There's a special relationship between a grandparent and grandchild. If you didn't already know that, you wouldn't need the simple text in this book to tell you -- you would only need to look at the pictures. Love and encouragement and pride and hope for the future radiate from every picture on every page in this book -- pictures of grandparents and grandchildren from around the world (each labeled with the country) playing, telling stories, talking, hugging, laughing, making things, doing things.
There is so much to talk about with children as you read this book and look at the pictures over and over again (because I dare you to only look through this book once): family, culture, tradition, memories, and more.
This book could inspire children to create their own simple photographic essay about a topic that matters most to them.
I recently watched a friend's 14 month-old baby sort through her basket of board books while her mom and I chatted. She looked at each one, sometimes stopping to open a book to a favorite page and point to a picture and say something to herself. An independent reader who is not even 2 years old! One of her favorite words to say is BABY, so I know she would love this board book. Every page has a happy, sad, serious or eager baby looking out at you. There are babies with blond hair, red hair, curly hair, black hair, pig-tailed hair and no hair. There are babies with every shade of skin and every shape of eye. There are spring, summer, fall and winter babies.
Add this one to your list of favorites for baby shower gifts!
Just when you think you have enough dog books, you come across another great one that you must have! No matter how many dog books I have--fiction, nonfiction, poetry, etc.--it is hard to keep up in the library. Kids love dog books. The new one I picked up is called PLEASE TAKE ME FOR A WALK by Susan Gal. This book is about an adorable little dog who wants to go for a walk. The text is simple-one line per page. The dog is begging to be taken for a walk and he has lots of reasons for wanting to do so-he wants to see his friends, catch a ball, meet other dogs and more. The repeated phrase "Please take me for a walk" comes up often, each time followed by a good reason or two. The illustrations in this book are happy and fun.
I immediately saw lots of reasons to buy this book. First of all, it is a fun story and I am sure it will be checked out often. It is very supportive of newer readers. One line of text on a page, picture support and a good font--I think first graders will love reading this one on their own at some point in the year. Finally, I love that the dog is narrating the story. I can see it used as a mentor text for kids trying to write from another point of view. This would be a great book to use to introduce the concept of first person voice--older kids will enjoy the dog and his pleading for a walk. The narrator has definitely perfected a puppy voice.
A fun new book with lots of possibilities. (I did not know about Susan's other book--NIGHT LIGHTS, but will now have to add it to my list.)
This is not a book to take off the shelf once in the spring before state tests to "teach" metaphors. True, the text is a lyrical series of metaphors about hope. However, the strength of the book lies in the photographs and in the explanation of the photos in the back of the book.
There are pictures of children from Alabama and New Orleans who lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina, children from Sri Lanka whose school was washed away by the tsunami in 2004, children from East Timor who have lived with political violence, and children from Haiti who lost everything to the recent earthquake.
With images and information in the media about the ever-spreading oil spill in the Gulf, we will need to be ready to have lots of conversations with our students about hope, and about the things they can do to make a difference. The blog ripple, begun on June 3, 2010, has this mission: "A small sketch -- a small donation -- each small act helps. Together we can cause a ripple in the oil soaked waters of the gulf." Read artist Kelly Light's first post and complete mission statement, and think about the kinds of small ripples you (and your students) can make so that you don't simply feel hopeless or disconnected from this disaster that will ultimately touch all of our lives in some way.
I just discovered DAYDREAMS OF A SOLITARY HAMSTER and it is quite fun. I purchased it because I saw it described as a graphic novel, but it is actually several separate comic strips put together in a book.
This is a picture book size book and includes several stories about Hamster and his friends. Most strips are simple stories that take up the two page spread. The characters are quite amusing and the more you read, the more you come to know each one.
I like a lot about this book. First of all, I like that is is several short comics. They are simple and fun and each provides something to talk about. I am always looking for short pieces to use in minilessons, book clubs, etc, and it is difficult to find these in graphic form. But this one will work well for many purposes. The fact that there are many stories about these characters will allow kids to really come to know them.
I love the illustration and the size of this one. Kids are loving this graphic format, but so many graphic novels/books are not appropriate for younger children and they are dying to read them. This one would definitely work for young readers and it is fun enough to engage older elementary reader as well. I think the thing I love most about it is the huge range of readers that will be engaged by it.
review copy was purchased because every page I looked at made me laugh
You thought you knew all there was to know about princesses because you've read every version of Cinderella, Snow White and Rapunzel? Well, think again. You've never met Princess Somnia who sleeps, Princess Paige who reads, or Princess Molly Coddle who is spoiled (plus more than a dozen others).
This book is equal parts parody and word play. It fits into the category of books that work really hard to look like nonfiction even though the topic is fictional -- this one has definitions, diagrams, cross-references, charts, graphs, tables, a glossary, a bibliography, an index, a list of proverbs and a test you can take to find out what kind of princess you are.
It's a GORGEOUS book -- oversized with red and pink as the dominant color-scheme -- and there is so much to look at on every page, complicated by the cross-references from one princess to another, that it is more of a book for browsing than reading straight through cover to cover.
One of the joys of this book lies in the diversity of the princesses. They come in a variety of sizes, shapes, skin colors and cultures. (There is even one princess who is a prince.) They have incredibly unique talents and personalities...just like the reader, who is encouraged to find someone familiar (perhaps yourself?) in these princesses.
This book is for older readers (sophisticated humor and high level vocabulary), for anyone passionate about princesses, and even for readers who aren't really all that into princesses, but who appreciate humor and creativity no matter what the topic.
I read DARK LIFE by Kat Falls this week while traveling and I really enjoyed it. It is definitely science-fiction/fantasy. It is a futuristic story of a city under the sea. Because land is scarce, people are packed in on the earth. Ty is sixteen years old and is one of the few children that has been raised in the ocean.
Early in the story, Ty meets Gemma, who lives "Topside" but has come under sea to look for her older brother. They have quite an adventure. It seems that outlaws are attacking the undersea community and chaos is part of daily life. It is up to the citizens of the city to find the outlaws. Ty and Gemma get involved in the search and face many dangerous situations.
One thread throughout the book is the idea of "dark gifts". Some people believe that children who were born and raised under water have unnatural gifts due to the water pressure. Ty denies having one of these "gifts" as do the other character. This is a thread that comes up throughout the story.
At first, I thought this book was like CITY OF EMBER. That is the thing that drew me to it. In a way, it is that kind of a book--a futuristic story in which the children take on grown-up problems and try to save their home. But this book was a much different read. Ty has no desire to leave the underwater city. As a matter of fact, he is working hard to stay there. His parents were original settlers and researchers of the settlement and he believes in what they are doing and in the hope that he can soon own his own land underwater. This story is also a bit more complex than City of Ember. For me, it was a bit more difficult to envision the underwater city and the buildings, weapons, vehicles, etc. that were part of it. I had to do a bit more work to understand. And, finally, there was a bit of a romance between Ty and Gemma that makes this seem to be meant for more middle-school readers. (Many reviews say that the book is for ages 9-12. It seems more like it is 11-14ish to me but I could be wrong.)
Overall, a really good book. A great book for kids who have read and enjoyed the City of Ember series and a great one to stretch kids who love fantasy, adventure, and survival stories.
Books with rhythm and rhyme--books that are fun for young children--are some of my favorite books. Sally, at Cover to Cover, shared DANCING FEET by Lindsey Craig with me during my recent Cover to Cover visit. It is great fun and so much for young readers to love.
First of all, this is a fun, rhythmic book. One of my favorite books is TANKA TANKA SKUNK. This one has that same feel for me. There is fun with words, sounds and rhythm. This is definitely a book that kids will want to join in for--it asks to be read together.
Another reason young children will love this one is that they love to guess what is coming next and this book is designed for them to do this. Each rhyme covers two pages. On the first page, the readers gets clues in both pictures and in words as to which animal's feet are being described. For example:
Stompity! Stompity! Big gray feet! Who is dancing that stompity beat?
The next page answers the riddle with a chant in the same rhythm and an accompanying illustrations.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the illustrations in this book. They are made with cut paper--you can see that the illustrator, Marc Brown, used several textures. This is a new type of art for Marc Brown and I LOVE it! Looking more closely at it as I write this, I am thinking that this may be on my short list of Caldecott hopefuls. The illustrations are definitely engaging, colorful and unique.
I am excited about this book--it will make a great fun read aloud. I know this is a book that kids will want to read again and again and again. And I am pretty sure I won't get sick of it. (And it looks like this is Lindsey Craig's first children's book. Can't wait for the next one!)
I like the switch to a one-a-day commitment. If I try to do one new thing each day all summer, maybe I'll keep doing that one thing the rest of the year.
...or not. A poem a day in April didn't stick...but that's what made April special, so I'm okay with that.
Here's an update on the One-a-Day Crew (original post here):
Yesterday, I made my first summer purchase for the library--365 THINGS TO MAKE AND DO. This is not a new book, but it is new to me and will be new to the students. Cookbooks and Craft books are quite popular in our school library. And I think they are critical pieces to a good collection. I think "how to" reading is important, especially as our kids grow as readers. Knowing how to read this type of writing as well as reading the visuals that go along with it, goes a long way toward the visual literacy skills we want for kids. I worry that sometimes, when we are talking about skills like visual literacy, we automatically think about technology tools. But I think our young children can begin to understand visuals in ways that make sense for them. One way is through books like this.
This book is definitely visually appealing. It is a large book --it has to be in order to fit 365 ideas in it! This is not really 365 different ideas. The book is divided into about 125 projects. Each project idea is shared on a two-page spread. For example, one page deals with "Pretty Masks". The page shares the steps to make the mask in a step-by-step column. Then a variety of samples are shared. (Each of these counts as one of the 365 things in the book.).
I love creation and I think kids do too. My daughter recently started her own blog called FUN THINGS TO MAKE. (Her review of the book is here.) When she has free time, making things is often her activity of choice. And she makes things with a variety of tools. She has a cabinet full of "stuff" and the process of creativity is fun to watch, as a mom. The thing is, she creates with pipe cleaners with the same thoughtfulness that she uses when creating with tools of technology. I love to watch her when we shop at the Craft Store--she is shopping for possibilities, more than for things. Looking around to see what is possible. As much as I think it is so important that our kids be creators of information and creators with tools of technology, I also think it is important that they create lots of things with lots of stuff. I have been thinking about this a lot since spending time on children author, Amy Krouse Rosenthal's site. Her home page says, "Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a person who likes to make things." I so love this. A clip that really got me thinking about creation was her film called "17 Things I Made". Watch it if you have time. For Amy, it seems that she too likes creating a variety of things.
(And did I mention that Amy Krouse Rosenthal will be a speaker at our Dublin Literacy Conference this year (February 2011) as well as our school's author visit!!!!!)
When I think about the big 21st Century skills, creation is key. I worry about creation being seen as fluff and that our kids are not having time to create and enjoy the process of creation in school.
I am not usually drawn to books like this--a craft that kids make where the child's product looks like the example. But I see this book as an invitation to kids who love to create. Because each project idea has lots of samples and ways to use the idea, I feel like it just gives kids lots of new ideas for creation. A child might go to the masks page, figure out how to make the basic mask, look at the ideas and try a mask that is different from those shown. Or a child may try one of these exactly as-is to learn the technique (painted papers) and then use the technique in a future project. Just like writers might try new things out that they see other writers use, I think creators of anything do this same thing. I love this as a great invitation for kids--one that shouts out, "Look What is Possible! Give it a Try!". I am trying to figure out how to make this kind of creation a more standard part of the library--having not only the technology tools to create with but also tools like these--paint, paper, etc. for kids to create ways to share learning and information. Such an important piece to children's whole development.
I am all about finding great downloadable songs for kids these days. So imagine my happiness when I spotted PERFECT PIGGIES! by Sandra Boynton on the Cover to Cover counter. I could tell by reading it that this would be a fun song and was thrilled when I got home and listened to it.
I have found quite a collection of great songs and sites that support songs and literacy. One of my other new favorites, that I wrote about recently is PETE THE CAT by Eric Litwin--another book with a downloadable song. I love the live performance and the kids love it too. Once I found PETE THE CAT, I found others by Mr. Eric. Another new favorite is MR. ERIC'S JUMPING SONG. You can see the lyrics (and hopefully soon, a video) at THE LEARNING GROOVE.
I am also thinking about all of the possibilities for our K-1 readers. Having a great variety of songs and text available is so important. I always had a song book basket when I taught K-1 but having access to these on computers and iPods will be so great for kids. I am starting to see how this technology is going to change the way kids experience so many kinds of text. I love that the list of great downloadable songs for kids is growing. And I love the books, like PERFECT PIGGIES and PETE THE CAT, that give us a downloadable song to go along with the book. I'm looking for more of these.
Disclaimer: All blog posts, opinions, grammatical errors, and spelling mistakes are our own.
Franki and Mary Lee are both teachers, and have been for more than 20 years.
Franki is a fifth grade teacher. She is the author of Beyond Leveled Books (Stenhouse), Still Learning to Read (Stenhouse), and Day-to-Day Assessment in the Reading Workshop (Scholastic).
Mary Lee is a fifth grade teacher. She is the author of Reconsidering Read-Aloud (Stenhouse) and has poems in the Poetry Friday Anthology, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Science, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations (Pomelo Books), Dear Tomato: An International Crop of Food and Agriculture Poems, National Geographic Books of Nature Poems, The Best of Today's Little Ditty (2014-15 and 2016), Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's Poems are Teachers, National Geographic's The Poetry of US, and IMPERFECT: Poems About Mistakes.
Our Grandparents: A Global Album
