A Year of Reading

Saturday, October 31, 2009

October Mosaic

2 New Nonfiction Books About Animals

I just found two great new nonfiction animal books for kids. I saw LIFE-SIZE ZOO by Teruyuki Komiya at our book fair a few weeks ago. I didn't pay much attention to it but today I actually spent some time with it and I LOVE it! The end pages in the front of the book serve as a zoo map as well as a Table of Contents. Very clever, I thought. So, when you see the Giant Panda cage, you know that the info on that animal is on pages 4 and 5. How could you not love this book right from the TOC? Then each 2 page (giant) spread focuses on on zoo animal. There is a real life photo of the animal--a part of it shown true to size. There is a bit of text to tell a bit about the animal. And then there is a side column that tells about the details in the close up. (This column gives info about the specific animal photographed and then has a section called "Time for Close-Up" which gives kids things to look for with each animal. For example, when we look at the tiger, we learn can see (close up) the black lips, the four huge fangs, and thick whiskers around his cheeks. We can even see that his tongue is rough like sandpaper. Each page also has a few interesting facts about the animal.A few of the pages have fold outs that allow us to see even more of the animal close-up.
I love this book for lots of reasons. It is perfect for little kids--the close up piece is a great conversation starter--so much to look at in the pictures because they are so close up. The text adds a great deal and kids can enter at lots of levels. Younger kids can learn from the photos. Older kids have lots to learn when they add the different sections of text. From looking on amazon, it looks like there is another one coming out in 2010!

The other animal book that I love is FLIP THE FLAPS: ANIMAL HOMES by Judy Allen and Simon Mendez. I discovered this book at Cover to Cover today. The book is organized into places where animals live. So chapter titles include Trees, Stones, Burrows, Ponds and more. Each spread focuses on one of these places and tells a little about the way that it serves as an animal home. On the right side of each spread, the reader finds a "Flip the Flap". On the flap are 3 questions about the animals that live in this place. When you lift the flap, the three questions are answered. Each page also includes other information that adds to the information given on the page. I see lots of possibilities for this book. First of all, it is such a great book to help kids understand the concepts of animal habitats. I also think it is a great format to use as a model for student writing. It is a fun way to think about nonfiction information.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Poetry Friday -- Fall

FALL

by Edward Hirsch

Fall, falling, fallen. That's the way the season

Changes its tense in the long-haired maples

That dot the road; the veiny hand-shaped leaves

Redden on their branches (in a fiery competition

With the final remaining cardinals) and then

Begin to sidle and float through the air, at last

Settling into colorful layers carpeting the ground.

(the rest of the poem is at poets.org)

The round up this week is at Biblio File.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Great New LEGO BOOK Set

I have been looking for good Lego books for years. You would think there would be millions based on how popular Legos are. But I never find them. I had THE ULTIMATE LEGO BOOK a while ago but it is no longer in print. I was browsing Amazon's list of New Releases for Children earlier this week and discovered this set. I ordered it immediately.

It is definitely going to get lots of attention in the library. For a while, I won't put it in circulation. Everyone will want to spend time with it! I think I'll just set these books over by the Legos for everyone to enjoy for a while. I'd like to eventually create a display around Legos and building toys--similar to the amazing displays at The Allen Centre. But I have hard time finding books, etc. on the topic. So, I am thrilled with this find!

The LEGO Books are huge book, as you would expect. THE LEGO BOOK is paired with another called STANDING SMALL (A Celebration of 30 Years of the Lego Minifigure). They are both such great books. THE LEGO BOOK takes us through the history of LEGO. From how they are made to various sets, to the Logo history, to Legoland and more. So much information is packed in. And it has the feel of DK at its best. Great photos and great information--you really get an inside view of design, themes, etc.

STANDING SMALL focuses on the minifigure through history. Some information is shared about how they are made and how they've changed. But the majority of the book focuses on the various minifigures over the last 30 years.

Kids are going to love this book. It opens up so many new possibilities for kids--new ways to think about Legos. I can also see using pages of this with a document camera. Such a great model of nonfiction writing and a topic kids are interested in. I am not someone who plays with Legos but yet I could read this book for hours. I am fascinated by the whole design process and the creation of these.

This set would also make a great gift book. The whole set came from Amazon--shipping included--for less than $30. Well worth every penny!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Two Books For Math Class

Tyrannosaurus Math

by Michelle Markel

illustrated by Doug Cushman

Tricycle Press, 2009

review copy provided by the publisher

Tyrannosaurus Math is a number-crunching dinosaur who starts doing math the minute he hatches from his egg, counting his fingers and toes together to make a number sentence.

As he grows, his math becomes more advanced. Soon he's skip counting, subtracting and checking his work, and drawing a picture in the sand to solve a problem. He makes a pictograph and an array, and finally saves the day with an excellent use of estimation.

This would be a fun book to share with math learners of all ages AND their math teachers!

Also reviewed by Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect

Michelle Markel's blog, The Cat and the Fiddle

Zero is the Leaves on the Tree

by Betsy Franco

illustrated by Shino Arihara

Tricycle Press, 2009

review copy provided by the publisher

In this beautiful little book, the concept of zero is explored throughout a child's school year. First, zero is the number of "balls in the bin at recess time," then the number of leaves on the oak. In winter, zero is "the sound of snowflakes landing on your mitten." In spring, zero is "the bikes in the bike rack on the last day of school."

This book just begs for students to create their own illustrations of zero...and maybe of the other numbers as well!

Monday, October 26, 2009

A Great Read Aloud for November

I am not always a big fan of holiday books. I read them and like them but they are not the books that kids read year round so I don't often spend much energy finding good ones. But my friend Sarah pointed this one out to me and I am so glad she did. TURKEY TROUBLE by Wendi Silvano will be a fun story to read to kids in November. It is a bright colored book that is lots of fun. The story is a bout a Turkey who is in trouble because Thanksgiving is near. And Turkey knows what that mean. So, he works to try to disguise himself so that the farmer wouldn't eat him. The book takes us through lots of Turkey's ideas and the responses from the other animals on the farm. There is a little bit of predictability in the text and fun in the illustrations. You can't help but love Turkey and hope for the best. A great addition to our Thanksgiving book collection!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

What's Inside?

by Giles Laroche

Houghton Mifflin, 2009

Review copy received from the publisher

This is the perfect book to invite children to think about both ancient and modern architecture.

On one page, there is a multi-media illustration of an architectural structure made with intricate bas-relief cut-paper collages. (Laroche says on the back flap that creating this book "was somewhat like building the actual structures themselves: Each illustration involved many stages of drawing, cutting, painting, and gluing, and often ended up with seven or eight layers.") The illustration of the structure is accompanied by a short, descriptive paragraph of text and the question, "What's Inside?" When you turn the page, there is another illustration, and another short, descriptive paragraph of text about what can be found (or was once found) inside the structure. For the reader who wants a little more information, there are factoids in the sidebar that tell the name of the structure, its location, the date of construction, its height, the materials used to make it, its status today and a little known fact.

The structures range from Egyptian tombs and Mayan temples, to Independence Hall and a Shaker barn, to the Sydney Opera House and the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia.

The final illustrations cleverly invite readers back into the book to make connections and to find architectural details in the structures.

An illustrated glossary of architectural terms is included.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Poetry Friday -- Hope

photo by treehouse1977

"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.

We were working in the land lab after school when a goldfinch, already in drab fall and winter colors, flew between us and smacked into a classroom window, falling to the stones below.

I scooped up the blinking, dazed little bird, and as I held it, I thought of the thing with feathers in Emily Dickinson's poem. After resting in a quiet spot for a few minutes, the goldfinch flew off, no worse for wear.

The thing with feathers perching in my soul has hit a wall this week, too. But true as it was for the bird in the land lab, it has only taken the kindness of one gentle hand to restore hope to its perch in my soul.

The round up today is at Big A little a.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

GRAPHIC NOVEL CLUB BEGINS

This week, we started a 5th grade Graphic Novels Club in the library. The Club will meet twice a month during lunch and recess. We had 19 kids attend and each came with lots of enthusiasm. Ray Barrett, one of our great Dublin Library librarians will be running the group through the year. Ray knows graphic novels well and I have already learned about lots of titles that I wasn't aware of. Since he is running the club, I was able to sit back and listen to the conversations between Ray and the students. He introduced the club by sharing many new titles with them. The kids were aware of some of them but many were new to all of us. Then they all chit chatted about the Graphic Novels they'd read and enjoyed as well as those that they hoped to read soon. Everyone left with one title in mind that they'd like to read before our next meeting. Ray and I will work together to gather the books they requested.

I was amazed at the level of talk and the knowledge that most of these kids had about graphic novels. I was also excited about the variety of things they were interested in reading. No one was worried about what other kids were choosing to read--they all felt pretty confident in their choicesI think that one thing Graphic Novels are doing for kids today is stretching the genres and authors they read. They seem more willing to try a new genre if it is in graphic novel form. .

It seems that we can't keep graphic novels in the library. Even though I felt like I added many Graphic Novels to the collection over the summer, there are never many available for check out. They are always checked out!

I am excited about the year ahead. We are so lucky that Ray has offered to run this club for us. Graphic Novels are not a genre that I choose to read often but I am hoping that this club will inspire me to read more of them. Ever since I read Terry Thompson's professional book, ADVENTURES IN GRAPHICA, I see the importance of this genre for all readers. The blog THE GRAPHIC CLASSROOM has also helped me learn about new books for elementary readers.

I think The Graphic Novel Club will be a great experience for the kids and we'll all learn so much. I'll keep you posted as we move forward in the year.