WE Have a Cybil’s POETRY Winner!!!

Posted on 02/15/2017

THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY (Wendy Lamb Books, 2016)

What an unusual, delightful, and thoughtful novel-in-verse for middle-grade readers, written by Laura Shovan. Here’s a “taste” of this delightful book:

“Eighteen kids,

one year of poems,

one school set to close.

Two yellow bulldozers

crouched outside,

ready to eat the building

in one greedy gulp….”

Eighteen narrators, from diverse backgrounds and experiences, tell the story of their final year at elementary school before moving up to middle school.  Their final year also corresponds to the last year of Emerson Elementary itself.  The school is scheduled to be demolished in order to build a supermarket in their food insecure neighborhood.

The fifth grade has been asked by their teacher, Ms. Hill, to write poems for a time capsule to be incorporated into the new building project. The poems reveal the distinctly personal voice and story of each of the students. As the year unfolds, students organize and protest – they are determined to stop the demolition of their beloved school.
Of all the candidates for this year’s award for poetry, the committee found The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary to be the most appealing in its diversity, its capturing of the emotional lives of children on the brink of adolescence, and its poetic acrobatics.  Laura Shovan’s writing is masterful.  Readers will find themselves reflected in the experiences of the fifth graders.  A thumbnail illustration of each character accompanies the poem helping the reader further identify the character.  An introduction to poetry and poetic forms at the end completes the package.

When this school year ends,

I will have spent

one thousand days

in this building.

I want a thousand more

so I’ll never have to say

goodbye to friends.

From “First Day”  in the voice of student Rachel Chieko Stein

Wendy Lamb publication –

“A delightful book, with an endearing cast of characters who can help teach the craft of poetry while sharing their own diverse personal stories.”– Margarita Engle, Newbery Honor winning author of The Surrender Tree

Review written by the Finalists Poetry Cybil Committee

Somebody Loves You…

Posted on 02/13/2017

 

Valentine’s Day comes once a year, but isn’t every day the perfect day for letting somebody know you care?

Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Paul Yalowitz (S&S, 1991) is what I like to call an “oldie but goodie.” It’s been shared with children for over 25 years! In a time in our world when it seems too many are forgetting the power of kindness and generosity towards one another, it remains a beautiful story that’s especially relevant today and ripe for rich discussion with students of all ages.

From Kirkus:

Colorless Mr. Hatch–who works in a shoelace factory and eats a cheese and mustard sandwich for lunch every day with, just occasionally, a prune–is jarred from his reserve by receiving a huge Valentine box of candy with a card that says only, “Somebody loves you.” Amazed, he samples it, shares it at work and, buoyed by his friendly reception, sympathetically helps several people out on the way home (e.g., he watches the newspaper stall so that its proprietor can take his cold to the doctor). He’s soon baking brownies, hosting a neighborhood picnic, and reading to the local kids. Then the postman arrives with the news that the candy was delivered to the wrong address, putting poor Mr. Hatch into a funk; but his devoted new friends rally round to bring him back into their cheerful society. Told with warmth and a light touch, the story easily transcends its predictability.

Other great books to share:

Related ReaderKidZ Reviews:

Be A Friend. Love a Friend

Two Way to Say “I Love You”

 

 

Bears, Bees, and Flamingos

Posted on 02/08/2017

 

Poetry is perfect for any age, and today’s post introduces readers to a new series of board book poetry perfect for young readers.  Flamingos Fly and Bears are Big are just two of the four books in the “Animals Play” series by Douglas Florian (Little Bee Books, 2017).

Brightly colored illustrations by Barbara Bakos bring a sense of joyous energy to the page, easily holding the attention of the baby/toddler set.  The books can even be used as inspiration for Kindergarten and First grade writers by using the rhyming text (Bears are big. Bees are small. Shrews are short. Giraffes are tall.) to innovate new poems. Students can brainstorm a list of additional big and small, short and tall animals to come up with their own rhyming verses in the style of BEARS are BIG or one of the other books in the series.

Looking for more Douglas Florian poetry? Here are several of my favorites: Beast Feast, Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs, and Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars.

 

Stef Soto, Taco Queen

Posted on 02/01/2017

 

Estefania “Stef” Soto has been trying to get her Papi to stop bringing her family’s taco truck, Tía Perla, to Saint Scholastica School for months. Doesn’t he understand that hardly anyone gets picked up from school by their parents anymore?  Stef just wants to be like all the other kids. When Julia, her once-upon-a-time friend, calls her the “Taco Queen,” things only get worse.

Then the family business is threatened by a new set of city regulations, and Stef has to figure out what she stands for. Will she support her father and the other food truck owners in their attempt to keep their businesses afloat? Or will she refuse to offer her family the help that’s in her power to give?

STEF SOTO, TACO QUEEN, by Jennifer Torres (Little, Brown and Company, 2017) is a heartfelt story about  family, friendship, and the gift of learning to accept and embrace who you are and where you’re from. A gentle, satisfying read.

MISSING NIMAMA – when a child grieves for a parent

Posted on 01/29/2017

This picture book by Melanie Florence and illustrated by Francois Thisdale tells the story of Kateri, a young Cree girl who is motherless and being raised by her grandmother, Nohkom. Kateri’s story is based on the stories of the missing indigenous women of the U.S. and Canada. Told in alternating voices, the absent mother follows her daughter as she grows, enters school, and becomes a mother herself. The author’s lyrical, free-verse text and the illustrator’s watercolor images portray the emotional journey of children coping with the loss of a parent.

Talking and sharing suggestions. This is a book to read slowly with a child, maybe only a few pages at a time. Then… talk together.

Millions of children are without the most essential things they need– parents, family, a home, friends, safety, and the opportunity to attend school, to have a future. These children have lost what they love most because of discrimination, persecution, or violence.

What happens when a country’s legal system does not provide equal protection? In this picture book, a child’s mother “goes missing,” which in many countries is not uncommon, especially when women are not protected because of they are minorities, people of color, or of a minority religion. Related themes include the grief experienced by those children who have lost a parent.

After reading the books: Missing Nimama, Somos como las nubes/We are like the clouds, Two White Rabbits, and (for older readers) Bone Sparrow, talk with a young listener about the many types of political events that separate children and parents: civil war, terrorism, or being a refugee. Read Stepping Stones, a picture book that gently shows what it means to be a refugee.

Imagine this – you had to leave your home in five minutes before the bombs began to fall, what would you take with you? Think about living in a refugee camp for five years, maybe ten years. Again, imagine – what do you miss most about the home you left? What do you wish you could do one more time? What are the special foods you’d wish you could eat? Think about no longer seeing your friends, pets, family, teachers, books? Or hearing your own language!

What happens to child refugees if they survive the journey and make it to the U.S.? How can we help make them feel welcome?  How important a welcoming smile can be, or an invitation to join a soccer game, or asking a lonely child – “come sit with me during lunchtime at school.

This beautiful book can become the beginning of many important discussions.  MISSING NIMAMA  is an ILA Notable Book for a Global Society selection and also was awarded the winner of the Canadian Children’s Literature Award.

Related books:

Argueta, J. (2016) Somos como las nubes/We are like the clouds. Toronto, Canada: Groundwood Books.

Buitrago, Jairo. (2015). Two white rabbits. Toronto, ON, Canada: Groundwood Books.

Fraillon, Zana. (2016). The bone sparrow. Glendale, California: Disney-Hyperion.

Ruurs, M., illustrated by Nizar Ali Badr, (2016). Stepping Stones A Refugee Family’s Journey. Canada: Orca Book Publishers.

Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph

Posted on 01/25/2017

 

Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph by Roxane Orgill, illustrated by Francis Vallejo (Candlewick, 2016)

From the flap: “In 1958, Esquire magazine was planning a special issue focused on American jazz. Art Kane, a graphic designer in New York City, pitched a crazy idea: gather as many jazz musicians as were willing and photograph the group. Kane got the assignment – but he didn’t own a professional camera, he didn’t know how many musicians would show up, and he wanted to shoot the photograph in front of a Harlem brownstone. Would his idea work?”

Kane’s idea did work and this book, a collection of poems, recreates that day as it might have unfolded almost 60 years ago! The events of the famous photograph were unique and interesting. Equally fascinating is the story of how this book was made, as told by author Roxane Orgill in her 2916 Boston Globe Horn Book Picture Book Award Speech. Here’s a snippet:

When I’m asked how this book came to be, I usually say that I was at a party and a woman I hadn’t met before, a person in children’s book publishing, said, “Someone should write a book about the famous Harlem jazz photograph.”

That’s true. But it’s not the whole story. Jazz Day began much earlier.

Enjoy illustrator Francis Vallejo’s BGHB Award Speech HERE.

 

 

Steamboat School

Posted on 01/22/2017

 

“… sometimes courage is just an ordinary boy… doing a small thing, as small as picking up a pencil.”

Reverend John Berry Meachum was no ordinary boy. Born a slave, Reverend John later purchased his freedom and began offering “religious and secular education to free and enslaved black St. Louisan’s.”

STEAMBOAT SCHOOL by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Ron Husband, is the story of Reverend John’s Tallow Candle School and a young boy, James, who attends the school in the basement of the church.

When, on February 16, 1847, the State of Missouri passed a new law prohibiting “instruction of negroes or mulattoes, reading or writing …” Reverend John refuses to let the law hold him or his students back. His solution?  A “Floating Freedom School” held on a steamboat in the middle of the Mississippi River. Because the river was considered to be federal property, the school was, apparently, allowed to operate without restrictions.

Inspired by true events from Reverend John’s life in St. Louis in the the early to mid-1800’s, STEAMBOAT SCHOOL is a powerful story of one man’s determination, resourcefulness, and refusal to let injustice dictate his future or the future of those whose lives he touched.