Non-Fiction Picture Books Re-tell The News

Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy.  Thanks to her hosting and sharing and those who add their posts, you can discover and celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books!  I always learn from these books, am happy that they are more and more available today for children, for everyone!

        
            I watched with the world, fascinated during this time of high emotions wondering what would happen with twelve boys and their soccer (football) coach missing inside a cave in Thailand, blocked by flooding during the monsoon. A map on the inside covers shows the perilous journey for rescue.
            Susan Hood bases her story on the reporting of Pathana Sornhiran and together, with clear writing becoming more and more tense as the truth of the team's peril becomes real. She has centered the story on one boy, Titan, one of the youngest on the team. Dow Phumiruk fills the pages with gorgeous double-page spreads, many in darkness, showing the cave's vastness along with the boys' worry and the rescuers' movements. As you may remember, they were off on a lark to explore this cave after practice. There was a sign warning not to enter during the time of the monsoon which began in July. It was June 23rd. Unknowingly, heavy rain began while they were in the cave and when they returned to the entrance, they could not get out. 
           The text uses a countdown from the beginning, counting out the days. For ten days they went without food, drinking from drips from the stalactites. They were very hungry, spent time meditating led by their coach who had been trained as a monk. Imagine ten days on a ledge in the dark! At the same time we read of their plight, we also learn of the divers' challenge in their search. It was cold and they had no idea where the group could be. Among many, here is one page showing that moment when two divers appeared; they had found the team!

            You may know how the story ends, with part tragedy, but also many triumphs. The story takes us step by step, day by day until the boys' are safe in the hospital, not even able to see their families until checked for physical problems. They are saved and the world celebrated! 
            Susan Hood adds extra information in the backmatter, including more about the rescue, fascinating facts, how the Wild Boars got their name, a timeline, an interview with two British divers and source notes. The final page shows a special drawing of Saman Kunan, the diver who died during the rescue with the boys surrounding it. I'm glad that this story was told for those who want to know about it or to know more. 

            

It's Monday! Books For Everyone

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

          Thanks to Charlesbridge for the following books, out in recent months.! 






            Here is a marvelous and heart-rending debut by Karol Silverstein, the story of Ricky (Erica, Roo or Ricky Raccoon), newly struggling from a chronic illness and newly starting a 'junior high' as a ninth-grader after a move because of her parent's divorce, thus all new kids. According to Ricky, she is definitely CURSED! 
             It's hard for me, an older adult, to understand that every movement can be excruciating for a young teen and perhaps even harder for classmates to 'get it'. That's what makes this story so important to have in the classroom. With juvenile arthritis, Ricky's in constant pain, has to move to her father's "batch-pad" to avoid stairs at her mother's home. She's tired of too many unkind looks at her new school and, sad and frustrated, she cuts school for six straight weeks! Yes, she's found out and now must make up the work or end up in this horrible school another year. Slowly one friendship happens with a boy also teased, named Oliver, one who wears a Captain America hoodie and clips a small teddy bear to his backpack. Why he does is one thing Ricky needs to discover and until then, she ignores him, too, but slowly warms to his quirky and upbeat attitude. One other punishment that turns out to be a blessing is a demand from her strict speech teacher that she spend three after-school sessions a week with him if she is serious about passing his class. 
         Silverstein brings Ricky's real world to the reader with sympathy, showing the times that are so hard one can understand when this teen erupts into cursing, wanting only to huddle under the covers. However, she also allows Ricky to see in time that she's in charge of her life, not the disease. I enjoyed Ricky telling her story very much!

              I love Tony Johnston's books and this is one that warms the heart. In few words on a page, he offers us readers a story of a young boy who discovers a shivering dog with scars hiding under the shrub on his lawn. Using patience and growing love, the boy gains its trust until, well, see that cover! He begins with a frisbee of water, later adding a piece of sandwich, finally telling his mom who helps him. They buy regular dog food, but the mom insists that the boy makes "Found" signs in case the owner is looking. I met Jonathan Nelson at a book-signing with him and Nancy Bo Flood and we spoke of his next book coming, this one!  Jonathan's simple pictures depict the emotions beautifully, on faces and in body language, even on the dog peeking from the bush. 

       For younger readers, an introduction to the history of women and athletics, those who broke barriers that may surprise children, like women are not supposed to ride bicycles or wear pants when horse-back riding. It is fun to learn some early history like women were not allowed in the ancient Olympic Games, but they defied the rules and ran footraces in private festivals for Hera, queen of the gods. It covers some history of the equal rights movement that challenged educational, athletic, and financial discrimination with federal funds, leading at last to the Title IX law mandating equal treatment. Further examples of equality continued to occur, like the challenge to allow girls to play Little League baseball. Unfortunately, it does not include recent conflicts still occurring within the athletic world for women. Rebecca Gibbon's illustrations fill the pages with all kinds of girls doing what they love, from bloomers expected in the early women's basketball games to the final wonderful double-page spread celebrating "amazing girls" in all kinds of activities, with today's expected clothing. There is a timeline that offers more information for further research. One fun thing is that it adds a few quotations from the athletes in their special moments.

Poetry Friday - Looking Long

                Poetry Friday this first Friday of July is hosted by Tricia Stohr-Hunt at her blog, The Miss Rumphius Effect. Today, she shares a triolet, inspired by her grandmother's stories of experiences in the Great Depression and World War II. Thanks, Tricia! Hope everyone enjoyed their Independence Day celebrations.








           When I taught, my students and I spent many hours outside with field journals, recording what they observed, questioning, doing further research, sketching. I used the following poem by John Moffitt often, hoping it would inspire each to settle in a quiet space and "look long".  

To Look At Anything

To look at any thing,
If you would know that thing,
You must look at it long:
To look at this green and say,
“I have seen spring in these
Woods,” will not do – you must
Be the thing you see:
You must be the dark snakes of
Stems and ferny plumes of leaves,
You must enter in
To the small silences between
The leaves,
You must take your time
And touch the very peace
They issue from.

~ John Moffitt ~

         Many of you know I spent the past two weeks at the beach, first enjoying the house by the shore myself, then with my family in the second week. I wrote many things, some simply to capture the moments, but one poem came through my own 'looking long' and appreciating more than I had in the past. Perhaps it is the political climate today that also inspired, but my thoughts during this 'looking long' made new connections this year.

NF Picture Books Celebrate Unknown Heroes

Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy.  Thanks to her hosting and sharing and those who add their posts, you can discover and celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books!  I always learn from these books, am happy that they are more and more available today for children, for everyone!

     Time to celebrate two little-known heroes on this Independence Day eve.

     Tomorrow is America's 243rd Independence Day. It was grand to see that this historical expedition celebrated the nation's twenty-eighth during their journey.

        In their debut picture book, Hasan Davis and Alleanna Harris let this 'unsung hero' tell his story of this perilous journey, including encounters with Native peoples under the leadership of Captain William Clark, on orders from President Thomas Jefferson. They were commanded to communicate that those peoples were now under the law of the nation of the United States. In the midst of the story of the hardships and challenges, York is rather a mystery to the Natives, sometimes thought to be their spirit brother. They had never seen a black man and Clark used York as an entry to the native communities.

       The story shared that York was the only man who set out with Lewis and Clark on their journey of exploration who did not volunteer. As William Clark’s enslaved manservant and the only nonwhite member, he didn’t have the choice. There is little known of York, but Davis writes in a kind of travelogue of the expedition from Louisville in 1803 to the Oregon coast in 1806. You will recognize some parts of the story like Sacagawea joining the group and the land and weather challenges. York's feelings on the journey include his pride in being given a vote to choose the site of the first winter camp, but also his noticing that his name is not celebrated as a hero at the end by Captain Clark, his owner. That York worked so hard yet never freed and able to return to his family is included in the story and in the final author's note. There is some conflict as to the true end of his life.

         Alleanna Harris' illustrations remind of the older style paintings of that time, and offer hints of York's part in the expedition: he worked so hard but is shown to be on the edges of the groups, in the shadows. There is much told that can be discussed with a student group in studying early American history as this expedition was part of the beginning of Western Expansion.

       Considering I see my granddaughters, 10 and 8, running everywhere and participating in several sports, I am thrilled to see another story of a woman who loved to run and finally got her wish, to run the Boston Marathon. Unlike Bobbie Gibb, who heroically ran incognito first, Kathrine Switzer registered. The story shares that there was nothing on the registration form that asked for gender, but when she began to run, people mostly cheered her on, and when a few tried to pull her off the course, others stopped them. 

        Kathrine Switzer's story, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon as an officially registered runner, is told in this debut for both author and illustrator. She is shown to be racing past a tree in her backyard, marking the trunk with chalk to record her laps, until "1 mile!" She loves to run but other people stare and wonder if something is wrong because girls aren't supposed to exert themselves that much. She grows up always challenging herself, always fighting the belief that women are "too weak, too fragile," to compete. It's a story to appreciate and to celebrate. Rooney's mixed media, collage with paint, paper, and pencil illustrations capture Kathrine's story well in motion and in color. There is an author's note, a brief part about women and the Boston Marathon, plus a bibliography.

Monday Reads - So Good!

Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they've been reading, along with everyone else who post their favorites. 
         I'm back from the beach, read so many wonderful books before I left and added a few Sunday.
         Wishing you all a great holiday week!

        I read this beautiful verse novel, a first for Jasmine Warga, all in one day before my trip, a story that would not let go. Young Jude, a seventh grader, has moved from her wonderful home in Syria with her mother to live with an uncle in America. Things are becoming more and more dangerous in their country and her parents believe this is a "best" decision. Baba, the father, stays behind because he doesn't want to leave his store. Issa, the older brother has become increasingly involved with the rebels, wanting the country to become safe as it used to be. It's hard to miss home, her father, and soon not even know if her brother is safe when contact is lost between them. He is near the worst of the fighting. In the goodbyes, he tells Jude to 'be brave', the underlying part of her growing up, facing challenges like a new school and learning English. 
       The writing is lovely, allowing Jude's words to share both the warm and sweet experiences along with the tough ones. She is honest and thoughtful, trying hard to find "home". Early in her home country before the move, bombings are happening near; people are fearful. Jude wants to tell them: "You don't have to worry about me./I am just a girl who likes movies." In her new American house when looking out the window, Jude makes a connection: "I wonder if it is exhausting/to be a tree./To lose something,/year after year,/only to trust that it will/someday grow back." And in what she calls her "mangled fractured English", she is trying to describe some favorite things she remembers about her brother, "hoping that he is safe". She continues on: "Hoping,/I'm starting to think,/might be the bravest thing a person can do."

        Jude, through Jasmine Warga's words, shares a few Arabic proverbs now and then. Here is one I want to remember when Jude was thinking of her ESL teacher, Mrs. Ravenswood: "She makes you feel/like a loaf of freshly baked bread."  Food plays some nice parts of the story, especially bread, often telling of Jude's mother toasting pita over the open flame of the stove. Thoughts and feelings coming from someone that many think of as 'different',  those from another culture, will make good connections for young readers.




         Be sure to find this some time to see if Jerry Spinelli has included one of your favorite traditions on Independence Day. There are many. This young boy has things to do from morning till evening, then the long wait, wait, for the fireworks! They celebrate with all kinds of people at their park, taking a wagon full of food, running the races, dancing to the band at the bandstand, and sing The Star Spangled Banner, all to celebrate. Larry Day shows this day filled with color and excitement, a nostalgic look at a holiday on which I hope everyone has a favorite memory, of activities, of food, of play!

  

 According to the jacket flap, this is the first book in a "Being In The Wild" series. At the beach with her parents, a young girl wanders into a nearby meadow following a butterfly. The implication is while she describes some beautiful encounters--listening to leaves rustling, a grasshopper jumps onto her arm, she seems a bit scared and lost. No worries, her mother finds her and they walk back to the beach. Sakai's illustrations feel like a dream, haze-filled with only the girl, the meadow, and the wind! It's lovely. 

         Daniel's back, this time after being wished a good day by his mother, he begins to wonder what a good day is to others as he walks to his grandmother's. He finds that Emma thinks a good day means a strong wind for kite flying. For the bus driver, a good day means pleases and thank-yous. There are others met and asked and the gathering makes a poem at the end, "Daniel's Good Day"! I imagine a class of students writing and illustrating their own 'good day', perhaps making a class poem? Micha Archer's words and pictures give a happy story, sure to please everyone, like Daniel Finds A Poem.