2010 NCTE Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts

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

Each year, a seven-member committee selected by the Children’s Literature Assembly, an affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English, identifies 30 exemplary works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry written for children, grades K-8. To be selected as a Notable Book in the Language Arts, books must meet one or more of the following criteria:

1) deal explicitly with language, such as plays on words, word origins, or the history of language;

2) demonstrate uniqueness in the use of language or style; and

3) invite child response or participation. In addition, books are to have an appealing format, be of enduring quality, and meet generally accepted criteria of quality for the genre in which they are written.

2010 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts

POETRY

Florian, Douglas. (2009). Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Heard, Georgia. (2009). Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

Hoberman, Mary Ann and Winston, Linda. (2009). The Tree that Time Built. Illustrated by Barbara Fortin. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks.

Hughes, Langston. (2009). My People. Illustrated by Charles R. Smith, Jr. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Myers, Walter Dean. (2009). Looking Like Me. Illustrated by Chris Myers. New York: Egmont.

Nelson, Marilyn. (2009). Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World. Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. New York: Penguin.

Ruddell, Deborah. (2009). A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems. Illustrated by Joan Rankin. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Sidman, Joyce. (2009). Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors. Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

HISTORICAL AND REALISTIC FICTION

Baskin, Nora Raleigh. (2009). Anything but Typical. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Carmichael, Clay. (2009). Wild Things. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.

Davis, Tanita S. (2009). Mare’s War. New York: Random House.

Grimes, Nikki. (2009). Rich, A Dyamonde Daniel Book. Illustrated by Christie, R. G. New York: Penguin.

O’Conner, Barbara. (2009). The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis. New York: FSG.

Stead, Rebecca. (2009). When You Reach Me. New York: Random House.

Stoffels, Karlijn. (2009). Heartsinger. New York: Scholastic.

FANTASY / FOLKLORE

Compestine, Ying Chang. (2009). A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts. New York: Henry Holt.

Grace, Lin. (2009). Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. New York: Little, Brown.

Pinkney, Jerry. (2009). The Lion and the Mouse. New York: Little Brown.

INFORMATION / BIOGRAPHY / AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Bryan, Ashley. (2009). Ashley Bryan: Words to My Life’s Song. Photographs by Bill McGinness. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Osborne, Linda Barrett. (2009). Traveling the Freedom Road: From Slavery and the Civil War through Reconstruction. New York: Abrams.

Russell, Ching Yeung. (2009). Tofu Quilt. New York: Lee and Low.

Sandler, Martin W. (2009). The Dust Bowl through the Lens: How Photography Revealed and Helped Remedy a National Disaster. New York: Walker.

Sturm, James, Arnold, Andrew, and Frederick-Frost, Alexis. (2009). Adventures in Cartooning: How to Turn Your Doodles into Comics. New York: First Second.

PICTURE BOOKS

Black, Michael Ian. (2009). Chicken Cheeks. Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Chin, Jason. (2009). Redwoods. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

Coffelt, Nancy. (2009). Big, Bigger, Biggest! New York: Henry Holt.

Feldman, Eve B. (2009). Billy and Milly, Short and Silly! Illustrated by Tuesday Mourning. New York: Penguin.

Gerstein, Mordicai. (2009). A Book. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

Mora, Pat. (2009). Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children's Day/Book Day; Celebremos El dia de los ninos/El dia de los libros. Illustrated by Raphael Lopez. New York: HarperCollins.

Patricelli, Leslie. (2009). Higher! Higher! New York: Candlewick.


NCBLA 2010 Committee (left to right): Quinn White, Kathy Short, April Bedford, Janelle Mathis-Chair, Jonda McNair, Mary Lee Hahn (not pictured: Mary Napoli, Deanna Day-Past Chair)...and the 30 2010 books!

Coming in March: Tech Playground for Families

One of the things the Dublin Literacy Conference has been thinking about this year is how to make student learning visible. A component of our conference has always been the display of student work. These have changed over the years. When the conference began 21 years ago, an entire area was designated to students displays. They took up walls and walls of space and celebrated our students' learning. But recently, we have had to rethink these "displays" based on the kinds of work our kids are creating. Jason Blair, one of our elementary art teachers, was the committee member who volunteered to rethink displays. He set up a great area of student digital displays that conference participants were able to see. But, Jason also wanted a place where teachers could try things out, where they could get their hands on some of the new tools. So he came up with the idea of a "Tech Playground".

At this year's conference, thanks to Jason's brilliant idea, we hosted our first Tech Playground. One room was designated as a place where participants could play with some of the new tools available to our students. The room had a portable SMARTBoard, Kindles, iPods, Cameras, Flip Videos, Laptops and more. Students and staff were available in the room to help out if needed. The room was a great hit. I went in a few times over the lunch break and the room was packed with participants trying out new tools. It was a fun room with lots of energy--a bit like any Apple Store.

I loved the idea of this Tech Playground and have decided to host one for our families in our school library. We've received so many great new tools through various funds for our students at Riverside that I think it would be great for them to be able to share the tools with their families. A Tech Playground seems the perfect idea for families.

After talking to some colleagues about the idea, we've decided to host the Tech Playground for Families during our Spring Book Fair in a few weeks. We always host our book fair during parent-teacher conference nights because so many families are in the building. It makes sense to tie the Tech Playground to this time since so many of our parents and families visit the library for the Book Fair. This will give parents another reason to come to the library and it will give everyone a chance to buy books and learn a bit about the new tech tools. Families buying books and playing with new tech tools--it sounds like the perfect combination to me!

Dublin Literacy Conference

The screen behind Dr. Tim Tyson says, "School Can Be Anything That You Can Imagine." Dr. Tyson's thinking about the transformative capabilities of technology in our classrooms set the tone for the conference with the first keynote. (Check out #DubLit2010 on Twitter for a running commentary on his and other speakers' presentations.)

To continue with the theme of 21st Century Literacies, we collected digital as well as traditional student displays for attendees to view, and there was a "Technology Playground" with a myriad of tools (Flip Video, Kindle, iPod Touch, iPod Nano, etc) for folks to try out.

With our children's authors Denise Fleming, Melissa Sweet, and Patrick Carman, we celebrated the joy of reading words and pictures and books that come in multiple formats, and with David J. Smith, the importance of reading the world .

It seems appropriate that today is Edna St. Vincent Millay's birthday. She's the poet who wrote,

"My candle burns at both ends;

It will not last the night;

But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends —

It gives a lovely light!"

The committee, the teacher presenters, and the featured speakers all worked hard to make this conference one of the best of the 21 we've held. And now we are all turning back to our day jobs, hopefully enriched and enthused and challenged and inspired to do our work better and smarter and with the knowledge that all we do every day (whether as teacher, author, or illustrator) does indeed make a huge difference -- a "lovely light" -- in the world.

Poetry Friday -- Heavenly Sunshine

When I was a wee one in summer Vacation Bible School, I loved two things: the frosted animal crackers for snack and the songs. I took those songs to heart. I'd get up early and go out to stand in the middle of the back yard and belt out "Heavenly SUNshine, heavenly SUNshine, filling my soul with glory dee-vi-ine..." and I'd FEEL the glory divine filling my soul.

Recently, our winter skies have yielded more tentative sunshine (as above) than heavenly sunshine. We're due for some bright blue skies and warmth.

Here's Mary Oliver's take on early morning sun:

WHY I WAKE EARLY

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety –

(the rest of the poem is here)

Irene has the roundup at Live. Love. Learn!

PLNs-More Than Our Own Personal Learning Networks

We are gearing up for this year's Dublin Literacy Conference on Saturday. This year marks the 21st year that we've run the conference and I have been thinking about this year's speakers and reflecting on the ways my own professional learning has changed in the last 21 years. Learning from others--formally and informally--has always been a huge part of my own professional growth. 21 years ago, I had no idea what a Personal Learning Network (PLN) was, even though I am pretty sure I had one. I have always been lucky to learn from so many others who are passionate about kids and teaching. With Web 2.0, our learning networks have expanded in ways that we couldn't have imagined 21 years ago.

For years, Mary Lee and I had attended NCTE and other literacy conferences and we were connected to a group of literacy educators across the country. We valued what we learned from that group. We looked forward to those few times each year when we could learn from so many of our most important mentors. Learning face-to-face was the only option and we were limited to learning from only the people (mostly literacy teachers) who attended the same conferences that we did.

When we started blogging, I remember what fun it was to discover voices of experts we didn't know. We found so many other people out there who had the same beliefs about books and reading that we did. The thing that struck me early on with blogging were the powerful bridges that were being built naturally because of the networking tools that had become available. We never figured our audience would be anything other than elementary teachers. But now, when we say we are part of the "Kidlitosphere," this group includes teachers, librarians, authors, readers, illustrators, parents, publishers, editors, and advocates for children's books. Web 2.0 has helped people come together that had no way of finding each other before. Each person plays a different role and the ability to have ongoing conversations with this amazing group has been powerful.

I think this type of thing is happening every minute. Because of all of the networking tools available, we are better able to share expertise and learn from people we may not have been able to learn from before. Just as the Dublin Literacy Conference will host speakers whose expertise is in both literacy and technology, other conferences have done the same. When Kylene Beers chaired the annual NCTE Convention a few years ago, she brought in speakers that talked about issues around 21st Century Literacies. For me, that convention introduced me to yet another group of amazing people whot I could learn from. Two years later, after finding new blogs and networking on Twitter, I am looking to expand my own learning by going to a summer conference that focuses more on the changes that technology is bringing, than one that focuses on literacy alone. I feel extremely lucky to have these networks so readily available. My own professional learning has been amazing over the past few years. I learn from someone new every single day.

I worried yesterday when I read the following blog post at LIBRARIAN BY DAY. I absolutely believe that school and public librarians have an important role in new literacies and that funding for libraries is a very important issue. But to imply that we are the only ones who can do this goes against all I believe about the work that we do. To say that any one group (or place) can or should be totally responsible for something so huge seems crazy to me. I know from my own learning, that to presume that others--those with a different area of expertise--are not as important, goes against all that learning is about. It is our work together that will make a difference.

I agree with Bobbi Newman at Librarian By Day in the fact that we should all believe that the work we do is the most important work--not because it is, but because when we believe that, it means we are doing the work we are supposed to do. But, we are at a time when we have the opportunity to bring groups together that have never been able to have this kind of ongoing dialogue before. Being open to learning from and with people with different sets of knowledge and skills or different ways of looking at the world can and will have a huge impact on our learning if we let it.

I have been in many roles as an educator and the one thing that I am certain of is that each and every role is an important one. None of us could or should do this work alone. It is by bringing our thinking together that we can do our best for children. I believe we are extremely lucky to live in a time when these networks are so readily available. Because I have been able to learn from and with people whose expertise is different from my own, my work is so much better. It has been a powerful experience.

PLNs are about more than our own personal learning. It seems bigger than that. PLNs of the 21st Century have given us the opportunity to bring groups together that have never been able to have ongoing talk before. I have already seen the power of that over the last few years. I think we each have a role to play in all of this. We need to take advantage of the ways in which we can learn from people and groups we haven't had access to before. I can only imagine how far we can go as more groups collaborate to share and grow understandings. It is an exciting time to be a learner.

PRINCESS PIGTORIA AND THE PEA by Pamela Duncan Edwards

I love any new version of THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA. I loved it when I was little and I still love it. So, when I saw PRINCESS PIGTORIA AND THE PEA by Pamela Duncan Edwards, I bought it, of course! I was expecting to love it because I love all books about the Princess and the Pea. But this one may make it to my favorites list. It is a GREAT story. A smart, independent princess.

Princess Pigtoria was very poor. So, when she saw that a rich prince was looking for a bride, she went to Porksville to apply. The pig was a little arrogant but she enjoyed her time by hosting a pizza party before she goes to sleep on several mattresses (under which, of course, the Prince has placed a pea). I don't want to give the ending away, but be assured that the princess gets the happy ending she deserves. The alliteration in this book is pretty fun--not so much that it gets in the way of the story, but it just adds to the fun.

This is a princess story I am extremely happy to add to my collection.

SAVING THE BAGHDAD ZOO: A TRUE STORY OF HOPE AND HEROES by Kelly Milner Halls and Major William Sumner

When I look at the nonfiction books that we weed from our school library, they are often encyclopedia-like books that don't seem to have been written for children. So many older nonfiction children's books are like that. The field of nonfiction books for kids has gotten so much better over the past decade. Now our kids have great nonfiction to read--stories that are interesting and written with kids in mind.

One of my worries is that kids love nonfiction but don't always have the stamina to read anything longer than a magazine article. They check out nonfiction often but when I chat with kids about the books, it becomes clear that they enjoyed the photos but didn't read much beyond the captions.

Stocking our library with great nonfiction on topics that kids can't help but be interested in will hopefully build a stamina for nonfiction and help students find great topics that are interesting to them.

A new nonfiction book I picked up at Cover to Cover this week is SAVING THE BAGHDAD ZOO: A TRUE STORY OF HOPE AND HEROES. This is a great read. I read it at my kitchen table in one sitting. This is a 60ish page book with great photos spread throughout. It tells the stories of many of Iraq's zoo animals that were saved from terrible conditions. In the introduction, Major William Sumner says, "During my time in Iraq, I was asked repeatedly why we were helping the animals and not the people of Baghdad, but I believe that we were doing both." After reading the stories of rescues throughout the book, this statement becomes so clear to readers. Saving the zoo animals was such an important thing for so many people.

The book begins with some basic history and general information about what was found when people were sent to check out the state of the remaining animals in the zoo. Following the first two chapters, different animals are highlighted. We learn about rescues of a variety of animals over a period of time--bears, Arabian horses, camels, lions and more. Each story can stand alone but together, the stories show the impact of what was done to save these animals.

This is a great story. So often our kids come to the library looking for books about war. I am never sure quite what they want and neither are they. This book does not cover up the tragedies of a war, but doesn't focus on those. Instead this book focuseds on this one aspect of recovery and we get to know the real dangers, the real people and the animals who were involved. And Kelly Milner Halls definitely knows how to write for kids.

This book would make a great read aloud for upper elementary students if you are looking for quality nonfiction that can be read over several days.

Videos for Teaching

One of the big reasons that I have been working with my 2-5th graders on stopmotion and film creation is so that they become critical readers/viewers of information. I believe there is no better way to understand how to analyze information than to learn to create it yourself. The lessons aren't about stopmotion or teaching a certain program. Instead, they are building a conversation about analyzing what you see and deciding whether it is credible.

One of my favorite pieces from AASL's Standards for the 21st Century Learner is: Maintain a critical stance by questioning the validity and accuracy of all information.

A component of NCTE's Framework for 21st Century Curriculum and Assessment is:
Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneously presented information
Students in the 21st century must be able to take information from multiple places and in a variety of different formats, determine its reliability, and create new knowledge from that information.

After 2 quick lessons, student are watching film a bit differently. A few weeks ago, many of the students merely believed what they saw because they saw it. Now, after sharing some video tricks and inviting kids in on the creation process, they are realizing that things are not always as they appear. This week, I plan to show a few video clips to further illustrate the importance of critical viewing of information. Here are a few clips that often work well with kids in upper elementary.


House Hippo

I first saw this clip at a workshop years ago where I learned about Concerned Children's Advertisers. They have other PSAs that are great for teaching kids to think for themselves. As part of their 20th Anniversary, CCA is hosting a Media Literacy Campaign.


Swiss Spaghetti Harvest

BBC Flying Penguins (April Fool!) paired with Penguins April Fool--Making Of

These clips can serve so many purposes in our teaching. They are a great conversation starters about reliable information. Just because it is on a video doesn't necessarily make it true. How do you check your information?

These clips can also serve as great nonfiction mentors for our students. Many of our grade levels write literary nonfiction. and I love using these "fake" nonfiction pieces to really analyze--what language and tone do they use to convince us of the information? How is this "nonfiction" writing different from narrative? It is always powerful to teach students the language of good nonfiction through films like these.

I find that great video clips like this can serve lots of purposes in our teaching. I am on the lookout for lots more!

Amy Krouse Rosenthal

So, I have been noticing that I LOVE Amy Krouse Rosenthal lately. I've loved so many of her new books and SPOON has been quite the hit in the library. Today, at Cover to Cover, I picked up a new poetry book titled THE WONDER BOOK and when I saw that it was written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, I bought it without opening it. The girl doesn't ever let us down. She is quite amazing. THE WONDER BOOK is a great addition to any home, classroom or library. It is a fun book that is all about joy. The inside flap tells us that the book addresses so many things that Amy Krouse Rosenthal often wonders about. (for example, Does Miss Mary Mack have friends who liked other colors? and Who hid something under the tooth fairy's pillow when she was a little girl?) Lots of poems and stories that are just pure fun, a little advice, some reminders about table manners and more. Here is a book trailer with a few words from Amy about her new book.



As often happens when I find an author that I realized I've loved for a while but haven't really paid attention to, I checked out her website, made sure I had all of her books, etc. Come to find out, I would like Amy Krouse Rosenthal even if she weren't an author. She is the best. And it seems that Mary Lee also discovered all of the amazing things that she does which she shared some of on last week's POETRY FRIDAY. If you visit her website, I am sure you will agree too.

First of all, I didn't realize she had so many adult books out. I will need to check those out. But my favorite find was Amy's short videos. How have I not known about this before? Amy is all about joy and has started her own little mission on beckoning the lovely. You need to spend some time watching how it all began in August, 2008. Then go watch what has happened since.. You can visit her site The Beckoning of Lovely to see it all in one place. I would now like to buy a yellow umbrella. Imagine what a great place the world would be if more of us carried yellow umbrellas around and gathered people in this way. She is amazing.

On an aside, I think her films are such fun. Imagine what kids could create if we showed them 14 Things I Love or 9 New Things I'm Excited About


And check out Mission Amy K.R.. I think we should all live our lives like this. If there is no Amy Krouse Rosenthal Fan Club, I think we need to start one soon. We could all carry yellow umbrellas.

Poetry Friday in video and music

This makes me smile. I hope it does the same for you.

Is it poetry? I say YES! It's a list poem, illustrated with video images, and accompanied by music. Amy Krouse Rosenthal is the author and the music is by Elizabeth Mitchell.

I need to remember #5, #13 and #14 as a teacher, but I need to write #20 on the bathroom mirror so that every day I remember to slow down my crazy life just a little bit!

Lee Wind (I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I read?) has the Poetry Friday roundup this week. Head on over to check out this week's poems.

There are six five four three NO slots open in the roundup schedule for the next few months (see sidebar). Would YOU like to host a Poetry Friday roundup? Stay tuned in June for a new call for hosts!