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Author: Lauren Thompson
Illustrator: James Estrin
Published: 2007 Feiwel & Friends (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0312370296 Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Sixty photographs packed with joy, beauty and palpable excitement tell the inspiring, true story of five beautiful girls and the determination that made their dancing dreams come true.

More ballet on JOMB:

• Nutcracker Noel

Check out the full list of non-fiction picture books nominated for the 2007 Cybils Awards here.

By: Teaching Tips Contributing Editor, Renee Kirchner

It is important for elementary aged children to understand the concept of compare and contrast. This concept can be applied to many areas of the curriculum including math, science, and literature. When a child is asked to compare and contrast two different things, they are supposed to tell how they are alike and different. Comparing shows the similarities between two objects and contrasting shows the differences. Children will use words such as both, like, also, and similar when comparing. Words such as unlike, however, and but might be used when contrasting two objects.

Children’s books, both fiction and nonfiction, can be useful tools for teaching the concept of compare and contrast. Select one book with two different characters or choose two books with similarities and differences in character or plot. Nonfiction books will also work well. For example, you could choose a book on reptiles and compare and contrast two different types
of reptiles.

There are two useful tools that teachers use as prewriting activities when teaching compare and contrast: the Venn diagram and the T-chart. The Venn diagram is made up of two or more overlapping circles depending how many objects you are comparing. Each circle contains different information about the objects and the overlapping portion in the middle contains the
similarities.

For example if I was comparing a rabbit with a wolf, the rabbit circle might have herbivore and the wolf circle would have carnivore. The overlapping portion in the middle might contain the word mammal, since both animals are mammals. Of course your student would put more than one descriptive word in each circle. The more detail they use, the better. The T-chart is organized differently than the Venn diagram. If we use the example of the rabbit and the wolf the chart would look like this:

Characteristic Rabbit Wolf
Diet Grass Meat
Animal group Mammal Mammal

Here are some examples of picture books that would work well for studying the concept of compare and contrast:

One Picture Book with Two Characters

Bubba and Beau: Best Friends by Kathi Appelt

Bubba is a Texas baby and Beau is a Texas puppy and they are best friends. They have adventures together and both of them become very upset when their pink blanket gets washed.

Similarities between Bubba and Beau:

Both of them are keen on chewing, neither one is housetrained, and they both disdain soap.

Differences between Bubba and Beau:

Bubba loves the pinky pinky blankie because it smells like Beau and Beau likes the pinky pinky blankie because it smells like Bubba.

Two Picture Books with a Similar Main Character

Cindy Ellen: A Wild Western Cinderella by Susan Lowell

Chickarella by Mary Jane Auch

Similarities between Cindy Ellen and Chickarella:

Both of them have an evil stepmother or step-chicken, a fairy godmother or fairy fowl mother, and both have a prince or a princely rooster.

Differences between Cindy Ellen and Chickarella:

Cindy Ella can wrangle, rope and gallop. Chickarella starts a high fashion business that grows out of making clothes for the ball.

Children can use the examples above to create a Venn diagram or a T-chart and then write a compare-contrast paper about the different characters.

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Note: Although school is out for summer vacation in most places across the country, parents can still read with their children this summer and use activities like this one to have fund with their children as they help them become better readers.