Blue Chicken

I love picture books that incorporate aspects of art. I also love books which engage readers from the front end page to the last one. Deborah Freedman's Blue Chicken does both that well, and it is our read-aloud selection this week. Some readers pass over end pages, but the students at my school are used to looking. Though I did not mention the need to note the barn through the window panes, they noticed. They watched as an artist's materials were shown below that same window ledge. They laughed as the little chicken saw its reflection in the blue paint and decided to help add color the barn (in the painting). At the very end, they noted how the real barn and the artist's barn were going to be transformed - as well the chicken and friends. It is a clever book, and my favorite young readers caught every bit of its wit.

Its Name Says What It Does

An new inquiry unit centered around inventors and inventions began today with third graders. We (my teaching partner, the cooperating teacher, and myself) began by discussing what inquiry means, gave a brief role play example of friendly/unfriendly group behaviors, and listed what we thought we knew about Alexander Graham Bell (in an effort to activate background knowledge).

Then they practiced listing what they know with photographs of inventions. An iPod, a GPS, an old-fashioned bicycle, and a calculator were easy for the list-makers. The paperclip drew a bit of silence...and then my favorite comment of the afternoon: "Its name says what it does!"

Unexpected Attraction

Sometimes I really do not want to read certain books. I felt that way about A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (based on Siobahn Dowd's ideas and manuscript), but I really loved the honesty and portrayal of a young boy facing his mother's death. I feel that way still about Unbroken. It was sitting next to my nightstand until last week when I determined I just could not read about the horrors described in its pages. I was certain I would not like Rebecca Makkai's The Borrower, but my teaching partner convinced me to read it. It is right now next to my computer and the bowl of cookie dough I am baking. I catch a few paragraphs in between dough scoops.

Lucy Hull is a children's librarian who encounters an avid reader named Ian. Though Ian voraciously reads anything she recommends, his controlling mother brings her a list of the books and authors he should read in order to experience "the breath of God." Lucy sneaks books to Ian, and he transports them in his pants and parka, always avoiding his nanny and mother. Lucy is torn about First Amendment rights and the need to patronize her patron's mother. When she can no longer stand to witness the ways the young boy's mind is being tortured by his parents and the church, she does the unthinkable.

Intermingled with Ian's and Lucy's story are snippets from books, familiar titles, and references to characters and plot lines. The author even ends one chapter with a nod to Ludwig Bemelmans:

In a library in Missouri that was covered with vines
Lived thousands of books in a hundred straight lines
A boy came in at half past nine
Every Saturday, rain or shine
His book selections were clan-des-tine.

Studio Visits

On this teacher workday, I spent part of the afternoon in one of my favorite places: my friend Debra's studio. The first time I visited Debra Frasier's studio, I was slightly nervous. The elevator to the third floor is a bit old. The hallways are a bit maze-like. Once inside the door, I felt instant comfort. The bookcases filled with titles that inspire her art and shape her story development line the walls. Large sheets of Canson paper in a rainbow of colors are tacked onto corkboard on one wall. Binders of each book's curriculum and programs fill another shelf. The current book's artwork and is hung, displayed, and strewn about the place. And the reminders of past books make me smile...like this wooden spoon puppet from The Incredible Water Show.

In our first collaborative effort, we staged the book as a play three different ways with fifth graders from my school: one with miniature box theatres, one with puppets of various sizes, and one with human characters in costume. It was a grand project with fabulous results! How good it feels to visit a familiar place and savor the memories held there!

Award Day

The live webcast of the ALA Youth Media Awards held our attention this morning in the library office, but typical Monday morning problems kept us from listening completely. We cheered for Balloons Over Broadway, Melissa Sweet's multi-layered, filled-with-facts book about Tony Sarg, the puppeteer who created the Macy's parade balloons. What a perfect choice to receive the Sibert Medal! We cheered again when our personal favorite, John Rocco's Blackout, received a Caldecott Honor Medal; the students have loved that book since we read it aloud earlier this year and were hoping it would win today. Our third cheer came for Eugene Yelchin's Breaking Stalin's Nose!

The third grade Caldecott committees have been deliberating and debating about their book selections and choices. Some are adamant that the book they have selected is the best, citing very appropriate and detailed reasons to support the choice. When all the voting and decisions are done, their award recipients might be surprising!

An Author's Books

Most often, when I read a book I love by a certain author, I am likely to love that author's other books. It held true with Helen Frost this week. My admiration for Diamond Willow led me to Crossing Stones, and I found myself once again spellbound by her words and story. Muriel, her brother Ollie, and her friend Emma narrate this historical tale of love, commitment, and determination. Muriel's words flow, and her "mind meanders like the creek" in a zig-zag pattern across the pages, much like the water flowing between Muriel's and Emma's farms. Ollie's and Emma's words are held in fourteen-line sonnets with rhyme structures that cup them together (and middle lines that rhyme with each other, something rather significant later in the story).

As World War I rages, Muriel questions why President Wilson would "take us right into the middle of this war they're fighting oversees." She adores Emma's older brother Frank but wonders if she should feel more than that about a young man going off to war. Emma's practicality dominates her life in school and chores, but her allegiance to her brother, to Ollie, and to Grace (Muriel and Ollie's little sister) shines fiercely in her actions. Ollie is certain his decision to lie about his age and enlist is the right thing - until he gets to training and then the front. As their stories come together, the many ways we see situations and live through challenges are illuminated in good ways.

Helen Frost's other books are on reserve at my library.

Caldecott Committees

The third graders gathered in groups of four with a decade of Caldecott Medal books this afternoon. Using the book pass method, they perused each book for 90 seconds, briefly taking in the story but focusing more on the artwork. The books passed from hand to hand around the table until each child had seen each book. Then, they debated amongst themselves which book of their decade was the most distinguished. I heard things comments like these

* I think the artist used watercolor here. See how it spreads along the trees. - about The Funny Little Woman illustrated by Blair Lent
* Each of us likes a different book best! How will we decide? - about Officer Buckle and Gloria, Tuesday, Rapunzel, and Snowflake Bentley from the 1990s
* Some of these books have the same style. - about Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and Duffy and the Devil from the 1970s

Next session each group will share their most distinguished book and their reasons for choosing it - and we will all know the 2012 Caldecott books!