Blog Reviews

Read Roger had an insightful post about this new world of blog reviews. He made interesting points that we hadn't thought of...mostly because we have never been in the world of professional/print book reviewers. We have, however, always read reviews. They help us choose the books that are worth reading. Then we can decide if and how we will add them to our classrooms somehow--as a read aloud, in the classroom library for independent reading, etc.

F: I worry when I review a book because I understand that I am reviewing with the eyes of a reading teacher and a mother. But, when I sat back and thought about it, I have been reviewing books for years as part of workshops that I do with teachers. Part of every session is about good books for the classroom.

In fact, I don't think I really consider the things I write "reviews." They are just my thinking/my sharing of the books with other people who might like them. They are no different from me talking to friends about books I like. I don't think I have the expertise to critique a piece of literature but certainly trust those who do and I count on them for lots of my reading.

I think each person reads reviews differently--knowing who wrote them and their take on books. There are some books that are not great quality, but they somehow turn that one child into a reader. There are others that deserve a closer look. For years, I didn't like when my kids read lots of series books that weren't well reviewed. Now, I know that getting hooked on a series, regardless of the quality, is a huge step in the life of a reader.

ML: For us, that pairing of a child with a book, or our class with a book is one of the most important reasons why we review/share about books. Roger says that children's voices are still missing in this flood of reviewing that's going on in blogs. True, reviews written by children are not a big part of the Kidlitosphere. (Don't discount the blogging work Educating Alice's students are doing, however, or the guest reviews by MotherReader's daughter, or all the children who write reviews on Amazon.) And while Franki and I write all of our reviews, all of our reviews are written with children in mind -- whether we are imagining how we will use the book with our whole class, or whether we know just which child/group of children might like it. In addition, we often include student insights in our reviews. We're not the only ones: Miss Rumphius works dilligently to keep children's literature at the heart of all her pre-service teachers do, Wild Rose Reader shares children's work with poetry as well as teaching ideas for the poetry books she reviews, and Mentor Texts highlights students' writerly connections to children's books.

Like Franki said, what we write aren't so much reviews as they are book talks. They certainly aren't written by "putatively disinterested experts." But that's what makes them so valuable. They are written not just about the book, but about the book's potential real life experience in the hands of children.

A Great Day With Angie Sage

Thank you, thank you, thank you to HarperCollins and Cover to Cover Children's Books for sponsoring Angie Sage's day with our 4th and 5th graders.

Angie Sage is the author of the Septimus Heap series, a fantasy series about the seventh son of the seventh son in a family of wizards. In the first book, MAGYK, we meet the Heap family, Marcia (Mar CEE uh) Overstrand (the Extra Ordinary Wizard), and Aunt Zelda (a white witch). Knowing that the series is named for Septimus Heap, readers will not believe that he actually dies in the first chapter, but their questions about him will not be fully answered until the last pages of the book. I listened to this book while driving to and from school, and I often found myself either wishing for a longer commute, or sitting in the parking lot/driveway unable to stop listening! The British accent of the reader definitely added to the experience.

I read FLYTE with my eyeballs (instead of my ears), and it was just as delightful as MAGYK. If you were paying attention in MAGYK, you know exactly who the dark stranger is at the beginning of FLYTE, but again, it takes the whole book for the mystery to unwind. In the meantime, there is new evil with which to contend, and some old evil comes back in bits and pieces. The green rock that Jenna gives to Boy Four-One-Two in MAGYK surprises everyone and causes quite a stir.


I ran out of spring break before I had a chance to read PHYSIK, but it is top on my list for summer vacation! From what Angie said about it in her presentation, I am expecting some time travel, and a new avocation? vocation? for Septimus.

One of the perks of the dust jacket of the hardcover of PHYSIK is that the reverse side is a map of the world of the series. All three books include maps, something Angie said is very important in imagining, writing about, and reading about an imaginary world. It is one of the ways that world comes to life in the mind of the author and the reader.

Here are some of the things our students and teachers love about Angie Sage's books:

• the vivid descriptions make it easy to visualize characters and settings

• the way she plants clues for the reader

• the maps

• the bits at the back of MAGYK that tell what happened to some of the characters after the story ends

• the bits at the back of FLYTE that tell what happened to some of the characters BEFORE the story begins

• the characters -- some very good, some very evil, and some in between

• all the sevens that are hidden in the first book, and the fact that each book in the SEVEN book series will have 49 (7x7) chapters

• the short chapters and cliffhangers that make it nearly impossible to stop reading

In this picture, Angie (who I think is equal parts spunky Marcia Overstrand and gentle Aunt Zelda) is sharing the matchboxes she creates for each of her books. She fills the matchbox with small cards upon which are written the name of one character in the book. When she gets stuck in her writing, she takes out the cards and uses them to visually see the connections between the characters and to get ideas to help the story move along.

Her presentation gave the children a fascinating insight into the ways a writer's world and life make their ways into her books. She showed us a satellite picture of her home in Cornwall, England. The whole bottom section of England was shrouded in fog, which was visible from space. How perfect that fog features strongly in her stories! In another, she showed us some big helicopters flying over her town (there is a naval base nearby). While she didn't make the connection at the time she was writing, she now sees that these helicopters are like the dragons in her stories -- and now as then, everyone looks up when one flies by! She showed us the old woods near her house, and the narrow winding channels of the creek near her house. In her books, the woods became deeper, denser, and bigger, and the creek channels became the Merrim Marshes.

The day before Angie visited, our fourth graders performed the dress rehearsal of their spring program for the whole school. The theme was, "The British Invasion," and the songs and movements they learned were all from the British Isles. The first song they sang was "God Save the Queen." I couldn't believe my ears! The perfect welcome for Angie Sage! Here you see our (fabulous) music teacher leading the fourth graders in the first two verses. Angie was touched and impressed. Most Brits, she said, only know the first verse, so to hear 10 year-olds in the U.S. singing TWO verses...well, the same would be true if we traveled abroad and heard a group sing all the verses of "My Country 'Tis of Thee."


Here's a small indicator of the impact of Angie's visit on our students: I had announced that I would end the book sale the day before her visit (so that the autographing schedule could be locked in). Despite this, at least one child brought money for a book on the day of the visit, and I knew the books would still be in my room for at least a couple of days after the visit, so I let the teachers know that the sale would continue the next day(s), but without, of course, the opportunity for autographs.

Half again as many books were sold the day after Angie's visit than were sold in the weeks before.

Clearly, Angie and her books inspire readers! Lucky for us that we got to experience the "magyk" of Angie Sage!

Poetry Friday--Bugs by David Harrison

Below is the first poem from this new, fun poetry book called bugs: poems about creeping things by David Harrison

bugs

Bugs moved under
my welcome mat.
If bugs can't read,
explain that.

I've always said
that bugs are pests,
but bugs who read
are welcome guests.

See why I had to buy this book! I am not a fan of bugs but I love this book. A great addition to our classroom poetry collection if I must say so myself. I love the size. It is very, very small. The poems are all fun and short. A great sense of humor. I am pretty sure the kids in my class will love it. They will certainly love the topic of bugs and the writing will give us lots to talk about. The black and white illustrations are also perfect--they remind me a bit of the illustrations in Valerie Worth's all the small poems. The illustrations are perfect for the poems.

STRATEGIES THAT WORK 2 BY HARVEY AND GOUDVIS--SNEAK PEEK

Exciting news! Stenhouse has sent out this sneak peek link so that people can check out STRATEGIES THAT WORK 2! For anyone who teaches K-8, this is one of the best reading comprehension books out there. Steph Harvey and Anne Goudvis have created a 2nd edition with lots more great info. For those of you who love Strategies that Work, check out the message from Stenhouse below. You can read the entire book with the link below (before it is released!) and the real books should be out soon! Very exciting day!

GET A SNEAK PEEK at STRATEGIES THAT WORK 2!

The second edition of Strategies That Work by Stephanie Harvey and
Anne Goudvis will be published in a couple of weeks, but Stenhouse
Publishers has offered us the opportunity to preview the full book
online now! Follow this link to access to the files in PDF
format. You will need to have
Adobe Reader installed, and free registration is required.

Princess Pigsty by Cornelia Funke

This is the newest (I think) book by Cornelia Funke. I became a fan when I read INKHEART and DRAGON RIDER. But, I have also come to love her picture books. Her nontraditional approach to princesses makes me happy.

Princess Pigsty is the story of Princess Isabella. Princess Isabella's mother, the queen, thinks that "Our children must be the happiest children in the world" since they have servants who do all of the work and always have something soft to sit on. But Isabella isn't happy. She is curious and she want to be dirty AND she wants to do things for herself!

A great story about a princess with a mind of her own who teaches everyone a good lesson about being happy!

Gooney The Fabulous

GOONEY THE FABULOUS
by Lois Lowry
illustrated by Middy Thomas
Houghton Mifflin
2007
(Did they make the letters down the right side of the cover say, "Yesssssss" on purpose?!?!)

Gooney Bird is back with her wacky outfits and her take-charge attitude in Mrs. Pidgeon's 2nd grade class. Gooney's got the whole class writing fables this time, and what a great writing teacher she is! My favorite part was when Barry read his fable about the buffalo ("The correct scientific name for the American Buffalo is actually bison.") and it was clearly a report, and not even a story, and certainly not a fable. But Gooney helps him revise it. She has him start with once, and with a character that gets his audience interested. At one point he asks Gooney, "Is that too reporty?" and she says, "No. Details are good. I liked knowing about the thick fur because I could picture it in my imagination. But I'd add a little action now." After Barry introduces the hunters, Gooney suggests some dialogue. "Barry frowned. 'Bison can't talk,' he said. 'In stories they can,' Gooney Bird explained. 'That's the good thing about stories. Anything can happen.' " When the class gets bored (even Mrs. Pidgeon has resorted to grading spelling tests), Gooney suggests that it's time for a SUDDENLY. Barry writes:

Suddenly the hunters came riding out of the trees on their horses, shooting their guns, and shot a lot of the bison. Even the young one.

And after that there were practically no bison left in North America.

"That's the end," Barry said. "It's a sad ending."

"Some stories have sad endings," Gooney Bird announced. It's good to be reminded of that.

Tricia raised her hand. "But what's the moral?" she asked.

Barry stood in front of the class with his arms folded across his chest. He thought and thought.

"Guns make a mess of things," he said finally.

[A bit too topical, I know, but when I read it, I was thinking urban violence or Iraq War.]

There's a hilarious part when Malcom complains that Mrs. Pidgeon never holds up her grammar finger when Tyrone raps. Mrs. Pidgeon explains that "Rap is a special art form. And it uses a different grammar." [At least she didn't go into the different vocabulary that rap can use and radio talk show hosts cannot...once again, a bit too topical...] Mrs. Pidgeon has Tyrone give a rap example and then say it in correct grammar:

Tyrone looked down at his lunch, a pear and a sandwich on a paper napkin in front of him. He thought for a moment, the chanted, "Ain't no pear as big as my hair, cuz pears be small and my hair be tall..."

Mrs. Pidgeon laughed. "All right," she said. "Now, Tyrone, tell us that in proper grammar."

Tyrone grinned. Then he said, "There isn't any pear as big as my hair, because pears are small, but I always comb my hair up to make it look pretty large."

[Could that happen in real life? In second grade? I'm not so sure, but if it happens in a book, then I have hope! After all, Gooney herself said, 'That's the good thing about stories. Anything can happen.' ]

Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children's Literature K-6

I have had this book by for a few weeks now. I know I won't have time to read it cover to cover until summer, but I have spent a lot of time with it over the last few weeks and I wanted to share. MENTOR TEXTS by Lynne Dorfman and Rose Cappelli is a great book for K-6 teachers who run a writing workshop. It is a big book--almost 300 pages. The authors know writing and they know books well. When I started writing workshop years ago, the two books that had the biggest impact on my teaching were WHAT A WRITER NEEDS by Ralph Fletcher and LASTING IMPRESSIONS by Shelley Harwayne. Both of these books helped me to see the power that books could have for the writers in my classroom. The authors of MENTOR TEXTS builds upon these same ideas and shares more ideas for using great literature as part of writing workshop.

Some things I like about the book:
The writing is amazing. You can tell that the two authors are great writers so, as a reader, I really trusted what they had to say about writing workshop.
The book is organized in ways that helped me think about books in different ways.
Samples from students and excerpts from children's books help us to see exactly what the authors are talking about when they share different texts.
Lots of lesson ideas are woven throughout the book.
An amazing book list shares lots of books that are current and provide a great resource for teacher.

I am really excited to spend more time with this book before next fall. I know that it is going to be one that is tabbed and marked up and that I will go back to it throughout the year. I am excited to discover new books and new ways to think about how they may help mentor the writers in our classroom.

Just in Time For Earth Day

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH: THE CRISIS OF GLOBAL WARMING
Adapted for a New Generation
Viking (Penguin Group)
2007

The text is accessible. The photographs are vivid. The charts and graphs are compelling. Al Gore clearly spells out the crisis, but he begins and ends the book by saying that it is not hopeless. In the beginning he says, "I like the fact that in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is made up of two characters...The first one means 'danger.' But the second one means 'opportunity.' " In the end he points out, "Another big problem with global warming is that an astonishing number of people go straight from denial to despair, without pausing at the step in between. Yes, there's a crisis...but we can do something about it."

So what are YOU going to do? Switch to fluorescent bulbs? Turn down the thermostat? Turn off your computer rather than just putting it to sleep? Buy a Prius? Take shorter, cooler showers? Check here if you need ideas. There's a pdf poster of 10 things we can all do.

Just today, I got an invitation from Gather.com via American Public Media to join the "Go Green On Gather Contest" for Earth Day 2007.

This Earth Day, April 22, make a commitment to live today without compromising tomorrow. Living a sustainable life is easier than you might think—take one step at a time, incorporating eco-friendly lifestyle changes that will make our planet healthier for future generations. It’s never too soon to start!

Wendy Mass--In Person!

I had a chance to meet Wendy Mass (author of my favorite book of 2006, JEREMY FINK AND THE MEANING OF LIFE) in person last month at Michigan Reading Association (and I am finally having time to write about it)! (This conference is a GREAT one if you ever get a chance to go. Lots and lots of great speakers--professional and children's authors.) What a treat! We met before her session and then I was able to hear her to as part of a Young Authors' Day. She spoke to a group of student authors and their families at a great event sponsored by the conference.

It is always great to meet an author who you like even better after you meet them and hear them talk. If Wendy has an official fan club, I am pretty sure that I can now qualify for president.

Wendy talked about her journey as an author and shared lots of the writing that had been published in her life. Her goal is to publish a new kind of writing each year. I was amazed that even as her success as a children's book author, she seems to be sticking with this goal--How many different ways can I be published? She has greeting cards, short stories, advertisements, articles and more. Her newest publication is a behind the scenes look at C.S. Lewis. I wasn't aware of Wendy's two books in the series TWICE UPON A TIME. I read the first few pages of each and I'm sure they'll be a hit in my classroom. They are on my "to read soon" pile.

My favorite of her publications was one that she read aloud to the group-- "The Fear of Flying," an article in a Society of Children's Book Writer's newsletter. She talked about the need for authors to fly to do author appearances. It was an article I could certainly related to since I hated to fly for so long.

In September, Wendy has a new book coming out called HEAVEN LOOKS A LOT LIKE THE MALL. This book clearly calls to me. What a title!

She is currently working on a new book.

Wendy's talk was great. If you want to learn more about her and her work, here are some sites that have interviews:

Little Willow
TeensReadToo
KidsReads

And these have reviews:
Bookshelves of Doom (A MANGO-SHAPED SPACE)
Children's Literature Book Club (JEREMY FINK AND THE MEANING OF LIFE)
Big A little a (JEREMY FINK AND THE MEANING OF LIFE)

And here is her MySpace page.

Fun Finds

Here are the states I've visited.

What can I say? Long road trips used to be a way of life! Think Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon. (Thanks to Tricia, at The Miss Rumphius Effect, for the link.)

create your own personalized map of the USA
or write about it on the open travel guide

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On a completely different note, Yahoo! is preparing to launch Yahoo!Teachers. "Get ready! It's coming...The easy-to-use site and peer network designed by and for teachers. Get ready to create, modify and share standards-based curriculum." Like Bud the Teacher (thanks for the link), I'm still a little leery about this (and, no, my school isn't in their network, either). Additionally, BtheT brings up some other details/angles/slants about which I wasn't even aware...Google Certified Teachers? Yahoo Teachers of Merit? Here's a little peer networking: if you need to belong to a group of really smart literacy educators, all you really need is Choice Literacy. Sign up for the free weekly newsletter. You'll see.

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This has to be ab.so.lute.ly the CUTEST baby picture ever! Can you tell that mom is a member of the Kidlitosphere?!? Congrats, Stephanie (Children's Literature Book Club)!

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And this fun find comes to you from the lobby of the doctor's office. I was in for a "how many ways can you start to fall apart" kind of appointment on Friday morning. A mother, grandmother, and two little (3 years? 4? I can never tell...) twin boys were leaving just as I sat down to wait. One of the boys approached the automatic sliding glass doors, raised his arms and said, "OPEN, SESAME!" And, like magic, the doors opened. Mom said, "Let 'Other Kid' do these," and the other boy magically opened the second set of doors.

Let's not forget that magic is real and alive and it's as close as the doors in the doctor's office. In case you don't walk around with twin preschool boys to show you the magic, you might need to get in touch with your own inner preschooler to find it, but it's there. The magic is there. It doesn't leave when we grow older. We leave it. But it's still there, waiting, any time we're ready to say, "Open Sesame!"