Rainy Days--More Time to Read

Let's see, last post on Sunday, that means I need to account for 3 days...
1. The Horn Book--May/June
2. The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle (ISBN: 978-0399257131) Another nice book by the rock star of picture books.  (No joke. I went to a conference at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art    a few years ago, and he just popped into the auditorium. Every librarian there stood up and screamed.) This one has the message that one should make art that gives one joy, no matter what anyone else thinks. This would pair up nicely with Ish by Peter Reynolds
3. Extra Yarn by Matt Barnett (ISBN-13: 978-0061953385)

 This is another nomination for the Principal's Book of the Month. It tells the story about a girl and her "magic" box of yarn that never runs out--no matter how many sweaters she knits. After knitting one for everyone in town, she moves on to inanimate objects. My favorite page has her knitting a sweater for a pickup truck. The message here, though not at all explicit or preachy, is that we can give of our hearts and never run out of caring. Kids probably won't pick up on this message--and that's just fine. The illustrations are understated and sort of retro-looking, with enough humor to please a mixed age and gender audience.

Don't Let the Pigeon Just Do Apps!

I said I was going to look at a couple of books that were in electronic formats, so here goes. First, I downloaded Don't Let the Pigeon Run This App by Mo Willems (app by Disney, available on iTunes for $6.99) This app is based on one of Mo Willems most popular books, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. I chose this it because I think Willems is a genius, and because the app was recommended in The Horn Book magazine.  The main feature of the app is a Mad Libs-style story where the "reader" (player?) uses a voice recorder built into the app to answer the bus driver's questions, and then these answers are plugged into the framework of the story. Basically, the storyline is the same as the ...Bus book, with the Pigeon asking to do something, the reader (or read-aloud audience,) saying repeatedly "No!" and the Pigeon freaking out. Younger kids can also have the app plug in randomized answers so that the story is different every time. As I said, I think Willems is brilliant, but I found this app to be too repetitive. Now, a three or four-year-old might not think so--and that's great--but one of the reasons that I love the books so much is that they can be enjoyed by all ages. This is because the art is at once so simple and subtle and sly, and you have to use changes in your voice, pauses, and eye contact with your audience to punch up the humor. I feel like something is lost when the Pigeon gets animated. He does all the work for the "reader." I find myself feeling sorry for the kids who get to hear a chorus of disembodied child voices and a laugh track in place of participating in the give and take of a read-aloud. Am I just being a curmudgeon? Is it just the best thing ever that a kid can hear their favorite story over and over, without needing an adult to read it? Is it more, or less, interactive to record your own voice "making" the story vs. the call-and-response with a loving adult? 

I liked Freight Train by Donald Crews better. (Harper Collins Publishers, iTunes, .99) This is a more straightforward e-book with fairly minimal animation (think Reading Rainbow-style, in which the original art is used in a active way, rather than new animated drawings being created.) The addition of music--which you can turn off--and sound effects, adds to the reader's understanding of what a freight train is, without stealing anything from the original pacing of the story.  I feel like I use more of my brain reading this e-book than I do when "interacting" with the Pigeon app? (and what is the right word for what a child does with a picture book app, anyway?) 

 My next foray into electronic books will be to read a full-length novel on Ruth's Kindle. Tally-ho! 

from Piggybook by Anthony Browne

Is this a keeper? Piggybook by Anthony Browne

One of a librarian's jobs is to weed the collection, and though I'm not as sentimental as some people are about books, it's always a bit of a wrench to discard an almost-new picture book. (Of course it's only "new" in the sense of never been read much, which should be my answer.) I knew I had heard of this book before--it must have been on recommended lists or something--but I couldn't recall ever having read it. What caught my eye was the cover--a whole family--including a pinstripe-suited dad with a Cheshire cat grin--riding piggyback on the back of a woman who is decidedly not smiling. It's actually quite shocking, when you take a minute to look at it.
Obviously, the main theme of this story is how the mom in the family is completely taken for granted. The other members of the family (all men) are metaphorically, (and literally by the end,) pigs. It's dated, right? Does the illustration above resemble what goes on in your family? This book was published in the bad old days (1989?) but we don't need messages like this anymore, do we?
 Well, I just checked goodreads for more information on this book, and found many recent positive reveiws, including one from 2012 that says "Every family needs to read this book. Every. Night. Until they die." OK then. Maybe if it provokes that strong a reaction (and that wasn't the only one,) it deserves its place on the shelf. What do you think?

Are you a Book Dropper, or a Sticky Reader? (see poll above!)

I was talking to a smart person today who said she nearly always finishes a book she starts, even if she's not really enjoying it. I do that too, figuring I somehow owe it to the author. Maybe it's because I love to write myself. Maybe it's because I just like to think about writing as I read--if something is bad, why is it bad? If I don't like it, am I just not up to it? Is it just a question of taste? I also think that everyone--even adults and maybe especially teachers, should read things now and then that are challenging in some way. I like to read Scientific American for that reason. Even the vocabulary is hard--and I'm pretty lost when it comes to physics concepts, but I like that feeling of struggling to understand, especially when the only thing I have to lose is a little time.

I calculate that I have to catch up by 4 books--I've been reading, just not posting about everything, so here goes:
Goblin Wood by Hilary Bell
ISBN-13: 978-0060513719
I pulled this fantasy out of the donation box, thinking Ruth would like it. Turns out she's a Book Dropper and only made it halfway through. I was bored, so I read it. It's about an orphan "hedgewitch" who ends up becoming the ally and defender of the goblins in her country against the narrow-minded soldiers who are trying to wipe out any magic they can't control. Some ambguity about who are the "good guys," plus touches of humor throughout, raise this above the average. Not life-changing, but enjoyable enough. (I just found out while checking the ISBN that this is the beginning of a series, which makes sense, since it sort of leaves you hanging.)
As Simple As It Seems  by Sarah Weeks
ISBN-13: 978-0060846657
Verbena ("Verbie") can't figure out why she feels angry all the time. She's just graduated from 5th grade, and everything she's taken for granted seems to be falling apart. When she finds out the truth about her parents, she hates herself even more. She gets a chance to re-invent herself, however, when a boy named "Pooch" moves into the haunted house down the road.  Verbie gets to be mysterious and exciting--but also kind and brave. The title of this book has a double meaning. In some ways, Verbie's unhappiness is as simple as it seems--she's just growing up. On the other hand, nothing is ever simple, and all we can do is just muddle through. This would make a good end-of-the-year book. It's a family story, full of the rhythm and texture of summer. 
All About Japan:  Stories, Songs, Crafts, and More by Willamarie Moore
ISBN-13: 978-4805310779
 Every year I use a study of Japan to teach my 3rd graders research skills, and this book is a terrific addition to my collection of resources. A great find from a local independent bookstore, Gibson's in Concord.
Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors by Hena Khan
ISBN-13: 978-0811879057  
This concept book uses objects from the Muslim religion to illustrate colors along with rhyming text. The Muslim children in my classes giggled to see illustrations like a hijab for blue, and henna hand designs for brown. I think they were pleased, if a bit shy. It's tricky, making religion into this kind of object. The author is from Pakistan, and of course Islam is not the same everywhere, so there were two or three objects that my students looked puzzled about. On balance though, I think it's best to try to select books that portray as much diversity as possible, without worrying about getting it perfect.

 

978-0-545-437516

    
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

The cover of this book has 4 medal stickers on it! Set in 1968, this historical novel is strongly focused on the family in the story, rather than the history. (Some historical fiction seems to get bogged down in filling in the details of the history--not this one.) Everything we learn about the time, we learn through the eyes of the main character. Delphine and her sisters have just been sent to spend a month with their mother, who left when the youngest was just a baby. Delphine, the oldest sister, who narrates the story, has only hazy memories of her mother, whom she calls Cecile. And the memories are strange--did her mother really write poems on the walls? Did she really leave because her husband wouldn't let her name the baby? And how should Delphine think of her mother now? Cecile doesn't seem to want her children around. She sends them off to the community center every day while she prints poems on her secret printing press and meets with her friends from the Black Panthers. When Cecile gets arrested for her work, the girls are even more on their own. Gradually they learn a little more about the Black Panthers, a political action group working for civil rights and social justice. Many people at the time were afraid of the Panthers, but these adults make sure the girls are safe, and give Delphine a sense of purpose that helps her be strong for her sisters. You'll definitely want to learn more about the time period after reading this book. Kids will be amazed at the freedom the girls have to move around the city of San Francisco, and Delphine is a great model of bravery and resourcefulness.

I can't stop looking at fonts now!

Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield

ISBN-13: 978-1846683015

I started this one a while ago, but I just finished it, so it counts, right? A font is a style of lettering. On a computer it's easy to change almost instantly--but many fonts were first made by hand, by carving the letters one by one out of wood or metal, many years ago. If you wanted to use a certain font, you had to go the foundry where the letters were cast, and buy the individual pieces of type to arrange on your press. Once you start looking at fonts, you begin to realize how powerful they are, how they can change your feeling about a product (when used in advertising,) give you a hint of the genre of a book (when it's on the cover,) suggest a time period (some fonts just shout a certain decade,) or make you laugh (like when the feeling of the font just doesn't fit with the words--it's funny!)  This book was funny and interesting--a good one to keep in the pile to dip into in odd moments, especially if you're a word geek like me.

The Horn Book Magazine
The Horn Book is my favorite way to hear about new books. Every issue is full of reviews, but also articles by the smartest librarians, writers, and editors in the children's book business. The picture is of the current issue, but I actually haven't gotten to that yet. The issue I read (March/April) was all about books in other formats. An adjustment to my summer goal--read at least one audiobook ( I hear the new Newbery winner is a good choice,) at least one picture book app, and at least one e-book.

ISBN-13: 978-1423121909

Blackout by John Rocco
This is a 2012 Caldecott Honor book, and one of the 10 NH Ladybug Award Nominees for 2012. John Rocco has a great book trailer (like a video commercial,) on his website:
http://www.roccoart.com/blackout.html
The trailer made me think about times when the power went out when I was little. I was always jealous of my friends, who told stories of candles and huddling around the wood stove. We had a generator, so all our lights worked while the world around us remained in the dark. As a grown-up now I realize that we were the lucky ones! This book has a simple story, and it will be best when you plan lots of time for readers and listeners to trade their own blackout tales.

978-0547610832

 

 

 

 

 

More by I.C. Springman

This would be my pick for a Principal's Book of the Month next year. The cover is what caught my attention at first. Everybody knows I love birds, and Brian Lies illustrations are gorgeous. (He also illustrated Bats at the Beach.) The illustrations are key, because there are only 45 words total in this book! Magpies are known for picking up shiny objects, and the magpie in this book just doesn't know when to stop. One of the fun parts is looking carefully at all the tiny bits of trash that people have abandoned, but the magpie thinks are treasures. At first, Magpie's friend the mouse helps him find his "treasures," but after a while, Mouse realizes that things are getting out of control. There are lots of great math words to talk about here, like "more," "less," "plenty," and "enough." And of course it gets you thinking about whether or not you need more--or less--stuff in your life.

Hello Wilson Readers!

This summer I'm committed to reading one book* per day--starting now!

Believe it or not, lots of people who love books are doing the same thing. In fact, I got the idea from one of my favorite bloggers,  Donalyn Miller. 

For each book I read,  I'll write a little something and post it on this blog--maybe not every day, but every few days. If you've read the book too, you can tell me what you think by commenting. Or you can tell me about other books you've read. Happy summer!

*P.S. A "book" can be a picture book, chapter book, graphic novel, or whole magazine.