Picture Book Monday - A review of Because you are my teacher

Good teachers are a precious commodity. They help children to learn that the process of learning is exciting, that the journey is like a adventure. Today's picture book reminds us just how valuable our teachers are and how much we owe them.

Because you are my teacher

Sherry North

Illustrated by Marcellus Hall

Picture Book

For ages 6 to 8

Abrams, 2012, 978-1-4197-0385-0

   When you have a clever and imaginative teacher, the time you spend in school can be full of adventures. One group of children feels very lucky because their teacher is able to take them to places all over the world, and they never actually leave their classroom.

   Because she is their teacher, the children study the Atlantic “where the great blue whales roam free.” On the backs of imaginary camels the students travel across desert sands to visit the ancient pyramids of Egypt. Thanks to their teacher they are able to tour the Amazon travelling on their make-believe river raft. As they float along they hear “the howler monkeys growl their spooky song.”

   This delightful picture book serves as a tribute to all those teachers who find unique and engaging ways to explore distant lands with their students. With the teacher and her four pupils, we visit two of the world’s five oceans and all seven of its continents. In some of the places we visit we meet bizarre animals, while in others we marvel at man-made wonders.

   With beautiful color illustrations and an engaging rhyming text, this is a perfect picture book to read aloud in a classroom.

Poetry Friday - A review of Dark Emperor and other poems of the night

I used to live in the city, where ones connection with nature and with nature's rhythms and cycles often is very limited. Here, in my home in southern Oregon, I can see how the light changes on the mountains as the sun sets, and how the sounds I hear shift when it gets dark. Instead of the warbles of the swallows, I hear the shriek of the owls. Instead of smelling the sun warmed earth, I smell the skunk as it wanders by!

Today's poetry title explores a woodland at night. The combination of the gorgeous illustrations and beautiful poetry makes this book a title that I know I will enjoy looking at again and again.

Dark Emperor and other poems of the night
Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by Rick Allen
Poetry Picture Book
For ages 7 to 12
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010, 978-0-547-15228-8
The sun is setting, and the world of light fades and becomes a world of shadow. Creatures that were asleep during the daylight hours emerge eager to find a meal. This is the time when raccoons shuffle out into the open, when mice dart from shadow to shadow, and when moths flutter towards any light they can find.
   A snail “unhooks itself from earth” and inches up stems and leaves looking for “tasty morsels of green.” Above in the trees, an” owl, a “Dark Emperor” sits, listening to the “squeaks and skitters” below, waiting for that moment when it is ready to start hunting.
  Unlike the creatures that move around beneath its bark and that roost in its branches, the oak is quiet, drinking its fill “slowly, slowly.” As the moon rises behind the tree, a baby “porcupette” comes out with its mother. The baby nurses and then its mothers goes off to find herself a meal. Though the youngster cannot climb trees yet, it knows it is safe, protected by its coat of quills.
   In this award-winning title, poet Joyce Sidman takes readers on a special journey into a woodland at night. She introduces us to some of the sights that you might glimpse in such an environment after the sun sets. We meet a snail, a moth, a frightened mouse, an oak tree, a spider, a porcupine, a cricket, some mushrooms, an eft, a bat, and the moon. A section of informative nonfiction text accompanies each poem, providing the reader with further information about the topic mentioned in the poem.
   Throughout the book, Rick Allen’s gorgeous woodcut illustrations provide a perfect backdrop for the poems and text. Layers of color and texture-filled details give the prints a depth that is both beautiful and startling.

Fiction Wednesday - A review of Dear Max

When I was a child most of the grownups I knew had no idea how to communicate with a kid. Or at least that is what it felt like. They had no idea how to listen, or how to respond in the appropriate manner. My father was one of the exceptions. He really wanted to know what I felt and thought, and made me feel that my opinion mattered.

In today's book you are going to meet a boy who develops a close friendship with a children's book author. They write to one another, and though they are very different, they are able to help one another.

Dear Max

Sally Grindley

Illustrated by Tony Ross

Fiction

For ages 6 to 9

Simon and Schuster, 2004, 978-1-4169-3443-1

   Not long ago Max’s uncle gave him a copy of a book by the author D. J. Lucas, and now Max is writing to D.J. to tell her how much he likes the book. He also tells the author that he, Max, would like to be a writer when he grows up. D.J. writes back to tell Max that she has written thirty-five books and that she is about to start writing another one.

   The two correspondents, who are both having a hard time coming up with a story, decide to help one another. D.J suggest that they should both write about “what interests us most.” Max decides to write about a spectacled bear, and over time, as letters go back and forth between the boy and the writer, his story evolves.

   In addition to his story, Max tells D.J about his uncle and the new puppy his uncle got who “wees” in shoes. Max incidentally lets slip that his father is “never coming back,” and that he has to go to the hospital a lot. He thinks that these visits are a waste of time because the doctors never do anything to make Max better. He also talks about a boy at school who enjoys bullying Max because Max is small for his age. Then he tells D.J about his friend Jenny, who is behaving less and less like a friend.

   Recognizing that Max’s life is sometimes hard, D.J offers him support and her friendship, and she does her best to cheer him up. She is there for him when he feels very alone, angry, and scared.

   One would never think that an adult lady author and a nine-year-old boy could have much in common, but in this book they do, and they both benefit from the friendship. It is fascinating to see how Max’s very lifelike story evolves, and how he learns how to deal with his problems himself, finding the courage that lies within him.

   With a story that is funny, touching, and punctuated with little doodles and pictures, this is a tale every child can relate to.

Picture Book Monday - A review of Who wants to be a poodle

Sometimes, often with the best of intentions, we push people into being what we want them to be without once considering that perhaps they might like to follow a different path. We assume that we know what is best for them, and don't take the trouble to listen to what they have to say.

In this delightful picture book you are going to a meet a poodle whose owner assumes that she knows what is best for her pet. Unfortunately this is not the case.

Who wants to be a poodle, I don’t

Lauren Child

Picture Book

For ages 5 to 8

Candlewick Press, 2009, 978-0-7636-4610-3

   Trixie Twinkle Toes Trot-a-Lot Delight is a poodle who lives in a posh apartment with her owner, Verity Brulee. Trixie is pampered and primped, waited on and indulged, but she is not in the least bit happy. The truth of it is that Trixie is not a poodly sort of dog, even though she is a toy poodle. She wants to be able to run on the grass, paddle in puddles, and chase “nothing in particular” like other dogs, but she is not allowed to.

   Finally, despondent about her poodly existence, complete with pompoms and pink velvet ribbons, Trixie begins to howl. She howls and howls. Then she decides to take her life in her own paws, and she tries to figure out who she truly is on the inside.

   Not being able to communicate with humans must be a very frustrating thing for dogs, and in this picture book we meet a poodle whose owner just doesn’t get it. She doesn’t understand what Trixie wants at all.  

   Sometimes people don’t understand other people, just as Verity does not understand Trixie. For this reason this book will resonate with everyone who feels misunderstood and unheard. Readers will be reassured by Trixie’s story, and they will surely love Lauren Child’s quirky and distinctive multimedia art. 

Poetry Friday - A review of My America

One of the things that still amazes me is how huge the Unites States is. The country has mountains, lakes, rivers, canyons, deserts, big cities, tiny hamlets and almost everything else that you can think of. There are huge differences between the different regions, and when I drove across the country, from Virginia to Oregon, I felt as if I have driven through several countries.

Today's poetry title celebrates the diversity of the United States in a new way, and it is a title that children and adults alike will enjoy looking through.

My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States

Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins

Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn

Poetry Picture Book

For ages 8 to 12

Simon and Schuster, 2000, 978-0-689-81247-7

When most of us think of an atlas, we think of a large format book that is full of maps of all kinds. If the atlas is about the United States, there will probably be maps showing the geographic regions, the states, and then in-detail maps of each of the states. This atlas is very different. There are maps, eight of them in total, but most of the book is taken up with words and illustrations rather than maps. Poet Lee Bennett Hopkins wanted to give readers a unique picture of the United States; one that uses poems to take people from “sea to shining sea;” one that captures how exciting and diverse this country is; and one that celebrates the many natural  and manmade wonders that can be found throughout the United States.

   The book is divided into eight sections, each one of which focuses on a particular region. Each section opens with a map and some basic statistics about the states that can be seen on the map. For example, the first chapter is about The Northeast States and in the opening, we find out a little about Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Then the poems begin, and they show us a little about this region, often capturing the flavor of the states. We read about how “Red lobster boats bob above barnacled anchors” in Maine, and how a New England lighthouse serves as a “compass for ships / as they pass / through the night.”

   In the section about the Pacific coast states, we visit some California missions, which “hold tales / of ancient years.” Here we can travel from the “Ice built, ice bound, and ice bounced” lands of Alaska to the island of Hawaii where the Mauna Loa, the live volcano, rumbles “A tumbled tune,” and sends “Fire!” into the air.

   This extraordinary collection of poems brings together the words of many poets including Lee Bennett Hopkins, Langston Hughes, Nikki Giovanni, and Douglas Florian. Together they give readers a vivid picture of an extraordinary country.

Fiction Wednesday - A review of Gus and Grandpa

When I was a child, my grandmother lived on the other side of the world, so I didn't get to see her very often. I envied the children I knew whose grandparents lived in the same city or at least in the same country. Thankfully the grandmother who lived downstairs decided to adopt me. It did not matter that she spoke Greek and that I, at least at first, couldn't speak a word. We would sit together watching TV, I would hold her crochet yarn for her, and she would let me help her bake bread and make homemade pasta.

Today's fiction title is about a boy who has a very close relationship with his grandfather. This is just one in a series of books about Gus and his splendid grandfather.

Gus and Grandpa

Claudia Mills
Illustrated by Catherine Stock
Fiction
For ages 5 to 7
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999, 978-0374428471
Gus loves to go and visit his grandfather. There are so many wonderful things to do at Grandpa's house, simple yet special things. There is the ditch to jump over again, Skipper the dog to play with, shopping trips to go on, and much more. Best of all there is Grandpa with his gentle and often funny ways.

   The author of this charming little book beautifully succeeds in showing us the closeness of the relationship between Gus and his grandfather, the comfortable nature of their relationship, and the ways in which they enjoy one another's company. She does this with short sentences and simple language, which makes the story very accessible to early readers. At the same time, she introduces early readers to chapters, giving them several Gus and Grandpa stories to enjoy in one volume.

Picture Book Monday - A review of I will come back for you

In this day in 1939, the Allies declared war on Germany. Germany had invaded Poland on September 1st, and the Allies were forced to respond to this act of aggression. Following the declaration, not much happened for a time, but then Germany launched its Blitzkrieg, or lightening war, which left many countries in Europe reeling.

One of Hitler's allies was Bennito Mussolini, the leader of Italy, who was happy to adopt Germany's methods and policies. Today's picture book is about how one Italian family was affected by these changes.

I will come back for you: A family in hiding during WorldWar II

Marisabina Russo

Historical Fiction Picture Book

For ages 7 to 10

Random House, 2011, 978-0-375-86695-1

When Nonna was a little girl, she lived in an apartment building in Rome, Italy, with her parents and her brother Roberto. In the afternoons, Mamma used to take Nonna and Roberto to the park, and every evening their Papa would play the piano for them before they went to bed.

   Then war broke out in Europe and life for Nonna and her family began to change. New laws were created that targeted Jews like Nonna. There were many things that Jews were no longer allowed to do, and then Papa was told that he had to leave his family and go to live in a village in the mountains.

   For a while, Nonna, Mama, and Roberto went to the village every weekend to spend time with Papa, but then Papa learned that the Germans were coming to the village. He knew that the Germans were sending all the Jews that they found to concentrations camps, so he decided that he would go into hiding. He told his family that he would leave a note for them in an old beech tree in the village so that tgey would know that he was well.

   When the local officials found out that Papa was gone, they got very angry and announced that they would take Mama in his place and hand her over to the Germans.

   This story is based on the real life experiences of the author’s mother, who fled to Italy from Germany in the early 1930’s, and who had some extraordinary adventures during World War II. The narrative describes very difficult times, but it also shows children how hard times can bring out the best in people. Thanks to some very brave Italians, the author’s mother and her two children (like many other Jews in Italy) were hidden and survived the war.

   This powerful and informative book serves as a fitting tribute to the people who found ways to survive Nazi and Fascist aggression both before and during World War II. It is also a tribute to those who risked everything to help others during this difficult time. 

Poetry Friday - A review of Take Two!

When I was growing up, two pairs of twins came to my school. One was a pair of identical boys, and since we had to wear school uniforms and they had identical hair styles, we had no idea which boy was which. They had a splendid time confusing their classmates and teachers. The other pair were non-identical girls, and they had nothing in common. One was a lot taller than the other, so we always thought that she was older. 

In today's picture book two of American's most celebrated poets for young readers take us into the world of twins, and what an interesting visit it is.

Take Two! A Celebration of Twins

J. Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen

Illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Poetry Picture Book

For ages 7 to 9

Candlewick Press, 2012, 978-0-7636-3702-6

   People are often fascinated by twins. Can twins really read each other’s minds? Do they really have their own language, and are they especially close because they are twins? In this clever collection of poems, J. Patrick Lewis (who is a twin) and Jane Yolen (who comes from a family that has several pairs of twins) explore what it is like to be a twin.

   The journey twin babies make begins in the womb, of course, so this is where we begin our journey in this book. Not literally, but figuratively. We read about how parents see “a dot” on an ultrasound screen, and then below that dot they see another one. Without any warning, a mother finds out that she is going to be a “Double mother.”  For months the little babies grow in their “room” that is a constant nighty-eight degrees. There the tangle of “arms and legs, / elbows and knees” stays, until at last the time is right and out they come, a “Double package deal.”

  Now the babies are here and they start to get to know their world together. From the very beginning they have a special connection, using a language that they alone share. As far as they are concerned “All the best things / Come in two,” like socks, shoes, eyes, and ears. And babies. They learn how to walk, have their baths together, learn how to tie their shoes, and have messy meals.

   Of course not all twins look alike, and sometimes they have fights or argue, just like other siblings. Twins who are identical do not necessarily have the same tastes and interest. Though they have the same DNA (and can secretly change places to confuse people) they are individuals with distinct personalities.

   With clever poems Jane Yolen and J. Patrick Lewis explore the worlds of twins, concluding their journey by looking at some of the world’s most famous twins, including Chang and Eng and Tweedlee and Tweedledum.  Many of the pages have a “Twin Fact” at the bottom that provides readers with additional information about twins.

Steve Light's Storyboxes - Toys for young storytellers

If you spend any time watching young children playing with their toys, you will soon see that many of them make up stories, acting out their tales and using different voices for their characters. Steve Light is a born storyteller, and he has created some beautiful Story boxes that children and their grownups can use to explore classic fairy tales. So far he has created Story boxes for Hansel and Gretel (a German fairy tale), Rapunzel (another German fairy tale), The girl who Loved Danger (an African story), and Little one Inch (a Japanese story.)

I am lucky enough to have received one of the Story boxes to take a look at and I am charmed by it. My Rapunzel box is a nice wooden box that has a top that slides open. When I opened the box, I discovered that the box has a scene painted into the bottom, which serves as a backdrop for the story. There are three  characters, three turnips, a pair of scissors, a ladder, and a tower, all of which are made of hand painted wood. There is also a long yellow yarn braid that serves as Rapunzel's long hair.

I had a lot of fun trying out the box and plan on taking it to the elementary school where I volunteer as a reading helper. The booklet that comes with the book contains the story of Rapunzel, which adults and children can use and embellish as they wish.

Wanting to know how he came up with the idea of his Storyboxes, I asked Steve to tell me about them. This is what he told me:

I have always loved to draw and make things. I love writing and illustrating stories in my children’s books, whether it is the sounds a truck or train makes, or how a giant makes all the wrapping paper for Santa. Even when making a piece of fine art, the picture has to have a story or it will not work for me as an artist. I also have the great fortune to be a Pre-K teacher for a class of 4 and 5 year olds. I tell stories to the class almost everyday. At one point I was just a storyteller for a school and visited 10 classrooms sharing different stories with each of them. One class loved the story of Hansel and Gretel and would ask me to tell it over and over again.
As an illustrator and “maker of things,” I one day saw two pieces of wood in my workshop that were the same size and so I decided to carve Hansel and Gretel. I brought the two tiny figures to the class and told the story acting it out with the small wooden characters I had carved and painted. After I finished the story, the children asked, “Where is the witch, and the cottage, and the father?” I went home that night and carved all the other characters and props I needed for the story. I found a wooden box to put them in and painted a “title” on the box like a cover to a story book and storyboxes were born!
I went on to making a total of 13 boxes, telling them to children in schools, libraries and museums everywhere. Guidcraft approached me and asked to recreate the storyboxes so other teachers, parents and kids could use them to tell stories. I was excited to work with them because I had used their products in my classroom for years and was aware of the quality that they put into everything they make. Guidecraft made casts from each of my hand carved figures so they look exactly like the figures and props that I use.
Storytelling is such a great thing to share with a child. For my storyboxes to be in other classrooms where other teachers can make them their own and add their own ideas to them is what the oral tradition of storytelling is all about. When I tell a storybox in my classroom, I see my pupils adding narratives to their block play and making their own storyboxes out of paper. Telling a story to a child shares that love that leads to them wanting to read and write. I am so thrilled to be able to share my passion for storytelling with even more children now that my storyboxes will be available. There is an old proverb that says: People need stories more than bread, stories show them how to live and why.

Here is a video showing Steve Light using his Rapunzel Story box to tell the story to a classroom of young children.

Perfect for home and classroom, each Story box features characters, props, and settings cast from Light’s hand-carved originals, along with a booklet containing his original retelling of the story. In addition to the main characters, each Story box contains unique elements:

  - Hansel and Gretel includes a bag of “breadcrumbs,” witch’s house, cauldron, and recipe book

  - Kids can build the tower and thread Rapunzel’s long, braided hair out the window

  - Little One Inch features a beautifully-detailed Big Fish and colorful Oni Monster

  - The Girl Who Loved Danger features a brilliantly-patterned Ancestor Bird and fabric, hand-puppet Lake Monster

Light’s appealing art and vivid imagination also grace his board book, Trains Go (Chronicle), which follows the popular Trucks Go. “Each of Light’s trains has a distinct personality,” writes Publishers Weekly, “and locomotive lovers will clang, chug, and puff along with them as they make their way along the tracks.”

Steve Light is the author and illustrator of many children’s books. His design work can be found in the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt Museum, and his corporate clients have included AT&T, Sony Films, Absolut Vodka, United Airlines, and the New York Times Book Review. Light lives in New York City.

Fiction Wednesday - A review of The Sixty-Eight Rooms

When I was a little girl, I got a doll's house for Christmas that I loved. I spent countless hours making up stories for the people who lived in the house, moving the furniture around, and making little accessories for the rooms. Ever since then I had been fascinated by miniatures, and even made a miniature greenhouse once with plants, a paved patio, little tools, and even a little cat sunning itself in the sun. 

I suppose it should not surprise anyone that I loved today's book. It is, after all, about sixty-eight rooms of miniatures that are on display in the Chicago Institute of Art. These Thorne Miniature Rooms are now on my things-I-have-to-do-one-day list. The splendid story is touched with history, magic and so much more. Enjoy.

The Sixty-Eight Rooms

Marianne Malone

Illustrated by Greg Call

Fiction

For ages 9 to 12

Random House, 2010, 978-0-375-85710-2

Ruthie’s life is very ordinary, and sometimes she wishes something “cool” would happen to her. Her best friend Jack is the kind of boy who has adventures; he has the kind of personality that can make “interesting and unusual things happen.” One would think that these two very different kids would have nothing in common, but Ruthie’s cautious and careful ways compliment Jack’s more unconventional thoughts, ideas, and actions.

   When Ruthie’s class goes to the Chicago Art Institute for a school trip on a cold winter’s day, she and her classmates look at some of the African art, and then, after lunch, they go to visit the Thorne Rooms. The Thorne Rooms are sixty-eight little rooms faced with glass that contain miniature house interiors. Ruthie looks into rooms from medieval castles, French chateaus, and American colonial homes. Every piece of furniture and every object in the rooms is perfectly to scale and beautifully made, and Ruthie immediately develops a fascination for the rooms.

   Jack’s mother, who is an artist and who is helping to chaperone the group, introduces Jack and Ruthie to Mr. Bell, who works at the museum. He lets the two kids look into an access corridor that runs behind the rooms. While Jack is looking around, he finds a little ornate key on the floor and he picks it up and puts it into his pocket. Of course, being curious kids, Jack and Ruthie want to know what the key is for.

   The next day, the kids go back to the Art Institute on their own and they are able to sneak into the access corridor behind the little rooms because the door was not closed properly. As they explore the corridor, Jack gives Ruthie the key to hold and then the strangest thing happens. Ruthie starts to shrink. The children discover that the key only shrinks Ruthie, and that when she lets go of the key, the shrinking stops and reverses. Ruthie shrinks herself and has Jack lift her up so that she can enter one of the rooms, and she is thrilled to be able to do this. The rooms are so perfect and Ruthie even finds a tiny violin, which she plays.  

   Now that they have discovered the secret of the little key, Ruthie and Jack cannot help wanting to find out more about the magic and the Thorne Rooms. They copy Mr. Bell’s key to the access corridor, and then put together a plan so that they can spend a night in the museum and explore the rooms. Ruthie tells her family that she is going to have a sleepover at Jack’s house, and Jack tells his mother that he will be at Ruthie’s house. The children are able to get into the corridor without being seen, and there they hide there until the museum closes for the day. Ruthie holds the key, shrinks, and starts to explore room E24, which is a French room from 1780. Ruthie is sitting at a desk when she feels a breeze blowing on her, and hears the sound of birds singing. When she steps out onto the balcony, she finds out that the painted backdrop that visitors can see through the doors and windows is now real. She is looking at a real private garden and there are real birds singing and real clouds in the sky.

   Ruthie dashes to tell Jack about her extraordinary discovery, and then Jack makes a suggestion. When Ruthie shrinks, her clothes shrink with her. What would happen if she holds Jack’s hand and then shrinks herself? The children try this ,and to Jack’s delight, he shrinks along with Ruthie. Now they can both explore the Thorne Rooms and try to find out their secrets. The children never suspect that what they are going to find out will change their lives forever.

   After visiting the real Thorne Rooms in the Chicago Institute of Art many times, the author was inspired to create this story, which takes readers on a fascinating and exciting journey. The story will appeal to readers of all kinds because there is magic, history, a mystery or two, and time travel. And, of course, there are the descriptions of the gorgeous miniatures; perfect little replicas that tell a story about a time long ago.