We've been tagged by Travis at 100ScopeNotes for the "Seven Things" meme. We're never ones to follow the rules of a meme to the "T" (remember this one?), and we've already shared 8 random things about ourselves, so our seven things this time will be...
"Seven Things About Me As A Reader."
MARY LEE'S SEVEN
1. My to-read pile is a stack of 20 graphic novels for the Cybils Graphic Novels nominating committee. (I should say, ONE of my to-read piles. Piles, with an S.) 2. I am currently listening to WATER FOR ELEPHANTS on the commute to and from school. The readers are brilliant. 3. I am reading aloud THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET in my 4th grade classroom. Actually, if I use the correct educationese, it is a shared reading. We have a half-dozen copies of the book (thanks again for the loan, Franki!) and the students follow along as I read aloud. The conversation about the story and about the pictures is amazing. 4. I read series books in order. Part of the reason that stack of graphic novels is so big is that a book which is number FIVE in its series was nominated. I will read 1-4 first. 5. I keep a list of all the books I read. I've done this since 1987. So far this year, I have read 80+ children's books (I don't count picture books, but I do sometimes lump together easy readers or short graphic novels) and 17 adult books. 6. For me, listening to an audio books counts as reading. 7. I always give CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM at a baby shower for first babies.
FRANKI'S SEVEN
1. I only like to read new books-I hardly ever use the library or go to used bookstores. Something about new books make me happy. 2. Some of my favorite books are middle grade and young adult novels. 3. When I was in elementary school, I visited my grandma's library every Sunday to choose my Nancy Drew reading for the week. (She had the entire collection up there. I considered it my own personal library.) 4. Most of my reading takes place at night before I go to sleep. I also seem to get a lot of reading done as I am walking from place to place--magazine and journal articles get read that way. 5. I have subscribed to "Runner's World Magazine" for 12 months so far and haven't yet started to run. (I need to learn about it first?) 6. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls was one of the best adult books I've ever read. 7. A long time ago, I thought Mary Lee told me that she reads 26 children's books a year. So I thought I'd give that a try and was very proud at the end of the year when I had read 26 children's books. Turns out, that I misunderstood--Mary Lee reads 52 children's books a year. I love having lots of friends who read more than I do!
Art Spiegelman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Maus and the editor of the Little Lit anthologies of graphic stories (scary, strange, folklore and fairy tales), has now teamed up with editorial director Francoise Mouly (who is also his wife, and a New Yorker art editor) to bring us Toon Books, "a groundbreaking collection of early readers in comics form." (Review copies compliments of the publisher.)
by Geoffrey Hayes (April, 2008)
by Agnes Rosenstiehl (April, 2008)
by Jay Lynch and Frank Cammuso (April, 2008)
by Eleanor Davis (August, 2008)
by Jay Lynch and Dean Haspiel (September, 2008)
by Art Spiegelman, October, 2008)
I'm still thinking about all of the filters we use when we read. My "teacher filter" is a bit weak when it comes to books for the very youngest readers. I handed these to Franki and she had no problem with the predictable text, the limited vocabulary (in Benny and Penny, Silly Lilly, and Jack and the Box), and the simplistic story lines (Silly Lilly and Jack and the Box). She talked about all the support a beginning or struggling reader would get from the pictures. She pointed out how important it would be for young readers to find an appropriate entry point into the world of graphic novels, and for the struggling older reader to be able to read socially accepted books (graphic novels) at his/her level.
There is an interesting (extensive) conversation (with some occasional brick-throwing and foul language -- makes me glad to inhabit this more polite corner of the blogosphere) about what makes a comic appropriate for young readers at Comics Should Be Good. Toon Books aren't reviewed, but are mentioned in the discussion in the comments. Joe Rice, author of the blog, also filters comics/graphic novels with Teacher Eyes. He wants them to be appropriate for kids, real kids, not "some mythical ideal child from some golden age; the child some parents want to believe they’ll have, an innocent, spritely thing filled with sweetness and wonder." He looks for appropriate "page density," and good design. One of his cardinal rules is "Don’t talk down to the kids. And don’t pretend you were ever this simplistic either." I don't think he would like Toon Books.
Have you seen them? What do you think? Here are some reviews I found (let me know if I missed yours or one you know about):
Over the years, we've written about/reviewed lots of graphic novels here at A Year of Reading. When the Cybils were brand new, I chose to judge graphic novels so that I could learn more about the format. Perhaps my love of graphic novels was fueled by a childhood reading diet of comic books. Stacks and stacks of comic books. (There were also shelves and shelves of books, the Weekly Reader Book Club books, mandatory purchases at the shopping mall bookstores when we drove the 3 hours to Denver, and the regular trips to the local library. But there were also always stacks and stacks of comic books.)
I've tagged 148 books "adult" in Goodreads, and three of them are graphic novels. But get this...all three of them are also memoir. I have no idea what that means. It just made me go, "Hmm..."
This is the most recent adult memoir in graphic novel format that I've read, and I think you should read it, too:
Mira Jacobs is East Indian and her husband is Jewish. With a combination of drawings and photographs, the book is built around Jacob's conversations with her six year-old biracial son about Michael Jackson, brown and white skin, Trump's election, and police violence. Jacobs also allows readers to "listen in" on her conversations with her own parents, brother, and grandmother about how her family discriminates against her because her skin is a (tragically) dark brown, and with her mother in-law about how people at a party she throws assume Mira's the help because she's not white. There are conversations between Jacobs and her white friend about parenting, and conversations between Jacobs and her husband about dealing with white men who hold all the power without even being aware that they do.
This book, for me, was a window.* Perhaps for you it will be a mirror.* If we're going to repair the race issues that continue to divide our nation, we're going to have to use books like this as sliding glass doors* so that we can have conversations like these not just in our imaginations as we read, but in real life with the people around us -- other adults, our students and children, co-workers, politicians, family members, publishers, etc., etc., etc.
*Dr. Rudine Simms Bishop coined these terms in 1990. "Books are sometimes windows,
offering views of worlds that may
be real or imagined, familiar or
strange. These windows are also
sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in
imagination to become part of
whatever world has been created and recreated by the author.
When lighting conditions are
just right, however, a window
can also be a mirror. Literature
transforms human experience
and reflects it back to us, and in
that reflection we can see our
own lives and experiences as part
of the larger human experience.
Reading, then, becomes a means
of self-affirmation, and readers
often seek their mirrors in books." (1990, p. ix)
Her love affair with the WARRIORS series began when she was in 4th or 5th grade. Upon her recommendation, I read one of them back then. (It's pretty powerful when the teacher reads the student's recommendation, rather than vice versa.) I brought her ARCs from NCTE. (Getting the next book in a favorite series before it's out in the bookstore? Priceless.)
She's in 7th grade now, but when TokyoPop sent the uncorrected proof of the new graphic novel parallel series, I knew she was the expert I would need to call on for an opinion.
Her life had been taken over by the middle school theater production when I dropped the book off at her house, but we had a good chat about it when she brought me my Girl Scout Cookies.
The graphic novel is not exactly the same as the novels, she was quick to point out. "You wonder when Greystripe is coming back, and the graphic novel shows what happened to him. It also shows how he motivated to leave house cat life."
She sees the graphic novels as companion books to the regular series. They have a mixture of new story lines and they fill in between the parts of the series. And she is absolutely savvy to the marketing of the graphic novels, "They will lure in young readers and get them ready for the series."
Nevertheless, she plans to own all of the graphic novels, because they will "complete my collection...my library."
She recommends the Warrior Cats website and writes: "The field guide comes out May 29. I have the new book and after today and a little of yesterday reading I am on page 167. It is so good. Also Graystripe the lost warrior (cough title of cough manga cough book cough cough cough) comes back with Millie (cough another cough cat from cough manga). There is already another book coming after this called Dark River. Now I can't wait until September because an extra book called Firestars Quest comes out. I love when you get the unedited versions when I can read them. I wish I could meet Erin Hunter it would be so cool.
According to her book this is how the books go in order:
Warriors
Into the Wild Fire and Ice Forest of Secrets Rising Storm A Dangerous Path The Darkest Hour
GABBY AND GATOR by James Burks is a great new graphic novel. It is the story of Gabby, who doesn't quite fit in. She has lots of interests and talents but the other kids don't quite understand her. And it is the story of Gator, an alligator who also has no friends. Gator and Gabby meet and hit it off right away. They understand each other and they understand what it means to be friends.
The book is amusing. Gator is always hungry-trying to eat things like dogs and squirrels. In the meantime, Gabby is being bullied. Luckily Gator saves her a few times.
The story is a fun one and has good messages about friendship, acceptance, bullying, etc.
The reason I most like this book is that it is a graphic novel that is appropriate for young readers. I find that our youngest students love the idea of graphic novels, but so many are meant for older readers. I think the format of a graphic novel is perfect for young readers--so much of the meaning comes from the illustrations. This particular graphic novel gives kids lots to think about but is written in a way that makes it very accessible to younger children. And, because it is a graphic novel, the book will also appeal to older readers. It is a fun story and the illustrations will draw in readers of many ages. The book is a bulky book--lots of pages and a larger than usual graphic novel size. Many of the spreads have very few, if any words while other spreads contain more dialogue.
The characters are well developed and the story is a good one. I am thinking this might become a series. I can see Gabby and Gator going on other adventures. I am hoping that we see more graphic novels like this in the future--graphic novels that are more appropriate for younger readers, but that will still appeal to older elementary kids too.
In the same way that it's hard to find stand-alone novels for the die-hard series reader, it's hard to find stand-alone graphic novels for the graphic novel series reader. In my 4th grade classroom, I work with series readers of all kinds to venture into non-series books. One is not better than the other, it's just that they each take some very different reading strategies.
Kids will be drawn to Bad Island by the monsters and the fight scenes and the sight gags, but it's a pretty complicated story that I will want to make sure I conference with readers about when they've read it or are reading it.
I will want to know what they think of the characters and the way they change or don't change. This is the story of a dysfunctional family that goes on a sailing trip that only the dad wants to do. They get shipwrecked in a storm on an island that turns out to be a monster that was exiled from another world long ago. The dad and the brother in this story change and grow in satisfying ways, but the mother's character is pretty flat, and the little sister is just plain annoying and weird all the way through.
Readers need to know how to attend to the back-story of the monster and how he came to be an island in a different world. This other story is told on pages with a tan background, so readers of BabyMouse who know that the dream sequences are always in pink should be able to make that connection. But readers also need to be able to put together the clues from the back-story with clues from the family's story to figure out how the two connect.
As always, reading a graphic novel is way more than just looking at pictures. If you don't often read graphic novels, but your students do, you need to make a point read some and think about the strategies you are using as a reader, and the ways you can teach into the reading your students (sometimes/often) love best.
Check out Adventures in Graphica by Terry Thompson for more ways to use graphic novels in your reading workshop.
Fuse #8's review here.
Review from HighLow Comics here.
Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!
Summer is around the corner. So, this week's "text set" is about taking care of our own lives as readers. I am a true believer that to be a teacher of reading, you must be a reader yourself. And I am the first to admit that I don't give enough time to my own reading life. I spend so much time reading children's books (which I LOVE) and books to share with children, that I don't always make time for my own reading. This week's list is to make sure that we can think ahead to summer--so that we can start building our reading lists with books that aren't for the children in our classrooms, but for us. Because taking care of ourselves and our personal reading lives is important.
I loved this book so much and I need everyone I know to read it because there is soooo much to talk about. Klara and the Sun is fascinating and I think no matter what your taste as a reader, you'll enjoy it. I read Kazuo Ishiguro's book Never Let Me Go and it's one that has stayed with me for over a decade. I think Klara will be the same. I started this with the audio and it is fabulous --then I moved to the book. I highly recommend either or both. I read this book several weeks ago and have been thinking about it ever since. If you read it, you must let me know so we can chat!
The Vanishing Half is by far one of my favorite adult fiction novels of all time. Brit Bennett was a new author to me when I read this and I am so glad that I discovered her writing. I love books with complex characters that I love and this one has that. I love so many characters in this book and it was pretty incredible how well developed so many of the characters are. Really one of the best books of the decade, I think.
I read Such a Fun Age last summer and loved it. It is definitely a book that gives us lots to think about and another with characters I loved. This is a quicker read than the last two but it is also powerful and important.
Juliet Takes a Breath is a young adult novel everyone should read! This author. These characters. The writing. All of it. There is a new graphic novel version of the book too--I haven't read it yet but I hear it is also fabulous!
I am not always a fan of graphic novels. I read lots of middle grade graphic novels but not very many graphic novels for myself. But Dancing at the Pity Party is one I am so glad that I read. This is young adult but definitely a great read as an adult. Family. Grief. Traditions. Growing up. It is brilliantly done.
This week's books were linked at Brain Lair Books. If you are looking for a fabulous independent bookstore to support, this is an amazing one.
Follow @TextSets on Instagram for next week's Text Set!
I have been trying to find and read more graphic novels that are appropriate for elementary age readers. My two main sources for books are Mary Lee and Beth at Cover to Cover. I am running a workshop on Content Reading in a few weeks and was looking for nonfiction graphic novels to share with teachers--nonfiction graphic novels that might help struggling readers make sense of concepts.
What a great surprise when Beth called with this new title--HOWTOONS! This is a How-To Graphic Book--I guess not a novel. It is filled with fun things for kids to make and the instructions to make them. Some are simple and some are complicated.
When I opened the book, I was thrilled to find that even the Table of Contents was in graphic form. Illustrations, titles and page numbers all on a two-page spread. Through the Table of Contents, I found that readers can learn how to do and make a variety of things--from counting with binary numbers to making an "Infamous Marshmallow Shooter". Clearly the possibilities for fun are endless!
The authors put a little disclaimer at the beginning--adult supervision is needed for many of these projects.
I like the idea that there is a book out here like this. I am not sure that I would just put the book on the shelf--it is a bit overwhelming. But, I can see using it bit-by-bit to try some of the activities described. Even though it is in graphic/cartoon form, it is full of lots of the usuals that you see in nonfiction text--labels, diagrams, etc. So, there are possibilities for teaching nonfiction text strategies with this book too.
A fun find! And, even more good news--I just found a great website that goes along with the book--lots of fun How-To Comics along with some games and more. And there is a blog that is written in a more graphic form! Who knew? The site seems very addicting.
Sunday, May 11 -- Mary Lee will report on Saturday's event.
Monday, May 12 -- Franki will review Terry Thompson's new book Adventures in Graphica: Using Comics and Graphic Novels to Teach Comprehension, 2-6.
Tuesday, May 13 -- Franki's interview with Terry Thompson.
Wednesday and Thursday, May 14-15 -- Mary Lee reviews several new graphic novels and ponders how graphic novels have impacted the reading of her students this year.
Friday, May 16 -- Will Graphic Novel Week and Poetry Friday converge? Stay tuned to find out!
Tower of Treasure by Scott Chandler
Kids Can Press, 2010
review copy provided by the publisher
Three circus characters -- an orphan girl who's an acrobat, a blue elf-like creature who juggles (and can pick locks), and a giant purple creature who has enormous strength -- conspire to rob the queen's Tower of Treasure. Flashbacks in black and white show us that the girl, Dessa, has a twin brother who has met an uncertain fate by saving her. The trio finds the treasure room, is caught, escapes, are separated, and are reunited. In the process, Dessa gathers some clues about what might have happened to her brother, and in the end, the three set out together to find him.
In book two, the three characters from TOWER OF TREASURE wind up at the same inn as the Queen's men who are chasing them. They are helped, discovered, and locked up. They escape, but are rediscovered, separated, locked up again, and escape and are reunited again with more help and more clues about how to find Dessa's brother.
I'm thinking of previewing this series by reading aloud Act One of the first book using the document camera and the SmartBoard.
We can continue to develop our habit of thoroughly previewing a book (and starting our reading thinking) before we ever open a book. The front cover image of THE TOWER OF TREASURE is great for prediction and wondering. The blurb on the back will introduce us to the characters before we meet them and set up the basic outline of the story.
When we open the book, we will see that it is divided into Acts, rather than chapters. We can look at the conventions of graphic novels: panels -- and the direction to read the panels, speech bubbles -- and the direction to read the speech bubbles, size of print, information that is in the illustration rather than the text, and the black and white flashbacks.
We will see that, just like in non-graphic novels, it takes awhile (in this case, about 30 pages) to set up the story for the reader. We will learn about the characters, the setting (place AND time), and the problems/conflicts/what the characters want.
Hmm...that sounds like about three different mini-lessons, not to mention the time it would take to read the first 30 pages under the document camera. Maybe I'll hijack read aloud for a MAXI-lesson...or it could be a week-long series of mini-lessons with one hijacked read aloud.
This is a graphic novel series that needs to be read sequentially. Recommended for readers in 4th-6th grade.
If you're looking for graphic novels for younger readers, browse through our Graphic Novel tag. For even younger readers, wordless books often work in some of the same ways. We haven't been as thorough about tagging wordless books, but a search of our blog with the term "wordless" does an okay job of finding lots of titles.
This is the final Thursday for our celebration of graphic novels. We have teamed up with blogger friends at Kid Lit Frenzy and Assessment in Perspective, and it's been a fabulous month! You can read our Nerdy Book Club post telling about the month-long celebration, and you should check out the Google Community where there is now an amazing collection of resources around graphic novels!
None of this graphic novel love would be possible if it weren't for the publishers, so this week, I'd like to shine the spotlight on them.
"...big believers that when you make reading fun for kids, it gets them in the book reading habit, and creates lifelong book lovers. So we’re big proponents of comics and graphic novels, because they do just that. In fact, that’s most of what we publish!"
These are the folks that bring us Big Nate, as well as many other characters, books, and series. If you explore their website, you'll find information about all their books, videos, fun stuff to make and do and know, a blog, and information for teachers and parents on teaching with comics.
Scholastic has the Graphix imprint, and a variety of activities (including a comic-maker) can be found on their website. Graphix has brought us Bone, Amulet, Captain Underpants, Ricky Ricotta, Sisters, Drama, Smile, Babysitter's Club, and Sunny Side Up. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that books from this imprint have been gateway books for some of the most reluctant readers in my classroom over the years!
First Second, the graphic novel imprint of Macmillan, may not have the flashiest, most kid-friendly website, but if you browse the SEVEN PAGE list of their books, you'll find an amazing lineup of award-winning books and authors. Lots of books you need to put on your TBR can be found there. First Second has brought us Giants Beware, Zita the Spacegirl, Adventures in Cartooning, George O'Connor's mythology series, Fable and Fairytale Comics, American Born Chinese, and many many more.
Thank you, publishers, for bringing us this vibrant format that has hooked so many of our students and helped them to develop a life-long love of reading all kinds of books! You help make our job easier!
Really, I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed participating in Holiday Book-A-Day. Reading Donalyn Miller's idea on her blog last spring, I participated in #bookaday Summer. It was such a great way to catch up on my stack of books! I felt the same way about the holidays. We had a 12 day break, but I started early. My goal was to read 18 total books. Because holidays are busy, I knew I wouldn't be able to read a book every day, so I set a goal for an average of a book per day and a total of 18. I was smart about giving myself time to catch up on those shorter books that I hadn't gotten to yet! It was a great vacation filled with new books, many of which I am excited to share with my students. Below is the list of books I read along with some highlights.
Picture Books
I read several picture books. Most of my picks were books that I have been wanting to read before the Caldecott is announced in January.
BONE DOG by Eric Rohmann and THE HOUSE THAT BABA BUILT by Ed Youngare two I had wanted to read because they are both on several Mock Caldecott lists.
**I forget how I discovered FRENCH DUCKS IN VENICE by Garrett Freymann-Weyr but I loved it. It is a longer picture book that has a fairy-tale feel. It is a sweet book with a great message about loss, friendship and healing.
Looking to add new picture book biographies, I read HERE COME THE GIRL SCOUTS by Shana Corey about the woman who created the Girl Scouts. An interesting look at something I hadn't thought much about.
I heard Joyce Sidman speak at the CLA Breakfast at NCTE in November and finally had time to read SWIRL BY SWIRL. This is a fascinating picture book about spirals in nature. Her poetic language makes it pretty unique.
*THE PRINCESS AND THE PIG by Jonathan Emmett is one that I keep hearing about. It is a fun twist on princess stories and will make a fun read aloud for all ages.
**THE SCAR by Charlotte Moundlic is a story of grief. A child has lost his mother to a long-term illness. This book is brilliant. I am not sure how to share this one or whether to share this one with young children but it is an important one to have on my shelf. It is one of the most well-done books on death that I've read for children.
**Thanks to Colby Sharp, I discovered PAUL THURLBY'S ALPHABET by Paul Thurlby. This is a simple picture book--one letter and word per spread. The illustrations are quite fun and kids will have a great time with this one! One of my new favorite alphabet books!
Graphic Novels
I also read 3 very different graphic novels that I've had on my stack. I am not a huge graphic novel reader so I only read the best-reviewed out there. I want to keep up but they are not easy reads for me. Loved these three! AROUND THE WORLD by Matt Phelan is a nonfiction GN and tells three stories of people who traveled around the world.
*A VERY BABYMOUSE CHRISTMAS was a fun one to read on Christmas Eve! A great holiday treat. I can never get enough of Babymouse!
I'm so glad I made time to read ANYA'S GHOST by Vera Brosgol. A unique YA graphic novel-perfect for middle school.
Middle Grade Novels
My goal was to stick with 2011 Middle Grade Novels until I caught up on my Newbery reading, but I could not resist reading a few 2012 ARCs and they were amazing.
*THE AVIARY by Kathleen O'Dell was one that I loved, even though I didn't expect to. It is a unique story with characters who I fell in love with. Definitely not one I would have picked up had it not been on the Anderson's Book Shop Mock Newbery list.
THE APOTHECARY by Maile Meloy is an interesting fantasy that is showing up on lots of 2011 lists. I think there will be a lot in this one that appeals to 4-6th graders who enjoy fantasy and magic.
*THE ADVENTURES OF SIR GAWAIN THE TRUE was on Mr. Schu's list of top books of 2011. I had missed it completely and am so glad to have discovered this series. It is a fun series for fantasy readers and for kids semi-new to chapter books. I loved the humor in this one and found myself laughing out loud in several spots.
I loved both 2012 books that I read. Both are must-reads in my opinion. (I would recommend preordering both so you don't forget!)
***THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate. This is one I am so excited to share with my students. A great animal story based on a true story of people standing up for the rights of animals. Love love love everything about this book! (more in this previous post)
***EYE OF THE STORM by Kate Messner is a great sci-fi adventure. It is hard to find great science fiction for this age so this is a great addition. I could not put this one down. I loved the plot and the characters! I loved the whole premise of this book--it was complex in the ideas and also fun to read because of the way Kate wrote it up.
I also read A YEAR WITHOUT AUTUMN by Liz Kessler. This was a quick read and one I think middle grade readers will enjoy. There is a good mix of fun and depth to the story. Fans of 11 BIRTHDAYS by Wendy Mass and fans of THE MAGIC HALF by Annie Barrows will like this one.
Young Adult
I haven't read much by James Howe in a while and I was so happy to have found ADDIE ON THE INSIDE, a younger YA novel, probably perfect for middle school students. I loved Addie and everything about her. The real life middle school struggles were handled well and I can imagine this will be an important book for so many kids. Hoping to read the rest in this series soon. (This was also written in verse which makes me love it even more:-)
*****HOW TO SAVE A LIFE by Sara Zarr may be my favorite YA read of the year. I don't want to say much about it but I remember Paul Hankins mentioning it early in the year. Definitely a must-read in my opinion. This one will live with me for a long time.
Adult
I finally finished WATER FOR ELEPHANTS by Sara Gruen. It wasn't a favorite but I think that's because I dragged it out for so long. I definitely need to give myself more time to read adult fiction as I didn't do that much this year.
Short Stories
I picked up THE TINY BOOK OF TINY STORIES by Joseph Gordon-Levitt because I thought it would be a handy book to use in Writing Workshops. I love the idea of a story being told in a few words and with twitter and texting, I thought some of these pieces would be fun to study with kids.
This is a much needed book--one I have been waiting for for a while.
One of my favorite lines in this new book is, "So, it all started with a struggling reader and a comic book, and I've been hooked ever since." Terry Thompson realized long before many of us, how to use graphic novels and comic books to meet the needs of all of his readers, especially those who struggle.
There is so much to love about this book. First of all, it is VERY comprehensive. Thompson includes everything from definitions of the types of graphica to classroom examples. This is by far, the most comprehensive book I have seen for teachers of reading on the topic. He has found ways to use graphica to teach so many important reading skills. He fits graphica into all components of the literacy block--guided reading, lit circles, shared reading and read aloud. He talks about the actual teaching and also gives ideas for making comics accessible to students and for helping keep them from getting wrinkled, ruined, etc.
Much of this book will help teachers use graphica with all of their students. But he does have specific tips and thoughts for working with boys, girls, and English Language Learners.
One of the things that I find the most powerful is the way that Thompson talks about comprehension with comics and graphic novels. He shares great ideas and strategies for using these to help students with higher level comprehension skills. Then he talks pretty specifically about how to use what they learn in this medium to transfer to other formats of text. He understands the draw of comics and how to use those well, but then to expand the learning to other types of text.
Another thing that makes this book so amazing is the resources that he helps us with. As an elementary teacher, and a non-graphica reader, it is hard for me to determine which books are appropriate for my elementary students. Thompson gives us many resources--websites, titles and publishers--that are appropriate for readers in grades 2-6. He also provides a selection guide to help teachers think through specific characteristics of this medium when selecting text for students.
Like I said earlier, this book is very comprehensive and I am thrilled to have it. This is an area that I have wanted to think more about lately. Before ADVENTURES IN GRAPHICA, I'd find a bit of info here and a bit more there, but I had trouble pulling it all together and figuring out how to best us these in my teaching. This book pulls it all together for me plus gives me so much more.
On a side note, rumor has it that this book is SOOO popular that it was seen on at least one runner at this year's Boston Marathon. See below:
I'm always on the lookout for new graphic novels to add to my 5th grade classroom library. Lucky me (lucky readers in my room!), three of our favorite series have a new book out! This trio of books really shows that graphic novels are a FORMAT, not a genre. The first is a fantasy-adventure story with a strong female protagonist, the second is mythology, and the third is nonfiction.
Monsters Beware!
by Rafael Rosado and Jorge Aguirre
First Second, 2018
A glorious ending to a fabulous series. Claudette for the win -- OVER monsters and FOR her friends and family. Great back matter that shows how the story was revised even after it was finished.
Readers of mythology love this series, and they won't be disappointed by Hermes' tale. He is quite the trickster, with surprises from the beginning of his story (he was a John Henry kind of baby, but maybe not as nice), until the very end.
As a parent, you will only live through your child's fourth grade year one time. As a teacher, I've lived through fourth grade more than 20 times. Trust me when I tell you that in almost every case, your child will make it through "That Reading Phase."
Some children come into fourth grade, find the graphic novels in the classroom or school library, and proceed to exist on a reading diet comprised almost exclusively of graphic novels. You might think your child will never read a book with pages full of text, but what you're missing is that your child is reading voraciously. And in about January or February, your child will be full to the brim of graphic novels and ready to try some of the other books that the teacher or his/her friends recommend.
Other children come into fourth grade and pick right up with the series they were reading in 3rd grade: Geronimo Stilton or Magic Tree House or Rotten School. That's fine. That's why I have these comfortable, familiar friends in my classroom library. I also have a few books in lots of other series so that when they're ready, I can introduce them to new characters who will become comfortable, familiar friends. I don't have a problem with readers who love a series. Lots of adults are series readers. But it is my goal in fourth grade to teach children the strategies they will need to choose a stand-alone book and enjoy characters and stories on a one-book basis. I model this during read aloud time when as a class we enjoy a book together. Parents can help to balance a series reader's reading diet by reading aloud to their child.
Many children come into fourth grade lacking the reading stamina it takes to sit still and concentrate for 30 or more minutes of silent reading. They read picture books and browse the nonfiction books and I despair that they will ever sit still for anything longer than 32 pages of words and pictures. But then March rolls around, and I look up from my desk and there they are, thoroughly engrossed in THE YEAR OF THE DOG, and hoping that I have THE YEAR OF THE RAT for them to read next, and excited to hear about WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON.
One of the things that works in favor of prying your child out of "That Reading Phase" is that in fourth grade, the social nature of reading starts to catch up with their reading ability. They want to read the books that are being made into movies, and they want to read the books that their friends are recommending. They love to talk about books and have opinions about books. Fourth grade is a perfect time to start a parent/child reading club with some of your child's friends. If you start reading and discussing books with your child now, you will open doors for conversations you never would have been able to have without the help of the story or the characters in the books.
If your child is currently in a reading phase that you are feeling will never end, try to relax and live with it for a few more months. Keep them reading and reading and reading, even if it's not the kind of book you want them to to be reading for the rest of their lives, or even a year from now. Take them to the library and require them to bring home a variety of genres. Listen to books on tape in the car. And finally, remember that your child will never get too old for read aloud. One of the best gifts you can give to your child is to read to them from both the books they love and the ones you love.
This post is a part of Share a Story, Shape a Future, an annual blog event to promote literacy, celebrate books, and provide resources for parents, teachers, and readers everywhere. This year's theme was "It Takes a Village to Raise a Reader."
Each day a different kidlitosphere blogger served as host for the posting of several other bloggers. Visit the host blogs' sites to find a complete blog roll for each day.
Topics of the day encompassed the relationship aspect of helping children learn to read: parent-child and teacher-parent partnerships, literacy outreach; and libraries, to name a few.
This was the day for exploring the different genres of nonfiction (biography and memoir, science, nature, math, etc), as well as the use (or not) of historical fiction.
March 11th: Reading Through the Ages: Old Faves & New Classics
On this day, talk is about how to approach reading when your interests and your child's don't match. It may be that you don't like to read but your child does, how to raise the reader you're not, and dealing with the "pressure" of feeling forced to read.
** The Share a Story, Shape a Future logo was created by Elizabeth Dulemba, children's book author and illustrator, and SaS/SaF contributor.
It was fun to sit and listen to a group of girls talk about the merits of this series last week. They are good readers and detail-oriented, so the amount of smaller-font text doesn't put them off. They each have a different favorite in the series, but none of them has read Donner Dinner Party yet (my personal favorite). They talked about how this is the kind of series where it's important to read the first one first so that you understand why Nathan Hale (the historic character) is telling all these stories (to delay his hanging). After that, you can read them in any order.
Thank you, Nathan Hale (the author) for making history fun and accessible!
This is book two. The first book in this series ended on such (SUCH) a cliffhanger that I can't believe I'm not reading this book right now. (And as I typed that, I just guilted myself into taking this copy to school for the last 8 days so that every child who groaned audibly upon finishing it will be able to read book two before going on to middle school.)
HiLo is my new favorite superhero. Read this series; he'll be your favorite, too!
I love graphic novels with strong female characters who are cast as adventurers and sheroes. Bring on Cleopatra, Emily (in Amulet), Claudette (Giants Beware and Dragons Beware), and Zita (Spacegirl).
Don't get me wrong. There's a place for Babysitters' Club. I'm just loving these strong, capable girl sheroes.
Akiko Pocket Size, volumes 1-5, by Mark Crilley. In the first book, 4th grader Akiko goes to the Planet Smoo and helps King Froptoppit rescue his son, the prince. She is joined in her adventures by Poog, a floating alien, Mr. Beeba, a bookish sort, SpucklerBoach, an Indiana Jones type, and Spuckler's robot, Gax. Although these are done in black and white, Crilley is very creative in his use of panels, points of view, and cliffhangers.
Alison Dare: Little Miss Adventures, volumes 1-2, by J. Torres and J. Bone. Alison Dare's mother is an archaeologist (female Indiana Jones), her father is the masked hero the Blue Scarab, and her uncle is an international super spy. No surprise, then, that even though she goes to a Catholic boarding school, she drags her friends Wendy and Dot into all kind of adventures.
Hikaru No Go, by YumiHotta. 6th grader Hikaru is possessed by the ghost of an ancient Go master. Even though Hikaru has never played Go, he is drawn into the game by Sai, the ghost. She plays through him at first, but it is clear that Hikaru has talents of his own. This book reads right to left in the Native Manga style, which is probably more of a challenge for adults than kids. The reader doesn't need to know how to play Go to enjoy this book, but it seems likely that anyone who gets into the series will wind up giving Go a go.
Bone: Rock Jaw, Master of the Eastern Border, volume 5, by Jeff Smith. This is potentially the hottest book in my classroom right now. A student in my classroom beat me to owning Volume 5. I haven't read it yet. I plan to hold it, and all these other new graphic novels, hostage until some of the other newish GNs come back home to the classroom. It's been weeks since I've seen any of the three volumes of Amelia, or The 12 Labors of Hercules. I love it that graphic novels are popular and responsible for turning some of my students on to reading, but that will all fall apart if every GN that enters my classroom winds up being nicked!
Starting next week, each of my 25 students will become a member of a literature circle group, or mini book club, that meets once a week. The groupings are based on my understanding of each child as a reader and as a social being in this class. Each group met last week to chat about what they've been reading independently and what they might like to read with their group. They gave me their ideas and I spent hours last weekend on the Columbus Metropolitan Library website and at the Northwest Branch gathering books.
A group of three boys wants to read graphic novels. I picked Akiko by Mark Crilley (graphic novel version) for them. I think they can read a book a week and there are five books, so that gives me some time to find what will come next. I'm thinking Hikaru No Go by Yumi Hotta, but CML doesn't own it, and I haven't read it all the way through. I may have to buy three copies and the game Go.
A mixed gender group of four included both graphic novels and pets on their wish list. I am ordering multiple copies of Travels of Thelonious by Susan Schade from the library, and I will join this group in reading this book for the first time. It is a graphic novel hybrid (part graphic novel, part novel novel) and it has animals for characters. Thelonious is a chipmunk (apologies, Thelonious for originally saying you were a mouse). I wonder if we will make connections to Despereaux as we read?
A big group of six asked to read mysteries. A-Z Mysteries are perfect for them, but I'm not sure who's read which titles. I was glad to find that Ron Roy is continuing past the 26 books in the series with A-Z Mysteries Detective Camp. Northwest Branch had six copies of this title! Perfect!
A group of four capable readers wanted to read Mary Pope Osborne books, but not necessarily her Magic Tree House books. I have copies of Revolutionary War on Wednesday and the accompanying nonfiction research guide, and copies of Osborne's Tall Tales from which they can choose.
The last group is the literature circle that's been meeting weekly all through 4th grade and continuing this year in 5th grade. At the beginning of the year, I had them go back to my shelves of multiple copy sets of novels and pick the ONE they wanted to be sure the group read in 5th grade. We laid them out, counted them up, and found that we have a book a month for the rest of the year! This is exactly the process my adult book club uses to set our yearly reading agenda. Here's what they chose: Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander, The Last Treasure by Janet Anderson, Wringer by Jerry Spinelli (that's what we're reading now), Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles, and The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg. (That last one is my pick. A farewell present to some extraordinary 5th graders who will hopefully continue to be extraordinary no matter what middle school brings in the way of pressures to be ordinary.)
Again, I say, "Thank goodness for the public library!" I couldn't have provided all of these resources without the ability to BORROW most of them!
We feel lucky to be included in the blog tour that the author and illustrator team of Joey Fly, Private Eye are one. We are so happy they stopped at A Year of Reading. If you are like us, you are on the hunt for great new graphic novels to add to your classroom or school library. This new book--that will hopefully become a series--is one of the best new ones out this year. This book is a mystery--full of fun. The story, the language and the art are all quite fun. How could it not be fun when the characters are bugs? You get a good sense of the book and the type of humor when you watch the book trailer.
When my copy of JOEY FLY arrived, it was sitting on the island in the kitchen. My 10 year old daughter, Ana, immediately asked if she could read it. She couldn't stop talking to me about the book and I would hear her laughing aloud as she read. She loved it. So, we thought it would make sense for Ana to ask the interview questions for this blog tour. We were curious as to what a 10 year old would ask the author/illustrator team after reading the book. So, here is Ana's interview:-)
Ana: Where did you get the idea for this story?
Aaron: Originally, the book was called Joey Off, Private Fly (you know, Off…like bug spray?). That was all I had…a title, which is often how it works for me. I’ll get a title in my head that seems funny or inspires some cool ideas, and off I go. So, when I thought of the title, it seemed funny, a snarky insect mystery. It wasn’t until I sat down to write it that some of the details came along, like Sammy Stingtail and his tail of horror, and Delilah and her stolen pencil box. Most times, I don’t think out the story in advance…I sit down to write the idea, and the story comes along the way.
Ana: Why did you choose to make the characters bugs?
Aaron: I love bugs…they make great characters because there are so many different kinds and they’re all so freaky and unique looking. I have several other books that feature bugs, including Tiger Moth, Insect Ninja and The Tale of the Poisonous Yuck-Bugs. In real life, I don’t mind bugs, but I can’t stand spiders. Yechhhh…too many legs=gross.
Neil: And yet Aaron put a giant hairy tarantula in the second Joey Fly!
Ana: How did you decide when to switch colors for things going on in the story?
Aaron: That was totally Neil’s thing. Fill her in, Neil.
Neil: Yes! Well, originally, I thought it would be fun to try a different take on the whole black and white thing, you know, like old film noir movies. But since sometimes black and white can be boring, I changed it up to blue and white! The flashback scenes made sense as another color, because they take place in a different time frame, and at the last second, we decided to add reds for all the outdoor daytime scenes, just to spice things up a bit. It worked out even better than I thought, and is now part of the storytelling that makes Joey Fly unique.
Ana: How did you get the idea for Joey to talk to himself/the reader in the squares throughout the book?
Aaron: Well, turns out, all those language arts words they make you learn in school aren’t a waste of time. The book is written in first person point of view, which means that the main character talks directly to the read about themselves and their story. When I started writing, this is just how things came out. Joey had lots of running comments or sarcastic little opinions he wanted to throw into the mix, so I wanted to give him the chance to talk directly to the reader without the other characters hearing it or being part of it. In a graphic novel, the best way to do that is in caption boxes, which are those little squares that he talks to you in. These are different from speech balloons, which is the stuff he says to other characters.
Ana: Will there be more Joey Fly books?
Aaron: Definitely! The second book is done and Neil is already finishing the art for it. I’ve seen his sketches and they are AMAZING! It’s better than the first book. And I’m currently working on the third book and have cool ideas about a fourth. So, we’ll keep going as long as the publisher lets us and the ideas keep coming. That is, if Neil is okay with that…
Neil: Of course I’m ok with it! The second Joey Fly is the most fun I’ve ever had on a project! I can’t wait to read the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh!
Ana: Which other books, especially graphic novels, would you recommend to kids who like this book?
Aaron: I really a huge fan of graphic novels for kids…there’s a new one out called The Amulet by Kazi Kibuishi that I LOVE! The second one just came out. I also love the Artemis Fowl graphic novel…definitely worth checking out if you haven’t seen it. Also Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon Hale is AWESOME! I’m also a huge fan of an old European comic called Asterix. I used to buy them as a kid at flea markets and they are still SO FUNNY.
Neil: Old Mickey Mouse comics have great mystery and suspense, Tintin by Herge, Super Mario Adventures by Kentaro Takekuma and Charlie Nozawa, and if you like the wordplay in Joey Fly, check out The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster!
They have made several other stops on this tour. You may want to visit to learn as much as you can about this book and this great team. A few of their stops have included:
Our 5th grade Graphic Novel Club in the library is well underway and a few of the kids have already read this title. I am thinking I might offer this as a book club title to 3rd and 4th graders this winter. It is a great new book with so many fun things to discuss. I think it is worth buying several copies.
Disclaimer: All blog posts, opinions, grammatical errors, and spelling mistakes are our own.
Franki and Mary Lee are both teachers, and have been for more than 20 years.
Franki is a fifth grade teacher. She is the author of Beyond Leveled Books (Stenhouse), Still Learning to Read (Stenhouse), and Day-to-Day Assessment in the Reading Workshop (Scholastic).
Mary Lee is a fifth grade teacher. She is the author of Reconsidering Read-Aloud (Stenhouse) and has poems in the Poetry Friday Anthology, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Science, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations (Pomelo Books), Dear Tomato: An International Crop of Food and Agriculture Poems, National Geographic Books of Nature Poems, The Best of Today's Little Ditty (2014-15 and 2016), Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's Poems are Teachers, National Geographic's The Poetry of US, and IMPERFECT: Poems About Mistakes.
by Scott Chandler
by Scott Chandler
