In Our Mothers' House by Patricia Polacco - Picture book with Gay/Lesbian Character

Bibliography:

Polacco, Patricia. 2009. IN OUR MOTHERS' HOUSE. Ill. Patricia Polacco. New York City, NY: Penguin Young Readers Group. ISBN 978-0-399-25076-7.

Plot Summary:

In Our Mothers' House is the story of a family with two mothers and three adopted children that is told from the oldest child's perspective.   Meema and Marmee, as the children call their Mom's, are two loving woman who have created a home where cooking, art, dancing, playing and kindness for others is always important and encouraged.  Meema and Marmee bring the neighbors together by doing such things as building a tree house and organizing a Woolsey Street block party.  There is one neighbor, Ms. Lockner, who does not agree with how Meema and Marmee live their life but fortunately for Meema and Marmee they have a wonderful group of neighbors who love them and their children and come together to lend support with Ms. Lockner is not kind. 

Critical Analysis:

I absolutely love this book, it is now one of my favorites.  I love how the story begins with the arrival of their first child and it ends with their son living in the home with his own family after Meema and Marmee have passed away.  It is a lovely heartwarming story about two woman who have raised wonderful children who are kind and thoughtful, two qualities any parent would want their child to have.  When Meema and Marmee are approached by a rude neighbor they brush off her comments and don't go into any explanation with their children about why she is the way she is.  They are able to brush off comments until Meema and Marmee are verbally attacked by this neighbor in front of all the other neighbors at their block party.  It is at that moment that Meema and Marmee explain very simply to their children what their neighbors problem is.  As Meema states, "She is full of fear, sweetie.  She's afraid of what she cannot understand: she doesn't understand us."  Marmee adds, "There seems to be no love in her heart, either."  I love how they explain the situation to their children in a way that does not put the other person down or is unkind, it's very simple, something a child can really understand.

I really think the illustrations in this book are great, they are so colorful and the story and illustrations represent people of every size, shape and color and that is wonderful.  I love how detailed the pictures are such as the kitchen pictures, it's so realistic.  You can tell Patricia Polacco had fun drawing the illustrations for this book, they aren't perfect illustrations but they are fun to look at.  I do not feel there were any huge stereotypes within this book as there is the potential for them.  Many woman today choose not to wear dresses, Meema and Marmee are both in the medical field which I feel is pretty normal for woman who work in the medical field to not wear dresses, many woman don't wear them hanging out at the house either.  I think Patricia Polacco did a wonderful job overall with the story and the illustrations. 

Patricia Polacco saw a need for a children's book that features nontraditional families so she created this heart-warming story in their honor.  She looked for real life inspiration in writing the story, she did such a wonderful job that I wondered while reading the book if it was based on her childhood, there is no indication that it did though.  She did an absolutely wonderful job writing and illustrating this book.

Review Awards and Excerpts:

This gem of a book illustrates how love makes a family, even if it's not a traditional one. - School Library Journal

2010 ALA Rainbow Book List

2010 What’s New in Children’s Literature

Connections:

• A book such as this one opens the door to have a conversation about tolerance and openness to how other people choose to live their lives.  I would discuss what makes this family a good family.  If it's an older group there is an opportunity to bring up Utah banning this book in school libraries and why children might think this is wrong.  This sort of discussion would be for older children as they would have a better understanding of laws.

Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye

Bibliography:

Nye, Naomi Shihab. 1997. HABIBI. New York City, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0-689-80149-1.

Plot Summary:

Habibi is the story of a young fourteen year old girl named Liyana who moves with her parents and younger brother, Rafik, from St. Louis to Jerusalem.  Her father moved to the United States when he was a young man and he always knew he'd want to move his family to Jerusalem to get to know his family and understand where they come from.  Liyana is welcomed with open arms by relatives who speak a different language than her but everything Liyana has known is just a memory compared to what her new life is like now.  Liyana befriends a Jewish boy, Omar, who helps her overcome being homesick but their friendship is frowned upon because he is Jewish and she Palestinian.       

Critical Analysis:

This books is really amazing, I feel like it's a story many young girls will enjoy reading because Liyana is such a lovely character but there so much truth in the writing about Jerusalem, the relationship between the Jews and Palistinians, as well as many of the strange "rules" that exist that Liyana is so foreign to.  I also love the relationship Liyana and Rafik have, it's a wonderful brother sister relationship.  They aren't mean to one another, they truly care for eachother and that is nice to see depicted in a book.   

As I began this book I wondered if we'd find out why Liana's father, Poppy, left Jerusalem.  I love how the story was told as an extra credit paper that Liana writes.  From an adults perspective as you read the paper Liana writes you can tell there is so much more that Poppy witnessed just based on adult knowledge of what occures in the middle east but Poppy told Liana information that was age appropriate for her and her class.  I love that he wanted more for himself and that eventhough his family wasn't happy with his decision he knew it was best for him. 

One part of the story I found to be so odd but also one I can identify with is when Poppy and the family are visiting his extended family for the first time after their arrival and towards the end of the evening family members start asking for things.  I wonder if that is common in such poor countries if a family member educates themselves and does well that family and friends will ask for that person to buy them things.  I know this is common with family members in the United States when one does well and others are poor that they feel comfortable to openly ask for things, I find it odd but it does happen.

When Uncle Zaki, Poppy's elder brother, asked for Liyana's hand in marriage for his son and Poppy said "We do not embrace such archaic customs, and furthermore, does she look ready to be married?  She's fourteen years old," was a point in the story that if I were in Poppy's shoes I would be thinking my country hasn't changed enough to validate moving the family to Jerusalem.  That was shocking, I can't imagine being Liyana in that situation nor Poppy and having to realize just how different American customs are compared to customs in the Middle East. 

Naomi Shihab does a wonderful job describing Jerusalem and the old buildings.  But I especially love how she describes the woman's clothing, "thick fabrics, purple, gold and navy blue, and stitched brightly with fabulous, complicated embroidery."  But then it's so strange they are wearing jelly style shoes that are "plastic, slip-on shoes in pastel colors."  I always appreciate books that do a wonderful job describing surroundings and people that I am not familiar with, it's wonderful she does this.

I wish the author, Naomi Shihab Nye, would have put some background information about herself at the end of the book like many authors do.  I can tell based on her Awknowledgements section that she does have family from Jerusalem if not herself personally but I cannot tell fully what her background is.  I would like to know how much of a personal influence the author's life has on this story, it's so wonderful it would be really interesting. 

Review Awards and Excerpts:

ALA Best Book for Young Adults

ALA Notable Children's Book

Jane Addams Book Award

New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

American Bookseller"Pick of the Lists"

Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature

Texas Institute of Letters Best Book for Young Readers

Connections:

• I think it would be really fascinating to read a story such as this one and have adults from other countries come in to discuss their personal experiences living in those countries with children.  It's important for children to hear about other cultures

The Pirate of Kindergarten by George Ella Lyon - Character with Disabilities



Bibliography:

Lyon, George Ella. 2010. THE PIRATE OF KINDERGARTEN. Ill. Lynne Avril. New York City, NY: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division. ISBN 978-1-4169-5024-0.

Plot Summary:

Ginny is a young school girl who sees everything in double but doesn't realize that's not how everyone sees.  A wonderful nurse gives her an eye exam at school and explains to her it's not normal to see everything in double.  Ginny is made fun of in school because she runs into chairs.  Her teacher doesn't realize she has a sight problem so she constantly tells Ginny to "read with her eyes, not her nose" and "don't squint" because she has her nose buried in the book trying to make out the words or she closes one eye or the other to make the letters more clear.  Ginny's Mom takes her to the eye doctor who prescribes an eye patch to help strengthen one of her eyes, Ginny then became a Kindergarten Pirate!

Critical Analysis:

I love this book!  I didn't read anything about what the storyline was prior to reading it so I knew nothing about it.  I love how she has an eye problem because so many kids do and many kids don't want to wear their eye patch or glasses in fear of being made fun of.  This is a common issue for a lot of children to have and such a simple one to address.  I love how Ginny takes her eye patch that could potentially be embarrassing for a child, and is creative by coming up with the idea of being the Pirate of Kindergarten.  I also love that Ginny loves to read and by having her eye patch it allows her to see well and therefore allows her to read even more as well as play on the playground, do numbers and cut with scissors.  What a wonderful example for young children!

Something I found to be a bit ironic is Ginny's teacher wears glasses, you would think someone who wears glasses would recognize someone who might need glasses.  I almost feel like the teacher could have helped Ginny discover her eye problem instead of a mandatory eye check at school.  I find it sad she tells Ginny, "we read with our eyes, not our noses" and told her, "don't squint" when she should have recognized something was not right.

The illustrations in this book are beautiful and colorful, you couldn't ask for more from an illustrator.  I love how the double vision is depicted in the illustrations so you get a true sense of what Ginny sees.  At the end of the book you see Ginny reading, cutting out bunny ears properly and climbing on the playground all the while with her eye patch proudly on.   

Review Awards and Excerpts:

2011 Schneider Family Award for Young Children

Connections:

• I think this is a great opportunity for children to discuss disabilities such as this one, if they know anyone who has a disability or if they have one.  Discuss how it can impact someone and how they can help someone who has a disability.  Also the importance of standing up to children making fun of someone else for being different has to be discussed. 
• As an art project they could each make an eye patch like Ginny's and see what it feels like to read and walk around with only one eye.