Book of the Day: Go Dog Go!

Go,Dog. Go 

P.D. Eastman (1909-1986)
Random House (1961)
http://www.pdeastmanbooks.com/

At my mom’s house earlier this summer, we found Go, Dog. Go!  hanging out in the basement.  It brought back an INP (instant nostalgia picture or prose).  As a kid, I remember loving the intricate picture of dogs having a party atop a tree.  It was so magical.  

The book is a work of great genius.  Obviously, it is meant to teach children words like under, over, on, in, etc., but it also conjures up mystery, adventure, and delight in the most simple of ways.  These dogs are doing super fun things like hanging out in hammocks, mazes, roller-coasters, rooftops, crazily pointy ski mountains, and giant beds.  I’m sure your toddler will want to crawl right into that bed with 21 sleeping dogs (though as Mirette has noticed—one of the dogs is wide awake!). 

The part we’ve been having the most fun with is the guy dog and girl dog that meet at various times throughout the book. 

“Hello again,” she says.   
“Hello,”  he replies.  
“Do you like my hat?” she asks.   
“I do not like it.”  
 “Good bye again.“
 “Good bye.“

We often randomly ask – donning a thick English accent for some reason – do you like my hat, my bracelet, my hair, my nose?  And someone will reply, "I do not (in same English accent)."  This makes for great dinner conversation and Mirette continuously finds it hilarious.  

Mem Fox and Reading Rotation

Reading aloud is the perfect time for engaging in. . . conversations because the reader and the listener can chat endlessly about the story, the picture, the words, the values, and the ideas.  Reading aloud and talking about what we're reading sharpens children's brains.  It helps develop their ability to concentrate at length, to solve problems logically, and to express themselves more easily and clearly.  The stories they hear provide them with witty phrases, new sentences, and words of subtle meaning.   Mem Fox, Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to our Children will Change Their Lives Forever.

Steve and I were meeting some friends for dinner last night and had some time to kill.  We went to Half-Price Books where I found a Mem Fox book on reading aloud.  She is the author of one of our favorite board books (one that mysteriously disappeared, come to think of it)—Where is the Green Sheep?  

I started reading her book this morning and I am almost halfway done!  Good to know for busy moms, this is an easy read.  The main point: reading aloud is good.  Duh!  But I'll fill you in with some of the juicy details when I finish the book.

The book made me remember a lovely ritual that took place at Valley View Elementary School, where I worked as a school counselor.  On the first day of school there would be an assembly.  Each member would introduce themselves to the entire school by sharing his/her name, his/her role at the school, and a favorite book.  Even as an adult, I loved seeing what each teacher chose and why.  

Then for the next two weeks, there were reading rotations.  Every afternoon at 2:15, the students would stay in their classrooms and the teachers (and other staff members too, like me) would change rooms.  They would read their favorite book to the kids of that classroom.  So the fifth-grade teacher may be reading to a first-grade classroom.  After reading rotation was over, the books were put on display in the library and kids could check them out.  

Mem Fox would have been proud of this very sweet ritual.  She would say, I'm sure of it, that this is the best type of literacy activity.  I concur.  It served two purposes: turning kids on to books and reading AND building a community.

Sadly, the ritual was put to the chopping block because it took away from classroom time, literacy building, and was pretty much deemed frivolous and unnecessary.  The teachers put up a fight, but in the end they lost.  I can just see the disgust on Mem's face.

Book of the Day: Mama, Do You Love Me?

Mama, Do You Love Me?
Author: Barbara M. Joosse
Illustrator: Barbara Lavallee

Chronicle Books, 1991

Story and Illustrations: This morning Mirette dug out Mama, Do You Love Me? and I read it to her several times.  I don't think I could EVER get bored of this book.  The illustrations are so lovely.  The Mama is huge, but in a really comfortable way.  I may be reading into this, but I think it shows that Mama will always be there as this big, bold, and beautiful presence (or perhaps it's just me feeling better about my own post-baby body).  Anyway, this is one of those books about the child challenging the mom—will you love me if I put salmon in your mittens, and lemmings in your mukluks?  And Mama assures her that there is nothing her child could do that would diminish her ever-present love.

The language and musicality of the book is lovely.  With such evocative yet simple language, I do feel transported to a cold land—one of puffins, Inuits, ravens, whales, umiaks, ptarmigan eggs, salmon, and polar bears.  Ahhh!  I can just feel the chill in the air.

Background and VERY interesting stuff: The illustrator Barbara Lavallee is a Mid-Westerner who has lived in Alaska for many years and is very passionate about the Alaskan culture.  She has illustrated several other books that are listed at this site (including Papa, Do You Love Me?): http://www.answers.com/topic/barbara-lavallee and is also known for her lush paintings: http://www.anniekaills.com/art/lavallee/prints1.htm.

Barbara M. Joosse has a warm, sweet website. In fact, for a second I wondered if I had accidentally visited a non-famous grandma's site. http://www.barbarajoosse.com/index.html

Though the website is lots of fun, she has several amazing articles on reading.  I highly recommend them.  I learned a lot and what's more—they are short and very readable.  Here are some of the concepts that she explores: boys need to learn that they can be fierce and compassionate at the same time; that you shouldn't be afraid of reading long books to young children—it gives them time to focus on the pictures and to hear the language; that musicality is important; that words are playful; that a good book sounds jazzy and delicious; that books become familiar friends; that when you share a "reader's hug," your child is close to your heart and it taps into something; that books share metaphors and form a bridge into sleep (something that ancient cultures understood well); that stories can show hard situations, but should ultimately be hopeful; that children want to belong and by sharing a book we help them walk through life together.

All this in four articles!  She says all this better than I can, so it is definitely worth it to give them a read. http://www.barbarajoosse.com/images/TheReadersHug.pdf

I also found out that Barbara joined a band and is recording music to go with her books.  What a funky grandma!  I checked out that website and the site appears under construction but here is the link: http://www.doublecake.net/author.html

To think, this morning I read Mama, Do You Love Me? to Mirette and it was JUST a book.  I knew nothing of the author's awesome philosophies or that she joined a band and I definitely wasn't planning on writing this long of a post!

BACK TO THE GRIND

Tis the end of a great summer.  My husband Steve goes back to work and I, um, go right on being a mom this year.

Our family has a sweet little bedtime ritual.  I do pajamas, brush teeth, and read three books to Mirette.  We share a family hug.  Then I wait while Mirette picks out a book for Steve to read to her before he puts her to bed.  If she picks out a book he hates, I laugh at him (all in good fun of course).

You see, so many kids' books are really horrible.  The rhymes are boring and trite: Couplets like "Did you go to the butterfly ball?  Let's go together in the fall."  So when there is a good book – one that sings, one that flows, one that has stunning pictures – I notice.

When I am reading a book to Mirette, I always look at the publishing date and read the bios of the author and illustrator aloud.  I think about how old I was when the book was published and sometimes I am instantly transported right back to the age I was when I first read the book.  This concept I shall officially call INP—instant nostalgia picture or prose.

I started to wonder—What does it take to make a quality picture book?  Who are the personalities behind the words and pictures?  Why are some books so fun and others so boring?  Why do some characters jump off the page, becoming dear friends to Mirette, and others slip into anonymity?

I did a little bit of research, read Margaret Wise Brown's autobiography; looked up websites on children's literature; Wikipediaed Ludwig Bemelmans, the author of the Madeline books, began to place holds on books at the library, and came to the realization that the topic is very interesting.

I also noticed that both Steve and I are wordsmiths.  We love words.  We play with words, embrace them, and are silly with them.  We have imparted this love to Mirette.  Our little two year old plays with language and is making up crazy words for everything these days.  (For example, we just went on a carousal ride and Mirette named our horses Lono, Lonu, and Nonu.)

So I decided to write a blog about our year of reading.  How we use language, books that turn us on, illustrators and authors, interesting links and, well, wherever our journey of reading takes us.  I hope that you have fun with us and find some interesting books along the way!