Wordless (or nearly so)

The Giant Seed
by Arthur Geisert
Enchanted Lion Books, June 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

I am a huge fan of wordless picture books, and Arthur Geisert is a master of the form.

This followup to Ice (reviewed here) is a story of survival, collaboration and dandelion seeds. Yes, dandelions. It seems like the perfect season to look at those plants we think of as pests with wonder and admiration as we imagine the small worlds that would be saved by those magical floaty seeds...

Little Bird
by Germano Zullo
illustrated by Albertine
translated from the French by Claudia Zoe Bedrick
Enchanted Lion Books, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

It's high time we here in the U.S. started paying better attention to books published internationally.

Take for instance, Little Bird, winner of the 2011 Prix Sorcières for illustration (the French Caldecott). Yes, the book is visually stunning. It's clear why it won an award for illustrations.

But it's a great story, too. About the small things in life. About keeping your eyes open for the little ways that make every day different, unique, and a day to be treasured.

This is not quite a wordless book. The words stay tucked down at the bottom of the page in the white margin around the illustration. The words are like a quiet commentary that complement the cinematic pictures. This is one I'd love to read to kids of many ages to see how their reactions differ.

From STIGMA to SAFFRON

by Hugh MacLeod at Gaping Void

I subscribe to a free daily dose of these cartoons by Hugh MacLeod. (Sign up here.) It's creepy but wonderful how often they "talk" to me by giving me just the message I need to hear at the moment they land in my inbox.

I used one in a post a week ago, when I was shaking my head at getting the word SCUTTLE in Ed DeCaria's Madness! 2012 Poetry Writing Tournament, and at the crazy improbability that I could even hope to win against the amazing children's poet Julie Larios.

Well, win I did, and the word I got on Sunday night, for a competition against Greg Pincus, master of wit, rhyme and puns is...

STIGMA

I spent 6 straight hours Monday night after school working on a poem that uses the word stigma in it. 

The way I looked at it, I had two options: a poem about social disgrace, or a poem about one of the reproductive parts of a plant.

I was totally stuck because I was trying to write a poem about the word. I needed to write a poem that just used that word in passing. That's when I decided to write a poem about saffron.

What do I know about saffron and saffron harvesting? I have a bottle of it in my spice cupboard. I've cooked with it maybe once or twice in my life. Thank goodness for the internet. I Googled "Saffron Harvest," and through the pictures, video, and websites, I created a virtual experience for myself, and boiled it down into a poem I could be proud of.

As agonizing and frustrating as it was to work for SIX hours on this poem, the moment when I realized I was on the right track was an amazing and addictive kind of high. Because of this contest, I am learning that I really do LOVE to write poetry.

I am not that good at writing funny poems, or poems with a regular rhythm and spot-on rhymes. But I am finding out, through this contest, that I am good at near-rhyme, flow, titles, and nailing down endings.

Voting is still live throughout today for the "Elite Eight" poems in the Madness! 2012 Poetry Contest. My poem is here.  It lost by a couple of votes, but I'm still feeling lika a big winner.

Thank you Ed DeCaria at Think Kid, Think for a fun game.

Women's History Month: Touch The Sky

Touch the Sky: Alice Coachman, Olympic High Jumper
by Ann Malaspina
illustrations by Eric Velaszuez
Albert Whitman & Company, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

This biography of the first African American woman to win Olympic Gold is written as a series of free-verse poems. Malaspina does a fabulous job showing the reader how Alice the child became Alice the Olympian.

Alice's dream and her talent were jeopardized by the poverty of her family and the color of her skin. But all along the way, people believed in her and opened doors for her. She never let them down. She literally cleared every hurdle put before her.

Photographs, the author's note, and the bibliography (including several websites) help to bring the story into sharp focus.

Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It: False Apology Poems by Gail Caron Levine

I fell in love with Gail Carson Levine years ago when I read PRINCESS SONORA AND THE LONG SLEEP. The humor she brought to her retelling of one of my favorite stories--The Princess and the Pea--was brilliant. And I went on to read the rest of her Princess Tales.  So, I have been looking forward to Gail Carson Levine's new poetry book called FORGIVE ME, I MEANT TO DO IT. I really had no idea what to expect from this book, but knew that I'd want a copy. I picked my copy up at Cover to Cover last week and read it when I got home.

This book was one that made me laugh out loud. Each poem in the book is connected in some way to a fairy tale or nursery rhyme we know.  The poems are apologies from characters, etc. about their actions. But they are false apologies which makes them even more fun. I kept finding poems I wanted to share with my family. (My husband was thrilled as I continued to read samples aloud while cracking myself up--he was trying to watch March Madness...)  One of my favorites was an apology poem from Pinocchio.

I think kids will have a ball with this one. Older kids will make the connections needed to understand the humor.  For some, this may inspire them to read some of Gail Carson Levine's other fairy tales--her retellings and her original tales.

The author's bio on Amazon states that Gail Carson Levine shares a birthday with William Carlos Williams.  How fun, then, for her to write a book inspired by his famous poem!  The author does invite readers to try their own apology poems--she does so with her usual wit:-)

So much to love about this author and this new book!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Go Visit TEACH MENTOR TEXTS for the whole round up of It's Monday, What Are You Reading Posts!  Thanks Jen and Kellee!

I read lots of good, short books over spring break last week. I didn't have as much time to read as I usually do as I tried to spent a good deal of time writing.  And then there is the whole exercise thing that is taking up more and more time. Since I am focusing on fitness and making time for that in my life, I was worried that I was reading far less. But when I checked my Goodreads numbers, I am at about the same place I was last year. I think having less time to read it allowing me to focus on short books--poetry, graphic novels, picture books and I am loving the books I am finding. This week, I read.

HOW MANY JELLY BEANS? by Andrea Menotti  This book is such fun. It reminds me a bit of HOW MUCH IS A MILLION and I think kids will love it. The story is about two kids discussing the number of jelly beans they could eat.  When they get to the number of jelly beans they could eat across a year, the math thinking becomes more complex. I love all of the invitations for problems solving that this book has. This is definitely one that can be used in a math classroom or it could just be used as a fun read aloud.  The size and colors also makes this one pretty fun.

I DON'T WANT TO BE A PEA by Ann Bonwill will make a fun read aloud. I pretty much buy anything that has any connection to the Princess and the Pea.  But, I actually picked this one up because I like it for word play.  This is the story of a hippo and a bird who are friends--who depend on each other. But when they are trying to decide on costumes for the upcoming costume party, they have some problems.  I like all of the ideas that the bird and hippo come up with. This is a fun read aloud for younger kids and I think it would be a great conversation with older kids about how words go together.

HUFF AND PUFF by Claudia Rueda is another traditional tale retelling.  In this one Rueda retells The Three Little Pigs in a short, interactive way.  The whole story is told in just one sentence per page.  And readers are invited to join along in the huffing and puffing.  This one would be great to use with older kids to talk about summarizing/synthesizing etc.

I also read a few nonfiction picture books.
GOING APE by Eduardo Bustos is a short book with facts about various primates. Each page focuses on one type and has just a few sentence to go along with it. Great for all ages.

THE DAY ROY RIEGELS RAN THE WRONG WAY by Dan Gutman is a great story of a football player's game-changing mistake.  I love adding new books to my collection of picture book biographies and I love this one because it is sports related and I love the message about mistakes.  There is also an interesting writing style in which a grandfather is telling his grandson the story of Riegels and their talking bubble dialogue is set up on the side of the page.


LEO GEO AND HIS MIRACULOUS JOURNEY THROUGH THE CENTER OF THE EARTH by Jon Chat is one that I am still reading.  It is an odd shaped book that chronicles a journey to the center of the earth--and back.  The book is a bit of a graphic novel and it reminds me a little of a more grown-up version of The Magic Schoolbus.  This book is not only unique in format, but it is PACKED with information about rocks, the earth's layers, etc. A great nonfiction book and one that will engage students due to its format and humor.  I was surprised at how long the book takes to read-as I said, it is packed with information. There is far more text in the book than there appears to be.

And I love the new poetry book OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW: A FIRST BOOK OF NATURE by Nicola Davies. I love this nonfiction author and was thrilled to see her new volume of poetry about nature and the outdoors. This looks to be a well-loved collection with lots of opportunities for studying craft.

And my absolute favorite read of the week was Tom Angleberger's FAKE MUSTACHE. What a great read! I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for this book and I was so happy to finally have a copy. I can't wait to share this book with kids. This is the story of Lenny whose best friend buys a fake mustache. With the mustache, he tries to take over the world. Lenny is the only one who can see what is happening and he tries to save the day. This book is hysterical. (The subtitle alone made me smile--FAKE MUSTACHE: OR HOW JODIE O'RODEO AND HER WONDER HORSE (AND SOME NERDY KID) SAVED THE US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION FROM A MAD GENIUS CRIMINAL MASTERMIND. I laughed aloud a lot while reading. How Tom Angleberger thinks of these things is beyond me. This book is going to be a huge hit with my 4th and 5th grade readers. I am sure we'll need several copies of this one in the library.  A great story that is really, really fun!

Nerdy Book Club Post

I have a new post up at THE NERDY BOOK CLUB about the 10 Classic Professional Books I can't live without.  I am cross posting the piece here:-)

Well-Worn and Well-Loved:  Ten Classic Professional Books I Cannot Live Without

One wall in my “office” is filled with professional books.  From floor to ceiling, the shelves are filled with the books that have helped me learn to teach thoughtfully. I have been reading professional books throughout my career. I have hundreds and hundreds of books that have impacted my thinking. I have been lucky to learn from amazing people over the years and I learn something new every time I revisit an old favorite.

In the last several years, I have noticed I’ve purchased fewer professional books. I am reading more professionally, but much of my professional reading is online. So in a cleaning frenzy a few weeks ago, I decided to weed out some of my oldest professional books.   I have been teaching for twenty-five years so I figured I could weed almost every book published before 2000 to keep my professional library current.  I have so many books and so many that I read years and years ago, I figured that this would be an easy job.

But, the job was not so easy.  While browsing the shelves, certain books triggered a feeling of transformation-books that changed who I was as a teacher   Below are ten classics that I could not part with, even though they were all published prior to the year 2000. Even though I have newer editions of most off the titles, it was the original reading that made a difference for me.  These classics set the stage for what we understand about literacy learning and teaching.  So many of my big understandings come from these foundational books. These are the books that reground me, reenergize me and remind me of all the reasons I became a teacher to begin with.

This is in no way a conclusive list.  But it is an important one to me. Consider this my “oldies” playlist of professional books—the learning that is playing around in my head every time I work with children.

1983

 Writing: Teachers and Children at Work by Donald Graves was one of the first books that took teachers inside classrooms to let us know what was possible. I didn’t read this until I graduated from college but Graves’ work was the work that created huge changes in classroom writing programs.  It was a great time to start teaching and this book laid the groundwork for my thinking about writing process.

1987

I had been teaching 1^st grade for three years when I asked to be moved to 4^th grade.  I was excited about the change and had heard about the book (first edition) In the Middle by Nancie Atwell and was excited about the whole idea of workshop. The summer before I started teaching 4^th grade, I was pregnant with our first daughter. My husband had a summer job delivering pizzas. I remember laying on the couch with a bag of Doritos and reading In the Middle over and over.  That summer, I created a vision of an intermediate workshop classroom all because of this book.

1988

I was able to attend the Teacher’s College Writing Project and learn from Lucy Calkins for ten days in 1991. But I was a total fan by the time I attended, having read everything she wrote cover to cover, over and over again. Lucy’s work helped us listen to children and to be thoughtful about everything we did.  The Art of Teaching Writing by Lucy Calkins was packed with new thinking.

1990

Ralph Peterson was a huge influence for me. His book Grand Conversations was one that helped me see the power of books and student conversations. It was one of the first books that helped me to see what could happen if students were in charge of their own understandings and conversations. It was a short book, but packed with thinking about the importance of talk and ownership.

1992

I learned a great deal from the staff at The Manhattan New School. I learned through visits, workshops and their writing. The schoolwas amazing and the staff was generous in sharing all that they learned.  A book that changed my teaching was Shelley Harwayne’s Lasting Impressions: Weaving Literature Into the Writing Workshop.  I have always been a huge children’s literature person and this book helped me see the power of children’s literature for writers.

1992

 What a Writer Needs by Ralph Fletcher is a book that opened up so many possibilities for me as a teacher of writing. The ways that Fletcher showed us, as readers, how to look at text with a writer’s eye was key to what we do today.  This was the first book that that helped me “read like a writer”.

1993

The work of Howard Gardner and Harvard’s Project Zero has been instrumental in who I am as a teacher today. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. As with all of Gardner’s work, this book taught me strategies for getting to know the whole child and to build on each child’s strengths.

1996

A Workshop of the Possible: Nurturing Children’s Creative Development by Ruth Shagoury Hubbard is one of my favorite books ever. It takes a look at the creative process with young children and takes us into a classroom where children’s thinking is the key to the way in which the community works.  I learned how much you could learn and how much better you can teach if you really listen to children and their thinking.

1996

In the Company of Children by Joanne Hindley was another book from the staff at the Manhattan New School that showed us the daily life in a workshop classroom. In this book, Hindley shared the routines and structures that made her reading and writing workshops so successful. This was one of the first books I read that focused solely on those transitional readers in Grades 3 and 4.

1999

 Living the Questions by Brenda Power and Ruth Shagory taught me to teach, as with questions in mind and that the research I did in my classroom mattered. This book help to make clear for me that a research-based stance to teaching was important for me.

So, .  I wasn’t totally successful at weeding my shelves.  But the process was an enlightening one. I could see, on one wall, the influences of my teaching life. I could see the power of professional reading and the power of learning from others.  My professional reading over the last 25 years has definitely impacted my practice.

Poetry Friday Roundup is Here!

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE A REDBUD IN SPRING
by Mary Lee Hahn

Burst
first.

Amaze
with the cavalier way
you explode whole constellations of purple stars
from your smooth grey bark.

Add glory
to the understory.

This is my 2nd round poem from the Madness! 2012 kids' poetry writing tournament, along with the redbud in our backyard that saved me from writing a poem about dandelions. A tip of my poet's hat to Elaine Magliaro, champion of the List Poem form. You're still a great teacher!

Voting for the First Flight of the Regional Semifinals has closed! Regional Semifinals, Flight One

Voting for the Second Flight of the Regional Semifinals remains open through today!
Regional Semifinals, Flight Two

Add your Poetry Friday links in the comments. I'll start rounding them up as soon as you start sending them in!

Jone is looking for recipients for her students' Poetry Postcard project in April. Go to Check it Out and sign up! It's fun!

Robyn has cherry blossoms -- and A.E. Houseman -- on her mind at Read, Write, Howl.

Julie shares all three of the poems she's written for the Madness! 2012 poetry tournament over at The Drift Record. We "shook hands" via email before we got our words and agreed that no matter which poem won, we would have fun. Julie is an amazing (Capital-P) Poet and I am honored to have played a round with her!

April continues the Teaching Authors tribute that this blogging group has been giving in honor of team member Jo Ann Macken.

Charles shares his collection of poetry books for adults at Bald Ego.

Linda is combining Slice of Life and Poetry Friday today at Write Time with a poem she's written for her DARLING granddaughter, who just turned two.

Here are Diane's posts for this week:
At Random Noodling I have Donald Hall's "O Cheese."
Kids of the Homefront Army continues with "Selective Service."
Kurious Kitty has Richard Wilbur's "The Writer." And, Kurious K's Kwotes' P.F. quote is by Rita Dove from the introduction to the The Penguin Anthology of 20th Century American Poetry.
At The Write Sisters we have a delightful poem called "Shadow Dance" by Ivy O. Eastwick.

Tara, at A Teaching Life, is also combining her Slice of Life with Poetry Friday. Like Robyn, she has cherry blossoms on her mind, but she brings us some Billy Collins to enjoy while the petals flutter down.

The bloggers at Gathering Books are celebrating Women's History month. Myra brings us a poem and a song that have her thinking about women's voices and women's silences.

Linda at TeacherDance is writing a series of poems of goodbye. Her poems say goodbye to different stages of growing up, and are written for her grandchildren. Linda is also a Slice of Lifer.

Violet shares an original "grandma" poem titled "To Liam when he asks, What's green?" It's at Violet Nesdoly / Poems.

Oh, YAY! David Elliot has a new book of poems, this time about the sea. Mary Ann, at Great Kid Books, gives it (and Holly Meade's illustrations) a glowing review.

At The Opposite of Indifference, Tabatha is linking poems with favorite book characters. She starts things off with poems that Hagrid, Calvin, and Hobbes each might have chosen. My fourth graders are her first guest contributors. They chose poems for the main characters from A Wrinkle in Time. Watch for more in this series, and if you want, you can play along, too!

Greg serves up a strong cup-o-Joe at GottaBook -- one of his poems from the Madness! 2012 poetry tournament. He is "versing" Susan Taylor Brown in the regional semifinals. Their poems will be live and ready for your votes at the tournament site, Ed DeCaria's Think Kid, Think, later today.

Heidi praises the process of "the curious and wonderful phenomenon that this March Madness has become" (the poetry tournament, that is) and shares a priceless poem composed by one of her kinders. Her blog's name -- my juicy little universe -- seems particularly apt today.

At Growing Wild, Liz has an original poem that will appeal to all cat lovers!

Jama has some drool-inducing strawberry shortcake for you today...if you have enough time to read that far! Be prepared for a laugh today at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

Renee shares an entomological love poem ("The Moth and the Flame") by the "pre-published" poet Cathy Mealey. Stop in at No Water River and enjoy the poem, the interview, and be sure you click through to see how Cathy met the rhyme challenge Renee offered up!

Carol's Corner is blooming with daffodils today! She's got a Ralph Fletcher poem for us, from a book with a title I adore: ORDINARY THINGS: POEMS FROM A WALK IN EARLY SPRING.

Welcome to Poetry Friday first-timer Natalie, who blogs at Wading Through Words. She discovered this fabulous community by participating in the poetry tournament at Think Kid, Think! She's got an original poem for us today, to make a monumental occasion in their household. The photo makes a great punchline!

Speaking of the poetry tournament, at Mainley Write, Donna shares an amazing grouse story that lies just behind her winning first round poem for the tournament, "Fox and Grouse."

Joy has a dream poem and a writing exercise for us at Poetry for Kids Joy.

Happy belated World Poetry Day (March 21)! Sally, at Paper Tigers, shares a site that features the seven winners of a poetry-writing contest inspired by the ancient poet Eratosthenes.

Pentimento shares a starting-over-in-Spring poem by Steven Kestenbaum.

Sherry, at Semicolon, has a great quote about form in poetry and Tennyson's "Ulysses."

Amy LV has written a poem that came from a seed planted in her writer's notebook TWELVE years ago! She also shares some happy publication news today at The Poem Farm.

Books 4 Learning reviews MIRROR, MIRROR by Marilyn Singer: "Mirror Mirror is a celebration of the vigor and potential of language." So true!

Karen Edmisten shares a different sort of starting-over-in-Spring poem by Gary Young. Compare/contrast with the one Pentimento shared (above). Turn and talk to your neighbor.

Sing along to "Gold," by Fergus O'Farrell with Little Willow over at Bildungsroman. This song can be heard in the film ONCE and the new stage adaptation of ONCE, which is now on Broadway. Little Willow shares links, in case you need some help with the tune!

At Wild Rose Reader, Elaine has an original acrostic using the word bud, and proud-grandma pictures of her family's little bud!

Laura (Author Amok) writes: "To celebrate spring, I have a gardening poem by Susan Hendrickson and an invitation to participate in my 2012 National Poetry Month Project, 30 Habits of Highly Effective Poets (odd or practical, you choose)."

Spring is bringing rain and a Sara Teasdale poem to Dori at Dori Reads.

Lori Ann Grover has two links for us today: "Little Bobby Snooks" at readertotz, and "Periscope" at On Point.

At Musings, Joyce reviews Paul Janeczko's REQUIEM: POEMS OF THE TEREZIN GHETTO. She's right -- it's not a fun book, but it's definitely an important book.

Betsy, at Teaching Young Writers, has a sidewalk chalk haiku for us today!

Thank you, Ruth (at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken Town) for the Billy Collins TED Talk! I missed that one and now I will not have to go any further than your blog to watch it!

15 Words or Less are accumulating at Laura Purdie Salas' Writing the World for Kids.

100 Scope Notes is gathering book spine poems again this year for Poetry Month. Start pulling books of your shelf and get your camera ready!

A slam-dunk review of Hoop Kings by Charles R. Smith can be found at All About the Books with Janet Squires.

Kelly Fineman, at Writing and Ruminating, is the interviewee, instead of the interviewer now! Congrats!!

Cathy has the perfect poem for the beginning of spring break, comparing the perceptions of eighth graders to first graders as they face a week away from school. You can find Cathy's poem on Slice of Life blog, Merely Day By Day.

Scuttle

by Hugh MacLeod at Gapingvoid.com

My new word in Ed DeCaria's Madness! 2012 Poetry Writing Craziness Tournament (subtitled with the best and truest subtitle ever: "Kids' Poetry. Under Pressure.")

is

SCUTTLE.

And who am I "versing"?

(In kid lingo, "versing" means "competing against," but isn't it the perfect word to mean "competing against in a poetry tournament"???)

I am versing Julie Larios.

So, yes. I am dreaming big.
And I am working hard.

I think I'm pretty close to a final draft that I like and can be proud of.

We're Officially On Vacation

Except for updates on the Madness! 2012 Tournament, we are taking our Spring Break away from the blog.

Update: Voting is open on the first flight of the round two poems. Mine (CAVALIER) is here.

Cavalier

My second round word in the Madness 2012 poetry tournament is

CAVALIER.

Um...yeah.
Not as easy as whacked.
I got stuck for a REALLY long time.
But then, just like last time, all the words fell into place. I like it.

My poem has been submitted (without kid testing this time). Voting will begin sometime tomorrow.