An Orange for Frankie

Thank You Mr. Falker, The Story (from Patricia Polacco)

THIS STORY HONORS THE TEACHER THAT TOOK TIME TO SEE A CHILD THAT WAS DROWNING AND NEEDED HELP. I AM A DYSLEXIC, DISNUMERIC AND DISGRAPHIC. CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO TRY AND LEARN ALONG WITH OTHER STUDENTS WHEN I NEEDED SPECIALIZED HELP...HELP THAT WASN'T AVAILABLE IN THOSE DAYS. I REMEMBER FEELING DUMB, THAT TERRIBLE FEELING ABOUT MYSELF WAS COMPOUNDED BY BEING TEASED BY A BULLY. THAT BOY CHANGED MY LIFE AND MADE ME FEEL SO UNSAFE AND SO SAD THAT I DIDN'T WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL ANYMORE. MR. FALKER, MY HERO, MY TEACHER, NOT ONLY STOPPED THIS BOY FROM TEASING ME, BUT HE ALSO NOTICED THAT I WASN'T READING WELL AND GOT A READING SPECIALIST TO HELP
 

TO THIS DAY, I REMEMBER THE FIRST DAY THAT WORDS ON A PAGE HAD MEANING TO ME...MR. FALKER HAD REACHED INTO THE MOST LONELY DARKNESS AND PULLED ME INTO BRIGHT SUNLIGHT AND SAT ME ON A SHOOTING STAR. I SHALL NEVER FORGET HIM...SO THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN BOTH TO HONOR MR. FALKER, BUT ALSO TO WARN YOUNG PEOPLE THAT MEAN WORDS HAVE A TERRIBLE POWER...AND THAT THEY SHOULD DO ALL THAT THEY CAN TO SEE THAT TEASING STOPS AT THEIR SCHOOL.

THANK YOU, MR. FALKER,

My Ol' Man

From School Library Journal
 

Polacco excels at personal narrative woven in words and pictures. Here, she tells the story of the summer her father, a lovable, flimflamming traveling salesman, discovers an ancient rock with mysterious lines that he believes to be magic. Da shows it to young Patricia and her somber brother, Ritchie, who seem convinced of the rock's powers as well. When their father is fired from his job, Ritchie is sure that the rock will help them; in its own way it does. Da writes a story about it and submits it to the local radio station, which then hires him to write stories of magic, hope, and dreams to be broadcast on the air. Returning to the rock to say "thank you," they discover it is gone. It is then that Patricia realizes that the magic had been inside them all along. The sentimental portraits Polacco paints are both intimate and universal from the interior of Da's car, its dashboard littered with the detritus of a traveling salesman, to the interiors of the house with a wheelchair-bound Grandma, her artistic fingers twisted with arthritis and her hose drooping. So successful is Polacco at communicating through her vigorous words and watercolors that readers know these people and their modest, comforting environment instantly. A tender story that will not only remind readers of the necessity of believing in magic, but also renew memories and spark discussions of their own talismans.

Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Greenwich, CT

My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother Story
(from Leah Polacco)

My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother is the story of Patricia Polacco’s childhood relationship with her brother Richard, and their unending battle to outdo one another. As Patricia is convinced that Richard can "climb the highest, get the dirtiest, and spit the farthest" to name a few, she makes an important wish upon a falling star, "to do something—anything—better than my brother." The morning following her big wish, a traveling carnival comes to town, and Patricia decides the perfect revenge on her rotten, older brother.
"I knew I could do this longer than you," she calls after Richard who, after fifty turns, steps off the merry-go-round. At last, Patricia has outdone him!
However the next thing she knows, Patricia awakes in her bed alongside Richard, who announces that she fell from the merry-go-round. "Looks like you finally did something special," he says.
In My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother, Patricia and Richard both learn a valuable lesson: not to let competition stand in the way of their kinship. Richard proves not to be such a rotten brother after all, by carrying his wounded sister to safety and running for the doctor. And the young Patricia Polacco learns that "Sometimes (wishes) come true differently than you think they will."

 

Pink and Say highlights the brief but intimate friendship of two young boys, Pinkus Aylee (Pink) and Sheldon Curtis (Say), during the Civil War. When wounded attempting to escape his unit, Say is rescued by Pink, who carries him back to his Georgia home where he and his family were slaves. While the frightened soldier is nursed back to health under the care of Pink’s mother, Moe Moe Bay, he begins to understand why his new found friend is so adamant on returning to the war; to fight against "the sickness" that is slavery. However it isn’t until marauders take Moe Moe Bay’s life, that Say is driven to fight. Although ultimately, both boys are taken prisoners of the Confederate Army, fortunately Say survives and was unable to pass along the story of Pink and Say to his daughter Rosa, Patricia Polacco’s great grandmother. As it was told, Pink was hanged just shortly after being taken prisoner, therefore Patricia’s book "serves as a written memory" of him. At the end of the story Patricia bids the reader, "Before you put this book down, say his name (Pinkus Aylee) out loud and vow to remember him always."
One of the more heartwarming moments of the story is when Say tells Pink and his mother that he once shook the hand of Abraham Lincoln. Convinced that his encounter is a "sign" of hope, Say reaches for Pink’s hand, exclaiming, "Now you can say you touched the hand that shook the hand of Abraham Lincoln!" At the end of the story when the boys are separated, Pink reaches for Say one last time to touch his hand.
After hearing this story from Patricia Polacco in the words of generations preceding, I eagerly touched her hand; the hand that has touched the hand, that has touched the hand…
I can assure you, the hope is still alive!
 

Meteor!

The Story (From Penguin Putnam)
The meteor that crash lands in the middle of Grandma and Grandpa Gaw's yard sets off a chain of events that brings magic to the residents of Mudsock Meadow. A remarkable true-life event comes alive in this reissue of Patricia Polacco's very first picture book. 'Based on a true event, this enchanting book overwhelmingly expresses the magic that suddenly pervades a small town, from the funny, folksy way the story is told to the imaginative, full-color illustrations.'