Winter's ending, it's time to read a book

Lots of books about friendship and adventure. Let's all make a new friend this week and go on an adventure!

 

Will you Be My Friend? By Susan Lurie, Photographs by Murray Head

A little mouse is looking for a friend in the woods, rhyming his way around the trees and animals. When a grumpy bird starts giving him advice, the mouse tries to find the friend being alluded to. But, it takes him a while to figure out that the grumpy bird wants to be his friend. Superb photos illustrate this book of nature at its most whimsical.

Little Elliot, Fall Friends by Mike Curato

Elliot and Mouse are back enjoying the fall in the country. When Elliot hides so well that Mouse cannot find him, Mouse bakes a pie and tricks him into coming out of his hiding place. All is well with the little polka-dotted elephant who enjoys the world in all its splendor!

 Tomo Explores the World by Trevor Lai

Tomo does not want to be a fisherman like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather before him. He wants to be an inventor and when he discovers his great-grandfather’s journal, he also wants to be an adventurer. A great book to encourage kids to try new things, use their imaginations and explore the world. Side note: Tomo has a best friend Maya who likes to study plants and animals. She stops what she is doing to go along with Tomo on an adventure. It might be worth exploring this theme with children. This book could give the impression that boys are the planners and girls are the followers. We wouldn’t want that, would we?

A New Friend for Sparkle by Amy Young

Sparkle and Lucy are back, but Lucy has a new friend, Cole who brings his toys over to play with. Sparkle does not like being left out and literally “horns” in on the fun. When Lucy realizes that all three of them can play together and have fun all is well. A great book to share when children are having a hard time making a three-way friendship work. Good to discuss whose feelings are getting hurt and why and how to avoid hurt feelings altogether. And who could not love a unicorn/goat named Sparkle?

The Jelly Bean Tree by Toni Yuly

Start with torn tissue paper pictures, create a blue giraffe and name it Jelly Bean and soon you have a story about a young giraffe who becomes a tree because a bird had built a nest on his head. Conceptually, this is a story that young children will love. What could be more appealing than a giraffe who has to stand still for days and days so he doesn’t disturb the bird’s nest on his head? Yuly uses torn tissue paper collages for her illustrations. This gives a fuzzy effect for the edges of the giraffe and other animals depicted, which is very appealing and makes them look almost like stuffed animals. So many things to discuss here: what would you do for a friend? How do all the animals help each other so the eggs can stay in the nest until they hatch? What is the life cycle of a bird? Have fun!

Hector the Collector by Emily Beeny, Illustrations by Stephanie Graegin

Let me just say right up front, I LOVE THIS BOOK. I love how Beeny starts out at the beginning of a collection. The simple act of picking up an acorn leads to a collection of acorns. I love how she describes what a collection is and how it comes to be. I love how the teacher (a tall giraffe, by the way) honors Hector as a collector when the children in the class are making fun of him. And I love how she ends the book with a description of other collections and gives notes about museums and their collections at the end. What a perfect book!

Someone Like Me by Patricia MacLachlan, Illustrations by Chris Sheban 

A girl who loves to listen to stories, who loves to read and who “writes about talking dogs and chickens who scratch stories in the dirt.” A girl like Patricia MacLachlin who becomes a writer. A great anchor text for getting children to write about themselves. I can see this being used in a classroom during writers workshop.

February Books

While we await the Newbery and Caldecott winners, we still have time to check out other books!

What is a Concept Book?

A concept book is generally a picture book written for young children in which the pages are all about one concept or sometimes one object. Concept books can be told primarily through pictures and many of them have very few words, but they can also be wordy, with the text carrying the burden of the concept. Alphabet books and counting books are all concept books, but concept books are not limited to these two types.

Here are a few of the concept books that have come across my desk in the last few weeks.

 Wet by Carey Sookocheff

A concept book on what it means to be wet. Narrated by a small boy who goes from the pool to the rain to the tub, all experiences where he or some/one/thing around him gets wet. The pictures are simple drawings using a limited palette of colors, light blue, pale green and yellow, all very soothing and well-matched to the text. What are some ways that you get wet? Can you think of all of the ways that Sookocheff has?

Out by Arree Chung

There are only four or five words in this book including, Out! which is used repeatedly with different meanings at different times. While this appears to be a simple book, it is not really that simple or easy to interpret meaning that when working with young children there could be many different interpretations. For example, either the dog of the child is called Jo Jo. Which one is it? An argument could be made either way until near the end when the child calls the dog Jo Jo.  There is quite a bit of mischief that goes on between the pages of this book, but it will take careful reading of the minimal words and illustrations to know what is really going on.

How Many Hugs? By heather Swain, Illustrated by Steven Henry

An unusual counting book, where hugs are counted for various animals, all with numerous legs/arms. The hugs are the number of appendages divided by two, so those who are quick with math problems might be able to figure out how many hugs an octopus or a squid could give.

The Five Forms by Barbara McClintock

A young girl finds a book about the five forms, with strict instructions not to try these forms without an experienced teacher. As most children would do, she does not follow directions, and each form conjures up the real animal, a crane, a leopard, a snake and a dragon soon inhabit her home. But, the final form returns all to normal. A little more story than most concept books, but still a learning experience.

Friendship books 

It's always time to talk about friendship and there are a plethora of books about friendship. These three all contain stories about a dog who is a friend. 

Hello, Goodbye, Dog by Maria Gianferrari, Pictures by Patrice Barton

Zara is a little girl in a wheelchair and Moose is her dog. Moose likes hello, but does not like good-bye. He wants to be in school and likes to listen to someone read a story. In the end, Zara gets Moose certified as a therapy dog and he goes to school to try to encourage children to read. While the main character, Zara, is in a wheelchair, this is not dwelled upon in the text and she is treated like any other child who spends her day at school. The therapy dog is not for her but for those who do not or cannot read.

Stay: A Girl, A Dog, A Bucket List by Kate Klise, illustrated by M. Sarah Klise

Astrid, a girl, and Eli, a dog, are best friends and do everything together, except one thing. Eli grows old, and Astrid just grows up. As Astrid becomes seven, she notices that Eli is getting slower and she makes up a bucket list of things they can do together before it is too late and they do all the things. But, the only thing on Eli’s list is being with Astrid. A quirky story about a girl and her dog and the fierce loyalty that ensues.

Dogosaurus Rex by Anna Staniszewski, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

What happens if you go to the pound to get a pet dog and come home with a dinosaur instead? The result is not pretty, a pet who is too big to fit in the front door, who eats all the food in the house and sits on a neighbor’s car when taken for a walk. But, Ben helps Sadie find her place in the world and all is right in the end.