Tim McGraw Writes a Book

First of all, I have to start out by saying I am a big fan of Tim McGraw. I think he is a fantastic singer and seems to be one of the rare, down to earth celebrities out there. With that said, I hope the children's book he has written with Tom Douglas, My Little Girl, is one that is quality.

He said he wrote the book for his three daughters and that the message of the story is "As long as you're spending time with them, it doesn't really matter what you do." He goes on to say that if he had boys there would be different activities that they would be more interested in doing that would probably be the same interests as him. But, he finds that his daughters are just as happy going to the store or to the office with him, which is a good thing otherwise he would be at the mall or getting manicures if they had it their way. Which is what the book is about, the main character, Katie, spends a day just hanging out with her dad and doing nothing in particular.

His wife, singer Faith Hill, wrote the forward to the book. I am definitely going to check this out next time I am at the book store, hopefully it will not end up in the running for our class's Worst Celebrity Book Written.

The Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature

The following information about the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, I found at http://www.apalaw.eb.org/awards/awards.htm.

This award is based on literary and artistic merit that promote Asian and Pacific American culture and to honor and recognize the works. There are three different categories within this award; they are, Adult Non-Fiction, Illustration in Children's Literature and Young Adult Literature. Here are some of the eligibility requirements:

1. Works must be published for general commercial release in the U.S. and published between January 1st and December 31st of the year to be elgible for that particular year.
2. The works do not necessarily need to be written or illustrated by an Asian/Pacific American, but they must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
3. Self published works or exclusive internet publications are not eligible.
4. Works by more than one author are not eligible.
5. Works must be originally written in English.
6. Any works that have previously won another award are not eligible.
7. If no books are found to meet these criteria, no award is given.

I thought a couple of these requirements were interesting. The one that caught my attention the most would be #7. It really makes me wonder if there has ever been a year that they did not give out an award, if they really did not see any book worthy of the award. Or perhaps, there is not enough Asian/Pacific American literature published each year, that they are very hard pressed to find some?

Requirement #2 also stood out to me as it deals with our infamous insider/outsider debate. So the author does not have to be of Asian/Pacific descent, necessarily, but they do need to be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. So the author does not necessarily need Asian/Pacific ties, but the author does need American ties? Interesting. My personal view point is that good literature is good literature, regardless of who wrote it so I am unsure of why this clause is necessary. But, maybe it is to narrow the field a little or because it is an award based in the U.S. for Americans. Not sure.

Anyway, here is a list of the latest recipients of this award.
Adult Non-Fiction: Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans by Jean Pfaelzer
Honorable Mention: Bento Box in the Hartland: My Japanese Girlhood in Whitebread America by Linda Furiya

Illustrations in Children's Literature: Surfer of the Century by Ellie Crowe Illustrations by Richard Waldrep
Honorable Mention: Hiromi's Hands by Lynne

Young Adult Literature: Hiroshima Dreams by Kelly Easton
Honorable Mention: Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth

**On a personal note I read Hiromi's Hands and definitely enjoyed it. It is about a young girl who badly wants to be a sushi chef like her father, which is generally not a job for a woman. But since her family has moved to America, her father finally agrees to show her the ways and she becomes a very popular and talented sushi chef. It has wonderful illustrations and a solid story that explains some of the differences between Japan's culture and America's that I think kids will really enjoy.



I also read Surfer of the Century and while the main character is extremely inspirational and amazing, it is quite a slow read and could not keep my attention the whole way. It is very long for a children's book and I do not think many children will be able to stay connected for as long as they would need to for this story.

The Bronx Masquerade

The Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes was a very enjoyable read for me. I loved how the book was set up where there was a journal type entry from a particular student, then the poem they wrote and read aloud during Open Mike Night, and then a short commentary by Tyrone. I do not believe I would have gotten as much out of this book if it had been written any differently. It was really neat that the reader is able to be on the 'inside' as well as the 'outside' point of view. The reader is on the 'inside' in the sense that we get to take a peak into each of the student's lives, all be it a short one, it is genuinely a very intimate part of their lives. Issues range from pregnancy, abuse, parents and aspirations. The poems they write really allow one to see into a deep side of them. Grimes also allows us to see an 'outside' perspective by having Tyrone make a comment after each student's poem is read. He often expressed what he thought about the fellow classmate before they read their poem and then after they read their poem. Although, in today's world it does not seem exactly feasible that students would get so excited about an Open Mike Night, so much that even the local news was there, it is still nice to believe that there is a hope students would be so eager to write and share their poetry. Even if this book does not inspire a whole movement of Open Mike Nights, at least it could inspire one struggling student to know they are not alone in their problems in the world and that there are ways to express themselves.

A Bad Case of Stripes

For part of my 401 class I am to organize a lesson plan for the third grade class in which I teach. I talked to my Cooperating Teacher about a book she would recommend and she gave me A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon. I had never heard of this book before. Now, I love it. It follows Camilla Cream on her first day of school. Her favorite food in the whole world is lima beans, although she will never admit that. She is very excited about her first day of school, yet worried about fitting in. When she wakes up the next morning and looks in the mirror she is horrified to see she is covered in rainbow stripes. She does not attend the first day of school and is taken to the doctor's office instead. Seeing as they could not find anything wrong with her, the doctor said she could go to school the next day. So, the next day at school during the Pledge of Allegience her rainbow stripes become red and white stripes and white starts with a blue background. No one can seem to find a cure for Camilla's stripe problem; especially since everything they've tried just makes her turn into something else. When she took a pill, she turned into a pill, then she turned into her room, too. It was not until a little old lady knocked on the door and asked if she could try to help. She asked Camilla if she liked lima beans; but Camilla said 'no' to save herself from being laughed at any further. But the old lady convinced her to eat them and she did then all of a sudden all of her stripes were gone!

A Bad Case of Stripes portrays an excellent message of never being afraid of what you like and who you are. Camilla would never have had this problem if she were not so afraid to eat the lima beans she loved so much. When I do my lesson with this book I plan on asking questions like; "Who has ever really liked something but was ashamed to admit it because they wanted to fit in?" or "Who has ever done something they did not want to do, but did it anyway so they could fit in?" I could also take the discussion further by asking "What are some of the ways you could make someone feel more comfortable with who they are?" and talk about what the students could do if they see someone getting bullied or made fun of. There are lots of ways students could relate to Camilla and I plan on having a more in depth conversation with the third graders about this.

The illustrations are also by David Shannon and are amazing. They really bring out the story wonderfully and this is truly a story for anyone and has a great message behind it. I would definitely recommend it and put it in my classroom library.