Children’s Book Critique Niki Smith Ivy Tech Community College

Book 1 YOKO Learns to Read Rosemary Wells Hyperion Books 2012 Book 2 Mice and Beans Pam Munoz Ryan Scholastic Press 2001 Book 3 THE KOREAN CINDERELLA Shirley Climo Harper Collins 1993

Summary Book 1 YOKO Learns to Read This book is about a cat named Yoko who was from Japan. Yoko reads her favorite three books from Japan. The teacher puts a leaf for each book on the wall. Yoko realizes that all of her friends have more leaves on the wall. She gets upset because she only knows how to read these three books. She really wants to add more leaves to the wall. Her mother talks to the teacher and Yoko ends up learning how to read books in English. She gets to add more leaves to the wall and she is so proud of herself.

Positive Factors Yoko learns to read books in English Yoko earns more leaves on the wall Yoko teaches her mom that English books are read from front to back Yoko gets to go to the library Yoko gets her own library card Yoko and her mom spend time reading together Yoko’s mom wants to learn to read in English too

Negative Factors Yoko only had three books in Japanese Two other children said she would be left behind Yoko’s mother couldn’t help her learn to read Yoko’s mother couldn’t read one word off the classroom wall Two other girls were picking on her because she couldn’t read Majority of the book was female characters (5 female characters and one male) Gender bias

Male/Female Characteristics The book features mainly females Biased towards men Absence of males suggests that only females read There was one male character (the librarian) Females are students, teacher, mother and readers Male is in charge at the library Female is in charge at school

Pictures/Illustrations Stereotypical situation- mother is reading to her child The bottom picture shows the male character being in charge of checking out books The male could have been chose to be the teacher

How/Why Multicultural Child is Japanese Child learns to read in English Child begins to help her mother learn to read in English Child informs mother that English books are read from front to back

Summary Book 2 Mice and Beans This is a story about a Mexican grandmother named Rosa throwing a birthday party for her granddaughter (Catalina). She lived in a little house, so she was afraid there wasn’t enough room for a party. Her mother always told her, “When there’s room in the heart there’s room in the house, except for a mouse”. She planned for the party every day for a week, making enchiladas, rice, beans etc. Each night she sat out a mouse trap. The next night she would check the mouse trap and it was missing, so she thought she forgot to set the trap. She would then put out another trap. The day of the party it came time to hit the piñata and grandma Rosa realized she forgot to put the candy in the piñata, but somehow candy fell out. Later grandma saw evidence of mice and she realized that they must have helped her and put the candy in the piñata. She decided that her mothers saying really said, “When there’s room in the heart there’s room in the house, even for a mouse”. She never set another mouse trap again.

Positive Factors The family spends time together Grandma makes food for the party The piñata, enchiladas, beans and rice are part of their family tradition for birthdays The party went well Catalina got the present she wanted There were Spanish words throughout the book and at the back it tells what these words mean in English

Negative Factors The grandma is cooking everything by herself There are only men workers putting together the swing set All the chores were grandmas duty Grandma was forgetful because she had so much to do Grandma was left to clean up the mess afterwards Gender bias

Male/Female Characteristics The book had an equal amount of male and female characters Male workers Grandma cooking and cleaning Boys and girls at the party Stereotypical situations Female in charge (grandma)

Pictures/Illustration Bias pictures from the book The top left picture shows a female ironing, this may give the indication that men aren’t supposed to do these things The top right picture shows a male worker putting together the swing set, this could make children feel like women aren’t capable of building things The bottom left picture shows a male worker reading directions and thinking, again indication that women can’t do constructive type things The bottom right picture shows a female cooking and cleaning, this may give males the wrong idea that only women should do these household chores

How/Why Multicultural Mexican birthday party Mexican family traditions Mexican style cuisine Some words were in Spanish

Summary Book 3 The Korean Cinderella This fairytale is about a little girl named Pear Blossom. When she was born her father planted a pear tree and her mother named her Pear Blossom. Her mother took great care of her and the pear, until she grew old and died. Then her father said, “Now who is going to take care of the pear tree”? The father went to the village matchmaker and she knew of a widow who could be his wife and a mother to Pear Blossom and she also had a child who would be Pear Blossoms sister. The stepmother and sister treated Pear Blossom terribly. They called her pigling. They would travel to the town market and tell Pear Blossom that she had to do impossible chores and that if she didn’t do the chores that stubborn piglings get sold to the market or they would ship her to China. Each time by some miracle she accomplished the chores. At the end, the village was having a festival and her stepmother told her she could go if she weeded the rice patties. A miracle happened and she was on her way to the festival and she lost her shoe. The magistrate found the shoe, then he went to the village and said, “the foot that fits this shoe will be the one I marry”. The stepmother and stepsister were jealous.

Positive Factors Teaches a lesson Hard work pays off Teaches about being selfish Miracles happen The child marries the magistrate

Negative Factors Child loses her mother Child has to put up with a wicked stepmother and step sister The child has to do all these horrible chores by herself Her father doesn’t see the bad things happening Gender bias

Male/Female Characteristics The book has two male characters and the rest are female The mother took care of the growing tree and the child Father appears that he is incapable of caring for a tree The daughter is doing household chores The stepmother is in charge

Pictures/Illustrations The picture on the left is a male pulling the magistrate in his wagon The picture on the right is a female stirring a pot of food The picture of the male indicates that women aren’t strong enough for this job The picture on the right tells males that it is the females job to cook I believe that in the three books the message for males and females is the same message Women work in the home on household chores Men build things and do construction type work

How/Why Multicultural The girl is Korean At the end of the book they use Korean words to tell what her name means in Korea The clothing is from Korean culture Food Traditions

Scholastic Press References Climo, S. (1993). The Korean Cinderella. China: Harper Collins Ryan, P. (2001). Mice and Beans. New York, New York: Scholastic Press Wells, R. (2012). Yoko Learns to Read. New York, New York: Hyperion Books