14 Cows For America by Carmen Agra Deedy & Illus by Thomas Gonzalez

I didn't know this story whatsoever until I found this book on my library shelf. 

This is the true story of how the Maasi people of Kenya responded to the September 11 attacks so many thousands of miles from them. 

Kimeli is walking home to his village as he returns for a visit from learning to be a doctor in New York.

He is greeted by all the children first

The Maasai treat their cows like they treat their children

To the Maasai, the cow is life.

I love cows. I am always prejudiced in anyone's favor who values cows. 

A mother's welcome

I really, really love the illustration, their exuberance, their ochre tinge, their detail!

Kimeli begins to tell a story that has burnt a hole in his heart. 

The story of September 11

He reminds them that to the Maasai, the cow is life. And he offers his cow to the people of America who have been hurt so deeply by these attacks.

The American ambassador from Nairobi is invited to a ceremony

Where he is give 14 cows for America.

Because there is no nation so powerful that it cannot be wounded,

nor a people so small they cannot offer mighty comfort. 

Mic drop. 

I tear up EVERY TIME I read this page. 

When I am reading this book to students, I can tell some of them are a little confused. What would people in New York City do with cows? Why would these people offer them to us? It is similar to when you are sad about something and your little brother or sister brings a toy that is precious to themselves for you to play with. You might not really need or particularly want that toy, but knowing the love with which it was given, you feel a little better--your heart hurts a little less. You know you are loved.

The cows were never sent to America; they reside at the American embassy in Nairobi. America really didn't need the cows. But we desperately needed the message that was sent with these cows--"We are with you. We care. We want to give you life."

Books for Other People Matter

Our school has implemented the Positivity Project this school year. Have you heard of P2? Basically it is the idea of encouraging resiliency and empathy in students by helping them see the strengths in themselves and identify the character areas they need to work on. I am skeptical about projects like this--can you TEACH kids to be decent human beings if they don't want to change or their homelife teaches them something completely different? I don't know. But being a teacher in a public school has shown me time and again that something needs to change. We need to TRY. 

Do all the good you can

By all the means you can,

In all the ways you can, 

In all the places you can, 

To all the people you can, 

As long as ever you can.

                                        --John Wesley

As librarian, I will be putting together lists of books that go along with the 24 character strengths. And as a blogger, I will be forcing my lists upon you. Yay!

At school this week, before we begin highlighting the various character strengths, we will be talking about the Other People Matter mindset. 

I am sorting these books by intended audience, but I totally believe that lower elementary books can spark a conversation in high school! 

Lower Elementary

We don't eat our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

I am looking forward to reading this one about a dinosaur who has a hard time not eating her human classmates. 

Horrible Bear! By Amy Dyckman

Runaway temper, self-absorbed and careless of other people's feelings, this red headed heroine learns to think before acting. 

That Neighbor Kid by Daniel Miyares

The importance of friendship and how other people can make our world brighter

Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller

As the title implies, this book explores the ways in which you can be kind and how kindness affects others

The Wolf, The Duck, & The Mouse by Mac Barnett

A wolf learns consideration after swallowing small animals

A Perfect Day by Lane Smith

Animals teach us how our actions and viewpoint affects other people

A Chair for my Mother by Vera Williams

After a fire, Rosa, her mother, and her grandmother work hard to save up money for the perfect chair to rest in

I Walk with Vanessa  by Karascoet

A new student is bullied, but finds a friend who will stand (or walk!) by her side. 

A Piece of Home by Jeri Watts

Asks students to look at the familiar through the eyes of an immigrant family

Yo! Yes? by Chris Raschka

A new kid in the neighborhood finds a friend--The importance of friends

Peace is an Offering by Annette Le Box

What peace can be and what peace can do

Pass it On by Sophy Henn

Shows students the ripple effect of a kind act

Brave Like Me by Barbara Kerley

Some kids live without their parents so that everyone can live a little safer--perfect other people matter material! 

Upper Elementary

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson

A repeatedly missed opportunity for kindness asks students if it is ever too late to be kind. 

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

A classic bullying story gives students the chance to think about being a bystander--could I or should I do more to help others? 

Brave Girl by Michelle Markel

Wanting to make things better for her fellow shirtwaist makers, Clara Lemlich creates a union despite enormous obstacles. 

Tucky Jo and Little Heart by Patricia Palacco

Based on true events, a Vietnam soldier extends kindness to a local girl and finds his actions coming back to help him years later. 

14 Cows For America by Carmen Agra Deedy

After 9/11, the Maasai people of Africa choose 14 of their precious cows to send to America to help America heal from the pain of 9/11. 

Middle/High School

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Police brutality asks a community to think about how they interact and view each other

The Girl in the Well is Me by Karen Rivers

Kammie tries to join the popular girl crowd, but that leads to being stuck in a well, so... maybe the popular girls are not the best friends. 

A Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

Setting out to avenge his brother's death, our hero is confronted with the perspectives of those whose lives have been lost in similar ways. 

Patina by Jason Reynolds

A middle school girl does everything she can to help her sister, her aunt, her friends--when the unexpected happens, can Patina learn to let other people help her? 

Moon Song by Mildred Plew Miegs & Illus by Garth Williams

Moon Song

Zoon, zoon, cuddle and croon--             

Over the crinkling sea,

The moon man flings him a silvered net  

Fashioned of moonbeams three.

And some folk say when the net lies long

And the midnight hour is ripe;

The moon man fishes for some old song   

That fell from a sailor's pipe. 

And some folks say that he fishes the bars

Down where the dead ships lie,

Looking for lost little baby stars               

That slid from the slippery sky. 

And the waves roll out and the waves roll in

And the nodding night wind blows,

But why the moon man fishes the sea          

Only the moon man knows. 

                                                                         --Mildred Plew Miegs

                                                                                                   From: The Tall Book of Fairy Tales

Baba Yaga by An Leysen

Fairy tales are often gruesome. This is one of the most gruesome in my opinion. But the An Leysen illustrations were so soft and gentle that I decided it might temper the less than pleasant story line. 

Here is Baba Yaga. Who looks quite pleasant and quirky in this picture. 

Do not be deceived. She is a nasty bit of goods. 

This is a fuzzy picture, but a perfectly sweet picture too of Olga and her dad. 

Olga's mother died ages ago, so it is just her and her dad and her special doll that her mother gave her. 

Enter the evil stepmother. Who happens to be Baba Yaga's sister. 

This woman is horrid. She makes Cinderella's stepmother look merely annoying. 

Evil stepmother sends Olga to fetch a needle from Auntie Baba Yaga hoping that Baba Yaga will make a meal of Olga and evil stepmother will be rid of Olga for ever. 

I mean seriously. What is with fairy tales and cannabalism? 

Baba Yaga's house on chicken legs. Because... why not?

Baba Yaga's sad maid who has not been eaten. Baba Yaga only likes to eat children. 

Baba Yaga and her toad trying to lure Olga into carelessness. 

She asks the maid to give Olga a bath. A nice HOT bath--wink, wink; ie boil the child. 

Since Olga had been nice to the maid, the maid fills the tub with a sieve, which means it doesn't actually get filled. 

Throughout this ordeal, Olga's special doll from her mother guides her through her troubles, telling her to tell the maid to fill the bath with the sieve, befriend the evil cat, etc. 

I think the doll was probably napping when Olga was heading to Baba Yaga's house. Because otherwise it should have been yelling to turn around, head to the high country, go anywhere but where you are going. 

But still. Magical dolls are useful for getting out of trouble even if they are not good at warning of trouble. 

Olga creates a river to keep Baba Yaga away (Baba Yaga can't cross water) so Baba Yaga brings her cow to drink the entire river dry. 

But I like the cow's headgear.

And like all fairy tales, the father realizes he married a horrendous woman and the stepmother disappears. 

And Olga and her father live happily ever after, reading books. Because books are an important part of happily ever after. 

Awake Beautiful Child by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Illus by Gracia Lam

Pretty much everything by Amy Krouse Rosenthal is going to be looked at by me. Humor, whimsy, love--they are must reads. I had never heard of this one before picking it up at Loussac library in Alaska. I saw it was an ABC book and the illustrations were intriguing, so it went home with me. 

And it IS an ABC book, but not how I was expecting it. I thought I was getting an alphabet book with an awkward picture of the kids playing on a xylophone when we got to x.

But no! How could I have doubted Rosenthal? 

This book only contains phrases that start with ABC, in that order. 

All Begins Cheerily

Amusing breakfast chatter

Adorable Baby Coos

Apples, Bananas, Cantaloupe. 

On each page, I was anxious to see how she continued the story while staying true to the format. 

The story isn't deep--it is really just a day in the life of a kid. 

And half way through the boy switches to a girl. 

But the story of a day in the life of a child moves smoothly along. 

Alive. Beloved. Content.

There is so much confidence and safety in this phrase.

A lot of Amy Krouse Rosenthal books are shot through with love and care and this one, while being mostly a gimmick book is no different. 

I really want to try this scheme out with a grade or two this year--could we tell a story using specific letters of the alphabet over and over?