THE KINGDOM KEEPERS by Ridley Pearson

Anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE Disney World. I love the whole idea of it and we have a great time every time we visit. I am not a huge fan of vacations with nothing to do so Disney is a good kind of relaxing for me. Bill at Literate Lives recommended this book and also reviewed it on his blog. It was one of those books I wasn't sure of (science fiction/fantasy is not my genre of choice) but I was hooked IMMEDIATELY!

In THE KINGDOM KEEPERS seems that the "bad guys" (the Overtakers) in Disney are trying to take over the park. It is up to Finn and his friends to save the park. They have just been hired as "hologram tour guides" and this technology adds to the fun. The whole idea is fun and very believable.

This is a great adventure. It is science fiction but not so much that it is hard to follow. The book is full of action but not so much that it takes over more of the book than the plot. And I loved that it took place in Disney World. It was fun to be able to visualize all of our favorite Disney spots throughout the book (the author did a great job of including so many of them!)

I am not usually a plot-based reader. I read for characters I love. I can't say that I loved or really even got to know the characters in this book well. But the plot was enough for me to get hooked and stay hooked. I can see that this book would appeal to lots of readers.

There is a sequel out to the book that was published this year. I have not read it but am anxious to see if it is as good as this one. I can see this working for 5th grade and older.

A New Wordless Picture Book--SOUTH by Patrick McDonnell

After learning so much from Katie D at Creative Literacy about the importance of picture reading with young children, I have been trying to add quality wordless books to my collection. This week, I was thrilled to find SOUTH by Patrick McDonnell. What a great book! I love the size. It is a small book and the characters are also pretty tiny on the page. This adds to the meaning of the book.
This is the simple story of a cat who helps a lost bird on his journey. I loved the story. It was so sweet and, as wordless books always do, it amazed me with the amount of meaning that was packed in.
My favorite page was the last one--loved the ending.

It is hard to review a wordless picture book --sharing it in words seems to ruin the visual experience of the book. But if you are looking for good, wordless picture books, this is definitely one you'll want to buy.

LAZY LITTLE LOAFERS by Susan Orlean

I laughed out loud in the bookstore when I read this book. Who thinks of these things? LAZY LITTLE LOAFERS by Susan Orlean is narrated by a young child--one who is wondering how babies get away with not working? She has a point. And she defends it throughout the book. She isn't too thrilled that while she is at school taking tests and doing book reports, these babies are hanging out looking at their toes and pushing elevator buttons. The whole concept cracks me up.

I thought, when I started it, that the concept would get old. That the author couldn't really carry it out for a whole entire book. But I was wrong. It amused me until the very last page. I think it is the voice of the narrator that makes it work. She is talking to us with a little bit of sarcasm that works. It is pretty sophisticated humor so I am not yet sure which age of kids would most enjoy it.

There is a lot of acceptable jealousy in the book--the baby gets to stay home with mom and do nothing, while the narrator has to go to work. The pictures tell so much of the story. Speaking of the pictures, they are quite fun. I had to do a 2nd read to see the humor added by the illustrations.

As a teacher, I am wondering if this could work as a model for persuasive writing. I could see it as a pretty fun mentor text for older kids to use when thinking about essay and persuasive writing. Because really, this is an essay answering the question of why babies don't work (How do the lazy little loafers get away with it?) The word choice, voice and actual examples really do make it quite a good model for older kids. And I think they would LOVE the humor.

No matter how you use this book or who you share it with, it is definitely worth a read. Pretty darn funny, if you ask me.

Books I Could Read A Million Times-PART 1

So, I have learned something important in my first few weeks as a librarian. Since I see every class, on a 4 day rotation, I often read a book several times over the course of 4 days. I choose one book to read to every class in the school. ( I got this idea from Bill at Literate Lives. My hope is that by reading the same book to all of the kids in the school, we have anchors to talk about--books that can be talked about at dinner tables at home, books that can be talked about with friends in other classes, etc.)

SO, sometimes I read the same book 20+ times over 4 days. Other books I read 4-8 times--to one or two grade levels.
What I have found is that one of two things happens quickly: Either I CAN'T STAND IT after the 2nd or 3rd read OR I love it every single time and never get sick of it. I look forward to reading it again. So, I am paying attention to those books that, honestly, I could read a million times and never get tired of. I figure if that happens, it is one of the best books out there. Here are a few that I have discovered so far.


Piggie and Elephant by Mo Willems
I never tire of these amusing characters. The stories are fun and enjoyed by all age levels. And, I find myself getting better at them each time I read them. I sound more like the characters as I read them over and over. I have not yet read one of these to the whole school but I plan to read the new one that comes out this fall to everyone. I don't think I will ever get sick of these two great characters! All of the books in this series meet my criteria for "Books I Could Read A Million Times". An added bonus--I have discovered that if I find myself becoming a bit grumpy or cranky, reading one of these to 1st or 2nd graders puts me back in a good mood! The fun of it just makes you happy!

Where is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox
The rhythm and rhyme in this book is quite fun. And the fact that kids join in on each page to chant, "Where is the green sheep?" is also quite fun. This is a quick read aloud and one that kids ask to hear over and over.

Beware of the Frog by William Bee
This is a new one that I hope becomes a classic. This is the story of a sweet old lady named Mrs. Collywobbles. Really, I could say her name a million times. It is fun every, single time. (Kids like to say it too!) The humor and surprise in this story is quite fun. I love seeing the kids' faces when the surprises begin and continue throughout the book. It is funny because this story starts out in a pretty traditional way. Since I read it over 20 times this week, I know precisely when students become hooked and I know that once we get to that point, they are hooked for the book. It looks and sounds like your traditional fairy tale--but not quite. I was actually a little sad when I read it to the last class last week.

(I will share other books that I find that fit my criteria as I come across them. Not many books are that fun to read 20+ times so those that can, definitely deserve to be shared!)

My Week

Last weekend began with the 5th annual Ohio Casting for Recovery retreat, and ended with a blow-by from Hurricane Ike. Both events taught me big lessons.

In 2005 I attended the CFR retreat as a participant. For the past three years I've served on the retreat team as a planner/fundraiser throughout the year and as a fishing instructor at the retreat. I wrote about the 2006 retreat here.

The William Stafford poem that Jules shared for Poetry Friday this week (and all the other Staffords in the comments) helped to crystalize what the CFR weekend taught me this year. This year I heard myself saying to a participant things I need to remember and practice in my own life:

All we really have is this moment right now. We can't change what's behind us and we can't know what's ahead of us, so we need to focus on this moment and do our best with it, enjoy it to its fullest. (Live in the moment, Mary Lee. Pay close attention to Right Now.)

There are plenty of people in the world who will judge you based on your looks. The ones who matter are the ones who get to know you -- the ones who can see that you are so much more than your shell, who can see the beauty within you. (Don't judge, Mary Lee. Learn to look within for beauty. Be one of the ones who matter.)

When I got home from the retreat, new challenges and learnings awaited me. Ike's winds were revving up to 60-80 mph, construction barrels were rolling across the road creating a live-action obstacle course, branches were down (and still falling) everywhere I looked, roads were closed by fallen trees, and there were no working traffic lights.

I pulled into the driveway at 4:00 pm, just as we lost electricity. We didn't get our power back until 1:30 am on Thursday. Across the street from us, and in many other parts of the city, they still don't have power. Within walking distance of my house, there is still a street closed because of a fallen tree. There were schools in the city and around the area that were closed for four days this week. In our district, we were out two days (one building for three).

Here's what I learned from Ike:

I missed being connected to the Internet and email, but I can definitely survive without it. Hot showers are much more important in the big picture.

Electricity isolates us as much as it connects us. Without electricity, we spent much more with our neighbor, sharing lunch from a COSI we found nearby that was miraculously open, sharing pans and thermoses of hot water (we have a gas stove), and commiserating during the clean-up. I haven't talked to her since the power came back on.

If this much chaos was caused by half-power hurricane winds in a dry storm, I can now clearly imagine what a real hurricane is like. We had no rain (so no flooding and less damage because the trees were dry), and the weather cooled down to the 70's after the storm passed, leaving us with pleasant, rather than steamy, air. My heart goes out to anyone who has ever lived directly in a hurricane's path.

For one day, I lived in two worlds -- the one of chaos, deprivation and uncertainty at home, and the "normal" one at school. I now have a better appreciation for my students who navigate two worlds every day.

When you're focusing on where the next meal is coming from, it's hard to care about politics, the stock market, and the situation in Afghanistan.

It doesn't matter how many services and offers of help are available to those in need, when you are cut off from the "real world," you have no idea those services and offers even exist. We had a battery radio, but we could not find a single station that gave us any information (beyond school closings) that was of any assistance. We found it quite amusing when we got power to watch the news and see how much information about the storm and the recovery was available...if you had electricity to watch the news! CRAZY! WRONG!

And once again, I learned that all we really have is this moment right now. We can't change what's behind us and we can't know what's ahead of us, so we need to focus on this moment and do our best with it, enjoy it to its fullest.

Poetry Friday -- Review

Beastly Rhymes to Read After Dark
by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Brian Biggs
Alfred A. Knopf, 2008
review copy provided by the publisher

(the cover of my copy looks nothing like this)



This is a fun-sized volume (about 5" x 7") of poems perfect for the Halloween season. The illustrations are bold and colorful, and the rhymes just beg to be read aloud.

Here are some quick excerpts from a few of the poems:

The Lavatory Crocodile
"...She settled in the loathsome pool
Beneath the bathroom of your school.
When next you find you have to go,
Look first, and wave, and say 'Hello!'... "

Lovely Giant Squid
"...You can't have friends and eat them, too."

Who is Haunting the Zoo
"Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo!
Who is haunting the zoo?
There's a phantom flamingo,
A windigo dingo,
An elephant skeleton, too..."

Leopard Chefs
"My next-door neighbor, Hilda Hitchen,
Kept two leopards in her kitchen
Who, when Hilda wasn't looking,
Taught themselves the art of cooking..."
(you might guess, it doesn't bode well for Hilda!)

Parasite Lost
(the title's enough on this one -- it's the best/grossest poem in the book so you'll have to read it yourself!)

Never Bully a Bug
"...Young William never realized
The tiny mites he victimized
Had cousins that were giant-sized..."

This week's roundup is at author amok.

The Literacy Connection Annual Workshops

For those of you who attend the annual Literacy Connection workshops, you will be happy to know that THE LITERACY CONNECTION has a new website! And, the new workshops have been announced there and by mail. This year, Kelly Gallagher, author of Deeper Reading, Teaching Adolescent Writing and others.
He will be presenting to teachers in strategies for writing in grades 4-12. Kelly is a full time teacher and a great presenter. The session is on Saturday, October 11 and the cost is $50 (Lunch included. A great way to spend a Saturday if you teach grades 4-12. Registration forms and info are on the site.



Carl Anderson will be The Literacy Connection's April speaker. He will be speaking on the topic of Assessing Writers. For those of you who have attended the April workshop before, it is part of a year long study around an expert's work. We meet in October to talk about the year and then meet in study groups around the work. Then in April, the author of the book speaks and does demonstration teaching at a local school. I always learn a lot when I attend these. More details are on The Literacy Connection's website.

HIP HOP SPEAKS TO CHILDREN edited by Nikki Giovanni

I have always been a huge fan of Nikki Giovanni. Her poetry books were some of the first I had in my classroom. Her newest book, HIP HOP SPEAKS TO CHILDREN: A CELEBRATION OF POETRY WITH A BEAT may be my favorite yet. I just received a review copy and spent quit a bit of time with it. It is quite fun and packed with great poetry with a beat. The book is due out on October 1 and I imagine people will be scrambling to get copies as soon as they can.

These are the things I love about the books:

-The poetry has a beat and I love poetry with a beat. So much fun to read and play with.
-Some of my favorite poets have pieces in this collection--Eloise Greenfield, Nikki Grimes, Maya Angelou, Walter Dean Myers
-There is a GREAT CD that goes along with the book. 30 of the poems are included on the CD. Many are read by the poets. Others are read by performers.
-The illustrations are gorgeous. So many illustrators and looks that seem to match the poems. Each page stands alone as its own work of art.
-I love the variety of the poems, the illustrations, and the audio. There is something to hook everyone to the book.
-I love the size. It is a pretty big poetry book. One with lots packed in it. You know when you pick it up, that it is filled with beat and depth.
-Nikki Giovanni shares her vision for the book and the history and importance of hip-hop as the introduction. Such a reminder of how powerful words have been throughout history.

Love this book. I think it is a K-8 must-have for classrooms and libraries. Like I said it is packed and it may be (at first) intimidating to young readers. But, once they hear some of the audio, spend time with the illustrations, and experience some of the poetry, I think it will become a favorite.

Other reviews:
Nikki Giovanni shares her thoughts on the collection on this video.
Amy Bowlan of School Library Journal includes Giovanni's video clip in her review also.
Jennie at Biblio File
Becky at Becky's Book
Reviews

WILD BOARS COOK by Meg Rosoff and Sophie Blackall

I have been trying to catch up on "funny books". I don't always tend to read those books that are just plain fun. But with my new job as school librarian, I think it is very important that we laugh in the library. And that we laugh a lot. So, I have been on the lookout for funny books. My friend, Bill at Literate Lives has been a huge help with this. I think I am getting better at finding books that kids might find to be amusing.

As a classroom teacher, I looked for books to use as mentors for writing, books to use for comprehension minilesson, books that would meet the needs of different readers and writers in my classroom and books that I could use across the curriculum. We certainly read books for fun, but they weren't a priority for me when I was shopping. I just usually happened upon them. These days, I am trying to catch up on knowing more books like this.

I think one of the other librarians in the district shared this one in our last meeting and I just got my own copy. It is called WILD BOARS COOK and it is quite funny. The story is a sequel to the book MEET WILD BOARS which I haven't read yet--but I am anxious to do so sometime soon.

The 4 wild boars are great characters. It is fun that their names rhyme (Boris, Morris, Horace, and Dorris) but the way they spend their time is pretty fun too. They are not likable creatures but you find yourself loving them anyway. In this story, the boars are hungry so they make a magnificent pudding. It is amazing to me how much you get to know each character in such a short text. The book is pure fun but it is also filled with great writing, and a very satisfying ending. A great book all around.

Other reviews:
Publisher's Weekly
4IQREAD

An interview with Sophie Blackall at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

THE DIAMOND OF DARKHOLD: The Fourth Book of Ember

I have LOVED the Ember series. I found CITY OF EMBER when it first came out--Karen at Cover to Cover recommended it and it became our year's first read aloud. It was one of the best first read-alouds ever. A perfect combination of plot, action, adventure and lots to talk/think about.

When PEOPLE OF SPARKS came out, I was ending the cycle with the class who had read CITY OF EMBER. The publisher was nice enough to send me an ARC so we finished off our year with that book as read aloud. The book caused lots of conversations and disagreements--so much for 5th graders to talk and think about.

I read THE PROPHET OF YONWOOD when it came out. I liked it but didn't love it like I had loved the others.

I picked up the fourth and final book--THE DIAMOND OF DARKHOLD--last week and have been staying awake a bit too long reading it the last few nights. It is a PERFECT ending to a great series. I think sequels and final books can be very disappointing but this one was far from either of those.

The fun in this book is that Lina and Doon return to the city of Ember. I must say, as a reader, it was like I was returning too. It was changed, but I remembered it. I remembered being there and I reentered the world of Ember just as Lina and Doon did. I am not sure how DuPrau accomplished this as a writer, but it works well. I won't tell the story here but this series is a great one for readers of science fiction. And this ending book is perfect--closure but surprises; characters we see grow and change, goodbyes and new hope.

If you have yet to read any of the books in this series, I would read CITY OF EMBER quickly--before the movie comes out in October. I think it will be a great movie--the trailer shows a bit of it. But I can't imagine the movie can even compare to the book.