Beginning a new school year is an exciting time. By summer’s end, most kids are ready to return to the more structured routines of the classroom, and while teachers look forward to reconnecting with former students, we also know the importance of laying the right foundation so that this year’s classroom routines get off to the very best start.
To that end, this week’s recommendations include books that focus on what Amy Krouse Rosenthal refers to in her “bite-size cookie“ books as “Life Lessons.” Those qualities, character traits, and experiences which highlight or exemplify positive ways to live in the world – exactly those skills and attributes that guarantee a successful year of new friendships and learning.
These books are perfect to keep close at hand throughout the school year. A sort of visual dictionary that relates abstract concepts, such as COMPASSION and TRUSTWORTHINESS, GENEROSITY and HONESTY, to cookie-baking, something every kid can get behind.
“Do Unto Otters as You Would Have Otters Do Unto You” This play on the Golden Rule is loads of fun! Kids will enjoy pouring over the silly scenarios and hilarious illustrations and teachers will love one more way to encourage discussion of class rules and all-around good manners.
MANNERS MASH-UP: A Goofy Guide to Good Behavior by various artists, including Bob Shea (Bus Manners), Peter Reynolds (Classroom Manners), Leuyen Pham (Playground Manners), and Ted Arnold (Good Sports).
MANNERS MASH-UP is a collection of double-page spreads by fourteen different illustrators, each having created his/her own visual “snapshot” of what good behavior means in various locations. In addition to school-related settings, there are pages on “Good Behavior at the Doctor’s Office,” “Supermarket No-No’s,” “Pool Rules,” and so on.
Teachers looking for books that encourage students to grow in their understanding of the value of sharing and the power of generosity will appreciate STONE SOUP by Jon J. Muth and SHOULD I SHARE MY ICE CREAM? by Mo Willems. The former presents a version of the traditional European tale set in a mountain village in China. The latter, for younger readers, presents the struggle dear Elephant has as he tries to decide if he should, if he wants to, if he must share his delicious ice cream cone with best friend, Piggy.
This 2010 Caldecott-winning book presents the traditional fable of the Lion who makes a life-changing decision to let Mouse go, and the Mouse who honors Lion’s kindness by returning the good deed in Lion’s hour of need. The nearly wordless nature of the book presents additional opportunities to encourage student discussion as the visual narrative unfolds.
The summer Jack turns twelve in Norvelt, PA, he’s grounded for unintentionally firing his dad’s WWII rifle, but allowed to help Miss Walker, the town historian, type up her obituaries for the paper. Mom’s saving to get Jack’s bloody nose cauterized, and Dad’s building a bomb shelter.
When angry Hell’s Angels show up, and Norvelt’s oldest original residents start dropping like flies, Jack is swept up in a small town’s madcap demise. 1950’s historical, laugh-out-loud, vintage Gantos for 9-13 year-olds.
Enjoy an audio clip from the audio book, read by the author, Jack Gantos, HERE. (Audio can also be accessed via the link below!)
Read more about the book and author Jack Gantos, including a biography, book trailer, and excerpt of the text, HERE.
Included as a part of Rosanne Parry’s website is a trailer promoting her incredible Heart of a Shepherd. The trailer ends with a poignant question: “Have you ever made a promise you couldn’t keep?”
Have you? Have you ever vowed to take on a task that was well beyond your capability to complete? Have family members depended upon your promise for their well-being?
To investigate this heady notion of accountability, as well as other story elements, access the “Book Resources” Rosanne has included on her website HERE. You’ll find a link describing her inspiration for the story, a leveled discussion guide with questions appropriate for 3rd to 5th grade students, discussion ideas for parent and child book clubs, as well as a podcast interview, and even Brother’s Killer Hot Chocolate Recipe. Delicious!
Working Together can mean different things to different people, but at the heart – and why we’ve chosen this theme for our Back-to-School posts – it’s really about the myriad ways people come together to sustain and strengthen bonds of friendship and family. And isn’t starting a new school year all about learning how to work with a new group of classmates, a new teacher, and new routines?
So while some of our picks might not be the kind a teacher, librarian, or home-schooling parent would choose to open up the school year, each of these books has much to offer and we hope you’ll enjoy searching them out and adding them to your list of excellent books for any time of year.
On the eve of his eleventh birthday, while searching for the spot where grandfather Mack has hidden his gifts, Sam stumbles across a mystery in the attic – a newspaper clipping with a picture of a much younger Sam and a caption that reads “Missing.” It makes no sense at all. Still, something about the picture brings up a feeling and Sam knows he can’t dismiss it. Not now. But with his reading problems, he’ll never be able decipher the clipping on his own. How will he discover the truth? Is Mack really his grandfather? And why is he afraid of the number eleven?
The next day, Sam’s teacher pairs him with Caroline, the new girl, for a class project on the Middle Ages. Caroline is just independent enough and enough of a loner that Sam immediately realizes she’s the perfect one to help him read the note in the attic and solve the mystery of his past. Together, they do just that, and a whole lot more.
Dad is shipping off with the entire 87th Transportation Battalion to Iraq. They’ll be gone for fourteen months and, with his siblings away at school, that means Ignatius, nicknamed Brother, and his grandparents will manage the cattle ranch by themselves. Brother’s helped on the ranch his entire life, but that doesn’t mean he feels ready for the challenges ahead:
Usually, when I look out the back porch, I see willows hanging over the creek and red-tail hawks riding the thermals. Today, I see the pasture gate that needs a new hinge, and the south side of the barn that needs paint, and the hayfield that needs mowing, and the tractor that needs a timing belt.
In spite of the difficulties that are sure to cross his path, Brother makes a promise to keep things running smoothly until his father’s return. Working alongside his grandparents and others in their close-knit community, Brother learns a lot about himself, eventually finding his true calling.
Andy Shane’s class has been assigned the continent of Africa for their Culture Fair reports. Andy wants his report to be about Egypt. Granny Web has given him a scarab necklace and he intends to use it in his presentation. But the day his teacher asks everyone to choose a country, Dolores Starbuckle butts in. She wants to do her report on Egypt, and has even come to school dressed like an Egyptian queen. Andy doesn’t feel like giving Dolores her way, but in the end, they work together and make a very good team.
This Caldecott-winning book about close friendships and the dedication zookeeper Amos McGee shares with the animals in his care, is reminiscent of another book about the relationship between keeper and animals, GOOD NIGHT, GORILLA, by Peggy Rathmann.
Even though Amos has lots to do at the zoo, he always finds time to spend with his animal friends. When Amos falls ill, the animals hop on the bus and work together to return Amos’s kindness, bringing him some of the same joy he’s always shared with them.
Enjoy a lesson created by the LITERACYHEAD team to use with this book HERE.
Gee’s Bend is a small rural community in Alabama that has continued to honor the quilt-making traditions of their ancestors. Poems, written in free verse, tell the story of Baby Girl as she grows and learns, not only to piece her own quilt, but to honor the old ways, puzzle the pieces to tell a story, and “stitch and pull” to create a legacy of art that has endured for generations.
This timeless, remarkable book can be incorporated into your classroom activities in a number of ways. The links below are packed with cross-curricular lessons which not only enhance the teach-ability of LEAH’S PONY, but will help keep the life lessons learned a part of the child’s memory for a long, long time.
To access a website created by McGraw Hill focusing on author and illustrator information, journaling, spelling and vocabulary games click HERE.
Click HERE to access well-developed Bringing History Home lessons such as learning about the Depression, life in the 1920’s, creating an historical timeline, and a student-created Depression Era autobiography.
A fun part of this time of year, besides gathering together school supplies and new-clothes shopping, is sharing books that get us reading and thinking. LEAH’S PONY and THE SUMMER OF HAMMERS & ANGELS are very different stories about how kids and friends, kids and families, help each other through tough times.
Everyone knows the discouraging feeling when everything is going wrong, friends “disappear” and we just want to say, “I quit.” These two books show us how other kids who’ve had this feeling found ways to ask for help and find hope.
Hard times can mean a lot of different things – not having money to buy a new backpack or new shoes for school. Or hard times can mean mom and dad have lost their jobs; maybe the family has lost its home. Sometimes help is found in a neighbor’s kindness. These two books show the power and pleasure in helping one another.
Many families today are losing their homes. During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, many farm families were losing everything – home, farm, even the land they lived on.
Leah has a special pony and rides it everywhere. She cannot imagine ever parting with the pony she loves. But one day, Leah makes the very difficult decision to sell her horse.
LEAH’S PONY is based on true historical events – the coming together of friends and neighbors to bid on farms put up for auction. People bid for chickens and tractors, horses and hogs, with pennies and nickels and then gave all the items back to the family. That way, through “penny auctions,” a farm family’s debt was settled and they could keep their home, farm and livelihood.
LEAH’S PONY is a story both adult and child will remember with tears and hope. People can work together to help each other survive tough times.
For many kids summer is a time to play, vacation, and let go of worries and concerns. But for many kids, summer is a time of crisis. Parents lose jobs. Families lose homes.
In this middle-grade novel, Delia discovers the miracle of friendship – the “real angels” who share hammers, pound nails, and fry up lick-smacking pans of chicken for all the helping hands.
I asked the author why she wrote this novel and how a child can “pick up a hammer” and make a difference.
[SW] The main character, Delia, began speaking to me. Her voice came clear and distinct and never wavered.
Many of the themes of the story, I hope will have meaning to readers: Longing for something you don’t have, questioning the beliefs of your parents and testing the power of faith and forgiveness. Delia’s story includes all of these.
I wanted to write a story that spoke of community and of the type of hope that organizations like Habitat for Humanity can bring to a family. At one point in the writing I tried to make a group of actual Habitat-kid volunteers enter stage left. It didn’t work and had to be tossed, because it wasn’t Delia’s story.
[NBF] What was the inspiration?
As a teenager I went on a church summer trip to upstate New York. We spent a week fixing a building. I remember my hand aching from squeezing a calking gun all day, waking up to music from the Peanuts cartoons, and the amazing food that the women of the community cooked for us. I thanked one of the women one day and she replied, “Honey, all I know how to do is cook fried chicken.” For the character, Miss Martha, cooking fried chicken was her way of being an angel.
My work with Habitat over the years inspired me as well. There is something magical in coming together with friends and strangers to do good work, expecting nothing in return. Years ago, after Hurricane Katrina, my church built the shell of a Habitat house in a parking lot in a single day. In the morning there was nothing but wood and nails and a blueprint and by the end of the day, there was a home. That kind of transformation is miraculous, and it comes from the hands of ordinary people.
[NBF] What can kids do to help?
[SW] There are lots of ways for kids to get involved. Certainly Habitat for Humanity (www.habitat.org) has opportunities for volunteers of all ages. Click on the “Get Involved” tab and go to “Youth Programs.”
If picking up a hammer isn’t your thing, then check out Do Something.org (www.dosomething.org) and click on “What’s Your Thing?” Whatever you care about – animals, the environment, or discrimination – you can get involved.
Mission Statement
To provide teachers, librarians, and parents with the resources and inspiration to foster a love of reading in kids, K-5.
