book. The author has designed a very inviting book with beautiful collage illustrations. The collage is made from cut and torn paper, with much of the paper was made by hand. Many of the collages are tactile. If the reader runs his or her hand over the pages, several of the pictures feel rough against the background paper, almost as if you are petting the animal.

It is obvious that the author enjoys this subject matter. The author’s tone is friendly as he imparts knowledge such as, “Pet dogs think of the people they live with as their pack. It’s important to let a dog know that a human is its pack leader. A dog that thinks it is in charge can be troublesome – even dangerous.”

Jenkins has written and illustrated a book worthy of reading more than once!

Review Excerpts:
From School Library JournalStarred Review. Kindergarten-Grade 5–This could have been just another book about pets, albeit with a clever gimmick (after reading about one of the species, youngsters can flip the volume over to learn about the other). However, Jenkins has created a book that reaches beyond the mundane and into the spectacular. The two halves of this whole are intertwined throughout. In the part about dogs, cat icons serve as teasers for the other section, and vice versa. The two halves meet in the center with a large illustration of a cat and dog lying together on a rug-a seamless transition from one subject to the other. The lively narrative provides a copious amount of information, examining each species in human history, describing evolution and domestication, highlighting physical characteristics and behaviors, and finishing up with amazing facts about each animal. The layout is excellent, with images dominating the text. Jenkins's cut- and torn-paper collages are stunning. Rough edges look like tufts of fur; patterns in the paper give these flat images vitality. This is a thoroughly attractive package from start to finish. Shared aloud, it is a treat not to be missed.–Kara Schaff Dean, Needham Public Library, MA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistAward-winning illustrator-author Jenkins offers readers a delightful and insightful grab bag of facts about a human's best friends. Yes, friends--plural. Because this book is a twofer: when you've finished reading about dogs, you simply turn the oversize book around, and there--presto--is a similar format about cats. The two animals meet in the middle in a double-page spread that shows the natural antagonists harmoniously sharing a space. The information--about the respective species' origins, special characteristics, "amazing" facts, etc.--is widely available elsewhere, but this offers a good introduction for novice naturalists. Moreover, this title has something the others don't: cut-and-torn-paper collage^B pictures that alone are worth the price of admission. Dynamic, intricate, and informed by affectionate humor, they show dogs and cats of all shapes and sizes and packed with personality. The clever collages have an almost 3-D effect, so much so that kids--and adults--will want to reach out and pet. Michael Cart

Reviews accessed at:
http://www.amazon.com/Dogs-Cats-Steve-Jenkins/dp/0618507671/ref=sr_1_1/002-5594863-6947211?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193188661&sr=8-1

Connections:
Jenkins, Steve. 2004. Actual Size. Boston, MA. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0618375945.

Jenkins, Steve. 2005. Prehistoric Actual Size. Boston, MA. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0618535780.

Jenkins, Steve. 1997. Biggest, Strongest, Fastest. Boston, MA. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0395861365.

Out of the Dust

Bibliography:
Hesse, Karen. 1994. Beast Feast. Orlando, Florida. Harcourt Brace & Co. ISBN 0-15-295178-4.

Plot Summary:
Billie Jo, her pregnant mother, and her skin-cancer ridden father are struggling to survive in the Oklahoma dust bowl. Fourteen year-old Billie Jo narrates her story through a series of poems. Billie Jo’s family is able to hold on to hope through the dust storms, the let-down hopes of rain, and through crops that don’t come in, but when a tragic accident happens and Billie Jo can no longer find solace in the piano she loves, hope blows away like the dust.
Hope Smothered
While I washed up dinner dishes in the pan/ the wind came from the west/
Bringing---/ dust./ I’d just stripped all the gummed tape from the/ windows./
Now I’ve got dust all over the clean dishes./ I can hardly make myself/
Get started cleaning again./ Mrs. Love is taking applications/ for boys to do
CCC work./ Any boy between eighteen and twenty-eight can join./ I’m too young/
And the wrong sex/ but what I wouldn’t give to be/ working for the CCC/
Somewhere far from here,/ out of the dust
This poem foreshadows Billie Jo’s flight out of the dust. It doesn’t take Billie Jo long to turn around, Homeward Bound,
Getting away,/ it wasn’t any better./ Just different./ And lonely./ Lonelier than
The wind./ Emptier that the sky./ More silent that the dust,/ piled in drifts between
Me/ and my/ father.

Critical Analysis:
Karen Hesse has created a page-turning novel, her poems are to the point and allow the reader the time and space to absorb the information and connect with the narrator, Billie-Jo on a more personal level. In this novel the reader feels what is not said by words. Karen Hesse's use of imagery to paint a picture in the reader's mind is seen in Time to Go,
..."Wait for me," I cried./ choking on the cloud that rose behind them./
But they didn't hear me,/ They were heading west, and no one was looking back.

When Billie Jo's father leaves a bucket of kerosene in the kitchen and a tragic accident results in which Billie Jo accidently douses her mother resulting in her death and the unborn child, many emotions are experienced by the 14 year old narrator. She blames herself and her father, and feels alienated from her father.
From Roots
...My father will stay no matter what,/ he's stubborn as sod/ He and the land have
a hold on each other/ But what about me?
After Billie Jo returns from running away, the quiet reconciliation between the father and daughter is profound.
From Cut it Deep
He says, "I wasn't always sure/ about the wheat/ about the land/ about life in the
panhandle./ I dreamed of running off too,/ though I never did./ I didn't have half your
sauce, Billie Jo," he says/ And it's the first time I ever knew there was so much to the
two of us,/ so much more than our red hair/ and our long legs/ and the way we rub
our eyes/ when we're tired.
This Newberry Medal award-winning book is memorable long past the last page.

Review Excerpts:
Amazon.comLike the Oklahoma dust bowl from which she came, 14-year-old narrator Billie Jo writes in sparse, free-floating verse. In this compelling, immediate journal, Billie Jo reveals the grim domestic realities of living during the years of constant dust storms: That hopes--like the crops--blow away in the night like skittering tumbleweeds. That trucks, tractors, even Billie Jo's beloved piano, can suddenly be buried beneath drifts of dust. Perhaps swallowing all that grit is what gives Billie Jo--our strong, endearing, rough-cut heroine--the stoic courage to face the death of her mother after a hideous accident that also leaves her piano-playing hands in pain and permanently scarred.
Meanwhile, Billie Jo's silent, windblown father is literally decaying with grief and skin cancer before her very eyes. When she decides to flee the lingering ghosts and dust of her homestead and jump a train west, she discovers a simple but profound truth about herself and her plight. There are no tight, sentimental endings here--just a steady ember of hope that brightens Karen Hesse's exquisitely written and mournful tale. Hesse won the 1998 Newbery Award for this elegantly crafted, gut-wrenching novel, and her fans won't want to miss The Music of Dolphins or Letters from Rifka. (Ages 9 and older) --Gail Hudson --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From Publishers WeeklyIn a starred review of the 1998 Newbery Medal winner, set during the Depression, PW said, "This intimate novel, written in stanza form, poetically conveys the heat, dust and wind of Oklahoma. With each meticulously arranged entry Hesse paints a vivid picture of her heroine's emotions." Ages 11-13. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review Accessed at:
http://www.amazon.com/Out-Dust-Karen-Hesse/dp/0439771277/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-9153171-3006229?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192234236&sr=8-1

Connections:

Hesse, Karen. 1995. Phoenix Rising. Puffin. ISBN 0140376283.

Hesse, Karen. 1997. A Time of Angels. Hyperion. ISBN 0786812095.

Beast Feast

Bibliography:

Florian, Douglas. 1994. Beast Feast. Orlando, Florida. Harcourt Brace & Co. ISBN 0-15-295178-4.

Plot Summary:

Every species of animal has something special and unique about it, and in the book, Beast Feast, Douglas Florian captures the oddities of beasts with clever rhyme. The author has also used elements of concrete poetry to better illustrate the characteristics of many of the animals, as seen in “The Sloth.”

Up in a tree/ The shaggy sloth/ Is hanging by its claws./ It doesn’t like to move at

All./ It only likes to p a u s e.

The use of spacing in the word pause is a nice visual clue that signals the reader to slow the word down, and it creates a strong mental image of the slow sloth.

Florian has illustrated the book with delightful watercolors reminiscent of child-art.

Critical Analysis:

Clever puns and wordplay abound in this beastly feast of poetry. Children are sure to enjoy Florian’s quick-witted humor as he breathes personality into many animals that are least loved such as the mole, sloth, pigeon, and rhea. For example, “The Mole”:

The mole digs a hole with its toes/ With help from its long pointed nose./ By

Digging so thorough/ It makes a deep burrow/ In which it can dreamily doze./

Its ears are not easily found/ But perfect for picking up sound./ Though virtually

Blind/ The mole doesn’t mind--/ There’s not much to see underground.

This poetry book is easy to love and enjoy. The subject matter is easily accessible and of high-interest. The experience of reading these poems may even encourage youngsters to write their own beastly poem!

Review Excerpts:

From Publishers Weekly
Florian ( Monster Motel ; Vegetable Garden ) indeed presents a feast--for the eyes and the ears--in this cheerful collection of brief, bouncy poems describing an eclectic roundup of animals. Each focusing on a single "beast," the entries range from snappy two-liners ("The rhea rheally isn't strange-- / It's just an ostrich, rhearranged") to relatively longer poems of cleverly rhymed couplets. Florian's distinctive, full-page watercolors are as playful as his verse: a chameleon (whose hue changes "from mousy browns to leafy greens / And several colors in between") holds an artist's palette and paintbrush; and the "tubby toad" (who is "so squat and plump / That rarely does it even jump") weighs in on a bathroom scale. An ideal read-aloud, this volume will leave young listeners as lighthearted as its own contents. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4-A colorful and clever assemblage of 21 animals, from the walrus ("The pounding spatter/Of salty sea/ makes the walrus/Walrusty.") to the kiwi ("Wings so small./No tail at all./ Very rare./Feathers like hair./Quiet and shy./Cannot fly./They call you a bird,/But I don't know why."). Each brief poem employs an Ogden Nashian twist of language, a small surprise, or a happy insight into the familiar. The book's design is as appealing as the verses themselves, pairing each selection with a full-page, splashy, bordered watercolor. Large type, surrounded by plenty of white space, will appeal to younger readers. This collection is an uncluttered, short presentation by an author/illustrator who knows what children will find funny-add to that the bonus of factual information tucked into each poem, and the result is a winner. It's easy to imagine readers becoming inspired to write and illustrate their own poems after spending time with Florian. Clearly a wonderful book.
Lee Bock, Brown County Public Libraries, Green Bay, WI

Review Accessed at:

http://www.amazon.com/Beast-Feast-Poems-Douglas-Florian/dp/0152017372/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-4598152-2084829?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192064500&sr=8-1

Connections:

Florian, Douglas. 2007. Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings. Harcourt Children’s Books. ISBN 0152053727.

Florian, Douglas. 2002. Insectlopedia. Voyager Books. ISBN 0152163352.

Danitra Brown Leaves Town

Bibliography:

Grimes, Nikki. 2002. Danitra Brown Leaves Town. Illus. By Cooper, Floyd. USA. Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0060753110.

Plot Summary:

Danitra Brown is leaving town, and her best friend Zuri is not happy at all! Nikki Grimes, the author, has told this story of adventures and friendship through poems in the form of letters that are exchanged between two friends. Readers will find much they can relate to, particularly the characters’ emotions such as Zuri’s anger and jealousy when Danitra leaves town for her summer vacation.

Critical Analysis:

Nikki Grimes’ verse is very clever- flowing from the characters, giving them a witty edge. Throughout the book, the reader experiences the same sights, sounds, and wonders as the girls, and becomes closer to the characters as their friendship is rekindled. And with each letter Danitra and Zuri’s personalities become alive as in “The Dare”:

Dear Zuri,

The kids here pretend to be tougher than they are./ I ignore it mostly, ‘cause they’re nice in their own way./ Besides, I think they may just be trying to impress the “city kid.”/ Today they dared me to climb up into a tree, and, of course I did./ Then they yelled, “Okay Miss Big-Town, jump down.”/ Now, my mother taught me to use my head for more than a hat rack./ So, I climbed back down and said, “A dare is fine with me,/ but jumping from a tree is stupid, and I’m no fool.”/ Then I heard someone whisper, “She’s pretty cool---/ for a city girl.”

This book is a good stepping-stone between picture books and poetry. It is unique in that it tells a story not only through poetry, but poetic letters. For the parent, teacher, or student who is unsure of poetry, this is a great book to begin with. The illustrations in this book are enjoyable and make the characters come to life. The illustrated pages accompanying the poem, “The Bad Good-bye” are especially moving- showing Zuri’s sullen face upon the news that her best friend is leaving town for the summer.

Review Excerpts:

Zuri Jackson and Danitra Brown are best friends facing a long summer apart, for Danitra is going to visit her family in the country. They decide to cultivate a series of letters sharing their summer: this presents their insights, with Floyd Cooper providing the illustrative embellishments.

Being familiar with illustrator Floyd Cooper's work from the earlier "Grandpa's Face," I couldn't avoid being drawn to this beautifully drawn children's book. I immediately thought of my five-year-old niece and her passion for reading.

Nikki Grimes' tale is one to which all can relate: the longing for a friend that has relocated. Through a series of "letters," the two girls, Zuri and the title character, share what is happening with each other in the miles that separate them. Such familiar "adventures" as block parties, family reunions, staring at the night sky, making new friends, school, private places, and the eventual reunion are presented in text that children will find most appealing.

Review Accessed at:

http://www.amazon.com/Danitra-Brown-Leaves-Nikki-Grimes/dp/0060753110/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-9114379-8309765?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191802642&sr=8-1

Connections:

Grimes, Nikki. 1997. Meet Danitra Brown. Illus. by Cooper, Floyd. Harper Trophy. ISBN 0688154719.

Grimes, Nikki. 2005. Danitra Brown, Class Clown. Illus. by Lewis, E.B. Amistad Books. ISBN 0688172903.