Paradise Book Report

Bibliography: Bryan, Ashley. Beautiful Blackbird . New York: Atheneum, 2003. ISBN: 0689847319 Plot Summary: Long ago, all the birds of Africa were adorned with single, solid colors, without any black markings at all. Only Blackbird had it all, and his feathers reflected the colors of the sun. Ringdove gathered all the birds by the lake in the forest for a festival, and he called out to the other birds, “Coo-coo-roo, coo-ca-roo, I’ve a question to ask of you. Who of all is the most beautiful?” All the birds agreed and began to sing and dance, celebrating Blackbird’s beauty with the refrain, “Black is beautiful, uh-huh!” Ringdove begged Blackbird to share his beauty and gift him with black markings, so Blackbird made a blackening brew in his medicine gourd, and using a feather brush, gave Ringdove a ring around his neck to match his name. All the other birds sang, “Ringdove’s black is beautiful, Beak to beak, peck, peck, peck, He’s just like Blackbird Around the neck.” All the bird

Bibliography: Scieszka, Jon and Lane Smith. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs . New York: Viking, 1989. ISBN: 9780140544510 Plot Summary:  Alexander T. Wolf sets the record straight about what really happened in this alternate account of the Three Little Pigs tale. The falsely accused wolf explains how the whole ordeal was just a misunderstanding and begins by confronting his unfair reputation as the Big Bad Wolf, attributing the unfortunate label to his carnivorous diet. The real story, argues the wolf, begins with a head cold and a cup of sugar. The wolf was innocently baking a cake for his granny when he realized he was out of sugar. He visits his neighbor, the pig in a poorly constructed house of straw, and accidentally blows it down with a sneeze. Seeing that the pig unfortunately died, the wolf decides he mustn’t waste perfectly good food, so he helps himself to a ham dinner. Still in need of a cup of sugar, he arrives at the next pig’s house of sticks, only slightly bette

Bibliography: Taback, Simms. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly . New York: Viking, 1997. ISBN: 0670869392 Plot Summary:  In this classic American folk poem, the tale begins with our protagonist, the old lady, swallowing a fly. Fearing for her life, she proceeds to swallow a spider to catch the fly, a bird to catch the spider, a cat to catch the bird, a dog to catch the cat, a cow to catch the dog, and finally (and fatally), a horse to catch the cow. As each rhyming refrain accumulates, the menagerie of animals adds its rhymed commentary until, in the end, the old lady is laid to rest in her grave beneath a starry sky displaying the humorous moral: “Never swallow a horse.” Critical Analysis: Although the text of this poem is quite familiar to many readers, Simms Taback embellishes the rhyming refrains with additional commentary from the animals who have yet to be swallowed (as well as those floating in the confetti-studded black space of her stomach). “I don’t know w

Bibliography:  Willems, Mo. Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct . New York: Hyperion Books, 2006. ISBN: 0786837489 Plot Summary:  Edwina the dinosaur is beloved by everyone in the community. She helps little old ladies across the street, plays with the kids, and bakes her famous chocolate chip cookies. Everyone loves her, except for one person: Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie. The class know-it-all, Reginald is enraged by the fact that everyone seems perfectly content to ignore the fact that all dinosaurs are extinct. He gives a compelling presentation of the facts to his class, but they quickly ignore him and go outside to eat the chocolate chip cookies that Edwina had made. Further infuriated, Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie launches a campaign to convince everyone that Edwina’s existence is, in fact, impossible. With no one left to listen to him, Reginald is alone and distraught. Well, almost alone. Edwina appears and offers to do what no one else seemed to do: listen.

Bibliography:  Barnes, Derrick and Gordon C. James. Crown: Ode to the Fresh Cut . Chicago: Bolden Books, 2017. ISBN: 1572842245 Plot Summary: Derrick Barnes captures the magic of a “fresh cut” by following the transformation of one young customer in the barber shop. Through poetic imagery, Barnes describes the moments of the haircut as a beautiful ritual: “He’ll drape you like royalty with that cape to keep the fine hairs off your neck and your princely robes.” Sensing the power of the transformation, the young man visualizes his potential: acing a geography exam and rearranging the honor roll, getting the attention of a pretty girl in class, shining like a star and a brilliant work of art worthy of a museum. He gets a sense of pride and possibility as he watches the other customers with their various styles: majestic, powerful, important, glowing with radiant humanity, like CEOs, like Presidents, like royalty. He imagines everyone in the shop jumping to their feet to give him

Bibliography: Potter, Beatrix. The Tale of Peter Rabbit . London: Frederick Warne & Co., 1902. ISBN 9780723247708 Plot Summary: Little Peter Rabbit, being curious and a bit mischievous, ignores his mother’s warnings to stay out of Mr. McGregor’s garden while she is out for the day, lest they be caught and turned into a pie by Mrs. McGregor (as had their father). While his well-mannered siblings pick berries, Peter wriggles under the gate into McGregor’s garden and feasts on vegetables. After he is full, he crosses paths with Mr. McGregor who promptly chases him with a rake throughout the garden. Peter can’t seem to find the gate where he entered, and being tangled in a gooseberry net, starts to lose hope when a group of friendly sparrows entreat him to keep trying to escape. After several close calls with Mr. McGregor and a few encounters with other animals in the garden, Peter spots the gate and makes a run for it. With Mr. McGregor close behind, Peter escapes the garden a