Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge

Alyson Beecher over at Kid Lit Frenzy hosts a Non-fiction Picture Book Challenge and has a roundup every Wednesday. I love the encouragement to explore more non-fiction.

This week I'm featuring my favorite nonfiction picture books that I've read so far this year.

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs   comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelf. Images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

The Past Week:

The Coming Week:

I will be finishing China Dolls and maybe I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla. We are headed to Yellowstone so I will likely read some regional books while there. Have a great week of reading!

Review: Dale, Dale, Dale/Hit It, Hit It, Hit It

Title: Dale, Dale, Dale: Una fiesta de numeros/Hit It, Hit It, Hit It: A Fiesta of Numbers
Author: René Saldaña, Jr.
Illustrator: Carolyn Dee Flores
Publisher: Piñata Books
Pages: 32
Availability: On shelves now
Review Copy: A final copy was provided by the publisher

Summary: “Today is my birthday, and I am so excited. / One piñata filled with candy. / Two hours until the party. / Three tables set for all of the guests.” Mateo counts to twelve as he anticipates the fun he’ll have at his party! There will be family, friends and lots of goodies for the children: tops, marbles and even toy cars! But before the children can hit the piñata, they will sing the birthday boy a song and enjoy eating a delicious cake. And then Mateo will be “the happiest boy in the whole wide world,” because he gets to swing at the piñata first with everyone cheering him on: ¡Dale! ¡Dale! ¡Dale! -- Cover image and summary via publisher

Review: Dale, Dale, Dale is a counting book with a birthday setting. My favorite illustration is when Mateo counts five lucha libre masks. I think that will be a selling point with my students since they loved reading Niño Wrestles the World. Like many counting books, there isn't a whole lot of storyline happening, but it is still fun. Most children can relate to being excited about a birthday celebration. I think it would be great to read this along with Just a Minute by Yuyi Morales since that is also a birthday counting book.

The illustrations are bright and engaging. They totally make me smile. Of course, it would be difficult to read this without feeling the urge to hit a piñata so that would be the perfect extension activity - especially if readers count the swings.

Another plus is that the book is completely bilingual. The piñata song does lose a little in the translation to English though. It definitely sounds best in Spanish. I would have liked the music to go along with the book since I didn't know how the song goes, but there are many videos on YouTube that helped me that could also be used with students.

I will be happy to share this with my primary grade students. It's sure to bring smiles.

Celebrate!

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on Saturdays where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every day. Here are some of my celebrations from the week in no particular order.

* We are enjoying time with our short-term exchange daughter from Japan. She made dinner for us a few days ago. It was nice to sit back and relax as both daughters worked together.

* Along with the exchange comes many adventures together. This week we went kayaking. We had strong winds at first so it was a challenge, but as the evening went on the wind eased. It was beautiful out on the water.

* We had cooler weather yesterday so I didn't mind heating up the oven. I made piles of biscotti for our upcoming road trip to Montana. It travels well and is a fun snack.

* My training for RAGNAR is getting much more intense, but so far I am injury free. I'm hurrying to post this so I can get out on my run today. I have 6.5 miles to run now and 5.5 this evening. Whew!

* I didn't get to do a Celebrate post last week, but the week was full of celebrations. I mentioned some of them in my Slice of Life Post. Much of the fun was last weekend when the girls and I went to Milwaukee, Chicago and Racine. We visited a zoo, museums, beaches, and more. It's great getting to enjoy the sites together.

I am off to get one of my runs for the day out of the way. Have a great weekend!

Poetry Friday

I am excited to see that there is a new Poetry Friday Anthology coming out. Syvia Vardell and Janet Wong shared their news and are hosting Poetry Friday at Poetry for Children.

I was lucky enough to attend #nErDCampMI again this year. While there I was able to go to a session about poetry led by Mary Lee Hahn. She was inspirational and shared many poetry resources, but she also had us do a little poetry writing. I am hoping to do more writing in the coming year. Here is one I have been rolling around in my head during my training runs the past week or so.

Summer Flirtation

As my feet pound the path
Nature woos me.
Butterflies kiss my legs and arms.
A frog in my way
  makes my heart skip a beat.
A sleek fox catches my eye.

Sweet bunnies melt my heart

  while the sun warms my skin.

A lake winks slyly from
  between the trees.
The breeze murmurs in my ear.
Birds sing their serenades.
I never run alone.

Non-fiction Picture Book Challenge

Alyson Beecher over at Kid Lit Frenzy hosts a Non-fiction Picture Book Challenge and has a roundup every Wednesday. I love the encouragement to explore more non-fiction.

Greet the Dawn - The Lakota Way is a beautiful book that shares the Lakota Way. According to the author, this way "offers a means of living in balance." S.D. Nelson provides an introduction explaining this way of life that is lived in a circle with humility and balance. I appreciated the mix of tradition and modernity in the book within the text and illustrations. He honors traditional patterns and imagery, but is also bringing a new vision to the work including playfulness with colors and even some cartoon elements among other things. Another part of this fusion is that he provides modern scenes along with timeless illustrations. The reader will know that this is not only about Lakota from long ago. On the title page we see a pickup truck amidst a grouping of tipis. There is also a fantastic spread with a big yellow school bus. Within this contemporary school type scene he includes colorful patterns along the road and pictographic images in the sky that point to the Lakota heritage. This image may be seen in the opening of the trailer below.

The text is also a fusion of old and new. Through the simple poetic lines, Nelson is sharing the many teachings that have influenced his life. In a note at the end, Nelson tells of the people who have provided this  teaching including Black Elk and many others. I appreciated that he points to the sources. The text also includes several songs in the Lakota language that he notes are from Teton Sioux Music. I always appreciate seeing other languages within picture books.

I think Greet the Dawn would pair well with Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message by Chief Jake Swamp or, though much more simplified, you also might compare it to Our Journey by Liz Jaakola. 

All three books come from different traditions (Lakota, Mohawk, and Ojibwe), but they share many similarities such as thankfulness for the many things nature provides and greeting the day.

Another interesting type of pairing would be to look at other "ways of living." 

In Ka's Garden: Kab Lub Vaj, the story teaches about the Hmong way of life and at the end there is a note that lists out some core beliefs. Several are similar to those expressed by S.D. Nelson.

Alone or paired with other books, I highly recommend Greet the Dawn and look forward to sharing it with staff and students.  

Slice of Life

I signed up for Teachers Write, but haven't written very much since it began. A trip to Michigan for Nerdcamp was the first lovely and inspiring distraction.

The next was a trip to Indianapolis with my mother and sister to see my brother. Then, the three of us women went to Niagara Falls and Toronto.

When I arrived home from that week long adventure, I prepared to have my daughter home from her four week trip to Japan. She was bringing her exchange sister. We have been sight-seeing locally, but have also taken three different day trips to Minnesota, Milwaukee, and Chicago. It makes me tired remembering, but it also makes me happy.

I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and write, but one place where I can "write" is on my runs. I am training for RAGNAR which is a team relay race. My training days have been out of wack, but they have been happening for the most part. On those runs, I have a lot of time for thinking. I've brainstormed a few poems out there on the paths and thought a lot about my writing. With the girls away for part of the time today, I am hopeful that I will be able to finally write for a significant amount of time. In some ways, this break has been good since I am often avoiding my writing time or putting it off. I have missed writing. Absence has been working its magic. Today I am getting some words on the page!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs   comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelf. Images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

It is 11:48 on Monday and I am just now starting this post. My daughter and her exchange sister arrived from Japan last Monday evening and we have been sight-seeing and doing all kinds of activities so there has been very little time for blogging. So here are snapshots of my reading from last week:

I am still reading these two that I started before the past week and will keep reading them this week:

For the coming week, I am also planning to read these two and maybe a few more:

I hope you have some fun reading this week!

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Alyson Beecher over at Kid Lit Frenzy hosts a Non-fiction Picture Book Challenge and has a roundup every Wednesday. This week I have a nautical theme happening though it wasn't on purpose.

The first is Dare the Wind: The Record-Breaking Voyage of Eleanor Prentiss and the Flying Cloud. It was written by Tracey Fern and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully. It was fascinating to see how Eleanor learned so much about sailing from her father and put it to use. The story was interesting and so were the notes at the end of the book. The link to the book at the beginning of this paragraph, also leads to online resources that the author has suggested if a reader wants to learn more.

Plastic Ahoy!: Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch reminded me of the Scientists in the Field series though for a lower grade. This focuses on three female marine scientist who are studying the effects of plastic on the life in the ocean. The author is Patricia Newman and the photographer is Annie Crawley. Here is a trailer that gives you a peek inside.

The facts they reveal about the amount of plastic in the ocean unsettled me especially in relation to the critters that help process our CO2 and provide us with our oxygen. Eek! At the end, Newman suggests ways that readers can help with the situation. The photographs are fantastic and it is great to see a picture of what a scientists job might look like on a given day.

I truly enjoyed both of these texts and will be happy to share them with staff and students.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs   comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelf. Images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

You may have noticed silence after my post last Monday. That was because I was off to #nErDcampMI and then to Canada for vacation. I ran out of time to prepare more posts ahead of time. I am back home as of about midnight last night. I didn't get a lot of reading accomplished this week because I was out having too much fun. :)

The Past Week:

Amazingly, these are the only two books I completed (or remember finishing) this week. I listened to The Riverman through WI, IL, IN, OH, and MI. It is very difficult to classify. In my mind, depending on the truth in the end, it could be mystery, realistic fiction (if someone has mental issues), magical realism, fantasy or even sic-fi. I believe it is fantasy, but no matter how it is classified, The Riverman is quite unique. I didn't realize that it isn't a stand alone while I was listening, but it doesn't have a tidy ending at all so I felt a bit gob-smacked. In talking to others and hearing it highly recommended and book talked at #nErDcampMI, I found out that there will be more and that helped to counter some of my negative thoughts about the book. It is still not a favorite, but I do understand why others (review by Elizabeth Bird) love it so much.

A Taste of Colored Water is a look at the civil rights era and is not what you might expect given the cover art and title. It is about two children who are looking for the "colored" water fountain and find something other than what they expect. It would be a great entry to discussion about that time period and would be great paired with Ruth and the Green Book. The book is also found in this civil rights unit. The author, Matt Faulkner, was at #nErDcampMI to share this book and his graphic novel Gaijin: An American Prisoner of War, which I want to read too. It's about the Japanese Internment.

The Coming Week:

I am still working on the professional book I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla. I started the novel in verse Etched in Clay while we were in Toronto and am enjoying it. China Dolls was my companion on my drive back from Ohio, but I am only a little over half way through. It is an adult historical fiction book about three Asian-American friends. Two of the friends are of Chinese descent and one of the women is actually Japanese, but she passes as Chinese. It takes place as WWII is beginning and anti-Japanese sentiment is running high. The storyline is quite interesting though in the beginning I had to keep jumping back on the CDs because my attention would wander. Later in the story that didn't happen.

I am not sure what else I will be reading though I know I will be reviewing a picture book The Poet Upstairs. This will be another very busy and exciting week since my daughter returns from Japan today along with her exchange sister that she has been living with for the past month. We will likely be running around doing touristy types of things and sharing pictures and stories from our trips. It should be a fantastic week, but I don't know how much reading time I will have. What will you be reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs   comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelf. Images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

Blog Posts From the Past Week: Review of Dalia's Wondrous Hair, Celebrate!, Holy Bagumba! (My Flora costume preparations), Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - Water Can Be... & Picture Yourself Writing Poetry, and #MustReadin2014 Update

The Past Week: 

I loved my dip into poetry this week with Sarah Kay's books B and No Matter the Wreckage along with Laura Purdie Salas' book Water Can Be.... I even managed to write a few poems myself after that.

I jumped into several adult books this week and really enjoyed all of them. Neverwhere was a fun fantasy that kept me wondering. Round House was intense. It was a mystery, but it was also about family. The Right Mistake was interesting especially given the fact that it is the third in a series and I hadn't read the other two. Oops. It worked as a stand alone though. 

A Baby Elephant in the Wild is an excellent nonfiction title for very young readers just learning about nonfiction. Marathon Mouse was a cute book about running. I also had a great time reading a few more Pura Belpré books. Altogether it was a fantastic week for reading.

The Coming Week:

I am still reading a professional book, I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla. I will be listening to The Riverman and then China Dolls on my road trip. I am also taking a few books with me: Etched in Clay and West of the Moon. I don't know if I will get to them though. Have a great week!

Review: Dalia's Wondrous Hair/El cabello maravilloso de Dalia

Title: Dalia's Wondrous Hair/El cabello maravilloso de Dalia
Author: Laura Lacámara
Publisher: Arte Público Press
Pages: 32
Review Copy: Final copy supplied by Publisher
Availability: On shelves now

Summary: In this whimsical bilingual picture book for children, Dalias hair, which is as tall and thick as a Cuban royal palm tree, takes on a life of its own!

Review: I was intrigued before I even opened the book. The amazing tower of hair on the cover inspired many questions in my mind. I wondered how her hair got to be that way, if it had magic powers, what Dalia would do with her hair and so much more.

The story itself also kept me wondering about many things and asking things like, "What are coontie leaves?" Fairly early in the story there were vocabulary words that had me searching for a glossary. The author's note at the end explains that many plants and animals in the story are things that are found on the island of Cuba where the author was born. The note provides a brief explanation of each of these mentioned in the story. It was fun to experience Cuba through the author's eyes.

The imaginative story kept me guessing and would be fantastic to use with students especially if you want to talk about making predictions. Dalia has a plan from the very beginning and the suspense keeps building as Dalia does things that just don't seem to make sense. Children may try to guess what she is doing and will be excited once they understand Dalia's idea. There is also a hint at the end that she may do something else next and that could be a springboard for writing about Dalia's next adventure. Students may also enjoy going back through the book and looking for all of the clues that the author snuck into the story that they may not have noticed the first time through.

The illustrations are vibrant and engaging and I had a smile on my face the whole time I was reading even when Dalia's hair gets a little on the icky side (I don't want to spoil it for you so I won't disclose the ickiness). This is a book that will be a hit during story time for sure and I look forward to sharing it with students.

Celebrate!

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on Saturdays where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every day. Here are some of my celebrations from the week in no particular order.

I have to write this quickly because I have a list of things to do that is way to long to fit into this one day, but that brings me to one of my celebrations.

** Tomorrow morning I am going on a road trip. I will see my mother and sister and many friends. I get to go to nErDcampMi on Monday & Tuesday. On Thursday, I get to go to Toronto and Niagara Falls with my mom and sis. I am SUPER EXCITED! I am almost ready and it begins to look like I will get everything done that needs to be finished before I leave.

** Last weekend I got to go to Chicago. Some of the highlights were running along the lake, seeing my husband compete in his triathlon, spending more than 4 hours at the Art Institute, seeing Sarah Kay perform her poetry, walking in the rain, and writing in my journal at the outdoor symphony concert. It was a wonderful weekend.

** On my run this morning I had many beautiful butterflies accompanying me on the trail.

** I got a new dryer! My old one was wrecking our clothes. This one is more efficient and has a "no heat" option too. Yay for a better dryer.

** I have been able to read a lot of great books in between weeding, cleaning, and otherwise making our house ready for guests.

** With help from Laura Purdie Salas, I have written a few poems this week.

Walter, sweet giant of a man, I must forage among my tears to find words that mean goodbye. RIP Walter Dean Myers.

— Nikki Grimes (@nikkigrimes9) July 2, 2014

** The loss of Walter Dean Myers is not something to celebrate, but his life and work definitely deserve celebration. I have appreciated seeing the many tributes and reflections on his life this week such as the one written here by Lyn Miller-Lachmann. His work has spoken to so many and his words about diverse literature have moved many to action. The world is a better place because he was here.

Holy Bagumba!

I am super excited to have my Flora & Ulysses costume. It has taken a lot of planning. First of all, I had to agree to be a nanny for two young girls the summer that I graduated from high school. Jenny and Heather were a lot of fun. If you need to make a costume, it is essential to have someone like Jenny to teach you how to do it. When I posted a picture of Flora & Ulysses on my Facebook page and asked if anyone knew how to make a shirt like Flora's, Jenny messaged me within minutes. She told me to get an orange or yellow shirt, fabric paint, painters tape, and a roller brush. 

She wrote out step by step instructions that worked perfectly! Thanks Jenny! The hardest part was actually finding the shirt, but after a few trips to Plato's closet and Goodwill, I found one that fit and was a close color match. Painting was a ton of fun.

I already had some capris so that was taken care of, but my next issue was my hair and shoes. My mom saw the picture on Facebook too. Within a few days she called me asking my shoe size because she found some shoes at a garage sale that would be perfect. She also had a wig for me. I needed a haircut anyway, so now I have my short hair and will go natural or use the wig whichever looks the best. I will get to my mom's house on Sunday and see if the shoes work and put the whole outfit together. I will try to update the post with final pictures then.

My last concern was Ulysses. Fortunately, I work with a lot of helpful people. When I asked one of our reading teachers if she had a squirrel in her stuffed animal collection she said she thought so. She hadn't read Flora & Ulysses yet, but I handed it to her and she remedied that within 24 hours. After finishing the book (and loving it), Diane gave me a squirrel she had found at home & told me to give him the vacuum treatment with her blessing. 

So now I should be ready for the #nErDcampMI 5K and then Halloween too. I am so excited to share Flora & Ulysses with everyone. Now I need to go read it one more time. If you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for? It won the Newbery Award this year and is beyond awesome. Here is the book trailer and a short interview with Kate DiCamillo to introduce the book.

You may recognize Kate DiCamillo as the author of Because of Winn Dixie, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, The Tale of Despereaux, Bink & Gollie, Mercy Watson, and many more fantastic books. The illustrations were created by K.G. Campbell and are super fun. 

As a side note, my daughter and I got to meet Kate DiCamillo in Minneapolis earlier this year. She was warm, welcoming, and so sweet. Meeting her was an unexpected and fabulous treat. (the rhyming was completely unintentional, but I like it so it's staying)

* Here is the text of Kate's Newbery speech. You might need tissues.

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge

Alyson Beecher over at Kid Lit Frenzy hosts a Non-fiction Picture Book Challenge and has a roundup every Wednesday. This week I am focusing on the work of Laura Purdie Salas.

Last Friday I mentioned Picture Yourself Writing Poetry for a Poetry Friday post. I had to get it through Inter-library loan, but will be ordering it for my school library.

Picture Yourself Writing Poetry is a great book that encourages readers to create poems of their own using pictures as inspiration. It begins with a brief overview of the writing process. Salas also provides plenty of poetry specific tips and advice including using ideas, images, and metaphors, word choice, character work, and arranging words on the page. Along the way, Salas offers a few sample poems that she has composed to go with the photos. The photo prompts and her verbal prompts are interesting and engaging. I think any reader will be inspired to create poetry after reading this text and teachers will find the prompts very helpful with students. If the reader needs more, Salas also has a great page on her website that is called 15 Words or Less. This is a page where she posts a photograph on Thursdays with the idea that readers will do a quick write poem to go along with it. It's meant to be a low stress activity that encourages creative thinking. I look forward to sharing it with teachers at my school.

Another book by Laura Purdie Salas that I ran across this week was Water Can Be... Here are two trailers that do a wonderful job of explaining the book.

Along with being a great non-fiction book about water, Water Can Be... could also be used as a mentor text for students to write poetry about a topic of their choice. If you haven't yet read Water Can Be... or its companion text A Leaf Can Be... I would definitely recommend you get them soon. The texts are fun and lyrical and the illustrations by Violeta Dabija are gorgeous.

By the way, Laura Purdie Salas has provided teaching guides and resources for both books that share plenty of ideas for activities. I will have to try a few of them this coming year.

Teaching Resources: A Leaf Can Be...   Water Can Be...

#MustReadin2014 Update

The fabulous Carrie Gelson over at There is a Book for That has started a reading challenge called #MustReadin2014. Since it fits in with my reading plans, I have added it to my list of challenges. As part of the challenge, we each created a list of books that we "must read" in 2014. These lists are very individualized. I have included the Printz books since I started that challenge last year. I also added the books that were on the Best Multicultural Books of 2013 list created by The Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature. Since the challenge was designed to whittle down our To Be Read lists, there are also books on my list that have been waiting for years. One has been on my list since the summer of 2010. My To Be Read shelf on Goodreads has well over 1,000 books on it, but I kept only 110 for by #MustRead2014 shelf.

My first update was posted back in April here. At that point, I had finished reading 26/110. Since then, I have read 16 more for 42/110. I had hoped to get to the half-way point, but I keep getting sidetracked. Here are the books I've read in the past three months:

April

I enjoyed every single one of these. Wild Berries is beautiful, My Basmati Bat Mitzvah was a lot of fun, Killer of Enemies was amazing action-adventure, and Rickshaw Girl was a wonderful story of family and challenging gender roles.

May

The Surrender Tree and Yes! We are Latinos really helped me learn a lot of Latino history. The Grand Plan to Fix Everything was cute and quite fun. Kenta and the Big Wave was a nice picture book that takes place during a Japanese tsunami. Both Jimi and Me and Red Kite, Blue Kite dealt with father and son relationships. I really had a good time reading all of these except Tender Morsels. It was grim, unsettling and did not resolve in a way that I appreciated at all. It left me scratching my head. If it wasn't a Printz book, I would have abandoned it.

June

The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano was a wonderful look into the 1960s activism in Spanish Harlem. I'm having a good time using the writing prompts from Picture Yourself Writing Poetry. My Heartbeat was a unique story of relationships. It was a nice change to read some fantasy in The Ropemaker. I've read a lot of historical and realistic fiction lately. Round is a Tortilla is a great concept book with a fun cultural setting.

Overall, I am a bit behind on my goal, but am still making steady progress. I am looking forward to closing the gap over summer. Are you working on a "must read" list too?