Rescue and Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship by Jessica Kensky, Patrick Downes, and Scott Magoon Last Stop on Market Street written by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall
Rescue and Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship
by Jessica Kensky, Patrick Downes, and Scott Magoon
This book received the Schneider Family Book Award in 2019! This award is given by the American Library Association and honors an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression or portrayal of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.
About the book:
This book is about a girl named Jessica, and a dog named rescue. Rescue began his story on a farm, training to be a seeing eye dog. Rescue was taken out of the seeing eye dog program and put into the service dog program. Jessica's story in this book begins with her laying on a hospital bed, being told she is now an amputee and had lost her left leg. Both characters received life-altering news and has to re-learn many things, including basic skills like walking for Jessica and for Rescue, how to walk by the side of the partner he would one day be paired with. Throughout the book, both characters learned how to become the new version of themselves, but something was missing-- until the day Rescue and Jessica met. They became partners. The two learned to help each other with day to day activities like playing, standing up, and much more. Rescue and Jessica work side by side and they both become happier together, than they ever were separately.
This was one of my favorite spreads from this book. Other than the artwork being nothing short of amazing, the message portrayed towards the end of this book is so important. Rescue and Jessica have realized the potential they both have to make each others' lives better, becoming closer than ever. They know now they are in a symbiotic relationship.
This story shows how to be truthful and accepting in a different type of relationship than you are used to. As well as teaching about friendship, this book also focuses on the feeling that being unsure of your future and outcome of a situation can be okay, and maybe even work in your favor! It did for Rescue and Jessica!!
Educational Practices:
In the classroom I would want to use this book for sure if I was introducing or talking about friends or peers that have disabilities. I think this book would add and empower a friendly discussion about equality in treatment of friends and acquaintances. I feel like a lot of students could also for a connection to this book if they have any experience what-so-ever with a dog of any kind. This could jumpstart a discussion on similarities as well. From the Candlewick Press Teacher's Guide, I have found some of the best probing and potential questions for understanding individuals with disabilities and developing communities of inclusion, I just had to share them. I think these would be a great discussion addition to ANY age range of students, just scaffolding them where needed. All ages of students can participate in moral discussions like these.
UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES
-What does it mean for someone to have a disability? What types of disabilities exist? Why is it important to understand different types of disabling conditions?
-Everyone has strengths and areas of challenge. What are things you are good at doing? What things do you need to practice or try a new way in order to improve?
-It is important to respect everyone we meet in order to create an inclusive community. How can you show respect to someone with a disability? How can you acknowledge the types of things people with disabilities are able to do independently?
-Why is it important to ask someone if they want assistance before providing help? What are other ways that you can respect an individual’s independence? How do you know if you are giving too much help to someone? What are the signs?
-What types of things did Jessica need to learn to do in new ways when she received a prosthetic leg? When she lost her second leg, what did she need to learn again? What might have stayed the same? Is it easy or difficult to learn how to do something in a new way? Share an example of something that was difficult for you to learn.
-Can you think of another book that you have read about an individual that has a disability? How is the character similar to and/or different from Jessica? What important message or central theme do you learn in both books?
I really enjoyed this spread because of how at the beginning of the book, Jessica is portrayed in a dark room, looking like she has lost hope. Only gadgets are around her and a small picture of an orthopedic appendage are pictured. I felt like this did a beautiful job of helping the reader visualize the distress that Jessica must have felt, without loosing hope completely.
DEVELOPING COMMUNITIES OF COMPASSION AND INCLUSION
-Jessica encountered many challenges throughout the story. What were Jessica’s visible and invisible struggles? How did she overcome those obstacles as the story progressed? How did Jessica change throughout the story? What caused her to change emotionally and physically?
-Why is it important to support everyone in a community? How can your community be supportive of someone who is experiencing physical or emotional challenges? Can you think of a time you provided someone in your community with support?
-Imagine Jessica is a new student in your school. How would you welcome her? How can you build the school community so that it is welcoming to her? How can you make your school more accessible for her?
-In the Q&A with the authors in this article about the book, Patrick Downes states, “You can achieve almost anything when you are part of a dedicated and loving team.” In the story, how did the partnership of Rescue and Jessica represent a dedicated and loving team? Describe a
team you have been on that had a shared purpose.
-What does it mean to be a friend to someone? What actions make a friend special? Do you have an example of a life- changing friendship? Using examples from the text, discuss how the friendship between Rescue and Jessica developed.
Creating a positive school and classroom community is very important to me as a teacher and I would also like to add "Positive Posters" from the Candlewick Press Teacher's Guide as well. This was the example they gave and I think it would be amazing to create a mural or wall of all of the responses, whether they be in writing, sketches, or another text style or media!
POSITIVES POSTERS
Have students each complete one of these phrases:
“Our school is welcoming because . . .”
“I show community/inclusion by . . .”
“Inclusion is important because . . .”
"This true story shows the major role dogs like Rescue play in the lives of people with disabilities. Heartwarming and compelling, this book makes it clear why dogs truly are man's best friend." -Dr. Jane Goodall
Last Stop on Market Street:
written by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson
Awards and recognitions:
★ #1 New York Times Bestseller ★ Winner of the 2016 Newbery Medal ★ A 2016 Caldecott Honor Book ★ A 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book ★ A New York Times Book Review Notable Children’s Book of 2015 ★ A Wall Street Journal Best Children’s Book of 2015
About the book:
Staying positive in hardships that we are faced with in life is something every strives to do. However, we all probably don't do it as much as we should. The same can not be said for CJ's grandmother in Last Stop on Market Street. This woman finds the good in everything, and tries to teach CJ why they do the things they do in life. This book walks us through a young boy and his grandmother's Sunday routine and the beauty found in everyday life.
From things like riding the bus to meeting people that can not see, the grandmother has a positive spin on everything. When it is raining in this spread, and CJ is upset and proceeds to avoid the rain, his nana tells him why it has to rain. The personification that she gives to the tree needing to "drink through a straw" makes it easier for children to connect, in my opinion. If it is something they do daily, or have done recently, the students realize the trees and just trying to grow and live, just like them!
Educational Practice:
Teaching about diversity and inclusion would be a great topic in a classroom for when you are reading this book. Discussions can be made regarding the different races shown in the book, the different cultures, socioeconomic statuses, and the different abilities that certain characters have.
For example, in the following spread, CJ's grandmother informs him that the blind man has the ability to watch the world with his ears. The man jokes back and says he also watches with his sense of smell! This is just one of the many examples of how this book shows that all people should be treated like good humans! (and equal.) Working towards learning where you come from and things that make you special is a common theme I felt while reading this book. The empowerment that CJ's grandmother gives is truly like no other.
From the resource, The Classroom Bookshelf, I came across this awesome teaching opportunity. I am always trying to validate my students' creativity and process of learning alternate avenues toward expression, if words don't always work for them. I think this is a great idea to incorporate art, writing, and listening into one lesson, full of creative options, all while having the discussion about inclusion and differences that some of us might possess.
Imagery: Seeing What You Hear.
On the bus, C.J. closes his eyes, as suggested by the blind man sitting near him, to hear the guitar gently playing nearby. When he does this, he “sees” what he hears: “sunset colors swirling over crashing waves;” “a family of hawks slicing through the sky;” and “butterflies dancing free in the light of the moon.” Play a range of different music compositions for your students. Ask students to close their eyes as you play each segment, and when the music is over, give them a minute to write down everything they saw in their mind’s eye. Have them compare and contrast what they see with when hearing the different compositions. When the exercise is over, have your students turn one of the lists into a poem that they illustrate. If possible, invite another class in, or family members, to a gallery exhibit of poetry in your classroom. Each part of the room can be devoted to a particular piece of music. Visitors can listen to each song and then view the associated poems and art work.
“Like still waters, de la Peña and Robinson’s story runs deep. It finds beauty in unexpected places, explores the difference between what’s fleeting and what lasts, acknowledges inequality, and testifies to the love shared by an African-American boy and his grandmother.” -Publishers Weekly
Red: A Crayon’s Story:
by Michael Hall
About the book:
This book is a free flowing story of a red crayon that has the label "red" but doesn't quite fit the label. They can not do normal things that a red crayon can and doesn't feel like they are quite what everyone is saying they should be. The crayon gets frustrated continuously with the tasks that are being asked of them. For some reason, everyone "knows" that they can complete these requests if the crayon would just "try". The "red" crayon progresses in the book toward becoming, accepting, and showing the world it's true self with the meeting and help of new, supportive friends and a safe environment to grow in. Sometimes we have people around us that see us for what we truly are, and unfortunately there are those that might be confused at first!
This spread by the illustrator and message from author on the spread really spoke to me because I related a lot of this book, especially these pages back to education. If we tested everyone the exact same way, avoiding all aspects of accommodation, what would our education look like? I think it all goes back to the fairness vs equality talk that we have all heard at some point. If everyone is provided with the same accommodations, only certain students would be flourishing and others would fall far behind because they are not receiving what they NEED.
"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." -Albert Einstein
Educational Practice:
Critically thinking, my mind goes to questioning this book with students about gender, race and individualism. We can also talk about acceptance and tolerance (and being kind if that isn't too obvious- just kidding, never is!!) in this book. This spread shows all different types, colors, and heights of crayons judging and making interpretations about the "red" crayon. Most of these comments that are being shared are not the kindest. The Fuchsia crayon says, "I don't think he's very bright." Saying this is inferring that the "red" crayon should be red and do what is expected, it just can't or won't, like it is a conscious choice! The Sunshine crayon said, "Give him time. He'll catch on." Both of these comments are invalidating the "red" crayon's well being and bringing them down.
Using a Critical literacy strategy from our reading in class, Read Ch. 2 Teaching Critical Literacy from Critical Literacy: Enhancing Students' Comprehension of Text by Glenn L. DeVoogd and Maureen McLaughlin, I could analyze and unpack this book with my students. I really liked the Connection Stems strategy. The procedure is basically to use provided (or your own) prompts, given to students, to help them foster connection on their own, but still in a structured format. The students can complete their connection stems in any format they see fit. It could be a sketch, drawing, poem, painting, writing, journal entry, or even orally. When the students start to share, some of them will bring up their personal connections to the text either in journal (text) entries or orally as a class.
Some examples of these connection stems from the article are:
-That reminds me of...
-I remember when...
-I have a connection...
-An experience I have had like that...
-I felt like that character when...
-If I were that character, I would...
-I remember another book about this...