Module 1: On the night You were born

Book Summary: The book describes all the different things that had happened on the night the baby was born.  All sorts of wild life was out celebrating and dancing "On the night you were born" and the moon stayed up in the book throughout the night.

APA Reference of Book: Tillman, N. (2006). On the night you were born. New York: Feiwel & Friends.

Impressions: Love the ease of the read of this book and these books are more sentimental than anything else. A terrific story for the students to read with their parents, grandparent or any other person that is important in their lives.  I am not sure that, in a school library at least, these would get checked out as much as it would in a public library where the parent sees it and grabs it to read with their kids.  I happened to see some parent in the library checking out books.  They saw this book and sat on the floor with their youngster and read the book to the child.  It made me want to run home and read it to my son.

Professional Review:

Originally self-published, this debut from a new imprint celebrates the message that each child is a unique wonder: “Never before . . . has the world . . . known a you.” Like Debra Frasier’s On the Day You Were Born (1991), the text, directed straight to children, describes how the world, from the smallest ladybug to the sky’s smiling moon, welcomes its latest arrival: “You.” The computer-generated, collage artwork is sometimes blurry, and some of the compositions lack clear, dramatic shapes and figures that will pull a young audience. In addition, children may miss the symbolism in the images: musical notes meant to represent the sound of a child’s name, for example. Still, children will enjoy finding the reassuring face of the moon on each page, and the rhyming, rhythmic text includes lines that beg for participation: “The sound of your name is a magical one. Let’s say it out loud before we go on.” Many parents will welcome this opportunity to tell their children how special and loved they are.

Engberg, G. (2006). Review of the book On the night you were born. (Book Review).  Booklist, 103(7). 

Library Uses: A great use of this book is to show students how important details are in books.  The colors, the drawing and the consistency of the night sky and the moon are all important in this book.  It's a constant theme that follows throughout the book, hence the title of "On the NIGHT you were born".  We can talk about some of the other things that they notice in the books that are constant.