Children's Literature Exam 2

A Story A Story

1971: Once, all the stories in the world belonged to Nyame, the Sky God. He kept them in a box beside his throne. But Ananse, the Spider man, wanted them -- and caught three sly creatures to get them. This story of how we got our own stories to tell is adapted from an African folktale.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

1964: The story of a little boy named Max. After his mother sends him to bed without dinner, Max falls asleep and his room immediately transforms into a moonlit forest surrounded by a vast ocean. On a boat, Max travels to a faraway land with none of his mothers rules. He meets these "wild things" and they make him king of the wild things. Max realizes that being in charge is hard work and he goes back home to be with his mom.

May I Bring a Friend?

1965: One day, a small boy receives a very special invitation -- the King and the Queen have invited him to the castle for tea. He accepts, with one question: "May I bring a friend?" "Any friend of our friend is welcome her," says the King. But their guest's friend turns out to be someone they never expected! Beatrice Schenk de Regniers's rhythmic text and the fantastical, jewellike artwork of Beni Montresor have made this book a favorite for more than twenty-five years

Always Room for One More

1966: Lachie MacLachlan, the generous hero of this enchanting tale, is the exception to the rule that the Scots are a thrifty lot. In his "wee house in the heather," where he lives with his family of twelve, he welcomes to his hearth every weary traveler who passes by on a stormy night. "There's always room for one more," says Lachie, and how his grateful guests say a wonderful "Thank you" provides a delightfully warm and tender ending to this hilarious tale of kindness

Sam, Bangs & Moonshine

1967: Samantha (known as Sam) is a fisherman's daughter who dreams rich and lovely dreams--moonshine, her father says. But when her tall stories bring disaster to her friend Thomas and her cat Bangs, Sam learns to distinguish between moonshine and reality.

Drummer Hoff

1968:"DRUMMER HOFF" is a lively folk verse all about the building of a cannon. Brightly dressed in full uniform, each soldier brings a part for the remarkable machine.

Fool of the World and the Flying Ship

1969: When the Czar proclaims that he will marry his daughter to the man who brings him a flying ship, the Fool of the World sets out to try his luck and meets some unusual companions on the way.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

1970: One rainy day, Sylvester finds a magic pebble that can make wishes come true. But when a lion frightens him on his way home, Sylvester makes a wish that brings unexpected results.

One Fine Day

1972: One fine day a fox traveled through the great forest. When he reached the other side he was very thirsty." The jaunty red fox stole milk from an old farm woman, lost his tail under the annoyed woman's knife, and spent the day bargaining to get it back. This humorous retelling of a favorite Armenian folktale is a story small children will follow and "read along" with ease

The Funny Little Woman

1973: In this Caldecott Medal-winning tale set in Old Japan, a lively little woman who loves to laugh pursues her runaway dumpling--and must outwit the wicked three-eyed oni when she lands in their clutches.

Duffy and the Devil

1974: a popular play in Cornwall in the nineteenth century, performed at the Christmas season by groups of young people who went from house to house. The Zemachs have interpreted the folk tale which the play dramatized, recognizable as a version of the widespread Rumpelstiltskin story. Its main themes are familiar, but the character and details of this picture book are entirely Cornish, as robust and distinctive as the higgledy-piggledy, cliff-hanging villages that dot England's southwestern coast from Penzance to Land's End.

Arrow to the Sun

1975: With vibrant colors and bold geometric forms, Gerald McDermott brilliantly captures the stylized look of Pueblo Indian art in this Caldecott Award-winning retelling of an ancient legend. A young boy searches for his father, but before he can claim his heritage he must first prove his worthiness by passing through the four ceremonial chambers: the kiva of lions, the kiva of snakes, the kiva of bees, and the kiva of lightning. Striking in its simplicity and grace, Arrow to the Sun vividly evokes the Native American reverence for the source of all life--the Solar Fire.

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

1976: a mosquito said something foolish to the iguana who put sticks in his ears so that he would hear no more such foolishness. This frightened the next animal who saw the iguana and so went the chain of action and panic until a monkey inadvertently killed an owlet which caused the mother owl to mourn and neglect her duties of waking the sun. When the animals finally figured out the tragedy, they blamed the mosquito and were furious with him. That's why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears: they are asking if everyone is still angry with them.

Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions

1977: 26 African tribes appear in a sort of slide show alphabet, each one allotted a lavish painting over a paragraph of text, with words and pictures joined in a formal, vaguely deco-style frame.

Noah's Ark

1978: a wordless picture book with illustrations telling the story of Noahs ark

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

1979: A Plains Indian girl is lost in the mountains during a storm. A wild stallion becomes her friend and she decides to ride free with the herd even after she is found.

Ox-Cart Man

1980: Thus begins a lyrical journey through the days and weeks, the months, and the changing seasons in the life of one New Englander and his family. The oxcart man packs his goods - the wool from his sheep, the shawl his wife made, the mittens his daughter knitted, and the linen they wove. He packs the birch brooms his son carved, and even a bag of goose feathers from the barnyard geese. He travels over hills, through valleys, by streams, past farms and villages. At Portsmouth Market he sells his goods, one by one - even his beloved ox. Then, with his pockets full of coins, he wanders through the market, buying provisions for his family, and returns to his home. And the cycle begins again.

Fables

1981:A pig flying through marshmallow clouds to a marzipan moon? A camel piroutetting through the desert? A wolf who looks suspiciously like an apple tree - or is it the other way around? A bear in a frying-pan hat and paper-bag boots?

Jumanji

1982: Left on their own for an afternoon, two bored and restless children find more excitement than they bargained for in a mysterious and mystical jungle-adventure board game

Shadow

1983: Shadow lives in the forest... It goes forth at night to prowl around the fires. It even likes to mingle with the dancers... Shadow... It waves with the grasses, curls up at the foot of trees... But in the African experience Shadow is much more. The village storytellers and shamans of an Africa that is passing into memory called forth for the poet Blaise Cendrars an eerie image, shifting between the beliefs of the present and the spirits of the past. Shadow... It does not cry out, it has no voice... It can cast a spell over you... It follows man everywhere, even to war...

Glorious Flight: Across the Channel

1984: "This book...recounts the persistence of a Frenchman, Louis Bleriot, to build a flying machine to cross the English Channel.... The text is succinct, caption-like in its directness and brevity....The paintings...add the necessary testure and tone to this marriage. This is vintage Provensen" - School Library Journal

Saint George and the Dragon

1985: Hodges retells an exciting segment from Spenser's The Faerie Queene, in which the Red Cross Knight slays a dreadful dragon that has been terrorizing the countryside for years, bringing peace and joy back to the land. Featuring a fresh new cover design - with artwork that highlights the dragon adventure within - and distinctive embossed gold Caldecott Award sticker, this is the perfect way to introduce the classic tale to a whole new generation of readers

The Polar Express

1986:Awarded the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1986, The Polar Express has sold more than 7 million copies, become a classic holiday movie, and been translated into stage productions that take place across the United States during the holiday season

Hey, Al

1987: Al, a janitor, and his faithful dog, Eddie, live in a single room on the West Side. They eat together, they work together, they do everything together. So what's the problem? Their room is crowded and cramped; their life is an endless struggle. Al and Eddie are practically at each others throats when a large and mysterious bird offers them a new life in paradise. After some debate, they decide to accept. Transported to a gorgeous island in the sky, Al and Eddie are soon living a life of ease and luxury. But they come to find that the grass can be a little too green on the other side. After a dramatic, nearly tragic escape from their paradise prison, both man and dog agree: there really is no place like home

Owl Moon

1988: Late one winter night a little girl and her father go owling. The trees stand still as statues and the world is silent as a dream. Whoo-whoo-whoo, the father calls to the mysterious nighttime bird. But there is no answer. Wordlessly the two companions walk along, for when you go owling you don't need words. You don't need anything but hope. Sometimes there isn't an owl, but sometimes there is.

Song and Dance Man

1989: "In this affectionate story, three children follow their grandfather up to the attic, where he pulls out his old bowler hat, gold-tipped cane, and his tap shoes. Grandpa once danced on the vaudeville stage, and as he glides across the floor, the children can see what it was like to be a song and dance man. Gammell captures all the story's inherent joie de vivre with color pencil renderings that leap off the pages. Bespectacled, enthusiastic Grandpa clearly exudes the message that you're only as old as you feel, but the children respond--as will readers--to the nostalgia of the moment

Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China

1990: Not for the faint-hearted, Lon Po Po (Grandmother Wolf), is a tale of a menacing danger and courage....(Young's) command of page composition and his sensitive use of color give the book a visual force that matches the strength of the story and stands as one of the illustrator's best efforts."