Here in B.C. we have been experiencing some dark, rainy days. Daylight savings means we just found an extra hour of light in the morning but our afternoons disappear into evening black far too soon. Yet darkness is not all about doom and gloom. It also means cozy, long stretches to read or bustle about inside. Darkness can pull us together for seasons of celebration and special events or provide us with solitude for introspection and calm. Bright is beautiful but so is dark. Whether we seek out the mystery and unexpected or the opportunity to settle into the quiet.
All of the dark has got me thinking about picture book covers. I started a list to see if I could come up with a number of titles that come specially wrapped in blacks and greys. My list ran off the page and I realized that many of my favourite books reside here. Is it just me or is there a certain elegance to these titles?
When you need a break from the bright, pick up one of these beautiful books.
25 titles to swoon over.
Listed alphabetically by author.
Leo a Ghost Story written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Christian Robinson
Flashlight by Lizi Boyd
Gleam and Glow written by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Peter Sylvada
A Good Night Walk by Elisha Cooper
The Black Book of Colors written by Menana Cottin and illustrated by Rosana Faría
Nighttime Ninja written by Barbara DaCosta and illustrated by Ed Young
Willaboughy and the Moon by Greg Foley
The Night World by Mordicai Gerstein
The Rabbit Problem by Emily Gravett
Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears by Emily Gravett
I Know a Bear by Mariana Ruiz Johnson
This is not my Hat by Jon Klassen
In the Tree House written by Andrew Larsen and illustrated by Dušan Petričić
Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson and Sydney Smith
Night Animals by Gianna Marino
Zero by Kathryn Otoshi
Our King has Horns! written by Richard Pevear and illustrated by Robert Rayevsky
Big Bad Bubble written by Adam Rubin and illustrated by Daniel Salmieri
The Dark written by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Jon Klassen
Swan written by Laurel Synder and illustrated by Julie Morstad
Hoot Owl: Master of Disguise written by Sean Taylor and illustrated by Jean Jullien
Friends by Mies van Hout
Happy by Mies van Hout
Surprise by Mies van Hout
Ten Birds by Cybele Young
How I love sharing picture book lists during this month of picture book love!
This week’s topic? Top Ten Auto-buy Authors But I kind of switched it up . . .
I approached this theme with some flexibility. First, I only included picture books. Second, my list is all about illustrators, not authors (although some both illustrate and write their books). And top ten? Nope. I have twenty. But I split it into two lists of ten in order to kind of follow the rules. 🙂 10 + 10 = 20
My top ten lists this week are all about my auto-buy illustrators. These artists help make picture books that are irresistible.
I read a lot, a lot, a lot of picture books. Narrowing these lists down was a challenge!
When it became apparent that I couldn’t limit my list to just ten, I decided to make a list of female illustrators and a list of male illustrators. Both make the best books ever! I am so excited to honour them here. For each illustrator, I have included my favourite (or one of my favourite) books that they have illustrated.
My ten auto-buy female illustrators listed in alphabetical order:
Freya Blackwood illustrated Harry and Hopper I love the scratchy, loose lines and the mood Blackwood creates through shading and colour.
Lauren Castillo wrote and illustrated Melvin and the Boy I love Nana and her wonderful cape and thought it was wonderfully Caldecott worthy, but I have such a soft spot for this sweet little book.
Marla Frazee illustrated All the World It is so absolutely calming and charming and full of all the world’s memories.
Emily Hughes wrote and illustrated Wild which I am more than a little wildabout
Suzy Lee created the wordless treasure Wave I am quite sure these waves are moving across the pages here.
Qin Leng illustrated Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin – there is one page oh so very full of green that I fell in love with.
Yuyi Morales wrote and illustratedNiño Wrestles the World I already loved this title but then I heard Yuyi read it aloud and I was even more smitten. Such joyous energy and escapades in this book!
Julie Morstad’s illustrations in This is Sadie are swoon worthy. Seriously, this cover!
LeUyen Phan absolutely blew me away with The Boy Who Loved Math
Erin E. Stead illustrated the stunning If You Want to See a Whale If you follow this blog you know I have a serious thing for whales. The one in this book? I find it particularly captivating.
My ten auto-buy male illustrators listed in alphabetical order
Jonathan Bean illustrated Bad Bye, Good Bye which I found wonderfully delightful. Look at the expressions conveyed just on the cover.
Peter Brown won me over with his book The Curious Garden that he wrote and illustrated. Doesn’t it make you want to go plant a seed or two or twelve in some unexpected places?
Oliver Jeffers just keeps making more books. Picking a favourite is challeging. I’m going with The Heart and the Bottle which will tug at your heart.
Jon Klassen is the Caldecott King but it is his illustrations in House Held up by Trees that I find the most incredible.
E.B. Lewis has done so many titles that are powerful but his illustrations in My Best Friend might be my favourite.
Patrick McDonnell’s illustrations are so whimsical and full of teeny tiny characters that are very large. South is gentle and lovely.
Christopher Silas Neal’s books with Kate Messner are stunning but it is illustrations in Lifetime: The Amazing Numbers in Animals’ Lives that I want to celebrate here.
Mark Pett won a special award in my room for The Girl and the Bicycle during our Mock Caldecott process He sent a very special gift for his number one fan (see below).
John Rocco does many wonderful titles. He wrote and illustrated Blackout which is likely my favourite. The blues. The blacks. Wow. Wow. Wow.
David Small does the most delicate, detailed drawings for historical fiction titles. I couldn’t choose my favourite. So instead I picked One Cool Friend which I also love.
Who are your auto-buy illustrators?
Could you choose ten? Or stop at twenty? It’s difficult!
While every year I celebrate Caldecott winners with my students, this is the first year we are having our own Mock Caldecott competition. After perusing numerous other Mock Caldecott lists and lists of Caldecott predictions, I narrowed it down to eleven titles to share with my class. There was a LOT of rethinking and eliminating titles. In the end, I tried to choose a varied list that conveyed different moods, feelings and responses.
Here are the books we are sharing, reading and swooning over – shared alphabetically by illustrator:
Sparky! written by Jenny Offill and illustrated by Chris Appelhans
Quest by Aaron Becker
The Promise written by Nicola Davies and illustrated by Laura Carlin
Draw! by Raúl Colón
The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee
The Iridescence of Birds: A Book about Henri Matisse written by Patricia MacLachlan with illustrations by Hadley Hooper
Sam & Dave Dig a Hole written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen
Hi, Koo! by Jon J Muth
The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett
The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Grandfather Gandhi written by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus and illustrated by Evan Turk
Our process is simple. We read and talk about each book individually, enjoying the interactive read aloud experience. Then, I hide the book away until we bring them all out again and spend some time looking closer at each title with Caldecott criteria in mind.
Like others who are running a Mock Caldecott with their classrooms, I adapted the criteria into a child friendly rubric.
Each child will have an opportunity to rate each book using a 1 – 5 scale (with 1 being not at all to 5 being agree absolutely) responding to these three statements:
This book is a book kids will really appreciate.
The illustrations in this book are excellent in quality.
The illustrations are a great fit for the story being told.
An opportunity to comment on favourites will also be available.
By next week, we should have shared all of the titles and will be prepared to rate each book. We will do this over a morning where we can reread, look more closely at the actual criteria and have lots of discussions with other students and the adults we have invited to participate in this process with us. More details on our class blog: Curiosity Racers.
We will then announce our medal winner and 3 honour titles.
I am not sure if it is the children or the adults who are more excited but our room is buzzing even more with picture book love. At times I am sure I can hear the hum 🙂
Here are my favourite titles of 2014! Another wonderful year of reading – always in awe of the amazing authors and illustrators out there that give us the important gift of stories.
The best of the best (published in 2014) for me?
14 favourites and no more than 14 words of raving about each title. This was my challenge last year with my Favourites of 2013 (13 books, 13 words) and in 2012 (12 books, 12 words) with my 2012 Favourites. This year I get one more book and one more word to play with! 🙂
This year I chose to spread my book love evenly between picture books and novels. 7 and 7. I will be sharing my nonfiction favourites in a post of their own this week so I focussed a little more on fiction here.
In no particular order – my 7 favourite picture books of 2014:
Sparky! written by Jenny Offill and illustrated by Chris Appelhans
Absolutely charming. And wonderfully slow – yes, like a sloth.
Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin written by Chieri Uegaki with illustrations by Qin Leng
A story of determination, perseverance and creativity. Dream. Be courageous. Such messages.
Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla written by Katherine Applegate and illustrated by G. Brian Karas
Thanks To Katherine Applegate and all of those who have loved Ivan, we love Ivan too.
The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee
A cover that hints at mystery and strange happenings and . . . ? Tender. Sweet. Kind
The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett
Persistence and love wrapped in brown, green and a little brother’s smile.
Any Questions? by Marie-Louise Gay
A story starts with a blank white page . . .
Sam & Dave Dig a Hole written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen
Pulls you deep into a “theorizing hole.” Digging in, around and out is highly satisfying.
And the novels that touched me – often making me pause and just connect with the state of being and living and loving. Novels roll out stories that transform our thinking with beautiful words on a page – the characters in these books have stuck with me.
The Summer of Letting Go by Gae Polisner
Vulnerability. A touching exploration of grief. Superb writing and of course, little Frankie Sky.
Bird by Crystal Chan
One girl raised in grief and superstition chases living. Sad and spectacular imagery.
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Friendship trials and celebrations. Growing up with hearing loss and super powers.
Nest by Esther Ehrlich
Chirp. Joey. Solid but broken. Love their observations, their coping strategies, their complicated friendship.
Revolution by Deborah Wiles
Tears, faith, outrage, peace. What a story. Wiles pulls you right into 1964.
Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin
Rose does things differently. But much a lot more bravely. Such a read.
I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
Full of raw mistakes and huge hopes. Energizing despite the grief and pain.
Please share your own favourites of the year . . .
My favourite reading photo of the week is of these two boys acting out Elephant and Piggietitles during buddy reading. They got completely into the roles!
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.
I found a wonderful bunch of picture books this week. Sharing my favourites here:
Countablock written by Christopher Franceschelli; art by Peskimo
This book is literally a block. A chunk of interesting pages in a sort of board book format but think super size. Count up to 100. Throw in a little cause and effect (Three boxes become. . . (turn the page) three forts) Lots of counting. Bright colours. And a surprise at the end. So much fun that I had to buy it for our classroom buddy reading collection. I know the kindergarten kids will delight in sharing this title with my students.
Waiting is Not Easy! by Mo Willems
Piggie has a surprise and Gerald needs to wait to find out what it is. If you know Gerald, you can imagine that waiting is not a talent he has. His impatience is very amusing. What exactly is the surprise? Well . . . it is worth the wait. And, no, I’m not telling.
Norman, Speak! written by Caroline Adderson and illustrated by Qin Leng
So what happens if the dog you get from the animal shelter doesn’t understand your language? Well, Norman’s new family are willing to do a lot so that they can begin communicating with Norman. My students found this book very interesting!
May the Stars Drip Down written by Jeremy Chatelain and illustrated by Nikki McClure
A beautiful, soothing lullaby. A work of art.
Watch this video of Nikki McClure talking about making the images for this book. Soothing. Calm. Slow. Beautiful.
Big Bad Bubble written by Adam Rubin and illustrated by Daniel Salmieri
Rubin and Salmieri are quite the team. They make quirky books. This one is especially silly and the monsters especially fetching. It will not appeal to everyone. Some might find it too odd. I think as a read aloud it has big potential and will be one of those books that certain kids will obsess over.
Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems
More monster love. Leonardo may not be the best monster but he has some pretty great endearing qualities.
Small Medium Large: A Book about Relative Sizes written by Emily Jenkins and illustrated by Tomek Bogacki
Amazing title to support the vocabulary around describing sizes from minuscule to enormous. So very clever.
Flora and the Penguin by Molly Idle
Oh Flora, on ice and with an energetic penguin, you are the perfect blend of graceful and flummoxed as your skating partner appears and reappears mid move. Absolutely charming.
Sam & Dave Dig a Hole written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen
Reading Sam & Dave Dig a Hole pulls you deep into a “theorizing hole” and digging in, around and out is highly satisfying. Picture book brilliance through and through.
I loved that after reading this title, I could finally read Travis Jonker‘s fantastic post:
I am not going to add any of my theories here. I just love that 1) Right from the cover, the wondering begins.
“I hope they don’t bury the dog,” my husband commented when I handed him the book to read.
And 2) as soon as you finish, you have to start again to deal with that “Huh? Hold on” kind of feeling.
Can’t wait to share this with my class.
What Can a Crane Pick Up? written by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and illustrated by Mike Lowery
I bought this book for many reasons. So many that I will actually start a list.
I love the rhyming text. And I don’t usually like rhyming text.
I think this is a perfect book to read and reread to get the rhythm right.
So . . . it is the ideal buddy reading book and will go in our buddy reading bin.
Any excuse to visit the nostalgic place of construction equipment that I no longer get asked to read since my son is 12 and not a toddler anymore. Sigh.
The bright illustrations.
And . . . there is a page of cartons and cartons of library books (held up by cranes using chains and hooks). Yep!
So with number 6, I was pretty much sold. Which is probably obvious.
I need this crane to come with me to the library 🙂
I also finished the brilliant Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Verse novels hold so much power to literally wrap us up in evocative images and in this case, personal history. In some senses, it feels like spying to be so close. A beautifully written memoir of a time and a place – oh so personal but yet, with connections and links to many more than young Jacqueline Woodson. A gift to readers.
Next? I am in the middle of Nest by Esther Ehrlich and then plan to read Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin
It’s Picture Book Month and I have picture books on my mind. I am beginning to think in lists. Often. It may be a syndrome. Picturebooklistitis? Something like that.
On Friday, I had some parent meetings in the a.m. It was lovely to talk about students who have demonstrated improvement in goal areas due to persistence, determination and creative approaches to problems. Heading home, after school, I started thinking about picture books on this theme of persistence.
What exactly was I thinking about? All of the synonyms for perseverance: persistence, tenacity, determination . . . But also being able to solve problems with creativity or a different/unique approach. A lot of it has to do with being able to focus but also being able to think outside of the box. Sometimes it is just about, simple but tough, hard work and diligence.
I think all of these picture books highlight a particular aspect of this theme and in their own way, model perseverance.
Twenty favourite titles:
These ten beauties:
And ten more:
Twenty picture book titles that model perseverance:
Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen
Rosie Revere, Engineer written by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
Prudence Wants a Pet written by Cathleen Daly and illustrated by Stephen Michael King
Hank Finds an Egg by Rebecca Dudley
Papa’s Mechanical Fish written by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Boris Kulikov
If You Want to See a Whale written by Julie Fogliano and illustrated by Erin E. Stead
Rosyln Rutabaga and the Biggest Hole on Earth by Marie-Louise Gay
Ice by Arthur Geisert
Flight School by Lita Judge
A House in the Woods by Inga Moore
The Mighty Lalouche written by Matthew Olshan and illustrated by Sophie Blackall
The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett
The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds
The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
A Home for Bird by Philip C. Stead
Oscar and Hoo written by Theo and illustrated by Michael Dudok De Wit
Queen of the Falls by Chris VanAllsburg
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems
Ten Birds by Cybèle Young
In case you’ve missed them, I have been making more lists:
To celebrate Picture Book Month I have been sharing a variety of picture books and the conversations I am having about them with my students, my children and others. This post is a kind of conversation with my self. I am reading the novel Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt to my own children and it often comes up that Doug, the main character, has to be brave in so many ways.
How do picture books depict bravery? Courage? Conviction? Strength?
In, oh, so many ways . . .
Each of these titles features a character who comes face to face with fear, who takes a risk, who stands up or stands out. Each book is full of inspiration.
Ten of my favourites:
And ten more:
Twenty Picture Books that celebrate courage:
Those Shoes written by Maribeth Boelts and illustrated by Noah Z. Jones
Pete and Pickles by Berkeley Breathed
Ruby’s Wish written by Shirin Yim Bridges and illustrated by Sophie Blackall
Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown
Willow Finds a Way written by Lana Button illustrated by Tania Howells
Bird Child written by Nan Forler and illustrated by François Thisdale
The Story of Fish and Snail by Deborah Freedman
Sheila Rae, the Brave written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes
Spuds written by Karen Hesse and illustrated by Wendy Watson
Soccer Starwritten by Mina Javaherbinand illustrated byRenato Alarcão
Across the Alley written by Richard Michelson and illustrated by E.B. Lewis
Black Dog by Levi Pinfold
The Lion & The Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
Creepy Carrots written by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Peter Brown
The Dark written by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Jon Klassen
Hello, my Name is Ruby by Phillip C Stead
Desmond and the Very Mean Word written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams and illustrated by A.G. Ford
Suki’s Kimono written by Chieri Uegaki and illustrated by Stéphane Jorisch
Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles and illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue
Singing Away the Dark written by Caroline Woodward and illustrated by Julie Morstad
What picture book titles on this theme would you share? I would love to hear your favourites!
To celebrate picture book month, I am sharing peeks into the wonderful conversations I get to have with children about particular picture books. When I thought about writing a picture book post today, no conversations leaped out at me to share. I have no students here at home on a Sunday morning and I have been reading my own children the amazing novelOkay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt. But . . . just yesterday evening, I was talking to Vancouver kindergarten teacher Sharon Hales about how great Elephant & Piggie titles are. She is a huge fan! (Great taste!) And, of course, I asked a few times – “Have you read . . . ?” “Do you know author . . . ?”
Hmmm, this was a conversation about picture books . . .
So I started thinking, if I were a kindergarten teacher, what would be must own picture books for my classroom library? Books guaranteed to inspire giggles and choruses of “Read it again”? Quickly, I started a list on a scrap piece of paper. I ran out of room! This post is the result. 🙂
Grab one of these, grab a child or a kindergarten/early primary class and prepare for smiles and giggles!
And because once you start laughing, you need to laugh some more:
Picture Books to help you giggle:
Count the Monkeys written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Kevin Cornell
Z is for Moose written by Kelly Bingham and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
I’m Bored written by Michael Ian Black and illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi
Prudence Wants a Pet written by Cathleen Daly and illustrated by Stephen Michael King
Brief Thief written by Michael Escoffier and illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo
Warning: Do not Open this Book! written by Adam Lehrhaupt and illustrated by Matthew Forsythe
Let’s Do Nothing! by Tony Fucile
Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton
Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli
Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld
Don’t Play with Your Food by Bob Shea
Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great by Bob Shea
Interrrupting Chickenby David Ezra Stein
Chester by Mélanie Watt
You’re Finally Here by Mélanie Watt
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
The Pigeon Needs a Bath by Mo Willems
Hooray for Hat! by Brian Won
Such a joy to share these favourite titles – perfect for the younger set but appealing to happy readers of all ages!
Are you in the picture book mood? Share some favourites! It’s Picture Book Month!
Summertime is the time I bury myself in picture books – frequent library visits, sifting through my class collection and reading books I haven’t read and yes, often some book buying. All in the name of stocking my classroom library because you can never, ever, have too many books for avid readers! Right?
Unfortunately, this summer a what seems to be endless teacher’s strike has given me this status: In Limbo/Book Buying Hiatus
And I don’t like it one bit.
But, book lists don’t cost a dime . . .
And if I can’t be shopping and pre-ordering titles, I can be making a list. When pay cheques are coming into our house again (two teacher family = no cheques x two), I just might be able to go book shopping. Luckily, I will have a list 🙂
My top ten list of picture books I currently covet . . .
Here I am written Patti Kim and illustrated by Sonia Sanchez (September 2013)
I read this brilliant wordless title a few weeks ago and was wowed. All about the emotions of moving somewhere new. Just gorgeous.
What do you do with an idea? written by Kobi Yamada and illustrated by Mac Besom (February 2014)
A celebration of imagination and the courage to think big and small and everywhere in between. I sort of fell in love with this book in the bookstore and It broke my heart a little to put it back on the shelf.
Extraordinary Jane by Hannah E. Harrison (February 2014)
Sometimes being just who you are is the exactly right kind of extraordinary. Delightful messages of kindness and compassion.
Three Bears in a Boat by David Soman (May 2014)
There is a brilliant picture of the ocean and the boat full of bears and whales. I am such a sucker for whale illustrations that just knock you over. But then, there are a number of other absolutely stunning images. And . . . the story is lovely. Can’t lose.
Quest by Aaron Becker (August 2014)
I remember sharing Journey with my students. The wonder. The awe. The quiet. More of that in another beautiful book? Yes, please.
Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin written by Chieri Uegaki and illustrated by Qin Leng (August 2014)
In our house, Suki’s Kimono by Uegaki is a favourite title to read and to gift. This book promises more lovely connections to a grandparent from Japan, lessons in perseverance and the beauty of music played by a young child.
Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen (October 2014)
These guys. These books. I am just automatically in!
Blizzard by John Rocco (October 2014)
Loved Blackout. Loved Super Hair-o and the Barber of Doom (Especially the station wagon capture scene). Loved them so much, I bought them both. So I think, I will love this. Look at the cover: one kid, one sled and one big white world!
The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee(October 2014)
Oh Marla Frazee. How do I love her? I can count the ways! This cover just has me so unbelievably curious. Oh and did I mention that it is wordless?
Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla written by Katherine Applegate and illustrated by G. Brian Karas (October 2014)
I don’t think I need to give any reason for wanting this book. But I will give 22. Those would be my students who absolutely shrieked when I showed them this book trailer after we read The One and Only Ivan. This book MUST come live in my classroom. I made a promise that it would.
What dream books are on your wish list? Because I could be persuaded to make mine a little longer . . .
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!
There's a Book for That 