One Candle

One Candle by Eve Bunting and illustrated by K. Wendy Popp, was published in 2002 by Joanna Cotler Books. From the cover, endpapers, and front matter, we can tell this is a story about Judaism and Jewish holidays. The narrator is a young Jewish girl who is celebrating Hanukkah with her family. We see them all smiling, cooking, eating at the dinner table. Then Grandma and Great-Aunt Rose begin to tell their story from WWII and how they were taken from their families. The entire family is silent as they listen to their incredible story.

"'Well, it happened when we were young. We were separated from our families and put into a camp. it was called Buchenwald. That was in Germany. There was a war on at that time, and the Germans didn't like the Jews."

We find out that both women were 12-13 years old and worked in the kitchens making food for Nazi officers. One day Grandma stole a potato, two matches, and margarine after work. When they got back to the barracks, Grandma made a candle out of the potato to celebrate Hanukkah. Which is why the family still creates a candle from the potato today. "'That Hanukkah candle lifted us,' Grandma says, and there are tears in her eyes. 'It lifted us to the stars.'" The story ends with the young girl putting the potato candle on the windowsill next to the menorah and watching the glow from outside.

I am not Jewish and only know about Judaism and WWII from what I've learned in school, but this book seems to be very historically accurate to me. Eve Bunting is not Jewish either but she is known for her books about diverse, controversial topics. I really enjoyed Popp's illustrations for this story. They are muted colors and extremely realistic which fits the story perfectly. Most of the colors used are shades of brown, black, and maroon. The illustrations mimic photographs and have a dim, almost sad theme to them; although the story itself is uplifting. I especially love the pages where we see flashbacks of what the women experienced. The side by side comparison of the two times was absolutely fascinating. It gives the story a deeper meaning and impact for the reader.

This is a great story for teaching students about Judaism as another religion people celebrate as well as WWII. For older students, it would be a wonderful way to generate deep questions WWII and Nazi Germany.

Check out a copy from your local library!

Image Source

Image 2 Source

Faith

Faith by Maya Ajmera, Magda Nakassis, and Cynthi Pon celebrates religions all over the world. Published in 2009, Faith is compiled of real, fascinating photographs of authentic people around the globe. This book is a wonderful introductory text to religious diversity for children. The background color changes to a new solid color with the turn of each page and the photographs are brightly colored too. The text of the book is large and is not too difficult for young readers. Captions accompany the photographs very clearly. Faith discusses all types of religions like Rastafarian, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and others. It gives brief descriptions of the different ways that religions celebrate their faith, their holidays, and their customs. The photographs feature children of races and religions all over the world.

I love the use of photographs as the cover, front matter, and back cover. This book would be helpful for teaching nonfiction text features. After the main body of the book, there is a world map that labels each country that features a child in the book. How INCREDIBLE is that?! My students would love to put their map skills to use and see where in the world these children are from.  The “Elements of Faith” section in the back of the book reviews the general aspects of religion in greater detail that in the first half of the book. It goes into detail about prayer, chanting, singing, holy books, listening, cleansing, holy places, and more.  That would be very helpful for younger students, especially for those that have not had any experiences with religion. Then the “Words to Know” section afterward would surely prove to be very helpful for children expanding their vocabulary. It acts as a general glossary for the religious vocabulary in the book.

Religion is another sensitive subject in the world today and especially in schools. We try to keep a separation between church and state. But that does not mean that children should not be exposed to the diversity of religions in the world so long as the teacher shows no bias. I am excited to read this text to my class of second graders. I think they will enjoy the book because my class is always fascinated with the customs of others. My one negative criticism of the book is that there seems to be a lot going on within the pages. My eyes had a hard time figuring out where to look first because of the organization of text and photographs and I worry my students may as well.

I purchased my own copy of Faith for my classroom for a few reasons. It teaches children a simple, friendly, unbiased message about the various religions available to them. Also, it teaches the message that people are people no matter their religion.  Lastly, it has an underlying message of good values in all religions and parts of the world:

“We respect others, making friends and building peace. We give to others, and we help those in need. Most of all, we hope.”

After all, if we do not have faith and hope, what DO we have?

Check out this book from your local library!

Image Source

Dog Heaven

Calling all dog lovers! Dog Heaven by Cynthia Rylant is not to be skipped over! If you have ever loved a dog, you will surely be touched by this story.  As a dog lover myself, I cannot say enough positive things about this book. This book is about the Dog Heaven that all dogs are fortunate enough to visit when they leave our world.

First of all, let me discuss the illustrations with you. They were painted using acrylics by Rylant herself and they are clearly directed toward her child audience. The contrast in colors is bight and drastic which really makes the pages come to life. The landscapes, people, and even animals are drawn as if a child had drawn them. That makes complete sense to me. Shouldn’t a real children’s book have illustrations that are (or look like they are) drawn by children? They are simple by design with a touch of complexity. Speaking from a personal standpoint, these may be my favorite illustrations in any children’s book, ever. Dare I say that?

Now, on to the story. This book is clearly religious as Rylant mentions not only heaven but also God and angels. I could see this book being seen as controversial not only because of its religious connotations but because of its lack of multicultural characters. It is important to note, however, that a few of the angels are different ethnicities if you look closely enough. Despite these controversial aspects, this book still delivers a strong message. Rylant goes into detail about all of the things dogs have and get to do in Dog Heaven including fields to run in, wide lakes with geese, children to play with, and hilariously shaped dog biscuits. She has clearly thought of every single aspect of Heaven that a child would wonder about: Can my dog sleep? (Yes, on clouds). Can my dog visit me? (Yes, with angels).  Does my dog have a bowl? (Yes, with their name on it). I think it is imperative to mention how Rylant illustrated God and the angels. God is an ordinary, cowboy-inspired, Caucasian man with a white mustache, yellow pants and a blue shirt. My first thought was, why would she depict God as such a regular person? Then I remembered that this is a children’s book. Perhaps Rylant wanted to ease children into the idea of Heaven and expose them to a God that did not look so mighty and intimidating. For if God looked like a normal, average man then He would be more accepted by children. Similarly, the angels look like regular, middle aged people that wear pants, shirts, and hats, but with wings. Again, my first thought was, where are the fancy white dresses and halos? But I think Rylant purposefully wanted children to feel comfortable in the Dog Heaven world.

Rylant assures the reader that their dog is not gone forever. “So sometimes an angel will walk a dog back to Earth for a little visit and quietly, invisibly, the dog will sniff about his old back yard, will investigate the cat next door, will follow the child to school, will sit on the front porch and wait for the mail.” Is this not the exact type of comfort a child needs after losing their dog? Sure, it is not true (or is it?), but what harm is Rylant really doing by giving the children hope to cope with their loss? Children need to know that they will see their best friend again and that they are being watched over. “They will be there when old friends show up.” This sentence gives the reader hope and reassurance that they will indeed see their dog again someday. That type of support is all a child needs after the loss of a dog.

I felt at peace while reading this book knowing that my own childhood dog was happily enjoying Dog Heaven. I also felt comfort in knowing my dog that is still alive will someday join him, just as I will. Is it wrong to have childlike hopes and dreams? I don’t think so. From a teacher stand point, I think this text is a wonderful writing resource for lessons on word choice, ideas, and matching text to illustrations. For reading, it would be a good resource for a lesson particularly on comprehension and fluency strategies. But it is important to reflect on if this text would be appropriate for your classroom because of the religious aspects. As long as no one would be offended in the classroom, I recommend this book to children, teachers, and of course, dog lovers.