There Was An Old Lady

There Was an Old Lady Who Gobbled a Skink
by Tamera Will Wissinger
illustrated by Ana Bermejo
Sky Pony Press, 2016
review copy provided by the author

I absolutely loved Tamera Will Wissinger's verse novel, Gone Fishing (my review here), so I was looking forward to what she would do with the traditional cumulative tale of the old woman who swallowed. I have a collection of these books, and I'm always on the lookout for a new version to add to my collection. (Lookie there -- we even have a blog label for "old lady who swallowed" books!)

Wissinger's newest is another fishing-themed book, with the old lady swallowing items in reverse order -- a worm to catch the skink, a bobber to catch the worm, fishing line to catch the bobber. What a fun twist!

But the very best part is the punchline at the end. I'll give you a hint. Just before the last item she swallows, she swallows her boat. Can you think of what she would swallow, following the reverse order pattern, to catch a boat? It's what sank her!! (Is that the most perfect rhyme ever [assuming you know what the item was]?!?!)

A Happy Day for Graphic Novel Readers

Andrews McMeel Publishing is going to make my graphic novel readers VERY happy. Not one new book for our classroom library...not even two or three. FOUR new graphic novels, and I can't even imagine how over-the-moon they'll be to see the newest Big Nate! We'll start there.

Big Nate: Thunka, Thunka, Thunka
by Lincoln Peirce
Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2016
review copy provided by the publisher

Last week one of my readers had to remove himself from his table group because he was in hysterics over the Big Nate book he was reading. Big Nate is a character who resonates especially with my 5th grade boy readers. I'm just hoping there won't be an outbreak of boys emulating Big Nate by banging an empty plastic water bottle against their heads -- thunka, thunka, thunka!

Li'l Rip Haywire Adventures: Escape from Camp Cooties
by Dan Thompson
Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2016
review copy provided by the publisher

I have just the reader for this book. He's struggling to make the transition from graphic novels to books with all text, and this blend of graphics and text will be the perfect support for him. Plus, a boy who has to survive an all-girls summer camp is sure to be a hit!


These two will have to wait to meet my readers because I'm a little picky about having the first book in the series for other readers like me who HAVE TO read the first book first! But these will both be fun series to have for boy readers who are willing to cross over to a book that has a girl character (with a unicorn no less), and girl readers who might not go for Li'l Rip Haywire or Big Nate.

Stinky Cecil: Terrarium Terror

by Paige Bradock

Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2016

review copy provided by the publisher

Unicorn vs. Goblins: Another Phoebe and Her Unicorn Adventure

by Dana Simpson

Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2016

review copy provided by the publisher

Poetry Friday -- This is the Earth

This is the Earth
by Diane Z. Shore and Jessica Alexander
illustrated by Wendell Minor
HarperCollins Children's Books, 2016
review copy provided by the publisher

If you just read the visuals in this gorgeously illustrated book, you will trace the historical impact Americans* have had on the earth. In the first spread, there are no humans, in the second, a single canoe on a wild river. The sky dominates the third spread, but there is a group of teepees in the lower left corner. European settlers, railroads, steamships and airplanes appear in rapid succession, then modern cities, smoking landfills and waste spewing into the ocean. Before our eyes, a rainforest is leveled and glaciers melt into the ocean as polar bears look on. Just in the nick of time, we see recycling, commuters on bikes, a community garden, sea turtles being helped across the sand to the ocean, trees being planted, reusable grocery bags being carried. Finally, humans become a small part of the big picture again, as a group of four hike across a mountain meadow while alpine wildlife look on. Any grade level with a standard that teaches students to attend to the tone or mood created by the visuals in the media could use this book to spark rich discussions.

The text is rhyming, with the pattern, "This is the..." Mirroring the images, the book begins with "This is the earth..." then "This is the river..." and "This is the sky..." before changing to "This is the spike..." and This is the steamer..." and "This is the plane..."

Here is a sampling from the hopeful ending of the book:

"This is the Earth that we treat with respect,
where people and animals interconnect,
where we learn to find balance between give and take
and help heal the planet with choices we make."

Linda is hosting the Poetry Friday roundup at TeacherDance.



*I originally typed "humans," but then realized that this story is predominantly that of the United States' impact on the environment. We're not the only ones, but we're huge, and if this giant would take a positive stand to make sweeping changes, we could lead the way toward a healing and healthy Earth.

Violet and Victor Write the Most Fabulous Fairy Tale

I have been hearing a lot about Violet and Victor Write the Most Fabulous Fairy Tale. I picked up a copy and read it to my class last week. It was a definite hit.  Violet and Victor are brother and sister. Violet wants to write a fairy tale but her brother, Victor does not want to be part of it. He is more about real life things.  Violet starts the story and Victor changes it a bit with his own ideas. One thing I love about this --a thing that the kids picked up quickly--is that Violet's words and writing are in purple and Victor's are in orange.  The collaborative writing that this book shows will be great to use early in the year for Writing Workshop.  There is so much to talk about when it comes to writing and creativity and where ideas go!

The art in this book is amazing.  There is so much to look at that I found myself revisiting it over and over again after the first read.  I love the colors but there are lots of hidden things in each of the illustrations. I need to spend more time with it for sure.

I picked up the other Violet and Victor book and it is very similar in the fact that they work together to create a story.  The evolution of how these two authors work together to create a story is something to add to my early in the year writing workshop conversations I think.

Happy to have found these two books!

Keeping Up with 2016 Book Releases

Recently, lots of people have asked how I keep up with new books.  I've been thinking about that and it isn't really one thing that I do. Rather, I check in with lots of people who read far more than I do and who are generous with their sharing of the books they read/anticipate. Since so many people have asked me lately, I thought I'd share the people/sites I rely on regularly.

John Schu reviews books daily on his blog, Watch. Connect. Read.  His blog is full of information about new books, author interviews and more.  One of my favorite John Schu resources is his
Book Release Calendar. This is a public calendar that shares release dates for new titles in children's literature. I tend to check this every few weeks and look up books that are coming up soon that I want to check out. It is definitely one of my favorite resources for keeping up with new books.

Colby Sharp is another person whose blog I rely on to keep up with new books. Colby and John run several twitter chats that also focus on new books.  Following people like Colby and John on Twitter is the one best way to keep up with new books in the children's book work.

100 Scope Notes by Travis Jonker is another important blog for anyone wanting to do a better job at keeping up with children's books.

Teri Lesesne (@ProfessorNana), Donalyn Miller (@donalynbooks), Katherine Sokolowski (@katsok), and JoEllen McCarthy (@JoEllenMcCarthy) are others I follow on Twitter to keep up with new books and book conversations.

There are so many great end of the year booklists on lots of blogs and sites.  Award season has some great lists and ALA and NCTE have some great award lists each year. We Need Diverse Books has great lists, including these incredible End of the Year booklists. The Children's Literature Assembly publishes its list of notables each year.

Dylan Teut recently created 4 booklists of upcoming 2016 picture books. These lists on his blog are great resources if you are looking to see what is coming up!
Coming Soon: 2016 Picture Books Part ONE 
Coming Soon: 2016 Picture Books Part TWO
Coming Soon: 2016 Picture Books Part THREE
Coming Soon: 2016 Picture Books Part FOUR

I subscribe to Publishers Weekly and Horn Book emails. I get information about new books from both of these email subscriptions.  (Like this one on the Most Anticipated 2016 Children's Books from PW) I get the real copy of the Horn Book Magazine in the mail every 2 months.

I subscribe to the Nerdy Book Club blog and learn about so many books and authors there.

I join the monthly #titletalk Twitter chat and add books to my list from that amazing chat run by Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp.

I follow hashtags like #bookaday (invented by Donalyn Miller) to keep up with what new books others are reading.

There are websites like The Sweet Sixteens that highlight debut authors that I check in on every so often.

I love to pick up an Indie Kids' Next list when I am at Cover to Cover. I also check these online every month or so.

Keeping up with children's books takes a few minutes each day.  Checking in with readers from around the world, visiting Cover to Cover bookstore and listening to Beth and Sally talk about new books, attending conferences and spending time in the book/vendor area area all part of my routine. It never seems like work to keep up with books and it never seems like I can actually keep up! But keeping up with children's books is the most important part of my work with kids, I think. And once I know who to follow and learn from, it isn't so hard to do at all! One of my favorite hobbies, actually:-)

Poetry Friday -- Boiled Eggs

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Steve Johnson

A Quiet Life

by Baron Wormser


What a person desires in life
   is a properly boiled egg.
This isn’t as easy as it seems.
There must be gas and a stove,
   the gas requires pipelines, mastodon drills,
   banks that dispense the lozenge of capital.
There must be a pot, the product of mines
   and furnaces and factories,
   of dim early mornings and night-owl shifts,
   of women in kerchiefs and men with
   sweat-soaked hair.
Then water, the stuff of clouds and skies
   and God knows what causes it to happen.
There seems always too much or too little
   of it and more pipelines, meters, pumping
   stations, towers, tanks.
And salt-a miracle of the first order,
   the ace in any argument for God.
Only God could have imagined from
   nothingness the pang of salt.

(the rest of the poem can be found at A Writer's Almanac)

My environmental club kids were getting ready to create short videos of a bunch of the suggestions in 31 Ways To Change the World. They were having a hard time understanding how knowing your food could change the world, so I shared this poem with them, and then we thought about where our snack had come from -- fresh apples perhaps from last year's harvest in Washington state (and the machinery, trucks, and boxes to get them to us); apple juice (the apples, plus juicing machinery and plastic packaging for the cup); even just the box for our cereal bars (trees grown, harvested, ground and pulped, plus ink and machines to fold and fill and label each box). Maybe if we start with this kind of appreciation, we can raise kids who will make more mindful purchases and eat healthier (both for themselves and the environment).

Liz has the Poetry Friday roundup today at Elizabeth Steinglass.

Celebrating World Read Aloud Day AND The Knowing Book

The Knowing Book

by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

illustrated by Matthew Cordell

Boyds Mills Press, 2016

We are thrilled to be celebrating a wonderful new book that is destined to become a classic read aloud...on World Read Aloud Day!

The Knowing Book takes the reader along on the main character's journey from the comfort of home, out into the world to live and grown and learn, and then back home again. It is a wise book, a book of the heart, a book that will surely be given at many baby showers and graduations, and read aloud at important milestones in children's lives.

We were lucky enough to ask the author and illustrator some questions about the book and their process. Interspersed between the Q/A are some early sketches by Matthew Cordell.

When you wrote the book, what were your hopes for readers?

That they would find some comfort in knowing they aren't alone, that there are things they can always count on, that there are universal miracles that no one can ever take away from them; the sky, the stars, the overwhelming oneness and the magic of knowing the world is big and wide and always waiting, whether it be with a new adventure or a new hope in a hopeless situation. More than anything I hope they feel untroubled in some way. –Rebecca

Did you work together as author and illustrator? Can you talk about the process of creating this book together or separately?

Typically authors and illustrators do not work together in a close collaboration. The editor and/or art director of the book is the point person and all comments and communication are ran through that channel. But it was an open channel, and Rebecca and I were both very open to any thoughts and suggestions from each other. Our editor, Rebecca Davis is incredibly insightful and thoughtful and caring too. It was just a wonderful, wonderful process--beginning to end--of fine tuning this book to get it just right. –Matthew

I agree with everything Matthew said. And I love how he refers to it as "an open channel." We both felt so deeply about this book, and I think put so much of ourselves into it, in ways I'm still figuring out. To get each detail, each nuance right, we all had to listen to each other and be open to and respect what the other's artistic expression and heart wanted to share on the page. We were very lucky that our editor was a two-way guiding light. –Rebecca

This book, although a picture book, seems to have a strong message for people of all ages and in all stages of life. Who were you thinking of when you had the idea for this book?

When I had the idea, the feelings and emotions had come from where I was emotionally, and that was sad and a bit hopeless. But then I immediately thought of children who might feel somehow lighter, less burdened, more hopeful if they really, really thought about the universe always being there for them. But after it was all written and rewritten and I looked at it with new eyes, I realized it could be for anyone, any age. —Rebecca 

The title is brilliant. Was it the first idea you had or did it evolve?

Thank you, first of all! I would have said it was The Knowing Book from the start. But as I was putting together all of my drafts and correspondence having anything to do with the manuscript into its own box (I keep labeled boxes for each book) I saw a draft that had The Always Book jotted down, then crossed out with The Knowing Book written next to it. The "always" would have referred to the line "it is what you will always know." But I remember now repeating the word know, know, know, over and over and realizing that was the most important thought I wanted the reader to gain; that these are the things they will always know. –Rebecca 

How did you decide to illustrate this as a bunny rather than a child? What process did you go to to decide on that?

We went through a series of tests before I began illustrating the book. I wanted the character to be universal. I wanted all boys and girls (and grown-ups too) of all different backgrounds and ethnicities to be able to plug her or himself into this book and these words. In my experience, making the character an animal--if it works--is a sure fire way to do this. I tried a few different animals at first. A bear, a mouse, and a rabbit. The bear and mouse had the sweet sincerity I wanted, but they were almost too cute. And this book is not about being cute. It's much more honest than that. Of the three, the rabbit had the most insightful and inner wisdom and worth. We did also try a child, for the sake of trying. I did some sketches of a child that might be construed as a girl OR a boy. Depending on who might be reading it. But in the end, the rabbit was a unanimous choice. –Matthew

The illustrations and text work together to be serious and hopeful. How did you accomplish that?

I'm so glad to hear you say it that way. Because that's how I hope readers will see it. I think everyone who worked on this book saw and wanted for the same things. It really was such a good fit! If anything ever strayed from that path, it was gently corrected back into place by someone. From the moment I read Rebecca's manuscript I had a vision in my mind of how it would play out. I never wanted this book to be silly of funny or even sweet. Joyful, yes. But even dark at times, in a poignant sort of way. Real. Because that is real life for all of us. Children and adults. –Matthew

I'd like to add that my hope had been for The Knowing Book to be illustrated in a thoughtful, serious ("joyful" is perfect) way mixed with a whimsical spirit roaming through the pages. And Matthew made it happen. –Rebecca

It seems like your work is so perfect together! Will you do more books together, do you think? 

Gosh, I sure hope so! I love Rebecca's writing. It was an honor to be chosen to illustrate KNOWING, and I hope it's not the last!  –Matthew

I second that. I have my hopes that down the road there will be a very special book I write that might be just right for another Matthew Cordell pairing, and that he'll say yes when he sees it! –Rebecca

Thank you, Rebecca and Matthew for joining us on your blog tour, and congratulations on a fabulous collaboration.

Manatee Rescue by Nicola Davies

Manatee Rescue
by Nicola Davies
Candlewick, January 2016

I read aloud The Lion Who Stole My Arm by Nicola Davies earlier this year (see post here). In that book, an African boy who is maimed by a lion attack wants to get revenge on the lion that hurt him...until he learns about lion conservation and how much tourist money lions bring to his country.

I was thrilled to see that Nicola Davies is writing a series -- Heroes of the Wild. The newest in the series is Manatee Rescue. The manatees in this book live in the Amazon River, and the characters are indigenous people.

These are quick reads -- only about 95 pages, with an epilogue that gets them to 100. The books are illustrated with pen and ink drawings by Annabel Wright.

I can't wait for a kid reader to pick this up and give me their insights into the story!

Poetry Friday -- Simile-Metaphor-Vocabulary Poem

Photo by Mike Ratcliffe

Advice

There's pride --
(nothing wrong with pride)
a warm sense of self-worth
sitting quietly inside you
like a steaming cup of cocoa on a winter morning.

But then there's hubris --
a venti double mocha latte with whip and extra sprinkles
standing there beside your computer in the cafe
while you pose with your earbuds
open notebook
fancy pen
empty page.

The trick is knowing the difference.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016




This poem was written for Laura Shovan's Found Object Poem Project.

When I started writing, I had no idea how this poem would go with the skull and antlers. I had the phrase "There's ___, but then there's ____" in my mind and I started writing from that. Somehow my brain gave me pride and hubris. We've been noticing similes and metaphors in my 5th grade class, so I had fun making a simile-metaphor-vocabulary poem that will hopefully teach my students a new word. When I was finished, I looked back at the skull and wondered what HE knows about pride vs. hubris, sitting there on the sidewalk for all to see...

Donna Smith, reigning Queen of rhyme and wit, has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Mainley Write.

NF 10 for 10 -- Towards a More Diverse Classroom Library

Thanks in large part to the ALA Youth Media Awards, I've collected up a bunch of new books with inspiring characters and/or stories.

And this spunky girl reinforces the importance of children being able to see themselves in the books we have in our classrooms and libraries -- take time to click through and watch the video!  (via CBS ThisMorning)

Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement pairs nicely with The First Step: How One Girl Put Segregation on Trial. Fannie Lou Hamer deserves to be more well-known for a lifetime of participation in marches, sit-ins and voter education and registration efforts. Similarly, readers should know the story of a well to do black girl from Boston, who, with her parents, fought against segregated schools in 1847 -- 100 years before the more famous Brown v Board of Education.

Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music pairs along a musical theme with Trombone Shorty. Drum Dream Girl is inspired by a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who broke Cuba's taboo against female drummers, while Trombone Shorty tells the story of a New Orleans trombone player who not only made his dream of becoming a musician come true through a lifetime of hard work, but also has begun the Trombone Shorty Foundation to preserve the musical history of New Orleans.

The Case For Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage and Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah both tell stories of holding fast to a dream.

Growing up Pedro: How the Martinez Brothers Made It from the Dominican Republic All the Way to the Major Leagues and (the 2009 title) You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! would make a nice baseball pairing that feature players from the Dominican Republic alongside a Jewish player from Brooklyn.

The last two honor a couple of the dominant cultures in my school -- Muslim and Hispanic. 1001 Inventions and Awesome Facts from Muslim Civilization is an inviting book for browsing and learning, and Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras tells the story of Mexican artist José Guadalupe (Lupe) Posada and how he created an iconic Day of the Dead art form.