How Much Can You Love Barbara O'Connor?

So, I LOVED HOW TO STEAL A DOG. I think it is one of the best read aloud books out there for grades 3-5. So, I was very excited to see that GREETINGS FROM NOWHERE was available at Cover to Cover.

I can't tell you how much I love this book. For me, it was a cross between all of my favorites. Sometimes I felt like I was reading Cynthia Rylant. Sometimes I felt like I was reading Kate DiCamillo. It made me feel like lots of my favorites (VAN GOGH CAFE, BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE, WHERE THE HEART IT). Barbara O'Connor seems to have found a voice in this one that is brilliant. The story is simple--a group of people who seem to need each other and find things out about themselves because of the time they spend together.

Barbara O'Connor takes us to the Sleepy Time Motel in the Great Smokey Mountains. And she introduces us to characters who will live with us for along time. I can tell that these are characters I will think about for a very long time, even though I have finished reading the book.

I have decided to read this one aloud to my 3rd and 4th graders starting later this week. It may be a bit sophisticated for them but I don't think so. I think when you read about characters you come to love, it is big.

Really, I can't imagine loving a book more than I loved this one. It was really quite a perfect book.

(I went back to watch the book trailer on the book. I figured I wouldn't like it now that I had read the book, but I LOVED it! It is perfect. Totally captures the feel of the book. Brilliant!)

Tastes Like Chocolate: Thoughts From Young People

I received this book as a gift and what a gift it is! TASTES LIKE CHOCOLATE by Randi Allison is a collection of poems written by the children she's worked with over the years. It is a collection that is a great read--just as a great poetry read. As a teacher, it is a great reminder of how lucky we are to work alongside children every day. It helps remind us how brilliant and insightful they are! And it can also serve as a great resource for teachers of writing. Such great models of writing by kids of different ages.

The title and organization of the book are both quite clever. The back of the book reads "Like a fine chocolate sampler, this collection is filled with delectable moments of joyous wonder that melt and linger, dark musings of loss with a bitter aftertaste of longing, and simple insights filled with gooey, luscious surprises. Like any fine treat, TASTES LIKE CHOCOLATE yearns to be shared with the people you love." The Table of Contents shows us that the book is organized in the same way a box of chocolates might be--with bittersweets (thoughts about challenges), sweets (thoughts about childhood), and darks (thoughts about death and dying).

This collection is a perfect addition to your library if you are a teacher of reading, writing, poetry and/or life in general. Each poem gives the reader lots to think about. I can see using poems with kids in my class--thinking about how they might use what they learn in their own writing. I can see kids reading it on their own. And, as a teacher and parent, I can see going back to it--rereading some favorites over and over.

A great collection--this is one like I've never seen before. Because Randi is an educator, she has chosen an amazing collection of poems to share with the world. These poems were most likely written in great writers' workshops in great classrooms. It is a great reminder of the power of poetry in our students' lives. For years, I have collected my own students' writings--knowing that I will share them with future students. As a teacher, I know the power of these models in writing workshop--that reading the work of other children can have a huge impact on students' writing. In this collection, Randi shares a variety of these models for us to add to our own collections.

This is not an easy book to find but there is a website where you can order it. The website also has some great endorsements by educators like Shelley Harwayne, Cris Tovani, and Chrysse Hutchins.

That Workshop Book by Samantha Bennett

THAT WORKSHOP BOOK: NEW SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES FOR CLASSROOMS THAT READ, WRITE, AND THINK by Samantha Bennett (Foreword by Cris Tovani)
I just discovered this new book about Reading/Writing Workshop. It is AMAZING! I would highly recommend it to anyone who has or wants to implement a solid reading and/or writing workshop.

Samantha Bennett is part of the PEBC out of Denver. She is an instructional coach for teachers in grades K-8. This book is brilliant and timely. Personally, I have been overwhelmed with professional book reading lately. I just can't keep up. So, I have been very careful about adding too many new professional books to my pile. This one is a must-have/must-read/must-keep-going-back-to kind of book. Bennett begins the book by reminding us why workshop works. She takes us back a bit to the groundbreaking work of Graves, Calkins and Atwell. She begins by reminding us that "workshop has been relegated to harsh time constraints, descriptions of activities to do in minilessons, or strict pacing guides that tell teachers how a workshop should unfold over a year...We have a problem with broad implementation with shallow understanding of the potential of what a classroom as a literal workshop means. The superficial orthodoxy around the procedures of workshop has distracted us from the core values of WHY workshop works."

She takes this issue on throughout the book--that the reason workshop works is in ritual, structure, student ownership, choice, etc. After her introductory chapter that reminds us what we seem to have lost in the workshop of today, she takes us into 6 classroom workshop and shows us why they work. There are definite key workshop elements to the workshops but there are also differences in the ways that teachers implement. Because she is a coach, Bennett is able to show us what works, why it works and to point out places for reflection. There are places in each chapter where both Bennett and the classroom teacher reflect and we are able to benefit
from being part of that reflection.

Surprisingly, this is an easy read. She takes us back to important thinking in a way that has a humor that is quite engaging. It is smart. It is important. Not only do you rethink your workshop, but there are also lots of ideas embedded in each classroom "visit". The book is a great combination of reflection, information, and things you can try tomorrow. The key though, is in remembering that workshop is not about one lesson or a daily routine. It is so much more than that when it works well.

I have to say that this is the BEST cover I have ever seen on a professional book. It is creatively done and calls you to read it. On opening the cover, you find that the art teacher at Bennett's school, Ann Loring, did the illustration on the cover and those throughout the book. The book is brilliantly done. The design and touches throughout the book are quite fun and creative for a professional book. You really feel like you know the writer and the teachers well because of it. A fun, engaging design.

Throughout the book, Bennett has created a "Teaching Fairy"--a little character who points things out about the classrooms we visit. Now, if you know me, I hate gimmicky things so I would tend to not like things like this. But in this book, the Teaching Fairy works well. It is nice to think that as teachers in schools these days, there is a little fairy helping us to the hard work we do. Because Bennett and the illustrator (Ann Loring) handle this with humor and fun, it totally works!

I can see this book being critical in staff development. So much to talk and think about. And since the examples span grades 1-8, there is something for teachers at all levels. The first chapter is one that would be good to revisit as a staff or in a workshop-getting back to the stuff of the workshop. I loved reading it on my own (although I found myself calling friends to read lines that I thought were brilliant!) and I am looking forward to talking to others about it soon!

Poetry Friday -- Pay Attention

It was A.E. Housman's birthday this week (Robert Frost's, too). It usually takes the sight of blooming trees to remind me of this poem. No blooms yet here.

I have more than doubled the age of the speaker of the poem at this point, but I still have hopes that I'll be able to watch spring come fifty more times. Forty more for sure.

Because there is no "for sure," no way of knowing how many more springs one has, this poem reminds me every year to pay attention as if this might be the last.



Loveliest Of Trees, The Cherry Now
by A. E. Housman

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.


Ted Kooser's American Life in Poetry column featured another (modern) blooming cherry tree poem this week, by Judith Harris. Here is the last stanza:

It is only April.
I can't stop my own life
from hurrying by.
The moon, already pacing.



The roundup today is at Cuentecitos.

Claire and the Bakery Thief

Claire and the Bakery Thief
by Janice Poon
Kids Can Press, 2008
review copy compliments of the publisher

Claire's dad lost her job and they're moving. He's enthusiastic about the small town bakery he bought that he's going to convert to all-organic, but Claire's mom is less than thrilled about moving away from the city. Claire's dog Bongo is her constant companion, but when it comes to making new friends, it seems she's stuck between older girls who only want to talk about boys, and the six year-old son of a neighbor.

Luckily, Claire meets Jet, a girl who has a great imagination like hers and whose experience with divorce helps Claire deal with her bickering parents.

Claire has her eye on a shady artificial flavoring salesman who keeps coming to the bakery, and when her mom goes to the city with him and doesn't come back, he's Claire's main suspect. With the help of Jet and Bongo, Claire sets out to solve the mystery of her missing mom.

This graphic novel for younger readers is reminiscent of Kat & Mouse by Alex de Campi, which features middle school teen girls teaming up to solve a mystery that threatens one of the parents. Claire and Jet will appeal to girls in the 7-10 year age range. The mystery in Kat & Mouse is set in the science lab and in the back of the book are the instructions for doing some of the science that the girls use to solve the mystery. Similarly, in the back of Claire and the Bakery Thief are some of the recipes that are featured in the story.

By the end of the book, Bellevale seems like home to Claire and her parents. Claire is looking forward to the start of school, and readers will look forward Claire's next adventure.

For the list-maker in your life

Thank you [bb-blog] for the link.

I'm not sure how I'll survive until April 30 without these...

Vampires and Aliens and Purple Monsters

Little Vampire
by Joann Sfar
:01 First Second, 2008
review copy compliment of the publisher

Three short stories in one thin volume for graphic novel readers who like to pore over detail in the illustrations, and who don't mind small text.

In the first story, Little Vampire Goes to School (just like the title says), but he and his bright red ghost dog, Phantomato, are disappointed to find all of the classrooms empty. It's night time, after all. The next night, the Captain of the Dead and all the ghosts come along and play school with Little Vampire. They all bring their own school supplies because they must not use any of the daytime children's supplies and let them know there are such things as ghosts. Little Vampire doesn't follow these rules. He completes a mortal's unfinished homework. Thus begins a written conversations and ultimately a friendship with Michael.

In the second story, "Little Vampire Does Kung Fu," Michael is having trouble with a bully at school. Michael's grandfather counsels that violence is not the way to solve the problem, but Little Vampire takes Michael to visit a Kung Fu Master. In a very convoluted way, Michael learns that violence is not the way to deal with a bully, but it does sometimes have unintended positive consequences.

The final story is "Little Vampire and the Canine Defenders Club." Little Vampire, Michael and Phantomato save the lives of three dogs who had been imprisoned in a cosmetics testing lab. In the course of the story, the reader loses faith in adults on the one hand (the scientists), but gains faith in adults on the other hand (Michael's grandfather's total acceptance of Little Vampire.)


Kaput & Zösky
by Lewis Trondheim
:01 First Second, 2008
review copy compliments of the publisher

You've never met two more inept aliens. Kaput and Zösky are out to enslave populations, trash cultures, demolish planets, and, in general, wreak havoc so that they can "cheat in the casinos and win loads of dough" in the worlds they conquer. Needless to say, their plots and plans never work out. Think a pair of Wiley Coyotes and a new population of alien RoadRunners on every planet in every galaxy that Kaput and Zösky visit before you worry about polluting the minds of young children with violence and intergalactic domination. They've maybe never read this story before in a graphic novel, but they've sure seen it on Saturday morning TV and on their video games. Best thing about this book -- if they read it again when they get older, they'll get the irony of the stories.

If you don't believe me, take a peek and see for yourself. Publishers Weekly has a 10-page preview here.



And now for the purple monsters.

Flight Explorer, a kid-friendly version of the twice Cybils-nominated Flight, edited by Kazu Kibuishi (recently of Amulet fame) is just out (yesterday). I must have it! Until then, I'll be satisfied with a Jellaby short story from the book.

Holiday Music

'Tis the season of testing, so we couldn't resist sharing some "Holiday Music."

Spring Cleaning

Save trees, send less waste to the landfill (or hopefully, to recycling), and reduce your risk for identity theft.

1. Switch to e-statements and e-billing whenever possible. Save trees and keep your personal information out of publicly accessible mailboxes at the same time.

2. Opt out of unsolicited credit card and other pre-screened offers. OptOutPrescreen.com

3. Opt out of unwanted catalogs. Call the company directly, or go to CatalogChoice.org

Thanks to Danielle Chatfield, Community Affairs Director of MidState Educators Credit Union for these suggestions.

Poetry Friday

Here's a poem for the first day of Spring Break:

The Tables Turned
by William Wordsworth

Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;
Or surely you'll grow double:
Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
Why all this toil and trouble?

The sun above the mountain's head,
A freshening lustre mellow
Through all the long green fields has spread,
His first sweet evening yellow.

Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife:
Come, hear the woodland linnet,
How sweet his music! on my life,
There's more of wisdom in it.

And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
He, too, is no mean preacher:
Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher.

She has a world of ready wealth,
Our minds and hearts to bless—
Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
Truth breathed by cheerfulness.

One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.

Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:—
We murder to dissect.

Enough of Science and of Art;
Close up those barren leaves;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.


Today's roundup is at Wild Rose Reader.