Multicultural- Russian

Title-  Babushka Baba Yaga

Author- Patricia Polacco

Illustrator-  Patricia Polacco

Publisher- Philomel Books

Copyright Date- 1993

Number of Pages- 32

Awards- none

Reading Level- Ages 6-10

Genre- Multicultural, Folktale

Summary

Baba Yaga is a misunderstood creature in Russia, the villagers believe that she takes children and eats them.  However, Baba Yaga loves children and she just wants to be part of the community.  She decides to disguise herself and pretend to be a Babushka, or grandmother.  She finds a family to live with and a young boy to take care of.  They grow to love each other.  One day a fellow Babushka tells the tale of the horrible Baba Yaga, fearing for her safety she leaves.  Read the story to find out what happens to the young boy and to Baba Yaga.  

Teaching Idea

I would use this book to introduce or reinforce caring for each other in the classroom.  Many students are still young enough that they have caring grandmothers that are around.  If their grandmother was shunned or made to feel bad, they would be empathetic.  I think it would give young children a great personal connection to the story, at the same time reinforcing including all students at school.

After reading about half of the book, I would have students draw a picture and write a short story about how they would feel if their grandma (or grandpa, or mother etc. depending on the class) was forced to leave and not be around anymore.  Then I would finish the book, and have them re-do it with a better ending (like the book).

Rating

Element of Literature	Excellent	Average	Inadequate	Not Addressed	Rating
Plot	The plot is engaging; the reader is invested in the outcome.  Contains conflict, a climax and a resolution.    The reader buys into the story line; it is believable to the reader.	The plot is average it contains some of the essential elements such as conflict, climax and resolution.  One element is either missing or poorly developed.  The reader may or may not buy into the storyline, it is just not that believable.	Multiple essential elements, conflict, climax and/or resolution are missing or poorly developed.  It is not believable and overall a bad plot.		The plot is engaging; the reader is very invested in the outcome.  There is a clear climax, conflict and resolution.  It is believable to the reader.
Characters	Characters are unique and believable.  The characters come to life when the reader is engaged in the story.  When the book is done, the reader still connects with the characters of the book.  Characters have personalities, flaws, and feelings. There is a protagonist, possibly an antagonist and some supporting characters.	Characters are similar to other books, have little to no uniqueness.  When the reader is done with the book, they are also done with the characters, there is no lasting connection.  Characters display little in terms of personality.  There are no supporting characters, or no clear protagonist.	Characters are dull and lifeless, there is no connection to the characters.  There is no clear protagonist and no supporting characters.  The characters are too farfetched.		While the characters are similar to other books, they do have their own unique personalities, flaws, and quirks.  There is a protagonist, a small antagonist, and a great supporting character.  You develop a quick connection to the main character.
Illustrations	The illustrations share in the story telling. The pictures help to develop the characters, establish the mood, and setting.  They contain some of the following elements, hidden details, facial expressions, different viewpoints, interesting asides, action depiction, or supporting details.  The pictures themselves may be created out of different mediums in order to support the plot.  Visual elements are used effectively (line, shape, color, texture and composition).	The illustrations support the story telling.  The pictures help with some but not all of the following, establish mood and setting, and developing characters.  They contain few if any of the following elements, hidden details, facial expressions, different viewpoints, interesting asides, action depiction, or supporting details.  The pictures are basic and do not use visual elements effectively.	The illustrations are in conflict with the story.  The pictures do not develop or establish anything in relation to the book.  There are no additional elements in the illustrations.  Visual elements detract from the plot.		The illustrations are beautiful, and they are essential to the book.  They show hidden details, establish mood and setting.  They also show facial expressions, viewpoints and action.  The pictures are essential to the story.
Word Choice	There are a more than two of the following elements used effectively, precise vocabulary, figurative language, dialogue, and music in language.	There are one or two of the following elements used effectively, precise vocabulary, figurative language, dialogue, and music in language.	There are none of the following elements or they are not used effectively, precise vocabulary, figurative language, dialogue, and music in language.		The book contains precise vocabulary, figurative language and dialogue.

Folktale- Rapunzel

Title- Rapunzel

Author- Paul O Zelinsky

Illustrator- Paul O Zelinsky

Publisher- Puffin Books

Copyright Date-  1997

Number of Pages- 36

Awards- Caldecott Medal (1998)

Reading Level- Ages 5-8

Genre- Folktale

Summary

In this retelling of the classic story of Rapunzel, the author gives his own twists to the plot.  The story begins with a couple who is having a baby.  Like many pregnant mothers she has cravings, she wants some rapunzel to eat.  Her husband has to climb a wall into a private garden to steal her some Rapunzel to satisfy her cravings, and one day he gets caught.  To save his wife he agrees to give away his unborn daughter to the sorceress who owns the garden.  The baby is born, named Rapunzel, and then taken away by the sorceress who raises her like her own child.  Once she is grown the sorceress locks Rapunzel in a tower.  This is where the story takes a big twist, and you will have to read it to find out how this one ends. 

Teaching Idea

I would tie this book into a science lesson and grow rapunzel in the classroom.  The English word for this plant is Rampion, and you can easily order the seeds.  After reading this book we would investigate the seeds, plant them in individual containers, and then take care of them as they grew.  During the process the children would take notes and track the progress in a journal.  Once the project was done all students would have their own plant to take home and share with their family.  To see the plant and find a link to order the seeds you can visit the authors website here:  Paul O. Zelinsky.

Here are a few additional teaching resources for this book:

Scholastic

Fresh Plans

Rating

Element of Literature	Excellent	Average	Inadequate	Not Addressed	Rating
Plot	The plot is engaging; the reader is invested in the outcome.  Contains conflict, a climax and a resolution.    The reader buys into the story line; it is believable to the reader.	The plot is average it contains some of the essential elements such as conflict, climax and resolution.  One element is either missing or poorly developed.  The reader may or may not buy into the storyline, it is just not that believable.	Multiple essential elements, conflict, climax and/or resolution are missing or poorly developed.  It is not believable and overall a bad plot.		The plot is engaging; the reader is fully invested in the outcome.  This book contains conflict, a climax and a resolution.  The reader connects to the story and it is believable.
Characters	Characters are unique and believable.  The characters come to life when the reader is engaged in the story.  When the book is done, the reader still connects with the characters of the book.  Characters have personalities, flaws, and feelings. There is a protagonist, possibly an antagonist and some supporting characters.	Characters are similar to other books, have little to no uniqueness.  When the reader is done with the book, they are also done with the characters, there is no lasting connection.  Characters display little in terms of personality.  There are no supporting characters, or no clear protagonist.	Characters are dull and lifeless, there is no connection to the characters.  There is no clear protagonist and no supporting characters.  The characters are too farfetched.		Characters are unique, believable and come to life.  There reader wants to know what happens even when the book is done.  There is a clear protagonist, antagonist and well developed supporting characters.  Each character has their own personality, they are also flawed and show feelings and emotions.
Illustrations	The illustrations share in the story telling. The pictures help to develop the characters, establish the mood, and setting.  They contain some of the following elements, hidden details, facial expressions, different viewpoints, interesting asides, action depiction, or supporting details.  The pictures themselves may be created out of different mediums in order to support the plot.  Visual elements are used effectively (line, shape, color, texture and composition).	The illustrations support the story telling.  The pictures help with some but not all of the following, establish mood and setting, and developing characters.  They contain few if any of the following elements, hidden details, facial expressions, different viewpoints, interesting asides, action depiction, or supporting details.  The pictures are basic and do not use visual elements effectively.	The illustrations are in conflict with the story.  The pictures do not develop or establish anything in relation to the book.  There are no additional elements in the illustrations.  Visual elements detract from the plot.		The illustrations are award winning and beautiful.  The book was created using oil paints and the pictures benefit from the alternate medium.   The illustrations help establish mood and setting.  There are facial expressions, supporting details, and action depiction.
Word Choice	There are a more than two of the following elements used effectively, precise vocabulary, figurative language, dialogue, and music in language.	There are one or two of the following elements used effectively, precise vocabulary, figurative language, dialogue, and music in language.	There are none of the following elements or they are not used effectively, precise vocabulary, figurative language, dialogue, and music in language.		This book uses precise vocabulary, dialogue and some figurative language.

Folktales of Russia

Title- Folktales of Russia

Author- Various Authors

Illustrator- Various Illustrators

Publisher-  India Book House

Copyright Date- 2000

Number of Pages- 64

Awards- None

Reading Level- Ages 7-11

Genre- Folktale, Graphic Novel

Summary

This book is not your average collection of folktales; it is Russian folktales combined with a comic book.  There are a bunch of tales, from clever soldiers to magic trees, a Russian Jack Frost, and even swans and young children.  Each separate story has a theme and usually a moral or lesson learned. 

Teaching Idea

This book is a great addition to a folktale unit.  After introducing folktales in standard story form, I would introduce this book.  It would pique the students interest, and provide a change compared to what they are accustomed to.  I would read this book over a couple days.  Then I would have students create their own comic book out of any folktale they choose.  This gives the students an opportunity to make a choice, and feel like they have control over their own comic book project.  

Rating

Element of Literature	Excellent	Average	Inadequate	Not Addressed	Rating
Plot	The plot is engaging; the reader is invested in the outcome.  Contains conflict, a climax and a resolution.    The reader buys into the story line; it is believable to the reader.	The plot is average it contains some of the essential elements such as conflict, climax and resolution.  One element is either missing or poorly developed.  The reader may or may not buy into the storyline, it is just not that believable.	Multiple essential elements, conflict, climax and/or resolution are missing or poorly developed.  It is not believable and overall a bad plot.		There are multiple plots within this one book.  They all contain some kind of conflict and resolution.  Many of the stories are unusual, leading to story lines that are not entirely believable.  The reader does not always buy into the story.
Characters	Characters are unique and believable.  The characters come to life when the reader is engaged in the story.  When the book is done, the reader still connects with the characters of the book.  Characters have personalities, flaws, and feelings. There is a protagonist, possibly an antagonist and some supporting characters.	Characters are similar to other books, have little to no uniqueness.  When the reader is done with the book, they are also done with the characters, there is no lasting connection.  Characters display little in terms of personality.  There are no supporting characters, or no clear protagonist.	Characters are dull and lifeless, there is no connection to the characters.  There is no clear protagonist and no supporting characters.  The characters are too farfetched.		Characters are unique, although there is no lasting connection to any of the characters.  There are clear protagonists and antagonists.  Some characters are shown with personality but not all of them.
Illustrations	The illustrations share in the story telling. The pictures help to develop the characters, establish the mood, and setting.  They contain some of the following elements, hidden details, facial expressions, different viewpoints, interesting asides, action depiction, or supporting details.  The pictures themselves may be created out of different mediums in order to support the plot.  Visual elements are used effectively (line, shape, color, texture and composition).	The illustrations support the story telling.  The pictures help with some but not all of the following, establish mood and setting, and developing characters.  They contain few if any of the following elements, hidden details, facial expressions, different viewpoints, interesting asides, action depiction, or supporting details.  The pictures are basic and do not use visual elements effectively.	The illustrations are in conflict with the story.  The pictures do not develop or establish anything in relation to the book.  There are no additional elements in the illustrations.  Visual elements detract from the plot.		The illustrations make this book what it is.  They develop the characters, establish the mood and the setting.  They have hidden details, facial expressions, action depiction, and supporting details.
Word Choice	There are a more than two of the following elements used effectively, precise vocabulary, figurative language, dialogue, and music in language.	There are one or two of the following elements used effectively, precise vocabulary, figurative language, dialogue, and music in language.	There are none of the following elements or they are not used effectively, precise vocabulary, figurative language, dialogue, and music in language.		The word choice is basic, it contains some dialogue, and some precise language.