Traveling Back in Time With a Picture Book May 17, 2012

This picture – capturing one of the best moments of the school year – was not arranged or posed or requested. Here’s what I love about it. The girls in this picture are in 6th grade, and they are reading picture books. It was a big day for them. A few hours after this picture was taken, the girls would perform in their spring play and they were waiting to get into their costumes. When I realized what they were doing, I went to get my phone.

The girls, probably unconsciously, were looking for a way to relax, and they took a few minutes to return to their younger selves. As they quickly figured out, picture books are perfect for times like this.  For young children, they spark imagination, serve as an introduction to reading and introduce them to the world. But, they do something equally important for older kids. They let them reconnect and refresh.

Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger May 5, 2012

If you had told me that one of my favorite new picture books would have no plot and feature one color, I wouldn’t have believed you, but I’ve been wrong before. Green, the new picture book by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, is lush like a forest – and beautiful like a spring day when all kinds of green things are popping up. Seeger’s book reminded me of how much green there is on our lives – for example, limes, peas and jungles.

Sometimes concept books are really clever and beautiful, but they are kind of like jokes for adults in movies for toddlers. These are picture books that adults find really cool and inventive, but then I show them to kids and they don’t get it. Kids can always spot the book (or the movie) that is truly for them – and this one is.  It’s spring, a perfect time to see – and read – Green.

When Jackie and Hank Met by Cathy Goldberg Fishman April 29, 2012

Of course, this book caught my eye!  A book about a collision (literally) between two future members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame – one the first black Major League Baseball player and the other the first Jewish baseball star. When Jackie and Hank Met by Cathy Goldberg Fishman is a terrific new picture book about that moment on May 17, 1947 when Robinson and Greenberg met during a close play at first base.  Fishman’s book focuses on the two men who broke racial and religious barriers, and it’s a story that should inspire kids to learn more about both players.

The story of their meeting opens my biography of Hank Greenberg. Years ago, when I first heard the story I remember thinking that I had “found” my first page. Most kids know about Jackie  Robinson, but Greenberg’s story is less familiar. The thought was to get them hooked with a story about Jackie Robinson and hope they continued reading.

Fishman’s idea was a good one - this story deserves its own book.

To read more about When Jackie and Hank Met, The Whole Megillah has a review:

http://thewholemegillah.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/book-review-when-jackie-and-hank-met-by-cathy-goldberg-fishman/

Lucy and the Bully by Claire Alexander April 22, 2012

If you are looking for a good picture book to initiate a conversation about bullying, I’ve got it – and believe me, the search was not an easy one.  Two of us (the school psychologist and I) were on the case.  We looked at lots of books and nothing felt right. I’m not naming titles, but the books in the ”no go” pile landed there for a couple of reasons. Usually, they had too much text. We were looking for something to read to young children (4-7) that would raise questions: What is a bully? When should a child involve teachers and parents? 

Others were too didactic. The kids would not have the patience to sit through some of the humorless stories we read – they were even hard for me to get through.

But…last week I found Lucy and the Bully by Claire Alexander and wondered how I missed it. The story of the lamb (Lucy) and the bull (the bully, of course) is sweet and the illustrations are so brilliant at conveying emotion that you can almost “read” them without reading the words.  It strikes the perfect mix: a timely topic, not too much text, not too didactic and a terrific way to begin an important conversation.

Write On, Mercy! by Gretchen Woelfle April 19, 2012

In the new American Wing at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, there is a portrait of Mercy Otis Warren, the Revolutionary-era writer. I’ve always been drawn to the painting for two reasons. First, it was painted by John Singleton Copley, the “official” portrait painter of the American Revolution. And second, Warren was not a typical 18^th century woman. She wrote poetry and history and was an outspoken advocate of independence.  In 1805 – when Warren was 77-years-old, she published her three volume history of the American Revolution.

Warren is not as well known as Abigail Adams, her friend and correspondent, but maybe Gretchen Woelfle’s new picture book biography of Warren will begin to remedy that. Write On, Mercy!: The Secret Life of Mercy Otis Warren tells the story of Warren’s life, beginning with her childhood on Cape Cod. For young history buffs, especially girls between the ages of 8 and 11, Woelfle’s book is an engaging gateway to the American Revolution and a well-told story of an American Patriot.

Woelfle is also the author of a biography for older readers – Jeannette Rankin: Political Pioneer. In 1916, Rankin was the first woman elected to Congress, and in 1968, at the age of 87, she marched in a protest against the Vietnam War.  Maybe Rankin was inspired by Mercy Otis Warren!

Brothers at Bat by Audrey Vernick April 15, 2012

My favorite thing about sports is the stories. Not the scores or the rankings or the championships. Truthfully, I can’t name the two years (in this century) that the Red Sox won the World Series without looking it up, but there are so many great stories – and this is one of the best.  The Acerra family, who lived in New Jersey during the 1930s, had sixteen children – twelve boys and four girls. It’s kind of hard to get your head wrapped around meal time and the laundry, isn’t it?

But anyway…the Acerra boys played baseball, all of them. They had an entire team – with backups!  Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team is the story of the Acerra family. The most striking (get it?) thing to me about their story is how incredibly supportive the boys were of one another. Their father was their coach and as Vernick writes, he “never missed a game.” This is a sports story, but more importantly, a warm family story.

Steven Salerno’s illustrations fit the feel of the book perfectly. They look like the 1930s and complement the text in every way. Later in the story, you see one of the boys returning home from World War II. It shows just the back of one of the Acerra brothers returning home (six of them served) and their mother standing at the front door. It’s a beautiful picture – evocative of a different era.

Speaking of baseball in the 1930s, my biography of Hank Greenberg was selected as one of the Best Children’s Books of the Year by Bank Street College of Education. I’ve appreciated and relied on Bank Street’s recommendations for many years so I’m grateful to be included on their list.  One last thing…I just looked this up. The Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 and in 2007.

Two New Picture Books I Love… April 11, 2012

Sometimes I read a new picture book and love it so much that I don’t know what to do with it. Shelving it makes it too hard to see. Sleeping with it under my pillow would be uncomfortable. Carrying it around for a week feels right – and then quickly becomes inconvenient. The remedy is writing about books I love here on my blog, a place to share my passion with kids, parents and teachers.

These are the two books I can’t stop looking at this week… 

A Bus Called Heaven by Bob Graham

Australian author-illustrator Bob Graham has created another book about the power of people working together. When an abandoned bus appears in front of Stella’s house, people “stopped and talk together.”  It’s the people that make you want to show this book to everyone. There are all kinds of people on every page. A Bus Called Heaven is a happy – and optimistic – book.

Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature by Nicola Davies and Mark Hearld

A poetry book. An art book.  A book that makes you take a closer look at the leaves and birds and flowers. Outside Your Window is so beautiful that I have actually carried it in my tote bag this week and looked at it during the day. Here’s a poem I read at lunch today:

Night

The breeze shivers through the barley,

and the sea sighs.

Far away an owl is calling

and a star shines.

The moon sails white and silver

in the dark sky.

Sometimes you can feel,

sometimes you can feel,

sometimes you can feel the world is turning.

Piggy Bunny by Rachel Vail April 4, 2012

Not too late for the Easter Basket on Sunday….Piggy Bunny by Rachel Vail is sweet and funny and really cute. This story has been told before, but don’t let that stop you from adding it to your Easter read-aloud list. Liam, who is a piglet, wants to be an Easter Bunny. He tries to get all of the Easter Bunny-like characteristics down. “He tried to practice hopping. He tried to enjoy salad. And he tried to deliver eggs.” Liam is an all-round awesome little guy – piglet or bunny!

After some well-meaning, but discouraging, words from his family and friends, Liam is sad. In the book’s most heart-wrenching scene, Liam says “This is the the kind of problem that is called heartbreaking.”  But…Liam gets some help from his grandma who, like any good 21st century grandparent, knows how to find an Easter bunny suit online. You can guess how the books ends – happily of course.

I love Piggy Bunny. The message of being true to yourself is always a good one to hear and this book takes a fresh and fun approach. It would be even sweeter if you read it while enjoying a chocolate bunny!

Beyond Goodnight Moon April 2, 2012

I love Goodnight Moon. My favorite line is “Goodnight mush.”  That is so great – who thinks of sending good wishes to their mush?  That being said, it’s kind of funny that every new parent receives about ten copies of Goodnight Moon for their baby. Lovely gift, but there are other thousands of other picture books that babies (and their families) love. New, imaginative, and beautiful books are published every year so if you want to branch out beyond the Great Green Room, here are a few suggestions:

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox  (a simple but beautiful celebration of babies. The text rhymes and Helen Oxenbury’s watercolor illustrations feature adorable pudgy little hands and legs – what more could you want?)

My First Mother Goose, edited by Iona Opie and illustrations by Rosemary Wells (Opie is a trusted authority in the world of fairy tales. This is a perfect gift for a new baby)

Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood (If I had a nickel for every time I read this book to my son when he was young, we could stop worrying about paying for his college education. At least the first year, but still….this is a must-have book.)

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury

Board books by Karen Katz

Board Books by Annie Kubler

And one of my new favorites that will now be on my list of books to buy for new parents….Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow?  This terrific new picture book – by Tom Slaughter – is an interactive book that compares living to non-living things. Basically, it is just really cool. For example, each page has something like this:

“If a kitten grow and becomes a cat, can a cap grow and become a hat?   But…you lift the flap to see the cap become a hat. You have to see it.

On a completely different note….I read an obituary of Patience Abbe in the New York Times on Sunday and keep thinking about Abbe’s story. At twelve-years-old, she was the author of Around the World in Eleven Years, the story of her very interesting family and their travels. Abbe died at the age of 87.  If you have a few minutes, it’s worth reading. Here’s the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/arts/patience-abbe-87-child-chronicler-of-travels-is-dead.html

New Socks by Bob Shea March 28, 2012

One of today’s missions was to put some different books on display, and because it has felt more like winter than spring this week, I didn’t feel right to break out the baseball books.  I decided to go straight for the attention-grabbing covers – the Barnes and Noble approach. I looked at picture book spines thinking only about what books deserved to be “face out.”  When I saw Bob Shea’s book, New Socks, with that energetic and very cute chick on the cover, it was an easy decision. It crossed my mind that I should read Shea’s book to our pre-school classes, but one thing about working with kids, you just never know….

Later in the afternoon, a group of 3rd grade students were in the library for a library skills and technology class. One of the girls noticed the bespeckled chick on the cover of Shea’s book (no surprise there) and asked if I would read it to them. I told her that if we had time, I’d read it at the end of class. However…proving once again that letting kids figure it out themselves is often the best idea, here’s what happened. I walked away to help a few other students with an iPad issue, and I noticed this girl and her friend looking at the book. The next thing I knew they were “performing” it. They recited the short witty text together with great style and it was perfect. No reading I was going to do would have come close to what they came up with on their own. When I listened to the book again, it occurred to me that fans of Mo Willems books should check this one out – it has that same direct humorous style of his Elephant and Piggie books.

Tonight I went on line and saw this very cute Youtube video starring, of course, the chick with oversize orange socks!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyRdTfPGFG8&feature=plcp&context=C42c31b8VDvjVQa1PpcFM9js-AmF7B1tox64_Wz0BSmj44fU3wGGc%3D