All The Way To America: The Story of A Big Italian Family & A Little Shovel By Dan Yaccarino

 

About Book

Title: All the Way To America
Author & Illustrator: Dan Yaccarino
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Major Book Awards: No major book awards
Recommended Age Range: 5 to 9
Appropriate Grade Levels: Kinder to 4th Grade

Summary

This book written by Dan Yaccarino talks about the several generations of his Italian family utilizing a little shovel. The story starts off with his great-grandfather Michael Yaccarino, who lived in Sorento, Italy. His great-grandfather decided to immigrate to America in search of better opportunities. As he leaves, his father gave him a shovel telling him to "work hard, but remember to enjoy life," while his mother added "And never forget your family." When Michael went to New York, he used the shovel his father gave him to measure out flour and sugar. The shovel was eventually passed on to his son Aniello, but everyone calls him Dan. Dan then used the shovel to measure out beans, macaroni, and olives in his market. Dan passed the shovel to his son Mike and he too uses it for his business, pouring rock salt over the sidewalk when it snowed. And lastly, Mike passed the shovel to Dan, as in the author of this book, used the little shovel in his own family to grow fruits and vegetables. And as a reminder, Dan Yaccarino also teaches his kids to work hard, enjoy life, and love their family, just like his great-grandfather was taught.

Evaluation - Would I Incorporate this book in the Classroom?

This book was such an interesting read. I loved how the author incorporated how his family came to be and all the connections that they have with that one shovel and the reminder of always enjoy life and love their family. I also liked the way he did his illustrations. I think he did a great job in showing the past and it slowly transforms to a more modern feel. The illustrations throughout the book are very bright and warm, evoking warmth of family. I think this book would be a great addition to my classroom, as I can use it to teach family history. This book would be appropriate for grades kindergarten to 4th grade. A fun activity that I can do, is tell my students to create their own family tree. This assignment involves the collaboration and help from their families. Students will make their own tree diagram depending on the grade level, and put in their family members' names and add pictures if they want. This would be a great opportunity to teach kids how to document their family in a nice and organized way, while at the same time learn how their family came to be. At the end of the assignment, students will be able to share their unique family tree.