When I was Young in the Mountains

    This Caldecott Honor book by Cynthia Rylant hearkens back to a simpler time.  It is based on the fond memories the author recalls as she lived with her grandparents in the mountains of West Virginia.  Each page gives the reader a taste of what it would be like to grow up young in the mountains.  Although the young girl and boy are living in a modest home, they still manage to enjoy the simple pleasures of mountain life.  Life for these children is hard and simple compared to our modern conveniences.  Yet, this family's warmth and gentle love makes up for it all.   Whether it is Grandmother making hot cocoa on the stove or the children going swimming in a swimming hole, the pictures do this story justice.  Each picture evokes the love of a way of life, of a family, and most of all, of a place. 
   I highly recommend this book.  It has a timeless quality and would be an excellent read-aloud book.  I intend to use this book to teach setting, since the setting of this story plays such a central role in the plot.

Stone Soup



    Stone Soup is an old tale retold by Marcia Brown.  Although this is an old book, originally published in 1947, it is a Caldecott Honor book.  This old tale begins with three hungry soldiers marching when they came upon a small village.  Needing rest and food the soldiers enter the town, but only after the villagers had quickly hid their food, knowing that soldiers tend to be hungry.  Needless to say, when the soldiers asked for food, the villagers have good excuses why they don't have the food.   It is then that the soldiers hatch a plot to make stone soup.  Intrigued as the villagers were, they eagerly help to make such as soup.  But such a soup would be better if it had carrots, cabbage, and maybe beef.  The unsuspecting villagers unwittingly fetch for these hidden foods.  More than this, the grateful villagers, happy to find a new soup, willingly give up their beds for the soldiers.   Finally, the soldiers get on their way, with a full stomach and a smirk on their face.
   I enjoyed reading this book.  It is a wonderful book to share with young children.  The plot is based on a matching of wits.  The clever scheme is believable and is a reflection of human nature and greed.  This book provides a good opportunity to teach the concept of sequence and working with a recipe.  As an enrichment activity, students could bring in food items and small, clean, smooth stones to make their own stone soup for the whole class to enjoy.

Flossie and the Fox

       This humorous tale by Patricia McKissack is now one of my favorite books to read aloud.  Flossie, a young African-American girl, is sent with a basket full of eggs to a neighbor's house and given a warning to beware of any foxes.  On the way, she meets a hungry fox that would like nothing more than to have a feast of eggs.  Through her wit Flossie turns the tables on the fox as she outfoxes the sly critter.  Even though this story has a simple plot, anyone would enjoy reading this tale as Flossie has a charm all of her own. 
     I highly recommend this book as a read aloud book in any primary or elementary classroom.  I used this book to teach plot, character analysis, point of view, setting, and conflict.  My students seemed to enjoy the book, particularly the Old South dialect of Flossie and her mother.  This book is retold by the author based on her memories of her father telling her this tale when she was a child.  So, if you have a chance, pick up this book and your students will be sure to enjoy this simple, but entertaining tale.