RM Winter 2016 FLIP

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Reading Matters
Literature Matters
| 70| Reading Matters | Volume 16 • Winter 2016 |
One of my favorite books in this column is titled The Right Word:
Roget and His Thesaurus, and it is an award-winning biography of
Peter Mark Roget (pronounced “ROH-ZHAY”) and his love of books
and (especially) words. Roget recognized the power of words
and “believed that everyone should have this power—everyone
should be able to find the right word whenever they needed it.”
This column features a selection of books across many genres
and sub-genres (e.g., biography, informational text, contemporary
realistic fiction, free verse, and wordless) about a range of topics
such as animal vision, rocks, desegregation, the world of Islam, and
drawing. In addition, I made sure to include books that are diverse
in numerous ways (e.g., race, disability, religion, etc.) in the hopes of
making readers of this journal familiar with children’s literature that
is representative of the culturally diverse world in which we all live.
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 will find the “right book” for you and your students.
The Right Word: Roget and
His Thesaurus
Bryant, Jen. (2014). Illus. by Melissa Sweet.
Unpaged. Eerdmans. 978-0-8028-5385-1
$17.50 (Primary/Intermediate)
--by Katie Hoffman & Sarah Lawson
“If only all the ideas in the world
could be found in one place, then
everyone would have one book where
they could find the best word, the
one that really fit. Peter carried this
idea with him like a secret treasure.”
During the late 1700s in Europe, there was a shy, young boy
named Peter Roget who found friendships with books and loved
to write lists. He started writing lists using all of the Latin words
he knew and eventually, created a book that was made up of the
lists he had created. As he got older, he continued to add to his
book, and in 1852, he finally published his book called Thesaurus.
Author Jen Bryant and illustrator Melissa Sweet worked together
to produce a wonderfully unique biography that draws readers
in through both the text and illustrations. The Right Word: Roget
and His Thesaurus is written in a lyrical way and the illustrations
are created using watercolor, collage, and mixed media that
make this book extremely appealing. With a scrapbook-feel to
the illustrations and carefully crafted word art throughout the
The Right Book:
A Review of Children’s Literature for Teachers
Jonda C. McNair & Clemson University Students
pages, readers will be able to delve into the mind of Roget and
visualize words through his eyes. Readers of all ages will enjoy
flipping through the pages of this Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
and Caldecott Honor book while celebrating the power of words.
Dreaming In Indian:
Contemporary Native
American Voices
Charleyboy, Lisa & Leatherdale, Mary Beth
(Eds.). (2014). 128 pp. Annick. 978-1-55451-
687-2 $19.95 (Young Adult)
--by Brette Carey
This moving compilation provides
insights into the lives of modern
Native Americans. The short stories,
poems, and art highlight the
hopes, talents, and successes of an eclectic mix of young Native
Americans. Their actions and feelings can serve to inspire other
Native Americans (as well as cultural outsiders) to act on their
talents and dreams. Lee Maracle writes in the Foreword: “the works
[in this collection] . . . are part of an amazing struggle to go forward,
into modernity, onto the global stage, without leaving our ancient
selves behind” (p. 10). The photography and art, also created by
young Native Americans, add to the emotions of the collection.
Each word and every photograph draws the reader closer to these
contemporary people from all walks of life (e.g., model, comedian,
artist, musician, actress, etc.) This collection of works by young
Indigenous people examines the complexities of what it means to
be a Native American in modern society and would be appealing
to high school students. With its stories of tragedy, conflict, and
success, this collection will draw readers in from start to finish.
Draw
Colón, Raúl. (2014). Unpaged. Simon &
Schuster/PaulaWiseman.
978-1-4424-9492-3 $17.99 (Primary)
--by Amanda Overholt
Have you ever wanted to take
a trip to a faraway land? Well, it
is easier than anyone could ever
imagine! This wordless picturebook
is about a boy who takes the reader
on a journey, and it begins in his
bedroom when he reads about the continent of Africa. The boy
then begins to use his imagination by drawing pictures of the
different animals that he saw in his book on easel paper. While on
his safari adventure, he meets many animals such a gorilla who
appears to be eating the sandwich that was sitting on the boy’s
bed at the beginning of the story. There are zebras who appear
to pose for him. He even meets a heard of stampeding giraffes.