Saturday, January 30, 2016

New Book Alert: Pax, 2/2/16


Pax by Sara Pennypacker with illustrations by Jon Klassen, p.304
Available Feb. 2, 2016 (ARC picked up at NCTE)

Get your pre-order in now for Sara Pennypacker's new novel, Pax, which comes out on Tuesday! This charming story is told in alternating chapters by Pax, a young fox, and his former owner, a boy named Peter. Having raised Pax from a kit, Peter is forced by his father to abandon Pax and send him back in the wild. 

Pax's chapters explore the fox's attempts to reintegrate into a wild life, trying to relearn survival skills and interact with his own kind. Told with a naturalistic style, this is not a "talking animal" fantasy story but rather uses the foxes' movements and reactions to each other to communicate.

Peter's side of the story follows his efforts to find Pax again, as he immediately regrets letting him go. This kicks into gear the other adventure and survival side of the story. 

This is a book that will appeal to many readers and is being advertised for grades 3-7. Younger readers will fall in love with Pax and his earnest and adorable personality. Older readers will cheer on Peter as he sets off on a dangerous mission to find Pax and as he grapples with the larger context of encroaching war, family difficulties, and reintegrating into life after war. 

A wonderful book and new classic in the vein of other great animal and survival tales like My Side of the Mountain, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Julie of the Wolves, or Rascal. Can't wait to see the actual print edition with finalized versions of Jon Klassen's tender artwork.

When will you #FindPax?

Pax diorama created from the book the ARC was distributed in

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Malala Yousafzai: Warrior with Words - Review #ReadYourWorld


I am so excited to be one of the bloggers and book reviewers for the upcoming Multicultural Children's Book Day #ReadYourWorld, tomorrow, Jan. 27th! As a participating blogger, I received a copy of the book reviewed below in exchange for a fair and honest review. (Please click on the image above or scroll down to the bottom of the post for more information about Multicultural Children's Book Day, including sponsors and hosts.)

Review: Malala Yousafzai: Warrior with Words



Malala Yousafzai: Warrior with Words (2014) by Karen Leggett Abouraya and illustrated by L. C. Wheatley.

This picture book biography about Malala blends her own words as quotations throughout the story, adding realism and a personal voice to the telling. The events of the shooting take place about mid-way through the story, which helps to balance her backstory and personal history with the events and impact that Malala has had as a survivor.

There is lengthy backmatter including a historical overview of the creation of Pakistan and the rise of the Taliban, a brief list of resources, and information about how kids can help through organizations (including the Malala Fund and others) that are working on the issues of girls and access to education.

This book is ripe for discussion and conversation with children. It is a great way to get them thinking about the importance and power of school and education. Many kids in the US complain about the mundane aspects of school without realizing the benefits. True stories like this of kids just like them in other parts of the world can really help them see through another's eyes.

Extension Activity: Poetry Response


With my third grade students, after reading and discussing the story, I asked the kids to use poetry as a way to collect their thoughts and share a personal response. (We are in the middle of our poetry unit right now and celebrate Poetry Friday each week, so poetry is a natural part of our classroom activities.) Poetry is a great way for kids to express themselves and especially to put themselves in another point of view. Poetry is a bit looser about the "rules" of grammar and structure as well, which invites all students to express their thoughts.

Here is an example of a poem by Leila, including her author's note introduction:

I wrote this poem because girls in some countries can not go to school, go outside without a boy, climb, play games, and have mostly no freedom. Malala tried to go to school and she got shot and almost killed so please think about it!

Mistrust

hatred
killing
hurt feelings
stalking
traitors
abandonment
banning
over looking shoulders
hurting
destroying
lying
shooting
punching
friends gone.

Never again will that light of hope in your heart for them burn bright.

Classroom Reading Challenge - Free Book!


MCCBD is offering teachers and classrooms the chance to (very easily) earn a free hardcover multicultural children's book for their classroom library! These books are not only donated by the Junior Library Guild, but they are pre-screened and approved by them as well. Click here for the full details or to join the MCCBD 2016 Classroom Reading Challenge!

More About Multicultural Children's Book Day


Mission: The MCCBD team’s mission to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of diversity in children’s literature. Our young readers need to see themselves within the pages of a book and experience other cultures, languages, traditions and religions within the pages of a book. We encourage readers, parents, teachers, caregivers and librarians to follow along the fun book reviews, author visits, event details, a multicultural children’s book linky and via our hashtag (#ReadYourWorld) on Twitter and other social media. The co-creators of this unique event are Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom and Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book/Audrey Press.

Multicultural Children’s Book day 2016 Medallion Level Sponsors:





Multicultural Children’s Book Day also has 12 amazing Co-Hosts and you can use the links below to find out more about them:

All Done Monkey, Crafty Moms Share, Educators Spin on it, Growing Book by Book, Imagination Soup,I’m Not the Nanny, InCultural Parent, Kid World Citizen, Mama Smiles, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Spanish Playground

Link up your own multicultural book review posts here!

How will you celebrate Multicultural Children's Book Day?

Monday, January 25, 2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 1/25/16


It's Monday! What are you reading? was started by Sheila at Book Journey and was adapted for children's books from picture books through YA by Jen of Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee of Unleashing Readers. You can visit either site for a round up of blogs sharing their weekly readings and thoughts or search Twitter for #IMWAYR.



Last Weeks' Posts

  • January Kid Lit Blog Hop. There's still time to link up with this month's #KidLitBlogHop - a great resource for all thing kid lit.
Nursing a bit of a cold this weekend, which made for a long reading list but not a lot of energy for reviews! Apologies for the mash up of reviews and just documenting this week's readings.

Also, only two more days until Multicultural Children's Book Day on January 27th! Teachers, you can get a free, high-quality diversity title for your classroom by participating. All details are here.


Picture Books



A Boy and a Jaguar (2014) by Alan Rabinowitz and illustrated by Catia Chien. I enjoyed this autobiographical tale about how a young boy with a shutter became a famous and influential jaguar-researcher, but it seemed odd to omit an Author's Note. (I had to resort to Google to even confirm that this was a true story and, in fact, autobiographical. Missed opportunity.)


Baby Bear (2014) by Kadir Nelson. I was intrigued after seeing many of the illustrations for this book during Kadir Nelson's breakfast talk at NCTE, but in the end, this oddly incoherent tale really doesn't amount to much.


"Let's Get a Pup!" Said Kate (2001) by Bob Graham. There are many things to love about this story and how it takes the conventions of a new puppy tale and twists them. I also appreciate the inclusion of diverse characters often not highlighted in current diversity pushes (a mom with a tattoo, etc.). (A review copy of the book was provided by the Candlewick Best in Class mailing. All thoughts are my own.)


A Bus Called Heaven (2011) by Bob Graham. (A review copy of the book was provided by the Candlewick Best in Class mailing. All thoughts are my own.)


How the Sun Got to Coco’s House (2015) written and illustrated by Bob Graham [a Zolotow Highly Commended Book]. (A review copy of the book was provided by the Candlewick Best in Class mailing. All thoughts are my own.)

Young Fiction



Ballet Cat: the Totally Secret Secret (2015) written and illustrated by Bob Shea. This easy reader book provides a great lesson in friendship and one that many kids have likely faced. How do you go about making a suggestion to a friend who always wants to play the same old thing? Fans of Elephant and Piggy will enjoy this be dynamic duo of Ballet Cat and Sparkle Pony.


Written and Drawn by Henrietta (2015) by Liniers. This comic-style short graphic novel tells two stories at the same time: the outer frame is about Henrietta who is writing and drawing the inner story. This appealing and adventurous story about writing will make young readers eager to pick up their own pencils and get writing! (H/T Honor winner of the ALA's Mildred L. Batchelder Award.)

Middle Grade


Secret Coders (2015) by Gene Luen Yang and Mike Holmes. This new graphic novel series features new student Hopper and her unlikely friendship with the popular Eni. Events conspire to drawn them into the mysterious power of binary numbers and basic computer programming. Book two, Paths and Portals drops in August 2016. [This book made me quite fondly nostalgic for that dear little turtle in the original Logo program that we learned back in the '80s.]


Wonder (2012) by R.J. Palacio. I will admit to being behind the game on this one, so I was delighted to pick up a copy last week at our local used book sale. This charming story of understanding differences and learning to accept people for who they are will make everyone think again what it truly means to "Choose Kind."

Happy Reading!

Friday, January 22, 2016

Celebrating the 2016 Zolotow Books!


The Zolotow Awards have just been announced, and there are many tremendous books among the winners! (Read the full press release here.)

The Charlotte Zolotow award is given each year for outstanding writing in a picture book and is awarded by the Children's Cooperative Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

This year has been extra fun because one of my colleagues is a member of the Zolotow committee. She has been all pent up lately with the secret knowledge of the choices, so it is great that the official word is out, and I can stop waiting to find out!

The 2016 Charlotte Zolotow Winner is ...



Drum Dream Girl: how one girl's courage changed music (2015) by Margarita Engle and illustrated by Rafael López.

This powerful true story tells about the early life of Chinese-African-Cuban Millo Castro Zaldarriaga. Millo broke the Cuban taboo against female drummers and performed with her sisters as part of Cuba's first "all-girl dance band" in the 1930s. This story inspired some powerful conversations with my students about rules, especially ones about things boys or girls are told they cannot do. (Reviewed 5/11/15)

Zolotow Honor Books



Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear (2015) by Lindsay Mallick and illustrated by Sophie Blackall. [Winner of the Caldecott Medal and chosen by my students as the winner of our Mock Caldecott.]


Hoot Owl: Master of Disguise, written by Sean Taylor, illustrated by Jean Jullien.


Last Stop on Market Street (2015) by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson. [Winner of the Caldecott Honor, Newbery Medal, and more!] Read my original review here.


The New Small Person, written and illustrated by Lauren Child.


When Otis Courted Mama, written by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Jill McElmurry.


Zolotow Highly Commended Titles



Goodnight, Good Day (2015) by Mary Lyn Ray and illustrated by Rebecca Malone. Read my original review here.


How the Sun Got to Coco’s House written and illustrated by Bob Graham


Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation written by Edwidge Danticat and illustrated by Leslie Staub.


Maya’s Blanket / La manta de Maya written by Monica Brown, illustrated by David Diaz, Spanish translation by Adriana Domínguez.


Miss Hazeltine's Home for Shy and Fearful Cats (2015) written by Alicia Potter and illustrated by Birgitta Sif. Read my original review here.


A Poem in Your Pocket written by Margaret McNamara and illustrated by G. Brian Karas.


Ragweed’s Farm Dog Handbook written and illustrated by Anne Vittur Kennedy.


Waiting (2015) by Kevin Henkes. Read my previous review here.


Water Is Water written by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Jason Chin.


When Sophie's Feelings are Really, Really Hurt (2015) by Molly Bang. Read my original review here.




Read up on last year's Zolotow Winners here.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

#3rdfor3rd: The Story of Ferdinand

Welcome to #3rdfor3rd where I share books that my third graders recommend for other third graders. (Please note that my third graders read a wide variety of books across a wide variety of genres, levels, and topics. Do not think that these books are "only" for third graders.) Read more about this book recommendation series and format here.

The Story of Ferdinand

Book recommendation by Henry.

My book is called The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf and illustrated by Robert Lawson.

I like this book because it is very funny and it has very colorful pictures and it is about a little bull that is smaller and weaker than the other bulls and he gets into something big that only the other bulls wanted because Ferdinand wasn't rough like them.

This book has a great subject and great illustrations. My favorite quote is when the mother says, "Why don't you run and but your head like the other bulls?"

This story is funny so whoever likes comedy will like this book. I give it five stars!

Click here or the #3rdfor3rd tag for more great book recommendations!

January's Kid Lit Blog Hop


Hello! Welcome to the January 2016 Kid Lit Blog Hop. This exciting, now monthly hop, is where we develop an engaged group of people who love everything that has to do with children's literature. Everyone is welcome to join us: bloggers, authors, publicist, and publishers!

Simply make a post and add it to the linky. (Please make sure to add your direct post only) If you are an author, feel free just to link to your blog. Once you are done, then hop around to visit others. Please follow the co-host and visit at least the two people above your link. Please leave a comment when you do visit, we all like those. Also, it would be appreciated if you grab the Kid Lit Blog Hop Badge and display it on your blog and/or your post.

NOTE: This month is the annual Multicultural Children's Book Day which takes place on January 27th. Please stop by and see the reviews and projects from bloggers all over the world. Want to know more? Go HERE!

* Also, for teachers, World Read Aloud Day is coming up on Wed. Feb. 24th. Many authors are offering free Skype visits with classrooms during the day. Find a full list here! *

Our next hop will be February 17,2016. The hostess will be around to see you soon.

Happy Hopping!

Reading AuthorsHostess
Julie Grasso, Author/Blogger
Cheryl Carpinello, Author/Blogger
BeachBoundBooks
Pragmatic Mom
The Logonauts
A Book Long Enough
Spark and Pook
Hits and Misses


Link Up Below:





Monday, January 18, 2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 1/18/16


It's Monday! What are you reading? was started by Sheila at Book Journey and was adapted for children's books from picture books through YA by Jen of Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee of Unleashing Readers. You can visit either site for a round up of blogs sharing their weekly readings and thoughts or search Twitter for #IMWAYR.



Last Weeks' Posts


Picture Books



I Used to be Afraid (2014) by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. I believe Green was the first cut-out book I read by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, and I was fascinated by how she used cut-out designs that changed color and meaning on each page flip. That same idea is repeated in I Used to be Afraid but with less interesting results. I'm also not sure what to make of some of the "solutions" to not being afraid (like, she used to be afraid of making spelling mistakes but now she can spell mistake correctly so she isn't?). I guess this is a book where I was hoping for more.

 

Chocolate Me! (2011) and Mixed Me! (2015) by Taye Diggs and illustrated by Shane W. Evans. These are two books that also left me hoping for more. I understand that the message is feeling confident in yourself even when people don't understand you or ask you ignorant questions, but the "solutions" seem a bit simplistic - bribe the neighbors with chocolate cupcakes? Plus, for a white kid reading these books, I'm not sure how clearly the message comes across of just how rude and insensitive such comments can be.


The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth, and Harlem's Greatest Bookstore (2015) by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. I had not heard of the National Memorial African Bookstore before and love books about the power and importance of books and libraries. This book, however, became much more about Malcolm X than the book store, per se. It is a bit wordy as well.


Hands Around the Library: protecting Egypt's treasured books (2012) by Susan L. Roth and Karen Leggett Abouraya and illustrated by Susan L. Roth. This book is also based on a true story about a library - protecting the modern library of Alexandria during the Egyptian revolution in 2011. In this fairly straight-forward retelling, the importance of the library is conveyed along with the actions of protesters to form a human chain around the library. Reminiscent of Alia's actions documented in The Librarian of Basra, this story reminds us of the fragility of books and resources in times of conflict and unrest.

What did you read this week?

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

#3rdfor3rd: Who Cloned the President?

Welcome to #3rdfor3rd where I share books that my third graders recommend for other third graders. (Please note that my third graders read a wide variety of books across a wide variety of genres, levels, and topics. Do not think that these books are "only" for third graders.) Read more about this book recommendation series and format here.

Who Cloned the President?

Book recommendation by Jamie.

I think you should read Who Cloned the President? by: Ron Roy.This book is about a girl named K.C and her best friend Marshall. and they have to write a report on a report on a president Marshall got Abraham Lincoln and K.C got the current president,she knew so much about him but then...

I like this book because it has suspense, mystery ,and actual places in Washington D.C!

My favorite quote when Marshall said, "Do we have to?"

I think everyone who likes mysteries will like this book

I think I would give this book 5 stars.

(Note from me: This is the first book in The Capital Mysteries series.)

Click here or the #3rdfor3rd tag for more great book recommendations!

Monday, January 11, 2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 1/11/16


It's Monday! What are you reading? was started by Sheila at Book Journey and was adapted for children's books from picture books through YA by Jen of Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee of Unleashing Readers. You can visit either site for a round up of blogs sharing their weekly readings and thoughts or search Twitter for #IMWAYR.



Last Weeks' Posts

  • What Is Poetry? Sharing a few of my students' thoughts on the opening freewrite to launch our poetry unit.

Picture Books



The Elephant in the Dark (2015) by Mina Javaherbin and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin. This retelling of the classic tale by Rumi features a whole village full of people who try to explain the concept of an elephant after each encountering only one part. This story is well-told and humorous, and the illustrations help get the misunderstandings across. A great book for talking to kids about misunderstandings or grasping only "part" of an issue or idea.

This week I also re-read many of the current Caldecott contenders with my students. You can see my reviews of them on our Mock Caldecott Ballot post.

Happy reading!

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Caldecott Predictions!

My third graders have been voraciously reading, analyzing, and debating the merits of a collection of picture books that are possible contenders for this year's Caldecott Award. One of my classes has held their final voting (the other class votes Monday, shh .... ), and we are eagerly awaiting the official announcement next week. Did your favorites make our list?

Caldecott Predictions, 2016 ...



Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear (2015) by Lindsay Mallick and illustrated by Sophie Blackall.

Finding Winnie was the runaway favorite, receiving the top vote from nearly half the class! The kids were enthralled by the story, especially the fact that it is true, and the reveal at the end about the author's personal connection blew them away. Plus, who can resist illustrations of an adorable bear cub?


Waiting (2015) by Kevin Henkes. Read my previous review here.

The students also really enjoyed local author Kevin Henkes' quiet Waiting (though the moment of levity with the elephant left the class in hysterics). This charming book and the power of its illustrations moved this book up to the top of many lists.


Lenny & Lucy (2015) by Philip C. Stead and illustrated by Erin E. Stead.

The kids really enjoyed the messages behind this story, and we had an interesting discussion about the illustration style and the selective use of color. We used the official Caldecott criteria to discuss the books, and many kids pointed out how essential the illustrations are to supporting and extending the meaning of the text.


The Whisper (2015) by Pamela Zagarenski.

This intriguing and mysterious book grabbed a lot of student interest as well. Kids liked the stories within the stories of The Whisper, and there were many protesting cries when each story stopped abruptly. The incredible details and lavishness of the illustrations also was a selling point.

Who are your favorites for this year's Caldecott? Click here to see the whole Mock Caldecott Ballot and book choices.