Anna's Table Ages 3-9

In this heartwarming story, little Anna gathers bits of nature she and her family find, and she collects them on a special table given to her by her beloved aunt. Esteemed children's author Eve Bunting shows us the poetry of beach rocks and sea shells, mouse bones and dried pomegranates, a shark's tooth, an old bird's nest, and a piece of tree bark shaped like a hand. Young readers will delight in the treasures found on Anna's Table. Anna reminds readers of all ages "how clever nature is, " through growth, death and rebirth.

A subtle celebration of the cycle of life, this story is about the incredible bond of children to nature, the miracle of family, and a belief in the beauty of all things.

Anna's Table

By Eve Bunting, Taia Morley

Illustrated by Taia Morley

Edition: illustrated

Published by NorthWord Press, 2003

ISBN 1559718412, 9781559718417

32 pages

PreS-Gr 3, Ages 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 -A free-verse account of a ...

... child who keeps all of her treasures from nature on a table in her room. "I have a drift of butterflies,/their colors orange bright./We found them in the grass/one night/after a cold strong wind ... more »/and sudden freeze/swept them from the trees." She also has a blue jay's feather, the backbone of a garter snake, a seagull's skull, and many other distinctive items. Anna's quiet pleasure in these things and her close family ties are admirable, and the colorful paintings are skillfully executed, with lots of joy and warmth. However, while the story has flashes of Bunting's characteristic charm and a worthwhile message, it lacks dramatic tension. Add it if you have a large collection and/or a ready audience for thoughtful nature books. Otherwise, buy extra copies of Bunting's Butterfly House (Scholastic, 1998) and/or Secret Place (Clarion, 1996), also beautifully illustrated stories revolving around environmental themes.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL

Reed Business Information (c) 2003

Alejandro's Gift Ages 3 - 10

PREVIEW

This uplifting story about one man's gift to the desert and the gift he receives in return has a powerful environmental lesson. Awards and honors for Alejandro's Gift: A Reading Rainbow Book 1994 CLASP Commended Children's Book List

Alejandro's Gift

By Richard E. Albert, Chronicle Books, Sylvia Long, René González

Illustrated by Sylvia Long

Edition: 97, illustrated

Published by Chronicle Books, 1996

ISBN 0811813428, 9780811813426

40 pages

n his first children's book, an 84-year ......-old depicts a homely desert sage: whitebearded Alejandro, who welcomes visitors who stop for water from his well. Human callers are few at this remote spot among the Southwest's cactus, but a ... more » variety of little animals enjoy the water irrigating his small garden. Hoping to attract larger species, the old man creates a water hole. As he soon realizes, it's too close to his house and to the road; but once he's made another, in a sheltered spot, he can hear all the desert animals enjoying it. Long fills generous full-bleed spreads with evocative, meticulously detailed pen-and-watercolor illustrations of a desert landscape well populated with the wildlife listed in the text. If matching these is a challenge, 26 species are sorted out in an appendix. A likable, beautifully presented picture of a human being responding to his natural surroundings with sensitivity and imagination.

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.
From Publishers Weekly
In his first children's book, octogenarian Albert uses the appealing story of a lonely man as the framework for an edifying lesson on desert wildlife. Living in a remote adobe house, with only his burro for a companion, Alejandro is delighted when a squirrel appears in his garden one day and eventually returns with more visitors--jackrabbits, roadrunners, cactus wrens--all realistically portrayed by Long ( Ten Little Rabbits ; Fire Race ). Realizing that it is the water in his garden that attracts the small creatures, Alejandro decides to dig a water hole to accommodate the larger desert animals, like the coyotes, javelinas and bobcats. Puzzled when they seem to ignore the water, Alejandro finally realizes that the hole is too close to his house and the road. So the kind man digs another, more sheltered, water hole, and his offering to the animals and their inadvertent gift of company are mutually appreciated. Detailed pictures and descriptions of Alejandro's animal neighbors are provided on the final spread, allowing readers to become better acquainted with the creatures that Long works into her polished paintings, which impressively recreate the muted colors and varied textures of the desert. Ages 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4, Ages 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 -Alejandro, a man in his 60s, lives in a small adobe house beside an isolated desert road. His only companion is a burro. To ease his loneliness, he tends to his garden. One day, a ground squirrel approaches the garden to drink from its furrows, followed by wood rats, pocket gophers, jackrabbits, kangaroo rats, pocket mice, roadrunners, gila woodpeckers, and thrashers. Time passes more quickly, and Alejandro enjoys his new companions. However, he soon realizes that they come to him for water, not for company, and sets out to dig a water hole for them. Albert's simple and poetic text evokes the silence and emptiness in Alejandro's life. He grows to understand his interdependence with the land and its creatures as he lives among them. Long's rich, detailed, and realistically rendered pictures provide the perfect visual setting to an already memorable tale. The colorfully illustrated glossary of flora and fauna is informative. An ideal book to develop in readers an appreciation for the beauty of the desert and its inhabitants.
Graciela Italiano, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Tar Beach Ages 4-8

Illus. in full color. "Ringgold recounts the dream adventure of eight-year-old Cassie Louise Lightfoot, who flies above her apartment-building rooftop, the 'tar beach' of the title, looking down on 1939 Harlem. Part autobiographical, part fictional, this allegorical tale sparkles with symbolic and historical references central to African-American culture. The spectacular artwork resonates with color and texture. Children will delight in the universal dream of mastering one's world by flying over it. A practical and stunningly beautiful book."--(starred) Horn Book. Tar Beach

By Faith Ringgold

Illustrated by Faith Ringgold

Edition: illustrated

Published by Crown Publishers, 1991

Original from the University of Michigan

Digitized Nov 15, 2007

ISBN 0517580306, 9780517580301

32 pages Ages 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

A Harlem-born artist expands on one of ...

... her distinctive ""quilt paintings"" to create a marvelously evocative book that draws on her own imaginative life as a child. As explained in a concluding note, Ringgold's ""Woman on a Bridge ... more »"" series, including Tar Beach (reproduction included), is now in the Guggenheim. Combining the traditional association between flying and the escape of slaves to freedom with her own fantasies as a child who delighted in the sense of liberation and empowerment she felt on a rooftop from which she saw stars twinkling among the lights of nearby George Washington Bridge, Ringgold has fashioned a poignant fictional story about eight-year-old Cassie, who dreams that she can claim the bridge (and freedom and wealth) by soaring above the city; she can even own the Union Building that her skillful father helped to build--though he is often out of work because he is denied membership in the union. The triumphant soaring of imagination over reality is beautifully expressed in Ringgold's bold, vibrant paintings, newly rendered to tell this story, and with details from the quilt's glowing patchwork as a delightful continue along the bottom of each page. Beautiful, innovative, and full of the joy of one unconquerable soul.

Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

The George Washington Bridge (which connects New Jersey and New York) was built in 1931 and is one of the first suspension bridges in the United States. Do a search.

Also try:

The People Could Fly (Gr 3-5 Lesson Plan)
I'm Flying
On Grandma's Roof

Panda Bear, Panda Bear What Do You See? Ages 2-5

PREVIEW
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What do you see?

By Bill Martin, Eric Carle

Illustrated by Eric Carle

Edition: illustrated

Published by Macmillan, 2003

ISBN 0805017585, 9780805017588

32 pages Age 2, 3, 4, 5

The author and illustrator team of the classic Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? turn their extraordinary talents to the theme of animal conservation.

Thirty-five years after their first groundbreaking collaboration, the creators of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? reunite to address the important topic of animal conservation. A Bald Eagle soars, a Spider Monkey swings, a Macaroni Penguin struts, and a Red Wolf sneaks through Bill Martin Jr's rhythmic text and Eric Carle's vibrant images, and all are watched over by our best hope for the future-a dreaming child.