One Amazing Thing on One Amazing Morning

Autumn weather is generally crisp, brisk, and tinted with unique scents. This amazing morning was sunny, exceptionally warm, and unbelievably colorful. Intending to read-walk with Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's One Amazing Thing, I found myself unable to focus on the story! The scenery was too bright. I walked back home, deposited the book on the counter, and went out again with my camera. I felt like Frederick (the mouse made famous by Leo Lionni), savoring images that will bring warmth in the winter.

Now I am back to the book, and I must stay awake until I finish it tonight. It is the story of nine people who are literally thrown together in the Indian consulate when an earthquake strikes. When their situation seems most dire, Uma, the story's narrator, declares they should each share a story about one amazing thing that has happened in their lives. Despite the initial protests, each person reveals a story that causes the others to consider him or her in a totally new light. From the Chinese grandmother whom everyone assumed could not speak English to the upper-class husband whose unlikely past sobers even his wife, their stories are filled with joy, light, angst, and perspective.

Those Beautiful Books

First grade teachers have been guiding children to discover details in illustrations, photographs, and text. Each chooses different types of books to model for the students what they need to learn. One teacher checked out I Spy book, Where's Waldo? books, and Walter Wick's Can You See What I See? books. Another asked for books that led readers to see details and books for which the illustrations were essential for understanding the text. We provided some of each, and the first graders loved them all. After storytime yesterday, one girl asked me for "one of those beautiful books." I knew exactly what she meant because I think they are beautiful as well. Frank Serafini's Looking Closely series features the telephoto version of an image on the right-hand side of the page, and when the page is turned, the wider version of the image is revealed. Readers can look closely at the desert, a pond, the forest, the seashore, a garden, and the rain forest. It was Looking Closely in the Rain Forest she most wanted, and she left, smiling, with her beautiful book.

Those Darn Squirrels

From a distance, they look like the fluorescent yellow-green tennis balls. Up close, the black walnut spheres are pocked and marred. The neighborhood squirrels horde them, storing them in our hockey net, the landscaping rocks, along the house. They had five lined up in the gutter when I came home from work. Imagining their adventures in retrieving them and hiding them is as rewarding as actually watching them try to get to the precious nutmeat!

Old Man Fookwire in Adam Rubin's Those Darn Squirrels would not enjoy watching my neighborhood squirrels. In fact, he only wants to protect his bird feeders from the crafty creatures. The first and second graders love this book. They point and giggle, whisper and chant. They laugh at the full-bellied squirrels resting on tree branches. When Old Man Fookwire thinks his favorite birds have returned early from migration, they say, "Those aren't birds. They're squirrels." They glance occasionally at the squirrel puppet on my right hand that nods, points, cheers, and shows them details in the artwork. After Old Man Fookwire lifts his fist at the end and says, "Those darn squirrels!" in a friendlier manner, the children ask if they can have the book.

Mile Long Letters

David LaRochelle mesmerized the audience at Family Reading Night last evening. It began with his reading of the brief first letter from Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary, David's favorite chapter book. He proceeded to tell about the letters he has received and written over the years:

• an itsy bitsy letter from a friend in college


• a gigantic letter on newsprint in return to that friend


• an extra long letter formed by taping together the cut-up lines of a regular letter


• letters on leaves


• the letter he sent me in a plastic bottle last week


• messages written on huge sheets of cardboard and then cut into postcard sizes to mail separately, forming a large puzzle


• letters on creatively constructed stationery, using a copy machine to reproduce things like leaves


• a letter from his sister when she went to summer camp


• a letter from his mom when he was in college


• letters written in code (backwards, upside down)


• letters folded into their own envelopes (which he taught everyone to do, including all the adults)

The way he decorates his envelopes inspired guests to try their own! Inspired describes each child and adult in attendance. There were gasps for each new thing David showed and shared. They gladly grabbed large newsprint sheets, postcards, ready-made turtle stationery, and envelopes to begin writing letters at home.

The thank you letter my teaching partner and I sent him today is one of my favorite creations. I'm ready to write a mile-long letter to my nephew.

Pen Names

The third graders are listening to the last chapters of The SOS File this week. They laugh hysterically when "Pumpkin Man" (who has been stung by yellow jackets and has an incredibly swollen and red face) bursts from the girls' bathroom stall, scaring the female inhabitants. They sigh in understanding when the author of "Held Back" is revealed to be their teacher. But it is the story of "White Lightning" that draws the most commentary. The story's author is Ima Writer, and she explains to her teacher that she is really Brianna Thompson and is using a pen name. The children love to discuss this. We talk about Lemony Snicket, Carolyn Keene, and somebody named Ima Reader (whose name appeared in their readers' notebooks. As the story progresses, Ima Writer confesses that her horse is not really named White Lightning (which really would be a stretch, given the horse's slow manners and movements); his name is Bob. One astute listener noted, "The horse has a pen name, too!"

Fall Reading

Though I glanced up frequently to enjoy the incredible autumn colors on the route to Duluth for a cross country meet today, my thoughts were in France, living and reliving Marshall Stone's experiences as an airman who was hidden by various brave souls during World War II in Bobbie Ann Mason's The Girl in the Blue Beret. He is a fictional character whose experiences are based loosely on her father-in-law's real experiences. Once again, I am dismayed at what I did not know about history and am grateful for the author's care in telling this intriguing story.

Blackout Response

We are reading aloud John Rocco's Blackout to the classes this week during library time. Both my teaching partner and I love this book, and the children are mesmerized by the incredible artwork and by the idea of a blackout. The light emanating from just the flashlight and candle create an intense brightness in the apartment, on the rooftop, and in the street. Because the text is intentionally sparse, the illustrations must be read. It is a skill most children learn when they are very young, but when they become readers of text, they often adopt the attitude that reading pictures is for the younger students. This book draws observant minds into the illustrations. Many notice how the rooftop scene looks similar to Van Gogh's Starry Night. All notice how the main character decides to flip the light switch to the off position after the power is restored, just to take back the lack of busyness the blackout established for a brief time.

Far from black, the sunny Dale Chihuly creation hanging in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts lobby seemed the best accompaniment to Blackout.