If you come to Earth, there are a few things you need to know…
Things like:
Our planet is the “greeny-blue one.”
It has “green and brown bits.” Land.
And blue stuff. Water.
There are big cities, small towns, tiny villages.
Homes. Families. Even identical twins are different.
In fact, many others things are different, too.
Weather and clothing. Vehicles and schools. Work and play.
Animals and music. Colors and sounds.
The world is a beautiful and a mysterious place.
“There are lots of things we don’t know… But right this minute,
we are here together on this beautiful planet.”
This gorgeous book by Two-Time Caldecott Medalist, Sophie Blackall was many years in the making, and believe me, it was worth the wait.
If You Come to Earth is a glorious guide to our home planet, and a call for us to take care of both Earth and each other.
This stunning book is inspired by the thousands of children Sophie Blackall has met during her travels around the world in support of UNICEF and Save the Children.
It’s been a busy year for the ReaderKidZ and an even busier seven years since we first began blogging with the purpose of providing teachers, librarians, and parents with the resources and inspiration to foster a love of reading in kids, K-5.Along with the times, our schedules are changing and it’s become harder for us to maintain weekly posts. We’ve enjoyed sharing our love of books with readers and plan to jump back in from time to time, but for now, we’re taking a break.
Over the years, we’ve read many amazing books and, we hope, introduced you to many books and authors you might not have, otherwise, known about. We leave you with lists of many more good books, suggestions provided by the American Library Association, Indie Booksellers, and the Horn Book:
Who says being a princess is so great? Not Cora, the heroine of the silly, delightful book PRINCESS CORA AND THE CROCODILE (Candlewick Press), written by Laura Amy Schlitz and illustrated by Brian Floca. Cora’s tired of being good. Her nanny makes her take three baths a day and her mother makes her read dull, dull, dull books about how to run a kingdom. As for her father, the King, he times Cora with his gold watch every day as she runs in circles and skips rope up to five hundred. “A future queen must be strong!” he says. Cora’s sick of it all.
If she only had a dog to play with … but no. Her parents don’t want the mess and fuss and dirt. It isn’t until Cora writes to her Godmother asking for help that her life begins to change. And what a change! It’s sheer silliness and anarchy after Cora wakes up to find a box at the foot of her bed with a crocodile inside. Her own crocodile! While it dresses up in Cora’s clothes and holds her parents at bay for the day, Cora is free! She climbs trees, makes a fort in the woods, wades barefoot in a stream … and no one tells her not to. The thrill of freedom and doing what she wants is so wonderful, Cora doesn’t even mind when she steps in a cow pie in her bare feet.
Every child will delight in this funny book about going against the rules and not being good … even if only for a day. Schlitz, a 2008 Newbery winner (Good Masters, Sweet Ladies!) and author of the historical fiction novel The Hired Girl, has created a silly book that’s perfect either for reading aloud or for readers who have conquered early chapter books. Teamed with Floca’s bright and hilarious illustrations (who can resist a crocodile masquerading as a princess with a brown mop for hair and his green tail sticking out the back of her pink dress?), this book will make children laugh and adults, too.
ReaderKidZ welcomes Karen Jameson with today’s guest post:
“Poems come out of wonder, not out of knowing.”
This quote, by children’s author and poet Lucille Clifton, inspired the title of Kwame Alexander’s latest poetry offering, Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets (Candlewick, March 2017). Published just in time to welcome Poetry Month, this gorgeous picture book introduces the 8 and older crowd to 20 timeless poets and their wondrous words.
In this labor of love, Alexander (with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth) presents original poems created in the styles ofselected works from long ago poets (Basho, Rumi, Dickinson), twentieth century favorites (Neruda, Frost, Hughes) and contemporary artists (Angelou, Myers, Giovanni, Oliver). Arranged in three sections, Got Style, In Your Shoes, and Thank You, each poem is accompanied by a glorious mixed media image from Caldecott Honor illustrator, Ekua Holmes.
Truly a feast for the eyes and ears, Out of Wonder goes a step further by providing a short bio for each celebrated poet. These engaging bios tell just enough to spark future exploration by young poetry lovers. As a teacher, I could see using this collection to introduce one poet a day for the month of April. What a lovely tribute!
I leave you with the first twos stanzas from this gem by Chris Colderley celebrating a poem by Chief Dan George:
FOR OUR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN
Greet the new day
like a stranger
entering it
for the first time.
Listen to the rivers,
the raven’s son,
the woodpecker’s knock,
and your beating heart…
Karen Jameson is a children’s author, newly retired teacher and active member of SCBWI. She holds a master’s degree in Language and Literacy. Karen has published a number of nonfiction science articles in AppleSeeds and Ask magazines. Recently awarded the 2016 Sue Alexander Grant for the Working Writers Retreat (SCBWI LA), she is now living her dream of writing full time.
Who doesn’t want to read a good book about buried treasure? This marvelous picture book, CREEK FINDING: A TRUE STORY, written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and illustrated by Claudia McGehee is about a different kind of treasure. Not gold. Not jewels. This treasure is a disappeared creek.
How can a creek disappear? Even more mysterious, how can a buried creek be found and then re-appear?
CREEKFINDING is a true tale about the restoration of an entire ecosystem that had, at one time, been bulldozed under. A man named Mike saw a piece of land for sale and said, “I’ll buy it. I’ll grow a prairie in this old corn field.” And Mike did. While he was working in his field, an old farmer came by and told Mike that “long ago he had caught a book trout in this very spot.” A brook trout in a cornfield? “No way!”
Mike began thinking. “He wanted to find the creek, make a place for brook trout, birds, bugs, and frogs. He said he would call it Brook Creek. Others laughed, said Mike’s plan was foolishness. Lost is lost.” But that didn’t stop Mike. He asked friends who had big earth-moving machines – excavators – to come over and help him. They did. Soon Mike found the treasure he was seeking. He brought in rocks so water “could remember” and more rocks so bugs would have a home. Soon dragonflies, stoneflies, and caddesflies were fluttering. Frogs were chorupping. What a treasure Mike had restored. What an ecosystem to enjoy and explore!
Share this book with young readers and then go out for a hike in the woods, follow a creek or a stream. Celebrate Earth Day (April 22, 2017) by giving this book to a child or to a library. What a treasure to share!
Friendship and caring is the heart of this picture book, FEATHERS FOR PEACOCK. Jacqueline Jules has created a pourquois tale in the engaging folklore style of “ long ago, when the world was new, Peacock did not have the beautiful feathers he has now. Peacock was naked.” All the birds were naked! All the grumbly and embarrassed birds decided to have a meeting to see what they might do to cover themselves with fur or scales or shells. Everyone came except Peacock. “He was buried under a pile of leaves, sound asleep.”
A young reader will find the birds’ solution quite creative and colorful. But sadly no one had noticed that Peacock was missing. All the birds were pleased as they preened their lovely new feathers. All the birds, that is, except Peacock who stood as naked as ever. With her big heart of kindness, tiny hummingbird thought of a possible solution, if all the other birds were willing to share a few of their fine new feathers.
The colorful illustrations by Helen Cann provide unusual images that fill each page with color and energy. The story is not didactic but the power of compassion and kindness is clear. FEATHERS FOR PEACOCK is a delightful book to share with a young listener. Fun facts about peacocks are included in the back matter of the book. FEATHERS FOR PEACOCK, written by Jacqueline Jules and illustrated by Helen Cann, is a Wisdom Tales publication, available this April, 2017.
What a woman, Billie Holiday. And now, what a book about Billie and the song she dared to sing about injustice. “Strange Fruit” changed Billie’s life and Billie Holiday’s singing changed the path of civil rights.
What could be in one song to cause a whole nation to stir, to feel uneasy, to LISTEN?
“People had to remember ‘Strange Fruit,’ get their insides burned by it,” stated Barney Josephson, owner of Café Society.
“Strange Fruit” is about lynching. Billie Holiday dared to sing where she wanted, with whom she wanted, and what songs stirred her soul. Café Society was one of the first public places where Black and White musicians and artists performed together. There was nothing like it anywhere in the U.S., certainly not in New York City.
“Strange Fruit” was written by Abel Meeropol, the son of Jewish immigrants. It was the mid-1930’s and in America many strong separations and discriminations kept Black musicians from performing with White musicians. Billie Holiday was a rising young star and Artie Shaw dared to hire her as one of the first Black singers to work in an all-white band. “But then everything changed.”
Billie was singing in New York City’s famous Blue Room at the Hotel Lincoln. She was told not to talk with customers, not to walk anywhere where guests might see her, not to use the hotel elevator but instead use the service elevator … and slink invisibly through the kitchen to get to the stage. Blacks in the hotel were servants, not guests, not performers. Billie was not going to tolerate those rules of discrimination. Billie was going to sing out. Jazz was her love, her passion.
Billie left Artie’s band. She was determined to break the “color rules.” She was going to perform with “anyone she wanted and everyone could listen to her sing.”
Barney Josephson had just opened his own club in Greenwich Village, called Café Society. It was open to everyone. He hired Billie to perform at Society and she was an immediate success. And then an unexpected request – Abel Meeropol had written a song about lynching and asked Barney to have “Strange Fruit” performed. Barney showed “Strange Fruit” to Billie. After she read the powerful words, she agreed. They decided the song would be the final song in her set that night. It was 1939, New York City:
“The night, waiters froze in place. People stopped talking….” Their faces reflected both pain and confusion. What was this strange song about? The song ended. “Then the spotlight went out, and Billie was gone. For a few moments, there was nothing but silence. Finally, one person slowly began clapping, followed by another, until the entire room exploded in applause as the audience rose to its feet.”
“Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
….Here is a strange and bitter crop.”
A beautiful inspiring book published by Millbrook Press, Minneapolis, 2017. Read Gary Golio’s other award-winning and unique books about American jazz musicians and vocalists.
Mission Statement
To provide teachers, librarians, and parents with the resources and inspiration to foster a love of reading in kids, K-5.
