Little Elliot Big Family Cover Reveal

Sometimes when you meet a character in a book, a magical spark ignites. In Mike Curato's debut book Little Elliot, Big City, readers met Little Elliot and his new friend Mouse. I fell in love with Elliot and Mouse. If you have not read it, you really should.

Since we are thinking about Little Elliot, you can check out Mike's guest post from August, or Mike's Celebration Post this week. Maybe take a moment and watch the book trailer for Little Elliot, Big City. I will wait.

Didn't that just make you feel all warm inside? 

And if you really love Little Elliot, MerryMakers, Inc. are coming out with a plush toy version. Check it out here.

However, I know that you are really waiting to see the new cover for the newest Little Elliot book. On October 6, 2015, Little Elliot Big Family will be available to all. I want to thank the wonderful folks at Macmillan Kids for letting me preview the new book, as well as, share with you the cover and a piece of interior art. Of course lots of thanks goes to Mike Curato, who has done it again and given us another fabulous story. Little Elliot, Big Family is just as wonderful as the first book. 

Isn't this a charming cover? 

And yes, Mouse has a really big family.  Below is an interior spread from the book. In the story, Mouse has a family reunion to attend. Little Elliot decides to go for a walk and eventually goes to a movie theater. 

Mike Curato is amazing at capturing the emotions that Little Elliot feels while Mouse is away. However, in true Little Elliot fashion, the ending is just perfect. I can't wait to share this newest Little Elliot and Mouse story with students and friends. Mark your calendars for its release day, on October 6th. 

Check out the following blogs for additional glimpses into the new Little Elliot, Big Family book:
Watch.Connect.Read
Sharpread
Librarian in Cute Shoes
Read, Write, Reflect

Links: Mike Curato's Website | Little Elliot, Big Family Book Page | Little Elliot Website | Facebook 

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: Abayomi The Brazilian Puma

Abayomi: The Brazilian Puma
by Darcy Pattison; Illustrated by Kitty Harvill
Mims House (March 2014)
Audience: K-3
Nature * Science * Mountain Lions
Amazon * WorldCat
 

Description from GoodReads: ***Outstanding Science Trade Book 2015 from the National Science Teacher's Association***

From the award-winning team that brought you WISDOM, THE MIDWAY ALBATROSS, comes a new heart-warming story of an orphaned puma cub. 

A mother puma, an attempt to steal a chicken and an angry chicken farmer—the search is on for orphaned cubs. Will the scientists be able to find the cubs before their time runs out?

In this “Biography in Text and Art,” Harvill takes original photos as references to create accurate wildlife illustrations. These aren’t generic cats, but one particular individual in detail. Pattison’s careful research, vetted by scientists in the field, brings to life this this true story of an infant cub that must face a complicated world alone—and find a way to survive. 

My thoughts on this book: 
I discovered Abayomi: The Brazilian Puma on the NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books list a couple of months ago. Darcy Pattison saw my post and reached out to me about her book. Since I had marked it as one of the titles that I wanted to read, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review the book.

Though I was interested in the story of Abayomi, it was Harvill's illustrations that initially captured me. The soft watercolors were the perfect backdrop for the story Pattison was about to tell. In clear, straight-forward language, Pattison shares the story of a mother puma and her cub. Readers feel the emotions that rise as we learn of the loss of the mother puma and the relief when the cub is finally found. 

This story is accessible as a read aloud for younger classes and older students can read this one independently. The addition of the videos shown below provide students with a greater connection to this special cub, and also an awareness of how we need to be aware of crowding out animals from their homes, and create a safer environment for them to live.

For further background information about the impact the work of Pattison and Harvill have had, check out this article on the Mims House Website.  

Check out these videos of Abayomi.  Since I do not read Portuguese, I am not exactly sure what the text says, but the videos are self-explanatory.:

Abayomi protecting his food:

Abayomi checks out his surroundings:

Website: The Brazilian Puma Corridor Project

Thank you everyone for your support of the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge. Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews and stop by the other blogs to see what everyone is reading. 

It's Monday! What are you reading? From Picture Books to YA - 1/12/15

It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey.  Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers have adapted it to focus on Picture Books to Young Adult Books.

Here is what jumped out of the pile this week...

Take Away the A by Michael Escoffier; Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo (Enchanted Lion Books, September 2014) - What a creative Alphabet book. Glad to finally find this one.

The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach (Knopf Books for Young Readers, January 2015) - I love bears and I love humorous bear stories. This would be a fun read aloud.

You and Me by Susan Verde; Illustrated by Peter Reynolds (Abrams, January 2015)- A lovely friendship story.

Gaijin: American Prisoner of War by Matt Faulkner (Disney-Hyperion, April 2014) - A graphic novel that explores the American internment camps for Japanese Americans during WWII. 

Nonfiction Titles that popped out from the pile:

Leontyne Price: Voice of a Century by Carole Boston Weatherford; Illustrated by Raúl Colón (Knopf Books for Young Readers, December 2014) - Picture book biography on Leontyne Price beautifully illustrated by Raúl Colón. 

Raindrops Roll by April Pulley Sayre (Beach Lane Books, January 2015) - So far, a favorite nonfiction picture book of 2015. 

Alice Waters and the Trip to Delicious by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (Readers to Eaters, August 2014) - An interesting picture book biography on Alice Waters. 

The Story of Buildings: From the Pyramids to the Sydney Opera House and Beyond by Patrick Dillon; Illustrated by Stephen Biesty (Candlewick, March 2014) - For those who love architecture, then this book is for you. 

Stand There! She Shouted: The Invincible Photographer Julia Margaret Cameron by Susan Goldman Rubin; Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline (Candlewick Press, 2014) - A more in-depth biography on the life and art of Julia Margaret Cameron. 

Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted a Million Trees by Franck Praevot (Charlesbridge, 2015) - The 5th picture book biography on this topic and probably my favorite. 

Stop by on Wednesday for #NFPB2015 - the Nonfiction Picture Challenge of 2015:

Stop by on Friday to find out more about the Mock Sibert Award that Carrie Gelson and Kellee Moye and I will be hosting. 

So, what are you reading?

Into The Woods - Movie Review

So I (Carolyn) absolutely adore Into the Woods, and the movie adaptation is excellent. Here's some of my thoughts on the movie. First, what I enjoyed:

James Cordon as the Baker, Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, Emily Blunt as the baker's wife, Billy Magnussen as Rapunzel's Prince, and Chris Pine as Cinderella's Prince are all outstanding. Superb casting and performance. (Magnussen and Pine are particularly perfect and hilarious).

Daniel Huttlestone and Lilla Crawford (as Jack and Little Red Riding Hood, respectively) both gave good performances.

The music is just as excellent as the original. 'Agony', 'It Takes Two', 'On the Steps of the Palace', 'Your Fault', and 'No One is Alone' were particularly excellent. 

The set and the costumes are all far better than the original.

*minor spoilers from this point onward*

I was glad that they didn't back down on the...er, metaphorical implications of the Little Red Riding Hood storyline (which I totally though Disney would cut out). They also didn't remove the more unsavory bits from the original: the blinding of Rapunzel's Prince and the Stepsisters, the, er, foot mutilation of the Stepsisters, the infidelity of both Cinderella's Prince and the Baker's Wife, the death of some characters, and the (relatively) unhappy endings for others.

Similarly, they didn't back down on the other great thematic ideas present in the original: the difference between good and nice and right, the idea of only falling in love with the concept of a person (destroying the idea of love at first sight), the idea that people can become enslaved to their desires, the idea that all of the characters' problems (at least initially) are all because of their parents (one generation screwing over the next).

(Also, THEY KEPT MY FAVORITE SCENE IN THE ENTIRE PLAY, aka the scene where Cinderella confronts her prince, which is so thematically important and poignant). 

What wasn't my favorite (aka all the things that I think were better in the original):

Meryl Streep as the witch was interesting, but she didn't have the same...presence that Bernadette Peters did (although, really, no one does). I did think that her performance got better over the course of the film, though.

I was a bit sad that they cut out the character of the narrator, which also meant that there wasn't a connection between the Mystery Man (later revealed to be the Baker's father) and the narrator. Additionally, the separation of the casting for Cinderella's Prince/The Big Bad Wolf, as well as the separate casting for The Witch/Cinderella's mother was a bit disappointing (I liked the thematic implications created by tying those characters together).

The over-the-top hilarity and humorous tone of the original was lost, which led to some of the more tongue-in-cheek lines falling a little flat.

They did remove the reprise of 'Agony', which was a bit...disappointing, for fairly obvious reasons.

Rapunzel neither died nor went mad (as she did in the original), which did detract from the witch's character arc. In the original, Rapunzel doesn't simply reject the witch and cut her out of her life (as she does in the movie); instead, after her prince is blinded, she is banished to wander in the desert (where she gave birth to twins - also something that was cut). This leads her to go mad, which in turn leads to her being accidentally stepped on by the giant in front of the witch. Rapunzel's story is never fully resolved - she simply tells the witch to get out of her life and then she's not seen for the rest of the movie. The witch's death was also new, and I didn't mind that too much except for the fact that it meant that she wasn't actually present when she sings 'Children Will Listen' (an incredibly thematically impacting song, the sort of end message that is left for the audience); instead, it is relegated to a softer background song and the focus is on the baker as he talks to his son (in the original, the baker is talking to his son at the beginning of the song but the focus is mostly on the witch as she sings). Thus the change from "children won't listen" to "children WILL listen", which communicates the key thematic idea that while children may not obey their parents, they will absorb their parents' words and the twisted messages sent with, is almost lost.

Watch the Official Movie Trailer:

Using Blendspace to Support Learning and Instruction

I really do appreciate my on-line professional learning network. Without them, I would be unaware of so many apps, web-based programs, and more that can be used to support instruction and learning. Recently, I searching for something on John Schu's blog, Watch.Connect.Read, and was reminded of a program that he used called Blendspace to make a lesson on Kate DiCamillo.

Since I was working on setting up a Haiku Learning site for the teachers and librarians that I work with, I decided to try making my own author lesson using Blendspace. In looking through some youtube videos, I noticed a series of videos for how Melissa Stewart created her book No Monkeys, No Chocolate. This gave me the idea of doing the Blendspace lesson on this very thing.

Since I wanted to see how the teachers I work with might be able to use it, I specifically chose to use it as they might use it. I was pleased to see that Blendspace was super easy to learn and use, and I was able to log in with my District google account.  It took me a very short time to create the lesson below, and to embedded it in my Haiku Learning site.

If you haven't had a chance to play with Blendspace, I hope this encourages you to give it a try. You can also check out their blog for more ideas.

What apps and programs have you found most helpful in creating lessons?