The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires

We discovered Binky the Space Cat in 2009 and fell in love with him immediately. Since that time the two of us have mentioned Binky several times on the blog. He is a great character. His stories are fabulous and funny. So I was thrilled to see a new book from Binky's author, Ashley Spires. The new book is called The Most Magnificent Thing.

In this story, a little girl decides that she is going to create the most magnificent thing.  She has a vision in her head of what she wants to create and she is confident she can create it. After all, she is good at creating things. She and her dog begin the magnificent creation.  Along the way, they hit a few bumps and a little frustration.

If you have read anything by Ashley Spires, you know that her characters and her sense of humor make her books magnificent. This is totally true of this book. The story is a great one. The character is fabulous--you get to know both the girl and the dog through the text and the illustrations. Spires is brilliant! And her sense of humor--surprising lines kept popping up making me laugh aloud.

I am VERY excited about sharing this book at the beginning of the year. It will start fabulous conversations about creating, invention, working through struggles, frustration, etc.

So much to love about this book! My new favorite for sure.

Here is the book trailer:

The Most Magnificent Thing Book Trailer from Kids Can Press on Vimeo.

And in this video, author/illustrator, Ashley Spires Hacks her book:

Other Reviews

Betsy Bird reviews the book on her School Library Journal blog.
The Cozy Little Book Journal has a great review with lots of visuals.
Miss Tiff reads reviews the books and adds some great ideas.

And her upcoming fall title (Edie's Ensembles )  looks fabulous as well!

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 

Poetry Friday -- Encyclopedias

Wikimedia Commons

Yard Sale

by George Bilgere


Someone is selling the Encyclopedia Britannica
in all its volumes,
which take up a whole card table.

It looks brand new, even though it must be sixty years old.
That's because it was only used a couple of times,
when the kids passed through fifth grade
and had to do reports on the Zambezi River
and Warren Harding.

Der Fuhrer was defunct.
The boys came home,
and everybody got the Encyclopedia Britannica,
which sat on the bookshelf
as they watched Gunsmoke
through a haze of Winstons.

Eventually
these people grew old
and were sent to a home
by the same children who once wrote
reports on Warren Harding.

And now the complete and unabridged
Encyclopedia Britannica,
bulging with important knowledge,
is sitting on a card table in a light rain.

I couldn't resist keeping with the theme of my posts from Wednesday and Thursday.

Liz has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Elizabeth Steinglass: Poet.

End of Year Research

We've completed our march through the regions of the US and will take a test on the 50 Nifty tomorrow (blank map, 2-letter abbreviations).

Now it's time to bring focus to our research. Make it meaningful.

I began by thinking about what kind of final product I want my students to create. They've worked lots in Keynote, so that wasn't an option. We don't have enough time to learn a new tool like Prezi or ThingLink.

BEGIN AT THE END.

I decided on the tri-fold brochure templates in Pages. Looking over the templates, I saw there would be room enough for information about People, Places, the Past, the Present, and a Spotlight on one unique thing about the state.

But I didn't want them to simply copy the information we'd already gathered into a new format.

That's when I realized, as I scanned the brochure templates, that brochures are created for so many different audiences.

AUDIENCE was the missing piece.

Today, each student chose a state AND chose the audience they would write for in their brochure. Some of the audiences are: tourism, history, come live here, and sports. Energy is high because not only did each student get to pick their state, but they have a real focus for their research. Several states have been chosen by more than one student, but it's not a problem because their audiences are different.

CHOICE -- always important.

Using the Encyclopedia

Flickr Creative Commons photo by Rishabh Mishra,
and no, the ones we're using aren't this old!

On our whirlwind tour of the 50 Nifty, my students are using the encyclopedia to do some quick research on states as we travel region by region.

Encyclopedia the BOOK, not Encyclopedia dot com.

It was quite funny the day I launched them. They had chosen their state and they ran to the cart and grabbed a volume.

"How do you turn this on?"
"Hey, this book only has words that start with G!"

I had to hold my tongue carefully in reply to the first (I wanted to use the punchline from It's a Book), and I was incredulous when I heard the second. Their lack of knowledge about the way the encyclopedia works started with the fact that each volume contains a letter or few letters-worth of information!

Needless to say, we had an unplanned minilesson right there and then on the layout of the set, and then another on the structure of the articles on the states.

As we travel region by region and students repeat the research (landforms, economy, native people, settlers), every single day I have conversations with students reminding them to read the graphics, read the captions of pictures, use the bold headings as clues about what information is being presented, skim and scan for key words.

This is good stuff.

The thing I like the very most about the encyclopedia is that you can't just ask it the question and wait for it to give you what it thinks you'll want for an answer.

The thing I like second most about the encyclopedia relates to the first: you have to turn actual pages. The text sits still.

Also, when you use the encyclopedia, you don't have to wait for it to turn on, you don't have to log in, and slow Internet never concerns you.

And whether they believe it or not, everything they are learning about reading a book-encyclopedia article will make them a better reader of online articles.

Three cheers for the unsung hero -- the ENCYCLOPEDIA!

The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett

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

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

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

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

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

A great wordless picture book!

The Secret Hum of a Daisy

I've had a slow start to my 2014 reading for some reason. According to Goodreads, I am already 8 books behind if I want to meet my reading goal.  I've read a bit and I've found some great books but I've hit a lot of reading slumps already this year.  But The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczergot me out of this last rut. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book.  Totally LOVE IT!

The Secret Hum of a Daisy is about Grace, a character who I loved from the first few pages. The story begins when Grace has to move in with her grandmother. Grace's mother died suddenly and Grace has never met her grandmother.  Needless to say, Grace is angry and sad and is not ready to give her grandmother a chance.  Grace is a character who will stay with me for a very long time.

I loved Grace's grandmother almost as much as I loved Grace. Grace's grandmother is also going through a great deal of grief.  But she is a strong woman, willing to do what it takes to help Grace through this hard time.

This is one of those books with so many characters with depth. I finished the book feeling like I made a whole town of friends, and I think the author is intentional about that. Grace learns that people are there for you and each helps you heal in a different way. Because of that, you get to know many of the characters in this small town fairly well.

This book is heartbreaking and hopeful all at the same time.  It is about love and loss. It is about what it feels like to carry pain and to let yourself heal.  It made me feel a little bit like I did when I read Missing May Newbery Medal Winner by Cynthia Rylant for the first time many years ago.  I have no idea how I even made that connection during those first few chapters, but that book was the memory that popped into my head.

From what I can tell, this is the author's first book. Really, no idea how someone can write a first book that is this good. I can't wait to see what else she writes.   She shares a bit of her inspiration and a bit about a new book she is working on at her website.  I am so not surprised that this book is getting so many starred reviews.  (My thinking that it is a perfect book for 5th and 6th graders but I could be off by a bit.)

Definitely a must read for 2014. I am thinking this one will be on lots of Newbery lists.   Did I mention that I LOVED it?

Poetry Friday -- Oldies and a Newbie

OLDIES:

Thank you to the now-forgotten PF bloggers who turned me on to these books!

How could I not have these new-to-me oldies by 

Marilyn Singers and Joyce Sidman in my collection?

How to Cross a Pond: Poems About Water

Meandering

Something in water loves

the curve

the bend

the zigzag

the swerve...

Footprints on the Roof: Poems About the Earth

Summer Solstice

Amid the scent of roses

and the lolling hum of bees

comes a cloud scudding briefly across the sun

or a slightly pointed breeze

to remind you that the earth has turned again

and in a long slow wink

the nights will grow

the days will shrink...

Meow Ruff: A Story in Concrete Poetry

The subtitle (A Story in Concrete Poetry) doesn't do this book justice.

You can't imagine it until you see it. 

The concrete poetry is every single part of every illustration on every page. 

Plus it tells a story. 

Amazing.

I'd love to share the poem that is the grass, 

but it goes on for SEVENTEEN glorious pages! 

Here are a few of the clouds:

just

a tiny puff,

a swirl of frosting--

cloud

plump 

bright dome

of sugary white

sky-muffin

large

white steamy

bread loaves rising

in he sun's bright heat,

a billowing batch 

of cumulus.

AND HERE'S THE NEWBIE:

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Tall Tales to Read Together

My 5th graders still LOVE these You Read To Me, I'll Read to You books! 

And now they'll learn about common and unusual tall tales while performing poetry? 

Win-Win!!

Davy Crockett

I'm Davy Crockett, frontier king,

A man who can do anything.

My story starts right at my birth:

A comet carried me to Earth.

It hit a hill in Tennessee,

And guess what happened? Out came me!

Jama has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

While I was busy writing poetry in April...

...Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings turned 40 and these all turned 50!

(All review copies were compliments of the publisher -- THANK YOU, Harper Collins!)

And this isn't Shel Silverstein, but it could be his first cousin:

Outside the Box

by Karma Wilson

illustrated by Dianne Goode

Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2014

review copy provided by the publisher

Lots of fun Silvertein-ian verse, with a few really lovely descriptive poems tucked in here and there. This one is sure to be a favorite, both for the kid-friendly poetry and for the fun illustrations.

Some New Favorite Verse Novels

Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake
by Julie Sternberg
illustrated by Matthew Cordell
Harry N. Abrams, March 18, 2014

review copy purchased for my classroom library

This is my favorite of the three books in this series so far. Eleanor and Pearl's friendship is really put to the test (a new girl comes between them), and at the same time, Eleanor has some trials of her own (getting over stage fright, her puppy going away to a two-week training camp, and her first crush). 

The Crossover

by Kwame Alexander

HMH Books for Young Readers, March 18, 2014

review copy purchased for my classroom library

I can't wait to preview this book with my class. I don't think I'll see if for a while after I do! The poetry is a nice blend of edgy and rap-like, plus deep and thoughtful. The main story line is junior high basketball, but along the way there is what it's like to be a twin, young love, and a father who is a basketball legend, and who has health problems.

The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba's Greatest Abolitionist

by Margarita Engle
HMH Books for Young Readers, March 19, 2013

review copy purchased for my classroom library

This book was fascinating to read as I'm listening to THE INVENTION OF WINGS. The story of Tula, in Cuba, parallels the story of Sara Grimke in the United States with amazing similarity.

The Lightning Dreamer belongs in a text set with other biographies and historical fiction about early abolitionists around the world. It is important for our children to know the stories of these people who fought against all odds for what they believed in, and especially the stories of the women who fought for others' freedom while having relatively none of their own (not even the right to vote in the US for another 100 years).