The term “Old Favorite” is what ReaderKidZ uses to describe a book that’s been around a while. A book that finds its way, year after year, into the collection of those that are read and shared many times over the course of any given year.
CHRYSANTHEMUM by Kevin Henkes, is one such book. Not only is Chrysanthemum, the small protagonist mouse for whom the story is named, “absolutely perfect.” So is the book that is her namesake.
There’s something magical about this little mouse’s name and while it takes an introduction to her music teacher, Mrs. Delphinium Twinkle, for Chrysanthemum to learn to appreciate her “flower-girl” roots, by story’s end, Chrysanthemum does not think her name is absolutely perfect. She knows it is.
Pair this book about names with another award-winning Henkes book about school, LILLY’S PURPLE PLASTIC PURSE. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to check out these other ReaderKidZ Back-to-School book recommendations: Please. Say My Name and New Beginnings.
September is just around the corner! Check back soon for our September Author-In-Residence, BARBARA O’CONNOR, and more Beyond Boundaries, Book Room, and Tool Box offerings on the theme, “A Friend for All Seasons.”
When summer ends and a new school year has begun, one activity that helps kids recognize the ways in which each student brings something unique to the classroom is a reading of THE IMPORTANT BOOKby Margaret Wise Brown with illustrations by Leonard Weisgard.
The story opens, “The important thing about a spoon is that…” and goes on to list a few descriptors: you eat with it, it’s like a shovel, you hold it in your hand, etc. As students listen to the story, they’re asked not only to think about the important things in their own lives, but to predict the most important aspects of various commonplace things – rain, snow, an apple, and more.
The last page begins, “The important thing about you is that you are you,” and the stage has been set for writing.
Students use the cloze frame to complete their own “important page.” Once their drafts have been checked for content and mechanics, they finish a final draft and illustrate their page with images in silhouette.
The important thing about ………………. (your name) is that ………………… (list the most important thing about you.
It’s true that s/he likes to …………………….. and ……………………………… .
It is also true that s/he…………………………………. .
But the important thing about ……………… (your name) is that ………………………………….. (repeat the most important thing about you).
Tad Hills (Duck and Goose) is back with another perfect book for beginning-to-read ReaderKidZ (and even for those who are already experts!).
Until the little yellow bird comes along, Rocket is perfectly happy chasing leaves, chewing sticks, and lying down under a favorite tree for a nap. He doesn’t know how to read and doesn’t care to. But then the little bird opens a book and begins to sing out a story of Buster, a dog who’s lost his favorite bone, and just when the story begins to get really interesting … the bird disappears and Rocket is left wondering how the story will turn out!
That’s all the incentive Rocket needs to be ready and waiting the next morning when the yellow bird arrives at her tree. Reading’s not so boring, after all, and before long, Rocket is learning the wonders of the mighty alphabet, reading and spelling, spelling and reading “again. And again. And A-G-A-I-N.”
There’s a lion in the library, wandering around, sniffing the card catalog, and sleeping in the story corner. He’s allowed to stay. After all, there aren’t any rules about lions in the library. Until, that is, this lion ROARS and Miss Merriweather, the librarian, marches over to see what’s up. The children know right away what the lion wants. Stories.
With a promise to be a nice, quiet lion, he’s invited back for the next day. Soon he’s helping Miss Merriweather with all sorts of important library tasks, including the lesson that sometimes, even in the library, there’s a good reason to break the rules.
An ode to libraries everywhere, the story of the LIBRARY LION, paired with Kevin Hawkes’s exquisite illustrations, has the feel of a beloved classic.
Once the children have gone back to school, what are the farm animals to do? Pig pouts, cow complains, goat grumbles and before long, the animals have taken matters into their own hands (hooves!) and headed off to town.
When they see happy faces coming out of the library, the animals know they’ve found just the place they were looking for.
A twist on “animal speak” brings a delightful surprise and makes this picture book a joy to read aloud.
Poor Wolf! Pig, Duck, and Cow are more annoyed than worried when Wolf’s howling and growling keep them from concentrating on their books. It seems Wolf has tried to be “big and dangerous” on their “farm for educated animals” and they’re none too pleased.
Incensed, Wolf heads off to school. There he learns the basics of reading, and with lots of practice, improves his read-aloud style to the point that, by story’s end, Wolf enchants his new-found friends with his story-telling skill.
This first in a series of school-based poetry collections includes poems about pencils and erasers (“Pencils” by Carl Sandburg and “The Eraser Poem” by Louis Phillips), paperclips and globes (“Paper Clips” and “Classroom Globe” by Rebecca Kai Dotlich), a rubber band bracelet (“Rubber Band Bracelet” by J. Patrick Lewis), and more.
Another award-winning collection, these number-themed poems consider not only the tools of math and math concepts (“Calculator” by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and “Time Passes” by Ilo Orleans) but also the relationship math shares with our everyday lives (“Nature Knows Its Math” by Joan Bransfield Graham and “Counting Birds” by Felice Holman).
“Magnets” (Valerie Worth), a “Dinosaur Bone” (Alice Schertle), and the mystery of “The Seed” (Aileen Fisher) are among the many poems from this collection that speak to the age-old question,”What is Science” (Rebecca Kai Dotlich).
No back-to-school post would be complete without an ABC book and THERE’S A ZOO IN ROOM 22 is one such book. Miss Darling, Room 22’s teacher, happily obliges her students’ requests with a room full of alphabetical class pets, anaconda to zorilla.
Another poetry collection from the “wild side” of school, STAMPEDE explores a range of school experiences. From the overwhelming feeling of being like a mouse lost in the “new-school maze,” to the exhilaration of being “King of the Jungle (Gym),” STAMPEDE is a humorous look at the way school brings out the animal nature in even the most serious student.
In her upper middle grade novel THE RED UMBRELLA, first-time author Christina Gonzalez has written a timely story about political upheavals and how they can affect families. We are glad to welcome her to ReaderKidZ.
In a timely story of political upheaval and the heart-wrenching separation of families which results, THE RED UMBRELLA, by Christina Diaz Gonzalez, tells the story of 14-year-old Lucia and her younger brother, who are sent to live with a foster family in Nebraska by their parents at the beginning of Fidel’s Castro’s revolution. The book is based on a true family saga in which Gonzalez’s grandparents were sent to the US as part of “Operation Pedro Pan,” the organized exodus of 14,000 unescorted children from Cuba in 1961. The transition that Lucia is forced to make from a comfortable and loving middle-class Cuban family to a farm girl in the middle of Nebraska will resonate with many young readers. However, a scene in which Lucia sees the body of the local pharmacist who was hung by revolutionaries in the town square, as well as an encounter gone wrong between her and the boy she likes at a dance, make this a book more appropriate for more mature readers.
About her book, Christina writes:
“I wrote THE RED UMBRELLA because I realized that an important event in American history (14,000 kids were sent to the U.S., alone, during a two year period) had not been told and, even though it was part of my own family history, my kids were not fully aware of what had happened. I wanted to change that. The book tells the story of one teenage girl and her experience in Cuba and then in Nebraska, but I hope it reflects the more universal themes of family, separation, and the true meaning of home.”
Read “What’s Your Story, Christina Gonzalez?” HERE.
I grew up in a small, Southern town (we didn’t have a McDonald’s until I was about 10) and I did a lot of reading up in my treehouse during those years. Not that it was that much of a “treehouse” because it was just a big piece of wood up in a dogwood tree, but my friends and I had a great time sitting up there and spying on the neighbors. Then when I was in high school I moved to the big city — Miami. Miami was very different than my hometown, but I learned to love it just as much and now, that’s the city I call home.
What kind of student were you?
I was always a very good student and education was extremely important in my family. In fact, if I brought home an A, my father would sometimes ask me why not an A+!
What were your favorite things to do when you were young?
When I was young I loved to read, swim, ride my bike (I would do this for hours with my friends), and roller skate.
What books were favorites as a child?
I loved to read Nancy Drew mysteries, Archie comic books, and one of my favorite books (which they made me read in school) was A WRINKLE IN TIME.
What advice do you have for aspiring young readers and writers?
Read as much as you can and read all types of books. You never know what will become a new favorite and every book can teach you something.
Where do you get your ideas?
My ideas can come from anywhere. Sometimes, like with THE RED UMBRELLA, it’s a story that I’ve grown up hearing. Other times, it comes from something I heard about or found on the internet. It can even start with a painting, which is how the book I’m working on, A THUNDEROUS WHISPER (due out in 2011/2012), came to be. A THUNDEROUS WHISPER is about two kids caught in Hitler’s bombing of the Basque city of Guernica, and it all started because I wanted to know more about Pablo Picasso’s painting called Guernica.
Do you write everyday? If so, for how long?
No, I try to write three to four days a week, but it gets hard between juggling my life as a full-time mom and part-time attorney.
Have you ever thrown a manuscript away?
I don’t throw away any manuscripts but they certainly get “put away”. Sometimes a character or scene from a manuscript I’ve buried in my desk pops up in something new— it’s like getting a visit from an old friend.
Favorite or least favorite vegetable?
Favorite veggie has to be potatoes (hello—French fries, potato chips, hash browns, mashed, baked, au gratin I can go on and on.)
Download a copy of “What’s Your Story, Christina Gonzalez?” HERE.
