Grumpy Bears, Clever Mice and a good night’s sleep

Posted on February 17, 2011 by carriegelson

Our BLG reader this week was Sam. He brought in an engrossing story by Bonny Becker and illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton. A Bedtime for Bear is all about a very particular Bear who needs everything to be just so in order to get to sleep. His friend Mouse, who comes to spend the night is not very capable of being calm, quiet and quick to settle down. This aggravates Bear just a little (well actually a LOT).

A little bit of irony – this book was all about being quiet and my normally very noisy (in a charming sort of way 🙂 ) class sat silent and focussed during Sam’s reading except to giggle at how disruptive and annoying Mouse was to Bear. Strangely quiet! But I wasn’t about to complain!

As the evening progresses in the story, we begin to realize that Bear wants Mouse up and about because he is a little nervous about a sound he heard.

Miami was on to him, “He doesn’t want the mouse to go to bed because he is scared!” she shouted.

When Bear told Mouse a story about Brave Strong Bear and the Very Frightened Little Mouse, Jeremiah quietly remarked, “That’s the opposite.”

Not much gets past us!

Our student reviewers report:

Lisa: My favourite part is when the bear asks the mouse to check his closet. I think he did that because he was actually scared there was someone that lived in the closet.

Kevin: My favourite part of the story is when they both fell asleep under the full moon.

Ricky: That was a great book you read Sam! It had good pictures and good characters.

Canadian Railroad Trilogy

Posted on February 10, 2011 by carriegelson

Our BLG reader Bill brought in an amazing book today! Canadian Railroad Trilogy illustrated by award winning artist Ian Wallace is the illustrated version of Gordon Lightfoot’s song Canadian Railroad Trilogy. “We weren’t even born then!” the students exclaimed when told that this song was performed on New Years Day in 1967 in honour of Canada’s centennial.

This is a physically heavy book – the song travels through each page of “striking, catch your breath, sigh” kind of art by Ian Wallace. It also contains the song lyrics, the music, the illustrator’s notes and a brief history of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run . . .

Lightfoot wrote this classic song in just 3 days! Artist Ian Wallace took 21 months to complete the illustrations for this book and used a medium new to him – chalk pastels. We see the truly stunning Canadian landscapes and pictures of the many people involved in building the railroad.

But time has no beginnings and history has no bounds

Bill read us the story and then played us the song and flipped through the pages again following along. The room was completely silent, all eyes on the book. A few little fingers skimming under the text. A magical few moments! Thanks Bill for sharing this book with us today!

Our student reviewers report:

Ricky (who plays the piano :)): I like this book because the book is written by a special author – Gordon Lightfoot. He wrote a poem in the book and you can actually play it on the piano. The book has a piano song in it. The book also talks about the pictures of the book. That’s what I really like about the book.

Kevin: My favourite picture is page 21 and 22. I like that page because I like snow. It made me visualize me in the snow.

Jena: All the art in the book is too beautiful for me to choose which one is my favourite. Oh and one more thing to say: “I LOVE THIS BOOK!”

Edwin: The book was the calmest book I been read by a reader. It was special to me and the book had the beautiful pictures and the beautiful songs.

A Smelly Bill Story just in time for Valentines

Posted on February 3, 2011 by carriegelson

Today our BLG reader, Maria, read us the silly rhyming story Smelly Bill – Love Stinks written and illustrated by Daniel Postgate.

Smelly Bill the dog is inspired to take a bath to impress Peachy Snugglekins (a perfect white poodle). Fresh out of his bath, he prances off to the dog show to try and win Peachy’s heart.

” What creature was it, can you tell? Why, it was Bill without the smell. He’d come to prove he was as fine As any fancy-pants canine.”

Fancy-pants canine! Can’t read that out loud without giggling!

Peachy’s owner, Aunt Bleach, is horrified at the prospect of Bill as a potential suitor for her Peachy until Bill saves her from a boggy swamp.

Bleach hugged Bill to her grateful chest. “I think we know which dog’s the best . . . Bill stinks, but he is brave and bold. And has a heart of solid gold!”

The story ends with Smelly Bill and Peachy Snugglekins perched atop the garden shed watching the evening sun go down – appropriately supervised by Aunt Bleach of course.

Our student reviewers report:

Edwin: Bill is helpful, and respectful for helping the girl from the yucky mud puddle.

Annie: I like the part where Bill was in love with another dog and the owner was mad and making a face.

Josiah: I like it when Bill went in the mud and saved Peach. I love the title! It was funny because when Bill jumped in, he splashed them both.

Brownie Groundhog and the February Fox

Posted on February 1, 2011 by carriegelson

How lucky are we to have a reader from BLG law firm come in every week and read to us! The volunteer readers in our room are a big part of every Wednesday morning. This is the first book review of a new BLG book. Check back weekly for the newest titles introduced to Division 5!

Our book this past week was read by Deborah. Brownie Groundhog and the February Fox by Susan Blackaby is a lovely book about the impatient wait for spring. Beautifully illustrated by Carmen Segovia, an artist from Barcelona who had exhibited the sketches of our little groundhog at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair Illustrators Exhibition.The paintings in this book actually inspired the story which was written in order to bring these characters to life!

There is a charming interaction between the fox and the groundhog in this story. Brownie needs to keep the fox busy and distracted enough to forget about trying to eat her.

“You can’t eat yet,” she said. “You haven’t worked up an appetite.”

“I feel appetitey,” said the fox.

“Well, you aren’t,” said Brownie. “Why don’t you clear the snow off the pond? That might do the trick.”

Our student reviewers report:

Ricky: I liked when the fox was trying to eat the groundhog but the groundhog kept tricking the fox. At first, I thought the groundhog didn’t know that the fox wanted to eat him but she actually did. I thought she was just playing.

Jena: I liked how Brownie the Groundhog distracted the fox so he wouldn’t eat him – like taking him skating on the pond.