Raz-Kids

Another picture book app that I have come across that I would recommend for students would be Raz-Kids. The animated books and interactive quizzes are but two aspects of this award winning site that makes it popular among students.

Raz-Kids boasts to having more than 400 titles on its website, and that it adds more books every month. Each of the books can be listened to so fluency can be modeled for the students. Even better, the students can record themselves reading the books. What a great learning tool! The teachers can go on each student's account so they can monitor student's progress.

In order to aid comprehension, each title is coupled with an eQuiz for that particular book. Again, teachers can go into that student's account to receive skill reports on each student, as well as online cumulative records.

Raz-Kids has made its app kid-friendly, which makes it easier for students to understand how to interact with the digital picture books. This makes for an ideal situation, since once students have this understanding, they are able to derive a beneficial relationship with reading and, ultimately, literacy.

Raz-Kids is always available on the internet and can be accessed on nearly any mobile device. That means that kids can take their reading with them anywhere, anytime. A little summer reading, anyone?

Reading Eggs

Digital picture books can be some pretty useful tools, and I'm not just talking about just downloading books onto iPads and Kindles. There are many digital picture book apps available for beginning readers in order to enhance literacy learning.

Reading Eggs (www.readingeggs.com) is a digital picture book app that my elementary school utilizes for its students. The app has many online reading games and activities for the younger
readers. As the students get older and learn to read, they can move on to Reading Eggspress, which has digital books available for students to read and utilize.

Reading Eggs will send students through a series of activities that are supposed to help their fluency and vocabulary, as well as their comprehension. There are rewards along the way for the students to motivate them to continue learning. For the younger and older students, Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress is fairly simple to navigate. Nearly everything is 'clickable.' I've found it to be a good program for the younger and older.

As the younger students progress to Reading Eggspress, however, they get avatars. In order to make it more personal, students can create their avatars however they like. While a great concept, many of my kids will spend an entire session dressing their avatars in different clothes, as well as changing their looks.

While Reading Eggspress does have titles available from which to choose, the number of titles is limited. The books on screen look like books and the students click to turn the pages. The students are able to listen as they read along, but the interactivity between the reader and the program seems to be somewhat limited.

The important thing, though, is that the students are able to progress at their own pace. It's easy for them to go back and reread (and hear) pages if needed. I have also found that, despite shortcomings, Reading Eggs holds students' attention well, even those who tend to be easily distracted.

Overall, I would say that Reading Eggs seems to be a good program. If you're looking solely for interactive books, I would suggest that you keep looking. However, if you're looking for engaging activities and reading, Reading Eggs would most likely be a good fit for you.

Monarch Butterfly

Sometimes, the best books come through suggestions. I had a classmate suggest I try a Gail Gibbons

title, and Monarch Butterfly (1989) found its way into my hands. Like many of her books, Monarch Butterfly is an informative, straightforward text that delves into the life cycle of the monarch butterfly.

Gibbons does an artful job of illustrating the butterfly's life cycle through text and illustrations. One of the wonderful things about her books is how they dive right in to the text on the first page. In Monarch Butterfly in particular, her opening illustrations are double framed, and look like a photograph within a picture. However, Gibbons likes for her illustrations to stray outside of their frames sometimes. Gibbons writing sets a warm, inviting tone for the reader. Her use of detail almost personifies the butterflies that she passionately writes about.

Monarch Butterfly would be an excellent text for kindergarten through second grade. The illustrations are well labeled and the difficult words are illustrated and explained for the reader. After going through this book, I feel certain my kindergartners would be able to fill out (with some help, of course!) a graphic organizer with their own illustrations mapping out the life cycle of a butterfly!

Any Gail Gibbons titles are a welcome addition within my own personal library. I would strongly suggest Monarch Butterfly, or any other Gibbons titles, for your personal and classroom library!

An Egg Is Quiet

There are not many informational informational non-fiction books that I would consider creative.  An Egg is Quiet (2006) by Dianna Hutts Aston and illustrated by Sylvia Long, however, I consider to be one of the most creative that I have read. The overall tone of the book is quiet, almost comforting and soothing, as we read about and discover all sorts of information about eggs and the animals that laid them.

An Egg is Quiet is all about eggs. And it is not just about bird eggs, either. It includes shark eggs, insect eggs, reptile eggs, turtle eggs, fish eggs, frogs eggs and everything in between. The main text is simple and straightforward and tells the reader what eggs can be. However, it's the captions and the photos throughout that give the reader the most amazing amount of information on all these eggs.

A fascinating, fun read, An Egg is Quiet utilizes a formal script type font for the main storyline of the book. The font used in the captions, however, is less formal, giving the book a friendly, 'let's talk about eggs' feel to it. The unframed illustrations exquisitely capture the amazing detail and color of the eggs, giving the reader as much detail as the text does.

An Egg is Quiet would be a wonderful hook into a science unit on animals. During a second read through, we could work on comparing and contrasting eggs of different birds, or eggs of different animals. With my kindergartners, we could do a graphic organizer labeling the parts of an egg, or the stages an egg goes through as the animal inside develops and is born.

Simple, but incredibly informative, An Egg is Quiet should have a place on the shelf of any classroom library.

Bone: Out from Boneville

Graphic novels are a relatively new phenomenon. I've never given them much thought, but that was before I read Bone: Out from Boneville (2005) by Jeff Smith. Having never read any of the books in the Bone series, it was a little unusual. However, I find the graphic novel aspect refreshing, as it is a different type of read since it is a change from the norm.

Out from Boneville is about three cousins -- Fone Bone, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone -- who have been cast out of Boneville because of Phoney's financial indiscretions. The cousins get separated in the desert and each finds his way to the same large valley, which is filled with people and all sorts of creatures. After several misadventures, the three cousins manage to reunite on a farm deep in the valley. Being part of a series, the reader discovers some dark, behind the scenes characters who are out to get the three Bone cousins, and have future plans for the trio.

Graphic novels exercise a different set of reading skills. Because it is made up of a series of panels, the reader has to determine the order of the panels. Given that it has copious amount of illustration, the reader can and must use visual cues in order to fully understand the story. The reader doesn't need details in the text since many of those details can be given visually. Also, the graphic novel reader can "see" sounds. In Out from Boneville, for example, we see Phoney yelling at the other two through large, bold words in his text balloons. A page later, we see the "ZZZZ" of a cloud of locusts descending upon our hapless trio.

While Out from Boneville may not be appropriate content-wise for my kindergartners, it might be just about right for third-graders. I feel like we would do a read through together, so that I can help them get the hang of following panels in the correct order. However, we could also do some of the same things we do with other stories, such as comparing and contrasting the characters using Venn diagrams, as well as B-M-E organizers.

I've seen several students at my current school reading several books from the Bone series. I feel like any of these from this series would be good titles for a classroom library.

Woolvs in the Sitee

Of all the picture books that I have read, none have had as much of a lasting, profound effect upon me as Woolvs in the Sitee (2006) by Margaret Wild (illustrated by Anne Spudvilas). This award winning, yet controversial book sends the reader on a wild, heart pounding ride of an adventure. By the time you get to the end, you have to re-read it to make sure you didn't miss anything!

Woolvs in the Sitee is a brief, terrifying story a boy, Ben, who is trapped in a single room in a basement by himself. He is trapped by the "woolvs" who have taken over the city where he lives. In this first person narrative, Ben doesn't tell us who or what the "woolvs" are, but he lets us know they are there. His only ally, Miss Radinski, goes missing one day and Ben has to face his fears and the "woolvs" and go out to rescue her, the same way she had rescued him once.

The spelling and dark colors on the cover of Woolvs in the Sitee set an ominous tone for the story. The reader can't help but wonder what has gone wrong. The edge to edge dark illustrations and childlike spelling of the actual text create a dark textured story. Throughout the story, the images are either what Ben sees looking up, or views looking down on Ben. Ben is always looking off somewhere else, except on the last page where the illustrator uses demand. On the last page, Ben is looking directly up at us, the readers, and saying, "Joyn me," as he goes out to face the demons that he fears and that have taken Miss Radinski.

While not appropriate for kindergartners, Woolvs in the Sitee would be better suited for third grade students and up. I would have my students retelling the story through B-M-E organizers. I would also have them do some character work, telling me how Ben changes. This exercise has them telling me how he feels at the beginning and at the end of the story and how he changed. Through this exercise, they would also tell me what the catalyst was that caused this change. And of course, we would discuss who or what the "woolvs" in the story represent.

Woolvs in the Sitee is a profound, thought provoking story. I feel like it might be a good book for an upper grade classroom library. I feel like the story is powerful enough to interest and hook students who claim they don't enjoy reading.

Gone Fishing

Big brothers prove bothersome, but little sisters are the worst! Don't believe me? Read Gone Fishing, a novel written in verse! I honestly couldn't have NOT read Gone Fishing (2013) which was written by Tamera Will Wissinger and illustrated by Matthew Cordell. It's a children's novel. It's poetry. It's fishing. Need I say more, except that you should read it?

Gone Fishing is mostly about Sam, a young boy who is very excited to be going on a fishing trip with just his father. However, Lucy, Sam's younger sister, manages to wriggle her way into the trip with her brother and father. Sam, who has been dreaming and planning for this trip, is not happy about this new development. The story takes place in the course of one day -- the actual fishing trip. Dad keeps the peace while Lucy causes trouble, has fun and out fishes her brother. While I don't want to give away a good ending, I will tell you that by the time of the fish dinner that evening, the story ends with fond memories for everyone involved.

The illustrations in Gone Fishing are nearly as fun as the story itself. Each illustration is an inset picture with no frame (except for two that are supposed to look like photographs taken and a frame around the dinner menu) that are scattered about the pages. Many stretch from one page to the next and several actually go "through" the text itself!

Gone Fishing's text is broken up by a multitude of different types of poetry. The story contains quatrains, cinquains, list poems, concrete poems, and more. Each different poetry style accentuates the point the author is trying to get across, such as the concrete poem, The Night Before Fishing, written in the shape of a fish above Sam, laying in his bed, dreaming of the upcoming trip. The author tells us whose poem is whose so that we, the readers, know whose point of view we're reading.

Where to start with my lessons?! I most certainly would read this to my kindergartners. Gone Fishing would be a wonderful introduction to different styles of poetry. Many of the poems rhyme and we could make anchor charts with rhyming words. We could practice some of the dramatic poems for three and perform them in class. There are list poems included, such as What To Pack? I think my kindergartners would enjoy creating their own list poems.

Additionally, Gone Fishing has a wonderful sequence to it. Some of the individual poems, such as What To Pack? do as well. My kindergartners and I would be creating timelines of the story, noting what comes first, next, then and last. We would make our own lists of what we would take on our own fishing trips...

I would definitely include Gone Fishing in my personal library. I would have to have a second copy to include in my classroom library. When you luck into a fun book like this, it's good to have a back up copy somewhere!

In the Night Kitchen

There are few books that both intrigue and perplex me at the same time. In the Night Kitchen (1970) by Maurice Sendak, an older book, still manages this after numerous years. It perplexed me in that I never understood why, or how, Mickey (the young boy and main character) fell out of his clothes. It also intrigued me because the bakers refer to Mickey as milk.

This controversial book is a rhyming story about Mickey, who has a dream. In his dream, Mickey falls out of his clothes and down into the Night Kitchen. In fact, he falls, naked, into a batch of cake batter. Three identical bakers mix him into the batter and try to cook him, thinking he is the milk for the batter. Mickey pops out of the cake, now dressed in batter, explains that he is not the milk, and sets off to retrieve milk for the bakers' cake. He loses his batter clothing in the bottle of milk. After climbing out of the bottle, he slides down the side until he lands safely back in his bed.

As stated previously, the text rhymes. The illustrations, created in Sendak's incredibly recognizable style, make incredible artwork that parallel the text being read. Together, the artwork and text create a kaleidoscopic cornucopia for the readers' senses.

Despite the image of Mickey naked, In the Night Kitchen could be a marvelous read and good teaching tool for teachers. Using the rhymes and during the second read, I would stop before each rhyming word and ask my kindergartners what word is next? What would make sense there? Afterwards, we might read it a third time and create an anchor chart showing the different rhymes used throughout the book.

Classroom library material? Perhaps. I'll leave that up to you. In the Night Kitchen has a great story, but it does have images of a young, naked child...

When Gorilla Goes Walking

When Gorilla Goes Walking (2007) by Nikki Grimes (illustrated by Shane Evans) is one of the most refreshing picture books I have read in quite some time! However, readers should be warned... Firstly, Gorilla is not an ape, but a cat. Secondly, if you don't like cats, you will after this book. If you do, you'll either cry or laugh by the end. Maybe both!

When Gorilla Goes Walking is a series of poems, not all the same, that tell the story of how Cecilia, the character and narrator, got her cat, Gorilla. After Cecilia's mom got the cat, the girl and the cat became best friends, though in the poem titled "Learning the Rules," we see who the boss really is! Cecilia and Gorilla have some misadventures, as well as some spats, but the story shows us that the girl and her cat are inseparable and how they comfort each other. The very last poem gives us a little reminder as to who the boss really is!

The illustrations seem simplistic at first glance. However, a second look shows that Gorilla is often illustrated toward the "front and center" of the page, with Cecilia off the side of the same page or next page. She is nearly always looking at Gorilla. Gorilla is often in a position of power, which parallels the message the texts sends us. When he's not, he is usually even on the page with Cecilia, implying a mutual closeness. The only exception is the very first page, where it's implied that Cecilia got Gorilla and she is with her best friend, whose name just happens to be Cecilia as well. All we see on that double page spread is the top of Gorilla's head and ears.

A fun read, When Gorilla Goes Walking could be used as a launch for all sorts of activities in our kindergarten classroom. I actually have five sets of students in my current class whose names rhyme. We could do a name walk around the class and try to pair them up. We would follow this up with an anchor chart and a rhyme walk through the book, looking for rhyming words. I would love to read this book in April (national poetry month) and go over the different types of poetry in the book, as well as try to create some poetry of our own.

You can't go wrong with Nikki Grimes and I would highly suggest adding When Gorilla Goes Walking to your own classroom library!

Seedfolks

Looking for a different kind of read? Seedfolks (1997) by Paul Fleischman has a large cast of
characters, drama and suspense. So what is it about? It's about a community garden that has been created in the middle of an urban area, and how that garden brings members of a community together to become a family.

The most interesting thing about Seedfolks is that it is a series of stories. While no two stories are directly related to one another, they're all interrelated in that each one is centered around a community garden in the inner city in Cleveland. Previously, the garden was a junk lot where people threw all sorts of trash, until someone got the idea to try to plant something there. All it took was one person with the idea to get the garden started.

While this hasn't been one of my favorite reads, Seedfolks shares some interesting insights in human behavior, as well as teaches us things about ourselves that isn't always pleasant or pretty. For example, in the chapter about Amir, the character runs into another character in his store, and she called him a "dirty foreigner." He runs into her again in the garden and asks her if she remembers that day. She apologized over and over, telling him "'Back then, I didn't know it was you...'"

While my younger students wouldn't understand the story, third through fifth-graders should. I would enjoy doing a character study with them. I would have students broken up into different groups. Each group would take one character and research that character's background. Then, we would come back together with our findings so each group could tell the class what they discovered about each character. I would also like to pair this with a gardening activity of our own, having the classroom work on a small garden together.

While I'm still unsure about the book, I will admit that it makes you stop and think, and not just about yourself. It makes you think about others. It makes you think about how well we know the people that we see, but don't necessarily interact with daily.

Tar Beach

Tar Beach (1991) by Faith Ringgold is about a young girl who dreams she can fly. She likes to fly above her Harlem home, where she claims all she sees for herself and her family. The story, in fact, is based on a family quilt that the author made. The story quilt is also called Tar Beach and has the story sewn into the quilt itself.

The story itself is a mixture of autobiography, fictional narrative, painting and  quilt making. The title, Tar Beach, refers to the rooftop of the building, where the author and her family would get together on hot summer nights. They would go up there to spend time together and eat, both parents and children alike.

The young girl in the story (the author) called the George Washington Bridge "hers" due to the fact that it had been part of her view for her entire life. In fact, the author claimed that anything she flew over, she claimed as being "hers."

Tar Beach, however, also speaks of the social injustices of the time period. In the story, the young girl's father, a construction worker, isn't able to join the union due to the fact that he's "colored or a half-breed Indian." However, the author wants to right this injustice by flying over the building, claiming it as her own, and giving it to her father.

I found this story unique because the author used her own paintings to illustrate the story. Also, the author uses images of the actual quilt to frame the bottom edges of the pages. Additionally, the text is printed on a seeming textured material -- the same visual texture as it's printed on upon the quilt. Each of the images seems to look down on all the characters, as the reader is in the sky flying along with the author.

While my kindergartners would not be able to understand the social injustices of the story, they would be able to understand what is happening. I think this would be a wonderful opportunity for them to make their own "story quilts." They would be able to draw their own pictures for the center, then create a "quilt" of scrap pieces of paper to surround the story picture. Then the students would tell the story so someone could help them by writing it on the back of each individual quilt.

An award winning book, Tar Beach is a must have title for any teacher's personal classroom library!

Star Seeker: A Journey to Outer Space (2006) by Theresa Heine and illustrated by Victor Tavares is a delightful, most imaginative romp through the solar system that I have ever read. Written by German Heine, this poetic journey through the solar system touches on myths and legends behind the planets names, as well as facts about each of the planets.

Heine dedicates a single quatrain to each feature (whether constellation or planet) that rhymes the second and fourth line. Her fresh, clean style makes Star Seeker an incredibly fun read, though it includes facts about each feature as well. The poem is written in first person narrative, with the author telling us what she'd do to that planet or constellation.

The illustrator deserves kudos as well. All of the illustrations from cover to cover grab the readers imagination as much as the text does. One of my favorite images is that of a young boy using a giant spoon to stir Venus' volcanoes until they start to boil. He portrays Mercury as a planet being hurtled through space by the Greek god of the same name. None of the pictures are framed, which is fast becoming one of my favorite types of illustrating style. Some easily stretch from the edge of one page to the edge of the other!

What makes this book even better is the information at the end of the story. The author explains a little history of astronomy and includes a solar system picture glossary. Then the author tells you the planets in order from the closest to the sun to the furthest, giving a brief explanation of each one.

Instead of using this text for a lesson, I would actually use it to launch a week long unit on outer space. The information in the back of Star Seeker makes a great reference for the students to refer back to as we make our own play dough planets, marshmallow constellations and moon phase moonpies.

If you don't have Star Seeker: A Journey to Outer Space, I strongly suggest you get it. In fact, get more than one! You'll want one in your classroom, one in your personal library, one for your own kids and...

Tony Baloney

Tony Baloney (2011) by Pam Munoz Ryan (illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham) is a fun picturebook that tells a story about a macaroni penguin. Throughout the book, Ryan peppers the story with words one wouldn't expect in a picturebook. Bothersome, parmesan, exasperating and duffel are some of the words included. Some are explained by the pictures, but some are not.

One can't help but almost feel sorry for Tony, who is the middle penguin in his family. Tony suffers the wrath of Big Sister Baloney and has to tolerate the Bothersome Babies Baloney. Tony Baloney tells us about a day in the life of Tony who seems to fall into as much trouble as he causes. In the story, Tony deals with his feelings by confiding in Dandelion, his stuffed animal buddy. Through Dandelion, Tony finally makes a good choice, only to fall in trouble with Big Sister Baloney
yet again!

The illustrations for the story are quite unique. Every page in the Tony Baloney is decorated with either circles, squares or both. Many pages use colorful circles as frames for the illustrations themselves. As for the characters, the illustrator uses offer for each, having them looking at one another. Except for Dandelion, who is drawn almost always using demand. It's as if Dandelion is keeping tabs on your reaction to the story, asking you what you think about what is happening.

The alliteration that Ryan uses throughout the book, stressing the letter B, gives the text a cadence and makes it easy to read. In places, that rhythm almost overwhelms the text, but Ryan always manages to pull it back in time.

My kindergartners and I would first take a picture walk through the book with me asking them what's happening on each page. I would note their comments on sticky notes to see how close they are when we read the story. Then, we would take a word walk, so to speak. I would ask them about certain words and have them guess the meaning. After we get the correct definitions, we would reread once again, noting the words, where and how they are used.

While not phenomenal, and certainly not what I expected from Pam Munoz Ryan, Tony Baloney is definitely worth a read. Should it go in your own classroom library? I'll let you be the judge of that one...

14 Cows for America

14 Cows for America (2009) by Carman Agra Deedy (illustrated by Thomas Gonzales) is a most inspirational and incredible story. Based on actual events, the story depicts how people sometimes come together over tragic events to help each other out.

In the story, the Maasai people of Kenya, Africa, have a person who has gone to the United States in order to become a doctor. While Kimeli was in New York, he witnessed the tragic terrorist attack on the World Trade Center buildings. The attack, he says, "...burned a hole in his heart." Kimeli was moved to give his greatest possession, a cow, to the US, since cows are nearly sacred to the Maasai people.

He tells the elders of his people his intentions. The elders agree and bless the cow and 13 others to offer as a comfort to the American people. These 14 cows are now considered to be "sacred, healing cows," which can never be slaughtered. They are well cared for and "continue to be a symbol of hope from the Maasai to their brothers and sisters in America."

While the story is factual and straightforward, the unframed, colorful images that span from edge to edge draw the reader into the story. Kimeli is often illustrated surrounded by his people, who welcome and embrace him warmly. The illustrator uses demand to show the Maasai people's welcoming caring nature. The illustrator uses demand yet again to show the darkened reaction of the Maasai people learning of the tragedy that took place across the ocean. The use of demand on the last page with the close up of Kimeli's eye somehow shows what he's seen and gets across the depth of his feeling for the atrocity and suffering that he had to witness.

Though 14 Cows for America is a picturebook, I don't feel it is intended for kindergartners. The story is deep and deals with the tragedy of the attack on the World Trade Center. Also, kindergartners may not understand the meaning of offering of the cows and what they symbolize.

However, I would have third through fifth-graders research different uses of symbolism in different cultures. 14 Cows for America would be a great sticky note book, placing questions on each page about which students have questions. Then, we could either individually, or in small groups, pick a note to research and write about and then give a brief report on that aspect of the book to the rest of the class.

I would definitely recommend 14 Cows for America for any teacher's classroom library.

Esperanza Rising

Esperanza Rising (2000) by Pam Munoz Ryan is an exquisitely written story about a young girl's immigration from Mexico to the United States. Ryan is an excellent story teller, using details and facts to spin an intricate web of relationships around a central story line. This multicultural story is a Pura Belpre Award winning book.

I personally questioned the title, until I found out that the word esperanza (also the main character's name) means hope in Spanish. Upon learning this, I looked back on the story, gaining a deeper appreciation and understanding of the text.

Esperanza Rising is about a young girl, Esperanza Ortega, and her family immigrating from  Mexico to the United States. In Mexico, the Ortegas live on a large wine growing ranch and live well. However, tragedy comes to Esperanza's family by other corrupt family members bent on taking the family farm. Esperanza and her family are forced to flee across the border to the US, where they live a poor existence, The family and it's servants work side by side in food camps, picking and sorting seasonal crops and scraping together what money they can from the minimal pay they receive.

In the author interview in the back of the book, we find out that Esperanza Rising is an actual tale recounting Ryan's grandmother's life story. Ryan says her grandmother, whose name was Esperanza, had told her the story many times.

The story Esperanza Rising could easily be tied with other subjects. It deals with immigration, the Great Depression and the farm labor camps in the California agriculture fields in the early 1930's. I would have my fifth-graders take one aspect of the book (immigration, Mexican Repatriation, labor camps, the Great Depression, dust storms, to name some) and do more research on it. They would be writing more information on their individual  subjects and giving a visual display, which they would present to the class as a whole.

This engaging historical fiction should be on any teacher's must read list. I would also suggest keeping within your classroom library.

Love That Dog

If you're looking for a poignant, intoxicating read, Love That Dog (2001) by Sharon Creech should be high on your list of definite reads!

     September 13
     I don't want to
     because boys
     don't write poetry.

     Girls do.

Creech's first page and lines, as shown above, engages the reader immediately. A simple first page. Simple lines. And yet, it conjures up so many questions for the reader and makes you want to read more.

Love That Dog is about Jack, a young boy in Miss Stretchberry's English class, who is struggling with the loss of his beloved dog. Throughout the book, Jack also struggles with personal issues, as well as classroom issues. He is unsure of himself and, especially, his writing. The teacher has assigned the class to keep a journal throughout the school year. Jack struggles to understand the poetry they learn in class. He doesn't feel confident in his own writing and has trouble sharing his work with the rest of the class.

This funny, yet powerful story might scare some readers simply because it looks as though it's written as a series of poems. Many students treat poetry like an enigmatic puzzle that is incomprehensible by mere mortals. However, Jack says it best when he writes "...any words/can be a poem./You've just got to/make/short/lines." Creech's style makes us wonder why poetry should be so hard. The entire book is from Jack's journal, hence from his point of view.

Cross referencing this book with another class I'm currently taking, I would absolutely love to use Love That Dog to kick of my own personal Writer's Workshop class of my own with upper grades, like fourth and fifth-graders and up. It shows the main character's fear of writing, as well as his fear of not writing "correctly." This story is a great example of how there is simply no right or wrong to writing.

As for lessons, I would also enjoy using this book to jump start some poetry projects. There are different types of poetry styles used in the book. There are also some well-known poems utilized, and "explained"  by Jack in the book. It would be ideal to discuss the different types of poetry used in Love That Dog, as well as attempting some poems on our own.

Should this be in your own classroom library? I'll let you be the judge of that. However, I already have two copies -- one for my classroom library and one in my personal library!

Balloons Over Broadway

Who, exactly, is Tony Sarg? And what did this person do? If you've ever watched the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade in person or on TV, then you've seen the effect of Sarg's handiwork!
Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade (2011) by Melissa Sweet is an informational picturebook of the life work of Tony Sarg.

This award winning biography gives an amazing visual and textual story of the life of Tony Sarg, the marionette creator who invented the giant balloons you see in New York's most famous parade each year. Sweet, the author, utilizes pictures that seem as if they were taken in Sarg's own workshop. The author even went so far as to study his style and create toys and items the way Sarg would have and include them in the book. The illustrations relay just as much information, showing how Sarg was dedicated to his work, as well as how exciting and colorful his work was to him.

I read Balloons Ovcer Broadway several times, and not because I didn't understand it. The story is very involving and I caught something different each time I read the book. I feel like this picturebook would appeal to my kindergartners, as well as first and second-graders. I would go so far as to say upper grades could use it as well, simply because there was information within the book that I didn't know myself!

For my kindergarten class, we would begin by taking a picture walk through the book. There would be many questions along the way, such as "What do you notice?" "What do you think this says about Tony Sarg?" "How does this make you feel?" Because the book is a straightforward timeline of his life, we could easily do a bubble timeline, placing information about Sarg in the appropriate places on our classroom timeline.

Balloons Over Broadway is a well written picturebook that conveys information on every aspect of each page. It's a must read that should be in every teacher's classroom library!

Once I Was a Cardboard Box... But Now I'm a Book About Polar Bears!

Looking for an interesting informational text in a picture book about polar bears? How about one about recycling? If you're looking for both in one book, you might want to take a peek at Once I Was a Cardboard Box... But Now I'm a Book About Polar Bears! (2009) by Anton Poitier and illustrated by Melvyn Evans.

While it may sound ridiculous, Once I Was a Cardboard Box... is a fun read that is loaded with a lot of information. While the book is mainly about polar bears, the right side of each right page has a vertical story that reads from the top to the bottom. The story is about the book. It tells us about how it used to be a cardboard box and how it became the book that now sits in your hands.

This would definitely be a multiple read book with my kindergartners. The first read through would be to learn about the polar bears. The second would be for the story of the box that became a book. I think the first read through could be coupled with a sticky note activity where we put notes on pages that we either don't understand, or want to learn more about. The cardboard box story lends itself well towards a timeline activity, where the kids will determine what will happen next to the box before it becomes a book.

Whether you're working with kindergarten, first or second, there are plenty of facts and fun in this book to keep their attention and keep students engaged!

A Little Peace

You won't find a more simply written or illustrated informational text than A Little Peace (2007) by Barbara Kerley. Yet, for all its simplicity, the message behind A Little Peace is profound and, quite possibly, put a shiver in your soul and a smile in your heart.

Barbara Kerley pulled off an amazing feat with the book A Little Peace. She coupled the most amazing National Geographic photographs with a single sentence, broken up over 26 pages, telling the reader (as well as showing) how they can spread peace throughout the world.The book ends with a brief description of each photograph and where it was taken, as well as letter, titled "A note on Peace," by Richard H. Solomon, president of the United States Institute of Peace.

What makes this book so intriguing is that none of the pictures are framed. Some take up a double page and seem to go on past the page edges, and some are simply inset photos on a stark, white page. But each photograph tells its own story. Each one shows a moment in time with a person, or people, doing something to make life a little easier, a little better.

A Little Peace is an informational text that I would read to students of any age or grade. The meaning is as simple as the message it gets across. I will most assuredly be reading this with my kindergartners this year. After we finish the book, we will talk about peace and what it means. I will then challenge them to draw, or write, if they can, what they can do to spread a little peace, joy or happiness to family, to friends, to community members and to the world.

If you haven't read it, I highly advise getting and reading A Little Peace. This is sure to be one of the best loved and most read books in your school library!

Sloop John B, A Pirate's Tale

If you're looking for a fantasy picture book, then Sloop John B, A Pirate's Tale (2005) by Alan Jardine (illustrated by Jimmy Pickering) may be just what you're looking for! It's got pirates. It's got sharks. It's got prisoners walking the plank and a brave young boy...

This fantasy picture book is about a young boy and his grandfather who love to sail upon their ship, the Sloop John B. In the story, on their latest trip, they come upon pirates who board their ship. The boy and his grandfather try to hide, but that doesn't work out so well for them. As they battle the pirates, help is on the way, but will it get there in time?

I found the illustrations to be fabulously colorful and exciting. Many span both pages, practically dripping from the page edges! While I enjoyed the actual story itself, the cadence and rhyme scheme tended to throw me off. It doesn't follow any strict pattern, which I expected it to as I read the first two pages of Sloop John B, A Pirate's Tale.

A picture walk and story telling would be a fun, but enriching activity you could do with kindergartners with this story. Prior to reading the text, simply cover the words on each page and have the students "read" the illustrations, telling you the specifics, as they see them. That would be characters they see, where they are, and what's happening. Then go back and read the text with them,
noting what they got right.

While this has not been my favorite text, I feel like some activities would make it a good read for students in your class.