The lazy days of summer are rapidly approaching. What better time for children to immerse themselves in books? Series can stretch over days and weeks. New genres can be explored. Books can be tucked into bags for vacations, camp, a trip to the beach, or to stay with grandparents. This month, ReaderKidZ enlisted the help… Read more »
April 2013
Genre Connections: POETRY
Like her previously published, Comprehension Connections (Heinemann, 2007), Genre Connections: Lessons to Launch Literary and Nonfiction Texts by Tanny McGregor (Heinemann, 2013) is a great go-to resource for teachers looking for concrete, hands-on lessons that introduce students to “Big Idea” concepts. I particularly love Tanny’s idea of launching a unit of study on poetry by asking, “How is a poem like a… Read more »
SNOOK ALONE by Marilyn Nelson, poet and story-teller
If you haven’t explored Marilyn Nelson’s poetry and narratives, you are in for a literary feast. Her new picture book reads soft and soothing – with surprises and delights with phrasing that is part poetry, part narrative. SNOOK ALONE tells the story of a faithful little rat-terrier dog, Snook, who dutifully catches the mice and… Read more »
The Poetry of Animals
PUG AND OTHER ANIMAL POEMS by Valerie Worth, pictures by Steve Jenkins (Margaret Ferguson Books, 2013) Fans of Valerie Worth’s all the small poems and fourteen more will enjoy her second posthumous collection. I have many favorites, each with Worth’s striking observations. Here’s a snippet – from “Toads”: Wells around the Cellar windows… Holding a clutter… Read more »
New and Notable: Concept Books
Enjoy this peek at three new concept books, recently out from Chronicle. INSIDE OUTSIDE by Lizi Boyd (Chronicle 2013) Inside his cozy home, a boy works at a desk, a dog hides, two mice play together on the floor. Through the window (a die-cut), the reader watches two snowmen. What are they doing? Turn the page…outside,… Read more »
Juan Felipe Herrera’s THE UPSIDE DOWN BOY
THE UPSIDE DOWN BOY (Children’s Book Press, 2000) is a picture book in verse – bilingual, Spanish and English – by California’s poet laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera and illustrated by Elizabeth Gomez. Juanito is bewildered by his new country, his new neighborhood, and especially, his new school. Everything feels upside down. His father reassures him: “Don’t… Read more »
My Father’s Arms Are a Boat
My Father’s Arms are a Boat, by Stein Erik Lunde, illustrated by Oyvind Torseter. A little boy, unable to sleep, crawls into his father’s arms on a quiet winter’s night. Will his mother come back? the boy asks. “No, not from where she is now,” his father says, and then the wise man carries the… Read more »
