Alan Silberberg Makes Kids Giggle

Alan Silberberg, author of Pond Scum, and the Thurber House Children's Writer In Residence, spoke at Cover to Cover Children's Bookstore yesterday.

Here he is, telling about how the voices inside his head, aka his imagination, were responsible for his first creative responses to school writing assignments. The praise he got in elementary and middle school for his creative writing helped him to become the writer he is today. A career in TV and movie cartoon writing helped him to become a very visual writer, as evidenced in Pond Scum.

And his cartooning (you can get a taste of it at his blog and on his website) will get to shine in his next book, Milo, an illustrated novel (small nod of thanks from Alan to Jeff Kinney for opening that door) about "a 13 year-old kid who has to start over." Alan read a couple of the first chapters to us, and showed the accompanying cartoons. This was when he made the kids (especially the 3rd grade boy) giggle. (The adults laughed too.) Alan has found/created a great character in Milo, a character that kids are going to love and relate to. (I say, MOVE OVER, Jeff Kinney!)

Into the Volcano by Don Wood

Into the Volcano

by Don Wood (Yes, that Don Wood, of Don and Audrey Wood fame.)

Blue Sky Press (a Scholastic Imprint)

October, 2008

appropriate for grade 3 and up

review copy compliments of Sally at Cover to Cover

This week I've reviewed some books that made me say, "WOW!" mostly (only?) because I know they will reach some of the readers in my classroom. And I've reviewed some very simple graphic novels that will give beginning readers an appropriate early experience with the graphic novel format.

Now it's time for a book (a graphic novel) that makes me say an unconditional, "WOW!"

A WOW in every way, shape and form.

A chin-drop, I'm-gaga sort of WOW.

Don Wood's Into the Volcano is visually stunning and has a story that is packed with action, adventure, mystery, and surprises.

Quick plot summary to set the stage: Two brothers are suddenly taken out of school by their father and told they must travel to a volcanic island to help an aunt they've never met. Once they get there, they are taken on an expedition that involves a boat ride into an erupting volcano and a journey through underground lava-tube tunnels. All the while, the volcano is shaking the entire island and rivers of lava are blocking the exits.

Background on how this book came to be (excerpted from the editorial director's "Dear Reader" letter in the front of the ARC, and Don Wood's bio in the back):

"Don and Audrey Wood left California seven years ago and moved to the jungle side of a Hawaiian Island...Don and Audrey introduced us [editor and her son] to the wonders of their jungle life: late-night hikes to see Madame Pele splash her molten lava into the sea; an awesome hike through a lava tube that was formed in the 1400s and was 60 feet below the surface of the land..."

"Don Wood...lives surrounded by tropical jungle, not far from one of the longest lava tubes in the world. As the nearby active volcano pours rivers of lava into the ocean, Don and his wife, bestselling writer Audrey Wood, frequently hike at night across newly formed terrain to watch molten lava enter the sea. Don and Audrey hand-cleared a space int eh jungle themselves to build and off-grid house overlooking the ocean. A surfer and sailor, Wood also dives and kayaks around the island, and enjoys hiking through ancient lava tubes."

I had to tell you all of that so you would know why the art in this book is so stunning -- Wood didn't imagine it, he's lived it. And best of all, he takes us places and shows us sights we would never in all of our lives be able to see in person: waves (small gentle, huge crashing, gigantic washing-over-the-boat, and perfect-for-surfing waves), beaches of green sand, lava flowing, lava hitting water, a pod of whales blowing under a moonbow, untamed jungle. And we get to experience it through the characters the way he has: boating, climbing, spelunking, and surfing.

As important as the setting is in this book, Wood does not neglect character. The main characters are complex, and they change in satisfying ways. The supporting cast is a bunch of characters. Literally.

This story is perfectly suited to the format of graphic novel. There is no way it would have worked as a text-only novel and the story is too mature for a picture book. This book is not to be missed.

Early glowing review at Educating Alice is what caught my attention.

Poetry Friday: Living in America

(Available for purchase at www.platesusa.com)

This week's poem came to me via A Writer's Almanac. You can read the whole poem there.  

Californians and New Englanders, be advised: the geographic center of the Lower 48 is near Lebanon, KS.   Nearby offbeat places include World's Largest Ball of Twine (Cawker City, KS - 23 mi.), World's Largest Collection of World's Smallest Versions of World's Largest... (Lucas, KS - 53 mi.), and the Birthplace of Kool-Aid (Hastings, NE - 53 mi.).

Living in America
by Anne Stevenson

'Living in America,'
the intelligent people at Harvard say,
'is the price you pay for living in New England.'

Californians think
living in America is a reward
for managing not to live anywhere else.

The rest of the country?
Could it be sagging between two poles,
tastelessly decorated, dangerously overweight?




The roundup today is at A Well-Read Child.

Graphic Novels for the Youngest Readers

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):

The first three reviewed at Comics Worth Reading.
All six reviewed at Book Addiction.
Otto's Orange Day received a mixed review at Good Comics for Kids.
David Elzey at Excelsior File was disappointed in them.

Books That Make Us Say, "WOW!"

Robert Gould's Time Soldiers ® series
Published by Big Guy Books
Kathleen Duey, the co-author of the series with Robert Gould (Duey's blog here), was a National Book Award Finalist and a had a Cybils Short List book in 2007.
The books, created and photographed by Robert Gould, are digitally illustrated by Eugene Epstein.
Review copies (Book #1 Rex, Book #2 Rex2, and Book #3 Patch, all copyright 2005) were freebies from Sally at Cover to Cover. Looking at Powell's and Amazon, it would appear that there are 7 or 8 in the series now.

Every book you read, you read through a series of filters: your knowledge of the topic, your experience with the author, your mood that day, your purpose for reading, your age, your reading preferences and/or ability.

One filter we use every time we read a children's book is the Teacher Filter. We imagine every book we read in the hands of a child, or in the hands of an adult reading with a child (or group of children).

So when I tell you that these Time Soldiers books made me say, "WOW!" when I first opened them (and consequently had the same effect on teachers of both older and younger students than I teach, as well as on a Literacy Principal), please understand that this WOW is not the same kind of WOW that The Underneath has elicited from both of us.

Every page of these books is illustrated with photographs that make you feel like you're watching a movie or TV show of the book. In Book #1, Mikey and his big brother Rob discover a funny-looking spot in the woods through which they can see a dinosaur. Their father doesn't believe them, so they gather their four friends and the video camera and they walk through the funny-looking spot and into a prehistoric dinosauric adventure. They film what they see so they can take the evidence home to Mikey and Rob's father. Lots of the illustrations appear to be the view through the video camera's viewfinder. (Readers who love to spot details in the illustrations will keep track of the duration of the adventure in the viewfinder's time stamp, as well as the shrinking battery power of the camera.) By page 52, the kids have decided that they have come through a Time Portal. When they get back home, they agree to wait until the next day to show the video tape to their parents. Then, at the end of the book, "In the silence of the night..." a man in a black suit and black sunglasses steals the tape from the video recorder. (cue the "uh-oh" music -- duhn-dhun duhn...)

These books are not Great Literature. They will never be considered for either the Newbery or the Caldecott. Here's what they WILL do:

• I'm predicting that they will be wildly popular with my students.
• They will hook reluctant readers.
• They will support developing readers.
• They will lead readers to other books in the Time Travel genre.
• They will inspire writers to tell stories with digital media.

Wow.

ARABELLA MILLER'S TINY CATERPILLAR

ARABELLA MILLER'S TINY CATERPILLAR is quite the darling new picture book. Beth at Cover to Cover had it on a stack of new books she thought I'd like.

This story is about Little Arabella Miller and her tiny caterpillar. There seem to be lots of stories about caterpillars changing into butterflies, but this one is a bit more than that. Arabella loves this caterpillar as only a true friend can. She takes great care of him until he becomes a special butterfly. When the story is finished, there is a two page spread with nonfiction information about the stages of a butterfly's life. I like the combination of fiction and nonfiction in this book. This would be a good companion book to DON'T WORRY BEAR by Greg Foley.

There is lots to like about this one. First of all, the size is fun. It is a teeny tiny bit bigger than most picture books. The illustrations are quite fun. Arabella takes up most of the entire cover of the book. She is happy and colorful--with a fashionable hat! The colors throughout the book are bold against white which makes for a fun read. There is rhyme and rhythm and repetition to the story. A great choice for reading aloud to young children.

We've Been Honored!

Thank you, Stacey and Ruth, at Two Writing Teachers, for honoring us with an "Arte y Pico Award"!

From the Arte y Pico blog: "What is the meaning of the expression: Arte y Pico? Basically, ironically, it translates into a wonderful phrase in Mexico, “lo maximo.” LOL! It will never find its counterpart in English, but if it HAD to, it would be something like, Wow. The Best Art. Over the top."

To pay this honor forward, we will follow the rules and:

1) Select 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award, based on creativity, design, interesting material, and contribution to the blogger community. The blogs can be in any language.
2) Post a link to each blog so that others can visit.
3) Each award-winner has to show the award and link to the blogger that awarded it.
4) The award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show a link to Arte y Pico.

Here are our five picks. These folks are fairly new to the Blogosphere/Kidlitosphere, and we'd like to use this award to give them a boost.

On the Learn -- Her identity is Teach People Not Books, which we love. Here's what she says about herself: "First year educator; social-justice minded; sworn enemy of teacher shoes everywhere. My mama does dance and, as fate would have it, my daddy does rock and roll."

Carol's Corner -- Carol is a literacy coach from Denver who reads lots and thinks critically.

The Boy Reader -- He had a summer Guys Read Book Club in the Park. Cool stuff.

The Graphic Classroom -- They're "promoting the use of high quality comic literature in the...classroom"!

My World-Mi Mundo -- Stella does a great job keeping our eye on the literacy needs (and abilities) of ELLs.

2 New Predictable Books for Young Readers

I hadn't been to Cover to Cover in a while so my visit there yesterday was great (after I met Mary Lee for breakfast, of course!). Beth and Sally had lots of things to show me. I bought a few new pictures books that seemed to be great additions to the predictable picture books I have.


LOOK OUT, SUZY GOOSE by Peter Horacek
Suzy Goose is a fun little character. Someone I can relate to--she is looking for a little peace and quiet! Her family and friends were making far too much noise. So, she goes into the woods looking for some peace and quiet. Even though Suzy is unaware, she has some followers. Some animals who think she would make a great meal. Just like in other cumulative tales, there is lots of repeating as each animal joins the group. There are also sound effects spread across the page that make for fun reading. I love the illustrations. They go from light and bright to dark and a bit eerie as Suzy makes her way into the woods. This one strikes me as a great read aloud and one that kids will go back to on their own over and over.



JACK AND JILL'S TREEHOUSE by Pamela Duncan Edwards is a fun version of THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. In this version, Jack and Jill are building a treehouse. Just as in the original version, the story is cumulative as each new thing is added. The story starts out with the sentence, "This is the branch that held the treehouse that Jack and Jill built." Each page adds another material that was needed for Jack and Jill to build the treehouse. The text is on the right hand side of each two page spread. The fun part of the text is that is reads almost like a reebus--the picture of each new material is illustrated above the word on each page. The illustrations are nice and soft and readers can follow along with the building of the treehouse. I can definitely see a chart for shared reading with this book. The repeated phrases and picture supports make this great for new readers.

Great New Nonfiction for K-1

There is a great new-to-me series of pop-up books out for young kids. They are called POP-OUT Surprise Books. I have been looking for good pop-up books, books that kids would actually read and the pop-up adds to the text, rather than the beautiful ones that kids just play with.I just picked up three of the four that are available. Looks like they came out in 2007.

GIANT POP-OUT VEHICLES, GIANT POP-OUT BUGS, and GIANT POP-OUT PETS. (They didn't have GIANT POP-OUT SHAPES yet but I'll get that one as soon as they do.

These are great pop-up books and they are nonfiction. And, even more fun than that, is the fact that each page gives the readers clues so that when you lift the flap, the giant pop-out photo answers the question. For example, on page one of the pets book, the left side reads, "I walk quietly on my four soft paws, and sometimes I chase after mice!" The right side then asks, "What am I?" and the child can lift the flap for the answer. A very large, pop out photo of a cat! Along with the patterned text for each animal, there is also an added piece of information under the "What am I?" line. A photo with an added piece of information about the animal is included.

These books are great fun for lots of reasons

#1 They are Pop-Up Books and those are always fun!

#2 They are filled with great, colorful photos.

#3 They are predictable so they are quite supportive for new readers.

#4 The fun of guessing once clues are given is always fun (and these clues make it pretty easy to be correct!)

#5 They are nonfiction--nonfiction and pop-up--what a great combination!

These are pretty sturdy books too. So they should last in classrooms if kids are semi-careful. There aren't pieces to pull and turn like there are in the more fragile pop-up books. I can also see these as a great model for some kids for nonfiction writing.

What a find!

NCTE Convention Info on Website

(Thanks to THE READING ZONE for this fun new toy that let me create the NCTE heading!)

It is that time of year again--time to register for NCTE's (National Council of Teachers of English) Annual Convention! This year, the conference, themed BECAUSE SHIFT HAPPENS: TEACHING IN THE 21ST CENTURY, will be held in San Antonio, Texas from November 20-23.

Kylene Beers, program chair for the convention shares her thoughts on the convention and the theme.

And, they have posted a list of some of the big speakers. SOOO many great speakers and authors all in one place! It really does look like a phenomenal weekend! Some children's authors of interest are Tomie dePaola, Jacqueline Woodson, Sharon Creech, and Lois Ehlert. General Session speakers are also pretty amazing--I am looking quite forward to Gary E. Knell, President of Sesame Street and his special guest!! Lots more great speakers are posted on the site.

If you are wondering about sessions that match your needs, the searchable program is great. You can look for speakers, topics, strands, etc.

Looks to be a great conference in a great location!

Mary Lee, Katie D., Karen S., and I (who will all be attending) will plan some type of Kidlitosphere get-together. We'll do something casual and simple to get together and visit. Lots of us were there last year and it was quite fun. So, if you decide to come to San Antonio, email us or comment on the blog and we'll know how many to plan for.