Marissa's Book Talk

Book title _ One of those Hiddeous Books Where the Mother dies ___ Poet/Anthologist, Illustrator __ Sonya Sones ___ Publisher, Year _Simon & Schusters Books, 2010 __ Bibliography Sones, S. (2010).  One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies . New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN : 9780689858208 Plot summary After her mother’s death, Ruby is forced to move to Los Angeles with her father she never met who is a famous actor. Through free versed poetry, readers are able to go through Ruby’s trials and tribulations as she adjusts to her new home and her new life. Critical Analysis Sones uses free versed poetry in this novel to share Ruby’s thoughts and experience as we the audience go through the first few months after she moved to Los Angeles. Since Sones decided to use free verse, there are not many examples of rhythm or rhyme that are shown in the novel. However, each aspect of the poem holds importance. It is essential to read the ti...

Book title _ Mirror Mirror Poet/Anthologist, Illustrator Marilyn Singer, Josée Masse _ Publisher , Year ___ Dutton Publish Group, 2010 Bibliography Singer, M., & Massee Josée. (2010).  Mirror Mirror: a Book of Reversible Verse . New York: Dutton Childrens Books. ISBN : 9780525479017 Plot Summary In Singer's collections of fairytales' reversible poems, she introduces that there are two sides to every story. Though the poems about each fairytale are the same, how the reader reads them can impact the way the poem is meant to be interpreted. Critical Analysis The name Mirror Mirror is very fitting for this book. As we look at our reflection in a mirror, we see a reversed imaged of our self. It is still us but slightly changed. This is what Singer did with her collections of poems in her book Mirror Mirror by demonstrating reversible verses. She reversed the poem and only made slight changes in punctuations and capitalization. So, the reader...

Book title _ Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold Poet/Anthologist, Illustrator __ Joyce Sidman & Rick Allen Publisher, Year _Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014 Bibliography Sidman, J., & Allen, R. (2014).  Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold . Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN : 9780547906508 Plot Summary Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold is a collection of poems from Joyce Sidman. The poems center around one theme, wintertime in the woods. The poems are accompanying with a wintery illustration of the animals by Rick Allen. Critical Analysis Sidman provides a range of poetry to introduce the readers about the activities that happen in the forest throughout the winter season. Each of the poems discusses a different animal, plant, or other aspect and their perspective of the winter. Throughout the poems, we follow a red fox as we are introduced to the different aspects of the forest. An example of this is shown in ...

Book title   Little Red Hot Author, Illustrator Eric A. Kimmel, _ Laura Huliska-Beith Publisher, Year Scholastic, 2013 Bibliography Kimmel, E. A., Huliska-Beith, L., & Goonan, D. (2013).  Little Red Hot . New York: Scholastic. Plot Summary The story of Little Red Hot is a retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood with a twist. Set in the rural Texas area during the same time the tale of Pecos Bill was occurring, lived a little girl named Little Red Hot. The young girl was known for dressing in red and her love of eating peppers. When her mother informs Little Red Hot of her grandmother being ill, Little Red Hot decided to bake her a pepper pie to make her feel better. During her trip to her grandmother’s house, Little Red Hot encounters Pecos Bill and his cowboys. Pecos Bill warns Little Red Hot that the Three Little Tamales has informed him that Senor Lobo was nearby. Not long afterward, Little Red Hot encountered the bi...

Book title Rapunzel Author, Illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky Publisher, Year Dutton., 2002 Bibliography Zelinsky, P. O. (2002).  Rapunzel . New York: Dutton. Plot The story of Rapunzel is a retelling of a couple who wished to have a child. When they learned that the wife was expecting a child, the wife craved to eat the vegetable rapunzel. The husband tried to steal from his neighbor’s, the sorceress, garden. On his second trip to the garden, the old sorceress caught him. The sorceress and the husband made a deal, he could take all the rapunzel he desired if he were to give him his child. The sorceress took the baby away the day she was born. She named the child after the vegetable her father traded her for. The sorceress locked the red-golden hair girl in a tower when she turned twelve years old. The only way to enter or leave the tower was by climbing Rapunzel’s hair. It wasn’t until years later when a prince wandered into the woods ...

Book title _ The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs Author, Illustrator Jon Scieszka, _ Lane Smith Publisher, Year Viking, 1989 Bibliography Scieszka, J. (1989).  The True Story of the 3 little pigs: by A. Wolf as told to Jon Scieszka . New York: Viking. Plot The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs takes the traditional story of the Three Little Pigs and allows the Big Bad Wolf to explain his side of the story. We are introduced to Alexander T. Wolf, who is known to many as the Big Bad Wolf. This brown wolf with glasses and a green cardigan begins his story explaining that he was experiencing a sneezing cold and was baking a birthday cake for his grandmother. Realizing that he was out of sugar, Alexander went to his neighbor’s house to see if he can have a cup of sugar. His neighbor happened to be the First Little Pig, the pig who built his house out of straw. Alexander mentioned that the First Little Pig was not a smart fellow. When the First Little Pig did not...