Amy Krouse Rosenthal

So, I have been noticing that I LOVE Amy Krouse Rosenthal lately. I've loved so many of her new books and SPOON has been quite the hit in the library. Today, at Cover to Cover, I picked up a new poetry book titled THE WONDER BOOK and when I saw that it was written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, I bought it without opening it. The girl doesn't ever let us down. She is quite amazing. THE WONDER BOOK is a great addition to any home, classroom or library. It is a fun book that is all about joy. The inside flap tells us that the book addresses so many things that Amy Krouse Rosenthal often wonders about. (for example, Does Miss Mary Mack have friends who liked other colors? and Who hid something under the tooth fairy's pillow when she was a little girl?) Lots of poems and stories that are just pure fun, a little advice, some reminders about table manners and more. Here is a book trailer with a few words from Amy about her new book.



As often happens when I find an author that I realized I've loved for a while but haven't really paid attention to, I checked out her website, made sure I had all of her books, etc. Come to find out, I would like Amy Krouse Rosenthal even if she weren't an author. She is the best. And it seems that Mary Lee also discovered all of the amazing things that she does which she shared some of on last week's POETRY FRIDAY. If you visit her website, I am sure you will agree too.

First of all, I didn't realize she had so many adult books out. I will need to check those out. But my favorite find was Amy's short videos. How have I not known about this before? Amy is all about joy and has started her own little mission on beckoning the lovely. You need to spend some time watching how it all began in August, 2008. Then go watch what has happened since.. You can visit her site The Beckoning of Lovely to see it all in one place. I would now like to buy a yellow umbrella. Imagine what a great place the world would be if more of us carried yellow umbrellas around and gathered people in this way. She is amazing.

On an aside, I think her films are such fun. Imagine what kids could create if we showed them 14 Things I Love or 9 New Things I'm Excited About


And check out Mission Amy K.R.. I think we should all live our lives like this. If there is no Amy Krouse Rosenthal Fan Club, I think we need to start one soon. We could all carry yellow umbrellas.

This Plus That: New Book From Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Amy Krouse Rosenthal's visit to our school last month was definitely a highlight of the school year.  She was amazing and her books are always checked out of the library. When she visited, we got a sneak peek at her newest book that came out last week. It is now one of my very favorites.

Amy Krouse Rosenthal loves words and she loves to have fun with words. That is what this new book, THIS PLUS THAT: LIFE'S LITTLE EQUATIONS is all about. In this book, Rosenthal plays with word equations. She builds this idea for the reader, beginning with simple equations such as "Yes + No = Maybe"  As the book continues, the equations become a little more tricky and a lot more fun.   I love the way Amy Krouse Rosenthal thinks.  One of my favorite equations in the book is "somersaults+somersaults+somersaults=dizzy". How fun is that?  I love the way that it invites readers to play with and think differently about words.

 Illustrated by Jen Corace, who also illustrated the Little Books by Rosenthal (LITTLE OINK, LITTLE HOOT, and LITTLE PEA), the book has a happy feel!  The colorful pictures help readers solve the equations and get into the spirit of the book.  The white background and colorful illustrations are a perfect match to the text.

I love this book for lots of reasons. I love the relationships Amy finds between words and I love the relationships she finds between the word equations. I like the whole idea that she played with word equations. I think this is another great invitation from Amy Krouse Rosenthal. She is all about invitations and this book will invite readers to give word equations a try.  Such a great book for word play and so many other things.

Thank You, Amy Krouse Rosenthal

http://www.whoisamy.com

As many of you, we were heartbroken when we read Amy Krouse Rosenthal's piece in the New York Times last week, You May Want to Marry My Husband. Chronicle books had a short tribute on their site this week. And others, like Malcolm Mitchell, have shared the ways she impacted their lives.  We are joining the world in sending love and prayers to Amy and her family.

Amy has given us all so much over the years. She has given so much to children, teachers and the world.  When I reflected on Amy's impact on our worlds, I searched her name on our blog. She has been the focus of 26 blog posts over the years.  We love her work and celebrate it here often. Her visit to our school in 2011 is one none of us will ever forget.  As preparation for that visit, her work inspired our 4th graders to do something to make a difference in the world.  We were lucky to have her at our Dublin Literacy conference that same year. 

I keep looking back at the list of children's books that Amy has written over the years. She brought love and joy and kindness to all of her work  Each book amazing in its own way.  Each one teaching readers important life lessons in a playful way.  In Duck! Rabbit! she taught us how to see things from different perspectives, In The OK Book, she reminded us that you don't have to be the best at everything you do, and in The Wonder Book she celebrated the magic of wondering.  The list goes on and on.

And, if you have not read her adult book, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, it is a must-read.  This books says so much and the creative way in which she puts it all together is brilliant.

For me personally, Amy's Beckoning of Lovely Project (inspired by the video 17 Things I Made) is what I think of every time I think of Amy.  For me, this project is the anchor that ties all of Amy's work together and the message is the reason we all love her so much. It is a project I go back to a few times a year when I need to remember what it is that is important in this life.  In all of her work Amy teaches us all to celebrate life and all that is part of life--all that is good in this world. This project was all about that.

We are heartbroken by the news of Amy's illness and cannot imagine a world without Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  We are grateful for all the ways that Amy has impacted our lives and the ways we have been changed  because of her work over the years.  We are better people because of Amy.

Amy's website says, "Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a person who likes to make things."  We think that making the world a better place is what she does best.  Thank you, Amy.

A Perfect Day With Amy Krouse Rosenthal

When Amy Krouse Rosenthal was scheduled to visit our school in February, we had an ice storm and school was cancelled. It was a total bummer.  We were all so excited about her visit and kids were anxious to meet her.  The night before the visit, we had our annual art show and all of the displays were inspired by Amy Krouse Rosenthal's work.  Our 4th graders worked on a project, Made to Make a Difference as part of the show.  And the whole school contributed to a Things We Make board.  You can imagine how sad we all were when school was cancelled on that day.

Mrs. Knapp shows off her yellow bandana.

Amy was so gracious and was able to reschedule for last week.  I am sure it wasn't easy for her to do, as she is so busy.  But she visited Riverside on Thursday and it was a PERFECT day!  I have loved Amy and her work for a while but had never had a chance to see her with children.  WOW!  She had them glued to her words in every session.  Our kids were decked out in yellow bandanas.  Because we all loved her video, "Beckoning the Lovely", we decided to wear yellow to coordinate with Amy's infamous yellow umbrella. Many kids came decked out in yellow clothing. And everyone had a yellow bandana to wear as they pleased. Talk about creativity--some made neckties, others wore them as aprons. Headbands and belts were also popular.  It was great fun to look at all the ways kids thought of to wear the bandanas.

I should have known that Amy would speak in the same way she writes -- offering up invitations for people around her.  Her talks were filled with invitations and possibilities. She began talking to each group about why she loved words and I loved watching the kids' faces as they worked through anagrams, palindromes and more.  She also talked about how she loves ideas and let kids in on the secret that ideas are everywhere.  They just need to be on the lookout.  She read from her books. One of my favorite things that day, was the cheering that went on in the crowd every time Amy put up a slide of a cover to one of her books. It was true concert behavior as the kids yelled, clapped and hollered for their favorite book.  Spoon, Duck Rabbit and Bedtime for Mommy all got huge cheers from the crowd.  Seems that all of her books are their favorites!

Amy shared a video that I hadn't seen with our older kids.  The Money Tree:


Then she talked to kids about the surprises and asked them the question, "What would you have done had you walked past the money tree?"  It was a great conversation and a great invitation for reflection.

She shared some of her upcoming book with us that I am VERY excited about. It is called THIS PLUS THAT and is due out VERY soon!  It is a great story of word equations with great messages about life. I think the kids will have fun trying to write some of their own after seeing Amy's.

To thank Amy for her visit, our amazing friend, Karen Spector, created a special necklace for Amy.  Karen is our favorite jewelry artist and she was moved by Amy's work when I shared the site.  She created an amazing necklace that celebrated Amy's work.  We are finding that everyone is touched by Amy's work once they discover it.

As I said, it was a perfect day and I am loving all of the conversations and things that are happening because of Amy's visit.  Kids are not only continuing to enjoy her books, but they are talking about the things she invited them to think about.  This is an author visit that will live with our kids for a very long time.  Thank you, Amy!

Made to Make a Difference--Inspired by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

We are busy at school getting ready for Amy Krouse Rosenthal to visit our school on Friday. The whole school is very excited and we have all really taken to her work. I have been involved in school author visits for over 20 years and it is always fun to see kids excited about the author and the books.

If you have been teaching for a while, you remember author visits of the 80s where we decorated every bit of the school and spent months and months doing book "extensions'. The building looked great and the visit was quite an event. But we sometimes went overboard a bit and often the work we did to get ready didn't  really tie into curriculum as well as it could have.  Then we died down for a while-realizing we went a bit crazy- and there were a few years where the students hardly knew about the author who was coming to visit.

This year's visit seems to be the perfect way to get ready for an author visit. Our kids are excited. Everyone in the school knows her books and her videos. Our amazing art teacher, Drew Jones has planned the entire annual Art Show around art inspired by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (either her books or her video.) It was such a great connection--since her website defines her as "a person who likes to make things". We took this idea of making things and ran with it. I will share more details around the art projects that will be part of the art show later in the week, but today I wanted to share a yearlong project that our 4th graders have been working on that will culminate at the Art Show.

The project is called "MADE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE"  --a name that was created by one of our fourth graders.  When we learned that Amy Krouse Rosenthal would be visiting, we worked to figure out how to integrate social studies, language arts, media literacy and art standards to create a project that would be worthwhile for the students.  I have been involved in Make a Difference projects before and they each take on a different angle.  This project incorporated things we had done in the past along with new things that evolved as we went along. We have been having a ball.

This project began with two of Amy's videos--17 Things I Made and The Beckoning of Lovely.  These started great conversations about things we make and ways to make the world a better place.  We started the year with Heart Maps. In art, students spent time thinking about things they cared about --things they were passionate about.  Students had a choice about how to create the heart map and these started lots of conversations about the issues we cared about --those both close to home and those that are more global.

Linda Kick talked to students about
her business and ways she tries to
make a difference.

Throughout the year, we've tied in the idea of making a difference.  The citizenship goals were a key for us. We didn't want our students to collect money for a charity that we, the adults chose. Instead, we wanted them to think about issues they cared about and how they could make a difference.  As part of this thread, teachers read great picture book biographies of people from history who made a difference in their own way. We also shared sites about kids who make a difference such as Hannah's Socks. We hosted local speakers who shared ways that they made a difference using their passions and interests. Melissa Hoover, a local landscape artist, talked to the students about her business as well as her volunteer work on community gardens.  Linda Kick, owner of a local cupcakery, shared the ways she uses her baking to make a difference such as the upcoming Purple Cupcake Day.  And Nathan Eckhart shared the work he did on a trip with Tom's Shoes for a shoe and skateboard drop in Africa.  Our goal was not for our kids to learn specifically about these causes, but instead to start paying attention to the world around them, their families and friends, and the things that they cared deeply about.  In the midst of this, they learned a great deal about research, nonfiction reading, skimming and scanning, and more.

Candy Rings made by a 4th Grader

In January, students started brainstorming things they could make to sell at a fair to make a difference.  We shared many craft books and asked students to pay attention to things they love to  make. The plan was to have a sale to sell these handmade items to support a cause.  At about the same time, we worked with kids to begin researching nonprofit organizations that connected in some way to the things that were important to them. This involved more online reading and research work that we had originally anticipated and we learned a lot about the skills our students have and still need. Students were amazing at the work they did to learn about different organizations out there.

A Stress Buddy made by a 4th Grader

So, we have been busy "making things to make a difference." As part of the social studies economics study, students have learned about production, profit, and more.  Students have committed to making 30 of an item to sell at our Art Show on Thursday. These items range from "Stress Buddies" to bookmarks, to masks,  They are all creative and I think they will sell well. Each child will set up a "booth" with a sign telling about where the money from their sale will go and why they chose the charity they did.  Students were very thoughtful about where their money would go. The list of charities that this sale will support is amazing.

Along with the item a customer purchases, the customer will also receive instructions on how to make the item at home.  Students worked on Pages, after studying good how-to writing, and created a one-page sheet with explicit steps on how to make the item.  We felt that buyers might be interested in making the items at home.

We are excited about the project.  Needless to say, we are all feeling a little bit of deadline stress this week, but we know that the learning has been incredible for our students.

A local newspaper summarizes the project here if you are interested.

365 Things to Make and Do--USBORNE ACTIVITIES

Yesterday, I made my first summer purchase for the library--365 THINGS TO MAKE AND DO. This is not a new book, but it is new to me and will be new to the students. Cookbooks and Craft books are quite popular in our school library. And I think they are critical pieces to a good collection. I think "how to" reading is important, especially as our kids grow as readers. Knowing how to read this type of writing as well as reading the visuals that go along with it, goes a long way toward the visual literacy skills we want for kids. I worry that sometimes, when we are talking about skills like visual literacy, we automatically think about technology tools. But I think our young children can begin to understand visuals in ways that make sense for them. One way is through books like this.

This book is definitely visually appealing. It is a large book --it has to be in order to fit 365 ideas in it! This is not really 365 different ideas. The book is divided into about 125 projects. Each project idea is shared on a two-page spread. For example, one page deals with "Pretty Masks". The page shares the steps to make the mask in a step-by-step column. Then a variety of samples are shared. (Each of these counts as one of the 365 things in the book.).

I love creation and I think kids do too. My daughter recently started her own blog called FUN THINGS TO MAKE. (Her review of the book is here.) When she has free time, making things is often her activity of choice. And she makes things with a variety of tools. She has a cabinet full of "stuff" and the process of creativity is fun to watch, as a mom. The thing is, she creates with pipe cleaners with the same thoughtfulness that she uses when creating with tools of technology. I love to watch her when we shop at the Craft Store--she is shopping for possibilities, more than for things. Looking around to see what is possible. As much as I think it is so important that our kids be creators of information and creators with tools of technology, I also think it is important that they create lots of things with lots of stuff. I have been thinking about this a lot since spending time on children author, Amy Krouse Rosenthal's site. Her home page says, "Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a person who likes to make things." I so love this. A clip that really got me thinking about creation was her film called "17 Things I Made". Watch it if you have time. For Amy, it seems that she too likes creating a variety of things.


(And did I mention that Amy Krouse Rosenthal will be a speaker at our Dublin Literacy Conference this year (February 2011) as well as our school's author visit!!!!!)

When I think about the big 21st Century skills, creation is key. I worry about creation being seen as fluff and that our kids are not having time to create and enjoy the process of creation in school.

I am not usually drawn to books like this--a craft that kids make where the child's product looks like the example. But I see this book as an invitation to kids who love to create. Because each project idea has lots of samples and ways to use the idea, I feel like it just gives kids lots of new ideas for creation. A child might go to the masks page, figure out how to make the basic mask, look at the ideas and try a mask that is different from those shown. Or a child may try one of these exactly as-is to learn the technique (painted papers) and then use the technique in a future project. Just like writers might try new things out that they see other writers use, I think creators of anything do this same thing. I love this as a great invitation for kids--one that shouts out, "Look What is Possible! Give it a Try!". I am trying to figure out how to make this kind of creation a more standard part of the library--having not only the technology tools to create with but also tools like these--paint, paper, etc. for kids to create ways to share learning and information. Such an important piece to children's whole development.

Amy Krouse Rosenthal: A Beauty Salon

Amy Krouse Rosenthal was the one with the yellow umbrella on that night back in August of 2008 (8/8/08 at 8:08 PM) when she beckoned the lovely and made a cool 18th thing with the folks who showed up. She didn't just make that 18th thing. She made her way into our hearts.





It seemed more than a coincidence when hubby and I were in Chicago recently, that a yellow umbrella shone out when I took one of my many requisite shots of "The Bean."

And when I learned from Lisa (Steps and Staircases) about an exhibit at the Carrie Secrist Gallery in Chicago (through August 12), Amy Krouse Rosenthal: A Beauty Salon, I knew we would have to go.

It was amazing. Inspiring. Heart-wrenching. And lovely beyond words.

Thank you, AKR, for all the good you did and all the beauty you brought to the world. You left far too early. We'll do our best to continue to beckon the lovely and make amazing things with/in/of our lives.

PLANT A KISS by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Plant a Kiss
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
Harper, 2012

One of my favorite songs as a child was "Lollipop Tree" sung by Burl Ives. I loved the idea that you could plant a lollipop stick and grow a lollipop tree that would produce candy in good weather and ice cream cones in the winter. (Matter of fact, I still love that idea!)

In this sweet, simple and GLITTERY book by the sure-fire team of Rosenthal and Reynolds, Little Miss plants a kiss. She cares for it and waits, waits, waits. Finally, there is a sprout. Everyone comes to see, and Little Miss shares it all. But it's not really gone. "...she learned...from one little kiss...endless bliss!"

This is a great book for my theme tub. Our students need experience with books like this whose themes are stated as well as those with themes that are implied.

Poetry Friday -- The Roundup is Here!

Flickr Creative Commons Photo

boiling water

tea leaves understand

relax

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Welcome to the Poetry Friday Roundup! Have a cup of tea and relax. Leave the madness of the world behind for a few minutes while you peruse the offerings in the roundup. My poem today is a pre December-Haiku-a-Day #haikuforhealing from this past week.

A note about next week's roundup. Lisa at Steps and Staircases will be hosting the roundup. Her blogging platform is Tumblr. She shares this information: 

"Hello poetry friends! The topic/prompt I want to suggest for the December 8 Poetry Friday Roundup is either/and: Respond to "When Life Gives You Lemons..." or write a poem using an object/making a drawing, as Amy Krouse Rosenthal did with a lemon drop. (picture below) If your poem can be expressed visually through a picture or drawing -- like Amy Krouse Rosenthal's "When Life Gives You Lemon Drops"-- I would love to post everyone's visuals. No matter what/how you choose to express yourself, I wanted to share Amy's Lemon Drop poem and her Instagram Project 1,2,3. This is only a suggestion. I look forward to reading all of your submissions!"

When participants go to Lisa's Tumblr space, they should click the "SUBMIT" button at the top of the page to leave their link or their visual. Thanks for being flexible with a different kind of roundup next week.

Also, watch for the Call for Roundup Hosts post, which goes live tomorrow, 12/2. It's time to gather hosts for January - July 2018!

Two Fables

The Clever Stick

by John Lechner

Candlewick Press, 2009

review copy provided by the publisher

This is a story about the power of art.

The stick is clever. He's one sharp stick, making up algebraic equations and poetry in its head. But the stick is silent. He has no voice. No way to describe the sunset or tell the chipmunks where there are more acorns. The stick is so depressed that he drags himself home in the sand...and notices the beautiful lines he makes. The stick creates a beautiful tapestry in the sand that is "the most magnificent sight the forest had ever seen. The animals cheered, the insects buzzed, and the trees swayed their branches in approval." Even though a rainstorm washes the tapestry away, the stick knows it doesn't matter -- he can make another. "He knew at last he had found his voice."

John Lechner's (author*illustrator*animator*designer) website. Be sure you watch the book trailer for The Clever Stick.

Spoon

by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

illustrated by Scott Magoon

Disney Hyperion Books, 2009

review copy provided by the publisher

This is a story about accepting yourself.

Spoon feels like his friends have it so much better than him. Knife gets to cut and spread, Fork gets to go everywhere and do everything, and Chopsticks are cool and exotic. What Spoon doesn't realize is that his friends are jealous of him. Spoon's mom reminds him that he's the one who gets to dive headfirst into a bowl of ice cream and relax in a cup of hot tea. And in the end, when Spoon can't sleep, there's something he can do with mom and dad that the other utensils can't!

Amy Krouse Rosenthal's website, where I learned that "Chopsticks" (follow-up to "Spoon") is forthcoming in 2011.

Kids Weigh in on Caldecott Award

This week, we spent library time looking at about 70 2009 picture books that could win the Caldecott Award. After having Loren Scully from the Dublin Library come talk to the kids last week, they had time to really look at the books this week. I always enjoy listening in on their conversations, but I really love to see the books that they gravitate to. I worry that they will vote for only the books they know, but that is never the case. They are much to smart to do that--they take this vote very seriously.

This year, the following books were favorites of the 1st through 5th graders at our school--in no particular order. It was fun to watch them spend so much time thinking hard about the 2009 picture books. I imagine these will all be checked out consistently for the rest of the school year.

THERE ARE CATS IN THIS BOOK by Vivianne Schwartz was one that so many kids loved. I didn't realize that the illustrator was from the UK until after it was out. It gave me a way in to remind them of the criteria of the illustrator living in the U.S. again.

DUCK! RABBIT! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal was well-loved. Kids spent lots of time talking about the illustrations with this one with friends.

OTIS by Loren Long is my personal favorite. The kids know this and it seems that several kids agree with me. So many kids spent time finding new things in the illustrations and needing to share their findings. This seems to be a story kids love to go back to again and again.

THE LION AND THE MOUSE by Jerry Pinkney was another favorite. The kids were amazed at the illustrations and seemed to spend lots of time on single pages.

SPOON by Amy Krouse Rosenthal was another favorite. The kids were drawn to the cover and loved the story. This was a brand new one so kids hadn't seen it earlier. Kids loved the story adn the fun in the illustrations.

THE DAY-GLO BROTHERS by Chris Barton is another that kids were drawn to. I had read this book to several classes so many already loved it. But for the kids who had not seen it, they were immediately drawn to it and loved the way the story was told.

WUMBERS by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld

I was thrilled to receive a review copy of WUMBERS from Chronicle Books. I am a huge Amy Krouse Rosenthal fan and love the fun that she has with words. The heading of the press release says, "GR8 NEW BOOK IS 1DERFULLY SILLY".  The entire book is told using numbers as parts of words as in the press release heading.  Each page sets the scene and the words and numbers work together to tell the story.  Reading the book feels like solving a riddle and I can see kids having a great time playing with this kind of writing once they read this book.  The author/illustrator team say that the book was inspired by William Steig's C D B! book so it would be fun to pair these. This seems like a great time for a book like this because kids see so much of this kind of word play in their lives with texting, Twitter, etc.

One of my favorite parts of this book are the endpages. There are several talking bubbles with questions for readers using numbers/words to ask the questions. For example, one of my favorites is, "Are you usually prompt or do you 10d 2 be l8 and keep others w8ing?"  Even the dedication, the author bios and the title page include fun with word/number combinations!

I love the whole idea of this book and can't wait to share it with kids. I'll keep it with my word play books but I think it will be a good one to use early in the school year when we are learning about keeping a writer's notebook. Playing with words like this is a fun thing that I think lots of kids might want to try if given the invitation.  It will be fun to see what they come up with!

CHOPSTICKS X 2!

What are the chances that I buy two books titled CHOPSTICKS on the same day?

CHOPSTICKS is a new book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Last year, when Amy visited our school, SPOON was a big favorite. Kids loved it!  Amy mentioned this companion book when she visited and it has been a long wait. (but well worth it!)  I picked up CHOPSTICKS at Cover to Cover this week.  It is a book full of fun. The story is about a pair of chopsticks who do everything together.  But then something happens and they have to separate a bit and explore the world on their own.  As with all of Rosenthal's book, there is lots of fun and subtle word play. For example, on the top corner of the cover, Spoon says, "Not exactly a sequel to SPOON. More like a change in place setting." Lots of other fun words spread throughout. Scott Magoon has done the illustrations for this one too so it is a great companion to SPOON. (And Spoon does make a few guest appearances:-)

This is a great story with a good message about friendship and life:-)

The other CHOPSTICKS I bought was a young adult novel. It is by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral.   I've read it once but need to reread it.  It is fascinating to me.  It not only looks like an amazing story, but the format is new and different. The story is told through photos and news articles and text messages and letters and more. It is different from any book I've ever seen and I am anxious for both the story and the experience of reading something in such a unique format.  There is also an app that is available which is another way to experience the books. The Youtube videos, etc. are embedded in the app. This was one of those books I have to reread.  I read reviews and saw some new insights and once I revisited a bit, I can see some new things. I am all about reading books with new formats so we understand what it is our kids are reading and what is possible, and that's why I picked this one up. But I loved the story and I loved Glory, the piano prodigy--the main character in the book.




You can see the trailer here:

Making Stuff

Like many of us, I am worried that students are no longer creating enough in schools. I think life is all about making stuff and it is one of the joys in life. And it is one of the most powerful ways to learn.

This year, we are hosting author Amy Krouse Rosenthal at the Dublin Literacy Conference. She is also our visiting author at Riverside Elementary.  We are so looking forward to her visit next week. The kids have fallen in love with her books and with her life's work.  We have spent lots of time with her books but we've also spent time with her videos.  Amy's work is the basis for our schoolwide Art Show and kids are making great things.

One of Amy's videos that inspired us was her video "17 Things I Made". All of the classes in our school have watched this video and have been invited to think about the things they make.



We invited our students and families to contribute to a school-wide wall called "THINGS WE MAKE" to celebrate all that we make.  One of the things I remember clearly from reading Shelley Harwayne's brilliant book, GOING PUBLIC years ago, was the way she used the walls of the Manhattan New School to start important conversations and to build relationships.  We decided that this video gave us the perfect opportunity to use the space in a similar way and to celebrate all the things we make.  We know that our students and families make wonderful things and that they are all so creative. So, our amazing art teacher created a wall in our school entrance and asked students to share the things they made.  Over the last few weeks, the wall has been filling up with "Things We Make". It is fun to see the things that everyone makes --from waffles to paper airplanes to music. But I think the true power is in the conversations that are beginning because of the wall. Our students are interested in what others make--in their talents and passions.  As the wall grows, the conversations grow.

Our "Things We Make" Celebration

I have always believed in the power of making stuff.  I think our wall is one step in letting our students know how much we, as a school community, value the things they make and the creative ways in which they think. But I think for it to be truly powerful, we need to make it more than that. It needs to be a part of the way our students learn every day.

 I was fortunate enough to listen to  Laura Deisley from the Lovett School speak at Educon on "Why Making Stuff Matters". She presented a Encienda, a 20 slide, 5 minute presentation on the topic.  She has graciously shared it on her blog with more of her thinking on the topic.  Below is the Laura Deisley's slideshare from Educon.

EduCon 2.3: Why Making Stuff Matters

View more presentations from lauradeisley.

I would also suggest that you read Laura's post on Masterful Learning to get a vision of what is possible when students are in an environment of questioning, problem solving and creating.

It seems like so many people are talking about the power of making  stuff these days. I am hoping that the conversations continue and that we continue to share the things our students make and the impact it has on their learning lives.

ALA in Pictures and Lists

Everything I brought back, neatly sorted into piles. I LOVELOVELOVE my "It's A Book" bag! All that stuff on the bottom right is for you, Franki!

The bag that helped me find my new tribe when I was riding the Metro. Following this bag ensured I got on and off at the right stops.

Miscellaneous conference swag. Yes, that's a Binky the Space Cat ID lanyard and yes, I'm an official SPHDZ.

All of the books I got autographed. I'm proud to say that I brought 8 of the 14 from home. See below for more details about meeting the authors.

All the ARCs I got. I've already read Storyteller, Alvin Ho and Clementine. Franki gets first read of The Candymakers.

Bloggers I saw:

Pam of MotherReader

Christine of bestbookihavenotread

Tricia of The Miss Rumphius Effect

Laura of Writing the World for Kids

Terry of Scrub-a-Dub-Tub

Susan of Wizards Wireless (didn't get a chance to talk to her, but her post of ALA advice was priceless -- especially the part about working the bag check. My back says, "Thank you, Susan!")

Betsy of Fuse #8 (from a distance -- how could you miss those crutches?!?)

Laura of Laura's Life (I was behind her in an autographing line listening to her talk with grace and confidence about reading all of the Newberys and the pros and cons of first editions...humbling.)

More about the autographs and authors:

Jon Scieszka says thanks again for the great going away party that the Kidlitosphere threw for him when Katherine Paterson became the new Ambassador of Children's Literature.

I got to gush IN PERSON to Lynn Rae Perkins about how much I love As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth.

If I hadn't gotten Mitali Perkins' autograph of Bamboo People, I wouldn't have run into Terry and Tricia and Tanita.

Tom Angleberger still appreciates the love we had for his first book, The QuikPick Adventure Society.

Melissa Sweet was just as delightful as ever. We reminisced a bit about her recent visit to the Dublin Literacy Conference and my school.

Amy Krouse Rosenthal will be one of our speakers at the 2011 Dublin Literacy Conference. She asked me who else is speaking and **poof** my mind went blank. Amy, here's the lineup of children's authors: you, Brian Pinkney, Loren Long, and Wendy Mass.

I got to tell Margaret Read MacDonald how important her book How Many Donkeys? was to my Arabic-speaking students this year -- it's the first book we'd ever seen that had Arabic in it.

(Just wait until we get our hands on Jeannie Baker's new book Mirror, which is sort of TRI-lingual in English, Arabic, and images...I saw an advance copy and it looks FABULOUS!!)

Marilyn Singer heard about how her new Reverso poetry form inspired me and it inspired my students to invent their own poetry forms.

I got to meet Thomas Gonzalez in person (Carmen Agra Deedy, too). I interviewed him for the 14 Cows for America blog tour.

Mary Ann Hoberman found out that she's a poetry Rock Star in my classroom.

Liz Garton Scanlon is just as nice in person as she is on the blogs. What a great smile!

And finally, what an absolute delight to meet my "cousin" Tanita Davis in person. She brought me this calendar and cool Celtic-design pen all the way from Scotland! You ROCK, Cousin T!!

Celebrate! CLA's 2014 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts!

Celebrate this week with others by visiting Ruth Ayres Writes.

This week, we are celebrating another great list of Notables from the Children's Literature Assembly of NCTE. Great work, Committee! Great books, Authors!

 2014 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts 

www.childrensliteratureassembly.org 

Ah Ha!, by Jeff Mack, published by Chronicle Books. 

Counting by 7s, by Holly Goldberg Sloan, published by Dial. 

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, by Chris Grabenstein, published by Random House. 

Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet, by Andrea Cheng, published by Lee & Low Books. 

Exclamation Mark, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld, published by Scholastic Press. 

Forest Has a Song, by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, illustrated by Robbin Gourley, published by Clarion Books. 

Gaby, Lost and Found, by Angela Cervantes, published by Scholastic Press. 

Hold Fast, by Blue Balliett, published by Scholastic Press. 

Journey, by Aaron Becker, published by Candlewick Press. 

Knock Knock: My Dad’s Dream for Me, by Daniel Beaty, illustrated by Bryan Collier, published by Little, Brown and Company. 

Light in the Darkness: A Story About How Slaves Learned in Secret, by Lesa Cline-Ransom, illustrated by James E. Ransome, published by Disney/Jump at the Sun Books. 

Little Red Writing, by Joan Holub, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, published by Chronicle Books. 

Look Up! Bird Watching in Your Own Backyard, by Annette LeBlanc Cate, published by Candlewick Press. 

Martin and Mahalia: His Words Her Song, by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney, published by Little, Brown and Company. 

Navigating Early, by Clare Vanderpool, published by Delacorte Press. 

Nelly May has Her Say, by Cynthia DeFelice, illustrated by Henry Cole, published by Margaret Ferguson Books/Farrar Straus Giroux. 

Prisoner 88, by Leah Pileggi, published by Charlesbridge. 

Sure Signs of Crazy, by Karen Harrington, published by Little, Brown and Company. 

The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny), by Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer, illustrated by Stacy Innerst, published by Harcourt Children’s Books. 

The Candy Smash, by Jacqueline Davies, published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. 

The Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, published by Philomel Books. 

The Language Inside, by Holly Thompson, published by Delacorte. 

The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba’s Greatest Abolitionist, by Margarita Engle, published by Harcourt. 

The Long, Long Journey: The Godwit’s Amazing Migration, by Sandra Markle, illustrated by Mia Posada, published by Millbrook Press. 

The Matchbox Diary, by Paul Fleischman, Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, published by Candlewick Press. 

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 

This Journal Belongs to Ratchet, by Nancy J. Cavanaugh, published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. 

When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders, by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Jim Burke, R. Gregory Christie, Tonya Engel, John Parra, and Meilo So, published by Chronicle Books. 

Words with Wings, by Nikki Grimes, published by WordSong. 

Zebra Forest, by Adina Rishe Gewirtz, published by Candlewick Press. 

2014 Notable Childrens’ Books in the Language Arts Selection Committee Members: Patricia Bandré, chair; Shanetia Clark, Christine Draper, Evie Freeman, Dick Koblitz, Jean Schroeder, and Barbara Ward 

Alphabet Fun

Remember how much my students and I loved E-Mergency! by Tom Lichtenheld and Ezra Fields-Meyer? (my review is here)

Well, I've got another pair of alphabet book that I'm betting stay off the shelf more than on, just like E-Mergency!.

A Call for a New Alphabet
by Jef Czekaj (Jef's website)
Charlesbridge, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

First sentence on the front flap: "X is tired of being at the back of every alphabet book." There's the "major conflict" in the story.

First sentence on the back flap: "Jef Czekaj has a BA in linguistics." That explains just about everything else.

Because X is tired of being at the back of the alphabet, and because he thinks more words should begin with him, X starts a campaign to change both the order of the letters in the alphabet, and their roles there.

The night before the big vote, X has some strange dreams that make clear to him the hard work of the other consonants in the alphabet. He turns to the vowels for an easier job, but find that they, of all the letters, best understand that the letters of the alphabet have to work together, rather than in competition. Each has an important job to do.

The illustrations are filled with all kinds of alphabetic sight-gags that will keep readers busy thinking about letters and words and the crazy English language.

Al Pha's Bet
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (Amy's website)
illustrated by Delphine Durand (Delphine's blog)
G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

Al, the guy who lived back in history "when all sorts of things were being invented. Like fire. The wheel. Shadows." decides that he wants to invent the order for the newly invented set of twenty-six letters. He bets himself that he can win the King's contest to organize the letters with the most beautiful arrangement.

Al has quite amusing (and incredibly LOGICAL) reasons for the order of the letters. When he presents his order to the king, "The king said it out loud. The king tried singing it. The king wanted to sing it again. He said to Al, 'This time, won't you sing with me?' " (Groan.)

You can guess by the title -- Al won the bet he made with himself. And that's how the twenty-six letters have come to be known as the Al Pha Bet. (Groan.)