Life and Death

Ways to Live Forever
by Sally Nicholls
Arthur A. Levine Books, 2008
review copy provided by the publisher

I finished WAYS TO LIVE FOREVER on the drive to Tennessee last weekend. It was an experience much like the one I had when I finished reading EACH LITTLE BIRD THAT SINGS on the drive home from dog trials: words blurring, tears streaming down my face. EACH LITTLE BIRD THAT SINGS is set in a funeral home and has a pet dog in it, so I should have known what I was getting myself into. WAYS TO LIVE FOREVER begins like this:

1. My name is Sam.
2. I am eleven years old.
3. I collect stories and fantastic facts.
4. I have leukemia.
5. By the time you read this, I will probably be dead.

Both books are about death, and that might be reason enough for some to want to keep them out of the hands of children. But both books are also about life, and in my opinion, that's precisely the reason why children should read them. Just last week, we had a conversation in my fourth grade classroom in which one of the great truths of fiction came out: we read fiction as a way to enjoy and learn from the problems of the characters...from a safe distance. Children should read WAYS TO LIVE FOREVER so that they can get to know Sam through the collection of lists and questions and journal entries he writes in the last 4 months of his life. Sam examines death and dying from all possible angles, but on the flip side, Sam makes a list of 8 things he wants to do, and over the course of the book he accomplishes all 8 in some way, shape or form: this is a book about living.

What a contrast it was to put WAYS TO LIVE FOREVER back in my bag, dry the tears off my face, and begin to read THE GRAVEYARD BOOK. I went straight from the heart-wrenching misery of the death of a bright, talented child...to death as a matter-of-fact way of life as a child grows up in a cemetery, surrounded by and taught by ghosts. Whoa.

Despite the shift of perspective from "life looking at death" to "death looking at life," both books accomplish the same mission: they give the reader the safety of distance from which to consider life and death from all angles.

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is woven through with history, mythology, and fantasy. It brings to mind Ray Bradbury's THE HALLOWEEN TREE and SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES. And of course, GRANDY THAXTER'S HELPER.

I didn't need a single Kleenex when I read THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, but it kept me on the edge of my seat for the rest of the drive to Nashville, and I opened it again before we left the city limits on the way back home to Ohio. When I closed the book at the end, I sat for a long time just thinking. About life. And about death.

The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
illustrated by Dave McKean
HarperCollins, 2008
review copy provided by the publisher

A Possible Addition To "Cool Teachers in Children's Lit"

Today, Beth at Cover to Cover mentioned that Miss Hawthorn from the picture book WILLOW by Denise Brennan-Nelson and Rosemarie Brennan might be a good addition to our Cool Teachers list. So, I started to read the book and decided that Beth may have lost her mind. The first page begins with these words,

"Even on the sunniest days, Miss Hawthorn's art room was cold and dark. Everything was in its place. There wasn't a single broken crayon in the bunch. The students sat in their rows, silent and still, like eggs in a carton."

See why I thought Beth had lost her mind? But I trust Beth on books so I kept reading. It seems that everyone sits silently except for Willow. Willow is a creative spirit and sees things in her own way. Instead of painting brown trees with green leaves, Willow paints pink trees. Willow shares her own art book with her teacher and classmates. She continues to paint things that upset Miss Hawthorn, who frowns and mutters, "Horrid little girl."

I am sure you are wondering what I am possibly thinking, even considering adding Miss Hawthorn to our list... In our original Cool Teachers post we said:

"We're looking for thoughtful teachers who understand kids and learning and are active, intelligent people who love their work."

Miss Hawthorn may qualify because of the ending of this book. Throughout the rest of the story, Willow continues to be her wonderful self, sharing her own thoughts with Miss Hawthorn and others. She even gives Miss Hawthorn a few gifts. The last gift is her well-loved art book. (SPOILER AHEAD but I think you can figure it out anyway.) At the end of the book, Miss Hawthorn discovers her own creativity and her classroom becomes a place where everyone could be themselves!

So, Miss Hawthorn learned from her students. What could be better than that? She became a different kind of a teacher because she listened to the children who were in her class. She ended up becoming a teacher who valued each child's creativity. I think learning from your students and reflecting and changing your practice because of it definitely qualifies her to be on our list. What do you think?

LOVE THE CYBILS WINNERS!

So many of the books I love on this year's CYBILS award list! Congrats to the CYBILS team for another great year!

Poetry Friday -- Dark

WHY ARE YOUR POEMS SO DARK?
by Linda Pastan

Isn't the moon dark too,
most of the time?

And doesn't the white page
seem unfinished

without the dark stain
of alphabets?


The rest of the poem is here.
The round up this week is at Big A little a.


The moon was nearly full on Sunday night as we drove back from Tennessee.

It was not dark at all as it rose up through the winter trees.

But as is the way of the world, the moon's fullness and light lasted for only the briefest moment, and now it is moving back towards darkness again. Nothing full can stay.

When Did You Buy Into a New Tool?

I just read a post by Bill at Tech Intersect on "The True Digital Divide". An interesting post about people buying into or not buying into new tools that technology provides.

I remember years and years ago, sitting in our very first inservice on the internet. A mandated session, I believe.We were a young group of teachers. We were in a computer lab, each with our own computers and the speaker was teaching us about the internet and how to find things. As a group of elementary teachers who saw no connection to our work and saw no need to use this in our own lives, we sat passively doing what the instructor asked. But then, midway through the class, someone discovered that you could find phone numbers and addresses of old friends and boyfriends on the internet. Immediately the room perked up as we looked for people that we had known to see where they were and possibly what they were doing. We were amazed that we could do this and the energy in the room went up quickly. We were immediately hooked on this new tools and the possibilities of the information we could find. Instead of searching topics given to us by an instructor, we had found old friends who we could go home and reconnect with. (This seems like such a small thing now but it was a huge new thing years ago.) We quickly moved beyond this type of search as we wondered what other things we could find on the internet.

I'm not sure what this says about us or about the use of new tools except that users have to buy in and they won't buy in until they see something worthwhile and interesting. Until they have a reason to play with a tool to see what is possible. We don't all buy into the same tools at the same time. Often I need to see what other people can do with a tool before I decide whether or not the tool is worth the time it will take to learn it. Twitter is a perfect example of that. There are so many options out there that I have learned to take my time and choose wisely. I don't feel that I need to be an expert on every tool.

I don't use tech because it makes me a good role model. I use it because it adds meaning to lots that I do. I can't imagine living without the tools that add to my networks and learning and entertainment. I think teachers need to first see how new tools can enhance their own lives and learning. Then, they will find ways to embed those new tools into their teaching.

In Toby Fischer's post at Future of Education, he talks about the importance of educators taking on the role of technology user. For me right now, that is where my thinking and learning is. Committing to using these new tools in way that fit into my life. I will need to think further about implications for the classroom but committing to using the tools will surely impact my teaching.

Reading Conversation

A couple of weeks back, my students and I made a chart of all the things we expect when we pick up a nonfiction book. The number one expectation was FACTS. Along with that, we listed all the various structures of nonfiction (index, glossary, pictures, captions, etc.).

Yesterday I asked them to give me the top 5 expectations they have when they open a fiction book. Here they are, in the order they were given:

1. A beginning, a middle, and an end. (Wow! The basic structure of fiction on the first hand up!)

2. Enjoyment.

3. A problem.

I had to stop them there because they had said so much in their top three and I wanted to make sure they really heard themselves.  I probed, "You expect to enjoy fiction, and yet you also expect problems? You ENJOY the PROBLEMS?" They laughed, delighted by the wrongness of that truth and assured me that they enjoy the problems. "Do you ALWAYS enjoy problems?" And they laughed again about that, and assured me that they do NOT always enjoy problems. "So why do you enjoy problems in books?" They couldn't really put it into words, so I gave them the simple truth that they already knew about fiction: We can enjoy the problems BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT OURS! An example from just the day before:  When S. decided to read THE GIRL WITH 500 MIDDLE NAMES by Haddix, it was with the expressed mission of finding out how the character in the story handled the teasing. Not her problem.

4. Characters.

5. Story. Not facts, story. Unless, as the boy who's reading CRACKER by Kahodata pointed out, you're reading historical fiction, and then you expect some facts mixed into your story.

When I sent them off to read, it seemed like the silence in the room was a bit deeper than usual, and I was unwilling to break it by having conferences. Maybe it was just my imagination, but the way they were holding their books as they read looked like they were holding mirrors up to their own hearts.

Another Book I Could Read a Million Times

HOW TO HEAL A BROKEN WING by Bob Graham is being added to my list of "Books I Could Read a Million Times". I have read this book to several classes at the library and would be happy to read it to 100 more classes if I could. It is a great book.

HOW TO HEAL A BROKEN WING begins like this:"High above the city, no one heard the soft thud of feathers against glass.". How about that for a powerful lead? The story goes on to tell about Will, the only person in the city who noticed that a bird had fallen and was hurt. This book is the story of Will's work in helping the bird to heal in the midst of all of the others who were too busy to notice.

The brilliance of this book is partly in the illustrations. The book does not have many words. Just a short line on each page. So, as a reader, you need to read both the pictures and the words to get the whole message. And the illustrations are amazing--I can't even explain all that Graham does with the pictures.

This is a great book for talk. Reading it to many different grades over the week, there were definite patterns. By page 2, the class was silent and glued to the book. The look of horror at a bird falling and being hurt was common. As a reader, you feel lots of emotions in this book and the kids' faces showed each one. Without giving away the ending too much, I will tell you that several classes clapped at the end. You just feel the need to celebrate the ending of the book in some way.

This book is good for every age--preschool, elementary, adults. I can't really think of an audience that wouldn't appreciate it.
It is really a must-have.

Other reviews: Katie at Creative Literacy
We Heart Books
Mother Reader

(This is on the Cybils Short List so we'll see if it wins when the winners are announced later this week! Crossing my fingers for this one!)

Reading Aloud Conversation

I have been following the Read Aloud conversation started by Jen Robinson with interest. I am always amazed at how big some of these blog conversations grow! Jen started the conversation asking about starting a campaign about the importance of read aloud.

I am a huge advocate of books and reading aloud. And, Mary Lee wrote her first book on this important topic. In her book, she talks to teachers about the importance of read aloud. She talks about the comfortable feeling in the room during read aloud and the things that kids learn when read aloud is an anchor in their day. Her book is an amazing one--one of the best for teachers on read aloud and how to make the most of read aloud time. If you haven't read it, I would highly recommend it. It is definitely a book that every library should have as a resource for teachers. Mary Lee takes a fresh look at read aloud and helps teachers see all of the possibilities. (She would not mention her book on her own so I thought I would let you know what a great resource it is!) The Stenhouse website says this about the book:

"Reconsidering Read-Aloud is a compelling example of the richness that can be found in this daily classroom event. With a love of literature, knowledge of her students, and the desire to teach kids to read more deeply, every teacher can bring the joy of teaching and learning during read-aloud to the classroom."

On another note, I worry when we decide what other parents and teachers should do. To be honest, I don't read aloud to my children as often as I'd like. I don't necessarily believe that reading aloud is THE most important thing I can do at this point in their reading lives. Instead, we talk about books every day. That doesn't mean that we don't talk about books every day.We do. I share new books, listen to their thoughts on what they are reading, etc. If we limit what we do as parents to read aloud, we miss out on the higher level conversations we can have that last them a lifetime. I know that my 3rd grader is in a school that values books. She has books read aloud to her every day. She has time to read on her own every day. The two of us rarely sit down and read aloud. Instead, we talk and talk and talk about books. We visit bookstores and libraries together. We ask each other's opinions on new books we find. We agree and we disagree. Is one more important than the other? I would say that being part of your child's reading life can happen in lots of ways. Reading aloud is one way and often the best way to start a lifetime conversation around books. But with new literacies and kids reading so much online, etc. we have to go beyond just sitting and reading aloud to our children. As parents, we need to talk about the books they are reading when we are not sitting next to them. They need to know that we are interested in what they are reading and what they are thinking about that reading.

I think there are LOTS of ways that parents and teachers can support children in becoming lifelong readers. Reading aloud is one of those ways. And a fun one at that. But there are other things that are just as important--visiting libraries, choosing books together, talking to kids about the books they read on their own, etc. I think there are lots of options for parents. Being part of your child's reading life is what I see as the critical part.

BELLA AND BEAN by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

I first heard about the book BELLA &BEAN when I read Kristine's interview of Kathi Appelt on Best Book I Have Not Read. In the interview, Kathi Appelt said, " I love Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s new Bella and Bean, which I’ve been carrying around and hugging. Don’t you love it when you love a book so much you just want to hug it?" I knew I had to have it.

I love all of Rebecca Kai Dotlich's work and was thrilled to see this new picture book from her. A picture book about being a poet and being a friend. What could be better. The beginning of the book reads like this:

"Bella lived in an old brick house with white shutters, just up the hill from Spoon Pond. Every day she wrote poetry at a small desk beneath a small window, shaded by a canopy the color of plums."

Even if I didn't see the possibilities is sharing this book with writers in a Writing Workshop, I would love this book. Bella and Bean are great characters. Characters who have personality right away in the book. Very believable characters and friends. Two girls you would want to hang out with.

The illustrations in the book are perfect. The cover is pink and will definitely be noticed by Fancy Nancy fans. The liveliness of the illustrations are a perfect fit for the story.

The messages about friendship and writing will make for great conversations. Finding topics to write about, finding time to write, loving words, paying attention to the world around you are all part of this story.

And, the ending is wonderful. Love the ending.

This book is sweet on one hand, yet carries powerful messages about friendship and writing too. So many levels to enter. So many possibilities for students.

I agree with Kathi Appelt--a book I want to hug. Anyone who has seen me this weekend, knows that I have been carrying this book around with me, making anyone I see read it. So far, I have shared it with several friends at the Reading Recovery conference and I intend to carry it around for a few more days to share. It is one of those books that is too good not to share with everyone you see.

(I just realized that Rebecca Kai Dotlich will be at a conference at Purdue this summer that I'll be attending. I may have to go a day early to hear her keynote. How could I pass that up?)

Patrick Carman: Live Webcast

Remember when Franki reviewed Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman? We got this press release today:

Patrick Carman's new book, Skeleton Creek, hits stores on Tuesday, February 10th. The first project of its kind, Skeleton Creek is a book and a movie at the same time. Find out about the project by clicking here.

Friday the 13th Live Webcast Event
Watch the live webcast!
Author Q and A / Presentation
6:30PM (PST) on Friday the 13th
Third Place Books in Seattle, WA.