Anthropomorphized Monkeys and Racist Stereotypes in Children's Books

Anyone who knows me or reads this blog knows that I LOVED LOVED LOVED The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee from the minute it was published. I am a HUGE Marla Frazee fan and love all of her work. Walk On! and The Farmer and the Clown are definitely two of my favorite picture books.

So I was VERY excited to read that this wordless book, The Farmer and the Clown, was going to grow into a trilogy! What a treat!  I couldn't wait to get a copy.

Then, I saw the title of the second book and I worried: The Farmer and the Monkey.

I have only recently started to pay attention to monkeys in children's literature. Edith Campbell led a Highlights Foundation workshop that I attended last year where she shared the problems with anthropomorphized monkeys in children's literature. She writes a bit about it here. The idea was new to me then (which in itself is a problem I take full responsibility for) and although I still don't completely understand it to the extent that I should, I can now see it as a huge problem.

If this is something you need to learn more about, Elisa Gall at Reading While White also wrote about this over 2 years ago in the post Knowing Better, Doing Better.

I am still continuing to learn more about this, but as I do, I am looking at children's books with monkeys with a more critical lens. I've recently realized this is something I've been missing all these years. When I revisit and learn more about Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, Voices in the Park and others, I missed so much as I continued to share these books with children and teachers for so long.

So, back to The Farmer and the Monkey, the sequel to The Farmer and the Clown.

I ordered the book the day it came out. Even though I knew the issues with anthropomorphized monkeys in children's literature, I was hopeful.  Very hopeful. I trusted that maybe since this was about a circus, it would be okay. As I said, I LOVED The Farmer and the Clown and I really wanted to LOVE this one too.

My hope disappeared after reading just a few pages of this new book.  This adorable monkey caused trouble the minute he entered the farmer's house.  It was clear from the visuals early on that this monkey was a troublemaker and misbehaved often.  This thread of this character as "troublesome" and "behavior problem" works through the whole book.  When I thought about this as related to Edith Campbell's work, I couldn't help but see how this was a problem. The racist stereotype of Black children as troublemakers is something that this book amplifies. 

I was compelled to dig a bit more.  I went page by page in the book and here are some problematic things I noticed:

• The monkey appears to me to be sneaky. Before he even enters the farmer's home, he is sneaking around, climbing on the roof, peeking in windows.
• The monkey is only in the farmer's house for a few minutes before the farmer sends him away--kicks him out of the house in the dark night. Alone.
• The monkey is left alone in the night and is buried in snow while the farmer presumably sleeps peacefully, not checking on the monkey through the night.
• The next morning, the farmer sees the monkey in the snow, (seemingly waiting to be saved), feels sorry for the monkey and brings him in and cares for him. but the monkey still causes immense trouble on the farm and although the farmer doesn't seem to enjoy the monkey, he is more patient with him. 
• The farmer sends the monkey off on his own to meet the train/his circus family, with a full picnic basket strapped to his back so that finally the farmer can rest peacefully on a haystack. The ending shows that the farmer's life is much better after he sends the monkey away.

Even after noticing these things, I was still a tiny bit hopeful. I remembered the clown in the first book being troublesome too, so I went back and compared the books, page by page, assuming I might see that the clown had been similar in character but that I forgot.  Here is what I noticed:

• The clown visibly presents as a white child.
• When the farmer sees the clown all alone, he immediately takes him in and cares for him, holding his hand as they walk to the farmer's house. The clown seems compliant and happy to have the farmer as a friend almost immediately. This is a huge contrast from the monkey, sneaking in and causing trouble immediately and the farmer becoming flustered.
• In the home, the little clown is sweet and compliant. He does everything the farmer does.
• The farmer is so loving toward the clown that the clown sleeps in the farmer's bed while the farmer stays awake making sure the clown is comfortable. In contrast, the farmer sleeps in his own bed while the monkey sleeps on the floor in a small picnic basket, or even stays awake at night while the farmer sleeps.
• The clown was NEVER kicked out of the farmer's home. Instead the farmer did everything he could to help the clown feel welcome and to be comfortable.
• The farmer works hard to entertain the clown and to make sure he is happy. The clown also appears to be VERY helpful with chores on the farm. 
• In the first book, the farmer and the clown go on a fabulous picnic using a full picnic basket as they wait for the circus train. They eat together under a tree. When the train arrives, the farmer holds the clown's hand and waits until the family comes out and greets him. The farmer and the clown have an emotional goodbye that is filled with hugs and love. The farmer seems to keep the clown's hat to remember him.
•  In contrast, the monkey is sent on his own, loaded down with a heavy picnic basket that they packed with food. Instead of hugs and love, the farmer shakes the monkey's hand and sends him off, without enjoying the meal together, never making sure he gets where he is going.
• The farmer appears relieved when the monkey is gone as he rests on the haystack.

After learning from Edith Campbell and others, this is the first time that I have actually SEEN for myself -- without someone else pointing them out -- the racist stereotypes and the problems with anthropomorphized monkeys in a children's book. When I look at these two characters critically, I now see a sweet white child and a troublesome monkey. I see too many anti-Black messages in this book to look away. I am not the only one who has concerns about this book. Michelle Knott also mentioned her concerns in a recent blog post.

As I said earlier, this understanding about anthropomorphized monkeys in children's literature is new to me and I imagine it is new to many educators, authors, parents and publishers. I hope that we can all do better now that this information about the problems with anthropomorphized monkeys is readily available for us.

It is not my intent for this post to end up starting a conversation about this specific book, but instead for it to act as a call for all of us who work with children and children's books to commit to learning, understanding and critically analyzing books with monkeys and to understand the problematic history of these images.

I will continue to be a huge Marla Frazee fan even if I cannot be a supporter of this book.  I am hoping that that authors and publishers take this issue of monkeys in picture books more seriously in the future.

If you'd like to learn more, here are a few things I've read:

The Disturbing "Monkey Business" of U.S. Black-White Race Relations at Teaching Tolerance 

Tell Knopf: Stop Publishing "Monkey" Book Series by Marc Brown at Social Justice Books 

More from Dr. Edi Campbell.

Edith Campbell reminds us in her post about Grumpy Monkey, "Regardless of the creator’s intent, there are social, cultural and political forces that shape the messages we find in books. Hundreds of years of equating blacks with simians cannot help but be seen in anthropomorphic pictures books"

Remote Learning with Spencer's New Pet: The Power of Wordless Books

As I work with teachers across grade levels, many are thinking about how to build community and create a space that is safe and inviting for important thinking and conversation. Whether they are in person and social distanced, whether they are hybrid and have their kids both live and in remote spaces or whether they are fully remote, this is something on every teachers' mind, as it is every fall. So much of the fall is often spent building community, learning how to have thoughtful conversations, building on one another's thinking, learning to disagree and learning to support claims and ideas with evidence.  This year is no different in that regard.

Spencer's New Pet by Jessie Sima has been a great wordless book to share early in the year. Mary Lee reviewed the book a while ago and I fell in love with it this spring when I shared it with my 5th graders. 

As a reader myself, I am not so great at reading images. I prefer words.  But I have come to fall in love with wordless picture books over the past several years. I have learned the power of wordless picture books, especially during the first several weeks of the school year.

If we want our students to talk about books in critical ways, if we want them to be able to talk about issues in our world, if we want students to learn to grapple with ideas, agree, disagree and grow their thinking, I find that wordless picture books are perfect tools for inviting students into this work early in the year.

This fall, I've been fortunate to work in a few Zoom classrooms, supporting teachers in their work with students.  Spencer's New Pet has worked so well with several groups of students. I find that it is a book children (and adults) of all ages engage in joyfully. And it provides so many natural stopping places to notice and celebrate thinking and talk. Because there are very few words, the book is accessible to everyone and children are anxious to share thinking as there is so much to notice in each illustration.

This book was good for several reasons. It helped start discussions around these important behaviors and strategies:

• changing thinking is something readers do
• readers support thinking with evidence
• building on ideas of others is valued here
• we think before, during and after we read
• reading is about more than words; it is about thinking and understanding
• we think in so many different ways as we read
• there is power in rereading 
• creators make so many decisions that help us understand

Spencer's New Pet is my most recent favorite wordless book, but I have several and I am always on the lookout for a new favorite to share with students.  Sharing a few wordless picture books over the first several weeks of school helps build an intellectual community of talk and collaborative thinking.   Here is a link to some other wordless books that are perfect for remote learning. 

Spencer's New Pet

Spencer's New Pet
by Jessie Sima
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, August 27, 2019
review copy compliments of the publisher

You will love this book.

Start with the dust jacket (front, back, and brilliantly written blurb on the front flap), then check out the covers. They are the best kind, with a simple drawing that connects across the spine.

Notice the old-time cinematic look with the countdown to the title page. The story is told in three parts, and the tension and drama build until...SURPRISE!

After you recover from the surprise, you will want to go back and reread the whole book, looking for clues and foreshadowing all the way through. Now look back at the covers. Who IS Spencer?

Have fun watching readers' faces when you share this book. I wish I could see yours. You'll love it!

Picture Book 10 for 10 -- David Wiesner

I had the opportunity to hear David Wiesner speak at the Whole Language Umbrella conference this past summer, and when I saw that he has ten picture books, it just seemed like a ready-made 10 for 10!

But there's more than that. His message about picture book design and his mission to "show as much visually as possible with as little text as possible" resonated because my first read aloud will be a graphic novel (via Kindle on the big screen). I decided that along with the work we'll do with the visuals in the read aloud, a beginning-of-the-year mini-unit spent closely studying David Wiesner's picture books will be time well spent, as well as an inviting entry point for all readers. We can dig into the way he represents multiple realities and the world off the page (The Three Little Pigs and Flotsam are great ones for that). We can study beginnings and endings. And we can look at the ways he sets up patterns and breaks them. (I'm sure there will be more -- I want to remain open to what my students find interesting and want to study). I'm hoping to see the benefits of this work echoing not just through reading workshop for the rest of the year, but also in our narrative writing unit in writing workshop.

I Got It!

2018

Mr. Wuffles!

2013

Tuesday

2011

Art & Max

2010

Flotsam

2006

The Three Pigs

2001

Sector 7

1999

June 29, 1999

1995

Hurricane

1992

Free Fall

1991

Big thanks to Cathy Mere and Mandy Robek for cooking up this fabulous yearly event! Check out all the posts on the Google+ community. Open a tab for your public library and hide your credit card!!

Wordless Picture Books in Read Aloud

Professional Crocodile
by Giovanna Zoboli

illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio 

Chronicle Books, 2017

A crocodile gets ready for work and travels to the zoo, where he is (what else?) a professional crocodile.

Owl Bat Bat Owl
by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick
Candlewick Press, 2017

The adults can't get past the differences, but the kids can. When the lives of their children are endangered, the adults are finally united.

Little Fox in the Forest
by Stephanie Graegin
Schwartz & Wade, 2017

A little girl loses her beloved stuffed animal, gets it back again, then gives it away.

*   *   *   *   *   *

These are just three of the wordless picture books I've shared for #classroombookaday this year. But how do I read aloud a book without words?

1. Gather the students close. Let them know that it's a wordless book and that they'll have to pay close attention to the illustrations in order to understand the story.
2. Study the cover, both front and back. 
3. Look under the dust jacket to see if the book cover is the same or different.
4. Study the end papers.
5. Begin the book with the very first page turn. The story in some picture books begins before the title page!
6. After showing a spread of the story to all of your audience (take your time moving the book so they have time to really look at the illustrations), ask, "Who would like to narrate this spread?"

That's it -- no big secret or earth-shattering instructional move. I let the students tell the story! The fascinating thing is that often the students who don't participate in a picture book discussion are the first to raise their hand to narrate, and with a keen eye for details that are vital to the story. There is no worksheet, no calling on someone who doesn't have their hand raised to try to catch them not paying attention (because with a wordless book, 99% of them are, and part of the fun of it is you can watch them looking because your head is not turned away from them reading the words!!), no quick check or written retelling. Try it! You'll have so much fun (both you and your students) that you'll make space in #classroombookaday not just for nonfiction picture books, but for wordless picture books, too!

Little Fox in the Forest

This is one of a series of blog posts that continue the conversation around Still Learning to Read--Teaching Reading to Students in Grades 3-6.  This series will run on the blog on Tuesdays starting in August 2016 and continue through the school year.

I have a HUGE collection of wordless picture books. Over the years, I have realized the impact they can have on readers in grades 3-6.  First of all, there are so many gorgeous wordless books and kids can spend hours with them. And many of these books have incredible depth--so much meaning and so many layers embedded in the illustrations. What I love most about wordless picture books are the way they level the playing field for readers--the text is not an issue so for readers who are insecure or reluctant, wordless picture books often allow them to engage in a different way.  I use wordless books often and just found a new favorite.

Little Fox in the Forest is my new favorite wordless book!  I don't want to say too much about it but it is FABULOUS! I don't know where I first saw it but I ordered it right away.  It is happy with a fabulous message and lots to think about as you read the pictures.  Last week, I shared the Kindle version with my kids so they could take time with the pictures as they were on the large screen. This is a must-read, must-have, don't-let-out-of-your-sight new book! You'll definitely want a copy or two!

Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin

Circle by Jeannie Baker

I have been a fan of Jeannie Baker's wordless picture books since the beginning of my wordless picture book obsession. Her art and the messages in her books are always powerful.

Circle is a different kind of book for Jeannie Baker but I loved it and can't wait to share it with our 3rd graders next year.  We have a basket of bird books in our classroom and I've try to create a basket with a variety of topics within the bigger topic of birds. I know kids often begin their reading with bird guides as they want to learn to identify various birds. But I've noticed that some readers move on from the basic identification of birds to bigger issues. The book Circle takes us on a journey with the bar-tailed godwit ("who undertake the longest unbroken migration of any animal") as they migrate from Australia/New Zealand to the Arctic and back again.  Baker creates text that helps us understand time and distance as well as the amazing thing that this journey is.  And her illustrations help us appreciate the various places on Earth that are part of the godwits migration.  Not only does she help readers understand all of that but she also invites them to understand the bigger idea of how connected our world is and that changes to one part of the world can have consequences for another. The map in the back of the book showing the migration is also fabulously helpful.  There are so many layers of conversation and learning that I think can happen because of this book and I am excited to add it to our classroom in the fall.

(Another book about this journey is The Long, Long Journey by Sandra Markle. Pairing these two would invite even more great learning.)
SaveSave

Before After

Before After
written and illustrated by Anne-Margot Ramstein and Matthias Arégui
Candlewick Press, 2014

Study the cover of this wordless picture book and you'll start to get a sense of what you'll find within: acorn --> oak (before, after), caterpillar --> butterfly, chicken --> egg. But wait. You know that old conundrum about the chicken and the egg? Well, the spread before chicken is on the left and egg is on the right, has egg on the left and chicken on the right! HAH!

So. Basic wordless concept book, eh?

Nope.

There are spreads for deep thinking, like the one with the rocking horse on the left and the rocking chair on the right. (There are several before and after this that ponder time in a variety of ways, actually.) There are some amazing pairs that consider building up and tearing down, culminating in the ultimate combination of such: tearing down rock to build up a sculpture.

There are occasionally full-page spread befores followed by full-page spread afters, just to mix things up design-wise.

There are "characters" who reappear, like the ink that comes after the squid, and the pigeon who gives a feather for a quill pen in the ink, which comes before the typewriter, and then the pigeon comes back as the precursor to airmail (sending the letter the typewriter typed, perhaps?).

There are literary references (3 Pigs and Cinderella) for alert observers.

There are spreads perfect for conversations about cause and effect.

This is not a book I should be trying to review with words. We should be sitting side-by-side in a quiet corner, slowly turning the pages and chatting about all we notice.

Wednesday

Wednesday

by Anne Bertier
translated from the French by Claudia Z. Bedrick

first American edition: Enchanted Lion Books, 2014

Brain Pickings' Best Children's Books of 2014 strikes yet again!

I am adding this book to my collection of "books to read at the beginning of the school year." It will also be good for discussions of theme.

Little Round and Big Square begin the book playing nicely together, even though they are different. In their favorite game, one says a word and they both transform into that thing. By splitting in half and flipping their halves, both are able to become butterflies, for instance.

Soon, Big Square is suggesting shapes that Little Round cannot make. Both retreat to their corners.

Until Little Round suggests that they work together. Then the fun really begins.

Fox's Garden

Fox's Garden

The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee

I have had the release date for The Farmer and the Clown on my calendar for months. This was a book I was excited about and one that I wanted to make sure to get right away. Well, I received a review copy of the book last week and loved it even more than I thought I would!

The book (by the amazing Marla Frazee) tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a farmer and a clown.  And can I say that the clown is so adorable!  Happy and fun on every page.  I fell in love with this book on the first read and everyone I had it too squeals or "aw"s while reading.  This week, we read it twice in the classroom. I purchased the kindle edition so that we could read it on the screen. I am so glad I did this because the details in the illustrations, some that I missed during my first few reads, are critical and would have been so hard for kids to see without the projection.  This book is simple, but it leaves the reader with so much to think and talk about. And it leaves the reader with a feeling of joy.

I have said many times on this blog that I LOVE wordless books.  This is pretty new for me as I've learned to love them in the last 5-6 years.  This is by far, one of my favorites.  I love the characters and I am amazed at how well they are each developed in this wordless book. I like the story and the characters and the art.  I love Marla Frazee and have yet to read one of her books that I didn't fall in love with.  This one is definitely one of my Caldecott hopefuls.

The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett

Last week, I got a Facebook message mention from Lester Laminack--he had a book he thought I might like. Well, when Lester recommends a book, you buy it immediately. Lester only likes great books and I didn't want to miss anything he recommended. He recommended The Girl and the Bicycle.

I was happy to see this new book by Mark Pett. I read The Boy and the Airplane and loved it so I was excited to see another by this author/illustrator.  I really don't think a classroom can have too many quality wordless picture books.  So I am always looking for new ones to add to my collection. A good wordless book provides so many opportunities for conversation and learning.

The Girl and the Bicycle is about a little girl who REALLY wants a bike she sees in a store window. But she doesn't have enough money for the bike. So she works really hard to earn and save her money. It takes her a very long time. (I love that the illustrations let the reader know that it took her a long time--so brilliant!).  But when she goes to buy the bike, it is no longer in the store window.  A very sad moment for the little girl who has been working so hard for so long.

This book gives readers lots to talk about and I LOVE the style of Mark Pett's illustrations.  This is a totally separate story from Pett's other wordless book but a conversation comparing the two would be worthwhile and interesting.

As an aside, I took some time to visit Mark Pett's blog this week. He has this amazing zip code tradition which I completely love.   You must read this post! He might be one of my new favorite people.

A great wordless picture book!

2 New Wordless Picture Books

I love wordless picture books. I decided really digging into wordless picture books when we get back from holiday break would be a good idea.  We'll need to ease back in AND kids will be ready for some sophisticated thinking. I love thoughtful conversations around wordless books because kids at all levels participate equally.  These conversations usually raise the level of talk in the classroom.

I discovered two new wordless books to add to my collection while I was at NCTE.  One is called Here I Am by Patti Kim. I found it while I was just browsing books. The cover is pretty stunning and the book is amazing. The book tells the story of a young boy who moves to a new country. It captures the struggles and joy in the move. Lots to talk about and the illustrations are gorgeous.












The other is called Holland/1000 Things About Holland Set

. This is an amazing picture book in which each page seems to stand alone. But Kathy Short suggested that I purchase it in the package along with the One Thousand Things About Holland book.  This companion book goes through and gives textural information to match all that she put into each illustration. It is unbelievable to see how much the author fit into one illustration and I imagine it will invite some great conversations in the classroom.

Excited about both of these books!

Book Clubs

Wednesday is Book Club Day in Room 228.

Before we get deep into Book Clubs that address specific skill needs, we are getting used to thinking with partners, and digging deeper than the surface.

We started with fractured fairy tales last week.

This week, we will read wordless picture books.

I have Chalk on Kindle on all of my personal devices in the classroom, so one lucky group will read digitally.

The two newest wordless picture books in my collection are

Journey
by Aaron Becker
Candlewick, 2013

and

Zoom (Picture Puffins)
by Istvan Banyai
Puffin Books, 1998

I'm not sure how Zoom fits with the narrative work I want my students to continue with...perhaps I can find several more in my collection that are simply visually stunning and we can do some compare/contrast work with books that tell a narrative story and books that simply help us to see the world with new eyes...

Hank Finds an Egg by Rebecca Dudley

My collection of wordless picture books continues to grow. I not only love them as a reader but I have found so many ways to use them for minilesson work and small group instruction in the classroom.  So, of course I purchased a copy of Hank Finds an Egg when I saw that @paulwhankins recommended it. I have to be honest that when I looked at it online, I didn't expect to be impressed. It didn't seem to be what I would expect from a brilliant wordless book. But I trust Paul so I went ahead.

Well, was I happily surprised at how much (and how immediately) I fell in love with this book!  It is brilliant and wonderful and sweet and perfect.  Really.  Another that I shared with the whole family.  Both girls agreed that it was a great book. No question.  It is the book that I am carrying around with me this week--telling everyone I know about. I may need a few more copies as I want to share it but I hate to let it out of my sight for too long!


The story is about Hank who finds an egg in the forest.  You cannot help but love Hank IMMEDIATELY.   He is the best example of kindness:-) Love this stuffed bear.  The story is told through a series of amazing and intricate photographs.  So when you close the book and open it again (and again-trust me), you have to wonder about the author's process. How does she DO this?  How does she create and amazing character and such a powerful story with photos?  Luckily, the Internet is full of great resources so you can read about her process in this interview at UNH Today and this one at Creating the Story.  Rebecca's blog is also worth a few hours of your time!  I just love love love her work and her process. And I love the joy she clearly has in that process.  I am adding her to my mental list of favorite authors immediately.

This book is such an invitation to kids--so many great possibilities..  I think it is a great wordless book with a great message. I also think some kids will want to give this medium a try.  I imagine they could create amazing things with this book as a mentor. And I think Rebecca's process as a writer with photos is also one worth studying with kids. I love that she doesn't take the pictures in order and that the process leads the way.  As we move to more possibilities in the ways that stories are told, I think it is important as a writing teacher that my students and I  learn from the experts and help my students see possibilities for the creation process.

Not many books make me want to create a diorama when I finish, but this one might!

Definitely a book I Could Read a Million Times!!

The Hole

The Hole

by Øyvind Torseter

Enchanted Lion Books, coming August 27, 2013

review copy provided by the publisher

This was the 10th book I featured in my 10-for-10 Picture Books post on Saturday. It's too good to sit at the end of a list. It needs its own post.

As I said before, Enchanted Lion always has the most interesting books. They publish books from around the world. THE HOLE was originally published in Norway.

What you notice first when you pick up this book is that the covers of are heavy cardboard, the pages are stiff cardstock, and there's 

a hole 

punched 

all the way 

through the book.

When you open to the first page of this nearly-wordless book, you see that the hole is in the wall of an empty apartment. On the next pages, a mouse-ish creature moves into the apartment, carrying cardboard boxes of belongings. He opens the box labeled "kitchen," cooks himself an egg, and it's not until he sits down to eat (on a box-chair at a box-table) that he notices the hole in his wall. When he goes through the door that's beside the hole to see what it looks like from the other side, it's not there. It has moved to another wall. When he walks back into the first room, the hole is now on the floor and he trips over it. The hole keeps moving! He gets on his computer and calls someone to see if they will come look at this hole, but they tell him to bring it to them. He empties out one of his moving boxes, and spends several pages chasing down the hole until he finally has it in a box, which he tapes up securely.

Except when he leaves his apartment, the hole is part of his front door. And as he walks through the city, the hole is the mailman's whistling mouth, part of a sign, a wheel, a stoplight, an eye...

He winds up at some kind of high-security scientific place where he puts on shoe covers and gloves and takes the box with the hole into a sealed laboratory. The scientists run all kinds of test on the hole, but in the end, they just put it in a jar in a drawer. And the character goes home.

And the hole, of course, is still there, in the sky now. And then on his wall again. But he doesn't see it. But we do. And we wonder.

I can't wait to read this book aloud to my students. I can't wait for their surprise when the hole moves around. I can't wait to hear what they will say about the nature of the hole -- what it is...what it could mean.

I can't wait for all of those moments in a classroom that you want to put in a box or a jar or a drawer and save forever, but you can't because they're magic and cannot be captured and held.

A Wordless Book for All Cat Lovers

Franki and I were just talking about how much we both love wordless books. The possibilities for use in the classroom are endless, spanning from enjoyment and appreciation of the ability of the artist to communicate the story without words, right through differentiation for students who are striving text readers and ELLs.

I have been a fan of the Simon's Cat videos on YouTube since the first one came out in 2008. You've never seen them? Okay, take a minute and watch this:





Simon Tofield, the cartoonist, does so much with gestures, facial expressions, and, of course, a deep and personal knowledge of cat behavior.

Tofield, who struggled with dyslexia as a child and who was constantly urged to quit drawing and focus on getting a "proper job," created the first animation when teaching himself to use some animation software. He is now adding new videos to the Simon's Cat website on a monthly basis, and there are all kinds of Simon's Cat items for purchase, a soft toy and a newspaper strip. And there are books.

Simon's Cat in Kitten Chaos  

by Simon Tofield

Akashic Books, on shelves April 16, 2013

review copy provided by the publisher

In this book, Simon finds a kitten, abandoned in a rainstorm in a cardboard box. He brings it home and every manner of chaos ensues. There is the getting-to-know-you phase, the competing-for-attention phase, the I-terrorize-you-you-terrorize-me phase, and finally, the I-guess-we-can-get-along phase.

As much as this book is about a single-cat family with a new kitten, this can probably also be read as a single-child family with a new sibling. Kids will be able to relate; parents (and cat owners) will giggle, chortle, and sometimes laugh until tears stream down their faces.

Move over, Garfield. Simon's Cat is the new funny fat cat in town!

New Wordless Picture Book: FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO

I love to add new wordless books to my collection so I was very excited to get this new book Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle  in the mail from Chronicle Books.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book! It is a very sweet story of friendship and the expressions on the little girl's face make me happy. But there is an added feature to this book--there are flaps to lift throughout the book!   (Molly is a new author for me so I am excited to check out more of her books!

Here are two videos that give a good sneak peek but if you love wordless picture books, you'll definitely want this one! (This comes out next week:-)

Format, Not Genre

We are working hard in fifth grade to be more specific in our identification of genre. Knowing that a book or story is fiction or nonfiction just isn't good enough anymore! We have identified the qualities of fantasy and science fiction, historical fiction and realistic fiction, and more. 

One of the first hurdles we had to cross was that "graphic novel" is NOT a genre. We have seen graphic novels that are fantasy, science fiction, biography, memoir, and mythology. So a graphic novel is a FORMAT for presenting a story, rather than a single GENRE.

The same is true for wordless books. It might be a fun informal assessment to give a group of students a stack of wordless books and ask them to sort the books by genre!

Here are two you could include in your stack -- one fantasy, and the other historical fiction.

The Night Riders
by Matt Furie
McSweeney's McMullens, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

In this fantasy, Frog and Mouse go on a journey together. They meet a scary dragon who turns out to be friendly. Dragon and his underground video-game-playing friend join Frog and Mouse and their journey takes them all the way to the ocean.


One of the best things about this book is the dust jacket -- it unfolds into a big poster with the characters on one side, and parts of the setting on the other!

Unspoken: A Story From the Underground Railroad
by Henry Cole
Scholastic Press, 2012

The silence of a wordless book is perfect for UNSPOKEN. When the girl discovers a runaway slave hiding in the outbuilding, she keeps his secret.

Henry Cole uses well-chosen details to evoke the setting (both time and place), to build suspense, and to give the story a satisfying ending. For those with background knowledge about the Underground Railroad, such images as the lantern, the Big Dipper, and the quilts will resonate. This gorgeous wordless book belongs in classrooms at all levels. It will prompt great discussions, and perhaps some will want to try to write the story with words.

Who Will Save My Planet by Maria Cristina Urrutia

I picked up WHO WILL SAVE MY PLANET by Maria Cristina Urrutia at Cover to Cover. It is a wordless book and the story it tells is a serious one. This is a small book filled with photos of our world.   The photographer uses two page spreads to show us the depth of the problems--how the Earth has become ruined. In each two page spread, Urrutia shows two intense photos. One shows the problem--a forest of trees chopped down, an animal in a cage, etc. The other side of each spread shows a connected picture--showing how things should be if we take care of things.  There is not one word in this book but the photographs tell a powerful story of where we are in taking care of our world.

I picked this up for many reasons--I am always looking for wordless books because I think they are great to begin talk around ideas.  I also thought this would be a great conversation starter around visual literacy, how to read images, etc.  This book has lots of possibilities.