Our summer reading program is really geared towards grade-school students, but my population of Family Storytime parents all have babies or toddlers. I feel a bit sad that they get left out of programming to such an extent, so this year I am attempting to match up the SRP weekly themes with additional books suitable for the younger set, so they can get a feeling that they are attending 'summer reading programs' even though it's just our normal storytime.
Our overarching theme this year is STEM, and our individual weeks are broken down into the following categories:
Robots
Space
Animals
Dinosaurs
Engineering
Food Science
I have a pretty good idea of what to use for a lot of these categories - for example, I already have all of my Robot titles (Robot Zot, Clink, and Doug Unplugged) and my Engineering titles (Willy & the Cardboard Boxes, How a House is Built, Demolition) picked out, but there were a few places where I wanted to branch out into new books, and even more (Food Science) where I don't have much if any direct experience with age-appropriate materials.
So, I've been looking about, and here's my first round of research.
Space:
This Rocket
Paul Collicutt
ISBN: 0374374848
Read February 7, 2014
Space Boy
Leo Landry
ISBN: 9780618605682
Read February 7, 2014
I'm looking for a good match for Mini Grey's Toys In Space and Reidy's Light Up The Night, which I've already decided on. I need a third story that is bright, has lots of action and color in the pages, and really short text blocks, because both of those are on the wordy side for my age-group.
For this purpose, This Rocket is going to be what I use for SRP, but I was glad to find Space Boy also. Space Boy follows a young boy (perhaps on the spectrum) disturbed by the noise and commotion of his family as he tries to fall asleep, so he dons a spacesuit and travels to the quiet, peaceful, beautiful moon. However, once there, the places he visits makes him think about the various noisy family-members and how they would also enjoy the moon, and so he returns home to them, and to bed. It's a sweet story, with odd little naive illustrations, and a slow gentle storyline. Excellent for a bedtime storytime - not so much what I'm looking for here. This Rocket on the other hand is PERFECT. Bright colors, contrasting rockets, really minimal text 'This rocket is tall. This rocket is short.' Excellent. I'm already looking forward to reading it!
Dinosaurs:
I Dreamt I Was A Dinosaur
Stella Blackstone, illustrated by Clare Beaton
ISBN: 1841482382
Read February 7, 2014
For this category, I only need one more title, to match up with Dinosaurumpus and Dinosaur Roar! I saw that this book had interesting felted-work illustrations (I really like mixing up different styles and types of artwork, so kids and parents realize that all sorts of illustrated works are equally valid and interesting) and since Stella Blackstone was the author, I was really hopeful. To be honest, I Dreamt I Was A Dinosaur wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be, but since it's paired with a truly stompy book, and a good short read, I'm ok with it being a slightly more sedate trip through dinosaur-land. (And I really love the felt and beadwork!) The only thing I have to worry about with this week now is mixing up my dino-name pronunciations!
Food Science:
Where Does Food Come From?
Shelley Rotner & Gary Goss, photography by Shelley Rotner
ISBN: 0761329358
Read February 7, 2014
This is an excellent nonfiction early-childhood book. I'm planning to use it with Growing Vegetable Soup and one other (as yet unselected) book. This one will be a great short middle read, with lots of colorful photos and obvious conclusions to draw that will make the kids feel smart for knowing the answers. It covers a lot of foods for such a short book - even includes salt, sugar, and maple syrup! The format is simple and clear - THIS is a food source, and THIS is the food that it eventually becomes - showing photos along the outer edges of the pages illustrating the plant or source, and someone (usually a child) happily eating the resulting food. Very nice nonfiction title. I'm planning to use it for regular storytime rotations as well as for Summer Reading.
Friday, February 7, 2014
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
The Read-Aloud Handbook (7th Edition), Jim Trelease
The Read-Aloud Handbook (7th Edition, publication date 2013)
Jim Trelease
ISBN: 9780143121602
Read February 4, 2014
Nonfiction; education, parenting.
Background info: This nifty volume is in two parts: the first is an educational/parenting treatise giving the then-current state of research into why reading is paramount, and especially why reading TO kids is so important. The second half is a listing of various titles that the author believes are suitable for being read aloud to kids, divided into categories like wordless books (yeah, I know) poetry, nonfiction, and various age-groups.
Each subsequent edition has recognized that there's no reason to purchase or read a new edition if nothing much has changed, so the author and publisher have done a decent job in the first half at updating the research, changing out the vignettes, and including the current state of affairs each time around. For the second half, the titles recommended are cycled through, with special attention paid to titles currently out of print or difficult to find (those being either removed from the listing entirely, or noted as such if they are thought too good to miss).
So, with all that in mind, let me say here that last spring I discovered this resource existed, and I went on a binge-read right before the Summer Reading Program, placing requests on each edition (yes, all 6 of them), and checking out the different recommended reads, and thoroughly enjoying the first half of each book (which were, although slightly different each round, almost literally a repeated paean to librarians and readers). The only one I couldn't get was this last edition, which our system couldn't borrow until it was a bit older. Well, it got a bit older, and it arrived today! Yay!
I haven't gone through the book recs yet, but I did take a while to read through the first half (and it has grown now into almost half) of this very-well-researched presentation of the current research into reading, the sorry state of our educational system (I want to move to Finland) and how parents and educators can individually contradict these bad influences by READING MORE!!!
My kind of book!
On a slightly more serious note, if you're interested in learning about what the deal is with received language, how kids learn vocabulary, and how to put your kid on the top of the scrap heap called life, read this edition of this book. The other editions are of course out of date, so I'd only recommend them if you are interested in seeing how the history and the research developed (which I was, and I thought was fascinating, but then I'm a nerd).
I'm sure that this record will be seeing the evidence of the other half of the book as soon as I get a chance to dig into the lists and learn of interesting titles I've missed.
Jim Trelease
ISBN: 9780143121602
Read February 4, 2014
Nonfiction; education, parenting.
Background info: This nifty volume is in two parts: the first is an educational/parenting treatise giving the then-current state of research into why reading is paramount, and especially why reading TO kids is so important. The second half is a listing of various titles that the author believes are suitable for being read aloud to kids, divided into categories like wordless books (yeah, I know) poetry, nonfiction, and various age-groups.
Each subsequent edition has recognized that there's no reason to purchase or read a new edition if nothing much has changed, so the author and publisher have done a decent job in the first half at updating the research, changing out the vignettes, and including the current state of affairs each time around. For the second half, the titles recommended are cycled through, with special attention paid to titles currently out of print or difficult to find (those being either removed from the listing entirely, or noted as such if they are thought too good to miss).
So, with all that in mind, let me say here that last spring I discovered this resource existed, and I went on a binge-read right before the Summer Reading Program, placing requests on each edition (yes, all 6 of them), and checking out the different recommended reads, and thoroughly enjoying the first half of each book (which were, although slightly different each round, almost literally a repeated paean to librarians and readers). The only one I couldn't get was this last edition, which our system couldn't borrow until it was a bit older. Well, it got a bit older, and it arrived today! Yay!
I haven't gone through the book recs yet, but I did take a while to read through the first half (and it has grown now into almost half) of this very-well-researched presentation of the current research into reading, the sorry state of our educational system (I want to move to Finland) and how parents and educators can individually contradict these bad influences by READING MORE!!!
My kind of book!
On a slightly more serious note, if you're interested in learning about what the deal is with received language, how kids learn vocabulary, and how to put your kid on the top of the scrap heap called life, read this edition of this book. The other editions are of course out of date, so I'd only recommend them if you are interested in seeing how the history and the research developed (which I was, and I thought was fascinating, but then I'm a nerd).
I'm sure that this record will be seeing the evidence of the other half of the book as soon as I get a chance to dig into the lists and learn of interesting titles I've missed.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Why 'classics' aren't always classy. Robert Lawson's They Were Strong and Good
They Were Strong and Good
Robert Lawson
ISBN: 0670699497
1941 Caldecott Award Winner
Read February 4, 3013
Fair warning, I don't always agree with the Caldecotts, and sometimes I violently disagree. I think a great value of children's materials is that they are accessible to, and interesting to, children. Not interesting to adults, not necessarily artistically or stylistically fascinating or innovative. Soapbox, I know. Sorry.
Anyway, with that background, I don't actively look up all the past Caldecotts and Newberys to check out. If they are attractive to me, I'll see them on the shelf and pull them out (Hugo Cabret, Creepy Carrots, I'm looking at you). If they aren't attractive to me, then I have a neverending pile of books, a legal pad full of lists of books, and a limited lifespan.
So here is this early winner, showing up on my desk to be checked for condition. I figure, oh hell, professional development, right? So I start reading it. It's a little weird, a set of short-bit dry family stories, and then we get to the first twinge: lazy, thieving, disreputable Indians in Minnesota. Also, judging by the engraving, black 'Mammys' were in Minnesotta. Ok, that's a little twitchy, but it was the forties. Moving on. Grandparents again, nothing much here... Oh. Oh dear. 'When my father was very young he had a Negro slave.' Oh? That's... lovely. The kicker? His father also had two dogs, which have full Roman names. The slave? Just Dick. Not even Richard. No last name, of course. Ai yi yi.
Now we're off to fight in the war, and lose the war, and the comment at the end is 'and (dog's full name) and (dog's full name) and Dick were all gone too.' Nice to see the order of importance there.
So I'm pretty solidly cringing at this now, and I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I'm being a little too touchy. So up pop Google to see what I can see.
Reader, it was worse. This is the 'revised' version. The first edition, that won the Caldecott? 'Tame' Indians in Minnesota. And the bit with the slave? 'When my father was very young he had two dogs and a colored boy' oh and it gets even better: 'The colored boy was just my father's age. He was a slave, but they didn't call him that. They just called him Dick.'
I have no words, gentle reader. No words.
Robert Lawson
ISBN: 0670699497
1941 Caldecott Award Winner
Read February 4, 3013
Fair warning, I don't always agree with the Caldecotts, and sometimes I violently disagree. I think a great value of children's materials is that they are accessible to, and interesting to, children. Not interesting to adults, not necessarily artistically or stylistically fascinating or innovative. Soapbox, I know. Sorry.
Anyway, with that background, I don't actively look up all the past Caldecotts and Newberys to check out. If they are attractive to me, I'll see them on the shelf and pull them out (Hugo Cabret, Creepy Carrots, I'm looking at you). If they aren't attractive to me, then I have a neverending pile of books, a legal pad full of lists of books, and a limited lifespan.
So here is this early winner, showing up on my desk to be checked for condition. I figure, oh hell, professional development, right? So I start reading it. It's a little weird, a set of short-bit dry family stories, and then we get to the first twinge: lazy, thieving, disreputable Indians in Minnesota. Also, judging by the engraving, black 'Mammys' were in Minnesotta. Ok, that's a little twitchy, but it was the forties. Moving on. Grandparents again, nothing much here... Oh. Oh dear. 'When my father was very young he had a Negro slave.' Oh? That's... lovely. The kicker? His father also had two dogs, which have full Roman names. The slave? Just Dick. Not even Richard. No last name, of course. Ai yi yi.
Now we're off to fight in the war, and lose the war, and the comment at the end is 'and (dog's full name) and (dog's full name) and Dick were all gone too.' Nice to see the order of importance there.
So I'm pretty solidly cringing at this now, and I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I'm being a little too touchy. So up pop Google to see what I can see.
Reader, it was worse. This is the 'revised' version. The first edition, that won the Caldecott? 'Tame' Indians in Minnesota. And the bit with the slave? 'When my father was very young he had two dogs and a colored boy' oh and it gets even better: 'The colored boy was just my father's age. He was a slave, but they didn't call him that. They just called him Dick.'
I have no words, gentle reader. No words.
Tuesday Storytime: "Love My Library" Month, Week 1
February is National "Love My Library" Month, so we're doing a whole month of Library and Book themed storytimes out here.
This first week, we're jumping in with three silly stories about book lovers.
The Girl Who Hated Books
Manjusha Pawagi, illustrated by Leanne Franson
ISBN: 1582700060
Meena has a rough life. Her parents are book-crazy, and she's nearly drowning in a sea of the hated things. Books on the table, books on the floors, books in piles in the doorways, books in chairs, even in the fridge! Even in her own room - hundreds of the wretched things. One day there's an awful crash, and the books go flying! Out seep all of the myriad characters that Meena doesn't know (but most listeners will recognize) all stuck hanging out in Meena's house until she can read each of them safely back home into their own stories.
Read It, Don't Eat It!
Ian Schoenherr
ISBN: 9780061724558
This delightful short rhyming romp has various over-excited animal children exhorting the reader to treat books correctly, with gleeful illustrations of what NOT to do contrasted with high-color pages with the enlarged white text prominently displayed. Excellent advice, excellent attitude, excellent presentation. All the stars.
Book! Book! Book!
Deborah Bruss, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke
ISBN: 0439135257
The barnyard gets into the fun here, as animals head into the library to request some reading materials, but sadly, the librarian is not multi-lingual, and each animal is sent home emptyhanded. Until that is, the little red hen saves the day with an emphatic "book book book!" (bok, bok, bok) request, which satisfies everyone involved except the bullfrog, who claims that he already "read it, read it, read it" (ribbit). Shut up - I like puns.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Picture Book Bonanza 3/3: Kevin Henkes' Penny and Her Marble, Mo Willems' A Big Guy Took My Ball!
Penny and Her Marble
Kevin Henkes
ISBN: 9780062082039
Read February 3, 2014
Small-format picture book
Penny is a mouse (as are most of Henkes' characters) and she fights a great moral battle here, and comes off victorious in the end. While taking a walk, Penny happens upon a marble in the grassy verge of the sidewalk, in front of a neighbor's house. Penny covets the marble, and takes it. Afterwards, she suffers very noticeable pangs of guilt about having done so, culminating in a set of nightmares. In the morning, Penny (without intervention or advice from any adults or other characters at all, which I LOVE) heads back to her neighbor's yard to return the marble to whence it came. At this point, reality and picture book plots diverge, as the neighbor informs Penny that she had placed the marble there for someone to find, and Penny gets to keep the marble with a clear conscience. Adorable, and with a nice gently delivered message, as are all of Henkes' stories.
A Big Guy Took My Ball!
Mo Willems
ISBN: 9781423174912
Read February 3, 2014
An observant or devious reader will notice the catch slipping right on by at the beginning, but Piggy has a problem because a BIG GUY came and took "his" ball. Elephant is ready to leap to the rescue, until he realizes just HOW BIG this guy really is. Their avenging fury is averted when the big guy sweetly thanks Piggy for finding his ball for him, and all is well again. This one is not nearly as epic as Should I Share My Ice Cream (which should be required reading for everyone ever) but it's worth it to see Elephant (normally so unflappable) waxing dramatic about the size differential between him and the big guy in question.
Kevin Henkes
ISBN: 9780062082039
Read February 3, 2014
Small-format picture book
Penny is a mouse (as are most of Henkes' characters) and she fights a great moral battle here, and comes off victorious in the end. While taking a walk, Penny happens upon a marble in the grassy verge of the sidewalk, in front of a neighbor's house. Penny covets the marble, and takes it. Afterwards, she suffers very noticeable pangs of guilt about having done so, culminating in a set of nightmares. In the morning, Penny (without intervention or advice from any adults or other characters at all, which I LOVE) heads back to her neighbor's yard to return the marble to whence it came. At this point, reality and picture book plots diverge, as the neighbor informs Penny that she had placed the marble there for someone to find, and Penny gets to keep the marble with a clear conscience. Adorable, and with a nice gently delivered message, as are all of Henkes' stories.
A Big Guy Took My Ball!
Mo Willems
ISBN: 9781423174912
Read February 3, 2014
An observant or devious reader will notice the catch slipping right on by at the beginning, but Piggy has a problem because a BIG GUY came and took "his" ball. Elephant is ready to leap to the rescue, until he realizes just HOW BIG this guy really is. Their avenging fury is averted when the big guy sweetly thanks Piggy for finding his ball for him, and all is well again. This one is not nearly as epic as Should I Share My Ice Cream (which should be required reading for everyone ever) but it's worth it to see Elephant (normally so unflappable) waxing dramatic about the size differential between him and the big guy in question.
Picture Book Bonanza 2/3: Molly Idle's Flora and the Flamingo, David Wiesner's Mr. Wuffles!
Flora and the Flamingo
Molly Idle
ISBN: 9781452110066
Read February 3, 2014
Wordless Picture Book, Lift-the-Flap Picture Book
This was a cute story, but I think that the combination of wordless AND lift-the-flap pushed it a little too far into 'trying too hard' territory for me. Also, the book is pretty much entirely pink (with a flamingo, I can't rightly blame it for that, but I also hold that I'm more critical of it because it's pink). Flora is a pear-shaped person in a swimming cap, suit, and swim-fins on her feet, and the flamingo is - well - a flamingo. Flora is also attempting to copycat said flamingo, who isn't entirely happy about her attempts. Things get a little rocky when the flamingo performs a maneuver that ends Flora up in the drink, but amends are made, leaving girl and bird to dance and splash together in harmony. Not entirely to my taste, but I especially liked the cherry-blossom borders on the pages, the amount of character representation possible with a pair of black swim fins, and Flora's expressive eyebrows.
Mr. Wuffles!
David Wiesner
ISBN: 9780618756612
Read February 3, 2014
Wordless Picture Book
Have to say from the start that this is NOT my favorite of Wiesner's works (that one for me goes to Flotsam for general amazingness, or to Hurricane for personal impact) but that said, this one is a cute romp. Mr. Wuffles is a grumpy black cat who, like all cats, prefers toys that aren't toys. Unfortunately for some very seasoned travelers, they are the newest "toy." After Mr. Wuffles damages their spaceship, they must join forces with the denizens behind the cupboards, learning each others' languages (actual languages, which can be actually learned by the reader - this part made me think of Weslandia and Dinotopia) and developing blended technologies to help with the rescue/escape/taunt the cat mission. I love the bugs - they're very William Joyce's Leaf Men in shape and plot function, but more expressive. The aliens are adorable, and I love their determination and fright when faced with Mr Wuffles in all his enormity. Technically, this isn't a wordless picture book, as the aliens and bugs do speak, but I'm willing to give it some wiggle room for a nifty idea and a lovely presentation. The last panel, with the additions to the bugs' wall of history, was killer.
Molly Idle
ISBN: 9781452110066
Read February 3, 2014
Wordless Picture Book, Lift-the-Flap Picture Book
This was a cute story, but I think that the combination of wordless AND lift-the-flap pushed it a little too far into 'trying too hard' territory for me. Also, the book is pretty much entirely pink (with a flamingo, I can't rightly blame it for that, but I also hold that I'm more critical of it because it's pink). Flora is a pear-shaped person in a swimming cap, suit, and swim-fins on her feet, and the flamingo is - well - a flamingo. Flora is also attempting to copycat said flamingo, who isn't entirely happy about her attempts. Things get a little rocky when the flamingo performs a maneuver that ends Flora up in the drink, but amends are made, leaving girl and bird to dance and splash together in harmony. Not entirely to my taste, but I especially liked the cherry-blossom borders on the pages, the amount of character representation possible with a pair of black swim fins, and Flora's expressive eyebrows.
Mr. Wuffles!
David Wiesner
ISBN: 9780618756612
Read February 3, 2014
Wordless Picture Book
Have to say from the start that this is NOT my favorite of Wiesner's works (that one for me goes to Flotsam for general amazingness, or to Hurricane for personal impact) but that said, this one is a cute romp. Mr. Wuffles is a grumpy black cat who, like all cats, prefers toys that aren't toys. Unfortunately for some very seasoned travelers, they are the newest "toy." After Mr. Wuffles damages their spaceship, they must join forces with the denizens behind the cupboards, learning each others' languages (actual languages, which can be actually learned by the reader - this part made me think of Weslandia and Dinotopia) and developing blended technologies to help with the rescue/escape/taunt the cat mission. I love the bugs - they're very William Joyce's Leaf Men in shape and plot function, but more expressive. The aliens are adorable, and I love their determination and fright when faced with Mr Wuffles in all his enormity. Technically, this isn't a wordless picture book, as the aliens and bugs do speak, but I'm willing to give it some wiggle room for a nifty idea and a lovely presentation. The last panel, with the additions to the bugs' wall of history, was killer.
Picture Book Bonanza, 1/3: Aaron Becker's Journey, Brian Floca's Locomotive
Journey
Aaron Becker
ISBN: 9780763660536
Read February 3, 2014
Wordless Picture Book
This is a beautiful book. It ranks up there with Weisner's best. It is a much more textured and evocative furthering of the Harold and the Purple Crayon tale (with perhaps a cameo of a slightly grown Harold at the end?) following a young girl who creates a lush imaginative world from her red crayon. Adventures, perils, rescues, and finally, a friend. Just delightful. I love how the different landscapes evolve into each other seamlessly, but are totally and completely different, each from the next. It really furthers the sense of a daydream or a half-awake dreaming memory, where things make sense in the dream, and only when you wake do you realize how disparate and segregated the segments actually were without your imagination and mental focus holding them together into a pattern and a plot. I love that this creates that same magical feeling without being pretentious or cutesy about it.
Locomotive
Brian Floca
ISBN: 9781416994152
Read February 3, 2014
Read February 3, 2014
Nonfiction Picture Book
Super-dense text packs every page, with sparse sepia-toned artwork grounding the visuals and providing context for the storyline and imparted information. Reminds me very strongly of Fleischman's The Matchbox Diary, but less emotionally impactful (not a bad thing, just a difference in the type of story being conveyed). Love the glut of information on the endpages, and the nifty little details like using the "convenience" on the train only while it's in motion, as it wasn't polite to do your business while the train was stopped at a station because the convenience was simply a hole, and you didn't want to make the station nasty. The multiple fonts and colors and sizes got right up to the line of being overdone, but never stepped over for me, but the verseform did me in a bit. If words are written like lines of poetry, I'm old-school enough to want them either in iambic pentameter, or to rhyme. Nevertheless, that is a small niggle indeed for a beautiful and crammed book of an interesting and exciting part of American history.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)