It's Monday! Hurrah!

         Visit Jen at Teach MentorTexts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders to see what they've been reading, along with everyone else who link up. I'm still reading for the Cybils poetry, round one. I'm sharing some of those nominees today and a few more.

         It's a verse novel, not-to-be-missed read aloud about bullying! Jason Parker, Japanese-American lives in a small seaside town with his parents who teach. He has to do sixth grade again because of different rules, but his age doesn't help him be any safer from bullies who want the power over him. This verse novel with a strong voice leads us into Jason's story with so many tense moments, showing Jason's courage and strong wish to learn to be calm. I kept wanting help the teacher "see". Jason keeps quiet and hopes too that the teacher notices how terrible he's being treated. He has friends, but they only can help after school. The book gives a glimpse of this culture and traditions, the wise and the different ways from here in America. There are good developed characters that Jason counts on, too. The poetry/prose tells just what the reader wants to know in lean wording and both lovely and harsh images. Here is one sample from a night experiencing a typhoon: "Cora comes up to my bunk/and in the typhoon night/things rattle, crash/smash, slam/and groan." There’s a glossary, a cultural guide & further resources about bullying. Reading aloud with a group will bring questions and conversation that hopefully will help those who feel alone and unsafe

         Read carefully, preferably out loud! And you will love the wonder and celebration of this new discovery. My granddaughters speak their own language all the time and love this book. Maybe it's really for the young ones, or for others if you remember your own secret languages?

       There are surprises in store in this story and in its presentation. Good to see conflict solved so beautifully!

      Everyone needs to read the 'hat' books, but this one needs some teasing out of the message, and perhaps there is more than one? It's wonderful, no surprise, and I adored the use of just the eyes to hint at what's really going on.

            From “Jack and Jill” to “Old King Cole”, Jane Yolen and Rebecca Kai Dotlich offer new points of view of characters from fourteen well-known nursery rhymes. The poems are short and long, cleverly written in different forms, using free verse and rhyme. The poems fit the old stories cleverly with new points of view, like learning the loving comments from the shoe or the delights of summer living in the shoe in “There Was An Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe”. Also, both poets’ words show a sweet and sympathetic Old King Cole on that rhyme’s pages, one from his daughter and one from the fiddle. And haven’t all of us always felt this character was happy and jolly? It is a book that may serve as a mentor text for examining point of view. Children might need to re-read the original nursery rhymes in order to more thoroughly love these poems. The original rhymes each are given at the back of the book, plus brief summaries of their history. Finally, Angela Matteson’s illustrations splash around the poems with lovely emotions and action. Whether happiness or anger or surprise, she helps us SEE the poems as we read the poets’ words. 

========================

I also want to share a few books I've received thanks to the generosity of Candlewick Press. These seem destined to be marvelous gifts for just the right person! I shared non-fiction books last Wednesday here!

 

      Very sweet, the perfect gift for a new baby. This is the twentieth-anniversary edition and it is gorgeous, of course with all those Rosemary Wells illustrations.


       And, another new expanded anniversary edition of A Monster Calls includes the original book with its amazing story and illustrations, plus interviews and information from the making of the movie.

       It's a gift edition just published in the U.S. Inspired by Marius Petipa’s sets for the original production of the ballet. It has a surprise pop-up finale.






     For those of you who might have grown up with Where's Waldo books, here's a new way to look, through coloring the pages and looking for Waldo! It's a different look from other coloring books I've seen, and looks like lots of fun.

This is one gorgeous pop-up book that wows on every page. It's the traditional story, special to read, and amazing to see Sabuda's pop-ups. Below is a video of the work. 

Next: More books for the Cybil's nominees and I've started The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald, an adult book just for me!