Alphabet Fun

Remember how much my students and I loved E-Mergency! by Tom Lichtenheld and Ezra Fields-Meyer? (my review is here)

Well, I've got another pair of alphabet book that I'm betting stay off the shelf more than on, just like E-Mergency!.

A Call for a New Alphabet
by Jef Czekaj (Jef's website)
Charlesbridge, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

First sentence on the front flap: "X is tired of being at the back of every alphabet book." There's the "major conflict" in the story.

First sentence on the back flap: "Jef Czekaj has a BA in linguistics." That explains just about everything else.

Because X is tired of being at the back of the alphabet, and because he thinks more words should begin with him, X starts a campaign to change both the order of the letters in the alphabet, and their roles there.

The night before the big vote, X has some strange dreams that make clear to him the hard work of the other consonants in the alphabet. He turns to the vowels for an easier job, but find that they, of all the letters, best understand that the letters of the alphabet have to work together, rather than in competition. Each has an important job to do.

The illustrations are filled with all kinds of alphabetic sight-gags that will keep readers busy thinking about letters and words and the crazy English language.

Al Pha's Bet
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (Amy's website)
illustrated by Delphine Durand (Delphine's blog)
G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

Al, the guy who lived back in history "when all sorts of things were being invented. Like fire. The wheel. Shadows." decides that he wants to invent the order for the newly invented set of twenty-six letters. He bets himself that he can win the King's contest to organize the letters with the most beautiful arrangement.

Al has quite amusing (and incredibly LOGICAL) reasons for the order of the letters. When he presents his order to the king, "The king said it out loud. The king tried singing it. The king wanted to sing it again. He said to Al, 'This time, won't you sing with me?' " (Groan.)

You can guess by the title -- Al won the bet he made with himself. And that's how the twenty-six letters have come to be known as the Al Pha Bet. (Groan.)

It Happens All the Time in Books

I love kids' books that incorporate kid-sized literary references! Here are two fairy tales that require the reader to remember other stories they've read in order to get the most out of the story at hand:

The Princess and the Pig
by Jonathan Emmett
illustrated by Poly Bernatene
Walker & Company, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

A poor farmer's tiny pig and a baby princess switch places (if by "switch places" you mean one gets dropped from a balcony into a cart of hay and the other gets sproinged from the cart of hay into the cradle on the balcony). "The king thought he knew what had happened. 'A bad fairy has done this,' he explained. 'The fairy wasn't invited to the princess's christening, so she's turned the baby into a piglet to get her revenge. It's the sort of thing that happens all the time in books.' " (He's holding a copy of Sleeping Beauty in the illustration just in case you don't get it...)

That refrain, "It's the sort of thing that happens all the time in books," occurs throughout the story as the pig grows up a princess and the princess grows up a farmer's daughter. There's a funny twist in the end that I won't spoil for you here!

Other reviews: Jen Robinson's Book Page, Fuse #8

Dog in Boots
by Greg Gormley
illustrated by Roberta Angaramo
Holiday House, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

Dog gets the idea that he'd like some boots from the storybook in his lap, "...a brilliant book, all about a cat who wore a pair of truly magnificent boots." You know the book, but in case you forgot, there it is in his lap.

Dog tries boots like Puss's, but they're not quite the right thing for digging in mud, so he takes them back to the shoe store. The accommodating shopkeeper trades the muddy boots for a pair of rain boots, and although those work fine for digging, they don't work too well when Dog goes for a swim. Over and over, Dog tries different footwear, only to discover in the end that his built-in footwear (his PAWS) are the best in every situation.

Tired and happy, Dog plops down in his big chair with another brilliant book. "This time it was about a girl who didn't wear any silly boots, but did wear... (text deliberately excluded...can you guess what she wore!?!?) 'Hmmm...,' thought Dog."

Other reviews: BooksForKidsBlog, A Random Hodgepodge of Bookishness

Pets

Prudence Wants a Pet
by Cathleen Daly
illustrations by Stephen Michael King
Roaring Brook Press, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

Prudence really really wants a pet, but her parents (seen only from the waste down in the illustrations) tell her they cost too much and make noise. So Prudence gets a pet branch. Branch is an outdoor pet who lives on the front porch and who has tripped Prudence's father eight times. "Dad broke Branch into little bits and put them on the woodpile." But Prudence is not daunted. She has a new pet. Its name is Twig. But Twig lives in her pocket and one day Twig runs away in the rinse cycle. Prudence tries one unique, inanimate pet after another. Her persistence finally gets her parents' attention -- just in time for her birthday.

Another review at Colby Sharp's blog sharpread.

Jane and Mizmow
by Matthew S. Armstrong
Harper, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

This is a different kind of pet book. Jane has a pet -- a monster she finds in a red cap at the base of a tree (what is it with red caps this year???). Jane and Mizmow are best friends until the day they argue over the red hat, warm from the dryer, and pull it into two parts. Then, just like the hat, the two friends are pulled apart. Luckily, they find a way to repair their friendship in the end.

If you've read any of the FLIGHT graphic novel short story anthologies edited by Kazu Kibuishi, that's where you've met these characters before. This book has a graphic novel feel to it, and would have worked perfectly well as a wordless picture book -- the captions seem like an afterthought.

Another review at Lori Calabrese Writes!

The Gift of Imagination

Are there still children who love to play with the box as much as they love to play with the item that came in it? I hope so!

I know for sure that there are still children who will create a dollhouse and dolls from scraps of paper, because there's one in my fourth grade class.

Here are a few books for those who have the gift of imagination, or for those who would blow the dust off theirs and bring it out to play.

Sea of Dreams
by Dennis Nolan
Roaring Brook Press, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

In this gorgeous wordless picture book, a light comes on in the sandcastle the little girl leaves to the tides on the beach. As the waters swirl around the castle, a family escapes in a boat, survives a wild ride in a storm, and eventually washes up again to settle with a family of gulls. The girl comes back to the beach and makes another sandcastle, watched over by a gull. And as the sun sets and the tides wash around the castle, a light comes on in the tower window...

A Few Blocks
by Cybèle Young
Groundwood Books, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

Ferdie doesn't want to go to school. "Not now," he said. "Maybe never..." But Ferdie's sister Viola knows how to get him moving. She holds out his coat and says, "Ferdie, look! I found your superfast cape! Quick -- put on your rocket-blaster books and we'll take off!" At this point, the black and white pencil sketch illustrations turn into full color 3-D paper sculptures...for as long as Ferdie's imagination stays engaged. Then Viola must come up with another imaginative scenario. In the end, Viola gets tired of having to be the one that provides the impetus to get Ferdie to school...but he comes through, and the two find the strength to walk the final block to school.

Inkblot: Drip, Splat, and Squish Your Way to Creativity
by Margaret Peot
Boyds Mills Press, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

With a very few supplies (don't forget the apron -- India ink is permanent) and the easy-to-follow directions in this book, you could be the first inkblot artist on your block!

Not only are the directions clear, but the chapters progress nicely from the most basic to the most complicated designs/techniques. Spattered throughout the text (yes, pun intended) are short bios of "Inkblot Heroes," including (you guessed it) Hermann Rorschach, and others such as Victor Hugo, Justinus Kerner and Stefan G. Bucher.

The chapter on the Inkblot Sketchbook journal is the one that tugs at my imagination most strongly. Surely I've got a spare blank book somewhere on my shelves...I've got the ink, and I've got an apron...

Poetry Friday -- Addendums

As I was working on my Poetry Friday post, the Gapingvoid daily cartoon from Hugh MacLeod pinged into my inbox. It seems to talk nicely to today's poem, but I didn't want to clutter up my post with any chatter.

Poetry Friday -- Less Can Be More

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by EmreAyar

Crane

by David Yezzi

Paper creased is
with a touch
made less by half,
reduced as much

again by a second
fold—so the wish
to press our designs
can diminish

what we hold.
But by your hand’s
careful work,
I understand

how this unleaving
makes of what’s before
something finer
and finally more.

Any thoughts I might add here would subtract from the simple beauty of the poem. I'll leave you in the quiet to bring to and take away from this poem what you will. (This poem is posted in its entirety with the permission of the author, David Yezzi -- his website is here.)

The Poetry Friday round up today is at Dori Reads.

Nothing Like A Puffin

Nothing Like A Puffin
by Sue Soltis
illustrated by Bob Kolar
Candlewick Press, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

This is a very fun book!

It starts off being a book about the things a puffin is NOT like: a ladder and a house. But then we come to the newspaper, and

"A newspaper, to be sure, is nothing like a puffin. A newspaper is shaped like a rectangle and made out of paper. A newspaper has pages. It's black and white. But wait -- a puffin is black and white, too! What are the chances? 

A newspaper is something like a puffin, after all."

After the newspaper come things that a puffin is more and more like, until we get to a penguin, which is very much like a puffin...but not quite. In the end, "There's nothing like a puffin!"

The illustrations have their own story line, so the book begs to be read more than once to enjoy all the details. 

And this is a book that also begs to be used as a mentor text. Wouldn't it be fun to pick an animal or an item, find a few things that it is NOTHING like, then several things that it is SORT OF like, and finally one thing it is A LOT alike, and write with the same pattern? Yes, I thought so. We'll be doing this in our writing workshop after the first of the year!

Time Machine

The wrapper reads, "Everyone should have their own time machine," and on the spine it says, "The Busy Person's Journal."

The new volume that came in the mail today lies completely flat, while the one that holds bits and pieces of my life for this past 11 years bulges with movie tickets, quotes, newspaper articles (Lance Armstrong's wins, Oprah's book clubs) and columns (Joe Blundo, Craig Wilson)...and taped in are blue jay feathers and the piece of metal that punctured my car's tire. There are programs from lectures/performances by Amy Tan, Billy Collins, and David Sedaris. I marked the passing of my fourth grade teacher, the parents of several friends, Mike Hardin, Charlotte Huck, two good dogs, and The Series of Unfortunate Events.

Each day is afforded only four lines in which to capture a moment: the first time the trees fully shade our street in the spring, the first locusts that are heard in the summer, the first sighting of Orion on my early morning walks in the late summer, the beginning of school, the laryngitis season of October, the birthdays (both 40 and 50 are captured within the pages of this volume), dreams, surgeries (back and gallbladder), trips, presidential elections, snow days, full moons, Fairfield County Fairs, irritations, embarrassments, celebrations, landmarks, crocuses, dog walks, and both good and bad restaurant experiences.

Franki asked for the link to the company that sells these 10+ year journals, but I decided that I'd just get her her very own time machine. Merry Christmas, Franki!! Happy New Year again and again and again (x11). I hope you have as much fun capturing snapshots of your life as I've had capturing snapshots of mine.

Upcoming Blog Series: Mentor Texts in the Digital Writing Workshop

Over the last few years, I have been doing a lot of thinking around the idea of Digital Mentor Texts. I believe strongly in Reading and Writing Workshops to move all students forward in literacy.  With the definition of literacy expanding, I believe that much of what we know of the writing process remains the same. The power of mentor texts in writing first hit me when I read Ralph Fletcher's classic book WHAT A WRITER NEEDS.  He gave us great pieces to learn from as writers and new ways to work with our student writers.  Another book that had a huge impact on my personal thinking about mentor texts in the writing workshop was STUDY DRIVEN by Katie Wood Ray.  In this important book, Katie reminds us that inquiry has to remain at the heart of writing workshop.  She says, "In an inquiry stance, teachers help children explore different alternatives for how to write something, and then let them do what writers really have to do and make decisions about how their pieces will go."  (p. 27)  Ralph Fletcher, Kelly Gallagher (WRITE LIKE THIS) , Aimee Buckner (NOTEBOOK KNOW-HOW), Lucy Calkins (THE ART OF TEACHING WRITING) Katie Wood Ray, Lester Laminack, Shelley Harwayne (LASTING IMPRESSIONS), Ann Marie Corgill (OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE) and others have all given me so much to think about when it comes to the role of mentor texts in writing workshop.

As I've been playing around with digital writing in the library, I realize that the decisions our writers have to make are also expanding.  There are so many ways to write and create and so many decisions that writers make when creating pieces of digital writing.  There are several of us who have been informally talking about the idea of Mentor Texts in the Digital Writing Workshop and we thought we'd have a more focused online conversation around the topic--to try to synthesize our thinking.

Lots of us included our thinking in our sessions at NCTE 2011 but then followed up with conversations working through what the idea of mentor texts and inquiry-driven study mean for a digital writing workshop.

In the midst of one of our conversations, an idea formulated about focusing some writing around it.  So, during the week of January 8, we'll each be posting on our own blogs about the thinking we've been doing, the things we've learned from students, and our own writing.  We are hoping you'll join us by thinking along with us about this idea of mentor texts in the digital writing workshop. You can join in the conversation by reading our blogs, posting your own thinking to your blog, commenting, etc.  We thought this would be a fun way to have a larger conversation about ideas we are thinking about. We love the idea of pulling lots of voices together around one idea.

Participating in the series will be:

Bill Bass, Technology Integration Specialist in Missouri and author of the upcoming ISTE book on Film Festivals tentatively titled, "Authentic Learning Through a Digital Lens" will be blogging on his blog MR. BASS ONLINE.

Katie DiCesare, a primary teacher in Dublin who runs an incredible writing workshop will be blogging at her blog, CREATIVE LITERACY.

Troy Hicks, author of THE DIGITAL WRITING WORKSHOP and BECAUSE DIGITAL WRITING MATTERS. He will be blogging at his site, DIGITAL WRITING, DIGITAL TEACHING.

Kevin Hodgson, 6th grade teacher and author of TEACHING THE NEW WRITING will be blogging at his blog Kevin's Meandering Mind.

Tony Keefer, an amazing 4th grade teacher in Dublin, Ohio will be blogging at at ATYCHIPHOBIA.

And I'll be blogging here.

Each of us has committed to posting several times during the week of January 8 around the topic of Mentor Texts in the Digital Writing Workshop. I am hoping to revisit some of those staple professional books I mentioned above to reground myself in the role of mentor texts and what they mean for writers.
We hope you'll join us in thinking about this!

It's Monday: What are you reading?

Joining Jen and Kellee (TEACH MENTOR TEXTS) and Katherine (READ, WRITE, REFLECT) again this week for It's Monday: What Are You Reading?  I have somehow (against my better judgement) become a person who reads more than one book at a time.  This is new for me! It is definitely an interesting way to read--haven't decided if I like it or not.... Even though we don't start winter break until Thursday, I have started my participation in The Book-A-Day Challenge started by Donalyn Miller. I participated over the summer and I find it not only fun and a great gift to myself, but it is a great way to catch up on my TBR pile.

This week I finished THE AVIARY by Kathleen O'Dell. This is one of the books on Anderson's Book Shop's Mock Newbery list and I am so glad that I read it.  It is definitely a unique read.  A bit spooky and I loved the story and the characters.  It is a great story about a little girl named Clara. It reminded me a bit of The Little Princess, a bit of The Secret Garden and a bit of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (with a tiny bit of Home Alone mixed in...). It is truly a great book and a must-read in my opinion.

I also read BONE DOG by Eric Rohman as it seems to be on many Mock Caldecott lists. I love Eric Rohman's work but this wasn't one of my favorites. One I will add to the library and glad I read it.

Thanks to Mr. Schu's list on Watch. Connect. Read.  I picked up a copy of THE ADVENTURES OF SIR GAWAIN THE TRUE by Gerald Morris. This book was one on Mr. Schu's list of the Top 20 books of 2011 that I hadn't heard of. I figure if it was on Mr. Schu's top 20, it was a must-read.  (BTW, A huge CONGRATULATIONS goes out to Mr. Schu for meeting his reading goal of reading 2011 books in 2011!!)  Anyway, I LOVED Sir Gawain and am so glad I read it. I am always looking for great short chapter books--especially those that might appeal to boys. This book has adventure and humor and is definitely part of a series I want to add to our collection.

Another that I discovered on John Schumacher's list was AROUND THE WORLD by Matt Phelan. This is a fascinating graphic novels that shares the stories of 3 journeys around the world.

I have tried (REALLY HARD) to stick with 2011 books, even as amazing 2012 ARCS are delivered to my door. When I opened a copy of Katherine Applegate's upcoming THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN I knew that I could not hold out reading 2011 books much longer. This one is due out in mid-January so I wanted to get to it as soon as possible. This was a great first 2012 book. It is the story of Ivan, a gorilla who lives in a mall. He has a few friends but is lonely.  When a baby elephant (Ruby)  moves into the mall to be part of the daily show, things change. This is an amazing story. I loved Ivan and all of his friends in the mall. I loved the story and the format. And I loved learning about the true story that inspired the author to write this book. This is a must-read I think. An amazing upcoming book. So happy to have interrupted my 2011 Newbery reading to read this one!

So, there are still so many I want to read, but I may have to dig into my 2012 books during this #bookaday vacation.  EYE OF THE STORM by Kate Messner is next on my list for 2012 titles.

I am so looking forward to reading Tom Newkirk's new professional book, THE ART OF SLOW READING.  I have heard so many good things about it and love all of Newkirk's thinking. I have been saving it for holiday break when I have time to really dig into his newest thinking.

Currently, I am reading SPUNKY TELLS ALL by Ann Cameron--a great early chapter book.  I can already think of many kids who will love it.

I may stick with my original plan to read more from the Anderson's Mock Newbery list or I may choose other things. I am keeping my reading options open this week!