Max the Brave Review and Blog Tour

Title: Max the Brave 
Author: Ed Vere 
Illustrator: Ed Vere 
Publisher: Sourcebooks 
Publication Date: September 8th, 2015  
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: Max is a fearless kitten. Max is a brave kitten. Max is a kitten who chases mice. There's only one problem-Max doesn't know what a mouse looks like! With a little bit of bad advice, Max finds himself facing a much bigger challenge. Maybe Max doesn't have to be Max the Brave all the time...

Join this adventurous black cat as he very politely asks a variety of animals for help in finding a mouse. Young readers will delight in Max's mistakes, while adults will love the subtle, tongue-in-cheek humor of this new children's classic. 
About the Author/Illustrator: Ed Vere is an author, artist and illustrator with a long track record of success in the picture book category. Max the Brave was named one of The Sunday Times’s 100 Modern Children’s Classics. His book Bedtime for Monsters was shortlisted for the2011 Roald Dahl Funny Prize and Mr Big was chosen by Booktrust as the official Booktime book for 2009 (and was distributed to 750,000 British schoolchildren making it the largest single print run of a picture book). Vere was the World Book Day illustrator for 2009.
What I Think: I'm in love with Max! He's super adorable and so full of spunk that readers will fall in love with him whether they are cat lovers or not. When it comes to characterization, Max the Brave is an example of how it's possible to tell so much about a character in two sentences. Of course, the rest of the book elaborates and helps readers get a better sense of Max and who he is but it is possible to pack a lot of punch in only a couple of sentences.
     The illustrations are vibrant and simple but powerful as well. Reading Max the Brave offers an opportunity to talk to students about illustrations, how they support the text, and what choices or moves the artist might have made to impact the story.
     Readers will be rooting for Max, cracking up at his misunderstanding, worried about him and then cheering for him all over again as he goes along on his adventure. Reading Max the Brave is also a perfect opportunity to practice prediction as the story moves along. I read with Peanut and Little Bean and we had a blast trying to guess what was going to happen next. This will be a perfect read aloud for a super hero themed event...get our your super hero capes!

    Visit Sourcebooks' Max the Brave website where you can access an activity kit and the educator guide. And be sure to follow @ed_vere and @jabberwockykids on Twitter!

Read Together: Grades Pre-K - 5 

Read Alone: Grades Pre-K - 2 
Read With: I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen, Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman, Pardon Me  by Daniel Miyares, Boris and the Snoozebox by Leigh Hodgkinson, Won Ton and Won Ton and Chopstick by Lee Wardlaw
Snatch of Text:  

"Max looks so sweet that sometimes

people dress him up with bows.

Max does not like being

dressed up with bows."

Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you were confused or misunderstood something and how it impacted you.
Topics Covered: Courage, Determination, Self-Awareness 

I *heart* It:

*Thanks to Sourcebooks for 

a copy of this title and the opportunity for a giveaway 

in exchange for an honest review!*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Peg + Cat: The Race Car Problem

Title: Peg + Cat: The Race Car Problem 
Author: Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson 
Illustrator: Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson  
Publisher: Candlewick Entertainment 
Publication Date: September 8th, 2015 
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: Peg and Cat, stars of their own Emmy Award–winning animated TV series, zoom into a picture book and put math skills to the test in a lively racing adventure.

Peg and Cat have built an amazing car out of things they found lying around. They’ve named her Hot Buttered Lightning (since she’s built for speed), and they plan to win the Tallapegga Twenty. If they can make it out of the junkyard, that is. It’s a good thing Peg knows the best shape to use to make wheels and how to count laps to see who is ahead. And it’s lucky that Cat reminds Peg to keep calm when she’stotally freaking out! Will Peg and Cat be the first to complete twenty laps and win the Golden Cup? Or will it be one of their quirky competitors? Count on Peg and Cat to rev up young problem-solvers for an exciting race to the finish.  
What I Think: I'm fascinated by brain research and what it tells us. It's no secret that I'm a fan of the growth mindset but I'm also keen on problem solving. The brain loves to solve problems. For instance, if I suggest you solve the problem 5 + 5...you can't help but think 10 in your head! Your brain just can't hold itself back, it wants to think of the answer. Taking this into account when designing lessons makes learning much more engaging. Giving students the ownership to brainstorm, research, try and try again is powerful.
     Peg + Cat: The Race Car Problem is an example of what might happen when we give kids the opportunity to come up with their own creation and see how it works. Last winter, my family had a blast creating our own cardboard games after watching Caine's Arcade. This book could be a great mentor text to discuss how to hang onto the growth mindset and persevere when creating - whether it's a race car or another type of creation - and this aligns well with the CCSS Standards for Mathematical Practice...in case you address these in your district/classroom. Reading The Race Car Problem and other texts about creating, tinkering, experimenting (see below) would be a great opportunity to build students' background knowledge about the mindset of a maker.
     There is a lot of mention of various shapes in this book. You could read and ask students to recognize shapes as the story goes on. The characters in this book are so fun and looking closely at the dialogue gives readers an opportunity to see how the characters' personalities come to life with the words they use. Overall, there are some really great words that can be pulled out as vocabulary words as well.   
Read Together: Grades K - 3  
Read Alone: Grades 1 - 3 
Read With: Going Places by Peter H. Reynolds and Paul A. Reynolds, What Do You Do With An Idea? by Kobi Yamada with illustrations by Mae Bosom, The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires 
Snatch of Text:  

"They called it Hot-Buttered Lightning, 

because they hoped it would be as swift as a bolt of lightning.

(They added 'hot-buttered' to make the name even better, 

the way butter makes popcorn even better.)"

Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you made something using your imagination. Did it go how you planned? Or did you have to try again after your first attempt? What helped you believe you should try again to make your idea better? 
Topics Covered: Friendship, Ingenuity, Determination, Integration - Math 

I *heart* It:

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole Review and Giveaway

Title: Sam and Dave Dig a Hole 
Author: Mac Barnett
Illustrator: Jon Klassen 
Publisher: Candlewick Press 
Publication Date: October 14th, 2014 
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: Sam and Dave are on a mission. A mission to find something spectacular. So they dig a hole. And they keep digging. And they find . . . nothing. Yet the day turns out to be pretty spectacular after all. Attentive readers will be rewarded with a rare treasure in this witty story of looking for the extraordinary — and finding it in a manner you’d never expect. 
What I Think: This book will be available on Tuesday and I hope you have it pre-ordered because you're going to want to be in on the conversations about what in the world happens at the end of this book! As soon as I saw Travis Jonker's post on 100 Scope Notes called 6 Theories on the Ending of Sam & Dave Dig a Hole in my Twitter feed, you better believe I clicked it. I actually have a completely different (7th?) theory on the end of this book. 
     This book is suspenseful. You can't help but want to turn the page to figure out what happens next. I love how this can be a great mentor text for pacing and making sure that what you've written drives the story forward and makes the reader want to read more. The illustrations really add to this because the add so much to what the text tells us. It's as if the readers are in on a big secret (with our friend the god) while Sam and Dave have no idea what's going on. The text gives us Sam and Dave's thoughts but the illustrations let us in on the bigger story. 
     By the time I got to the end of the book I thought I had an inkling of what might happen but I was so totally wrong. I should have knew things would not go how I expected at all. My theory is that this book is a bigger metaphor for life and experiences we have throughout our lives. It took me a while to come to this decision - many discussions, and several close rereads - before I felt good about this conclusion. And I still want to hear what others think.
     So I did read this book with my kiddos (who are 7 and 4 right now) and they thought it was fun but they didn't really get what happened at the end...or notice that anything all that crazy happened. Peanut just shrugged his shoulders when I tried to ask him what he thought went down. For this reason, I believe this book would be great for older readers. In fact, I think it would spur an especially amazing and thoughtful discussion for middle school and high school readers. 
Read Together: Grades 3 - 12 
Read Alone: Grades 4 - 12 
Read With: Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett with illustrations by Jon Klassen, The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth based on a story by Leo Tolstoy, The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm, Our Town by Thornton Wilder
Snatch of Text:  

"'When should we stop digging?' asked Sam.

'We are on a mission,' said Dave.

'We won't stop digging until we find

something spectacular.'"

Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you wanted one outcome but something else happened entirely. How did you handle the situation and how did you feel about it? 
Topics Covered: Friendship, Exploration, Life, Perseverance, Perspective

I *heart* It:

*Thanks to Candlewick Press for 

a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review 

and he opportunity to offer the giveaway below!*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Secrets of the Apple Tree

Title: Secrets of the Apple Tree 
Author/Illustrator: Carron Brown And Alyssa Nassner   
Publisher: Kane/Miller Book Publishers 
Publication Date: January 1st, 2014 
Genre/Format: Non-Fiction/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: Who lives around the apple tree? Shine a light behind the page and see...

Explore a tree up close and you will find a small world filled with great surprises! From worms wriggling among the roots, to birds nesting high in the branches, the hidden wonders of this amazing habitat are revealed. 
What I Think: We are non-fiction fans at my house but we had some extra fun with this book. Each page shared information about nature found in and around an apple tree. One page would ask a question, almost like a riddle, that got my kids thinking about what we might find when we shined a light through the pages from the back. I used the flashlight app I have on my phone and when I held it up behind the page, we could see the answer to the question and check if they were right. Then, when we turned the page, we could read about what was illuminated with the flashlight. I've never seen a book that worked like this and it was great fun. While we were learning and thinking about nature, we were also super engaged in discovering if we were right.
     Now that the weather is warming up in our neck of the woods, it would be a great time to look closely at a tree and all the creatures that make their home in, on, around and under it. As a mentor text, this would also be a great activity to get kids outside with their writer's notebooks, observing and exploring nature and writing down what they see, smell, hear, feel, and (maybe) taste outside. There is great description - lots of $100 words - in this book that kids could try to incorporate into writing their own riddles. It might be possible to even create their own flashlight drawings or even a lift-the-flap type page or book.
Read Together: Grades Preschool - 1st 
Read Alone: Grades Preschool - 2nd 
Read With: Look Up! by Annette LeBlanc Cate, Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner, Where In the Wild? by David Schwartz 
Snatch of Text: 

"Slithering, wriggling worms push 

through the soil around the roots.

A tree's roots grow long and deep. 

The roots soak up water from rain, 

which helps to keep the tree alive." 

Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Asking Questions, Making Inferences, Making Connections 
Writing Strategies to Practice: Descriptive 
Writing Prompts: Describe one of the hidden scenes from this book using your five senses to bring the image to life for readers. Take a nature walk, pay attention to details in the world around you, write your own nature-related riddles using descriptive words that incorporate your five senses.
Topics Covered:  Integration - Science

I *heart* It:

Fossil

Title: Fossil
Author: Bill Thomson    
Illustrator: Bill Thomson 
Publisher: Two Lions 
Publication Date: November 5th, 2013  
Genre/Format: Fantasy/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: When a boy and his dog go for a hike, the boy trips on a fossil, and it comes to life, revealing an ancient plant. The boy is so intrigued that he breaks two more fossils that come to life—a dragonfly and a pteranodon. When these prehistoric creatures collide with present reality, the boy must figure out a way to make things go back to normal. Visually told through art, this "wordless story" will surely spark imagination and creativity. 
What I Think: I was completely impressed by Bill's artwork in Chalk and he does another amazing job with Fossil. I can't imagine the time and energy it takes to be committed to all the detail in every drawing.
     Fossil builds off of the idea of inanimate objects coming to life that is introduced in Chalk. I love wordless picture books because they require the reader to really pay attention to everything in the illustrations and to piece together the story for themselves. When we first read Chalk, Peanut took it to my aunt to read to him. I watched as she had to rethink how to read the book since it didn't have words to guide her. Wordless books are fascinating in general but I love how Chalk and Fossil include a bit of magic and imagination to the story. If you watch the book trailer below, you'll see how much fun the kids have seeing what happens throughout the story. There is surprise and suspense as readers discover the boy's story and how he'll deal with the fossils that come to life right before his very eyes.
Read Together:  K - 6
Read Alone: K - 6 
Read With: Chalk by Bill Thomson, Tuesday by David Wiesner, Journey by Aaron Becker, Bluebird by Bob Staake 
Snatch of Text: 

Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Inferences, Asking Questions, Making Predictions 
Writing Strategies to Practice: Descriptive, Figurative Language 
Writing Prompts: Use what you know about descriptive writing to tell someone about what is happening throughout the story or even on one page/layout of the story. What would you do if you discovered a fossil and it came to life?
Topics Covered: Imagination, Problem-Solving, Courage 

I *heart* It:

Locomotive

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy. 
Every Wednesday, I'll review a non-fiction picture book. (It may not always be a picture book.) Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other non-fiction books are shared this week!

Title: Locomotive 

Author: Brian Floca 

Illustrator: Brian Floca 

Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books 

Publication Date: September, 2013 

Genre/Format: Non-Fiction/Picture Book 

GoodReads Summary: All aboard! From the creator of the "stunning" (Booklist) Moonshot, a rich and detailed sensory exploration of America's early railroads.
It is the summer of 1869, and trains, crews, and family are traveling together, riding America's brand-new transcontinental railroad. These pages come alive with the details of the trip and the sounds, speed, and strength of the mighty locomotives; the work that keeps them moving; and the thrill of travel from plains to mountain to ocean.

Come hear the hiss of the steam, feel the heat of the engine, watch the landscape race by. Come ride the rails, come cross the young country!  

What I Think: I'm fascinated by Brian Floca's ability to capture a moment in time and describe it so that it feels like we are living in that one moment...walking around and examining every piece of it before you unfreeze that moment and life goes on.
     What I found most interesting about this book is that it's written in 2nd person voice. Throughout the book, the narrator is talking to "you" and it feels like the reader is literally in the book, smelling, seeing, hearing the sights and sounds, climbing on board the train and heading across the country. This book is a great mentor text for descriptive writing. Students have many opportunities to look at the author's craft and to discuss what he is doing. It's also a great opportunity to look at commas and when we use commas. Using this text, you might have a conversation about what comma rules we have and when we can break those rules. There are definitely different types of comma usage here though and we could take the time to notice what patterns we see as we read.

Read Together: Grades 2 - 12 

Read Alone: Grades 2 - 12  

Read With: Moonshot by Brian Floca, Train by Elisha Cooper, How To Train A Train by Jason Carter Eaton

Snatch of Text:  

"The hours and and miles roll by.

The country opens,

opens wide,

empty as an ocean.

Smell the switchgrass and the blustem,

hot beneath the sun.

Here the bison used to roam,

by the hundreds, by the millions.

Here the Cheyenne lived,

and Pawnee and Arapabo.

Here covered wagons used to crawl,

foot by foot, mile by mile,

heading into the West.

Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Visualizing, Making Connections, Asking Questions 

Writing Strategies to Practice: Personal Narrative, Descriptive, Point of View - 2nd Person, Anaphora, Simile, Comma - Appositives, Word Choice, $100 Words, Alliteration, Author's Craft 

Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you took a trip - describe the "getting there" part of your travels. Write about how you get from one place to another - maybe from your desk to the library, from your locker to the bus, etc. Write from the perspective of an object and how it moves along during the day, describe what it might see or experience through the course of a day.  

Topics Covered: Travel, History, Integration - Social Studies 

I *heart* It:

Paul Thurlby's Wildlife

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy. 
Every Wednesday, I'll review a non-fiction picture book. (It may not always be a picture book.) Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other non-fiction books are shared this week!

Title: Paul Thurlby's Wildlife 
Author: Paul Thurlby 
Illustrator: Paul Thurlby 
Publisher: Templar - Candlewick
Publication Date: March, 2013 
Genre/Format: Non-Fiction/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: Did you know that crocodiles cry while they eat? Or that polar bears turn green if they stay hot for too long? Or that bees do a dance to speak to one another? See wildlife as you’ve never seen it before with Paul Thurlby’s menagerie of curious animals. With unique and humorous artwork that’s so stylish you’ll want to remove it from the book and hang it on your wall, Paul Thurlby brings to life twenty-three animals in a way that will appeal to readers of all ages. 
What I Think: I absolutely adore Paul Thurlby's Alphabet and was so excited to see this new book. His artwork is amazing and I love his style. What I really love about this book is that it's a great way to introduce students to so many different animals and at the same time share some really unique facts about them. I'm fascinated by how reading leads to more reading. In the past several years, as I've read so many books, I often find myself making connections between books. Before, when I had read books but not nearly as I have in the last six or seven years, it was definitely not as easy to make connections between books. I've had so many conversations with students, prompting them to make connections with their reading but it's really difficult to make connections from one text to another when they haven't read many books. As students read more, it's much easier to find connections between books.
     When I think about teachers fostering students' love of reading and encouraging them to read more and read a variety of texts, I think about how reading one book can lead to reading other books or other texts. What if we all encouraged students to branch from one book into another book? What if we articulated just how often we do it as adults and share that as part of a readers' life? Books like The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate and Wonder by RJ Palacio come to mind. I can't imagine someone reading either of those books and not feeling the need to read more about the real Ivan or to wonder what someone with craniofacial abnormalities like Auggie looks like in real life. Reading those fiction novels easily extends into reading non-fiction to support our understanding. The same works from non-fiction to fiction. I love historical fiction and when I learn about a time in history that seems fascinating, I have found myself looking for historical fiction novels to read because I feel like I can truly immerse myself into that world. Non-fiction also leads to more non-fiction, readers might go from a book to an article to a website and back to a book. This interconnectedness between all the different things we read seems so normal and yet I'm not sure we point this out to students and encourage them to follow their wonderings from one text to another.
     With Paul Thurlby's Wildlife, students have the opportunity to learn about animals but they only get one or two tidbits of information. It's a fun book but it's also a chance to get students' brains wondering and then to show them how an idea in one book might lead them into another text. After reading Chris Lehman's book, Energize, and rethinking how students research and how we support them in their research, I think this organic way of piquing their interest and then leading them towards more exploration and reading on a certain topic is ideal. I can definitely see how this book might be used to choose an animal to research as a class, as small groups or individually.
Read Together: Grades Pre-K - 3 
Read Alone: Grades Pre-K - 3 
Read With: What If You Had Animal Teeth? by Sandra Markle, Where In the Wild? by David M. Schwartz and Yael Schy, Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins, Yellow Elephant by Julie Larios, What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? and others by Steve Jenkins  
Snatch of Text:  

"Bees talk to one another by dancing in patterns."

Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Asking Questions 
Writing Strategies to Practice: Expository 
Writing Prompts: Choose an animal from Paul Thurlby's Wildlife and research more about that animal or the animal fact shared in the book. Write an expository piece to share what you learn. 
Topics Covered: Integration - Science, Animals 

I *heart* It:

The Running Dream

Title: The Running Dream 
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen 
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers 
Publication Date: January, 2011 
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Novel 
GoodReads Summary: Jessica thinks her life is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. She's not comforted by the news that she'll be able to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg. Who cares about walking when you live to run?

As she struggles to cope with crutches and a first cyborg-like prosthetic, Jessica feels oddly both in the spotlight and invisible. People who don't know what to say, act like she's not there. Which she could handle better if she weren't now keenly aware that she'd done the same thing herself to a girl with CP named Rosa. A girl who is going to tutor her through all the math she's missed. A girl who sees right into the heart of her.With the support of family, friends, a coach, and her track teammates, Jessica may actually be able to run again. But that's not enough for her now. She doesn't just want to cross finish lines herself—she wants to take Rosa with her. 
What I Think: There are lots of reasons I loved this book! To start, I'm a runner and I loved how Jessica talks about running. There are so many great descriptions of running throughout the book. Because Jessica has running taken away from her but then given back to her, this book is really inspirational. It's inspirational about running but also about friendships and relationships. There seems to be a great camaraderie amongst runners as I'm sure there are in other sports. The Running Dream truly celebrates the determination, motivation and will that runners possess but also the freedom and energy that comes with running. I instantly realized how great this would be for a PE teacher to have in his or her library. My husband, a PE teacher for grades 1-8, has a special shelf in the school library for books that he recommends. This is a book that I am definitely recommending to him for his shelf!
     What really connected with my heart is how Jessica's story connects with Rosa's story. As a teacher who worked with students with special needs for ten years, I will always have a place in my heart for them. In college, we were taught to refer to kids with hearing loss, with visual impairments, with cerebral palsy, etc. as kids first, as people first. It's really hard for me to hear people say things like, "that autistic kid," or "the Down's girl". It's just not okay because all of these kids are kids first, their disability doesn't define them and it's not fair that we judge them and refer to them in that way. I love how Wendelin brings Rosa to life. She has so much charm and spirit and readers can truly see that. I was reminded over and over again of all the students I worked with who were great kids. I wish more people could take the time to get to know them and appreciate them for all that they are. I'm so glad readers have this book and hope that it will encourage students to take time to get to know kids who they might not usually spend time with.
     As a writer, I loved the meld of fiction with non-fiction in this book. My grandfather had diabetes from the time he was 14. When he was older, they had to amputate his leg from the knee down. I remember him talking about phantom pains and wanting to itch his foot. The description of Jessica recovering from losing her leg and then learning how to walk and run with a prosthetic seemed very accurate to me. There were various parts throughout the book where the description of this seemed very detailed and I could imagine Wendelin doing research on what people experience when they have a leg amputated and how it feels to walk and run with a prosthetic. This book seemed like such a great example of how non-fiction research factors into a fiction novel. This is one of the reasons I love this book as a mentor text. Combined with great description and characters, I think this book should be in every middle and high school classroom or school library.
Read Together: Grades 6 - 12 
Read Alone: Grades 7 - 12 
Read With: Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper, Wonder by RJ Palacio, Mockingbird by Katherine Erskine, Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman  
Snatch of Text:  
     "My life is over.
     Behind the morphine dreams is the nightmare of reality.
     A reality I can't face.
     I cry myself back to sleep, wishing, pleading, praying that I'll wake up from this, but the same nightmare always awaits me." (p. 1)
Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Visualizing, Asking Questions
Writing Strategies to Practice: Descriptive, Expository, Commas (series) 
Writing Prompts: Write about a time when you took time to get to know someone. How did you perceptions of that person change?
Topics Covered: Family, Friendship, Will, Determination, Belief, Loss, Compassion, Empathy, Disabilities,

I *heart* It:

Moonshot

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy. Every Wednesday, I'll review a non-fiction picture book. (It may not always be a picture book.) Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other non-fiction books are shared this week!

Title: Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 
Author: Brian Floca  
Illustrator: Brian Floca 
Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books 
Publication Date: April, 2009 
Genre/Format: Non-Fiction/Picture Book
GoodReads Summary: Simply told, grandly shown, here is the flight of Apollo 11. Here for a new generation of readers and explorers are the steady astronauts, clicking themselves into gloves and helmets, strapping themselves into sideways seats. Here are their great machines in all their detail and monumentality, the ROAR of rockets, and the silence of the Moon. Here is a story of adventure and discovery -- a story of leaving and returning during the summer of 1969, and a story of home, seen whole, from far away. 
What I Think: The fact that people have been and are in space is fascinating to me. It's easy to go through life (for me at least) and to not think about people being up in space. I love how this book pulled me back into what it might have felt like when we first sent people to the moon and then it reminded me of all the times I have heard about people in space. I'm sure there are so many stories about what people were doing when man first walked on the moon, where they were, the excitement around it. I was in kindergarten when the Challenger exploded. I remember we were all watching at school and were devastated when we watched it explode. When I got home, we were watching news and I remember them replaying it over and over again. Going into space is such an intriguing topic and Floca does a great job of capturing the excitement and suspense of the first time we visited the moon.
     Floca uses several different literary devices and many of them repeat throughout the book, making Moonshot a great mentor text for descriptive elements of writing. By constructing sentences in a certain way, Floca sets the mood of the story, building the suspense and excitement right to the end.
Read Together: Grades 2 - 12 
Read Alone: Grades 2 - 6 
Read With: Shooting the Moon by Frances O'Roark Dowell, other non-fiction books about space
Snatch of Text:   

"The astronauts squeeze in

to Columbia's sideways seats,

lying on their backs,

facing toward the sky - 

Neil Armstrong on the left,

Michael Collins on the right,

Buzz Aldrin in the middle."

Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Asking Questions 
Writing Strategies to Practice: Descriptive, Onomatopoeia, Alliteration, Anaphora, Mood, Sentence Complexity
Writing Prompts: Write about what you think the astronauts might have been feeling during different parts of their adventure. 
Topics Covered: Courage, Determination, Trailblazing, Integration - Science 

I *heart* It:

Giant Pandas and Pandas

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and The Nonfiction Detectives. Every Wednesday, I'll review non-fiction picture book. (It may not always be a picture book. Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other non-fiction books are shared this week!

Title: Giant Pandas (Endangered and Threatened Animals) 
Author: Brenda Haugen  
Publisher: Capstone Press 
Publication Date: July 2012  
Genre/Format: Non-Fiction/Informational/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: Describes the life cycle and characteristics of pandas, including physical and environmental threats to the species. 
Snatch of Text: "On a cold, wet mountain in central China, a black and white bear sits in a dimly lit forest. Sunlight streams through the coniferous trees, shining its light on the bamboo growing beneath. The giant panda chews a stalk of the woody grass. Its powerful jaws make quick work of its meal. The panda is in no hurry. The shy animal will move only bout 500 yards (457 meters) all day. Pandas spend most of their waking hours filling their round bellies with bamboo.
     Many species of bamboo grow in the forests. Despite the variety, pandas only like 25 types of bamboo. And only a few are found where pandas call home. But that's not all. Fewer forests mean fewer pandas. This unique bear is disappearing." (p. 4)  

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Title: Pandas (National Geographic Kids) 
Author: Anne Schreiber    
Publisher: National Geographic Children's Books 
Publication Date: January 2010 
Genre/Format: Non-Fiction/Informational/Picture Book  
GoodReads Summary: The whole world loves panda bears. Everyone loves to watch them play, climb, cuddle, and chew. But careful, they can scratch too—just look at that tree! Pandas live in wild places very faraway, and they are the STAR ATTRACTIONS of every zoo that keeps them safe and well, all over the world.  
Snatch of Text: "Bamboo for breakfast, bamboo for lunch, bamboo for dinner, and bamboo to munch. What do pandas eat? You guessed it - bamboo! It makes up almost all of a panda's diet." (p. 12) 

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What I Think: I learned so much about giant pandas and red pandas even. These books work well separately but also together. We read the National Geographic book first, it's more of an introduction to pandas and their habits and habitats. There are some panda jokes throughout the book that were amusing. Overall, this book is more colorful and visually appealing.
     Giant Pandas is a more specific resource that shares more information about the giant pandas being endangered, what is being done to support them, and what readers can do to help. It also has a few great visuals that help readers understand the information that is being presented. While the colors are more muted, there is a great map that shows how the size of the pandas' habitat has changed from prehistoric times until now and a comparison of how big a giant panda actually is to a six-foot-tall man. The text features in this book seemed to be much more helpful and clear.
     Pandas are completely adorable, the photographs of the pandas in both of the books are wonderful and charming. They seem to capture the true gentle spirit of pandas. By reading both of these, we learned a lot about pandas. While I knew they ate lots of bamboo and that there are not many pandas left, I didn't quite understand just how much bamboo they really eat or how few pandas there are in the world. Sharing these two books is a great way to compare two resources and then to head off to do more research to find other resources to compare. Students could research more information about pandas or even learn more about endangered animals and the impact humans are having on animal habitats and animals in general.
Read Together: Grades K - 6 
Read Alone: Grades K - 6 
Read With: Can We Save the Tiger by Martin Jenkins, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Asking Questions, Author's Purpose, Using Non-Fiction Text Features
Writing Strategies to Practice: Expository, Persuasive, Compare and Contrast 
Writing Prompts: After reading about pandas, write a persuasive argument to convince readers to support pandas or other endangered animals in some way.  
Topics Covered: Integration - Science, Endangered Animals, Compassion, Integration - Social Studies 

Swirl by Swirl - Must Read Mentor Texts!

Each week Stacia and Amanda at Collaboration Cuties host a Must-Read Mentor Texts link-up. There is a different theme focus every week throughout the month and blogs can link up on Sundays. I'll be rotating through reviews of different mentor texts for language arts, math, science, and social studies. You can check out their blog for previous link-ups to connect with other mentor texts they have shared and other bloggers have reviewed, too. 

Title: Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature 

Author: Joyce Sidman 

Illustrator: Beth Krommes 

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children 

Publication Date: October, 2011 

Genre/Format: Non-Fiction/Picture Book 

GoodReads Summary: A Caldecott medalist and a Newbery Honor-winning poet celebrate the beauty and value of spirals.What makes the tiny snail shell so beautiful? Why does that shape occur in nature over and over again but also celebrate the beauty and usefulness of this fascinating shape. 

What I Think:  Have you ever noticed that kids seem to notice things that adults often overlook? I'm not sure if it's because kids are taking things in in a different way than we are, but I feel like they spot things differently, and especially if they've been made aware of something. Thinking about how the brain works, I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that they are collecting information and trying to make connections between new information and information they already have so they are hyper aware of these things. I'm honestly not sure, but I do know that I've had enough experiences with kids noticing things after I've mentioned it. Reading Swirl by Swirl and pointing out swirls to kids makes them notice them more and more. It's awesome to hear how they notice swirls or other patterns and love to come up and share what they have found. I particularly love this book as a mentor text for helping kids slow down and notice the world around them. There are swirls all around us but we might notice them if we aren't looking. It's amazing what we do notice when we slow down and observe the world in a different way. This is really where writing should start, as writers, we need to stop and open our eyes to the world around us. There are so many stories just waiting to be written if we only take the time to notice what is happening around us. It might be something in nature that inspires the setting of a story or maybe even something we notice that could become a poem or spur research for expository text. I just love that this book helps us slow down and notice patterns around us.
     I love the artwork in this book and the beautiful language used to describe the swirls. This book can actually be used as a math mentor text or a science mentor text. I remember learning about Fibonacci numbers and thinking they were so fascinating. In math, this is a great way to introduce Fibonacci numbers or patterns in general. Students could look at different image or photos and in pairs count and see if they can recognize the Fibonacci pattern. For science, the book shows plants in animal in nature that kids could learn more about. Students might discover an animal they want to read more about and can research and write about that animal. In this sense, I think this book would match so well with Kate Messner's Over and Under the Snow. 

Read Together: Grades Pre-K - 6

Read Alone: Grades Pre-K - 6

Read With: Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner, What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins, Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool

Snatch of Text:  "A spiral is a growing shape. It starts small and gets bigger, swirl by swirl."

Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Asking Questions

Writing Strategies to Practice: Descriptive, Alliteration, Expository

Writing Prompts: Take a nature walk or sit outside and observe the nature around you. Describe what you see with your five senses. Do you notice any swirls or other patterns around you?

Topics Covered: Integration - Math - Patterns, Fibonacci, Integration - Science - Nature, Discovery, Observation

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Brothers at Bat - #NFPB13

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and The Nonfiction Detectives. Every Wednesday, I'll review non-fiction picture book. (It may not always be a picture book. Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other non-fiction books are shared this week!

Title: Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team 
Author: Audrey Vernick 
Illustrator: Steven Salerno 
Publisher: Clarion Books 
Publication Date: April 2012 
Genre/Format: Non-Fiction Narrative/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: The Acerra family had sixteen children, including twelve ball-playing boys. It was the 1930s, and many families had lots of kids. But only one had enough to field a baseball team . . . with three on the bench! The Acerras were the longest-playing all-brother team in baseball history. They loved the game, but more important, they cared for
and supported each other and stayed together as a team. Nothing life threw their way could stop them.

Full of action, drama, and excitement, this never-before-told true story is vividly brought to life by Audrey Vernick’s expert storytelling and Steven Salerno’s stunning vintage-style art.  
What I Think: Reading this book had me simultaneously wanting to be a kid again, ready to run out and play baseball, and wishing I had oodles of brothers. The artwork does a great job of bringing the story that Audrey tells to life. One image that sticks with me is when all the brothers are running out of the houses to play baseball. It was like I was watching them rush out of the door, hearing the screen door slam behind them as they wooshed by. There are more and more non-fiction picture book biographies popping up but I like that this book isn't about just one person, it's about all the brothers and how they worked together and were all bonded by baseball. They had moments of adversity, but by supporting each other, they persevered. I find it admirable to see how loyal they were to each other but also how passionate they were about baseball.
     The girl in me desperately wants to know that their sisters were up to while the boys were playing baseball...even if they weren't playing baseball, I'm sure they were involved or at least up to something themselves. I'm so curious about that!
     I'm really excited to hopefully use this book with a group of middle schoolers this year. At the beginning of the year, they will be focusing on expository writing and I'm going to use this as a jumping off kind of mentor text as well as possibly a mentor text for looking at how we use commas. I really like how narrative non-fiction draws a reader in and this book seems to prompt so many different opportunities to branch off into research: baseball, history of baseball, brothers playing baseball, war, sports in general, etc. I think this is a great text to use to talk about how we have to do research and let research lead us. Recently, I gathered a stack of non-fiction books to start brainstorming ideas for my own non-fiction narrative picture book biography and just checking out the books and seeing what has already been written about the subject I'm interested in is a great first step. Like Chris Lehman talks about in his book on research, Energize, we have to help kids venture into seeing what research is there and making adjustments in topics based on what they discover is out there. I love the possibilities for kicking of a research project with Brothers at Bat.
Read Together: Grades K - 12 
Read Alone: Grades 2 - 12 
Read With: Here Come the Girl Scouts and Players in Pigtails by Shana Corey, We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson
Snatch of Text: 
     "But there was no jealousy, no rivalry, no fighting. As the younger brothers grew up, the older ones shared playing time. If someone dropped a fly ball or struck out, no one screamed or threw down his glove or stomped off the field.
     'We stuck together,' Freddie said."
Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Asking Questions, Visualizing 
Writing Strategies to Practice: Expository, Informational, Personal Narrative, Commas (series), AAAWWUBBIS, Repetition 
Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you felt part of a team, whether you were working with family or friends. Do research on baseball and create an informational text to share what you learned about baseball (get creative about what format you use to share your information).  
Topics Covered:  Family, Friendship, Baseball, Integration - History, Teamwork, Determination, Integration - Sports, Adversity

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