Lauren+Davis-+Immigration

Lauren Davis Bibliography ECS 418

3-4-15

Non Fiction:

Immigrant Kids Written by Russell Freedman

This books is a history of immigrants in the early 1900’s. It focuses primarily in New York and the hub of immigration that was there with Ellis Island. The book is more a collection of first accounts that are strung together, but doesn’t follow the same families through the whole book. It does a fairly good job of explaining what things were like then, and the struggles that were had by the families during that time, but at the same time, it was a lot of facts and very unlike the picture books, although that is to be expected. This is a higher level book than what the general age I complied this list for. For that reason alone, I am using this more as a teacher resource and a photo resource to show students what things looked like back then, and what people had to do to survive. I find this relevant to the course of study on immigration because the book is a collection of first hand experiences that revolve around children, and I think children would really like what they can see, and will have fun comparing the differences between now and then.

The big highlight for me was all of the pictures that really depicted what life was like at the beginning of the 20th century. I also loved that pictures were the primary aspect of many pages in the book. I think that the pictures are really interesting because it shows how different things are now, then they were back then.

There were plenty of other things covered in the book, such as: history, food, religion, Ellis Island, school, play, work, cultures, nationalities, absence of technology, transportation, art, geography, parks, architecture, weather, clothing and fashion, just to name a few. Although if I were to select a few things to tie into the study based off of this book I would choose to focus on the clothing of the period as well as the fact that children of that time had jobs, where they earned money. I think that would be an interesting course for young students.

Freedman, Russell. 1980 Immigrant Kids. Puffin Books. 80 pages. Tempe Public Library.

The Boy on Fairfield Street Written by Kathleen Krull Illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

While focusing briefly on immigration, a total of two pages. I found that the info included was something that students could relate to easily. The feeling of being an outsider, of not belonging. As well as what the life was for children of German immigrants around the time of World War I. The book itself also caught my eye because it is a picture book version of Dr. Seuss’ biography, which focuses primarily on his younger years. I think that this book brings an interesting element of immigration, and that is the repercussion of coming from a place that are in a war with the present country you live in, and the suspicions that you live with. And how people interact with you because of that. I think that it would be a good topic to cove so that students can build understanding and empathy for others, who maybe going through similar experiences.

One high light of the book for me was learning about Dr. Seuss’ childhood in an easy to approach book. And I also like how if focused on how you have to work hard to get the things that you want which I think many students today need to hear because things are just given to them. I think I should note that I would use this book in tandem with something a little stronger such as the pictures from the previous book, Immigrant kids, to bring home the point, being that this book is lighter on the immigration subject than other books.

Other themes that I had found presented in this book include: food, Presidents, publishers, zoos, animals, boy scouts, World War I, writing, publishing, school, travel, transportation, movies, documentaries, oceans, geography, states, art, illustrations, families, and money. If I were to choose two things to elaborate on from this book I would select more of a history aspect such as the presidents and WWI, in order to tie in some additional American History.

Krull, Kathleen. 2011 The Boy on Fairfield Street. Random House Books. 48 Pages. I own this book. Coming To America A Muslim Family’s Story Written by: Bernard Wolf

This is a true story about one family’s journey to America. They came from Egypt at two different times. The father going first because he won a green card in a lottery, so that he was able to work in America. He was apart from them for 4 years before earning enough money for them to come over and join him. The story takes people through their everyday lives, and how they still incorporate their customs into their everyday lives. I found this to be a great resource because it follows the story of one family, and the information covered, related directly to how much of a challenge it is to move to a new country.

One highlight of this book is how it shows tolerance of others, and their cultures and religions. It has kind words, it is judgment free and makes ties to everyone else. It makes sure to highlight how people are the same such as working jobs, going to school, doing homework, and playing. I like that because it is things that students today are going through now. And it’s a connection that immigrants and Americans have in common.

Other themes that are present: food, religion, culture, geography, transportation, families, schooling, games, occupations, languages, friends, communication, technology, weather, and then seasons. In order to tie this book in to more advanced learning, I would find a way to tie in languages and communication, to work on our writing, perhaps with pen pals. Pen Pals would also be a great way to learn about different cultures and diversity as well.

Wolf, Bernard. 2003 **Coming To America A Muslim Family’s Story.** LEE& LOW BOOKS Inc. 48 pages. Tempe Public Library.

Fiction How Many Days to America A Thanksgiving Story By Even Bunting Illustrated by Beth Peck

How many days to America is a story about a family who leaves their homeland to travel to America. They leave because soldiers were talking over who had a different ideology then those who lived there. This story focuses on the time spent on the ship, and how hard it was for them to be stuck on a ship. It also correctly portrayed how young children relate to a journey such as this. Asking when we will be there, and expressing fear. I think the thing that I liked best about this book is that it tells the story from a different perspective on immigration, the majority of the books that ended up getting selected revolved around immigrating with visas, whereas this story told it’s tale from more of an illegal immigration perspective.

The highlight for me, was how accepting and helpful people were. It would be an interesting talking point with students to ask how things have changed and to talk about how more often than not people are no treated with fear, and in a sense put themselves in a bubble not allowing themselves to interact with others.

Other themes I found to be present were: food, transportation, sea life, hunger, lack of resources, family, loss of home, war, soldiers, rejection, acceptance, emotions, travel, geography, money, valuables, traditions, holidays, kindness. Three of the areas listed above that I think would fit nicely into the curriculum with this book is the idea of emotions, kindness and acceptance. With all of the hate, and intolerance going on right now, it would be nice to teach the positive and highlight how well people work together, accept each other, and can work together to achieve a common need.

Bunting, Eve. 1988 **How Many Days To America?** Scholastic. 30 pages. Tempe Public Library.

America My New Home Poems by Monica Gunning Illustrated by Ken Condon

America My New Home is a poetry collection about a young woman’s experience coming to America. She writes her feelings about things she has lived, seen, and experienced firsthand. She covers topics such as: the weather, no one knowing her name, hope, the library, concerts, and how she sees America as her new home. The language is written in such a way that young children of all ages can relate easily to it.

One big highlight I found in this book is the emotions, they are real. Expressed in such a way that even if you haven’t experienced immigration itself, you still can relate. Be it from your experiences of being left alone or in charge for the first time, like in the poem, Alone at Night. This poem tells the story of how young Monica is left alone at night, and told not to answer the door for any reason, while her mother is at night school. The line that stood out to me, having experienced a similar situation, were, “I was scared, Mama, someone would hear my trembling voice and know I was alone.”

Other themes present: Travel, family, school, culture, families, transportation, cities, languages, communication, History, music, instruments, religion, parks, circus- jobs, animals, entertainment, libraries, museums, friends, weather, seasons, holidays, anatomy, oceans, geography, textiles, clothing, villages vs cities Gunning, Monica. 2004 **America My New Home**. Boyds Mill Press, Inc. 32 pages, Tempe Public Library.

The Color of Home Written By Mary Hoffman Illustrated by Karin Littewood

The color of home tells a story about a family who left their home, not by choice but because of a terrible revolution going on. They left to save their lives. The little boy Hassan, started at a new school, and he was having a hard time communicating and relating to the other students until he was able to paint. The teacher recognizes his need to express himself and tell a story so she brought in a woman who could translate his story and the teacher listened. I thought that this tied in well to immigration because students who come from other countries have such a hard time expressing themselves, and art is such a global thing, just like music. It connects us all, and I think it is something that is relatable even if you didn’t immigrate, everyone has trouble expressing themselves sometimes.

The highlight of this book in my opinion is the use of art to relieve stress and to tell a story. Art is a great way for young children to work their way through a stressful or traumatic event. It gives them an outlet where they can express themselves.

Other topics I found that were included are: Revolution, war, weapons, transportation, emotions, art, language, cultures, religions, colors, homes, family, animals, and geography. For this book I would tie in art and Geography, perhaps a study on art in different cultures that we are studying in our unit on immigration. There are so many different forms of art, it would be interesting to represent all of the countries in your classroom as well.

Hoffman, Mary. 2002 **The Color of Home.** Phyllis Fogelman Books.14 pages. Tempe Public Library.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Landed <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Written by Milly Lee <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Illustrated by Yangsook Choi

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Landed is a story about a young boy who travels from his home in china to San Francisco in California. It includes how he must study to answer questions about his home and family, to prove that he is a real son and not a paper son. The story shines a little light on to what the experience was like for many Chinese immigrants who were trying to come to America to start a new life. Being that I took a history of immigration class a few years back, I learned all about Angel Island, so I know that this is based in history, and has parts that I remember learning about, like staying in the barracks for up to a year waiting for your turn to get your passage into America.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">One highlight of the book is how there is so much time spent on angel island, depicting daily life. I think that Angel Island is a time in history that isn’t touched on often, and I think it is just as important as Ellis Island in the talk about immigration. I also like that the book doesn’t really white wash the story over with warm fuzzy feelings, I mean it’s not really dark and horrible as it could be either, but I think it shines a decent light on what was actually happening.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Other topics covered: Languages, travel, transportation, education, directionality, compasses, maps, geography, relationships, friendships, family, internment, food, stress, and emotions. I think one thing that I would like to tie into this unit of study would be a research based project on a different country, and I bring this up now, because of the food that was mentioned multiple times in the book. I think it would be a great learning experience for students to make a dish from their country they studied and bring it in to share.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Lee, Milly. 2006 **Landed.** Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. 40 pages. Tempe Public Library.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">In English, of Course <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Written by Josephine Nobisso <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Illustrated by Dasha Ziborova

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">In English, of Course is a super quick story about a young girl who is still in the process of learning English, after emigrating from Italy. It is a quirky and funny story about how she pantomimes words to help her tell her story about a visit to a farm. I think this book ties into immigration in the sense it shows how young students develop survival English.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">I think the biggest high light from this book, was the overly dramatic way the story is written, and how true it is to how young students tell their stories. It brought a smile to my face, and I can imagine how my current students would react to the story, with laughter, of course

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Some of the themes that I saw in the book included, different countries (China, Mexico, Italy,) language development, dramatic arts, storytelling, geography, maps, history of other countries, and a few others. For this book I think that a writing prompt would be really fun. Something along the lines of storytelling, such as describe a time when no one understood what you were trying to say, write about what you did to make sure you were understood. It would be fun to hear what everyone had to say.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Nobisso, Josephine. (2003) **In English, of Course.** Gingerbread House. 32 Pages. Tempe Public Library.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">My Name is Yoon <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Written by Helen Recorvits <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">My Name Is Yoon, is about a young girl who traveled to America with her parents, and her struggle to like living in America. She was sad because she wanted to write her name in Korean, like at her old school, where she had friends, and was a favorite of the teacher. Yoon also worried that she would not make new friends and that her new teacher would not like her. The book follows Yoon while she learns to like her name in English, her unique way of making her classmates and her teacher like her.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">The high light of this book for me, was how the teacher allowed Yoon to figure out what her name was, and continuously encouraging her each day, regardless of what she wrote on the paper. And how the teacher made it a positive experience for Yoon, by not punishing her for writing different words that were not a part of her name.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Other topics that were included in the book were: school, spelling, friendships, vocabulary, geography, food, animals, and Music. To incorporate additional subjects from this book into a unit of study on immigration, it would be neat to study geography, and map out all the different places the students in your class come from. It would also be interesting to tie math in as well, and graph how many students came from which countries.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Recorvits, Helen. 2003. My Name Is Yoon. Berryville Graphics. 32 pages. Tempe Public Library.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Brothers In Hope <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Written my Mary Williams <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Illustrated by K Gregory Christie

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Brothers In Hope is a story about many Trips across many borders, before finally ending up in America. It follows Garang, and Chuti, from their original home in sedan, to Ethiopia, and then to Kenya before ending in America. It is a story of revolution, hope, struggle, hunger, fear, team work, responsibility, and rescue workers like Tom. The story is different than others in this selection because, the majority of the immigration takes place in Africa. I thought this was a good thing to point out in my selections because not all immigration is to the United States, it is often to other countries as well.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">The most important highlight to me is that you can do whatever you put your mind to it. It is not about being lucky, but how hard you work for things and how badly you want them. It’s about believing in yourself even when times are hard, and stepping up to the plate. Greatness is earned.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Some of the other themes I found present include: refugees, countries, revolution, transportation, travel, geography, maps, school, food, survival, family, farming, animals, and plants.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Williams, Mary. 2013, Brothers In Hope. Lee & Low Books. 32 Pages. Tempe Public Library.

Works Cited: List of exact web addresses images were taken from in the order of the books: All images accessed on March 4th 2015.

Immigrant Kids Written by Russell Freedman []

The Boy on Fairfield Street Written by Kathleen Krull []

Coming To America A Muslim Family’s Story Written by: Bernard Wolf []

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">How Many Days to America A Thanksgiving Story <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">By Even Bunting []

America My New Home Poems by Monica Gunning []

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">The Color of Home <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Written By Mary Hoffman []

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Landed <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Written by Milly Lee []

In English, of Course Written by Josephine Nobisso []

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">My Name is Yoon <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow',sans-serif;">Written by Helen Recorvits []

Brothers In Hope Written my Mary Williams []