Judgement: A Text Set

The following books are included in this text set:

• “Red: A Crayon’s Story” by Michael Hall
• “Last Stop on Market Street” by Matt De La Pena
• “Rescue and Jessica: A Life Changing Friendship” by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes

Upon reading all three of these books I found myself identifying “judgment” as a commonality. Not necessarily that judgement was the theme, but that these books would be excellent to use when teaching in the classroom if you wanted to address judgment (which, let’s be honest, you should).

Red: A Crayon’s Story

For the younger grades, a non-human example you could use in your classroom is “Red: A Crayon’s Story”. The backgrounds of the illustrations alternate from black to white and back to black. Until, Red meets a crayon who accepts him as blue. Then, all backgrounds change to white (with the exception of one where all of the crayon’s are talking about him again).

This book is all about perspective, which is also what judgement is about. Everyone, including Red, views himself as unable to do anything right. When a new crayon comes along and puts a new perspective on things, other people’s minds begin to change as well. Instead of asking Red to draw strawberries or hearts, his new friend asks for him to complete her picture by drawing a blue ocean for her boat. Red is hesitant, but with encouragement from the other crayon he draws a wonderful ocean.

Another nice touch that Michael Hall added to his book was the end pages. The first end page is red, representing what everyone “wanted” Red to be. And the last end page is blue, representing what he actually is.

For your younger students, this book is an excellent example of how to highlight other’s strengths and encourage them to be themselves.

Michael Hall has dyslexia, and he wrote this story because it relates to how he felt early on when he found out he had it- like he couldn’t do anything right that he was asked to do, especially in school. You can read his statement here: https://www.michaelhallstudio.com/pages/books/crayon/authors-statement.html

Hall, M. (2015). Red: A Crayon’s Story. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Last Stop on Market Street

First let me just say that this book BLEW ME AWAY. It is clear to me why this book won the Newberry Medal and the Caldecott Honor.

I recommend this book for any classroom, but really 2nd + because of the background knowledge needed (i.e. younger students may not know what a soup kitchen is).

The pictures were wonderfully made by Christian Robinson. He used acrylic paint, collage, and digital manipulation. I Love how colorful the pictures are, and how C.J. and his Nana look small against the city background.

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All along the way, CJ is complaining about things such as the rain, and how his Nana doesn’t have a car. His Nana, however, always finds something positive to say back to him. The quote above is my favorite quote that she said in response to him.

My favorite thing about this book is the ending. While reading, the reader may be thinking that CJ and his Nana are on their way to the soup kitchen to eat. However, in the end, the reader sees that they are there to volunteer and help others. This book forces the reader to check his/her unconscious biases for this very reason. After church, CJ and his Nana ride the bus to a different side of town where there is graffiti and barbed wire. CJ asks why they always have to go after church on Sundays, and the reader may think that they routinely get a meal after church. It isn’t until the very end that it is clear that the two characters are there to serve others. Even this is not explicitly stated, but the reader can tell because it is apparent in the illustrations. Both CJ and his Nana are wearing hairnets and can be seen passing bowls.

This book would an excellent one to use in your classroom, especially from a critical literacy standpoint. Children need to see minority characters participating in different scenarios so that they do not come to form the biases of today’s adults that result in judgement.

An activity that could be done in a classroom with this book is patterned partner reading. For this activity, students get into pairs and read the book together, stopping after every page. Before flipping to the next, they either

• Read- Pause -Predict
• Read- Pause – Discuss
• Read- Pause- Make Connections
• Read- Pause – Sketch
• Read- Pause – Bookmark
• Read- Pause- Retell

For the purposes of critical literacy, I think it would be most beneficial to have students do one of the first three with this book. The first three bullets address critical literacy because students would have to address their biases while predicting, discussing, or making connections. (Strategy comes from: McLaughlin, M. & DeVoogd, G.I.. (2004). Critical Literacy: Enhancing students’ comprehension of text. New York, NY: Scholastic. )

De La Pena, M. (2015). Last Stop on Market Street. New York, NY: Penguin Group LLC.

Rescue and Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship

You don’t see a lot of books in the classroom that contain characters who have disabilities. That being said- this book does. Jessica has to eventually have both of her feet, and lower legs, amputated. She is learning how to walk again at the same time that Rescue is training to become a service dog. This book tells the story of how they met and ended up saving each other.

There is an author’s note in the back of the book that explains NEADS, a nonprofit organization in Princeton, Massachusetts that works to place service dogs with owners who need them. In addition to the author’s note, there are acknowledgements that contain a picture of Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes and Rescue! That’s right! Jessica and Patrick are #ownvoices authors! Both of them were injured in the Boston Marathon Bombing that occurred on April 15, 2013, resulting in both of them becoming amputees. Jessica lost both legs and Patrick lost one. Rescue is their black Labrador Retriever and he is very much a part of their family.

Downes, P. & Kensky, J. (2018). Rescue and Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship. Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press.