A biography...
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Stanley, Diane. 1998. Joan of Arc. New York: Morrow Junior Books. ISBN: 0688143296.
PLOT SUMMARY
This book is a historical account of the life of Joan of Arc. The book takes the reader from Joan of Arc's childhood all the way to the moment of her death. Stanley recounts what is known and recorded of what France was going through during the 100 Year War and how that war shaped the life of a peasant girl who believing she was summoned by angels to intervene and make a difference in France she lived her life fulfilling the command of her visions. The events in the book are historically accurate and portray accurately the life of Joan of Arc.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Diane Stanley does a beautiful job in the biography of Joan of Arc. Stanley gives her readers a good foundation of the events that happened before, during and after the life of Joan of Arc by including at the beginning of the book the section titled "A Hundred Years of War." The author also includes a helpful and interesting pronunciation guide of the French words included in the biography along with a map of the areas travelled and mentioned throughout the book. At the end of the book Stanley also includes a bibliography and a list of books about Joan of Arc recommended for young readers. Stanley's book is a vivid and well-detailed biography on the life of Joan of Arc. At the end, the author makes a statement that sums up about the facts found in her biography. This is what Diane Stanley says:
"The transcripts of Joan's trial for heresy is much more than just the record of a judicial proceeding; it is the autobiography of Joan of Arc. Through her answers, in her own simple words, she gives us a first-person account of her childhood, her visions, and her extraordinary career."
Overall, the book does a wonderful job of relating the facts in a way that keeps young and old mesmerized with every word that recounts the life of a hero, Joan of Arc, and the pictures are beautiful and complement the story just right.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Starred reviewed in Publishers Weekly. "Appealing to the audience's intelligence and imagination, this book stimulates an interest in both its particular subject, Joan of Arc, and history in general."
Reviewed in School Library Journal. "This narrative description of the greatest of French saints is a work of art, a good story, and a model of historical writing."
CONNECTIONS
This is a book has an interdisciplinary purpose in a classroom. It can serve as a literature work, a book to learn about history or a book to analyze and learn about art. It is a valuable tool in any classroom.
To learn more about the author, Diane Stanley, click on this link. Some other biographies written by Stanley are:
Saladin: Noble Prince of Islam
Michaelangelo
Peter the Great
Sibert Award winning book...
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. 2005. Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow. New York: Scholastic. ISBN: 0439353793.
SUMMARY PLOT
This nonfiction book tells the story of the children that found themselves in the middle of Hitler's movements and rise to supremacy in Germany. Hitlerjugend, Hitler Youth, was an organization formed by teenagers to serve and dedicate themselves to Hitler's ideology. Susan Campbell Bartoletti's book gives a gruesome and chilling picture of what it was to be growing up during the era of Hitler's rise and how he attracted so many young and susceptible minds to carryout atrocities against the Jewish people. The book tells of how some supporting parents, and others who were not, allowed their children to be drawn into these groups of children who were devoting their lives to Adolf Hitler. Unfortunately, these children became part of history by becoming part of Hitler's followers and following his orders. The book retells story after story of children's lives on how they followed or did not follow Hitler, how some of them destroyed their families for loyalty to Hitler, and how most of them risked their lives either by being on or against Hitler's side.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Campbell Bartoletti chronicles the lives of some of the children who found themselves in the middle of the Hitler turmoil. The events are retold in simple language that convey the message thoroughly and very vividly. Many personal stories are told such as the one of Hans Scholl. He was a young man attending the University of Munich in 1942. He and others were the founding members of the group called White Rose. They spoke out against Hitler and the atrocities being committed against Jews. With the use of a duplicating machine, Scholl and others courageously passed out leaflets of information in Munich and southern Germany.
Just like his story several others are told in Campbell Bartoletti's book. The book chronicles young lives that some were supporting Hitler and others were not. Not only the powerful words written by the author get to the readers, but also, the vivid pictures found throughout the book. No one that reads this book can forget the faces and emotions plastered all over the pictures. Such is the case of the picture found just right before the Foreword. It is of a young boy not older than six or seven years old in full Storm Trooper uniform with swastika and all doing the Nazi salute.
The sections at the end of the book do a great job in wrapping up all the facts in the book. The Epilogue tells the reader of what became of each young person met throughout the book. The time line of the events involving Hitler's youth make it easy for readers to put all the events together and understanding year-to-year the different things that happened that shaped the youth of that era in Germany.
Overall, this book is great for anyone to read and learn about the youngsters that found themselves in the middle of the historical events that led to and of World War II. The authors does a wonderful job of informing the readers of what happened during that time to some young people who decided to follow Adolf Hitler and some who decided to go against him. A much recommend book for young and old to read and learn and enjoy.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Reviewed in Publishers Weekly. "Bartoletti's portrait of individuals within the Hitler Youth who failed to realize that they served "a mass murderer" is convincing, and while it does not excuse the atrocities, it certainly will allow readers to comprehend the circumstances that led to the formation of Hitler's youngest zealots."
Reviewed in Booklist. "The handsome book design, with black-and-white historical photos on every double-page spread, will draw in readers and help spark deep discussion, which will extend beyond the Holocaust curriculum. The extensive back matter is a part of the gripping narrative."
CONNECTIONS
This link takes you to the author's official site, Susan Campbell Bartoletti.
Another Siber Award book by Susan Campbell Bartoletti:
Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine 1845-1850
Nonfiction book by Seymour Simon
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simon, Seymour. 1987. Animal Fact/Animal Fable. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., a Random House Company. ISBN: 0517588463.
PLOT SUMMARY
This book gives a popular statement about a given animal and asks the reader to decide if it is a fact or fable about the animal. At the turn of the page, the reader will find out if indeed the statement is a fact or a fable about the animal. The reader not only will find out if it is a fact or a fable, the reader will learn about the basis of the statement given and learn the specific facts.
The illustrations in the book by Diane deGroat are wonderful in depicting the statement given about the animals in a humorous way. Again, at the turn of the page, the illustrations turn serious and educational. The illustrations certainly detail the content of the book in a very eloquent and entertaining way.
The reader will learn about different kinds of animals from domestic to wild animals. The book is full of fables, facts and facts about where the fables might have originated for each animal in the story.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This is a nonfiction book that will keep young readers entertained and educate them as they are reading. The book is designed in such a way that the reader can read a statement and try to decipher if it is fact or fiction. For example, most of us have heard that some bees sting only once which Seymour Simon explains that it is a fact. The author, in a very simplistic way, gives the facts behind this statement. Simon does it in such a way that the reader will close the book knowing the facts behind some fables known about some animals.
Also, the pictures are a great complement to the book. The pictures are done in a dual way. They literally depict the fact or fable for the statements given in the story.
It is a truly wonderful and recommended book for young readers to enjoy and learn at every turn of the page.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Starred reviewed in School Library Association. "Combining instruction with amusement can be a tricky business, usually one aim is sacrificed to the other. Here is a book that manages a balance, and succeeds...A very fine collaboration."
Reviewed in Publishers Weekly. "Every entry is a surprise is the best kind of book-one that entertains while it educates."
CONNECTIONS
This is an excellent book to use to teach young children about fiction and facts about animals. The following link takes you to a website full of extension activities that go along with Seymour Simon's book:
http://www.macmillanmh.com/reading/2005/student/activity.php3?story=117
