Those Shoes

Written by: Maribeth Boelts

Illustrated by: Noah Z. Jones

Genre: Contemporary realistic fiction

Awards: 

               READ Boston Readaloud, 2007

               Notable Children's Video, 2010

               CCBC Choices, 2008

Summary:

At school, everyone has the newest pair of shoes-except for Jeremy. Everywhere he looks, he sees the shoes and is upset that he doesn't have them. Jeremy asks his grandmother to buy the new shoes, but she says that they don't have money for "wants." When Jeremy's shoe breaks and everyone laughs at him, he is even more anxious for black and white sneakers. Jeremy is luckily enough to find a pair of the new shoes at a thrift store, except they're too small. He buys them anyway, forcing himself to deal with the pain they cause. His friend Antonio also has broken shoes, but Antonio's feet are much smaller than his. Jeremy understands what Antonio is dealing with and gives the too-small sneakers to him. 

Teacher Evaluation: 

I think this book would be best for second-grade classrooms. Those Shoes would be my class' anchor text for two subjects: social studies and ELA. For our social studies lesson, we would establish the differences between wants and needs. We would then identify some things in our lives that we need and things we want. For the ELA lesson, we would complete a Think, Feel, Do assignment. Students will reflect on the story to clarify what they thought while reading. Then they will discuss their reflections and explain what they felt. Finally, we will discuss some ways to practice kindness and empathy to our peers. Students will need to complete a short writing assignment as they do each component.