book review
Module 1: On the Night You Were Born
Book Summary: Tillman celebrates a newborn’s unique contributions to the world from the magical sound of a name to “wiggly, wonderful toes.” Across the earth, animals and nature join in the celebration; polar bears dance, the wind whispers, and even the moon stays up extra late.
APA Reference: Tillman, N. (2005) On the night you were born. New York, NY: Feiwel and Friends.
Impressions: The lilting, lyrical quality of this book recreates the comforting, rocking motion of a lullabye and leaves the adult reader with the desire to curl up in a rocking chair with an infant in his or her arms. Much like a lullaby, the images and words combine to create a peaceful sense of night with dreamlike illustrations that incorporate music notes symbolic of the night wind. The pages where text is limited to a phrase or short sentence such as, “Over the ocean….” “And through the trees…” invite very young children to explore the accompanying illustrations focusing on one idea at a time. Towards the end of the book beginning with “So whenever you doubt…” children may become restless waiting for a page turn as the text lengthens. Because of the sentimentality, abstract quality to the illustrations, and lengthy poetic pages, adults might favor this book over their young children. It will, no doubt, still help to create the bond between parent and child during a shared reading time.
Professional Review: From School Library Journal (2007), “The dark blue night skies make a beautiful and dramatic setting for this special night. The painterly art and poetic quality of the text make this an attractive book. Parents and grandparents are most likely to appreciate it, but they will undoubtedly want to share it with a child.”
Janssen, C. (2007). On the night you were born (Review of the book On the night you were born). School Library Journal, 53(3), 186-187.
Janssen, C. (2007). On the night you were born (Review of the book On the night you were born). School Library Journal, 53(3), 186-187.
Library Uses:
This picture book would make an excellent mentor text for students to imitate poetry, particularly rhyming couplets. By following the basic form of the text as a poem, students could create a “On the Night I was Born” book to introduce themselves through unique facts about their own birthdays. Integrate research by having students find events that took place on the day they were born throughout history.
Book Review: Code Name Verity
Code Name Verity.
By Elizabeth Wein.
2012, 337p. Hyperion, $16.99 (978-1-4231-5219-4).
Gr. 9-12
Highly Recommended
Under pain of torture and threat of brutal execution, Verity, a Scottish-British spy, artfully confesses to her Gestapo captors her involvement in the Resistance. Her confession is penned on scraps of paper—everything from prescription pads to sheet music–belonging to former inhabitants of a country hotel in fictional Ormaie, France. Through a physically, mentally, and emotionally excruciating written confession, we meet her best friend and civilian air corps pilot, Maddie, who flew her on her last mission. Although the novel begins in medias res, Verity, in a defiant, sarcastic, and, at times, beaten tone begins with her best friend’s story up until the point she jumps from Maddie’s wounded plane in occupied France. It is here that Maddie continues the narrative through her pilot’s notes in her simple, honest voice. Maddie and Verity’s friendship is not one based on boys, clothes, or summer camp; instead, Wein crafts a narrative told in two voices that paints a portrait of genuine friendship in wartime. A cast of secondary characters on both sides of the war provides depth and contrast to the two friends’ lives. As historical fiction, some may be bothered by the inventive history and anachronisms, but the author seeks to justify her creative and research processes in the endnotes. The narrators’ voices are in all essence la verite, truthful. In the beginning a reader might feel bogged-down by the Scottish brag of Verity’s voice and minute details; however, once immersed in the relationship between the two young women, they will want to prolong the finale and their farewell to these friends. –Audrey Wilson-Youngblood
By Elizabeth Wein.
2012, 337p. Hyperion, $16.99 (978-1-4231-5219-4).
Gr. 9-12
Highly Recommended
Under pain of torture and threat of brutal execution, Verity, a Scottish-British spy, artfully confesses to her Gestapo captors her involvement in the Resistance. Her confession is penned on scraps of paper—everything from prescription pads to sheet music–belonging to former inhabitants of a country hotel in fictional Ormaie, France. Through a physically, mentally, and emotionally excruciating written confession, we meet her best friend and civilian air corps pilot, Maddie, who flew her on her last mission. Although the novel begins in medias res, Verity, in a defiant, sarcastic, and, at times, beaten tone begins with her best friend’s story up until the point she jumps from Maddie’s wounded plane in occupied France. It is here that Maddie continues the narrative through her pilot’s notes in her simple, honest voice. Maddie and Verity’s friendship is not one based on boys, clothes, or summer camp; instead, Wein crafts a narrative told in two voices that paints a portrait of genuine friendship in wartime. A cast of secondary characters on both sides of the war provides depth and contrast to the two friends’ lives. As historical fiction, some may be bothered by the inventive history and anachronisms, but the author seeks to justify her creative and research processes in the endnotes. The narrators’ voices are in all essence la verite, truthful. In the beginning a reader might feel bogged-down by the Scottish brag of Verity’s voice and minute details; however, once immersed in the relationship between the two young women, they will want to prolong the finale and their farewell to these friends. –Audrey Wilson-Youngblood
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