No English [Hardcover]

Jacqueline Jules (Author), Amy Huntington (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

"No English" is all that Blanca, the new girl from Argentina, says. She spends her time drawing pictures instead of doing class work, and that hardly seems fair to second-grader Diane. One misunderstanding follows another until Diane begins to see how afraid Blanca must feel in their classroom. Their teacher, Mrs. Bertram, helps her class understand that "different" is just different, not strange or weird. She encourages the students to learn about Blanca's home country. Diane must make things right, but how will she do that when they don't speak the same language?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"a lovely story of a cross-cultural friendship." -- From Elizabeth Ward, Washington Post Book World, January 6, 2008

Jacqueline Jules' newest picture book,No English,is a must for young readers. . . . Once again Jules has told a story in simple terms that has profound meaning. -- Janie Franz, MyShelf.Com January 3, 2008

Recommended for libraries and schools to aid in reaching across language barriers. . . .This could be used to start class discussions about diversity and could lead to discussions on all sorts of diversity within the school and community. -- Tasha Saecker, Kids Lit January 3, 2008

About the Author

Jacqueline Jules is an elementary school librarian and the author of nine children's books including The Ziz and the Hanukkah Miracle, Abraham's Search for God, and Sarah Laughs.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Ann Arbor Editions (July 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587264749
• ISBN-13: 978-1587264740
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 9.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,198,506 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This beautiful, heartwarming tale is one that is experienced in more and more schools across the country every day!, July 23, 2009

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No English (Paperback)

It was not going to be easy being a new student at Robinson School. Blanca just knew everyone would turn and stare at her and it would be even worse if she couldn't respond to their questions. "No English. Español." Blanca was from Argentina, but Diana, her new seat mate, didn't know that. It really annoyed her that this new girl was getting away with drawing a little blue house with a rainbow and flowers overhead when she had to write out her spelling words. Moon, space, stars . . . "Mrs. Bertram!" Her hand shot up in the air because the unfairness of the whole situation annoyed her big time. Yep, after Diane tattled everyone gave poor Blanca the evil eye.

Diana was totally embarrassed when Mrs. Sanderson took Blanca out of the room to give her English lessons. Mrs. Bertram gathered the class around to talk about making her comfortable and discuss her language and culture. At recess Diana tried to play with Blanca and had yet another misunderstanding and only succeeded in making her angry instead. It was enough to make anyone cry. Being a tattletale and hurting someone all in the same day was simply horrifying. On Friday she tried again to make friends and this time her effort succeeded. They shared a bilingual book, drew pictures and had some good giggle `n smile time during spelling class. The substitute teacher had no patience for nonsense and the girls "left the classroom for the long walk down the hall." It was going to be a looooong day!

This beautiful, heartwarming tale is one that is experienced in more and more schools across the country every day. Children, who have no prejudicial behaviors unless they learn by example, do have language ones and stories like this bring awareness to the issue. The story has an easy, comforting flow and the tension of Blanca and Diana's situation is dealt with quite nicely. The art work captures the emotional flow in the children's faces and meshes quite well with the story. This would be an excellent read and discuss book in any classroom even if there are no bilingual issues in the school. No English . . . no problem!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SFC 5 star review, March 18, 2008

By 

Virginia S. Grenier "Children's Author & Stor... (Ivins, Utah USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No English (Hardcover)

Blanca from Argentina joins Diane's second grade class. When she is spoken to, be it teacher Mrs. Bertram, or a fellow student, her response is always "No English". Blanca knows nothing in the English language, and of course, she is thrust into a class of all English-speaking children! Diane is at first very jealous that Blanca is allowed to sit there drawing pictures instead of working like the other students, so she raises her hand and complains to the teacher. All the kids start staring at Blanca and she's feeling bad. The teacher that's helping Blanca learn English walks in and takes Blanca with her for her lesson. Diane is ashamed of herself when she sees how afraid Blanca looks as she encounters the hostile stares of her classmates.

Mrs. Bertram opens a discussion about being from a foreign country and not knowing the language in your new home. She encourages the children to think of ways to help Blanca adjust. The class decides to learn more about Blanca's country, Argentina. There are many differences that the class feels are "weird", but Mrs. Bertram points out they're not weird, just "different".

Diane is determined to befriend Blanca and somehow bridge the language barrier. Finally, Diane comes up with a terrific idea and puts her plan into action. Find out her solution by reading this fantastic story!

Jacqueline Jules wrote this book with a depth of feeling often missing from books for children on a difficult subject. Jacqueline is the child of an immigrant herself, so I'm sure her parents were a good role model for her to know how to approach this modern-day situation our immigrant children face every day in our schools. Also, as a school librarian, Jacqueline faces the language barrier and cultural differences her students encounter every day since a large population of the students in her elementary school speak English as a Second Language. This book is a way to reach out to them all, and to teach American-born children to have empathy and more understanding for children not born in America that are struggling to overcome the difficulties of adjusting to life here. Accompanied by the outstanding, lifelike illustrations of Amy Huntington, this quiet book is a keeper for any parent who wants their child to grow up appreciating the differences among the people that populate this world. A downloadable Teacher's Guide is available at the Mitten Press website.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Insight, January 8, 2011

By 

Laura L Soliday - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: No English (Hardcover)

This book is great for providing insight into English language learners at school. It is good for students and teachers to help them understand what it is like to come to school without speaking English.