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Friday, August 9, 2013

It's Picture Book 10 for 10 Day!


Cathy Mere (Reflect andRefine) and Mandy Robek (Enjoy andEmbrace Learning) are hosting our favorite PB(picture books) 10 for 10 sharing today! There is amazing sharing, your lists will grow!

       It’s actually hard not to share the books I’ve shared before here and here; they are still favorites, but here are ten more.  This time I focused on the goal of sharing stories that show diversity in some way.  It is important to me to show students that there are many kinds of people who accomplish wonderful things in different ways.  It’s a good thing to celebrate differences.


Coming On Home Soon – written by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by E.B. Lewis
         Through tough times, some children have to give up their parents for a while.  This story tells about Ada Ruth whose mother, during wartime, has found a job in Chicago, so has to leave the daughter and her grandmother.  They do a lot of waiting for news, first letter and there is mention of those-in war-who don’t “come on home”.  For us today, this will touch children whose parents are far away, serving our country.  Illustrations are gorgeous, realistic watercolor.

The Goat In The Rug - written by Geraldine, as told to Charles L. Blood & Martin Link and illustrated by Nancy Winslow Parker
          This is a true story of a weaver and her goat who lived in the Navajo Nation at Window Rock, Arizona.  The story is a how-to book, telling the tale of shearing the mohair from a goat, who tells the tale, to taking the rug off the loom.  It uses the proper terms for preparing the wool for weaving like cleaning, carding, spinning and dyeing.  Amazingly, it is not silly, but although we know goats cannot talk, the illustrations and the story show the close relationship between natural objects and their use by Native Americans. 

We All Went on Safari - written by Laurie Krebs and illustrated by Julia Cairns
           A wonderful new counting book takes readers on a journey through Tanzania, learning about the animals that live there and some names that are given to the children by the Masaai natives who live there. Beautiful and colorful illustrations are painted in bright primary colors with children walking along 'on safari' as they observe the animals on the journey. The backmatter is extensive, offering a short piece about the Maasai people, more Swahili words like the animal names along with the meaning of the children's names. It's a good book for beginners to learn about people from other countries.


Brave Irene – written and illustrated by William Steig
              You must have read at least one of William Steig's books. This is not a funny one, but I thought I'd share that I've used this in a variety of ways, and lately for studying using strong verbs in writing. I taught the lesson to students who are 2nd and 3rd graders. It can also be used for predictions. It tells the story of Irene, who is taking a dress to a duchess from her seamstress mother, who is ill. The struggles she faces are tough, but Irene is a brave soul. It's just a terrific book with some important lessons to learn.

The Camel Who Took A Walk – written by Jack Twordov and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
        This is an old book that my children and now my grandchildren have loved, a simple story of a camel walking through a jungle, building such suspense as four animals make plans assuming the camel will walk their way.  Young children are so excited as the pages turn, and gleeful at the ending.  It gives a brief introduction to a jungle and animals who live there and an excellent way to build suspense a little at a time for young writers. 

How To – written and illustrated by Julie Morstad
            This book was specifically recommended to me by a Goodreads friend and I'm so glad she did! I purchased it and read it, then read again. It's that marvelous, helps get the creative juices going, as I imagine it will be of great value across the grades, for creative writing and poetry. The illustrations are rather whimsical line drawings with a little color, of all kinds of things that may appear boring until one sees the illustration. "How-to make a sandwich is just one example, where several children lie between blankets and quilts on top of each other, hence, a sandwich. I can just imagine this as both a writing and art project, with students doing their own "How-To" illustrations! 

Forest Has A Song – poems written by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater and illustrated by Robbin Gourley
                If you love the forest like I do, you will also love what Amy and Robbin have offered in this new book of poems. They have shown the real things, like in the poem Puff, telling about those earthy wonders that one finds in the damp and dark of the forest, emitting a little cloud of spores when squeezed. And the poem Squirrel, pleading for the whereabouts of its secret stash. Amy's poems take us from entering the forest in full flower with a kind invitation, "I'm here./Come visit./ Please?" through the autumn in poems like Maples In October, to winter celebrated in poems like Snowflake Voices. And then there are the magical forest voices which appear in an young owl's voice, First Flight; along with the beautiful Lady's Slipper, named in the poem as "Forest Cinderella." Robbin's illustrations take us further into the poems with her beautiful and sometimes whimsical illustrations. A young girl is "us", wandering through, seeing all the wonder of this forest, and keeping the theme of the invitation to visit, we can pretend we're there too! For those ‘city’ kids who rarely get to be that child in the woods, this would be a lovely introduction to the forest.

The Matchbox Diary – written by Paul Fleischman and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
         I've owned this book for a while, but never took time to read it until recently. I immediately wanted to create my own unique diary. Wonderful teller of stories Paul Fleischman tells about a great-grandfather showing his own story of immigration through small objects saved in matchboxes like a ticket from his first baseball game or an olive pit his mother gave him to suck on to try to alleviate hunger when there was no food. It's a story made even more real by Ibatoulline's beautiful full page illustrations. I can visualize using this as a text in writing in a variety of genres.

 Jouanah, A Hmong Cinderella – adapted by Jewell Reinhart Coburn with Tzexa Cherta Lee and illustrated by Anne Sibley O’Brien
           In certain studies of literature, I’ve helped students study different cultures through experiences with various Cinderella stories.  I’ve read several books about the Hmong culture and love this book because it holds some of those cultural parts, like the great respect for elders and the idea that spirits guide us in our daily lives. There is much to discuss in this book and to compare with other Cinderella stories.  Illustrations of the beautiful costumes and traditions of the village celebrations are filled with details.         

Tia Isa Wants A Car – written by Meg Medina and illustrated by Claudio Munoz
               Sharing books about people who don’t have a lot of money, but save for something important, like a car, and still send money back to family in their former country are to be respected for their sacrifice and discipline as they save.  A little sister tells the story about her older sister, Tia Isa, who wants a car so they all can go to the beach.  There are some sweet actions by the little sister in the book, doing what she can do to help. Some Spanish is included, but the country of origin is not told. The illustrations are watercolor, simple and realistic.

28 comments:

  1. Linda, what a lovely selection of stories. You reminded my that I have We All Went on Safari on our bookshelf at home and I need to bring it in to share with my students. I am so pleased that How To made your list! I was pretty confident that you would love it but nice to see it showcased here. I also just read The Matchbox Diary this week and was blown away by the concept and the stunning illustrations. I'm going to look for Tia Isa wants a car. Sounds like an important book to share.

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    1. The Safari book is really good, shows so much as an ABC book! I can't wait to share The Matchbox Diary-would like to create my own too! Thanks Carrie!

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  2. Isabelle loves looking at the pictures in The Matchbox Diary. The story is too long for her (developmentally), but I hope she'll love listening to it one day.

    LOVE Tia Isa Wants a Car. I interviewed Meg Medina on TWT when her book came out. Great, great book!

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    1. Stacey, I'm glad you mentioned your review of Tia Isa. I knew I had seen about it somewhere, & then found it at a library sale-was so excited & it is good! Thanks!

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  3. Thank you for sharing this list. So many of them are new-to-me. I'm off to request them from the library.

    Here's my list: Top Ten Edgy Picture Books.

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    1. So happy you see some that will be useful, Deb! Thanks!

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  4. Lovely list! So glad you added "Forest Has a Song" because I just couldn't squeeze another onto my list of 10, but it is a favorite!

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    1. Isn't it delightful? A new one to share this year! Thanks Cathy!

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  5. Okay, I need to start a running list of books to search out. You have highlighted several new titles for me.

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    1. Terrible I know! I have a list that doesn't seem to end, Elsie! Thank goodness our library has so many of my choices.

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  6. Coming on Home Soon sounds especially interesting, Linda. What a lovely list you have assembled!

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    1. Coming on Home is a good story & the pictures are gorgeous, Tara. Thanks!

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  7. I love the idea of a theme-based list--have to remember that for next year. As always, you have several titles that are new to me and I know that your recommendations are always spot on. Thank you!

    PS How To was an important part of our summer writing academy, inspiring students to think way past traditional procedural writing.

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    1. It was fun to share a rather different set of books that are valuable to me, Melanie. Thanks for noticing. And thanks for telling about your success with How-To-it is a wonderful book & I will be sharing it a lot this year.

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  8. Really, Linda, I am SOOOO glad you shared this list. As I was making my list, I realized how few of the books I mentioned really spoke to diversity. My hope is that all children will see themselves in the books we have around our classroom, but sadly I know many years there aren't enough diverse titles. Even careful searching doesn't always produce the number of titles --- or the quality of images --- I hope to add. Your list was exactly what I needed.

    Thanks,
    Cathy

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    1. You're so welcome. I am often looking for those that include everyone or show different cultures' ways of living, Cathy. You're right, they aren't always easy to find here in the US.

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  9. Thank you so much for this list, Linda! I hadn't heard of some of these and will definitely check them out. Coming On Home Soon sounds like a good one for our school's population, as many are immigrants who have left relatives (sometimes a parent) behind in the hopes that they'll join them one day.

    Thanks again for sharing!

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    1. It's a beautiful book about being patient, but showing how very difficult that is. I know someone who is so excited because his 7 year old son and wife will be joining him very soon, after being separated for almost 4 years! Thank you!

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  10. Forest Has a Song is a favorite for me, too! Thanks for sharing this great list!
    Rose

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    1. I can imagine bringing in some examples of the things Amy writes about and then sharing the poem. So glad you like it too! Thanks!

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  11. Dear Linda, Thank you very much for including my book on your wonderful list. So many of my favorites are here, and it is an honor to be included. I have some new ones to find too! xo, a.

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    1. You are very welcome, Amy, & happy to hear you will find some good new ones, too! Thanks for stopping by.

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  12. Linda, this is a terrific list! Brave Irene is an old favorite I turn to often, but most of the other books you mention are new to me. I'll be looking for How To and We All Went On Safari when I go to the library this week. Thanks for sharing!
    Catherine

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    1. You're welcome, Catherine. The two you mentioned are very good to have in a collection, among so many others as you know! Loved your connection to the Jane Yolen books!

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  13. Coming On Home Soon is a book that I hadn't thought of in a long time. Linda, I love how we revisit books we love through PB 10 for 10. I read The Matchbox Diary at All Write in the back of someone's van as we traveled to the workshop. How could I have forgotten Forest Has a Song? I kept rechecking it from our library until I reached the maximum times allowed. I was so excited to purchase it at All Write, to attend Amy's session, and to have her beautiful inscription in my my book. Thanks for a fabulous list. And now I must ask, how did you create that lovely collage of book covers?

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    1. Thanks Ramona! Glad I reminded you of some of these books. As for the collage, I use an application called Picasa. It uses the photos right on your computer, doesn't store them, but there is a place on it where one can design collages. Easy to do.

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  14. These are wonderful books. I've only read a few - will have to check the others as well.
    Now that I am not looking forward to teaching in the fall, I seem to be looking at books more from the writer's viewpoint. These definitely fit that.
    Thanks so much for your lovely comment - as usual.
    Hope you have had a relaxing summer.

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    1. Thanks Beverley-yes, your looking at books will definitely change, won't it? I've had a good summer, will be back for sure in a couple of weeks, but have been in & out already. What I most like is not running out of the house early! That will stop, but still it's good to have a routine in parts of our lives. Hope you have fun these next few weeks!

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