Book Speak! Poems About Books

Whenever I come across a great new picture book poetry collection, it takes me no time at all to think of all sorts of possible lesson ideas for the small people I hang out with everyday. One of Laura Purdie Salas’s most recent books, Book Speak! Poems About Books, has to be every Teacher Librarian’s happy place. A book filled with poems about books? Yes please! It is loaded with read-aloud possibility. It would be a wonderful book to integrate into library welcome tours in September. Guess I’m ready for next year already. Check!

The collage artwork by illustrator, Josee Bisaillon, offers a quirky and whimsical counterpoint to Salas’s clever and thought-provoking verses. Some of the subjects for the poems include: the sadness of an unread book, cliffhangers, falling asleep while reading, book plates, conflict, and what happens when the lights go out at the bookstore (which we already know about, thanks to this).

I think the book trailer is pretty adorable – great concept that links perfectly with the title and I think could easily inspire kids to write a poem or two in the voice of a book:

Book Speak! Poems About Books is published by Clarion.

You Are What You Eat and Other Mealtime Hazards

If the saying “you are what you eat” is true, then this week, guess what I am?

That would be a red velvet birthday cupcake, ‘cuz this weekend I was a birthday girl. (By the way, this pretty birthday cupcake came from here. I think it would be hard to find a tastier one. That’s cream cheese icing folks – a big ol’ swirl of it. And sparkly sugar crystals on top. Fine indeed).

With You Are What You Eat and Other Mealtime Hazards, Serge Bloch has created a delightful little romp of a book that could lead into a fun lesson on idioms with the side benefit of offering kids some “food for thought” (sorry, couldn’t resist) about making healthy and adventurous food choices. Every page contains a food-related expression that is integrated into a loose narrative about a kid who “eats like a bird” and faces the challenge of having to eat a strange meal at his best friend’s house. The storyline is a bit forced, but this doesn’t really matter too much because the cartoon ink drawings integrated with photographic elements are what really makes this little book satisfying. It’s witty and clean and it’s darn cute. I should think it would pair nicely with any of Saxton Freymann’s wonderful food centered picture books. Perfect for picky eaters and language lovers.

You Are What You Eat and Other Mealtime Hazards is published by Sterling.

March Break Review-a-palooza: Love, Mouserella

As a librarian, you know a book has got that special something if it kind of causes you pain to part with it, even though you know that it is fulfilling its booky destiny to go out into the world and be read and loved and shared.

It was hard for me to hand love, Mouserella over for the first time to one of my colleagues who was looking for picture books with letter writing connections. I confess I almost (almost I said), kept love, Mouserella hidden away in the box of new books in the back room, in a state of pristine perfection. But I didn’t. I set it free. I knew that I was sending the book to a first audience of pretty fabulous Grade 3s, and that was The Right Thing to Do. I passed it over to the teacher and told her that when she was done, she needed to bring it right back to me and “put it into my hands.” Obviously she knew I wasn’t kidding, because that is exactly what she did (at the same time she shared some rave reviews from her students). I am working my way towards lending it out again. It will happen. Pinky swear.

You shouldn’t judge me until you’ve seen the sheer cuteness of this little book by David Ezra Stein. I’ll bet that if you do get your hands on it, you won’t want to be letting it go any time soon either.

The book is written as one long letter from Mouserella to her Grandmouse, who has recently gone back home again (to Fluffington!!! A-dorable!) after visiting Mouserella in the city. Mouserella writes to her Grandmouse about all of the things she has been doing since they were together: visiting a mean cat in the zoo, teaching her pet ladybug to fetch, practicing her posture by balancing a book on her tail, and visiting the museum. It’s the details about ordinary kid life in a family that really make this small book endearing, like the game of x’s and o’s played by Mouserella and her dad on the back of the letter, and Mouserella’s story about having to eat all of the popsicles in the freezer during a blackout and making shadow puppets with a flashlight.

Many of the illustrations are created to look like photographs taken by Mouserella, and there are lots of sweet crayon doodles and stickers added on the edges of the letter. On one page, Mouserella has ‘attached’ a squishy ketchup packet because she thinks her Grandmouse probably has never seen one. Speaking of the design aspect of the book, it opens vertically, like a letter (basically swing the image you see up top around by 90 degrees). I like that attention to detail, plus it gets you in the spirit of things.

Love, Mouserella is a darling book that could open up discussion and teaching about city and country life, family relationships, making connections through letter writing, and what having fun can look like if we turn off our televisions / video games / tablets / computers. For primary teachers, you definitely want to include it as a fun launch to your letter writing unit, as it could be helpful in teaching kids about including details to bring experiences to life, editing, and letter format. The only trouble you might have is getting your librarian to lend it to you.

Before you go, you must check out 7 Imp’s wonderful interview with David Ezra Stein.

love, Mouserella is published by Nancy Paulsen Books.

March Break Review-a-palooza: Piggy Bunny

I might have actually “eep-d” out loud when I saw Piggy Bunny in the bookstore. “A NEW BOOK WITH PICTURES BY JEREMY TANKARD!!!” As much as I wanted to, I didn’t shout this out for everyone around me to hear. I just thought it inside my head. And then I picked up a copy and pulled out my Magic Librarian Credit Card and bought it for the library faster than two shakes of a bunny’s tail. I read it. And then I realized that I would be needing another copy because I knew this book was going to be much loved by the little folk. Guaranteed.

The kids will get a kick out of Piggy’s seemingly impossible dream: he wants to be the Easter Bunny. This is going to crack kids up, I’m sure of it. I like how the story shows that having dreams is important and that sometimes, finding your way towards your dream can be as easy as taking one simple step, and then another, and another. For Piggy, that starts with ordering a bunny suit on the internet. There are some memorable and funny lines here, like when Liam begins to have doubts about his situation. He sighs, “This is the kind of problem… that is called heartbreaking.”

I’d be kidding you if I didn’t admit that a huge part of the enjoyment in this comes from Jeremy Tankard’s awesome artwork. (Which is saying something, because Rachel Vail’s heartwarming yet understated little story is darn fine too). Expressive and bold and as bright as a basket of Easter eggs, the pictures of Piggy and his fam will make you smile (and make you realize that pigs are made cuter with moustaches and glasses). It’s amazing how much personality and energy Jeremy achieves with such a simple style. Thinking about Grumpy Bird and the Mammoth from ME HUNGRY! makes me believe that there is no animal that could not be rendered adorable by Jeremy. I wonder what he could do for sloths…

Anyway, you’ll want to buy this one for every small person you know. Add a bag o’ chocolate eggs and you’d have the perfect reading experience, I’d say.

Here’s a video that shows Jeremy in action. He makes it look so easy. Why can’t I get a marker to do that?

Piggy Bunny is published by Feiwel and Friends.

March Break Review-a-palooza: this plus that

A picture book that combines math concepts, humour, clever word play, and sweetness? Can you say Perfect Teacher Book? I offer you: this plus that: life’s little equations by the endlessly creative Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Your school library needs every single book Amy has written because in them you can count on finding clever concepts, serious cute factor, and real kid appeal.

Here’s a look at this plus that:

One thing I like about this book is how it starts with simpler equations: 1 + 1 = us, and then towards the end, you get to more complex ideas: cozy + smell of pancakes – alarm clock = weekend. This build up in complexity is perfect for the audience. The illustrations have a clean style that draws your attention but also helps the ideas to take center stage. Each equation will make readers think, and I can imagine plenty of ways to tie this book into integrated art / language / math tasks. I’m sure that kids (and teachers) will have fun writing their own life equations. Sleeping in + Hanging out + sunshine = March Break…

this plus that: life’s little equations is published by Harper.

March Break Review-a-palooza: Kindergarten Diary

One of the best parts of my new job as the Teacher Librarian has been that I get to work with all of the Kindergarten students – or “kindies” – as we often call them at our school. Right now, I’m working with them on the Blue Spruce reading program, which means I get a dose of Kindergarten almost every day of the week. Every time I come home with a new batch of stories and a renewed appreciation for the educators and assistants who occupy the special roles of “first teachers” for so many little people. If you haven’t been to Kindergarten for a while, I assure you, a great Kindergarten teacher is pretty impressive. I mean, have you ever had 23 tiny people answer a question all at the same time and just keep on talking at once like it’s totally normal and just fine thank you very much? I can now say that I have survived that experience. A little time in a Kindergarten class is a pretty humbling experience for an educator. You really see where it all starts. It’s awesome.

I think Antoinette Portis’s book, Kindergarten Diary, is going to be a lovely addition to our Kindie collection in the library. It will be perfect for start of year (“Look at everything you’ll get to do in Kindergarten!”) and for an end of year look back (“See all that we’ve done?”). It’s about Annalina, who doesn’t want to go to Kindergarten. Written as a diary through the month of September, we follow Annalina as she discovers all of the things about Kindergarten that are cool (swinging across the monkey bars, skipping with a new friend) and challenging (learning to share, printing your extra-long name). Portis has chosen the details well, really succeeding in highlighting experiences that a five-year-old would focus on. The design of the book is simple but clever and eye-catching. Many of the pictures are set against a background that looks like the lined paper kids use to learn how to print. The children are painted in a bold style and Portis integrates fun collage elements that readers will enjoy noticing.

Here’s the author illustrator, speaking about the inspiration for the book:

And just for fun, I found a neat series on Kindergarten done by the Globe and Mail. It’s worth checking out. Here is a video about the end of the project:

I’ve already discovered that Kindergarten is quite possibly the coolest room in school. I think that Kindergarten Diary will help lots of little ones discover that too.

Kindergarten Diary is published by Harper.

March Break Review-a-palooza: Smile!

It’s March Break here in Toronto. I’m not flying away to someplace warm (although it was 16 degrees here yesterday, so obviously I don’t really have to go anywhere to find the sun). Instead I am staying home, where I plan to write, make pies, read books, and watch too much 30 Rock.

I have been neglecting the blog a bit of late. This makes me sad. My excuse is that I’ve been trying to juggle a lot of things. I’ve been more or less managing to keep everything in the air, but I’ve decided to devote some well-deserved attention to the Elf this week. So everyday I’ll be posting a review of a picture book that is new to the library shelves at school. Think of it as a March Break Review-a-palooza. Good times, yes?

To begin, I’ve got Smile! by Leigh Hodgkinson. It’s a good place to start because it’s sunny and happy and I’m sure it will be a kid magnet as soon as I put it out on display. To give you a sense of the cute factor here, watch this:

You must be smiling now. (That music makes me want to be a cartoon character). The premise of Hodgkinson’s book is simple. Sunny is in a funk and she can’t find her smile. She goes hunting for it and in the process of looking, she starts enjoying herself and her smile returns.

I think that Hodginson has honed in on a particularly true experience for kids. Sometimes when you feel grouchy, all you want to do is think about feeling miserable but if you can do other things, suddenly you’ll realize that you don’t really remember what made you grumpy to begin with. I like that lesson. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and go do something already. It’s presented gently here, and the illustrations are completely charming. With the kid-like free style and the hand-lettering, you can almost imagine that Sunny could be behind the artwork herself. It certainly makes me think of Lauren Child, more in the voice than the illustrations, but the pictures are a little less busy than what you’ll find in some of Lauren Child’s books. Smile! is sweet as can be and a sure-fire cure for the grumps.

Reading Smile! has got me thinking that perhaps I should put together a “What are you so grumpy about?” display for the library. Sounds like a project for a rainy day in April…

Smile! is published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of Harper Collins.

 

Sunny Holiday

This was a random library find for me the other day. I haven’t read any of Coleen Murtagh Paratore’s other titles, but I know of her Wedding Planner’s Daughter series. It was the cover that grabbed me, and it’s no wonder! My well-honed Julia Denos radar is clearly at work. I love her art (she’s got oodles and oodles of talent, that one). The brightness of the colours, the fab pink shoes and the quirkily-named title character all said “sweetness” to me. I was right. There is some serious sweetness going on in this slim novel for younger readers, with enough struggle to be thought-provoking and to inspire conversation.

Sunny is as bright and positive as her name. Her mother likes to remind her that “the sun shined so bright and long the day (Sunny) was born, the stars got jealous and complained to God.” She tries to see the good in the world, in the people around her and in herself. It might not always come easily, but Sunny is willing to work at it. She loves holidays more than anything and she’s troubled by the fact that January and August are lacking in the holiday department, so she starts planning holidays with particular kid appeal to fill in the gaps. Sunny’s life isn’t perfect in every way. Riverview towers, her apartment building, might be full of many interesting and warm-spirited people, but the neighbourhood leaves a lot to be desired, what with the litter, the straggly trees, the chain-link fences and the polluted river. Sunny’s dad is in jail and she only gets to visit him the first Sunday of every month. Her mom works long hours as a hotel maid and then fills up her nights taking care of Sunny and taking college courses. Still, Sunny’s home is full of love and creativity and wisdom. The novel is a gentle portrait of a little girl who faces some hard situations with natural grace, humour and hope.

I read Sunny Holiday in one sitting. It was Sunny’s voice that drew me in, her poetic way of seeing the world. I loved the first chapter called “Dandelions.” Here’s one of the nicest bits:

“We don’t have a park or a yard, either, just one long, dirty-gray cement sidewalk. But that doesn’t stop a dandelion. A dandelion seed is smarty-pants-smart. That seed sails off on a wispy balloon, riding free on a summer breeze, search-search-searching for a home. It knows for sure it will find one. All it sees is sidewalk, sidewalk, sidewalk. Does it give up? No, it does not. That little seed keeps searching until it spots a crack. “Whoopee! Whoopee! Whoopee!” it shouts, and dives in for a happy landing. But then that seed realizes it’s all alone and sits there shaking, not sure just what to do next. Does it give up? No it does not. It sends down a skin-skinny raggedy root, far below, where no one can see, look-look-looking for dirt it can trust. that may take a very long time.”

Each little chapter is so short and yet there is a lot of emotion packed into every tiny package. I was reminded of Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street (gosh I love that book!) There’s the same true kid’s perspective in this book and in places, the same heart-squeezing effect as Sunny struggles against the circumstances of her life. My only complaint is that in places, Sunny came off a little Pollyanna-ish. You almost couldn’t believe that she would be so persistently positive. This is a small thing however. Mostly, you’ll just wish you could manage to see the world the way she does, always looking for good things and working to make changes to improve the rest. This would be an excellent title for use in the classroom, to initiate conversations around inclusion, compassion and creativity. It handles the more challenging background issues carefully, with just the right amount of information for a younger reader. Perfect for Grade 4, I should think.

Sunny Holiday is published by Scholastic Press.

Elephant-y books, a giveaway & an interview with Carol Buckley

Phew! Prepare yourself for one juicy, packed-full-of-treats post! Today I am happy to review two lovely non-fiction picture books from Tilbury House about the elephants at Tennessee’s amazing Elephant Sanctuary. These books are authored by Carol Buckley, one of the founders of the Sanctuary. As well, Carol has stopped by for an interview. Finally, Tilbury has kindly arranged for a few prizes in celebration of this blog tour: one is a copy of Just for Elephants signed by author and Sanctuary co-founder Carol Buckley, and the grand prize is a copy of Travels With Tarra, signed by Carol and featuring a scanned image of Tarra’s signature symbol – her footprint! Also, a package of Tilbury House Animal Books— The Goat Lady, Thanks to the Animals, and an advance copy of Bear-ly There will go to one lucky winner who leaves a comment on one or more of the respective tour posts (September 1-8, 2009). For all of these prizes, you just need to leave a comment on one of the posts in Carol’s blog tour. If you are on twitter, you can also win a copy of each of Carol’s books by tweeting before September 9th about the tour using the hashtag #trunktour. Winners will be contacted at the end of the blog tour after September 10th. (Note: open only to residents of Canada and the U.S.)

Let’s get on with the celebration!

Just for Elephants introduces readers to the Sanctuary and its philosophy by focusing on the story of how one of the resident elephants, Shirley, came to live there. Readers will steal a glimpse into everyday life for the elephants at the Sanctuary and through Shirley’s connection to the other elephants, begin to appreciate the complex and deep social relationships that elephants form. Travels with Tarra is the story of Carol Buckley’s amazing relationship with Tarra, the Asian elephant she has had for more than 25 years. It traces their early years performing together at circuses, theme parks and zoos, moving on to the years when Carol was establishing the Elephant Sanctuary. Both books are written in a simple and direct narrative style that will be accessible to younger readers, but with detail enough to engage older readers too, for both those who enjoy non-fiction and fictional texts. Some of the photography is fantastic, with pictures of the elephants hanging out, roaming and enjoying life and freedom on the land at the Sanctuary. A few of the photos in Just for Elephants were quite out-of-focus, which while this lent a certain “behind-the-scenes realism” to the text, I thought was a little distracting and surprising, given that I’m sure there were thousands of possible pictures to use. Travels with Tarra has some great shots of Tarra as a wee little elephant, sure to inspire more than a few “Aawww!”s.

As usual with Tilbury, teachers will find many good ideas for using these books in the classroom at Tilbury’s site. Also, while the Sanctuary is not open for visitors, they have established opportunities for teachers to schedule virtual tours via teleconference and there are excellent units for K-8 available for free downloading at the website.

Tilbury has come up with a lovely way to support the Elephant Sanctuary by planning a “Trunk Sale” running now through December 31st. For every 100 copies of the elephant books (Travels With Tarra and Just for Elephants) that are sold, Tilbury will sponsor a much-needed item from the Sanctuary’s wish list. These include 100lbs of peanut butter (a favorite treat), elephant-sized meals, and land to roam (to support the Sanctuary’s recent expansion). The books are available from indie stores across the country, online retailers, and direct from The Elephant Sanctuary, www.elephants.com.

Now for the interview. Welcome Carol!

I’m sure that in all of your years caring for and working with elephants, you’ve seem some pretty remarkable social interactions between elephants. Could you share the most memorable moment you’ve witnessed related to elephant interaction?

One of the most remarkable scenes I have witnessed occurred was shortly after Bunny arrived. Bunny had live 44 years alone in a small zoo. Her keepers were highly protective of her to the point of sheltering her from experiences that might have helped her to become a more confident individual, but they cared deeply for Bunny and felt they were doing the right thing by being over protective. When Bunny arrived at the Sanctuary she was insecure about the very ground she walked on. The surface was not level as she was used to and she had no experience with negotiating trails, climbing a gentle sloop or crossing a rocky creek. This evening Bunny was making her way back to the barn with a caregiver at her side gently coaxing her over this new and scary terrain. Bunny failed to recognize the land dropping slightly and tripped. She fell to her knees. She was visually shaken although she had not fallen down or injured herself, she was afraid. The caregiver tried to comfort Bunny and encourage her but she would not move. She was frozen in fear. At that point Barbara, another elephant, appeared in the distance, she was looking in Bunny’s direction. Bunny was not uttering an audible sound at least not audible to the human ear. But Barbara appeared to be responding to something as she came directly over to Bunny, gently laid her trunk on Bunny face and then just as silently as she arrived, Barbara turned to leave. Bunny rose from her knees and immediately followed Barbara without hesitation.

Teacher Book Alert: When it’s Six O’clock in San Francisco

I received my copy of When it’s Six O’clock in San Francisco a while back, but I put it away and hadn’t looked at it until today, because I didn’t want to think about anything even remotely related to school so early in my summer holiday. Now that we’re into August, and my mind is starting to turn back to teaching, I thought I could safely pick it up. As it turns out, my feeling that it would be a great teaching book was exactly right. This lovely picture book is the perfect way to help students understand the tricky concept of time zones.

Cynthia Jaynes Omololu has created a text that is accessible and lyrical, and Randy DuBurke’s evocative and warm illustrations bring the multicultural aspect of the work vividly to life. The book begins with a boy waking up one February morning in San Francisco. From there, as the pages turn, the reader moves around the world, from Montréal to Santiago to London and Cape Town and beyond. At each new place, the text starts off, “When it’s six o’clock in San Francisco…” and goes on to give the time in that part of the world and to describe what a child who lives there is doing at that time of day. Omololu describes ordinary things – going to school, playing in a soccer game, running errands, having dinner and cycling home. There is something comforting and beautiful in the way she describes the ordinary events of daily life, and I think kids will appreciate this and make connections to the text easily.

I remember being fascinated as a child by the idea that somewhere on the other side of the world a kid was going to bed when I was just getting up, or heading home from school as I was climbing onto the bus. There was some magic in that, even when I understood the real explanation for it. It made me feel oddly connected to people I knew I would never meet. Omololu’s book captures that spirit, and I imagine it will get kids wondering what other children are doing, at all different times of the day, on the other side of the planet.

When it’s Six O’clock in San Francisco is published by Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.