Review: Traveling the Underground Railroad

Title: Traveling the Underground Railroad (Terrell and Keke's Adventures Through Time)
Author: Kesha Rushing
Publisher: Kea Publishing (self-published)
Pages: 132
Review copy: Digital Edition via author
Availability: For purchase online


Summary:  Eleven-year-old Terrell and his 8 year-old sister, Keke, are time-travelers. Only they don't know it yet. All they know is it's the end of school year, their parents are having financial troubles and they must leave their friends in Chicago to spend the summer with their grandparents in small-town Tennessee.

An entire summer with a sassy, annoying little sister following his every step?! This may be Terrell's most boring summer ever. Or, will it? The woods behind his grandparents' house are deep, dark and forbidden - the perfect place for an adventure. The pair discover a hidden cabin and a trunk full of books that will lead them on a whirlwind adventure through time. Their first stop? The Underground Railroad led by the famous abolitionist, Harriet Tubman. On their journey they will travel as runaways and experience the danger, fear and courage that many slaves experienced on their journey to freedom.

Review: Terrell is just a typical fifth grade student off on a visit to relatives for the summer. He's not expecting much excitement, but that is exactly what he gets and his sister is following right behind him. Readers who enjoyed the Magic Treehouse series will likely enjoy traveling with Terrell and Keke on their journey through time.

I found the travel back in time to be very interesting and I learned some new things about Harriet Tubman. I didn't know she had an injury to the head that cause her to fall into deep sleeps. This comes up during their time with her. The children are in a great deal of danger during their trip so there is definitely tension and suspense. I read the book at a fast clip.

This would be a great book to put into the hands of readers interested in adventure and history. I hope to see more books with Terrell and Keke.

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 and 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.

I didn't participate last Monday because I was out on the road visiting this lovely lady.

Me and My Gram - Photo credit Bobie Williams

So here are the highlights from the last two weeks rather than a listing of everything I read.

Last 2 Weeks on the Blogs: 

**I didn't write the post, but don't miss this  

giveaway at Rich in Color

in honor of our three year anniversary.

Review of Moonshot at Rich in Color

 Women's History Month Post at Rich in Color

A review of Olinguito, from A to Z!

A review of The Amazing Discoveries of Ibn Sina

The Past 2 Weeks in Books:

 

 

What I notice here is a lot of nonfiction. The Langston Hughes memoir, I Wonder as I Wander, was interesting though not what I expected. It's a travel memoir and I always like those, but somehow I thought there would be poetry. I enjoyed it anyway and the reader (it was audio) was wonderful.  

Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea reminded me about how much I used to love filling in blank maps. It's a picture book biography about scientist Marie Tharp and how she made maps of the ocean floor.

I read two cute weather books, When Spring Comes and Ling & Ting: Together in All Weather. It was funny to read When Spring Comes this week and see this page when we had about 6 inches of snow on the ground.

Reading Ling & Ting was also coincidental since I saw a TedTalk by Grace Lin. Her topic was "The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child's Bookshelf." It's excellent. If you haven't watched it yet, take the 12 minutes to listen if you can.

Whose Hands are These is a wonderful inclusive look at careers. Pink is a Blobfish was hilarious and just gross enough to be fabulous. Hillary Rodham Clinton: Some Girls are Born to Lead is a picture book biography. There are quite a few on the market at this point, but this one seems to me the best for young readers. The illustrations are engaging and so is the text.

Sex is a Funny Word was a Stonewall Book Award honor book for 2015. The book seems to be aimed at upper elementary students. From my goodreads review, "This book explains a lot of things, but what I appreciated the most was all of the questions at the end of the sections. Families reading it together would have lots of opportunities to discuss things that many kids are wondering and might be afraid to ask. Children reading it on their own would also understand that if they are wondering these things, they are obviously not alone and might actually venture to talk to someone they trust."

I had fun reading Lola Levine Drama Queen. Lola Levine is a great early chapter book series. Don't Throw it to Mo! is another book including some humor. I liked this early reader and loved that we get to see a youngster playing football. There aren't a ton of books for my young football fans that they can read independently.

Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing is one I'm reading to prepare for the author panels I'll be moderating at the WEMTA conference next month. I didn't know much about Joplin, but found this to be a well done biography. I loved the many images and the design of the book was eye-catching.

The Coming Week:

Currently reading

I'm still working on these history books. These are not light books, but are definitely very interesting. I am listening to the Let's Get Busy Podcast featuring Philip Stead. They're discussing Ideas Are All Around. I have it at school and now I am eager to read it. I may even stop by tomorrow on my day off to pick it up. Beyond that, I am not sure which books I will pick up. I am eager to read something YA that's light and fluffy. If you have an idea, let me know. Thanks!

Celebrate!

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on weekends where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every week.

Effective Educator Files

Next week many things are due at my school. One of the biggest things looming over me was my Effective Educator work. I needed to create a unit plan, lesson plan, and organize artifacts to show that I am an effective educator. This took many, many hours, but I'm happy to say that my digital files are all in order and I am ready to present them to my coach on Tuesday and later in the week to my administrator.

Ready to start journaling

As an incentive, I promised myself a trip to the arts and crafts store to get a blank journal & some fun supplies like new watercolors and watercolor pencils. Earlier this year I was able to attend the Lighting the Torch Conference at UW-L sponsored by the Hmong Organization Promoting Education. One of the sessions I attended was led by Mai Choj (Chao) Duddeck. She's an artist, teacher and now an author/illustrator of the book Gathering Fireflies. The book tells the story of a young Hmong American boy who is finding out about his families history through a school project. It's wonderful to hear another Hmong voice in literature for young people.

Here's a great article about Mai Choj and another one here. Her session was "Self Discovery Through Art and Writing." The participants got to know each other a little bit, Mai Choj talked about her writing/creating process, and she read from her book. Then, she shared some activities with us that really got us excited about creating and we made small books. She was very encouraging and I loved the chance to just sit and make things. We had beautiful music to listen to while we worked. She had a playlist that was full of Maa Vue's songs. Here's a sample of her music that even includes writing.

 If you click CC you will see the lyrics in English

Mai Choj also told us about the book Journal Fodder 365: Daily Doses of Inspiration for the Art Addict.

It really reminded me of the books I've read by Lynda Barry. I've used some of the writing prompts from Barry's books and have even done some of the art exercises (I loved those!).

One of the things Journal Fodder recommended was to dive into old family photos and papers. Coincidentally, I went to my mother's house this past weekend and we had a huge bin of old photos to look through. There were also wedding certificates, report cards, school work, journals, telegrams, and other bits and pieces of her life and my grandmother's life too. I was able to take pictures of some of the items to use in my journal and there were some amazing photos too.

I'm eager to get started with the process of making art and telling my story. We all have a story to tell. In the telling, we learn about ourselves. Now the journey/journal begins.

I gathered my supplies & they fit nicely in my basket.
It's a different kind of Easter basket. :)

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge

Alyson Beecher over at Kid Lit Frenzy hosts a Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge and has a roundup every Wednesday. I love the encouragement to explore more non-fiction. My plan is to read at least 100 nonfiction picture books this year.

 

The Amazing Discoveries of Ibn Sina 

by Fatima Sharafeddine 

illustrated by Intelaq Mohammed Ali

Summary: Born in Persia more than a thousand years ago, Ibn Sina was one of the greatest thinkers of his time — a philosopher, scientist and physician who made significant discoveries, especially in the field of medicine, and wrote more than one hundred books.

As a child, Ibn Sina was extremely bright, a voracious reader who loved to learn and was fortunate to have the best teachers. He memorized the Qur’an by the age of ten and completed his medical studies at sixteen. He spent his life traveling, treating the sick, seeking knowledge through research, and writing about his discoveries. He came up with new theories in the fields of physics, chemistry, astronomy and education. His most famous work is The Canon of Medicine, a collection of books that were used for teaching in universities across the Islamic world and Europe for centuries.

Ibn Sina’s story, told in the first person and beautifully illustrated, provides a fascinating glimpse into the life of one of the great intellects of the past.

Manuscript of Qanun [Fil-Tibb] (Cannon [of Medicine]) by Ibn Sina

Aga Khan Museum, Toronto

Review: As I was reading this story I thought something about it seemed familiar. When I got to the author's note, I was sent running to my photos from visiting Toronto this summer. I had looked at Ibn Sina's most famous work earlier this year. I love it when I have connections to books like this.

In this picture book biography, readers come to know about the life of Ibn Sina. He was incredibly intelligent and loved learning about medicine. He became incredibly knowledgeable about medicine and wrote about the things he had learned and discovered. I am happy that my students can learn about this man and his contributions through an easy to read picture book. I do wish the author had included a bibliography. There is a brief author's note, but it doesn't include more resources only why she wrote the book and where his manuscripts are kept. There are maps embedded in some of the illustrations, but a more detailed map would have been nice too.

The illustrations are colorful and attractive. I especially liked the use of a frame around the edges of most of the pages.

Though the Astounding ABC from the Aga Khan Museum, is a board book designed for a younger audience, I would likely pair these together. They would complement each other well as the ABC book shares artifacts from Islamic history and readers could make connections between the pieces there and the illustrations.

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge

Alyson Beecher over at Kid Lit Frenzy hosts a Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge and has a roundup every Wednesday. I love the encouragement to explore more non-fiction. My plan is to read at least 100 nonfiction picture books this year.

¡Olinguito, de la A a la Z! Descubriendo el bosque nublado

Olinguito, from A to Z! Unveiling the Cloud Forest

by Lulu Delacre

Summary: With lyrical text in both Spanish and English, we travel to the magical world of a cloud forest in the Andes of Ecuador. We discover the bounty of plants, animals, and other organisms that live there as we help a zoologist look for the elusive olinguito, the first new mammal species identified in the Americas since 1978. Not your usual ABC book, the alphabet works as an organizing feature and provides children with a vehicle to encounter rich vocabulary as they learn about a unique environment. Thoroughly researched and exquisitely illustrated with colorful, realistic images, the book is a visual delight while it provides a wealth of information. Backmatter includes articles about cloud forests and the discovery of the olinguito in 2013, and an extensive glossary with the scientific names of the species pictured. This is truly a unique book to treasure on many levels.

My Thoughts: The illustrations in this text are simply gorgeous. Delacre created scenes of the cloud forest using paintings and layers of mixed media. In the end notes, she explains that the "collage elements recreated the natural layers that define the forest." 

Speaking of the end notes, Delacre provided extensive notes about her research and her illustrations. She also provided more information about the cloud forest and the discovery of the olinguito. In addition, there is a glossary with images and a thorough accounting of the author's sources. I really appreciate having so much information provided beyond the text.

The text itself is rather wonderful too. Alphabet books can be marvelous and they can also feel forced and awful. Here the text is still lyrical and has substance even though she is trying to fit it into the format of the alphabet which can be quite tricky. 

This is a fantastic bilingual nonfiction text and I'm happy to add it to our collection.

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 and 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.

Last Week on the Blogs:

Hoops to Hippos for Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge

Celebrating Coding

Last Week in Books:

These are some of the books I enjoyed this week. I loved Olinguito and will highlight it for Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge on Wednesday. Secret Coders was super fun and I wrote about it for my Celebrate post (see above). Counting Coup and Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me were both winners of the American Indian Youth Literature Award. They are both very interesting. Counting Coup is a memoir by Joseph Medicine Crow and tells about how he became a chief. Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me is about a young woman who is questioning what she wants in her life and what her culture really means to her.

The Amazing Discoveries of Ibn Sina was fascinating. I will be highlighting it next week for the  NFPB Challenge. The man was highly intelligent and made some incredible discoveries in medicine. Another intelligent person was the focus of Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine. Some people have an amazing capacity for learning and doing math. I am not one of them so Ada Byron Lovelace impressed me. It is so cool that it was a woman who wrote the first computer program - and that she did it in the early 1800s before there was even a computer to run it.

The Typewriter is all that I imagined it would be. I have read Chalk, but haven't seen Fossil, the one that came between these two. This is another imaginative nearly wordless book. I was especially excited to get it because we have an old-fashioned typewriter in our library this year.

Drown was a book that I bought the night I got to hear Junot Diaz last month. I enjoyed it and will always say yes to reading one of his books. He has a wonderful way with words.

The Coming Week in Books:
I'm reading with my ears a Langston Hughes memoir, I Wonder as I Wander: An Autobiographical Journey. I'm also reading An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States. Beyond that, I am still working on reading books by authors that will be on the panels I'm moderating at WEMTA next month. I also picked up Pink is for Blobfish at the library since my copy hasn't arrived yet. Sometimes it's hard to wait for my big orders. I get too impatient. I wish you a great week filled with amazing books.

Reading Challenge Updates:
Goodreads Challenge - 153/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2016 - 84/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)
LGBTQIA Challenge - 6/31
ReadPOC Challenge - 56/125
#MustReadin2016 - 12/54
Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - 33/100
Around the World with Books 2016

Celebrating Coding

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on weekends where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every week.

This week was a long one, but on Thursday, I was able to attend a Code.org training with Angie Kalthoff. I've used Code.org with my students for several years, but it was good to find out about more resources that are available and hear about how other teachers are doing things. It was fun to just be doing something out of the regular routine too.

I also really loved learning about a video game two girls created to break the taboo of speaking about menstruation.

And last, but not least, we got our copy of Secret Coders by Gene Luen Yang and Mike Holmes. I'm looking forward to reading it this weekend.

***Update: I finished reading Secret Coders tonight and loved it to pieces. It's a graphic novel about a girl starting at a new school. She makes a friend and they try to figure out why there are strange birds and numbers all around. In the midst of this investigation, they get involved in some programing and her new friend teaches her about binary numbers. Here's a video about that part. Enjoy!

***Update #2: I just finished reading Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine by Laurie Wallmark and illustrated by April Chu. The author teaches computer science. I loved learning about Ada. She wrote the first computer program way back in the early 1800s. It was the perfect picture book for my coding week.

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: Hoops to Hippos

Alyson Beecher over at Kid Lit Frenzy hosts a Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge and has a roundup every Wednesday. I love the encouragement to explore more non-fiction. My plan is to read at least 100 nonfiction picture books this year.

While the National Geographic Kids Chapters series books are not precisely picture books, they are definitely nonfiction and have plenty of pictures, so I thought they might fit here.

Title: Hoops to Hippos
Author: Boris Diaw with Kitson Jazynka
Publisher: National Geographic
Pages: 111
Availability: On shelves now
Review copy: Final copy from publisher

Summary:  NBA star Boris Diaw of the San Antonio spurs takes young readers on safari as he explores his off-court passion: wildlife photography! Join Diaw as he escapes from stampeding wildebeests, comes face-to-face with lions, and discovers why you should never come between a hippo and its watery home. Through engaging stories and photos by Diaw, readers will discover a whole new side to this basketball champ.

National Geographic Kids Chapter books pick up where the best-selling National Geographic Readers series leaves off, offering young animal lovers who are ready for short chapters lively, exciting, full-color true stories -- just right to carry in backpacks, share with friends, and read under the covers at night.

My Thoughts: As with many of the National Geographic publications, the illustrations were a big draw for me. It helps that this also includes NBA player Boris Diaw. When I showed the book to my students, his name was one some recognized. This book has a unique twist since it blends sports with animals. I appreciated that readers see how photography can be an exciting hobby.

The book is written in a conversational tone and is a quick and easy read for upper elementary students though is probably a challenge for primary readers. Something that annoyed me a bit was the practice of including the pronunciation of words in parenthesis in this way, "Hi, my name is Boris Diaw (sounds like DEE-ow)." I was irritated by the words "sounds like" being repeated every single time. I felt the pronunciation could have stood alone. That was a small thing though. Overall, I found the book quite engaging.

I picked up a few others in the series, Ape Escapes!  and Animal Superstars. They are also very eye-catching and seem like excellent chapter books to hand to nonfiction lovers. Here's a video so you can meet the author:

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 and 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.

Last Week on the Blogs:

Celebrating a Community of Learning

Last Week in Books:

 

Picture Books

A Pig, a Fox, and a Box was funny and I am sure my students will love it especially those who enjoy Elephant & Piggie. I felt super bad for the fox though. 

Beaver Steals Fire is a traditional tale from the Salish people of Montana. It's a winter story so I read it just in time. It's a story that is reserved for the time of the year with snow on the ground. We had another snow this week. It was one of the books that has won the American Indian Youth Literature Award for picture books. 

Middle Grade

Terrell and Keke's Adventures Through Time: The Underground Railroad is an easy to read middle grade book. The author sent me a copy and I'll review it more fully later.

Young Adult/Adult

Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection (Vol. 1) is fantastic. I love the cover art with a lot of love. I will review this one over at Rich in Color soon, but if you get a chance make sure you get this one.

¡Yo! is quite interesting especially give all of the Sherman Alexie I've been reading. Like his stories,  Alvarez has quite a mesh of family issues along with writing and that question of where the line is between truth and fiction.

What's next: 

I have been listening to Wave and am almost finished. I cannot ignore the strangeness of immediately reading Drown right after Wave, but that is the what I picked up today. Aside from those two, I am not sure what I will pick up next. I will be moderating author panels at the WEMTA conference next month, so I will likely try to read more of the books that they have written to prepare for the day.

Reading Challenge Updates:
Goodreads Challenge - 139/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2016 - 77/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)
LGBTQIA Challenge - 6/31
ReadPOC Challenge - 52/125
#MustReadin2016 - 9/54
Around the World with Books 2016

Celebrate!

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on weekends where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every week.

I am celebrating community today. I participated in the Widening the Circle Native American and Hmong Indigenous Education Conference. This is not the first time I have attended so it was a time of reconnecting with people from past conferences and making new connections too. I love this event because I learn something new each time and always enjoy the people and of course the absolutely amazing food.

This year was a first for me though as I was asked to be a co-presenter. Our topic was Hmong and Native American Materials for the Classroom and Library. I was able to partner with an amazing librarian, Yee Lee Vue. She has won several awards for her work with Hmong Outreach at the Appleton Public library. Here's a video about her program. She is very knowledgeable about Hmong children's literature and I was so happy to work with her.



I also appreciated the other sessions I was able to attend: One was about inter-generational trauma and how that affects Native youth and another was A Critical Analysis of Hmong Representations and Portrayals in Children's Literature. Both were excellent.