Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: Jumping Penguins

Posted on January 29, 2014 by carriegelson

It’s Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday!

This title is difficult to categorize. It is definitely nonfiction. A fact book of sorts. A book of art. That too. Quirky, odd, fantastic. All of these things. Some of nature’s truths displayed a little more graphically and gruesome than one might usually find in children’s literature. . . Cannibalistic crocodiles munching each other for lunch. But also absolute charm conveyed through simple text and illustrations that go where our imaginations might.

A polar bear is left handed as are most artists.

This line is illustrated by a polar bear holding paints having just painted a self portrait.

What exactly is this book I am describing? A gorgeous animal concept book illustrated by Marije Tolman with text by Jesse Goossens: Jumping Penguins (published in 2013 by Lemniscaat) In the Netherlands this title is published under this title: Jumping Penguins and Laughing Hyenas.

There is an index in the back. It lists 27 animal names and the pages they are featured. That is about as far as a nod to typical organization of nonfiction texts might take us. Otherwise it is all whimsy. Wonder. Amazement.

Each fact is given some elaboration or not. But each one is illustrated not realistically but more in a what might/could this mean if we thought creatively about it. Penguins can leap six feet in the air? So . . . do they stand around and watch graceful leaps out of the freezing sea? The illustration suggests just that.

What were particular wow facts/illustrations for me?

An adult porcupine has 30,000 quills on its body which are replaced every year (the illustration shows us porcupines using discarded quills to erect a fence around their property)
The ribcage of a hippopotamus is so large, the average seven year old could stand inside of it.
Sumatran tigers do like water – in fact they have webbed toes and can swim more than fifteen miles.

Find the book and be delighted and informed in the most wonderful of ways. Amazing animals. Yes, truly.

Thanks to Alyson from Kid Lit Frenzy for the inspiration to read and share more nonfiction picture books in 2014! Follow the link to Alyson’s blog to read about more nonfiction titles.

My goal is to read 65 nonfiction picture books for 2014. Progress: 25/65 complete!

Wise Eyes Watching

Posted on November 16, 2013 by carriegelson

These beautiful owls are now perched up high on our our bulletin boards – wise eyes watching us:

Inspired by this wonderful post on the art blog A Glimmer of Light, we created these gorgeous owls. Here is our process.

First, we drew with oil pastel directly onto black construction paper (no pencil marks first!) – thinking about the shapes of the body, eyes, wings, talons and added a fancy crown. Students then began colouring in the owls with oil pastels, creating patterns and textures.

After about 20 minutes of work time, most children were at this stage: shapes drawn and quite a bit of colouring and design complete.

On Day 2, we just had another short amount of work time so our goal was to finish adding colour to our owls and to outline important lines.

On Day 3, we broke out the chalk pastels and added bright and beautiful backgrounds with swirls and stripes. Students were encouraged to not use more than 4 different colours.

Many students helped with background colouring so that we could all complete our masterpieces to have them ready to post up in the room.

Final step was to outline any lines that had blurred at the edges of the owls into the chalk pastel background and these stunning owls were ready!

Some students even wrote a little bit to share about their process or about who their owl might be . . . . Check out our classroom blog Curiosity Racers to read about what was shared and to see some more images!

Fly Free

Posted on May 25, 2013 by carriegelson

We love making art in our classroom. It seems always to be more powerful when it is a response to a book we have read. I don’t think it is hard to figure out why – books inspire us to think and feel and reflect and respond. Art is all about responding creatively to what we are thinking about. So the picture book/art connection is a powerful one.

There is a bit of a story to how my Grade 2/3s happened to create these pictures:

It started with the wonderful book The Secret Message that author Mina Javaherbin sent to our class after we had made a connection with her when we reviewed her book Goal! This book, based on an ancient Persian poem by Rumi, tells the story of a wealthy merchant and his parrot. The beautiful bird sings of longing and dreams of freedom and yet, his only reward is a larger cage. When the merchant travels to India, the parrot asks him to tell his wild parrot friends of his captivity and how he misses flying in the forest. The birds manage to send a secret message back to their parrot friend in Persia, ensuring his route to freedom. This story inspired many questions and lots of discussion. Big themes of course involved freedom and the merchant’s right to keep a wild bird captive.

Students were not impressed by the larger cage that the merchant bought the parrot. They felt it didn’t come close to measuring up to the beautiful forest where wild birds flew free. This got me thinking about an art project I had pinned to my art boards on Pinterest. It was from the wonderful art blog Mrs. Picasso’s Art Room. This project also looked at birds and cages and questioned captivity. Inspired by this project, I decided to have the students draw their own bird cages that they could have birds perch upon. We also incorporated the message from Mina when she signed her book for us: Fly Free!

Students began by drawing an elaborate bird cage with black crayon and oil pastel. We thought about a door to the cage and making it stand out as firmly closed. Some students began with mock up sketches to think about shape and design.

Finished cages were elaborate and beautiful. We talked about how we liked the idea of these cages for decoration but not for keeping a bird inside!

We then made our birds after looking at many picture books and nonfiction books that featured parrots but also other exotic and beautiful birds with interesting colouring and decorative bills. A favourite was a book that celebrated being observant about the details of different birds: Puffin Peter by Petr Horacek. Simply gorgeous! The striped beak of this little puffin made its way onto many finished birds! We loved the layered colours and the loose lines that outlined this beautiful bird.

Drawings started with crayon. Some looked very puffinesque (thanks Petr!)

Other birds came in different shapes.

Some students were very excited to make their birds multicoloured using layers of crayon and oil pastels.

Two colours on the beaks were very popular

Big theme? Pride!

And smiles!

Students then cut out their birds and the signs they had made that expressed either: Freedom of Fly Free. They positioned them on the page so it was clear that the birds were perched outside the cages and voila – beautiful art projects with a message!

The great thing about this project? As we worked on it over multiple days, our discussions continued. As students worked, they talked about blending colours, interesting birds and what it means to be free. What could be better?

Thanks to Mina Javaherbin for such an important book!

Ahoy there Pirates!

Posted on May 11, 2013 by carriegelson

Sometimes a page in a picture book just speaks out and begs to be emulated. This happened to our class when we turned to what we call the “eyepatch” page in Calef Brown’s book Pirateria. (Read student reviews of this book here)

There is a full page spread of various pirates sporting eyepatches in perfect pirate colours. Colours such as: Briny Deep Green, Dreaded Red and Swashbuckled Huckleberry. And of course: Cannonball Black. Students wanted to look at it again and again. We decided it was the perfect inspiration for some of our own art in Calef Brown‘s style. We included the elements of his pirates that we loved: the striped shirts, stylish bandanas, whoop-de-doo noses and colourful faces. Below, read the step by step of how our pirates came to be.

First we did some sketching with black crayon, trying out various pirate styles.

Students then chose a favourite and began their large pirate face, using a black oil pastel. Don’t you just love these noses? We sent Calef Brown some pictures and told him how much we loved the noses. He explained their importance:

@carriegelson Pirates need an extra nostril for breathing all that foggy sea air! Pass along a hearty “well done, matey!”

— Calef Brown (@CalefBrown) May 2, 2013

Then time to colour with oil pastels – just the eye patch, the hair, shirt, bandana, and mouth. Some people couldn’t resist colouring in their nose!

On Day 2, we painted.

We used 2 colours – one for the face and one for the background.

Students then outlined with pastel again if necessary once the paint was dry. All pirates had a lot of style. This saucy fellow, according to the little artist who created him is a bit of a facke (fake)!

Some pirates were all about the nose!

Others – it was lips not to be missed!

Can you say moustache? How about three?

Some pirates had lovely smiles.

Some smiles need a little dental attention or the occasional toothbrush at least!

We had pirates who looked serious and wise.

And some who pondered life under a starlit sky.

Now all of these pirate characters hang outside of our classroom. Come by and check them out but don’t get too close . . . They may make you walk the plank!

Stunning Cities

Posted on May 1, 2013 by carriegelson

We were inspired by the colourful images in Robert Neubecker‘s Wow! City! and this blog post on the blog Splish Splash Splatter to create some gorgeous cityscapes – with a focus on form, colour and wonder.

What we loved about the book Wow! City! was the sense of height in the buildings and that with some quite simple lines, many details could be highlighted.

After we read the book, we talked about building shapes and the shapes and lines found in roof tops, windows, doors and building details. Students then drew a layered city scape using white crayon on black paper.

We then painted white glue over all of our white lines – a definite exercise in patience! We didn’t have enough glue containers of the right size to have students just squeeze glue onto the page so we used brushes and cups of white glue. Also some of our little creative artists get a little too creative when given a whole glue bottle . . . .

When some people finished adding glue to all of their lines, they happily helped others and we had cooperative glue stations going all over the room! Lovely thick glue lines created perfect borders for colours to stand out.

Adding colour was the fun part. Students chose vibrant chalk pastel combinations and happily filled in their buildings. In this photo, it is easy to see the dried glue lines.

I love the oranges and yellows – we had these colours in buildings and in sky lines!

Many students worked together in different areas of the room, inspired by each other’s work. Look at the gorgeous yellow sky!

These two little artists realized they could create some amazing effects by blending their pastels right on the page.

Some final versions:

Red skies at night . . .

Beautiful blending . . .

Oh that gorgeous yellow sky!

Monday April 8th, 2013

Posted on April 8, 2013 by carriegelson

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

Join Jen and Kellee’s meme and share what you have been reading from picture books to young adult titles!

It’s been about three weeks where I have just not been to the bookstore or the library and sourced out picture books I loved. Well, back to school hit along with a very productive trip to the bookstore and I have some new to me titles to highlight this week!

In the Tree House written by Andrew Larsen and illustrated by Dusan Petricic I think Larsen is able to share some quite lovely moments between family members in his picture books (like the girl and her Poppa in The Imaginary Garden). This book has beautiful moments between brothers – those endless play days and nights that seem to not have an end during our childhood. But there is also the loneliness when one sibling enters a new stage and doesn’t have as much time for family. Yet certain things happen to bring everything back to what it should be and we realize the strength of family connection. This story, like John Rocco‘s Blackout, delivers the magic of what happens in a neighbourhood and in a family when all of the lights go out. And . . . Dusan Petricic . . . so you know, it’s going to be wonderful!

Friends by Mies van Hout I literally leaped when I saw this title in the bookstore – as I adore Happy done in a similar style. I used that title to inspire some wonderful fish art of our own earlier in the year:

Can’t wait to see what this book might inspire! What adorable little monsters.

The Dark written by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Jon Klassen I made a trip to the bookstore this weekend precisely to purchase this title. Klassen is the perfect illustrator for this book – he brings so much depth and emotion – fear, wonder, mystery – to black sections of a page. The concept is very clever – the dark is given full presence as more than an entity but an actual character. And if you have been reading reviews and wonder about that page of many words, I found this interview with the book’s editor very interesting.

Unspoken A Story from the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole I finally experienced this amazing title. What a story is told through these striking images. Much to discuss. Much to think about quietly. Loved this book.

Tree Ring Circus by Adam Rex Many things end up in a very curious tree. Fun illustrations but it is the rhythmic and whimsical language that make this book a hit. I read a portion out loud and this book travelled through my class like wildfire. It begs to be read aloud.

And one sweet little board book: Big and Small by Guido Van Genechten A lovely search and find – perfect to share with our K buddies when they come for buddy reading.

I have so many books on the go, that I didn’t end up finishing any novels but am sure enjoying the three books I am reading! My children and I are fully into The Runaway King and loving it! I just started Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan with my student book club. This is a reread for me and can’t wait to discuss it with the group. I am almost done One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia. Oh these little girls, what characters. How did I not read this book sooner?

Hope to have more novels on next Monday’s What are you reading post!

Princesses and hidden peas

Posted on March 15, 2013 by carriegelson

Fairy tales are fantastic and fractured fairy tales offer fun and quirky twists on those stories that we love.

The Princess and the Pea is one of my favourite stories! So sharing it with the students was a lot of fun.

This week I shared two “alternatives” to the classic Princess and the Pea story.

First we read Mini Grey‘s The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-to-Be

This book is told from the perspective of the pea! A pea, who plays quite an active role in the outcome of this tale . . .

Later that same day we read The Princess and the Packet of Frozen Peas written by Tony Wilson and illustrated by Sue deGennaro

Our art projects were inspired by these books but I got my original inspiration from my favourite Art Blog, Deep Space Sparkle that highlighted these wonderfully whimsical Princess and the Pea projects. Princess beds, a hidden pea, glitter crowns . . . This project was a lot of fun!

What we did:

First, we drew elaborate princess beds using black crayons (I love that my students get so excited with art projects that they just jump right in and don’t worry about pencils first and everything being perfect!)

Next we piled on the mattresses!

Then we added a princess and started adding colour to decorations to the mattresses. We used oil pastels to add rich colours.

It was then time to add glitter to the crown. We did this before adding paint so that the glitter wouldn’t stick to the wet paint. Children used tiny paint brushes to add white glue on their crowns and then sprinkled gold glitter to cover. We also added a hidden pea at the bottom of the mattresses. Can you spot it in the picture below?

On day two, we painted – adding colour to each mattress and to the background. This princess below is thinking about royalty!

Some students painted all mattresses the same colour for a very effective/colour coordinated look.

Doesn’t this princess look peaceful on her pile of pastel coloured mattresses?

I love that this princess is perched on a pile of precariously balanced mattresses! One mattress is even a glitter mattress!

Doesn’t this princess look peaceful? I have the feeling a pea isn’t keeping her up!

This princess makes it very clear that she cannot sleep! Oh those pesky peas!

Wild Thing!

Posted on February 27, 2013 by carriegelson

Really, one doesn’t need a reason to read Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. But in case you are looking for one . . .

How about to inspire creative children’s art? Meet our Wild Things!

This post on Organized Chaos, a fabulous art blog with step by step instructions, provided the spark for this project. As we have been reading this years Caldecott Medal and Honour titles, I have also been sharing favourite Caldecott winners from the past. Sendak’s book is a real favourite of mine. It won the medal in 1964.

First we read Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Inspired by instructions on the Organized Chaos blog, we really focused our attention on the details of each creature, looking at how they are a compilation of many animals in one. The children were asked to create their own creatures, incorporating body parts from at least five different animals. We brainstormed all of the body parts of potential creatures – thinking beyond body, legs and heads to claws, horns, snouts, beaks, necks, teeth, etc.

Students drew in pencil to design their creatures and add details for a background landscape.

Next students outlined all lines using a black sharpie.

Students then used crayons and pencil crayons to add colour and additional details to their very own Wild Things.

Some were inspired to create faces similar to Sendak’s creatures with the large colourful teeth, expressive eyes and big lumpy noses.

Many students enjoyed adding horns, claws and wings to their creatures.

Some made their creatures look a little more human by adding human looking hair and drawing faces with expressions of a specific emotion.

Other Wild Things were much more fantastical!

Some had multiple eyes or bird like or reptile like faces.

There were things like unicorn horns, bat wings and alligator teeth.

Some wild things had body armour and some even breathed fire!

Many students had their wild things just standing around while others had their wild things running or even dancing.

So much creativity was revealed!

After colour was added to the creatures body, students added paint to their background.

Some focussed on sky, others on a forest feel.

Other students were all about colour and chose a background that highlighted the multiple colours they used in their creature.

This student is using a bright blue background to highlight the soft pastel stripes and splotches on this creative Wild Thing.

It looks part elephant, part duck, part alligator and . . .

What else can you see?

Meet a few more gorgeous Wild Things!

Big ears and a long snout! This wild thing has some super senses!

How about taking this one out onto the dance floor?

Don’t mess with this Wild Thing. That serious look might be disguising a wilder than usual personality!

Doesn’t this make you want to get out your art supplies and make some Wild Things of your own?!

Gorgeous Pumpkin Patch

Posted on November 1, 2012 by carriegelson

I love Halloween art but I don’t love that it looks outdated November 1st. When I saw these starlit pumpkins on the blog Deep Space Sparkle, I knew I had found the perfect art activity for the short lived Halloween season that could extend as a beautiful fall display.

This was a fun two day project. The highlights? The mixing of paint right on the page and the smudging of chalk pastel. The muckier one gets one’s hands, the better it seems to be!

I give full credit to the step by step instructions on Deep Space Sparkle for allowing my class to have such fun and such success with this project! Here are our step by step instructions with photographs.

Step 1: Draw pumpkins and leaves (using black oil pastel) on a large construction weight light coloured paper. Hint: draw an oval first and lines that extend from that. We had a “live” pumpkin in the room to examine for interesting stem shapes and textures and to feel the ridges.

Step 2: Students received brushes and paint colours (yellow, orange, blue) and created orange pumpkins and green leaves by mixing colours wet on wet while painting. Well, you can imagine how exciting it was to have yellow and red turn to orange and blue topped with yellow to transform into green. This was magic in the making!

Add some yellow paint . . .

Top it with red and blend into . . . orange!

Blue and yellow really do make green! And everyone got different shades 🙂

Step 3: On Day 2, cut out pumpkins and leaves and then glue to black paper.

Step 4: We handed each child a brown, green and white piece of chalk pastel. They started by colouring in the stems and adding white highlights to the pumpkin. Using the green, students drew vines and added highlights to their leaves.

Step 5: Draw a full moon and stars with the white chalk. Smudge your moon to give a hazy effect (fun part!)

Then admire your work! And show it off! (Even if it is bigger than you!)

These were lovely calm projects to do on Halloween afternoon before spooky stories and Halloween centres!

Happy Halloween! (And for November – art that can still stay up on the walls!)

Owls all around

Posted on October 26, 2012 by carriegelson

Busy little artists in Division 5 have continued to work hard to fill our room with gorgeous owl art to inspire us all to be wise and thoughtful!

This project was inspired by The Snowy Owl Art Project on the amazing art blog Deep Space Sparkle. We benefited from the wonderful photos and step by step instructions! This blog is fantastic for art ideas! We used different background colours to capture the feeling of fall nights and amazing late afternoon skies that happen as we move from fall to winter.

Step by step, went like this:

1. We painted our background either orange or yellow and then added white paint spatter and drops to represent a blustery sky

2. We added the body of the owl (a circle for the head, a big filled in U for the body, wings and ears) We then let the paint dry overnight.

3. Our next art class was all about adding the finishing touches. Basically transforming some white blobs on a background into fantastically personable owls! First students added a branch for the owl to stand on, big eyes and a beak. Then they switched to fine brushes and outlined all of their original shapes in black paint.