The Jade Dragon

This is a novel that may be read by the teacher to a fourth grade class.It is written by Carolyn Marsden and Virginia Shin-Mui Loh.Virginia Says, "It is important to have stories that reflect the contemporary realities of Asian Americans." My hypothesis is that Virginia grew up in the United States as an American, but with a Asian background.

There are two Asian girls in the book. One girl her parents are from China,and the family lives in the United States. The other girl in the book is adopted from China into an American Family.The American Family does have a stereotypical idea about the Chinese Family.I think this stems from some ingnorance or not wanting to learn about another culture.There is a great deal of stigma between both families. The Chinese family thinks the American family is strange. The American family thinks the Chinese family is strange. The values in each family are very different.

The two families appear to be from two different socioeconomic backgrounds. It doesn't specifially say a whole lot, but the American Family drives a Mercedes Benz. It is unclear the socioeconomic status of the Chinese family.The book only mentions in one part that the dad took of his tie.

I think the two different worlds are portrayed accurately.The American family is trying to make life as easy as they can on their adopted daughter. The Chinese family on the other hand doesn't make it easy for their daughter to fit into American white culture.The book talks about many foods that the Chinese eat, and I've heard of most of them myself.

The setting is definitely real. What happens in this story probably occurs every day in America. After all this is the melting pot of the world.

I don't agree with how the chinese words are used in the book. They only come up when the parents of the Chinese girl are disappointed with her. It is though they are reminding their daugter that she has only learned English as a way to communicate with the kids in school. She should still know Chinese because this is part of her culture.The book does a great job of social issues by may portray some stereotypical references in some ways.In the American Family the mother goes to work at a very nice job. On the other hand the Chinese mother stays at home and tends to the house. One family is more traditional is many ways.

Growing Seasons

Elsie Splear the author of the book Growing Seasons writes about her life in the early 1900's. It is a story about a family that lives on a farm and all the things that happen in their daily lives. The book is written from the view of a young child Elsie. I look at this to be a fairly accurate piece since the author is writing about her life in a children's book.

In the early 1900's the roles that each family member played seemed carved in stone. The father did the farm chores such as, thrashing, husking, and butchering. The mother and the four girls did the other chores like, cooking, cleaning, canning, gardening, washing, and milking. The father made an invention that he showed off at the Fourth of July Festival. This family must have been financially stable because they were able to afford a Model T Ford. When I read, this I thought the women and the children did a tremendous amount of work and the father, was only around in certain parts of the story.

I believe that this is a great story for children to hear from a teacher. It does let them know about how lives were different only a hundred years ago. It brings up many questions about how roles within a family have changed, or how they might have stayed the same. One question that can be asked of the students is, what inventions have made life easier on people today?

The balance between fact and storyline is there. The fact part comes from the view of a child that lived in the time period of the 1900's. The storyline is that kids might be able to envision what it would have been like if they grew up in the same time period. The book probably gives kids a greater appreciation of the hardships that their great or great, great grandparents might have endured.

Someday Is Not a Day of the Week

I chose the children's book Someday Is Not a Day of the Week. It is written by Denise Brennan-Nelson and Illustrated by Kevin o'Malley. An appropriate grade level for this book would be 1st grade if read by the teacher.

The story goes that this little boy(depicted as a beaver)goes around asking his mom to go to the fair and when he can spend time with his dad. He also asks his grandpa to go fishing. All of the adults answer him with the one word "Someday". The little beaver is confused and looks at his calendar and remembers the song he learned in preschool. He frantically looks for someday, but can't find it anywhere.The beaver tells his mom that someday is not a day of the week.After his mom realized what she had told her son, he got to do all the things he asked for. The book ends with a picture of the boy and his grandpa fishing.

Very bright colors are used and the words of the week are always listed in bright red. On almost every page there is a calendar in the background or in some other spot that is very recognizable. This book is a great tool in teaching the days of the week as well as making children realize to not give up on people. They will have time for you.