#Road2Reading Challenge: Picture Books To Use With Early Readers

Recently, I spent some time with kindergarten teachers talking about the role of shared reading in reading workshop. As part of our time together, I provided the teachers with several different picture books that they could consider using as shared reading texts. It was interesting to watch as the teachers read through a text and thought about how they would share it with their students. When I share books, I always am asked for additional titles that can be used. While I read through a stack of picture books this weekend, I added a few books to my list of picture books that I would use as mentor text or shared reading text with kindergarten and first graders. 

Here are the titles that jumped out of the pile...

Firefighter Duckies! by Frank W. Dormer (Atheneum Books for Young Readers 2017)

Bold, simple illustrations and text are featured in Firefighter Duckies! 

This makes for a fun read aloud or a text that can be read in a shared reading format with beginning readers. 

Shake a Leg, Egg! by Kurt Cyrus (Beach Lane Books 2017)

The illustrations in this book are gorgeous. The one above almost makes it seem like you can touch the shells or the feathers of the duck. 

The text is just enough of a challenge for beginning readers that it makes for a nice option to use in a read aloud. 

Watersong by Tim McCanna, Illustrated by Richard Smythe (Simon & Schuster 2017)

This book won my heart on several levels. The illustrations are beautiful and the use of onomatopoeia words makes this a book that can be used as a mentor text with young readers. 

In addition to a mentor text, this would make for a lively shared reading text. 

Look for these books at your local indie bookstore or public library. 

All journeys have a starting place.
This is a weekly place to find books and tools
that you may use with readers at the start of their reading journey.
Join in the conversation at #road2reading.

Each week, Michele Knott and I post about new early readers and transitional chapter books. 

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: What am I reading? - The Nonfiction Edition

The end of 2017 is fast approaching and I still have stacks of books to read, including more nonfiction picture books. Thanks to a fabulous public library system and the ability to request up to 100 books at one time, I am working through the titles I still hadn't read. Here are some of the 2017 nonfiction titles that I read this past weekend. What is still on your list to read? 

Creekfinding: A True Story by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, Illustrated by Claudia McGhee (University of Minnesota Press 2017)

Shell, Beak, Tusk: Shared Traits and the Wonders of Adaptations by Bridget Heos (HMH Books for Young Readers 2017)

Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero by Patricia McCormick, Illustrated by Iacopo Bruno (Balzer & Bray 2017)

Take a Picture of Me, James Vanderzee! by Andrea J. Loney, Illustrated by Keith Mallett (Lee & Low Books 2017)

The Music of Life: Bartolomeo Cristofori & the Invention of the Piano by Elizabeth Rusch (Atheneum Books for Young Readers 2017)

Give Bees a Chance by Bethany Barton (Viking Books for Young Children 2017) 

If you still have titles to catch up on, don't forget to support your public library. 

Artwork by Sarah S. Brannen ©2017

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews...

#Road2Reading Challenge: Two Read Alouds

Along with lots of picture books this weekend, I also included a few new to me chapter books that I discovered when browsing through the "Best Of" lists. Here are two that would not only be fun reads for students but would also make enjoyable read alouds. 

Yours Sincerely, Giraffe by Megumi Iwasa, Illustrated by June Takabatake (Gecko Press 2017)

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I quickly fell in love with it. Giraffe and Pelican are bored, which leads to letter writing and letter delivering and a new friendship with a Penguin, Seal and Whale. 

Zoey and Sassafras: Dragons and Marshmallows by Asia Citro, Illustrated by Marion Lindsay

There was a lot to enjoy with this new series featuring a young girl who with the help of her cat must help injured magical creatures. Zoey uses her thinking goggles and scientific method to help a baby dragon. (Note: The Next Generation Science Standards or NGSS have expanded beyond simply teaching the scientific method. As a read aloud, you may be able to talk with students about other strategies that Zoey could have used.)

Look for both of these books at your local indie bookstore or public library.

All journeys have a starting place.
This is a weekly place to find books and tools
that you may use with readers at the start of their reading journey.
Join in the conversation at #road2reading.

Each week, Michele Knott and I post about new early readers and transitional chapter books. 

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: Guest Post with Seth Fishman

Recently, I listed my #mocksibert selections and placed A Hundred Billion Trillion on the list. This week, I am fortunate to have Seth Fishman stop by and share some thoughts about this book. Thanks Seth for stopping by and sharing your inspiration for the book. 

A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars
by Seth Fishman; Illustrated by Isabel Greenberg
Greenwillow Books (October 3, 2017) 

Before my son, Weston, was born, I took a plumbing class. At the time, I wasn’t sure if taking the class constituted a pre-parenthood freak-out, but I certainly had him in mind when I signed up.

My own dad, well, I can’t even remember what specific talents he had or taught me, aside from loving to read and an expectation of higher education. I don’t mean that disparagingly, I loved my father, but he wasn’t athletic, didn’t know how to fish, camp, ski, build toy airplanes, play computer games, fix cars, garden, play music, woodwork, sing, paint, cook or fix the plumbing.

When my wife became pregnant, I realized with growing terror that I, too, knew nothing. I admit that I partially blamed my dad.  I have friends who knew from a young age how to diagnose a problem with the family car. Friends who are familiar with classical music.  Friends who grew up water skiing and know how to use and maintain a boat. If only my dad cared about any of these things, made them family traditions, taught them to me.

This empty reservoir of abilities (and, potentially, talent) had me casting about for something I could learn, and fast.  Plumbing seemed within reach.  I took a course, I learned how easy (or at least, manageable) fixing things around the house could be. I felt more confident as a stereotypical father figure. I signed up for a wiring class soon after, and learned just how close deadly levels of electricity are in any given building or house. I changed the broken blinker light in our car, by myself.

And then Wes was born. I knew nothing about raising a kid. But that was OK. My wife and I figured it out together. And one day, as his warbles turned slowly into words, I realized I wanted to be able to give him every answer to any question he asked. I realized that my dad knew lots of stuff.  That he could satisfy my curiosity with explanations and stories. I realized that I was a writer because of him.

I remember, without hyperbole, looking up into the sky one night and wondering how I’d answer a hypothetical question my son might present to me. He’d ask, how many stars are in the sky? And me, trying to know everything, discovered that beautiful number: a hundred billion trillion. 

My picture book was born from its title, but grew out of a need to answer my child’s hypothetical questions about the world all around us.  And after giving him the biggest numbers that I could imagine, after showing him the world broken down into ants and bunnies and raindrops by the trillions, I wanted to make sure he realized that he was more than just another number. He was himself, special, his own pool of knowledge and talent and knowhow. Someday he’ll teach his own child everything he can. And that will be enough. 

About the author: 
Seth Fishman can hold his breath for 163 seconds and likes to blink about 15,000 times a day. He has also written 2 books for teenagers and has two more picture books coming out soon. He lives with his family in Los Angeles, California and works at The Gernert Company, a literary agency based in New York City. He represents a wide-range of clientele, from adult literary to webcomics to picture books. You can find Seth Fishman at www.sethasfishman.com or on twitter: @sethasfishman

Look for a copy of A Hundred Billion Trillion at your local indie bookstore or public library.

Artwork by Sarah S. Brannen ©2017

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews...