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A single shard
Park, Linda Sue. 2000. A single shard. New York: Clarion. ISBN: 0395978270
A single shard is the story of a 12-year-old orphan’s struggles to become a man in 12th century Korea. He
lives in a village that is famous for its pottery, a delicate celadon ware that is famous as far away as the Chinese court.
Tree-ear lives under the bridge with his friend and unofficial guardian, Crane-man. Crane-man was born with a shriveled and
twisted calf and foot, and was unable to work. Tree-ear and Crane-man are always scrounging for food. But Tree-ear has a
dream, a dream to become a famous potter and to learn to make pottery just like Min, the most talented potter in Ch’ulp’o.
When he is not searching for food, Tree-ear watches Min work. One day, when Min was not around Tree-ear enters his workshop
to look more closely at his beautiful pieces of pottery. Unfortunately, Min returns to find Tree-ear examining his pottery.
The surprise causes Tree-ear to drop and damage a valuable pottery box. To repay Min, Tree-ear begins helping the old potter
chop and haul wood for the village kiln. After his debt is paid off, Tree-ear continues to help Min with many chores. Thus,
Tree-ear begins his unofficial apprenticeship for Min, the potter.
A single shard is historical fiction with believable dialogue, characters and settings. “It is easy to believe
in the boy and the man as real people even though they lived 800 years ago.” (Nilsen 2002). Tree-ear becomes angry
when he has to chop wood and blisters break on his hand. He experiences frustration when Min refuses to teach him how to
throw clay on the wheel to make vases. He demonstrates courage when he volunteers to take precious pots on a long journey
to the royal court.
Throughout the story, Tree-ear is concerned about making the correct ethical choices. When he sees another potter trying a
new technique, Tree-ear wonders if he should tell Min. “If Tree-ear were to tell Min what he had seen, would that be
stealing Kang’s idea?” But after thinking about what Crane-man said, he “could not yet tell Min of Kang’s
idea.” (p. 64) As the story progresses, Tree-ear changes from a young boy to a young man, confident and capable, finding
a home and place for himself in the village. Even though this Tree-ear lived in twelfth-century Korea, children will identify
with him. He faces many obstacles and manages to have the courage and strength of character to complete his tasks, even if
it means carrying just a single shard of pottery to the royal court.
Several events are described to give a feeling of what it was like to live in this poor, small village on the west coast of
Korea. There was a “run of flounder” when “the waves even tossed fish right up on the beach”. The
dialogue is flavored with phrases like “Have you eaten well today?” which create strong sense of another place
and time. Much of the story revolves around the production of pottery, from chopping and hauling wood for the kiln, cutting
clay from the riverbank, preparing the clay for the pottery, and firing the kiln. An author’s note is included that
tells more about celadon pottery.
A single shard won the Newbery Award. “Readers will not soon forget these characters or their sacrifices”
(PW 2001). This “…story draws readers into a very different time and place. …A well-crafted novel with
an unusual setting” (Phelan 2001). This book is highly recommended for grades 4-8. It can be used to enrich world
history studies and multicultural studies.
Nilsen, Alleen Pace. 2002. The single shard (Book Review)(Children's review). Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy
46(3): 266.
Phelan, Carolyn. 2001. The single shard (Review) (Children's review)(Brief Article). Booklist 97(15): 1483.
The single shard (Review) (book review). 2001. Publishers Weekly 248(10): 80.
Mr. Tucket
Paulsen, Gary. 1994. Mr. Tucket. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN: 0385311699
Mr. Tucket is the fictional story of 14-year-old Francis Tucket, a young boy traveling west with his family in a
wagon train on the Oregon Trail in the summer of 1848. The book opens with Francis Alphonse Tucket remembering what happened
the day before, his birthday. After receiving a rifle, Francis dallied behind the wagon train, practicing his shooting, and
was captured by the Pawnee Indians. After living with the Pawnee tribe for more than three weeks, Mr. Grimes comes to the
Pawnee camp. Mr. Grimes is a one-armed trapper who trades with the Indians. Through his manipulations, Francis is able to
steal away from the Pawnee Indians and begins his adventures in the wilderness with Mr. Grimes. There is never a dull moment
on the frontier. There is beaver to trap, Indians to evade, antelope to shoot for food. Mr. Grimes teaches Francis all the
skills a mountain man needs to survive in the wilderness.
Characters are well developed in this book and young boys will be able to identify with Francis Tucket. From being captured
by the Indians, to repeatedly falling of a stolen mare, to learning how to fire a rifle, Francis Tucket makes many mistakes
but learns how to exist in the American frontier. The uneasy existence between the Indians and the settlers and Mr. Grimes’
role in supplying the Indians with gunpowder, creates tension in the book. This tension eventually leads Francis to questioning
his place as a mountain man and Mr. Grimes’ role in trading with the Indians. In the end, Francis leaves Mr. Grimes.
“Francis Alphonse Tucket wasn’t a boy anymore. Jason Grimes had made that boy Mr. Tucket and Mr. Tucket
was going to Oregon, to his family…” (p.166).
Things that happen to Francis and Mr. Grimes appear to be realistic, if somewhat dramatized. Beaver trapping is explained
in detail. Mr. Grimes counts the beaver and only traps what will not deplete the population. Throughout the book, Francis
continues to think of his parents and sister, and wonder where they are and what they are doing. This foreshadows his choice
to leave with a new wagon train and try to find his parents.
The settings are realistic and the language used reflects frontier life. “I sort of figured we could make Spot Johnnie’s
before turning in. Be nice to have a decent meal and sleep loose for a change.” (p. 85).
“Here’s a real knock ‘em, sock ‘em, ripsnorter guaranteed to keep any boy (and any girl who doesn’t
mind a dearth of female characters) enthralled from first page through last. …Superb characterizations, splendidly
evoked setting and thrill-a-minute plot…” (PW 1993). Mr. Tucket although at times overly dramatic, will
catch the attention of young children, especially boys, and imparts a taste of life in the . As a bonus, this book is the
beginning of a series of books about Mr. Tucket and life on the frontier. Mr. Tucket will enrich a study of the American
west and is recommended for grades 4-8.
Del Negro, Janice. 1994. Mr. Tucket. (Young Adult Review) (Brief Article). Booklist 90(17): 1595.
Mr. Tucket. (Young Adult Review) (Brief Article). 1993. Publishers Weekly 240(50): 70.
Bud not Buddy
Curtis, Christopher Paul. 1999. Bud not Buddy. New York: Listening Library. ISBN: 080728209x
Read by James Avery. Three audiocassettes. Total playing time 5 hours and 15 minutes. This is an unabridged version.
Bud not Buddy is the fictional story of a ten-year old African-American orphan boy in search of a home. The story
is told by Bud and takes place in Michigan during the Great Depression. His mother named him Bud for the flower bud and he
insists to all he meets that his name is “Bud not Buddy”. Bud carries treasures his mother gave him (flyers of
Herman E. Calloway and his famous band and five smooth stones) in a battered suitcase. Bud hopes these mementos can help
him find his father. At the beginning, Bud is picked on by the son of his foster parents, locked in a shed with wasps and
fish heads, and consequently runs away. After an unsuccessful attempt to ride the rails to the West, Bud begins searching
in earnest for his father. Through some interesting reasoning, Bud decides that his father must be the famous bandleader Herman
E. Calloway, leader of the Dusky Devastators of the Depression. Bud begins walking from Flint to Grand Rapids, Michigan
where the band is. While walking, Lefty Louis kindly picks him up and eventually gives him a ride to Grand Rapids where Bud
confronts Herman E. Calloway. Bud is temporarily taken in by the band and begins learning what it is like to play in a jazz
band. An unusual but predictable coincidence leads Bud to the family he has been searching for.
Throughout the book, Bud refers to his “Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself”.
This is a list of rules that he lived by.
“That didn’t make me calm at all, that was Bud Caldwell’s Rules and Things to Have a Funner Life and Make
a Better Liar Out of yourself Number 83.
RULES AND THINGS NUMBER 83
If a Adult Tells You Not to Worry, and
You Weren’t Worried Before, You Better Hurry
Up and Start ‘Cause You’re Already Running Late.”
From these it is plain that Bud had a hard life, but was trying his best to survive. He was a good boy that had run on hard
times. The language patterns used would be common to a young boy at the time. “He’d gone and ruined everybody’s
fun…”
This book contains information about living during the Great Depression, about the discrimination African-Americans faced,
about the railroads, and about jazz music, players and bands. The afterword explains more about the depression and the people
written about in the book. Curtis relates that some of the characters are based upon his own grandparents. That gives the
book a “wry, teasing warmth of family folklore” (Rochman 1999).
James Avery with his “rich, pleasantly rumbling voice” (PW 2000) does an excellent job reading Bud not Buddy
. He has an appropriate accent, adds inflections to phrases like “wugga, wugga, wugga, wugga, and SHUSHUSHUSHU to make
them sound like car or train noises. In addition to the wonderful narrative, the audiocassette includes jazz music. From
the back of the cassette, “Bud, Not Buddy is full of laugh-out-loud humor and wonderful characters, hitting the high
notes of jazz and sounding the deeper tones of the Great Depression.” This sound recording is of good quality and enjoyable
to listen to.
“Bud’s journey, punctuated by Dickensian twists in plot and enlivened by a host of memorable personalities, will
keep readers engrossed from first page to last.” (PW 1999). This Newbery award-winning story would be a good supplement
to a study of American history. This is a tape and book that I would highly recommend to children in grades 4-8.
Roachman, Hazel. 1999. Bud not Buddy. (Review) (Children’s Review) (Brief Article). Booklist 96(1): 131.
Bud not Buddy. (Review) (Children’s Review) (Brief Article). 1999. Publishers Weekly 246(32): 352.
Bud not Buddy. (Review) (Children’s Review) (Brief Article). 2000. Publishers Weekly 247(11): 36.
Michelangelo
Stanley, Diane. 2000. Michelangelo. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN: 0688150861
Michelangelo is an attractive picture book biography about one of the world’s most famous artists. “In
an age of great artists, he was perhaps the greatest, creating immortal works in all three of the major arts – sculpture,
painting, and architecture.” This complete biography begins with the birth of Michelangelo in a small village near
Florence in 1475 and ends with his death in 1564. The book contains full-page illustrations that were created using watercolors,
colored pencils and gouache. Images of Michelangelo’s art were added to the some of illustrations using a computer.
These illustrations give the feeling of actually seeing Michelangelo at work on some of his most famous creations. The illustrations
add interest to the text. Anyone can appreciate Michelangelo and his work by just looking at the illustrations in this book.
A historic map of Italy detailing the various independent states is one of the first pages in the book. Next is the author’s
note explaining some facts about the Renaissance and telling a little about the reputation of Florence for nurturing skilled
artists. A bibliography is included at the end of the book for further reading.
Making the book more realistic, Stanley includes quotations taken from some of Michelangelo’s writings. When Michelangelo
began decorating the ceiling of Sistine Chapel, he “soon grew impatient with the assistants.” He wrote, “my
paintbrush all the day doth drop a rich mosaic on my face.”
In addition to Michelangelo’s life, the book includes information on the political turmoil during the Italian Renaissance
and how politics affected Michelangelo and his work. Various political people commissioned Michelangelo for various projects
only to drop one commissioned project for something else. “Then with no warning, the pope dropped the project…”.
When one project was cancelled, Michelangelo wrote, “enormous insult of having been brought here to execute the said
work and then having it taken away from me.”
This book would spark most children's interest in art and artists. “She (Stanley) tells the story of Michelangelo’s
turbulent life in a style that is so readable, and occasionally so colloquial, that even children not readily interested in
the subject will be drawn in.” (Cooper 2000). Stanley “brings to the genre an uncanny ability to clarify
and compress dense and tricky historical matter…” (PW 2000). “Stanley has indeed captured in both words
and pictures the essence of Michelangelo…” (Burns 2000). This book is recommended for ages 8 and up. It could
be used to supplement a unit on art history or Renaissance history.
Burns, Mary M. 2000. Michaelangelo (Review) (Children's review)(Brief Article). Horn Book Magazine 76(6): 773.
Cooper, Ilene. 2000. Michaelangelo (Book Review) (Children's review)(Brief Article). Booklist 96(22): 2135.
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