Whatcha Wanna Do? - Friends and Small Moments

Britt Hawthorne is one of my most favorite people to learn from. I follow her on Instagram and am a Patron on Patreon because I appreciate everything she shares. This week she shared a spoken word poem from Phil Kaye called "Before the Internet" that is pure gold to a literacy teacher. 

In his poem, Phil shares a small moment. A small moment with his friend during summer back in the 90's before the Internet. It's a perfect nine-year-old memory that I think a lot of students might relate to, even if they are kids living during a pandemic in 2020 with the Internet. 

I'm definitely going to share Phil's poem with my students but I'm going to preface it by showing the following clip from Disney's The Jungle Book where the vultures are sitting around trying to think of something to do. 

  

Both the Disney artists and Phil Kaye found something so universal, sitting around with friends trying to think of something to do, and made it interesting by adding super specific details. The vultures joke about waiting for something to die and how they'd be happy about that and Phil talks about watching Indiana Jones and wanting to pretend they could be as cool as he is. Two similar moments with two different stories that make them unique. 

It made me think of this poem "Instructions on Listening to the Trees" from Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice by Mahogany L. Browne with Elizabeth Acevedo and Olivia Gatwood. This poem is about going outside and taking a moment to breathe and listen. It's about noticing how we are part of something bigger than us. I think Phil's poem is sort of about this too. It's about recognizing a small moment and writing about it in such a way that it's obvious that he paid attention.  

I'm excited to start off the school year with these texts and to invite students to think about their lives and to pay attention to the small moments and to notice the world around them. This year I'm being super intentional about choosing texts that match and pair together to help students think more deeply about the concepts we're discussing and about themselves as learners and humans. 

If you have any texts that you think would pair well with the ones I shared here, please share!

Jason Mamoa and Identity Webs #exploringidentity

I'm diving into learning on the very first day of school! This summer I read Sara Ahmed's Being The Change and truly loved her identity web lesson. My students are 7th and 8th graders so I wanted to pick a text that would catch their attention. I looked at the texts Sara suggests in Being The Change but ultimately decided to go with a digital text that I found from Katherine Sokolowski's blog post: Building Relationships at the Start of the Year. 

Katherine shared this Carhartt Handemade Film about Jason Mamoa called Canvas of My Life. I love it for lots of reasons and had already planned to show it as part of a community building art project but as I was thinking about identity, I realized this movie fits perfectly with Sara's identity web lesson. Here it is so you can watch it for yourself:

I'll ask students to watch and notice what we learn about Jason Mamoa and who he is. Based on Sara's lesson, we'll create an identity web for Jason based on evidence we find in the text, then I'll create one for myself, and finally, they'll have time to discuss and create their own identity webs. I'm toooootally simplifying this so you'll have to get a copy of Being The Change so you can read Sara explain this lesson in much more detail. 

Building students' awareness of themselves and their identity is super important to me but I want my students to grow their understanding of how we fit into communities we belong to as well. Using this video for our identity webs will be a great foundation for our shared art project that invites students to develop their identity as a classroom community/team. More on that soon!

Posted Blog Tour and Giveaway!

Thank you to Walden Pond Press 

for sending me a copy of Posted to review 

and for providing a copy of the book 

for me to giveaway! (Details below!)

I'm thrilled to be part of the blog tour for John David Anderson's next novel: Posted! This is a must-read, must-share for middle school!

Title: Posted
Author: John David Anderson
Publisher: Walden Pond Press
Publication Date: May 2nd, 2017
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Novel
GoodReads Summary: From John David Anderson, author of the acclaimed Ms. Bixby’s Last Day, comes a humorous, poignant, and original contemporary story about bullying, broken friendships, and the failures of communication between kids.

In middle school, words aren’t just words. They can be weapons. They can be gifts. The right words can win you friends or make you enemies. They can come back to haunt you. Sometimes they can change things forever.

When cell phones are banned at Branton Middle School, Frost and his friends Deedee, Wolf, and Bench come up with a new way to communicate: leaving sticky notes for each other all around the school. It catches on, and soon all the kids in school are leaving notes—though for every kind and friendly one, there is a cutting and cruel one as well.

In the middle of this, a new girl named Rose arrives at school and sits at Frost’s lunch table. Rose is not like anyone else at Branton Middle School, and it’s clear that the close circle of friends Frost has made for himself won’t easily hold another. As the sticky-note war escalates, and the pressure to choose sides mounts, Frost soon realizes that after this year, nothing will ever be the same.  
What I Think: Oh, middle school. As I was reading Posted, I thought about Rebecca Stead's Goodbye Stranger and Geoff Herbach's Stupid Fast. Each of these books has a main character that learns about him or herself through navigating relationships with others. What I love about Posted is that the description puts you right into middle school again. It's just so specific but such an example of showing and not telling at the same time.

Credit: Sophia of Walden Media Tumblr

     Last week, I was asked to conference with an 8th grade writer about a story he was working on in writer's workshop. I read through his piece and I realized he needed to know his character a little bit more so he could show his readers who this character really was and why we should want to go along on his story with him. This is something I think John David Anderson does so well. Each character has depth. He knows everything about the characters who impact Frost's story and he brings them to life. One of the snatches of text is an example of a super secret secret that Frost has. I asked my 8th grade writer friend what was the worst thing that ever happened to his main character and what was the best thing that ever happened to him. He wasn't sure. But as a writer, you have to be sure. You have to know what makes them tick. John David Anderson knows that Frost has his writing deep down in him but that it's nothing he wants anyone to know anything about. 
     The second snatch of text speaks to middle school and pretty much captures the experience of middle school. I'm sure students can relate and might even feel some solace to know they aren't alone. This snatch of a text would be a great to share and invite students to join in and write their own metaphor about middle school but then continue to describe it.  

Credit: Sophia of Walden Media Tumblr

Snatch of Text: "Some things are better kept to yourself. I don't share my poems with anyone. Not even Bench or Wolf or DeeDee. Not because I'm afraid of what they would think. I mean, we play Dungeons & Dragons. It's hard to be embarrassed when it's the four of us. I just prefer not to share. We all need something that's ours. A thing that we know absolutely about ourselves that others can only guess at.
     One day, I think, when I'm good enough, I will pull the notebook from its hiding spot beneath the mattress and open it up for others to see." (p.72)

     "Middle school is a minefield. Deciding who to like and not like and who to follow and who to ignore completely. Worrying that you're going to trip while walking down the hall and sprawl all over the floor like a beached starfish. Wondering if you should raise your hand when the teacher asks a hard question and risk exposing your nerdiness for the sake of a few bonus points. Taking every sideways glance as a message, trying to crack the code. Every day you're bound to do something that gets you noticed by the wrong people. Every day you're bound to step somewhere you shouldn't." (p. 99)
Writing Prompt: Choose a time in the book when Frost is thinking about what it means to be a friend and explain how you relate to Frost or describe what he is learning about friendship.

Be sure to visit other stops on the Posted blog tour!

April 17: Librarian's Quest

Walden Media Tumblr

April 18: Nerdy Book Club

April 19: For Those About to Mock

April 20: Teach Mentor Texts

April 21: Unleashing Readers

April 22: Next Best Book
Read, Write, Reflect
April 23: Bluestocking Thinking

April 24: Litcoach Lou

Book Monsters

April 25: Kirsti Call

April 26: Educate-Empower-Inspire-Teach

April 27: The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

Ms Yingling Reads

April 28: Maria's Mélange 

Novel Novice

April 29:The Hiding Spot

April 30:This Kid Reviews Books

And don't forget to enter the giveaway for your chance to win!

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Good Morning Yoga Review and Giveaway!

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 Yoga by 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. 

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(Giveaways at every stop!)

Wed, Feb 24	Teach Mentor Texts	http://www.teachmentortexts.com/#axzz3yHmVeUfE
Fri, Feb 26	Where Imagination Grows	http://whereimaginationgrows.com/
Mon, Feb 29	A Rup Life	http://www.aruplife.com/
Tues, Mar 1	Proseandkahn	http://proseandkahn.blogspot.com/
Wed, Mar 2	Kid Lit Frenzy	http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/
Thurs, Mar 3	5 Minutes for Books	http://books.5minutesformom.com/
Fri, Mar 4	Once Upon a Story	http://mariaburel.com/
Mon, Mar 7	Wrapped in Foil	http://blog.wrappedinfoil.com/
Tues, Mar 8	Sharpread	https://sharpread.wordpress.com/
Wed, Mar 9	A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust	http://www.foodiebibliophile.com/
Thurs, Mar 10	Unleashing Readers	http://www.unleashingreaders.com/
Fri, Mar 11	Children's Book Review	http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/
Tues, Mar 15	The Library Fanatic	http://www.thelibraryfanatic.com/

*Thanks to Blue Slip Media for 

a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review 

and the opportunity to offer the giveaway above!*

Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova

Title: Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova 
Author: Laurel Snyder  
Illustrator: Julie Morstad 
Publisher: Chronicle Books 
Publication Date: August 18th, 2015 
Genre/Format: Non-Fiction Biography/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: The world is big.
Anna is small.
The snow is
everywhere
and all around.
But one night . . .
One night, her mother takes her to the ballet, and everything is changed. Anna finds a beauty inside herself that she cannot contain.So begins the journey of a girl who will one day grow up to be the most famous prima ballerina of all time, inspiring legions of dancers after her: the brave, the generous, the transcendently gifted Anna Pavlova.  
What I Think: Words, words, words. I love words. But I especially love words that are strung together in such a way that they feel like art. Don't get me wrong, all words are art, but sometimes, words just envelope me and pull me into a sort of dream-like fairy tale just from how they are put together. Laurel Snyder's words do just that. As they tell Anna Pavlova's story, it feels like being sweetly tugged into a dance. Julie Morstad's art adds to the story, gently ushering the reader into the story woven by the text. It all just works together to make for an amazing book.
     Teaching tone and mood isn't easy. It's a little easier to recognize it as a reader than it is to write. But it all starts with reading and recognizing what authors have done differently. By looking at at least two different texts, readers can see the difference. Once they can see the difference, then you can invite them to zone in and notice what the author has done differently. And from there, you can invite them to try what the author has done in their own writing. Maybe they add some figurative language. Maybe they break up words or phrases or add figurative language in a very purposeful way. It's fun to play with words and to see what happens and using books like Swan as a mentor text really help writers see what is possible and find ways to write like that too.
Read Together: Grades 2 - 6  
Read Alone: Grades 2 - 4 
Read With: Enormous Smallness: A Story of e.e. cummings by Matthew Burgess and illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo, The Cosmo Biography of Sun Ra by Chris Raschka, The Sky Painter: Louis Fuertes, Bird Artist by Margarita Engle and illustrated by Aliona Bereghici, The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant and illustratd by Melissa Sweet, Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix by Gary Golio and illustrated by Javaka Steptoe
Snatch of Text: 

"Something is happening...

There's a swell of strings,

a scurry of skirts.

A hiss and a hum and...

HUSH!

It's

all

beginning!"  

Writing Prompts: Write about something you feel strongly about sharing with others. What might you do to help share your passion with others?
Topics Covered: Family, Dreams, Determination, Courage 

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Crenshaw

Title: Crenshaw 
Author: Katherine Applegate 
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends 
Publication Date: September 22nd, 2015 
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Novel 
GoodReads Summary: In her first novel since winning the Newbery Medal, Katherine Applegate delivers an unforgettable and magical story about family, friendship, and resilience.

Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. There's no more money for rent. And not much for food, either. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again.

Crenshaw is a cat. He's large, he's outspoken, and he's imaginary. He has come back into Jackson's life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?Beloved author Katherine Applegate proves in unexpected ways that friends matter, whether real or imaginary. 
What I Think: As soon as I got home from Nerdcamp, I wanted to read this with Peanut right away. I read it aloud to him and we spent time thinking through the story and what was happening. He loves The One and Only Ivan and was captured by Crenshaw right away but the abstractness of Crenshaw himself made it a little more difficult to process. But Katherine Applegate does an amazing job of bringing the characters to life and allowing readers to connect with them by so carefully telling their story. I started to grab my favorite snatches of text and had to stop because there are just so many wonderful words in this story. Katherine's words just pack so much punch. They are powerful.
     I led a session on descriptive writing in non-fiction this summer at Nerdcamp. I shared one of my favorite NPR segments by Frank Deford called "Don't Overlook The Unsung Umpire; Referees Can Be Pretty, Too". His description is remarkable and listening to him read his words truly brings strong images to mind. The power of descriptive writing is that it allows readers to visualize and feel as though they are there in the moment, seeing what the author sees, feeling what the author or character feels. Stopping to marvel at amazing writing is a great opportunity invite students to look at writing that moves them and to notice what the author is doing. I would take time to stop and relish in Katherine's words while reading Crenshaw while at the same time thinking about the characters, making connections and inferring how they might be feeling. Crenshaw is a book that I love, but this can be done with any text - even any sentence - that you like from something you have read. But Katherine has a knack for describing how characters are feeling and helping you truly feel what they feel so I would zone in on that with Crenshaw.
     I'm thrilled that our local independent bookstore is participating in the Crenshaw Nationwide Food Drive. Reading about a main character who was homeless and may be homeless again really helped my kids to think through what this might be like. They asked lots of great questions that showed me how much they were processing Jackson's life and his story. I'm happy to see Katherine bring attention to homelessness in our country. It's a good reminder to everyone that we might not know someone's story and that it's important to try and learn more about what people meet have dealt with or are dealing with and to show compassion by doing so. I believe that in telling our stories and listening to others' stories, we are better able to work together and accomplish more.
Read Together: Grades 2 - 6 
Read Alone: Grades 3 - 7 
Read With: Yard Sale by Eve Bunting with illustrations by Lauren Castillo, Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson with illustrations by E.B. Lewis, Hope is a Ferris Wheel by Robin Herrera, Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell, Paperboy by Vince Vawter 
Snatch of Text: 
     "It was late June, nice and warm, but I shivered.
     I felt the way you do the instant before you leap into the deep end of a pool.
     You're on your way to somewhere else. You're not there yet. But you know there's no turning back." (p. 5)

     "Maybe that's why I liked the name Crenshaw. It felt like a blank piece of paper before you draw on it.
     It was an anything-is-possible kind of name." (p. 27)

     "The sun was beginning to set. The sky was tiger-colored, with stripes of black clouds." (p. 36)

     "'There's no such thing as magic,' I said.
     'Music is magic,' said my mom.
     'Love is magic,' said my dad.
     'Rabbits in a hat are magic,' said Robin.
     'I would put Krispy Kreme donuts in the magic category,' said my dad.
     'How about the smell of a new baby?' asked my mom.
     'Kitties are magic!' Robin yelled.
     'Indeed,' said my dad, scratching Aretha's ear, 'And don't forget dogs.'" (p. 38)     

Writing Prompts: Write about something you would want to know the truth about. Even if it would be hard to know or hard to deal with, something that you would rather know about than not. 
Topics Covered: Family, Friendship, Perseverance, Courage, Determination, Growing Up, Adversity 

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Enormous Smallness

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: Enormous Smallness: A Story of E. E. Cummings
Author: Matthew Burgess 
Illustrator: Kris Di Giacomo 
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books 
Publication Date: April 7th, 2015 
Genre/Format: Non-Fiction Biography/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: Enormous Smallness is a nonfiction picture book about the poet E.E. cummings. Here E.E.'s life is presented in a way that will make children curious about him and will lead them to play with words and ask plenty of questions as well. Lively and informative, the book also presents some of Cummings's most wonderful poems, integrating them seamlessly into the story to give the reader the music of his voice and a spirited, sensitive introduction to his poetry.
     In keeping with the epigraph of the book -- "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are," Matthew Burgess's narrative emphasizes the bravery it takes to follow one's own vision and the encouragement E.E. received to do just that. 
What I Think: ee cummings is such a well-known poet and deservedly so. He played with words and structure in poetry in such a creative way and I love reading his poems. Last summer while I was in Boston, I visited Forest Hill Cemetery and tracked down his grave. I blogged about how awesome it was to stand there and read aloud one of his poems. As I read Enormous Smallness, I felt the magic of being in the cemetery in Boston all over again. Burgess plays with words and incorporates cummings' own poetry into the text in such a way that it feels woven into his own words. At the same time, Di Giacomo does an excellent job of representing words visually, helping bring meaning to life. 
     I love everything about this book. The writing is descriptive and powerful. Matched with the illustrations, it certainly brings a certain tone and mood to the text that matches both ee cummings himself but also the time period. 
     As a mentor text, I would definitely use this book to discuss how and author's word choice impacts tone and mood. In general, this book is a discussion on descriptive writing and author's craft waiting to happen. In the snatch of text I've pulled here, you can easily talk about metaphor and onomatopoeia but also rhythm and how sentence structure impacts that...but this is just one piece of text from one page in the book. It's definitely a book to be reread over and over just to soak in and savor all the textual and visual mastery here.
Read Together:  Grades 2 - 12 
Read Alone: Grades 2 - 12 
Read With: Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People by Monica Brown, Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow by Gary Golio, The Cosmobiography of Sun Ra: The Sound of Joy Is Enlightening by Chris Raschka, The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant
Snatch of Text:

"As Estlin grew, he drew many pictures

from the great circus of his imagination.

But even more than drawing

elephants, trees, and birds,

Estlin LOVED WORDS.

What words say and how they sound and look.

He loved the way they hum, buzz, POP, and swish."

Writing Prompts: In the book, Estlin made up his first poem after seeing a bird outside of his bedroom window. The author writes, "From his bedroom window, Estlin could see enormous apple and cherry trees." Write about what you see outside your bedroom window or maybe use you imagination and write about what you wish you could see outside of your bedroom window.
Topics Covered: Family, Inspiration, Imagination, Creativity 

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The Sky Painter Blog Tour and Giveaway!

Title: The Sky Painter: Louis Fuertes, Bird Artist 
Author: Margarita Engle 
Illustrator: Aliona Bereghici 
Publisher: Two Lions 
Publication Date: April 28th, 2015 
Genre/Format: Non-Fiction/Poetry/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: Louis loves to watch birds. He takes care of injured birds and studies how they look and how they move. His father wants him to become an engineer, but Louis dreams of being a bird artist. To achieve this dream, he must practice, practice, practice. He learns from the art of John James Audubon. But as Louis grows up, he begins to draw and paint living, flying birds in their natural habitats.

Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1874–1927) is now known as the father of modern bird art. He traveled with many scientific expeditions all over the world. His best-known works—paintings for habitat exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History in New York—are still beloved by visitors today. His art helped to encourage wildlife conservation, inspiring people to celebrate and protect the world of wings.Poems by Newbery Honor–winning author Margarita Engle and illustrations by Aliona Bereghici capture the life of Louis Fuertes and the deep sense of wonder that he felt when he painted the sky.   
What I Think: Before reading Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt, I didn't know much about John James Audubon. Because Audubon's artwork plays such a key role in that book, I learned how influential he was. Bereghici's artwork in The Sky Painter is beautiful and unique. She has a way of making the vibrant colors sound soft and gentile like the birds she portrays in the illustrations.

I really like how Engle used poetry to break up the story, creating purposeful pauses between pieces of the story. They lyrical text works so well as poems and she offers a variety of samples of descriptive writing to look at. In the snatch of text alone, readers can look at alliteration, rhythm, simile, and metaphor.   

Poetry also offers a great opportunity to look at word choice. Because poetry naturally limits the number of words, it's critical that each word have a purpose. By paying attention to Engle's word choice, we can look at how they create an image that the reader can visualize. Recognizing this connection between reading and writing is helpful as a reader practices good reading strategies as much as for a writer practicing incorporating literary elements to help the reader be able to visualize. 
Read Together: Grade K - 6 
Read Alone: Grade 2 - 6 
Read With: She's Wearing a Dead Bird On Her Head by Kathryn Lasky, Look Up! by Annette LeBlanc Cate 
Snatch of Text:  

Alaska

"I whistle.

Birds answer.

I follow.

Blue shadows.

White snow.

Clear ice.

The beauty

of flight

like a dance

in the clouds,

a graceful ballet

of wild swans." 

Writing Prompts: Using what you know about descriptive writing to write about something you have observed in nature.  
Topics Covered: Integration - Science, Integration - Art, Nature, Passion, Admiration, Family  
Additional Resources: Margarita Engle is a Cuban American poet and novelist whose work has been published in many countries. Her books include The Poet Slave of Cuba, winner of the Pura Belpré Award for narrative and the Américas Award; The Surrender Tree, a Newbery Honor book; Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian, a Kirkus Best Book for Children; and The Lightning Dreamer, Cuba’s Greatest Abolitionist, winner of the 2014 PEN Center USA Literary Award for Young Adult/Children’s Literature. Margarita lives in California, where she enjoys bird-watching and helping her husband with his volunteer work for wilderness search-and-rescue dog training programs. To learn more, and to download a free activity kit for THE SKY  PAINTER, visit: www.margaritaengle.com.

Today happens to be Poetry Friday so hop on over to No Water River for other poetry posts!

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Mon, Apr 20	Library Fanatic	http://www.thelibraryfanatic.com/
Tues, Apr 21	Kid Lit Frenzy	http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/
Wed, Apr 22	Unleashing Readers	http://www.unleashingreaders.com/
Thurs, Apr 23	5 Minutes for Books	http://books.5minutesformom.com/
Fri, Apr 24	Teach Mentor Texts	http://www.teachmentortexts.com/#axzz3DP0vkvgi
Sat, Apr 25	Booking Mama	http://www.bookingmama.net/
Mon, Apr 27	Sharpread	http://mrcolbysharp.com/
Tues, Apr 28	The Children's Book Review	http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/
Wed, Apr 29	Cracking the Cover	http://www.crackingthecover.com/
Thurs, Apr 30	A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust	http://www.foodiebibliophile.com/
Fri, May 1	Archimedes Notebook	http://archimedesnotebook.blogspot.com

*Thanks to Blue Slip Media for 

a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review 

and the opportunity to offer this giveaway!*