Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers
Summary: A young panda is sure he wants pants, and works to convince his dad. His dad counters each one of his points until the two come upon a scarecrow…wearing pants. The young panda quickly relieves the scarecrow of his trousers and puts them on, even though they’re a bit too large. Suddenly, the two pandas are confronted by a growling wild cat (leopard? tiger?) who has been stalking them on their walk. Thinking quickly, the young panda grabs a watermelon and uses his new pants as a slingshot, then gives them away to an admiring rabbit who has seen the whole thing. As they walk on, his dad asks him why he gave his pants away, and his son replies that he doesn’t want pants anymore. He wants shoes. 32 pages; ages 4-8.
Pros: A fun mentor text for teaching persuasive writing in the primary grades. Who can resist pandas and bunnies?
Cons: Not enough black around the pandas’ eyes.
Summary: Born in a Japanese fishing village in 1903, Misuzu Kaneko was fortunate enough to receive more education than most of her female contemporaries. She worked in her mother’s bookstore and published her poems in magazines. Then she made the unfortunate decision of marrying one of the bookstore clerks who was abusive, unfaithful, and passed on a devastating disease to Misuzu. She divorced him, but when he insisted on full custody of their daughter (a right given to fathers only at that time in Japan), Misuzu committed suicide. The first half of the book tells the story of her life, and the second half is a collection of her poems, written in both Japanese and English. An author’s note and translators’ note explain the careful work and research that went into creating this book. 64 pages; grades 2-7.
Summary: When Sophia was a baby, her neighbor Mrs. Goldman knit her a hat. Now that she’s older, she likes to make pom-poms to decorate Mrs. Goldman’s creations. Her friend is always knitting for others, giving them warm hats, mittens, and sweaters. She calls knitting her mitzvah, or good deed. When Sophia goes walking with Mrs. Goldman and her dog Fifi, she notices that Mrs. Goldman doesn’t have a hat. Snow accumulates on her hair, and her ears turn pink or red, depending on the temperature. Wanting to rectify the situation, Sophia pulls out her knitting needles and tries to remember what Mrs. Goldman taught her about knitting. She finally finishes a hat, but it’s full of holes. Fortunately, Sophia thinks of all those pom-poms she’s made, and creates a whole bunch of them to cover up the holes. She rushes next door to give her gift to Mrs. Goldman, who declares it Sophie’s mitzvah and happily wears it every day on her walks with Fifi. Includes instructions for knitting a simple hat and making a pom-pom. 40 pages; ages 4-8.
Summary: A man, woman, and boy start building on the first page with bricks…two, four six. People and bricks multiply with dizzying speed from there until the end of the book: molding and baking the clay to make bricks, mixing mortar, and building, building, building. Schools, malls, government buildings: all are built with millions and billions of bricks. Finally, at the end, “The work is nearly done, the cleanup has begun, let’s count the bricks we didn’t use, all together—one!” 32 pages, ages 4-8.
