Teacher Book

Many of the books I blog about are stories that I wanted to read simply because I wanted to read them.  I find that children's stories are often captivating, whimsical, and just the break from reality I need.  I am currently training to be a teacher so, apart from being enjoyable, this project has also served as a way for me to build up a database of books I can use with my students.  Today's book, Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman, falls firmly into the category of teacher book.

As long time readers of the blog will know, I am not particularly fond of poetry (with some notable exceptions), so I put off reading this book and choose instead to start with books I found more appealing. But now as I am nearing the end of my Newbery readings I decided it was time to give this book a try. 

First I must note that this book is meant to be read aloud.  As the title implies, these are poems written for two readers; sometimes the readers alternate and sometimes they read in unison.  This makes it slightly difficult to read the book and I found myself wishing for a partner I could read aloud with. I was slightly surprised to find that all of the poems are about bugs.  From grasshoppers to book lice and everything in between each poem focuses on a specific bug.  Who would have guessed that the joyful noises were actually insect sounds.

 The entire time I was reading this book I couldn't stop thinking, "this would be great for teaching!" Reading with a partner is incredibly motivating, even for students who are struggling readers.  These poems could be used as performance pieces which would mean students need to read them over and over again (in fancy reading specialist talk we call that repeated reading and it's quite effective in improving overall reading performance).  The poems are filled with different language strategies, rhyme, alliteration, metaphors, just to name a few-and the focus on bugs makes it more appealing to boys.  As hesitent as I was to read this book, I can now say without a doubt that this will definitely be a book I use in my classroom. 

Finding a use...that's kids stuff

Coincidence?

The book I am blogging about today is not the book I planned to blog about.  My intent was to read one of the shorter Newbery winners during work and then blog later this evening but as you will soon see today's post is centered around a Caldecott winner.

With all of the Christmas festivities I have not read as many Caldecott books to the girls because we have been caught up in Christmas crafts.  Since I am officially out of ideas of things a 5 year old can make out of construction paper that are Christmasy, I loaded the girls into the minivan and headed to Barnes and Noble for their Thursday morning story time.  That sounds easy enough but if you have ever tried going anywhere with a 5 year old and a 2 year old you know nothing is that easy.  Add to that a tumble in the parking lot and a wait in the cafe for chocolate milk, complete with tears, by the time we got to the kids section we were all desperate for a story.

I sensed a similar desperation from the parents/grandparents of the 6-8 other toddlers who were there.  Imagine our despair when a Barnes and Noble worker announced there is no story time today.  Amidst the groans and sighs one mother said, "if only someone could just read a story" (I am not exaggerating she actually said that).  Well that's when I grabbed the two closest books and said, "gather round boys and girls I am going to read us some stories."

The parents could all relax the kids settled into their seats and I picked up the first book. It was then that I noticed the Caldecott medal on the cover.  The book I had randomly chosen was Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express.  Not only does this book have a delightful Christmas message about believing, but it is filled with beautiful pictures.  What is really fascinating about these pictures is that they do not necessarily convey the most pertinent details of the corresponding text, but they do clearly convey the tone and feeling of that text.  Speaking of text there were quite a few words per page, typically hard for younger children to focus on, but this story kept every single child captivated.

I highly recommend adding this book to your holiday collection. The simple story of a boy who gets caught up in all of the wonder of Christmas and manages to hold on to that belief throughout his entire life was exactly the kind of story those children wanted to hear...and it was exactly the story all of the desperate adults needed to hear.

Continuing to believe...that's kids stuff.

Good Hearted

Robert Lawson's Rabbit Hill has a rather misleading title.  When I say the title Rabbit Hill you will probably guess that the book is all about rabbits who live on a hill.  Or, if your brain takes you a different direction, you may think the book is all about things that happen at a place called Rabbit Hill.  There are in fact rabbits who live on the Hill but to say this story is solely about these two things would be quite the understatement. 

I guessed that this book would be all about rabbits who live on a hill so I was plesantly surprised to find that the story goes much deeper than that.  This is a story of change and understanding, of predictions and surprises and of family and healing.  The rabbit family as well as the surrounding woodland creatures have lived on the Hill for generations.  There is a house with a garden on the premises but no human has lived there for years.  That all changes one day when a new family comes in.

What follows is a story of ingenuity and trust as the animals try to learn just what kind of people these new humans are and the humans try to win the trust of the animals.  You see these are not your average humans, they are unfailingly generous, overwhelmingly kind, and full of love for every animal who crosses their path. Yet another heartwarming read for the holidays.

This book carries a, "be kind to animals," message without being preachy.  The animals become real and relatable in a way that does not make humans feel unapproachable.  This book is a delightful weaving of fantasy and reality done in so nice a way that you really wish it could be true.

Kindness and caring-even to animals...that's kids stuff

Surprising

Eric Rohmann's My Friend Rabbit is the tale of a rabbit who means well but "everywhere he goes trouble follows."  This books gentle humor makes it really fun to read to kids.  Eva and Leya loved seeing all of the shennanagins that rabbit gets into.  Rohmann has beautifully illustrated each page with vibrant pictures that are almost cartoon-like which helps add to the fun of the book. 

When I asked Eva what she thought of the book and she said that it was "surprising." Confused I asked why.  She replied, "becuase some pages have words and some don't-that's surprising."   I realized she was right.  This story is told equally through text and picture, so much so that I didn't even realize some pages did not have text.  The two worked so perfectly together that when the text resumed it fit perfectly with the narrative I had created in my head.

The jacket describes these illustrations as, "robust, wonderfully expressive hand-colored relief prints-the perfect vehicle for a simple, heartfelt tale about childhood."  I recently wrote a paper on teaching children to create illustrations that fit the stories they write.  This book is a perfect example of how a style of illustration and the materials used to create that illutration can actually enhance the meaning of the book.

Getting into shennanigans...that's kids stuff.

I Love Christmas

Let me just come out and say it.  I love Christmas more than any other holiday, I love Christmas more than any other person I have ever met.  If you could see my tiny studio apartment you would think there had been some sort of Christmas explosion and I love it that way.  One of the things I love about Christmas is all of the heartwarming stories, and songs, and pictures and all of those wonderful things.  I know some people may find it sappy or trite but I love the comfort of a good Christmas story.

Virginia Sorensen's Miracles on Maple Hill is not technically a Christmas story but it contains all of the elements I love about Christmas.  Miracles on Maple Hill is the story of young Marly the year her family moved from the city to the country.  Marly's father has just returned from the war and he has returned much changed.  In a last effort to regain their old piece the whole family moves to the small cottage where Marly's mother spent her summers growing up-Maple Hill. 

This isn't just the story of one man's recovery (ok I didn't give that much away, I said I loved it becuase it had all the things I loved about Christmas you should have been able to guess it had a happy ending).  It is the story of a family, of their journey, the friends that they make and the lessons they learn along the way. One of my favorite parts of the story was the relationship between Marly and her brother Joe.  Joe is the all-knowing older brother whom Marly adores and I loved seeing the way the two itneracted.

This story is filled with heart.  So much so that at other times of the year I may write it off as being too sappy, but this close to Christmas it was exactly the kind of story I wanted to hear.  That's one of the most special things about Christmas.  Christmas means that we don't all have to pretend to be tough, we can all admit we're people who love happy endings and sweet sappy stories. 

Loving a sappy story...that's kids stuff.

Freedom

As a Penn State student I am deeply saddened by the events of this past week.  The whole campus is swallowed in an air of defeat and shame and the strong media presence has made it impossible to regain any sense of normalcy.  That being said, Penn State will rise above this and the students are doing all that they can to make things right.  We will keep calm and fight on.  We are still and always Penn State.

There are a lot of places to turn for comfort during times like these and one place I always go is to to books.  In books you can experience other worlds and just escape.  Or, as is the case in Elizabeth Yates Amos Fortune Free Man, you can be reminded that you are not the only one who has struggles and it is possible to rise above.

This book tells the story of Amos Fortune, born At-mun, who was born a tribal king in Africa only to be captured and made a slave in America.  Amos had the good fortune, if being bought can be called good fortune, to be bought by a kind Quaker family.  This family treated him kindly and taught him a trade and also how to read.  Once the father of that family died Amos worked and lived with a tanner and eventually earned his freedom.

"It does a man no good to be free until he learns how to live."  These wise words from Amos are the perfect way to describe his life.  Amos knew how to live, he spent his whole life helping others and his life brought freedom to 4 other people, a huge accomplishment for a man facing bitter racism even as a freeman.  This story is a beautiful example of hope perseverance and triumph.  In times like these we need to be reminded of people like Amos.  People who use their wealth and power to help others and not to deceive and destroy.

Keeping hope in spite of the trial...that's kids stuff. 

That's a True Story???

Mordicai Gerstein's  The Man Who Walked Between the Towers is the thrilling story of Philippe Petit who spent almost an hour walking on a wire between the World Trade Centers.  Somehow Gerstein's illustrations capture both the height and danger that comes with this task as well as the complete joy and freedom felt by Petit.  I was struck by the color.  It's not that the colors were unrealistic or strikingly vibrant, they were just rich and perfectly chosen.  Also two of the pages fold out into gorgeous three page spreads that perfectly mimic the height of the towers.

Eva was completely captivated by this story.  It had all of the glamour of New York City, the suspense of sneaking into buildings, and the thrill of walking on nothing but a thin wire.  Not to mention the fold out pages which are exciting for any age.  About halfway through Eva had a revelation.  "Wait," she said suspiciously, "is this a true story?"  I assured her that this was in fact a true story.  "well that's cheating," Eva declared. Why is this cheating you ask?  Well it's because when someone makes a story they should make up a story they can't just copy what someone else has already done. 

In the end Eva did admit that this was a good story even though it wasn't made up. I would have to agree.   

Finding the joy in true stories...that's kids stuff.

100!!

So Blogger tells me that this is my 100th post.  Wow, who woulda thunk it.  But the books just keep on comin and I thought I would celebrate this momentous occasion with a starteling confession: I was wrong.  I typically consider myself to be a pretty good judge of books, but even beyond that I feel like I am a pretty good judge of what books people will like. Well that was not true for David Wiesner's Flotsam.

This is another wordless book and it is a fascinating look at life in the beach by using pictures within pictures.  It tells the story of an underwater camera through the pictures developed from that camera.  And it's really neat.  Even though I really liked it, I didn't really think that the girls would.  Eva has said that, "it's not really a story unless it has words."

Well man was I wrong.  Both girls absolutely loved it! They were pointing out the details on each page saying, "look a seahorse," "Ooohh mermaids."  Eva said, "wait there's no words, ok." And she immediately put herself in the role of narrator creating a detailed story out of the illustrations (just another proof that illustrations aren't just pretty pictures they are dynamic communicative tools).  Eva and Leya noticed things about the pictures that I hadn't on my first "reading."  In fact everytime I tried to turn the page I was met with cries of "wait, wiat we're not done looking!"

Taking time to really look at the pictures...that's kids stuff

PS. In case you were wondering Flotsam means: something that floats. Here is how the jacket draws you into the book, "If it floats in the ocean, it may wash up on the beach, where someone may find it and be astonished, and share the discovery with someone else."

Call in Sick

I chose to read the girls Philip Stead's A Sick Day for Amos McGee, illustrated by Erin Stead, because they were, well, sick. They loved it but I think I loved it even more.  The illustrations are best described as pencil sketches with an occasional pop and they are simply charming.  I immediately feel in love with every character portrayed in these illustrations and I felt like I knew a little something about them and their personality just based on the way they were sketched.

Not only are the pictures delightful but the story itself has firmly implanted itself into my heart-it's that lovable.  Amos McGee works at the zoo but he always makes time to do something special with each of the animals before the day begins.  But one day Amos is sick and can't go to work.  You have to check out this book to see how all of the animals respond.

Eva was delighted with the story.  We finished the book and chatted about it for a bit before she says, "yeah, it was good but it wasn't real. There's no way that could happen." She then points out all of the impossible things that happen in the book.  When she finishes that she sighs and says, "I wish it could though, I wish that happened when I was sick."  The only response I could come up with was, "me too."  I think we all wish these fantastical things could happen.  It's why kids play pretend so much, because we wish for a world filled with wonder.

My experience with this book didn't stop with the read aloud.  I have several large-scale writing projects this semester (which explains the sporadic posting) and I am working this book into each one.  From this book I could easily create vocabulary lessons, discussions, writing projects, the list goes on and on. The teacher in me loves books like this.  Even if you're not a teacher you should still read this book because it is guaranteed to make you smile.

Making the most of your sick days...that's kids stuff.


PS The author illustrator team for this book are a husband and wife.  They dedicated the book to each other-how cute is that.

Sweet Pain

Charles J Finger's Tales From Silver Lands is a collection of South American Indian stories.  The characters range from giants to witches, undersea people to fairy folk and the tales are a delight to read.  They have all of the wonder of the fairy tales I grew up with but with all of the wonderments of a different culture.  I am familiar with may Greek and Roman myths, and European Fairy Tales but I have never read anything quite like these.  What's great about this book is that it is a colelction of short tales so even if you don't have a lot of time, which is me most of these days, you can still get your story fix (trust me that's a thing, sometimes you just need a good story).

What I love about most tales/legands/whatever you want to call them is that they often contain little nuggets of wisdom.  Just a quick line that may not have a whole lot to do with the story but it makes you stop nonetheless. Tales From Silver Lands  is no exception.

"The truth is what the heart hungers for, the tongue talks of."  What a great way of saying, if you really want something you're going to talk about it-a lot. 

"The joy in their hearts was more like a sweet pain."  We've all had that feeling, but I never knew quite how to describe it until now.

Finding the wisdom in stories...that's kids stuff 

More Than Meets the Eye

Claire Vanderpool's Moon Over Manifest is a tale of discovery. It is the story of Abilene Tucker, a young girl who spends a summer in her father's hometown of Manifest.  Abilene is given the assignment of writing a story, due at the beginning of the next school year.  As she searches for a story to write she finds the story of the town, it's citizens and maybe even a bit of her own story. 

Vanderpool masterfully weaves togher Abilene's present activities, past newspaper articles, and a diviner's stories to create a tale that showcases both the past and the peresent for one unique story.  Everything in this tale is more than meets the eye.  Abilene has spent the first 12 years of her life riding the rails with her father.  Her time in different towns has fostered her belief that there are "universals."  Manifest challenged this notion but this thought remains, "If there is such a thing as a universal-and I wasn't ready to throw all of mine out the window-it's that there is power in a story." 

In fact this whole text is about stories, "the Lord himself knew the power of a good story.  How it can reach out and wrap around a person like a warm blanket."  And that's how it is with a good story.  A good story is one you keep coming back to, one you ponder and mull over for days, one that envelops you and makes you feel something inside.  Moon Over Manifest is most definitely a good story. 

Abeline spends much of her summer working for Mrs. Sadie, the diviner.  One of the best pockets of wisdom Mrs. Sadie gives to Abeline is this, "the person you encounter is often more than the person you see."  Abeline's careful examination of Manifet's past and present proves this to be true.  I don't care how much you've traveled, you will be hard pressed to find a town with more stories than Manifest. 

Taking time to encounter, seeing more than meets the eye...that's kids stuff

Simply Stunning

Those are the only two words that can describe Jerry Pinkney's The Lion and the Mouse.  This is a wordless adaptation of the classic Aesop fable and the illustrations are beyond description.  There is so much detail, emotion, heart, and humor on each page.  It's as if this is what the fable really is supposed to portray when it isn't limited by words.

Eva didn't quite believe that there could be a story with no words but she ended up loving it.  She loves to do art projects so I am hoping this book will be an inspiration for her to start making stories out of her pictures.  Each page in this book is completely captivating, it's almost as if an entire story is portrayed on each page.  And it is easy to get the story through the pictures, Eva gasped at all the right places and made predictions and clearly showed that she was tracking the story even though there weren't any words.

At the end of the book she said, "I think that those were the best pictures."  I might have to agree with Eva. Pinkney used colored pencil, watercolor and pencil to craft these illustrations and I think that is what makes it so stunning. I have all of those materials.  I have drawn and painted with all of those things but I was never able to create anything close to what Pinkney has created here.  These illustrations are works of art fit to be framed and displayed.

Reading the pictures...that's kids stuff. 

So Many Connections

There were so many things I loved about this book-this book being Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me. First, the mom is competing on the $20,000 pyramid.  My mom and I loved this show so much that we would play along to the TV land reruns.  We would mute the t.v. and then the person receiving the clues would face the other direction and guess the answers based on the clues the other person was giving.  I was much better at guessing than giving while my mom was pretty good at both. When a new version of the show came on, Pyramid hosted by Donny Osmond, we talked about entering but you always have to be paired with a celebrity partner so we couldn't actually work together.

Second, Miranda's, the main character's, favorite book is A Wrinkle in Time and there are references to it woven throughout the book.  If you are curious as to my feelings on A Wrinkle in Time read my post about it here. Spoiler alert-I love it.  The way that Stead weaves L'engles book into this text is simply brilliant.

Third, this book is full of connections.  I hesitate to say what these connections are because I am afraid of giving too much away.  I have to admit that some of the connections were easy to guess but the book was a delightful read regardless.  It's more than just a neat book that weaves in a lot of cool elements, it's the story of a girl growing up, navigating changing friendships and the tricky middle school relationships.

Miranda's copy of A Wrinkle in Time is quite well-worn but she still tries to convince others to read it.  This is what one of her friends asked, 'What's the first line?  I never judge a book by the cover,' she said, 'I judge by the first line."  I have to admit I often judge books by their cover but I reserve my final judgement for when I complete the book. How do you judge books?

Finding the connections...that's kids stuff. 

What's Your Journey?

I pre-read all of the books I sahre with Eva and Leah, just to be sure they don't raise any questions that are better discussed with mom and dad (get your minds out of the gutter-not those kinds of questions, mom and dad talk about more than just that!!).  Today's book was Allen Say's Grandfather's Journey.I have to admit that I did not thinik this book would go over well.  Don't get me wrong, the pictures are beautiful but they are paintings done in the style of 1920's portrait photography.  For those of you unfamilar with that style the best description I can give you is that it is very stiff. 

I was plesantly surprised to find that my initial prediction was dead wrong. Eva and Leah actively interacted with the story, a tale of a man from Japan who makes his home in California for a time and then returns to Japan-in both countries he struggles with homesickness, asking questions and nodding along.  They were also completly captivated by the pictures!  Eva, who in the past has been very hard to please, firmly declared that the pictures were, "good" and even flipped back to her favorite, a young girl posing with her doll. Leah pointed to each person asking, "who is that?"  

Perhaps the simplicity of the pictures allowed more room for them to fill in the story.  Maybe it was a nice change of pace, or maybe the similarity to pictures they have already seen from their own family history made it more familiar and accessible.  Whatever the case may be it was clear that both girls were captivated by this book. This book captivated me as well but for different reasons.  I am currently taking an ELL (English-Language-Learner) class and I wondered if the grandfather's feelings of homesickness are echoed by the students I will one day teach.  I wondered if these feelings can be shared by those who moved from one end of the country to another, or to a different state, or even a different town less than an hour away.  In a way I think this book is so captivating because all of us can resonate with grandfather's journey.

So, that begs the question, What's your journey?

Leting yourself wonder..that's kids stuff.

High Expectations

Little Women is perhaps my all time favorite book.  I have multiple copies and read it at least once every year, typically around Christmas.  Every time I read it I fall completely in love with all of the characters and I find I relate to each on a little differently each time I read it.  I worked in my college library as the assistant to one of the reference librarians for all four years of undergrad.  We developed a wonderful relationship and for my graduation present she got me an illustrated version, the same one she remembers from growing up, of Little Women complete with a note describing what parts of each March girl (if you don't understand this reference you have to read the book-no excuses!) she sees in me.  I have never been more touched by a gift.

We are sharing cultural artifacts in one of my classes, each person brings in three artifacts that help describe who they are as a person.  One of my classmates brought in a book and said it was, "required reading for everyone who played a major role in my life, every friend, every girlfriend, everyone."  If they did not have a copy he would buy one for them.  Little Women is that type of book in my life.  Don't get your hopes up, I'm in grad school-I can't afford to give all of you free copies.

So why do I spend so much time gushing over Little Women? Well first, because it's one of the greatest books ever written; but, perhaps more practically, because today's Newbery winner is called Invincible Lousia: The Story of the Author of Little Women.  How could I not be excited to learn all about the author of my favorite book.

And learn all about the author you do.  Cornelia Meigs provides a very thorough biography of Louisa. Perhaps it was my unrealistically high expectations or perhaps my lack of exposure to biography that made this book fall slightly flat.  The text is factual and told much more like an recounting of facts than the story of a persons life.  Despite that it was fascinating.  Alcott lived an incredible life and I am so happy I learned more about it.  I feel like I can now bring an even greater appreciation to my favorite book.

Learning more about what you love...that's kids stuff. 


PS Little Women is also a movie and it is actually a delightful adaptation of the book.  I might also watch the movie about once a year, which should show you it doesn't ruin the book at all-it's one of the best movie adaptations I've seen.

Poetry...

I have admitted before on this blog that I am a big fan of fantasy, but I have also loved lots of books in other genres (as you should be able to tell from all of my previous posts).  There is one genre that I am not fond of...poetry.  In fact the only poems I do like are the more light-hearted children's poems such as Love that Dog and Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech or any of the many Shel Silverstein books.  I say all this to make it clear that my anti-poetry bias was in full force when I began Nancy Willard's A Visit to William Blakes Inn Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers.

In this book all kinds of fanciful characters make their way through the inn and have all sorts of adventures.  Author Nancy Willard loves the poet William Blake and this book is inspired by his poetry.  This may be my anti-poetry bias coming through but I did not care for this book.  I just find poetry hard to relate to and it was difficult for me to get any sense of story in this book.  Poetry is a much beloved genre by many people, and if you are one of those people than you should definitely read this book.

That being said the illustrations, done by husband and wife team Alice and Martin Provensen, are simply delightful.   They are perfectly crafted and really create the feel of an old English inn.  This book won the Newbery but it is also a Caldecott honor book. It didn't quite win the medal, that years award went to Jumanji. 

Though I couldn't relate to the poems the illustrations really brought the poems to life.  There is wit and charm in the poems which my...tenuous...relationship with poetry made difficult to see, but the illustrations made me want to look deeper.  The text and illustrations go together perfectly each complimenting and enhancing the other.

I don't like poetry but the reading specialist part of me is thrilled that poetry was included among the Newbery winners. It encourages kids to try something new, and it is so important for students to be exposed to a broad variety of genres. It helps to counteract the biases of people like me.

Trying something new...that's kids stuff. 

Act it Out

Kevin Henkes Kitten's First Full Moon is a sweet tale of a little kitten who is convinced that the full moon is actually a huge bowl of milk.  The illustrations are simple black and white sketches with thick outlining. What is great about the illustrations is that they filled with details but not cluttered.  I easily tell what the kitten is thinking and feeling without even looking at the words.

One of the hidden gems of this book is that it has a repeating line.  Picture books are meant to be read aloud and repeating lines are a great way to involve kids who cannot yet read.  I read this to Eva and she quickly picked up on the pattern and could "read" that repeating line along with me each time.  But she got even more involved than that.  When I read aloud I try to ask a couple of questions here and there to help the children relate to the book (in fancy reading specialist speech we call this 'encouraging text to self connections').

I asked Eva if she thought the moon looked like a bowl of milk.  Immediately she spat out, "No."  But then as she continued talking this is what came out, "it looks like you poured milk into a really big glass, or like a bowl...oohhh."  Eva then let herself really connect with the book and she tried to lick the milk out of the moon. She acted out every move the kitten made and just delighted in the story.  In spite of this the pictures were still, "too black and white."  Oh well, you can't win everything.

Delighting in story...that's kids stuff. 

Not Quite Yet

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I am a firm believer in the idea that kids can handle more than we think they can. That being said I don't think either of the girls are ready for Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  This is a novel in words and pictures.  The plot is often advanced by a sequence of pencil sketches.  As someone who has read everything for years and years it was a different experience to fill in the story based on the pictures.


The pictures are fantastic and leave little doubt as to what is actually happening in the story.  Looking back it was really nice to not have everything spoon fed to you.  I felt like the sketches really let me experience the story in a way that can't happen when you just have text.  But the text and pictures together make for one incredible experience.

This was a book I literally could not put down.  And I'm not the only one who loved it. I met a friend, Sarah Kate,  who is getting her masters in Library Science for dinner and she saw the book in my bag (I told you I couldn't put it down).  Her whole face lit up and she said, "you're reading that, oh my gosh I love that book.  It is so great."  Now that I have finished it I have to agree.

My friend Sarah Kate and I-we used to meet for tea, now we swap titles of our favorite kids books

So if the book is so great why am I not reading it to the girls?  Well Leah is 2 and many of the concepts in the story are beyond her understanding.  My original plan was to read it in sections to Eva while Leah was napping but after Eva's poor reactions to books in black and white I decided to wait a little bit.  I think this is a book to return to at the end of the year, after we have looked at a huge variety of picture books and her mind is a little more open.  For that reason this is a 'not quite yet' book.

But for those of you who are grown ups this is a 'read right now' book.

Experiencing a story...that's kids stuff. 

I Really Like This One

Just so everyone is clear Norton Juster's The Hello, Goodbye Window is one of my all time favorite books.  That's right all time favorite books, not favorite of just picture books or just Caldecott winners, or just kids books, favorite books.  The story is absolutely charming and full of love and whimsy.  The illustrations, by  Chris Raschka are perfectly paired to the story-so much so that I was shocked to learn this was an author illustrator team, they are so perfectly in sync I thought it had to be done by one person.  The pictures have gorgeous colors and capture the charm, love and whimsy of the story.  I cannot say enough good things about this book.

When I read it to Eva and Leah they also loved it.  This story is about a young girl and her grandparents and all of the adventures that take place around the magical hello, goodbye window ("It looks like a regular window.  But it's not.") at the grandparents house. Eva and Leah have a wonderful relationship with their grandparents and I think that helps them relate to this story.  Leah delighted in pointing out the illustrations, "there's the dinosaur," "there's the lion," while Eva says, "I like the pictures but it looks like a kid made them."

I love the fact that the illustrations are so kid friendly but Eva wasn't sure about it.  You can tell she really liked it but she was skeptical as if it was somehow less of a book becuase it looked like a kid did it.  But the illustrations make this book extremely approachable.  The girls and I had many discussions about whether Poppy could really do all of the things he said he could, and all of the other fun claims of this book that I am forcing myself not to tell you becuase this is a book you have to read.

I was first introduced to this book in my Children's Literature class in unergrad and I immediately went out and bought it.  Whenever I need a little pick me up all I need to do is flip through this book and I immediately get a smile on my face.  It's that good.

Charm, love, and whimsy...that's kids stuff.