48 Hour Book Challenge

I did not officially take part in Mother Reader's 48 Hour Book Challenge. But I've participated in spirit.

Today I spent 4 solid hours reading. As I promised myself, I re-read AS EASY AS FALLING OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH. I loved it just as much the second time around.

I spent 3 hours with book/blogger people at NorthStar and Cover to Cover. I have 5 arcs and 2 new books to read and blog about. (Still ignoring the giant piles of Notables for the time being...)

I just spent the last 2 hours reading (or at least skimming) the 522 blog posts that have piled up in my reader the past couple of weeks. (On a happy note, check out Barbara O'Conner's new book trailer. On a more sobering note, see what the BP oil disaster would look like in your backyard.)

In the past 48 hours, I've celebrated the end of the school year with our staff and with close friends. I've napped (twice...hands down the most restorative thing I've done in the past 48 hours). I've weeded a bit, though the tomatoes still need to be staked. I've done a half-hearted job of cleaning the house and I've done a couple of loads of laundry. It feels so good to be released from the to-do lists that have been monopolizing my every waking moment for the past few weeks.

Congratulations to those who have read, and blogged, and challenged themselves, and set and met goals. After sprinting and hurdling (hurtling?) over the finish line of the school year, what I needed most was to slow down and wander through a couple of days with no agenda. Mission accomplished.

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm

I was so excited to see a new novel by Jennifer Holm. I picked up TURTLE IN PARADISE and was so happy for the time this weekend to read it. I love Jennifer Holm and have loved all of her work so far. Who doesn't love Babymouse? And PENNY FROM HEAVEN made its way around my entire Italian family--mother, grandmother, aunts, etc. Jennifer Holm captures people and life in a way that is humorous, hopeful and real.

TURTLE IN PARADISE is about a little girl named Turtle, who is sent by her mother to live with her aunt. This story takes place during the depression and Holm gives us more information at the end of the book about this era and that it was common for children to go live with relatives. Turtle is sent to Key West and gets to know her cousins and the neighborhood where her mother grew up.

The characters in the book are quite fun. Bill Prosser at Literate Lives described them well--they have a bit of a Little Rascals feel to them. A group of lovable kids who seem to run the town and get in a bit of trouble here and there. Turtle fits right in, although that isn't clear to her at the beginning. And she grows up as she comes to know herself and her family.

It is amazing to me how Jennifer Holm strings together a story of ordinary days to create something bigger. There is a calm rhythm to the story but you realize that in these ordinary days, Turtle is growing up.

From the cover (which I LOVE!), my first thought was that this was a beach book that would appeal mostly to girls. But this is a book that will appeal to a huge variety of readers. I can see it as a GREAT read aloud in 3, 4th or 5th grades. Much to talk and think about but in a way that is very accessible to kids. Such a variety of characters that everyone will find someone to cheer for.

Love the book-so happy it was my first read of the summer! Again, totally amazed at the variety of writing that Jennifer Holm is able to do well.

Poetry Friday -- She's Singing Today!

To My Class

You were a beautiful garden,
And I was the gardener.
I nourished your beauty and helped you grow.
I valued you even when others thought you were wild weeds.
I trimmed you back when you got a little out of control
so that you can grow to be
tall and
straight
and proud
and confident
and true.

My garden is beautiful.
Every plant is different
and lovely in its uniqueness.
If I had more time,
I could straighten the rows,
add more nourishment of knowledge,
help the sharp-edged hearts to soften into the beauty of kindness,
encourage the small and quiet ones to shine with brightness.

Someone else will be your gardener now and forever more.
I can only hope my year of nourishment and valuing
will remain with you as you
grow well,
remember all you’ve learned
(in your heart and your mind), and
stand
tall and
straight
and proud
and confident
and true.

Ms. Hahn
4th Grade
2009-2010

The roundup today is at The Cazzy Files.

May Mosaic

I originally thought I'd go for all flowers this month. You know, the old, April showers bring May flowers sort of thing. But although May did bring on lots of beautiful blooms (it seems like everything is a couple weeks early this year), it was good for more than just that. May brings Teacher Appreciation week, and our wonderful PTO went all out this year, including decorating the front walk with "thank you" in dozens of different languages -- perfect for our school. May brought the new/old cabinet for the kitchen (and hopefully June will bring the time for the floor, walls, and new appliances!!). COFF donated $1000 to CFR, and my Champion ran the Race for the Cure in celebration of me. My "Time With Teacher" in the raffle at our school's Carnapalooza was a river exploration program at Highbanks. My young friend and I didn't catch the water snake, but we were suitably impressed by it. Worthington has their flower baskets hung from all the light poles in Old Worthington. These baskets are a measure of my summer: right now the vines only come to the bottom of the baskets. By the middle of August, they will be touching the ground and it will be time to go back to school! We finish the month with The Hosta Guy's dog under the van at the farmer's market, the spices I used for chicken curry, and Captain Flint (our favorite barista at Stauf's) in "Treasure Island."

As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth

As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth

by Lynne Rae Perkins

Greenwillow Books, 2010

review copy provided by the publisher

Fair warning: I'm going to gush.

This is my favorite novel so far this year, hands-down, no competition.

I can't wait until Saturday for Mother Reader's 48-Hour Read -- I'm seriously considering rereading this book as my first read of the marathon. (And if you saw the pile of novels I need to tackle for the Notables, you'd have a much better appreciation of the enormity that statement.)

You read for plot? This book's got plot in spades -- one outlandishly unbelievably impossibly possible event after another. This book is one long series of unfortunate events that could really happen. (But maybe not in the same chain, to the same person...or could they?)

You read for characters? This book's got a full cast, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Del. I love Del. Who wouldn't? He drops everything to drive Ry across the country to get back home, and then flies in a duct taped airplane with him to an island, and sails with him to another island, only to have some rotten luck with a windmill, but luckily he's taught Ry everything he needs to know in order for complete his mission on his own and live the rest of his life wide open for possibilities the way Del does.

The real reason I love Del? I'm married to him. To a man who can drive all night without sleep, find a way to fix anything (and who'll drop whatever he's doing to fix that thing for whoever asks), fly an airplane, sail a boat (while singing sea shanties), and admit (most of the time, at least begrudgingly) when he's wrong. My point here is not to gloat, but to let those of you who believe that Del is an over-the-top created-by-an-author kind of character know that men like that exist.

Another reason I love Del? I've got a little Del in me, too. I've got a couple of summit photos to prove that prior to arthritis and back problems, I was a rock climber. I've swum two open water swims, driven around the U.S. on my own, learned to make bobbin lace, and baked over 100 cupcakes in 3 days straight. I've had an interesting life. I HAVE an interesting life. And if there's nothing else this book makes you want more than to start over again at page one and reread it, it makes you long for (or proud of) an interesting life.

What else do I love about this book? The dogs. (They crack me up. Especially their conversation in the cargo hold on the way back home.) The chapter titles. Carl's driving. The description of the smell of the air in Florida. The scene where Everett's methane tank explodes. The way this book has stayed with me even though I finished it (for the first time) a week ago.

What are you waiting for? Go get a copy and start reading. Now!

Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton and Tom Lichtenheld

Shark vs. Train

by Chris Barton and Tom Lichtenheld

Little, Brown and Company, 2010

Competition has been a big problem in my classroom this year. For a few of the kids, it's always a race to the door when they're called to line up, with no tolerance for someone getting their place back in line once the order is set. The drama of the soccer field at lunch recess lasts well into the afternoon, and both Connect 4 and Battleship were put away during indoor recess season because of constant (loud) bickering about who won or whose turn it was to play. Grades on papers are not seen as a reflection of one's hard work and progress in learning, rather they are numbers with which to "verse" one another.

Sigh.

I'm adding Shark vs. Train to my stack of beginning-of-the-year books so that we can start the year next year with a conversation about how ridiculous competition can be. (Yes, crazy me -- four days left and I'm thinking about next year already!!)

The set-up to the story is two little boys (sorry, guys, but yes, it's mostly your problem...) diving into a toy box and coming up with a shark and a train. The two toys go head-to-head in some situations where the winner is obvious -- in the ocean or on railroad tracks -- not so obvious -- roasting marshmallows or eating pies -- or downright tricky -- playing hide-and-seek or trying not to get shushed in the library.

In this book, the escalated competition is preempted by a call to lunch. Hopefully, in my classroom next year, it can be preempted by a humorous look at competition from the first day.

BONUS EXTRAS:

How the book came to be -- a peek behind the scenes by editor Alvina Ling at Blue Rose Girls.

7-Imp's chat with the author and illustrator.

Chris Barton's blog.

Tom Lichtenheld's blog.

Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature

Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature

by Sarah C. Campbell

photographs by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell

Boyds Mills Press, 2010

Here's another great pick for your mathematics library -- a book about Fibonacci Numbers that is easy to understand! Campbell's photos of single garden flowers whose petals follow the Fibonacci sequence, along with clearly stated text make this a book that can be shared with even very young children. (I'm thinking of Jone's Kindergartners who wrote Fibonacci poems.)

You can feel Campbell scaffolding your understanding as she moves you from flower petals to the spirals in the bracts of a pinecone, the disc flowers in a sunflower, and the sections on the outside of a pineapple. (Who knew these spirals all go both ways?? -- obviously, not me!)

This is a fascinating book that will have you looking closely at the world around you to find patterns and counting to see if you can find another example of a Fibonocci number in nature.

Sarah Campbell's blog and website.

Author interview by Elizabeth O. Dulemba (and links to other blogs on Sarah's Feb/Mar Blog Tour.)

Franki's review of Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator by Sarah C. Campbell.

For Good Measure by Ken Robbins

For Good Measure: The ways we say how much, how far, how heavy, how big, how old

by Ken Robbins

Roaring Brook Press, 2010

Franki already reviewed this book along with other great new nonfiction, but it deserves its own spotlight.

All I had to see was that it was by Ken Robbins, and I bought it. I LOVED his book, Food For Thought (reviewed in September 2009). For Good Measure also has stunning photography paired with the interesting facts in the text.

What I love most about For Good Measure is the way Robbins tells the history of the words we use to name our units of measure. Some (many, actually) come from Latin, such as inch (uncia), mile (mille passus), and pound (pondus means weight; libra was the real unit of measure; libra pondo meant a "libra of weight," and although we now call the unit "pound," we still abbreviate it lb. for libra). Others come from Old English (1 fathom is 6 feet, or the distance from finger tip to finger tip of a man's outstretched arms; fæthm meant "outstretched arms," and if we can't fathom why BP is not being held more accountable for the oil spill, it means we can't wrap our arms around the idea.) And still others come from the object that was used to measure them: a rod is 5.5 yd. or 16.5 ft. and "was originally a stick used to prod the oxen that were plowing a field."

I also love the big organizing ideas that Robbins uses: yes, he goes from smallest to largest units in each category of measurement, but he also points out things like "Smaller units of length are mostly based on parts of the body. Longer units of distance are mostly based on actions," and time is "the interval between one event and another -- between one winter and the next (a year), one heartbeat and the next (a second.)"

I read this book aloud to my math class last week. We were just finishing up our unit on measurement -- perfect timing! They loved it! They were engaged by the photographs and fascinated by the facts in the text. This book is a must for every nonfiction collection.

Poetry Friday -- Hurdles and Sprinting and the Finish Line

There are two ways to pass a hurdle: leaping over or plowing through... There needs to be a monster truck option.
- Jeph Jacques

photo by kevin.roberts

"Hurdlers are sprinters with a problem. They're not satisfied just to sprint. Anybody can sprint, some not as well as others of course, but anybody can sprint. Not everybody can run hurdles. There's an extra dimension involved. Hurdlers would make a good subject for a thesis in psychology - they are of a persuasion that just needs an extra dimension."
-Denny Moyer

photo by Ambrosio Photography

IF

by Rudyard Kipling

Especially this part that comes right at the end:

"...If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run...")

Just a few more days to the finish line, and we're sprinting and jumping hurdles, and trying to

"...keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs ..."

You can find the poem in print at Poets.org

Tricia has the round up this week at The Miss Rumphius Effect.

Fun New Wordless Book

Chalk

by Bill Thomson

Marshall Cavendish, 2010

review copy provided by the publisher

I'm always on the lookout for new wordless books for my collection. They are great for limited English speakers and for small group work on making inferences.

This one tells the story of some children who find a gift bag full of chalk hanging from a playground dinosaur's mouth on a rainy day. The first girl draws a sun on the sidewalk, and lo and behold, the sun comes out.

The kids try out one fun possibility after another, but things get a little out of hand, until someone gets the idea to draw the rainstorm they started out with so that the chalk drawings wash away.

The kids carefully hang the bag of chalk back on the dinosaur's mouth and walk on (with a final, wary glance back -- reminiscent of JUMANJI).