Title: Ada's Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay Author: Susan Hood Illustrator: Sally Wern Comport Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers Publication Date: May 3rd, 2016 Genre/Format: Non-Fiction/Picture Book GoodReads Summary: From award-winning author Susan Hood and illustrator Sally Wern Comport comes the extraordinary true tale of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay, an orchestra made up of children playing instruments built from recycled trash. Ada Ríos grew up in Cateura, a small town in Paraguay built on a landfill. She dreamed of playing the violin, but with little money for anything but the bare essentials, it was never an option...until a music teacher named Favio Chávez arrived. He wanted to give the children of Cateura something special, so he made them instruments out of materials found in the trash. It was a crazy idea, but one that would leave Ada—and her town—forever changed. Now, the Recycled Orchestra plays venues around the world, spreading their message of hope and innovation. What I Think: I fell in love with Ada's Violin right away and for so many reasons. I absolutely love narrative nonfiction picture books. We get to read a beautifully told story that is actually true. This book called to me because when I was in 4th grade, I signed up to play the violin in the school orchestra. Seeing a book about a violin player was very exciting. Reading about the town of Cateura in Paraguy reminded me of my friend Jennifer and her cartonera project inspired from Cartoneras in Argentina. You can read more about it here and here and watch the video below.
When I think about my own kids, I think about how lucky they are to have their basic needs met and how much they have in their lives. We still have fun being creative and have done our own version of Cain's Arcade and the cardboard challenge before. (You can watch more about this below.) We paint rocks and they turn every box that comes into our house into something. But it's so easy to not make time for things like this. Reading Ada's Violin was a good reminder to pause and be thankful for everything we have available to us and to make time for creativity and especially being creative with how we use and reuse materials in our house.
As a mentor text, I pulled the very first line from this beautiful picture book because it stood out to me. First of all, there's some alliteration there for writers to notice. But beyond that, it's a first line that orients the reader with just a few words. There isn't much description and we don't have a lot of details but it's still easy to start to visualize the town Ada might live in. I love this is a mentor text because it's short and simple and students could try and write their own version of this opening line for their own stories, whether they are writing nonfiction, personal narrative, or any other kind of narrative.
Snatch of Text: "Ada Rios grew up in a town made of trash."
Title: Everything You Need for a Treehouse Author: Carter Higgins Illustrator: Emily Hughes Publisher: Chronicle Books Publication Date: April 10th, 2018 Genre/Format: GoodReads Summary: Featuring beautiful images and a lyrical text with an exquisitely readable cadence, this book gives life and meaning to all the requisite elements of a treehouse, from time, timber, and rafters to ropes of twisted twine that invite visitors to sprawl out on a limb and slide back down again. For anyone who's ever wanted to escape real life and live in a nostalgic dream come true, this poignant picture book captures the universal timelessness of treehouses and celebrates all the creativity and adventure they spark. What I Think: This book offers such a sweet blend of excellent text and illustrations. I found myself sinking deeper and deeper into this book as I read. It's hard to explain but Carter does a great job with mood so that I was sucked into it almost like a lullaby. This makes Everything You Need for a Treehouse an excellent read for looking at mood and word choice and description. Being able to describe well, helps to set the mood of a piece of writing. This summer, Heidi Schultz, the author of Hook's Revenge, wrote a blog post for Teachers Write where she shared an awesome way to look at how word choice can impact the mood of a piece. It was titled Setting as a Lens for Characterbut I really loved how this exercise shows that the words a writer picks impact what the reader understands. We know this of course, but this specific activity really shows how it's possible to take one description and spin it a different way simply by changing the words. I definitely recommend checking out her post and using it along side Everything You Need for a Treehouse as you look at word choice. Another way to use this book as a mentor text is to look at all the alliteration Carter packs in! Personally, I think this is part of why this book sucked me in, it flows and the words just slipped off my tongue as I read it out loud. I especially like that this is an opportunity to think about why a writer might employ alliteration. Sure, it can be fun or silly, but it also adds this element of how the words fit together or move along. Of course, after reading this book, I hope you invite student writers to describe what they think they would need for a treehouse! Snatch of Text:
Title: How to Code a Sandcastle Author: Josh Funk Illustrator: Sara Palacios Publisher: Viking/Penguin Publication Date: May 15th, 2018 Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book GoodReads Summary:From the computer science nonprofit Girls Who Code comes this lively and funny story introducing kids to computer coding concepts.
Pearl and her trusty rust-proof robot, Pascal, need to build a sandcastle before summer vacation is over, and they’re going to do it using code. Pearl breaks the big we-need-a-sandcastle problem into smaller steps, then uses conditionals, loops, and other basic coding concepts to tell Pascal exactly what to do. But building a sandcastle isn’t as easy as it sounds when surfboards, mischievous dogs, and coding mishaps get in the way! Just when it looks like the sandcastle might never work, Pearl uses her coding skills to save the day and create something even better: a gorgeous sandcastle kingdom! What I Think: I'm so excited to use this when we celebrate Hour of Code next year! Our district has been doing Hour of Code districtwide for about five years and next year we have plans to expand this and integrate coding experiences throughout the year. I love how How to Build a Robot helps us think about coding outside of computers. While I sometimes work with the code on my blog, I don't have as much experience with coding that lets me see how coding can be part of other parts of my day. But this book helps me see how I can start looking for times when I can code my day and it also gives me the opportunity to think about this with students. At the end of the book, you can read Pearl and Pascal's Guide to Coding where they explain code, a sequence, a loop, and an if-then-else. I've been thinking a lot about teaching students advocacy. From as simple as, if you aren't sure about something, raise your hand to ask a question, we could talk about if-then-else. I love this! Students could come up with different scenarios and think through what they could do in those situations. You could brainstorm as a group and then ask students to write their own if-then-else scenarios. Sometimes this explicit discussion of what to do in different situations helps students know what options they have in different situations. This is kind of silly but here's an example. When my 7-year-old runs to the car ahead of me and tries to open the door before I've unlocked it, he used to pull and pull and pull on the door handle to get the door open. Finally, I told him, IF he gets to the car and tries to open the door and it's still locked, THEN he should look into the passenger side window and wave at me so to remind me to unlock the door. It worked like a charm. All I had to do was explain to him what I wanted him to do instead of what he was doing. Again, this could definitely work in a school context. Students could brainstorm what to do if: they have to go to the bathroom, need a drink of water, don't understand a math problem, need help spelling a word, etc. Again, this is perfect for discussing any kind of strategies we want students to be aware of IF they encounter a certain situation. As a mentor text, How to Code a Sandcastle also offers a perfect opportunity to look at problems in a story. As students stretch their stories out more, they can start to think about how stories have some kind of problem or conflict that the main character has to work through. Pearl and Pascal encounter four small problems that they have to solve in the story. It's great to pay attention to this as a reader because it helps us understand and retell a story but it's also important to pay attention to as a writer because many stories have a problem or conflict. Once readers notice that this story has a problem, they can start to look for the problem in other stories and make connections in this way while also or before thinking about the problem in their own stories. Snatch of Text: "But today, I've got the perfect plan. I've brought my trusty rust-proof robot, Pascal. He'll do whatever I tell him - as long as I tell him CODE. It's not a secret code - it's special instructions that computers understand." Writing Prompt: Write a code for something in your own life. You can write out the steps, identify a loop, or even write an if-then-else code.
Title: Creepy Pair of Underwear Author: Aaron Reynolds Illustrator: Peter Brown Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers Publication Date: August 15th, 2017 Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book GoodReads Summary: Jasper Rabbit is NOT a little bunny anymore. He’s not afraid of the dark, and he’s definitely not afraid of something as silly as underwear. But when the lights go out, suddenly his new big rabbit underwear glows in the dark. A ghoulish, greenish glow. If Jasper didn’t know any better he’d say his undies were a little, well, creepy. Jasper’s not scared obviously, he’s just done with creepy underwear. But after trying everything to get rid of them, they keep coming back! What I Think: Happy Friday the 13th! What a perfect day to celebrate Creepy Pair of Underwear! It's so fun to see Jasper again. As I was reading, I thought of Edgar Allan Poe's Tell-Tale Heart and the song The Cat Came Back. My elementary school music teacher sang The Cat Came Back With Us so it would be cool to connect the song and this book with younger students. With older students, you could definitely tie this to Tell-Tale Heart. What a perfect opportunity to compare and contrast different texts for mood and also to look closely at how illustrations work with the text to contribute to the mood of a story. Speaking of looking at how the texts and illustrations work together, the snatch of text I share below is an example of how Aaron Reynolds uses dialogue to show us what the characters are thinking and feeling but at the same time, Peter Brown uses the illustrations to hit the message home. As a mentor text, this is perfect for looking at how important dialogue is but also how description of what a character is doing when speaking allows an writer to really show how a character thinks and feels. To practice this, ask students to look at the page where Jasper is begging his mom for the creepy underwear and come up with a sentence to describe what they see in the illustrations or what they visualize in their head. Then have them try it in their own writing. Show, don't tell at its finest! Snatch of Text: "'Mom! Mom! Can we get these?" Jasper pleaded. 'I think they're a little too creepy,' said Mom. 'They're not creepy! They're cool!' said Jasper. 'I'm not a little bunny anymore. I'm a big rabbit now!'" "...the underwear glowed. A ghoulish, greenish glow." Writing Prompt: How does the author use dialogue to show what the characters are thinking and feeling?
Title: Caleb and Kit Author: Beth Vrabel Publisher: Running Press Publication Date: September 12th, 2017 Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Novel GoodReads Summary: Twelve-year-old Caleb is shorter, frailer, and more protected than most kids his age. That's because he has cystic fibrosis, a diagnosis meaning lungs that fill with mucus and a shortened lifespan. Caleb tries not to let his disorder define him, but it can be hard with an overprotective, prying mom and a big brother who is perfect in every way.
Then Caleb meets Kit-a vibrant, independent, and free girl who lives in a house in the woods-and his world changes instantly. Kit reads Caleb's palm and tells him they are destined to become friends. She calls birds down from the sky, turns every day into an adventure, and never sees him as his disorder. Her magic is contagious, making Caleb question the rules and order in his life. But being Kit's friend means embracing deception and, more and more, danger. Soon Caleb will have to decide if his friendship with Kit is really what's best for him-or Kit. What I Think: Navigating relationships is something kids have to go through but also something that lasts into adulthood. Caleb has a lot of different relationships to manage in this book! I feel for him but I also love that Beth makes him relatable and shows the reality of what it's like to be a friend, a brother, and a son. I would recommend this to readers who enjoyed Lisa Graff's Lost In The Sun.
As a mentor text, this book is an opportunity to look at expanding small moments when writing personal narrative. Students can think about their own relationships and experiences and choose one moment to zone in on and describe for the reader. Students can take this opportunity to be descriptive and to use the five senses to build imagery and bring readers into the moment with them. Oftentimes, writers tell the story bit by bit, outlining a list of everything that happened. But it's important to be able to pause in a moment and zoom in on what's happening. You know those pictures where you get a 360 degree view? You can swipe from side to side and up and down to get a look all around. That's what we need to do as writers. Stop, turn around, and describe everything using our five senses so our readers can feel what it's like to be there too. Snatch of Text: "Each step I took made my shoes suck deeper into mud with a squelching sound, and each time I lifted my feet it made my chest hurt. A few more yards in and I realized I was in trouble. My chest burned. I tried to ignore it. The pain twisted and coiled around my ribs - not like I couldn't breathe but like my body didn't want to." (p. 9) Writing Prompt: Write about a time in your life when your brain wanted to do something but your body didn't or couldn't cooperate. Write about a time in your life when you were in a disagreement with someone close to you.
Bonus fun! Enter Beth’s #WhereIEscape giveaway and/or post your own photo of a place you go to get away from the world!
Title: Hidden Dangers: Seek and Find 13 of the World's Deadliest Animals Author: Lola M. Schaefer Illustrator: Tymn Armstrong Publisher: Chronicle Books Publication Date: August 8th, 2017 Genre/Format: Non-Fiction/Picture Book GoodReads Summary: These 13 deadly creatures can be difficult to spot until you're right on top of them . . . or they're right on top of you. Look for each animal in its environment—look closely!—and learn all the ways you could perish—or survive—depending on how smart, well-informed, and good at running away you are. From the deathstalker scorpion and the poison dart frog to wasps, alligators, and many more, young readers will gain a new appreciation for the animal kingdom, and the dangers it hides in plain sight! What I Think: I love a good non-fiction book! What makes this book stand out to me is the descriptive text and the lovely illustrations. The book is gorgeous visually but the description truly brings the illustrations to life. As a mentor text, I would point out how the text and artwork support each other. I would ask students to close their eyes the first read through, then look at the picture the second read through, and then finally invite them to write down or circle words that stand out to them. This is a great opportunity to look at word choice and specifically make a link to word choice in non-fiction text. There is a misconception that non-fiction writing is not creative writing it...but I disagree. Sure, the topic you are writing about has to sit squarely in facts but the word choice we use in non-fiction writing and the literary elements we employ can surely take on a creative nature. And honestly, the best non-fiction does exude imagery. So have students look at the text and notice what stands out to them, talk about those super specific words, and then invite them to try it themselves!
***I especially love this snatch of text because there are TWO examples of alliteration! Love it! Snatch of Text:
"Don't crowd a shark. A GREAT HAMMERHEAD, like some other sharks, will defend its territory if threatened. WITH ITS TEETH. If one of these 500- to 1,000-pound (227- to 454-kilogram) creatures confuses you with an enemy or a tasty fish, swim...and swim fast! The hammerhead will strike with his head and bludgeon you again and again until you are weak and weary. Then it will open its powerful jaws and shred you with its serrated teeth. YOU WILL BE DEAD." Writing Prompt: Write about a ferocious animal that interests you. Or maybe you'd prefer to write about a completely non-ferocious animal! But as you write, pay attention to your word choice and see if you can work some $100 words in there.
GoodReads Summary: There's always something wacky happening when you live in a motel, and P.T. (named after P. T. Barnum, of course) has grown up at the world's wackiest! When word gets out that the hottest teen idols in Hollywood (plus current YouTube sensation Kevin the Monkey!) will be filming their next movie--Beach Party Surf Monkey--right in St. Pete's Beach, Florida, P.T. and his friend Gloria know that the Wonderland would be the perfect location. Now they just have to convince the producers!
But when things start to go wrong (crazed fans? missing stars?), it will take all of Gloria's business genius and P.T.'s wild stories to save the movie before both it and the Wonderland are all washed up!
What I Think: I enjoyed both books in the Welcome to Wonderland series and am excited to share them with my kids! P.T. is such a character but he's lovable at the same time. He tells lots of stories gets into all sorts of sticky situations but his heart is in the right place. As a mentor text, I would look at how Chris is able to build P.T.'s character through letting us into his head and dialogue. There is a lot of dialogue in this book. I picked a snatch of text when we get to be inside P.T.'s head and understand some of his thinking. This is an example of how we can grow to like him because we see his thought process. The best part is that he uses some great imagery in this snatch of text without making it boring. It's a great example of a simile done well! So fun!
Snatch of Text: "As I grabbed the door, I realized that if I took Aidan Tyler into the lobby of the Wonderland, he'd be like a prize blowfish in an aquarium. His fans would just press up against the glass to gawk at him. Some girl would probably make smoochy faces at him, too. And that would mean I'd have to spend my weekend cleaning greasy lipstick smears off our floor-to-ceiling windows. 'Change of plans,' I told him." (p. 47)
Writing Prompt: Write about what you think about when it comes to fame. Do you like the idea of being famous? Would you want to be famous? Or do you have other thoughts about being famous? Make connections with P.T.'s experience with fame and your own.
I'm super excited to be sharing my thoughts on Hey A.J., It's Saturday! and how it might be used as a mentor text to kick off the blog tour. Each blog will have a giveaway so be sure to check all the blog stops to join in on the fun! Title: Hey A.J, It's Saturday! Author: Martellus Bennett Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book GoodReads Summary: A.J. Is an imaginative girl who finds another world that is strangely right downstairs in her kitchen. So strange there’s already a feast, breakfast being served by creatures and beasts.
Oh! What is going in this kitchen of hers? Pancakes! Waffles! Scrambled eggs! And a Jamaican Giraffe?
Breakfast will never be the same. Ever! What I Think: Honestly, Marty Bennett's imagination comes to life in this wonderfully imaginative breakfast adventure. As a mentor text, I love that reading this book might spark kids' imagination and give them some ideas they can incorporate into their own writing or even spur some stories. I would stop at the two-page layout that invites readers to listen up close as Marty explains some secrets about breakfast and ask students to brainstorm what some secrets they might know about breakfast...and then even brainstorm some other secrets they might know about other parts of their days or lives. Insider information is exciting to write about and helping writers see that they might be secret experts is a fun way to engage them and get them into writing.
Marty also includes some alliteration and rhyme as you can see in the second snatch of text here. Alliteration is just so much fun! Stop and have kids listen to the sounds - not only the repetition of the "f" sound and the "s" sound but also point out the assonance here as the short "i" is repeated throughout. Ask kids to write their own silly sentences using alliteration or assonance.
Snatch of Text:
"There's a couple of things about breakfast that no one in the world knows.
I'm going to tell you these secrets so listen up close."
"Fifty silly fishes,
swimming in the dishes.
This cannot be right.
Why are animals
in the kitchen?"
Writing Prompt: Write about your most outlandish breakfast ever or the wildest breakfast you can imagine! Additional Resources: Order Hey A.J., It's Saturday! at the Hey A.J Shop. And find the app on iTunes and the Google Play Store.
Title: The Wild Robot Author: Peter Brown Illustrator: Peter Brown Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Publication Date: April 5th, 2016 Genre/Format: Science Fiction/Novel GoodReads Summary: When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. Why is she there? Where did she come from? And, most important, how will she survive in her harsh surroundings? Roz's only hope is to learn from the island's hostile animal inhabitants. When she tries to care for an orphaned gosling, the other animals finally decide to help, and the island starts to feel like home. Until one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her... What I Think: If you had asked me, I would have told you that it was highly unlikely that a story about a robot could make my heart race. Or that a story about a robot could make me cry. Or that I could fall in love with a robot. But it's true. It can. It did. And I did. And it's all Peter Brown's fault. The Wild Robot isn't just a story about a robot. It's about a remarkable, learning robot and all the wilderness friends she makes. Which is to say it's about relationships. It's about relationships in so many different ways and that's what makes it fascinating but also what makes the story resonate so deeply. Peter takes two seemingly simple things: robots, animals, but he puts them together and creates a multi-faceted story that readers will find captivating. To take a robot and bring her to life in such a way that readers like her - love her - and can relate to her, is a lesson in character development. As a writer, introducing a character to a reader is crucial because if the reader doesn't like the character, he or she probably won't have much interest in continuing to read the story. Readers can look at The Wild Robot and use it as a mentor text to think about what a character might say or do that helps to bring him or her to life for the reader. What I'm most excited to use The Wild Robot for as a mentor text, is to look at descriptive writing. Peter uses the setting to work for and against his main character in this book. The setting is almost a character in itself because of how it influences Roz and her story. A sense of time and place is very important to a story and Peter takes time to put the reader on the island with Roz by carefully describing her surroundings. He uses alliteration and onomatopoeia and strong word choice to bring the readers right into the story alongside Roz. Students can close their eyes and imagine what their own characters might see, hear, smell, taste, or feel and then try describing similar to how Peter does in The Wild Robot. Read Together: Grades 3 - 6 Read Alone: Grades 4 - 7 Read With: The Curious Garden and Mr. Tiger Goes Wild and others by Peter Brown, Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman, Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee, Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin,Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, The Martian Chronicles and There Will Come Soft Rains (short story) by Ray Bradbury Snatch of Text: "Animal sounds filled the forest. Chirps and wingbeats and rustlings in the underbrush. And then, from the sea cliffs, there came new sounds. Heavy, crunching footsteps. The forest animals fell silent, and from their hiding places they watched as a sparkling monster stomped past." (p. 16) "Roz stood on the peak and watched the sun sink behind the ocean. She watched shadows slowly spread over the island and up the mountainside. She watched the stars come out, one by one, until the sky was filled with a million points of light. It was the first night of the robot's life." (p. 25) "'...and sometimes I see you waddling behind your funny-looking mother and you seem so nice that I thought I'd come down and introduce myself but now I'm nervous and I'm talking too much and my name is Chitchat I think I said that already.' There was a pleasant silence. Brightbill stood on one foot for a moment. Then the gosling took a deep breath and said, 'It's very nice to meet you Chitchat I don't think you talk too much I think you talk just enough and I like you so let's be friends.' A big smile appeared on the squirrel's tiny face. For once, Chitchat was speechless." (p. 109) "'We're a strange family,' said Brightbill, with a little smile. 'But I kind of like it that way.' 'Me too,' said Roz." (p. 126) Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you needed to gain someone's trust and what you did. Topics Covered: Family, Friendship, Loyalty, Determination, Trustworthiness
Title: Hoot and Peep Author: Lita Judge Illustrator: Lita Judge Publisher: Dial Books Publication Date: March 1st, 2016 Genre/Format: GoodReads Summary: In the night skies above Paris, an adorable young owl teaches her older brother about the power of imagination—and the unconditional love between siblings
Hoot the owl is very excited for his little sister, Peep, to join him on the cathedral rooftops. She's finally old enough to learn all his big brother owly wisdom: First, owls say hooo. Second, they always say hooo. Lastly, they ONLY say hooo! But why would Peep say hooo when she could say schweeepty peep or dingity dong? Why would she speak when she could sing? As she explores the breathtaking Parisian cityscape, Peep discovers so many inspiring sights and sounds—the ring of cathedral bells, the slap of waves on stone—that she can’t help but be swept up in the magic of it all. Hoot doesn’t understand Peep’s awe, until he takes a pause to listen . . . and realizes that you're never too old to learn a little something new.
From the beloved author/illustrator of the classic picture bookRed Sled, this gorgeous read aloud celebrates the wonder found in little things—and in the hearts of dreamers, young and old. What I Think: Sometimes people disagree. Lot of times siblings disagree. Lita Judge does a wonderfully sweet job of capturing what a disagreement might look like...but also how we can learn from people who have different ideas and how a disagreement can turn into a mutual understanding - whether two people come to an agreement or still disagree but at least appreciate the others' perspective. I'm thinking this book would be great to read at the beginning of the year when students are learning more about each other....or mid-year when they need that reminder that we are all different but can get along. Or maybe you save it for when students really need to hear the message. As a mentor text I love this book as an opportunity to generate ideas. I'm sure students can think of a time in their life when they felt misunderstood. We're all just trying to find our way in the world but sometimes another person's expectations get in our way - intentionally or unintentionally. Use Hoot and Peep as a way to brainstorm some ideas. In terms of literary devices, Lita uses alliteration and onomatopoeia throughout. Students can look for alliteration and onomatopoeia and think about when either or both add to writing and in what way. I think writing sounds so much more lyrical with both of these. They both add to the ambience of a book and help to bring the imagery to life. Descriptive writing can seem mysterious to students so looking closely at a mentor text like this one that encompasses so much charm is a great way to see how alliteration and onomatopeoia help the story sing. Read Together: Grades Pre-K - 5 Read Alone: Grades Pre-K - 5 Read With: Frog and Toad Are Friendsby Arnold Lobel, Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee Snatch of Text:
"Peep thought it was
the perfect night to
sing about the magic
of the moonbeams.
'Schweep,'
she peeped."
Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you had a disagreement with someone. How did it make you feel? And how did you resolve it? Topics Covered: Siblings, Individuality, Courage
Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Aly at Kid Lit Frenzy. Every Wednesday, bloggers link up their non-fiction picture book reviews. Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what great non-fiction books are shared this week!
Title: Pink Is For Blobfish: Discovering The World's Perfectly Pink Animals Author: Jess Keating Illustrator: David Degrand Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers Publication Date: February 2nd, 2016 Genre/Format: Non-Fiction/Picture Book GoodReads Summary: Pinkalicious meets National Geographic in this nonfiction picture book introducing the weirdest, wildest, pinkest critters in the animal kingdom! Some people think pink is a pretty color. A fluffy, sparkly, princess-y color. But it's so much more. Sure, pink is the color of princesses and bubblegum, but it's also the color of monster slugs and poisonous insects. Not to mention ultra-intelligent dolphins, naked mole rats and bizarre, bloated blobfish.Isn't it about time to rethink pink? What I Think: I love the color pink but even if this wasn't a book about super strange but awesome pink creatures, I would still love it! All of the animals in this book are super funky! We had fun reading about each of these animals. I love how the two-page layouts are set up. Each covers one animal and shares facts like its name, species name, size, diet, habitat, and predators and threats but also gives information about the animal and an interesting quirky fact about it too. Over the years, non-fiction has totally grown on me. I think it helps that children's non-fiction has gotten cooler and cooler over the years - and this book is definitely example of this. One thing I really love about non-fiction is that the reader gets a little bit more ownership about how he or she wants to read it than with fiction. For example, we started reading one night but had to stop because it was time for bed. The next night when we picked up the book again, I started reading from the back of the back and working forwards to where we had left off the night before. All of a sudden, Peanut shook his head and said, "Wait, are you reading it backwards?!?" We had a good chuckle over that but then we talked about how some non-fiction books work like that - you can read them forwards or backwards or even jump around. This is so important for kids to realize. They have to know the difference between fiction and non-fiction and how - especially when doing research - you might skip around and skim different parts until you really find what you are looking for. I didn't realize Peanut would be so shocked when I started reading backwards but it helped me remember that we have to teach students the ins and outs of different genres and help them think through how they'll access each text they encounter. I also strongly believe in encouraging students to use description and voice in their non-fiction writing. I know some people don't see the connection between the two, but I believe we need students to see how description is important when bringing non-fiction to life. Students can read any of the descriptions of the animals in Pink is for Blobfish and see how Jess uses literary devices such as alliteration, similes, strong adjectives, nouns, and verbs to bring her non-fiction writing to life for readers. Read Together: Grades K - 6 Read Alone: Grades K - 6 Read With: What If You Had Animal Teeth? by Sandra Markle, Flight of the Honey Bee by Raymond Huber, Non-Fiction books by Nic Bishop, The Beetle Book and others by Steven Jenkins Snatch of Text:
"A Different Dolphin!
Unlike dolphins from the open ocean, Amazon river dolphins have flexible necks.
They sweep their snouts through the watery vegetation, flushing prey from their hiding places."
Writing Prompts: Write about animals that are your favorite color! Topics Covered: Integration - Science, Animals, Curiosity
Title: Good Morning Yoga: A Pose-By-Pose Wake Up Story Author: Mariam Gates Illustrator: Sarah Jane Hinder Publisher: Sounds True Publication Date: March 1st, 2016 Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book GoodReads Summary: Yoga helps children learn how to focus, relax, and both self-monitor and self-soothe Good Morning Yoga instills these four skills and more, enabling children to jumpstart the day with energy and excitement and meet the adventures that come with mindfulness and perspective. Good Night Yoga tells the story of the world retiring for the evening and a new generation of readers has fallen in love with the relaxing sequences and beautiful pictures that lead them to dreamland. Good Morning Yoga weaves gentle exercises with a heartwarming narrative and wonderful illustrations to empower children to manage the energies that visit throughout the day from the fiery volcano to the mountain quiet and still. Good Morning Yoga concludes with a visualization for kids to set intentions for the day. What I Think: I'm such a yoga fan and really enjoy how Mariam wove yoga poses into a story of how the characters feel. You have to check out the video below of her reading the book aloud, it definitely brings it to life. It's easy for kids to follow along and get the full experience by watching the video. This reminds me of a very calm, super mellow brain break! I can see using this to center and calm kids before a sit-still activity. I can also see this used to help kids think about their emotions and feelings throughout the day and how that impacts the choices they make. It reminds me of Dr. Seuss' My Many Colored Days which talks all about how we might feel like a different color based on our emotions. Pairing these together might offer an opportunity to talk about emotions.
As a mentor text, there are some great examples of figurative language in Good Morning Yoga! You'll find alliteration, rhyme, and especially metaphors. After reading the text, students can think of their own metaphors for how they feel in the different poses. Have students pay attention to the descriptive language in each of the metaphors. Mariam uses specific words to help the reader get a good picture in his or her heads and students can try this themselves. This is a good less in how even in a short text, we can use strong description. To add a digital spin to this, students can take a picture of themselves in a pose and write their own metaphor to describe how they feel in that pose. Then use an app like Chatterpix Kids to bring their drawing to life! Read Together: Grades Pre-K - 2 Read Alone: Grades Pre-K - 2 Read With: I Am Yogaby Susan Verde, My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss, Tommy Can't Stop by Tim Federle Snatch of Text:
"Today I'm a fiery volcano reaching high,
a brave ski jumper ready to fly,
a lightning bolt flashing across the sky."
Writing Prompts: Write about how your brain feels when you are in each of the different poses. Do you agree with how the author describes how the characters feel in the poses? Pay attention to your body throughout the day, how do you feel when you are happy, mad, sad, scared, surprised, etc? Topics Covered: Integration - Physical Education, Health, Wellness, Mindfulness Additional Resources: Mariam Gates holds a master’s in education from Harvard University and has more than twenty years’ experience working with children. Her renowned Kid Power Yoga program combines her love of yoga with teaching to help children access their inner gifts. She is the author of Good Night Yoga (Sounds True, April 2015), and lives in Santa Cruz, CA, with her husband, yoga teacher Rolf Gates, and their two children. For more information, visit mariamgates.com. You can also follow Mariam on Twitter at @gatesmariam and on Instagram at mariam.gates. Check out this downloadable kit for how to get started with yoga.
