Wanted: The Perfect Pet

“Wanted: The Perfect Pet” written and illustrated by Fiona Robertson is about a boy who wanted a dog. The boy (Henry), was dreaming of a owning a dog. Henry wanted a dog more than anything, so he posted an advertisement, hoping to attract some dogs. Instead, a lonely duck finds the advertisement  and decided to dress up as a dog, in hopes of making a friend. While playing with Henry, the duck’s disguise falls apart and his identity is revealed, but instead of turning the duck away, Henry adopts the duck as a pet. I connected to this story because there was a time when I was little where I wanted a dog more than anything, just like Henry. I remember that I would buy dog stuffies to numb the pain of not having a pet. I was so desperate for a pet back then, I probably would have adopted a duck too (if I wasn’t terrified of them). Overall, I think this was a very sweet story and I really liked it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” written by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer and illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon is about a boy in Malawi that created a wind turbine for his village. The boy’s village was in the middle of a famine/drought and soon there was no money left for him to go to school. His family resorted to eating one meal a day to conserve their supplies. One day, the boy decided to go to the library and while he was here, he found information on wind turbines and how they could create electricity and generate water. Feeling inspired, he started collecting scraps of metal and other materials to build a wind turbine. At first, people doubted him, but when they saw what the turbine could do, they cheered and rejoiced. One connection I made to this story was when William was being ridiculed for trying something that had potential. It made me think about times when people would make me doubt my own abilities and self worth, especially in my art or writing. I had always been “good” at writing, I get told that often, but I’m not fully confident in it. I find that I’m usually competitive when it comes to being the best at something I’m interested in. I think it’s really inspiring how William never once doubted whether he should be building the turbine, because personally I would have handled it differently. Another connection I made to this story was when I realized “Hey! That’s a renewable source of energy!” I thought about how there are people everywhere around the world trying to make their energy renewable and to reduce GHG and pollution in general.

After The Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again

“After The Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again” written and illustrated by Dan Santat is about how Humpty Dumpty faced his fear of heights and climbed the wall after the fall, where he then became a bird. One connection I made to this story was how Humpty Dumpty was traumatized after falling and was hesitant to go up the wall again. Once when I was younger my parents and I went to Flowerpot Island and quite frankly there were a lot of snakes, there were warnings everywhere about them. My parents were sitting at a picnic table and I was wandering around, looking for a washroom. I was walking through a forested area and I saw a few snakes on the ground but thought nothing of it. Going into that area was a huge mistake because a snake came out of nowhere and landed on my head. This was the most terrifying experience I’ve ever had. I had nightmares about snakes for the next few months until a friend of mine invited me to her borthday party at a petting zoo. At the party we had to take pictures with a giant anaconda, but I got over my fears that day.

The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract

“The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract” written by Barb Rosenstock and illustrated by Mary Grandpre is about Vasya Kandinsky, a painter who could hear colours, and growing up, nobody appreciated his art. One connection I made to this story was when Kandinsky did what he loved to do but was still told he wasn’t good enough. I personally have experienced this quite a few times in theater, writing, and art as well. My philosophy is that since everyone has a different style, you have no say in what needs to changed. As long as they’ve put effort into and are proud of their work, you shouldn’t go and destroy it. My theater experiences were slightly better since the group I do theater with are extremely supportive so my “safe place” is with them. There was a lot of criticism when I was younger, though. I remember when I was in 2nd grade and my art teacher absolutely despised me despite me doing nothing to cause that. Back then, I hated going to art class because I knew the teacher would just humiliate me and be extremely nit-picky with everything I did that she didn’t like, and honestly, I think it’s scarred me. My experiences are most likely worse than what Kandinsky went through, but they’re still pretty similar.

There

“There” by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick is about a young child wondering what the future will hold. One connection I made was when the child wondered if their teddy bear could come along on the journey to There. It reminded me of my 7 year old sister who takes her elephant stuffy everywhere. Another connection I made was when the child was unsure of whether they should go to There. When I was younger and wasn’t sure about what I wanted to do with my life, I really didn’t want to grow up because I was scared of all the things that could go wrong, and eventually that led to younger me becoming an avid over-thinker.  This story was really hard to connect to for me, personally because as I mentioned earlier, I tended to overthink things and was too scared to ask questions, unlike the character in the story.

Wangari’s Trees of Peace

“Wangari’s Trees of Peace” is a book written by Jeanette Winter about a Kenyan girl who started planting trees after returns home to see the forests disappearing. A connection I made with this book is a text to world connection. In the story it tells us about how Wangari’s home was being deforested and it reminded me about how this was also happening in other parts of the world. Another connection I made was text to media. Wangari reminded me of Malala and how they both stood up for what they believed in even though others didn’t like their opinions. The last connection I made was text to text because this story reminded me of a book I read a while ago about a girl planting a tree that would tell her the truth about anything in exchange for a lie. This story was inspiring and spread awareness to deforestation which is very important in this generation.

The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau

“The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau” is a biography written by author-illustrator  Dan Yaccarina about Jacques Cousteau’s life and discoveries. A connection I made with this book was when he tried to make civilization underwater, it reminded me of “Aquaman” movie I had watched a while ago. In the movie there are huge cities underwater and civilians with the ability to survive there, which is opposite of what Jacques ended up doing. Another connection would be between Jacques’s awareness of ocean pollution and a field trip I went on last year. Last year we got to learn about marine life and go paddle-boarding down at Ambleside. The last connection I made with this book is how he was passionate about the ocean and how the ocean is polluted. Jacques had an organization to protect the ocean and now there are many that have the same goal.

A couple days ago I helped Lucy B with her math homework. I chose to do this because I understood it well, and she seemed to be struggling with it. Lucy had already finished all but two questions so I assisted with those. It made me feel really smart because I could teach others what I already knew. I think by the end Lucy understood the math and she was relieved.

Yesterday I helped my sister with her reading. I chose to do this because my sister could really improve her reading and recognizing words. It made me feel important because I was helping her learn something. I think she was frustrated with me because I kept on correcting her, but she was probably grateful.

Last night I read a story to my sister. I chose to do that because usually it’s my dad that reads to her, but his English isn’t as good as mine (and my sister says it’s boring when he does it). Doing that didn’t make me feel any way in particular, but my sister was pretty happy about it.