RM Winter 2017 FINAL

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Reading Matters
Literature Matters
Reading Matters | Volume 16 • Winter 2016 | |69|
One of my favorite titles in this column, What a Wonderful
World, is a picturebook adaptation of the classic song made
famous by Louis Armstrong. While this song focuses on some
of the many wonderful things in our world that we should pay
attention to (e.g., skies of blue, clouds of white, colors of the
rainbow, etc.), it makes me think about the wonderful world of
books. Every year I find myself excited about books that engage
me as a reader and educator for myriad reasons. Sometimes I
learn about people that I have never heard of before like Millo
Castro Zaldarriaga and José Guadalupe Posada. Other times, I
am happy to come across literary gems such as In the Footsteps of
Crazy Horse simply because I see the need for books that represent
(and are written by) Native Americans in contemporary settings.
This column features a selection of books across several genres
and sub-genres (e.g., biography, informational text, historical and
contemporary realistic fiction, free verse, and wordless) about a
range of topics such as typhoid fever, drumming, the Day of the
Dead, and the weather. I am pleased to have written this column
with several Clemson University students who participated in a
Creative Inquiry project with me. Creative Inquiry is a program
sponsored by the university that allows students and faculty to
engage in activities and discovery across a range of disciplines.
I welcome any feedback from readers about this column:
I hope that after browsing this column,
you too will take pleasure in the wonderful world of books.
Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True
Story of the Deadliest Cook
in America
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. (2015). 229
pages. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 978-0-
544-31367-5 $17.99 (Young Adult)
-- by Laura Dekle
Many people may not know or
recognize the name “Mary Mallon,”
but most people have heard of
“Typhoid Mary,” the infamous
cook who spread typhoid fever in the food she served. But Mary
Mallon herself was not terrible. She was just trying to make a
living. Those who have heard the story of Typhoid Mary before
or those for whom her name is new will learn something they
did not already know. In a systematic and thoughtful way, Susan
Campbell Bartoletti walks readers through Mary’s story, showing
them the perspectives of all those involved in Mary’s case and how
their opinions evolved over the years that Mary’s case was a “case.”
She does this by sharing the facts and details of what happened
to Mary and each person involved in her story. Bartoletti writes
in a way that gives readers the freedom to think, thus guiding
TheWonderful World of Books: A Review of
Children’s Literature for Teachers
Jonda C. McNair, Clemson University Students, and Katie Thomas
them to make an educated speculation as to the thoughts,
motivations, and perspectives of each person in the story.
Bartoletti’s work also shows thorough research, as evidenced by
her citation of newspapers that were current in Mary’s time as well
as obscure articles to round out her points. Following the content
of the book is a collection of pictures of the figures mentioned
in the book, in addition to newspaper illustrations concerning
Mary’s story. Also in this section is a timeline of what events
happened when. Throughout the book, Bartoletti uses footnotes,
with a section in the back of the book with more information
on each of these topics. Terrible Typhoid Mary introduces to
students ethical issues – would it be better to quarantine Mary
and not allow her to make her living, or should she continue
to cook but run the risk of infecting others? This book explores
human rights while also teaching about this historical event
in an objective, helpful, and informative way. Readers looking
for another recent book on the subject might enjoy Fatal Fever:
Tracking Down Typhoid Mary by Gail Jarrow (Calkins Creek, 2015).
Drum Dream Girl: How One
Girl’s Courage Changed Music
Engle, Margarita (2015). Illus. by Rafael
López. Unpaged. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
978-0-544-10229-3 $16.99 (Primary/
Intermediate)
– by Taylor Gerland
Have you ever had a dream bigger
than you? Well, sometimes you
have to ignore what others say and
pursue it with full force! This is an inspiring true story for dreamers
based on a Chinese-African-Cuban girl, Millo Castro Zaldarriaga,
who broke Cuba’s traditional taboo against female drummers. Her
courage to break tradition has helped make drumming possible
for girls on the island. The vibrant illustrations, created with acrylic
paint on a wooden board, help guide the poetic text to show the
journey the girl went through to achieve her dreams. The drum
dream girl in the book is described as living on an island of music
in a city of drumbeats where she dreamed of pounding tall conga
drums and tapping small bongó drums. This rhythmic pattern of
words is found throughout and helps correspond to the rhythm
in music. Despite being discouraged throughout the story, Millo
continues to dream alone until finally her father sees how great she
truly is. Her father gets her a music teacher and even he is amazed
by her talent. With the help of her family, her music teacher, and
her never ending faith in her dream she plays at a small bongó café
where the audience realizes that girls should always be allowed to
play drums. This story helps show that no matter how big a dream
is and who stands in your way, you should never give up on it.