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.