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Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Twenty Yawns

Title: Twenty Yawns
Author: Jane Smiley 
Illustrator: Lauren Castillo 
Publisher: Two Lions 
Publication Date: April 1st, 2016
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book
GoodReads Summary: Featuring lyrical text and beautiful illustrations, this bedtime tale from Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley and Caldecott Honor recipient Lauren Castillo evokes the splashy fun of the beach and the quietude of a moonlit night, with twenty yawns sprinkled in for children to discover and count.

As her mom reads a bedtime story, Lucy drifts off. But later, she awakens in a dark, still room, and everything looks mysterious. How will she ever get back to sleep?  
What I Think: I've had days and nights just like Lucy in Twenty Yarns and I imagine lots of readers have too! Sometimes even after a wonderful long day, it's still hard to fall asleep. The text and the illustrations in Twenty Yawns come together perfectly to make this a quiet adventure. As a mentor text, this is a great book for thinking about tone and mood. Ask students to pay attention to the words and how they make them feel. Then look at how the words help bring about those feelings. So much of building the world around us with words helps us to feel without just saying how we feel. Show don't tell at its finest!
     I also really love this text for making connections. There are so many connections to make with this text. I imagine many kids will have memories of being at the beach with their family but even if some kids don't, I'm guessing they all will have a memory of being in bed when the whole house is asleep but you are wide awake. I try to read before I go to bed and usually get a more restful night of sleep if I do instead of watching TV before I go to bed. This is an opportunity to talk to kids about healthy habits and to maybe help them brainstorm what they might do as their bedtime routine. 
     Readers are going to love yawning along with Lucy in Twenty Yawns and waiting to see what happens as she tries to get to sleep!
Read Together: Grades Pre-K - 2 
Read Alone: Grades Pre-K - 2 
Read With: Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein, Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathman, Sleep Like a Tiger by Mary Logue, Orion And The Dark by Emma Yarlett
Snatch of Text:  
"Outside Lucy's bedroom, the sun
was sinking below the horizon.
Strips of clouds were pink and red.

Lucy put her pajamas on inside out,
climbed into bed, and yawned a big
YAWN."
Writing Prompts: Write about a time when you were awake at night and you had to help yourself get back to sleep. 
Topics Covered: Family, Imagination, Determination 
Additional Resources: Check out the Twenty Yawns Activity Kit!
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*Thanks to Blue Slip Media for 
a copy of Twenty Yawns in exchange for an honest review 
and the opportunity to offer the giveaway above!

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