Love That Dog...

Love That Dog, by Sharon Creech

...and love this book. As I sat and read this book, I couldn't put it down. When I first started reading it, I was a little hesitant because of the way the story was actually typed up. However, I just couldn't bring myself to put it down, even though I wanted to blog about all the ideas I was coming up with as I was reading it. 

While I was reading, I felt like I was reading about a student in my own class. I felt like the narrator, Jack, was actually writing in his poetry journal to me, and directing his worries, doubts, and thoughts about poetry towards me. I almost came to tears when Jack was talking about going to the pound to look for a dog, when he saw Sky (probably because of the way he said Sky was connecting with him and his family as they looked for a pet), and when Sky died. Jack was a great narrator and I felt as though he was certainly a complex character, and something just reminded me of myself in him. 

It has been a while since a book actually moved me that much. I think the last book I read that had that affect on me was The Secret Life of Bees, which I read 3 years ago and is still my favorite book thus far. Like I said, Jack was just a great narrator who really drew me into what was going on in his classroom. I was so excited that he found a poet that he really liked enough to write to and ask to come to his classroom, let alone find a love for poetry in general. 

I think that students will really like this book. It is unconventional, in my eyes, as children's literature, and I think that reading something by a well known author in the eyes of a child story teller who is going through the same difficulties in school as they might be would really touch the lives of my students. I think that if I connected with Jack, then my students certainly would. 

This all being said, I really liked this book and came up with a great deal of activities that could be used during and after reading this book. I could have students write to Jack, much like how he wrote to Walter Dean Myers and give him ideas about how he could gain a liking for poetry; students could research and present information about poets that are used in the book; or students could create poetry much like how Jack did (page 37). There are lots of possibilities, making this book a potential lit circle choice. It has a great lesson in it as well; Jack wasn't confident in writing poetry at first, but then discovered a way to make himself love it. He found one aspect of it and just really found some sort of pleasure in creating new poetry and writing more and more to his teacher about his poetry. I would hope that my students would pick up on that; that if they give new things a chance, they just might find something, somewhere, to even the smallest decibel, that they might enjoy. 

The Borrowers

The Borrowers, by Mary Norton

The Borrowers is a book I have had on my shelf for years and years, but never got around to reading. I think it was even made into a movie at one point, but I never saw it. Reading it now, I can’t believe it took me this long to experience it. It is a really great book by Mary Norton about little people who live under the floor of a house in England. It is amazing how the miniature families use objects for their lives that we use everyday and don’t think anything of. When one of the daring sisters is seen by a human, she and the rest of the borrowers must make sure they can escape the hardships and keep on living their peaceful, sneaky life amongst the humans.

This is a great book for anyone with a wild imagination. I would definitely consider using this book for literature circles, however I don’t think that it would be my first choice. I think that if I lose interest in it, my students will as well, and although it is very imaginative, I think there are better choices out there to represent this. This book was, to me, a little weird. I can't put my finger on exactly why it was, but something in it didn't keep my interest. However, I will still probably keep a copy in my "classics" section in my classroom so kids have the option if they want to read it on their own. I shouldn't keep their imaginations closed off in case I keep them from reading something they will actually like.

Where will YOU Go?

OH The Places you’ll Go!, Dr. Seuss

This is such a fun book for any child to read. I got this book for a graduation gift when I graduated from high school. It is so uplifting and motivating for anyone who needs that little boost of confidence. Dr. Seuss’s books are classics for any library to have, and I think that an entire unit on Dr. Seuss would be beneficial for my students, since he is such an important author that all children should know. I want my students to learn as much as they can about someone as important to the world of literature as Dr. Seuss, since he touched the lives of children and adults alike, and I have so many ideas already brewing about what a unit would consist of based on Dr. Seuss, and what my kids could do to really learn as much as they can about him and what he was all about.

Velllcommme....

Velcome, By Kevin O'Malley

A “scary” story with a twist, this book has bold pictures and funny dialogue. I wanted to read this book for my own understanding after we used it in our "dissection of a children's book" activity a few weeks ago. The man telling the story keeps jumping around and not finishing a story before he starts another one. His stories also don’t really make much sense, and start out scary but the endings make them funny instead. Children will get a laugh out of the sly pictures, the way the story jumps around, and the way the words look in the story as well. I would encourage my kids to read this on their own, since I think they will find the story amusing and enjoyable, and from here, I would hope that they would find an author that they really enjoyed and would want to keep reading books from.

Imogene's Antlers

Imogene’s Antlers, by David Small

Since my “theme” for the most part this week is Kristen’s Classics, I decided to re-read another favorite of mine from when I was a little girl – Imogene’s Antlers, by David Small. I LOVE this book. Always have. Imogene wakes up one morning and to her dismay, has grown a pair of large antlers. While the people she is around from day to day find many uses for her antlers, and she helps them out since she has them, but no one can figure out what caused them, how to get rid of them, and why she has them. When she wakes up the next morning, they are gone, but something else appears instead! This is such a great book to use for PREDICTING, and questioning. I feel that every child should read this book at one point in their lives, since it is funny and out of the ordinary. It will definitely be in my class library.

Will There be Enough Room?

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr., and John Archambault

While working on the letters of the alphabet with my kindergartners last week, I was thinking of a better way to introduce alphabetizing words. We had been using letter magnets on the chalkboard in the front of the class, but the children seemed to get a little lost after a few minutes. I remembered this classic book from when I was a little girl. This book is about the 26 letters of the alphabet as they try to climb up the coconut tree without falling out, and as they attempt to pile into the tree, the letters tell one another in order to meet in the coconut tree. The children will love the quirky words and sounds that the book allows them to make, and I really think this will grab their attention. This is the kind of book that doesn’t make sense to me NOW as an adult, but will always speak clearly to children so it seems, and something that they can really have fun with. Hopefully, using this book in my lesson will either show me to keep it in my book list as I become a teacher, or show me that I need to rethink my class library.

Jumanji

Jumanji, By Chris Van Allsburg

Jumanji is a dark story about two children who find a board game, and decide to play it. Little do they know that playing the game will make the actions of the game come to life. Every time they roll the dice, they are risking jungle animals coming out of the game and into their house, and wreaking havoc all over the place. However, once they start the game, they MUST finish it.

Children will find Allsburg’s drawings dark, yet they will be drawn into the action of the story through the pictures as well. After reading several other of Mr. Allsburg’s children’s books, it is easy to see his creative mind and imagination threaded through each one. However, it is almost as though the illustrations are the focal point in his books. They are so detailed, yet drawn in a unique way. He definitely has a different story telling technique, but when I have my own classroom, I am going to make sure that I have a section in my classroom with books by this talented author.

Elijah of Buxton

Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul Curtis

This Newbery Medal Winner is a FANTASTIC novel that ties in some elements of true American history with fiction. Elijah is a little boy who just so happens to be the first born child in a new, free settlement in Canada. Since he doesn't know much of what slavery is, he is sure for surprise when he chases after another free slave for stealing his friend's money. The money that his friend saved was of course going to be used to free his family, who were still being kept as slaves in the South. Elijah travels back to America, and through the use of his childish language, the audience sees slavery through the eyes of a little boy. After he makes it safely back to Canada, he realizes what he shouldn't ever take for granted- his freedom.

When I become a teacher, I am going to either read this book to my class, or have our entire class read it altogether. I think it is perfect for cross-curricular activities. We have the historical aspect, but then it also fits in with reading. It is not like any other book I have even read. The language is different, and a bit difficult, but I think that the students will be completely drawn to Elijah and his story. Getting students connected to characters seems to be a challenge in books these days. However, this book would hopefully be a step in the direction of preventing that from being the case anymore. This is certainly a book that I would want my students to become excited about reading, mainly because of this character that Mr. Curtis has created for us all to enjoy. The elements of a story are so important, and as I said before, it takes a lot these days to draw children to books. However, if they can relate to a character in any way, even if it is just because the character is a child like they are, then they will hopefully become excited about what is to come in this book. I can't wait to use it someday in my classroom.

Priscilla and the Hollyhocks

Priscilla and the Hollyhocks, by Anna Alter

This book tells the story of a little girl named Priscilla who is entirely separated from her family and working on a plantation. She gets sold around from owner to owner, and eventually meets a man named Massa Basil Silkwood. He shows up early in her life, and then even saves her from slavery at the end of the story. As Priscilla goes from place to place, she plants hollyhock seeds; a part of her past at her first plantation. As she moves around, she finds peace and comfort in her little garden that she plants. One thing I really liked about this book is that it showed how during hard times, if you can find something that shows you hope, something as small as her hollyhock patches, you have some sort of comfort that things will get better. 

This book did have a flaw; the details were a bit vague. I felt as though something happened but there was no explanation, no in between details as to why and how something happened in the story. I don't know if I would use this book; I am looking realistically for books that I can use to teach some sort of extension lesson with historical fiction, and I really didn't see how I could do that with this book. Maybe someday I will find a way to use it. 

The Patchwork Path

The Patchwork Path, by Bettye Stroud

The Patchwork Path is about a little slave girl and her father as they make the great escape to freedom. Using a special quilt that her mother gave her, the little girl and her father use the designs of the patches to avoid danger and get to safety in the North. Each patch has a different meaning of its design, and signs that they must look for as they escape. I would use this book for my class, because I would want them to make their own patchwork quilts, with explanations behind them and everything. This book does such a good job showing how hard it was to stay away from danger, and that slaves even had to go as far as making their own symbols that only they had to understand to get themselves to safety. I would want my students to understand how important and valued learning should be, and how hard it would be to use something like a quilt to get away from slavery.

Freedom Ship

Freedom Ship, by Doreen Rappaport

Freedom Ship is another powerful story about slavery, however the setting is a little different than usual. It is about a little slave boy who works on a ship with his family, and who one night decide to escape to a boat that will take them to freedom. They sail away from the Confederacy to reach the North, and once they get there they have reached their freedom. 

This was a pretty good book all in all, in terms of emotional intensity, however it was a little slow. The pages look almost rugged and old, and the illustrations are beautiful. However, the story doesn't have much to it. I don't know if I would use this in my classroom at any point. I might use it for literature groups during a unit on slavery, but this would not be one of my focus books. 

Ain't Nobody a Stranger to Me

Ain't Nobody a Stranger to Me, by Ann Grifalconi

This book is about a grandfather and his granddaughter, taking a stroll through town, and the grandfather telling his granddaughter about what it was like when he was a slave. However, while most books are about just how the slaves found their way to freedom, this one tells about how his experience in finding freedom changed him forever. In the story, he walks through town waving and saying hello to everyone, and the little girl asks him why, he says that he does that because "both me and my heart is free." That is one thing that I liked about this book. People go through life experiences and while they change us one way or another, they change us forever. This powerful book really shows the importance of looking deeper into these life experiences, and with that in mind, I would really want my students to observe their own life experiences and recognize what they have learned from these experiences. This is also a book with such good morals to teach students, including, no matter how bad things are, they could always be worse, and making them more aware of our history and the lives of people around them.

Liberty Street

Libery Street, by Candace Ransom

Much of our discussion in class for the last two weeks has been about genres of children's literature. When I selected historical fiction as my genre of choice, I wanted to dig a little deeper into what types of historical fiction books there are in our library. After typing in several different subgroups, I decided to go with the topic of slavery. I found so many books that intrigued me and decided to blog about them for this week.

Liberty Street was my favorite children's book about slavery that I found. Full of emotion, this is a story about a little girl, Kezia, and her mother as they struggle to stay together on the plantation that they work on. The story shows readers that every day of the week, Kezia and her family have work that needs to be done for their master, Missus Grace. However on Sunday, Kezia and her family are allowed to travel down what Kezia calls "Liberty Street." They would walk down here and socialize and have a sort of freedom from their owners. Kezia, along with a few other slave children, are secretly taught by Miss Eulalie. They are taught to read and spell in the dark of the night, with fear that their master will catch them and they will be punished. Eventually, Kezia is separated from her mother when she is told to escape to freedom through the underground railroad. Tells the bittersweet story of getting freedom but losing family along the way, and the difficult decisions slave families had to make.

If I were to use this book in my classroom, I would really make a point to show my students how important education was during the time of slavery. I think that kids tend to take education and school for granted, and see it as something that everyone just has to do. However, this book really touches its audience and I would really do a focused activity to put in perspective about what being a slave and not being able to receive education would be like. This book is memorable and I think it deserves a lesson that would be equally memorable to my students. 

Poppy

 Poppy, By Avi

I first read Poppy in 3rd grade, but reading it a second time around, I understood it so much more than I did the first time. This is the intense story about a little mouse named Poppy. Her and her mouse friends have a sort of deal with an owl named Mr. Ocax; that is, if he protects Poppy and her friends from the porcupines, they must obey his every demand. One night, the free-spirited, daring Poppy and her fiance Ragweed decide to venture out to Bannock Hill, Ragweed is eaten by Mr. Ocax! Poppy and her family want to ask Mr. Ocax for permission to leave their site and find a better life at a place called "New House." When she asks, he of course says no, but this triggers Poppy's curiosity and she decides to take matters into her own hands. She leaves her current home and on her journey, she meets a porcupine who agrees to help keep Poppy protected from Mr. Ocax if he comes to search for her. The story ends with brave little Poppy fighting for her life against Mr. Ocax after she completes her adventure and discovers "New House."

When this story was read to me as a child, I remember being drawn into it and being so consumed by the clever writing of Avi, and being so proud of brave little Poppy. Needless to say, we were read this story while we were doing a unit on owl pellets, so it fit in with our science activity but I can remember this story to this day. If I were to use it in my classroom someday, I would make sure to link it to a cross curriculum activity. I think that is something that really makes incredible stories and classroom experiences even more memorable; when students have other learning happening that relates to a great book, their minds are connected to what they are learning that much more. Since intriguing my students and holding their interest in my classroom is so important to me as an individual teacher, I want to make sure that everything I do has a purpose, and that every piece of literature I select or recommend to my students has a meaning. This might mean putting a number of other books by the same author or about the same topic in our class library, or having students fill out recommendation sheets about books they would encourage their classmates to read. My students are going to have a great deal of say in their own learning, and I am going to make sure that I do my best to balance their ideas with my ideas.

Roberto the Insect Architect

 Roberto the Insect Architect, By Nina Laden

Roberto is a termite unlike any other. Everyone knows that termites eat wood. But Roberto? Roberto likes to build with it. Even though his structures are magnificent, Roberto gets made fun of for being different than the rest of his termite friends. Because of this, he leaves his home and goes somewhere else to try and make a life for himself where he and his wood building will be accepted. After being refused work by leading architects in the minituarized bug city, he decides that he will just build homes for individuals anonymously. However, when his secret identity is revealed, he becomes famous and a legacy for his amazing work. He continues to build homes and buildings out of wood, gets job offers from bugs all over the place, and some bugs even want to make his story into books and movies so everyone will remember what he was known for. Young bugs all over the place hear his story and instead of being told not to play with their food, their parents tell them to "be like Roberto," and that basically their imagination is important and unique to who they are.

I really, really liked this book. Between the unique illustrations, which combine real pictures with artwork, and the use of personification, rhyming, and descriptive words that go appropriately with each bug's name, this is certainly a book I will make sure I have on my classroom shelves. I would even hope to see it as a movie someday. Like Woolbur, another book that I have read on my blog, this one teaches really important life lessons and draws the reader into the story. I would highly recommend this book for teachers to use in their own classrooms. 

The Ant Bully

The Ant Bully, By John Nickle

This book was apparently made into a movie in 2006. And it is easy to see why. It is about a little boy who is bullied by a neighborhood "big kid." In turn, he decides to bully helpless little ants on the sidewalk. One day, the ants decide that they have had enough and bring their concerns up with the Queen ant. With the help of the Wizard ant, they decide to shrink the boy down to their size and teach him a lesson about just how hard life is as an ant, so hopefully he will appreciate their lifestyle more. During his "trial" period, he is told that his final task will be retrieving a certain flavor of jelly bean for the Queen and he will then be set free. During the escapade out to get the jelly bean, two ants' lives are put at risk. The boy decides that saving them is more important than getting a jelly bean. When the Queen learns of the brave task that the little boy performed for two of her colony workers, she decides to put him back to his true size, and teach the bully the same lesson that the little boy had to learn.

Bullying in any form comes with consequences. This book is a great demonstration of the "do unto others as they should do unto you" rule. Not only that, but it is a motion picture that I'm sure many children have seen and I'm sure hearing the story would be an exciting change of pace for them to see where the movie came from. This book would be a good way to teach a lesson about books that are turned into movies. Students would be able to see someone else's interpretation of a certain story and how different people view the same things.

Belinda Begins Ballet

 Belinda Begins Ballet, By Amy Young

Belinda is a frilly little girl who is unfortunately born with oversized feet. As she grows older, they grow bigger and bigger until they are so big, she is selected by a teacher to be a clown in the school talent show. Belinda knows that her heart does not belong to becoming a clown because of her silly feet, but is waiting to discover her true calling. One night while she is rehearsing her humiliating clown act in the school gym, she watches an older girl in the talent show practicing a ballet routine and just like that, decides that that is what she needs to do. That being a ballerina is what her heart wants to do. She secretly practices and twirls in her bedroom, and at the talent show, while she is performing her clown dance, she breaks out of the costume and performs an amazing act in front of her peers. They applaud her and want to be just like her. 

I really like this book. It is also a part of a small book series based on Belinda and her many dancing adventures. This is a really good book for reminding students to follow their dreams no matter what obstacles may stand in the way. Even though it is geared at girls, it might be interesting for the teacher to do a gender related unit, where one day during story time a girl book is read, and the next a boy book. However, I think that the boys might even like this funny, motivating story as well...

ZZZZzzzz....

 The Napping House, By Don and Audrey Wood

The Woods first caught my attention with King Bidgood's In the Bathtub and He Won't Get Out! when I was a little girl. As I searched for another book by this duo, I came across The Napping House, and remember reading this book before I went to bed as a little girl as well. I loved the different, fun illustrations that Don Wood does in all of their stories and I think that's what caught me with this one again. In this book, there are 5 slumberers who all find comfortable sleep on granny as they continue to pile onto her small bed throughout the night. At the end of the book, a flea starts a chain reaction and everyone wakes up to a beautiful sunny day. 

This couple always seems to use such clever, fun storytelling to draw readers into their books. So much that I remembered them as storytellers even as an adult. Children will love the wit and humor that their books have, and will be just mesmerized by the amazing artwork of Don Wood. 

"If you are a free spirit, this book is for you"

 Woolbur, By Leslie Helakoski

This is how the front flap of this story reads. After getting a glimpse of this tale from just the book cover flap, I knew I had to read it. Not only was the front cover adorable, but I immediately connected with the attention-getter that Helakoski presents her readers with from the get go. Woolbur tells the story about a cute little lamb who doesn't quite mesh with the rest of the flock. His parents worry that his free spirit will have negative effects on the other lamb children, as he doesn't quite break the rules at school, but slightly bends them. In the end, all is well and good when Woolbur shows his lamb friends and parents that being freespirited is nothing to be ashamed about and sometimes it really is okay to march to the beat of your own drum. The story comes to a close with all of the baby sheep trying things his way, and in turn finding their own beat.

This book is perfect for teaching two important lessons to young children who might be indirectly receiving cues or ideas that being an individual is wrong: 1.) The importance of  being yourself no matter what, and 2.) Your own "beat" makes you who you are. This is a vital concept that children should really be made aware of, especially at a younger age. Who better to teach them this concept than Woolbur, the cute little sheep just chugging along on this road called life. I really related to this story, and it made me smile. I think that children will get the same out of it that I did.

Monet's Magical Garden... and Then Some

  The Magical Garden of Claude Monet, By Laurence Anholt

While scanning the library shelves for interesting children's books to read, this one really caught my eye. This book is part of a series of books that Laurence Anholt and his wife write and illustrate together. This story is about how a little girl named Julie and her mother take a trip out to Claude Monet's residence to see his paintings, his home, and of course his magical garden where his incredible artwork is created. When they are there, Julie's dog escapes from the group and slides under a hole in the door which leads to Monet's garden. When she follows him back there, Monet shows her his beautiful, delicate pictures of the scenery that he spends so much time around. He shows her one particular painting that he is attempting to be the first artist to complete; a panoramic painting of his entire garden using several different canvases, and putting them all together when he is finished painting. At the end of the story, Julie and her mother leave and Monet gives her a water lillie from his pond. When she accidentally drops it into the current, she is disappointed and sad. But in the middle of the night, she wakes up to find that her lillie has floated back to her. 

This book uses illustrations as beautiful as Monet's to tell a wonderful story, and teach about an important figure in history. The thing that I really liked was how the authors included a brief bit of biographical information on Monet in the back, touching on his life and important things that he did in the art world. It also tells readers that the little girl in the story was linked to Monet in real life. This section is wonderful for extension exercises and lessons to teach children. The book really emphasizes why learning about art and art history is so critical, and should be included in elementary school instruction. Children will be drawn into the book not only for the painted illustrations with vivid colors, but also will be interested in learning more about Monet as an artist and individual in art history.