Other Visual Illusions (inspired by Duck! Rabbit!)

As part of the Global Read Aloud, this week I shared Duck! Rabbit! with my third graders. The following is the post that I had them respond to (in Kid Blog) about other visual illusions. Feel free to share your thoughts or other favorite illusions!

There are several other very well-known visual illusions like the duck/rabbit. Take a look at the images below. Can you see more than one way of looking at the image? If so, which version did you see first? Were any difficult for you to figure out?

1. Do you see the goblet or the faces?

2. What about now?

3. Can you see both the young woman and the old lady?

4. Which did you see first? The woman or the flowers?

5. Swan or Squirrel?

#3rdfor3rd: The Kingdom of Fantasy

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.

Geronimo Stilton series

Book recommendation by Anuhya.

If you like adventure, fantasy, magical, mysterious things, then this book is just the right book for you! It is called The Kingdom of Fantasy by Geronimo Stilton.

In the book Geronimo Stilton has to go get the letter from the Queen of Fairies in the Kingdom of Fantasy saying that she needs help. In an instant Geronimo Stilton saw a door in his attic! When he went through he was inside a crystal cave. He met a frog and they traveled through seven different realms. Will Geronimo Stilton be able to make it to save the Queen? Read the book to find out!

It is also a great book because Geronimo Stilton is very funny and a scaredy mouse. He has lots of funny jokes about cheese. If you really like funny things and this series then this is a special edition book in this series! It is one of the thickest books.

It's a great book. I think you should really read it if you like funny, magical, mysterious things!

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

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 10/12/15

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

• First Kid Lit Blog Hop for October! There's still time to link up and to check in with this incredible collection of kid lit-related posts and book reviews.

• #3rdfor3rd: Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie. Sadie shares about why " Whoever reads this book is in for a treat, not only loved the illustrations but it was a was funny, interesting, detailed and in some parts poetic story."

• In other news ... I got married this weekend, hooray! So while this past week did not leave a lot of time for reading or posting, there was certainly a lot being accomplished behind the scenes. (I won't have pictures back from our photographer for awhile, but for now, enjoy seeing both of our cakes ... a cheesecake for the wedding cake and a "cake of cheese" for the late-night party!)

 

Picture Books

Chopsticks (Not exactly a sequel to Spoon. More like a chance in place setting.) (2012) by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Scott Magoon. We kicked off the Global Read Aloud this week with our author study of Amy Krouse Rosenthal. I love her books and her sense of humor (and sweetness) and enjoyed sharing Chopsticks with my students. We started a collection of our favorite word puns from the story as well as important lessons about friendship and standing on your own.

Spoon (2009) by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illstrated by Scott Magoon. Many of my students also chose to read Spoon this week. This is a cute story with a powerful message about jealousy and how we see ourselves compared to how others see us.

Doyli to the Rescue: saving baby monkeys in the Amazon (2015) by Cathleen Burnham. I love sharing stories with my students about real kids in other parts of the world. This story chronicles a day in the life of a girl named Doyli who lives with her uncle and helps him rescue and release injured and trafficked baby monkeys. I look forward to bringing this one out during our Latin America unit.

Challenges

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

Dive into Diversity Challenge update: 200+ books, 38 dedicated posts

Happy Reading!

#3rdfor3rd: Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie

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.

Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie

Book recommendation by Sadie.

I just finished reading Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie by Julie Sternberg and illustrated by Matthew Cordell, Whoever reads this book is in for a treat, not only loved the illustrations but it was a was funny, interesting, detailed and in some parts poetic story.

Inside cover:

I had a bad August
A very bad August
As bad as pickle juice on a cookie
As bad as a spider web on your leg
As bad as the black parts of a banana
I hope your August is better
I really do.


A quote from this story is “I like reading Bibi’s letter I read it every single day, which is good. Because reading is important for third grade. I think Bibi’s words are beautiful like the poems we are reading with Mr. Campanelli.”

This book is good for anyone is interested in diaries or journals about the bittersweets of Growing up.

P.S. There are two more books: Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake and Like Bug Juice on a Burger.

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

First October Kid Lit Blog Hop!

Welcome to the 67th 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

BeachBoundBooks

Music Teaching and Parenting

Pragmatic Mom

Reading Authors

The Logonauts

Spark and Pook

Music Teaching and Parenting

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? 10/5/15

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

• Two more posts in my recent series on Latin America: Tall Tales from Latin America and Favorite Trickster Tales from Latin America (include several that I use every year as read alouds).

• #3rdfor3rd: The Doll People Series. Ava recommends this book "recommend this book because is is a great book and it is creative and has lots of adventures!" Click to read the full review.

I was sad to miss last week's round up, but it's been a flurry of activity here. We closed on our house last weekend, which meant a long weekend of work (stripping wallpaper, painting, etc. etc.) and no internet. Then, I'm getting married this weekend, so the flurry of activity continues! Not much time for reading, other than to the kids at school, but here are few new books I've managed to snag ...

Picture Books

Waiting (2015) by Kevin Henkes. I love Kevin Henkes, and I love that he is a local author. I had heard some interesting things about this book, and it is definitely a different kind of book. A quiet book. A not-quite-about-anything kind of book. I am very curious to share this one with kids and get their opinions.

Yard Sale (2015) by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Lauren Castillo. This is a powerful, poignant story and well-worth the read. I think this is a sensitive way to try and talk to kids who have a lot and get them to think about what it might be like if they had to get rid of most of their stuff.

Grandma in Blue with Red Hat (2015) by Scott Menchin and illustrated by Harry Bliss. This is a fun new book to get kids talking about art. One of my students decided to read this book out loud to me, and it was fun to experience his reactions (especially his escalating giggles as he realized the boy was about the apply his definition of art ... to his grandma!). I can't wait to show this to our art teacher, as she is currently in a big discussion with kids about the idea of "What Is Art?" The most recent bulletin board display is a collection of student-designed ducks, based on the public sculptures of ducks in St. Joseph, Michigan. So fun!

Challenges

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

Dive into Diversity Challenge update: 200+ books, 38 dedicated posts

Happy Reading!

Tall 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, and the second introduced clever folk heroes and trickster tales. This post shares a few favorite tall tales from Latin America.

Doña Flor: a tall tale about a giant woman with a great big heart (2005) by Pat Mora and illustrated by Raul Colón (a Golden Kite Award winner and a Pura Belpré Award winner). Doña Flor is a giant of a woman, of the likes of Paul Bunyon and other earth-shaping tall tale heroes. She uses her kindness and ability to talk to animals to help both the neighboring villagers and the wildlife. But when a ferocious puma's growl threatens people and animals alike, Flor knows she must take action!

When the Pigs Took Over (2002) by Arthur Dorros and illustrated by Diane Greenseid. In this absurd story, Alonzo's big brother Don Carlos takes everything to extremes. He wears seven hats - instead of one. And still he asks for "más" (more). As his requests spiral out of control, his little brother teaches him that perhaps there are times when enough is enough!

Do you have a favorite Latin American tall tale to share?