Helen's Eyes

Annie Sullivan was one of history's most overshadowed women. Best known as the beloved teacher and companion of Helen Keller, her own life's details and her feelings are often glossed over. This book does a beautiful job of presenting Annie Sullivan in a more well-rounded light. Through the photos, quotes, and words contained in this book, we find out that she spent much of her childhood in a grim poorhouse, that she struggled with her own vision problems throughout her life, that she and Helen performed in vaudeville for some time in order to make ends meet, and that she was married for a short time to John Macy, who was eleven years younger than herself. Helen's Eyes helps readers understand the extent to which Annie gave her entire life to Helen. It is hard not to be touched by the self-sacrifice exhibited by this incredible woman, who was truly one of the finest teachers of all time and a model for all aspiring teachers to follow.

This beautiful photobiography by Marfe Ferguson Delano was published in 2008 by the National Geographic Society. I would recommend it for children ages 9 and up.

Angel Child, Dragon Child

For any of you who are looking for good multicultural children's books to add to your annotated bibliography, this is a sweet and inspiring story based on true events. Nguyen Hoa, known as "Ut" to her family, has recently come to America from Vietnam. Her mother stays behind in Vietnam, as there is not enough money for her to come over yet. Ut tries to be an "Angel Child" at school, as her mother would have told her to be, but her sadness is only made worse by the teasing she endures at her new American school. Finally, with the help of a new friend, things take a turn for the better.

The author, Michelle Maria Surat, has done a wonderful job of portraying real emotions in this touching book. The illustrations by Vo-Dinh Mai lend to the beauty of the story. I would recommend this book for children ages 6-10. 

Diary of a Spider

The main character in this book goes to school every day, has a sister and a wise old Grampa, plays at his best friend's house, and is afraid of a bully. Sounds like many kids you know, right? The only difference is that this kid happens to be a spider, with a best friend named Fly. And the only thing that scares him more than the bully Daddy Long Legs is...the vacuum cleaner.

Just to give you a taste for how funny this book is, here are some sample entries from Spider's diary (although they are so much better when accompanied by the illustrations!)

"May 7. Mom said I was getting too big for my own skin. So I molted."

"May 8. Today was show-and-tell. So I brought in my old skin. My teacher called on it to lead the Pledge of Allegiance."

Doreen Cronin has written several humorous children's books, including Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type, and Duck for President, but my favorite books of hers are those she has teamed up with illustrator Harry Bliss on: this book, Diary of a Spider (2005), and its companion, Diary of a Worm. Both of these books are absolutely hilarious and will have kids and adults laughing together. I would love to use this book as a read-aloud for an elementary class. It could be used to teach many things about spiders and insects; just a few facts that children will learn from this fictional story are that spiders are not insects, that they have eight legs, and that they can shed their skin. Another useful aspect of this particular story is that it may help children who are afraid of spiders to get over this fear. In fact, as Spider says himself, he is scared of humans with big feet!

Coretta Scott

Coretta Scott is a brand new poetic biography of Coretta Scott King, with words by Ntozake Shange and beautiful paintings by Kadir Nelson. Rather than attempting to tell every detail of Coretta's life, the text emphasizes the core experiences and traits which defined her; walking five miles to school daily as a child and being passed by white-only school buses, meeting and marrying Martin Luther King Jr., peacefully campaigning for freedom, holding onto her faith in the Lord, and "singin' always singin'". I highly recommend this lovely book to young children (and adults!)

Amazing Grace

I went to the library with my little cousins today. I watch them once a week...they are seven, nine, and eleven, and boy, do they love to read. I have a great time picking out books for them at the library...I am pretty sure I read the whole children's section at mine when I was younger, so they like to bring me along. Today I turned the world upside down by checking out a bunch of books for me to read for our annotated bibliography and asked my cousins for their recommendations. :)

Today I read a picture book called Amazing Grace, by Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Caroline Binch. It's about a girl who lives with her Nana and her Ma and just loves to hear stories and act them out (she always gives herself the most exciting roles). Her class decides to perform Peter Pan, and naturally, Grace wants the leading role. But she's not sure what will happen when two of her classmates tell her she cannot be Peter Pan because she is a girl and she is black. But with the help of her family, Grace discovers that she can be anyone and do anything she chooses to.

I think that this book would make a great read aloud for early elementary students. The issues that it addresses are very relevant and important. Grace's dilemma will appeal to any child who feels that they are somehow different, and the story itself is quite empowering. The illustrations are beautiful, too!