You WILL Like These Two Books!

I (Don't) Like Snakes
by Nicola Davies
Illustrated by Luciano Lozano
Candlewick Press, 2015

The little girl doesn't like snakes, and her family tries valiantly to convince her otherwise.

Give Bees a Chance
by Bethany Barton
Viking Books for Young Readers, 2017

The narrator and his (?) friend Edgar like all the same things...except for bees. The narrator convinces Edgar (and readers) of the importance of bees.

New Poetry Books for a New Year, part 2

The Pet Project: Cute and Cuddly Vicious Verses
by Lisa Wheeler
illustrated by Zachariah OHora
Atheneum Books for Young Readers (April 2, 2013)

review copy purchased for my classroom library

The character in this book wants a pet, but her parents, "...very scientific folk..." insist that she does research according to a scientific plan -- formulating a query, collecting data and observations, and presenting her results.

Our character has a research notebook, seen at the bottom of the page when she takes her study "...in the field." Her first destination is the farm. Her poems about the cow, chicken, pony, dove, and sheep reveal the reasons none of those will be her pet-of-choice.

"The farm was interesting, and yet,
I still have failed to find a pet.
Sure of what I have to do,
I'll take my research to the
farm
zoo."

After her zoological expedition, she goes to the woodland, does a "home study," a "controlled environments" study, notes some "inconclusive investigations" and finally comes to a conclusion about the kind of pets that are perfect for an owner like her, someone who is definitely not into the maintenance a pet requires, and rather quite forgetful, as well. Her choice?


"...They need no care.
They need no fuss.
They're not aware
that they're in us.

These beasties who are hard to find
are everywhere...and they're all
mine!

I go to Mom and Dad with hope:

"May I have a..."

  Can you guess?*

Such a fun book. You will want it for your poetry collection, for your science class, and for your persuasive writing unit!




*microscope

A PIG PARADE IS A TERRIBLE IDEA: Great Mentor Text For Persuasive Writing, but More Importantly, A GREAT, FUN READ ALOUD

I have been waiting patiently for my copy of A PIG PARADE IS A TERRIBLE IDEA by Michael Ian Black. Since I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED CHICKEN CHEEKS, when Bill at Literate Lives shared this new one, I ordered it right away!

A PIG PARADE IS A TERRIBLE IDEA by Michael Ian Black is a crack up! This book would make for a great fun read aloud. This is a great book about all of the reasons that a pig parade is a bad idea--my favorite reason is that "pigs absolutely refuse to wear majorette uniforms". There are many, many reasons that the authors give us, but that one was my personal favorite. The humor is quite sophisticated and I will have to try it out but I am pretty sure it will make my BOOKS I COULD READ A MILLION TIMES list.

I could see using this book in writing workshop as a great mentor text for persuasive writing. (If you do use it for writing workshop, please, please, please make sure to read it aloud to your kids a few times first--just for the fun of it.) The authors begin the book with a great lead about thinking that maybe a pig parade might be a good idea. Then they go through point by point and explain why this is a terrible idea. At the end of the book, they summarize again why this is so bad. When I did units with upper elementary kids on persuasive writing, finding great examples was often a little bit difficult. I'd find a few things online and lots of op ed pieces, but there weren't many great picture books that kids could study to learn about persuasive writing. This book is one of the best pieces of persuasive writing I have seen. Readers are clearly convinced by the last page, that a Pig Parade is definitely a terrible idea!

SHOULD WE HAVE PETS? A PERSUASIVE TEXT

I have loved SHOULD THERE BE ZOOS? for years. This book was written by Tony Stead and a class of 4th graders. The persuasive essays argue for or against zoos and it is one of the best mentor texts I have found for persuasive writing for elementary students. Last month, a member of the English Companion NING shared a related title SHOULD WE HAVE PETS by Sylvia Lollis, Joyce Hogan and her second-grade class. My copy arrived in the mail today.

SHOULD WE HAVE PETS is clearly modeled after SHOULD THERE BE ZOOS? Another great sample of persuasive text but one written by younger students. This one follows the same format of SHOULD THERE BE ZOOS? Pairs of children share their own opinion on whether or not we should have pets and focus on one reason to support their argument. At the end of the book, the writers ask you to form your own opinion based on what you read. They also share the process they went through when writing the book. A glossary and index are included.

The thing I like about this one, that seems different from the other, is the use of visuals. The students use photographs to add more meaning to their arguments. For example, when Franklin and Roshanda argue that we should not have pets because so many people abuse their pets, 3 photos of animals being treated poorly add to the information in the text. I can see minilessons on the ways that visuals support an argument because the photos are used very purposefully in this book.

It is hard to find good persuasive text for young students so I am definitely glad I found this one. Anxious to share it with kids!