Book-A-Day July 28

A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen (historical fiction, 5-8)

What if suddenly your family was separated and couldn't get back together?  What would you do?  How brave would you be?  One night, while Gerta's father and brother were visiting West Berlin to try to find someplace for the family to live, the Berlin Wall went up dividing the family into two.  Now, four years later, Gerta, her mom, and her other brother are stuck in East Berlin.  The Communist government is trying to force everyone to think, talk, and act the same.  Gerta longs for freedom and to be with all of her family.  One day while walking to school, Gerta sees her father on the other side of the wall and, though a dance, he gives her a plan for how to escape.  The plan is super dangerous and if it doesn't work, it will mean almost certain death.  Will she, her brother, and her mother be brave enough to try?  The ending of this book is so suspenseful!  This book is perfect for students who enjoy historical fiction books or books where the main character defies authority to do what is right.  A Night Divided is on the 2018 Rebecca Caudill list and finishes my quest to read all 20 books on the list!

One Last Word by Nikki Grimes (poetry, 5-12)

Wow!  What a beautifully written book of poems!  The poems in this book are about being who you are, rising above circumstances, and doing what is right.  The author first included poems from other Harlem Renaissance poets.  Then, she took those poems, or parts of those poems, to create her own new poems.  The words in the poems by others become the last words in each line of her own poems (Golden Shovel poetic form).  These poems beg to be read aloud to students and are very inspirational.  I can't wait to share this book with other teachers and with my students!  

Glow: Animals With Their Own Night-Lights by W. H. Beck (nonfiction picture book, K-5)

How many animals do you know that can light up?  Many people know about the lightning bug and the anglerfish but there are so many more animals with this ability!  In this fascinating book, the author defines bioluminescence and then shares many animals that have this ability and why they have it.  Each page has large, colorful photographs of the animals presented as well as a combination of large, simple text and then smaller, more in-depth information.  I learned so much from this picture book!  Students will love the pictures and the interesting facts.  Glow would be perfect to read aloud when talking about different animal features.  Glow is on the 2018 Monarch Award list.

This is my final Book-A-Day post for the summer as I will be starting back to work next week.  I read so many amazing books this summer on my Book-A-Day journey that I can now share with others!  I hope to continue to post about noteworthy books that I read but it won't be as regular.  If you'd like to read these posts in your email, sign up on the right.  

Happy Reading!

Book-A-Day July 25

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club by Phillip Hoose (nonfiction, 5-8)

Even young people can do big things to make a difference!  Knud, his family, and his friends lived in Denmark during World War II.  When Germany took Denmark over, Knud and some of his friends, were disgusted that their country did not do anything to try to stop Germany.  They decided to form their own resistance club to try to foil the Germans.  Frequently, the teenage members set fire to German vehicles, stole weapons, and even blew up buildings and train cars.  They were eventually caught and handed various sentences but while in prison, others around their country decided to continue the mission of the club.  This book is a combination of the author's words as well as Knud Pedersen's own words as told to the author through various interviews.  The book contains many photographs and an extensive epilogue that details what happened to the members after the war.  I love how this book talks about a lesser known part of the war. Students interested in World War II or interested in books where teenagers are making a real difference would appreciate this book.

The William Hoy Story by Nancy Churnin (picture book biography, K-3)

Are you a baseball fan?  Have you heard of William Hoy?  William Hoy loved baseball!  He practiced hard and even though he was small, his strong arm and fast base running led him to a career in the major leagues.  Being deaf, William soon learned how difficult it was to not be able to hear the umpire calls.  Instead of giving up, William created a plan for the umpires to use hand signals for their different calls and the umpires agreed.  Now, not only did William find out what the umpire calls were, but so did the audience members who usually couldn't hear the umpires above all of the noise.  This is a great biography picture book that highlights perseverance and rising above a disability.  The William Hoy Story is on the 2018 Monarch Award list.

The Most Amazing Creature in the Sea by Brenda Z. Guiberson (nonfiction picture book, K-3)

Who is the most amazing creature in the sea?  After reading this book, you get to decide!  On each page, a different sea animal gives several interesting facts about itself and says that it is the most amazing creature in the sea.  Some of the animals presented are the box jellyfish, the vampire squid, the anglerfish, and the whale shark.  This book has large pictures in muted watercolors and children will love the interesting facts about the various animals.  After reading this book, students could research their own animal and present several interesting facts to tell why it is so amazing.  The Most Amazing Creature in the Sea is on the 2018 Bluestem Award list.

Book-A-Day July 22

Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth by Judd Winick (graphic novel, grades 2-5)

Whoa, what if you were walking along and suddenly a mysterious boy fell from the sky?  D.J. comes from a large family where everyone is good at something...except him.  One day, while sitting outside, D.J. sees something fly from the sky and land nearby and that's how he meets Hilo.  Hilo looks like a regular kid, but he can shoot lasers from his hands and he has other super powers.  Hilo doesn't remember who he is or where he's from but he soon learns that there is something evil that he's trying to escape from.  Can D.J., and his friend Gina, help Hilo escape from the Obliteratron?  In this book, I love how Hilo helps D.J. discover that he is, in fact, good at two very important things: being a good friend and helping others.  Kids who are fans of graphic novels with lots of action (and some humor) will enjoy this book.  Hilo is the first book in the series and it is on the 2018 Bluestem Award list.

Plants Can't Sit Still by Rebecca E. Hirsch (nonfiction picture book, PK-2)

Sure, plants sway with the wind and move when they grow, but how else do they move?  Did you know that plants can wiggle, squirm, reach, creep, slither, crawl, search, climb, hide, surprise, sleep, tumble, float, and explode?  This fun picture book explains the different ways that plants can move using simple language and large, clear pictures.  This would be a great, interactive read aloud with young students.  The students could act out the verbs that are used in the book to describe the way that the plants move.  Plants Can't Sit Still would be perfect to read during a unit on plants or to introduce word choice (verbs).  This book would pair very nicely with Plant the Tiny Seed (see previous post).

Fabulous Frogs by Martin Jenkins (nonfiction picture book, PK-3)

Frogs are so interesting!  Did you know there are more than 5,000 different kinds?  In Fabulous Frogs, the author uses big text to introduce the main idea on each page and then smaller text to add more information.  We learn about how frogs can be huge, tiny, noisy, fast, "hairy", "flying", colorful, and more!  The large pictures of the frogs, some in their habitats and some against a white background, are colorful and accurate.  This book would be a great read aloud for younger students (using just the large text) and for elementary school students (using all of the text).  In a story time setting, this book could be used along with the song Five Little Specked Frogs, The Croaky Pokey! song/book, and the book I Don't Want to be a Frog!.

Happy Reading!

Book-A-Day July 18

Focusing on picture books this week!

Be a Star, Wonder Woman! by Michael Dahl (picture book, PK-2)

Going to school can be tough!  Luckily, Wonder Woman can show the way!  In this story, the little girl is going to school and Wonder Woman shows her what she needs to do to be a star: be prepared, be kind, be brave, be honest, be strong, and be heroic.  Throughout the book, we see the girl tackling different school situations on one side of the page and Wonder Woman tackling issues of her own on the other side.  The pictures are super bright and colorful with speech bubbles and other comic book elements.  This book has a multicultural cast of characters with a fantastic message for primary grade students.  Be a Star, Wonder Woman would be a great read aloud and ties in nicely when talking about character traits.  After reading the book, students could create their own super hero comic about one of the character traits mentioned in the book.  I love this book for as a read aloud at the beginning of the school year! There are two other books in the series: Good Morning, Superman and Bedtime for Batman.

Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson (picture book, PK-2)

What do you need to make a seed grow?  Plant the Tiny Seed explains what is needed in the simplest of terms for very young readers.  Throughout the book, the author incorporates various actions to encourage reader participation:  "Wiggle your fingers to add some water."  and "Tap the cloud and wish for rain". The pictures are bright and simple and little ones will enjoy looking for the lady bug on each page.  This book is a great story time read aloud for little ones.  After reading the book, children could plant their own seeds.  The author has two other companion books: Tap the Magic Tree and Touch the Brightest Star.

Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille by Jen Bryant (picture book biography, grades 1-5)

Imagine what it would be like to lose your vision and not be able to read!  Louis Braille was a clever child and he enjoyed watching his papa work.  One day when he was young, he lost his vision through an accident at his father's workshop.  He was sent to Paris to go to a school for the blind and he soon realized that there were no practical books for blind people to read.  So, he decided to take Morris Code and use that as a base for a new type of raised alphabet using just six dots that blind people could read.  I love how all through the book we learn that Louis did not give up.  It took a long time and he had to persevere but he finally invented something that would work.  Six Dots would be a great read aloud when talking about inventions, adversity, perseverance, or biographies.  After reading Six Dots, students could use the Braille alphabet to create their own messages.

Happy Reading!

Book-A-Day July 14

Solo by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess (realistic fiction, YA)

Songs, poetry, family, heartbreak, addiction, love, forgiveness, soul-searching, traveling, beautiful!  Living in a family of famous rock stars might sound awesome, but for seventeen-year-old Blade it is anything but.  While the rest of his family likes hard rock music, loud parties, paparazzi, and living life in the fast lane, Blade prefers softer rock love songs, staying out of the spotlight, and spending quiet time with his girlfriend.  Blade is haunted by dreams about his mother (who passed away many years ago) and is tired of dealing with his dad's addictions.  So, when he learns about a huge family secret that changes everything, Blade sets off on a journey to Ghana, Africa in search of who he is.  While there, he finds what he is looking for and so much more!  Similar to Alexander's books The Crossover and Booked, Solo is written in free verse.  However, Solo is meant for an older audience.  The writing is captivating and music fans will love all of the references to famous rock songs throughout the book.  I loved this book!  Solo will be released on August 1, 2017.

The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelly Pearsall (realistic fiction, grades 5-8)

Arthur threw a brick and clobbered the old "Junk Man" on the shoulder causing it to break (luckily the brick didn't hit him in the head!).  Arthur is a good kid so why did he do it?  He had his reasons but now he's in deep trouble.  Facing a possible sentence in juvvie, Arthur is shocked when he learns that the Junk Man (Mr. Hamilton) petitioned the judge to instead sentence Arthur to community service helping him with a special project.  Now, every Saturday, Arthur must go through other people's disgusting trash to help Mr. Hamilton find the seven most important things: glass bottles, foil, cardboard, pieces of wood, lightbulbs, coffee cans, and mirrors.  Why does Mr. Hamilton need all of these things?  What is he building?  Along the way, Arthur learns seven important things about himself and about life.  This interesting story is on the 2018 Rebecca Caudill Award list.

Esquivel!: Space-Age Sound Artist by Susan Wood and Duncan Tonatiuh (picture book biography, grades 1-5)

Juan Garcia Esquivel began making music when he was just six years old.  He loved playing on the piano whenever he could.  At age seventeen, he began conducting an orchestra.  However, it wasn't a regular orchestra.  This orchestra played interesting, funny, silly music that was used as the background for a popular comedy show on the radio in his home country of Mexico.  He soon moved to New York City where he learned about many new instruments and enjoyed experimenting with sounds and rhythm to make music that nobody had ever heard before.  Esquivel! became famous!  I had not heard of this musician before reading this book and while his story is interesting, it's the beautiful language in this book that makes it really stand out. "He was an artist, using dips and dabs of color to create a vivid landscape. But instead of paint, Juan used sound.  Weird and wild sounds!"  "He tinkered with tempos...". This book would be a great read aloud to introduce imagery, adjectives, and word choice in writing.  It would also be a perfect read aloud in a music classroom.

Happy Reading!

Book-A-Day July 11

Refugee by Alan Gratz (historical/realistic fiction, grades 5-8)

Could you survive in extreme conditions?  In this beautifully written book, there are three stories of three different families trying to escape different countries in three different decades.  Josef and his Jewish family live in Germany in the 1930's.  His dad is kidnapped by the Nazis and soon they will all get thrown into concentration camps if they don't escape.  They board a ship of refugees headed for Cuba but trouble is brewing.  Isabel and her family live in Cuba in 1994.  There is rioting and little food to eat.  When her father is threatened to be thrown into prison, Isabel's family joins a neighboring family on their little, homemade boat and try to sail to Florida.  They encounter storms, sharks, and a sinking boat.  Mahmoud and his family live in Syria in 2015 where there is constant fighting and bombings.  When the front wall of their apartment building is blown away from a bomb, they must flee with little more than the clothes on their back.  The family travels by cars, buses, boats, and on foot as they try to make their way north to Germany, one of the few countries accepting Syrian refugees.  Their journey is very dangerous as they pass through unsettled areas.  All three stories come together in the end in this heart-wrenching but powerful book.  Readers will learn what it really means to be a refugee.  They will learn why families are sometimes forced to leave their homes and what perils they must go through to survive the journey to a new country.  Refugee comes out on July 25, 2017 and I hope many will read it!

In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives by Kenneth C. Davis (nonfiction, grades 6-12)

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Andrew Jackson are considered America's Founding Fathers and they all fought for freedom for the United States.  Unfortunately, they did not feel that the same freedom extended to their slaves.  This book tells the stories of five of their enslaved persons: Billy Lee, Ona Judge, Isaac Granger, Paul Jennings, and Alfred Jackson.  In this book, we learn about the home lives of the four presidents, how they fought for freedom, and how they fought to keep their slaves.  More importantly, in this book we learn about the five enslaved persons.  We get a glimpse into what their lives were like, how slavery could tear apart families, and their complicated relationships with the presidents.  In the Shadow of Liberty contains photographs, illustrations, and timelines as it tells the interesting, but unattractive, side of four of our great presidents.

The Great American Dust Bowl by Don Brown (nonfiction graphic novel, grades 3-8)

Imagine that there is so much dust that it gets everywhere in your house, even in the food that you eat!  What if there were huge dust storms that were so thick, people and animals became lost or, even worse, suffocated?  What if these dusty conditions and the dust storms (sometimes more than 70 per year) lasted for TEN years?  All of this happened during the 1930's "Dirty Thirties".  In this book, the author first explains the conditions that made the Dust Bowl possible.  Then, he tells what life was like during this very difficult time in our country's history.  There is a lot of information packed into this smaller book but the illustrations in this graphic novel are what really bring it to life.  Through the illustrations, I could really get a sense of what it was like during this time period.  The Great American Dust Bowl would be a perfect book to use when studying the 1930's and would pair nicely with Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse.  Many students will also pick this very accessible book up on their own to read.  Finally, one maker activity idea would be to have students design something that would help to keep the dust out of the house (or an area of the house).

Lots of heavy reading this week! Now for a lighter topic...

Things to Do by Elaine Magliaro (poetry picture book, grades PK-3)

What are things that you have to do?  Wake up? Eat? Play? In this unique picture book, the author uses poetry to present things that different objects, such as the honeybee, the sky, the rain, and boots, do.  Here are two examples from the book:

"Things to do if you are BIRDS

     Go find your breakfast.

     It's strewn across the lawn.

     Better come get it

         before it's all gone!"

and

"Things to do if you are BOOTS

     Splish in puddles.

     Splash on the walk.

     Make the Fallen

           raindrops talk."

The illustrations are muted watercolors and show the child looking at/thinking about each object as it's presented.  This beautiful picture book is perfect to read aloud to children and would be great for introducing point of view.  Students could think of their own object and then write a poem from that object's point of view.

Happy Reading!

Book-A-Day July 3

All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor (realistic fiction, grades 5-8)

What would it be like to grow up living in a prison?  Would it be dreary? Lonely? Depressing? Since he was a baby, Perry has always lived in Blue Ribbon Correctional Facility and it is definitely not dreary, lonely, or depressing.  The prison that he and his mom live in is a minimum security prison for people who committed nonviolent crimes.  For Perry,  Blue Ribbon is his home and the residents that live there are his family.  Aside from going to school, Perry spends his days helping around Blue Ribbon, cheering up the residents, playing games, and having fun.  When word gets out that a child is actually living in the facility, Perry is taken away from Blue Ribbon, and from his mom, and placed into foster care.  Now, Perry longs for the visiting days when he can spend time with his mom and his family.  For a class project, Perry decides to interview the residents at Blue Ribbon to find out more about their stories and he uncovers a secret about his mom’s story that changes everything and eventually brings them closer together.  Can he use this secret to help his mother get out of prison sooner? Or will Tom VanLeer (the district attorney and Perry’s foster father) fight to keep his mom in prison longer for breaking the rules and having Perry live with her? This unusual story is very well written. The author does an excellent job of bringing Perry to "life" and I felt myself rooting for him throughout the book. Life in the prison is not portrayed as being perfect in the book (some residents do have some set-backs), but there is an overall feeling of supporting one another and hope. Other messages in the book include overcoming challenges and the power of friendship. All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook is on the 2018 Rebecca Caudill Award list.

I will be taking a week off from the Book-A-Day challenge to spend the 4th of July holiday week with family and friends. Happy 4th!!