This week I read the books, Wishtree by Katherine Applegate, My Two Blankets by Irena Kobald and Freya Blackwood, and Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers. One way that these books connect is through their theme of immigration and the effects of it on individuals. In Wishtree, Samar’s family were Muslim immigrants and they faced the struggle of prejudice and animosity from others. In My Two Blankets, Cartwheel was an immigrant escaping war who moved to a new country and felt scared to be in a new place. In Her Right Foot, Eggers talks about how the Statue of Liberty herself is an immigrant and she is trying to protect other immigrants coming into her country and is there to welcome them. Specifically, in Wishtree and My Two Blankets, the characters overcome adversity through the help and kindness of others. The authors of those two books do a great job at portraying the impact that friendship and compassion for others can have on someone who feels like an outcast. In Her Right Foot, Eggers tries to encourage readers to show immigrants kindness and welcome them in through the portrayal of a valued American icon who is willing to accept those, much like she was accepted. All these books can be used in a classroom setting in order to enlighten students about immigrants and encourage them to take action in supporting those who may be immigrants. They can be used as a way to create compassionate and well educated students in our class and enlighten students into a topic that is very controversial. Keep reading to find out more about these powerful books.
Wishtree
All of the books that I read this week were phenomenal; however, Wishtree by Katherine Applegate has got to be my absolute favorite for the week. Reading it blew my mind and I could not put it down. It is such a creative and engaging book and if I end up teaching in an upper elementary classroom, this one would definitely be on the list of books we will be reading in class. I cannot wait to look into some more books by Applegate and familiarize myself with more of her work.
Before going further, I should probably tell you what this book is about. This book is about a northern red oak tree named Red, who shares the relationship/observations that she has about people. She is the wishtree because every year on the first of May, people bring wishes and attach them to her. As she goes into telling her story she says that there is a rule that trees and animals are not supposed to talk to people, even though she has thought about breaking those rules a time or two. The story then takes you into background of Samar, she is a little girl who moved into the house near where Red lived. Samar’s family is Muslim and people did not take too kindly to them moving to the neighborhood. One day someone cared the word LEAVE into the tree, this caused some problems and the owner threatened to cut down Red who not only wanted to live herself, but was worried about all the animals that called her home. This is when Red decided that it was time to intervene into the people’s lives and wanted to grant a wish before she left which was to find Samar a friend. Red and the animals hatched some plots to get Samar a friend and eventually, they got Samar and Stephen (her neighbor) to talk; however, to help them in their friend ship she broke the rule of talking to people and told them the story of how she became the wishtree. This eventually leads up to the beginning of May (wish day) and on this day, Stephen and the rest of the school wrote down their wishes that said STAY on them in order to help convince Samar’s family to stay.
One theme that is presented in this book is survival. There are many examples of survival that take place in many of the characters. For example, Samar’s family is trying to survive and immigrated to this place to have a better life and they still face dangers of hatred from the people in the town. It also shows the story of how Red is a survivor. The book portrays her story from when she was just a little seedling until the time she has been around for centuries. Over time she faced dangers of lightning strikes and people trying to get rid of her, but she overcomes all of that and grows from it.
“Hollows are proof that something bad can become something good with enough time and care and hope.” (pg. 25)
Samar is a marginalized character presented in this text because she is an immigrant and people show ill will towards her and her family. This is a really prevalent text, especially in today’s society because immigration in the United States is such a controversial topic and the people who are immigrants living in the United States face so many challenges. One of those challenges is the hatred and disrespect of other people. This is shown in the book when Samar’s neighbors won’t talk to her or her family and it is shown when the person carves the words “leave” into the tree. However, the book does turn this around at the end and shows the community coming together to support and show their love towards Samar and her family which conveys a very powerful message. A child was able to rally the school and start this support for Samar all on his own in order to help her feel welcomed and loved.
This book was a very engaging read. The sentence structure changed a lot and kept the reading interesting. The sentences were fairly short which did allow for a quick and easy read for an adult but would also be beneficial for students to read. Paragraph length also varied. There were some paragraphs that were seven lines long and other paragraphs that were only two lines long that allowed for some variation in reading so that the reader would not be seeing a similar pattern over and over. The chapters were very short and only had a few pages in them each. This was pleasant for me as the reader because I could get a could chapters in here and there whenever I had some extra time and it allowed me to reach a stopping point faster than a longer chapter would have. This is also very beneficial for students because it can allow for students to take frequent, natural breaks to reflect on what they just read before continuing on in the book. I also loved the language that Applegate used in the book. She used some beautiful and descriptive language throughout that just had me highlighting a lot of different parts because they were just beautiful.
“I have ridged, reddish-grey bark; leathery leaves with pointed lobes; stubborn, searching roots; and, if I do say so myself, the best fall color on the street. “Red” doesn’t begin to do me justice. Come October, I look like I’m ablaze. It’s a miracle the fire department doesn’t try to hose me down every autumn.” (pg. 6)
Not only does this book have a great story, but it also has a lot of factual information that I did not know. Most of the information that I learned involved the names of species. For example, I did not know that a northern red oak is also known as Quercus rubra. I also did not know what a crepuscular creature was. This book is full of unique nature facts that I would not have otherwise known if I did not read this book. I think that this would lead to a great science integration at looking at some of the species of trees and animals talked about in this book. I think that this book would also lead into a fun classroom activity where students can create their own wish and hang them on a tree around the school. Or they can create a wish for the school year, like I wish I could become better at division, and at the end of the year they can see if their wish can true. Another way to integrate this into class is to have the students do a free write about what they would wish for it they could wish for anything and then they would have to explain why.
My Two Blankets
My Two Blankets is a book about a girl named Cartwheel whose country was involved in a war which caused her to move to a new country. In this new place, everything was strange to the girl and she didn’t feel like herself anymore, she felt alone. At home, she would wrap herself in a blanket that represents her native language, it was comfortable and made her feel safe. Then, a girl waves to her at the park and slowly, they became friends. Cartwheel wanted to talk to the girl, but she did not know how. The next time she saw the girl, the girl brought her some words and together they practiced them. When she would go home and lay in her blanket, her blanket started changing and new words were being weaved into it. The new blanket was just as comfortable as her old one and she was happy again.
This was a really rich book that shows the struggles of a child who is a refugee and the impact it can have on them if people show them kindness and truly care. Not only can the reader feel and understand what Cartwheel is going through, but they can learn the importance of showing kindness and being a friend to someone who needs one. It conveys a very powerful message that students (if reading the book aloud to them or having them read it independently) can pick up on and learn from without the book explicitly telling them.
The illustrations in this book are also really powerful. The media used was a combination of watercolor and oil paints on watercolor paper. On each page, the girl is wearing warm colored clothes (orange and red) and the world around her is portrayed in cool colors (blue, purple, green). This portrays to me that this new place is scary and unwelcoming, but she can find comfort within herself. Another thing that I really liked about the illustrations in this book was the way that the words other people were saying were represented by images. When Cartwheel meets the other little girl in the book, as the girl is talking it is like she is throwing all of these images at Cartwheel. As the little girl starts teaching Cartwheel these words, the reader can see what words she may be learning without the addition of extra text. For example, in the image to the right it appears that Cartwheel is learning about things that grow on trees like apples and leaves because those are the drawings she has in her hand.
Irena Kobald the author of My Two Blankets is not an own voices author; however, she did say that the book was inspired by a friendship between her daughter and a Sudanese child. Therefore, I do think that she has insight into being able to appropriately represent Cartwheel in this book. It is really powerful that she decided to inspire her character based on her daughters’ friend and represent them in the book this way. The words that Kobald choice to describe what Cartwheel was feeling were strong and descriptive of what a refugee or immigrant may be feel upon entering a new county. One of the passages that really amazed me was when she wrote, “When I went out, it was like standing under a waterfall of strange sounds. The waterfall was cold. It made me feel alone.”
One way that I would love to use this book in my classroom would be to read it aloud to students and then have someone who speaks a different language come in and try to talk to students. Through that, students can gain firsthand experience on the feelings and thoughts that were running through Cartwheel’s head. They can also apply that experience to other people they may know, or encounter later in life, who are immigrants coming to a new place that is scary and they do not understand what is happening in the world around them. That way students can build compassion and empathy towards a group of people who typically may not see a lot of compassion and empathy this can be see more in depth in the article, "WOW Stories: Connections from the Classroom" where the author talks all about how she uses a diverse range of literature to get students thinking in depth about a topic or group of people and the way they may be treated in the world. The person who comes in could also teach the students some of their language and that way students can become familiar with another culture as well.
“This ability to view life from multiple perspectives will be a valuable tool for students in the future, especially in looking closely at difficult issues” (Edwards).
Her Right Foot
Her Right Foot is a factual book all about the statue of liberty where Dave Eggers, the author, takes the reader deep into the role of the Statue of Liberty. It starts out by saying that it was originally created by the French where they wanted to celebrate the United States 100th anniversary. The original statue was made in parts and then was first assembled in Paris. It stayed built in Paris for a year before it was taken down and shipped to the United States. Then, the book talks about it being built in the United States before transitioning to talking about the right foot of the Statue of Liberty because there is something special about it. Her right foot is lifted slightly off the ground to show that she is going somewhere. Most of the time we imagine her still, but this book shows that she is in fact not meant to be thought of as still but moving. The Statue of Liberty is an immigrant and a representation of freedom which is why she is moving; she is meeting the incoming immigrants to America at the sea.
The illustrator of this book, Shawn Harris, created the images using construction paper and India ink. This creates really interesting, eye-catching images to look at that support what the text is saying throughout the book. It allows the reader to see what the author means. For example, look at the image below, it shows how the statue of liberty was originally brown and then because it was made out of copper oxidized and turned a green color. Through the different images, you can see the progression it makes and what causes those progressions.
Another thing that I really like about the images is that they are made out of construction paper and ink. I have not seen many images in books made with construction paper and this is fascinating to me because it makes me feel like I could make illustrations in a book and shows that you do not need anything fancy to be an illustrator. That would be something really unique to show to students and challenge them to create their own images out of construction paper and ink (could even just be with markers). I think it may even inspire them, to start making things on their own and using simple resources found around the classroom to create their own story or book.
At the end of the book, the author offers further reading and sources for the information that was presented in the book. This leads me to believe that the author knows what he is talking about and has done research to make the book as accurate as possible. It is important that that is there because then, the viewer can know that this book is not fiction and that there is evidence to back up the claims he made in the text. After reading this book, I immediately thought about what a good research project this could get students involved in. I image that students could use some of the facts presented in this book that people may not know and go around the school and ask teachers or other students if they know that about the Statue of Liberty. Then once they have all the research they could write about their findings. Additionally, science could be integrated into this book by teaching students about oxidation and conducting small experiments to show them the process of oxidation.
One of the things that I really like about this book it that it brings light to the fact that the Statue of Liberty is also an immigrant. In today's world where immigrants are viewed and portrayed negatively it really makes you think that even this statue that we value and acts as our symbol of freedom, is an immigrant of her own right but nobody criticizes her for it. The spread shown below shows that she needs to be moving in order to help stop oppression and protect these people who are coming to the United States. It makes me think that when the Frenchman created her, she was meant to protect these people coming into the United States and in today's world, someone needs to protect immigrants. Instead of standing still while oppression and hatred continue to happen around her, she is trying to help stop it; however, it appears as though no one is listening or watching her. We value her and hold her in very high regards, yet we ignore her and push away those who may need us the most.
One example of a spread that I chose to look at with a critical lens can be see below. I thought that this page was very interesting in the words and the people being represented. For starters, there are a vast amount of people being represented on this page and no two people look the same which is representative of the rest of America. Also, everyone shown is at the forefront of the page, they are all level and positioned evenly along the spread which represents to me that not one of those people is more important than the rest. The people seem to represent what the text is trying to convey. For example, on the left side of the spread, the text says, “People talk about her unusual headwear” and the people represented in the picture all have different types of headwear and they are “unusual.” The lady to the far left has some type of hat on that appears like it may be a part of a work uniform which could be considered unusual. The baby is holding a top hat, if someone would be walking around today with a top hat on someone may think that is unusual as well. There is a man wearing some form of head wrap, which again, some people may find to be unusual. Then, there is the girl to the far right, who reminds me of little orphan Annie, who was one of my favorite characters in a movie growing up because she had red hair just like me. In the picture the girl had reddish-orangish hair that appears to be very curly, so some, this may appear to be unusual as well. People find my hair to be unusual as well just because it is not a color that is seen all the time, so I can relate to and understand this idea of unusual headwear. It just goes to show that the Statue of Liberty does not fall into the category of “normal” when it comes to her headwear and there are so many different people out there who may also not fit into this idea that people think is “normal.” There are many different ways to wear your hair or style it and just because someone’s style is different than yours, does not mean that assumptions need to be made about these people and we do not need to talk about their “unusual headwear.”
Sources:
Applegate, K. (2017) Wishtree. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
Eggers, D. (2017) Her Right Foot. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, LLC.
Kobald, I. (2014) My Two Blankets. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Edwards, A. (n.d.). WOW Stories: Connections from the Classroom. Retrieved from https://wowlit.org/on-line-publications/stories/storiesi2/15/.
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