Just a Second: A Different Way to Look at Time by Steve Jenkins

 

Jenkins, Steve. Just a Second: A Different Way to Look at Time. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2011. ISBN 978-0-618-70896-3

Plot

Just a Second briefly describes some of the history of time and timekeeping and provides interesting time-related trivia. In one second a bee can beat its wings about 200 times, in one minute a snail can move forward about one foot, and in one hour a baby whale can gain about ten pounds. Some facts are carried over to longer units of time, such as the number human births in a second, a minute, an hour, a day, and so on. The book also describes events that take place in less than a second and those that occur over hundreds and thousands of years.

Analysis

Highly regarded nonfiction and science author and illustrator Steve Jenkins outlines a series of facts in this trivia and concept book about time. A brief introduction to each unit of time and the history of timekeeping adds a frame of reference and additional interest. The first few pages deal with events that take place in one second, and additional pages describe events taking place in longer and longer units of time. Each piece of trivia is accompanied by a true-to-life cut-paper illustration. The pages are not overcrowded with pictures or text, with about ten pieces of trivia per two page spread. The facts and illustrations scattered across the colorful pages invite readers to browse, reading whatever catches their eye. Estimates and approximations are made clear, and the facts themselves are sometimes humorous, sometimes shocking, and always fascinating. The book ends with a series of charts, covering events that took place in the history of the universe, showing human population growth over the years, comparing lifespans of various plants and animals, and keeping a timeline of the history of timekeeping. Back matter includes additional reading and a note describing the sources of information for the facts and numbers described.

Awards and Recognitions

Steve Jenkins is an award-winning author and illustrator, and Just a Second has received several positive and starred reviews.

“Jenkins's fascinating way of looking at time is bolstered by a wide variety of examples from nature and man, and while many are simply fun, others will give somber pause […] Jenkins renders this package both eye-catching and mind-boggling.”—Alyson Low, School Library Journal Starred Review

 “Jenkins isn’t here to lecture but to enlighten. With a dazzling array of science and nature facts on the order of Ripley’s Believe It or Not, he succeeds in teaching children about time even as he’s bound to pique their interest in a wide variety of behaviors […] the material is organized and arranged with care by Jenkins, whose meticulous cut-paper collage illustrations are detailed and yet unfussy.”—Pamela Paul, New York Times Book Review

“Jenkins brings fresh perspective to the passage of time in a thought-provoking picture book […] This subtly philosophical examination of time, scale, and the mechanics of life is all but certain to leave readers reconsidering the world and their place in it.”—Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Connections

Discuss the tick of a clock, each tick representing another second has passed. With children who are reading, take turns reading and counting ticks—count how many ticks it takes to read the title (“Just a Second”) and first two sentences of the book (“A second goes by pretty quickly. In fact, several have passed since you started reading this sentence.”). Set a timer for one second and observe how quickly it passes. Challenge children to see what they can accomplish in one second. How many times can they blink their eyes, clap their hands, or spin around? Try with other units of time, such as ten seconds, thirty seconds, or one minute, and other activities, such as hopping up and down on one foot, flapping their arms, or say the word “bumblebee.”

Consider reading other books about time, such as:

• T is for Time, written by Marie Smith and illustrated by Renee Graef
• About time: A First Look at Time and Clocks, written and illustrated by Bruce Koscielniak
• Storyworlds: A Moment in Time (A Perpetual Picture Atlas), written and illustrated by Thomas Hegbrook

Also consider these other trivia and science books:

• Weird but True! books published by National Geographic Kids
• How come? Every Kid's Science Questions Explained, written by Kathy Wollard and illustrated by Debra Solomon
• What Do You Do With a Tale Like This? written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
• Animals By The Numbers: A Book of Animal Infographics, written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins

*This review was written for a youth literature class through Texas Woman’s University.

The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights

Freedman, Russell. The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights. New York: Clarion Books, 2004. ISBN 0-618-15976-2

Plot

The Voice that Challenged a Nation is a biography of renowned singer Marian Anderson. The book details the near 100 years of Anderson’s life. Marian was born in South Philadelphia in 1897, and she started singing in her church choir when she was as young as six years old. As she grew older she continued to sing, and she gained more and more recognition for her amazing voice. Marian Anderson, a black woman, faced discrimination and racism as she applied to schools and traveled the country giving concerts. She never let that stop her from pursuing what she loved and what she was so talented at, however, and she continued to study music and perform in the United States as well as in Europe, where she gained fame and appeared before royalty. According to Anderson herself, she disliked confrontation and didn’t strive to speak out, but she became a civil rights icon in an open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where she sang for 75,000 people and helped pave the way for other black musicians and performers.

Analysis

Russell Freedman, a Newbery Medalist, grabs readers’ attention from the first pages with a snapshot of the historic Lincoln Memorial performance before going back in time and describing Anderson’s life and career chronologically from her birth. Freedman relied on Anderson’s writings and on first-person accounts to give us an engaging and awe-inspiring biography on an amazing woman. Detailed photographs and direct quotes are present on almost every page throughout the book, providing further interest and insight into the lives and thoughts of Marian Anderson and those around her. Back matter includes picture credits, quote citations, a selected bibliography, and a discography providing interested readers resources for listening to Anderson sing. Additionally, an index allows readers to look up specific events and persons. A table of contents at the beginning also helps readers find specific chapters of Anderson’s life, but the captivating biography begs to be read straight through. Readers will enjoy getting to better know Marian Anderson, from beginning to end.

Awards and Recognitions

The Voice that Challenged a Nation received the 2005 Sibert Medal and a 2005 Newbery Honor, as well as many positive and starred reviews.

“Perhaps most poignant is Freedman's re-creation of Anderson's 1939 performance before 75,000 fans at the Lincoln Memorial, a concert precipitated by the DAR's refusal to allow a black singer to appear at its Constitutional Hall […] An engrossing biography.”—Publishers Weekly Starred Review

“Anderson never saw herself as an activist […] and Freedman never treats her as a symbol. He offers instead a fully realized portrait of a musical artist and her times. Well-chosen, well-placed archival photographs, clear writing, abundant research seamlessly woven into the text, and careful documentation make an outstanding, handsome biography. Freedman at his best.”—Kirkus Starred Review

“This superbly written book not only tells the story of Marian Anderson’s life but it also shows readers the unique relationship that Marian had with music and the courage and beauty of her proud spirit. […] Readers are given a portrait of a graceful and supremely gifted woman who overcame enormous difficulties to show the world that a person of color could indeed be a star and an advocate for her people.”—Marya Jansen-Gruber, Through the Looking Glass Children’s Book Reviews

Connections

To round-out the experience, listen to Marian Anderson’s music as found in the discography and watch her Lincoln Memorial performance (a portion of it can be viewed here https://youtu.be/mAONYTMf2pk).

Try pairing this with other books about Anderson’s life, such as her autobiography My Lord, What a Morning or the picture book When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson written by Pam Munoz Ryan and illustrated by Brian Selznick.

Also consider reading other books about musicians and civil rights activists, such as:

• The Legendary Miss Lena Horne, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon
• Voice of Freedom Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Ekua Holmes
• Martin & Mahalia: His words, Her song, written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by J. Brian Pinkney
• A Band of Angels: A Story Inspired by the Jubilee Singers written by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrated by Raul Colon
• Who Is Stevie Wonder? written by Jim Gigliotti
• Who Was Rosa Parks? written by Yona Zeldis McDonough

*This review was written for a youth literature class through Texas Woman’s University.

Finding Winnie Book Trailer

Mattick, Lindsay. Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear. Illustrated by Sophie Blackall. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2015. ISBN 978-0-316-32490-8

Winner of the 2016 Caldecott Medal.

 *This book trailer was created for a youth literature class through Texas Woman’s University.

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai

 

Lai, Thanhha. Inside Out and Back Again. New York: Harper-HarperCollins Publishers, 2011. ISBN 978-0-06-196278-3

Plot

Inside Out & Back Again is a novel in verse detailing a year in the life of Hà, a ten-year-old girl from South Vietnam, starting in 1975: the Year of the Cat and the year of the Fall of Saigon. The story is told from Hà’s point of view in four parts, first describing her daily life with all its wonders and hardships, her dreams and worries, and her eventual flee as Saigon is taken over. She continues to describe her weeks aboard a refugee ship with her mother and three brothers, until they meet a rescue ship and are first taken to Guam, then Florida, and finally Alabama. In Alabama, Hà is expected to attend school and learn English. Settling in a foreign country, where everyone speaks a foreign language and follows foreign traditions, is not easy. Hà has to learn how to deal with homesickness, heartache, schoolyard bullies, and new friendships.

Analysis

The individual poems that make up this novel are written in free verse. They are titled and dated, indicating the passage of time, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes repeated. The titles often offer additional insight or emphasis into the poems that follow. Lines, sentences, and stanzas vary from short to long, alternately softening and strengthening the rhythm and flow of each verse. Short, blunt, one-line stanzas are effectively used to add an element of surprise or humor, and often for a greater impact. Repetition is similarly employed throughout individual poems and across poems throughout the novel. Words are carefully chosen to paint a vivid picture, create a sound either hard or soft, and evoke strong emotions, such as in the following stanza from the poem “English Above All”:

              “I must stand on a chair

              that stands on a tea table

              to see

              the sun and the moon

              out a too-high window.”

Clear imagery and strong emotions, always present and never forced, are brilliantly revealed line after line. The emotions are those of a ten-year-old girl, a sister, a student, a refugee, and an immigrant. Hà is full of real emotions—joy and sadness, fear and hope, humor and anger, depression and resilience. She will often surprise you, but throughout it all she remains true to herself.

Awards and Recognitions

Inside Out & Back Again is a winner of the National Book Award, a Newbery Honor book, and a #1 New York Times bestseller. It is also featured on many best book and notable book lists.

“An enlightening, poignant and unexpectedly funny novel in verse is rooted in the author's childhood experiences […]In her not-to-be-missed debut, Lai evokes a distinct time and place and presents a complex, realistic heroine whom readers will recognize, even if they haven’t found themselves in a strange new country.”—starred Kirkus review

“Lai gives insight into cultural and physical landscapes, as well as a finely honed portrait of Hà's family […] An incisive portrait of human resilience.”—starred Publishers Weekly review

“Based in Lai’s personal experience, this first novel captures a child–refugee’s struggle with rare honesty. […] Hà’s immediate narrative describes her mistakes―both humorous and heartbreaking; and readers will be moved by Hà’s sorrow as they recognize the anguish of being the outcast.”—starred Booklist review

Connections

Novels in verse are a wonderful way to introduce those who love books and stories to the world of poetry. Have kids try writing short stories in verse. These stories could be based on their real life experiences or on their wildest imaginings. Also try reading some of these other books written in verse:

• The Crossover, written by Kwame Alexander
• Brown Girl Dreaming, written by Jacqueline Woodson
• Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings, written by Margarita Engle
• Garvey’s Choice, written by Nikki Grimes
• Applesauce Weather, written by Helen Frost and illustrated by Amy June Bates

Consider reading other books about the refugee and immigrant experience, such as:

• Other Words for Home, written by Jasmine Warga (also a novel in verse)
• Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: A Migrant’s Tale, written and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh
• Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation, written by Edwidge Danticat and illustrated by Leslie Staub
• The Journey, written and illustrated by Francesca Sanna
• Illegal, written by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin and illustrated by Giovanni Rigano

*This review was written for a youth literature class through Texas Woman’s University.