Pumpkin; Autumn.

Autumn
by Linda Pastan

I want to mention
summer ending
without meaning the death
of somebody loved

or even the death
of the trees.
Today in the market
I heard a mother say

Look at the pumpkins,
it's finally autumn!
And the child didn't think
of the death of her mother

which is due before her own
but tasted the sound
of the words on her clumsy tongue:
pumpkin; autumn.

Let the eye enlarge
with all it beholds.
I want to celebrate
color, how one red leaf

flickers like a match
held to a dry branch,
and the whole world goes up
in orange and gold.

Sara Lewis Holmes has the Poetry Friday round up today.

The Wisdom of Aldo Zelnick

Dumbstruck
by Karla Oceanak
illustrated by Kendra Spanjer
Bailiwick Press, 2011
Review copy provided by the publisher









There's wisdom to be found in children's books. Here's a segment from the new Aldo Zelnick book:

Goosy (Aldo's artsy grandma) walked me (Aldo) over to a window in her studio. She flung it open, and we peered over the sill, onto the ground below. There, behind a big bush, lay a mashed-up pile of paper, canvas, pottery, and other atrsy stuff. 

"I listen to my gut," she said. "If it tells me, 'This piece doesn't make you happy,' I just throw it away and start over." 

"But why throw it out the window?" 

"Because it fels good to throw something out a window once in a while, don't you think?" 

"But you put so much work into your art!" 

"Of course. Except I don't think of it as work. Life is mostly in the doing, anyway, not in the having. Besides, not everything we do in life deserves to be on display, Aldo."

The Aldo Zelnick books keep getting better and better. In this volume, Aldo has to deal with starting fifth grade, having a crush on his new art teacher, figuring out what to create for the art contest, learning to communicate with a new friend who is deaf, and being Nick Bottom (wearing a donkey head) in his class' performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

FRUIT CAKE--A FRUIT-FILLED PLAY ON WORDS by Roger Priddy

I bought far too many books at Cover to Cover last week. One of my favorite new finds was FRUIT CAKE. Sally showed it to me and I knew I had to add it to my collection of books on words and word play.

This book is a lift-the-flap type book. Each page gives the reader some new thing to do--lift the flap, pull the tab, etc.  And each page gives the reader a new way to think about words.

Each page consists of one word-usually a fruit. Then, the reader manipulates both the picture and the word to discover a fun word surprise.  For example, when you pull the BANANA tab, it splits the banana, turning it into a Banana Split.  There are so many great word surprises in this one--each page is fun to discover.  The book introduces some popular nicknames (The Big Apple) as well as meanings of more unique words like "limelight".  The large colorful photos and great fonts add to the wonderful-ness of this book.

The last page of the book lists the words and their meanings.

A truly fun celebration of words!

A Great Time of Year for New Book Releases!!!

Several great new books are being released this week and next. This year, I have been getting some review copies and ARCs or I've heard about books long in advance of when they are being released. To keep track of when must-have books are available for purchase, I started a calendar of book release dates. I must say, it is the best idea I've had in years! September/October are great months of the year for book releases. An expensive time of year for readers, but well worth it!  Below are a few of the books I am excited about that are available in the next few week or two.  Some of the books I had the opportunity to read in advance--others are those I just can't wait to see! A great time for book shopping!

I am so excited that there are going to be a total of 15 books about Babymouse.  I am a huge Babymouse fan and so are many of my students. No matter how many copies I have in the library, it never seems like quite enough. I have so many readers who cannot get enough of this great character. So many who are anticipating this new book.  BABYMOUSE #15: A VERY BABYMOUSE CHRISTMAS is due out Tuesday. Can't wait!

On the same day, SQUISH #2 will also be released. If you have not met Squish--another character by Jennifer and Matthew Holm, you'll want to do that as soon as possible. A great new series by this great team.

I have the same feelings about the upcoming book HAPPY PIG DAY! I mean, who can ever have enough books about Elephant and Piggie?  I am sure this new one by Mo Willems will be a huge hit with everyone.  Can't wait to read it!

I was able to read several middle grade novels earlier than their release date. Many of my very favorites are coming out this week and next. I can't wait to share them with students.

I absolutely love fairy tale novels. I love retellings of traditional tales and I love new stories. Jessica Day George is one of my favorite fairy tale authors and I read PRINCESS OF THE MIDNIGHT BALL this summer. and I was excited to get an advanced copy of TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE. The main character, Celie, is great independent girl. And the castle is great fun--every Tuesday, it seems to change just a bit. It grows rooms, changes hallways, etc.  I love the whole concept of this castle. And the story inside the castle is one that kept me hooked. A great story!

BREADCRUMBS by Anne Ursu is an amazing re-envisioning of the traditional story, The Snow Queen. Whether you know this story or not, Breadcrumbs will be a great read. It is a great fairy tale. I loved this story--the characters, the story, everything about it.  We featured an excerpt from this book a few weeks ago on our blog.  A great review from Jen Robinson is up today on her blog.

BIGGER THAN A BREADBOX by Laurel Snyder is one I had the opportunity to read early.  It is one of my 2011 favorites. In this story, there is a magical breadbox. But the breadbox is not the whole story. This is a great middle grade novel about loss and change and one that really understands the age group it was written for. A great deal of depth and so much to talk about around this book.  The following book trailer was done by a student--it is brilliant! (And Next Best Book reviewed this one today!)


I was able to hear Lauren Oliver at Cover to Cover after reading DELIRIUM. I loved the book and was thrilled to hear that she was writing a middle grade novel. I was able to borrow an ARC of  LIESL AND PO and loved it. Below is a trailer of the book as well as a conversation with Lauren Oliver about the book.





And a new picture book I am excited about is I WANT MY HAT BACK by Jon Klassen. I don't know much about it but keep hearing good things. Looking forward to seeing it!

To Fish is to Hope

“Hope” is the thing with feathers

BY EMILY DICKINSON

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

*   *   *   *   

And "Hope" is the lady with a flyrod

BY MARY LEE HAHN

And "Hope" is the lady with a flyrod -

Learning something new -

Just for the weekend she can drop her facade -

She can forget all that she's been through -

Or she can remember - without fear -

Supported by new friends -

She'll find a way to steer -

Through all life's twists and bends -

I've seen Hope by the pond -

Heard Hope in the happy shouts -

I've remembered those who've gone to the Beyond -

All this is what hope's about.

This is the weekend of our Ohio Casting for Recovery Retreat.  Here's a post I wrote about it a couple of years ago and a PSA:

Casting For Recovery (CFR) is an international non-profit support and education program for breast cancer survivors.

The program involves a free weekend wellness program where, in addition to support and education relating to breast cancer, women learn fly fishing, "A sport for life."

CFR weekend programs incorporate counseling, educational services, and the sport of fly fishing to promote mental and physical healing. Founded in 1996, CFR offers free programs across the United States and in several countries worldwide.

Today alone, over 500 women will be newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Tomorrow, it will be the same. This number does include those already living with the disease or those who do not know they have it.

The Poetry Friday round up is at Picture Book of the Day.

Knowing Your Readers

For the first month of school, I have struggled to recommend books to my new students. I've done a much better job reaching forward to the 5th graders who were in my class last year. I knew just who would want to read the new Worst-Case Scenario book:

Worst-Case Scenario Ultimate Adventure: Everest: You Decide How to Survive!
by Bill Doyle and David Borgenicht, with David Morton, climbing consultant
Chronicle Books, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher







I knew just who would want to read the newest Just Grace book:

Just Grace and the Double Surprise
by Charise Mericle Harper
Houghton Mifflin, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher










And I knew who would want to read the newest book in the Amulet series:

My review here.














But I haven't been able to do a satisfying job of matching my new readers to books.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday, I handed The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson (Franki's mini-review here--last one in the list) to the reader whose first book pick of the year was Cinderella Smith by Stephanie Barden (my review here).

You know that feeling when the puzzle piece you picked fits perfectly in the spot you chose for it? That's how I felt when she came up to me at the end of reading workshop and said, "I LOVE The Friendship Doll!"

The Wisdom of Clementine

Clementine and the Family Meeting
by Sara Pennypacker
illustrated by Marla Frazee
Disney*Hyperion, 2011

This is the fifth book in the Clementine series, and I like Clementine more than ever. I like her parents more than ever, I like her teacher, Mr. D'Matz more than ever, and even her makeup-obsessed friend Margaret is a little easier to deal with in this book.

I love that the characters in this series continue to grow and change.

But the thing I love most about the Clementine books is the wisdom that Sara Pennypacker weaves in so unobtrusively.

In this book, Clementine has to learn to deal with change. Her family is growing from the perfect number of FOUR people, to the awkward number of FIVE. She says, "It's all moving too fast and we're not ready."

Her mom replies,

"Oh, honey. Life is always moving too fast and we're never ready. That's how life is. But somehow that's just perfect." 

Her dad continues,

"Things are always changing -- that's life. And this?" He spread his hands to the tornadoed kitchen. "Us? Toy-truck ziti, missing hats, drill-gun mixers? Well, this is how we roll, Clementine. This is how we roll."

Lucky Clementine, to have such a family. Lucky us, to get to be a part of that family for another book. Keep 'em coming, Sara Pennypacker and Marla Frazee. Keep 'em coming!


My review of Clementine, Friend of the Week (#4) here.
Franki's review of Clementine's Letter (#3) here.
My review of The Talented Clementine (#2) here.
Franki's review of Clementine (#1) here.
And we have Mr. D'Matz, Clementine's teacher, on our 100 Cool Teachers in Children's Literature list.

A New Blog that You May Enjoy!

Today, we want to welcome a semi-new blog to the Kidlitosphere:  BOOK PEEP WONDERS. This one is unique in that the blog is written by a Mother/Daughter team. The tagline reads, "A blog showcasing the terrific literature a teen girl and her mom read and talk about."   I so love the whole concept of this blog!


To give you a little info on the blog's authors:
Alysa (the daughter)  is 13 and in 8th grade.She likes to read and listen to music. Sarah Dessen is a favorite author of hers. She also likes to write. She was the one who had the idea to start blog. She is currently exploring what high school she will go to next year.  


Andie (the mom) loves reading and writing. Andie says, "One of the things I love about writing is how it helps me uncover hidden truths." Andie is coauthor of the book, STARTING WITH COMPREHENSION. She's also done some DVDs with Choice Literacy including Write from the Start and "Synthesizing Butterflies".  All of Andie's work is centered on deep learning with young learners. Andie's current work is in  learning more about how trauma impacts learning in a third grade classroom and how educators can invite traumatized learners through literacy openings in the classroom. 


This is going to be a pretty expensive blog for me to follow. These two --a teenager and her mom--blog about the books they are reading. There are some books that are popular books and others that they have introduced me to. The mother/daughter team aren't necessarily reading and reviewing the same books, but they are sharing some YA and adult books that sound incredible as well as some conversations about books. A must-follow blog for anyone who is a reader of YA, has a teenage daughter, is a teenager, is a mom, etc.....

WAITING FOR MAGIC by Patricia MacLachlan

Does a book ever make your day?  Like you are so happy that you were so lucky to have discovered it and to have read it? That is how I felt about this book.  I LOVED LOVED LOVED Patricia MacLachlan's new book WAITING FOR MAGIC.  I am a huge Patricia MacLachlan fan and especially enjoy her short novels.  I remember reading BABY aloud to a 3rd grade class years ago and that was the book that I realized how powerful read aloud conversations could be.  BABY has been one of my all-time favorite books for years. And ALL THE PLACES TO LOVE is also still a favorite book of mine. So, I was excited to see a new title by Patricia MacLachlan. And I fell in love with it immediately-read it in one sitting!

This is the story of William and his family. In the first pages, William's father leaves. He leaves a note for William and William takes this to mean that this time, his father has left for good. Shortly after his father leaves, William's mother packs William and his 4 year old sister in the car and drives to the animal shelter to get a dog.  They come home with 4 dogs and a cat.   It is amazing how quickly you come to know the dogs and cat in the book.  They each have their own personalities and they each bring something unique to the story....and to the family.

William has the hardest time with his father's decision and carries sadness and anger with him. But the whole family is grieving and the new pets help them to heal.  One of my favorite lines in the book, is, "'This is a bit of magic, isn't it? All these nice dogs living with people who need them?' said Mama." But William doesn't believe in magic.

This is the story of family and healing and magic and love. It is a wonderful story with characters I will care about forever.  And it is truly Patricia MacLachlan at her best.  The writing is characteristic of MacLaclan's earlier books--I hear pieces that remind me of SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL and pieces that remind me of BABY. There is joy and sorrow all mixed together.

A perfect book really.

We're Versatile Bloggers!

Thank you to Vintage Teacher for recognizing us!

After accepting this honor there are some things we are requested to do:
1. Thank the person (people) who nominated you and provide a link back to their blog.
2. Share 7 things about you.
3. Pass this award along to 15 other blogs that you have discovered.

So, here are 7 things about our blog:

1. Sometime this week, we will post our 2000th post.
2. We are only about 40 followers away from having 1000 blog followers (not counting all those who follow in a reader).
3. We are a few teachers away from having 150 Cool Teachers in Children's Literature on our list.
4. Franki has 21 books on her Books I Could Read A Million Times list.
5. The two of us combined have been teaching for about a half a century.
6. We've been blogging since 2006.
7. We don't HAVE time to do this, we MAKE time to do it! And we're thankful that we are co-bloggers, because neither one of us could keep a blog afloat on our own!!

Here are 15ish bloggers (in no particular order) that we'd recognize as Versatile Bloggers:

Abby and Lauren @ Authentic Learner
Bill and Karen @ Literate Lives
Cathy @ Reflect and Refine
Julie @  Raising Readers and Writers
Katie @  Creative Literacy
Mandy @  Enjoy and Embrace Learning
Maria @ Teaching in the 21st Century
Tracy @  Thinking Stems...
Stella @ My World - Mi Mundo
Tony @ atychiphobia
Kristine @ Best Book I Have Not Read

Nicole @ Nicole's Book Nook
Deb @  Primary Perspective
Scott @ Scott Sibberson