We began our discussion with our picture book, Chester Van Chime Who Forgot How to Rhyme by Avery Monsen, illustrated by Abby Hanlon. We all agreed that it probably wasn't the greatest picture book of all time, but it would be very useful in classroom or home situations as a read-aloud to reinforce vocabulary development in young (PreK-2/3) children. Although essentially written in rhyme, the final rhyming word is replaced each time by its meaning...well -- because Chester forgot how to rhyme. But the illustrations must be perused carefully -- because the REAL rhyming word is incorporated into many of the pictures. We felt that teachers and students could have fun with this book, and that it would be great for encouraging close observation of the colorful, humorous, and delightfully detailed illustrations. It presents many, many rhyming pairs throughout the story and on the front and back endpapers, and it could be used to create an opportunity for children to come up with their own rhymes. Near the end Chester figures out that playing with wby words should be FUN, which is a good seed to plant in the minds of small learners.
Our very meaningful novel, They Went Left by Monica Hesse impressed us all by its page-turning, authentic, and unfortunately rarely-told story of young people who survived the Holocaust, and their lives after they were released from the concentration camps during World War II. The protagonist, Zofia starts out a broken person, whose only mission upon her release is to find her missing younger brother, Abek. Although there were many characters to remember, we all thought the story unfolded in a believable manner, superimposing Zofia's memories of life in the camp with what she was experiencing at the moment. We agreed that it presented a gripping example of the thoughts and feelings of a young person recovering from the trauma of losing loved ones, seeing various horrors, seemingly falling in love, which is then betrayed, and using her talent and skill in sewing to help her return to reality AND solve a big mystery. Readers were riveted and haunted by this story, which made many feel that maybe their current 'problems/inconveniences' weren't so bad after all. We felt that the Author's Note at the end did a good job of explaining Hesse's research and her point of view which was to create a combination of sadness and hope, which this novel certainly did...ending with Zofia's wish for 'going home' with her new 'brother' Abek to create a new life across the ocean. We all agreed that YA readers would like this engrossing, emotional, realistic rendering of a very human story of such historical importance.
