1. Critical reading log
Emilie Davignon

2. Criteria
 A writing style that is appropriate for the targeted
audience
 A plot that will hold a young reader’s attention
without being too complex for the child to follow
 Appropriate pacing within the plot
 Meaningful characters-ones to whom the reader can
relate or ones that offer a window into a different
experience or lifestyle
 A layout that cohesively blends the illustrations and
the text
 Illustrations that complement the text and enhance
the overall experience of the story

3. Boston Globe Award
 Among the most prestigious literary recognitions
awarded in the United States
 Presented by the Boston Globe and Horn Book, Inc.
 Only books published in the USA are eligible
 Winners are chosen by a panel of three judges
 One winner from each of three categories (Picture
Book, Fiction, and Nonfiction) is chosen in June of
every year
 Up to two Honors may be awarded in each category

4. I Know Here
 A young girl learns that
she is moving from her
home in Saskatchewan
to the big city of
Toronto.
 She voices her
uncertainty, saying,
“This is where I live. I
don’t know Toronto. I
know here.”
 As she reflects on all of
the familiar things that
she knows and
recognizes from her
current home, she
decides to draw a
picture of those things

5. Book Information
 Genre: Fiction
 Author: Laurel
Croza
 Illustrator:
Matt James
 Medium: Acrylic
and India ink on
panel
 Style: Slightly
abstracted

6. Text Analysis
 The theme of coping with the change of a move is
clearly presented in a style that is descriptive, but
simple.
 Children can relate to the main character if they have
ever had to deal with a significant change in their lives.
 Each page covers a separate idea, and they combine to
form a cohesive story that develops at a comfortable
pace.
 There is repetition in the phrases “I know” and “I’ve
seen.” The pattern gets interrupted a few times, but the
reader easily recognizes that the main character is
listing the things about her current home that she wants

7. Illustration Analysis
 The text is sometimes inserted directly into the
illustrations and sometimes separate from them.
 The illustrations are visual representations of the text.
They show the things that the little girl is describing in a
distinct but slightly abstracted way, almost as if a child
had drawn them.
 On each page, the reader’s eye is drawn to one
particular aspect of the picture. The dominance of this
object is typically due to its color.
 On some pages, the illustrations seem to be drawn onto
a section of cardboard or some other thick paper.
 All of the illustrations are paintings, and the texture of

8. Social Analysis
 The book is an easy read that revolves around a
theme relevant to many children. The simple, yet
powerful message that it sends makes it likely to be
popular among both children and adults.
 The story does not address any social justice issues,
nor does it make any gender or racial commentary.

9. Caldecott Award
 Awarded annually to the artist of the most
distinguished picture book published that year in the
United States
 Award is presented by the Association for Library
Service to Children
 Recipient must be a U.S. citizen
 Honor books may also be recognized

10. Lon Po Po
 In this Chinese version
of Little Red Riding
Hood, a mother leaves
her three daughters
home alone one night,
and a wolf comes to the
house disguised as the
children’s grandmother.
 The eldest quickly
realizes that the wolf is
not their Po Po, and
tricks the wolf into
believing that eating a
gingko nut will make him
live forever.
 Since the wolf cannot
climb the tree, the three
sisters pull him up in a
basket, dropping him

11. Book Information
 Genre: Fiction/Fairy Tale
 Author: Ed Young
 Illustrator: Ed Young
 Medium: Watercolors
and pastels
 Style: Modern version of
Chinese panel art,
abstracted, sometimes
reminiscent of
Impressionism

12. Text Analysis
 The story is told in a narrative fashion, and there is
suspense with each page turn, encouraging the
reader to continue.
 The story is recognizable and somewhat predictable,
but still new and surprising to a child who has only ever
heard the typical story of Little Red Riding Hood.
 Repetition is found in the scene where Shang realizes
the wolf is not her grandmother (“Po Po, Po Po, your foot
has a bush on it.”).
 Since this is an adaptation of a Chinese Red Riding
Hood tale, the characters are archetypal. Readers can
recognize some of the characters’ qualities in

13. Illustration Analysis
 The illustrations are split into panels, and the text is written in
one of the panels on top of the illustration for every spread of
two pages.
 It is clear that the illustrations dominate this story; they are
large and eye catching.
 The illustrations supplement the text, but do not always
directly depict what is being described. They are somewhat
abstracted, creating a sense of mystery and unease.
 Watercolor and pastels combine to create a blurry, yet still
detailed world.
 The wolf is often presented in a darker or cooler color to
contrast the three little girls, and he is larger than life,
dominating most pages and sometimes extending beyond
the borders of the panels that confine the rest of the
illustrations.
 The fear and suspicion in the eyes and facial expressions of

14. Social Analysis
 No social justice issues seem to be openly addressed in
this book.
 The three girls are drawn as Chinese, but no reference
is made to Chinese culture, except for their calling their
grandmother “Po Po” and eating gingko nuts.
 As far as gender roles are concerned, I think that the
eldest of the sisters, Shang, challenges the status quo of
young girls as being naïve and helpless. She quickly
recognizes the wolf for what he is, and then cleverly
tricks him with the gingko nuts. In the end, the three
young girls prove to be more cunning than the wolf and
come out victorious.
 This book is sure to be popular among readers of any

15. Coretta Scott King Award
 Awarded each year to outstanding African American
authors and illustrators by the Coretta Scott Book
Awards Committee
 One award presented in each category
 Honors may be given in either category
 The books must be written for children or young
adults and must be a celebration/reflection of African
American culture

16. Duke Ellington
 A biography of the
life of Edward
Kennedy “Duke”
Ellington, one of the
founding fathers of
jazz music in our
country
 The story is
accompanied by
bright, vibrant
paintings that have
a movement of their
own

17. Book Information
 Genre:
Biography
 Author: Andrea
Davis Pinkney
 Illustrator:
Brian Pinkney
 Medium:
Scratchboard
renderings with
luma dyes,
gouache, and oil
paint
 Style: Colorful
and at times
reminiscent of
the art of the

18. Text Analysis
 The book is written in narrative form, but has a
rhythm to it that echoes the jazzy mood of the time,
assisted by the heavy use of period lingo.
 The frequent use of onomatopoeia brings the music
of the story to life.
 Despite the uncommon words and phrases and the
colorful figurative language, children can easily
follow the events being described.
 Each page presents a complete thought, and they
add up chronologically to tell the story of Duke
Ellington’s life and career at a pace that will not lose
the reader’s attention.

19. Illustration Analysis
 The text is inserted into the illustration, with the first
letter of the passage drawn in bubble letters and painted
like the rest of the picture.
 The pages are completely filled by the illustrations,
which are painted in rich, bright, vibrant colors that
dominate the eye of the reader.
 The scratchboard method created thin lines over
everything, giving the pictures texture and motion, like
they are wiggling and dancing to the music.
 Ellington’s music had been likened to painting, and so
the music was represented by bursts of color, a
different one for each instrument.
 African Americans were depicted authentically in the
way they were drawn, and the settings and activities
shown were accurate for the time period.

20. Social Analysis
 Subtle references to racial inequality are made (“Few African-
Americans had played at Carnegie Hall before.”), but in general, the
book is more a celebration of African American culture rather than a
commentary on the struggles and discrimination that they have
historically faced.
 Instead, Duke’s rise to fame acts as a framework to highlight
elements of the jazz scene in Harlem during the early 20th century,
providing valuable historical information hidden within a “hot-
buttered…sassy-cool” narrative.
 The story of Duke Ellington’s success as a musician at a time when
racism was still very prevalent in our society challenges the common
assumptions about that time period and shows the powerful impact
that African Americans were making on our country’s history and
culture despite the barriers they faced.
 The fun and funky writing style, coupled with the bright, eye-catching

21. Pura Belpré Award
 Awarded to Latino authors and illustrators whose
books celebrate and affirm Latino culture
 One medal in each category (author and illustrator)
awarded annually by the American Library
Associations
 Honor books may be recognized
 Books may be children’s fiction or nonfiction and my
be written in Spanish, English, or both (bilingual)
 Books must be published in the United States or
Puerto Rico to be considered, and the recipients
must be citizens

22. The
Storyteller’s

Candle
A bilingual historical
fiction about Pura
Belpré, the first Puerto
Rican librarian in the
New York Public
Library system, and
her impact on the
children and families in
the area.
 The main character,
Hildamar, learns in
school that they speak
Spanish in the library
now when the librarian
Pura Belpré comes in
to visit, and she
convinces her family
and neighbors to go
together.

23. Book Information
 Genre: Historical
Fiction
 Author: Lucía
González
 Illustrator: Lulu
Delacre
 Medium: oil
washes and paper
collage on bristol
paper primed with
clear gesso
 Style: Realistic

24. Text Analysis
 The book is excellent for introducing children to Spanish, or
introducing Spanish-speaking children to English. It is
bilingual, so the reader can compare the two side-by-side. In
the English version, Spanish words are still incorporated, so
there is always some degree of exposure.
 The story is simple and easy to follow, but the pages are
longer in length, a pace perhaps targeted at a slightly older
audience (middle to late elementary).
 There are some small instances of repetition on individual
pages.
 The characters in the story are children who are excited for
the holidays, which almost every reader can relate to.
However, the characters also offer a window into the lives of

25. Illustration Analysis
 The illustrations take up the entire page, and the
text is simply typed over them.
 The illustrator layered oil washes and paper
collage to create the artwork for the book and
incorporated actual clips from the January 6th, 1930
copy of the New York Times. The clips often relate
to the text on that page, tying the story and the
illustrations together more closely.
 The illustrations are detailed and smooth and
depict what the text is describing in soft colors.
People and objects are drawn realistically, without
abstraction.
 The dominance of warm colors on all of the
pages creates a sense of harmony and unity

26. Social Analysis
 The book addresses issues of immigration, language barriers, and cultural
adjustment.
 The main character has only just moved to New York from Puerto Rico a few
months ago. The family reminisces about the weather, food, and customs
from their home, but in the end, with Pura Belpré’s help, they bring the
celebration of el Día de los Reyes to New York for the first time.
 There is some tension evident regarding the language barrier when
Hildamar’s aunt says, “We don’t speak English, and the people in there don’t
speak Spanish.” There is a clear establishment of an “us vs. them” mentality
that seems to imply that Hildamar’s family does not feel like they fit in or
have been welcomed by the city of New York.
 Pura Belpré made a huge impact on the New York community as a Puerto
Rican woman during the Great Depression. Her success as a woman at that
time, particularly as a non-English-speaking woman, challenged the status
quo of a woman’s role in society. This book, as well as the award that is her
namesake, celebrates her contributions.

27. The Storyteller’s Candle in the
Classroom
 Social Justice Issue: Immigration and Language Barriers
 Quote:
“That’s the library,” Titi María replied, “and libraries are not for noisy niños like you.”
“How about for grown-ups like you?” asked Santiago.
“We don’t speak English, and the people in there don’t speak Spanish,” she told
them.
And so it was that they never went inside.
 I would ask the students to put themselves in Hildamar and her family’s shoes. Would
they go to the library if they knew that the people in there didn’t speak the same
language as they did? How would they feel if they were trying to talk to someone who
couldn’t understand what they were saying or if they were trying to read a book that
wasn’t written in their language? The children could try to tell each other something
without speaking and reflect on the problems that they encountered. Stuart Ching
argues in “Multicultural Children’s Literature as an Instrument of Power” that
“harmony is always a negotiation of power.” Therefore, I would ask the students if
they could think of anything that Hildamar and her community could do to change the
situation so that the power within the library system was more fairly distributed.

28. Critical Literacy Principle 3: Examining
relationships, particularly those involving
differences in power
 I would ask the students who they think had more power in New York at this time,
those who spoke English or those who spoke Spanish, and why.
 I would then ask them if they think it is fair for one group of people to have an
advantage over another just because there are more of them. Puerto Ricans were
clearly underrepresented in the New York library system, and as a result, they were
not benefitting from that resource. Pura Belpré’s work made a big difference for the
Puerto Rican community.
 I would provide multiple resources from various media, and ask the students to use
them to research another area in New York society where Puerto Rican citizens were
being left out during that time period because of the language barrier.
 They would share what they found with the class, and then together we would
analyze how things have changed (or not changed) in those areas today. This could
potentially lead to the critique of a system that is still in place today, giving the
students practice in “the ability to critically analyze…society,” that Ladson-Billings
cites as an important component of culturally relevant pedagogy. In this analysis of
the current situation, we could incorporate everyday texts like those used by Vivian
Vasquez and David Chiola-Nakai with their students in Chapter 2 of Getting Beyond “I
Like the Book” to enhance the discussion and the children’s understanding of the

29. Critical Literacy Principle 4: Reflecting on and
using literacy practices to take action for social
justice
 Pura Belpré made a big difference in the lives of Hildamar and the
rest of the New York Puerto Rican community. I would ask the
students to write a thank-you note to Pura Belpré from Hildamar’s
point of view.
 I would then have the class evaluate their school’s own library on
whether or not they felt it represented and welcomed everyone in the
community (the community being our class). We would look through
the books and find ones that students in the class could identify with.
If a group felt underrepresented, then the class could take action from
there to change that because like we read in Chapter 1 of Getting
Beyond “I Like the Book”, it is important for children to see themselves
in the books they read. As Hefflin and Barksdale-Ladd said in “African
American Children’s Literature That Helps Students Find
Themselves,” “To read for years and not encounter stories that
connect closely with one’s own cultural understandings and life
experiences is problematic.”
 Just as the children in Vivian Vasquez’s kindergarten class did, the
students could write letters to the librarian, the principle, and the
school board asking them to provide books that would make the

30. Reflection
 It seems to me that the key to successful picture books lies in finding
a happy medium. The stories cannot be too complex or children will
get frustrated, but they cannot become too simple or they will grow
bored. The characters should be relatable or they should offer
readers a window into a different way of life. The pictures and the text
must complement each other, and both must play a role in moving the
story forward and keeping the reader interested. Illustrations should
authentically represent the characters and settings and should assist
the text in creating the mood of the story.
 I had not heard of some of the awards that we researched in this
project, but now that I know of them, I will be sure to take them into
consideration when choosing books to read to my own students and
when creating my classroom’s library. Although they are far from
being the only books that exemplify outstanding children’s literature,
they provide a strong base on which to start my search. Using books
that I know have won critical recognition, I can examine the qualities
that they possess and use those qualities as criteria as I look for
other books to provide my students with. The Coretta Scott King and
the Pura Belpre awards are especially ideal for finding books that can