Sometimes accepting one another’s “differentness” begins at the exact intersection of our sameness. This month’s final BOOK ROOM post includes books that are about those children who know the uncomfortable feeling of being “different” yet find a way to turn negative perceptions into positives. MOCKINGBIRD by Kathryn Erskine (Philomel Books, 2010) MOCKINGBIRD is a beautifully… Read more »
Book Room
Following My Paint Brush by Dulari Devi
FOLLOWING MY PAINT BRUSH is the true story of Dulari Devi, a domestic worker who became an artist in the Mithila style of folk painting from Bihar, in eastern India. Her childhood was doomed to be a life of unchanging hard work and no education – not one day of school. But Dulari refused to… Read more »
Nowhere Girl by A. J. Paquette
Paquette’s Nowhere Girl compliments this month’s ReaderKidZ theme of accepting differences perfectly – for in her differences, the protagonist discovers her strength. This is a story about a young girl’s tenacious, heart-wrenching journey across the globe to find a place of belonging for herself and exoneration of her deceased mother’s integrity. Protagonist Luchi Ann is… Read more »
How to Handle a Bully
This week’s Book Room post looks at bullying, from several different perspectives, and what to do about it. CRASH by Jerry Spinelli Just about everybody has called John Coogan by the name Crash since he put on his first football helmet, charged into his cousin, and knocked her clear back out the open doorway. Everyone,… Read more »
Remembering 9/11
No citizen of the United States should forget the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and while it was only fifth graders in K-5 classrooms who were alive when the terrorist attacks occurred in 2001, it’s a part of our country’s history that those of us responsible for these young students – parents, teachers, and librarians –… Read more »
MO WREN, LOST AND FOUND, by Tricia Springstubb
MO WREN: LOST AND FOUND by Tricia Springstubb, illustrated by Heather Ross Mo Wren, her dad, and little sister Dottie have sold their house on Fox Street and moved into an apartment above an abandoned restaurant. Mr. Wren is going to renovate and reopen the restaurant, serving up down-home cooking. But nothing about the move… Read more »
Amazing You, Amazing Me!
Developing a close-knit community of learners is critical in those beginning weeks and months of school. Appreciating one another – the commonalities and the differences – and recognizing that each of us has many wonderful talents to offer to the others in the class is one of the most important life lessons that kids learn… Read more »
