Not Very Often

Rarely does a day go by in which I do not pick up a book. Alas, today has been that kind of day...a sick day (still!). My pile is four-high: The Power of Myth (Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell), Martin Seligman's Authentic Happiness, The Water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt, and A Shadow Falls by Nick Brandt. The first I have been trying to digest and understand for several months. The second is supposed to help me define happiness and my own level of it. The third is newly released and received terrific reviews. The last is a folio of incredible photographs, recommended by Brattcat, and I have not opened it because I want to truly enjoy it. Perhaps tomorrow will be a reading day again.

Miscellaneous/Miss Alaineus

It is Spring Break for me. This week Debra Frasier and I are scanning rough drafts, revisions, letters to and from her editor, notes to herself, images, artwork possibilities, and close-to-perfect work from her book Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster. I have thoughtfully selected these things from the many folders she donated to the University of Minnesota's Kerlan Collection, and they will comprise a portfolio for teachers to use with students.

This book's impact in schools has been tremendous. Children devise innovative costumes representative of word and march in hundreds of Vocabulary Parades across the country each year. Interest in vocabulary blossoms as students and teachers explore words and their meanings.

We look forward to giving classrooms the opportunity to see Debra's working process throughout the phases of this book in the portfolio we create!

Have You Read #9

Five years ago I read aloud Joan Bauer's Rules of the Road to my sons. It remains one of our favorites for numerous reasons, so when I notice a new release from her, I always read it.

Close to Famous was released last month, and the cover alone made captivated me! A young baker is wearing an apron with a shooting star and is holding a plate of cupcakes baked in bright liners. That baker, Foster Akilah McFee, influenced me to try a new recipe this morning: cherry cupcakes (from King Arthur).

Literacy and baking - two things I highly value in life - feature prominently in this novel. Foster and her mom hit the road after a less-than-desirable run-in with her mom's Elvis-impersonator boyfriend and end up in Culpepper, West Virginia. Despite their quick departure, the sixth-grade Foster brought her handy Bake and Take cupcake carrier with her, as well as the many recipes she has committed to memory (a necessary process since she cannot read). To dispel her frustrations and sadness, Foster bakes. She shares her butterscotch muffins and chocolate cupcakes and eventually sells them at Angry Wayne's, a restaurant in town. Batch by batch, she talks through her process, wishing she could have a Food Network show to share the potential "make the world a better place, one cupcake at a time." Her secret illiterate life becomes public when she assists a famous actress (who came home to Culpepper) who hid her own illiteracy the same way Foster did. Soon, many of the people who care about her are helping her learn to read.

Readers will love this book, despite some of the outrageous scenes sprinkled throughout the story. They will ponder like I have that title and the many ways it is perfect for this book.

Making Connections

For our upcoming book festival, two students will be demonstrating origami techniques. They acquired permission from their parents to stay after school to teach others how to make a simple project.

One student came to tell me about her parents' agreement to letting her do this. The two of us connected last year when she asked me if we had any Vietnamese books in our library. We found non-fiction books about the country but only a few novels and picture books.

She was delighted to pronounce words for me from The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland. She checked out Carolyn Marsden's When Heaven Fell. Her desire for tales from her native land led me to Sherry Garland's collection Children of the Dragon: Selected Tales From Vietnam. When it arrived, we sat together to look at Trina Schart Hyman's beautiful illustrations and to talk about the stories she remembered.

When she stopped by this week, I had a new book on my desk - Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai. It is a wonderfully told story in verse about one family's departure from Saigon in 1975 through the eyes of a ten-year-old narrator, Kim Ha. Gleefully, she pronounced names and words for me, bringing her culture to my life. She will be the first person to check out this story when it arrives in our library collection.

Stone Soup

"Wait. You mean she didn't chop them?" asked a second grader this morning. Generally, there are no interruptions from the story steps while I am reading. This young listener (whose incredulity shows his background in making soup) could not fathom how the woman could put whole carrots (including the tops) in the large pot of simmering water in Jon J. Muth's retelling of Stone Soup. Next a farmer brings five whole onions and adds them. The children in front of me looked at each other in disbelief. The addition of unchopped ingredients continues with cabbages, mung beans, yams, and ginger root.

The three monks approached the village at the foot of the mountain, wanting to bring happiness to villagers who clearly had only themselves in mind, and making stone soup in the village center brought the people together for a soup banquet.

Readers loved Muth's watercolor illustrations (and later compared them to the Caldecott Honor Book of the same title by Marcia Brown), especially the page when the heads of the villagers peer over the edge of the cooking pot to view the soup. "Hey, that means we would be in the soup pot to see them!" one told me.

I finished by reading the author's note about various versions and variations of the story over time and his thoughts about this retelling set in China. When I read about the three monks (Hok, Lok, and Siew) representing health, wealth, and prosperity, a Chinese student chimed in about knowing that. All these connections and observations simmer in their thoughts and mine.

Yes to Picture Books!

A teacher friend lamented the scolding she received from a colleague for using picture books with fourth graders. What! I exclaimed. That cannot be true. Sadly, there are unenlightened souls who believe picture books equates to babyish books. I beg to differ.

Pat Bauer told me last night she has a list for her middle school students about why it is important to read picture books. That prompted me to compile my own thoughts. I read picture books every day! I look forward to opening new ones and revisiting favorites. My reasons for reading and using them are in no particular order of importance.

They encourage visual literacy. Think of comparing fairy tale versions like Little Red Riding Hood retold by James Marshall, Jerry Pinkney, and Trina Schart Hyman.

They offer an introduction to topics and time periods. David LaRochelle's The Best Pet of All opens up a perfect writing topic. Peppe the Lamplighter by Elisa Bartone takes readers to the early 1900s and offers a unique glimpse of young life.

They foster understanding of literary elements like character, plot, theme, setting, irony, conflict, and resolution. Sisters Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens-Crummel are masters of this. My favorite is Cook-a-Doodle-Doo.

They promote strong vocabulary. Boxes for Katje by Candace Fleming, in addition to teaching about Holland in World War II, is filled with wonderful words: gritty, luxury, savored, gulped, dabbing, heartfelt, bitter, sparingly, whooped.

They provide examples of traits and characteristics valued by human beings: acceptance, compassion, empathy, honesty, sharing, and understanding. Derek Munson's Enemy Pie demonstrates all those qualities with tact and gentle humor.

They demonstrate the interdependence of text and illustrations. David Small does this so well in Imogene's Antlers!

They present a common reference point when trying to learn about something in greater depth. Karen Hesse's The Cats in Krasinski Square presents a view of Warsaw in World War II that is unknown to many readers.

They give readers and listeners the opportunity to laugh, ponder, and reflect. Mem Fox's Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge captivated me as a college student for this reason; it was the first picture book I received as an adult.

They spawn inquiry learning. Debra Frasier's The Incredible Water Show prompts readers to learn about our water cycle.

They show life's problems and challenges and ways to work through them. My boys loved peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day. Thank goodness for Bread and Jam for Frances to nudge them along to other foods.

They draw readers and listeners together in a shared experience. So many ideas for the ultimate birthday cake have come from Bunny Cakes by Rosemary Wells, not to mention a curiosity about red-hot marshmallow squirters.

They link us with our past and grant windows to the future. Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey takes me back to my hometown library and makes me think of sharing it - and picking blueberries - with children in my future.

They supply us with language that becomes part of our daily lives. "Wham! Bang! Thump!" from The Bear Under the Stairs comes to mind in our household.

They give us opportunities to meet characters who are a bit like us. For me, Julie Jersild Roth's Knitting Nell is one of those characters.

Most of all, picture books - or everybody books as we call them at school - bring pleasure.

Back in Time

Family Reading Night attendees stepped back in time 150 years this evening with author Pat Bauer and illustrator Dave Geister. The wife and husband team shared their own history as artists and readers before enlisting volunteers to lead the Union and Confederate sides, to represent Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Clara Barton, and various other folks, and to reenact historic moments. These willing volunteers donned top hats, wool coats, kepis, shawls, and haversacks and froze in poses similar to those in Pat and Dave's book B is for Battle Cry: A Civil War Alphabet.

Pat sometimes sang (to the tune of Stephen Foster's "Hard Times Come Again No More") the lines of the poem, and both Dave and Pat read the lines as the frozen young actors waited with appropriate expressions of excitement, sorrow, anticipation, and determination. Rebel yells and shrieks rang out for the letter R. Davis and Lincoln almost shook hands at Appotomax for X.

With the students back in the audience, Dave sketched a Civil War soldier, and Pat fielded questions from the audience. Especially interesting to the children was the piece of hardtack Dave baked a decade ago! It was an evening of enlightenment and magical time travel.