All In The Families

art by Sarah S. Brannen

          Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy.  From her and others, you will discover and want to celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books!

           Thanks for the advanced copy of this book from Laura Purdie Salas. Say Happy Birthday to it tomorrow, March 1st! 

           Early in school, sometimes even pre-school, curriculums include studies of families. And sometimes picture books are read to children that show what used to be a "normal" family: mother, father, one or more kids. In our world, however, lots of different human families exist and it's great to know that "normal" is just a six-letter word that includes a wide array of combinations. It's also terrific to see different make-ups of families presented by Laura in her latest book, Meet My Family, Animal Babies and Their Families. Laura is known for numerous and marvelous non-fiction poetry books like A Rock Can Be, and while the writing is poetic, this is not a poetry book, but a wonderful sharing of twenty-two animal babies and families, and a peek at a few human families, too! 

           There are interesting differences among the behaviors: some fight for food with siblings like pigs; other stay with families for a long time, like beavers for two years; and all the 'ladies' in the elephant herd care for the young, no males allowed! Interesting diversity is shown with river otters, who play and stay all together. Everyone cares for the other, a big family, contrasted with the baby green sea turtle who from its hatching, must fend for itself, all alone. 

It's Monday - Sharing Favorites

        Visit Jen at Teach MentorTexts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders to discover books you'll love!  Thanks to Jen, Kellee, and Ricki who share so much with us by taking time to support this meme!

I have some new books to share, and some I finally caught up with! Thanks to Candlewick for these first two books.

          One winter's night, five siblings looked out a window in their living room, noticed it was unusually blue even for dusk, and one by one, Susan, Max, Nell, Kate, and Jean tumbled through into another world. Day after day, they had to learn to fight for survival in this strange new world where people's faces looked different, and the children's faces were noticed, sometimes with fear, other times with jealousy. It would be a while before they discovered why. Susan, the oldest, then her twin, Max, both thirteen, begins the story and each has a turn as they escape dangers again and again. It reminded me of other fantastical worlds, but the horror they faced connected more to "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness rather than Madeleine L'engle's "A Wrinkle In Time" or the Narnia series. 

         I enjoyed the unique voices of each child as they continued the story, and the important parts each played in their survival, even the youngest, Jean, who often felt like she didn't understand what older ones said and as if they didn't care if she did either. Each had individual quirks to learn about, to like or to dislike. And I liked the world-building, but sometimes it felt over long and even for me, some things repeated and confusing. It feels more like a book for fantasy-loving teens rather than middle school. I cannot share quotes because this is an arc, thanks to Candlewick Press, but will add that I loved much of the writing and language used by Adina Rishe Gewirtz and marked more than one page. 

          Also from Candlewick, a beginning-to-learn-colors book for toddlers, showing our joyful and colorful world. In contrast to a Black Bird, Steve Light's bold and bright illustrations travel from morning "yellow sun" through midday "green grass" to night's "blue moon". It's a great book to learn about colors and a few things in the natural world.

           Another color book, this time for young readers, all about the Festival of Colors, the Indian Festival of Holi that's celebrated in spring, when flower colors appear. The text is brief, showing two youngsters, Chintoo and Mintoo, gathering all colors of flowers to ready for the festival. There is a process of drying and grinding, then bringing the bowls of color to throw into the air on festival night. Now, the afterword says, most of the powders are pre-prepared and bought instead of being made at home. Colorful pages happily tell the story, a nice introduction to a festival that some children in the U.S. will not know of, but connect to in the celebration. 

                 The words are just enough for the story paired with the page-by-page delightful illustrations of those invited to shelter under that “big umbrella”, and page by page, everyone is invited. It’s what I call a big smile of a book, one to read, enjoy and discuss with a child or a group of children. It reminds me of the concept of everyone having a seat at the table, and it is so good!

Celebrating Learning

      Celebrating today with Ruth Ayres and others who share. 

          Despite another tough news week, my personal week held nice things to celebrate, and many of them connect to learning and persistence. Here are a few that made me happy. 

         I spent a good deal of time this morning learning how to create and connect a second Facebook page. The bookstore has a new page and I am one of the people who can post on it. But, I could NOT figure it out, finally, finally after several forays on Google, I did! The above picture is one I took Thursday of a few "new" books in stock and I wanted to share it. If you'd like to see the page, search from your own FB page if you have one, Park Hill Community Bookstore. There have been some past issues, so search from your FB site. If you search on Google, you'll end up with the old page, which is no longer "up" but still can be found. (I can't figure why at all.)

         I've been reading lots of non-fiction picture books and learning much about disparate topics, and I enjoy that immensely. It's rather like taking a mini-history or science class.

       Imogene is learning to read! Every week she comes to visit, she's made progress. This week, we found this book during our library visit. She knows others by Laura Numeroff in the same format, but this was new. And with some support for 'big' words, she could read it! Guess how she celebrated? She read it again and again, then took it home to practice more!

      Ingrid visited earlier in the week in addition to our time on Friday. She gave a short concert of some new things she's learning, including more chords that she says make the music "fancier". 

      Persisting, learning, trying again, keeping on. That's a good thing no matter what age, right?

Poetry Friday - On Choosing

      Elizabeth Steinglass hosts our Poetry Friday this week with a lovely poem reflecting upon her life, "Why I'm Here". Be sure to visit to read it and then follow the links to others sharing poetry.

    

         The week stretches on, the news fills with more and more, strange responses that I find hard to understand. How can he think that? Why would she say such hurtful words? What makes them so fearful? Who taught them those beliefs? And in my own life's connections, I wonder if each one I question ever, ever was given the chance to think for him or herself? Sometimes the answers I hear are "That's just the way it is." I taught many years in a school that valued choice above any other academic requirement. Each chose what to study, how to approach it, how would each show what was learned. 

          These students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida are making choices right now, how they want to fight to make change, how they want to ensure that #neveragain is a hashtag that will be remembered. They "choose" to act, they know there will be consequences and it seems that there already have been, both good and bad. They are discovering the kinds of adults they want to be. That's what kids learn when they're given choice, they consider options, and choose. Growing up, the choices become more complicated, become more connected to living beings, yes, more complex. They figure out personal priorities, who the choices will affect, not only themselves but others--family, friends, strangers. I am sad that I learned of these fine young women and men in these horrific circumstances, but I am glad to know of them and their actions. I hope many, many of us will give them support.

           Robert Frost helps me collect my rambling words. I hope it will add to your own reflections, too, about 'choice'.

THE ARMFUL

Robert Frost

For every parcel I stoop down to seize
I lose some other off my arms and knees,
And the whole pile is slipping, bottles, buns—
Extremes too hard to comprehend at once,
Yet nothing I should care to leave behind.
With all I have to hold with, I will do my best
To keep their building balanced at my breast.
I crouch down to prevent them as they fall;
Then sit down in the middle of them all.
I had to drop the armful in the road.
And try to stack them in a better load.

A Story With No End

art by Sarah S. Brannen

          Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy.  From her and others, you will discover and want to celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books!

       Barry Wittenstein clearly has a great sense of humor, because during the telling of this interesting story, he's made me laugh quite a lot. Certainly, I did not laugh when he began after Earle Dickson married his sweetheart, Josephine, and discovered that she had lots of small accidents, like tiny cuts when preparing dinner. And sad to say, all she had to stop the bleeding was a kitchen rag. Barry's father was a doctor so he knew all about infections, and Barry worked for a company that made hospital supplies. You could say he knew a thing or two. He devised a long strip of tape with some gauze every so often. Josephine loved it, just needed to cut off a strip to wrap her finger. It was an invention full of love, but that long strip became a problem!

     Wittenstein might have ended the story then, but no, more than once he "almost" wrote, "The End", yet he knew more he wanted to tell! This new "bandage" that helped with "first aid" was eventually named "Band-Aid". That long, long strip was labor intensive to produce, a shorter one was invented, and the rest was almost history. But not yet. That's where the humor continues. Now they had to figure out how to produce them faster. Then, there was a bigger problem, no one would buy them! Digging deeper, the author has created a story that really has no end. After the Dicksons passed away in this 21st century, companies have created all kinds of shapes, sizes, and colors. Also, now they can be found 'latex-free'. This story has not ended yet.

      I don't want to give it all away. It's a great story, shown in delightful, full-of-expression illustrations by Chris Hsu, in his first picture book. One must look carefully and one can spot more than one person in the illustrations who is in need, of a BANDAID! (See pics below.) He even put bandaids, lots of them, on the end papers! There is more to the story than I've shared, and Barry Wittenstein has also added an author's note, a timeline of Earle Dickson's invention, plus a timeline of other medical inventions from the 1920s and 1930s with the questions: "What can you find out about how these came to be?" Terrific book!

Everybody needs a Band-aid, sometime!

Such A Lot of Great Books!

        Visit Jen at Teach MentorTexts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders to discover books you'll love!  Thanks to Jen, Kellee, and Ricki who share so much with us by taking time to support this meme!


    What a week last week! Wow! ALA Midwinter and Cybils Awards. Hope you had a favorite or favorites receive some honors!  


        This is one of the Cybils' finalists, and an amazing story re-told in verse. For those who teach and share the classic myths with older students, here is a book that will excite. David Elliott brings the tragedy of  “The Minotaur” into today’s vernacular, well known by students, young and older teen. When needed, there is strong language, meaning-filled sarcasm, and strong feelings of both love and grief. All the players show up, and Elliott has given each a particular voice and writes the same poem form for each as well.  Key storyteller is the top person, Poseidon, who quickly manages to ignite the story in a fury. With a bored affect, he sends desire to Queen Pasiphae for the mighty beast, laughs behind her back at the trick he has done.  He says: “So, yeah--I gave the queen a thing. For the white bull’s thang. Be glad that I did! If I hadn’t? No story. You know the drill. No guts. No glory.”

            Humans were given brains to make their own choices, Poseidon merely started it all and shows interest but no thought of intervention. He allows strong emotions from desire to love, revenge to grief, can mirror today’s lives if the reader only makes the connections.       

          All the familiar names are there, Queen Pasiphae, King Minos, their daughters Phaedra and Ariadne, Theseus and The Minotaur, doomed Asterion! And each character has a unique voice, along with writing the poems in forms also unique to each voice. From Pasifphae about Minos:  “IgNOrant self/aNOinted fool/he thinks he kNOws/me but NO one/kNOws the hard tight/kNOt of my heart.” As you see, there is use of different kinds of rhyming, bolded words within poems and darkened pages when words come from the Labyrinth. Elliot has brought this old myth to teens in the 21^st century for lively interest.

           Finally, it was my turn to have this wonderful book from the library, now wondering why I just didn’t purchase it?  Oliver Jeffers wrote and illustrated a book about life on earth for his son when he was two months old. I imagine this might be one he’s memorized by now, or perhaps he’s moved on to “more”. The book is full of the basic stuff, lovingly told and shown so you want to examine, and eventually, ask questions about all that space stuff, like the funny name of the planet Neptune; or ask about the people who dress differently, like that boy with a man in gold helmets. Perhaps you’ll want to know about the animal who’s “not” supposed to be on the page with all the others, or wish you could travel on that very large ship? That’s the wonderful book Jeffers has created. I haven’t shared it with my granddaughters, know they will love each page and wonder what’s next.

Finding Celebrations

      Celebrating today with Ruth Ayres and others who share. 

           More than other weeks, this is a week to find things to celebrate. And so I look, and do find them, and know that I mostly celebrate my daily hours that are full of good things. When we fill ourselves up with goodness, we gain the strength to fight for the right things for everyone. 

          Imogene was ill this week, so spent the day with me on Monday. We filled the time with quiet - reading picture books, watching the Lionguard that has special stories of helping and protecting, playing with an old marble run that continues to be a favorite toy. 

          On Tuesday, I picked Ingrid up from school and we made it to our go-to ice cream shop--salted caramel is the choice!

          Wednesday I worked at the bookstore for a while, visited with a wonderful volunteer who gives hours entering books to sell on Amazon. And I gathered books that we no longer need to take to a refugee center in great need of books! Like the bookstore, this center is run entirely by volunteers, the building owned by a doctor who has set up a non-profit with a food pantry, a clothing room, a doctor, a dentist, a teen room, English classes, a nursery. It is amazing to see all that is happening at this center and our bookstore is happy to help with much-wanted books.

           Thursday, back at the bookstore. It's my day, and also the day we go through donations, giving thanks for those who think of us when they have books to give.

           Friday, a quick snow and ice storm Thursday night made streets very icy, and I slid right through an intersection on the drive to the dentist. I was lucky. The other drivers saw that I was not going to be able to stop, and waited to enter the street. Whew! 

           I had a great phone visit with my grandson, on the way with his parents to visit another university. It's so hard to believe he's looking at colleges. But he is, and I hope he finds just the right one for him!

           And, walking to the mailbox (we have a bank of locked boxes in our neighborhood) I had the joy of seeing my favorite crows flying around. Here's a pic of one on the wing!

           Today, I'm off to the bookstore again to meet a possible new volunteer, hoping to fill one needed opening! It's warm again, and I know I will discover other celebrations. And I will write more letters to my representatives to let them know I want them to listen to their constituents and do what is right for America! 

Poetry Friday - Deciding How We Care

           Jone MacCullough at Check It Out hosts our PoetryFriday this week. I imagine she'll be sharing the Cybils Poetry winner and perhaps others who were honored, too. You can find them all here. Thanks for hosting, Jone! 

            As I searched for some poetry to share today, for comfort in a time of terrible loss, I found a poem from a book written in 2004 by Edward Brunner, Cold War Poetry. I only read a few pages, admit I am not an expert on the entire book's premise and full content. Yet this particular part touched me. He writes: Yet poets in the 1950s in fact did write poems that set out to do precisely that which Lowell deemed to be the quintessential response to the bomb--to be a shield for their child. That is, poets in surprising numbers wrote pieces in which their primary role was not to speak in the voice of the professional or the sober analyst or the civic-minded intellectual but in the voice of the parent or the parent-surrogate whose very poem was being extended as an offering to a child as if it could be an act of sheltering. In none of these poems is the Bomb ever mentioned directly. But the extent to which a poem must include a direct reference to the Bomb in order to evoke its presence is always a problematic feature of poems about the Bomb. Consider Hyam Plutzik's six-line poem. . .which accomplishes its task nicely without mentioning the Bomb.
              It was a time of stress during this time of the Cold War, but as children, we felt sheltered, taken care of. I wonder if we can say the same of children today? Here is Hyam Plutzik's poem:

And in the 51st Year of that Century, while My
Brother Cried in the Trench, while My Enemy 
                     Glared from the Cave

This star is only an augury of the morning,
Gift-bearer of another day.

A wind has brought the musk of thirty fields,
Each like a coin of silver under that sky.

Precious, the soundless breathing of wife and children
In a house on a field lit by the morning star. 

People Who Made A Difference

art by Sarah S. Brannen

          Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy.  From her and others, you will discover and want to celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books!
           I can't argue with the Sibert Award winners because I haven't read any, sad to admit, and have only heard of one. You can find all the winners here in case you missed them. Congratulations to all the winners!

Also, Cybil's Awards will be announced today. I had a wonderful time discussing the finalists in the poetry category. Congratulations to them, too. 

And, Happy Valentine's Day!

       This book infuses some of the challenges faced by African Americans, especially women, during and after World War II, focusing on four black women who were very smart in math and wanted to help their country in ways they were so capable of doing. It begins with the work on airplanes during the war and continues through beginning computer work through the forming of NASA and the trip to the moon.  In Shetterly and Conkling’s text, the reader is introduced to the reasons these figures were hidden through giving some details of U.S. history of segregation and the Civil Rights movement. Freeman’s illustrations are boldly colored, like the cover. It's great to see a picture book story made for younger readers from the original book. There is enough information given to satisfy parts of this history and to spark interest in discovering more. Added information at the end includes a timeline of pertinent events, short biographies of each woman, a glossary, and an author's note.

             As Andrew Carnegie gained power, he acquired a greedy reputation because of his fight against the workers at his steel mills. However, this book focuses on his story growing up in a poor family, finally giving up and migrating to American. There as a fourteen-year-old, Andrew had to work to help his family, began as a bobbin boy in a cotton mill, twelve hours a day, small breaks for lunch and dinner. Wow! Slowly, he moved into more important jobs, and through hard work, he became one of the richest men in America. His story is briefly told, with emphasis on his first opportunity to spend time reading from a rich man's library. He remembered that, and later, as a wealthy man, began to spend his millions building libraries, the first in his birthplace, that small village in Scotland. Illustrations done by Katty Maurey are made in muted tones of few colors, interesting to see. Andrew Larsen has added additional information about Carnegie's legacy. 

It's Monday - Time to Share Great Books

        Visit Jen at Teach MentorTexts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders to discover books you'll love!  Thanks to Jen, Kellee, and Ricki who share so much with us by taking time to support this meme!


      It's exciting to write this knowing that the big, big moment is Monday morning here in Denver at 8am, the ALA Midwinter announcement of awards! Authors and Illustrators have already been called and are grinning like Cheshire cats about now as I'm writing this. I wonder who. . .?

        More than one book captured me this week. When you read what I share, you'll know what I mean.

If you'd like to read a HornBook recap of Angie Thomas speaking at the First Parish Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, plus a few other links about her, go here. This book is one from my list of #MustReadIn2018.

          It's been a busy, busy week but staying up later than usual and reading a lot on Sunday helped me finish Angie Thomas' book, take several deep breaths and start over again. While I may take longer than a week for this re-read, I feel it's important to see if I missed anything. I was a bit confused with some relationships and went back to figure that out. I took time also to look up words. I am white after all and didn't know some of the words. I want to know! If I read this and was still a teacher, I know I would do this, so why not now for my grandchildren? 
         The main character of this story, Starr, is in high school and not in her neighborhood, a ghetto named Garden Heights. She and her brother, Seven, a senior, and younger brother, Sekani, all attend a nearly all-white private school 45 minutes away. Throughout the story, Starr shares often about the struggle to code-switch, to be careful not to let her home voice out when she's at school. She says she's good, but it's so hard. 

Celebrating The Quirky

      Celebrating today with Ruth Ayres and others who share. 

        I know not all of you see my FB posts. They are full of family, the bookstore, and when I become especially upset, politics. Most recently, I'm participating in a private poetry group, writing a poem each day to a piece of art shared by a group member. It's been joyful, educational and sometimes sadness creeps in when someone posts a particularly poignant poem. I also read a friend's post who takes lots of photos like Terje does and she shared that a photographer friend told her that whenever one sees something red, she should take a picture. Well, the quest is on. I've ignored the first thoughts--stop signs, Target, grocery signs. But in winter, much is brown (or white) and red stands out, and actually is rather rarer than one might think. Today I celebrate "Quirky" and the color "red" which happens to be my favorite color. You would know that if you visited my home.

from a clip-on wire thing in my
office, like a bulletin board

        It seems a good celebration since our loving Valentine's Day is Wednesday.

Here are the red photos so far! 

#nfpb10for10

Thanks to Cathy Mere, Mandy Robek and Julie Balen, we have the pleasure of seeing favorites from many others! You can discover all about the history, the how and the where to post HERE!

             Non-fiction picture books help us all learn about the world in order to navigate it. From people and places, from prose and poetry, these books can include the history of the peoples of the world who educate and inspire. Among so many that I first listed, here are the ten I chose. They are both very recent and much older, yet to me they all have a message for us about our world. I've put the link for the longer reviews on Goodreads at the beginning of each summary.

 Here are my past posts. I love re-reading them, reminding me of books loved in the past, some I own and re-visit. 

2013    2014    2015    2016    2017

The Way To Start A Day is this --

Go outside

and face the east

and greet the sun

with some kind of blessing

or chant

or song

that you made yourself

and keep

for early morning.

         From a beloved author whose books I used over and over again, a book I've shared more than once, The Way To Start A Day by Byrd Baylor. She shows the parts of her day in the southwest, with a strong, yet subtle, invitation to find your own way to start your day in your country. 

Nature is an important part of my life, was an important part of my teaching. I had the privilege at my school to travel often and to wonderful places all over with my students. Even as we went to cities, we remained committed to learning about the nature in them, too. One will commit to caring for a thing when one both loves it and knows it well enough to love it even more.

            I adore it, not least because it's about one of my favorite topics, the moon! I've done moon journaling with students before, observed it, wrote about it, created art and wrote poetry inspired by it. Oh, how I wish I'd had this book to enhance our learning! 

Poetry Friday - All For The Family

           
           Sally Murphy from way down under hosts today! Thanks, Sally, wishing you and everyone else a loving Valentine's Day!  In her welcoming post, Sally shared her "dental" version of terse verse. Be sure to see her versions. Here's mine.

A Terse Verse Valentine for Anyone in Love

Mush Crush

          Speaking of love, according to Pliny the Elder, "Home is where the heart is." Unless you're a black-tailed prairie dog, then it's underground. Or if you're a king cobra, it's in a pile of leaves. White storks find their hearts, uh, homes, on chimney tops. These animal homes and others can be found celebrated poetically in David L. Harrison's new poetry collection, A Place To Start A Family: Poems About Creatures Who Build, illustrated by Giles Laroche. 
          The diversity of poems that fill the pages parallel the diversity of animals written about, poems that will begin a journey of wonder about other animals' homes and construction prowess. There are four sections—building underground, on land, in the water, and in the air and a bonus poem at the end. Why? Because it is so unique a "home builder" that it doesn't fit in the earlier sections! 
           I recognized some of these animals, like the star-nosed mole that David describes in part: "I keep my babies/ safe and dry,/ but otherwise/ I don't deny--/I love it wet/and full of bugs, worms, beetles,/ grubs, and slugs."  And I know of the yellow garden spiders whose baby spiderlings hatch "the size of dust/sail away on gentle gust/to decorate another yard."  

Non-Fiction for February & March

art by Sarah S. Brannen

          Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy.  From her and others, you will discover and want to celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books!

         It's a "must-have" for both Black History and Women's History month!

        Best known as a recording by Jerry Lee Lewis, this book reminds me of the song "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" by Dave "Curlee" Williams. And in this book, from the early 1730s to 2014, Susan Hood chronicles fourteen girls and women, also states it was hard to narrow the list to only fourteen. Wouldn't it be great to read this to students and have them search for other names to discover and write about?
        I wish I could show you every page! While Susan Hood has written "just right" poems that tell each story, each of those stories are illustrated by a different artist, some I recognized from other wonderful picture books, some I did not but they are each unique and clever. This cover and the opening, double-spread title page by Oge Mora shows Ruby Bridges, the youngest who "shook things up". There is a timeline, a full-page illustration and a smaller one accompanying the poems. The poems vary in style and form, alluring in their own right and sometimes connected to the person. For instance, there is a "shape poem" for Mary Anning, words woven into an outlined picture of her "find", a fossil of an ancient sea turtle/ichthyosaur. The blues and greys of England's coast show Mary at her happiest, finding fossils to sell to help her family.

Monday Book Share

        Visit Jen at Teach MentorTexts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders to discover books you'll love!  Thanks to Jen, Kellee, and Ricki who share so much with us by taking time to support this meme!

       It's been a busy week, but I managed to read some. If you aren't aware, Cathy Mere and Mandy Robek host an annual sharing titled non-fiction picture book 10 for 10 (#nf10for10). See all about it here at Cathy's blog, Reflect and Refine.

There are many books by Amy Krouse Rosenthal that I love, and I've managed to own quite a few too. I will have to purchase a second one because this must move on to be owned, read and loved by my granddaughters. Each page is filled with goodness about life (not a surprise) and about the life being a girl, too. "Dear Girl, don't ever lose your sense of wonder." and "Dear Girl, Find people like you. Find people unlike you." It makes me happy that Amy and her daughter wrote this together, and sad that Amy is no longer with us, except in the spirit of her books.Holly Hatam's illustrations are line drawings paired with collages created from photographs of textiles - wonderful to view.