Song and Dance Man

Ackerman, K. (1988). Song and dance man. New York, NY: Scholastic INC.

                        This magnificently told story is about a show-stopping grandfather and his easily entertained grandchildren and their trip down memory lane as the "Song and Dance Man" (the grandfather) relives his glory days on the stage as a performer.

                       The story takes place in a dusty attic that holds treasures from Grandpa's past. He carefully takes each memory out of a box and brings it to life for his grandchildren. He sings, dances, tells jokes, pulls quarters from their ears. All the while his grandchildren claim they enjoy this show more than anything they might see on television. The story is told in third person and the characters are not extremely developed, however students could use the illustrations to infer the character traits and personalities of the grandfather easily. The illustrations paint him as happy, glowing and laughing.

                         This book would be great to use as a method for improving fluency, students could listen to the story on tape, tape themselves and use repeated readings. It is also good for inferring character traits and making connections. I was immediately drawn to this story because of the amazing illustrations, they are incredibly life-like and done in color pencil. This story is a Caldecott Medal recipient.

                        Some questions to ponder are:

• Do you think Grandpa misses his former life?
• Do you think you would like to know Grandpa?
• Can you make any text-to-self connections between this text and your own life?

                       This is a great read and I am really excited to use it in my classroom!

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters

Steptoe, J. (1989). Mufaros beautiful daughters, an african tale. New York, NY: Scholastic.

                        Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters is a beautifully illustrated book written and illustrated by John Steptoe. It is a Caldecott Honor Book and well-deserving. The illustrations are very detailed with many warm colors used.

                       This story takes place long ago in an African village. The main characters are two sisters, Mufaro's daughters. Manyara, the antagonist, a rude and hateful young lady who feels she is entitled to be queen. The protagonist, Nyasha, is kind, hard working and helpful. While working hard in her garden, Nyasha encounters  and befriends a small garden snake named Nyoka. Eventually, the king of the village decides he is ready to take a wife. Mufaro wants both of his daughters to have this chance, however, Manyara steals out late in the night so that she may have a headstart on Nyasha. On her journey to the city, she comes across a hungry young man and an advice-giving old woman, both of whom she is incredibly rude to. When her family finds her missing the following morning they begin looking for her. They also stumble across the two characters on the path and Nyasha is kind and giving to them both. Once they reach the city, Manyara runs out of the castle in terror, frightened by the five-headed monster inside. Nyasha then ventures to find the monster, all she finds is her serpent friend Nyoka. Nyoka reveals himself to be the king. He also tells Nyasha that he was also the hungry boy and the old lady and thanks her for showing him kindness and compassion and asks her to be his wife.

                      Orginally I was drawn to the cover of this book, which is absolutely beautiful. After reading it I was intrigued by the parallels between this text and Cinderella. Every year I teach a unit about Cinderella stories from around the world. This will be a great addition to that unit. It can be used to compare and contrast the two stories. It also has the key elements of a folktale so would be great for introducing folktales.

                       Some big questions for students to ponder are:

• How is this story similar/different from Cinderella?
• Which of the sisters would you rather be friends with?
• What lesson or moral can you infer from this book?