Ivy & Bean Day Blog-a-bration Week 8

And the count down to the 1st Annual International Ivy & Bean Day continues.  This week Chronicle Books is giving away a copy of Ivy & Bean Book 8: No News is Good News to one lucky winner and a set of mini-note cards to 3 other winners. Click here to check out the Ivy & Bean official page.

Description of the Book from GoodReads:
Ivy and Bean need some money. Ten dollars, to be exact. Never mind what for. Okay, it s for low-fat Belldeloon cheese in a special just-for you serving size. Don t ask why. How are Ivy and Bean going to make ten dollars? Hey, maybe they should write a newspaper about Pancake Court and sell it! Great idea! And easy, too. All they have to do is snoop around the neighborhood. Wow...It s very interesting what they can find out. It s even more interesting when the neighbors read about it in the newspaper.

Mini-review - My thoughts on this book:
Ivy & Bean need to find a way to purchase cheese - yep, the kind that comes encased in red wax. With an idea from Bean's dad the girls sell and create a newspaper. And do it all in classic Ivy & Bean style. One of the things I love about Ivy & Bean books is how each situation has an element that rings true.  Second thing I love is how one thing always leads to another that leads to another and before you know it - watch out, trouble has arrived.  And with that trouble a lesson to learn from.  In Book 8, No News is Good News, Ivy and Bean learn the lesson about newspaper reporting and what can and cannot be told about your neighbors.  

Over this series of books, it has been fun to watch the characters grow in some ways but maintain that same great spirit of fun and adventure that began in the first book.   As a result, I think I have come to love Ivy & Bean even more with each book that comes out.
 
Other Bloggers celebrating Ivy & Bean Blog-a-Bration:

                     Media Darlings                                  

                     There's A Book                                  

                    In the Pages                                      

                      The O.W.L.                                         

                  Coquette Maman                            

                   Ruth Ayres Writes                           

Watch. Connect. Read.

                 One Page to the Next                    

                 Van Meter Library Voice               

               The Family That Reads Together

                Roundtable Reviews for Kids      

                 Sharpread                                    

                                                               The Children's Book Review    

This week's giveaway will run from October 5th-October 7th.  Don't forget to enter the giveaway by filling in the form at the bottom of the page.

The Winners of this week's giveaways will be entered into the Grand Prize Giveaway.  Thanks Chronicle Books for this great prize pack:

A complete set of Ivy and Bean hardcover books signed by Annie Barrows 

1 set of Ivy and Bean Paper Dolls 

1 Ivy and Bean Button Factory 

1 Ivy and Bean READ Poster signed by Annie Barrows 

Set of Ivy and Bean Silly Bandz · Set of Ivy and Bean stickers  

And a set of IVY & BEAN Dolls!!!! 

Nonfiction Picture Book Releases - October 2012

The Nonfiction Detectives and I are hosting a Non-Fiction Picture Book Challenge.  My goal has been to kick off the month with the new nonfiction picture book release titles.  Here are the October titles that I have found so far, but I know there are more.  Please share with me titles that you have found.

October 1, 2012

Being a Stunt Performer by Isabel Thomas

October 9, 2012

Alex the Parrot: No Ordinary Bird A True Story by Stephanie Spinner; Illustrated by Meilo So
October 11, 2012

Becoming a Ballerina: A Nutcracker Story by Lise Friedman; Illustrated/Photographed by Mary Dowdle

October 16, 2012

Helen's Big World by Doreen Rappaport; Illustrated by Matt Tavares

October 23, 2012

Noah Webster and His Big Words by Jeri Chase Ferris; Illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch

October 30, 2012

Girls Who Rocked the World: Heroines from Joan of Arc to Mother Teresa by Michelle Roehm McMann; Illustrated by Amelie Welden, David Hahn

The links for the above books will take you directly to the IndieBound.org book page for purchasing information, unless otherwise noted.  Please note, I do not make anything off these links or profit in anyway from posting the links.   I know that I am still searching for October releases and will likely do an update later in the month. If you know of a book that should be included in this list, please include the title and author in the comments section and I will update the list.

Feel free to link your nonfiction picture book reviews to the Mr. Linky below.

Ralph Tells A Story Blog Tour: Guest Post with Abby Hanlon

Today, Kid Lit Frenzy is participating in a blog tour for Ralph Tells a Story by debut author/illustrator Abby Hanlon.  I am so excited that Abby is sharing ideas for writing with young children.  

As a public school teacher in New York City, I loved teaching writing to my first graders. Like thousands of elementary schools across the country, we used the Writer’s Workshop curriculum developed by Lucy Calkins of Teachers College at Columbia University. With the Writer’s Workshop model, writing time in an elementary school classroom isn’t much different than a college or adult creative writing class. Kids are encouraged to come up with their own ideas, to find their own story, to notice and remember the little details in their life. Nobody tells you what to write anymore!

Illustration copyright © 2012 by Abby Hanlon

For little kids who are just learning to form letters, who are making critical connections between letters and sounds and who are figuring out which direction the letters go on the page, writing time can be scary! But watching my students rise to this enormous challenge always amazed me. In Ralph Tells A Story, the book follows the structure of a Writer’s Workshop; the story starts off with some inspiration from the teacher, then the children go off to work on their own to write true stories about their lives. They come together at the end to share. In the book, I wanted to use this structure because it is familiar to kids. I hope that the book helps children to reflect upon their own experiences and fuels new story ideas.

Writing Tip 
Kids get really excited about very little things. Think about how many times a day your kid says, “Guess what?” “I found a bottle cap on the street!” “I heard about a lollipop with bubble gum inside of it!” “I beat Daddy in Candyland!” These are all great topics for Writer’s Workshop. No story is too small! In fact, small is perfect.

Thank you Abby for stopping by Kid Lit Frenzy and sharing writing tips and ideas about writing with young children.

Thanks to Blue Slip Media for hosting and organizing the blog tour, and to Amazon's Children's Publishing for hosting the giveaway.

Mon, Oct 1 - Momma Drama http://blogginmommadrama.blogspot.com/ 
Tues, Oct 2 - KidLitFrenzy http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/
Wed, Oct 3 - Susan Heim on Parenting http://susanheim.blogspot.com/
Thurs, Oct 4 - There's a Book http://www.theresabook.com/
Fri, Oct 5 - Lille Punkin' Reviews http://www.lillepunkin.com/
Mon, Oct 8 - A Mom's Take http://www.amomstake.com/
Tues, Oct 9 - Just a Little Creativity http://www.justalittlecreativity.com/
Wed, Oct 10 - The Children's Book Review http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/
Thurs, Oct 11 - Adventures in Mommydom http://adventuresinmommydom.org/ 
Fri, Oct 12 - Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers http://insatiablereaders.blogspot.com/

For more information about Abby Hanlon:  website | 
Abby Hanlon has a master’s degree in early childhood education from the City College of New York and bachelor’s from Barnard College, Columbia University. Abby has taught creative writing and first grade in the New York City public school system. Inspired by her students’ storytelling and drawings, Abby began to write her own stories for children. Determined to illustrate her stories, Abby taught herself to draw after not having drawn since childhood. Ralph Tells a Story is her first book. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and their two children.

Please complete the form below to enter to win a copy of Ralph Tells a Story. 

Giveaway ends on Monday, October 8, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific.

It's Monday! What are you reading? From Picture Books to YA (41)

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

One last author/book weekend has ended and I look forward to getting back to my book piles.  Over this past weekend, I spent Sunday, at the Orange County Festival of Books with Alethea (@frootjoos), Kate (@irishkatey22), Jane (@missjanegov), Roxy (r_a_black), and Jason (@ninjoblio).  Aside from seeing author friends, my favorite opportunity was getting to meet and chat with Tao Nyeu, author and illustrator of Squid & Octopus: Friends For Always.  She is really nice and Alethea & I are excited to be doing a special Bridge to Books event with her in December.

Here are a couple of favorites from this week:

Frida Kahlo: The Artist Who Painted Herself by Margaret Frith; Illustrated by Tomie dePaola - I loved this biography for younger readers.  I am excited to use this one and the one below with students.

Frida by Jonah Winter; Illustrated by Ana Juan - This picture book biography works nicely with the one above in explaining different aspects of Frida Kahlo's life to young readers.

Lunch Lady and the Picture Day Peril: Lunch Lady #8 by Jarrett J. Krosoczka - Another great Lunch Lady book. 

The City of Ember: Graphic Novel by Jeanne DuPrau, Dallas Middaugh; Illustrated by Niklas Asker - I call this graphic novel a teaser...just enough to get you to want to read the full book.  Asker's illustrations are great.

So what are you reading? 

Banned Books Week - 30th Anniversary

This week, the American Library Association (www.ala.org) along with libraries, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers (including the National Council of Teachers of English), communities, and bloggers will celebrate the freedom to read and the value of open access to information. For the second year, Banned Books Week is hosting a Banned Books Week Virtual Read-Out with a channel onYouTube. Individuals, or groups may create short videos to submit for BBW Virtual Read Out Channel as a way of acknowledging everyone’s right to access books and information.

If you are wondering about what books have been challenged or banned, ALA has several lists on their site. Check out their list of frequently Banned or Challenged Classics or the 100 Most Banned/Challenged Books by decade, you just may be surprised what’s on the list.

Books are frequently challenged due to content that may be perceived as offensive or objectionable. Reasons for challenging books have included material that addressed issues of racism, sexual orientation, violence, offensive language, drug use, sexual activity or pregnancy in teens, death (in books for younger children), witchcraft/sorcery/magic, certain religious themes, and more.

Many books that are challenged have been books that are often well written and contain powerful messages. Often times, it is just the message a student or students need to hear. A few year’s ago, Laurie Halse Anderson’s book Speak about one girl’s experience of date rape was once again challenged by a school board in Oklahoma. Authors, publishers, book bloggers quickly stepped up in support of this book. What was most powerful to me during this time was the number of stories of teen girls who had found their voice to “speak” out about what they had experienced after reading this book. A book can validate an experience or help a student confront a difficult issue when they might not know where to turn. If a book is challenged, read it for yourself and make up your own mind.  Don't let others make up your mind for you.

Some tips to think about when sharing potentially controversial books with students…

1. Know you students and their families – Not every book is for every child.
2. Create a “rule of thumb” for books that you know will be controversial – I might ask a parent a specific question that will guide my recommendation.
3. Discuss content with students – I have had open discussion with students about why an author has chosen a particular word or portrayed an incident in a certain manner in a book.
4. Be aware of any school district policies or complaint procedures for challenging the use of a book.

Check out the lists above and join in this week by reading or re-reading a banned or challenged book!