tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-244181232024-03-17T22:03:17.262-05:00THE PLANET ESME PLANThe Best New Children's Books from Esmé's ShelfEsme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.comBlogger412125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-21609265701805696952021-02-15T23:10:00.023-06:002021-02-16T19:11:11.951-06:00A Remote Hope<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica;">I think remote schooling has been a teaching success. </span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There, I said it. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Here’s why. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Thousands upon thousands of teachers rose to the occasion of the “unprecedented times” (even though they were, in fact, a little bit <a href="https://www.wgu.edu/heyteach/article/what-teachers-can-learn-from-1918-influenza-pandemic2006.html"><span class="s2" style="font-kerning: none;">precedented</span></a>, if you look at prior pandemics and wars) by seeking training for themselves, training each other and creating valuable online communities of professionals to share strategies and resources.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Teachers subsidized remote learning by buying and/or using their own equipment, document cameras, laptops; their own subscriptions to necessary apps to make remote learning happen; their own digital books; upgrades of their own home internet connection speeds to facilitate instruction. There was so much we didn’t know how to do.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The running joke was, every teacher is a first year teacher this year.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And like all first year teachers, we were exhausted.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We cried.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We hated it and smiled for the children in the face of it. I was exhausted, cried and hated it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Children, too, were exhausted, crying and hating it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That’s what happens when you don’t have what you need and it makes you feel like you’re inadequate.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once I realized I didn’t have to be good at every bit of new technology being thrown at me all at once, I hated it less.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once I realized things were going to go wrong and it’s okay, it happens, I hated it less.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once I realized that some of the reasons things were going wrong were because I didn’t have what I needed and I didn’t even realize it, and I started getting those things for myself, I hated it less.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once I realized that my relationships with children were not contingent on physical proximity but on the daily expression of interest and compassion, just like it always was, I hated it less. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once I heard the children laughing again, cracking jokes in the chat, getting answers right, begging for read-aloud not to end, creating wonderful projects that they couldn't wait to show me, I hated it less.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And once I hated it less, I had the tools and became de-centered enough to help children to hate it less. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span>Once I realized that the people who kept decrying “learning loss” have no longitudinal data to support any long-term harm (how could there be, we are still in it, after all),<span class="Apple-converted-space"> I hated it less. W</span></span></span><span>hat we are measuring as loss may not be what children really would have learned as a result of this experience anyway.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span>The gains may never be measured; one thing I've learning from teaching during COVID-19 is that data is meaningless unless we ask the right questions, and unfortunately I no longer trust that we know how to do that in education, there are too many private interests at stake. Even when we do ask the right questions, we don't use the right answers.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span>I mean, if data ever meant anything, wouldn’t the data suggesting </span><a href="https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/specialties/sleep-disorder-center/sleep-in-adolescents"><span class="s2" style="font-kerning: none;">older children need more sleep</span></a><span> or that </span><a href="https://www.scripps.org/news_items/4688-do-your-kids-spend-too-much-time-in-front-of-a-screen#:~:text=Pediatricians%20recommend%20limiting%20screen%20time%20for%20young%20children,-Screen%20time%20%E2%80%94%20time&text=According%20to%20a%20recent%20study,very%20young%20children%20over%20time."><span class="s2" style="font-kerning: none;">children should not be in front of a screen for so many hours a day</span></a><span> or that</span><a href="https://www.theschoolrun.com/benefits-of-boredom-for-kids"><span class="s2" style="font-kerning: none;"> boredom is more than okay, it’s necessary</span></a><span>, or that </span><a href="https://www.stetson.edu/artsci/psychology/media/medlin-socialization-2000.pdf">homeschooled children are better socialized than people think</a><span> or that </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jim-Treleases-Read-Aloud-Handbook-Eighth/dp/0143133799/ref=sr_1_3?crid=UHR6OITU4QA8&dchild=1&keywords=read+aloud+handbook&qid=1613449386&sprefix=read+alud+handbook%2Caps%2C209&sr=8-3">read-aloud is one of the best and most reliable things we can do to support academic achievement </a><span>have come more into the forefront, especially now? This pandemic has been nothing but a daily opportunity to finally, actually use what we know about children and best practice.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span>We have had so, so many chances to reinvent education with the child at the center of it, and instead, too often, it was an embodiment of our mania for doing things the way they have always been done.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span>Failure is a condition of learning and growth.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span>We try to exorcise a fear of failure from our children so they will try new things but systemically we model that fear.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And there’s the rub. Everything about teaching and learning that felt like it was “bad” or like a “loss”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>or “failure” has been the result of trying to do things as they had always been done, <i>as if there wasn’t a pandemic going on</i>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Every time I tried to keep up the pace and schedule and even the content as if we were in person, I floundered, I suffered, and so did the kids.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There was no “powering through” this; in order to be successful, we would have to actually slow down. My students and I had to actually meet each other where we were.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I needed to really evaluate what was going on in the homes of the children I taught in a new and deeper way.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I really needed to revisit the virtue of patience as technology failed us again and again.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I really needed to teach step by step, paying extra careful attention that nobody fell through the cracks. I really needed to invent new units, revisit the curriculum, reinvent my whole methodology for presenting to a roomful…now a screenful…of children.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> I needed to make things more hands on, create new and more dynamic projects to engage them, and with that, new ways to assess them. </span>I had to do things differently, the children have done things differently.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I’m a better teacher for it, the children have showed versatility.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And I daresay, if we are being perfectly honest, even after the best-case scenario in which we get the spread of the virus under control, if we give any credence to things like, oh, climate change, maybe deep down we believe we might have to do this again sometime in the decades to come…and next time, at least, we might know a little better how to do it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Is that so bad?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Does that constitute “a loss”?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So many school mission statements include creating 21st century learners.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If this isn’t 21st century learning, what is? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span>The pandemic is surely the cause of situational depression, stressful childcare crises, boredom and feelings of isolation to those families </span></span>privileged not to have experienced the more enduring grief and trauma of job loss, home loss, illness or death.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But just like I had to discover as a teacher that what I was suffering was not always my fault as much as a void in receiving what I need to do better, so is it time for Americans to translate their needs into policy. In the long run this may prove more effective than scapegoating and martyring the teachers whose job it is to <i>deliver instruction</i>, a role I have heard belittled too often these days, as if it is some little peripheral little thing and not what requires deep relationships to really work, the thing that empowers the skills that lead to opportunity, the thing with the ability to make so many of the shortcomings of childhood ephemeral.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>America uses teachers and staff as babysitters, as mental health counselors, as caterers, as custodians, and then resents them when they ask to teach remotely for the health of themselves or their own families or suggest, as Alderwoman King of the 4th Ward in Chicago so bluntly put it, we don't want to "<a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/01/11/requiring-teachers-to-do-remote-and-in-person-lessons-at-same-time-is-like-trying-to-ride-2-horses-with-1-ass-ald-says/">ride two horses with one ass</a>."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Teachers are not your enemy, nor are we your panacea. We may be a workforce comprised largely of women who are finally learning to say what we need…and some of what we need are boundaries. <span class="Apple-converted-space">And, I might hazard to suggest, there's nothing wrong with your child being taught by someone who knows how to model saying no. </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> Grown-ups: p</span>lease.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Stop saying what a failure remote learning is within earshot of your children. Stop saying it will be over soon if you don’t know for sure; instead, focus on creating a cheerful and quiet space where children can work effectively so it won’t matter as much.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> Please appreciate that kids are not only socialized by other children; traditionally throughout history and certainly in times of extenuating circumstances, children were socialized by their own families, children did not spend so many hours at school, it's only our modern condition that makes us so much less practiced and makes it so scary. You have a role to play that can make or break your child's experience and impact everyone else's as well. </span>Stop badmouthing your child’s teacher when you are frustrated; it creates a culture of disrespect that we will not be able to survive in or out of the building. <span class="Apple-converted-space">And please s</span>top saying teachers need to get “back to work.” Not only is it fallacious and insulting and demoralizes the teacher, it undermines the work of your own child, the teacher’s true and symbiotic partner in this adventure.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Remote learning can be done well with the proper mitigations at least as well as in-person learning can be done well with the proper mitigations, neither of which teachers in urban districts generally trust they will receive outside of their own volition, as evidenced by clashes…and precedent. If you have righteous indignation about kids not returning to in-person learning during a pandemic, maybe redirect it working toward accessible Wifi and equipment for all families, a school library and trained librarian in every school, hiring enough people to clean and fix filthy and rodent-infested buildings, effecting gun control legislation, addressing food insecurity and lack of affordable health care and child care and putting a stop to the funding of schools based on property taxes and thus breaching Brown v. Board every day...all of which have longer term implications on equity, achievement and health than a year of remote teaching and learning ever could. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span>I am proud of my students and the way they have carried through this chapter of what will be history.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I am proud of their hard work and what they have accomplished, even while their internet connection dropped and reconnected repeatedly.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If I can’t see them in person, I try to embrace the now and look forward to seeing them on the screen at home and will support their academic growth as they are eating snacks and offering me cyber-bites, squeezing their pets for comfort, showing me their toys up close on the full screen, their younger siblings appearing in the frame now and then, their intermittent disappearances as they enjoy the novelty of going to the bathroom without the whole class in tow. I know these kids are adjusting and sometimes suffering, I know this situation is stressful and strange, I know they do not have all the resources they need for this to be optimal. But I also know there are some kids who were socially awkward or anxious, who were distracted by social drama, bullying or neighborhood terrors, kids who needed to have more physicality than sitting at a desk all day, kids who needed more time with and attention from their families and they are shining in this moment. I love teaching students to make scrambled eggs, do stop-action animation, use the public library’s collection of thousands of digital books, meet a surprise online guest author, things we might not have done if school were being held in person.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It’s not the same, of course, and maybe/probably our egg-scrambling skills won't show up on the test, but I don’t feel like we’re losing.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We’re just doing something differently, in our schools, in America, in the world, at a time when we need to be doing more things differently in all of these places. </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That looks a lot like success to me. </span></p>Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-36469225135683517982020-08-06T00:48:00.000-05:002020-08-11T13:44:00.617-05:00COVID-19 Can-Do: Three Unorthodox Things We Can Do to Improve Equity and Engagement in Remote Teaching Right Now<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fRCoa0VtoIU/XyuRq0eAX2I/AAAAAAAAFGE/K0S4j67tIKc-smiuTs1rDqHCCFTMzvVoQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/automatedschool%2BJean-Marc%2BCote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="800" height="247" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fRCoa0VtoIU/XyuRq0eAX2I/AAAAAAAAFGE/K0S4j67tIKc-smiuTs1rDqHCCFTMzvVoQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/automatedschool%2BJean-Marc%2BCote.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">artwork by Jean Marc Cote</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I am a K-8 teacher-librarian with the Chicago Public Schools. I went to an online training early on in the COVID-19 outbreak to learn how to produce basic video content in which the instructor said, "just put up your green screen..." Green screen?! Oh, yes, let me go grab that, right behind the shock mount for my boom and my three-point lighting kit. Did I leave that behind the toaster oven?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Though I would say most teachers did the requisite excellent and overly-practiced job of making a silk purse out of a sow's ear this past spring, it's a struggle to have real equity when teachers have varying experience, comfort and training in not only creating content for online instruction but producing it, as well as varying levels of bandwith and access to equipment in their homes (not unlike the students). What, then, outside of mastering the magical mysteries of myriad screens, can we as teachers and instructional leaders do to ensure quality educational experiences for all students in the time of COVID-19? </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">1. Make your "specials" classes your core curriculum.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The great (if uncertified) teacher <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGdLNDu-H40" target="_blank">Auntie Mame </a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGdLNDu-H40" target="_blank">says</a>, "life is a banquet, and some poor suckers are starving to death." How are we setting our academic table? Kids cannot live by bread alone. We have the chance to examine the failures in engagement of the past season and correct them with the classes that are the spice of life.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b>To that end: we don't need fewer specials during this special time, we need more, more, more. Art. Music. Physical Education. Library. Drama. Technology. Turn it all over, give these teachers and subjects unprecedented leadership and time. Arrange your school's schedule around them, the way you used to schedule math and reading. Last spring, a lot of these classes fell to the wayside to prioritize "core classes" in terror that students should "lose time" to the <a href="https://www.nwea.org/content/uploads/2020/05/Collaborative-Brief_Covid19-Slide-APR20.pdf" target="_blank">COVID-19 slide</a>. What if students should drop in academic achievement? Insert pearl-clutch here. The worst that could happen by reversing curricular priorities is that students will do as poorly as everyone expects on standardized tests for a year or two. The best: the discovery of passions. Lifelong learning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And you should expect the best. The approaches of these "special" classes necessitate quick engagement and transitions and are often project-based, exactly what students need during crisis learning. This is where the children will move and create. This is where there is room to be developmentally appropriate while we have kids looking at screens too much of the day. These "specials" teachers are used to seeing every kid in the school over a period of years, and can integrate the hell out of whatever you're teaching, just tell them...and trust them. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Examine your biases about these subjects and let them go. "Specials" can't be relegated to extras, incidentals, prep periods any longer. The stringency of subject areas defined a century ago <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39889523" target="_blank">needs to die</a>. Invent some new special classes that would be exciting to try online: environmental education, media literacy, armchair travel geography, financial literacy, film history! Bring back home economics, foreign languages and shop class! If you don't have special classes at your school, enlist teachers to integrate these subjects into the core (some already do). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Exuberance aside: this is not a minor detail in terms of creating educational equity. You think families in rich suburban schools and private schools consider art or music or a library an "extra?" Parents with resources are engaging their children in wonderful online pay-to-play opportunities like <a href="https://outschool.com/" target="_blank">Outschool</a> (to their credit, Outschool offered scholarships and reduced rates during the initial outbreak). People who want to give their children an advantage know the edge that "specials" deliver. While everyone's heads are turned by the distractions of disaster, up the equity ante for the underserved by being seriously extra in your curriculum.</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. Get great children's literature in the hands of great children.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">If you want to maximize elementary school learning and minimize loss during this time and any time, read-aloud to your child consistently every day from children's trade literature and make print matter available. Period. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have said and written that access to children's trade literature (the kind of books found in libraries and bookstores) coupled with the best practice of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Read-Aloud-Handbook-Sixth-Jim-Trelease/dp/0143037390/ref=sr_1_4?crid=LAKPSEJF0SEZ&dchild=1&keywords=read-aloud+handbook&qid=1596676974&sprefix=read-aloud+ha%2Caps%2C333&sr=8-4" target="_blank">read-aloud</a> is our best hope for equalizing education in America. Why? Because a great book in the hands of a rich child is the same great book in the hands of a poor child. Access to books has been <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100520213116.htm" target="_blank">proven to be as important an indicator as parent's educational level </a>in determining a student's chances for academic success. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I wrote <a href="https://archive.org/details/howtogetyourchil00code" target="_blank">a whole book about becoming a supporting character in a child's reading life story</a>, to ensure that if schools fail, your children don't have to. You can also s</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">croll through over a decade of children's book recommendations <a href="http://planetesme.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have written in a <a href="https://planetesme.blogspot.com/2016/01/planetesme-picks-best-picture-books-and.html" target="_blank">preface to one of my annual lists of book recommendations for children</a>: </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Books in thoughtful combination are an education in themselves...I can only imagine how a child who experiences these titles will be changed, and change is the definition of learning. Through what new lenses will the child view the world after experiencing this art? What biographies will inspire them, what mentors will fly through space and time to scaffold their dreams and efforts? How will they view and understand the natural world? What new friends will they find inside books that will inform them to know how to connect and empathize with people outside of books? What will make them laugh, cry, think? </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A child who discovers the magic of reading will never be as lonely or bored as the child who has not. That meant a lot on an average day. During quarantine, it means even more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Let's take a moment to talk books. Are they all created equal? The crisis has led many teachers and students, understandably and necessarily, to turn to digital resources including ebooks. However, studies have shown that <a href="https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/554845/7-scientific-benefits-reading-printed-books#:~:text=Readers%20of%20print%20books%20absorb,and%20understanding%20of%20the%20narrative." target="_blank">readers of printed books have a cognitive developmental advantage over readers of e-books</a>. Home libraries <a href="https://psmag.com/education/home-libraries-provide-huge-educational-advantage-14212" target="_blank">have a "very substantial effect on educational attainment."</a> That means children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds (in this country, <a href="https://www.childrensdefense.org/policy/resources/soac-2020-child-poverty/#:~:text=Children%20remain%20the%20poorest%20age,and%20older%20(10%20percent)." target="_blank">about 1 in 6</a>) relegated to free school e-book collections and limited public library access alone may be getting a separate but equal reading opportunity. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">One thing we can do as a country to promote access to print books for all children would be to insist that catalogs, in order to be eligible for bulk rate through the U.S. Post Office, contain a certain percentage of pages dedicated to reading material at the end of them, at least through the course of this pandemic. Graphic novels, serials, favorites...can you imagine how children would hop up and down at the arrival of the Pottery Barn catalog if a few pages of a <a href="https://goraina.com/" target="_blank">Raina Telgemeier </a>or <a href="https://pilkey.com/series/dog-man" target="_blank">Dog Man</a> were attached? This will ensure that all children with an address have access to reading material. The U.S. Post Office has <a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Post-Office-Created-America/dp/0143130064" target="_blank">a long and magnificent history of disseminating necessary information through the mail</a>. This crisis could usher in a new age of appreciation of the agency as it delivers educational equity to children when it is so sorely needed.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For children who do not have an address (unfortunately a demographic of poverty <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/06/11/unemployment-rose-higher-in-three-months-of-covid-19-than-it-did-in-two-years-of-the-great-recession/#:~:text=Unemployment%20rose%20higher%20in%20three,years%20of%20the%20Great%20Recession&text=Most%20estimates%20of%20the%20unemployment,Current%20Population%20Survey%20(CPS)." target="_blank">predicted to grow</a> in the coming months and years), we must more aggressively and publicly fund <a href="https://littlefreelibrary.org/" target="_blank">Little Free Libraries</a>. Right now, most of these libraries are cute and expensive and privately set up, but they need to be recognizable and ubiquitous, the way we have post office mailboxes.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Lastly, look at this plan from the Chicago Public Schools for Instructional Priorities for the 2020-21 school year, a thoughtful descriptor of expectations of the coming year. Do you know else what they are describing?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They are describing a school library with a program run by a trained school librarian to a T, actually. Yet now, during the COVID-19 outbreak, there are only about 100 librarians in the Chicago Public School system for over 600 schools, i.e. about 100 librarians for over 350,000 students, even though <a href="https://kappanonline.org/lance-kachel-school-librarians-matter-years-research/" target="_blank">research from 34 state studies suggests undeniable correlation between staffed school libraries and student achievement</a>. That means a system with over 75% economically disadvantaged students, a system with over 80% Black and Hispanic children, have a 1 in 6 chance of having a school librarian. I am calling out <a href="https://bookriot.com/chicago-school-libraries/#:~:text=Throughout%20Chicago%20Public%20Schools%20(CPS,even%20before%20they%20lost%20staff." target="_blank">my own city</a>, but this is hardly the anomaly in urban areas across the country.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">During COVID-19 and in the years of recovery to come, this blatant disparity will only serve to widen the gap of achievement and all of the economic opportunity that it ultimately affords. So I'd hazard to say, if you are privileged by your race and/or your tax bracket and/or your zip code and your child goes to a school with a school librarian, you have work to do outside of putting a sign on your front lawn. Equity in education is part of showing, not telling, Black Lives Matter, and school libraries are equity in education in action. So let's make sure we advocate loudly for the advantage that school libraries deliver and that some children receive while others do not. If children's books are our best hope for equalizing education for all children we need school libraries to deliver them. </span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. Train parents first.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Just as experienced teachers know the first week is when you can really set the tone for the classroom, in the context of COVID, rather than diving into assignments and protocols with the children, the first week might be better spent dedicated to helping parents to support learning in the home, patiently walking through how to log in, how to find assignments, how to know when they are due, how to communicate with the teachers, how to create a positive physical space in the home conducive to learning, how to juggle the needs of many children in one household with limited computer access. Answering these kind of logistical questions, and making answers available in the home language, will contribute to equity and confidence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Think back to March. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Oh, the panic. How much of this do we have to do? Where do they turn it in? Why is it taking so long to do? If the work is finished early, what are they supposed to do? What if I don't have a job, or childcare, or someone is sick? Is the teacher looking at my messy apartment? What if other children need the computer? What if I need the computer? What if the computer breaks or I can't get a connection? What if I have to be at work and my child runs into a problem on the computer? What if I can't get my child to sit in front of the computer? What if I don't have a computer? How will that affect the grade? Will my child be held back? </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But by far, the most common question I heard from shocked, overwhelmed parents when the schools closed: "does this count?"</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If it doesn't count for the grade, why should my child do it? The grade, the grade, the grade, icing the towering, dreadful COVID cake is <i>the grade</i></span><i style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">, </i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">in the face of, well, death and illness and job loss, here we are, still worried about <i>the grade</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And after responsibly giving attention to <i>the grade</i> in the face of all this, a sense of entitlement may start to creep in, and parents may find themselves frustratingly thwarted by teachers; turns out, working for a long time is not necessarily meeting a standard, busy is not necessarily the same as learning, and every time your child raises a hand or turns something in, it may not result in an "A" (though your child may still be a good and successful person in the long run nonetheless). What counts, then? <i>What counts? </i> </span><br />
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Many parents are terrified, it seems, of failure in a time when it seems all systems are failing; when many of us, as adults, are working without economic or health care safety nets in a time of crisis. Some parents, faced with a high level of necessary school involvement, are heavily projecting their own childhood anxieties around school and performance. Completely understandable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It is fair to suggest assessments and accommodations may look different during COVID, and parents need to know this. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Letter grades during COVID have already proven intrinsically inequitable because everyone's situation is so different.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> We can start by underscoring the big, basic, new-to-many idea that participation can "count" and matter even when it is not graded. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Better-communicated expectations, affirmations and real partnership can do so much to alleviate deeply personal parental insecurities surrounding academic failure coupled with situational stress and depression that can result in clashes with teachers and family members. A </span>climate in which adults are mutually respectful is always in the interest of children. It doesn't always happen, but it's something to strive for. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Parents are not professional educators, but they are always in a role of model and always positioned to foster a relationship with the child that can either cultivate or stifle positive values and attitudes toward learning. In the context of claustrophobic COVID, this role is newly pronounced and overwhelming and parents often need extra reassurances and clarification. T</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">his is not the Hunger Games, we're all in the same boat, a lack of play dates is unpleasant and potentially maddening but not fatal (while the disease potentially is)</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">, and the teachers you may disparage today will still make sure your kids have the skills they need tomorrow. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If we don't handle climate on the front end, we will all suffer for the rest of the year. So let's take the time to inservice parents respectfully as partners in their children's education by like giving them a leg up, sharing pedagogical insights for survival that we would afford any first-year teacher. Some may be instinctive, others not.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Parents need to learn, as new teachers do, that there are good days and bad days, and that an education is the sum of many parts. One bad day is not the end of the world. Forgive yourself and others and keep going.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As new teachers do, parents need to turn focus from whether they are succeeding to whether the child is succeeding, and accept that some portion of challenge or even failure is often necessary for growth. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As new teachers do, parents need to learn to break tasks down into small steps and be generous and genuine in celebrating steps toward mastery, both to encourage the child and themselves.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">They need to see, as new teachers see, that the most effective behavior management comes from engaging children in interests and relevancy, not negative consequences. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As new and effective teachers do, parents need to examine their own enthusiasms and skill sets to determine what they really have to share as human beings and then realize that lifelong learning comes from the relationship implicit in that sharing, not from any worksheet or app divorced from the context of that relationship.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Parents then need to be encouraged to value, without belittlement, whatever it is they have to share, whether it's the theory of relativity or long division, or how to enjoy a book, or cooking soup, or playing "Chopsticks" on a piano, or growing flowers, or making change for a dollar, or making a bed, or telling a joke, or braiding hair, or speaking another language, or locating the Big Dipper, or simply how to be brave even when things aren't really going your way. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Most of all, parents need to learn, as teachers invariably do, that if the child doesn't have have mental and physical health, if the child doesn't feel safe, if the child is tired or hungry, it's hard or impossible to deliver any content at all. And if what a parent can do on a given day is take care of these needs, set the expectation that their child participate in whatever the teacher has arranged for them as best they can, if they stop at the library or tell a story or even just love that child in a way that lets them know, guess what, that's the job description, that's an A. That's what counts right now. Maybe it always has been what counted. And if you know of a child whose parents can't provide this, maybe they can start counting on you. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This may be the end of the age of fallacies that upheld a status quo. The big assignment now is that we invent ourselves. The children are so bravely growing and doing this work every day, with or without us. Refreshed curriculum that invites art, movement, handiwork, the chance to read and some sanity in their inner circle will go far to support this work, preserve the humanity of the children we serve and keep our influence positive, even in the face of our own trials. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I leave you with a short film that made a big impact on me in imagining a new school year. Thank you, Liv McNeil. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I look forward to knowing what you imagine, in the comments section and elsewhere.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Stay well and happy reading, friends. </span>Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-31499227783831590012020-03-15T15:53:00.000-05:002020-03-30T21:54:04.178-05:00HELPFUL HINTS FOR A SANE READING QUARANTINE FROM A SCHOOL LIBRARIAN<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HBvm1BdAr3o/Xm6P0QFvqdI/AAAAAAAAFEM/t5fQJZBrcBIiGcAdN8hOFV9k1bFbiu-FwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/raccoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="641" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HBvm1BdAr3o/Xm6P0QFvqdI/AAAAAAAAFEM/t5fQJZBrcBIiGcAdN8hOFV9k1bFbiu-FwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/raccoon.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Art by Garth Williams, 1948 from </span><i style="font-size: x-small;">Wait Till the Moon is Full</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> by Margaret Wise Brown</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Some helpful hints for parents as you begin your COVID-19 homeschooling adventure:</b></span><br />
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<u><b>PLEASE TURN ON THE CLOSED CAPTIONING FEATURE ON YOUR COMPUTER/TELEVISION!!!</b></u><br />
It is anticipated that most families will be having a little more screen time than usual during the quarantine. By turning on this feature when your child watches a show, you are ensuring important exposure to print even when your child is not reading a book. Please! This is a small thing to do that <a href="https://kidsreadnow.org/2018/07/16/closed-captions-help-reading/" target="_blank">can make a big difference</a>...it's a great way to painlessly increase a child's sight word vocabulary and reading fluency!<br />
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<u><b>YOU DON'T HAVE TO REPLICATE THE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE TO HAVE AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE.</b></u><br />
Filling the days with piles of worksheets and assignments will likely bore your child and create conflict. Keep in mind, many children can get a lot more done in less time working at home, where there are fewer bathroom breaks and transitions between classes and peer distractions. Children learn from relationships. Teach your child to make scrambled eggs or walk them through a family recipe. Play board games. Work on tying shoes. Read aloud. Interview an elder. Write letters to friends. Plant a windowsill garden. Learn a craft on YouTube together. Watch a classic movie together (suggestions to come). Build indoor forts, or models, or cardboard box dollhouses. Whatever you can do is enough, whatever you have can be enough. Don't stress. This can be a positive and memorable time just by being as present as possible. Find your own flow and put the mental and physical health of your family first.<br />
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<u><b>MOVE THE SCREENS WHERE YOU CAN SEE CHILDREN USING THEM AND PRACTICE CYBERSAFETY.</b></u><br />
The internet has rich offerings during this time but also potential pitfalls. Have a conversation about screen time and phone use at the outset. Especially with older kids, come up with a plan you can agree upon and a cut-off time for phone usage to avoid conflict as the days wear on. While we don't want to isolate children during the quarantine, we also don't want them to develop poor habits. Increased unsupervised online activity can also be a recipe for exposure to inappropriate thematic content or contact with inappropriate strangers or online bullies. Check histories, activate filters and put screens where activity can be monitored.<br />
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<u><b>TALK TO YOUR CHILD ABOUT THE NEWS.</b></u> In middle school library classes, we have been talking about citing sources and the credibility of what we read, where information comes from and considering the viability of who is speaking or writing. Who do we believe? What makes information fact and what makes something an opinion? Use the news that the children encounter online and on television to continue that conversation and to mitigate fears during this stressful time.<br />
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<b><u>ENCOURAGE JOURNALING.</u></b> Children can keep a personal diary of life during this time or make a daily family newspaper. Remember, this is an unprecedented time. Remind kids they are living the history we read about. Their stories matter and will matter.<br />
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<b><u>GIVE YOUR CHILD THE RECESS WE CAN'T.</u> </b> Your child loves, craves and needs physical activity. Because of mandates of the way time is spent during a school day, we can't give them the long recess they developmentally deserve. You can. Long, long walks and bike rides are encouraged while keeping social distancing. It will help focus and mood. Recognizing that many parents work; do it as you're able.<br />
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<b><u>IT'S OKAY TO BE A LITTLE BORED.</u> </b> While it is helpful to have art supplies and books and resources within your child's reach, it is not your job as a parent to fill and schedule every moment. A little down-time fosters creativity, imagination and autonomy...and reading! Speaking of...<br />
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<u><b>MAKE READING DURING THE QUARANTINE ABOUT CHOICE, NOT LEVELS.</b></u><br />
Comic books are real reading. Sports magazines are real reading. Cookbooks are real reading. Books on tape are real listening (and reading, if you get a copy of read along). Picture books are real reading and promote visual literacy. Read-aloud across the grade levels is one of the most academically beneficial things you can do for your child during this and any time. Even when your child knows how to read, reading aloud with your child following along in the book (you can run your fingers under the word as you read) does wonders and also fosters positive connections with books and with you. Additional and specific book recommendation blasts from the recent past I have recommended to my own students may be found <a href="https://stonebookworms.blogspot.com/p/summer-reading.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://stonebookworms.blogspot.com/2019/10/strike-reading-recommendations.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://stonebookworms.blogspot.com/2019/06/ms-esme-recommends-summer-reading.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and on my personal children's book review website you're reading right <a href="http://planetesme.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a>, but again, access to specific titles is going to differ from house to house during the quarantines and there are no wrong choices. Your assignment: read what you have and read for fun.<br />
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<b>SET REASONABLE GOALS IN READING AND ALL THINGS.</b> Try a Book Bingo (sample card <a href="https://www.addisontwp.michlibrary.org/news-events/march-into-reading-bingo/@@images/27586058-6926-4ae9-b768-aec21d9b90ba.jpeg" target="_blank">here</a>, but <a href="https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS749US749&sxsrf=ALeKk00XMF6Sw29iIOquozCbb7r4WZDoPg:1584303372910&q=Book+Bingo+for+kids&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwioxoj-pZ3oAhUBX60KHcDfCxAQ7Al6BAgKEEQ#imgrc=fP6ozHpgk9w8jM" target="_blank">tons from which to choose</a>). Or create a reading batting average (picture book = single, nonfiction = double, chapter book = triple, classic finished as a family = home run; use the sport of your choice and the categories of your choice). Or, how many award-winners (or any genre) can you read? Small, attainable steps toward a goal or open-ended achievements build confidence.<br />
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<b>ADDITIONAL HOMESCHOOLING ONLINE RESOURCES below!</b> Try not to be overwhelmed; remember, you don't have to do them all or any of them at all, they are tools to be used if needed. An "assignment" might be for children themselves to explore five a day and write "reviews."<br />
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<u><b><span style="background-color: red; color: white;">Free Reading Websites for Kids</span></b></u></div>
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<a href="https://www.tumblebooklibrary.com/Home.aspx?categoryID=77" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.tumblebooklibrary.com/Home.aspx?categoryID=77" target="_blank">Tumblebooks</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.storylineonline.net/" target="_blank">Storyline Online</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.freechildrenstories.com/" target="_blank">Free Children</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.starfall.com/h/" target="_blank">Starfall</a> (good for primary, some free, some premium)</div>
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<a href="http://en.childrenslibrary.org/" target="_blank">International Children's Digital Library</a> (multilingual)</div>
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<a href="https://www.abcya.com/" target="_blank">ABCYA!</a> (online reading games)</div>
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<a href="https://www.storynory.com/" target="_blank">StoryNory</a></div>
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<a href="https://ngexplorer.cengage.com/ngyoungexplorer/index.html" target="_blank">National Geographic Young Explorer Magazine</a></div>
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<u><b><span style="background-color: red; color: white;">General</span></b></u></div>
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<a href="https://outschool.com/2020-school-closures-offer" target="_blank">Outschool</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.penpalschools.com/index.html" target="_blank">Penpal School</a><br />
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T4CZCt8hJqYLVT5ZVYpR7SgHLWDWaaUO/view?fbclid=IwAR3lqxCi6nHY3dNEFxjdMhhRGftDOsk1FwJywKgtuxscEnN2JQsLBewuGMg" target="_blank">Maker Station Home Pack</a><br />
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<a href="https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html" target="_blank">Scholastic Daily Learn-At-Home</a></div>
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<a href="https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/135609/list-of-education-companies-offering-free-subscriptions/" target="_blank">List of over 100 education companies offering free subscriptions due to school closings </a></div>
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(Whoa! Brought to us by <a href="http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/">kidsactivitiesblog.com</a>)</div>
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<a href="https://www.domestika.org/" target="_blank">Domestika</a></div>
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(Arts courses. Ms. Esme takes a class here! Good for older kids)</div>
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<a href="http://online.culturegrams.com/?a_username=SSACAD&a_password=SSACAD" target="_blank">Culturegrams</a></div>
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(recipes and information from every country in the world!)</div>
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<a href="https://craftsbyamanda.com/kids-puppets/" target="_blank">26 Puppets You Can Make</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.travelandleisure.com/attractions/museums-galleries/museums-with-virtual-tours" target="_blank">12 Virtual International Museum Tours</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.teachwithme.com/images/Virtual_Zoos_lk.pdf" target="_blank">Virtual Zoo Field Trips</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?rs=ac&len=2&q=homeschool%20activities&eq=Homeschool%20activ&etslf=12648&term_meta[]=homeschool%7Cautocomplete%7C0&term_meta[]=activities%7Cautocomplete%7C0" target="_blank">Homeschooling on Pinterest</a><br />
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<b>AND ON A PERSONAL NOTE:</b></div>
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When I wrote <a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Your-Child-Love-Reading/dp/1565123085/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2XV8ZGEY4CDCM&keywords=how+to+get+your+child+to+love+reading&qid=1584304448&sprefix=how+to+get+your+child+to+lov%2Caps%2C351&sr=8-2" target="_blank">How to Get Your Child to Love Reading</a>, it was with the heartfelt, almost religious belief that children's trade literature and read-aloud was our best hope for equalizing education. I wanted to give every family the tools to be a supporting character in a child's reading life story, no matter what their socioeconomic background might be. It was marketed as a parenting book, but it really, it came from my lesson plan book. I have been a fifth grade teacher, a homeschooling mom and now a K-8 school librarian with the Chicago Public Schools for over a dozen years. I still know quality children's literature has the potential to give <u>every</u> child a solid elementary education, in or out of the school building. You can temporarily access this book for free during the COVID-19 crisis <a href="https://archive.org/details/howtogetyourchil00code" target="_blank">here</a>. </div>
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Teachers, librarians and parents are all partners in education. The closing of schools is a call to cooperation. I hope this guide and PlanetEsme, which has been recommending books since 1999 and offers hundreds of free book reviews right here via this blog, will be useful, inspiring and empowering to you and your family during this challenging time. </div>
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Wishing you health and the enjoyment of books and one another from my home to yours.</div>
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XOXO Esme</div>
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Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-83207297426105657632019-10-01T19:56:00.000-05:002019-10-02T07:04:18.887-05:00You Don't Have to Be Jewish<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It has unfortunately recently come to my attention during the course of a six hour workshop about diversity in children's literature by a high-profile and impactful sponsor, no books representing Jewish people were included. My understanding is that when a participant questioned the exclusion, it was pointed out that the recommendations also did not include obsese or old people, either; time was limited, not every group can be included.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Well, the Tree of Life synagogue shooting that happened in Pittsburgh less than a year ago didn't happen because people were obese. And the attack on the San Diego synagogue this spring wasn't because people were old. I appreciate that not every religious group can be represented at book recommendation events, but the timing of such exclusions is questionable. If any other racial or ethnic group marginalized in our history were excluded from the lists at the same time that mass marches were actively happening to call for their eradication byWhite Supremacist and other hateful groups, well, what would you call that? Poor timing? Outrageous? Or something else?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tzivia MacLeod has written a very brave article, </span><a href="http://www.mamaland.org/2019/09/dear-diversity-are-jews-allowed.html?fbclid=IwAR0uVagsj1-Pk1N69U_pTGBMR5jNfOl4SxpOfHNGrrbjWy41YeDz9Z3zsos" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;" target="_blank">Dear Diversity: Are Jews Allowed?</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> which references another separate scenario of exclusion. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Respectfully, to professionals: please. Find the room, find the time. Whether Jewish or not, inclusion of this literature in collection development conversations is more than religious representation. It's respectful acknowledgement of the backgrounds of some of the most seminal contributors to the genre: Maurice Sendak, the Reys, The Hobans, The Zemachs, Judith Viorst, Judy Blume, Shel Silverstein, R.L. Stine, Judith Kerr, Julius Lester, Mordicai Gerstein to name a very few. It is an acknowledgement of the fact that Jewish American contribution is American history, extending broadly and meaningfully into the secular American world. But more than that, as is the battle cry of diversity in children's literature: all children deserve to see themselves represented on the shelves. Further, all children deserve access to quality literature that reflects people <u>different</u> from themselves. Holes in collection diversity are holes in preparing students for encounters with the human diversity that with any luck and effort will demarcate the 21st century as much as any technology, so if you have no Jewish kids at your school, you need Jewish children's books even more. <u>If you are a teacher or librarian and you do not have books representing Jewish people in your collection, there is a lack in the diversity of your collection.</u></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, what's the fix? </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The first thing to do is probably get acquainted with <a href="https://jewishlibraries.org/Sydney_Taylor_Book_Award" target="_blank">The Sydney Taylor Award list</a>, which is kind of like a Jewish <a href="http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberymedal" target="_blank">Newbery</a> given by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL). A committee of professionals determine "outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience," not unlike the Coretta Scott King Award and Pura Belpré award for their respective representations. The authors and illustrators do not have to be Jewish to receive the Sydney Taylor award. The AJL has a handy <a href="https://jewishlibraries.starchapter.com/images/downloads/Awards/stbaallawardwinnersever.pdf" target="_blank">annotated list of all winners since the award's inception in 1968</a>, which is an education in itself. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A less extensive but very thoughtful list is the<a href="https://jewishlibraries.org/blog.php?name=id/403" target="_blank"> Love Your Neighbor: AJL Recommends Jewish Books for All Readers</a> compilation (full discloure: one of my books, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Vive-Paris-Esme-Raji-Codell/dp/0786851252/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Vive+la+Paris&qid=1569976628&sr=8-2" target="_blank">Vive la Paris</a>, now out-of-print, appears on this list, and has also received a Sydney Taylor Honor). These titles can be organically integrated into character education programming. One of my favorite articles I have read is <a href="http://databases.jewishlibraries.org/sites/default/files/proceedings/proceedings2002/estrin.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3bcSm1Nx79r_iWWPpgZO6eS0JxNuzQMpFbIEj4ExcbFOlSt6rWa-_6NuM" target="_blank">"Is <i>The Rainbow Fish</i> Jewish?"</a> by Heidi Estrin. Written for Jewish educators, it is a powerful testament to the overlapping of values found in vibrant children's literature to be embraced by many faiths. Rachel Kamin, an esteemed and active AJL committee member and reviewer, along with her colleagues, compiled a beautiful and extensive list of <a href="https://jewishlibraries.org/images/downloads/Resources/jewish_stars.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2R3RbhYL_B_rvS_sqA6ocmejyCB_mQcH3VYi-KD1OmATv6lvGSroQ0uBg" target="_blank">Jewish Stars: Recommended Books with Jewish Themes for Schools and Libraries</a> that deserves the attention of anyone adding Jewish identity to the diversity of their collections. And the <a href="https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Book of Life</a> is a long-running, fun and informative podcast hosted by Heidi Rabinowitz for anyone interested in Jewish literature for young people. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I am the lucky librarian in a racially, ethnically, religiously and culturally diverse school in Chicago and am acutely aware of the balancing act between presenting diversity and separation of church (and synagogue and mosque) and state. But the bottom line is, a good story belongs to everybody. These are just a few titles I personally use successfully in my programming over the years with the children I serve. I hope you will share yours in the comments section.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0440400597/planetecom-20" target="_blank">All of a Kind Family</a> by Sydney Taylor. The name Sydney Taylor comes up a lot in conversations about Jewish children's literature because she was "the first children's author to write books about Jewish people that were read by mainstream America" (Cummins, 2014). She started the series in 1951, a chummy plum of realistic fiction that finally depicted Jewishness as a matter-of-fact in the course of the daily adventures. To me, it's kind of like <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Watsons-Birmingham-1963-Christopher-Paul-Curtis/dp/0440414121/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3QQBB0CR2FADS&keywords=watsons+go+to+birmingham&qid=1566270664&s=gateway&sprefix=Watsons+%2Caps%2C415&sr=8-1" target="_blank">The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963</a> of Jewish literature. Throughout, there's feeling that family is the world, but the rest of the world is still there, too. For better or worse. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Taylor also was pioneering in the way she wrote about urban life, a family crowded into a small apartment, relatable to many of my students. The exciting, funny, emotional, episodic chapters are devour-able, thank goodness she wrote more than one. Fans of old-fashioned book candy a la Beverly Cleary and Betsy-Tacy series will rejoice. The series holds up like a good TCM movie: classic. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565124421/planetecom-20" target="_blank">King Matt the First</a> by Janusz Korczak is the story of a boy king who rules over a country of children while the grown-ups make a mess of their own. By page two of a read-aloud, my fifth graders were hooked. Whether being in the trenches of war with his foul-mouthed roughneck bestie Felek, building life-sized dolls to fool his jealous advisors, trying to ingratiate himself through dispersal of chocolate or traveling the world to find an unlikely guest for his meeting of a children's parliament, this book is a masterwork of cliffhangers. It also contains some of the most nuanced, profound and entertaining characters in children's literature. Popular as Peter Pan in parts of Europe, it is largely unknown here in the states, which is a great loss to be ameliorated.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Korczak's real life story is legendary, and ultimately tragic. He was a Polish pediatrician during WWII who ran orphanages in Warsaw (and really did try an innovative children's parliament as described in the book in that setting). Korczak had many opportunities to escape the Nazis but elected to stay with his charges, and died with them at Treblinka. Every time I read this book, I can feel Korczak loving those children and trying to prepare them for the difficulties of this imperfect world. He wrote and read aloud these words as a gift to the children he loved, children he was trying to distract from suffering with the joy and excitement of these great adventures. And now, almost a hundred years later, the words can come from your lips to the children you care about, and they still work their magic. A miraculous legacy of read-aloud. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Zlateh-Other-Stories-Bashevis-Singer/dp/0060284773/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3TG1DVYU6KZA4&keywords=zlateh+the+goat+and+other+stories+by+isaac+bashevis+singer&qid=1565805199&s=books&sprefix=Zlateh%2Cstripbooks%2C181&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories</a> by Issac Bashevis Singer, illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Written by the master storyteller, my students have thrilled and laughed raucously to this read-aloud, favorites being "Fool's Paradise," the story of a family who tricks a bridegroom into believing he has died and gone to Heaven in order to help him appreciate his life on Earth; "The First Shlemiel" which is a slapstick series of events gone wrong with culminating hilarity and forgiveness; and then the cover story, Zlateh the Goat, in which a goat saves a boy's life in a winter's storm. There is also "The Snow in Chelm," an introductory story to the town in literature that is famous for its wise fools, though exploration of this may be better served in Singer's wider collection, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374464898/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" target="_blank">Stories for Children</a>. To introduce children to Singer's work is to introduce children to truly graceful narrative and a gentle view of humanity. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2T6_bd--eUc/XVRMYMZ9ouI/AAAAAAAAFAk/H1q4DtydImMypFXaQZkPaGKQa4qfgKWoQCLcBGAs/s1600/devil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="297" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2T6_bd--eUc/XVRMYMZ9ouI/AAAAAAAAFAk/H1q4DtydImMypFXaQZkPaGKQa4qfgKWoQCLcBGAs/s320/devil.jpg" width="190" /></a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Star-Jennifer-Roy/dp/0761463100/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=yellow+star&qid=1569972589&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="357" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ccjp9jXZivk/XZPiIQcTd5I/AAAAAAAAFB0/0qge_nFUoq4tXEzWhvvtqEGbqq6naKLKgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Yellow%2BStar.jpg" width="228" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Less gentle but just as important: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Devil-Vienna-Doris-Orgel/dp/0142402362/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=devil+in+Vienna&qid=1565805594&s=gateway&sr=8-1" target="_blank">The Devil in Vienna</a> by Doris Orgel and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Star-Jennifer-Roy/dp/076145277X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1565807854&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Yellow Star</a> by Jennifer Roy. If the only books that represent Jewish people in your collection take place during the Holocaust, that would be as much of a mistake as only representing African Americans in the context of slavery. That said, it is an important chapter in history shared by all humankind, and there are some remarkable children's books set against this backdrop. Two of the finest are, inexcusably, out of print, one of them being <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Devil-Vienna-Doris-Orgel/dp/0142402362/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=devil+in+vienna&qid=1569971925&sr=8-1" target="_blank">The Devil in Vienna</a> by Doris Orgel, a brilliant translator and author whose own family escaped Vienna during the war. She does such a resonating job of depicting the painful cleaving of a friendship between Jewish Inge and Leiselotte, daughter of a Jewish S.S. officer. It is easy for children today to imagine the strain between the two friends, and the ultimate loss.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">"In 1945 the war ended. the Germans surrendered and the ghetto was liberated. Out of over a quarter of a million people, about 800 walked out of the ghetto. Of those who survived, only twelve were children. I was one of those twelve." <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Star-Jennifer-Roy/dp/0761463100/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Yellow+Star&qid=1569978122&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Yellow Star</a> was written by the niece of one of these twelve, composing the unthinkable story into an accessible verse memoir that does the honest and tricky work of presenting what really happened to the Jewish people during World War II while still being readable and appropriate with guidance for middle-grade readers. A masterful introduction, and in tandem with The Devil in Vienna, they do highly effectual work in teaching students about the human experience in this most inhumane context. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hershel-Hanukkah-Goblins-25th-Anniversary/dp/00823431649/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1565805776&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins</a> by Eric Kimmel, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. Hershel has agreed to spend eight nights in the synagogue and rid the town of Ostropol from the goblins plaguing their Hanukkah celebrations. Part ghost story, part holiday story, and decorated with both hilarious and beautiful illustrations by the inimitable Caldecott-winning Trina Schart Hyman, this is the favorite, favorite, <i>favorite </i>annual classic read-aloud for my second grade; I show the children menorahs, dreidels and chocolate gelt to allow children who are not Jewish to understand the objects referenced, and then we all play dreidel, dance the hora and draw pictures of our own goblins. This is what I mean when I say story belongs to everybody. More mystical Jewish fun may also be found in reprint of the classic <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rabbi-Twenty-nine-Witches-Marilyn-Hirsh/dp/0761455868/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3K581TVBXB0JB&keywords=the+rabbi+and+the+twenty-nine+witches&qid=1565807464&s=books&sprefix=Rabbi+and+the+witc%2Cstripbooks%2C176&sr=1-1" target="_blank">The Rabbi and the Twenty-Nine Witches</a> by Marilyn Hirsh, one of my own childhood favorites. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-frFk9_ZTp5I/XVROSCXxKHI/AAAAAAAAFA4/3Wue2nJuBdcWth1gzpEyLWXlThc_9JZNACLcBGAs/s1600/Sandy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="409" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-frFk9_ZTp5I/XVROSCXxKHI/AAAAAAAAFA4/3Wue2nJuBdcWth1gzpEyLWXlThc_9JZNACLcBGAs/s320/Sandy.jpg" width="261" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/You-Never-Heard-Sandy-Koufax/dp/0553498428/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1565805979&sr=8-1" target="_blank">You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! </a>by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Andre Carillho, is the story of the great New York Dodgers pitcher so dedicated to his faith that he would not come to the mound during the 1965 World Series on the highest Jewish holy day of <i>Yom Kippur</i>, the Day of Atonement, even in the face of great discrimination. Biographies are a great place to start with sharing Jewish history and identity, and they can be read aloud across the grade levels. Besides, there are so many good ones: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dissent-Ruth-Bader-Ginsburg-Makes/dp/1481465597/ref=sr_1_7?crid=14TNEENJ1YBBY&keywords=ruth+bader+ginsburg&qid=1569973064&sprefix=Ruth+Bader+Ginsburg%2Caps%2C186&sr=8-7" target="_blank">I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark</a>, by Debbie Levy, illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley; <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Brave-Girl-Shirtwaist-Makers-Strike/dp/0061804428/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2H66N19M1K5QG&keywords=brave+girl+clara+and+the+shirtwaist+makers+strike+of+1909&qid=1569973160&sprefix=Shirtwaist+Gir%2Caps%2C184&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 190</a>9 by Michelle Markel, illustrated by Melissa Sweet; <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sholoms-Treasure-Sholom-Aleichem-Became/dp/0374380554/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=sholom+aleichem+mordicai+gerstein&qid=1569973292&s=books&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Sholom's Treasure: How Sholom Aleichem Became a Writer</a> by Erica Silverman, illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein; <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Through-Window-Views-Marc-Chagalls/dp/1524717517/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Chagall%2C+children%27s+picture+book+biography&qid=1569973533&s=books&sr=1-3" target="_blank">Through the Window: Views of Marc Chagall's Life and Art</a> by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Mary Grandpré; <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Write-Irving-Berlin-Leslie-Kimmelman/dp/1585363804/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Irving+Berlin+children%27s+picture+book+biography&qid=1569973752&s=books&sr=1-3" target="_blank">Write on, Irving Berlin!: How An Immigrant Boy Made America Sing</a> by Leslie Kimmelman, illustrated by David C. Gardener, to name a very few, many more cited on the lists referenced above and out there in the world, including one of my very favorites: </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Emmas-Poem-Voice-Statue-Liberty/dp/0544105087/ref=wl_mb_gl_huc_mrai_2_dp?ie=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0544105087&pd_rd_r=FXZDBK5TDNVE7GW63G4S&pd_rd_w=FnMfe&pd_rd_wg=DXzpZ&pf_rd_p=eef9c7bd-10f9-4dd2-8aa3-f83976b6a214&pf_rd_r=FXZDBK5TDNVE7GW63G4S" target="_blank">Emma's Poem</a> by Linda Glaser, illustrated by Claire A. Nivola, the wonderful story of Emma Lazarus and how she came to compose the words on the base of the Statue of Liberty, "The New Colossus," which famously begins, "Give me your titred, your poor, your huddled masses/yearning to breathe free..." Every young citizen deserves to know this story and that a Jewish woman is behind this national invitation. It is a great story to begin a school year with, but also perfect for integration into units about immigration which also often happen around Thanksgiving, an occasion to read another Jewish classic, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mollys-Pilgrim-Barbara-Cohen/dp/0062870947/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Molly%27s+Pilgrim&qid=1569974330&s=books&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Molly's Pilgrim</a> by Barbara Cohen, though I usually elect instead to share the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mollys-Pilgrim-Lilly-Balaban/dp/B001E6RENK/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Molly%27s+Pilgrim+movie&qid=1569974389&s=movies-tv&sr=1-2" target="_blank">Oscar-winning video adaptation of the book</a>, a little pricey but worth it and along the lines of Eleanor Estes' masterpiece <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Dresses-Eleanor-Estes/dp/0152052607/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Hundred+Dresses&qid=1569974677&sr=8-1" target="_blank">The Hundred Dresses</a> as far as fodder for discussion of bigotry and empathy. Here is the trailer:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Finally, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bagels-Benny-Aubrey-Davis/dp/1553377494/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2XIOWALOF3B36&keywords=bagels+for+benny&qid=1565804976&s=books&sprefix=Bagels+for+B%2Cstripbooks%2C176&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Bagels from Benny</a> by Aubrey Davis, illustrated by Dusan Petricic, which I share with children just because it is a book I happen to love. In an effort to show gratitude to his God, Benny hides bagels in the Holy Ark of the temple. The bagels disappear, and Benny's grandfather is outraged at the sacrilege. But where are the bagels actually going? This tear-jerker is about the connection between people's idea of God and the more earthly ideas of gratitude and service, the idea of <i>tikkun olam</i>, acts of kindness performed that honor and are in keeping with one's faith; like the Golden Rule, a concept embraced by caring people of all religions and all non-religions, and certainly by children.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-alP4z1iXkt8/XVRKbL_AEdI/AAAAAAAAFAQ/WJOWylybNPw1yKRvJxwiDTMCa56iucO8wCLcBGAs/s1600/Bagels%2Bfrom%2BBenny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="500" height="303" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-alP4z1iXkt8/XVRKbL_AEdI/AAAAAAAAFAQ/WJOWylybNPw1yKRvJxwiDTMCa56iucO8wCLcBGAs/s320/Bagels%2Bfrom%2BBenny.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">By sharing these kind of stories, children will learn important words like "synagogue," "rabbi," "<i>mazel tov</i>," "<i>mitzvah</i>," "S<i>habbos</i>,"even latke and dreidel, vocabulary that I do not believe will invite conversion any more than reading a book about a child in a hijab will make someone a Muslim or seeing an illustration of a Christmas tree will make someone a Christian, but it will in fact allow children to navigate in a friendly, knowledgeable, tolerant and compassionate manner amongst people of a particular group who may be different in some way from themselves. I would think that would be a general objective for the education of all children. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To suggest "well, we also didn't include people who are heavy" when talking about limiting our conversations about diversity is unfortunately an utterly nonsensical answer; think of it being offered to any other racial or ethnic group. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is logically flawed. An old person used to be young, and a heavy or thin person might change their weight, but regardless of religious practice, Jewish heritage is part of an unchangeable identity. As sure as African American, Native American, Latinx or Asian people have unhappy stories of American aggression and "otherness," so do Jewish people. And in conversations about diversity in children's literature and allowing children to see themselves reflected in the literature they read, to exclude Jewish children's literature, </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/04/world/europe/antisemitism-europe-united-states.html?fbclid=IwAR0-FbFTtDzPwevVayOSsvdjLxWyfl8fz0Zz2oF6tW3yj275grgGBpE7F8s" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;" target="_blank">particularly at this juncture of revisited history</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, is irresponsible at best and a form of ethnic erasure at worst. It is especially ugly juxtaposed with the publishing world's flood of salable, sometimes platitude-filled pablum about empathy. Kindness is as kindness does, and the word is a living thing. Read and develop collections with <i><a href="https://www.jewishlearningmatters.com/AC2-Act-with-Loving-Kindness-273.aspx?fbclid=IwAR3yy1XnfQe4hPuINIMTLNVl2RuNfYFxmK4VYy8CTpEqkxMtiwLbVqu4zvg" target="_blank">g'milut chasadim</a></i>, or loving kindness, in deed as well as in mind. My wish for the Jewish New Year. </span></span>Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-80993570429794824022019-01-21T00:26:00.000-06:002019-01-21T01:33:58.190-06:00Thirty One-derful Children's Picture Books to Start the New Year: Best of 2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Research suggests strongly that <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100520213116.htm" target="_blank">more children's books in the home can do so much to eradicate the effects of other disadvantages</a>. And when we know they aren't in the home, we need to bring the very best to the home away from home: the classroom. In other words, children's books continue to be our brightest hope for educational equity, and the more quality picks on the shelves, the merrier. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This speaks to the magic of collection building. One good book is transformative. But there is something about the relationship of books on a shelf, next to each other. The arrangement is like neurons firing, from one to another; every connection matters. I think of the yearly round-up as its own special collection; if a child were to read all these books in the course of a year, how would they be changed in what they know, in how they act, in what they value? How would they form relationships to books, authors, illustrators, each other? Because that's all real learning boils down to: content, change and relationship, and these selections will foster growth in all those areas. Books are chosen with read-aloud, classroom use, kid-appeal and excellence in writing and illustration top of mind. Here we go, thirty-one in honor of every day of the first month of the New Year!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: center;">First, my picks for the highest award in American children's book illustration, </span><a href="http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottmedal" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">The Caldecott Medal</a><span style="text-align: center;">. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My fingers-are-crossed hope for this year is that all the Caldecott Awards go to books that represent Latinos, because this year, it just so happens all of these books absolutely deserve to win and also just so happen to feature Latino characters. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763690457/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="500" height="297" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pUikQoMbqDQ/XDJ3jS93lRI/AAAAAAAAE4I/iMspvzBgB8woVL7sbDenOi6wlvvsX2W5gCLcBGAs/s320/julian.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763690457/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Julián is a Mermaid</a> by Jessica Love (Candlewick), young Julián observes gorgeous costumed mermaids en route to the <a href="https://www.coneyisland.com/programs/mermaid-parade" target="_blank">Coney Island Mermaid Parade</a>, and naturally this unleashes his fantasy of joining them. He imitates them with an elaborate and imaginative homemade costume. Will this meet with his grandmother's disapproval? While this is a powerful story of unconditional love that every child deserves to read (and experience), I confess it is my favorite because it is just so beautiful. SO BEAUTIFUL. The cover is charming, yes, but when you crack it open...WHAT! Those lines. The flow. The colors. It's DREAMY. It's LUCIOUS! And the endpapers. I've been giving a lot more attention to endpapers during story times since illustrators seem to be giving them more attention of late as well. Sometimes they are wrapping paper for the gift of the book and other times they are a bonus gift, as is the case here: a row of grandmothers at a swim class with Julian under the surface, and finishing with the same grandmothers as mermaids with our victorious hero in tow. Intergenerational, urban and urbane, developmentally appropriate and reflective, loving, LGBQT friendly and celebratory of All Things Imagination, this book makes a major splash.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZxmeXnMyJJc/XDJ3gaibHVI/AAAAAAAAE4E/4u4UPIuroh4pMi2SyWbLFc-FF7OnC8WQACLcBGAs/s1600/Alma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="500" height="307" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZxmeXnMyJJc/XDJ3gaibHVI/AAAAAAAAE4E/4u4UPIuroh4pMi2SyWbLFc-FF7OnC8WQACLcBGAs/s320/Alma.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763693553/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Alma and How She Got Her Name</a> by Juana Martinez-Neal (Candlewick), <span style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Alma Sofia Esperanza José Pura Candela wonders why she has such an unwieldy moniker and learns that her name was inspired by a conglomeration of relatives worth remembering, each of whom is introduced here.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0);">There is a piece of each of these ancestors that lives on in Alma, combining to make her one of a kind.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The uncluttered and refined line illustrations bring to mind children's book masters of the past (think Martha Alexander). Mostly I am so excited by the potential for classroom conversations this will inspire about names and relatives and how who we are can have so much to do with where we come from. </span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0);">This book invites family, ancestry and pride.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lsTFeCzk8E4/XDJ3c9aIr9I/AAAAAAAAE4A/63B6ArTaulYwHeCAxtITlhBs2myflHTwgCLcBGAs/s1600/dreamers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="411" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lsTFeCzk8E4/XDJ3c9aIr9I/AAAAAAAAE4A/63B6ArTaulYwHeCAxtITlhBs2myflHTwgCLcBGAs/s320/dreamers.jpg" width="263" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1909263834/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Dreamers</a> by Yuyi Morales (Neal Porter Books/Holiday House) is based on the real immigrant experience of Mexican author Yuyi Morales and her young son. It does an sensitive job of depicting the foibles of someone making a way in a new country and offers one of the most impactful visual celebrations of the power of reading and libraries for anyone trying to find their place in a culture. The illustrations among the bookshelves pay tribute to the titles that transformed the Morales' lives and earn this book a place in the collection of every and any children's book enthusiast. The Caldecott is not a prize that is supposed to recognize career contribution, but if it were, I can't imagine an author more deserving of inclusion in the canon of that award. Her palette, surrealistic style and consistently hopeful and often humorous contributions are consistently distinctive and distinguished, and this is no exception. Her topic is timely and necessary for classrooms and her treatment is truly healing, inspiring, victorious.</span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xNr70vMa7bc/XET31noR3UI/AAAAAAAAE90/TICqWqIVqZQNrphTnpncTzo9n7kJ2zQiQCLcBGAs/s1600/plantingstories.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="389" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xNr70vMa7bc/XET31noR3UI/AAAAAAAAE90/TICqWqIVqZQNrphTnpncTzo9n7kJ2zQiQCLcBGAs/s320/plantingstories.jpg" width="249" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And heads up, fresh out of the gate for 2019, we have the glorious <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062748688/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré</a> by Anika Aldamuy Denise, illustrated by Paola Escobar (Harper), a picture book biography about the woman who inspired the <a href="http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/belpremedal" target="_blank">Pura Belpré Award</a> given to "a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth" (which, incidentally, Yuyi Morales has garnered several times). Any discussion of children's book awards with children this season would be enriched by a sharing of this vibrant picture book biography. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Moving on to other notable titles:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1250107237/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Potato Pants</a> by Laurie Keller (Henry Holt). Potato is so excited to get new pants, he's dancing the Robot (or Po-Bot, as the case may be)..but troublemaking Eggplant has purchased the last pair! Eggplant is being blamed for problems, but does Potato play a part? Under the skin, this is a good pick for modeling genuine apologies and conflict resolution. The varied layout is busy and exciting, and I can't imagine anyone not wanting to design their own pair of potato pants and doing a little dance after reading. I love children's books that children actually love and that matches their energy. This wins. For more zany fun in the spud department, check out the seasonal <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451479122/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Meet the Latkes</a> by Alan Silberberg (Viking).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A couple of alphabet books made the list this year. Though without a particular narrative line, I literally gasped when turning pages of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0525554157/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Animalphabet</a> byJulia Donaldson, illustrated by Sharon King-Chai (Dial), with die cut pages and colorful, supersaturated illustrations. While the alphabet offerings may not be novel (a is still for ant), the processional storytelling is, with questions prefacing each next page that invites active guessing from the audience and the eye taking a journey from corner to corner to take it all in. The pages are delicate and may be better suited to private collections, laps and teacher-led story times, but absolutely still worth the purchase for the sheer pretty of it. Fans of <a href="https://www.charleyharperartstudio.com/" target="_blank">Charley Harper</a> and <a href="http://petrhoracek.co.uk/" target="_blank">Petr Horacek</a> will approve.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1492674311/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="499" height="248" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5P6sWneTN2M/XET7GPODSII/AAAAAAAAE-A/Y0OcyJL91dUvRt3S2QiGjKGvbMyMaw_8QCLcBGAs/s320/PisforPt.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1492674311/planetecom-20" target="_blank">P is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever</a> by Raj Haldar (also known as the rapper Lushlife) and Chris Carpenter, illustrated by Maria Beddia (Sourcebooks) plays on the preposterousness of our language (O is for Ouija, N is not for Knot, T is for Tsunami, G is for Gnocchi), and has a funny full-page picture for every letter but content that can be shared with older children just as well. Though any child will benefit from the vocabulary, this book underscores the challenges any English language learner might encounter, and might be used to underscore their achievement just as readily. Very clever and well executed. </span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wvU83HpNFbk/XDJ_29d2PFI/AAAAAAAAE40/dvquZp46pww8cdhszkXlvTG7W-6SKRavgCLcBGAs/s1600/Joan%2BProcter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="389" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wvU83HpNFbk/XDJ_29d2PFI/AAAAAAAAE40/dvquZp46pww8cdhszkXlvTG7W-6SKRavgCLcBGAs/s320/Joan%2BProcter.jpg" width="249" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/145492666Xplanetecom-20" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="398" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jlw06wnN9fM/XDKAvkJCvWI/AAAAAAAAE5A/-LFgTwShoyowte-0jvSYkyumv5p2FRjUgCLcBGAs/s320/Gloria%2527s%2BVoice.jpg" width="255" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Anyone who follows my recommendations knows that I think children's picture book biography is the most powerful genre within children's literature because it can be read across the grade levels and introduces children to figures that fall outside the trajectory of war that textbooks seem to follow. Artists, scientists, inventors, sports figures, peacemakers...if we read children just one picture book biography a week, in a year, how many new mentors would they be introduced to through literature? This year, we have three biographies that are especially visually fetching and all feature females: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399557253/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor: The Woman Who Loved Reptiles </a>by Patricia Valdez, illustrated by Felicita Sala (Knopf), <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/145492666Xplanetecom-20" target="_blank">Gloria's Voice: The Story of Gloria Steinem- Feminist, Activist, Leader</a> by Aura Lewis (Sterling), <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0525579605/planetecom-20" target="_blank">She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein</a> by Lynn Fulton, illustrated by Felicita Sala (Knopf), and also recommended is </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399555315/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag</a> by Rob Sanders, illustrated by Steven Salerno (Random House), which gives a very excellent explanation of the ubiquitous rainbow flag as well as a well-written, straightforward and poignant introduction to LGBQT history and one of it's heroes for young audiences. Pretty essential and pretty darn wonderful. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763674338/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="373" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v5JaxiJZ878/XDKVLx99XyI/AAAAAAAAE70/Z5TThJ4Nd-oiakCHRHKrwV-hq4ZFo3KkQCLcBGAs/s320/madebyhand.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There was a time in this country when we made things. A LOT of things. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763674338/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Made by Hand: A Crafts Sampler</a> by Carole Lexa Schaefer, illustrated by Becca Stadtlander (Candlewick) is a celebration of that history. Acrobatics of poetry and historical fiction employ vocabulary like crimper. Plane. Churn. Sampler. Bandolier. I was won over from the first description of the invention of the Terrestrial Globe, borne from a passion I have not so convincingly experienced in print since the reading of Jacqueline Briggs Martin's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0395861624/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Snowflake Bentley</a>. Back matter provides detailed explanations of which parts of each vignette are fiction and which are nonfiction, and photos of the real artifacts, while well-matched folksy illustrations grace the rest. Highly original and making amends for years lost by removing shop and home economics from school curriculums, this is an erudite, complex, genre-bending book better suited to older children, and even then, maybe not every child. But the child for whom it <i>is</i> suited will revisit this book, be inspired by this book, will time travel with this book. Though Lois Ehlert's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0152051074/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Hands</a> remains one of my favorite children's books about making things, this year provides many other complimentary titles: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544313402/planetecom-20" target="_blank">With My Hands: Poems About Making Things</a> by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, illustrated by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson (Clarion), <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399186298/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Made by Maxine</a> by Ruth Spiro, illustrated by Holly Hatam, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763698768/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Kids Cooking: Students Prepare and Eat Foods from Around the World</a> by George Anacona (Candlewick), which suffers from lack of recipes (though easily searchable online) but has delicious, active photographs of real children preparing food. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316362387/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="301" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PKR5BbjBS7Y/XDKHTG9PccI/AAAAAAAAE5o/T9_kX3z1kRs7fSjzPPOsQfcI14ZsHlveQCLcBGAs/s320/lighthouse.jpg" width="193" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316362387/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Hello, Lighthouse</a> by Sophie Blackall (Little Brown). I confess, when I saw this book, I thought, <i>regionallllll</i>. How is this going to speak to the landlocked midwestern kids I teach? WRONG! Reminder/note to self: often the best kind of books are not the books that speak to one's own experience, but invites us into a new one. What happens when someone is sick and they live in a lighthouse? How do they get supplies? How does someone come to visit? Can it withstand tidal waves? All questions are answered in the context of the story of a lonely lighthouse keeper who finds his bride, his family and an unexpected future from the tower. The x-ray illustration of the lighthouse's interior will inspire children to imagine houses and architectural futures with a vim not seen since Daniel Pinkwater's T<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0590445103/planetecom-20" target="_blank">he Big Orange Splot</a>, In fact, beyond inspiring indefatigable interest in lighthouses and imaginings of living in one, this is one of the most romantic and graceful children's books I have ever come across. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="500" height="263" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H8eDhvUNn0I/XEShuw82uuI/AAAAAAAAE8Y/t1L3oseaZJUNkj1y7pLDO9cfLpu82CKagCLcBGAs/s320/oceanmeetssky.jpg" width="320" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Of course, now <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316362387/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Hello, Lighthouse</a> must headline a storytime that includes the classic <i>Tim All Alone</i> (or any of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1845075625//planetecom-20" target="_blank">Tim books</a>) by Edward Ardizzone, and the new gem <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/148147037X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Ocean Meets Sky</a> by Terry and Eric Fan (Simon and Schuster) (about a boy who takes a magical boat journey to honor his grandfather, absolutely ethereal and stunning, like a dream that was captured in the bindings of a book), <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763698822/planetecom-20" target="_blank">A First Book of the Sea</a> by Nicola Davies (always exceptional for science writing), illustrated by Emily Sutton (Candlewick), and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1536202770/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Real Boat</a> by Marina Aromshtam, illustrated by Victoria Semykina (Templar) (which is a January 2019 release, but I don't care, this story about a paper boat who is trying to become a real boat is gorgeous and you need to know about it now). Oh, what the heck. Bag whatever you were planning, teachers, and embark on a unit about the sea, sea travel, lighthouses. There's so much treasure in the sea. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1536202770/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="500" height="277" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qEJFoJS8oJU/XESfQFTK0dI/AAAAAAAAE8Q/Vvf_RKteKkEwFLQko1whFoaZvxK3HQQ-ACEwYBhgL/s320/the%2Breal%2Bboat.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="409" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q78BXkCvbww/XEToykebgCI/AAAAAAAAE9o/NedySluiwk0apd5bOiFLZ5SQYvvF1fO9QCLcBGAs/s320/townofturtle.jpg" width="261" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Also on the subject of reimagining life's possibilities, we have <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544749820/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Town of Turtle</a> by Michelle Cuevas, illustrated by Catia Chien (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). "Turtle spent a lot of time in his shell. It was very dark inside--as dark as the inside of a closed flower, as dark as the underside of a bell." After dreaming about a better home, Turtle embarks on renovations to his shell, as colorful and outlandish as his dream...and his vision grows and grows, until it invites others to join him. I always get a little grumpy when recommending anything illustrated by <a href="http://www.catiachien.com/" target="_blank">Catia Chien</a>, because ever since <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0618723943/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Sea Serpent and Me</a>, I just don't understand why she doesn't win everything. Why? WHY?!? Whatever. She's too good for this world. That's why she creates otherworldly books like this one. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544938321/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="387" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R8qJiaTrlo0/XDKIW_8m9sI/AAAAAAAAE50/jlwNo4jb82UsNuzD7ILsXETeWrm4NrwYACLcBGAs/s320/goodcreature.jpg" width="248" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544938321/planetecom-20" target="_blank">How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals</a> by Sy Montgomery, illustrated by Rebecca Green (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is not a picture book <i>per se </i>and probably better suited for ages 10 and up, but since I want to buy a classroom set of thirty, it seems like a title I ought to share. Less of a book about animals and more about a life with animals, we follow the author, a naturalist and adventurer, through her encounters with the natural world. Black and white full-page plates charmingly accent the writing. It is a difficult to write a memoir for children (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786855096/planetecom-20" target="_blank">I know</a>), but when it is done well, it can offer a blueprint for future possibilities for the reader. I am sure many animal lovers---and strong-willed girls---will find inspiration and empowerment in the author's unconventional choices. Future naturalists will also delight is other recent offerings: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544935535/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Look at Me! How to Attract Attention in the Animal World</a> by nonfiction super-team Steve Jenkins and Robin Page (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), the generous and elegant <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1536202479/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year</a> selected by Fiona Waters, illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon (Nosy Crow), <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763688142/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Little Fox in the Snow</a> by Jonathan London (famous for his <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0670842494/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Froggy</a> series), illustrated by Daniel Miyares (Candlewick), the very interesting <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1911171429/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Under the Canopy: Trees Around the World</a> by Tris Volant and Cynthia Alonso (Flying Eye), and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1328781607/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Moon</a> by Alison Oliver, in which a little girl finds respite from her over-scheduled life by adapting to some wolfy ways, illustrated with vintage flavor and a very fresh follow-up to last year's Caldecott winner <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1250076366/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Wolf in the Snow</a> by Matthew Cordell.</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fNOzYZulJOs/XETLj0EMoOI/AAAAAAAAE84/yGgrSjAc2EYr4N3GL555T9QtATgLQnyygCLcBGAs/s1600/moon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="369" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fNOzYZulJOs/XETLj0EMoOI/AAAAAAAAE84/yGgrSjAc2EYr4N3GL555T9QtATgLQnyygCLcBGAs/s320/moon.jpg" width="236" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/073522935X/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dXWTc0pNMis/XDKSdfBNGiI/AAAAAAAAE7c/wKC-yMifYzAAroCtN03ErX8RO1jzkJrPwCLcBGAs/s320/rabbitlistened.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/073522935X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Rabbit Listened</a> by Cori Doerrfeld (Dial). I bristle at didacticism in children's books, and gosh golly isn't it enough of it out there telling kids to Be Kind and Be Welcoming and all too often with the storyline of a limp noodle and probably the long-term efficacy of the "Just Say No" campaign. With renewed vigor now that it is coming to light the number of bad eggs in our box, the industry is burgeoning with titles that decry bullying and emphasize empathy with a capital E, though we have been trying since 1944 and Eleanor Estes' <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0152051708/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Hundred Dresses</a> (and if that didn't cut the mustard, I don't know what would). So why did I re-read this book about seven times? The human condition requires loss and disappointment, certainly for children, too; I think the only thing worse than the event of loss is the well-meaning ding-dong who says or does exactly the wrong thing. So many people rightly fear being this ding-dong and so don't do anything at all, which is even worse. Enter: the rabbit. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">When a flock of crows destroy a block tower, the child is devastated. Different animals come to offer solace. The chicken wants to talk-talk-talk about it. The bear wants to get mad. The ostrich sticks its head in the sand and pretends it never happened. The hyena wants to laugh it off. And the snake insidiously hisses a suggestion of revenge. It is not until the rabbit comes and holds space does the child's healing begin, and dreams of a new, better edifice begin to formulate. The strength of this book is that it does not contend only with the person who is experiencing pain but the person who is offering support. The expressive illustrations make artful use of negative space and perfectly compliment the story (and yay, there is a story!), showing children from an early age that not only do we not owe it to anyone to feel the way someone else would like us to feel, it is not always our charge to fix but only to be present. This might go far to ensure that they do not grow up to be obnoxious in the face of somebody else's adversity in years to come. Hush up and be somebody's rabbit. A very valuable lesson indeed.</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mHZRXjQCQzI/XESvnUpyXSI/AAAAAAAAE8s/-PA_x-iZ4QIT5WUU71z5Lpt-9CspO13AgCLcBGAs/s1600/sophie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="434" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mHZRXjQCQzI/XESvnUpyXSI/AAAAAAAAE8s/-PA_x-iZ4QIT5WUU71z5Lpt-9CspO13AgCLcBGAs/s200/sophie.jpg" width="173" /></span></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FTF70obLFiM/XESvNp0zmwI/AAAAAAAAE8o/POyMSCJD1KgzpBw9UGBXkVbK2g2VtXs7gCEwYBhgL/s1600/Grumpy%2BMonkey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FTF70obLFiM/XESvNp0zmwI/AAAAAAAAE8o/POyMSCJD1KgzpBw9UGBXkVbK2g2VtXs7gCEwYBhgL/s200/Grumpy%2BMonkey.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Also in this very same vein is the more comical <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553537865/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Grumpy Monkey</a> by Suzanne and Max Lang (Random House), which follows a similar story arc of animals not just letting monkey get his mad on. More emotions are wrangled via the masterful Molly Bang, author of the popular <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0439598451/planetecom-20" target="_blank">When Sophie Gets Angry...Really, Really Angry</a> who has a new book in that series, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/133815298X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">When Sophie Thinks She Can't,</a> addressing lack of confidence and feelings of competition with others. Poor Sophie. She needs Rabbit to listen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">All right, all right. Like picture books with cats in them, I probably like these kinds of feely-books more than I'm willing to admit. If you do, too, visit this excellent blog, <a href="http://booksthathealkids.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Books That Heal Kids</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Speaking of books with cats.</span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GwK3zEu2A9o/XDKMDhhahyI/AAAAAAAAE6M/P9eriGvBMtYKbXq1ahvLH_eVVSrmGYd-ACLcBGAs/s1600/Cat%2Bwishes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="425" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GwK3zEu2A9o/XDKMDhhahyI/AAAAAAAAE6M/P9eriGvBMtYKbXq1ahvLH_eVVSrmGYd-ACLcBGAs/s320/Cat%2Bwishes.jpg" width="272" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544610555/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Cat Wishes</a> by Calista Brill, illustrated by Kenard Pak (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), a cat captures a snake and is granted three wishes in exchange for its release, only the cat doesn't really believe in wishes. What would he wish for if he did? To his surprise, the wishes seem to come true, culminating in a human with a wish of her own. This book is a bit of a "sleeper," but a keeper for it's lovely story structure and sweet illustrations, great for teaching beginning, middle and end and story sequencing. And if you'd like more feline steps to follow, check out <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062741225/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Mapping Sam: A Book About What is Where and How to Get from Here to There</a> by Joyce Hesselberth (Greenwillow), a nifty general overview to all kinds of maps, labels and blueprints. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2zF8V-QrILY/XDKM57KqRhI/AAAAAAAAE6U/6W3unMWKA5oBf7Q5bpuRII4ry35-_zg7gCLcBGAs/s1600/Carmela.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="451" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2zF8V-QrILY/XDKM57KqRhI/AAAAAAAAE6U/6W3unMWKA5oBf7Q5bpuRII4ry35-_zg7gCLcBGAs/s320/Carmela.jpg" width="288" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--d2CAQ2YQf4/XETR_BnkKiI/AAAAAAAAE9E/KMAPacHuEb8CFJ7xFPUCb0oEVvp7MmfHgCLcBGAs/s1600/papelpicado.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="193" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--d2CAQ2YQf4/XETR_BnkKiI/AAAAAAAAE9E/KMAPacHuEb8CFJ7xFPUCb0oEVvp7MmfHgCLcBGAs/s1600/papelpicado.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A new offering from the multiple-award-winning team who brought us <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399257748/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Last Stop On Market Street</a>, we have <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399549048/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Carmela Full of Wishes</a> by Matt de la Pena, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Putnam), a provocative story of a little girl from a migrant family who has to think of just the right wish to make on some valuable dandelion fluff. When her flower is destroyed, her cantankerous big brother steps up to show her there is more than one wish that come true for her future. Complex and subtle themes run deep in this family story, and I defy you not to become enamored with Robinson's friendly, geometric illustration style that hearkens to the great <a href="http://www.edemberley.com/pages/main.aspx" target="_blank">Ed Emberley</a>. My school was fortunate to have an <a href="http://stonebookworms.blogspot.com/2018/09/matt-de-la-pena-and-christian-robinson.html" target="_blank">author/illustrator visit</a> from this team, springboarding 2nd and 3rd graders into exploration of simple landscapes using geometric shapes, crafts involving wishes that ended up being extremely personal and poignant, creation of Mexican <i>papel picado </i>and discussions of what it is like to come from somewhere else (a subject on which my Chicago Public School students have plenty of prior knowledge). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Other new picks that will elicit discussion and appreciation of global and multicultural experiences include the sumptuously illustrated <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735229864/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Islandborn</a> by Junot Diaz, illustrated by Leo Espinosa (Dial), <a href="https://www.ketchikandailynews.com/article/20190112/ARTICLE/190119975" target="_blank">A Big Mooncake for Little Star</a> by Grace Lin (Little, Brown), <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1536201731/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Day War Came</a> by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Rebecca Cobb (Candlewick), <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/151240442X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes and Friendship</a> by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko (Carolrhoda) and the beautifully written <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592702201/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Three Balls of Wool (Can Change the World</a>) by Portuguese author Henriqueta Cristina, illustrated by Yara Kono and translated by Lyn Miller-Lachmann (Enchanted Lion, published in partnership with Amnesty International). </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1534413626/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="500" height="318" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PTCJVXqfJ9w/XDKOVRtAy_I/AAAAAAAAE6g/zX6dIdwj2VUADQOvDvouIG2WTvt4ZXw9gCEwYBhgL/s320/Stumpkin.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I always try to add one or two really strong seasonal read-alouds to my collection every year, and this year I chose <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1534413626/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Stumpkin</a> by Lucy Ruth Cummins (Athenaeum). Stumpkin notices he is different, missing a stem, and watches forlornly as the other pumpkins are chosen over him from the grocery shelf, reappearing as jolly jack-o-lanterns in the building across the street. Finally, it is Halloween. What will be his fate? Oh my goodness, the simple illustration style for this surprisingly nail-biting cliffhanger is too perfect, the kind of book you just hold to your chest two-armed and sigh, "<i>that's </i>what a children's book should be." It doesn't matter if it's January. Trick-or-treat yourself. </span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9djmQDnVYoE/XDKPXDuKH6I/AAAAAAAAE6s/EriU6d3FwNg5rWgAG1PJ-XhBY1-pGWzwACLcBGAs/s1600/makingafriend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="500" height="286" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9djmQDnVYoE/XDKPXDuKH6I/AAAAAAAAE6s/EriU6d3FwNg5rWgAG1PJ-XhBY1-pGWzwACLcBGAs/s320/makingafriend.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062278932/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Making a Friend</a> by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Alison Friend (Harper). Beaver is trying to widen his social circle, but keeps making well-meaning <i>faux pas</i>. Finally, he abandons his efforts in lieu of creating a perfect partner of his own snowy invention, only to find a like-minded raccoon whose friendship may outlast the season. Lots of modeling of kind words and a theme of perseverance coupled with adorable cartoon illustrations make for storytime perfection. You can never have too many really good snowman books in the cooler, and this one will defrost any midwinter read-aloud slump. </span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pStPBf2AEb0/XDKP6r4DIcI/AAAAAAAAE60/Gupq7xkhwZ4NGzG4RoJ0Y41bjE2k-K0ZwCLcBGAs/s1600/Babymonkey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="336" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pStPBf2AEb0/XDKP6r4DIcI/AAAAAAAAE60/Gupq7xkhwZ4NGzG4RoJ0Y41bjE2k-K0ZwCLcBGAs/s320/Babymonkey.jpg" width="215" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1338180614/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Baby Monkey, Private Eye</a> by bestselling and award-winning author Brian Selznick and David Serlin (Scholastic). A beguiling little monkey rouses himself repeatedly from nap time to locate missing items for a series of increasingly surprising clients. Artful historical references and visual jokes are tucked in throughout for the recognition and entertainment of all ages, but this fills a special need for emergent readers; an entirely accessible early reader with some heft to it, short "chapters" overflowing with confidence-building visual cues and repetitions and belly-laugh humor, and through it all one of the most striking homages to Maurice Sendak I've seen in a long time, black and white line illustrations and comic book interjections hearkening to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006028479X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Higglety Piggelty Pop</a>! and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0374371342/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Some Swell Pup</a>. Gone, but not forgotten. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0525555455planetecom-20" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="372" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2mY1PNfJcOo/XEVgv47Qi4I/AAAAAAAAE-M/neq-2HQ47Nse3RokC_bydPIKXVEq2cKuQCLcBGAs/s320/wall.jpg" width="238" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0525555455/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Wall in the Middle of the Book</a> by Jon Agee (Dial). Tension builds as a headstrong little knight insists on staying on his side of the edifice out of concern of what is on the other side even when the danger on his own side is clearly and hilariously growing. It's funny, or maybe unfunny, because it's true. Sigh. John Agee is known for a tongue-in-cheek and subversive twang in his books, but even without the undertones of any grown-up debate, what I like best about it is how it draws attention to the middle seam (or "gutter") of the book, and how John Agee had to really think about the layout of this physical book to create it, it's part of the story. Books that afford the chance to look at parts of a book are a boon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Let's peek at some classroom must-haves...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaCaqL9fhO9sDXnM-0yUKQ7u7BJtuxiwl_TsE6bs-xdcJ2fp0xb_6geWe95BqW6V2VkqqTk2a88R2jRfGAcNWxs4-PCr2ec0LRwRXsUAQCfwRl8uvB_va3_IxkXoXevrL9gIcNhQ/s1600/beyourdog%253F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaCaqL9fhO9sDXnM-0yUKQ7u7BJtuxiwl_TsE6bs-xdcJ2fp0xb_6geWe95BqW6V2VkqqTk2a88R2jRfGAcNWxs4-PCr2ec0LRwRXsUAQCfwRl8uvB_va3_IxkXoXevrL9gIcNhQ/s320/beyourdog%253F.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399554521/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Can I Be Your Dog?</a> by Troy Cummings (Random House) Arfy is a stray looking for a home, and sends each house in the neighborhood a letter alerting them of such. Poor Arfy is thwarted at every turn, ultimately retreating to a cardboard box in a rainstorm...until the mail carrier makes a proposal of her own. <i>I'm not crying, you're crying!</i> Naturally, this book has extensions for letter writing and persuasive writing, but not to be overlooked is the superior storyboarding going on here, building tension wonderfully until its satisfying twist. The illustrations are big, bright, well-paced, comic and uncluttered, perfect for sharing. Starting from the front end-papers like postage stamps with themes a dog would love (a hydrant, collar, squirrel to chase) to the last end-papers (A double-page spread of the neighborhood and hints for helping homeless animals), this book will win the hearts of children and teachers alike, and deserves to win even more. Go fetch. And FYI, for an extension, additional animal-themed correspondence from this publishing year may be found in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1512439932/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Love, Agnes: Postcards from an Octopus</a> by Irene Latham, illustrated by Thea Baker (Millbrook). </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHpyhab_fgaoPiNffmVOob41O6kM9V5RHWJmHEr2OZuAZDFesC9-s347DtSzMUjBHrkeutXDkEjOWkG2qYux3bS3ZeMQjnI9PAj-NmbUD1u-0nNbgZq_9v_MJjPk5oN2_BL_ijYw/s1600/dearsubstitute.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="432" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHpyhab_fgaoPiNffmVOob41O6kM9V5RHWJmHEr2OZuAZDFesC9-s347DtSzMUjBHrkeutXDkEjOWkG2qYux3bS3ZeMQjnI9PAj-NmbUD1u-0nNbgZq_9v_MJjPk5oN2_BL_ijYw/s320/dearsubstitute.jpg" width="276" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">How about some people letters? <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1484750225/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Dear Substitute</a> by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Audrey Vernick, illustrated by Chris Raschka (Disney Hyperion). A little girl is thrown when her routine is interrupted by a teacher's sick day, expressed in a series of hilariously curt notes to inanimate and conceptual items in the school ("Dear Line, /Yes, I do know I'm supposed to be line leader this week, /Especially since I was chair stacker last week. /I'm sorry You-Know-Who doesn't know how we do things in Room 102.") Eventually, the sub convincingly wins our narrator over with some well-chosen poetry, and it turns out she doesn't mind if her regular teacher needs another day to recover. More than a strong mentor text, emotionally sensitive, honest and clever in conceit, this is a wonderful book to leave for a substitute in your absence or share for a read-aloud in your presence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Another classroom-themed favorite of the year is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1368003559/planetecom-20" target="_blank">We Don't Eat our Classmates</a> by Ryan T. Higgins (Disney Hyperion), in which Penelope T. Rex is new to and nervous about the school experience, exemplified by her ingestion of her classmates (don't worry, Mrs. Noodleman has her spit them out). Penelope is lonely, but her father explains, "Sometimes it's hard to make friends...especially if you eat them." This should be enough food for thought for Penelope to adjust...this book could, but doesn't, stop there. Not until the class pet, a goldfish, puts Penelope in line does she realize that we shouldn't dish out what we can't take. Revenge is a dish best served a la dinosaur. Oversized illustrations are great for group sharing and are full of hilarious facial expressions and clever detail. Fans of <a href="https://www.artofthepicturebook.com/new-page/" target="_blank">Jon Klassen</a> will appreciate this story's edge, and so will students with a sense of humor. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: left;">Some other strong back to school offerings this year are </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/534424687/planetecom-20" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Twig</a><span style="text-align: left;"> by Aura Parker (Simon and Schuster), in which a stick bug at a busy bug schools finds her camouflage hinders her friend-making, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399246533/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Day You Begin</a> by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated byRafael López (Nancy Paulsen Books), </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1419723251/planetecom-20" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Mae's First Day of School</a><span style="text-align: left;"> by Kate Berube (Harry Abrams), in which first day jitters send a student up a tree, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1328715590/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Fairy's First Day of School </a>by Bridget Heos, illustrated by Sara Not (Clarion), a twee back-to -school how-to suitable for the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060542098/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Fancy Nancy</a> set and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399538984/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Did You Hear What I Heard? Poems About School</a> by Kay Winters, illustrated by Patrice Barton (Dial). </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6Qp2_4K2_9c/XDKR7RZKFFI/AAAAAAAAE7U/EQ-G4UKgVX0F8W9XMl6EOVu6gCg4NTbgQCLcBGAs/s1600/everymonth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="500" height="288" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6Qp2_4K2_9c/XDKR7RZKFFI/AAAAAAAAE7U/EQ-G4UKgVX0F8W9XMl6EOVu6gCg4NTbgQCLcBGAs/s320/everymonth.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1620141620/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Every Month is a New Year</a> by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Susan Roth (Lee & Low). This book of poems showcases celebrations welcoming the new year from somewhere around the world, one for every month. This is a multicultural book with some real meat on the bones. You will not be able to read it without learning something new, and extensive back-matter wants for nothing; in sharing with children, I advise introducing using the descriptions of the celebrations in the back before sharing the poems, because there is so much new vocabulary and such a rich opportunity to explore each place. I am a long-time fan of <a href="http://susanlroth.com/" target="_blank">Susan Roth</a>'s cut paper collages, but this recent offering has detail, vibrancy and energy that suggest a real labor of love and career <i>chef d'oeurve</i>, and has a definite "wow" factor. The book pages turn like a calendar and is laid out as such, and can be read at once but might be better served in the classroom as delight in small bites to look forward to every month. Every teacher should have this book. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Finally, inspired by the movie Around the World in 80 Days, we have the beautifully illustrated and oversized <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1536203084/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Around the World in 80 Puzzles</a> by Aleksandra Artymowska (Big Picture Press). Sometimes, like in Walter Wick's <a href="http://www.walterwick.com/" target="_blank">I SPY</a> books, we just lust for a title that children can privately pore over the pictures for hours in the world of a beautiful game. Here you go. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">That makes thirty-one new book recommendations. Or thirty three. Or is it thirty seven? I'm an elementary school librarian, not a math teacher, so if numbers don't involve Dewey Decimal or measurements to bake cupcakes, I'm never quite sure. What I am sure of is that there is a book in this list that will connect with and enthrall a young reader in your life, and I thank you for sharing it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I can't count very well, but I can read. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As I write this post and think of all the reviews and recommendations and resources out there, it occurs to me that there's still nothing quite like examining a book in hand! To that end, if you are in the Chicago area, please friend me on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/esme.codell" target="_blank">Facebook</a> to keep apprised of upcoming Cookie Bookie gathering and <a href="https://bookriot.com/2016/05/18/host-silent-reading-party-7-easy-steps/" target="_blank">Silent Reading parties</a> I will be hosting through the year to afford you the opportunity to do just that, or build your collection and host your own!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This post is dedicated with love to the late and very great friend, mentor , reader and inspiration <a href="https://www.ketchikandailynews.com/article/20190112/ARTICLE/190119975" target="_blank">Agnes Royer</a>, the "Story Lady" who was the voice for Fun for Kids, the longest running children's radio show in America out of Ketchikan, Alaska. You made a world of difference. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Links are provided for information. Please support your <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/indie-bookstore-finder" target="_blank">local independent bookseller</a>. </span></div>
<br />Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-92230414150602430222018-04-15T16:45:00.000-05:002019-05-11T17:09:09.467-05:002018 Readiologist™ Cohort: Call for Applications<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KjBoRmdvg9k/XNb8OMno9eI/AAAAAAAAE_E/fyqCZZNw5KoxK0o_IYJty1zO-iBh5Tj6ACLcBGAs/s1600/canary1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1099" data-original-width="1600" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KjBoRmdvg9k/XNb8OMno9eI/AAAAAAAAE_E/fyqCZZNw5KoxK0o_IYJty1zO-iBh5Tj6ACLcBGAs/s400/canary1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">from <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Theres-Canary-Library-Freeman/dp/0670062308/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=canary+in+the+library&qid=1557612014&s=gateway&sr=8-1" target="_blank">There's a Canary in the Library</a></i> by Don Freeman</span></div>
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Working with children requires a strong background in the books that speak to young readers in order to meaningfully individualize instruction, promote educational equity and create a lifelong love of reading.<br />
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Educator, parent or grandparent, student teacher, paraprofessional, librarian, bookseller, clergy or enthusiast, you stand to make a difference in the lives of children through your knowledge of the best books for children, advocacy and best practice. We are looking for the fall 2018 cohort of Readiologist™ trainees to participate in a unique certificate program to become a supporting character in a child's reading life story. We aim to create experts in children's literature with a depth of knowledge and a commitment to service far and above what one might receive in a typical teacher training.<br />
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Participants will not only obtain a deep content knowledge and appreciation of children's picture books through <a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Your-Child-Love-Reading/dp/1565123085/ref=sr_1_3?crid=R503FTMDTV2Z&keywords=how+to+get+your+child+to+love+reading&qid=1557611686&s=gateway&sprefix=how+to+get+your+child+to+love+read%2Caps%2C379&sr=8-3" target="_blank">one of the country's leading experts in children's literature</a>, they will be trained for confident and inspired literacy leadership in their own communities. We are looking for children's book lovers on a mission<br />
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This is an 8-week online workshop with professional development credits available. To receive the certificate, there is a outreach project component which participants will have one year to complete, scaffolded by a like-minded corps.<br />
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Learn about:<br />
Creating libraries and "third spaces" around books<br />
Seasonal celebrations through children's literature<br />
Children's poetry and biography<br />
Multicultural children's literature<br />
Reading pictures<br />
Read-aloud techniques<br />
Best new books<br />
Bibliotherapy<br />
And so much more!<br />
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Space is very limited. For rates, more information and to apply, please click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/esme.codell" target="_blank">here</a>.Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-85359635544485906072018-01-05T00:50:00.000-06:002018-01-05T01:03:42.095-06:00PLANETESME PICKS: Best Picture Books of 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello, dear friends, after experiencing a real life Series of Unfortunate Events I have been on a bit of a hiatus, but glad to be back in the library saddle to share the best of what is on my shelf from the past year as you are deciding what to add to yours. As always, I am making recommendations with read-aloud, classroom use, potential for discussion, visual/art education and/or story time mileage at the forefront. This has been a strong year for appealing retellings, stories about friendship and a even a trend of children's books that may or may not be for children! I have nonfiction faves to be featured soon in another post, but for now, please peruse 2017's top picture book picks!<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1561459178/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="500" height="307" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d3TDvb--d-I/Wk5hgZZUgnI/AAAAAAAAExQ/DbcCMeC01RcRLMuaX0glequpuhPHwWktACLcBGAs/s320/littlered.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1561459178/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Little Red</a> by Bethan Woollvin (Peachtree Books) </b><br />
No little girls getting rescued in this version of Red Riding Hood sans woodcutter. Full of violence, calamity and surprise, my reaction upon reading was "<i>finally</i>, someone know what kids really like." Don't be fooled by the simplicity of the illustrations, their broad strokes and limited palette; every line is bold, intentional, effective, ingenious. I imagine would make the great Molly Bang of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452151997/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Picture This </a></i>fame very proud, as really, this artist did everything right. If I ran the Caldecott, this would be my pick.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/145491632X/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="399" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SsIsL8vE7bo/Wk5igfA6ksI/AAAAAAAAExU/SN6Ilzd2JzohtyyLBGKPxw_sGlx3baxBACLcBGAs/s320/miceskating.jpg" width="255" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/145491632X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Mice Skating</a> by Annie Silverstro, illustrated by Teagan White (Sterling)</b><br />
Lucy is not like the other field mice, running for cover underground when the snow starts to fall. She is so eager to share the delights of the season with her party-pooper roomies, what could possibly lure them out? Stylized matte illustrations laid against warm tan paper offer an unusual visual warmth and features the sweetest pessimist mice penned since Leo Lionni's <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0394810406/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Frederick</a></i>. It should be purchased if only for these lines:<br />
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<i>"Your fur is freezing," said Mona when Lucy came inside.<br />"Your nose is dripping," said Millie.<br />"Your teeth are cheddar-ing!" said Marcello. </i></blockquote>
Your teeth are cheddar-ing? Says one mouse to another?<i> </i>Seriously. Story time mike drop.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544944801/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="500" height="261" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A-GLHPHvegU/Wk5uCvh1fHI/AAAAAAAAEyg/tjQaCnMp7v0s9QHpPP5ffR40U0c_fxitACLcBGAs/s320/accident.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544944801/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Accident!</a> by Andrea Tsurumi (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)</b><br />
Another Caldecott contender! When an armadillo spills juice on furniture and incites reckless fleeing from the scene, fracas ensues, culminating at the library...where else! This slapstick story manages some visual acrobatics that when you're done laughing, gasping and pointing at all the worst-case cause-and-effect scenarios that can possibly be imagined, the cognizant reader would have to marvel at the kind of planning it would take to visually execute these spreads. It's mind boggling. While it might require some ingenuity to share this effectively in a large group setting because of the detail, it's worth it because of the big idea behind this book: that even when something is an accident, you need to say sorry (a similar idea receiving very different but complimentary treatment in Trudy Ludwig's <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1582461732/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Sorry</a></i>). Descendants of Rube Goldberg and kids with a penchant for graphic novels (i.e. pretty much all kids) will find this offering suits them to a T. Don't we all love a picture book we can look at a hundred times and always find something new?<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0525429182/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="451" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yqq25fdboxo/Wk5jR0fIfYI/AAAAAAAAExY/dgnml0PhhiosxIwKddfItHyqgH3UbvaMACLcBGAs/s320/Sarabellathinkingcap.jpg" width="288" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0525429182/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Sarabella's Thinking Cap</a> by Judith Schachner (Dial)</b></div>
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Teacher alert! Teacher alert! Woot! Woot! Woot! Many people know Schachner from her wildly popular <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0142404039/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Skippyjon Jones</a> series, and I'm glad sister is making bank, but in my opinion those are far from her best books. I would invite readers to explore her inventive and visually glorious Y<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0525468897/planetecom-20" target="_blank">o, Vikings!</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0525461221/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Grannyman</a> and this latest offering about a daydreaming girl who figures out how to share what's inside her head via a beautiful hat (which of course now we all have to get brown paper bags and make our own). Fans of Patricia Polacco's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399257624/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Thank You, Mr. Falker</a> will fall for this empathetic and inspiring story with a classroom setting...but mostly I like it because every page is like opening a secret drawer full of colorful jewels and treasures. Just what it should be like to look inside someone else's thinking cap.</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G3RRxVaewwc/Wk5kmbO1YMI/AAAAAAAAExc/uAV9vmBMw5QHnPOqbeBfy1iu3c4x3F5MACLcBGAs/s1600/antlered%2Bship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="499" height="235" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G3RRxVaewwc/Wk5kmbO1YMI/AAAAAAAAExc/uAV9vmBMw5QHnPOqbeBfy1iu3c4x3F5MACLcBGAs/s320/antlered%2Bship.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/148145160X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Antlered Ship</a> by Dashka Slater, illustrated by The Fan Brothers (Beach Lane)</b></div>
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Marco the fox has so many questions, but when he poses them to his skulk, their reply is: "what does that have to do with chicken stew?" Clearly, when faced with an existential crisis, a little life experience is in order and a voyage on the high seas to a distant land with a crew of other adventurous (albeit inexperienced) animals fits the bill. I wavered somewhat about including this on the list; while a solid friendship story with a well-earned conclusion, the voice, while graceful, is a hair esoteric for my taste in terms of sharing with children. But the production quality of this book as an object is so over the top (feel the paper quality of the cover in your fingers! I'm not kidding! It's a thing!) and the illustrations...well, the scene with the ship crashing on the waves in a storm...these dramatic double-page spreads, you can almost hear the waves lapping, antlers crashing, boom of cannons! I couldn't help thinking of what Nicola Bayley's pictures did to a generation of children's picture book lovers in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567924913/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Tyger Voyage</a>, how could a new generation be deprived of another launch on to the sea of lifelong reading?</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0500651094/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="479" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EP9jRH6bfu0/Wk5lWMZy4gI/AAAAAAAAExg/ueEZsuM2b6MwdxX6tbitv4RpyjmQ4UzGgCLcBGAs/s320/franklinsflyingbookshop.jpg" width="306" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0500651094/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Franklin's Flying Bookshop</a> by Katie Harnett (Thames & Hudson)</b></div>
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Completely charming story about a gentle, book-loving dragon who scares the heck out of townspeople in his search to find a literary soulmate. When he does, the magic really begins as they invent a storefront on the dragon's back in hopes of sharing their favorite titles...and a lesson in the limits of xenophobia. Folksy illustrations and varied layout from page to page keep an already strong read-aloud visually engaging as well. Besides being a beautiful book with a clear middle-beginning and end and problem to solve, I love it as a launchpad for envisioning inventive spaces for making our dreams come true, and talking about the role of bookstores and libraries in our communities.</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1620142856/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="430" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dTXTu7thP-k/Wk5mtAakntI/AAAAAAAAExk/I9eCAiwSq7oZTqntodsXl8YH774G7x7KwCLcBGAs/s320/Sparkleboy.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1620142856/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Sparkle Boy</a> by Lesléa Newman (Lee & Low)</b></div>
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Casey likes his sister Jessie's shimmery skirt, glittery nail polish and sparkly bracelet, but his sister is chagrined when these propensities elicit responses from parents like "I don't have a problem with that." Can't they see how embarrassing and socially precarious this could be? It's not until Casey is under his sister's wing while he receives the brunt of intolerance that she has to make a serious choice about how to respond. I confess I approached this book with caution, I am not a big fan of prescribing literature for children (don't let my prescription pad fool you). The real value of this sensitive but straightforward book is that it is not actually for the sparkle boys in the world but the people around the sparkle boys. This story is age-appropriate, not about decisions of sexual identity per se but whether we can choose to be accepting of people as they are authentically, and question the legitimacy and arbitrariness of our own social parameters. Holy smokes. Excellent realistic fiction in picture book form like this should be cherished for classroom use. Sure to inspire very necessary classroom discussions of how we need to treat one another and what world we want to live in. Then, on to math worksheets.</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1927018684/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="378" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-alei1p_yfis/Wk5nVwT0ZlI/AAAAAAAAExo/56kPZQwVLXEPuUE45iq0CjMqngyUUgMlgCLcBGAs/s320/today.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1927018684/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Today</a> by Julie Morstad (Simply Read)</b></div>
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The cover is a bit minimalistic (read: drab) but picture book lovers know to trust, trust, trust Julie Morstad with your reading life and this gem is no exception. This book is a celebration of daily decisions: what to wear? What to eat? Where do we go? What flowers to pick? What book to read? So many choices, and Morstad creates quite an appetizing visual menu that will have young readers clamoring to decide. This book is a celebration that brought to mind some of the work of early picture book geniuses Gene Zion and Gyo Fujikawa in their invitational approach and the immediacy of experience that is so empowering for young readers. Specifically, I remember reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000OK0LV4/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Jeffie's Party</a> by Gene Zion when I was around six years old approximately, ohhh, six thousand times, just for the chance to revisit the choices of what costume to wear to the party. I don't know what even would have happened to me if I had been given this book as a child, with beautifully illustrated choices on every other page. I think my head would have exploded. Worth the risk. </div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1627796169/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="392" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NEZMTR0Kfuc/Wk5oKYPbmaI/AAAAAAAAExs/haPJUb3kq-sAlT7V-EaglKE8VgfrJaaiQCLcBGAs/s320/citymousecountrymouse.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1627796169/planetecom-20" target="_blank">City Mouse, Country Mouse</a> by Maggie Rudy (Henry Holt)</b></div>
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First of all, do we ever get sick of magnificent visual reinterpretations of classic fairy and folk tales? Answer: uh, NO. (see Jerry Pinkney's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316400815/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Grasshopper & The Ants</a> should you require further convincing.) But in the interest of full disclosure, I have to confess, I have the biggest raging art crush on Maggie Rudy, it's hard to put into words. I can't even. Her doll work on her blog, <a href="http://mouseshouses.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">MouseHouses</a>, has inspired me to work on a novel for the past two years just in the most remote-as-Siberia hope she might consider illustrating it. Honestly. I think she is magic. In this latest of her picture book offerings, I think she really has hit her stride and plays to her strengths. Each mouse in turn tries to share the virtues of their urban and rural environments, as the retelling goes. What sets this version apart, besides the inimitable photographed scenes of her mice characters casting a spell of suspended belief in all other realities, is that she has captured the romance of a deep friendship. This is real; children can relate to the peril of situational loss of someone to whom they are connected, whether changing classrooms or having to move. Readers can feel the palpable longing in the mice's separation, and the relief in their reunion and clever compromise. This happy ending suggests that where there's a will, there's a way, and if you're lucky, there might even be a strawberry patch. It's hard to find a good love story in children's literature that is not too mushy and even relatable. Score.</div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1481448455/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Small Walt </a>by Elizabeth Verdick, illustrated by Marc Rosenthal (Simon & Schuster)</b></div>
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I received this book and was awash with wishes. "PLEASE let it be as good as I hope! PLEASE let it be as good as I hope!" As a teacher in a tundra (Chicago), I have been waiting for, hoping-double-crossed-fingers for a good solid book about a snow-mover as Ethel Kessler's <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006023279X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Stan the Hot Dog Man</a></i> was just not cutting the mustard for my crew any more. And here we go, a hybrid of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0395259398/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Mike Mulligan</a></i> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0448405202/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><i>The Little Engine that Could</i></a> and a spirit all its own as earnest Small Walt shows the bigger snowplows that he can clear a path with the best of 'em. Well written in a rhythmical way just right for a post-blizzard storytime. </div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316303119/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="498" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JpM3xTqYRPA/Wk5qBAhAORI/AAAAAAAAEx4/I9DjK0DymDsJB_VSs-UC23ZuSB9xRVuAgCEwYBhgL/s320/claymates.jpg" width="318" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316303119/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Claymates</a> by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge (Little, Brown and Company)</b></div>
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An artist leaves a couple of glomps of clay on a workspace, and when the artist steps away they come to life and reinvent themselves repeatedly with more and more hilarious results. This book reads like a photographic comic book with tremendous kid-appeal, and taps into the way friends can encourage one another to become their best selves...and to laugh harder. Of course, this read-aloud must be followed by clay on every desk for imaginative play, puppets shows and photo narratives. A creative and creativity-inspiring tour-de-force, and just. So. Much. Fun.</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763675377/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="430" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mpE8LE5wRv4/Wk5tPgTBeyI/AAAAAAAAEyQ/7gcroy4PvPwhaIHq3OkfBvpTHGTkOZ7SwCLcBGAs/s320/teddyintrouble.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763675377/planetecom-20" target="_blank">I'm Afraid Your Teddy is in Trouble Today</a> by Jancee Dunn, illustrated by Scott Nash (Candlewick)</b></div>
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This ain't your mama's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/%200140501738/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Corduroy</a>, no, there's a new anthropomorphic stuffed animal bad boy in town. This is more like <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0590930028/planetecom-20" target="_blank">No, David!</a></i> on stuffed animal steroids...you can even see the homage if you look carefully on the cover, and another one hidden inside. I was concerned that the story might be too derivative of classics, but the very clever and original high-stakes device of having the reader coming home to police (!!!) and receiving the harrowing play-by-play report definitely upped the ante from page one, and the visual jokes are fresh, zany and will have story time audiences roaring. Starting from the teddy bear's acquisition of a cell phone to call other toys to invite them to a bed-jumping, dress-up playing, bath-taking, one-hundred balloon pancake party that unfolds with every turned page, how will this mischievous teddy possibly avoid being taken down to the station? Sure to be a favorite.</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399251561/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="378" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q0XueJgmhVo/Wk57HmuhqUI/AAAAAAAAEy8/hs5GAoi3lT0AF2EzOwtlUklwtUNOeDDzQCLcBGAs/s320/princesapea.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399251561/planetecom-20" target="_blank">La Princesa and the Pea</a> by Susan Middleton Elya, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal (G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers) </b></div>
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A rhyming retelling of the Princess and the Pea with Spanish language interjected throughout with strong context clues for all readers, and the textiles depicted in the book are "inspired by the weaving and embroidery of indigenous people of Peru" (from the illustrator's note). Fairy tale retellings that embrace diversity are always a boon in the classroom, but this little <i>princesa</i> is particularly fetching, and the theme of family is piled high. </div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1554988713/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="499" height="241" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-18Yvs8thvM0/Wk5xC9YI7dI/AAAAAAAAEyw/R1Uqa2oYGLk-yAOL7luMOO8xqzQeEqhRwCLcBGAs/s320/townisbythesea.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1554988713/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Town Is by the Sea</a> by Joanne Schwartz, illustrated by Sydney Smith (Groundwood)</b></div>
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One of the great purposes of literature is to carry us away to a different time and place, and to allow us the chance to use our empathetic imaginations to live the lives of others. In this miracle of art, we are allowed to visit in the average day of a boy in a coal village in the 1950's. We can see the sea from his window, the lupines in the wind, and every few pages, on a wordless double-paged spread, we can see his father, a figure nearly crushed under the weight of black scribblings overhead, and a fate that may await the carefree boy when his time comes. No bells, no whistles, no jokes, just a family and a life and a chance to know it. Gosh, what a gorgeous book with more gravity than the average pick. </div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L5wUy5Mbxyo/Wk8M4kuTJbI/AAAAAAAAE2U/fvp2sycI3kg7-_PLmwCbrarBplQZecdEgCLcBGAs/s1600/Barkus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="439" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L5wUy5Mbxyo/Wk8M4kuTJbI/AAAAAAAAE2U/fvp2sycI3kg7-_PLmwCbrarBplQZecdEgCLcBGAs/s320/Barkus.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452111820/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Barkus </a>by Patricia Maclachlan, illustrated by Marc Boutavant (Chronicle)</b></div>
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Five read-aloud ready vignettes about a new family dog in a perfect petit package of gumdrop-colored illustrations. As I was reading, I thought, "how is the writing this tight?" Then I looked at the author, oh yes, mystery solved, this is the woman who penned the beloved, short and sweet Newbery-winner <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062399527/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Sarah, Plain and Tall</a>. If you have an emergent reader who likes animal stories, this is the kind of book that makes a child realize s/he can read, and s/he love it. This is going to be somebody's favorite childhood book, so you might as well have it in your collection in case that child is yours.</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1554989612/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="379" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nQRKFHXTAq8/Wk52AUc4V1I/AAAAAAAAEy0/go0NyKMUuJ82sZgUVlKWFIy-TTUVaWvXgCLcBGAs/s320/grandfatherandthemoon.jpg" width="243" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1554989612/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Grandfather and the Moon</a> by Stéphanie Lapoint, illustrated by Rogé, translated by Shelley Tanaka (Groundwood)</b></div>
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One of the big trends I noticed this year were books that appear to be children's books but they are really unbelievably beautiful illustrated books that children can happen to read. One of my favorite books this year, and maybe ever, is one of those: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544947339/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Pandora</a> by Victoria Turnbull, clearly an allegory for a very adult situation. Then there's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1554989779/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Along the River</a> by Vanina Starkoff, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1554988616/planetecom-20" target="_blank">A Cage Went in Search of a Bird</a> by Cary Fagan, illustrated by Banafsheh Erfanian, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452154236/planetecom-20" target="_blank">A River</a> by Marc Martin (apparently grown-ups like rivers and birds in their picture books), even books getting Caldecott buzz like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/076369035X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Windows</a> by Julia Denos and illustrated by E.B. Goodale, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735227926/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Book of Mistakes</a> by Corrina Luyken and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399167897/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth</a> by Oliver Jeffers, for all their immense beauty, have a quietude and sometimes meandering feel to the storytelling that make me wonder who the intended audience really is. I'm not sure they have pacing or messages that are intended for children primarily. That doesn't mean children can't enjoy them and experience them in a way that resonates and can be revisited; along those lines, Trina Paulus' <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0809117541/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Hope for the Flowers</a> was such a book from my own childhood, another example is Sara Varon's heartbreaking masterpiece <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1250073502/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Robot Dreams</a>, and many of us know Antoine de Saint-Exupery's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/%200156012197/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Little Prince</a> to be one book when we are young and another when we are older. I hesitated to include <i>Grandfather and the Moon</i> to this list just because I wasn't sure it was a children's book but instead an illustrated book children can read. But then I remembered all of this, and I would be remiss in not including it because sometimes we just have to give children things that are beautiful and strange and if not for us now, for us someday. This story, originally published in French in Canada a few years back and now in English translation, tells the story from a granddaughter's point of view of her grandfather and his decline after the loss of his wife. The narrative then takes a somewhat sudden turn when the narrator wins a contest in which she is permitted, as a civilian, to travel to the moon, and discovers the adventure is not all its cracked up to be. At the story's core is a truth about what it means to be there for someone else. The illustrations are muted and unassuming but expressive and consequential. The prose's unique and personal detail afford the reader a sense of intimacy, like a friend telling one what one knows about the world as best as one can, that is, really, why anyone should write at all. Not for the hordes, but for the one. Bravely, the writer and illustrator in this book are here for us, one by one, in this unusual surprise. </div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763696412/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="452" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiF9l8NIka882SMzQjweGtoRxm4vYc2maKHFxnQsr4I1rwOKf9TFZzbXeFS7Bp_bk8bw5FGKLk6SJYoceEZaNavOFf7RU6Z4JO__6ccCIRsaj0kYXhVxGEeEcloIK5cJ2JOwqWVg/s320/velveteen+rabbit.jpg" width="289" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763696412/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Velveteen Rabbit</a> by Margery Williams, illustrated by Sarah Massini (Nosy Crow)</b></div>
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Lastly, goodness knows this classic story of a toy rabbit made real is not a new book, originally published in 1922, but its reissue this year with the original text in this lovely oversized format perfect for read-aloud and larger group sharing is worth a mention. Additionally, if we're talking oldies but goodies, I also want to remind folks to add my favorite book of last year to their shelves if it's not there already:<b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763665304/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Du Iz Tak?</a> by Carson Ellis (Candlewick) </b>is the exciting adventure of some whimsical garden creatures and the strange thing growing there, told in what initially seems like gobbledegook but within pages the reader realizes it is a new language. Just as the fluency begins to blossom, so does the surprise in the garden. The surprise that blossomed this year was realizing what a favorite it has become with ELL and ESL students in my school library, some checking it out repeatedly. This big, beautiful book levels a playing field of accessibility to reading and experiencing illustrated literature, and is worth sharing with every child you know. </div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wN-vKquzwX0/Wk8Q3rA4Q1I/AAAAAAAAE2k/NVUO8uKjPwAqj5EtIFA6RQJIjfg5EyCVACLcBGAs/s1600/Du%2BIz%2BTak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="414" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wN-vKquzwX0/Wk8Q3rA4Q1I/AAAAAAAAE2k/NVUO8uKjPwAqj5EtIFA6RQJIjfg5EyCVACLcBGAs/s320/Du%2BIz%2BTak.jpg" width="264" /></a></div>
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<b>Honorable Mentions and popular books of 2017 to explore, in no particular order:</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/055353758X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Bunny's Book Club</a> by Annie Silvestro, illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss (Doubleday)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1626726825/planetecom-20" target="_blank">After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again</a> by Dan Santat (Roaring Brook)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1101919019/planetecom-20" target="_blank">How to Make Friends with a Ghost</a> by Rebecca Green (Tundra)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062441140/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Mr. Biddles</a> by Kristine A. Lombardi (Harper)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1847807267/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Deep in the Woods</a> by Christopher Corr (Frances Lincoln)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/055353744X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">A Cat Named Swan</a> by Hollie Hobbie (Random House)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544313348/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Winter Dance</a> by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by Richard Jones (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1250076366/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Wolf in the Snow</a> by Matthew Cordell (Feiwel and Friends)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452165068/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Professional Crocodile</a> by Giovanna Zoboli and Mariachiara di Giorgio (Chronicle)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399170723/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Mermaid</a> by Jan Brett (G.P. Putnam's Sons)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/076368824X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Boo Who? </a>by Ben Clanton (Candlewick)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576878279/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Lucia the Luchadora</a> by Cynthia Leonor Garza (POW Books)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006246776X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Bad Seed</a> by Jory John, illustrated by Pete Oswald (HarperCollins)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1442402989/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Creepy Pair of Underwear! </a>by Aaron Reynolds (Simon & Schuster)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763678384/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Jabari Jumps</a> by Gaia Cornwall (Candlewick)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0374302812/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Escargot </a>by Dashka Slater, illustrated by Sydney Hanson (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1406373206/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Tree: A Fable</a> by Neal Layton (Candlewick)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0545814308/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Ninjabread Man</a> by C.J. Leigh, illustrated by Chris Gall (Orchard)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1626722935/planetecom-20" target="_blank">When's My Birthday?</a> by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Roaring Brook)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/%200062438891/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors</a> by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex (Balzer & Bray)</div>
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What are your favorite picture books of this year? Have you had any experiences sharing books that appeared on this list? Please share in the comments!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Links provided for information. Please support your<a href="https://www.indiebound.org/" target="_blank"> local independent bookseller</a>. </i></span></div>
Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-47665478095860291252016-09-11T14:45:00.000-05:002016-09-11T14:46:52.367-05:00Happy Appleseed! Freebies in Honor of Johnny's Birthday!It's that time of year, coming up on Johnny Appleseed's birthday, September 26th! In honor of my favorite historical figure, I wrote a biographical picture book a few years back, SEED BY SEED: THE LEGEND AND LEGACY OF JOHN "APPLESEED" CHAPMAN, illustrated by the talented and award-winning Lynne Rae Perkins (Greenwillow Books). I wrote about it <a href="http://planetesme.blogspot.com/2012/08/happy-appleseed.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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I put the lessons garnered from research about Johnny Appleseed's life into the book in the form of five footsteps that allowed him to walk into history:<br />
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1. Use what you have.</div>
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2. Share what you have.</div>
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3. Respect nature.</div>
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4. Try to make peace where there is war.</div>
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5. You can reach your destination by taking small steps.</div>
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Lends itself very nicely to a bulletin board if I do say so myself (and in conjunction with artwork from Aliki's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Story-Johnny-Appleseed-Aliki/dp/0671667467/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473622654&sr=8-1&keywords=johnny+appleseed+aliki" target="_blank">Story of Johnny Appleseed</a>)! Plus, you can use <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Seed-Legend-Legacy-Appleseed-Chapman/dp/0061455156/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473620413&sr=8-1&keywords=seed+by+seed" target="_blank">SEED BY SEED</a> as a springboard for reading any <a href="http://biographybreak.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">picture book biographies</a> and have the children come up with their own "footsteps," or tenets of the person's life that make them notable and worth remembering. The main idea of Johnny Appleseed's life and the book I wrote about him is that you can change the landscape of our country by planting a small seed every day---doing one small positive thing with consistency. What seed will <i>you</i> plant?<br />
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The best news is that the clever illustrator created <b>free downloadable seed packets, a "Johnny Jump-Up" printable toy and a coloring page that you can share with your class</b>! Click <a href="https://lynnerae.com/tag/seed-by-seed/" target="_blank">here</a> to print your own! Thank you so much, Lynne Rae Perkins! In the spirit of Johnny Appleseed...please spread the seed to read!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Links provided for information. Please support your <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/" target="_blank">local independent bookseller</a>.</i></span> </div>
Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-74214504278615767772016-08-17T17:46:00.000-05:002016-08-17T17:46:07.799-05:00Teacher Collection! Best Picture Book Read-Alouds for Back to SchoolTeacher budgets and bookshelf space are limited, so only the best of the best will do! Here are my must-haves for September, perfect for treating your hard-working teaching self, or parents can start the year off right with a classroom or library donation of a favorite. Great children's books are also a bridge between home and school...we support a child's learning every time we read aloud! So don't hesitate to add these winners to your circulation:<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452136475/planetecom-20" target="_blank">President Squid</a> by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Sara Varon (Chronicle). Of course, this fall is going to have lots of occasions to work an election theme into the classroom, and this is a number-one must-have. A bombastic, big-mouthed Day-Glo cephalopod has more bluster than charisma, but that doesn't stop him from seeking high office in the sea. What does it take to be President? Diplomacy Accountability? Responsibility? Naaaahhhh. Squid has a tie. That should do it! The fact that he has a Titanic-sized house, fame, the gift of gab and the bones to boss are just bonuses. But when a sardine is caught compromisingly in a clam, can President Squid step up and save him? Maybe he'll learn what quality is most presidential of all...or will power corrupt? The illustrator created one of my favorite books of all time, the thoughtful allegory of friendship that is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1596431083/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Robot Dreams</a>. Here, Varon's wild palette and expressive style combined with Reynold's high-spirited humor make this any easy share and a perfect springboard for creating lists and conversations about qualities of leadership. By the way, I have it on good authority from the author that Trump wasn't running when he wrote this book. But if the tentacles fit.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0545914388/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion</a> by Alex T. Smith (Scholastic). Oh my goodness, I love when this happens: a big, beautiful, funny, well-paced read-aloud with chance to do voices and an unlabored, authentic multicultural representation, plus an opportunity to talk about parodies and differentiated versions of fairy tales. Sold!!! In this play on Red Riding Hood, winsome Little Red has to deliver acne medicine, but a lion is impersonating her auntie. The makeover Little Red delivers on the lion's mane will elicit screams of laughter and delight, and the vantage point from inside of the lion's toothy maw rates ooh's and ahh's. A happy ending and a little nudge toward asking for things politely paired with lively, colorful illustrations in a dynamic layout make this a perfect picture book. <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1554988535/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Bear's Winter Party</a> by Deborah Hodge (Groundwood). I confess that every fall I have a penchant for purchases of all things bears and hibernation to add to my book cave. This year, a close runner up was <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763682241/planetecom-20" target="_blank">A Brave Bear</a> by Sean Taylor, handsomely illustrated by the mighty mighty Emily Hughes (Candlewick), but the winner was this loose and juicily-watercolored story in which Bear plans a party to win over his cautious woodland neighbors before his big sleep. I was so admiring of the bear-faced honey ginger cookies that Bear was serving, and what do you know, an easy recipe is in the back! Why every classroom doesn't have a stove and oven, I haven't a clue. But every classroom can have an invitation to this reading fete, and the inclusive message of "don't judge a book (or bear!) by its cover" that seasons these pages like warm cinnamon. <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1596439645/planetecom-20" target="_blank">School's First Day of School</a> by Adam Rex, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Roaring Brook).<br />
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QvivMJe6ip8/V6tV-330x8I/AAAAAAAAEsQ/P2zObb8O8d4IacBNbUyqgHXGdkmglsrsgCLcB/s1600/sallypeanuts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QvivMJe6ip8/V6tV-330x8I/AAAAAAAAEsQ/P2zObb8O8d4IacBNbUyqgHXGdkmglsrsgCLcB/s1600/sallypeanuts.jpg" /></a>A new school has been built. What should be expected on School's first day? The janitor is there to encourage via some earnest banter with the building, and the edifice is educated on how even the most reticent can come around to loving School....eventually. I love how School manages to learn a thing or two in the course of the day! Robinson's folksy, friendly style is sunny and straightforward and realistically depicts a wide swath of cultures in the classroom. Reminiscent of Sally's romance with her own school in Charle' Shultz's <i>Peanuts</i> cartoons, this book has a comforting combination of anticipation, problem-solving and reflection, and also touches on the value of all staff in a school building. I often start the school year with a conversation about how lucky we are to be together at school, and how it is <a href="http://www.boredpanda.com/dangerous-journey-to-school/" target="_blank">an opportunity not taken for granted</a> around the world. This book and its sampling of students who don't always have the most positive outlook lends itself nicely to a conversation about gratitude for the educational experience. It is also a perfect pick for introducing point-of-view, or eking out the point-of-view of your students on their own exciting first day. <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553522434/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Douglas, You Need Glasses!</a> by Ged Adamson (Schwartz & Wade). "Nancy and Douglas were chasing squirrels. At least, Douglas <i>thought</i> he was chasing squirrels." Poor, nearsighted Douglas is missing important signs, making silly mistakes and even finds himself in danger, all because he can't see well. Children will laugh and correct Douglas' errors at his hilarious trip to the eye doctor, where Douglas finally chooses a life-changing pair of specs. From the blurry lettering on the cover to the charming double-paged photographic spread at the end ("REAL KIDS WHO WEAR GLASSES!"), this hilarious book is the perfect prescription for empathy, fostering a deeper understanding from kids who don't wear glasses and a renewed sense of confidence in those who do.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1423121961/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Steamboat School </a>by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Ron Husband (Disney Hyperion).<br />
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<i>"'Hurry,' urged Tassie. "Reverend John doesn't hold with being late.'<br />At Third and Almond, we slipped into the church,<br />And headed down the basement steps, into the darkness,<br />to the Tallow Candle School.<br />'Why can't we have windows?' I whined, already missing the sun.<br />'Hush, you know why,' Tassie said.<br />And I did.<br />I felt a hand on my shoulder.<br />'Welcome to out school, James,' said Reverend John.<br />'We make our own light here.'"</i></blockquote>
Even the small, surreptitious school in the basement of the church is forced to close when Missouri institutes a new law forbidding African Americans to learn to read or write. But where there is a will, there's a way, and Reverend John ingeniously refurbishes an old steamboat in order to teach the children on the Mississippi River, where the law of the land did not apply. Inspired by the true story of Reverend John Berry Meachum (1789-1854), the teacher and student are heroes. We need these kind of heroes. Cross-hatch illustrations against a limited palette of brown and black evoke the etching style of the period, but with broad spreads, expressive figures and paired with a high-stakes narrative, this choice lends itself beautifully to sharing in a modern classroom.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1479521566/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Lacey Walker, Nonstop Talker</a> by Christianne Jones, illustrated by Richard Watson (Capstone Little Boost). When an (ahem) ebullient little owl loses her voice, it leaves room for a little more listening. It turns out her friend told really funny jokes, she was able to finish her classwork and earn a gold star, and she got more out of the movies and books. When Lacey's voice returns, she has a choice to make. Simple, bright illustrations do the trick in accentuating the gentle message, and the busy endpapers of Lacey in full yammering mode are a jocular overture to the inexorable character readers will meet inside. I'm sure <i>none</i> of you teachers out there have a nonstop talker in <i>your</i> room, but on the off-chance that you do, this book may inspire them to strike more of a balance between talking and listening, like Lacey Walker. <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1101932813/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Finding Wild</a> by Megan Wagner Lloyd, illustrated by Abigail Halpin (Knopf). <br />
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<i>What is wild? </i><i>And where can you find it?</i></blockquote>
Succinct, elegant musings and twisting ferns and flowers follow a boy and girl on a nature hike. They use each of their senses in turn to discover what is wild, even in the face of concrete. Graceful and colorful watercolor and pencil illustrations maintain interest through a varied layout. While the prose may prove a bit opaque for some students, the reason this is a worthwhile pick is that it is so invitational. The question of "what is wild?" is so especially relevant in the face of works like Richard Louv's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/156512605X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder</a> and the outdoor education, <a href="http://naturalparentsnetwork.com/inspired-by-reggio-emilia/" target="_blank">Reggio-Emilia</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkiij9dJfcw" target="_blank">"forest kindergarten"</a> movements that have taken hold in Europe and increasingly in the United States. Whatever your school's mission and wherever you are, it is easy to take an observational stroll around the block following a reading of this book and allow for children to discover "wild" for themselves. In fact, the whole idea and many meanings and connotations of "wild" (both in nature and people) makes for a very interesting exploration in general, made even more interesting paired with books like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1909263087/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Wild </a>by Emily Hughes, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1554984319/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Sidewalk Flowers</a> by JonArno Lawson, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763610526/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Weslandia</a> by Paul Fleischman, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763664871/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Jemmy Button</a> by Jennifer Uman, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316200638/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Mr. Tiger Goes Wild</a> by Peter Brown, and also by Peter Brown, the wonderful new serial read-aloud chapter book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316381993/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Wild Robot</a>. A theme that will leave students wild about reading.<br />
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What are your favorite picks for the new school year? Please share in the comments below. Links are provided for information; please remember to support your <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/indie-bookstore-finder" target="_blank">local independent bookseller</a>. <br />
<br />Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-14733473007575564382016-07-01T14:16:00.000-05:002016-08-05T15:55:06.450-05:00Big Summertime Laughs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Though the joys of June are many, beware the dreaded <a href="http://planetesme.blogspot.com/2006/06/stop-summer-reading-slide_09.html" target="_blank">summer reading slide</a>. The easiest way to keep reading skills bolstered while the sun shines hot is by enrolling in the local public library summer reading games and offering kids books that are so fun, they feel like the furthest thing from homework. Here are a couple choices that are the most painless, page-turning reading and imagery mash-ups since <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_(magazine)" target="_blank">MAD</a> Magazine. </div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1250070651/planetecom-20" target="_blank">13-Story Treehouse</a> series by Andy Griffiths, illustrated by Terry Denton (Feiwel and Friends). Follow the adventures of besties Andy and Terry (coincidentally, the name of the author and illustrator) as they make additions and improvements on their treehouse (man-eating shark tank, rollercoasters, baby dinosaur petting zoo, antigravity chamber, lemonade fountain, ice cream parlor with robot scooper, high bounce trampoline, to name a few), hang out with their animal-loving neighbor Jill and her flying cats while having adventures (like unveiling a sea monster disguised as a mermaid or battling vengeful vegetables)and desperately trying to make deadline for their cantankerous publisher, Mr. Big Nose. I am beside myself with the genius of this series. Honestly. The 13-Story Treehouse and its sequels are the best thing to happen to kidlit since <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0590846280/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Captain Underpants</a>, and, sorry, Dav Pilkey, surpasses it by a country mile...in other words, these books are a major event in children's literature and a must-have in every library. The imagination of this graphic novel hybrid is truly incomparable, and the hilarious storytelling/artwork combination is seamless, as though the Andy and Terry in the book have come to life and really are working together to tell these stories, an incident of real live book magic. Like potato chips, I could not stop with one...could they actually keep this pace and maintain this almost psychedelic level imagination? Yes and yes. Any summer reading goal is easily met through the entire series, including the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1250073278/planetecom-20" target="_blank">26-Story Treehouse</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/125002692X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">39-Story Treehouse</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1250026938/planetecom-20" target="_blank">52-Story Treehouse</a>. After all, who wouldn't want to spend their summer in a treehouse?<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544324048/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Complete Adventures of Johnny Mutton</a> by James Proimos (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Three words: LAUGH. OUT. LOUD. One more: VERYHARD. Johnny Mutton was a baby sheep that was left on a doorstep and raised as a naive, well-meaning little boy. All of his comic adventures from three volumes are compiled here. Johnny gives away all of the cupcakes meant for a cook-off, throws an unpopular party, dresses like a nose for Halloween, is a good sport at a spelling bee and many more adventures in the three books worth of comic adventures compiled into this one strange and brilliant treasury. Loose line drawing and an odd but addictive vintage <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zap_Comix" target="_blank">Zap Comix</a> quality, it also offers an optimistic spirit, affirmation of individuality ("Johnny Mutton! He's so him!") and an insight into the human condition that makes it brilliant for all ages. If Spongebob and <a href="http://www.penguin.com/author/james-marshall/43692" target="_blank">James Marshall</a> had a baby, it would be Johnny Mutton. Like his mother says, "I love you, Jonny Mutton! There is no one quite like you." <br />
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And I was a little late to the party on this one, but still so pleased to discover <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316335622/planetecom-20" target="_blank">What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night: A Very Messy Adventure</a> by Refe and Susan Tuma (Little Brown).<br />
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Posed plastic dinosaurs wreak havoc all around the house, culminating in a mud-covered mess in the living room that would even have <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0590930028/planetecom-20" target="_blank">No, David!</a> shaking his head. Though the photos have so much havoc to discover, the volume is slim. If this story time sized intro to these anthropomorphic antics leave you wanting more, I hear tell there's an even <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316294594/planetecom-20" target="_blank">bigger collection</a> for fans that will engage older children as well. Naughty is always nice when it comes to reading, and anyway, who ever heard of a well-behaved dinosaur? Velociraptors don't care. Follow up on the fun by letting toys take some selfies, with your help. <br />
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What children's books make you and yours laugh the hardest? <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Links for information. Please support your <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/" target="_blank">local independent bookseller.</a> </span>Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-64446983245857454822016-06-01T23:35:00.000-05:002016-08-05T11:35:31.183-05:00Buggy for BooksAs gardens spring to life, so does the wild and wonderful world of wigglies! This amazing miniature world is mirrored so cunningly in the pages of these books, each in their own special way.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kFHUiuZkq4o/V6Nj3AdS8xI/AAAAAAAAEpo/0frmFWwGQWohrFwrBYft6GHPMgIvGCp7wCK4B/s1600/storiesfrombuggarden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kFHUiuZkq4o/V6Nj3AdS8xI/AAAAAAAAEpo/0frmFWwGQWohrFwrBYft6GHPMgIvGCp7wCK4B/s320/storiesfrombuggarden.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763665347/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Stories from Bug Garden</a> by Lisa Moser, illustrated by Gwen Millward (Candlewick).<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Bee sat on a lilac branch and watched the clouds.</i><br />
<i>"Shouldn't you fly around?" asked Dragonfly."</i><br />
<i>"Shouldn't you sip nectar from the flowers?" asked Lightning Bug.</i><br />
<i>"Shouldn't you make honey?" asked Horsefly.</i><br />
<i>"I don't want to do any of those things," said Bee.</i><br />
<i>"What do you want to do, then?"</i><br />
<i>Bee settled back to watch the clouds.</i><br />
<i>"Just be," said Bee.</i></blockquote>
An abundance of friendship, gentle wisdom and well-developed characters are coupled with busy and whimsical ink, watercolor and pencil illustrations. These sweet vignettes will inspire looking at all things that fly and crawl and buzz and wiggle with new eyes. <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452127123/planetecom-20" target="_blank">A Beetle is Shy</a> by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long (Chronicle). "A beetle is kaleidoscopic," the text asserts, and the aboslutely gorgeous and colorful illustrations confirm. The latest in the breathtaking series (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452131473/planetecom-20" target="_blank">A Seed is Sleepy</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452131481/planetecom-20" target="_blank">An Egg is Quiet</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452127131/planetecom-20" target="_blank">A Nest is Noisy</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0545605466/planetecom-20" target="_blank">A Butterfly is Patient,</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452145555/planetecom-20" target="_blank">A Rock is Lively</a>, and every volume is worthwhile), this is like paging through a talented naturalist's notebook, with critters so realistic you'd barely blink to see them crawl off the page. The text reads like poetry and I challenge you not to learn something along the way...in other words, nonfiction perfection. <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0545861837/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Gary's Garden</a> by Gary Northfield (Scholastic). This small-print graphic novel sleeper is a surprise gem that will be well-liked by any elementary-aged kid, following the adventures of the residents of a particular plot of land...who knew so many zany and intense adventures might be happening in our own backyards? The pests have tons of personality, and the Pokémon-like cards at the back of the book attest to the superlative qualities of the characters. I hope to see this cast again in a sequel with the anticipation one usually reserves for springtime. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Links for information. Please support your <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/" target="_blank">local independent bookseller</a>. </span>Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-15663507065492892482016-01-10T22:12:00.000-06:002016-01-18T15:35:28.457-06:00PLANETESME PICKS: Best Picture Books and Nonfiction of 2015<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0hFJ5s7T3Fu5638rbWSZg62RTcsjxcxewh7ebJ3eIqND87BXIkEtmEadWf9AZCVl91iIFZplCFTwd1YrgjozpyOBet1-tL2tIJiHbk5d74qm7qRNHTrAY67HJbcQAzg5UpJRaTA/s1600/gardener+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0hFJ5s7T3Fu5638rbWSZg62RTcsjxcxewh7ebJ3eIqND87BXIkEtmEadWf9AZCVl91iIFZplCFTwd1YrgjozpyOBet1-tL2tIJiHbk5d74qm7qRNHTrAY67HJbcQAzg5UpJRaTA/s200/gardener+2.jpg" width="164" /></a>For a long time, I have been saying that children's books are our best hope for equalizing education in America. A great book in the hands of a rich child is the same great book in the hands of a poor child. But more than that, books in thoughtful combination are an education in and of themselves. I love making these annual lists, because I can only imagine how a child who experiences these titles will be changed, and change is the definition of learning. Through what will new lenses will the child view the world after experiencing this art? What biographies will inspire them, what mentors will fly through space and time to scaffold their own dreams and efforts? How will they view and understand the natural world? What new friends will they find inside books that will inform them to know how to connect and empathize with people outside of books? What will make them laugh, cry, think? After perusing hundreds of books this year with my teacher-librarian eye, these are the finest that I spy. I hope read in any combination, they will be building blocks...building books!...in an individual ready to meet and embrace the world. <br />
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<b>Most perfect book likely to win all sorts of awards: </b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452118906/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova</a> by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Julie Morstad (Chronicle)<br />
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<b>Personal favorite book that I clutch to my chest and sigh: </b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1909263435/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Little Gardener </a>by Emily Hughes (Flying Eye)<br />
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<b>Most delightful read-aloud: </b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592701450/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Winston & George </a>by John Miller, illustrated by Giuliano Cucco (Enchanted Lion)<br />
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<b>Best book for kids destined to watch Downton Abbey some day: </b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763673234/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Daisy Saves the Day</a> by Shirley Hughes (Candlewick)<br />
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Make your own category and please share it in the comments, with any of your favorites or the past year or from these lists below! Links are for informational use; please remember to support <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/indie-store-finder" target="_blank">your local independent bookseller.</a> <br />
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<b>Picture Books:</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQl4QhyRT4SPXyKHekEes1TRy6daQ3xIqKfdDNcQC0AEky4eFlTO_5zZMUqLJ9Hthplf38Z-C6VfW7QRgw-kwApkW2P-7gZa5V2-e3W3HkJli_D4RfNNqdLCcaIniEuttqX55FUA/s1600/daisy+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQl4QhyRT4SPXyKHekEes1TRy6daQ3xIqKfdDNcQC0AEky4eFlTO_5zZMUqLJ9Hthplf38Z-C6VfW7QRgw-kwApkW2P-7gZa5V2-e3W3HkJli_D4RfNNqdLCcaIniEuttqX55FUA/s200/daisy+2.jpg" width="185" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802854540/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Animal Beauty </a>by Kristin Roskifte (Eerdmans)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802854486/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Animal Supermarket </a>by Giovanna Zoboli, illustrated by Simona Mulazzani (Eerdmans)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316254436/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Beep! Beep! Go to Sleep!</a> By Todd Tarpley, illustrated by John Rocco (Little, Brown)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452144478/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Big Bear Little Chair</a> by Lizi Boyd (Chronicle)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0823434494/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Cats Are Cats</a> by Valeri Gorbachev (Holiday House)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763673234/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Daisy Saves the Day</a> by Shirley Hughes (Candlewick)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553510614/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Dear Santa, Love, Rachel Rosenstein</a> by Amanda Peet and Andrea Troyer, illustrated by Christine Davenier (Doubleday)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763679992/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Dinosaur Rocket!</a> By Penny Dale (Nosy Crow)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR4G3RHHuJUekmp6hMckmUyGC7cSwB1v-u5smrTJbAl3jw-nO__T7eQsBB7yx85kPSrbrKu07nlmugT0_FSksdC4a6KWiB2mKhjnFNw_JIOXG_y2vtxoacMNiYZz6X1-FQp5KJBQ/s1600/cupcake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR4G3RHHuJUekmp6hMckmUyGC7cSwB1v-u5smrTJbAl3jw-nO__T7eQsBB7yx85kPSrbrKu07nlmugT0_FSksdC4a6KWiB2mKhjnFNw_JIOXG_y2vtxoacMNiYZz6X1-FQp5KJBQ/s200/cupcake.jpg" width="181" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0823432033/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Doctor Nice</a> by Valeri Gorbachev (Holiday House)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399168982/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Finders Keepers</a> by Keiko Kasza (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452131821/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Fowl Play </a>by Travis Nichols (Chronicle)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399171606/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Happy Birthday, Cupcake!</a> By Terry Border (Philomel)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/076367513X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Have You Seen My Monster?</a> by Steve Light (Candlewick)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385378661/planetecom-20" target="_blank">I Don’t Want to Be a Frog </a>by Dev Petty, illustrated by Mike Boldt (Doubleday)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763665142/planetecom-20" target="_blank">I Will Never Get a Star on Mrs. Benson’s Blackboard </a>by Jennifer K. Mann (Candlewick)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/158089612X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">I’m New Here </a>by Anne Sibley O’Brien (Charlesbridge)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385754795/planetecom-20" target="_blank">It’s Tough to Lose Your Balloon</a> by Jarrett J. Krozoczka (Knopf)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399175032/planetecom-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e22IHmz0H4E/Vp0ynWkfF1I/AAAAAAAAEn8/kS3ciBwZhB8/s200/lovefavorite%2B2.jpg" width="167" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735841071/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Kind-Hearted Monster </a>by Max Velhuijs (NorthSouth)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452131562/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Leo: A Ghost Story</a> by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Chronicle)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385370067/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Little Red Gliding Hood</a> by Tara Lazar, illustrated by Troy Cummings (Random House)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399163972/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Little Tree </a>by Loren Long (Philomel)<o:p></o:p><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399175032/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Love is My Favorite Thing</a> by Emma Chichester Clark (Nancy Paulsen)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763676071/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Mouse’s First Night at Moonlight School</a> by Simon Puttock, illustrated by Ali Pye (Nosy Crow)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452144230/planetecom-20" target="_blank">My Wild Family </a>by Laurent Moreau (Chronicle)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1481405144/planetecom-20" target="_blank">One Word from Sophia </a>by Jim Averbeck, illustrated by Yasmeen Ismail (Atheneum)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsC3UfFwETWU7rJToj41SOOb2AIXAqAxr2Q8n_8Zm791MuQ-f8byX4N2rdd1xk_7AvihBtmtOsasSwGp2iwxkxUQCyV-NjTL2XVpz2uLGr9A2fWlu0hSnpsCtY1rPI2f58Cw-fxQ/s1600/doctornice+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsC3UfFwETWU7rJToj41SOOb2AIXAqAxr2Q8n_8Zm791MuQ-f8byX4N2rdd1xk_7AvihBtmtOsasSwGp2iwxkxUQCyV-NjTL2XVpz2uLGr9A2fWlu0hSnpsCtY1rPI2f58Cw-fxQ/s200/doctornice+2.jpg" width="160" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1596439491/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Oskar and the Eight Blessings</a> by Richard and Tanya Simon, illustrated by Mark Siegel (Roaring Brook)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1561458198/planetecom-20" target="_blank">P. Zonka Lays an Egg</a> by Julie Paschkis (Peachtree)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452141991/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Polar Bear’s Underwear</a> by Tupera Tupera (Chronicle)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580896146/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Poppy’s Best Paper</a> by Susan Eaddy, illustrated by Rosalinde Bonnet (Charlesbridge)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062252070/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Red: A Crayon’s Story</a> by Michael Hall (Greenwillow)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452138516/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Rude Cakes </a>by Rowboat Watkins (Chronicle)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/038537853X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Rufus the Writer </a>by Elizabeth Bram, illustrated by Chuck Groenink (Schwartz & Wade)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763676128/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Seen and Not Heard </a>by Katie May Green (Candlewick)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0307981827/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Sharing the Bread: An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving Story</a> by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Jill McElmurry (Schwartz & Wade)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfaw-7oJw568ope4xkvoregjioXaJ9S4bCVNr16cwaPgTgIrjkfkO9-bVhiCrosAu_vzz6CRN8t8OTp0ykGgvrNW6JrYa5da8b0cvrO9R25jYHQNmOmAnQ0aHFtxeRouX1VNY5NA/s1600/sidewalk+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfaw-7oJw568ope4xkvoregjioXaJ9S4bCVNr16cwaPgTgIrjkfkO9-bVhiCrosAu_vzz6CRN8t8OTp0ykGgvrNW6JrYa5da8b0cvrO9R25jYHQNmOmAnQ0aHFtxeRouX1VNY5NA/s200/sidewalk+2.jpg" width="198" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1554984319/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Sidewalk Flowers</a> by JonArno Lawson, illustrated by Sydney Smith (Groundwood)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0545565642/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Sleeping Cinderella and Other Princess Mix-Ups</a> by Stephanie Clarkson, illustrated by Brigette Barrager (Orchard)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1770497633/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Snow White and the 77 Dwarfs</a> by Raphaelle Barbanegre (Tundra)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1554983398/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Some Things I’ve Lost </a>by Cybele Young (Groundwood)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1570619549/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Little Kunoichi, The Ninja Girl</a> by Sanae Ishida (Atheneum)</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BrcWnLgZR5s/Vp1Z-7MbRjI/AAAAAAAAEos/4VMjJwSvKtI/s1600/laststop%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BrcWnLgZR5s/Vp1Z-7MbRjI/AAAAAAAAEos/4VMjJwSvKtI/s200/laststop%2B3.jpg" width="162" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1481416472/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Strictly No Elephants</a> by Lisa Mantchev, illustrated by Taeeun Yoo (Simon & Schuster)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763673730/planetecom-20" target="_blank">So Cozy</a> by Lerryn Korda (Candlewick)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385390807/planetecom-20" target="_blank">There Was an Old Dragon Who Swallowed a Knight</a> by Penny Parker Klostermann, illustrated by Ben Mantle (Random House)<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6-V_8c6Lb3WdnuMu3IMQKbPLtZTs4B2_ntr2aDxt7IWzfePRhDle6aul86XeArwb_4ctfXV-8sKKoLJBX3x2XfED3gSJSrCnhEzWoZbzc05Upnlt8Z766zNiaNIMv9H4F2tIEw/s1600/flutterhum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6-V_8c6Lb3WdnuMu3IMQKbPLtZTs4B2_ntr2aDxt7IWzfePRhDle6aul86XeArwb_4ctfXV-8sKKoLJBX3x2XfED3gSJSrCnhEzWoZbzc05Upnlt8Z766zNiaNIMv9H4F2tIEw/s200/flutterhum.jpg" width="152" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1627791035/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Flutter and Hum/Aleteo y Zumbido: Animal Poems/Poemas de Animales</a> by Julie Paschkis (Henry Holt)</div>
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Page (HMH)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Robby Novak (Harper)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1909263575/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Mad About Monkeys</a> by Owen Davey (Flying Eye Books)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763664928/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Maine Coon’s Haiku and Other Poems for Cat Lovers</a> by Michael J. Rosen, illustrated by Lee White (Candlewick)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizyVK7v-U3hL7ZjWaqCvXmqQLwVtueMjZevVJJP1Ap5LXShwUmMhgZZaLvUcyOezuFJH6emCptl2kJe2N4zz8Db5gmpCE-ZS6KmZV6WXa9VMZDRr1CbXotwTEgC90ce877dRpGIQ/s1600/mummycat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kNZu6PK0UgQYdnKcZT6sY0yTGpnk0mf0Bb9oXfcINrjIiVo-Z_hXEfMxHWUEsZIZw_5UIGmIFU9pvY_spqhaUAqFqAMsrklKl8-PcvpL-bgeWWSqogOp49SMghZ4JCXhyHN5LQ/s1600/mostamazing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kNZu6PK0UgQYdnKcZT6sY0yTGpnk0mf0Bb9oXfcINrjIiVo-Z_hXEfMxHWUEsZIZw_5UIGmIFU9pvY_spqhaUAqFqAMsrklKl8-PcvpL-bgeWWSqogOp49SMghZ4JCXhyHN5LQ/s200/mostamazing.jpg" width="157" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452125783/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Marvelous Cornelius: Hurricane Katrina and the Spirit of New Orleans</a> by Phil Bildner,
illustrated by John Parra (Chronicle)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763663514/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Mesmerized: HowBenjamin Franklin Solved a Mystery That Baffled All of France</a> by Mara Rockliff,
illustrated by Iacopo Bruno (Candlewick)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805099611/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Most Amazing Creature in the Sea</a> by Brenda Z. Guiberson, illustrated by Gennady Spirin (Henry Holt)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544340825/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Mummy Cat</a> by Marcus Ewert, illustrated by Lisa Brown
(Clarion)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0803741413/planetecom-20" target="_blank">My Leaf Book</a> by Monica Wellington (Dial)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1467716081/planetecom-20" target="_blank">One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and The Recycling Women of the Gambia </a>by Miranda Paul,
illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon (Milbrook)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/044981016X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Over in the Wetlands: A Hurricane on the Bayou Story</a> by Caroline Starr Rose and Rob Dunlavey
(Schwartz & Wade)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399187251/planetecom-20" target="_blank">A Passion for Elephants: The Real Life Adventure of Field Scientist Cynthia Moss</a> by Toni Buzzeo,
illustrated by Holly Berry (Dial)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizyVK7v-U3hL7ZjWaqCvXmqQLwVtueMjZevVJJP1Ap5LXShwUmMhgZZaLvUcyOezuFJH6emCptl2kJe2N4zz8Db5gmpCE-ZS6KmZV6WXa9VMZDRr1CbXotwTEgC90ce877dRpGIQ/s1600/mummycat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizyVK7v-U3hL7ZjWaqCvXmqQLwVtueMjZevVJJP1Ap5LXShwUmMhgZZaLvUcyOezuFJH6emCptl2kJe2N4zz8Db5gmpCE-ZS6KmZV6WXa9VMZDRr1CbXotwTEgC90ce877dRpGIQ/s200/mummycat.jpg" width="157" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1442465557/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Popcorn Astronauts and Other Biteable Rhymes</a> by Deborah Ruddell, illustrated by Joan Rankin (McElderberry Books)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1894786602/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Queen’s Shadow: A Story About How Animals See</a> by Cybele Young (Kids Can Press)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/148142064X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Raindrops Roll</a> by April Pulley Sayre (Beach Lane)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/146771805X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Santa Clauses: ShortPoems from the North Pole</a> by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Chuck Groenink
(Carolrhoda)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385754620/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Sewing Stories: Harriet Powers’ Journey from Slave to Artist</a> by Barbara Herkert,
illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452118906/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova</a> by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Julie Morstad
(Chronicle)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580895581/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Trapped! A Whale’s Rescue</a> by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Wendell Minor (Charlesbridge)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0670016527/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower</a> by Greg Pizzoli (Viking)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1419714651/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Trombone Shorty</a> by Troy Andrews, illustrated by Brian Collier
(Abrams)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/159643984X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Water is Water: A Book About the Water Cycle</a> by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Jason Chin (Roaring Brook)</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763677507/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Where Did My Clothes Come From? </a>By Chris Butterworth,
illustrated by Lucia Gaggiotti (Candlewick)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1609055195/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Where Does Kitty Go in the Rain?</a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1609055195/planetecom-20" target="_blank"> </a> By Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Brigette Barrager
(Blue Apple)<o:p></o:p><br />
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Happy reading in the coming year, dear book-loving friends !</div>
Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-42298995994076894002015-11-13T22:22:00.000-06:002015-11-13T22:51:22.680-06:00Best New Nonfiction for the School Year!So much talk about the <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec12/vol70/num04/Nonfiction-Reading-Promotes-Student-Success.aspx" target="_blank">value of nonfiction</a> in the national Common Core curriculum, how it improves vocabulary and is so challenging and etc., etc., honestly, it may be so, but my goodness, nonfiction seems to have the same publicist as broccoli. No need for kids and teachers to wrinkle their noses when there are so many choices that are such a pleasure to share and feed into childrens' organic motivations to read and learn...funny and fascinating poems, real life adventures and achievements, animals! Here are a few of my favorite nonfiction picks of the year from which educators with meager budgets can get a lot of mileage, and book lovers of any persuasion can garner pleasure.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802854206/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Brother Giovanni's Little Reward: How the Pretzel Was Born</a> by Anna Egan Smucker, illustrated by Amanda Hall (Eerdmans). Stirring together ingredients from a sparse pantry of information dating from around 610 A.D., this author bakes up a really lovely legend of a monk who is disappointed to find that intrinsic motivation is not enough to get his students to learn their psalms. Where teaching skills fall short, baking skills compensate. Whatever your faith base, it's a delicious story that celebrates problem-solving and serves as a springboard into discussion about why we choose to learn...and choose to teach. Soft pretzel recipe in the back is a bonus. All right, borderline nonfiction, I know...but a teachable moment to talk about how facts can inspire narrative. What a twist!<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1467716081/planetecom-20" target="_blank">One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia</a> by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon (Millbrook Press). Isatou Ceesay rescued her Gambian village from huge and dangerous accumulations of plastic bags by ingeniously repurposing them into crocheted purses. Also ingenious is the artist's integration of real plastic bags into the illustrations. A story about making a difference told in a simple, straightforward manner, with a dose of "girl power." Generous back matter includes an author's note, pronunciation guide, timeline and a photo of the real Ceesay. <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544313658/planetecom-20" target="_blank">How to Swallow a Pig: Step-by-Step Advice from the Animal Kingdom</a> by Steven Jenkins and Robin Page (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Care to learn how to spin a web like a spider? How to defend yourself like an armadillo? Disguise yourself like an octopus? Want a dancing lesson from a grebe (or to learn what a grebe is)? Fifteen animal how-to's offer exciting insight into some unusual behavior. Robin Page always finds an unexpected lens through which to view the wild world and Steve Jenkins' paper cut illustrations are so miraculous and warrant an almost automatic addition to any nonfiction collection...but fawning over individual talents aside, this is a great model for expository writing and point of view. Other great picks for animal lovers: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1894786602/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Queen's Shadow: A Story About How Animals See</a> by Cybele Young (Kids Can Press); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805099611/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Most Amazing Creature in the Sea</a> by Brenda Z. Guiberson, illustrated by Gennady Spirin (Henry Holt); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/%200763678317/planetecom-20" target="_blank">I (Don't) Like Snakes </a>by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Luciano Lozano (Candlewick) and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/158089707X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">A Tower of Giraffes: Animals in Groups</a> by Anna Wright (Charlesbridge).<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763669636/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Death of the Hat: A Brief History of Poetry in 50 Objects </a>by Paul B. Janeczko, illustrated by Chris Raschka (Candlewick) Every endeavor by the Janeczko-Raschka team dedicated to introducing children to poetry and all its forms deserves to be on every teacher's shelf, being the best thing to happen to the teaching of poetry to children since <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679724710/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Kenneth Koch</a>. This latest takes the tack of demonstrating how poets through the ages have taken everyday things such as manhole covers, birthday cards, boxes, bags and blades of grass and used them as inspiration. The arrangement of the anthology is chronological from the early Middle Ages until the present, just underscoring that wherever and whenever you are, the muse is waiting.<br />
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Poetry is such an important genre in children's literature and education because it can be used across the grade levels, and, when done right, is both of high literary quality while being accessible to children of all different ability levels. To that end, you also won't want to miss T<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1442465557/planetecom-20" target="_blank">he Popcorn Astronauts and Other Biteable Rhymes</a> by Deborah Ruddell and illustrated by Joan Rankin (Margaret K. McElderry Books). Ruddell is one of the most imaginative children's poets working today, and has created a most appetizing collection of foodie poems, among them "The Picky Ogre," "21 Things to Do with an Apple," "Menu for a Gray Day," "Dracula's Late Night Bite," and "Gingerbread House Makeover." Seriously, how can you resist a poem called "Stand and Cheer for MAC and CHEESE!"? Some children's poets overcook their themes, but Ruddell's collection is fresh and inspired from soup to nuts.<br />
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Another great poetry surprise was the seasonal <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/146771805X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Santa Clauses: Short Poems from the North Pole</a> by Bob Raczka and illustrated by Chuck Groenink (Carolrhoda). After reading and enjoying a collection of Japanese haiku given to him by Mrs. Claus, Santa tries his hand at writing his own. Turns out, Santa is a man of many talents. This collection of poems is oddly poignant and evocative, revealing small, real details of Santa's life that had this reader believing all over again. Broad. homey spreads are well-matched to the text. One of my favorites books of this year. <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452118906/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova</a> by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Julie Morstad (Chronicle). Picture book biographies are also one of the most important, inspirational and useful genres of children's literature, and, like poetry, can by readily used across all grade levels. Worthy of weekly "<a href="http://biographybreak.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">biography breaks</a>," you really can't have too many in your collection. This one in particular embodies a kind of perfection. The spread of Pavlova traveling across the world and playing part after part will be pored over by many an aspiring performer, and the literal view through the window into Pavlova's childhood is a gift to the reader. As graceful in both visual and written line as the dancer it portrays, it is unrelenting in its depiction of work, inspiration and generosity. Even the bitterness of the ballerina's ending is made sweeter by a life well-lived. Morstad has illustrated many unusually beautiful books in the course of her career, but they all seem to have been building toward this sublime project. Worthy of applause and the many awards it is bound to receive. </div>
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When I said there are many wonderful biographies, I wasn't kidding. Check out all these outstanding offerings: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452125783/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Marvelous Cornelius: Hurricane Katrina and the Spirit of New Orleans </a>by Phil Bildner, illustrated by John Parra (Chronicle); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/080285432X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Fur, Fins and Feathers: Abraham Dee Bartlett and the Invention of the Modern Zoo</a> by Cassandre Maxwell (Eerdmans); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805090495/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The House that Jane Built: A Story About Jane Addams</a> by Tanya Lee Stone, illustrated by Kathryn Brown (Henry Holt); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385754620/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Sewing Stories: Harriet Powers' Journey from Slave to Artist</a> by Barbara Herkert, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton (Knopf); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1938093321/planetecom-20" target="_blank">100 Pablo Picassos</a> by Violet Lemay (Duo); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/159270171X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Enormous Smallness: A Story of e.e. cummings</a> by Matthew Burgess, illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo (Enchanted Lion Press); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1419716476/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Funny Bones: Posada and his Day of the Dead Calaveras</a> by Duncan Tonatiah (Abrams); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0670016543/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Girl Who Buried Her Dreams in a Can</a> by Dr. Tererai Trent, illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist (Viking). <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763677507/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Where Did My Clothes Come From?</a> by Chris Butterworth, illustrated by Lucia Gaggiotti (Candlewick). The late, great Mr. Fred Rogers showed how important it is to <a href="http://pbskids.org/rogers/picpic.html" target="_blank">make sure young children know how things are made</a>, and this cheerful, clever book falls into that canon. Do children appreciate how the jeans they wear started by growing on a bush, that the sweaters they wear may come from more than eight kinds of animals,or that their soccer uniforms might have started as a syrup? They will once this story is shared! The illustrations are naturally multicultural and inclusive, and help to impart that the clothes we wear are indeed a worldwide effort. This book is an opportunity to look at something we see everyday in a new way, and with new gratitude. A simple but thoughtful page of recycling suggestions makes for a nice finish, as do the fashionable endpapers. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-duhNkypC-NY/Vka2FkTuScI/AAAAAAAAEkI/ZWZVPBDAb_o/s1600/leafbook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-duhNkypC-NY/Vka2FkTuScI/AAAAAAAAEkI/ZWZVPBDAb_o/s320/leafbook.jpg" width="248" /></a>Also check out: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0545478537/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage</a> by Selena Alko, illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selena Alko (Arthur Levine Books); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1566569931/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Chinese Fairy Tale Feasts</a> by Paul Yee and Judy Chan, illustrated by Shaoli Wang (Croodile); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062358685/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Kid President's Guide to Being Awesome</a> by Brad Montague and Robby Novac (HarperCollins); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/076367236X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Book: My Autobiography</a> by John Agard, illustrated by Neil Packer (Candlewick); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399166912/planetecom-20" target="_blank">An A from Miss Keller</a> by Patricia Polacco (G.P. Putnam's Sons); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/044848689X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Are You My Dinner? </a> by Tracey West, illustrated by Luke Flowers (Smithsonian); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763679623/planetecom-20" target="_blank">History of Women's Fashion</a> by Natasha Slee, illustrated by Sanna Mander (Big Picture Books); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0803741413/planetecom-20" target="_blank">My Leaf Book</a> by Monica Wellington (Dial).</div>
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What's your favorite nonfiction this year, really and truly? What works in your classroom and home? Please share in the comments below!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Links for information. Please support your <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/" target="_blank">local independent booksellers</a>. </span><br />
<br />Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-51968036396876903292015-08-30T17:43:00.000-05:002015-08-30T17:50:34.215-05:00Best Picture Books for the New School Year!Oh my goodness, if teachers haven't spent enough already on glue sticks and bulletin board border and what-not...but one of the great pleasures of the plundering of the pedagogue's paycheck is the building of one's own special classroom collection. Here are a baker's half-dozen of primary picture book titles that I would hazard to suggest are useful and lovely enough to be considered must-haves of the season. Treat yourself, or if you're a parent, treat a teacher...and know that the children are being treated as well! <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763676071/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Mouse's First Night at Moonlight School</a> by Simon Puttock, illustrated by Ali Pye (Nosy Crow). Any child will relate to the feeling of shyness on the first day in a new classroom. But don't worry...Miss Moon will help the little mouse find friends, and any child who hears this story will be reassured that his or her classroom teacher will do the same! The nocturnal school setting suggests a certain autumnal spookiness that matches well with the timidity of our hero, and the witchy teacher is simply charming. I personally can't wait to share it with primary students during our first week together!<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385390807/planetecom-20" target="_blank">There Was an Old Dragon Who Swallowed a Knight</a> by Penny Parker Klostermann, illustrated by Ben Mantle (Random House) I know, I know, another "there was an old woman" formulaic cumulative tale chestnut, but really, this one is very good. Exciting, bold and funny illustrations and clever rhymes combine with the appealing Medieval setting to make this a favorite read-aloud. <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763679569/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Troll and the Oliver</a> by Adam Stower (Templar Books) Every day around lunchtime, Troll tries to eat the Oliver, but to no avail. With the catchiest refrain since <i>The Gingerbread Man</i> and a great surprise ending, this book is sure to inspire predictions, choral speaking and a lot of laughs.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316400815/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Grasshopper and the Ants</a> by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown) Can't have too many classics, and the beauty of this version of this Aesop's fable by a multiple Caldecott-winning watercolor artist will make you gasp aloud. You should get it just as a present to yourself, though it's bound to prove as useful and cheerful as a song in the long, cold winter months.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/038537853X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Rufus the Writer</a> by Elizabeth Bram, illustrated by Chuck Groenink (Tundra Books) A story stand instead of a lemonade stand? What an inspired idea! Read how Rufus satisfies his customers, gets paid in an alternative economy and set up your own Story Stand in a writing center. <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/076368001X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Use Your Imagination</a> by Nicola O'Byrne (Nosy Crow) Speaking of story, a rabbit who happens to be a librarian helps a hungry wolf create a narrative with an ending that keeps him from being the end. Meta marvelousness with discussion of action and setting.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452131821/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Fowl Play</a> by Travis Nichols (Chronicle) One of the trickiest parts of learning a new language is learning the idiomatic expressions, and this book is chock full of them, in the context of discovering who broke Mr. Hound's store window. Mystery of helping ESL students solved! <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FMonKGQPX_A/VeOBBXHfgnI/AAAAAAAAEh0/uF_nmPnZRI4/s1600/mrsbenson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FMonKGQPX_A/VeOBBXHfgnI/AAAAAAAAEh0/uF_nmPnZRI4/s200/mrsbenson.jpg" width="170" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544416864/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Whisper</a> by Pamela Zagarenski (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt);
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763665142/planetecom-20" target="_blank">I Will Never Get a Star on Mrs. Benson's Blackboard</a> by Jennifer K. Mann (Candlewick);
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1770496246/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Daisy Saves the Day</a> by Shirley Hughes (Candlewick);
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1770497633/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Snow White and the 77 Dwarfs</a> by Raphael Barbanegre (Tundra Books);
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1909263435/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Little Gardener</a> by Emily Hughes (Flying Eye Books).
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And where is all the nonfiction, you may ask? Stay tuned for best books for the new school year part II! In the meantime, please share your favorites in the comments below and how you use them in the classroom!<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Links for informational purposes. Please support your local<a href="http://www.indiebound.org/indie-store-finder" target="_blank"> independent bookseller</a>! </span></i>Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-1374984759617375172015-01-31T10:38:00.000-06:002015-02-02T10:57:04.240-06:00PLANETESME PICKS: Best Picture Books and Nonfiction of 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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What makes a book great? I created this list with a teacher/school librarian's eye. These are books that are fun to share with a group; books that children love and make children cheer; books that connect to the wider world, and springboard us into further classroom connections or themes; books that promote empathy, history, imagination and arts appreciation; books that are exemplary in their beauty and expand what a book can be. I create these lists with the belief that children's literature is our best hope for equalizing education in America, and recognizing also, in America, we are short on funds in homes and schools. And so I recommend these titles that I share with my own, knowing the children will be the better for encountering them, and that in combination with best books from other years culminate in well-rounded learning through reading. Links for information, please support your local independent bookseller!<br />
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<b>Best picture books of 2014:</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1770496246/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Adventures with Barefoot Critters</a> by Teagen White (Tundra Books) <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0547978995/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Aviary Wonders, Inc.: Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual</a> by Kate Samworth (Clarion) <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802854079/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Brother Hugo and the Bear</a> by Katy Beebe, illustrated by S.D. Schindler (Eerdmans) <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452118949/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Flashlight</a> by Lizi Boyd (Chronicle)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1442451025/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Gaston</a> by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Atheneum)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544150147/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Go to Sleep, Little Farm</a> by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452102031/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Green is a Chile Pepper: A Book of Colors</a> by Roseanne Greenfield Thong, illustrated by John Parra (Chronicle) <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/144245332X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">I Wish I Had a Pet</a> by Maggie Rudy (Beach Lane)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544223608/planetecom-20" target="_blank">A Letter for Leo</a> by Sergio Ruzzier (Clarion Books)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1596439858/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Midnight Library</a> by Kazuno Kohara (Roaring Brook) <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1596437693/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Orchestra Pit</a> by Johanna Wright (Roaring Brook)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399167730/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Peanut Butter and Cupcake</a> by Terry Border (Philomel)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763667811/planetecom-20" target="_blank">A Perfect Place for Ted</a> by Leila Rudge (Candlewick)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0545788927/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Please, Mr. Panda</a> by Steve Antony (Scholastic)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1423152301/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Rooting for You!</a> by Susan Hood, illustrated by Matthew Cordell (Disney-Hyperion) <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0545726069/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Scarecrow's Wedding</a> by Julia Donaldson, illusrtated by Alex Scheffler (Arthur Levine Books) <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316370274/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Secret Life of Squirrels</a> by Nancy Rose (Little, Brown)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763672939/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Shh! We Have a Plan</a> by Chris Haughton (Candlewick)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1423183479/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Wazdot?</a> by Michael Slack (Disney-Hyperion) <br />
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Other great picture books of 2014: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316070297/planetecom-20" target="_blank">My Teacher is a Monster!</a> by Peter Brown (Little, Brown); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1442494921/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Draw! </a>by Raul Colon (Simon & Schuster); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763676217/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Before After</a> by Anne-Margot Ramstein and Matthias Arégui (Candlewick); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/054552167X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Noodle Magic</a> by Roseanne Greenfield Thong, illustrated by Meilo So (Orchard); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0439915309/planetecom-20" target="_blank">I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Dreidel</a> by Caryn Yacowitz, illustrated by David Slonim (Arthur Levine); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544142284/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Princess Sparkle-Heart Gets a Makeover</a> by Josh Schneider (Clarion); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375870326/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Dandelion's Tale</a> by Kevin Sheehan, illustrated by Rob Dunlavey; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1442497440/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Farmer and the Clown</a> by Marla Frazee (Beach Lane); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805099670/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Storm Whale</a> by Benji Davies (Holt); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1419712195/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Happy Birthday, Madame Chapeau</a> by Andrea Beaty; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763671010/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Troll Swap</a> by Leigh Hodgkinson (Nosy Crow): <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544045491/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Big Bad Bubble</a> by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri (Clarion); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0803741715/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Book with No Pictures</a> by B.J. Novak (Dial); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/193778620X/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Never Say a Mean Word Again: A Tale from Medieval Spain</a> by Jacqueline Jules, illustrated by Durga Yael Bernhard (Wisdom Tales);<span class="author notFaded" data-width=""></span> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763665010/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Rex Wrecks It!</a> by Ben Clanton (Candlewick); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763671274/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Odd One Out: A Spotting Book</a> by Britta Teckentrup (Big Picture Press).</div>
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<b>Best nonfiction of 2014:</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1442487283/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Ashley Bryan's Puppets</a> by Ashley Bryan (Atheneum)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385755155/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Ballerina Dreams: From Orphan to Dancer </a>by Michaela and Elaine DePrince, illustrated by Frank Morrison (Random House)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763658065/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Cosmo-Biography of Sun Ra</a> by Chris Raschka (Candlewick) <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763648426/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems</a> selected by Paul Janeczko, illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Candlewick)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544157842/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Food Trucks!</a> by Mark Todd (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544130014/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Gingerbread for Liberty! How a German Baker Helped Win the American Revolution</a> by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1419707965/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Girl from the Tar Paper School: Barbara Johns and the Advent of the Civil Rights Movement</a> by Teri Kanefield (Abrams)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544252306/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla</a> by Katherine Applegate, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (Clarion) <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1452103143/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker</a> by Patricia Hruby Powell, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Chronicle)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1481422944/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Malala: A Brave Girl from Pakistan/ Iqbal: A Brave Boy from Pakistan</a> by Jeanette Winter (Beach Lane)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544339053/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Miss Patch's Learn to Sew Book</a> by Carolyn Meyer (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763653241/planetecom-20" target="_blank">On the Wing</a> by David Elliot, illustrated by Becca Standtlander (Candlewick)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802853854/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus</a> by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Eerdmans)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1442458801/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Some Bugs</a> by Angelina DeTerlizzi, illustrated by Brendan Wenzel (Beach Lane) <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763673153/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes</a> by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Emily Sutton (Candlewick)<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0547906501/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold</a> by Joyce Sidman and Rick Allen (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)<br />
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Other great nonfiction of 2014: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0374380694/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Pilot and the Little Prince: the Life of Antoine de Saint Éxupery</a> by Peter Sis (Farrar Straus Giroux); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1419710540/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation</a> by Duncan Tonatiuh (Abrams); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1442412607/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Weeds Find a Way</a> by Cindy Jenson-Elliot, illustrated by Carolyn Fisher (Beach Lane);
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375856064/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Leontyne Price: Voice of a Century</a> by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Raul Colon (Knopf); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1600609708/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Lend a Hand: Poems About Giving</a> by John Frank, illustrated by London Ladd (Lee & Low)<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316209171/planetecom-20" target="_blank"></a>; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1568462409/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Everything is a Poem: The Best of J. Patrick Lewis</a> by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Maria Cristina Pritelli (Creative Editions); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0545478537/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage</a> by Selina Aiko, illustrated by Sean Qualls (Arthur Levine Books); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1596439602/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Star Stuff: Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos</a> by Stephanie Roth Sisson (Roaring Brook); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0545577853/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Buried Sunlight: How Fossil Fuels Have Changed the Earth</a> by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm (Scholastic); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1596439483/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse</a> by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Hadley Hooper (Roaring Brook);<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exehttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0761393420/planetecom-20/obidos/ASIN/0761393420/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Handle with Care: An Unusual Butterfly Journey</a> by Loree Griffin Burns, photos by Ellen Harasimowicz (<span class="author notFaded" data-width="">Millbrook); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580894305/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Feathers: Not Just for Flying</a> by Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen (Charlesbridge); <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1596436034/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Viva Frida</a> by Yuyi Morales (Roaring Brook). </span><br />
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<span class="author notFaded" data-width="">Best chapter books for young readers coming soon! </span><br />
<br />
<span class="author notFaded" data-width="">What did I miss? Please share your favorites of the past year in the comments below! </span><br />
<br />
<span class="author notFaded" data-width="">And if you're looking for great children's literature from past years to supplement your child's education...</span><br />
<span class="author notFaded" data-width="">Best books list 2006, click <a href="http://planetesme.blogspot.com/2006/12/planetesme-picks-2006-index.html" target="_blank">here</a>! </span><br />
<span class="author notFaded" data-width="">Best Books 2007, click <a href="http://planetesme.blogspot.com/2008/03/planetesme-picks-2007-index.html" target="_blank">here</a>!</span><br />
<span class="author notFaded" data-width="">Best Books 2008, click <a href="http://planetesme.blogspot.com/2009/04/planetesme-picks-2008-index.html" target="_blank">here</a>!</span><br />
<span class="author notFaded" data-width="">Best Books 2009, click <a href="http://planetesme.blogspot.com/2010/03/planetesme-picks-2009-index.html" target="_blank">here</a>!</span><br />
<span class="author notFaded" data-width="">Best Books 2010, click <a href="http://planetesme.blogspot.com/2011/01/on-eve-of-caldecottnewbery-awards.html" target="_blank">here</a></span><br />
<span class="author notFaded" data-width="">Best Books 2011, click <a href="http://planetesme.blogspot.com/search?q=planetesme+picks+2011" target="_blank">here</a>!</span><br />
<span class="author notFaded" data-width="">Best Books 2012, click <a href="http://planetesme.blogspot.com/2013/01/planetesme-picks-best-books-of-2012.html" target="_blank">here</a>! </span><br />
<span class="author notFaded" data-width="">Best Books 2013, click <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/esmec/planetesme-picks-2013/" target="_blank">here</a>!</span>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0374380694/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0374380694/planetecom-20" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OsT0AWNq5KE/VCiHY97tDpI/AAAAAAAAETk/vSHXQo_yTj4/s1600/pilotprince.jpg" height="320" width="249" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0374380694/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><i><b>The Pilot and the Little Prince: The Life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry</b></i> by Peter Sis</a> (Farrar Straus Giroux). Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-70768505984779679082014-03-04T17:41:00.000-06:002014-09-28T15:43:47.020-05:00MY TEACHER IS A MONSTER! (PICTURE BOOK)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316070297/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316070297/planetecom-20" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J8bDtTE9Qyo/U8_pXisoqSI/AAAAAAAAEMs/Rc6LgWzNliU/s1600/myteacherisamonster.jpg" height="320" width="249" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316070297/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><i><b>My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I Am Not.) </b></i>by Peter Brown</a>.
A boy with a penchant for irritating his teacher encounters her outside of school and finds her to be an entirely different creature. Brown's pictures are funny and Ms. Kirby's illustrated metamorphosis into a human being is gradual and pretty darn great. This book, despite it's laughs, has an unexpected depth and speaks volumes about teacher/student relationships; the only disappointment is that when Robert regresses into his bad behavior back in the classroom at the end of the book, Ms. Kirby is depicted as the monster instead of Bobby.<style>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Link for information; please
support your local independent bookseller. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></div>
<br />Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-64053159221579501422014-02-28T20:57:00.000-06:002014-09-28T15:50:20.398-05:00FIREFLY JULY (POETRY)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763648426/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763648426/planetecom-20" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ri9U-wQgwhI/U8_nE-1moBI/AAAAAAAAEMU/VEi1u9zGs7M/s1600/fireflyjuly.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763648426/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><i><b>Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems</b></i> by Paul B. Janeczko, illustrated by Melissa Sweet</a>. </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Sun's a roaring dandelion, hour by hour.<br />
Sometimes the moon's a scythe, sometimes a silver flower.<br />
But the stars! all night long the stars are clover.<br />
Over, and over, and over!<br />
- <i>Robert Wallace, "In the Field Forever"</i></blockquote>
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
What greater gift on the bookshelf than a perfect anthology of poems? This lovely, over-sized tome of thirty six well-chosen treasures takes us through the wheel of the year with evocative and colorful full-edge mixed media. The only complaint might be wishing the "very short" ride would never end, but open it back up, and the seasons begin again. A book that would be relished as a gift, and a lyrical read-aloud treat for teachers as well.</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Link for information; please
support your local independent bookseller. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><br />
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Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-9711871227508785182014-02-21T18:31:00.000-06:002014-09-28T14:33:13.407-05:00AVIARY WONDERS, INC. (PICTURE BOOK)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0547978995/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0547978995/planetecom-20" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YA1nIYtEwOs/U8_otTyYR6I/AAAAAAAAEMk/k0g97cur5LI/s1600/aviarywonders.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0547978995/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><i><b>Aviary Wonders, Inc.: Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual</b></i> by Kate Samworth.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Extremely creative and extraordinarily gorgeous build-your-own-bird guide that painlessly introduces children to high-level science vocabulary and explores biology part by beautiful painted part, while quirky Q&A and assembly instructions also introduce readers to wonderful expository writing. Teachers, this is an out-of-the-box mentor text, as children will enjoy creating their own catalogs and order forms for creatures that inspire them. Imagination takes flight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Link for information; please
support your local independent bookseller. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></div>
<br />Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-59657027415373970952014-02-12T20:41:00.000-06:002014-09-28T15:51:21.632-05:00BROTHER HUGO AND THE BEAR (PICTURE BOOK)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802854079/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802854079/planetecom-20" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fqi-vJslrn0/U8_mbVKUG4I/AAAAAAAAEMI/8z70h9zpNMM/s1600/brotherhugo.jpg" height="320" width="252" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802854079/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Brother Hugo and the Bear by Katy Beebe, illustrated by S.D. Schindler</a>.
Based on a real note found in a 12th century manuscript, a monk loses a library book when it is eaten by a bear, and makes penance by recreating the manuscript page by painstaking page. But will the bear be waiting for another course? An exciting read-aloud that teaches the process of how books used to be made, you don't have to be a bruin to find this book delicious. I only wish the publisher had invested in a little illumination...ah, well, nothing a gold marker can't fix.</span><style>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Link for information; please
support your local independent bookseller. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<br />Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-62366592818431274572014-02-06T22:04:00.000-06:002014-09-28T15:49:41.763-05:00HELP! WE NEED A TITLE! (PICTURE BOOK)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763670219/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763670219/planetecom-20" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g8EYz7AgLT0/U8_oADANuhI/AAAAAAAAEMc/-qc1qHPSPtg/s1600/helpweneedatitle.jpg" height="320" width="256" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763670219/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><b><i>Help! We Need a Title! </i></b> by Henré Tullet</a>.
Nothing's betta than a little meta. An author climbs inside his own story to make peace with his characters and give them something exciting to do. While this character-in-a-book awareness stunt has been done in various iterations in children's literature before (Henrik Drescher's unfairly out-of-print <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1596921358/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Simon's Book</a> being one example, Mo Willems' <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1423133080/planetecom-20" target="_blank">We Are In a Book!</a> and Mordecai Gerstein's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1596432519/planetecom-20" target="_blank">A Book</a> more recent explorations on the theme) and my favorite writing-process-book-for-kids remains Mary Jane Auch's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0823423077/planetecom-20" target="_blank">The Plot Chickens</a>, naturally the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0811879542/planetecom-20" target="_blank">Press Here</a> has his own fun and cunning spin on things; expressive photos of the author himself pasted inside the book makes this a little fresh and lively lines are kid-friendly and worth a look. </div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Link for information; please
support your local independent bookseller. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><br />
<br />Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-22952852101954628082014-02-01T18:21:00.000-06:002014-09-28T15:49:06.307-05:00FOOD TRUCKS! (NONFICTION)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544157842/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544157842/planetecom-20" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WSo251k5mXg/U8_l2kSLf9I/AAAAAAAAEMA/vjKI_Q-_ypg/s1600/foodtrucks.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0544157842/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><i><b>Food Trucks</b></i> by Mark Todd</a>.
Each double-paged spread features a chummy vehicle, a poem and fun facts to fit every taste: breakfast , burger, barbecue, falafel, salad, grilled cheese, cupcakes, sushi, curries, taco, pretzel, waffle, and, of course, ice cream. While this title's content travels a bit all over the place with verse on one side and surprising non-fiction samples on the other, it offers an appetizing opportunity for children not only to choose a favorite but to design their own truck celebrating whatever culture and culinary tradition honks their horn.<br />
Link for information; please support your local independent bookseller. </div>
Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-55272939421205953132014-01-13T17:59:00.000-06:002014-07-11T17:02:37.410-05:00SECRET PIZZA PARTY (PICTURE BOOK)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0803739478/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0803739478/planetecom-20" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GC84wSXo3pA/U8BetwuffvI/AAAAAAAAELw/ybT9gTsZQaA/s1600/secretpizzaparty.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0803739478/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><i><b>Secret Pizza Party</b></i> by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri.</a> Silly raccoon!
Pizza's for kids! Can't blame a guy for trying, though. Count on this author to
make us laugh out loud. Recommended by The PlanetEsme Plan. Link for information; please support your local independent bookseller. </span>
Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-37637291662828082362014-01-12T22:28:00.000-06:002014-07-11T14:32:02.321-05:00WHO PUT THE COOKIES IN THE COOKIE JAR? (PICTURE BOOK)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805091971/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805091971/planetecom-20" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7hhyJqQQ5aY/U8A7cPXbbEI/AAAAAAAAEJo/IoZMGSNgDdE/s1600/cookiejar.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805091971/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><b><i>Who Put the Cookies in the Cookie Jar?</i></b> by George Shannon and Julie Paschkis</a>. Gotta love a book that shows kids where their food comes from. Large,
folksy illustrations are a pleasure to share with a group. Recommended by The
PlanetEsme Plan. Link for information; please support your local independent bookseller. </span>
</div>
Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24418123.post-40678828759926306342014-01-11T23:22:00.000-06:002014-07-11T14:26:51.643-05:00THE ANIMAL BOOK (NONFICTION)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/054755799X/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/054755799X/planetecom-20" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mBIwlC8CRRo/U8A6U6DhoRI/AAAAAAAAEJc/mYiFbS6Ajkw/s1600/animalbook.jpg" height="320" width="250" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/054755799X/planetecom-20" target="_blank"><b><i>The Animal Book: A Collection of the Fastest, Fiercest, Toughest,Cleverest, Shyest--and Most Surprising--Animals on Earth</i></b> by Steve Jenkins. </a>Boom! A massive collection of animal information by the master, accented with
amazing cut and torn paper illustration. Recommended by The PlanetEsme Plan. Link for information; please support your local independent bookseller. </span>
Esme Raji Codellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04517767178981635423noreply@blogger.com0