Hannah Is My Name book review by Aiden

Title of the Book: Hannah Is My Name 

Author Name: Belle Yang 

Reviewer's Name: Aiden 

Publisher: Candlewick Press 

 Date of Publication: 2004 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

The book, Hanna Is My Name by Belle Yang is the story of a young girl and her family who moved to the United States of America from the country Taiwan. They struggled with being able to earn enough money to support 3 people without being able to get a job. They couldn’t get a well-paying job, because they did not have green cards, and if they got caught they would get sent back to Taiwan. They have a close call with a man who checks for green cards but they are saved by the nice doorman who works at their apartment building. They wait for over a year for their green cards to come in the unreliable United States Postal Service. They eventually come, and Hannah finally acknowledges that Hannah is her name, by saying “Hannah is my name” (Yang 23). 

This is a good book for the reading level it is rated for. It has a decent plot and a good storyline. It gets the readers thinking about what it would be like to not be able to work, for fear of being deported. It tells young children that not everybody is as privileged as they are and that they should be understanding of this. There is also a bit of irony included in the book. At the start of the book, the main character dislikes her name. She thinks that it is weird that they do not call her “tadpole” or Na-Li but at the end of the book when she gets her green card she accepts her name and begins to like it. Overall this book has a good plot, and enough of it to keep the story interesting for a younger audience, but it does not have too much that it gets confusing.

It's a Book book review by Jude

Title of the Book: It's a Book 

 Author Name: Lane Smith 

 Reviewer's Name: Jude 

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press 

Date of Publication: 2010 

Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

In the short picture book, “It’s a Book” the author Lane Smith formulates a simple story about an old fellow explaining the concept of a book to a Jackass. The Jackass doesn't understand how a book works, the concept of it and why anyone would ever think to use one. He Asks the monkey simple questions about the book that anyone in this day and age should know. He is confused about the functionality of the book, for example, as the monkey explains that it is unable to call, text tweet, text, wi-fi, and make characters battle. The Jackass just looks even more confused and this makes the monkey roll his eyes back. At the end of the book, Jackass ends up enjoying the simplicity of the book and even going to the library. Many themes are displayed in this story. Just to name a few, the monkey learns the importance of being patient and the Jackass learns about how being open-minded can benefit you in the end. The illustrator used many methods to portray how the characters are feeling. The monkey has unexcited eyes, and barely moves his mouth, showing the reader his unenthusiasm. The jackass is very engaged when comparing his computer to the book. This one tells us how he is so consumed with his computer and trying to show that off to the monkey. After being more of a nuisance, the monkey really starts to get aggravated because he is being questioned, we can see this because of his tense body language. 

This book is a great tool to teach children the simple pleasures of reading. It does it in a manner that is easy to understand, with great visual signals to help the children to understand body language better. The criticism I have is the character being called a Jackass, which can be used as an insult. Children may not understand this concept and use it and that is not what we want.

Sweet Clara And The Freedom Quilt book review by Alvin

Title of the Book: Sweet Clara And The Freedom Quilt 

Author Name: Deborah Hopkinson 

 Reviewer's Name: Alvin 

Publisher: Dragonfly Books 

Date of Publication: 1993 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was an interesting book to read. The story is about an African American slave, that sewed a map out of a quilt. Sweet Clara, the main character of the book, was sent away from her home after being bought by a new master. She was brought out of hard labor, to work as a seamstress under Aunt Rachel instead. One day, Sweet Clara heard of escape plans, and how they would be so much simpler with a map. She took it upon herself to sew an entire map of the area, leading all the way up to Canada, a land where slaves would be free. After Young Jack was caught trying to escape, Clara worked even harder to finish the map. At the end of the story, she successfully completed the quilt with the help of many. She used this map to escape with Jack, picking up her mom and the younger sister she never knew she had as well. The map continued to help other slaves, several of who escaped to Canada as well. 

Overall, this was an informational story, one of back when slavery still ran rampant. The plot shows the struggles of the slaves and the work they had to do to escape. I’m not sure if this was a real story, but I find sewing a map in a quilt highly unrealistic. Getting information strictly from passersby, and accurately representing the information on a quilt, where the error is highly probable, sounds nigh impossible to do. There was also the question of how Clara was never caught. I’m almost certain that the slave masters would check on them regularly. Maybe the Americans were just silly and never noticed any scheming. This is a story that has potential errors, but is still relevant to source material. 

The Color of Home book review by Leah

Title of the Book: The Color of Home 

Author Name: Mary Hoffman 

Reviewer's Name: Leah 

Publisher: Penguin Books

Date of Publication: 2002

Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The picture book is about a young boy named Hassan. He and his family move to the United States, away from the war happening in Somalia. Hassan struggles to acclimate to his new environment, feeling like everything is dark and gloomy. The young boy attends a new school, where he has trouble fitting in because he is unable to speak English. Fortunately, Hassan and his teacher find a way to communicate through art by drawing his life experiences. The instructor finally realizes that Hassan should tell his life story, so they invite a guest interpreter to Hassan’s school. Afterward, he finally adjusts to his new life and sees the world as a brighter picture. The lesson/message of this book is people need to make sacrifices for their families in order to ensure their well-being and happiness. Hassan’s uncle gave up his life by standing up to a soldier in an attempt to ensure their family’s safety. Another sacrifice made was Hassan’s life in Somalia. He had to leave his friends, home, and family behind all in hopes of a brighter future for his sister and him. In addition, Hassan’s parents had to sacrifice their house and life in Somalia too for their children. 

Throughout the book, readers are able to make connections to the IB Learner Profile attributes. This includes open-mindedness and risk-taker. The teacher was open-minded and welcomed Hassan into her classroom with open arms. She sought to learn and understand his perspective and life story. Furthermore, Hassan was a risk-taker. On his journey with his family to America, he approached it with determination as well as when he arrived at school. Hassan was resourceful by using the set of art supplies provided by his teacher to communicate since he could not speak the common language. Moreover, the pictures in the book were by Karin Littlewood. She took a more watercolor look so you could see the blending of different colors. At the beginning of the book, she used darker saturated colors to represent how Hassan sees the world as dark and gloomy. Also, as a symbol of how he is sad that his home in Somalia is no longer safe because there is an ongoing war and his family has moved to an unfamiliar place. Then, at the end of the book, Karin applies lighter brighter colors and light saturation so readers can understand the change in how the young boy views America from sad to bright as he believes there is a brighter future ahead of him. These colors also display his happiness in being able to tell his story through painting and the interpreter. Overall, the book has a special meaning behind the pictures and plot that make it a story worthwhile to read.

¡Vamos! Let’s go to the Market book review by Obioma

Title of the Book: ¡Vamos! Let’s go to the Market 

Author Name: Raúl the Third 

Reviewer's Name: Obioma Aguwa 

Publisher: Harper Collins 

Date of Publication: 2019 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The book, ¡Vamos! Let’s go to the Market by Raúl the Third is a great picture book for anyone and is easy to understand. The book follows the character Little Lobo as he goes on an adventure through el mercados and more with his dog, Bernabé. Throughout the book, you can see some of Little Lobo’s values of being responsible and respectable. For every person he interacts with, you can see he’s very friendly to everyone he talks to. He’s very responsible with what he has to deliver and gives everyone what they need on time. The book is bilingual and filled with both Spanish and English which gives native Spanish or English speakers a chance to understand more of a language they don’t know. The story was easy to follow and understand because of the storytelling and images put in the book. All the characters showed life in them which helped me get more engaged in what I was reading. 

One of my favorite parts of the book were the zoomed-out scenes of where Little Lobo and his dog were. It showed many different Spanish vocabulary words and taught me more Spanish words that I didn’t know before. For example, I learned some words like olla, which means pot, la viejita, meaning the old woman, and much more. Having a visible drawing depicting a certain word was also very helpful in understanding useful Spanish words. This book is also great for native Spanish speakers learning English, as they can learn phrases and sentences. Another part of the book that I liked was when the girl, Chiva paints the donkey with black stripes to make it a donkey because I thought that was funny. The art was also a really huge part of why I enjoyed this book because it was filled with so many expressions and the color scheme was great for the book too. Finally, in my opinion, I think the author did a great job with making this book.

Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys book review by Hanna

Title of the Book: Virgie Goes to School with us Boys 

Author Name Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard 

Reviewer's Name: Hanna 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing 

Date of Publication: 2000

Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The book Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys is a heartwarming story with surprisingly feminist views. From just the title, the reader can deduce that Virgie, a girl, is not allowed to go to school with her brothers and male peers. From the first couple pages, the reader understands she finds this unfair. Feminist ideals shine through even more when Virgie fights for her right to go to school, of course in an appropriate manner for the adolescents reading the book. Virgie Goes to School has found the spot between being enjoyable for kids and teaching important life lessons. Relatable for the young girls who might not be able to do things with their male friends, it is fun and teaches girls to stand up for themselves. The books detailed illustrations add to the descriptive writing. Emotions conveyed by characters help the reader or listeners understand what Virgie is feeling throughout the story. 

My favorite part of the book is when the boys expect Virgie to be a girly girl. They expect her to not want to play in the river, for fear of getting dirty and not want to join in on activities, or when she does, that she cries instantly. Instead, Virgie proves them all wrong by enjoying the “boyish” activities. She is a strong female character, even though she is in a kid's book, and is still relatable to younger audiences. The author keeps the reader hooked by implementing more and more conflicts. Once Virgie wins her battle to go to school, she meets more challenges from her male peers. She strives to keep going and end up in school and doesn't give up. This book is great for younger audiences as it is fast-paced and keeps their attention. However, it also teaches important lessons about feminism to both boys and girls.

A is for Amazing Moments book review by Christian

Title of the Book: A is for Amazing Moments 

Author Name: Brad Herzog 

Reviewer's Name: Christian 

Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press 

Date of Publication: 2008 

Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Do you like sports? If you do then this book is for you. This book captures 26 different ground breaking accomplishments that occurred in sports. The book doesn’t just focus on one sport only, it has accomplishments from Racing to Baseball. This book has a different event for each letter of the alphabet, one example is V for victory, which doesn’t have to be about the sport or the player, some other things were some of the player or team names like J for Michael Jordan on Utah Jazz. 

An occurring theme throughout the book is that there were people who seemed to be the underdog(s) in certain situations but they overcame the obstacles and made their way to the top and they were able to prove themselves to be the best of the best. In this book, the art makes it look in a way that really captures the excitement of the players in the sports and shows how intense it is while still looking sophisticated and calm. The purpose of this book is to inform and inspire to show what people have been able to do in the past, despite the obstacles they faced, whether it was race, social class, or anything else. Another thing that showed throughout the book was that the people all looked different. Some of the people in the book could have come from the same country or are of the same race but they broke through the barriers that were not possible until they achieved it. 

In the book, it is very descriptive of the things that happened. On every page, it said the year, sometimes the month. On every page it said the name of the player, it gave a description of what they did, a description of the person, and a description of why it was so special that they did what they did, for example, it said that Roger Bannister ran the first 4 minute mile on May 6, 1954 with 1,200 spectators art Oxford University, at the age of 25.

Monsters First Day at School book review by Ashir

Title of the Book: Monsters First Day at School 

Author Name: Karen Bell-Brege 

Reviewer's Name: Ashir 

Publisher: Team B Creative LLC 

 Date of Publication: 2016 

Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you were a monster wouldn’t you want to go to school in a school where everyone was like you? This book is about monsters going to their first day of school. The school is for monsters and so everyone including the teachers and staff are all monsters. All the monsters are nervous for their first day of school. They all wonder who their friends will be. These monsters are all sick to their stomachs because they don’t know how the first day will be. The book talks about how different monsters act and do different things. The theme behind this book is that the first day of school may seem like a big deal but it really is not and you will get through it, have fun and make some friends. The artist really utilizes color and texture to emphasize things and make them distinct for their little audience. Bigfoot was really hairy and smelled really bad. The teacher got angry at him because she could smell him from across the room. The teacher sends him to the bathroom with a comb instructing him to come back when he is clean and smells good. 

My favorite part was art class. In art class, a whole group of zombies were finger painting, however there was a little twist. The fingers they were painting with weren’t actually attached to their hands. They were using their fingers as paint brushes. Then as the day was coming to an end a lot of the monsters made some friends. And when it was time to get on the bus the monsters were really happy, talking to each other and jumping around everywhere. They were finally going home to see their mommies and daddies. When they got off the bus they gave their parents great big hugs and went home. This ending shows to little kids that when you get back home from your long day of school you can see your proud and happy parents.

The Color of Home book review by Kuba

Title of the Book: The Color of Home 

Author Name: Mary Hoffman 

Reviewer's Name: Kuba

Publisher: Penguin Books

Date of Publication: 2002 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The book The Color of Home, this remarkably moving picture book follows first-grader Hassan through his first few days at school. Hassan has only recently arrived in the United States after he and his family were forced to flee, and he deeply misses the colorful landscape of his former home in Africa. The goal of this piece is to promote immigration, a sense of belonging, creativity, and resilience, which is all extremely important in today's society, and to truly be an IB Learner. The fact is that everyone, no matter how different we are, should be accepted and treated equally, even if we come from different places and backgrounds. We as IB students have certain requirements that should be followed. These things set us apart from everyone else and make us special, in comparison to others who don’t care about solving these issues that we are faced with each day. 

This text is very well written, it introduces the world's problems in a way that helps children understand. But would you really want to show children that they exist so young? Some would have a difficult time understanding that the real world has problems it could affect them in lots of different ways. But mostly the book has an overall simple way that explains such complex problems, but I also love it because it is a nice way to say things, without overloading a person with negative emotions, and instead is said in a way that slowly pushes the information towards the children. This style of writing is also a very safe way to prove that children can handle this information. I’m also very curious about how children deal with this, because it’s designed for them but the topic isn’t very helpful or relevant in a children's life. Which is another vital factor in children's books.

The Promise Quilt book review by Taali

Title of the Book: The Promise Quilt 

 Author Name: Candice F. Ransom (Illustrator: Ellen Beier) 

Reviewer's Name: Taali 

Publisher: Walker Publishing Company, Inc. 

 Date of Publication: 1999 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

The book The Promise Quilt by Candice Ransom is about the effect the Civil War had on families, specifically the ones living in the south. Addie, the main character, is very close to her dad as a child, but when she’s only 5, he leaves her for the war. He promises that he’ll come back and that he’ll help her go to school, but he dies before the war ends. Addie is heartbroken without her dad and the only thing she has left of him are memories are his red flannel, the one he was wearing the day he left for the war. Her dad dying leaves her family without money so they end up struggling a lot over the next couple years. They end up planting a corn field with the little money left and thankfully it was a good crop. Soon after, it was time for Addie to go to school, but the war had blown up the school. Addie was really disappointed but with the help of a lady in Pennsylvania, they managed to raise money to buy books and supplies. Soon Addie was able to attend school with other kids. 

I really liked this book, it was an easy read and it held some importance behind it. It was also sort of informational. It talked about the effects that war has on families, during, and after the war. War is not always on a designated battlefield and a lot of casualties are innocent people who are not soldiers. No one really talks about the effect battle has on families after the war either. It can be very hard, having to wait years for your family member to come home, and then never coming back. And you never really know what happened to them. This book is really good for beginners and has nice pictures in it to help you read along and understand. I give this book a 5/5 stars because it was sort of informational and it was sweet. Its also something nice to show to little kids to inform them about these kinds of situations. Overall this was a great book. 

This book about the effect of war on families was really nice. I think Addie was really strong, she continued to help her mom after her dad died even though she was just a little kid and she had just lost a parent she was really close to. She never verbally complained to her mom when she lost everything and when they were living off boiled turnips because they were poor. And she was strong enough to give up her dad’s flannel, the last thing she had of him, to the quilt her mom was making because she was thinking about the others and knew it was the right thing to do. I also really liked the mom because she stayed strong for her kids even when she just lost her husband. She also worked really hard to support her family and then to get Addie to school. My favorite part was when Addie gave up the flannel for the quilt because it shows how strong she is.

Under the Quilt of Night book review by Oleksandr

Title of the Book: Under the Quilt of Night 

Author Name: Deborah Hopkinson 

Reviewer's Name: Oleksandr 

Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks: Simon & Schuster

 Date of Publication: 2005 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

The book Under the Quilt of Night by Deborah Hopkinson, it is telling the story of a young man who was a slave and is running away from the person who enslaved him. The storyline also takes a tight turn when the slave owner with his men came to the driver and almost caught everyone while on the way to Canada, but luckily it was avoided and it all turned out well. In the end, they all successfully escaped from the slave owners and finally got their freedom. The value of this text is that it shows how hard it is for people who were enslaved against their will to get their freedom back and everyone deserves freedom. The mood of the story changes rapidly throughout the plot of the story, for example, when once they were all happy because they finally got shelter and all of the sudden the slave owner came and the mood changed to scared and worried. 

In this picture book, the illustrations display exactly what the author wants for the audience to see, so the audience won’t get some themes confused while they are imagining the text and won’t have mixed emotions. Overall, the book is very interesting and informative. It also uses literary devices like a simile. One example of a simile is when in the book, the narrator said “ Straw pricks my skin like needles” comparing the straw to needles because of the sharpness. Even though there aren't too many examples of simile, the author still uses an appropriate amount of literary devices for their intended idea and audience. Although simile is present here, for some part of the audience who is still very young, it might be confusing. Also, the author is using simple words and not any complex ones so the intended audience is young kids. Overall, the book is really good and interesting for the intended audience age.

Bretta Bunny Bounces Back book review by Tess

Title of the Book: Bretta Bunny Bounces Back 

Author Name: Theresa and Alyson Rich (Illustrated by Josh Wise) 

Reviewer's Name: Tess 

Publisher: Rich Counsel Press 

Date of Publication: 2013 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Bretta Bunny Bounces Back is a typical children’s book, with a bubbly main character and colorful illustrations, and of course an important moral value. The story begins with the protagonist, Bretta Bunny, waking up and getting ready for another day at school. However, things take a bad turn when Bretta trips in mud on her way to school, ruining her school project. This slip-up largely ruins Bretta Bunny’s day, and she comes home crying as a result. However, after some time, she gets up and tells herself that what happened that day actually wasn’t so bad, and just wakes up the next morning feeling optimistic that things will be better. This book teaches children that even when things go wrong, things will eventually get better if they persevere through it, quoting the common phrase “This was a brand new day” on the last page. 

The inspiring theme is further amplified by the bright, colorful illustrations. These drawings are quite simple: you can see for example that Bretta bunny sometimes is not completely colored in. The illustrations seem to have been created using colored pencils, and aid in keeping a cheerful mood throughout the story despite the unfortunate things that happen to Bretta. The wording in this book is kept simple, and most sentences end in rhymes to appeal to the intended audience, preschool and elementary school children. 

Overall, Beretta Bunny Bounces Back is a sweet little book that does a great job of teaching young children that all bad things come to pass. I feel that the story and drawings were a teensy bit too simple, but then again, that may make it more suitable for the very youngest of readers. This book effectively portrays its moral value in a fun and engaging way for its intended audience, and for that, I’ll say it’s a success. I also find it interesting that a former IA student wrote parts of this book...

Monsters First Day At School book review by Manav

Title of the Book: Monsters First Day At School 

Author Name: Karen Bell-Brege 

Reviewer's Name: Manav 

Publisher: Team B Creative LLC 

 Date of Publication: 2016 

Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Would you want to read a children’s book that had lots of themes and morals and was perfect for young children? Monsters First Day at School by Karen Bell-Brege is the perfect book for you! This book teaches children many important values such as behaving appropriately, being responsible, thinking creatively and feeling accepted. The book starts off by introducing a class filled with a variety of monsters who all have unique personalities. The experiences that this class goes through together teach the readers multiple important lessons and there is lots of character development that is shown. An example of a lesson shown in this book is when a group of monsters was behaving badly during lunch and as a punishment, they understood the consequences of their actions. This shows readers the importance of behaving appropriately to the situation around them. There are more lessons throughout the book but you should check it out yourself! 

My favorite part of this book is when a dinosaur was feeling insecure and uncomfortable when people were using his body as a today to play with. As time went on, the dinosaur made a friend, which was a bird, and the bird came and made the dinosaur feel better. Eventually, people stopped using the dinosaur’s body and everyone felt better. I love this part of the book because it is very easy to understand and relate to. Everyone has been through a time in their life when they were uncomfortable and their friend helped them in the situation. This is one of the lessons which I really like in this book and I feel that this book was made extremely well. As I have stated before, there are many different lessons that are shown in this story and that is one of the few reasons why you should read this book.