Sunday, August 14, 2011

2 GREAT NEW ABC BOOKS


I love unique ABC books and I recently found two that I can't wait to share with kids!


CAVEMAN ABC STORY by Janee Trasler is a fun story about a Caveman and his pet(s). It begins with the letter A, when the Caveman and his pet Squirrel find an "ACORN". But the word on the 2nd page is "BEAR" and you know what that means. The author takes us through the letters of the alphabet, using one word for each letter, to tell us a story of the caveman.  First of all, this is a fun, unique ABC book in that it tells a complete story with only one word per letter/page. 

APPLE PIE ABC was similar in format, but relied on phrases rather than single words to tell the story.  (It would be fun to pair these two.) Not only is CAVEMAN ABC STORY a fun concept, but the illustrations are colorful and fun. This is definitely a book that kids will want to pick up.  And it is a great book for new readers--it will support picture reading, word work strategies, storytelling and more.  A MUST HAVE, I think:-)

The other new ABC book I love is IF ROCKS COULD SING: A DISCOVERED ALPHABET by Leslie McGuirk (I learned about this one from Bill at Literate Lives.)  Author, Leslie McGuirk began a collection of rocks years ago when she noticed rocks that looked like letters. This book showcases her collection in Alphabet Book format. Not only has Leslie McGuirk found rocks that look like every letter of the alphabet, but she's also found rocks that look like objects that begin with each letter of the alphabet. So, on the "T is for Toast" page, we get to see the rock that is shaped like the letter T as well as the rock shaped like toast (which is displayed on a plate with a knife and butter:-).  This is an amazing book once you understand that these are real rocks that the author found. This would be a fun one for beginning readers. I can also see it as a tie-in to any landforms/erosion/weather type of unit that teachers do in Science--how did these rocks become these shapes?

Friday, August 12, 2011

Poetry Friday -- Time Does Not Stand Still



TIME DOES NOT STAND STILL

It's been said before
(a million-million times)
but it bears repeating:
time is a river that does not
(cannot)
stand still and wait for me.

--I remember the exact moment I learned to float on my back in the cold blue water of the swimming pool. I lay there looking up at the cloudless sky, sun on my face, roar of water in my ears. Floating. I floated until someone came and stood me up and told me that swimming lessons were over.--

Today I will try floating
on the river of time
instead of thrashing my arms and legs against the never ending current,
instead of racing to beat it to some place where no finish line exists.


© Mary Lee Hahn, 2011




It's good to be back, after two weeks in Belgium. Simultaneously, it's hard to be back, after two weeks in Belgium.

It's impossible not to think about time when you're in a place where the 1800's are recent history. The image above is the remaining fragment of the original city wall of Brussels. The river of time has clearly moved on and stranded it there in the midst of modern life.

It's impossible not to think about time when the new school year wakes you up and leaves you sleepless in the cricket-dark of the early morning.

Karen is hosting today's Poetry Friday round up at Karen Edmisten: The Blog With The Shockingly Clever Title. (I love writing that!) Many thanks to Kate and Libby for rounding up my scheduled PF posts the past two weeks while I was away!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Tugg and Teeny: Jungle Surprises



Tugg and Teeny: Jungle Surprises
by J. Patrick Lewis
illustrated by Christopher Denise
Sleeping Bear Press, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

I love this series (and I tell why here)!

The first first book had three stories that were all arts-themed. The second book in the series has three mysteries. In the first story, the friends solve the mystery of Teeny's missing lucky writing hat. In the second, the animals figure out how to tell Zig and Zag (the zebras) apart. (Look closely in the last illustration for the clue you need!) Finally, the pair figures out what kind of a bird has "polka dot wings and a wiggly tail."

This is a great series for beginning chapter book readers.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

10 for 10 -- Folk and Fairy Tale Variants

First of all, can I just say how much I love the number TEN?
I love it almost as much as I love the magical numbers THREE and SEVEN!!

SOOOoooo...for this year's 10 for 10 Picture Books event at Reflect & Refine and Enjoy and Embrace Learning, I have chosen 10 Favorite Folk and Fairy Tale Variants -- TEN books that might feature the magical numbers of THREE or SEVEN (3+7 does = 10, after all!!).

These first two are

Yummy: Eight Favorite Fairy TalesYummy: Eight Favorite Fairy Tales by Lucy Cousins
This one's the anchor for the set -- 8 familiar fairy tales, told in short form, with big, bold illustrations. Good for reference, good for students who've gotten to 4th grade without knowing some basic fairy tales, good for ELL students and other readers who need that picture support. A big, thick picture book.





Fairly Fairy TalesFairly Fairy Tales by Esmé Raji Codell
This book follows a pattern of asking the reader about three fairy tale elements or characters from familiar stories ("Red hood? Yes. Wolf? Yes. Grandma? Yes.") followed by something that might not fit the story ("Shampoo? NOOOOO!") and an illustration that shows how it might ("Well, maybe." -- and we see Little Red's Grandma's Beauty Salon, serving wolves, with the woodcutter as the shampoo guy.




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Next, we've got a pair of books that riff on the same variant -- in both these books, the Dish and the Spoon run away, with different results.

And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel
And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon










The Adventures of the Dish and the SpoonThe Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon by Mini Grey













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These two give us the world of fairy tales in poetry form:


Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible VerseMirror Mirror  by Marilyn Singer












You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fairy Tales to Read TogetherYou Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Fairy Tales by Mary Ann Hoberman













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What would fairy tales be without princesses? Here are two that give us, first, a very non-traditional look at princesses, and second, a mashup of lots of familiar princesses, all in the same story.


The Secret Lives of PrincessesThe Secret Lives of Princesses by Philippe Lechermeier











There's a Princess in the PalaceThere's a Princess in the Palace by Zoë B. Alley













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Here's that magic number THREE! Three osos/bears, and three dassies/pigs:



Rubia and the Three OsosRubia and the Three Osos by Susan Middleton Elya











The 3 Little DassiesThe 3 Little Dassies by Jan Brett












Last year, I shared 10 Picture Books I've Loved for More Than 10 Years. It was fun to gather another 10 to share this year. I can't wait to see everyone else's lists!

10 for 10--Picture Books that Celebrate Words!

I LOVE this day and hope is becomes an annual tradition FOREVER! Thanks to Cathy at REFLECT AND REFINE and Mandy at ENJOY AND EMBRACE LEARNING for creating this wonderful event! It is totally impossible for me to come up with my Top 10 picture books so I didn't even attempt it.  Instead I have must Must-Haves (at the moment favorites) that celebrate words.

I have learned over the years, that word play takes me a long way with kids.  If I want them to think about words and word choice in writing, if I want them to pay attention to new words they see and hear, and if I want them to discover the power of words, they must first have fun with words. So, I am always looking for new books that help kids celebrate the fun in words. I often use these books in the first six weeks of school to start various conversations about words that we'll come back to. Each of these books is fun and playful and invites kids into the joy of word play. Most of the books listed are natural invitations for children to play with words in lots of ways!


Mr. Putney's Quacking DogMr. Putney's Quacking Dog by Jon Agee is a fun book about a man who has all sorts of animal (and other) friends.  Each page serves as a type of riddle for readers.  The wording of the riddle give readers a clue into the answer to the riddle and each requires that readers put together two words. This is the perfect level of humor and word play for young and middle grade readers.  The language play is very accessible to them.



This Plus That: Life's Little EquationsThis Plus That is Amy Krouse Rosenthal's newest book and is such fun!  Rosenthal puts words into equations to help define the word a bit. The equations become a riddle for the reader and kids definitely leave this book wanting to try word equations of their own.

Chicken CheeksChicken Cheeks by Michael Ian Black is a book about bottoms.  The illustrations and words work together to describe animals trying to get to the honey at the top of a tree. But the main words in the story label the "bottoms" of each animal. A new word is used to label each animal's bottom (derriere, patootie, etc.) This is a fun book and a great way to begin conversations about synonyms and word choice.  (The video of Michael Ian Black reading this one aloud is quite fun!)

Animal SoupAnimal Soup by Todd Doodler is a lift-the-flap book. It is a another book that combines two known words to create a new word.  Doodler asks the reader a question that requires combining two animal words and the reader lifts the flap for the answer.  A fun read for young children and a great way to begin discussions about word parts with older kids.

Q Is for Duck: An Alphabet Guessing GameQ is for Duck is an old favorite.  It is an alphabet book but it is a little bit tricky.  The book follows a pattern telling readers things like "Q is for duck". When the reader turns they page, they realize that "Q is for duck" because "a duck quacks." Readers love to work to figure out how the letters relate to the word given.  A fun game for readers to play and the text is great for new readers.




A Sock Is a Pocket for Your Toes: A Pocket BookI love the way that Liz Scanlon thinks about pockets in the book A Sock is a Pocket for Your Toes.  Who could have thought of a sock being a pocket for your toes? This book is full of ideas like this and it is great fun looking at how authors can play with words in unique ways.






Beach Is to Fun: A Book of RelationshipsHad I known about Beach is to Fun:  A Book of Relationships by Pat Brisson when I was in elementary school, analogies might make far more sense to me!  This is a book of analogies and the comparisons follow the rules of good analogies. It is fun for readers to discover the way these analogies work. When I've used this book with 3rd-5th graders, they beg to go off and try to write their own analogies around a topic.  So different from my attitude about analogies after being introduced to them on a multiple choice bubble sheet!?

Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible VerseMirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse  by Marilyn Singer is simply brilliant!  In this take on classic fairy tales, the author plays with Reverso and actually completely reverses the words in one poem to create another, very different poem about the same story.  This is a fun read and the idea of Reverso is discussed at the end of the book.  This is a great book to include with fairy tale reading too!

DogkuEvery time I read DOGKU by Andrew Clements to a group,  I have several students begging to try to write a story in Haiku. That is what the author does in DOGKU. This is a picture book story about a lost dog who finds a new home.  But each page is written in Haiku. Even the author blurb and other features in the book are written in Haiku. A fun way to write and enjoy a story!

One Foot, Two Feet
I just found is One Foot, Two Feet by Peter Maloney. The book appears to be a simple counting book but the paired words are really "exceptional plurals". The illustrations are shown with cut out frames and the words are show the various ways that we turn singular words into plural words.