NFPB Wednesday - Homes Like No Other

art by Sarah S. Brannen

      Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy.  From her post and others, you will discover and want to celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books! 

           I paired these two books because each one tells of the building of homes. Clearly, we can't exactly get into the minds of the animals whose homes Steve Jenkins shares, but each animal, including Frank Lloyd Wright, had something important in mind, survival. If you think the design of Falling Waters isn't about survival, you need to read this book, to hear of the intense planning and preparation to create something that would fill the human need for being surrounded by nature, by beauty. 

           Steve Jenkins does his usual best in telling about animals in nature. This time, he shows the numerous variations of animal homes who need to be safe, to protect their family, and to hide from danger. Twenty animals are shown underground, above ground, using available materials to build homes, or using what's available for their homes. I knew of some, like beavers and hermit crabs and raccoons, but was shocked by others, like the tree kangaroo who stays high in trees, not building, finding the height itself to be a protection and comfort. And there is one more, the title home, that 'House in the Sky'. This describes the "common swift". It only stops to nest and that nest is built through materials they catch while flying. They are known to fly non-stop as long as ten months! Jenkins says they "eat, drink, and sleep on the wing." Robbin Gourley adds to the knowledge of these animals with her gorgeous illustrations, beautifully rendered realistically. There is additional information about each animal in the backmatter.

             Last week, Annette Pimental shared this book and her review made me want to find it at my library. I enjoyed it very much, have never had the pleasure of seeing Falling Water, but I do know about it and hope I can someday. Harshman and Smucker take readers through Wright's process of designing and building this famous home, also telling of his thought-to-be-over career in the 1930s. He hadn't designed anything new for twelve years! 

         It is a rather magical tale of Fallingwater’s progression. Inspired by the nature in the site owned by department store owner Edgar Kaufman, Wright designed and built “A house like no other,/ where sun can shine,/ where balconies fly,/ where falling water/ is heard from every room.” Pham’s illustrations, in a muted Japanese style that Wright preferred, tell the tale from opening the nearby quarry, the challenges of construction, the gift of jobs to so many during this hard time of the Depression, and to the final beauty. There is a vertical spread that shows the incredible height of this amazing home, set upon the rocks and the falls.  Author and illustrator notes at the end add additional details about the now-conserved public attraction.

Monday Reading - Books Full of Joy

          Visit Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders to see what they've been reading, along with everyone else who link up.  

         From Random Choosing by Rafflecopter, here are the winners of  Last Monday's Giveaway, thanks to Candlewick Press, of two prize packs of a paperback of Zora & Me by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon and the next adventure, Zora & Me - The Cursed Ground by T.R. Simon:
               Drum Roll Please-- Congratulations Lorraine Magee and Susan Hutchens! I'll be contacting you via email for your mailing information.
          

           Thanks to Candlewick Press for the ARC of these next two books. You will fall in love with Merci's beginning year in sixth grade; she's an honest storyteller. You will want to be part of her family, figuring out how to do life as it arrives, sometimes things that frighten, sometimes events that make you wish it was you. As Meg Medina uses the metaphor of gears, I will too. The low gears made me smile, the middle ones made me hurry to the next page, and the high gear made me cry. I loved this close family, seemed very real to me, and I loved the often added Spanish words slipped into the story. It seemed natural and just right, was easy for me to figure out the meaning within the context and I do know French, also helpful. Don't miss getting to know Merci Suarez, her family and her friends.

        Sunday was Grandparents' Day, and this is a book that would be wonderful to have on that day, but really any other autumn day. A young boy wakes with the wind rattling his windows, says he can't wait to go outside. Telling the story, he runs to tell his Grandpa all the things they could do and Grandpa thinks it's the perfect day to fly the kite. But first, they have to find it! In the search, other memories come up, like the picnic in a secret cave. Oh, what fun to remember while they looked. In between the search, there are double-page spreads of the goings-on outside. Usher's delightful windy autumn pages seem to whoosh off the page as he shows it covered with leaves blowing while one man struggles to sweep the leaves. Finally, the kite adventure happens, and what a magical one it turns into. Reading and seeing this magical time with Granddad makes a big smile, especially because I'm a grandmother and love my own adventures with my grandchildren.

             "Another room, by ourselves. How many rooms have we walked into since that day--even if they weren't real rooms and we didn't know that's what we were doing?"  Early in the story, an invitation for the six students, and it felt to me like one for me, the reader. It feels good to write their names, feels as if Jacqueline Woodson would want me to remember Haley, who tells the story, then Holly, Esteban, Ashton, Amari, and Tiago. And it makes me wonder what might happen if another six were placed in a room, no rules, just to talk. Haley somehow thinks it would be fine to record everyone, so has her uncle get her one, and the group agrees that capturing the words will be good. We soon learn about this wonderful teacher when Haley records early on: "Ms. Laverne," and reminds the group: "said every day we should ask ourselves, 'If the worst thing in the world happened, would I help protect someone else?'" There is much more about becoming a harbor for others, especially when one reads about one immigrant child saying about America: "It feels like this place wants to break my heart." Especially when these children are talking about what is the right thing to do. It's hard to imagine not reading this book aloud to a class, pairing it with The Day You Begin, shared below. Discovering what a Harmonic Convergence is is only one of the magical moments.

Poetry Friday - Answers to a Question

        Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link hosts our Poetry Friday today, filling us up with final summer memories, a preview of her next gallery, The Art of Summering. We've had cooler weather these recent days, so reading and seeing what has been gathered will make me rather nostalgic. Thanks, Carol!

           Last week Michelle Barnes interviewed Naomi Shihab Nye for the first Today's Little Ditty of the season, a most wonderful post full of Naomi's words and poetry. The challenge given was "Write a letter to yourself in which you ask some questions that you don't have to answer." Unfortunately, I did not return to the post to re-read those words until I went to post my poem. What I remembered was only something about 'questions'. 
        So, I began wondering about questions and how the time in one's life changes those asked, usually according to needs. I will try again, but this is what I wrote before I visited.

That Measuring Stick

Two - only answers, “No, no, no.”

At seven, “Why? I want to know.”

Thirteen, private, asks self, “Who?”

Eighteen, hungry, “Where shall I go?”

“What?” and “How?” feed grown-up years;

“Hurry, hurry. Answers, appear!”

Elders’ salt and pepper quest,  

“Bring them on.” No question feared.

Linda Baie © All Right Reserved 

#MustReadIn2018 Recap

Thanks to Carrie Gelson of There's A Book for That for hosting a #MustRead group at different parts the year for those who continue to create a list of lonely books on shelves or lists that we are excited about when bought or listed, then ignore, or find others that call more loudly.  See the above link to Carrie's blog to find her newest update and others, too.
 
Here are the books from my #MustReadIn2018, and those read so far. The last time, in April, I checked in I had completed FIVE of the thirty-four chosen. This time, yikes, I've read only three more, but they are wonderful!  

If you have any books you are convinced I need to read SOON, tell me in the comments!

Here's what I read from my list since April:

Scythe - Neal Shusterman - The beginning of this series, which I adored. If you like dystopian plots, please take a look

Long Way Down - Jason Reynolds -  Change of plans in an elevator? Who would ever think that this could be so powerful? It is!

Turtles All The Way Down - John Green - He always has the sweetest characters and shows the problems of our lives with sincerity and hope, ALWAYS.

Here's the full list - those in blue are read!

Thirty-Four Books -  

Books read will be changed to blue as we move through the year!

Middle-YA

Me And Marvin Gardens - Amy Sarig King

Greetings from Witness Protection - Jake Burt
Posted - John Anderson
Tumble & Blue - Cassie Beasley 
Beyond The Bright Sea - Lauren Wolk
See You In The Cosmos - Jack Cheng
Amina’s Voice - Hena Khan

Hello Universe - Erin Kelly, Isabel Roxas

Flying Lessons & Other Stories - Ellen Oh

American Street - Ibi Zoboi

Scythe - Neal Shusterman

The Smell of Other People’s Houses - Bonnie Sue Hitchcock

Long Way Down - Jason Reynolds  

Patina

The Hate U Give -  Angie Thomas

Turtles All The Way Down - John Green

All The Crooked Saints - Maggie Stiefvater

Scar Island - Dan Gemeinhart

Playing By Heart - Carmela A. Martino

Solo & The Playbook - Kwame Alexander           

Lucky Broken Girl - Ruth Behar

Titanic, Voices from the Disaster - Deborah Hopkinson  

The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage - Philip Pullman

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter - Erika L. Sanchez

Dear Martin - Nic Stone

non-fiction

Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and The Carlisle Indian School Football Team - Steve Sheinkin

 adult 

Bright Dead Things - poetry - Ada Limon

H Is for Hawk - Helen Macdonald

from past lists:

Countdown - Deborah Wiles

The Birchbark House - Louise Erdrich

I’ll Give You The Sun - Jandy Nelson

90 Miles to Havana - Enrique Flores-Galbis
Dash - Kirby Larson

NFPB Wednesday - Animal Survival

art by Sarah S. Brannen

         Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy.  From her post and others, you will discover and want to celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books!  

           Looking at anything from a new perspective is a terrific idea. We don't always understand the "why" of how humans and other animals work so it's good to have books that offer examples from nature. Perhaps then we will begin to ask more questions that begin with "why" and also "who, what, when, where and how"! Anyone who reads Melissa Stewart's prose knows she will interest you in a variety of ways, this time with humor and questions for the reader. While showing the usual, popular animals like elephants and cheetahs, some we know about, Melissa moves into different territory this time to some less studied and their evolution for survival. Some use size to help them slip into tiny cracks when enemies arrive, like the Etruscan pygmy shrew and others like hoatzin bird or the zorilla mammal use repellent odors to keep enemies away. With the question/answer format written in tongue-in-cheek humor and connected to the text information, readers will want to shout the answers. For example, when asked "Should hoatzins and zorillas clean up their act?", turn the page and see the answer, "No way!" and the explanation that those odors make "hungry hunters lose their appetites."
        In the illustrations, Stephanie Laberis focuses on the animals in their habitat and action or inaction per their personal survival strategies. The art is flashy and realistic, making me wonder if this could be a mentor text for further research into other animals, for text and art. It's a great new book about animals that will add to anyone's knowledge about "Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers" and call for learning more.