Tom’s Tweet

Posted on March 31, 2012 by carriegelson

Maria, our BLG reader brought us a very funny story this week. When we spied a cat on the back cover, the shouting started, “It’s Chester!” “No, Splat!” Obviously we have a thing for quirky cat characters. And with Tom’s Tweet, written by Jill Esbaum and illustrated by Dan Santat, we have a new feline to add to our list of endearing, funny cats!

What’s a poor cat to do when a potential treat turns out to be a shivering tweet? He can’t in good conscious eat a little thing that is just “feather and bone” even if it is a bird and he is a cat . . . And how exactly did Tom end up with a tweet between his lips on route to return it to its nest while being pecked at by an angry Mama Bird? Could this cat have a soft spot for the little Tweet? It seems so. And it makes for quite a hilarious story.

One of my students kept whispering to me as Maria read, “It will be about kindness.” “It’s going to be about kindness.” “Really, just wait, this will be a kindness book!” We have been reading many picture books on this theme and he saw through Tom the Cat’s bravado early on in the story. This cat was a goner for the little Tweet. There is even snuggling! Even though Tom insists he is “not that kind of cat.” In the end, even Mama Tweet realizes Tom’s true nature and emplys him to do some “tweety -sitting.” Dan Santat’s illustrations are superbly animated and our read aloud was full of giggles and smiles. A wonderful book for happy sharing!

Our student reviewers report:

Truman: I really like the illustrations and the part where Tom gets pecked! Funny!

Isa: I liked the part when Tom was dreaming about the birds. He couldn’t help it. That was so funny.

Khai: It was funny when Tom had to babysit the tweets!

Stars

Posted on March 28, 2012 by carriegelson

I had been waiting for an afternoon where we weren’t in the middle of anything to share this book with my students. I wanted calm time to savour the illustrations and the lovely poetic text. And then we would need some time to talk stars. And do some art of course!

The first day back after Spring Break proved to be the perfect day. We were easing back into routines and needed an afternoon of a beautiful book and some time to create. Stars (written by Mary Lyn Ray and illustrated by Marla Frazee) is one of my new favourite picture books. A book that celebrates stars and all that they might mean and represent. A book that asks us to think what if we could collect stars . . . have one? gather a bunch? Imagine. Stars are about magic. And wishing. And possibilities. About nature – snowflakes, flower blossoms, dandelion seeds on the wind.

I love the simplicity and the power behind Ray’s text.

But stars that come with night- for those you have to wait for night. You need some dark to see them.

And the illustrations. Well. . . Frazee’s pictures always capture such joy.

Inspired by colourful, vibrant heart art of Jim Dine we used oil pastels to make our stars.

Raelyn is almost finished surrounding her stars with blocks of colour.

Carmen worked to create a feeling of movement.

Truman worked to make his picture feel like space including shooting stars!

Blackout

Posted on March 26, 2012 by carriegelson

Picture Book Love #4: Celebrating picture books that are just too good not to gush over.

Blackout by John Rocco is not just visually gorgeous (It is a 2011 Caldecott Honour Book after all), it also reads bearing gifts. It reminds us to take and honour the gift of time, the gift of family, the gift of slowing down and being in the moment. And it does this without being preachy, sappy or judgemental. It just shows us that busy often gets in the way of family time and removing ourselves from the busy world can be possible, right at our own kitchen table.

The story starts out letting us peek into the windows of a family’s apartment. Everyone busy. Computers. Cooking. Chatting on the phone. Don’t disturb. Leave me alone. No time for a game that the youngest family member wants to play. And then . . . A blackout. No power. No lights. Nothing works but . . . time. Flashlights and candles make the dark, quiet world go from scary to cozy. But the muggy summer heat soon leads the family to the rooftop where starlight creates an art filled sky of wonder. Now nobody is busy and the family revels in time together.

When the lights come on again, the family is not ready to give up the special closeness the blackout created. Family game time by candlight is first on the “to do” list.

This book reminds us to look for wonder in the simple and everyday and to treasure family time above all else. Because everything can get in the way. But only if you let it . . .

Picture Books on a Theme

Posted on March 24, 2012 by carriegelson

Teachers often search for picture books on a particular topic and it is wonderful to be able to come to a blog and “nonstop shop” so to speak. In other words, find more than a few books on the same theme in one place.

Now that this blog is almost 18 months old, there are a few themes that reoccur – enough to make up a list of sorts (through a tag search) or an actual list exists under the Book Recommendations page. Favourite picture books make more than one list. Often I have included responses from my students if I have shared the books in class.

Books about Kindness – For a list, read here

Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts and illustrated by Noah Z. Jones was one of our favoutite books that explored this theme.

Books about Courage – For a list, read here

A favourite book on this theme was Sheila Rae the Brave by Kevin Henkes

Books about Death and Bereavement – For a list, read here.

One of the most powerful books on this theme is The Scar written by Charlotte Moundlic and illustrated by Olivier Tallec.

Picture Books that Tackle the Big Issues – For a list, read here Books on this list have been hugely powerful in my primary classroom – many of them can also be found under Social Responsibility Books (here) with themes on the bully/bullied/bystander dynamic, friendship, sibling relationships, self-esteem, etc

Emily’s Art by Peter Catalanotto provoked huge discussion in my class last year. Themes of self esteem, judgement and the negative power of words.

Mini Grey Adoration

Posted on March 18, 2012 by carriegelson

Mini Grey has been on my radar recently. I have been odering her books, doing a little excited leap when I find one of her titles in the library and scanning beloved blogs for talk of her illustrations/books. I have not been disappointed!

I found Jim (A Cautionary Tale) at the public library and brought it into class the very next day to read aloud. “This,” I promised my students, “you will love. Gruesome. Guts and gore! And the text rhymes!” (This group of kids love rhyming text!) With Hilaire Belloc‘s original text and Grey‘s wonderful illustrations, Jim (one of Belloc’s Cautionary Tales for children first published in 1907) certainly delivered! Our lovely Jim has it good. All sorts of lovely things to eat. Tricycles to ride on. Stories read to him. Even trips to the zoo.

But then Jim does what he has explicitly been told not to do . . . He runs away from his nurse/guardian! And, well, there is no sense easing into this . . . Jim is eaten by a lion! (Starting with his toes) Grey’s illustrations are delightful. As in the format of the book: lift the flap, fold down sections, panels and fold out pages. We couldn’t quite believe that there was a picture of just Jim’s head edged in red. (“That’s blood!” “He is really dead!” “Blood!”) For seven, eight and nine year olds, discovering this in a picture book is highly appealing because it borders on maybe “not quite appropriate for children.” And what could be better than that? As soon as I finished the book, I was begged to read it again. Many times throughout the day. 🙂 My favourite picture? The lion (caught eating a boy by the zookeeper) slinking away in a dissapointed, very guilty, rage.

I purchased Mini Grey‘s The Very Smart Pea and the Princess to be for our class collection. One, because we love fractured fairy tales. Two, what a great example of an unexpected narrator- in this story, the pea tells the story. And three? Mini Grey! At first this version of the classic Princess and the Pea story doesn’t seem all that far away from the original (except maybe for the creepy fact that many characters have pea green eyes).

But soon, the reader begins to realize, something else is going to be delivered in this story.

What . . . you might wonder?

Well, finally, an explanation for how a teeny tiny pea is felt through all of those mattresses. Hint: more about the power of suggestion than true princess special sensitivity. But, a wedding does happen. The prince happily marries the gardener and the promise of a very productive life awaits.

How I have missed Traction Man is Here is beyond me. This book is hilarious and has the uncanny ability to totally appeal to adults and children alike. Traction Man is an action figure. His trusty sidekick? Scrubbing brush. As in the scrubbing brush you use to scour the dishes or scrub your toes. So, I’ve done some research. My nine year old finds this hilarious. An unsuspecting five year old test case who came for dinner found this hilarious. And. . . an adult friend (whose age starts with a 4) read this book cover to cover twice. Laughed through it both times. And then returned to the scrubbing brush pages for some extra giggles. This book is beyond delightful! It is absurd. Vulnerable. Quirky. I love it! And who can resist our hero Traction Man in the green knitted outfit Granny made for him? Specially for jungles. Of course!

Celebrating the wonder and splendor of imaginative play, Traction Man is Here is a must read!

So, if you haven’t discovered Mini Grey . . . what are you waiting for?

Ice

Posted on March 16, 2012 by carriegelson

Picture Book Love #3: Celebrating picture books that are just too good not to gush over.

Such an intriguing premise for a picture book. A community of pigs live on an unbearably hot, treeless island. Life is focussed on sheltering themselves from the unforgiving sun. It is not really working. The island water supply will soon be in dangerously short supply. Meetings happen. Plans are made and a group of pigs sail off. Sail off, it must be noted, on a gorgeous flying airship: part hot air balloon, part sailboat. Completely beautiful.

The ship drifts around the globe and locates icebergs. The pigs attach their ship via an anchor in the ice and then begin to celebrate their luck. Dancing pigs by firelight. Simply delightful. And then by attaching a sail to the iceberg, the pigs manage to navigate the iceberg back to their hot, dry island and then the real work begins.

Scaffolds are built. Ice saws utilized. Pulleys, ladders, assembly lines. These pigs have it all worked out! Large chunks of ice are added to the almost dry island reservoir turning it into part water storage, part water/ice adventure land.

The hardworking pigs celebrate with satisfying swims, make shift waterslides and high dives from iceblocks into the cool deep water! Then ice chunks are hauled to home water sources and the pigs can finally indulge in cool relief from the island’s heat.

Arthur Geisert‘s wonderfully wordles book Ice appeals to me on so many levels. First of all it celebrates industriousness. Hardworking pigs one and all, old and young pitch in to make a poor situation (unbearable heat) better. I love that these pigs plan carefully and then, in completely unexpected ways (via a flying sailship), execute this plan. And finally these pigs again sit together and celebrate their mutual success. I also love these pigs. Pigs. It should seem absurd but these pigs are highly relatable in their simple dresses or overalls and communal committment to a task. In witnessing the pig’s inventiveness and high adventure, one comes away with a satisfied feeling. So much happens in just a few pages. Problem. Idea. Execution. Solution. Satisfaction. If only every problem could be approached with such creativity and success.

Prudence Wants a Pet

Posted on March 11, 2012 by carriegelson

Picture Book Love #2: Celebrating picture books that are just too good not to gush over.

Okay start counting how many books you have read about a child who really wants a pet and the parents say no. No, it’s too much work. No, you won’t look after it. No, we don’t have time, space, energy . . . I can think of many. So how can another book on this theme really seem fresh, new, inspired? Prudence Wants a Pet written by Cathleen Daly and illustrated by Stephen Michael King will sweep you off your feet. This book is simply about the determination and charisma of Prudence. And yes, her extreme and unrelenting desire for a pet! I dare you not to adore her!

Prudence wants a pet

Prudence really wants a pet but her parents roll out those typical parent excuses. So she is left to her own devices. She gets a pet and names it Branch. Because, well, it is a branch. It lives on the front porch and after tripping up Dad eight times, Branch ended up in little pieces on top of the wood pile. Prudence gets a new pet named Twig (because yes, you guessed it Twig is a twig). Twig is too small and gets lost. So Prudence moves on. She attaches a leash to an old shoe, which just so happens to be her new pet named Formal Footwear. Really! Then Prudence tries making her little brother Milo a pet but things don’t go over very well with her parents when she feeds him seeds and grass. So on to bigger and better things! A car tire. Just try to keep a straight face! Finally following an extremely disappointing attempt to raise sea buddies after which Prudence retires to her closet, her parents consider an actual pet for her.

At this point, this book is poised to deliver an expected, typical, wrap it up happy ending. But no, this is where Prudence hooked me. Where I swooned. Completely done for. Prudence was so excited when she heard a “Mew” coming from the box her parents gave her that . . .

Her eyes got hot and tingly. She’s so happy it leaks out of her eyes a little. She didn’t know about those kinds of tears.

Seriously? Wow. Tell me you don’t need this book. It is so much more than a “Girl wants Pet. She begs and begs. Girl gets pet,” kind of story. It is Prudence.

Pete & Pickles

Posted on March 9, 2012 by carriegelson

Picture Book Love #1

Some picture books knock me off my feet. 32 little pages of big power. So this is book number 1 on this blog in the category of Picture Book Love. A new way to honour and celebrate picture books that are just too good not to gush over.

This book created by Berkeley Breathed has many themes I like to address through picture books: courage, friendship, and diversity. But it is also about love. It celebrates love in the happiest and most joyful of ways. But it doesn’t scrimp on the realities of love: loss, pain, frustration, forgiveness, sacrifice. Love is all of it and this book delivers. It takes you on a journey sailing through a myriad of emotions and delivers you on the other side, changed. Better. Brighter. Exhausted. I have read this book now multiple times and it is as lovely shared as it is in a solo reading. It insists on repeated readings. It is a book I had to instantly own so I could revisit it anytime I wanted. I LOVE this book. Let me tell you why . . .

Pete meets Pickles in the strangest of ways. It is a stormy night and Pete is in the middle of a nightmare about drowning when a sudden sound wakes him. Pete has an odd feeling that something is not quite right. And it isn’t. There is an elephant hiding under his lampshade. A soggy, wet elephant (Pickles) who suddenly grabs Pete with her trunk, looks at him with eyes filled with fear and a request: “Help me.” Things happen very quickly and within moments Pete has given Pickles up to a clown who arrives at the door looking for an escaped elephant. In the morning, Pete realizes that Pickles left behind a gift of dandelions. He deems them ridiculous but he has been touched and before he knows it, he meets Pickles again – this time chained up in a circus tent.

What follows is a beautiful and often wonderfully silly story of break out escapes, changes to Pete’s simple and solo world and struggles between embracing this new colourful, dramatic life with Pickles in it or longing for the quiet simplicity of life before . . .

When Pete’s sensible nature overrules, he sends Pickles packing. But a sudden plumbing disaster changes everything. Both characters need to find safety and it seems there might not be enough safety to go around. How this book turns out must be experienced to be believed. Your heart will be in your throat as you turn the last few pages. Danger and potential of real disaster. Of the heartbreaking kind. But . . . suffice it to say one of the most beautiful moments I have ever experienced in a picture book awaits and in the end you will be smiling in the happiest of ways. Ahhh, what we do for love!

Breathed explains that a sketch (above) his five year old daughter had made on a restaurant napkin inspired this book. He asked his daughter Sophie about her sketch of an elephant holding a pig and putting flowers on its head. Why was the elephant doing that? She answered “The pig’s sad. Because he’s lonely.” Then she leaned in and whispered, “. . . But he doesn’t know it.”

Pete & Pickles reminds us that relationships are the antidote to loneliness. And sometimes they arrive in your life in the strangest of ways.