Bruchac’s Skeleton Manis the epitome of Halloween terror at its tasteful best! Just read the following chilling line:
…and in the moon that shone so gently on me is stark and hard in the way it lights up the creature that looms there above me. He is taller than a tall man…He has no need of clothing to warm his flesh, for whatever flesh he once had was gone (79).
Eww…creepy in a culturally diverse and highly fascinating way. Make the most of this terrifying read by providing your kids all that they need to create their very own Skeleton Man. And, in the meantime, capitalize on this ripe opportunity to present some creative lessons in anatomy!
Scholastic’s The Body Book perfectly pairs with Bruchac’s tale. The Body Book is packed with easy-to-make hands-on models that teach. With just scissors, paste, and paper, students can create a 3-d skeleton, growing-tooth movie, manipulative eye…everything a kid needs to know to learn about the human body. The Body Book is complete with how-to’s, packed with supplemental information and fully reproducible.
What kid wouldn’t love to reproduce the following phrase on a 3-d skeleton?
His eyes are green and burn like strange flames, there is darkness about his teeth that I’m sure is dried blood (79).
Ask a kid what his or her favorite holiday is, and Halloween is sure to be near the top of the list. Not only is it a day to dress up in a wacky wig or slip on a pair of clown shoes, but it’s the night of homemade hobos and scary store-bought Draculas.
“There once was a dog named Oscar who was half-a-dog tall and one-and-a-half dogs long.” Because of his shape and size, poor Oscar suffered the taunts and scorn of his doggie neighbors. His mother only managed to make things worse. Each morning as Oscar set off to obedience school, she’d wave and call out, “Farewell, my little Vienna sausage!” How would Oscar ever live down such humiliation?
When his mother provides a surprise homemade Halloween costume – “a giant hot-dog bun, complete with mustard” – Oscar resolves to make the best of a bad situation. Still, it isn’t easy. That silly costume keeps slowing him down!
Before long, the other dogs find themselves scared out of their wits by a “ghastly monster,” Oscar comes to their rescue, and he earns the nickname, “Hero Sandwich.”
A twist on the Russian folktale, The Big Turnip, BIG PUMPKIN is a tale with all the traditional Halloween players (ghost, vampire, witch, mummy, bat). Silverman’s skillful use of rhythm, internal rhyme, and alliteration are a source of great delight. The *sounds* of this story and the way each line rolls off the tongue are a delicious treat! Illustrations by S.D. Schindler add to the magic.
Frankie’s proud parents are delighted when Frankie arrives in the world on a “bright, sunny day.” But …
Oh, my,” his mother exclaims, “He’s…cute.”
The problem? Frankie truly is cute!
Not to be dissuaded, his parents determine to shower Frankie with scariness. They try to make Frankie look like a “Stein” by covering up his “lock of sun-gold hair,” his pink, smooth face, and his first white tooth.
Frankie never quite manages to act or look scary enough. “But he is a Stein,” his parents reason. “Maybe he just needs a little inspiration.”
Kids will love the way that Frankie solves his problem to become “the scariest Stein of all.” That is, until baby sister Francie Stein comes into the world.
Told in couplets and written in first person, this story is about an adorable monster kid and his loving monster mom. It’s easy to get lost in Mark Teague’s engaging illustrations, but it is the first person telling that makes this story work so well. Kids immediately connect to the monster narrator who loves his mama in the same way they love their own moms.
Having only recently been introduced to the series, ReaderKidZ wonders why it took us so long to hear about these books. Fun spot illustrations, with short blocks of text that amount to a book of 16 chapters, adding up to over 100 pages, these books are just-right for readers is that sometimes long transitional period between just learning to read and gaining the skill to tackle longer, more complicated text. The story line is fresh, the characters, quirky, and the overall package, perfect. What kid could resist a story about a mad-scientist girl whose bedroom is full of “steaming test tubes, strange bubbling beakers” and “crackling electrical gizmos?”
If you’re a teacher, witch stories can be tricky things, but what a beautiful picture-book-length poem this story is. A note on the copyright page indicates that ONLY A WITCH CAN FLY is written as a sestina, a form of poetry originating with French troubadours.
From the flap copy: “Only a witch can fly. But one little girl wants to fly – more than anything. So, on a special night, with moon shining bright… she grips her broom and she tries…”
Linoleum block prints in greens, browns, and blacks convey the soft whispery longing of the text perfectly.
“As the Skeleton Man starts down the hill toward me…his bony feet are too slippery! He begins to fall and then, crashing through the brush and fallen limbs, he rolls right past me and splashes into the river.
“We have to keep running,” Says a voice… It’s the rabbit.
One should not begin this scary skeleton story if one doesn’t want to keep reading, reading, and turning pages until the last, scary surprise.
Joseph Bruchac has taken a traditional Abenaki spooky tale, then tweeked and twisted it delightfully into a modern story in which the heroine, Molly, must fight with courage and cunning to save herself.
Both books are fun ‘under-the-blanket-with flashlight” reads. Check HERE for a Tool Box post.
Another boisterous tale about another loud voice, LOUD EMILY is charmingly full of vim and verve. Of course, Emily doesn’t mean to rattle the brasses and shatter the plates, but “from the moment of birth” her voice boomed in that LOUD Emily way and she simply couldn’t help it!
Kids will enjoy the exuberant language, tall ships and sailor jargon, and the way young Emily both finds her place and saves the day, thanks to her LOUD Emily voice and the powerful way she embraces her true Emily self.
Like Author-In-Residence Tameka Fryer Brown’s AROUND OUR WAY ON NEIGHBORS’ DAY, EVERYBODY COOKS RICE by Norah Dooley, illustrated by Peter Thorton takes place in a friendly community of neighbors. As Carrie travels house-to-house searching for her younger brother, she soon discovers that no matter who she visits, or what part of the world the family is from, “everybody cooks rice.”
While the book was published long ago and the premise is somewhat contrived, Everybody Cooks Rice can be used as one among many other books that encourage children to recognize that, despite our differences – including the uniqueness of our voices and communities – we also share many of the same things. The same basic needs, the same wants, the same dreams.
Amazing to think that a voice can reach across oceans, speak from a far-off refugee camp, prison or mountain village, echo from a past generation… and be heard in a book.
First we discover what is our “voice” and what we want to say. Then, we figure out how to find the courage to speak.
This month’s books in BEYOND BOUNDARIES look at many “voices,” many strange and funny journeys of discovering one’s unique voice. In the co-created book, THE DREAMER , Pam Muñoz Ryan and Peter Sis show us one boy’s journey of discovery, the journey of poet, Pablo Neruda.
Compare this book, written about Neruda, with Sis’s own picture book autobiography, THE WALL: Growing up behind the Iron Curtain. In this, we see how Sis was forced to re-invent his “voice” several times, and again, after he came to the United States.
Another poet, William Carlos Williams, wrote his short quizzical poems on prescription pads as he traveled by horse and buggy making house calls in his job as a physician. Everyday observations delighted Dr. Williams, from fire trucks, sleepy cats, flowerpots, to red wheelbarrows. Williams’s words and story are woven into A RIVER OF WORDS: The Story of William Carlos Williams written by Jennifer Bryant and illustrated with collage creations by Melissa Sweet. Classroom ideas developed by the publisher for using this book can be found HERE.
Roar and splash with color and design and see the voice of Ping. In Demi’s, THE BOY WHO PAINTED DRAGONS, the pages tumble with roaring dragons painted everywhere. Some seem to slip off the pages. Why so many dragons? Ping drew dragons to shut out fear. In the chaos of “deafening thunder, flashing lights, and violent storms,” Ping learned:
Fear is often the barrier to finding one’s voice, one’s true self. Fear keeps Lilly, in Phyllis Root’s LILLY AND THE PIRATES, huddling behind lists of worries until she finally stands on her own two wobbly feet and sets sail to find her lost parents. To her great surprise, Lilly does not die! Her own fears are no longer deadly. Illustrations by Rob Shepperson add a touch of humor to this already funny book.
Another new character making the book scene is Alvin Ho, by Lenore Look, illustrated by Leuyen Pham. Alvin is fearfully “allergic” to girls, school, and other scary things. In books two and three, Alvin is allergic to a growing list of worries. Readers laugh with Alvin Ho– and at their own fears – as they read how he finds his booming voice of courage.
May I share a poem written by Velarie Paag Stephens, a reader who has been deaf since birth but who has found her voice in writing poetry? In September’s TOOL BOX you will find more about THE IMPORTANT BOOK, which Velarie used as a template to create her poem on friendship.
Friends
Friends who are understanding, helping, and caring.
Friends are important to have relationship.
Friends as buddies who are trust, loyal, dependable.
Friends who are there for their friends
sometimes betrayed each other.
Forgiving is hard and right to do.
Forgiving is good health for your soul,
mind and heart.
by Velarie Paag Stephens
Find your own creative voice – in drawing dragons, facing the dark, sailing the high seas, or writing poetry about wheelbarrows or friends. More books and voices will be described in October’s next selection of Beyond Boundaries book recommendations.
From the time he was born, Holler had a voice s0 LOUD, pecans fell from the trees and cacti sprouted more needles. No matter where he went or how hard he tried, Holler’s voice was a burden. Hush! his friends and family scolded.
Holler knew, sure enough, that he could learn to be quiet in the quiet times. But would anyone ever appreciate his exuberant voice?
Paired with the vibrant art of Barry Gott and just the right amount of “knee-shakin’, earth-quakin’ LOUD,” this rollicking tall tale, set in the Southwest, is one kids won’t want to miss!
From Cynthia Leitich Smith:
The idea for HOLLER LOUDLY came when I was having dinner in a sushi restaurant, and one little boy was being very LOUD. I thought about that, about how sometimes it’s better to be quiet and sometimes it’s better to be LOUD. And then I realized that being LOUD could be a superpower. Being LOUD could even save the day!
Read, “What’s Your Story, Cynthia Leitich Smith?” HERE.
Visit the Tool Box HERE for Holler Loudly‘s Teacher’s Guides.
For more books by Cynthia, visit her website HERE.
Heading down the street, waving to friends, taking in the sights and sounds of the neighborhood. AROUND OUR WAY ON NEIGHBORS’ DAY by Tameka Fryer Brown, illustrated by Charlotte Riley-Webb is a celebration of good people, joyful times, and a community that honors and respects the traditions and culture of those who call this part of town home.
With lively, rhythmic language and bright, colorful illustrations, AROUND OUR WAY ON NEIGHBORS’ DAY is a celebration of families and neighborhoods and all that’s right in the world.
AROUND OUR WAY ON NEIGHBORS’ DAY is about a lot of things. It’s about summer fun. It’s about a celebration. It’s about folks who enjoy spending time together and helping one another.
But most of all, it’s about a little girl who really loves her neighborhood—a neighborhood that’s full of different kinds of people, from different places, who like to do different things. And yet these neighbors are very much the same kind of people, who live in the same place, who enjoy many of the same kinds of things.
AROUND OUR WAY is a story about friends, family, and the concept of community. It’s my idea of “neighborhood utopia” (a perfect neighborhood). What’s yours?
Read “What’s Your Story, Tameka Fryer Brown?” HERE.
Visit the Tool Box HERE for Around Our Way On Neighbors’ Day Teacher’s Guide.
Scholastic’s The Body Book perfectly pairs with Bruchac’s tale. The Body Book is packed with easy-to-make hands-on models that teach. With just scissors, paste, and paper, students can create a 3-d skeleton, growing-tooth movie, manipulative eye…everything a kid needs to know to learn about the human body. The Body Book is complete with how-to’s, packed with supplemental information and fully reproducible.
