Tag Archives: Hannah Viano

Monday February 22nd, 2016

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It’s Monday! What are you reading?

Each week I share a reading photo of the week. That has grown to a few reading photos from the week . . . This week they are everywhere!

I love this moment during Reading Workshop where a student got comfortable to read some Bink and Gollie!

Monday February 22nd, 2016 There's a Book for That

The amazing Adam Lehrhaupt (author of Warning: Do Not Open this Book and Please, Open This Book!)sent us a box of goodies after I shared with him how much we loved his books. We didn’t open the box right away because it didn’t come with instructions! Should we open it? Keep it closed? We spent some time talking about this! But wow, were we excited when we made our decision! We were particularly pleased to not find any bruised bananas!
Monday February 22nd, 2016 There's a Book for That

Our #classroombookaday titles this week were wonderful!

Monday February 22nd, 2016 There's a Book for That

Writing about this favourite: Donovan’s Big Day

Monday February 22nd, 2016 There's a Book for That

Tea Party Rules was a huge hit! A great story for predictions and lots of smiling!

Monday February 22nd, 2016 There's a Book for That

Join Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers and share all of the reading you have done over the week from picture books to young adult novels. Follow the links to read about all of the amazing books the #IMWAYR community has read. It’s the best way to discover what to read next.

IMWAYR 2015

On the blog:

My 3rd Slice of Life: The kid on the piano

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: B is for Bear

Nonfiction 10 for 10: Travel the World

Books I enjoyed:

Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems selected by Paul B. Janeczko and illustrated by Melissa Sweet

This book was very much a visual sensation. Sweet’s illustrations perfectly complemented a series of perfect poems to let us travel through the seasons. I got this book from the library but think I need to have my own copy so it is extra convenient that I will be going to see Melissa Sweet in Bellingham next week and can buy this book and get it signed!

Firefly July Monday February 22nd, 2016 There's a Book for That

We worked on our own Night poems with art inspired by Melissa Sweet

Monday February 22nd, 2016 There's a Book for That

Take Away the A written by Michaël Escoffier and illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo

I love that with all of the ABC titles out there, there is still so much room for originality! I giggled my way though this one. It is quite delightful!

Take Away the A Monday February 22nd, 2016 There's a Book for That

Awesome is Everywhere by Neil Pasricha

Absolutely awesome and completely interactive. It reminded me of Steve Jenkin‘s Looking Down and Tullet‘s Press Here. A title to be experienced (best read aloud!)

Awesome is Everywhere Monday February 22nd, 2016 There's a Book for That

This may be the number one fan of this book!

Monday February 22nd, 2016 There's a Book for That

My Cousin Momo by Zachariah OHora

I really appreciate Ohora‘s illustrations – they have a wonderfully nostalgic feel to them. This title is all about appreciating someone for exactly who they are and it is really charming.

My Cousin Momo Monday February 22nd, 2016 There's a Book for That

B is for Bear: A Natural Alphabet by Hannah Viano

I featured this title in my nonfiction post this week.

B is for Bear Monday February 22nd, 2016 There's a Book for That

The Story Blanket written by Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz and illustrated by Elena Odriozola

This is a wonderful story of community and generosity. Babba Zarrah tells the children of her village imaginative stories as they sit on her story blanket. When she notices that a child has a need that only the yarn from her blanket can fix, she begins to knit together both kind gestures and stories. Will her blanket disappear? What then?

The Story Blanket Monday February 22nd, 2016 There's a Book for That

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten

This novel has won numerous awards including being a Schneider Family Book Award winner this year. Adam meets Robyn at an OCD support group for teens. A simple love story with every kind of complication going. Adam navigates first love, his own OCD, a clingy little step brother and a Mom with her own issues s well as small doses of regular teenage issues. Adam is a special character and he offers us a candid glimpse into the life of someone dealing with obsessive compulsive disorder. A must read YA novel.

theunlikelyheroofroom13b Monday February 22nd, 2016 There's a Book for That

Reading Progress updates:

2016 Chapter Book Challenge: 7/75 complete

Goodreads Challenge: 53/400 books read

#MustReadin2016: 5/30 complete

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: 11/100 titles

Diverse Books in 2015: 8/50 books read

Up next? I am reading The Thing about Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin and continue reading All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely with my family.

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: B is for Bear

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This week I found B is for Bear: A Natural Alphabet by Hannah Viano (October 2015) and was absolutely charmed by it. Striking art work and all things lovely and wonderful from the natural world of North America. Part alphabet book, part celebration of nature, many parts simple beauty.

B is for Bear

Each page holds an upper case word for the letter represented and a simple, descriptive sentence of additional information along with a stunning image (these are paper cuttings!)

For example:

“Standing still on one leg, an EGRET watches the water closely, waiting for his dinner to swim by.”

Some wonderful things selected P for PEBBLE, Q for QUEEN ANNE’s LACE, R for RAINSTORM

I particularly loved this book because it got me thinking about how to use it in the classroom. Last week Melissa Stewart wrote a post wondering about doing research with elementary students. “Is there a fun way to do research?” she asks. She has more posts to come (yippee!) but I have been thinking about this question a lot. I’ve been thinking about letting research first be part of a discovery, expressive process. Something that involves art, creativity, poetry, creating images while being a part of the process of wondering and finding new information. And then, what to do with it?

I love the idea of some simple pieces – like art work inspired by a book like this. Create an image of something, share a fact discovered by a little bit of reading or exploring a website or . . . Think about what fact feels the most important and how to share it.

Wouldn’t you like to create an alphabet book linked to a particular place – a country, a province (or state), a city, a neighbourhood? And include a number of interesting pieces of art with extra information. A piece of beautiful art and a simple, carefully crafted sentence. Seems like the ideal marriage of beginning fact finding and information honouring.

Already thinking of a book like this for my class to do on our neighbourhood . . . And about where we might find more information about things we might want to highlight . . .

I love books that both enrich and inspire – accessible and lovely mentor texts to imitate. This is a beautiful one indeed.

Thanks to Alyson from Kid Lit Frenzy for the inspiration to read and share more nonfiction picture books in 2016. Follow the link to Alyson’s blog to read about more nonfiction books you need to read!

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