If you don't get it, a kid might...

I wasn't quite sure what to make of the picture books I received from McSweeny's McMullens recently. Not trusting my adult sensibilities, I took them to school and had some kid-readers give me their opinions.

Recipe
by Angela Petrella & Michaelanne Petrella
illustrated by Mike Bertino & Erin Alther
McSweeney's McMullens, 2013

The first thing my readers did was to take the jacket off the book for ease of reading and discover that it opened into a huge two-sided poster. As they studied both sides of the jacket-poster and the end papers, they speculated and made predictions.

My adult self was not willing to believe the story of a mother who lets her daughter cook whatever she wants (boiling water+bag of marshmallows+hotdogs+tofu+burnt fries in a pile on a tarp), but the kids were delighted by the ridiculous fun of it. And they wanted to try the recipe on the last page for a dessert treat you heat up by running it (wrapped in foil) through the dryer to heat.

Hang Glider and Mud Mask
by Brian McMullen & Jason Jagel
McSweeney's McMullens, 2012

I have a whole collection of books whose stories dovetail in the middle, so I was predisposed to love this one, which "is uniquely constructed with two front covers, two spines, and a Z-shaped binding that links the two sides of the story." --Amazon Description

But hang glider? Mud mask? Intriguing, but not enough in the 20 pages of sparsely-worded text on each side of the book to populate my inferencer.

It was all worth it to see the two students who were offering opinions sit opposite each other, each reading her side simultaneously with the other, then flipping the book to read the other side. Then exclaiming in surprise as the two stories came together in the middle. Then filling in all the gaps (for me) with imaginative and probable explanations. Clearly, I didn't work hard enough on my reading. The two girls "knew" it was their job as reader to make sense of the story. I, lazily, waited for the book to do all the work.

Crabtree
by Jon and Tucker Nichols
McSweeney's McMullens, 2013

At least for this one I wasn't too far off my students' evaluation: they thought it was a fun book to look at inside ("This guy has a LOT of junk!!") and out (it is another with the signature McSweeny's McMullens dust jacket fold-out two-sided ginormous poster).

They totally missed the story of Mr. Crabtree looking all over his house for his lost dentures and going for a cruise in the end when he finds them! They were too involved in looking at the pictures!

This might be fun book for a picture reader who likes to pore over every detail of every picture, or who likes to sort and categorize his/her toys.

Jump Into Science Series

The day after our two snow days, one of my students brought in lots of books about a new interest--rocks and minerals. He had gone to the public library on our days off to find a few new ones. The one that the kids seemed most interested in was one from the Jump Into Science series from National Geographic Kids. It was Jump into Science: Rocks and Minerals   I looked at it and decided we needed it for the classroom. Then I noticed it was part of a series.

I am all about series books that readers who are pretty new to nonfiction can read cover-to-cover. I have seen so much skimming and scanning and so many misconceptions created when students don't build that nonfiction stamina and just see nonfiction as something to skim, scan and picture walk.

This series is perfect for young readers.  There seem to be 8-10 titles and they seem to be mostly connected to Earth Science, although there are a few others.  The pages include basic, yet accessible text and the books contain each share a great deal of information in a readable way.  Nonfiction text features such as headings, maps and diagrams are used.  These are books that can be read by young children and they seem perfect for 3rd graders.  I purchased 3 and will keep an eye out for how popular they become for independent reading.  I am realizing the power in nonfiction picture books so I am happy to have found another good series!

New Books in February

February looks to be another great month for books!  Here are some of the books I am looking forward to being released this month!

My kids have become HUGE fans of The Quirks since I brought it into the classroom. And they ask me daily if I have the new one yet!  They are going to be thrilled when The Quirks in Circus Quirkus makes it to the classroom. The Quirks is one of my favorite new series for 3rd graders.  The perfect kind of story for this age.  I am anxiously awaiting lots more!

There is also a new Stink book coming out. My kids will be thrilled to see Stink and the Shark Sleepover (Book #9)

And I am very excited about Lord and Lady Bunny--Almost Royalty!  I so love Polly Horvath and I loved Mr. and Mrs. Bunny-Detectives Extraordinare! It was so quirky and fun.  I'm excited to see a new one!

And who could not be excited about a new version of Goldilocks called Goldi Rocks & the Three Bears?

Another series I'm anxious to take a look at is the upcoming one by Henry Winkler.  This is Hank from Hank Zipzer series but a younger version.  Bookmarks Are People Too! #1 (Here's Hank) looks similar to the text that my 3rd graders enjoy and it looks to be funny which is a huge plus for many of my readers. I'm anxious to check this new series out.

I'm not sure how I heard about Extraordinary Warren: A Super Chicken but it looks like great fun!

I recently read Winger and it was fabulous.  I definitely want to read more by this author. His book Grasshopper Jungle comes out in February. Not sure how fast I'll get to it but it is definitely on my TBR list!

Baseball Is . . . is one I have been waiting for for a long time. Louise Borden is amazing and I love the whole idea behind this book. I can't wait to get a copy (or copies).  It will be great for all ages, I think.

A Snicker of Magic and Half a Chance are two middle grade novels I have been looking forward to for a while. Both sound amazing and I am a huge Cynthia Lord fan!

Feathers: Not Just for Flying is a nonfiction book that looks fabulous.  We have been reading a lot about birds and this book looks like a great addition to our basket of bird nonfiction.

We are huge Arnie the Doughnut fans here so we are all very excited about the newest...Invasion of the Ufonuts (Adventures of Arnie the Doughnut)!

January Mosaics

I thought it would be fun to take a look at five Januaries, instead of just one.

January seems to be a time for food and snow. I was amused to see the dragonfly yard art make a snow-covered appearance in both 2010 and 2014.

January 2010 Mosaic

January 2011 Mosaic

January 2012 Mosaic

January 2013 Mosaic

January 2014 Mosaic

Welcome to a New Blog!

Rethinking Media Centers

Our Central Ohio bloggers' group continues to grow! Welcome Jamie and Cheryl, and congratulations on taking that big scary step to bring your thinking out into the world -- WRITE ON!!

CELEBRATE TODAY!

On our 8th Birthday, we decided to celebrate 2014 by celebrating others who inspire us every day. Each month, on the 1st (or so) of the month, we will celebrate a fellow blogger whose work has inspired us recently. We feel so lucky to be part of the blog world that we want to celebrate all that everyone gives us each day.

This month, we are celebrating Ruth Ayres and her blog. Ruth Ayres Writes is a blog that grounds us on a daily basis. Ruth's honesty and joy about all things teaching, parenting, and beyond is one reason we love her blog. But the thing we've loved best lately is the gift she has given all of us with her Saturday CELEBRATE TODAY Meme  We love reading everyone's posts in her roundup but so many of us who participate regularly realize the gift that this roundup offers.  Ruth has invited all of us to look at our weeks with new eyes--and to find the things to celebrate each day. It is a mindset change when our weeks aren't as we hoped they'd be,  and we love Ruth for giving us this gift.

We are honoring Ruth by making a donation to BOOK LOVE in her name. If you don't know the BOOK LOVE FOUNDATION, it is a non-profit started by Penny Kittle. The mission on their website says this:

"TO PROMOTE THE LOVE OF READING AMONG ADOLESCENTS BY PROVIDING CLASSROOM LIBRARIES OF HIGHLY ENGAGING BOOKS TO MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHERS."

 Brilliance indeed!  If you don't know of this amazing new foundation, we encourage you to check it out!

So our CELEBRATE post this week is a celebration of Ruth and all she does for the Blog Community! BOOK LOVE to RUTH AYRES this month as we celebrate those people who inspire us on a daily basis!

Poetry Friday -- Sweet Little Kitty

Photo by Mary Lee Hahn

Sweet Little Kitty

Cat curls up tight,

closes eyes, purrs.

Disguised by sleep,

sinks down deep where

cat dreams are found

and stalks, soundless,

huge now, lethal.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2014

This is the poem I wrote for this week's Poetry Stretch at The Miss Rumphius Effect. The form is called "Climbing Rhyme." Each line can either have four words or four syllables. I went for syllables. The rhyme is internal. For more details, read this post. Here's a nice visual Tricia gave us to track the rhymes:

xxxa

xxax

xaxb

xxbx

xbxc

xxcx

xcxx

Besides hosting the weekly Poetry Stretch challenge (c'mon, folks, jump in and give them a try!), Tricia has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at The Miss Rumphius Effect. Go check out the week's offerings!

A Year of Reading Award Winners

Here are the award-winners I read in 2013:

Newbery -- Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

Newbery Honor -- The Year of Billy Miller

Caldecott  (and Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award Honor) -- Locomotive

Caldecott Honor -- Journey

Caldecott Honor -- Mr. Wuffles!

Coretta Scott King Author -- P.S. Be Eleven

Coretta Scott King Honor -- Words with Wings

Coretta Scott King Illustrator -- Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor -- Nelson Mandela

Michael L. Printz Honor -- Navigating Early

Mildred L. Batchelder Honor -- The Bathing Costume: Or the Worst Vacation of My Life

 

Pura Belpré Illustrator -- Niño Wrestles the World

Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor and Author Honor -- Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: A Migrant's Tale

My only regret was that The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp didn't win an Odyssey Award for best audio book.

2013 was a great reading year! Can't wait to see what 2014 holds in store!