Book of the Day: Two Eggs Please

Two Eggs Please
Author:  Sarah Weeks
Illustrator:  Betsy Lewin
Atheneum Books for Young Readers (2003)


I asked our school librarian for a book that depicted how kids can have the same feelings as their friends about some things and different feelings about other things.  

She dug up this book which so perfectly and subtly addresses this concept.  
.   
This book is so cute!   Mirette loves it and I fell in love with it too.  Basically, all these animals come into a diner and each one wants an egg cooked in a different style.   The same,  different.  

The illustrations are fantastic and Mirette likes the way you can see various animals walking into the diner, so you know which one is going to be next.  

Sarah Weeks has a great website.  The most interesting thing I learned about her is that she also writes young adult fiction,  likes pies and cooking and that she is part of a readers theater.   What this means is that she works with four other famous authors.  With script in hand, they act out two of each of their stories--bringing to life the words on the page.    She also has written some very successful chapter books for the older set.   She has a degree in music composition and has several books with songs to match.  We'll be checking them out soon.   She is also spunky and adorable!

Here's her website:  http://www.sarahweeks.com/index2.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FCfm8yPhlE

Betsey Lewin is best known for illustrating and winning the Caldecott honor for Click, Clack, Moo:  Cows that Type.   Of interest,  she loves to travel and has written some books in collaboration with her hubby.    There's some video footage on her website. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FCfm8yPhlE

Teacher Emma and her amazing pinterest lists

About a year ago I asked Mirette's  teacher Emma for her book suggestions.   It took her a year, but she came up with this:

http://pinterest.com/emmahathaway/spring-reads-with-kiddos/

http://pinterest.com/emmahathaway/winter-reading-with-the-kiddos/

http://pinterest.com/emmahathaway/ava-reads/

http://pinterest.com/emmahathaway/fall-reading-with-kiddos/

http://pinterest.com/emmahathaway/summer-reading-with-kiddos/


Holy Schmagoly!  We have our work cut out for us and lots of amazing reading in store for us:-)


Fellow book lovers, this is a treasure trove!

Book of the Day: A Balloon for Isabel

A Balloon for Isabel
Author:  Deborah Underwood
Illustrator:  Laura Rankin
Greenwillow Books (2001)

We both really adore this book!   I read this one to Mirette's preschool class because it covers a lot of feelings--it was a real hit with all the kids.    The porcupines convey disappointment, excitement, problem-solving, friendship, and sadness.   What's more, it includes colorful pictures of gum drops!  I hope there are more Isabel books to come.

Deborah Underwood grew up in Walla, Walla (birthplace of my hubby and college town of my step-daughter) and has a great website:  http://www.deborahunderwoodbooks.com/Deborah-Underwood-About-Me.html

But by far this is the best find:  a blog that interviews book characters.  Here's an interview with Isabel  (Scroll down to find it).   http://www.dorichaconas.com/Nose%20to%20Nose%20-%20page%203.html

An interesting idea for slightly older kids--we used to BEG my mom to play a version of this game.   http://imaginationsoup.net/2010/05/childrens-picture-book-author-explains-plotting-for-kids/

Not much information on Laura Rankin.

Book of the Day: Pete's a Pizza

Pete's a Pizza
William Steig
(1998)

This book is hilarious!   It's raining outside and Pete is bummed, so his dad turns him into a pizza.   The funniest part is when his dad tickles him.   Pete's dad says, "Pizza's are not supposed to laugh."  Pete replies,  "pizza-makers are not supposed to tickle their pizzas."    By the time the pizza game is done, the sun is out and Pete can go out and play.   Besides the fact, that in our neck of the woods a little rain doesn't stop a kid from playing outside, there is a little moral here--make lemonade out of lemons.   But the real reason we love this book is that Mirette makes me act out all the steps--just like in the book and we both laugh hard and long.   It brings a certain silly intimacy our way and for that I do adore this book.

William Steig (1907-2003) was quite a Don Juan.  He had four wives, one of whom was  the sister of Margaret Mead.    

Other facts:
He never completed college
Played water polo
Has a brother that's telepathic
Started writing kids books in his 60's
He was a cartoonist at The New Yorker
He published drawing books for adults (Can't wait to check them out!  One is entitled Our Miserable Life.)
Shrek means FEAR in Yiddish
He loved Pinnochio as a kid
Wilhelm Reich was his therapist.  He sat daily in a Orgone box to try and collect orgasmic energy--what???
His parents were Jewish socialists
Sylvyster and the Magic Pebble was banned in various places for depicting police as pigs.
Pete's a Pizza was conceived in one night!


This is a VERY long article with tons of interesting other factoids about the author:
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/resources/longbox/60/

New York Times Obit:   http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/05/nyregion/william-steig-95-dies-tough-youths-and-jealous-satyrs-scowled-in-his-cartoons.html?src=pm

A funny article on the Orgone machine:  http://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/29/arts/wry-child-unconscious-william-steig-90-art-life-mysterious-orgone.html?src=pm

Book of the Day: Sleepover at Gramma's House

Sleepover at Gramma's House
Author:  Barbara Joose
Illustrator:  Jan Jutte
Philomel Books (2010)


Way back in August, I profiled Mama, Do You Love Me?   http://miretteandmommy.blogspot.com/2011/08/mama-do-you-love-me.html

It took me a while to realize that today's adorable book is writen by the same author, Barbara Joose.   Just like Mama, Do You Love Me? the language is extremely fun, interesting, unusual and playful.   Here's the opening three pages:  "goodie, goodie, goodie. . I'm packing up my little trunk my little overnighty trunk my nighty in my nighty trunk."   Isn't that fabulous?

Later in the story, Gramma and the little elephant switch roles.  Gramma begs for a story and her little grandkid elephant tells her one because she loves her "honey so."    This cracks me up in part because Mirette wil say things to me like, "okay honey bunch" and all my other pet names for her.    The book radiates love and warmth with the two of them falling asleep inside a hug.  Ahhh!

Too bad Mirette's gramma lives in Florida, she's been begging for a sleepover.

For information on Barbara Joose (and there's a lot of good stuff), see the above link.

Jan Jutte is from the Netherlands:  Here is his website:  http://www.janjutte.nl/engels/home%20test.htm

The two of them have teamed up for another book called Rowar!

Book of the Day: On the Day You Were Born

On The Day You Were Born
Debra Frasier
Red Wagon Books (1991)



Mirette turned three!   Her teacher asked us to bring some photos of Mirette as a baby and also to write up the story of her birth to read to the other kids.   After sharing with the class, the teacher read On the Day You Were Born.

What a special and meaningful ritual.  Apparently, Mirette was glowing throughout it and loved having the special story read aloud.   We have the book in our shelf as well and it's one of those in the same vein as Goodnight Moon that makes a perfect gift for a new babe.  (we got three of them as gifts when Mirette was first born).

Debra Frasier uses bold, celestial pictures to talk about all the things the earth was doing on the day your child was born:   "On the day you were born gravity's strong pull held you to the Earth with the promise that you would never float away. . ."   I guess it could be classified as kind-of new-agey, but it's a great one to celebrate the miracle of bringing a child into the world.  

Ms. Frasier grew up in Vero Beach, Florida on the beach and spent many long hours beach combing and making collages out of found objects.   She settled in Minnesota.  She sounds like a serious kayaker and canoer, even keeping a blog of her journeys (which I actually want to read at some point). I also discovered that she has many other books that look really cool! Her website is chock full of good stuff:  well thought out activities for parents/teachers to use, videos, books and her bio.   Here's the link:  http://www.debrafrasier.com/index.html

Book of the Day: Komodo!

Komodo!
Peter Sis
Green Willow Books (1993)

Peter Sis is another one of those creative souls who has range and style!  In some ways, he reminds me a little of Steve Kellogg.   His books have tons of detail and fun stuff hidden within the pages.   Hey readers, sorry for the length of this post, but there are too many interesting things about this guy.

Komodo!  is about a boy and his parents who go to visit a Komodo dragon in Indonesia.  His parents find it touristy and annoying, but the little boy goes off by himself for a few minutes and runs right into a dragon (or is it his imagination?).

 The first page is an illustration of hundreds of children lined up for a school picture.   The text says, "it is always easy to find me in school pictures because of my dragon T-shirt."  Of course, Mirette and I madly search for the kid with the dragon shirt and, truth be told, she found it before I did.   There are also a lot of interesting perspectives, some as if you are in an airplane looking down on a crowd of people.

Peter Sis wrote another book called Madlenka that I really like and almost previewed for this blog.  It's about a little girl who has a tooth that is falling out. She goes around her NYC block to tell her grown-up friends and it's almost as if she has gone around the world.   It's a charming book with cut outs and the pleasure of having to turn the book around to read some of the text.  Yet, it is a little bit, well, insensitive in that her friends include  a French baker, an Italian ice cream truck driver, a German storyteller, an Asian shopkeeper, a Latin American grocer.   The criticism is that Europe got divided out into several different countries while the Asian shopkeeper sells all Asian things lumped together and the Latin America grocer  has little pictures on the side that are supposed to depict all of Latin America.  Included under people is a picture of a native with bow and arrow in a loin cloth. 

I guess this is yet another reminder to look closely at our literature and the secret messages it conveys to our children.   I have no doubt in my mind that Peter Sis was writing a book to celebrate diversity, but in the end it's a little bit offensive.  

His work includes wonderfully simple books like Fire Truck  and Ballerina,  artistically compelling books like Tibet Through the Red Box and a visual memoir of his life in Czechoslovakia called  The Wall:  Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain (a book I incidentally gave to a friend for a birthday gift because I thought it was so interesting).

As mentioned above, Peter Sis grew up in Czechoslovakia during the cold war. (You must read his memoir--it's fascinating).    He had a thing for Western culture--beat poets, the Rolling Stones etc.   His father was a film maker and his mother an artist.  He followed suit in both those directions with awards in both film making and illustrations. I can only imagine his delight when he collaborated with Bob Dylan.

 He came to Los Angeles in 1982 to make a film for the Olympics.  The Eastern bloc decided to ban the Olympics and he was told to come home.   Instead he was granted asylum and somehow met up with Maurice Sendak who helped him with his career.   He has done a ton of stuff like designing a set for the Joffrey Ballet and creating the poster for the movie Amadeus. He currently lives in New York with his two children. 

His official website:  http://www.petersis.com/index2.html

Wow, totally fascinating:   http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/01/05/sunday/main261975.shtml

Cool Video:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LovauoreX_k

Book of the Day: Hooray for Fish

Hooray for Fish
Lucy Cousins
Candlewick Press (2005)

Spring is a busy time for us (filled with fun, but also the stress of having too much on our plates)  and I am eagerly awaiting Steve's Spring break.  I feel overwhelmed and writing the blog has taken a back seat to simply getting through the days.   Oh yeah, it doesn't help that Mirette has been having night terrors nearly every night, causing severe disruption to all of our sleeping cycles.   Arrgh.

Suffice it to say, since I don't have time for a lot of research, I have  picked out a short beloved book to share with you all.   It's called Hooray for Fish!   Lucy Cousins also writes the Maisy series which we  adore.  I think her gift is simplicity.   Through simple prose and child-like illustrations, she is able to get right into the heart of a toddler.   Enjoy!

Lucy Cousins lives in England and gets her greatest inspiration from walking around Elementary Schools looking at the art work hanging on the walls.  

Here's a video of her talking about how she draws Maisy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gcZJhPfnak

And her Maisy fun club website:
http://www.maisyfunclub.com/

Book of the Day: The Parrot Tico Tango

The Parrot Tico Tango
Anna White
Barefoot Books (2004)

This is a stunning cumulative picture book about a special Parrot that we both adore!.  Tico Tango takes, steals, seizes, grabs, and snatches fruit from his friends.  Eventually, he takes too much and all the fruit falls to the ground to be disbursed among his friends.  There's a moral too--- "Tico Tango feels contrite-- he knew he had to put things right."

The pictures are bright and colorful, very tropical looking and the prose consists of beautifully rhyming couplets that flow from thine lips.  Here's a random page:  "The Parrot Tico Tango Had a round yellow mango, And he carried to his right A lemon small and bright, and on his left a fig , Which was purple sweet and big, And Tico Tango knew that he had to have it too, So he grabbed it!"

Anna Witte has written one other children's book called Lola's Fandango, about discovering your inner strength and spirit(Yep, I am going to take this one out from the library as soon as possible).   She also has written for a television series: 

From her website:   http://www.annawitte.com
TIKITIKLIP II, a series of short animated films based on the myths and stories of pre-Hispanic cultures of Latin America, was a finalist at the Prix Jeunesse International 2010 Festival. www.prixjeunesse.de
A clip from the first TIKITIKLIP series

Here is the song Tico Tango (which may be in the newer editions):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAnI3sQVIzI

Finally, it is worth mentioning that Barefoot Books is a very interesting publishing company started by moms.   http://www.barefootbooks.com/?bf_affiliate_code=000-0g7p-4828

























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Ode To Steven Kellogg

A Rose for Pinkerton
Steven Kellogg
Puffin Books (1981)

A Hunting We Will Go
Steven Kellogg
Morrow Junior Books (1998)

A My Name is Alice
Author:  Jane Bayer
Illustrator:  Steven Kellogg
Dial Books for Young Readers (1984)

Lately ,books by  Steven Kellogg have been randomly showing up everywhere and I am struck by the rich and lavish illustrations.   But also, the books take me back, well, somewhere.   I have this vague memory that perhaps Steven Kellogg came to my school for a visit when I was kid.   I asked my mom, but she doesn't remember.     At any rate, the illustration style seems familiar and comforting---like all that a children's book should aspire to be.  

The best part of his illustrations are that you have to look closely to see all the little details.   For example, in  A Rose For Pinkerton (named for his dog Pinkerton and his feisty cat Second Hand Rose),  a story about a kitten that wants to be a poodle and a Great Dane that wants a friend, there are all these little thought bubbles, signs that are funny such as Take Home a Spring Bouquet of Kittens, the dog dish that says Chow on it, the dog saying Lick, lick, lick, lick, and  a million other details that make it fun to look at.  An added benefit is that Mirette can enjoy these books for a long time on her own.  

A-Hunting We Will Go takes the English country song (and possibly game of chase) from the 1600's and plays on the tradition of making up verses.   In this case, the verses are all about getting ready for bed:  "Pajamming we will go!  Pajamming we will go!  Put the llamas in pajamas.  Find the fox a pair of socks.  Give each bear clean underwear. Then, with our friends in tow. . .a hugging we will go!"  It's very cute and again tons of details to explore with your toddler.

A My Name is Alice is based on a ball game that my mom taught me when I was a little girl.   You bounce a ball and say something like A my name is Alice and my husband's name is Arnie.  We live in Alaska and we sell Apples.    Every time you say a word that starts with A, you bounce the ball one time.   Sometimes when I took long walks with Mirette, I'd go through the entire alphabet as a way to fend off boredom or chill.   Here's an example from the book for the letter P: " P my name is Polly and my husband's name is Paul.  We come from Pittsburgh and we sell Pebbles.   Polly is a Puffin.  Paul is a Pig."   The window of the shop says Pebbles LTD: Rare specimens for Advanced Collectors.  then there are various signs in front of the pebble displays:  Precious Pebble, Assorted roadside pebbles, rare prize winning pebble, odd purple pebble, pond pebble, pebbles found in puddles.  Funny!

Steven Kellogg lives on a farm in Connecticut and has written over 110 books for children and won many awards.   His website http://www.stevenkellogg.com/page2.html has an awesome video of him speaking at the Library of Congress's National Book Fest.   He decided to be a children's book illustrator in Preschool and never lost site of his vision!!!   Geez!

  He has a great piece on his website about the power of picture books.  To him, it's like a stage, where turning the page itself creates dramatic movement.  He says, "The individual spreads are designed so that they crackle with graphic vitality. The characters seem to speak, cavort, and leap from the page so energetically that their life and movement are totally convincing."  He also says,  'There are limitless possibilities available to the artist, who sets up relationships and tensions between the illustrations and the text, allowing magical discoveries and subtle revelations to emerge in the areas between. When this happens, there is an uncanny fusion of all the elements, and the dynamic new expression that is created introduces young readers to the world of art." 

  My heart pitter-patters when I read something that so affirms why I love picture books.   I love you Steven Kellogg--thanks for bringing so many great books to my childhood and to Mirette's childhood too.

Books of the Day: On the Farm

G is for Goat
by Patricia Polacco
Philomel Books (2003)

Duck on a Bike
by David Shannon
The Blue Sky Press (2002)

Okay folks, this is my LAST paired book review.  I'm exhausted and Valentines Day is over (it was sort-of my Valentines theme).  Phew!  These two winners are both from our most recent trip to the library

G is for Goat grew on me after reading it a few times.  First I thought it was nothing special (which truthfully happens to me a lot with both books and music), but after a few reads, I was charmed.  One reason I like it is because everyone in our family adores goats.   I remember my year traveling in Nepal, how important goats were and how much personality they had.  Mirette, Steve and I recently went to a goat farm in California and  they pulled at our clothes which Mirette thought was so funny.  I think it's clever the way Ms. Polacco ties the entire alphabet to goats.  The drawings of the girls with bright colorful dresses and head coverings are so charming.  They look both hard-working, playful and calm at the same time.   I want to be right there with them.  

Many moons ago, the entire third and forth grade at my school trekked over to the high school to hear Patricia Polacco speak.  I remember her strong anti-bullying message.  She was very honest with her story of being teased and the pain that it brought her.   Her message to the children was very stern and very impassioned, bullying is not okay don't do it.  As the School Counselor I was thrilled!

Patricia's website is chocked full of information and activities.   Some interesting things that stood out to me--Patricia does not answer e-mails, you have to write a snail mail letter to her.  She has a farm in Michigan and holds events at her farm.   (Oh man, I have to go!).   There is a meteor that landed fairly close to her farm.   Abe Lincoln walked through her house.   She has dyslexia and didn't write her first book until the age of 41.  She owns goats.  She comes from a family of storytellers (Ukraine, Russian, Irish, and from the Bayou), and finally she is really beautiful and interesting looking.   http://www.patriciapolacco.com/index.htm

Duck on a Bike was read at library story time and I kept thinking about it afterwards, so I went back to take it out.  It's a funny story with bright colorful pictures, about a duck riding a bike.  All the other animals have a reaction to it--everything from jealousy to what a waste of time to I want a turn.  At the end, all the animals ride bikes and the humans don't even know about the spectacular event.  

David Shannon is the same guy that wrote No David!  He doesn't seem to have a website, but here's a his bio and a video interview:  http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/shannon/.  He gravitates towards michevious characters like David and the crazy duck who insists on riding a bike.   He lives in LA with his wife and young daughter, so I'm sure he will be writing many more books in the years to come.

Books of the Day: Cumulative Books

The Napping House
Author:  Audrey Wood
Illustrator:  Don Wood
Harcourt (1984)

The Deep Blue Sea:  A Book of Colors
Author:  Audrey Wood
Illustrator:  Bruce Wood
The Blue Sky Press (2005)

Mirette and I are a great fans of cumulative songs and books (songs that keep adding items until you end up with a long list).  Or, um, maybe I'm the big fan and she just deals with me.   Regardless, building songs are great for long car rides and can be pretty hilarious.  Here are the two that we sing most often (but we make up our own verses):

Rattlin Bog:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTSO-edqI_0


When I First Came to This Land:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgCN1lZbiNE

Apparently, Audrey Wood shares our love of cumulative stories because both our selections are written by her.  (Admittedly, I didn't notice this until I sat down to write this piece). 

The Napping House, with soft flowing pictures by hubby Don Wood, features a grandma who is asleep on the bed with a pile up of various living beings on top of her--"a slumbering mouse on a snoozing cat on a dozing dog on a dreaming child on a snoring granny on a cozy bed in a napping house where everyone is sleeping".   It's sweet, joyous, funny and lots of fun to read aloud.

The Deep Blue Sea:  A Book of Colors is illustrated by her son  Bruce.  The illustrations are bright, sharp and colorful--as different from Don's soft pastels as can be.   In this cumulative book there's" a purple parrot on a brown nut on a green tree on a red rock in the middle of the deep blue sea."

Interestingly, both of these great reads end with a rainbow!

The Audrey Wood website: http://www.audreywood.com/ offers such a vast of information that it will be hard to sum up in this blog posting (they have a  blog http://www.audreywoodauthor.com/, activity pages, interviews, book reviews, bios, teacher pages etc.). 

The whole family is very interesting.  Audrey's dad, grandfather and great-grandfather were all artists.  (she broke the mold by being the first woman--yipee!).  Her dad worked at a circus re-painting murals and the family also lived in Mexico for a brief period.  Don grew up on a farm and his parents did not want him to persue art as a career.  They now live in Santa Barbara enjoying many outdoor activities.  Bruce was the model for many of his parents books like Quick as a Cricket which we have and love and King Bidgood's in the Bathtub which we take out from the library and love.   He studied drama, computer art, and loves to surf.

The Napping House was written because Bruce had a hard time napping (sounds familiar!), so Audrey would take him to grandma's house where he would promptly fall asleep. The house soon earned the nickname The Napping House.  Audrey's sister Jennifer wrote a song to go with the book and newer editions come with the cd.   This is the only recording I can find (not a very good one): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cRP02zqAvg

Here's a video of a woman doing The Napping House with yoga poses (I love that idea!):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsvlR5qrCyE

Today at Alice's House: Books of the Day!

One Winter's Day
Author: M. Christina Butler
Illustrator: Tina Macnaughton
Good Books, 2006

The Snow Bear
Author: Liliana Stafford
Illustrator: Lambert Davis
Scholastic Press. 2000

 
Often, while visiting friends, my eyes go straight to their book shelves—each friend's house is a mini-library with new discoveries waiting to be found.  Today, Alice was busy with her baby, her son Weston was playing happily in the sandbox, Mirette was building with bristle blocks, and I challenged myself to find my two favorite books from Weston's shelf.  (By the way, I realized, while perusing, that Mirette has hardly any books about trucks and Weston has tons.  It may be a whole other topic, but I started to wonder if Mirette has few books about trucks because she hasn't expressed interest or because we aren't that interested in the topic— Is it because she's a girl?  hmmmm?  Food for thought.)

I more than succeeded! There were so many potentials, but these are the two gems I bring to the blog. 

The first one is called One Winter's Day.  What drew me to this book is the adorable picture of a hedgehog on the cover with a bright red scarf, mittens, and hat (that you can touch and feel).  The pictures are so cozy and warm—you feel like you are in the wind on a cold day, snuggling beneath your hat and scarf.  The book is about sharing, friendship, and kindness.  Warning: If you are even slightly hormonal, the end of this book may cause a tear or two.

The author has several other books that seem to form a series such as One Snowy Night and The Dark, Dark Night, but she does not have a website of her own.

Tina Macnaughton has a website and prints you can order for a child's room!  I think her drawings would make a fabulous gift for a special kid and I'll definitely be bookmarking her site. 
http://www.tina-macnaughton.com/shop/index.html

The other book that won my contest is The Snow Bear.  Alice got this one from Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada.  What I liked best about this book is the pictures, which are all bright aqua blue.  The story is another beautiful, tear-inducing tale about the friendship between a boy and a bear.  

Liliana Stafford's website is http://www.lilianastafford.com/books.html.  She also has a lovely story on the back page of the book, explaining why she wrote the story.

Lambert Davis has a cool website.  He speaks at schools and demonstrates the art of painting a picture while he's there.  He then takes it home, frames it, and gifts it to the school.  Too bad he lives in Australia.   http://lambertdavis.com/index.htm

Book of the Day: Monkey and Me

Monkey and Me
Emily Gravett
Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, 2008

When Mirette was young, we attended baby storytime on a regular basis.  On nice days, we would head over to the park and have long play sessions/picnics afterwards.  We now call this group of wonderful friends the library group.  Our fearless storyteller, Ursula, was charming and knowledgeable (she went off to have a baby of her own and is now on maternity leave).  She had this certain way of telling a story that was engaging to all the kids, and many times a parent would say—there is no one quite like Ursula.  You could tell her that your child is into trucks and within minutes she would have a pile of books on the topic.  

I found many a good book thanks to Ursula, but my hands-down favorite Ursula discovery is Monkey and Me.  The book basically goes like this—monkey and me, monkey and me, monkey and me, we went to see.  We went to see some. .  .

We turn the page in wild anticipation. . . bats, elephants, monkeys, etc.  

Usually Mirette shouts out the animal before we turn the page.  The pictures are simple and amazing.
Even though we don't own this book, we will often say Monkey and me, monkey and me, we went to see. . . because it's just plain fun to say.  It's the kind of book you can pretty quickly memorize.  

Emily Gravett's other books like Dogs and The Odd Egg are also great reads, but Monkey and Me is, in my opinion, leaps and bounds better than all the others in terms of its fun factor and pleasurable wording.

She has a website with some coloring pages and information on how she draws characters here:
http://www.emilygravett.com/

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.