Author Gloria Houston’s
great-aunt Arizona was born in the Blue Ridge Mountains in a log cabin her
father built. She was named by her older brother, a cavalryman out West who
said: “Please name her Arizona, and she will be beautiful, like this land.”
Arizona never saw the land for which she was named, but she did make a big
difference right there in the mountains of her home. Arizona loved to explore,
to read, and to attend lessons in their one-room school called a blab school
because all the students read aloud at once. Eventually Arizona was able to go
away to a school where she learned to be a teacher; then she returned to teach
in the very community where she grew up. “She grew flowers in every window. She
taught students about words and numbers and the distant places they would visit
someday.” When generation after
generation of students asked if she had been to faraway places, she said “Only
in my mind, but someday you will go.” This graceful picture book is based on a
real person — a quiet and loving teacher who meant the world to her students. For
fifty-seven years Houston’s great-aunt Arizona hugged, taught and encouraged
students; the dedication for My Great-Aunt
Arizona reads: “For all teachers, members of the most influential profession in
the world.” Susan Condie Lamb’s illustrations convey the beauty of the Blue
Ridge setting and Arizona’s warmth. Though today’s classrooms are vastly
different one from another and the teaching profession may not seem as clement
as it was for Arizona, it remains absolutely true that good teachers hold special places
in students’ hearts. Ages 5-8.
Patricia Polacco’s Thank You, Mr. Falker is another true
story of an important teacher. Polacco grew up in a book-loving family; she
loved to draw and listen to stories. But she spent years as a child
unable to decipher letters and numbers on a page, mercilessly teased by
classmates for being dumb. That is, until fifth grade when tall, elegant, kind
Mr. Falker figured out that she really could not read and, with the help of a reading specialist, unlocked the world of words for Trisha. “The rest of the
year became an odyssey of discovery and adventure…” Polacco urges students to
remember to say thank you to all the teachers they appreciate! Ages 5-9.
