The Aunt in Our Home

I’m totally confused. I think there is a deep meaning in Angela Johnson’s The Aunt in Our Home, but I just cannot figure it out for the life of me. It was different to see a book of Johnson’s with a white person on the cover because she usually writes about black families. This story is told from a little black girl’s point of view-that one day, “The Aunt” comes to stay with her family, and The Aunt (always capitalized throughout the story) does all these different fun activities with the two little girls in the family. But sometimes, The Aunt gets sad and the mom tells the two little girls it is because The Aunt misses her home, and the pictures show her sitting around alone looking depressed, and that is how the story ends. I keep trying to come up with predictions on what is going on here, but the only thing I can think of is that The Aunt is some sort of live-in nanny for the family and two little girls?
I’m not sure what students in elementary school would think about this one. The pictures are indeed awesome-it looks like they were oil painted on canvas. They are very interesting to look at, but the story is not as interesting to read and understand, so I don’t think this is a book I would chose to read aloud to my class.

Down the Winding Road

Down the Winding Road is a book I think many young students can relate to, and consists of a theme that they are familiar with. Once again, Angela Johnson uses black characters and family as the main theme in her story. There isn’t much of a plot to the story; we follow a young boy as he leaves the city to visit his aunts, uncles, and cousins in the country. They all do typical, family things such as look at old photos, go swimming in the lake, play on a tire swing, listen to old stories, etc. I can tell family is very, very important to Angela Johnson, as she keeps the idea of family in every book I have read of hers thus far. I think this is awesome for younger elementary students because it is an idea they are most likely familiar with and can relate to. This book could be a great discussion starter for students to share their stories about their experiences or traditions with their own families. In addition, this book has large font, and barely even has one sentence on each page. Also, the detailed pictures go along perfectly with the words used on each page, making the words easier to read.

I Dream of Trains

This book really made me think. If it was complicated for me to follow, I’m sure it would be difficult for elementary students to follow as well. I Dream of Trains is not your typical, colorful and fun picture book. It is very deep, with tons of symbolism. First things first, this story is told from a slaves points of view. The audience is not told that the main character is a salve, but from certain words and pictures in the books, the reader can infer it. The slave’s dad tells him the story about Casey Jones, a large train that would make long trips through the land, but myth has it, during a large storm one night, it crashed and was never seen again. The main character imagines himself seeing the train, riding on it, etc. We get the idea that the train is symbolism for hope. The slave hopes one day he can get on a train to a new place-hope to one day be free in his country. I’m not sure if elementary students would catch on to this, it took me a few times reading it through to really comprehend the story. However, this would be a good book to use for an example when presenting a lesson on symbolism to my classroom.
Once again, on the last page, Angela Johnson has information about the main theme in the story. Casey Jones was in fact a real conductor of a train that would run from Illinois to Mississippi. It definitely has a lot of history behind it, and I think kids would enjoy learning about how this story is based on an actual true idea. The pictures in this book are very detailed and real. In addition, the author uses dark paint, which creates the sort of the gloomy, mysterious mood.

Just Like Josh Gibson

I’m starting to see a theme in Angela Johnson’s books-most have them have black characters, and involve family. Just Like Josh Gibson is about a little girl’s grandma telling her about a famous baseball player and how her own father had a baseball bat and glove in her hand since she was born, always practicing baseball with her, for as long as she could remember. As a child, the grandma always wanted to play baseball with the boys, but the boys never let her. However, one day one of the players got her so she was able to play, and ended up doing an amazing job, just like Josh Gibson. The story ends with the grandma showing her pictures from when she played baseball as a kid and showing the baseball she used. I loved the last page-it is a biography on the real-life baseball player, Josh Gibson. It explains how he was called “the Babe Ruth of the Negro Leagues”, and how he suffered and died from a stroke three months before African-Americans were allowed in the major leagues.

This has been one of my favorite picture books by Angela Johnson. I love the idea of having a girl in a dress that loves sports, because it kind of reminds me of myself when I was that age. Ever since I could remember, my dad was always playing soccer with me, and when it was “cool” to start liking boys and doing girly things in elementary school, I would be out there with the boys playing soccer. The boys had the same attitude towards me that the boys in the story had towards the girl’s grandma-they weren’t too pleased to be playing with a girl. I think this book gives a great message, especially to girls, that it’s okay to be different (for example, to love and play sports!) even if that’s not the “norm”. Also, I love how the famous baseball player Angela talks about is actually real.

The Girl Who Wore Snakes

I thought The Girl Who Wore Snakes was a picture book that was a little on the odd side. Again, another on of Angela Johnson’s picture book is illustrated with vibrant, rich oil paintings that make the story intriguing and exciting to read. The story starts off with a girl getting to hold a guest snake at school and being called the “the girl who loves snakes.” She uses her imagination and thinks the snakes' bright colors remind her of “the sun, the earth, and everything in between.” She even goes to the pet shop and buys her on snake, and does everyday activities with it despite people’s ridicule. The story ends with the little black girl going to her aunt’s house to visit, and her aunt accepting the snake into her house. Her aunt even says that the snake reminds her of the earth and sun and everything in between.
I found this picture book a little hard to relate to. I wasn’t quite sure the message. Perhaps that you can use your imagination and love anything you want no matter what anyone says? It’s not very clear for me, so I’m not sure if it would be very clear to an elementary school student. I guess students would enjoy it thought because it involves sort of a fun creature (snake) and I’m sure they would admire the pictures. It’s still a cute, fun book even if it doesn’t make much sense to me.

Do Like Kyla

Ever since I could remember, I would constantly be following around my older sister and mimicking everything she would do. I thought she was the coolest girl in the world, and Angela Johnson’s Do Like Kyla pretty much sums up the same idea. The cover is adorable-it looks like a 10-year-old black girl and a 5-year-old black girl making snow angels in the snow together, laughing and having a great time. The story is told from the little sister’s point of view, and she highlights everyday events such as eating oatmeal and walking to the and explains how she imitates her older sister by saying “I do like Kayla”. Most pages are white on the left with a sentence on it, then the picture in colorful, rich oil painting of the action being told on the left. The illustrations make the story about a loving black family warm and exciting.
I thought this book was adorable and would be nice to read with two girls that are sisters. I’m not sure if I would read it in a classroom though, because I’m not sure how many students could relate or would be interested in this story.