Firegirl

 We've all been there before. We've all experienced it. The teacher announces that there will be a new student, and you immediately wonder who they are and what they'll be like. Will they be your new best friend? Will they be pretty? Will they sit next to you? A million questions pop into your head at once while the rest of the class buzzes with excitement. Now what if this student has suffered a terrible accident and doesn't look anything like you've seen before? How do you react?

The story Firegirl, winner of the Golden Kite Award and authored by Tony Abbott, carefully explores just that and follows the thoughts and actions of one particular boy name Tom. Tom is your average student and struggles to be accepted by his peers, as well as garner the attention of a particular girl in class. He doesn't want to stand out and is solely focused on this until the new girl comes to class. Jessica, the new girl, had been severely burned in an accident, and to her peers is barely recognizable as a human. During the course of a few short weeks, Tom find himself thinking about things that had never occurred to him before, and starts to see people in a different way. His peers, particularly his best friend Jeff, dream up cruel reasons for why she looks the way she does, and refuse to accept her or treat her as anything other than some foul creature. Tom is frustrated and torn; on one hand he wants to fit in with his class, but on the other hand he sees no good reason to treat her badly. As the story progresses, Tom becomes increasingly irritated by his friend's antics, and instead develops a close friendship with Jessica as he tries to see things from her perspective.

At first Tom is very reluctant to interact with Jessica, not because of the way she looks, but because of what the other kids would say. Eventually, he is asked to drop a homework assignment off at Jessica's home, which being from the judging eyes of his classmates, give him the opportunity to interact and speak with her and her family. From them he discovers the tragic event that so quickly turned their lives upside down, and starts to see things in a new light. In the past he'd spent each day thinking of a new way to catch his love interest's attention. Now, after discovering Jessica's past, he spends each day thinking of Jessica instead and ways to include her in the class.

One thing I found interesting about this realistic fiction book was how the author decided to present it to his audience. When writing it, he chose to do it from Tom's perspective, as though his sitting right there in front of you talking about exactly what happened. As you move through the pages you really connect with Tom on a personal level, because who hasn't had to decide between what they think is best and what the group thinks is best? You're right there with him watching him hesitate; watching him unknowingly make a huge difference in his own life and Jessica's. Even at the end of the book it seems Tom still doesn't realize the impact of what had happened, when he says "On the outside it doesn't look like very much happened. A burned girl was in my class for awhile. Once I brought her some homework. In class she said my name. Then she was gone. That's pretty much all that had happened", which is true, but so much more was going on within him. His one seemingly small gesture snowballed into a life altering experience.


Another interesting point I saw in the book, was how Tom and Jeff represented two sides to the same coin. Tom, had two loving parents in a stable home, and chose the side of compassion with Jessica. Each day when he came home his parents were there and supported him in every way. Jeff on the other hand chose to ridicule Jessica and came from a divorced family where no one was ever home when he got back from school, and neither parent seemed to provide much emotional support. This one little detail seems to imply, however delicately, that a supportive and loving environment may be the one thing that keeps kids thinking about their actions in the world around them, and being compassionate people.

Many young readers may be bored with this book if they simply go by the title and expect some sort of action, however this story does speak to older readers or anyone who's ever felt out of place or awkward. This book would be a great story for upper elementary students and above to read as they may already be feeling the effects of social pressures. This story could also be a good way for educators and parents alike to address the topic of personal perceptions, our differences, and how we should treat each other, as the book doesn't simply tell a story, it has you experience it.

Though the title of the book implies that Jessica is the focus, it is a really Tom who is the main character. The story showcases his inner struggle as a good kid just trying to be good while dealing with the social pressures of school. At first glance this story is not very thrilling, but when you realize how this one little event changed the perspective and life of Tom, you'll wonder what little events have shaped your own life.

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I would suggest that teachers and parents read this book along with their children and be prepared to address the sensitive topics presented inside. Though Abbott's description of Jessica and her accident isn't overly graphic, it is pretty detailed and does paint an image that may disturb some readers. Personally, I think it's very important to address his descriptions head-on as there will be many instances in real life where our children will come face to face with someone who is suffering in the same manner as Jessica.

Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant and Other Poems

Have you ever wondered what you’d get if you crossed a panther and a thermometer? How about an umbrella and an elephant? Well, it just so happens that you’re in luck, because author Jack Prelutsky and illustrator Carin Berger have answered those questions in their book, Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant and Other Poems.

 In this very creative and amusing collection of poems, Prelutsky tells of wonderfully inventive creatures and their unique abilities. Each of the 17 poems sprang from the author’s imaginative pairing of an inanimate object and a real animal, like the ever on time Clocktopus. Each of the poems has been created with a strong rhythm and can automatically be read in a sing-song manner, even in your head! Most of the poems are also written in rhyming line pairs, which creates a smooth transition from one poem to the next.

If you thought that the poetry was the only thing in this book to get your creative juices flowing, you’d be wrong because the illustrations take Umbrellaphant to a whole new level. To create the illustrations, Carin Berger used a cut paper collage method to model the creatures in the book, effectively taking actual bits of paper (ticket stubs, catalogs, etc.) and molding them into the shapes of real life animals, albeit with new man-made appendages.

I think this collection is a great way to introduce elementary students to the silly and imaginative side of poetry. After reading these poems you could ask your students or children for that matter, to think of their own animal-object combo and create their own poems, which as Jack Prelutsky is quick to point out on his website, don’t have to rhyme! He says that learning how to play with the rhythm of words and how to arrange your ideas is the most important concept when you’re just beginning to write poetry. I love that he went out of his way to say this, because as a child sorting through and finding all the right rhyming words can be a daunting challenge in and of itself.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of poems and would definitely recommend it to elementary students grade 3 and up, particularly because some of the vocabulary could be challenging for younger children. However words like resplendent and reverberate would also create a great segue into other language arts lessons. So, go out, pick up this book and introduce, or reintroduce, someone to the fun poetry they're missing!