Poetry Friday -- Fly Fishing

Sun on the Mad River, by Mary Lee Hahn

Fly Fishing

The small stream
and its bank-side buffer of trees
winds through corn fields.

Do not be tricked --
the current's pull is swift.
Step slow and steady. Don't trip.

Cast with patience.
Relax and find a kind of grace
in the rhythm, in the day.

Driving home, watch --
today you might catch
not a fish, but a glimpse of a fox.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2013



Lisa has the Poetry Friday Roundup today at Steps and Staircases. Click on the submit button to send in your link. Also, Lisa asks that we share, ".. something "close to your heart," sort of as another common side dish at our poetry potluck. It doesn't need to be poetry, it can just be something current you're really enjoying and would like to share with others."

Two Picture Books from France

Brief Thief
by Michael Escoffier
illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo
Enchanted Lion Books (April 12, 2013)
Review copy provided by the publisher

A pair of underwear left on a branch are swiped for a wipe and then discarded. A conscience engages and berates. The item is cleaned and re-treed. The owner returns, retrieves...and shocks the reader with a surprise ending!

Click here for two Dispatch Reader Kid reviews.

Me First!

by Michael Escoffier
illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo
Enchanted Lion Books (August 27, 2013)
Review copy provided by the publisher

By the same pair who wrote BRIEF THIEF, we have another fun character who is self-centered and impetuous. There is no conscience in this story, except maybe in the form of the Mother Duck, who seems to realize that a "business as usual" attitude on her part will allow circumstances to moderate her fourth duckling's bossy "Me first!" behavior. As with BRIEF THIEF, there is a very fun surprise ending.


Both of these books were originally published in France, and are brought to readers in the United States by Enchanted Lion Books.

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.

10 for 10: Books that Might Be on The Bear's Bookshelf #hatback

We have participated in August Picture Book 10 for 10 since it started in 2010. It is one of our favorite annual events, even though it is sometimes a little bit expensive! (The creators have rated this event D for Dangerous for your wallet:-) #pb10for10 was created by Cathy Mere of Reflect and Refine and Mandy Robek of Enjoy and Embrace Learning.  You can visit their blogs and get a link to past Picture Book list as well as this year's list.  And make sure to follow the hashtag on Twitter.

This is a great day---I am planning to spend a few hours browsing all of the great book lists that are always part of this event! Thanks, Cathy and Mandy!

This year's blog post/booklist came out of our evening chat at the Choice Literacy Writing Retreat. After a day of hard work and writing, we started talking about PB10for10. And how could the conversation not somehow turn to I WANT MY HAT BACK?  So, the idea for our 2013 lists was created.  My list this year includes 10 picture books that would be on The Bear's bookshelf.
You'll want to visit Jen's blog (Teach Mentor Texts).  Her post includes books that might be on the Rabbit's bookshelf.

You see, I am 100% #teambear and Jen is 100% #teamrabbit. When we talk, we realize that we each think both characters are a bit misunderstood and that knowing what is on their bookshelf might help readers understand them a bit better. So, because we have spent YEARS talking about these two characters, we feel that we know them well enough to know what might be on their bookshelves.  Because it is a picture book events, we have focused only on the picture books, although we are certain that both characters are both avid readers of many types of books.

And you see, no matter how long we've talked about this book, there are always new ways to talk and think about it!

#teambear

10 PICTURE BOOKS that would be on The Bear's Bookshelf

The Cat in the Hat (Beginner Books(R))by Dr. Seuss..... because he was the first book character to make wearing a hat seem so cool, right?

Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt and Bossy Bear by David Horvath....because both characters like things "just so".   It is very stressful for either of them to think outside of their plans. Not because they are not kind, but because they like life to go as planned:-)

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems....because doesn't everyone have a little temper tantrum now and then?  One that takes up an entire two-page spread?

When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry... (Scholastic Bookshelf) by Molly Bang...because everyone could learn better ways to deal with their anger.

Arnie, the Doughnut (Adventures of Arnie the Doughnut) by Laurie Keller.....because had the Rabbit asked nicely not to be eaten, maybe The Bear would have thought of a better solution.

The Meanest Birthday Girl by Josh Schneider...because Anthony has become one of The Bear's favorite new characters.  His solution seems comparable to eating his friend.

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes...because Lilly loved her purple plastic purse so much that she made some bad choices. Lilly is easily forgiven for her mistake.

Who Took the Farmer's Hat? by Joan Nodset...because sometimes it helps to know that similar things have happened to others.

Hat by Paul Hoppe..because in this story a little boy imagines all the terrible things that could happen if he keeps a red hat that doesn't belong to him.

10 for 10: 10 Picture Books That Are New To Me

Here are my offerings for the 2013 edition of 10 for 10 Picture Books. Thank you, Cathy at Reflect and Refine and Mandy at Enjoy and Embrace Learning for hosting this fabulous event again this year! 

I hemmed and hawed and futzed and browsed and stewed and flip-flopped about the theme of this year's list. I finally decided that I just needed to DECIDE, and Maria gave me my unifying theme: 10 picture books that are new to me. I went to my Summer #bookaday shelf on GoodReads, and here are the 10 most recent picture books that I've read!

FICTION

Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great

by Bob Shea

Disney-Hyperion (June 25, 2013)

from the public library

I didn't love this book when I first read it, but it generated THREE reviews from the Dispatch Readers. Definitely has kid-appeal and clearly I need to take another look!

Take Me Out to the Yakyu

by Aaron Meshon

Atheneum Books for Young Readers (February 19, 2013)

purchased for my classroom

Did you every find the perfect book for last year's student?
That's this book, which features baseball in Japan and the US.
I'm hoping I have another student this coming year or in the future for whom this will be as perfect as it would have been for last year's student!

Max's Words

by Kate Banks

illustrated by Boris Kulikov

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (August 8, 2006)

purchased for my classroom

How did I miss this book? It will be perfect for launching word study!

NONFICTION

Daredevil: The Daring Life of Betty Skelton

by Meghan McCarthy

Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books (June 4, 2013)
purchased for my classroom

I love Megan McCarthy's style, and Betty Shelton is the kind of person I want all of my students to know about. She had a big life full of adventures. She didn't let convention get in her way.

Gandhi: A March to the Sea

by Alice B. McGinty

illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez

Two Lions (April 2, 2013)

from the public library

This biography-in-freeverse of Gandhi focuses on one critical event in his life and in the history of India. Interesting to compare India under British rule to the American Colonies. Thomas Gonzales' illustrations (remember 14 Cows for America ?) are gorgeous.

No Monkeys, No Chocolate

by Melissa Stewart and Allen Young

illustrated by Nicole Wong

from the public library

Charlesbridge Pub Inc (August 2013)

Told in a "House That Jack Built" sort of way, readers learn about the interconnectedness of all kinds of factors that result in the link of monkeys to chocolate.

The Price of Freedom: How One Town Stood Up to Slavery

by Dennis Brindell Fradin and Judith Bloom Fradin

illustrated by Eric Velasquez

Walker Childrens (January 8, 2013)

purchased for my classroom

We can't provide children with too many examples of people who

stand up for good in the world, can we?

On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein

by Jennifer Berne

illustrated by Vlidamir Radunsky

Chronicle Books (April 23, 2013)

purchased for my classroom

Beautifully written, beautiful illustrations, and the inspiration to 

attend to one's imagination.

WORDLESS (or almost wordless)

Bluebird

by Bob Staake

Schwartz & Wade (April 9, 2013)

purchased for my classroom

A heartbreaking testimonial to the power of friendship.

Have you ever used a wordless book as your read aloud? Try this one.

Just sit in front of your students, turn the pages, and let them talk.

The Hole

by Øyvind Torseter

Enchanted Lion Books, coming August 27, 2013

review copy provided by the publisher

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

The covers are heavy cardboard, the pages are stiff cardstock, and there's
a hole
punched
all the way
through the book.

This is such a fascinating book that I'm going to give it a full-sized review on Monday.
If you're curious, come back for more!