Jennifer Salata

Literature Exploration Project

LTC 4241

Everyone Visits Family by Colleen Hord

Genre: Non-fiction, informational text
The book Everyone Visits Family is a nonfiction book about different people all over the
world visiting their family, each in their own ways with their own customs. The book
covers multiple countries with photos of family members from their respective home
country. It is nice that there are even maps to show students where these locations are in
the world. There are bolded keywords in the book that cover topics such as extended
family, reunion, relative, and celebration. The book overall covers different kinds of
celebrations one may see all around the world and how those celebrations may be
celebrated with family members. For example, the book mentions how in Ethiopia
families will gather to celebrate Enkutatash which is the first day of their New Year.
Another example that students would relate more to would be the Thanksgiving and
Christmas tree examples, recognizing that these are times people visit family members to
celebrate the certain holidays. On a more casual note though, the book points out that
there does not need to be a reason to reunite with family. Families dont need to leave
home to visit, but they can visit simply at a meal or lounging around together. I selected
this book for the project because I thought it was a great example of real life family
celebrations that a lot of children participate in with their families, so it can be a very
relatable book. It is simple to read but expands on the importance of all different types of
families around the world rather than one stereotypical family type to show students
every family is acceptable.

Hord, C. (2016). Everyone visits family. Vero Beach, FL: Rourke Educational Media.

A Family is a Family is a Family by Sara OLeary

Genre: Childrens Fiction
The book A Family is a Family is a Family is a cute fiction book based on the reality of
the many different family situations that exist. It is based in a classroom setting where
students are talking about families at school and the students each need to say something
that they thought makes their family special. The responses students give show the
various family settings students may be faced with in real life, rather than the norm
family situation consisting of a mother and father with children. Students respond with
things like parents being friends since they were little, foster children being explained as
lots of kids in our family. Mom and Dad just keep coming home with more. and a
response about two moms and adoption. The book is set up in a very unique way where
the author is not straight forward about the family situation but leaves it more open to
children to infer this and take it however they read it. This book stuck out to me to show
the diversity of families and the many family types that students can be living with. The
illustrations go along very well with the quoted responses the students give about their
families which helps students visualize even more. I think it is important for students to
hear these family differences and understand that no matter the situation, family is family
and there is always a special something that makes your family unique. A family is a
family no matter how it is organized!

OLeary, S., & Leng, Q. (2016). A family is a family is a family. Toronto: Groundwood
Books.

Crow Call by Lois Lowry

Genre: Non-Fiction, Drama
Crow Call is a story about a little girl dealing with her father being away at war who is
going to be returning home. She is coping with his return and trying to get back into the
swing of things with him, but finds herself nervous to even say daddy to him. They
spend bonding time together by taking a hunting trip. They reminisce on memories like
when she purchased a mans flannel shirt that had a lot of value to her and her father and
all of the times that they spent together while she had worn the flannel shirt. It is
noticeable that their relationship is different but they are both doing their best to make the
best of his return. I can see this book being used for upper elementary grades because it is
definitely a deeper read that students need to really think about to understand the lonely
and distant feelings the girl is facing. The story dives into some moving conversations
between father and daughter, which is also why it is important that students are mature
enough to comprehend a story such as this. This just loops around to knowing your
students and their levels in the classroom to know if this book is appropriate for them to
listen to. Although this family situation may not be a common one, it is definitely still
applicable to students with potential parents or siblings away at war or away from the
family for a long period of time due to certain circumstances. Students can make
connections with the main character as she deals with the hardship of not having her
father around in her daily life for long periods of time.

Lowry, L., Ibatoulline, B., Shima, N., & Shima, R. (2010). Crow Call. Kbe: BL
Shuppan.
The Memory String by Eve Bunting
Genre: Fiction
In The Memory String, the main female character Laura makes a special string full of
buttons. Each button represents an important piece of her familys history. The story
begins by informing the readers that Laura has a stepmother, an immediate connection to
some students and their family setups. Readers come to find out that the memory string
had belonged to her great grandmother and was then passed down to her grandmother,
and then mother, and now it is Lauras memory string. This string was set up as a way to
remember people, events, or special memories since back in the old days people couldnt
read or write to keep a diary. Laura goes on in the story explain to her kitten what select
buttons are from and why they are so meaningful to her family and the family history.
One button was from her grandmothers first grownup dress. The most sentimental
memories are about her mother, though. She has buttons from her mothers prom dress,
wedding dress, even a button from Lauras own christening dress. The story is very deep
as it tells about Lauras internal struggle coping with her mothers death and the fact that
she has a step mom who her father is noticeably happy with. When her string breaks,
Laura is in a panic and the main person wanting to help her find the buttons is her
stepmother. Laura cannot relate to her in the same way like she could with her mother,
but all she can do is try. This story is definitely a deeper plot line, but it is very realistic
for students who may have experiences with stepparents or even deceased parents. A
great follow up to this story can be a reflective writing, especially for these students who
have made personal connections who may be unable to talk aloud about what they are
feeling.

Bunting, E., & Rand, T. (2015). The Memory String. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Family Huddle by Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, and Archie Manning

Genre: Documentary, Non Fiction

Family Huddle is a super unique book about the true stories and family moments about
the Manning family. These book is quite often a hit with all students, but primarily the
boys in the class since it is relative to football and the notorious Manning brothers. It is
hard to find books that intrigue all students so right off the bat this on is a catch. Family
Huddle is based on the lives of all of the Mannings. It highlights the family moments
together when the boys were still kids and how the family got along, with their interest of
football beginning at such a young age as well. The illustrations are made out to look
very realistic with much detail on every page of the book to capture readers attention.
The young boys are heading to visit their grandparents but first, they plan a football play
sneaking the football in the car as well! This book does a great job at highlighting a very
famous family before they were famous. They are still a regular family who visits their
grandparents and they have lunch in the park together just as a lot of families do as well.
While there may be a lot of football incorporation, teachers and students have to
remember that their passion for football is what made this family really connect to one
another and heavily impacted their futures. Every family is unique in their own ways; the
Mannings just had much more of an athletic charisma to theirs! I found this book to be a
great add in to my literature exploration collection because it tells real life stories about
real people students can envision. They can better understand that while all families are
different, they are similar too. I know my students play sports with their siblings and
family members when they return home just like the Mannings would for hours every
day.

Manning, P., Manning, E., Manning, A., & Madsen, J. (2009). Family Huddle. New
York: Scholastic Press.

The Shivers in the Fridge by Fran Manushkin

Genre: Fiction

The Shivers in the Fridge is an unusual and goofy book to talk about families in a not so
serious way, yet it is great to relate back to the concept of families as a whole. The story
is about Sonny Shivers, his Mama, Papa, Grandpa, and Grandma who are a family of
refrigerator magnets stuck inside the fridge in a box! This book takes some creative and
imaginative mindsets in order to be visualized and recognized in the fun and witty way it
is meant to be. The family dynamics that can be seen in the book are very similar to a
human family making this book a fun yet relatable book to students when on the topic of
families. The Shivers family sticks together at all times, watching out for each other as
they face earthquakes and monsters and puzzling bright lights. The illustrations of the
book show the reality of what the family is facing though; the bright light is the opening
and closing of the refrigerator. Every time some type of shaky disturbance occurs, Papa
always takes a head count that there are five members of the family still there together.
The family is in search of a warmer place, hoping to be removed like Jelly and Butter
(because they are constantly removed and placed back inside the fridge). Grandpa takes a
stand and decides that there may be a new home from the Shivers family somewhere, so
he and the family take a journey. The remainder of the book tells about the familys
adventures in the fridge including the many encounters of foods, lakes, earthquakes, and
monsters until finally, all of the magnets are placed on the fridge just where they belong.
This story may be silly, but it is sure to make readers laugh and understand that there are
way more kinds of families than they may have thought!

Manushkin, F., & Zelinsky, P. O. (2006). The Shivers in the Fridge. New York: Dutton
Childrens Books.
Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco
Genre: Childrens Fiction

Thunder Cake is the story about our main female character spending time at her
Grandmothers house overcoming her fear of thunderstorms with her help. Grandmother
realizes a storm is about to hit, but sees this as thunder cake baking weather. Her
granddaughter immediately resorts to hiding under the bed once hearing thunder, so
Grandmother says that they are going to make a thunder cake rather than worry about the
storm. She teachers her granddaughter to count once lightening strikes, and then to stop
once she hears the thunder and that number is how many miles away the storm is. They
will then use this timing to make the cake and know when to get it in the oven so it can
be a true thunder cake. The two of them spend this time together gathering the baking
ingredients and count how far the storm is every now and then when the lightening and
thunderbolts hit. The little girl expresses her fear of the storm while they are outside
picking eggs and getting milk, but she stays strong by her grandmothers side and tries to
copy the same strength. Once they count that the storm is three miles away, they are
relieved to see that the cake made it into the oven on time and they will have a real
thunder cake. While they wait, the two of them discuss how brave the little girl was.
When the cake is ready and the storm is hitting, they sit and enjoy the nature and the cake
together, never getting scared of a storm again. I found this book to fit into the category
of families because a Grandmothers love and support is sometimes all that children have.
Grandparents play a heavy role in many kids lives whether there are parents in the
family picture or not, so I wanted to highlight this special bond that can often be seen.

Polacco, P. (2013). Thunder cake. Boston: National Braille Press.

Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins

Genre: Fiction

In the story Mother Bruce, Bruce is a grumpy bear who lives alone. He does not like
quite a lot of things, including sunshine, rain, cute little animals, or happy days! One of
the only things he enjoys is eggs. Bruce enjoyed collecting them from the forest and
cooking them into all sorts fancy meals and recipes. He comes across a yummy looking
recipe that called for ingredients he did not have. So, he went about his day gathering the
ingredients required. He returned home prepared to bake gathering firewood when a
family of baby goslings surprised him. They belonged to Mrs. Goose, a friend, who had
left the baby goslings. Bruce does not want anything to do with them, but they continue
to follow him anywhere he goes no matter how mean and scary he was to them. Nothing
had worked and Bruce realized he was stuck with them, so he tried to make the best of
the situation. He realized that the babies were hard work, and a lot of work! The goslings
grow older and Bruce thinks he will soon be freed of his motherly duties, but they just
wont leave Bruce. Bruce makes the best of the situation again, and takes them in as his
family where they live and travel together. This cute book about an unusual family is
another story that is not directly about families, but the overall theme is about an
unfamiliar family which can look very different in real life such as same sex parents,
adoption, step siblings or parents, and so forth. There is a great theme to learn to love
your family no matter what it may look like, rather than trying to escape it.

Higgins, R. T. (2016). Mother Bruce. New York: Scholastic Inc.

Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco

Genre: Historical Fiction

This classic story is about a Miss Eula and he grandchildren, one of who is not actually
her grandchild, and the childrens wish to make enough money to buy Miss Eula a very
special gift. The narrator is good friends with her two neighbors Stewart and Winston.
Her own grandmother had died a few years prior, so the boys welcomed her into their
family to share their grandmother named Miss Eula. All of the children adore her, as does
she with the kids. They had a tradition to have Chicken Sundays after church eating
fried chicken that Miss Eula made. Miss Eula would often speak about this beautiful
Easter bonnet in Mr. Kodinskis shop. The children want to get her this hat so very badly,
but they do not have the money. They go to speak with the storeowner about how to get
the hat since collectively they do not have enough money, but on the way they are caught
in a mistake prank where theyre believed to have thrown eggs at Mr. Kodinskis shop.
This put the kids in a bad position to try to make money here, so they spend time
brainstorming how to make it up to him. They decide to make these gorgeously decorated
Easter eggs as a gift, but they end up being so beautiful that they are sold in the hat shop
making enough money for the kids to buy Miss Eula the special hat. They present it to
her on Easter Sunday and she is so touched by their generosity. The story ends years later
when the kids are now grownups, but they still hear Miss Eulas voice every now and
then and think about her. Chicken Sunday is the definition of a strong family bond
showing the extreme love and care the children and Miss Eula have for each other,
especially when the little girl is nothing more than a neighbor to Miss Eula. I was so
touched by this story and the tenderness a grandmother can have for someone.

Polacco, P. (1992). Chicken Sunday. New York: Scholastic Inc.

Grandfathers Journey by Allen Say
Genre: Historical Narrative

In Grandfathers Journey, author Allen Say tells the story of his grandfathers personal
journey from Japan to America and back again. Say explains that his grandfather was a
young man when he chose to leave Japan to see the world. It was an entirely new
adventure full of new clothes, new people, and new sights. He spent three weeks on a
steamship until he arrived in North America where he then explored on trains, riverboats,
and even long walks for days to some places. He explored deserts, farm fields, oceans,
huge cities, mountains and rivers. Everything was so new and exciting for him to see,
especially meeting new people of all races. He states that he loved California the best
because of the sunshine, the Sierra Mountains, and the lonely seacoast. He eventually
returned home to Japan to marry, then the new couple moved back into the United States
at the San Francisco Bay and had a daughter. As time passes and the grandfather gets
older, he choses to take his family back to Japan, their homeland. He was reminded of his
childhood with the sights of Japan and reunited with his old friends. The daughter gave
birth to a little boy, who is the narrator of the story. The story makes a full family circle
here as the narrator can now speak on his own memories with his grandfather. After his
grandfather passes away some time later, the narrator (the grandson) goes to see
California for himself and loves it just as his grandfather did. He lives a similar lifestyle
where he is constantly reminded of his grandfather. This story makes a full life circle
over multiple family generations, which is unlike a lot of books. The families in this book
were all very similar, but this can be seen as a cultural noticing. This book has been used
during times of students moving from place to place, or even in the case that a teacher has
an immigrant student.

Say, A. (1993). Grandfathers Journey. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.