Taylor Morrison

James Fraser is coined for the creation of the nickel and many other things along the way. Following his life and the history of the buffalo nickel, this book outlines the path it took to get him there. Creating the nickel for the representation of the Native Americans, this book follows the art and culture it took to have the nickel we have now. I would use this in the elementary school classroom as a read aloud to introduce art and Native Americans, but I would also use this in the middle school classroom as a read aloud to go into depth in the history of the nickel and the culture of the Native Americans. I enjoyed this book, but I would not give it 5 stars because the text can be lengthy at times and may not be the best for a quick-read.… (more)

I was not very impressed with this book, I thought it was extremely drawn out and boring. I think that kids would have a difficult time paying attention to it as well, since their attention spans are much shorter than mine and I found myself zoning out throughout it. I read this book twice to see if I just didn't like it the first time because I was zoning out, but the second time reading it was just as poor of an experience as the first. I would not recommend this book to anyone, unless they express an interest in art. I don't have an interest in art, so maybe someone who loves art would have a different view of the book than I did.… (more)

I found this book to be very interesting because it takes the reader through the processes of making a sculpture out of marble. It was interesting to learn that many sculptors would use corpses to draw the bodies of the sculptures they were going to make. It takes a lot of practice and precision to make a really good sculpture. I think that one way to connect this book to the curriculum would be an arts and crafts project. The children can use clay to make their own sculpture and for a day they can pretend to be the famous sculptor during the Renaissance.… (more)