The Very Last Leaf

I just love this story! Lance Cottonwood is the star student in his class, scoring top marks in cleverly-named classes such as: Wind Resistance and Photosynthesis 101. He is brimming with enthusiasm for school and learning until the end of fall semester grows near and he begins to worry about the final exam - falling off the tree.

Lance is anxious and refuses to let go. He watches all of his friends let go, land, and decides he is going to stay on the tree all winter, just like the nearby evergreen leaves.

His friends encourage him, and his teacher listens to his fears (landing in a gutter, on a windshield, or in a pile of dog poo) and they brainstorm outcomes that wouldn't be so bad (being part of a pile of leaves for kids to jump in and being part of a child's autumn craft).

The report card on the last page is clever, and the author has included facts about leaves within the story. Lance is a lovable character and children will root for him.

Davison's illustrations are adorable! The pages are filled with autumn colors and lots of texture to show the movement of the leaves. I particularly like the picture that shows Lance and his friends in their graduation caps.

This book will be a wonderful addition to your family or classroom library, 

When Lance finally lets go and lands with his friends, he feels like he's back at the top of his class.

Other Back to School books:

My First Day of School

The Nevers

The Kissing Hand

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Teacher Themed Books

Variations on the Gingerbread Man

Our Class is a Family

Website for author Stef Wade
Interview about The Very Last Leaf with Stef Wade
Website for illustrator Jennifer Davison

The Nevers

My First Day of School

P.K. Hallinan has written a whole series of special days books - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentines Day, Christmas, Easter, and First Day of School. In fact, he's written and illustrated over 100 books for children, focusing primarily of family relationships, holidays, and character development.

Written in verse, this is the story follows a young boy through his first day of school, and he is excited about it, something we don't see often enough is recent children's literature with so many books on the market trying to address anxiety and fear over a new school year.

He jumps out of bed and gets ready, including having a big breakfast. He notes that the other students are "shined up like diamonds for their very first day," and that the teachers are quick to make them feel welcome - another positive message about school - hooray!

The Kindergarten teacher reassures her students that with their nametags, they won't get lost or get on the wrong bus, more fears addressed - BAM!

They find their tables and cubbies, talk about manners and safety, learned where the bathrooms are, and had a snack. They have a recess, practice some word families, and play some games a great first day of Kindergarten!

He goes home excited to return the next day - teacher win!

Simple, with plenty of opportunities to let children fill in the rhyming words and compare and contrast their first day of school with his. A must-have for your back-to-school collection.

Amazon carries this as a used book. While you're there, take a look at the rest of his oeuvre. His books are always sweet, speak to the child rather than the adult reading partner, have a positive message, and his illustrations are cute and colorful.

Variations on The Gingerbread Man

Over the next few weeks, Kindergarten students all over America will make gingerbread men. While the children are at recess, the gingerbread man will mysteriously disappear and the intrepid Kindergartners will go on a school-wide hunt to find him.

I don't know who came up with this idea, but it is a clever way to tour the school with those new little students - they will meet the principal, the nurse, the lunch ladies, the custodian, the librarian, and learn where the playground, restrooms, office, library, and other parts of their new school are located. Best of all, they stay alert and are excited about the exercise because they are looking for their gingerbread man in every nook and cranny of the school. My friend Julie, Kindergarten teacher extraordinaire at my former school, has them make cute little headbands with gingerbread men on them to don before they embark on their quest to find their gingerbread buddy.

Usually, this whole extravaganza begins with a read aloud of the traditional version of The Gingerbread Man. Due to the popularity of this activity, variations on the original have been popping up for a couple of decades, and I have quite a few of them in my classroom library. Two that would work particularly well for this activity are: The Gingerbread Kid Goes to School and The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School.

The Gingerbread Kid Goes to School by Joan Holub, is a leveled reader, so I didn't have high hopes when I purchased it. But at the time, I was looking for fractured tales to supplement my folklore unit, so I onto my classroom Scholastic book order it went.

 I was pleasantly surprised when I read it and actually prefer it to the other book I'll introduce today. Debbie Palen's illustrations are hilarious and give readers the feeling of movement as the gingerbread kid runs around the school. They have a golden "glow" that really appeals to me.

Instead of meeting farm animals as he flees, like the traditional cookie does, the gingerbread kid meets school staff and makes a mess as he goes. He is foiled by a child he encounters in the library. He demands that the child chase him, but the child continues to quietly read. Their exchange is wonderful:

GK: What kind of kid wants to read?
Boy: A smart kid.

Though the ending wasn't entirely satisfying, this is a fun addition to any gingerbread collection. This one is unlikely to be found in your local library, but you can purchase it on Amazon.

Be sure to have the children chant the refrain with you each time the GK says it, "I'm the gingerbread kid.

I'm as fast as can be.

You can run, run, run.

But you can't catch me!"

They will love it.

The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray is a rhyming journey around the school as the gingerbread man goes to look for his class rather than the class hunting for him.

He gets flattened onto a volleyball, breaks off a toe in the gym, gets patched up by the nurse, lands in the art teacher's lunch, and takes a spin in the principal's chair before he ends up back in class to find his class waiting for him with a gingerbread chair, desk, and house where he can comfortably be part of the class that year.

Mike Lowery gives the book a comic book feel, using a limited color palette and framing the scenes, putting multiple scenes on a page.

Behind the action, he includes and map of the school, showing us where the class is in comparison to the gingerbread man.

Again, the refrain is important, and there are two in this book - let those kiddos chant!

"I'm the gingerbread man,

And I'm trying to find

The children who made me,

But left me behind."

is said to each character he meets. As he leaves each character, he uses this refrain, putting in a new verb each time:

"I'll _____ and I'll _____ , (run, limp, slide, skip)

As fast as I can.

I can catch them!

I'm their gingerbread man!"

This book is also available on Amazon and there are several books in this series: The Gingerbread Man Loose at the Zoo, The Gingerbread Man Loose on the Firetruck, The Gingerbread Man and the Leprechaun Loose at the School, and The Gingerbread Man Loose at Christmas. I'm picturing a year-long gingerbread theme, reading these aloud before field trips to the zoo and the fire station, and for holidays.


You can never have too many gingerbread books, so be sure to take a look at these:

• The Gingerbread Cowboy
• The Gingerbread Girl - this story has sequels
• Gingerbread Baby - this one has sequels as well
• The Gingerbread Boy

Have fun!

Bonus:

• Why Picture Books are Important by Laura Murray
• Debbie Palen's Blog

That Time of Year

It pains me to say this, but it's time to get ready for school to start up again. To get myself mentally prepared, I'm going to share some of my favorite books that I've read to my classes over the years.

Sammy the shark is super stoked for the first day of school. But when Sammy gets excited, he tends to bite things. He gets so excited about breakfast that he bites the table. At school, he gets so excited playing tag, that he swallows another student. He gets so excited about story time that he eats the book. He gets so excited about his painting, he eats it. During creative movement, he gets so excited that he eats the teacher. It's unclear if she survives the shark attack, but kids will get a kick out of Sammy crunching into things that shouldn't be eaten, and giggle at his excitement over everyday things.

British author and illustrator Nick Ward's cartoon version of a young shark is friendly and colorful. Sammy is placed in human settings, but if you look closely, you'll see little bubbles in each illustration to remind us that Sammy is a marine animal and all of this is happening in the ocean.

There is a sequel about Sammy - Don't Eat the Babysitter (yikes), which you can get along with Don't Eat the Teacher on Amazon.

Interesting fact: Ward is a survivor of one of the worst sailing accidents in modern history.

This cute story lists all the thing teachers can't do - use the hall pass to go to the bathroom, finger paint in their good clothes, feed the class pets by themselves, cry if they skin their knee, etc... I laughed out loud at the assumption the child makes that teachers doesn't know the answer to 2+2, otherwise why on earth would they keep asking the students for the answer?!?

Author Douglas Wood ends with this sweet thought, "No one knows why there are so many things teachers can't do. Maybe it's because they're so busy doing the thing they do best of all. Teaching you."

Illustrator Doug Cushman (he has a how-to watercolor series on YouTube) has created vivid, happy illustrations, and though I confess I'm not sure exactly what animal these characters are, the pictures are a spot on portrayal of teacher life.

Other books in this series - What Mom's Can't Do, What Dads Can't Do, What Santa Can't Do. All of these are available on Amazon.

When I opened this book today, I saw this and a wave of love for this student and her sweet family washed over me. She was in my class for 2 years, both of her little sisters were in my class for 2 years as well, and her mom was an AMAZING classroom and school volunteer! I can hardly believe she is married with 2 young children - XO, Ashley!

• Why Picture Books are Important by Doug Cushman
• What Teachers Can't Do read aloud by Missy Monsivais

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Just hearing the word "summer" brings back a rush of childhood memories of camping trips, swimming, playing in the cul-de-sac for hours with my neighborhood friends, picnics at the beach, and trips to the library to check out a giant stack of books that were supposed to last me two weeks and never lasted more than a week.

It's hard to see the end of those relaxing days of late bedtimes and doing waht you want all day long. So with back-to-school days looming ahead, I thought I'd share How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Mark Teague to get everyone in the mood for school. (Is that possible in August?)

Wallace Bleff (Teague chooses great names for his characters) is set to read his obligatory What-I-Did-Over-Summer-Vacation essay to his class. The entire story is written in rhyme, and begins with him explaining that because of his overactive imagination, his parents sent him to spend the summer on the plains with his Aunt Fern.

He goes on to weave a tale of being captured by cowboys, learning the tricks of their trade, earning his nickname "Kid Bleff." and going on their round-up.

Aunt Fern invites them all to come over for a barbecue after the round-up and they have a great time, until...the herd stampedes. Wallace naturally saves the day with his amazing matador skills and is proclaimed the hero of the round-up.

 Being a teacher, one of my favorite parts is the teacher's reaction.

Before you put away the pool towels and beach toys, head to your library and check out this book to ease into those back-to-school preparations. Your family could even make a list of everything you've done over the summer to refresh the kiddos' memories before they are asked to write it all down on the first day of school.

Get it on Amazon, or at your local library.

Reading Rockets interview with Mark Teague
JRank bio on Mark Teague
NCCIL bio on Mark Teague

The Kissing Hand

When my children were young (10, 9, 7, 5 ish), they started having to deal with a visitation schedule. The every-other-weekend was something we got used to fairly quickly, but the long stretches during the summer were hard on all of us.

When I found this book, it was a blessing and The Kissing Hand quickly became a favorite story in our family.

Chester, a young raccoon, is anxious about leaving mom and home to go to school.  His mom tries to convince him that school will be great - new books, new toys, new friends, but Chester remains unconvinced. Mother finally teaches him the secret of the kissing hand.

She opens his fingers and kisses the pad of his paw. Chester feels his mother's kiss "rush from his hand, up his arm, and into his heart." She tells him that when he needs to feel her love, he can press his hand to his cheek and feel her love. She closes his hand to keep the kiss safe and sends him on his way.

Audrey Penn has written 9 other books about Chester, and nine other stories for children. Illustrator Ruth E. Harper did a beautiful job creating warm, realistic, and welcoming illustrations that children will enjoy.

Do you know a child who is struggling with separation anxiety? Try this book. It may be a bit sugary for some, but I think most children will respond to the message.

Every once in a while, I still do the kissing hand with my adult children.

Get this story for your home library through Amazon, and while you're there, look for the other books in the series: Chester Raccoon and the Almost Perfect Sleepover, A Pocket Full of Kisses, A Kiss Good-Bye, Chester the Brave, Chester Raccoon and the Acorn Full of Memories, Chester Raccoon and the Big Bad Bully, A Bedtime Kiss for Chester Raccoon, A Kissing Hand for Chester Raccoon, and A Color Game for Chester Raccoon.

• Storyline Online read aloud of The Kissing Hand.
• YouTube read aloud