Module
3 - Newbury Winners
Officer Buckle and Gloria
by Peggy Rathmann
Bibliography
Rathmann, P. (1995). Officer Buckle and Gloria. New York: G. P.
Putnam’s Sons.
Officer Buckle really knows his safety tips and shares them with the
Napville School. Although while he talks the students all fall asleep and
are very bored until the police department buys a dog, Gloria, who goes with
him for his safety talks. Unbeknownst to Officer Buckle, Gloria acts out
while he speaks to the students. They become wildly popular and a
television station even films them. When Officer Buckle watches when it
is shown on the news he realizes what the kids are enjoying Gloria and not his
safety tips. He doesn’t report the next day and when Gloria goes it
alone, he falls asleep as do the students. There is then a big accident
at the school and students write him letters asking for the two of them.
In the end they stay together as buddies.
My
thoughts
It is always
entertaining to see someone make faces or act silly behind someone’s back when
they’re being serious especially if it’s a very boring subject. I think
this is what makes this book work.
Reviews
Lempke, S. (2004, Nov/Dec).
Officer Buckle and Gloria. Book Links, 13(4), 40.
Officer Buckle’s
school safety programs change from ho-hum to crowd-pleasing, tanks to the
antics of his new police dog, Gloria. Filled with both slapstick and subtle
humor, Rathmann’s Caldecott Medal-winning artwork makes this a fun read for all
ages.
A.A.F. (1995). Officer
Buckle and Gloria. Horn Book Magazine, 71(6), 736-737.
Officer Buckle
is a fine safety officer; the problem is that when he
addresses school assemblies, he is so boring that he puts all the students to
sleep and his wise maxims are ignored. Until the advent of Gloria, that is — a
beautiful and affectionate police dog who accompanies Officer Buckle on his school visits When Officer Buckle says, "Sit!" Gloria
sits. But when Officer Buckle
turns his back on Gloria to address his audience, only the students see how
Gloria acts out his hitherto deadly-dull safety tips. The children are ecstatic
at Gloria's slapstick antics, but Officer Buckle
thinks it is because of his expressive voice. Letters pour into the station,
thanking Officer Buckle
and Gloria and asking them to come to other schools. Alas, Officer Buckle's burgeoning career is dimmed
one day when he sees a film of himself and Gloria on the news; he realizes that
Gloria is really the star of the show. Sadly, he refuses to visit any more
schools, but Gloria's solo show proves to be a dud. So they return as a pair,
with a new safety tip: "Always stick with your buddy!" Besides the
beguiling story, the affable illustrations of the smiling Gloria, the
accidental mayhem in the background, and the myriad safety tips — such as
"always pull the toothpick out of your sandwich" and "never lick
a stop sign in the winter" — add to the enjoyment. A glorious picture
book.
Suggestions
for the library
The class could
explore safety rules and the importance of them and post them around the
school.
Many Moons
By
James Thurber
Bibliography
Thurber, J., & Slobodkin, L. (1943). Many moons. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co.
Summary
After eating too many raspberry tarts, a princess
gets sick and tells her father, the king, the only thing that will make her bertter is
the moon. SO he consults different royal
employees such as the Royal wizard, royal mathematician, the Lord High
Chamberlain, and the Royal Jester. The
jester suggetst they ask the princess how big and how far away she thinks it
is. She thinks it’s as big as her
thumbnail, so the jester gets the goldsmith to forge a moon the size of the
preincess’ thumbnail. She gets better,
but then the king realizes that when the moon rises that night she will see
that the moon made of gold that the jesyer gave her is not the real moon and
will be sick again. The jester goes to
talk to her and she tells him that the moon grows back every night just like a
tooth, or a unicorn’s horn.
My thoughts
This story is somewhat outdated. The princess is spoiled and her father, the
king will do anything for her, no matter who he has to bully into helping
her. I did not care for the story. The illustrations were pleasant and
minimal. I liked the simplicity of them.
Review
Cerny, R. (1991). Many Moons
(Book). School Library Journal, 37(1), 82.
Although the Caldecott winning
edition illustrated by Louis Slobodkin (HBJ, 1943) is the one that many parents and librarians
grew up with, this new full-color version by Simont has a charm of its own. His
illustrations are more modern in appearance, although the essentially period
less style of dress on the characters has the timeless look that this literary
fairy tale demands. Backgrounds are generally sketchy, giving the characters
center stage. The clever Jester, dressed in fool's motley, is still the only
one of the King's advisors who has the sense to ask Princess Lenore just what
she expects when she asks for the moon.
The pompous Lord High Chamberlain, the skatty Wizard, and the absent-minded
Mathematician are as helpless as ever, and the little princess with her common
sense and gap toothed smile is charming. This will delight a whole new
generation of children.
Suggestions
for the library
This
could be used with younger children. A
non-fiction book about the moon could be used with students being given facts
and falsehoods about the moon before reading the non-fiction book with a true/false
indicator, but after Many Moons. Then
the non-fiction book could be read that shows them the correct information.
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