MULTICULTURAL TEXT SET I choose to focus on learning to accept our differences and also being open to the fact that everyone is not the same. Whitney Hawkins ELED 308

Just the Way You Are Marcus Pfister ■This book focuses on accepting the fact that you are different and being satisfied with your unique being. In this story the lion refused to go the party because he did not have characteristics such as the lion, toucan and chameleon. His friends insisted that he was perfectly fine the way he was. After much deliberation the lion ended up going to the party and having a good time. When he told his friends that he wish he had the traits that they had, they were flattered that lion admired things about him. They laughed at the thought of trading traits, and had a fantastic time at the party.

I believe this book will be a good read aloud because it uses language that can be easily understood by elementary age children. It is also somewhat a popup book, so the illustrations will also keep the children interested. This book will probably work best for Kindergarten- 2 nd grade. The activities you would do for each would be extremely different being that the developmental stage for a Pre-K student and Kindergartner is completely different.

The Colors of Us Karen Katz ■In this book an artist explains to her daughter that she is mixing colors so she can create the shade of brown that matches her skin tone. The daughter is shocked and says that brown is brown. Her mom explains to her that people are all different shades of brown and they go through town comparing people’s skin tones, while the mother emphasizes the fact that everyone is unique. The daughter understands the point that the mother is trying to make, and when they go to the park the daughter tells the mother to look at the children’s legs and notice how all of them are a different shade. When they return home, the daughter begins to paint picture of her friends, using the right paint to match their complexion because she now has an understanding of how everyone’s skin tone is unique to them. This book allows for great arts and crafts activities that could allow children to mix colors to create new colors, whether it be their skin tone or a new color.

This story has bright illustrations that would capture the student’s attention. It also has very few words on each page so you can read it aloud without losing the children’s focus. This book would work best for Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten.

Sneetches Dr. Seuss ■This story provides a subtle message about how you should not look down, or judge others because they are different from you. In this book there are star belly Sneetches who look down on Sneetches that do not have stars on their bellies. The star belly Sneetches are saddened by the fact that they aren’t accepted until Sylvester McMonkey McBean comes and shows them his invention of the star on star off machine which gives stars to the non star bellied Sneetches and takes away stars from the star bellied Sneetches. The roles are reversed and the previous Sneetches who had stars on their belly are unhappy and insist that Sylvester remove all of their stars. Eventually they are unable to remember who had star bellies and who didn’t, but this allows them to realize that it doesn’t matter whether they have star bellies because at the end of the day they are all same.

This book uses a lot of rhyming, which children often times enjoy, this balances out the fact that the pages consist of a lot of words per page. For read aloud this book would work for Kindergarten and First grade, but being that the book is extremely wordy with some made up words it is a book maybe meant for 2 nd and 3 rd grade concerning books to be read outside of read alouds.

It’s A Small World Richard M. Sherman ■This book allows children to travel to different countries, continents through the illustrations. It is based off the childhood song It’s a small world that many people learn in elementary school. This song and book allow children to realize that no matter where children are located around the world, that all children have something in common that they enjoy playing and having fun. After reading the book you can then teach the children the song and partake in a classroom singalong.

This book is a good read aloud, because of the fact that it can either be read aloud or sung as a song. Children love interactive learning so they would love the fact that this story can be converted to a song. This is a book that would work best for Pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten being that is a sing along book.

Mostly Monsterly Tammi Sauer ■Bernadette who is a monster, enjoys doing things that aren’t necessarily monsterly such as pick flowers and pet kittens. Bernadette has reached the age where it is now time to go to Monster Academy, but she is nervous because of the fact that she does not act the same way the monsters at the Monster Academy act. By the end of the story Bernadette finds a way to fit in without changing who she is. This book focuses on the fact that just because you are different does not mean that you have to accommodate to fit the way others believe you should be, but instead continue to be yourself and allow others to adjust.

This is an amusing read aloud book with funny illustrations. Although the illustrations are of monsters, the monsters are not frightening, and can be enjoyed by children of all ages. This book can work well as a read aloud for Pre-Kindergarten - 1 st grade, and as an individual read for ages up until 3 rd grade.

Elliot Jones Midnight Superhero Anne Cottringer ■This book focuses on looking beyond outward appearance, and not forming judgement based on people’s outward appearance. Elliott Jones is a very quiet boy who spends majority of the day reading, feeding his goldfish and watching Mr. Smith wash his car. Many of his classmates taunt him because of the fact that he is so quiet and reserved. Although he is quiet during the day, at midnight Elliot becomes a superhero who saves the town by flying around rescuing people and saving the day. The superhero Elliot is admired by many people within the town including the same students who make fun of the quiet Elliot while in school. Later in the book we learn that being a superhero is extremely hard work, and during the day Elliot is oftentimes tired which is why he is so quiet.

This is a great read aloud because all children love stories about super hero’s. A great lesson can also easily be created using this book. This book can be read to Kindergartners – 2 nd grade.

Good Little Wolf Nadia Shireen ■Oftentimes in children’s books we hear stories of the big bad wolf, where the wolf is normally the antagonist. In this story the the wolf is a good wolf who lives with a lady named Ms. Boggins. Ms. Boggins constantly tells the wolf how he is such a good little wolf, and he took pride in that until he met a large ferocious wolf who tried to convince him that he wasn’t a real wolf because real wolves aren’t little and good. The good little wolf tries to prove that he is real wolf by doing things he normally wouldn’t do, until the big bad wolf ask him to do something very mean to Ms. Boggins and her house. The good little wolf then stands up for himself and refuses to be bullied by the big bad wolf. This book reiterates the fact that just because you are different from someone else, do not allow them to pressure you into becoming something you are not.

Because the illustrations aren’t very vivid in this book, the illustrator used a lot of pastel colors I’m not sure if the students would find this as interesting as the previous books. It is an interesting book with vocabulary that could challenge an elementary school student, which is good for read alouds. This book may work best for 1 st and 2 nd graders.

I’m Special, I’m Me Ann Meek ■This book helps students to gain confidence and to learn to love the differences that make them unique from others. Milo, the main character in this story, always plays pretend with his friends. Overtime Milo ask to be certain character in their pretend game his friends tell him that he can because of the fact that he isn’t tall enough to be captain or strong enough to be a lion. Discouraged, when Milo goes home after school he tells his mom what happened and his mom explains to him that he is special and able to be whatever he wants to be. The next day at school rather than asking his parents what character he can be during the pretend game, he instead tells his friends what he is going to be. His friends like the idea, and Milo realizes that his mother was right, he has the ability to be whatever he wants to be.

The message of this book is very interesting, and I also feel like children would be able to easily relate to this book. Every child has been in the predicament where they were unable to be the character they wanted to be during playtime. This book also consist of good illustration and a wide variety of new words. This book would work best for 1 st or 2 nd graders being that it is very text heavy.

The Cow that Laid an Egg Andy Cutbill ■Marjorie, a cow who is the main character in the story is discouraged because of the fact that she does not have a special talent such as being able to ride a bike or do a handstand like the other cows. Marjorie’s friends, the other cows and chickens trick Marjorie and the other animals into thinking that Marjorie laid an egg. All the animals are amazed, including Marjorie. The chicken’s plans worked for a bit, and Marjorie was extremely happy to be the center of attention. The other cows then become jealous of the attention that Marjorie is receiving being that an egg laying cow is more interesting than a cow that rides bicycles or does handstands and they then force her to convince them that she laid the egg. This book focuses on the fact of ensuring that you know you’re worth and do not make up things to earn the approval of others.

I feel as if this book would be a good read aloud because of the fact that the book uses a lot of dialogue, so when reading it you will be able to adjust your voice to match each character. Children love when you are able to do this, because it adds extra fun to the read alouds rather than simply reading word for word in a monotone voice. I feel as if this book could be read to Kindergartners or 1 st graders.

A Color of His Own Leo Linni ■Chameleon’s have no specific color of their own, and one day has the brilliant idea of staying on a green leaf for forever until he realizes that in fall the leaf will change colors. Once the color of the leaf changes, the chameleons color also changes. After meeting another chameleon, they decide that they will become friends and travel together and end up becoming really good friends. Throughout their travels, the chameleons realize that it does not matter what they look like, but instead that they have good friends to help them through life. This book emphasizes the fact that you do not need to fit in and be like everyone else to enjoy life, but to instead find someone who accepts you and your “flaws”

This book would be a better read aloud for an older group of children, maybe 2 nd grade. For the younger children, they would lose interest quickly mainly because of the fact that the illustrations on each page are very much so the same. There’s also very little words per page.