Your First Day of Circus School

I don’t know about you, but every once in a while I like to change up my special occasion books, to keep it fresh for ME! 

Thanks to all the teachers, libraries, and bookstores posting recommendations, I’ve added a few new picture books to my collection, and I’m really excited to read them to my students next week!

Your First Day of Circus School (2019) by @taralaser Tara Lazar, takes us through a little boy’s first day of Circus School. He’s got a big brother attending the same school who guides him through the day.

The text sounds as though the author is describing a perfectly normal school day, but the pictures are most definitely about a circus. Children, animals, and circus performers fill the pages, matter-of-factly juggling, walking on stilts, swinging on the trapeze, and being shot out of a cannon.

The illustrations, by @mcrowton Melissa Crowton, are 6-color and filled with simple, bold shapes, and interesting detail that you’ll want to let children have plenty of time to digest. I already know my 3rd & 4th graders will lose it when they see the steaming pile of animal 💩.

All in all, a fun new BTS book for your class or your family. Enjoy!

Website for author Tara Lazar
Interview with Tara Lazar

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

Elizabeth Webster and the Court of Uncommon Pleas

Thanks to the @kidlitexchange network for the review copy of this book - all opinions are my own.

Elizabeth Webster is a fairly average American teenager. She lives with her mother, stepfather, and younger stepbrother, loathes going to middle school, and wonders when she'll get to see her father again.

She resists all attempts to get her involved in anything that might draw attention to her, but when popular athlete Henry Harrison walks right up to her in the cafeteria and asks her to tutor him in math, all eyes are on her.

When she arrives at Henry's house, she discovers that he doesn't need help with math, he needs help with a ghost who is haunting him. The ghost asks Elizabeth to save her, and that sets Elizabeth, Henry, and their friend Natalie on the path to figure out what that means.

But the ghost's problems are competing with Elizabeth's desire to know more about her father. She decides to search through personal papers in her mother's home office and finds a letter of apology from her father to her mother, and with it, a business card that reads Webster & Son, Attorneys for the Damned.

She and Natalie go to address on the card and find that her grandfather is running a law firm right in the same town and has been waiting for her to come and take her place in the firm.

As Elizabeth, Henry, and Natalie dive deeper into the mystery of the murder of Beatrice Long, they discover that solving Beatrice's case leads them closer to finding Elizabeth's missing father.

This book has suspense, adventure, a bit of romance, and, if your middle grader loves the unearthly, it's got an abundance of that.

The ending leaves the reader with lots of unanswered questions, providing the perfect set up for a second book.

William Lashner's website

Grump: The Fairly True Tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

I always enjoy reading a classic fairy tale that has been fractured to tell the story from a different character's point of view.

Grump the dwarf was born too close to the Earth's surface and therefore isn't suited for life in the mines - he becomes physically ill when he goes too far underground. He longs to go to the surface of the Earth and see what life is like, and when he begins working in the mine, he finally finds a way to sneak to the surface. He meets Snow White and the evil queen and the traditional tale unfolds from there, told from Grump's point of view.

I love the details that Liesl Shurtliff provides about life underground in the dwarf community, especially their diet and the way the dwarves are named.

Visit Shurtliff's website to find out more about her and see her list of works.
World Over interview with Liesl Shurtliff
Book Trailer for Red
Book Trailer for Rump
Book Trailer for Jack

Author Birthday: Aaron Reynolds

A very Happy Birthday to author Aaron Reynolds! His picture books are filled with vibrant illustrations that keep children engaged, and fun word play that will have adults rolling on the floor laughing.

Chicks and Salsa is one of my favorites. The chickens at Nuthatcher farm are getting sick and tired of eating the same ol' chicken feed. The rooster leads the charge to raid the garden and create homemade salsa. When the rest of the barnyard animals catch of whiff of that spicy goodness, a fiesta is on!

Of course, when the farmer and his wife find out, they copy the animals' idea and all the veggies they need for salsa disappear. Naturally, the chickens have to figure out what culinary style they're going to try next.

Aaron Reynold's website

Ninja Tales

Every year, I save fractured tales for the end of the year. We read the original, then 2 or 3 fractured versions and create a chart showing which parts of the tales have been changed, or fractured, from the original.

As I was gathering books for this year's Fractured Fairy Tale Extravaganza, I decided I needed a few new ones. Scrolling through Amazon, I came across these two ninja variations by Corey Rosen Schwartz. My Kinders and first graders thought they were hilarious!

The poor wolves in these stories get schooled by these unlikely ninjas and everyone learns the importance of hard work and dedication.

Corey Rosen Schwartz website
Dan Santat website

The Rabbit Listened

     This book was sitting in our school library return basket today, and it caught my eye. I read it while waiting for my class to finish checking out books, and it completely bowled me over.

     Little Taylor is heartbroken when his beautiful creation gets knocked over. His animal friends come along one by one to offer their help and advice - one wants to talk it out, another wants to get angry, yet another encourages revenge, and, of course, one wants to fix it for him.

     But Taylor doesn't want or need to do any of those things. As he sits alone, struggling to figure things out, the rabbit sits down next to him and just listens.

     And that is exactly what Taylor needed.

    Doerrfeld is both author and illustrator of this simple story of loss and grief. She addresses the need to have someone just listen with clarity and honesty.


Cori Doerrfeld website
Brightly interview with Cori Doerrfeld
Drawing demo with Cori Doerrfeld

Ms. Rapscott's Girls

Just finished this little gem - if you like A Series of Unfortunate Events, you'll like this book. It has a lighter touch that ASOUE. The premise is that a group of 4 girls whose parents are too busy to parent, are packed into boxes and shipped to Ms. Rapscott’s School for Girls Whose Parents Are Too Busy. 

Ms.Rapscott (think tactless Mary Poppins) teaches them how to do all the things they haven’t been taught at home - how to bathe and brush their teeth, do laundry, cook, be safe crossing the street, entertain themselves without tv, do basic household chores, and how to have an adventure. 

The ending nicely opens the way for a sequel.

Visit the author's blog to learn more about her and her work.

11 Birthdays

A couple of years ago, a group of girls in my class were absolutely crazy for Wendy Mass books, so I added a few of her books to my classroom library, but I didn't make time to read them to see what all the fuss was about. I recently read this one and really enjoyed it. Think Henry and Beezus meets Groundhog Day. 

Amanda and Leo share a birthday and have celebrated together for the past 10 years. But this year, they have had a falling out and they are not celebrating together.

Amanda is anxious for the day to be over so she can forget about Leo and the fight they had. Unfortunately for Amanda, when she wakes up the next day, it's her birthday AGAIN.

Besides the Willow Falls series, which begins with 11 Birthdays, Mass has also authored the Space Taxi series, the Twice Upon a Time series, as well as 10 stand alone books. 

Wendy Mass website
KidLit podcast with Wendy Mass
KidLitTV interview with Wendy Mass

Room on the Broom

When I pulled this book out of the Halloween bin, my Kinders and Firsties went crazy!

Them: "I love that story!" "I watch that movie all the time!"
Me: "Oh, well if you've already read it, let's choose another one."
Them: "NO! No! Please read it!"

And so we did, and we enjoyed every minute. We talked about how cool it is that Emily has beautiful ginger hair, just like the witch, that Isaac has a cat but it doesn't look like the witch's cat, and Nina's family just got a new broom, too, but it doesn't have seats or a nest or a pool. And by the way, did you know that Julia's bow is almost the same color as the witch's, and Kaden's brother had a wart on his foot once?

Life with the littles :)

Be sure to add this one to your Halloween repertoire.



Julia Donaldson website

Axel Scheffler website

SchoolKidzTV animated version

Miss Smith and the Haunted Library

If you love the Miss Smith series, be sure to pick up this title - perfect for the days leading up to Halloween.

Miss Smith takes her class to the community library, just a block away from school, and, naturally, they take her Incredible Storybook with them.

When they arrive at the library, they are greeted by the librarian, Ms. Creeper. When she hears that they are on the hunt for spooky stories, she borrows the Incredible Storybook and begins to read bits from each of her favorites.

Soon, as any Miss Smith fan knows, the characters begin to come out of the storybook and fill the room. The children are simultaneously enthralled and worried, but Ms. Creeper doesn't seem to notice Frankenstein, Count Dracula, the Hound of the Baskervilles, or the frightened students clinging to their teacher.

When Ms. Creeper suddenly stops reading aloud and begins passing out cider and cookies, they realize she is not only aware, but has just started a party in the library.

Everyone is having a great time, and the characters don't seem so scary anymore as they tell jokes, play fetch with the Hound, and go on horsey rides with the Headless Horseman.

Until...the senior citizens' book club arrives at the library, and we all know what Miss Smith has to do

Pick up this Miss Smith sequel and enjoy seeing all your favorite spooky characters brought to life in Michael Garland's inimitable style, and, as a bonus Ms. Creeper has included a list of each of the spooky creatures and the book that features them.



Other Halloween books:
Halloween Rhythm and Rhyme (8 books in one post!)

National Geographic Kids: Halloween

Halloween Night: Twenty-One Spooktacular Poems

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Miss Fiona's Stupendous Pumpkin Pies

This is the most adorable Halloween book I've ever read!

Author Mark Kimball Moulton introduces Miss Fiona through the eyes of a neighborhood child. The child describes her dilapidated home and property and then Miss Fiona's appearance, from her stringy hair, pointed hat, pale green skin, wart, and long black dress, to her age - Fiona is rumored to be 403, but "...she never looked much older than 200 years to me!"

Miss Fiona has a large pumpkin patch and she grows hundreds of pumpkins in order to make homemade pumpkin pie for the community every Halloween.

She spends Halloween day prepping the pumpkins and making the pies while the trick-or-treaters peer into her windows, anxiously awaiting the finished product.

When trick-or-treating is done, the children gather outside Miss Fiona's house and she chooses one lucky child to be her helper. Everyone waits outside while Miss Fiona and her helper prepare the pies for serving.

When the church bell tolls at midnight, Miss Fiona calls them in and feeds them her delicious pie and while they eat, she reads spooky stories to them, then sends them on their way with an extra slice of pie to share with their families.

Karen Hillard Good's illustrations take this book above and beyond the normal Halloween book. Her folk art style, with muted colors and rusted tintype look, keep it warm and friendly. Every page is a treasure trove of detail - spiraling stars, sunflowers, black cats, jack-o-lanterns, and pumpkins spilling out of every possible nook and cranny.

One of my favorite moments is when the child narrator observes, "...who cares how kooky someone looks, when there's goodness deep within." The other is when Miss Fiona finally reveals the secret to her scrumptious pumpkin pie.

Mark Kimball Moulton Blog

Karen Hillard Good website

Other Halloween books:
Halloween Rhythm and Rhyme (8 books in 1 post!)

National Geographic Kids: Halloween

Halloween Night: Twenty-One Spooktacular Poems

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Bone Soup

According to the book jacket, author Cambria Evans had an experience with eyeball stew in Peru that inspired her to write this story.

An innovation on Stone Soup, this Halloween version features Finnigan, a  skeleton known for his voracious appetite. Finnigan is always hungry, in fact, every where he goes, he brings along his eating stool, his eating spoon, and his big eating mouth.

On Halloween, Finnigan approaches a town hoping for a Halloween feast. But his reputation has preceded him and the towns"people" have hidden all their food. The witch hides her jars of imported eyeballs, the beast locks up his bat wings, the zombies put away their frog legs, and no one will share with Finnigan the Eater.

So, in true Stone Soup form, Finnegan lights a fire under a humongous cauldron in the middle of the town square and drops in an old, dry, crusty bone. Soon, the town creatures join him in the square to see what he is doing, and one by one, they add their contributions to create a "delicious" Halloween feast.

Evans' illustrations are just spooky enough to give this story Halloween flavor and while Finnigan doesn't look anything like a skeleton to me, I do love the little black-eyed zombies.

Cambria Evans' website is supposedly coming soon, though it appears that it has been in the making for almost a decade. In the meantime, here's a link to an interview with her.

Other Halloween books:
Halloween Rhythm and Rhyme (8 books in 1 post)

National Geographic Kids: Halloween

Halloween Night: Twenty-One Spooktacular Poems

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin

I haven't blogged much since school started. I've got a new assignment and between moving into a new classroom and pulling together materials for math intervention and ELA support for our Spanish Immersion students, I've been...busy.

But when I pulled out my Halloween books and saw this, I knew I had to share. Whenever I read this to children, I always ask if they have read Goodnight, Moon or Runaway Bunny. Most of the time, the answer is yes and we talk about what they like about those stories before I tell them that this book is written by the same author. That always gets them ready to hear something wonderful. The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin follows a tiny, green pumpkin as he grows into a big, orange pumpkin in a field he shares with a one-eyed scarecrow whose ferociousness he wishes to emulate.

As the field mice scamper around him in the big field, the little pumpkin watches the scarecrow chase away the blackbirds and he vows that someday he will scare the field mice away. His wish comes true when a trio of children choose him to be their jack-o-lantern, carve him up, set him out on the porch, light a candle inside him, and...the mice run away.

Margaret Wise Brown turns a typical tale about a pumpkin becoming a jack-o-lantern into an absorbing adventure filled with both rich and childlike language - zigzag, gallop, dreadful, ferocious, inky black, droopy.

Caldecot medalist Richard Egielski uses warm colors and shadows to evoke the mood of Brown's writing. The light on the children's faces as they gaze at their jack-o-lantern took me back to the years of carving pumpkins in our home.

Smithsonian Magazine article about Margaret Wise Brown

Richard Egielski website

Other Halloween books:
Halloween Rhythm and Rhyme (8 books  in 1 post)

National Geographic Kids: Halloween

Halloween Night: Twenty-One Spooktacular Poems

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

 

Over in the Hollow

This adaptation of the song "Over in the Meadow" is a fun Halloween romp/counting book.

Sing it or read it, either way, your child will love it. Dickinson uses well-known Halloween creatures such as werewolves, vampires, Frankenstein, and skeletons to take us biting, boogieing, stomping, and howling through the hollow in 13 (what other number suits a Halloween song?) verses.

Rebecca Dickinson obviously loves Halloween since this is her 5th Halloween-themed book for children. Be sure to check out her other work when you visit Amazon to purchase this one ;)

Stephan Britt illustrated this one and the pictures are adorable, a word we don't often associate with Halloween, but he makes every page of this book FUN! Be sure to spend time carefully examining each picture with your child, looking for Britt's humorous touches.

This book is a great addition to a family or classroom Halloween collection.

Other Halloween books you might enjoy:
Halloween Rhythm and Rhyme (8 books in 1 post)
National Geographic Kids: Halloween
Halloween Night: Twenty-One Spooktacular Poems
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Todd's TV

This story makes me laugh! Todd loves his parents, but they are busy and he is often told to go watch TV while they take care of their adult stuff. So Todd and his TV become close. So close, that the TV offers to attend Todd's parent-teacher conference in place of his parents. Then the TV starts making breakfast and driving Todd to school, taking Todd on vacation, playing catch with Todd, giving Todd advice.

At first, Todd's parents are relieved, but when the TV announces that it wants to adopt Todd. His parents are jolted into action and begin the long process of trying to win back their son.

First, they try talking to the TV, but it uses commercials to distract them. Then they try competing with the TV - performing tricks and dressing up like a TV, but all their efforts flop.

Finally, Todd points out the switch and they turn off the TV and that is the beginning of a good life for their family. Until...

James Proibos wrote and illustrated this entertaining story. Kids and adults will enjoy the ridiculous antics of the cheeky, invasive TV, and hopefully, the timely message will resonate and and extend to all the other devices that distract us so easily.

Sweet Tooth

Margie Palatini writes witty books, the kind of books adults can enjoy as much as children and Sweet Tooth is one of my favorites to read with my classes.

Stewart has a sweet tooth - a demanding molar that hounds him day and night for goodies. In the middle of movies, class, everywhere he goes, the Sweet Tooth yells for jelly beans, chocolate, licorice, lollipops, cookies, anything and everything containing sugar. Even when Stewart is moaning in pain, saying he's had enough, the Sweet Tooth yells for more, "What are you waiting for, kid? Come on. Cookie. Cookie. Cookie. COOKIE."

But Stewart has a plan - he's going to put the Sweet Tooth on a healthy diet. He feeds his Sweet Tooth peas and broccoli, and no matter how loudly the Sweet Tooth yells, Stewart stays strong.

He brushes the Sweet Tooth and pushes it with his tongue, and the Sweet Tooth realizes Stewart is trying to get rid of him, so he increases the pressure. Stewart responds by grabbing a big old carrot and...crunch. The Sweet Tooth is now the Tooth Fairy's problem.

The illustrations are so fun - vivid and zany, sweets flying everywhere, the bug-eyed kids, and I especially love the way Jack E. Davis has drawn the Sweet Tooth - he looks like a white enamel version of Oscar Madison.

Pick up Sweet Tooth and a few of Margie Palatini's books and enjoy some giggles with your young ones.

Mrs. Serio's Mommy reading aloud Sweet Tooth

The Nevers

Born to Read

Judy Sierra and Marc Brown have collaborated on quite a few children's books, all of them worth reading with your little ones. Today, in the spirit of Back-to-School preparation, here's a story about the wonders of reading.

Judy Sierra's trademark rhyming verse holds true for this book and tells us about Sam, a young reader who truly understands that being able to read is a ticket to success.

From birth, Sam's parents surround him with print and begin reading picture books to him. Unsurprisingly, Sam becomes a voracious reader. He reads in the grocery store, in the car, in the tub, and even while playing basketball. He uses his reading skills to win a bike race and declares that the secret to his win is that "Readers win and winners read."

One day, a giant baby, Grundaloon, lumbers into town and takes away all the toys. When he leaves, everyone else is relieved, but Sam worries that he will return and wreak more havoc. So he ponders and comes up with a clever, fantastical plan to make sure Grundaloon never returns.

This story can open up opportunities to talk with your class or your own children about all the things we are able to do when we can read. Older children could be invited to write a narrative fiction piece about what a day in their life (at school?) might be like if they could not read.

Take note of the books featured in the illustrations: Pat the Bunny, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Arthur, and The Cat in the Hat all make at least one appearance.

Be sure to add Born to Read to your home library collection.

Library of Congress video of Judy Sierra and Marc Brown presenting "Born to Read" at the 2008 National Book Festival

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