It's Monday! What are you reading? From Picture Books to YA - August 25, 2014

August 25, 2014 Alyson Beecher

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.

This past week was the first week for students, which meant that things were busy. In addition, I was working on several blog posts in a series I am doing about Building a Nonfiction Classroom Library. I was amazed that between all of that I was able to get any reading in. As you can see from the titles below, I was a bit all over the place. Some recent releases and some older releases and some upcoming releases. I hope that you find something new to you that you will want to check out.

Here is what jumped out of the stack from this week:

Wangari's Trees of Peace: A True Story From Africa by Jeanette Winter (HMH Books for Young Readers 2008) - There are a number of stories about Wangari's Trees but I think this may actually be my favorite.

The Monkey Goes Bananas by C.P. Bloom (Harry N. Abrams, May 6, 2014) - A fun early reader that beginning readers are simply going to enjoy.

Beetles by Valerie Bodden (Creative Education, January 2013) - I love when I am introduced to new to me books and series. Great photographers and engaging text. Students will love this book and the whole series.

Pig and Small by Alex Latimer (Peachtree Publishers, August 1, 2014) - More to come on this one, but let's say it is one of those books that will make you smile and chuckle.

The Lion and the Bird by Marianne Dubuc (Enchanted Lion Books, May 6, 2014) - If I starred books, I would give this book a star. Sparse text, beautiful illustrations, and a touching story of friendship.

The Woman Who Won Things by Allan Ahlberg; Illustrated by Katharine McEwan (Candlewick 2002) - This one is an older title that came as a recommendation from a friend's daughter. If you have students starting to read chapter books, they will enjoy this series of silly stories.

The Memory of an Elephant: An Unforgettable Journey by Sophie Strady; Illustrated by Jean-Francois Martin (Chronicle Books, September 9, 2014) - Fiction meets nonfiction in this very artistically created story about an elephant and what he remembers of his history.

By Day, By Night by Amy Gibson; Illustrated by Meilo So (Boyds Mills Press, October 1, 2014) - I really enjoyed this one and the look at how universal some things are. Pair this book with Barbara Kerley's One World, One Day.

This Orq. (He Cave Boy) by David Elliott; Illustrated by Lori Nichols (Boyds Mills Press, September 1, 2014) - This one gave me a chuckle. Somethings really do not change. Children wanting a pet seems to be one of those things. Of course, wanting a Woolly Mammoth may be a totally different thing or is it?

Maple and Willow Together by Lori Nichols (Nancy Paulsen Books, November 4, 2014) - Maple is back and this time with her sister, Willow. A lovely story of sharing and resolving differences.

What's Eating You? Parasites -- The Inside Story by Nicola Davies; Illustrated by Neal Layton (Candlewick 2007) - I learned more than I wanted to about parasites from reading this one. Definitely an "ewww" book, but one that kids will want to read.

So, what are you reading?

Building a Nonfiction Classroom Library Part III - Animals

August 23, 2014 Alyson Beecher

Animals. This is definitely a popular category with children. And you would think this category might be fairly simple. There are tons of animal books. However, it is deceptively complex. Animals actually include vertebrates, molluscs, arthropods, annelids, sponges, and jellyfish. Even if I just tried to focus on vertebrates, this section would be huge.

So, here is where biologists with their efficient classification systems likely roll their eyes at teachers in preschool and primary grades who separate and rearrange these classifications to suit their own sensibilities. It certainly makes sense to me to group all of the ocean and marine life into one category even if technically they fall into all six from above.

Remember how in Part II, I spoke about tubs of books? Well, mammals will likely end up divided into several tubs. When I taught preschool my classifications looked more like this - pets (cats, dogs, rabbits, birds) and animals on a farm (cows, horses, sheep, goats, chickens) and animals in the jungle (monkeys, tigers, lions, elephants, zebras) and forest (wolves, deer, bears, moose). Either you are laughing or crying by now, depending on whether you are a teacher or a scientist. However, my teacher buddies know exactly what I am talking about. And to the be respectful of my scientist friends, yes, we should include opportunities to discuss those various classifications with students and why they exist.

In thinking about this category, and in light of this project, I have elected to refer to animals as mammals for the purpose of this post. Additionally, as with the biographies section, I am focusing on some individual books, and some authors that are quite prolific. You will also see many of these authors again when I do future posts on creepy crawlies or reptiles and birds or marine life.

Finally, the purpose of this post is not to refer you just to a pre-packaged series of books but to identify a number of quality trade titles that can be used as a starter for building your classroom library. Have fun exploring these titles and other books written by the authors listed below.

You will find the links to the previous posts here: Part I: Introduction | Part II: Biographies

Jean Craighead George

Side Note: National Geographic Kids has a plethora of books on animals and I could list 100 just from them. Additionally, the Scientist in the Field Series (HMH Books for Young Readers) has additional titles not listed above.

What I Read This Summer

August 22, 2014 Carolyn Gruss

Last week, my summer vacation came to an end when I had to return to school. While I read many various different books throughout the summer, there were a couple that stood out to me as favorites. Here are my top 5 choices:

I loved the interesting world Livia Blackburne created in Midnight Thief. I found all the politics that Kyra (the main character) has to deal with as she navigates the strange relationships between the city council, an assassin's group, and the Demon Riders to be intriguing and fascinating.

As an avid tumblr user and participant in fandom communities, this book is hilariously accurate and paints a positive picture of how investing in a book series or a TV show can help a person stay grounded through emotional strife. Fangirl strikes a perfect balance between being emotionally thematic and yet enjoyable to read and funny.

The vivid setting, along with the commentary on the psychological and social aftereffects of the Great War, make all of the Maisie Dobbs novels fantastic. Pardonable Lies, though, stood out as it dealt with familial strife and how one finds closure in a very poignant way.

I've always loved time travel stories (cough Doctor Who cough), but I also enjoyed the secret society and shifting allegiances. I thought that the way in which familial issues were dealt with and portrayed in Ruby Red was done well, too.

The historical setting was lovely, and the the drama, romance, and suspense were all very well executed in The Morning Gift. I loved how Ruth dealt with the awkward and sometime dangerous situations she was in, and how the book painted an interesting picture of what life was like for different people in pre-WWII Europe.

So, what have you been reading this summer? ~ Carolyn

WATCH OUT, HOLLYWOOD! Blog Tour & Giveaway: Author Maria T. Lennon Talks About Bullying

August 21, 2014 Alyson Beecher

WATCH OUT, HOLLYWOOD! MORE CONFESSIONS OF A SO-CALLED MIDDLE CHILD

By Maria T. Lennon

HarperCollins, August 26, 2014

Description from the Publisher:

Hilarious tween heroine Charlie C. Cooper—reformed bully, misguided fashionista, and so-called middle child—is back! This sequel to Confessions of a So-called Middle Child will delight fans of Louise Rennison, Mean Girls, and Harriet the Spy.

Charlie's adventures offer a fresh look at middle school, bullying, and mean girls. In Book Two, Charlie navigates sudden celebrity and auditions for a television series, but a little white lie may endanger the one friendship Charlie can truly count on—and her connection to swoon-worthy crush Bobby! Poignant and seriously funny, Charlie's account of her dilemma is one all tweens will relate to.

Charlie knows what it feels like to be stuck in the middle, but it's finally her time to shine. After saving her friend Marta in the old Houdini tunnels of Los Angeles, Charlie's become a local hero, gained sudden celebrity, and *MIGHT* just become a TV star! But will Charlie let her newfound fame go to her head? Watch out, Hollywood!

Today, we have a special guest. Maria T. Lennon, author of the So-Called Confessions of a Middle Child series. Thank You Maria for stopping by Kid Lit Frenzy and talking about such an important issue as bullying.

You ask about how I think teachers can help students deal with unkindness or bullying and the word that comes to mind is transparency.

Let me backtrack a bit. Months ago a parent came up to me at a book signing and asked how much I charge to come to school to talk to the kids about bullying. She said her school was full of so-called mean kids and explained that their principal did nothing about it.

I told her I do it for free all the time, and not because I am an expert on the subject: I am not. I’ve just been through it and seen it over and over again as a parent of four children and a school volunteer.

So I went. And let me tell you it was an eye opener. The kids were great at this school, they were interested and receptive and asked so many questions but when I ended the first presentation the principal, an elderly man, told me there wouldn’t be a second presentation. I was shocked. This had never happened to me before, and I’ve gone everywhere from Catholic schools, to elementary public, private, and charter. I’ve gone to schools in East L.A. and schools in West Hollywood—and never, and I mean never, have I had this response. I asked him why.

He said that the way the children were laughing at the name Marta the Farta (the name the bullied girl is given in book 1) showed him that the presentation was in fact promoting bullying. What if there was a girl here and her name was Marta? They’d all be calling her Marta the Farta! No, no, this is over, he said, much to the shock of teachers and parents.

I said nothing to dissuade him, of course, because I could see that he was fixed in his views. But it taught be a very valuable lesson—bring it out in the open. It takes the wind out of the sails, the air out of the balloon, the sting out of the name-calling, the power out of the bully. Everyone’s name can be made to rhyme with something unpleasant. It happens. My little brother called me Maria Pia Diarrhea until I went to college. I spent years trying to come up with something for his name, Patrick, but man, is that a tough name to rhyme with. The point is as long as it’s kept under wraps, hidden like a dirty secret, bullies have their power and the victim, their shame.

Now, on the flip side, the storyline in book 1 is loosely based on a real situation handled entirely differently than the aforementioned principal. A girl was being badly bullied in my daughter’s third grade class and the teacher, a great teacher, stopped everything to address it. She did council, where the kids sit in a circle and talk about what was going on. She made kids read books on the subject and had the so-called bullies talk to the girl they bullied. This experience showed me the true transformative power of a great teacher. She brought the bullying out of the closet and shined a great big light on it and made it crinkle up and die before their eyes. It was amazing.

About Maria T. Lennon: Maria is a graduate of the London School of Economics, a novelist, a screenwriter, and the author of Confessions of a So-called Middle Child, the first book featuring the irrepressible Charlie C. Cooper. When not driving one of her four children to school or volunteering at school libraries, she can be found sitting in a parked car, a café, or a library, writing novels, travel articles, or just passed out. To learn more, and to download a free curriculum guide, visit her website: http://confessionsofasocalledmiddlechild.com/.

Follow all of the stops on Maria Lennon’s blog tour!

Wed, Aug 13 The Hiding Spot http://thehidingspot.blogspot.com/

Mon, Aug 18 Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers http://insatiablereaders.blogspot.com/

Tues, Aug 19 The Book Monsters http://www.thebookmonsters.com/

Wed, Aug 20 The Children's Book Review http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/

Thurs, Aug 21 Kid Lit Frenzy http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/

Fri, Aug 22 Booking Mama http://www.bookingmama.net/

Mon, Aug 25 Read Now, Sleep Later http://www.readnowsleeplater.com/

Tues, Aug 26 Once upon a Story http://mariaburel.com/

Wed, Aug 27 The Late Bloomer's Book Blog http://thelatebloomersbookblog.blogspot.com/

Thurs, Aug 28 The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia http://hauntedorchid.blogspot.com/

Fri, Aug 29 Beauty and the Bookshelf http://www.beautyandthebookshelf.com/

Giveaway!

One lucky winner will receive both books featuring Charlie C. Cooper--CONFESSIONS OF A SO-CALLED MIDDLE CHILD, new in paperback, and WATCH OUT, HOLLYWOOD! MORE CONFESSIONS OF A SO-CALLED MIDDLE CHILD, in hardcover! (U.S. addresses only.) Participants must be 13 years or older, as well. Please complete the rafflecopter below to enter to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Building a Nonfiction Classroom Library Part II - Biographies

August 20, 2014 Alyson Beecher

Yesterday, I began a series on Building a Nonfiction Classroom Library. At this point, I am not exactly certain how many parts it will be. Originally, I was thinking I would do one a day for five days. However, the more I thought about it, the more I decided to focus on several things:

Nonfiction Book Recommendations
Choosing Books and Developing Your Collection
Using Nonfiction in the Classroom to Support Writing

When I started to think about categories, I spent a lot of time thinking about how to organize book recommendations. Do I use writing styles such as narrative, expository, and persuasive? Or do I think about text structures (description, sequence, problem & solution, question & answer, cause & effect, comparison & contrast). Neither felt like a natural way of dividing up books or making recommendations. However, both of these - writing style and text structure - play a huge role in using nonfiction in the classroom. So, we will return to this in future posts.

Finally, I settled on how I would divide books into tubs in a classroom. This may not be how a librarian would sort them, but as a teacher, this is likely where I would look for them if I am going to use them as part of lessons.

My first set of tubs would be biographies.

Below you will find 40 titles by 20 different authors to include as you build your classroom library. By clicking on the author's name, you will be taken to his or her GoodReads page where you can see more information about the covers shown below as well as additional books by many of these authors. It was difficult to narrow down my list to just these authors since there are many more that I have loved. However, I tried to choose authors who had more than one title (yes, I have a few exceptions) and also tried to aim for some diversity though I have a ways to go to truly be diverse.

For more recommendations, here is a link to my GoodReads Shelf: Biographies. In 2013, I wrote a post for the Nerdy Book Club about my Top Ten Biographical Picture Books and the way I would pair them with another book. Though my top ten has likely changed since then, there are several more titles listed there.

In a future post, I will explore biographical series created by a publisher, and those can be selected and included as well in a classroom library.

Stop by on Friday, for my favorite nonfiction picture books about animals.