I like authors who consistently see the world with different eyes; having a perception expanding wider and deeper than the obvious. Doing so with joy and playfulness is a positive plus for their readers. Repeatedly author Amy Krouse Rosenthal will take something simple but conscious like planting a seed in the ground; adding wonder to create something new as she did in Plant A Kiss.
In her title, This Plus That: Life's Little Equations (Harper), with illustrations by Jen Corace, she devises her own unique take on mathematical functions; viewing what is and offering how it came to be. With a lighthearted look at what defines the everyday lives of her characters she invites readers to do the same. Words are her numbers.
Beginning with two little girls:
1+1=us
we follow them and another boy into a world of words that can be seen or touched to those that can not. We discover activities with an end result. From the silly to serious, through the seasons, looking at opposites and into our hearts we read, listen and learn.
Two words with another added starts with hello and finishes with the sandy shore. Substituting one word for another takes us from the classroom to the playground. Repetition gives us a feeling or a goal.
The beauty of this volume is in the simplicity of a single word or short phrase; when combined the results give readers pause, causing an "ah-ha" moment or "I never thought of that before." Rosenthal's sense of getting to the heart of a definition through the eyes of a child or for the eyes of a child is perfectly perfect. This is my kind of math.
Artist Jen Corace brings her own special talents, her ability to isolate a single setting, event or emotion, using pen and ink with watercolor and some acrylic to this title. Her front endpapers feature a blue-green sky filled with puffy clouds, a singular smiling cloud nestled next to a grinning sun. A dusty purple sky sprinkled with stars and hearts with a happy moon presiding covers the closing endpapers.
Using lots of white space but also altering her image sizes, placement on the page or even bleeding them off the edges of a page, Corace extends the narrative. The rosy, rounded checks on her characters, small expressive eyes and animated movements pair with Rosenthal's perspective. Color palette, boldness and a lighter touch for background or mood are delightful. My favorite illustration is the two page spread depicting symphony.
Amy Krouse Rosenthal's This Plus That: Life's Little Equations coupled with the artwork of Jen Corace adds, divides, subtracts and multiplies life's moments with immeasurable bliss and insight. This title + students x creativity = reading + writing. It might be fun to design an activity or extension using Tomorrow's Alphabet by George Shannon with illustrations by Donald Crew along with this book.
Follow the links to the author and illustrator websites by selecting their names above. Follow this link for a podcast interview of Jen Corace. To browse inside the book at HarperCollins follow this link.
You never know what will pop up on the Twitter lists but for the fastest, newest way of connecting it's hard to beat. Have a restful, reading weekend, stay cool and for those needing rain...bring it on.
One of my favorite historical fiction titles of the past several years was the documentary novel of Deborah Wiles, Countdown. Follow this link to her blog post, progress report, for a glimpse of her work space and the amount of research she conducts prior to her writing.
This is a book trailer for a new book, Leave Your Sleep illustrated by Barbara McClintock with music by Natalie Merchant.
Thanks to Joyce Valenza, an extraordinary high school librarian and blogger at NeverEndingSearchfor this tweet.
These are my favorite quotes of the week by two authors.
"One can't prescribe books, even the best books, to people unless one knows a good deal about each individual person." --Rudyard Kipling
— Donalyn Miller (@donalynbooks) July 6, 2012
The "industry" can do whatever it likes. Reading Farmer Boy to my kids, from the copy I grew up w/ & that my MOM grew up w/-- that's magic!
— LaurelSnyder (@LaurelSnyder) July 2, 2012
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."
Henry David Thoreau
Many living things dance whether by instinct, in response to a sound heard out and about in nature or to the beat of a favorite piece of music. Sometimes the least likely object will trigger a jovial, jumping jive. So it is in Duck Sock Hop (Dial Books for Young Readers) with words by Jane Kohuth and pictures by Jane Porter.
Ducks gather around a large box stuffed with socks. These are no ordinary foot coverings, dull, plain and of one color. These are as wild, vibrant and multi-patterned as the fowl wearing them.
Are our feathered friends content to simply don these unique creations? No, they get ready, get set and go.
Three ducks boogie. One duck rocks. Two ducks stop and trade their socks.
Every rollicking routine is triedand mastered with aplomb. As the music plays on, no party is complete without goodies to eat and drink; neatness not being a virtue of the dancing quackers. Frolicking, frenzied fun begins to unravel.
Wildness winds down. Friends bid one another farewell beneath a starry sky. A box waits to be filled before another dancing-delight night.
Some writers pepper pages with notes, others like Jane Kohuth with letters and words but each creates music, a beat that begs. Using rhythm and rhyme her ducks and their socks be-bop with abandon. Her combination of web-footed creatures with hosiery creates a harmonious story eliciting laughter, toe-tapping and dare I say, a shoeless swirling and twirling by readers.
Jane Porter's illustrative technique of combining a variety of media digitally is fresh, alive, and full of joy. Her pictures dance through the story as do the characters. Her stamped feathers function to depict individuality in a bright array of colors within bold, black lines.
Not only a perfect read for the summer season but anytime readers long for words to roll off their tongues, stirring up a musical tune that will make its way to their feet, Duck Sock Hop written by Jane Kohuth with illustrations by Jane Porter is the title to grab. Be sure to visit each of their websites linked to their names above. Get ready to dance and dance some more!
Jane Kohuth's talented teenage cousin has written a song to accompany the reading of this book embedded in her website. Julie Danielson at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast has one of her famous chats with them both at her blog about this book. Below is an interview of Jane Porter giving more information about her work.
When you are no longer aware of the sounds around you, the hum of the air conditioner, the buzzing of bees, the roaring of lawn mowers or the whine of boats on the lake, but are in a place seven thousand plus miles away where it's hot and dusty, among a people whose culture and day to day living is unlike your own, you are lost in a book. But are you truly lost? No, in a good author's care you follow the map of the story's events carefully laid before you, shadowing the characters, getting caught up in their life travels.
Chained (Margaret Ferguson Books, Farrar Straus Giroux), a first novel by author Lynne Kelly, begins in a small, rural village in northern India; poverty and illness are no strangers to the people there.
The flood left, but the fever stayed.
Chanda, ten-year-old Hastin's younger sister, is hovering on death's doorstep. Amma, their mother, takes a job to cover the cost of her hospital care fearing they may loose her as they did her husband and Hastin's father.
Discovering his mother's employer to be abusive Hastin seeks a job to free her from these obligations. He is wooed by the owner of a circus who seeks his services as an elephant keeper. The promise of more than enough money to pay the debt, despite being away from home for a year, sounds good to a young boy with more trouble than someone his age should have.
Leaving the only environment he has known, Hastin finds himself surrounded by the green of jungle many days away from his family. Arriving at the circus Hastin finds it, like the owner, his elephant trainer and the elderly cook, not as he expected. After a trap is dug and hidden Hastin, watching the elephants daily, becomes attached to the herd giving them names.
When a young female, Nandita, is captured, riddled with guilt Hastin pledges to give her the best of care and find a way to unit her with her family. Timir, the circus owner, Sharad, the elephant trainer and Ne Min, the Burmese cook, all harbor secrets; secrets which drive their actions, shape their personalities. Very quickly Hastin realizes to save himself from this servitude and Nandita from the tortuous training, he must find a courage he is not sure he has.
As the days, weeks and months pass Nandita and Hastin develop an inexplicable understanding which can grow between humans and animals, knowing in their heart of hearts they would protect each other with their very lives. Pressure to perform, escalating events, and a real fear of being trapped in a never-ending nightmare push all the characters to their limits; some with evil intent, others to be what is best in human nature, to make wrongs of the past right. In an ending where bravery overcomes fear, death renews life and the price for freedom is paid readers' hearts will pause in anticipation and swell in celebration.
Through the careful research of Lynne Kelly readers become aware of a very real portrayal of life in India for children and elephants. Through her attention to detail readers are swept up in Hastin's and Nandita's world; heart's aching for their suffering and taking comfort in the bond forged between the two. In the skillfully developed character of Ne Min, Kelly has given the two a mentor filled with a wisdom born from experience; holding the key to their survival.
Readers will come to know through Kelly's narrative, while Nandita is the one wearing visible chains, other characters are chained by greed, fear, grief and poverty. Cleverly each chapter is headed with a statement from Care of Jungle Elephants by Tin San Bo giving insight into their nature and keeping but also providing readers with questions. A talented wordsmith, to be sure, here are a couple of examples of Lynne Kelly's writing from this title.
Never have I seen this much green. One tree blends into another, and another, so I cannot tell where one tree ends and the next begins. Green surrounds me with leafy walls, covers the ground below me, and hangs over my head in a canopy of branches. It is beautiful but it is not my home, with its browns of rust-tan mud and sand and thatch. I hear the elephants before I see them. The snapping of twigs and rustle of leaves catch my attention. Then I see the waves of gray weaving through the trees in front of me.
The old man and the elephant stare at each other. "Her eyes are sad," he says. So are yours, I want to say. He takes Nandita's trunk and holds it out to me. "Here, blow into the end of her trunk." "Why would I do that?" I ask. "To help her remember who you are. Their sense of smell is strongly tied to their memory." I do as Ne Min says. He pats Nandita on the back, and she rolls to her side. "How do you know so much about them?" I ask. "I am old. I know everything."
With intent and heart Lynne Kelly leads readers into Chained, a captivating tale of India, a boy and his elephant. We willingly follow her words giving ourselves over to the road she paves toward freedom. Thank you Lynne Kelly for this book; strength, devotion and love triumphant.
To read further about Lynne Kelly follow her website embedded in her name above. Lynne was gracious enough to recommend two interviews which provide background into the writing of Chained linked here and here.
UPDATE: This morning, August 12, 2012 Lynne Kelly posted a link on Twitter leading me to this documentary about elephants in Thailand narranted by William Shatner. It is informative and deeply moving. Pair this with her book and your students will have much to discuss and ponder.
Another website to explore chosen by the American Association of School Librarians, Best Websites for Teaching and Learning 2012 under Media Sharing, Standardsfor the 21st-Century Learner is Jux. Like all the websites selected for this list, the services offered by Jux are without cost. The motto shown when accessing the home page for Jux is:
Simply the best showcase for your content...
Jux claims that the best reasons for using this application are:
full screen with no ads, sidebars or knobs
a user can improvise safely
a user can put their heart into their creations with the results being an accidental masterpiece
use of HTML5 on your computer, an iPad or iPhone
easily share results with others
Prior to signing up a visitor to the site can explore the works of others. Users must be 13 years of age. To begin click the Get Started button within the big blue balloon. To register you are asked to provide an email address, a username which becomes your personal URL and a password.
When first signing in you are visually presented with a selection of possible creative choices. They are Block Quote, Article, Photo, Video, SlideShow, CountDown and StreetView. In the upper right hand corner are three small icons representing: share, add new and your account options. Account options include all my stuff, explore Jux, help, what's new, settings and sign out.
I decided to try as many of the options as I could to highlight a well-known author/illustrator living in Michigan, Union City to be exact, Patricia Polacco. I wanted to see if I could set up an author study using this application. The first option I tried was Block Quote.
When selecting Block Quote a smaller screen appears to the right on top of the Block Quote screen. This smaller window allows the user to upload a photo from their computer, Flickr, Facebook, Instagram or enter in a URL. At this point type in the quotation; Express Yourself.
To make the Block Quote as artistic as the user desires the photo size can be altered as can the text position. If the photo is small a background color can be chosen. There are a variety of font styles, sizes and colors. For even more enhancement there are ten photo effects; Stylize.
Prior to clicking the done button under Set Options you can decide to show or change your name, the date, photo permissions (optional) and whether you wish to display the Jux logo. At this time you can choose to email your creation, embed it, share it on Facebook or Twitter.
After clicking the done button your presentation appears on a new screen. The blue pencil in the upper right hand corner allows you to change how the initial screen highlighting all your work appears; white (day) or black (dusk) background, five fonts for the title, size alteration and color, whether to show or hide the home link, email address, Twitter name, or add a link to the Block Quote. You can choose to show your name as the author and change its font, show the date and how many views have been made of your creation. When mousing over the Block Quote you are allowed to edit your work, pin it to the top or delete it.
As in designing a Block Quote if the Article is clicked the same options appear, Express Yourself, Stylize and Set Options. It is identical with all of the other design choices. CountDown is where you can make a list of favorites. StreetView takes an address and gives a visual snapshot of that point.
I found working with Jux to be enjoyable with professional results. Using the same format between presentation venues makes it very easy to use. This application is worth going to again and again; a one stop shop.
I have embedded my Block Quote example here. You can toggle through all the others by clicking on Next. If you click on the icon in the middle looking like a small stack of rectangles you can go to full screen.
I received an email on November 5, 2014 stating that this application will close on November 30, 2014.
I may or may not have mentioned before that upon entering my home through the back door, hangs a frame picturing Xena in winter; a snow dog at heart. Beneath these three photographs are words credited to Richard Caras,
Dogs are not our whole lives, but they make our lives whole.
To me that wholeness comes in the form of unconditional love, loyalty without limits and unquestioning devotion. Dogs teach us lessons that no other can; making us better than before. We humans have much to learn. (Truth be told...my life is pretty much, books, reading, students and one very special dog.)
In March of 2011, author Bobbie Pyron penned a story, A Dog's Way Home (Katherine Tegen Books) which moves readers beyond the love between a girl and her dog.
It was a near-to-perfect fall day. The late October sky was so blue and crisp, it made my eyes hurt. And the Virginia hills, all colors with their pretty fall leaves, humped and folded around us like one of Meemaw's patchwork quilts.
Abby Whistler and her Shetland sheepdog, Tam, have completed the Southeast Virginia Junior Agility Championship and won first prize. Tam has been placed in a crate in the back of her Mama's pickup truck to protect its newness. Setting out for home in Harmony Gap, North Carolina fate intervenes, as it is so often apt to do, in the shape of a deer running in front of their vehicle.
Tam is thrown, still in the crate, from the truck down a hillside into the rushing waters of a creek. Abby and her Mama, after more than a day in the hospital, at her Daddy's arrival go back to the site only to find no sign of Tam. Deeply missing his human, Tam's internal compass points him south.
Over the course of three parts, three seasons, told in alternating chapters moving between Abby and Tam, readers follow as they create a path back to one another. Tam's journey over hundreds of miles through the Blue Ridge Mountains is arduous, painful and yet filled with determined hope. Your heart will soar as Tam encounters friends in the wild and within civilization but it will plummet as he fights starvation at every turn, the natural elements, animal foes and cruel humans.
Though in travels not measured so much by miles, Abby's obstacles, parents who do not share her convictions, a move to Tennessee for her Daddy's musical career, her age, money and time, never sway her belief that Tam is alive and making his way back to her. Like Tam she finds support, an old friend, her grandmother with the "Sight" and an unlikely new friend. Through separated by distance each feels the tug, the thread of love, which binds them together.
Bobbie Pyron's writing is magical. Her ability to tell Tam's story would leave one to believe she might have Shetland genes hidden somewhere in her DNA or at the very least the gift of "Dog Whisperer". Clearly she has not lost touch with her younger self; skillfully portraying the emotional ups and downs associated with Abby's life, her sense of loss and longing.
Her pacing is impeccable; creating chapter lengths appropriate to move the narrative forward attaching readers to the story as Abby and Tam are to each other. Her knowledge of the wilderness area, flora and fauna, family life set within a small mountain community, shifting to the world of music in Nashville and the ins and outs of days spent in a middle school is sharply realistic. Details, fully descriptive, coupled with meaningful dialogue depict a sense of place and characters fully human.
Here are two examples of her writing.
She sat down in the old rocking chair Grandpa Bill made for her when Daddy was born. She closed her eyes and held Tam's collar against her chest. I held my breath and watched her face. Snow ticked against the windowpanes. Just when I was beginning to think it wasn't going to work, a little "Oh my!" escaped her mouth. And like shadows slipping across our pond, alarm, fear, sadness, determination, and love flowed one to another across her face.
Suddenly the log began to rock back and forth. Tam scrambled to keep from being thrown from his hiding place. Sick fear flooded every inch of his body. In his three years of life, he had never known fear. He had never known hunger. He had only known what every well-loved dog knows: comfort and security. This new life of constant danger was beyond his experience. But deep within every dog is a bit of the wolf from which he descended. And that wolf gives the dog keen instinct. As the bear rocked the log harder and harder, Tam shot from the old tree like a cannonball between the bear's legs.
Gripping, heartwarming and ultimately satisfying, A Dog's Way Home by Bobbie Pyron is a classic as time will reveal. For dog lovers it is a must read but anyone will be held spellbound from beginning to end; it making a mark on their heart. Do I love this book? ...without reservation.
I don't know how I missed this last year. It is now out in paperback and the film rights have been sold. Please go to Bobbie Pyron's website linked above for a study guide made for teachers and librarians.
Our planet is indeed expansive but for many of her creatures what once was wild and free is becoming increasingly smaller. Without education, keeping informed, how will those of us who should be stewards understand what needs to be done? In his third book, Crocodile's Tears (Abrams Books for Young Readers), set in Africa, author/illustrator Alex Beard takes readers on a journey to find an answer to a very specific question.
Rhino with Tickbird perched upon his back sees Crocodile on the riverbank tears falling from his eyes. Rhino wonders,
"Why is Crocodile crying?"
Tickbird, well aware of the threat of approaching Crocodile, advises them to seek the advice of a golden eagle.
Although able to see farther from above than most and known for his wisdom, golden eagle avoids crocodiles. His suggestion is perhaps Crocodile misses the sound of elephants trumpeting. The pair of seekers finds a lone bull elephant and again ask their question.
From the huge elephant to a tiny, singing tree frog to a fluttering, vivid blue butterfly to a graceful, elegant giraffe and to the gone-in-a-flash cheetah each gives a reply leading to another until cheetah proposes it might be because of the loss of land upon which to run and roam. Rhino and Tickbird can not very well ask the land so a passing Ostrich listens to the question and all the possible reasons Crocodile might be shedding tears. Of course Ostrich promptly did what ostriches do best...stuck his head in the sand.
Once again the two companions find themselves back at the river. In his search for the truth Rhino ignores Tickbird's cautionary words. Readers and Rhino get more answers than expected in a couple of surprising twists.
Using a well-known folktale technique, the circle story, Beard covers a wide range of African land types and creatures native to those areas. As each animal is questioned their answers are not only a reflection of the beauty of each but also of the danger the specie faces. A repetition of similar phrases is an invitation to listen and remember.
Alex Beard has a very distinctive artistic style; known as the creator of Abstract Naturalism. Using pen and ink and watercolor his illustrations have a geometric quality reminiscent of the symmetry found throughout the natural world. This particular title is a stunning work of art from cover to cover using an array of colors evoking all that is Africa.
Heavy white paper provides the canvas for his pictures beginning with endpapers zooming in on the Crocodile's scales. The remainder of the visuals spread across two pages representing the immenseness of the continent. Although the illustrations bleed to the edges, Beard uses a heavy black line to draw attention to the center of each, creating one and two inch frames along the outside. The trumpeting elephants, singing tree frogs and giraffes crossing the savanna in the hot sun are my three favorite illustrations; simply wonderful.
Having traveled to locales as portrayed in Crocodile's Tears, Alex Beard beautifully captures the essence of the animals instilling in the reader the need to protect, conserve and preserve. Beard offers explanations and insights in his Author's Note and Glossary of Animals. At nearly any age level this title is a fable to be heard offering numerous additional educational opportunities.
