#3rdfor3rd: The Doll People series

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 Doll People series

Book recommendation by Ava.

The Doll People by Ann Martin and Laura Godwin.

The doll people is about a family of dolls who are alive. The main character is named Annabelle who is owned by Kate Palmer from the Palmer family. She is on a search to find her Auntie Sarah who has been missing for many years.

Then she meets another family of dolls owned by Kate's little sister, Nora. One of the dolls from the new family is Tiffany. Annabelle becomes friends with her. Tiffany helps Annabelle look for Auntie Sarah. Annabelle is excited to have her new friend that is the same age as her to play with and you will find out more and more by reading this book.

I recommend this book because is is a great book and it is creative and has lots of adventures! I recommend this book to anyone who likes adventures. I hope you read this book because it is an awesome book. I rate this book five stars!

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

(Note from me: I reviewed an advanced copy of the newest book in the series, book four, here.)

Interested in Teaching Cursive?

Thought this might be of interest to some of my teacher-readers.

Get Sponsored Cursive Handwriting Curriculum for Your Classroom

Now through Oct. 17th, elementary school teachers and principals are invited to request CursiveLogic workbooks for their classrooms.

CursiveLogic is a patent-pending handwriting instruction method that teaches the entire lowercase cursive alphabet in four lessons―meaning it requires far less classroom time than traditional cursive instruction. You can learn more about the CursiveLogic method here and read reviews here.

The workbooks are being sponsored by companies and individuals who are concerned about the disappearance of cursive from many classrooms.

Sponsored workbooks will be allocated to schools on a first-come, first-served basis. Learn more and request workbooks at www.cursive2class.com. More questions? Email info@cursivelogic.com.

[Full disclosure, CursiveLogic was started by my college roommate, and some of my students used a pilot version of the program last year.]

Trickster Tales from Latin America

This post is part of a series of posts celebrating the countries and cultures of Latin America. The first post featured creation stories from Latin America. This post will focus on clever folk heros and trickster tales. The final post features tall tales.

Señor Cat's Romance and Other Favorite Stories from Latin America (1997) retold by Lucia M. González and illustrated by Lulu Delacre. This collection features six short tales collected from across Latin America. Several feature folk heroes featured in other books in this post, including Juan Bobo, a trickster rabbit, and Martina the Beautiful Cockroach. (Read this post for reviews of other books featuring the Puerto Rican folk hero Juan Bobo.)

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: a Cuban folktale (2007) retold by Carmen Agra Deedy and illustrated by Michael Austin. (A Pura Belpré Honor Book.) In this version of the story, Martina must decide who to marry and agrees to follow the unusual advice of her Abuela - to see how each suitor reacts when coffee is spilled on him! This humorous tale provides great advice for looking beyond appearances and determining someone's inner character.

Just a Minute: a trickster tale and counting book (2003) by Yuyi Morales (a Pura Belpré Award winner). In this inventive trickster tale, Grandma Beetle is surprised to find the skeleton Señor Calavera beckoning her to follow. Imposing on his politeness, Grandma Beetle continues with an escalating list of tasks (with numbers in both English and Spanish). Kids will delight in this outrageous outsmarting of Death.

Juan Bobo is a popular trickster from Puerto Rico and one I have shared about many times before. There are many picture books written about him, and you can read more about all of them at this post: Meet Juan Bobo!

 

Love and Roast Chicken: a trickster tale from the Andes Mountains retold by Barbara Knutson (also available in Spanish as Amor Y Pollo Asado). Poor cuy (guinea pig) is such a small, defenseless creature, that he must rely on his wits when he is threatened by Tio Antonio, the fox. His clever solutions to difficult situations will keep kids laughing and impressed by his creativity.

Borreguita and the Coyote by Verna Aardema and illustrated by Petra Mathers. Based on a Mexican folktale poor Borreguita must find a way to outwit the wily coyote!

Jabuti the Tortoise: a trickster tale from the Amazon by Gerald McDermott. This Jabuti tale references several others tricked by Jabuti, but in this story, Jabuti himself is tricked by Vulture who is jealous of his song and colors. This pourquoi tale explains why the tortoise's shell looks cracked and why Vulture is black when other birds are colorful. This Jabuti tale comes from the Tupi-Guarani tribe of the rain forests of Brazil.

Papago: the Mischief Maker by Gerald McDermott. Papagayo is a bit of a bully and annoyance to the other creatures of the Amazon rain forest, especially to those who preferred to sleep during the day. But when the fearsome moon-dog starts eating away at the moon, it is Papagayo who convinces the nocturnal animals to scare him away. (No specific cultural attribution.)

Share your favorite trickster tales in the comments!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 9/21/15

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. (Don't you love the updated logo?)

Last Week's Posts

• Creation Stories from Latin America. First in a series of posts focused on books and stories from Latin America. 

• Kid Lit Blog Hop. The Kid Lit Blog Hop is a great community of kidlit bloggers, authors, and publishers. Come share a post or find some new posts to check out!

Also, my exciting news of the week is that I have been named a Round 2 judge for the 2015 Cybils Picture Book Award! I am delighted to continue to delve into the amazing picture books of this past year and to join this talented commitee in picking the eventual winner! You can read the full announcement here. Book nominations will be open Oct. 1-15th, so please share your favorites.

Picture Books

The Hunter's Promise: an Abenaki Tale (2015) by Joseph Bruchac and illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. I was excited to hear of a new tale from master Native American storyteller Joseph Bruchac. The story opens with a full page author's note about the origins and earlier versions of the tale and its links to Wabanaki culture. It is an interesting story and well-told. I love the focus of Wisdom Press and their books, but something about the layout decisions and the text make this edition seem unprofessional. (The text seems too large and the margins around it too small in places.) Curious if anyone else has this same gut reaction to these books.

Middle Grade / Young Adult

The Shepherd's Crown (2015) by Terry Pratchett, book four in the Tiffany Aching series and number 41 of the Discworld series. This posthumous release by Terry Pratchett features the death and departure of a beloved Discworld character, the powerful Granny Weatherwax, whom Death himself regrets having to take. A fitting tribute to a beloved author.

Adult Books

The Martian (2014) by Andy Weir. This was an enjoyable read, but one where I actually think the (upcoming) movie might be better than the book. The changing narration and point-of-view shifts really did not work smoothly for me, though I understand why the author couldn't make only the first-person logs work for the whole book. (Read via Kindle.)

Challenges

Award-Winning Books Reading Challenge update: 13 books, 2 dedicated posts

Dive into Diversity Challenge update: 175 books, 35 dedicated posts

Happy Reading!

Creation Stories from Latin America

Latin America is a diverse region of the world, and this great mix of cultures, people, and geography leads to great stories and cultural tales. This first post highlights some of my favorite creation stories from this part of the world. The next two posts highlight favorite trickster tales and tall tales.

The Golden Flower: a Taino myth from Puerto Rico (2005) by Nina Jaffe and illustrated by Enrique O. Sánchez. This version of the creation myth for the island of Puerto Rico begins with a desert and a young boy who plants the mysterious seeds that he finds. Only after these seeds grow and one produces an enormous pumpkin, do problems follow. Two men, fighting over the pumpkin, release the sea that was held inside, flooding the desert, and leaving behind just the top of the mountain as the island of Boriquén.

How the Sea Began: a Taino myth retold and illustrated by George Crespo. Another Taino story from Puerto Rico. In this version it is a group of young boys who accidentally release the sea the covers the land and leaves behind the island of Boriquén.

How We Came to the Fifth World / Cómo vinimos al quinto mundo (1988) adapted by Harriet Rohmer and Mary Anchondo and illustrated by Graciela Carrillo. This bilingual tale is a retelling of the classic Aztec creation myth about how humanity came into the fifth (and current) world and what happened to the previous four worlds.

The Two Mountains: an Aztec legend (2000) retold by Eric A. Kimmel and illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher. This legend comes from the Nahua people, descendants of the Aztec, and tells the origin of the two great mountains in the Valley of Mexico, which were once a son of the sun and a daughter of the moon.

The Gentle People (from Tales Alive! Ten multicultural folktales) This story from the Patagonia region of Argentina tells of the origins of the guanaco.

The Llama's Secret: a Peruvian legend (1993) adapted by Argentina Palacios and illustrated by Charles Reasoner. This ancient tale from Peru is a flood story. The farmer is warned by his llama about an impending flood, so he, his family, and the llama hike to the top of the great mountain, Huillcacoto. Along the way they warn two of many kinds of animals who accompany them and are spared from the flood. An author's note at the end explains the cultural significance of the llama and draws connections to other well-known flood stories.

The Princess and the Warrior: a tale of two volcanoes by Duncan Tonatiuh. This classic legend from ancient Mexico has roots in the Aztec and Tlaxcalan cultures, and Duncan has also included a connection to the Mixtec codices which inspired his signature artistic style. Rather than a creation-of-the-world story, this is the origin story of two mountains. The artwork is incredible, and the story reads like a Shakespearean tragedy. This is a wonderful addition to any classroom or library and definitely one I will be talking about come Caldecott time! For more about Duncan Tonatiuh, please read Featured Illustrator: Duncan Tonatiuh, part 1: fictional stories and part 2: biographies.

Do you have other favorite creation stories from Latin America? Please share them in the comments below!

It's Kid Lit Blog Hop Time!

Welcome to the 66th Kid Lit Blog Hop where we continue to develop a dynamic and engaged community of children's books bloggers, authors, publishers, and publicists. So, you are always more than welcome to join us by popping in a post and hopping around to meet some of your fellow Kid Lit bloggers and authors!

Hostesses:

Mother Daughter Book Reviews

Julie Grasso, Author/ Blogger

Cheryl Carpinello, Author / Blogger

Stacking Books

BeachBoundBooks

Music Teaching and Parenting

Pragmatic Mom

Reading Authors

The Logonauts

Spark and Pook

Happy Hopping everyone and enjoy the Hop!

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Kid Lit Blog Hop Rules *Please Read*

1. Link up any Kid Lit related post in the Kid Lit Blog Hop. This can be a link to a children’s book review, a discussion about children’s literature/literacy, or a post on a recently-read children’s book or one that you love from your childhood.

* Don't link directly to your blog, it must be a specific post.*

* For Authors, we prefer you to link to your blog if you have one. Please link unique posts each time ~ no repeats please. *

* Make sure you include an image relevant to the POST (e.g., book cover), not your blog button or photo of yourself.*

* Feel free to link more than one post.*

2. Please visit AT LEAST the TWO LINKS from the Kid Lit Blog Hop directly ahead of your own and leave them some love in the form of a comment. We are trying to build a community of bloggers, readers, parents, authors, and others who are as passionate about children’s literature as we are so please CONNECT and follow any or all of the blogs that interest you!

3. If you like, grab the button above and put it somewhere on your blog, preferably the post you're linking up. If you'd prefer, you can just add a text link back to this Hop so that others can find it and check out all these great book links!

4. It would really help us get the word out about the Kid Lit Blog Hop if you would be so kind as to tweet, share, and spread the word about the Hop!

Happy Hopping!

KID LIT BLOG HOP

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 9/14/15

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 Week's Posts

• #3rdfor3rd: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Let third grader Maeve "tell you about a book that is magical and mysterious at the same time."

• Poetry Friday book review: Flutter & Hum / Aleteo y Zumbido. This wonderful bilingual poetry book was written and illustrated by folk artist Julie Paschkis.

• More Smart Board Ideas. Part 3 in my Smart Board provides a bunch of ideas for using a Smart Board (outside of just Smart Notebook).

Picture Books

Leo: a ghost story (2015) by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Christian Robinson. Another in the recent pantheon of books about invisible friends, Leo is a ghost who finds himself sadly unwanted when a new family moves in. Rather than give up, he sets off to find out where he belongs. A predictable, yet still adorable, conclusion awaits. (H/T Mr. Shu.)

Hope Springs (2014) by Eric Walters and illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes. This book is based on the author's foundation and experience working with orphans in Kenya and focuses on the digging of a new well for the orphanage and then for the village. Another book to use with children when discussing issues of water rights and water availability in the world. (H/T Carrie at There is a Book for That.)

Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton (2015) by Don Tate. This biographical picture book introduces readers to enslaved poet George Moses Horton, the first southern African-American man to be published. I found it interesting that the author's note opens with a comment about his initial reluctance to illustrate stories about slavery.

Chukfi Robbit's Big, Bad Bellyache: a trickster's tale (2014) retold by Greg Rodgers and illustrated by Leslie Stall Widener. This story is based on a Choctaw tale, and the character's names are the names of their species in the Choctaw language. I love a good trickster tale, but this one just did not stick with me. There was nothing particularly memorable about Chukfi or his exploits.

Middle Grade

Little Robot (2015) by Ben Hatke. My students love Ben Hatke's Zita the Spacegirl series, so there was much excitement about his newest graphic novel. The book did not disappoint. This is a very sweet story with minimal text, making it great for reluctant readers.

Adult Books

Go Set a Watchman: a novel (2015) by Harper Lee. Bit belated on this one - waited to get it from the library. Really, I don't understand the point of this book at all. It is not particularly well-written, the story makes very little sense, and I finished it out of sheer stubbornness. I'm surprised an editor asked for more if this truly resembles the original submission.

Challenges

Award-Winning Books Reading Challenge update: 13 books, 2 dedicated posts

Dive into Diversity Challenge update: 175 books, 35 dedicated posts

Happy Reading!