The Butter Man
By: Paige DuBay--EDEL 411 Section A
Book Introduction
The Butter Man
Written by: Elizabeth Alalou and Ali AlalouIllustrated by: Julie Klear Essakalli
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Folkart Illustrations
Topic/Theme: While Nora waits for the couscous her father is cooking to be finished, he tells her a story about his youth in Morocco--a story of patience and hope.
Awards:
- Bank Street's College's The Best Children's Books of the Year
- CCBC Choices
- Charlotte Zolotow Highly Commended
- Children's Africana Honor Book
- Junior Library Guild Selection
- Middle East Book Award
- NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People
- Peace Corps Writers Award
- Peace Corps Writers Awards-Awards for Best Children's Writing
- Storytelling World Award Honor Book for Young Listeners
Alalou, E., & Alalou, A. (2008). The butter man. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.
About the Authors
Elizabeth (Letts) Alalou was born in Houston, Texas. She attended Yale College where she majored in History. Elizabeth served in the Peace Corps in Morocco where she met her husband. She is the author of four books: Quality of Care, Family Planning, The Butter Man (the only book she wrote using the name Elizabeth Alalou) and The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman the Horse. The Eighty-Dollar Champion was a #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, it is said that this book inspired the nation. Today, Elizabeth lives with her husband and four children in Baltimore, Maryland.
Ali Alalou:
Ali Alalou was born in the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco. He met his wife, Elizabeth, while teaching at a public school in Morocco. It is unknown where he currently teaches, but he was a previous professor teaching French and Linguistics at the University of Delaware. He has a Ph.D. in French Linguistics from the University of California and a B.A. in Arabic language and civilization from the University of Bordeaux, France. His areas of interest and experitse include: French language, pedagogy and applied linguistics, Arabic language, Afro-Asiastic linguistic, and North African studies.
About the Illustrator
Julie Klear Essakalli designs and creates textile art and furnishings. She makes these works of art for children with the help of her husband, Moulay Essakalli. The Butter Man was her first book illustrating for children. Today, she lives with her husband and their two children in Marrakech, Morrocco. Her website selling her art and furnishings is: www.zidzidkids.com
Criteria #1: Dialect should be natural and blend with plot and characterization while not being perceived as substandard language:
This book does a great job of blending English with the Tamazight or Berber language. Although the story is told in English, the book includes traditional names (Ali, Sidi Lhou, Fadma, Itto, etc.) and words. Nora only refers to her father as Baba, grandpa as Bahalou and grandma as Mahalu. Throughout the story, every word in Berber is italicised so that the reader can easily spot the different language. If the word isn't defined in the story, the back of the book has a glossary that defines the Berber word and states how to pronounce it. The story is easy to read and I love how the words are blended into Nora and her Baba's every day language!
GLOSSARY:
Ahidous (AH-hee-doos): A traditional Berber line dance in which men play drums and both men and women sing and dance.
Baba (BA-ba): Father
Bahalou (BA-ha-loo): Grandfather
Bismillah (bee-smee-LAH): The traditional blessing Berbers say before a meal, meaning, "in the name of God."
Couscous (KOOS-koos): A traditional North African dish of pasta made from rolled semolina flour. The tiny grains of pasta are steamed in a large two-party pot similar to a vegetable steamer. Couscous is served on a large platter covered with meat and vegetables. It has become a popular and familiar dish all over the world.
Mahalou (MA-ha-loo): Grandmother
Oudi (OO-dee): Butter
Souk (SOOK): A weekly Moroccan market where a wide range of goods, from fruits and vegetables to staples like sugar and oil, as well as household supplies, can all be found. In Berber villages, people usually go to the souk to both buy and sell.
Tamazirt (ta-ma-ZEER-t): The place where I come from, my country.
Criteria #2: Illustrations should reflect accurate cultural setting:
Criteria #3: Themes should be consistent with the values, beliefs, customs, traditions and conflicts of the specific cultural group:
Lesson Plan Idea:
CCSS W.2.3: Write narratives in which they recounts a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.
The students will recognize that different cultures identify family members as different names (ex: Father vs Baba).
The students will write a narrative about a time they expressed patience amongst family members.
Lesson Procedures:
- The lesson will begin with the teacher by asking students what they call their parents? "Mom, mommy, mema, mother, etc" If the teacher has only gotten the typical answers the teacher will ask the students if any of them call their parents anything different or unique. The teacher will then say sometimes, different cultures call their family members or friends different names than the American culture does. The teacher will then ask the students if they know what it means to be patient. The teacher will ask the students to raise their hand if they can think of a time they were patient.
- The teacher will then say that they're going to learn about a time when Nora's then read the book aloud. Asking the students questions throughout the book, referencing to the different names Nora refers to her mom, dad, grandma and grandpa as. Also asking questions and acknowledging Nora's Baba's patience.
- After reading the book, the teacher will ask the students how Nora's Baba expressed patience. The teacher will then ask the students to raise their hand and tell her some things from the story that might have stood out to them that is different than our culture (couscous, other words) and also refer to the Baba, Bahalou, Mahalou.
- The teacher will then have the students write a short narrative about a time they expressed patience amongst their family, referring to their family members in the names they call them, the students will also get extra points if they include something their family does that is special to their family or culture.