Great New Series: Frankie Pickle

Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom
written and illustrated by Eric Wight
Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
on the shelves May 5, 2009

Franklin Lorenzo Piccolini (aka Frankie Pickle) is a kid with a runaway imagination. The simple act of reaching for a toaster waffle becomes a scene from an Indiana Jones movie, and when he's sent to clean up his room and finds his GoGo Robo buried in the dirty laundry, it's suddenly time for WonderPickle to save "the metropolitan metropolis of Metro City" from the attack of GoGo Robo, resulting in an even messier room. Surprisingly, his mom agrees with him that if he doesn't want to clean his room, he doesn't have to. She simply says, "Whatever happens, you have to deal with the consequences."

Life is good when you don't have to clean your room! (Except when the Dryer Sheet Fairy stops magically delivering clean clothes.) And if you're not cleaning your room, you might as well skip cleaning yourself, right? ("Seriously, Mom. You're going to have to change his name to Stanky.") Who cares if it gets so bad that your faithful sidekick, the cute Westie named Argyle, won't even come in your room? ("Fine, you're a bed hog anyway.")

Finally, it gets to be too much even for Frankie and he deals with all the consequences, right down to taking a bath that results in water that looks "like milk did from Frosted Cocoa Loops."

This graphic novel hybrid is sure to be a hit with elementary kids in grades 2-5. I asked two of my graphic novel readers to check it out and they loved it. The way the story changes visually when Frankie's imagination takes hold reminded them of Baby Mouse. They liked the fake-brand-names-that-sound-real, like Frosted Cocoa Loops, and the dryer sheet cape that Frankie makes. I wanted my hybrid (Fogmound series) reader to read it next, but another friend was looking for a book when the first two finished, so we gave it to him. I'm pretty sure this is a book that will eventually make a complete circuit of my 4th grade classroom. And we're already looking forward to the next book in the series!

EDITED TO ADD:

From author/illustrator Eric Wight:

"I just turned in my manuscript for Frankie #2: FRANKIE PICKLE AND THE PINE RUN 3000 (the Pinewood Derby meets Speed Racer), and am writing Frankie #3: FRANKIE PICKLE AND THE MULTIPLYING MENACE (math meets Lord of the Rings). The plan is to do at least a dozen of them, with two coming out a year.

Definitely keep me in mind for school visits next year too. I have a couple of fun programs I'm putting together where the kids help me write a little adventure and then I do a drawing of it, or one where I help them make their own comic. By next school year I'll have galleys for the next two books. #2 is due next February, but we are trying to move it up to this November."

2009 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes.
Used with permission of Kevin Henkes and Greenwillow Books.

The Notable Books in the Language Arts Committee, sponsored by the Children’s Literature Assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English, selects thirty titles each year that best exemplify the criteria established for the Notables Award. Books considered for this annual list are works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry written for children, grades K-8. The books must meet one or more of the following criteria:

• deal explicitly with language, such as plays on words, word origins, or the history of language;
• demonstrate uniqueness in the use of language or style;
• invite child response or participation.

In addition, books are to:

• have an appealing format;
• be of enduring quality;
• meet generally accepted criteria of quality for the genre in which they are written.

2009 Committee: Deanna Day, Chair, Monica Edinger, Past Chair
Mary Lee Hahn, Janelle Mathis, Jonda McNair, Mary Napoli, Kathy Short, Edward Sullivan


Poetry

Bryant, Jen. (2008). Ringside 1925. New York: Alfred A. Knopf/Random House.

Giovanni, Nikki. (2008). Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks.

Greenberg, Jan. (2008). Side by Side: New Poems Inspired by Art from Around the World. New York: Abrams.

Thomas, Joyce Carol. (2008). The Blacker the Berry. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. New York: HarperCollins.

Weston, Robert Paul. (2008). Zorgamazoo. New York: Penguin.

Historical and Realistic Fiction

Almond, David. (2008). The Savage. Illustrated by Dave McKean. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. (2008). The Boy Who Dared. New York: Scholastic.

Bauer, Joan. (2008). Peeled. New York: Penguin.

Giff, Patricia Reilly. (2008). Eleven. New York: Wendy Lamb/Random House.

Lowry, Lois. (2008). The Willoughbys. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Nicholls, Sally. (2008). Ways to Live Forever. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.

Fantasy/Folklore

Alley, Zoe B. (2008). There’s a Wolf at the Door. Illustrated by R.W. Alley. New York: Roaring Brook.

Berk, Ari. (2008). The Secret History of Giants. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

Morales, Yuyi. (2008). Just in Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book. New York: Roaring Brook.

Prineas, Sarah (2008). The Magic Thief. New York: HarperCollins.

Reeve, Philip. (2008). Here Lies Arthur. New York: Scholastic.

Information/Biography

Bryant, Jen. (2008). A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams. Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Deneberg, Barry. (2008). Lincoln Shot: A President’s Life Remembered. New York: Feiwel and Friends/MacMillan.

Dray, Philip. (2008). Yours for Justice, Ida B. Wells: The Daring Life of a Crusading Journalist. Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree.

Nelson, Scott Reynolds, & Aronson, Marc. (2008). Ain’t Nothing but a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry. Washington, DC: National Geographic.

Prelutsky, Jack. (2008). Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry: How to Write a Poem. New York: Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins.

Scieszka, Jon. (2008). Knucklehead. New York: Penguin.

Picture Books

Chen, Chih-Yuan. (2008). Artie and Julie. Alhambra, CA: Heryin.

Choung, Eun-Hee. (2008). Minji’s Salon. La Jolla, CA: Kane/Miller.

Cottin, Menena. (2008). The Black Book of Colors. Illustrated by Rosana Faria. Toronto, Canada: Groundwood.

Gravett, Emily. (2008). Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Johnson, Stephen T. (2008). A is for Art: An Abstract Alphabet. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Reibstein, Mark. (2008). Wabi Sabi. Illustrated by Ed Young. New York: Little Brown.

Rumford, James. (2008). Silent Music: A Story of Baghdad. New York: Roaring Brook.

Seeger, Laura Vaccaro. (2008). One Boy. New York: Roaring Brook.

Using Nonfiction in Your Read Aloud

This post is part of the Share a Story - Shape a Future Blog Tour for Literacy. The focus of Day Two is "Selecting Reading Material." The complete schedule for the week-long blog tour can be found here.

Stenhouse Publishers has sponsored this stop on the blog tour, and this stop is cross-posted on their blog.

In 2002, Stenhouse published my book, Reconsidering Read-Aloud. I'm proud to say that in the seven years since then, I haven't stopped reconsidering the content or the function of read aloud as a part of the balanced literacy approach I take in my classroom.

Three of the biggest changes in my read aloud over the past seven years are:

• I read much more nonfiction aloud.
• I read aloud more frequently during the day now, and often for shorter periods of time.
• I don't finish every book from which I read aloud -- sometimes my read aloud is a preview or a "book hook."
  

Here are some of the reasons I read aloud nonfiction:

I read aloud nonfiction to teach or review or reinforce content.

When we were studying weather, I read aloud THE SNOW SHOW: WITH CHEF KELVIN by Carolyn Fisher. It was a fun way to review the concepts of evaporation, condensation and precipitation.




I read aloud nonfiction to introduce or review the structures of nonfiction text.

The student population of my school is very diverse. I read ONE WORLD, MANY RELIGIONS by Mary Pope Osborne to promote discussions about our similarities and differences, but we wound up noticing the way each section was organized, the way the chapter and topic headings alerted us to get ready for new information, and the way a topic sentence in a paragraph promoted accurate predictions about the information that followed.




I read aloud nonfiction to model thinking strategies.

I didn't read aloud all of WATER HOLE (24 HOURS) by Zahavit Shalev (DK), but I wanted my students to know how to make sense of all of the information that's presented on each page. As I read aloud the first couple of pages, I talked about how my eye was moving across each page. I flipped back and forth to show them some of the features that mark time on each page. I asked questions, made connections, and ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the cute baby elephants (and at the recycling process that takes care of the massive amounts of elephant dung that the herd leaves behind!).


I read aloud nonfiction to tempt my students to read it more often.

All I would have had to do to sell THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK: JUNIOR EDITION by David Borgenicht and Robin Epstein would have been to read aloud a few of the topics in the table of contents (How to Soothe a Peeved Parental Unit, How to Survive Outdoor Chores, How to Deal with Poo on Your Shoe). I did that, but then I read just one complete section: How to Survive Farting in Public. The book hasn't been back on the shelf since.

In another example, I tempted my students by reading one entry in HOW BIG IS IT? by Ben Hillman and they went on to read every entry in all of his books in the How Big/Strong/Fast Is It series.

I read aloud nonfiction that doesn't look or act like nonfiction to challenge my students' thinking about genre.

WHY? by Lila Prap. Are we supposed to take this book seriously and learn about animals, or is it a joke book, or a book to challenge us to think more creatively? (or all of the above?)

TALKIN' ABOUT BESSIE by Nikki Grimes. Is this a biography? But it's written in poems! And the poems are all from different points of view!








And finally, most of all, I read aloud nonfiction for the sheer enjoyment of it -- for the talk we have -- for the connections and questions and WOW moments that come when young people learn about the way their world works, about the people who have made their world what it is, and about their place in our amazing world.

Another Story That Dovetails in the Middle

I'm slightly goosebumpy about this coincidence: Last year on almost exactly this date I wrote about how my one example of Stories That Dovetail in the Middle had suddenly turned into a collection of three.

Here's the newest addition to the collection. It doesn't quite fit because you can't read it from either end towards the middle. However, it DOES have a two stories that work towards and away from the middle, so I'm including it!

Artie and Julie
by Chih-Yuan Chen
Heryin Books, Inc., September 2008
review copy provided by the publisher

Artie is a lion; Julie is a rabbit. Their parallel stories are told on split pages. At the same time Artie is learning to stalk and eat rabbits on the top half of each page, Julie is learning is learning to run fast and jump high to protect herself from lions on the bottom half of each page. (I'm predicting that kids will love these little "books within the book" and the mirroring of the stories!)

In the middle, both young animals are deemed to be sufficiently trained to venture out on their own. Both Artie and Julie get distracted by a jellyberry patch. Their stories come together full-page when a storm comes and they both seek shelter in a cave. By the time the sun comes out, they are friends. Their stories split again when they return home, and they each tell a new story to their parents that night -- the story of how lions and rabbits can become friends.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR:

From the Gecko Press site:

Chih-Yuan Chen, three-time winner of the prestigious Hsin Yi Picture Book Award, is an illustrator and writer from Taiwan.

"It is my hope that children from all over the world can learn to accept different people and things, and see the world with broader views and minds."

From the Kane Miller site:

Chih-Yuan Chen lives and works in Taiwan. Born in 1975, Chen is tall and thin, and does not like to wear suits. He does, of course, like to take walks.

Read Across America

This past Monday, we celebrated Read Across America in the library at our school.  I have trouble planning for these one-day celebrations. I know that literacy is built over a lifetime and that one day celebrations are not the real work of literacy teaching. But, I wanted to do something that would be fun for the students and that would familiarize them with many of the books in the library. So, I came up with about 20-25 ideas--books that invited "things to do".  Books that kids could have fun with. We set up the library with 20 tables filled with books and activities that kids could do around books.We have the best library aide in the world and we worked together to get it all ready in time. We had several moms come in and teach Origami and we pulled the Origami books for that table.  We made Pigeon Hats that were featured on Mo Willems' website.  

Other areas included: Paper Airplanes

Make a Bookmark

Be Filmed Talking About Your Favorite Book

Building Books with Building Toys

How to Draw Books

Song Books

Scrambled States of America Books and Games

Joke and Riddle Books

Lucky for me, I had great support for this event. Loren Scully, the children's librarian at our Dublin Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library System spent much of the day with the kids at a Captain Underpants game--Kids had the chance to toss underwear into a toilet and to see how many of them could fit in the World's Largest Pair of Underwear.  Not only did she join us for the day but two of our local Starbucks baristas helped out too!  (Did I mention that, in my opinion,  we have the best library AND the best Starbucks in the country.) Our art teacher is also incredible and he ran a table where kids did painting like Eric Carle. It was quite a busy station and the kids had a ball painting. Our Enrichment teacher filmed students who wanted to talk about their favorite book. Our Technology Support Teacher worked with kids to create bookmarks on Comic Life. The day was a hit. Kids had fun and adults were exhausted! This week, a few kids started asking for some of the Origami books and paper airplane books. Everyone had fun around books and kids got their hands on lots of book that I hope they'll ask for again!

GREAT NEW NONFICTION: HOW MANY BABY PANDAS?

I picked up a great new book at Cover to Cover last week called HOW MANY BABY PANDAS? by Sandra Markle.    You can never have enough nonfiction books about animals and this one is one that kids can enter at so many levels--there is so much about it that is wonderful!

First of all, it can be read as a counting book.  Counting from 1-8, we watch the phases of a baby panda's first year.  On the left side of each page is a gorgeous photo of a panda (or pandas) at some  point in that first year. The number of pandas is in red with the word version of the number underneath.  The page then has a question like "How may pandas are taking a nap?"  With that photo and small amount of text, readers can learn a bit about pandas.

On the right side of the page, more photos and more information is given about pandas.   These paragraph blurbs are perfect for readers--lots of information but not too much. 

There are also added boxes with extra information throughout the book.

The final question in the book is the critical one: How many pandas live wild and free?

The answer: Not enough.

The last few pages go on to explain the problems for pandas and what are being done about them

Extra trivia, a glossary, a map, author's note and great websites for more research are added at the end of the book.

This book has everything you could want in a nonfiction book and who doesn't love a panda?  Kids of all ages will love this book.  I can see using it in lots of ways--for leisure nonfiction reading, to use as a mentor text as a model for nonfiction writing, and more.

Roses and Thorns

ROSE THORNS
by Molly McQuade

Why do roses need their thorns?
Some things are little known.
.
.
.
The touch of a thorn
is a wry, deep telling
of the senses not to bloom
without a wish to,
without belief in pain
to hold us true.

(read the whole poem here)


There have been a few thorns in my life this week. It's good to remember the necessity of their pain "to hold us true;" good to be sure of our blooms, no matter what the cost.



Anastasia has the round up this week at Picture Book of the Day.

Teachers

We're up to 119 on our list of Cool Teachers in Children's Literature.

Cool Gate has The 15 Most Inspiring Teachers in Films.

Would it be okay if I worked on being cool and inspiring instead of doing report cards?

Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say.
Okay, then. See you next week.

Kids Are Making Huge Contributions: The Best Thing About the 21st Century

Last year, my 9 year old decided that she did not want gifts at her birthday party. She had heard about other kids who had used their birthday party as a way to give back to a cause they cared about. She knew she wanted to do something, but she wasn't sure what. I happened upon the organization THE READING VILLAGE and shared the site and mission with my daughter. Since Guatemala and literacy are two things that we care deeply about, we knew that this was the right fit. For Ana's birthday, she asked her friends to bring books written in Spanish, instead of a gift for her, to the party. After the games and crafts, Ana opened the presents which came wrapped. Kids loved watching as each book was opened. The variety of books we received was amazing. Kids often chose books that they loved when they were younger to share with the children in Guatemala. These books were sent to Linda at THE READING VILLAGE and Ana plans to do things like this for all of her upcoming birthdays.

As a parent, this birthday party was perfect. Since presents were not the highlight as they often are, the kids enjoyed each other and being together. They also enjoyed the fact that they were celebrating a birthday by giving something to others. Such a different kind of a party.

Ana recently attended party and the little girl collected things for the Humane Society at her birthday party. I love to see kids who find causes they believe in. I often worry about what service learning will turn into in schools if whole schools or whole classrooms take on projects that do not mean much for each student. When the teacher or the school chooses a cause, we take away students' role in finding and contributing to causes they care about. I think it is so important for kids to find causes that matter to them, personally, and to find ways to make a difference.

If you have not had a chance to hear Dr. Tim Tyson or to visit his blog, it is inspiring for educators. His goal: Using Technology to Empower Meaningful, Global, Student Contribution. Spend some time on MabryOnline looking at the contributions these students are making and it is happening in school.

Kids have always been amazing in the way they work to make the world a better place.  But, I think the tools of the 21st Century have made it easier for them.  The tools make it possible for everyone to know about issues that concern them and to make global contributions--no matter how old they are. Our children have learned to use these tools in powerful ways. I am amazed that children so young are so selfless and have been finding so many ways that children are making such a difference in the world.  Not surprised, but always amazed by children.  And inspired. So, I thought I'd take a few minutes to share all of the amazing things I have found lately--where kids are making a difference. I know there are others and so many more that are never made public, but here are a few that I've found recently, that I thought might inspire others. Enjoy and be inspired!

This blog, A YEAR OF CHARITABLE DEEDS shares a year in the life of a family who is committed to 365 Days/365 Charitable Deeds.  This blog began on December 31, 2008 and began like this:

How difficult is it to do a little something helpful now and again? Is it really that tough to pick up an errant piece of trash and dispose of it properly? Does it really cramp our style to hold the door open for someone? To improve some one's day by offering a simple smile?

In this age of jam-packed schedules, never-ending technological distractions, and rush-rush-rush attitudes, are we really so busy that we can't lend a hand now and again?

I love following them and their mission. So many ways to do good in the world.

This Public Service Announcement was produced by Noah Gray, a 16 year old, WE NEED A NEW "R" WORD. It is a very powerful video and will definitely make a difference in people's perceptions. Created for the Special Olympics.

Following this first video, youth delegates created this video in the reaction to the use of the "R" word in Bill O'Reilly's show airing February 9. This clip is as powerful, if not more powerful than the first one.

A video created to answer the question, "What does Special Olympics mean to you?"


Zach is the creator of LITTLE RED WAGON. The number of projects that this 5th grader has already done is amazing. He has done many many things in the past few years to support different causes. His site is inspirational and the videos he has included add to the understanding of his mission. A boy who is making a huge difference in the world.


Laura's Blog 25 Days to Make a Difference was started for this reason:
In December of 2007, I decided that the best way to remember my grandpa during the holiday season would be by living my life like he did, by making a difference and being a leader. I decided to honor my grandfather’s memory by trying to make a difference every day for twenty five days. I wanted to be able to do little things, like kids my age typically do, instead of HUGE things that are sometimes hard for kids like me. I decided to write about my adventures here, and I also created a challenge.

How about Capucine who I learned about from Stella at Mi World-Mi Mundo. Capucine, a four year old, is helping to make sure that her friends in Mongolia have books. She would like to open a library for them.  Capucine already understands the power of her words, the Internet, and making a difference.The new book 10 THINGS I CAN DO TO HELP MY WORLD by Melanie Walsh is a great one to start conversations with kids on contribution. I also think they would be inspired by seeing some of the things other kids are doing. I know I am.

February Mosaic

I love it that this month started with snow and ended with blue sky in the desert. So much can change in just one month...

I made this mosaic on fd's Flickr Toys.