Jubilee and Jane

I own, enjoy and treasure these books, The Gift of Nothing, Art, Just Like Heaven, Hug Time, South and Wag! by author/illustrator, Patrick McDonnell . McDonnell is the brilliant artist of the acclaimed Mutts comic strip.  He is passionately involved in organizations for the protection of animals and the preservation of our planet, Earth. Having admired Dr. Jane Goodall, McDonnell read her autobiography, Reason for Hope:  A Spiritual Journey.  In that autobiography is a picture of her holding her childhood friend, Jubilee, a stuffed toy chimpanzee.  That was the spark for the fire that became Patrick McDonnell's beautiful title, Me...Jane.

I think I've mentioned before that I am one of those people that take joy in the entire package known as the book.  For me the book jacket is like the ribbon, the cover is like the wrapping paper, the endpapers represent the box and inside the box is the story.  Me...Jane is a true representation of the saying, a book is a present that one can open again and again.

Warm, soft, amber-toned  watercolor illustrations spread across a cover that imitates a journal, scrapbook or photo album beckoning the viewer to be part of something personal. Jane is in the center with the animals looking at her but at this point she is not part of their environment but a photograph.

In removing the jacket the cover maintains the journal, scrapbook or album motif but instead of McDonnell's portrayal of Jane the photograph that inspired this book is pictured among naturalistic engravings from the 19th and 20th century with two tiny touches of McDonnell's own artwork.  The endpapers are the same comforting brown color as the book's corners and spine with an additional light brown done in an African tribal design.

McDonnell begins Jane's story with the gift of Jubilee.  Jubilee is ever at her side as she roams outdoors watching with keen eyes all the life big and small in her world as a young girl.  By reading books she increases her knowledge at every opportunity.  He highlights her observation of a chicken laying an egg; which answered her question on the origin of eggs. 

For most of the book McDonnell has the engravings stamped beneath the text on the left with his original illustrations on the right.  It is his two page spreads that are so endearing, memorable and uplifting.  There are four; two with his own artwork, the third a combination of engravings and his watercolor and India ink visuals and the fourth is Jane's original drawings as a young girl for her club, The Alligator Society.  It is the second of the four that is the book's center; Jane is shown climbing her favorite tree named Beech on the right with engravings on the left that bleed across the center.  It is this blending of the precise with the creative that McDonnell says accentuates Jane Goodall's character as a scientist and an artist. 

As this part of Jane Goodall's early life is told to us by McDonnell it will become clear through his specific word choice, that gift he has of saying so much with so few words, that Jane made her dreams come true and she did it with heart. 

She would lay her cheek against its trunk and seem to feel the sap flowing beneath the bark.

For those fans of the Tarzan stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs, yes, this book's title is a result of Jane's fondness for those tales. 

Take a moment to enter the life of young Jane Goodall as told to us in words and pictures by Patrick McDonnell.  This is not just a biographical portrait but a tribute to a woman who has inspired many and will continue to do so for generations to come. 

At the book's end is more information about Dr. Goodall, a letter from her and a piece of artwork, a cartoon, that she drew.  By clicking on Patrick McDonnell's name you are linked to his books' web site where there is a video interview with him about Me...Jane. If you click on Jane Goodall's name the link will take you to her web site for the Jane Goodall Institute.

Another Tool for Telling Tales

PicLits is a creative writing site that matches beautiful images with carefully selected keywords in order to inspire you. The object is to put the right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture.

This free online application found its way to the American Association of School Librarians list under the Digital Storytelling, Standards for the 21st Century Learner, 4.1.7 Use social networks and information tools to gather and share information. 4.1.8 Use creative and artistic formats to express personal learning. and 4.3.1 Participate in the social exchange of ideas, both electronically and in person heading. 

To register for use, as with most applications, an email address is necessary, a password needs to be given and a pen name needs to be chosen.  Once the user is registered two options are available for creating a PicLit---Drag-n-drop (using only words that are listed beneath the photograph) or Freestyle (writing your own words on a page watching them appear on the picture as you type).

It is advisable to select the Learn It button at the top of the screen before attempting to pen a PicLit.  A screen appears with Write It, Rhyme It and Master It icons.  The Write It icon guides users in the basics of sentence structure up to writing a complete paragraph.  Word rhyming, poems in general and similes are discussed in Rhyme It.  Master It includes full blown lesson plans regarding poetry and the writing of poetry.

There is a large gallery of photographs from which to choose that provide ample inspiration.  To the right of the PicLit screen are four tools--Save, Blog or Share, Email or New PicLit.  When a PicLit is saved it is housed in a cloud online.  When retrieved it can be edited, shared, emailed or deleted.

To use as a group brainstorming lesson or for individual writing pieces nothing could be simpler.

The blog or share it feature does not seem to be working at this time but PicLits can be viewed in the gallery.  When you click on the Explore The Gallery heading you can search by newest, highest rated, sample PicLits, by picture and by author which is an alphabetical listing of usernames. I am going to link to my two "creations".  The first  link is a PicLit using their words.  The second  illustrates how you can use your own thoughts.

Peppermint Patties Are Real Trouble

Without a doubt readers acquainted with Babymouse, Poppy, Ralph S. Mouse, Celeste, Despereaux, Stuart Little, the characters created by Kevin Henkes and Brian Jacques have a new friend and hero in Young Fredle by Cynthia Voigt.   

Fredle is a member of one of several families living in the walls behind the pantry in the farm house of Missus, Mister, the baby, two dogs, Sadie and Angus and one very sneaky, very quiet cat, Patches. Fredle is a mouse; not a cellar mouse or an attic mouse but an inside kitchen mouse.  Specific rules and traditions govern the activities of kitchen mice.  Fredle's questioning nature coupled with his cousin, Axle's adventurous spirit and the tantalizing aroma of a peppermint pattie lead the two into serious trouble.

What's a mouse to do when he finds himself on the outside?  No one has ever been on the outside and returned to tell about it.  That's just what Fredle yearns to do in the worst way; get back to his family. 

Wishing his life to be as before doesn't make it happen.  Between wishing and doing Fredle observes such visions of beauty, encounters creatures false, true, wry of humor and terrifying and learns so many new words that he is able to put his acute loneliness aside sometimes, just for a little while.

The black air above him was filled with white specks that winked and blinked and trembled.  They gave no light.  Instead, they sparkled, brightly.  Fredle had never seen anything like it before, but it wasn't frightening.  It was too beautiful to scare him.  His eyes wanted to keep on looking up at all the white brightness, to discover if there was any design in them, to see if they moved, to wonder about them.

Between adventures on the outside Fredle has more than enough time to reflect on his life.  Much like his human counterparts he is growing and developing his own life philosophy. 

What was Fredle supposed to do about all this changing that was being forced on him?  He guessed that all he could do was enjoy the good things and endure the bad things....And since the brightnesses were very good things, Fredle stayed where he was, staring up into the dark air, where they glittered and glimmered.

Seeing the world through Fredle's eyes, readers will remember the glee of discovery, of seeing something for the first time which since has been taken for granted.  This description of flowers is especially memorable.  It depicts the curious soul of our tiny hero.

He looked up at the smooth-sided cups and then his eyes ran down the long green stems, then they flew up on the winglike dark green leaves.  Did those cups catch the rain when it fell?  he wondered.  Were they there for the humans to bend and drink out of?  He thought that the water held in those cups, especially the white ones, would have a power no other water could match.

When Fredle is captured by the Rowdy Boys, a crew of rascally raccoons, readers will be glued to the pages wondering as does Fredle when his final hour will be.  But the young mouse is becoming more "streetwise" carefully piecing together each new idea, new piece of information and new task conquered to reach his goal. 

Louise Yates, award-winning illustrator and author of Dog Loves Books, uses pen, pencil and paint so well that the pictures scattered about this tale make Fredle and the cast of characters even more endearing (or in the case of cats, raccoons and snakes more wicked ) to us all.

Cynthia Voigt through her narration and Louise Yates through her art change our perspective of this world in which we live, give us joy in the moment, heart-pounding panic and the sense of freedom that comes with being true to yourself.  Young Fredle is a tale to be savored whether read individually or shared with others.

Square This and Square That

On September 18, 2010 I posted for the Elementary Pick of the Week, Michael Hall's book, My Heart Is Like A Zoo.  In that post I said, Hearts like love can assume many forms.  Come explore the metaphoric feelings, shapes and colors galore while wandering through the digital art of Michael Hall's animal world.  That book as is the My Heart is Like a Zoo web site are delighful, inventive and collaborative.

Perfect Square, the newest title by Hall is his previous book's equal and then some.  There is so much to love about this book.  Eye-catching and bold cover colors, book shape and size are inviting but the real hook is the white smile on the red square.  Why, readers ask, is the book smiling?

The first two pages explain that the red square of paper is perfect.  It has four equal sides and corners that are alike.  On the next two pages readers read---And it was perfectly happy.  The red square is smiling.

As readers follow the red square through the days of the week beginning with Monday it changes shape and then color through no actions of its own but those of unseen hands, initially.  Much like the quote, When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, our (see how I have taken ownership in the reading of this story) red, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, purple, and then red again squares chooses to create objects, places or natural formations from those alterations.

It is on Sunday, finding itself red again and waiting, that the brilliant choice of the square is what binds all the weekly modifications together into a spectacular view of how parts can make a pleasing whole.

Michael Hall's book, Perfect Square, is perfect and readers will be perfectly happy reading it again and again.  I can envision it now, readers of all ages will be heading to their craft boxes, craft cupboards or piles of colored paper to let their imaginations go where they may.  For educators this, as does My Heart is Like a Zoo, offers numerous opportunities for combining writing with creative energy.  Please follow this link to the publisher's website to view interior pages in this title.  Enjoy using this Teaching Guide for several of Michael Hall's titles.

Terrific Tiles

Using the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner:  Manage and Organize, 2.1.2 Organize knowledge so that it is useful. 2.1.4 Use technology and other information tools to analyze and organize information. and 3.1.4 Use technology and other information tools to organize and display knowledge and understanding in ways that others can view, use and assess.,  the American Association of School Librarians selected the web 2.0 application, Symbaloo . 

Symbaloo is a means of organizing a start-up page that contains all those web sites used most frequently at a glance; Your Personal Internet Desktop.  For education its function could be to organize a start-up page with links to all those resources for a particular project or special links for a specific class or grade.  It is free and very easy to use.

To register for a free account give your name, email address, generate a password and designate by checking a box whether you want a newsletter and if you accept the terms of use and privacy policy of the site.

To start click on a tile just to see the results.  Tiles can be dragged and dropped, added or deleted.  The center box is where applications such as searching in Google, checking your email or viewing the news will appear.  Those tiles are widget tiles.

If you are searching for a particular web site or subject just type it in the search box in the upper right hand corner.  If a particular web site is not listed as a result of a search, Symbaloo allows the user to create their own tile by typing in the URL. Text and tile color can be chosen as well as uploading an image for the tile.  Tiles can be as generic or personal as the user desires.

 A new webmix can be created for each subject and a user can toggle between them using the tabs.  To add a new webmix click on the +. 

There is a Share icon in the upper right hand corner.  When clicked it gives the creator two options: share with the world or share with friends.  Share with the world places your Symbaloo in the Symbaloo Gallery.  Share with friends means that the Symbaloo can be sent via email or posted to Facebook, Twitter or Hyves.  The application gives you a link to your specific Symbaloo that can be copied and pasted.  If you so desire the Symbaloo can be removed from the Gallery.  Even when shared it can be continually updated.

Without parental consent users need to be 16 years of age.  At the bottom of the page is a blog and help option. 

There is a companion web site better aimed toward educators--SymbalooEDU .  The pre-designed entry level webmix is more relative to the intended audience.  Read this announcement of the official launch in September of 2010.

Here is a link to the Symbaloo I have created for school.  It is a work in progress.

The Secret Is Out

There is no legend more popular at our storytelling sessions than that of The Wendigo.  Listeners lean in and draw closer, one to the other, as the tale of an evil, cannibalistic, supernatural being craving human flesh unfolds.  Whether giving voice to the classic Algernon Blackwood tale, the version collected as part of  Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark or a variation, The Night of the Sasquatch (author unknown), listeners are spellbound. 

Authors, Christoper Golden and Tim Lebbon , combine their award winning writing talents to bring this new title, The Secret Journeys of Jack London: Book 1:  The Wild, a first in a series, to readers yearning for an adventure unlike any before taken.

A two page conversational prologue spoken by an old man, a friend of London's, opens up endless possibilities for this tale and those to come.  Readers step through time to find Jack London seventeen years old aboard the steamer, Umatilla, with his brother-in-law, James Shepard.  The two are bound, as are thousands of others, for the Yukon Territory to claim their portion of the gold.

For Jack it is not only about the gold but the hunger he has for the wild; for seeking to find himself within those places that few men have ventured or tamed.  Who is Jack London?  he wondered, certain that this journey would bring him the answer.

This journey does indeed bring Jack more than most could survive or believe.  Losing Shepard to health concerns early on, two other good men, hope filling their hearts, join Jack as they battle desperation, white water rapids, ice, near death in the forest and the cloak of a treacherous winter as they make their way to Dawson, gateway to treasure.

Reaching Dawson the trio believe that the tide will turn as indeed it does; not in the way any of them could have possibly foreseen.  Terror in the form of human kidnappers, spirits of the forest and the legend of the North, that becomes larger than life, stalk them at every turn.  As the plot moves forward the tension is palpable as each new chapter begins and ends in another; all tied together without flaw.

This book is outstanding on numerous levels.  First and foremost it is a story of pure, no-holds-barred adventure in the old, classic style set within the boundaries of the Yukon during the Gold Rush.  The language employed by Golden and Lebbon brings the harshness of the land and the endeavours of the men and women during that time clearly and concisely within the grasp of readers.  What follows are only three examples.  My copy of this book was peppered by sticky notes by the time I finished.

The sky had been a crystalline blue when the Umatilla dropped anchor, but on the shore a light mist seemed to hang permanently above Dyea, and the plumes of chimney smoke from the settlement only added to the gauzy veil that obscured the eastward view. 

The thundering water formed a violently foaming, snaking ridge along the base of the canyon.  It was monstrous.  The ground shook, the air was heavy with the roar, and spray cooled Jack's skin like the touch of ghostly fingers. 

Like a predator stalking its tender prey, the storm broke silently over the head of the hillside and started shedding its load into the valley.

Secondly, as stated in the authors' note, due to research the history presented within these pages is just as it was with the exception of Jack London's age aligning with the time of the Gold Rush in the Yukon.  I have read other accounts of the Chilkoot Trail and the city of Dawson; the inhumanity that arose out of greed and hopelessness is stark in its realism and was portrayed so here.

Another aspect that I found engaging, as I believe my students will too, is Jack's musings about his life, how he responds to the wilderness in which he travels and the changes in personality that evolve as a result of the events that ensue.  One of my favorite passages that reflect these authors' takes on young Jack is:

He was thrilled to his primal core, and terrified as well, a blend of sensations that he had experienced before and would likely know again. His soul cried in exultation at the adventure ahead. One day, he knew, such yearning could be the death of him.

In this journey the authors have given Jack a spirit guide in the form of a wolf.  At times it is just a presence howling in the distance or the wisp of a shadow flashing through the trees.  When death stalks Jack, it is a living breathing protector. 

The illustrations of artist, Greg Roth, throughout this story enhance the feel of a classic read, historical adventure and the terror that lurks in the backdrop of northern realms.  Knowing that one should not judge a book by its cover, please feel free in the case of this tale, as the cover is truly a window into a breathtaking journey soon not forgotten.

Readers will be pleased to note that the movie rights have been purchased by Twentieth Century Fox.  Book Two: The Sea Wolves is to be released in February 2012.

I highly recommend The Secret Adventures of Jack London:  Book 1:  The Wild for upper middle school age and above.  It would be my hope that if they are not already familiar with books authored by Jack London that this will set them on the right track.

Twenty-Four Hours In Twitterville #4

With the closing chapter in the Harry Potter movies to be released in less than a week, there are numerous tweets about author, J. K. Rowling.  Via Shelf Awareness, The Daily Beast has a small article about statements made by Rowling at the premier in the U. K. of the last movie.  She hints that more Potter might be possible; after all she is the creator.

By following a tweet by Publishers Weekly, Digital Spy has ten interesting statements of facts about J. K. Rowling along with some great videos that fans may or may not know or have seen.

Richard Byrne of Free Technology For Teachers has a great post, Google Books For Educators-A How To Guide, with a tutorial for educators about finding free eBooks on Google Books and placing them on a virtual shelf for students to use.

Larry Ferlazzo of Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day has an interesting post, The Best Ways to Use Photos In Lessons, about using photos to prompt creative and critical thinking as well as writing .  Web 2.0 formats which are best for this are listed.

At Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast Julie Danielson earlier this week conducted an interview with Kady MacDonald Denton the illustrator of the books by Bonnie Becker, A Birthday for Bear, A Bedtime for Bear and A Visitor for Bear.  The interview is in depth with wonderful questions and answers, loads of pictures, and a glimpse of the newest book in the Bear series, The Sniffles for Bear.  Personally, I can not wait to see this book when it is released this fall.

One of my favorite sources for book reviews is Booklist magazine.  This morning they tweeted about the cover of the July 2011 issue.  It is an illustration by Scott McKowen of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.  The illustration is beautiful.

Another outstanding source of not only reviews but articles pertinent to education and libraries is the School Library Journal.  They just announced at their site the winner of the 2011 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award, 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass.