Saturday, September 28, 2013

Toothpaste from Start to Finish Nonfiction Selection

Summary:

I read Toothpaste from Start to Finish, by Tonya Lee Stone.  The book is a nonfiction book and explains to the reader how toothpaste is made from the beginning (when it is first created), to the end (once it is packaged and placed on the shelf).

Evaluation of genre:  

The genre for this book would be nonfiction.  This book was very informative on how toothpaste is made.  The author, Tanya Lee Stone used the Tom’s Toothpaste manufacturing company to explain to the reader how they make their all-natural toothpaste.  The book is very informative of how process begins, how the process progresses, and how the toothpaste is filled in the tubes and packaged to be shipped to be placed on the shelf.   Jill Brady was the photographer for this book, she took many pictures to accompany the words so that the reader would be able to not only read about how toothpaste is made, but they could also see the process.  I believe her pictures were perfect. 

Questions to Ask:

Have you ever heard of Tom's All-Natural Toothpaste?

What toothpaste do you use?

Do you know of any other all-natural products?

What did you like about the book?

Why do you think it is best to use all-natural products?

Do you think there is a different taste between the toothpaste you use and  Tom's all-natural toothpaste?


Motivational activities:

The children could create a newspaper with the headlines “The Day We Went To Tom’s”.  The children could write an editorial on which toothpaste is better all-natural toothpaste or toothpaste made with ingredients that we are unable to read.  The children could create advertisements for the different flavors for the all-natural toothpaste.  And the children could pretend that they went to Main and visited the manufacturing company and interviewed the founders of Tom’s all-natural products Tom and Kate Chappell, and “interview” them as to why they decide to create this great all-natural product.

            The children could write an Once/Now essay explaining how once on the grocery shelves there were only toothpaste products that had ingredients that we were not sure what the ingredients were made of or how to pronounce the names of the ingredients. The children could explain why this product would not be such a good idea to use.  Then the children could write their Now part of the essay explaining how there is Tom’s toothpaste which is all natural.   The children could explain what the ingredients are in Tom’s toothpaste and why they think that this toothpaste is better to use.

My Thoughts:

This is a great nonfiction book!  I think this book is the equivalent of taking a field trip without actually going on a field trip.  This book also opens up children’s minds to know that there are careers that they could one day have when they are older.   I also liked this book because it interviewed the founders of Tom’s toothpaste Tom and Kate Chappell and allowed them to explain why they started their all-natural business.  I think that this is great for children to see that they if they are worried about how something may affect them they can make changes.  This was a very good book because the book not only explained the how something is made, but it also explained the why behind it.

Tanya Lee Stone writes many nonfiction books.  She was raised in a home that was filled with books.  When she was growing up she would write stories and draw illustrations that would go along with the stories.  Miss Stone went to Oberlin College where she studied English once she graduated she moved to New York and became an editor.  She has written many nonfiction books and she has also written fiction books and poetry.

References

Cullinan, B. & Galda L. & Sipe L. (2010) Literature and the Child. 7th Ed. Belmont, CA. Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Stone, T.L. (2001). Toothpaste: From Start to Finish. Blackbirtch Press. Woodbridge, CT.

Stone, T.L. (2013). Tonya Lee Stone. Retrieved from http://www.tanyastone.com/bio.html


 

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