Princess Pigsty by Cornelia Funke

This is the newest (I think) book by Cornelia Funke. I became a fan when I read INKHEART and DRAGON RIDER. But, I have also come to love her picture books. Her nontraditional approach to princesses makes me happy.

Princess Pigsty is the story of Princess Isabella. Princess Isabella's mother, the queen, thinks that "Our children must be the happiest children in the world" since they have servants who do all of the work and always have something soft to sit on. But Isabella isn't happy. She is curious and she want to be dirty AND she wants to do things for herself!

A great story about a princess with a mind of her own who teaches everyone a good lesson about being happy!

Gooney The Fabulous

GOONEY THE FABULOUS
by Lois Lowry
illustrated by Middy Thomas
Houghton Mifflin
2007
(Did they make the letters down the right side of the cover say, "Yesssssss" on purpose?!?!)

Gooney Bird is back with her wacky outfits and her take-charge attitude in Mrs. Pidgeon's 2nd grade class. Gooney's got the whole class writing fables this time, and what a great writing teacher she is! My favorite part was when Barry read his fable about the buffalo ("The correct scientific name for the American Buffalo is actually bison.") and it was clearly a report, and not even a story, and certainly not a fable. But Gooney helps him revise it. She has him start with once, and with a character that gets his audience interested. At one point he asks Gooney, "Is that too reporty?" and she says, "No. Details are good. I liked knowing about the thick fur because I could picture it in my imagination. But I'd add a little action now." After Barry introduces the hunters, Gooney suggests some dialogue. "Barry frowned. 'Bison can't talk,' he said. 'In stories they can,' Gooney Bird explained. 'That's the good thing about stories. Anything can happen.' " When the class gets bored (even Mrs. Pidgeon has resorted to grading spelling tests), Gooney suggests that it's time for a SUDDENLY. Barry writes:

Suddenly the hunters came riding out of the trees on their horses, shooting their guns, and shot a lot of the bison. Even the young one.

And after that there were practically no bison left in North America.

"That's the end," Barry said. "It's a sad ending."

"Some stories have sad endings," Gooney Bird announced. It's good to be reminded of that.

Tricia raised her hand. "But what's the moral?" she asked.

Barry stood in front of the class with his arms folded across his chest. He thought and thought.

"Guns make a mess of things," he said finally.

[A bit too topical, I know, but when I read it, I was thinking urban violence or Iraq War.]

There's a hilarious part when Malcom complains that Mrs. Pidgeon never holds up her grammar finger when Tyrone raps. Mrs. Pidgeon explains that "Rap is a special art form. And it uses a different grammar." [At least she didn't go into the different vocabulary that rap can use and radio talk show hosts cannot...once again, a bit too topical...] Mrs. Pidgeon has Tyrone give a rap example and then say it in correct grammar:

Tyrone looked down at his lunch, a pear and a sandwich on a paper napkin in front of him. He thought for a moment, the chanted, "Ain't no pear as big as my hair, cuz pears be small and my hair be tall..."

Mrs. Pidgeon laughed. "All right," she said. "Now, Tyrone, tell us that in proper grammar."

Tyrone grinned. Then he said, "There isn't any pear as big as my hair, because pears are small, but I always comb my hair up to make it look pretty large."

[Could that happen in real life? In second grade? I'm not so sure, but if it happens in a book, then I have hope! After all, Gooney herself said, 'That's the good thing about stories. Anything can happen.' ]

Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children's Literature K-6

I have had this book by for a few weeks now. I know I won't have time to read it cover to cover until summer, but I have spent a lot of time with it over the last few weeks and I wanted to share. MENTOR TEXTS by Lynne Dorfman and Rose Cappelli is a great book for K-6 teachers who run a writing workshop. It is a big book--almost 300 pages. The authors know writing and they know books well. When I started writing workshop years ago, the two books that had the biggest impact on my teaching were WHAT A WRITER NEEDS by Ralph Fletcher and LASTING IMPRESSIONS by Shelley Harwayne. Both of these books helped me to see the power that books could have for the writers in my classroom. The authors of MENTOR TEXTS builds upon these same ideas and shares more ideas for using great literature as part of writing workshop.

Some things I like about the book:
The writing is amazing. You can tell that the two authors are great writers so, as a reader, I really trusted what they had to say about writing workshop.
The book is organized in ways that helped me think about books in different ways.
Samples from students and excerpts from children's books help us to see exactly what the authors are talking about when they share different texts.
Lots of lesson ideas are woven throughout the book.
An amazing book list shares lots of books that are current and provide a great resource for teacher.

I am really excited to spend more time with this book before next fall. I know that it is going to be one that is tabbed and marked up and that I will go back to it throughout the year. I am excited to discover new books and new ways to think about how they may help mentor the writers in our classroom.

Just in Time For Earth Day

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH: THE CRISIS OF GLOBAL WARMING
Adapted for a New Generation
Viking (Penguin Group)
2007

The text is accessible. The photographs are vivid. The charts and graphs are compelling. Al Gore clearly spells out the crisis, but he begins and ends the book by saying that it is not hopeless. In the beginning he says, "I like the fact that in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is made up of two characters...The first one means 'danger.' But the second one means 'opportunity.' " In the end he points out, "Another big problem with global warming is that an astonishing number of people go straight from denial to despair, without pausing at the step in between. Yes, there's a crisis...but we can do something about it."

So what are YOU going to do? Switch to fluorescent bulbs? Turn down the thermostat? Turn off your computer rather than just putting it to sleep? Buy a Prius? Take shorter, cooler showers? Check here if you need ideas. There's a pdf poster of 10 things we can all do.

Just today, I got an invitation from Gather.com via American Public Media to join the "Go Green On Gather Contest" for Earth Day 2007.

This Earth Day, April 22, make a commitment to live today without compromising tomorrow. Living a sustainable life is easier than you might think—take one step at a time, incorporating eco-friendly lifestyle changes that will make our planet healthier for future generations. It’s never too soon to start!

Wendy Mass--In Person!

I had a chance to meet Wendy Mass (author of my favorite book of 2006, JEREMY FINK AND THE MEANING OF LIFE) in person last month at Michigan Reading Association (and I am finally having time to write about it)! (This conference is a GREAT one if you ever get a chance to go. Lots and lots of great speakers--professional and children's authors.) What a treat! We met before her session and then I was able to hear her to as part of a Young Authors' Day. She spoke to a group of student authors and their families at a great event sponsored by the conference.

It is always great to meet an author who you like even better after you meet them and hear them talk. If Wendy has an official fan club, I am pretty sure that I can now qualify for president.

Wendy talked about her journey as an author and shared lots of the writing that had been published in her life. Her goal is to publish a new kind of writing each year. I was amazed that even as her success as a children's book author, she seems to be sticking with this goal--How many different ways can I be published? She has greeting cards, short stories, advertisements, articles and more. Her newest publication is a behind the scenes look at C.S. Lewis. I wasn't aware of Wendy's two books in the series TWICE UPON A TIME. I read the first few pages of each and I'm sure they'll be a hit in my classroom. They are on my "to read soon" pile.

My favorite of her publications was one that she read aloud to the group-- "The Fear of Flying," an article in a Society of Children's Book Writer's newsletter. She talked about the need for authors to fly to do author appearances. It was an article I could certainly related to since I hated to fly for so long.

In September, Wendy has a new book coming out called HEAVEN LOOKS A LOT LIKE THE MALL. This book clearly calls to me. What a title!

She is currently working on a new book.

Wendy's talk was great. If you want to learn more about her and her work, here are some sites that have interviews:

Little Willow
TeensReadToo
KidsReads

And these have reviews:
Bookshelves of Doom (A MANGO-SHAPED SPACE)
Children's Literature Book Club (JEREMY FINK AND THE MEANING OF LIFE)
Big A little a (JEREMY FINK AND THE MEANING OF LIFE)

And here is her MySpace page.

Fun Finds

Here are the states I've visited.

What can I say? Long road trips used to be a way of life! Think Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon. (Thanks to Tricia, at The Miss Rumphius Effect, for the link.)

create your own personalized map of the USA
or write about it on the open travel guide

* * * * *

On a completely different note, Yahoo! is preparing to launch Yahoo!Teachers. "Get ready! It's coming...The easy-to-use site and peer network designed by and for teachers. Get ready to create, modify and share standards-based curriculum." Like Bud the Teacher (thanks for the link), I'm still a little leery about this (and, no, my school isn't in their network, either). Additionally, BtheT brings up some other details/angles/slants about which I wasn't even aware...Google Certified Teachers? Yahoo Teachers of Merit? Here's a little peer networking: if you need to belong to a group of really smart literacy educators, all you really need is Choice Literacy. Sign up for the free weekly newsletter. You'll see.

* * * * *

This has to be ab.so.lute.ly the CUTEST baby picture ever! Can you tell that mom is a member of the Kidlitosphere?!? Congrats, Stephanie (Children's Literature Book Club)!

* * * * *

And this fun find comes to you from the lobby of the doctor's office. I was in for a "how many ways can you start to fall apart" kind of appointment on Friday morning. A mother, grandmother, and two little (3 years? 4? I can never tell...) twin boys were leaving just as I sat down to wait. One of the boys approached the automatic sliding glass doors, raised his arms and said, "OPEN, SESAME!" And, like magic, the doors opened. Mom said, "Let 'Other Kid' do these," and the other boy magically opened the second set of doors.

Let's not forget that magic is real and alive and it's as close as the doors in the doctor's office. In case you don't walk around with twin preschool boys to show you the magic, you might need to get in touch with your own inner preschooler to find it, but it's there. The magic is there. It doesn't leave when we grow older. We leave it. But it's still there, waiting, any time we're ready to say, "Open Sesame!"

Poetry Friday -- Did I Miss Anything?

Don't you love Poetry 180? The idea of a poem a day for high schoolers, to be read over the announcements, is brilliant.

Billy Collins, former Poet Laureate, is brilliant.

I have both volumes of the poems because I can just about guarantee that if I open either one anywhere, I can find an accessible and spot-on poem. Which is what I did today.

Today's poem goes out to anyone who struggles sometimes to keep up with life, with (school) work, with parenting, with blogging (reading and/or writing), and with all the rest of everything that gets dumped on the plate you're trying desperately to keep balanced. It's for all those times when we wanted to be there, but just couldn't make it.

(the whole poem is here)

DID I MISS ANYTHING?
by Tom Wayman

Nothing. When we realized you weren’t here
we sat with our hands folded on our desks
in silence, for the full two hours

Everything. I gave an exam worth
40 percent of the grade for this term
and assigned some reading due today
on which I’m about to hand out a quiz
worth 50 percent

.
.
.

Nothing. When you are not present
how could something significant occur?

Everything. Contained in this classroom
is a microcosm of human experience
assembled for you to query and examine and ponder
This is not the only place such an opportunity has been
gathered

but it was one place

And you weren’t here

All That (and a bag of chips)

A Year of Reading has been honored by Wild Rose Reader with a poem in our honor today! Check out her poem of address written as a FAX to Pluto, informing Pluto of its demotion from planet to dwarf. It is the perfect companion to an earlier poem that she wrote when Pluto was first demoted. Thanks, Elaine!

AND...

We have been selected as Thinking Bloggers by InlandEmpireGirl at Gathering Around the Table. What an honor!

InlandEmpireGirl's blog is full of recipes, gardening tips, thoughts on teaching and writing, and GORGEOUS photographs! Go check it out.

Here are some blogs that make US think:

Borderland writes indepth posts about education issues and about his classroom in Alaska.
PunditMom tackles politics and motherhood.
The Miss Rumphius Effect shares great thematic book lists that she uses in her teacher education courses.
Julius Lester's A Commonplace Book is a feast for the eyes as well as a place that makes us (and others) think. His "Books That Changed Your Life" series is fascinating. Educating Alice's Monica Edinger is featured today, and she's another blogger that makes us think hard about our teaching and our students' learning.

HEY BATTA BATTA SWING! THE WILD OLD DAYS OF BASEBALL

I can already predict that this will be a new favorite during our class's Nonfiction Reading Time. HEY BATTA BATTA SWING! is a great new nonfiction book by Sally Cook and James Charlton. This is one of those longer-size picture books, about 45 pages. The book shares lots of interesting stories about baseball history. The illustrations give you the feel of the old days in baseball. The writing is perfect for kids in the middle elementary/early middle school grades. The narrative is good and easy to follow. The author embeds words and their definitions throughout the books. The subheadings help readers know what is ahead. I have been on the lookout for nonfiction books that invite readers to read cover to cover. So many that I have in my classroom have more of a magazine layout. This one is definitely one that you'd read from front to back. An enjoyable read with lots of interesting new info about baseball!

Graphic Novels in Education

I'm impressed. The lag time between the explosion of graphic novels and ideas for what else to do with them in the classroom besides let kids read them has been fairly short.

The NCTE Inbox Blog has information about a new NCTE professional book, Building Literacy Connections with Graphic Novels: Page by Page, Panel by Panel, ed. James Bucky Carter. Unfortunately for elementary teachers, this book is for teachers in grades 7-12.

However, the ReadWriteThink lesson "The Comic Book Show and Tell" looks as if it could be adapted for younger readers and writers. Especially nice is the Comic Vocabulary Interactive, which gives definitions and visual examples of text, layout and design, and angles. I'd like to gather multiple copies of BabyMouse books from the library (once again, what would I do without the public library?!?!) and try to adapt this lesson for my graphic novel-obsessed 5th graders.

"Graphic novels and comic books provide rich opportunities to explore multimodal literacy. They’re anything but simple. The sophisticated relationships among images and words and layout encourage deep thinking and critical analysis. If we can help students “get” graphic novels, we will simultaneously teach them the literacy strategies they need for navigating many of the other multimodal texts they encounter in their daily lives." Traci Gardner, NCTE Inbox Blog

James Bucky Carter's Blog EN/SANE World
Graphic Novel Reviews for kids and teens at No Flying No Tights
Cybils Graphic Novel Finalists