Dave the Potter by Laban Carrick Hill

Hill, L. C., & Collier, B. (2010). Dave the potter: Artist, poet, slave. New York: Little, Brown.

Dave the Potter is about a slave growing up two-hundred years ago.  He was a great artist, poet, and potter.   The book tells about the life that Dave lives as a slave, which is very different compared to other slaves.

Dave makes pots for his owners. The book goes through the steps of him making a pot. It mentions in the book that it is a mystery where he has learned to be a potter.    He would often leave the pots blank because he feared he would get in trouble if they caught him writing on them.

But sometimes, he would write a poem or the date on a pot he made.  At the end of the book, it shows Dave using a stick to write a poem on his pot.

I wonder where is all my relation

friendship to all- and, every nation

-August 16, 1857

 

The words in this book flow without having to be re-read, and are written in poem form in the middle of the page.

 

"The jar grew so large

Dave could no longer

wrap his strong arms around it.

If he climbed into the jar

and curled into a ball,

he would have been embraced."

 

This is one of the lines from a page in the book.  The author uses simple sentences so that the reader can understand how he makes his pots.

 

 

The author also uses a lot of similes so that the reader can understand exactly what Dave does and how it works.  My favorite simile in this book is where the author is comparing him shaping the pot to a magician.

 

"Like a magician

pulling a rabbit out of a hat,

Dave's hands, buried

in the mound mud,

pulled out the shape of a jar."

 

This book will help readers understand that slaves did more than just work out in the fields for their owners and that they were actual people.  This book is written with a lot of emotion and makes the reader relate to Dave, even though he lived in a different time and under different circumstances.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Beginning told by Virginia Hamilton

Hamilton, V., & Moser, B. (1988). In the beginning: Creation stories from around the world. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

In the Beginning is a collection of 25 myths that tell how the world was created.    The myths are about gods, superhuman beings, animals, plants, and about the first people on the earth.  The myths tell about the events that cause changes in the way humans feel and act.

These stories are told from different places around the world, from Eskimo myths to Blackfoot American Indian myths.  These myths engage the readers and get them intrigued about what is going on during that time. It is often hard to understand some of the wonder that they are describing because it is a place that we will never see.

I believe that this is a Newbery Honor winner because of the many different stories and how engaged the book keeps its readers.  These narratives convey truth to the people that believe in them and the cultures that they come from.

One of my favorite creation stories from this book is The Pea-Pod Man: Raven the Creator. This myth is about a man that lay still in a pea-pod.  On the fifth day he pushed his legs out and hatched from the pea-pod. He ran into the Raven that created the vine he was from.  The Raven went on to create a mate, woman.  Then he went away and the woman and man created children and the world prospered.

If I used this in my classroom, I would have my students choose two creation stories and read them with a partner. I would then have them compare and contrast the creation stories to tell how they are alike and different.