January Mosaic

I am participating in Project 365 on Flickr this year. I'm not following the rules exactly, so even though I have "joined" the group, I haven't really. Here's why: I can't take a picture a day. Or enough pictures each day so that I can choose one per day. (And if I take two really good ones on the same day, I want to use them both!)

The goal of taking 365 pictures in a year is like my goal of reading 52 children's novels in a year -- sometimes I'll go days without taking pictures and then "make up" the lost time; sometimes I go for weeks without finishing a book until the next chance I have to read multiple books. As always, the day job gets in the way of this project...especially this time of year when I get to work in the dark and leave for home in the dark. Kind of limits the photo ops, as it were.

Rules or no rules, this is a fun project that has made me more aware of the world around me -- of shape and color, texture and contrast. I carry my camera with me at all times now, and that alone has been worth its weight in gold. I am learning to navigate Flickr. I made the mosaic on fd's Flickr Toys. This is one of the ways that I am working on my 21st Century Literacies.

What Can You Do WIth A Rebozo? by Carmen Tafolla

During the announcements of the ALA awards on Monday, I was pleased to know so many of the books on the lists. But I am finding that it is just as fun to discover some of the books that I didn't know about. The Caldecott and the Newbery tend to get the most publicity that day, but so many of the other awards share such important pieces of literature for children. Discovering new titles has been fun for me this week.

WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH REBOZO? by Carmen Tafolla is a book I learned about when the ALA awards were presented on Monday. This book was a Belpre Illustrator Honor Book. A great picture book by all accounts. The book starts out with the title question, "What can you DO with a rebozo?" and then continues to answer the question of all of the ways you can use one. You quickly learn that a rebozo is a traditional Mexican woven shawl. Each page gives one or two new ways to use a rebozo--from keeping warm to making a secret tunnel.

The illustrations are stunning --a definite celebration of life and family.

So glad that I found this book! A great addition to the library:-)

WOLFSNAIL: A BACKYARD PREDATOR by Sarah C. Campbell

Another reason I love Cover to Cover is that they had all of the ALA award-winning books on display at the store--right when you walk in the door. I knew lot of the books that were winners but I found a few that I hadn't seen. One of the books I picked up today was WOLFSNAIL: A BACKYARD PREDATOR by Sarah C. Campbell. What a great book. I had no ideas that there were snails that ate other snails. This book was named a Geisel Honor Book on Monday. I am SOOOOO happy to see nonfiction on that award list. And this book is amazing. I picked it up and immediately knew that it would be a great read aloud for all age levels. So many things make it an amazing book:
*Amazing photos and many of them take up the full page
*Simple text packed with information
*Great language along with introductions of topic-specific words
*Some extra info on the last page, because once you know about this wolfsnail, you want to know more!
*A glossary with some of the "snail words"

Really, this is a spectacular book. I so love a book that teaches me about something I didn't even know existed. I am pretty sure that the kids will love this one!

PRINCESS PEEPERS by Pam Calvert

At least twice a week, one of the Kindergarten or first grade girls at school asks for a "princess book". That is what they look for and they are not easy to please. They want the new pink and purple princess of today. And these young girls seem to decide immediately by the cover, whether this is a princess that they want to read about.

So, I was very excited to find PRINCESS PEEPERS by Pam Calvert. The cover is perfect--pink and purple. And Princess Peepers is pretty fun. She wears glasses and loves to wear many different kinds of glasses. Quite the fashion statement. But then the other princesses make fun of her so she goes without her glasses. Well, as predicted it is a disaster and she can't see. All kinds of trouble occurs until she realizes that she does need her glasses. The ending is a good one and everyone, of course, lives happily ever after.

A cute book that will definitely make a good addition to the library!

(Thanks to Marshall Cavendish Children's Books for the review copy!)

Poetry Friday -- The Dog Wish

Man
is troubled
by what might be called
the Dog Wish,
a strange and involved compulsion
to be as happy and carefree
as a dog.

James Thurber

The round up this week is at Adventures in Daily Living.

2 New Picture Books

I didn't even have to read THE ODD EGG by Emily Gravett or THE GREAT PAPER CAPER by Oliver Jeffers when Beth showed them to me at Cover to Cover this week. I love both authors so much that I knew that I would want the books. So I bought them and read them when I got home. And I was not disappointed!

THE ODD EGG by Emily Gravett is a cute story of about lots of birds who have eggs. And Duck, who does not. But he finds an egg and waits anxiously for it to hatch. Gravett's illustrations are fun and the expressions on the animals' faces are worth a close look. There are some partial size pages that adds to the fun of the book. And of course there is a fun surprise at the end. A simple story with text that young children can tackle on their own. And of course, lots of Gravett's humor that makes this a book adults won't tire of. So glad I picked it up!

THE GREAT PAPER CAPER by Oliver Jeffers is the second book that I picked up. This book is a mystery of sorts. Tree branches are disappearing in the forest and the animals investigate. The language of a mystery (alibi, culprit, suspects) are used throughout which add to the fun. The clues come together for a happy ending. Jeffers great story, humor and unique art style combine to make this a great book to add to the library. Fun for all ages, I think!

Amelia Rules!: When the Past is a Present

Amelia Rules! Volume #4: When the Past is a Present
by Jimmy Gownley
Renaissance Press, 2008

This was my snow day gift to myself: curl up on the couch and read a book I want to read for me.

In this volume, Amelia's life is rocketing forward (her mom has a date, she's going to her first dance) and she's trying to make sense of how all that fits into her past.

Gownley's goal with the Amelia books "was to create a comic book with comic strip sensibilities that both traditional and nontraditional comic book fans could enjoy. He also wanted to provide good, solid entertainment for kids that didn't talk down to them." And he totally succeeds. He even made me cry.

In Part 3, "The Things I Cannot Change," Amelia learns why her friend Joan has been so sad and withdrawn even though she shares the news that she doesn't have to move. At the dance, it is announced that Joan's father is being deployed, and not to someplace fun like Germany. We feel Joan's pain, we see how Amelia and Joan's friend Hannigan cheer Joan up and get her back to the dance floor, and then in three pages of stark panels that march 3 by 3 across pages with empty, white backgrounds, we watch Joan say goodbye to her father.

This book is not a serious downer, just because there's a serious part. There's also a nod to comic strip history in the part where Amelia's mother and Aunt Tanner tell her their family's story. There's a hysterical babysitter-gone-bad part. There's a game called "Thank Goodness You're Open," and a definition of "Hangin' Out." What makes this book so hard to describe, and what makes it (and the rest of the Amelia books) so brilliant, is that all the random funny, weird, serious, thoughtful, historic, artsy, comic-y parts are woven and interconnected in ways that...well, suffice it to say: read it for yourself. Read them all.

My Favorite Words from Governor Strickland's State of the State Address Today

Governor Ted Strickland's State of the State Address was today. So many favorite lines to choose from but these are the things that make me most excited as a teacher and as a mom. Great goals for education in Ohio:-) And check out the Wordle from his speech- love the big messages. My favorite lines from today --in no particular order...

     "Under my plan, the Ohio Department of Education will set standards for Ohio schools requiring innovative teaching formats. Interdisciplinary methods, project-based learning, real world lessons, and service learning will be the norm."

     "Ohio’s current graduation test does not measure creativity, problem solving, and other key skills. We will make our assessments both relevant and rigorous by replacing the Ohio Graduation Test with the ACT and three additional measures.
     All students will take the ACT college entrance examination, not only to measure their high school achievement, but to help raise students’ aspirations for higher education. Students will also take statewide ‘end of course’ exams, complete a service learning project, and submit a senior project.
    These four measures will give our graduating high school seniors the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge, creativity, and problem solving skills, in short, to demonstrate precisely the skills that will help them succeed in life."

"Together we’ll make Ohio among the first states to place 21st century skills like creativity, problem solving, communication and leadership at the center of its curriculum."

"The learning experience will be built around the individual student. Lessons will not end when a fact is memorized. Students will be given a chance to interact with information, to follow up on the subjects that fascinate, to think critically and creatively and to use what they’ve learned to draw conclusions."

"Our schools are not assembly lines and our students are not widgets. We will teach to each individual student’s need because we recognize that it is the surest path to seeing our young people reach their full potential."

ORBIS PICTUS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING NONFICTION FOR CHILDREN

NCTE has announced the 2009 Orbis Pictus winners. I tend to look forward to this list each year for a variety of reasons. As a reader of children's books, I gravitate to picture books and fiction novels.

At our Cover to Cover visit on Monday, Bill from Literate Lives pointed out a few books that I purchased. Bill is a history guy so he notices books that I don't. He pointed out several nonfiction books that I hadn't paid attention to before. Once I took a few minutes to look at them, I realized that I needed them for the library.

The Orbis Pictus Award was one of the first ways I started to pay attention to nonfiction. And I have ALWAYS been impressed by the selections. At the NCTE Annual Convention where some of the Orbis Pictus winners are awarded and highlighted each year, I am always struck by how many more great nonfiction books are being published for kids.

I am struck by the difference in "nonfiction" and nonfiction children's literature. So many books in classrooms, libraries, and bookstores are so encyclopedia-like. So many "sets" of books that are such poor quality in terms of interest, layout and readability. So many that have the feel of textbooks. I think in elementary schools, if we can begin to replace those types of books with good, quality nonfiction for children, it would be a huge service to kids. Imagine how many biography readers we'd have if they had access to great picture book biographies all the time. The Orbis Pictus has always helped me to think through the kinds of nonfiction kids choose to read outside of school. That, to me, is a clue as to the kinds of nonfiction we should have in school!

I don't know many books on this year's Orbis Pictus list. I haven't even heard of the actual winner, AMELIA EARHART, THE LEGEND OF THE LOST AVIATOR but I do love some of the other books that received honors or recommendations--WE ARE THE SHIP,A RIVER OF WORDS, SISTERS AND BROTHERS. GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER.

I love ALA's award day. It is so fun to predict winners, to listen to others thoughts, to try to read the year's winner, etc. But there are so many other awards that are given that really help me select good books for kids. The Orbis Pictus Award is one that over the years, has really helped me add nonfiction children's literature to my reading life.

Okay, Okay, Franki Won

Franki read the Newbery before it was announced today, so technically, she wins the friendly little non-competition (HA!) upon which this blog was originally based.

Here she is with Beth and Sally, the two other people in our world who read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman before today's announcement.


I am going to claim a win of sorts this year too, because my prediction of the winner came true. I predicted that "the Newbery will be a book that hasn't darkened my door: Jimmy's Stars, Highway Cats, The Graveyard Book, The Porcupine Year, After Tupac and D Foster, Seer of Shadows, or The Trouble Begins at 8." There it is, the third one on my list. As a bonus, I have never seen the Caldecott winner, either! SCORE! (On a side note, I own a copy of the Caldecott Honor book, A River of Words, which is signed by both the author and the illustrator because I've had that one on my short list since last summer!)

But just to show that there are no hard feelings here we all are at Cover to Cover right before we left to go out to dinner:


Bestbookihavenotread, Literate Lives (minus Bill -- did your kid's team win the basketball game?), Cover to Cover, Creative Literacy, A Year of Reading, Authentic Learner x2, local author Amjed Qamar, and A Year of Reading.

Yes, blogging is fun, but it can't beat meeting at the best independent children's bookstore in our state on Newbery announcement day and then filling a huge booth at NorthStar and talking books!