Tag Archives: BLG Reads

Some Cat!

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This week our BLG book was Some Cat! by Mary Casonova and illustrated by Ard Hoyt. Read (with some great cat sounds!) by Bill 🙂

some cat

We first encounter Violet at the shelter. She is sad and alone but still full of spunk and she lets anyone who comes too close know who is boss with a “Meowwww! Hissss! Spat!” Despite her growling and yowling, a couple decide to give her a home and bring her home to the house they share with . . . dogs! Again, Violet returns to her “cat against the world,” style to stay safe and in charge. The dogs in the house remain clear until they need to come to her rescue. In the end, Violet tucks in her claws and snuggles into her new home. Fantastically expressive language and illustrations made this a big hit!

Student reviewers respond:

Ava: My favourite part was that it reminded me of my cat at home.

Kassidy: My favourite part was when the cat sleep for a long time. I was listening and I thought she was running away from the dog. They adopted the kitten because they like the cat.

Kala: I liked the sound effects. I liked when Violet howled. I wish I was a cat!

Heman: It was funny when Violet jumped through the bird house. Violet was happy at the end. Violet reminds me of my friend’s dog. Violet used to be a stray cat then she was adopted by a family.

Kevin: My favourite part was when Violet was happy and she reminds me of my cat. The cat was in the cage and the boy got a dog. The cat said hiss scratch and spat. The boy said to stay away from that cat!

Vicky: My favourite part was when Violet hiss spat scratch. I noticed Violet was nice again. Why did Violet hiss at the dog?

Andrew: My favourite part was when all of them went fishing. I think Violet was a stray cat.

Arianne: My favourite part was when Violet was happy at the end of the story. I also liked when Violet was scared of the dogs.

Gracie: I liked at the end when the dogs and Violet sleeped all together. It was cute. And I liked when three other mean dogs came but the good dogs stood up for Violet. Violet is really cute. But why did the woman and man adopt her if no one liked her?

Ashely: It was funny. I liked the end. I like the cat Violet. The cat is nice to the mouse. Those dogs are BIG!

Just Right for Christmas

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Maria brought in a sweet little holiday story for us today: Just Right for Christmas written by Birdie Black and illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw. Thanks to the generosity of the BLG law firm, we have a beautiful new book every week to listen to! This one will make a great addition to Seymour library’s holiday collection!

just right for Christmas

On Christmas Eve, the King brings home a beautiful roll of bright red cloth and his sewing maids snipped and sewed until they had made a beautiful cloak for the princess. What a perfect gift! The scraps were put outside at the back door. The cloth is discovered by Jenny, an employee from the castle who takes it home to make a jacket for her mother. She places her scraps at her back door and Bertie Badger delights in his discovery of the perfect fabric for a hat for his pa. And on it goes.

There was some discussion about whether it was okay to take cloth left out behind a house.  “Are they robbers?” someone asked. Other children understood that this was a great way to pass on things that weren’t needed so that there was no waste. We enjoyed the part of the story that repeated: “snipped and sewed. . . snipped and sewed . . .” One little boy whispered part way through, “Psst! This book is for the Rhyme and Repetition bin!” 

As students noticed that the cloth scraps kept getting passed on there were these question: “How will it end?” “Will it ever stop?” Gracie made a great prediction here: “There will be no more scraps finally and everyone will see that the gifts are made out of the same fabric.” Someone else suggested,”Maybe the last scrap will be for the top of the tree! A red star!”

Students noticed other things: “Oh I know! It went from big to small. The scraps!” “It’s the same cloth into different things!” “The cloth went from people to the animals as it got smaller.”

The final page of the book has everyone skating on the ice decked out in their new gifts made from the beautiful fabric with nothing wasted!

A story with elements of Phoebe Gilman‘s Something from Nothing or Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback. 

Student reviewers respond:

Kelvin: The girl snipped and sewed. Everyone snipped and sewed! The raccoon tried to steal stuff that was valuable. They made gifts with a cloth.

Pheonix: They each made something for someone. I like that book so much.

Shereese: I like when they are skating on the ice. The princess had the cloak on.

Ava: When the King got the cloth, he passed it around the town. The King got cloth and passed it on. It was pretty darn good.

Kassidy: I like the part when all the animals take the fabric. Tehy used it for presents. A princess is in the story.

Ashley: I like this book a lot. My favourite part was things going on and on and on and on. I like the pictures a lot.

Giovanni: I liked it when they snipped and sewed.

Vicky: My favourite part was when the king bought the cloth. I was thinking about Christmas. Marian, why did you choose this book? I noticed the cloth got smaller and smaller.

Heman: My favourite part was when Bertie Badger made a hat. I noticed that the creatures were getting smaller. They all used the same fabric for the gifts.

Kala: It was neat when Badger found the red cloth and decided to make a hat for his Pa. I also liked when the maid left the red scraps on the steps.

Brian: My favourite part was when they passed it on and on and on. I love Maria. She is the best. She is a good reader. I like when she reads to us. I wish that she can stay forever.

Gracie: My favourite part is when they are skating. I liked the book a lot. I think the animals are cute.

Arianne: I like when they make a red jacket for the princess. Squirrels make gloves for his wife.

Kevin: My favourite part was when Bertie Badger made a hat. I like when the animals stole the hat. I noticed that the creatures all used the same fabric for the gifts.

Ethan: My favourite part was when they took the cloth. That was so hilarious. The animals are so cute.

 

The Magical Life of Mr. Renny

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Our BLG reader Magnus brought us a story that celebrated magic and prompted us to think about what really makes us happy: The Magical Life of Mr. Renny by Leo Timmers.

the-magical-life-of-mr-renny

Mr. Renny is an extremely talented artist. But he cannot sell any of his work at the market. He is so hungry and desperate that he wished his painting of an apple didn’t just look real but was real so that he could eat it. (“I’ll pay him a hundred if I could,” one student muttered) A stranger appears and poof, the apple was real. Mr. Renny looked around, all of his paintings sprang to life. So imagine what this meant . . .

First, Mr. Renny fed his belly. He painted a hotdog, a milkshake and a multi-layered cake! “He could paint himself a restaurant,” suggested one student. But soon, Mr. Renny started to think beyond. A car to help him travel Europe. “Whoa, that car became alive!” And then a ship to sail the sea. But soon he wanted to get back to shore to paint more. He couldn’t stop thinking of all the things he could make real. Paint, paint, paint. Mansions, limousines, a silk suit, cavier, a blimp . . . (Magnus had to explain a lot of words new to us “What’s a canvas?” “. . . cavier?” “. . . a mansion?”

But then Mr. Renny had a visitor. Rose from the market came to see him and wanted to buy a painting. He had nothing to sell her. It seemed he was no longer a painter. But rather a collector. Rose inspired Mr. Renny. He brought back the stranger and made a request.

“I want to paint an ordinary picture again. One that doesn’t come to life.”

The stranger isn’t surprised. Maybe Mr. Renny isn’t the first to recognize that getting everything you want is not the route to happiness. 🙂 Mr. Renny gets his wish and all of his riches disappear. He happily sits down at his easel and paints Rose the perfect painting.

“You’re back!” Rose smiled.

And he was.

While this book did allow us to recognize that things do not make us happy, it also let us imagine for a little while some things that we would love to draw and have come to life. It gave us the chance to dream.  A few moments of wishing on a Wednesday morning felt kind of fun!

Student Reviewers Respond:

Kala: When it was almost at the end he made all the real things disappear. After when he painted nothing came back alive.

Arianne: I like when he made a rose. I would have painted a kitten. I will paint a horse. I will paint a dog. I will paint a pig and a barbie.

Andrew: My favourite part was when all Mr. Renny paint came to life. A stranger came. It was not real. Why did no one buy Renny’s paintings? I would have painted a gelato store because I love ice cream!

Kevin: My favourite part was when Mr. Renny give a rose for Rose. I wouldn’t paint a monster because it is too scary.

Ashley: Whatever he painted came to life. I would paint a house and it would have five rooms. He could paint skipping rope and a school and shoes, a bike,  a big car and a big Christmas tree.

Vicky: My favourite part was when Mr. Renny painted a rose for Rose. A strange man turned Mr. Renny’s paintings in to life. I would have painted a limo because I could drive in it.

Kelvin: When the man had real magic powers that is my favourite. When the man snap his fingers the painting came to life. Rose said you are not a painter anymore. That was sad.

Ava: Whatever he painted came to life. The man snapped his fingers and all of his paintings came to life. It was magical.

Heman: My favourite part was when Mr. Renny’s paint came to life. I would have painted my own castle because I could have my own room. Why did nobody buy Mr. Renny’s paintings?

Jorja: He is painting a rose to Rose. The paintings came to life and the painting was magic.

Kassidy: I like when things came in to life. I would have painted a dog and a cat if my paintings came to life. I like when he painted a rose for Rose. It was silly when the elephant had a stoller with some water melons.

Pheonix: My favourite part was the part that was he turn all his paintings to life.

Giovanni: I like the part that made things made to life. I would paint a monster truck. I want to play one.

Brian: My favourite part was when whatever he painted came to alive. Why are paintings so expensive? I would paint a Ms. Gelson because I like her.

Dragons Love Tacos

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How delighted we were to have Maria bring another Adam Rubin/Daniel Salmieri book to share with us. Dragons Love Tacos had us at the cover. A delighted looking dragon surrounded my piles of tacos and sporting a very full tummy (tacos?) lounges across the landscape. This looked like a perfectly silly book! We are big fans of silly! We were in!

dragons love tacos

First of all, it must be noted, that we as a group did not have a lot of background knowledge to support our understanding of this book. Many of us actually haven’t tried tacos. We certainly don’t know any dragons and so can’t really fathom why dragons would be such fans of eating tacos! A few of us though were taco fans or wanted to be taco fans. So while this story was being read, there was a certain degree of mumbling going on: “I’ve never tried a taco.” “My Mom makes the best tacos.” “Do dragons really love tacos? “I think I want to try a taco . . . ” 

However, we did have a previous appreciation of the Rubin/Salmieri brilliance. And . . . we are big fans of funny. This book delivered. It was a delight.

In this story we are introduced to a kid and his dog. He is warned that if he wants to feed dragons tacos, which they happen to love, he must be very careful not to give them any spicy salsa. Mild toppings on the menu? Super! Spicy stuff? Absolutely no go! So . . . it didn’t take long before one clever student guessed, “I bet if those dragons eat the spicy stuff, they will breathe fire.” The next thing we know the book is showing us preparations for a huge taco party! The kid is advised to bury any spicy salsa in the backyard and to fill his house with tacos. All seems good until . . . Tiny jalapeños are discovered in a salsa jar mislabelled mild.

“Oh no!” “Uh oh!” “There are going to be some sick dragons . . . “

There is a page of extreme fire breathing. And then, a bunch of ill looking dragons stand amongst the ruins of a home. “They are all homeless now!” someone shouted.

But there is a happy ending in sight. Turns out dragons are quite good at house construction as long as there are tacos at break times!

Student reviewers respond:

Shereese: It was funny when the boy put the spicy salsa in the backyard.

Arianne: I liked when the dragons breathed out fire and when they had to rebuild.

Ashley: I like a lot that they breathed out fire. I love that book! Where are they going to live now? Do you wonder where they are going to live?

Vicky: My vavourite part was when they rebuilt and cleaned up the house. I remembered Those Darn Squirrels Fly South!

Kevin: I like when the dragons breathed fire. I like when the dragons blow fire at the house. Then they rebuild it and clean up all the house.

Kelvin: When the dragons had a crush on tacos was my best part. The dragons burned the house. The boy planned to drop spice on the tacos. My Mom makes the best tacos. They taste great!

Kala: I liked when the dragons breathed fire.

Ethan: I liked when the dragons blew fire. It was funny. I only like candy. Not tacos.

Heman: My favourite part was when the dragon breathed out fire. I thought the boy will hide the salsa in the cupboard. Why did the dragon eat the salsa? The dragons breathed fire on the house!

Kassidy: I liked when the boy put salsa on the tacos. I liked when the dragons burned the house. The dragons helped the boy.

Pheonix: My favourite part was when the dragons built the house back to normal.

Grace: Do dragons really love tacos? I liked when the dragons breathed fire. So why do dragons love tacos? I liked that the dragons don’t like spicy salsa. I liked the boy’s dog. It’s cute!

Andrew: When the boy buried the salsa and the house got burned down were the best parts. I thought the dragons will burn the whole house down. Where will the boy live? I never tried tacos. Now I want to try tacos!

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs

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Our latest BLG book brought in by Deborah was Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems. Well, to say that we are Mo Willems fans in our classroom is a bit of an understatement. In fact upon realizing that this book was a Willems book, a definite hush fell over the room. Students were wide eyed and attentive. When someone spotted a pigeon in the cookie jar in the second full page spread, well . . . The magic of Mo Willems descended (“That’s a sneaky one,” muttered one little guy) and nobody dared look away for fear of missing a hidden pigeon on a subsequent page.

Willems brings a new twist to an old tale putting his humorous and silly stamp on the Goldilocks story. In his version, it is three scheming dinosaurs who leave their home to go “someplace else.” (Note to readers – you might think you see dinosaurs hiding in the woods spying on Goldi but that would just be your imagination). This Goldilocks is a little bit more than presumptuous. She is downright spunky. And while on the one hand, she appears to have very little sense (just how much chocolate pudding should one girl eat?), eventually she does discover that she isn’t in the safest of places and that she had better escape and quick. In the meantime she comes across some very tall and uninviting chairs (“There’s feets on those chairs!” one of the children noticed) and a number of clues that this house she happened upon might not be the safest of places. We particularly liked the door mat that said, “Wipe your talons.”

Willems’ illustrations are so much fun. We really get the sense of Goldilocks’ size relative to all of this extra large furniture and home accessories. She can practically take a swim in the chocolate pudding bowls! “She’s tiny. That’s why everything is big,” someone explained. “Nope,” argued another student. “Those dinos are just gigantic.“

Students were sympathetic to the dinosaurs’ failed plans. “The little one was crying,” someone observed. “I saw a little tear.”  We also really liked the morals at the end of the story – one for Goldilocks (and the rest of us without predatory natures) and one for the dinosaurs.

Student reviewers respond:

Gracie: My favourite part was when she ate all of the bowls of chocolate pudding. And why did the dinos want to eat Goldilocks so badly? I liked that Goldilocks.

Kevin: I like when we found the pigeon eye in the cookie jar. My favourite part was when Goldilocks fell into the chocolate pudding. I’m thinking the dinos will make a trap. I think in the the next book the dinos will eat Goldilocks.

Arianne: When I saw the pigeon, it was my favourite. I was thinking about the author. I like him!

Brian: My favourite part was when we found the pigeon. It was my very best part.

Vicky: My favourite part was when we found the pigeon. Goldilocks ran out to the back door. I was thinking of Piggie and Gerald when I listened. Where do you get these books Deborah?

Kassidy: I like when the chairs was too tall! When Goldilocks ate the chocolate pudding it was silly when she fell in!

Ashley: I liked Goldilocks and the three Dinosaurs. My favourite author is Mo Willems and he does funny books. We saw the pigeon in this book and I like that book!

Heman: My favourite part was when Goldilocks fell in the chocolate pudding. I liked it when we found the pigeon in the cookies. I thought the dinosaurs will make a trap. Why are the pigeons only in some pages? I wonder why Goldilocks went in the dinosaurs’ house? Why didn’t the dinosaurs eat Goldilocks under the tree?

Kala: I wonder why she sneaked in the house. It was funny when she went in the chocolate pudding.

Giovanni: My favourite part was that the chairs were too tall. Why did the dinosaurs arrive too late?.

Kelvin: My favourite part was Goldilocks eats the chocolate pudding. The dinos made a trap to eat Goldilocks. The dinosaurs opened the front door and jumped in at Goldilocks. In the book, there were some pigeons in the pages.

Andrew: When we found the pigeon it was my favourite. Goldilocks went in the Dinosaurs’ home. I was thinking the dinosaurs will make a trap. Why are the pigeons in some pages? Why was Goldilocks too small to go on Daddy, Mommy and little Dinosaur’s chairs?

Mo Willems and an original twist on a favourite tale. It couldn’t get better! If you have not read this book yet, race out and find it! (Just keep your eye out for lurking dinosaurs who may be a little peckish)

Those Darn Squirrels Fly South

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Our BLG reader Maria brought in a very funny book this week! Those Darn Squirrels Fly South written by Adam Rubin and illustrated by Daniel Salmieri had the perfect mix of silly, absurd and clever to keep us entertained through every page! A few years ago we enjoyed another Those Darn Squirrels story: Those Darn Squirrels and the Cat Next Door.

I love a book that is funny beyond the “shy smile as you listen funny” and moves right into the “laugh out loud, giggle and snicker” category of funny. This book registered high on the silly meter! We laughed a lot!

In this third book about Mr. Fookwire, his beloved birds and the pesky squirrels who irritate him, we witness a change of seasons. The birds begin to fly south and Fookwire will soon be without the colourful feathered creatures that are his inspiration. He will be left alone with “those darn squirrels.” Or will he? It turns out that the squirrels have been putting their advanced knowledge of aerodynamic engineering (who knew?) to use and have fashioned numerous flying devices to help them too “fly” south!

“Great googley-moogley!” exclaims Fookwire when he sees a flock of squirrels in the air! (Yes, he really does say this! And yes they really do fly!)

When the squirrels land in Santa Vaca they place a collect call to Old Man Fookwire. Their loud chattering inspires him to drive (at 12 m.p.h. in his rarely used convertible) down to meet them. Down south is heavenly – he can paint to his heart’s content. Too bad he forgets about sunscreen, shade and frequent hydration. When Fookwire decides to head back north, the squirrels choose to join him, taking over his car and eventually the wheel! Those Darn Squirrels!

A lot to love in this story. Fookwire’s expressions. The crazy names of the birds. The antics of the squirrels. The Fookwire/squirrels hug. And of course Fookwire’s nose. Handsome devil that Fookwire!

Student reviewers respond:

Grace: My favourite part is when Fookwire had a car that goes 12 m.p.h. Why do the squirrels eat flowers? Why is Fookwire so mean? I liked when he got a sunburn!

Shereese: I liked when the squirrels were eating the mango.

Ethan: I liked when the old man drived 12 m.p.h. When the squirrels drived, it was funny!

Giovanni: I liked the squirrels lying on the beach. Why were the squirrels jumping on the man?

Andrew: My favourite part was when Fookwire drives 12 m.p.h. Fookwire missed the squirrels. I thought the book was funny. Does Fookwire’s sunburn stop?

Vicky: My favourite part was when the squirrels drive the car. Why does the man have a weird name?

Ava: I liked when the squirrels drived the car. He got a sunburn from the sun. The book was nice.

Brian: When he and the squirrels became friends was my favourite part. He said Those Darn Squirrels all the time. How can a squirrel drive 12 miles per hour back home?

The New York Times has a wonderful review of this book. Read here.

Frank N Stan

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When we met the book Frank N Stan by M.P. Robertson, we met a “new to us” but very experienced BLG reader, Magnus. Before we get into how wonderful this book is, we have to spend a few minutes to explore just how interesting it was that Magnus chose this book. You see, this book is about a robot of very large proportions. He towers over his creator in the most magnificent of ways! Magnus, it just so happens, does a little towering too. He is 6 foot 9! This did not go unnoticed from the seven and eight year olds amongst us! There were questions and comments and then some. Magnus handled them all with honesty, candor and lots of patient politeness! Kids don’t hold back . . .

“How come your feet are so big?” “How did you get so tall?” “Where do you get your clothes?” “Do you have a 6 pack?” “How many pounds are you?”

Once we knew everything about Magnus, we were ready to begin the story.

And what a wonderful story . . .

Frank would love a younger sibling but when his Mom said, “We’ll see” to his request, he decided to make his own brother. He built a robot and named him Stan. Stan was fashioned out of junk yard parts, sprockets, sockets and a battery. When Stan had an oil leak, one child commented quite seriously, “A robot’s blood is oil.” This robot was unusual, but we accepted him as part of the family! And the family appreciated him  for all of his help. This robot vacuums and folds the laundry. “He is being helpful like a Mom,” somebody noted.

Most importantly, Frank loved all of the fun he and Stan had! There was noise and mess and more noise! What could be better? But then a baby girl came into the family. When the story mentioned that she might be a little smelly, students had a lot to say!

“Babies do smell.” “They poo and they pee.” “No, they have diapers!” “They still smell.”

Little baby Mary liked Stan and as she grew, she could do more and more with Frank. Stan began to feel left out and finally decided to leave the family. He trudged out into the snowy landscape, sad and alone. Students were quite upset!

“Oh no, what if he cries?” “He might cry oil!” “The oil tears will go down and make him rusty!” 

Poor Stan. eventually he conked out and lost all of his power, slumped down in the snow. Back at Frank’s house, Stan was missed. Frank went searching for him. For a few moments, our room was quiet, intently listening to see if Frank found Stan out in the snowy woods. Was he found? Well . . . Let’s just say our room erupted in applause at the end!

And (spoiler alert) little sister Mary said her first word when she was reunited with Stan. What was it? “Stan!” of course. (Reminded me of the ending of Knuffle Bunny :-))

M .P. Robertson has detailed, creative illustrations that make his books perfect for multiple rereads and quiet exploration. I think this is fast on its way to being one of our class favourites!

Student reviewers respond:

Kelvin: My favourite part was the basement. Stan was sad because they didn’t like him. So he travelled. I was hoping that they would save him.

Pheonix: That was cool! So cool I want to faint. For real. I’m not joking.

Andrew: My favourite part was when Frank built Stan. Stan came alive. I was thinking Stan looks weird. What if Stan gets all rusty?

Arianne: I like him building a robot. I like at the end, it was happy.

Vicky: My favourite part was when Mary said, “Stan!” I have a question for Magnus: Can you touch the ceiling?

Heman: I like when Frank built Stan in the basement. Frank was sad because Stan went away.

Ashley: Why was he a brother and a robot? I like the title because it is a funny title. I like the book!

Grace: Why did Frank want a robot brother? I like the title because it sounds like Frankenstein.

The Monsters’ Monster

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We were so pleased to welcome our long time BLG reader, Bill back on Halloween day! He bravely sat amongst the dragons, dinosaurs, witches and other creatures and read us the very entertaining book The Monsters’ Monster by Patrick McDonnell.

 

The main characters of this story are wanna be monsters who celebrate crashing and bashing, huffing and puffing and the shouting of the word, “NO!” They spend endless days arguing over who is the biggest and baddest amongst them. I must admit I think they are all quite charming and adorable, but thank goodness they don’t know that. Students also did quite a bit of tittering at their antics. Finally, Grouch, Grump and little Gloom ‘n’ Doom decide that they will together make the most terrible of all monsters. They fashion him out of various things including tacks, staples, gauze, gunk and a smelly old shoe. And then they hoist this monster creation into the stormy sky where he gets hit by a lightning bolt!

Bill is a fantastic reader and on the lightening bolt page he used a dramatic pause followed by a surprising boom and crash. There were some jumpers in the audience.  “I wasn’t scared,” announced the child that jumped the most. Of course not. 🙂

This monster, newly alive, is big and has a deep booming voice. He is everything these little “monsters” could ever have hoped for when they schemed him up. The only thing is that this big, bad monster is actually sweet, polite and charming. Instead of wanting to terrorize villagers, he wants to appreciate the fresh air and express his gratitude for life.

But even though, this big monster seems a disappointment to the little monsters three, he ends up offering them some positive inspiration. And . . . freshly baked jelly donuts.

McDonnell charms us all with this story and the children loved chatting about who their favourite monster actually was in the story. A book that will be read often and cherished in our library!

 

Student reviewer’s report:

Andrew: My favourite part is when the lightning hit the Monster and went BAM! The monster came alive. The monster will be bad? I wonder does the monster like light?

Kelvin: My favourite part was the hoist cause it looks awesome! They created a monster, it was a big monster. I will create my own monster. A vampire!

Little Beaver and the Big Front Tooth

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Deborah has returned as one of our beloved BLG readers! This week she shared Little Beaver and the Big Front Tooth with us. This informative little book was written by Amy MacDonald and illustrated by Sarah Fox-Davies.

Little Beaver is very upset. He won’t even come out to play with his friends. The source of his worries? One of his big front teeth was loose. If it fell out, would he still be a beaver?

He  stared at his reflection for a long time and then it came to him. Maybe he wasn’t a beaver at all! Perhaps he was a woodchuck! He went to find woodchuck to ask. Woodchuck explained that he could not be a woodchuck because he lived in a mud house not a hole. Well Little Beaver knew that muskrats lived in mud houses, so maybe he was a muskrat. But Muskrat explained that muskrats eat fish. Beaver ate bark. He couldn’t be a muskrat. So maybe he was a porcupine! Porcupines eat bark!

Well! This was quite alarming to the students! “No way!” “He has no spikes!” “What!?” One student knew prcupine’s answer, “Porcupines live in trees!” Poor Little Beaver was quite confused. He decided to ask Wise Old Beaver. Wise Old Beaver lived in a mud house the text read. This line prompted a big debate.

“He doesn’t live in mud, he lives in sticks.”

“No, it’s a den.”

“Bears live in dens. He isn’t a bear.”

Finally Deborah was able to read on about the discussion Little Beaver had with Wise Old Beaver about why he could not be any of the other animals that he had visited. Wise Old Beaver tells Little Beaver some interesting facts about beaver teeth and Little Beaver realizes that he might be young and foolish, but . . . he is definitely a beaver!

Students enjoyed learning about the other animals in this story and joined in with parts where information repeated. This was Deborah’s first book with us of the 2012/2013 year. She handled our eager and active listeners very well, taking all comments and questions in stride! My favourite?

Student: “What if the beaver doesn’t have a reflection? Because if he doesn’t then he is a vampire.”

Deborah: “Oh, I never knew that.”

Student reviewers report:

Kelvin: My favourite part was the mud house because it have protection. I think if I was the beaver, I will pull my tooth.

Andrew: I like when he ask the porcupine. He asked Wise Old Beaver.Old Beaver told him his tooth will grow back. I think Wise Old Beaver was right. But when does Little Beaver’s tooth grow back?

A Gold Star for Zog

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Our BLG readers have started for the 2012/2013 year! Our first reader was Maria and she brought in the entertaining A Gold Star for Zog written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

This story is about a dragon named Zog who is determined to win a gold star at Dragon School for mastering the lessons that Madam Dragon teaches. Unfortunately, he is quite accident prone and he wins more bumps and bruises than stars for stellar achievement. Luckily for Zog, a young girl shows up after every injury and tends to him – bandaging, soothing and healing.

Like many Donaldson stories, this one is full of rhyme and repetition. We caught onto this very quickly. Many of my reading group members grew quite excited about this fact and tried to whisper to me subtly “It’s got repetition! The text rhymes!” (We had just had a lesson where we explored our rhyme and repetition bin in class.)

Students had quite a bit to say as Maria read and recounted all of Zog’s injuries.

 “It’s worse luck. Then, good luck when she helps him.”

“Everytime, each page he always gets hurt.”

“Oh! Oh! I hope he will still be able to fly!”

This story takes place over time and so the reader must pay careful attention to how the illustrator shows the passing of years. Some students missed the text clues “In Year Two. . .” “A year went by and in Year Three. . .” but they saw differences in the pictures. Many of them commented that both dragon and girl were getting older and taller as we moved through the book.

Maria was a very patient reader and paused for all of the comments and questions, including one very sincere inquiry, “Did you make this book?” 🙂

When it is revealed that the girl is actually a princess, we were pretty excited!

“She’s actually a princess? I didn’t know!”

“She helps all of the dragons! She is a hero!”

“She doesn’t need that prince to rescue her! She’s smart!”

We were all quite excited about how this book ended. Yes, Zog got a gold star but our princess got a starring role in the life she wants to live. This is a fantastic message!