Tandem Insights

Pi Day: March 14th

      

Is your school celebrating Pi, the famous and beloved number, this week? Many classrooms take a break at 1:59 pm on 3/14 to acknowledge Pi, affectionately known as “3.14159.” Of course, there are those who have memorized decimals beyond that, but here at Tandem Insights we’re content to carry it to the standard five decimals. Math teachers aren’t the only ones with ideas on how to celebrate this special number! Schools are finding many creative ways to commemorate Pi, including Pi poetry, Pi webquests, and Pi trivia games. Looking for books about Pi and other interesting math concepts? Here’s a list of books to help you celebrate Pi Day.

Warmer Weather Round-Up

 

It’s been a long, cold winter. Finally, longer days and brighter sunshine are heralding some warmer weather! The vernal equinox that officially launches the spring season isn’t till next week, but we’re ready to get an early start with these picture books about springtime.

Book of the Week: Lady Liberty

In March of 1885, the newspaperman Joseph Pulitzer launched his second fund-raising campaign to help erect the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. The French government was prepared to donate the statue, but a pedestal needed to be built and the U.S. Congress had rejected a proposal to publicly fund it. You can discover the fascinating story behind the Statue of Liberty in Lady Liberty: A Biography. First-person prose poems give insight into the many people who were involved, from the French designers and engineers to the American contractors and advocates like Pulitzer who raised awareness of the project. Through the eyes of those who were there, readers learn how the massive statue was constructed and what its symbol of freedom meant to immigrants, then and now. A helpful timeline and bibliography will encourage readers to learn more. This book is a great picture book choice for older readers. View this book in the Tandem Library Books online bookstore.

Book Round-Up: Recent Releases

Here at Tandem, we are lucky enough to see publishers’ preview copies. We evaluate yet-to-be-released titles and make educated guesses about which ones will garner good reviews and popularity among librarians and teachers. Today we’re highlighting some of the books we liked early on that got reviewed in the first two issues of School Library Journal in 2008.

David Elliott and Holly Meade teamed up to create a terrific book about farm animals that will make a great read-aloud for group storytimes. On the Farm pairs lively, humorous

poetry with energetic woodblock and watercolor prints. 

It’s always nice to find high-quality titles with math themes. Math concepts can be taught not only with expository text but also through fun narratives. A Very Improbable Story is an example of a great math-themed picture book.

                            

                        

Graphic novels continue to earn respect as publishers created more and more titles for the school and library market. For young readers, Fang Fairy and Detective Files are high-interest, “safe” graphic novels. Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow is a biography of the legendary baseball pitcher that will be enjoyed by middle grade and young adult readers.

Something Rotten is a fantastic contemporary version of Hamlet. Pair this with your Shakespeare unit to get students talking about how Shakespearean themes translate to modern times.

These are just a few of the recent releases that are getting attention. Each month you can find all the SLJ reviewed titles at our website. The January 2008 lists are here; February 2008 lists are here.

Featured Lists: Elections

         

Politics as usual? We think not. If you followed the Super Tuesday coverage on TV or the Internet last night, you know that today’s voters have rapid access to more information than ever before. This phenomenon is changing the way campaigns are run and how candidates are perceived.

Super Tuesday may be behind us, but the party nominees are far from decided. As we move closer to electing our 44th president, here are some books to help your students understand and get involved in the political process.

And for those fiction lovers, check out these picture books and novels with political themes.

Book of the Week: Pippi Longstocking

November 13, 2007 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Sweden’s best-loved children’s author, Astrid Lindgren. Lindgren is best known for creating Pippi Longstocking, the spunky heroine whose adventures are chronicled in three bestselling books. The original English translations have remained in print since the 1950s, but for a new generation Penguin is now offering a brand-new translation. Fans of Pippi will be pleased to know that the new translation is not drastically different from the versions they remember. Scandinavian scholar Tiina Nunnally stays true to the original text and retains Pippi’s hilarious phrasing. Lauren Child’s witty illustrations also convey the essential “Pippi-ness” from the original versions: giant shoes, patchwork dress, and all. Extra attention should be paid to Child’s depiction of my personal favorite character, the monkey called Mr. Nilsson. His big eyes and jaunty cap express his mischievous nature. A large trim size makes this version great for reading aloud to groups or one-on-one.

View this book in the Tandem Library Books online bookstore.

Book of the Week: Grayson

Imagine swimming in the ocean at the break of dawn. Marine life swirls around you as the salty water keeps you floating near the surface. Sounds are amplified while your vision is clouded by goggles and dark water. Now imagine that you realize you’re swimming side-by-side with a baby gray whale...

This is the true account of distance swimmer Lynne Cox’s encounter with the whale she named Grayson when she was seventeen years old. Cox was training at her hometown beach in southern California and was just getting ready to swim to shore when she saw the whale. Knowing it had been separated from its mother and needed to be reunited in order to survive, Cox decided to keep swimming with it until the mother could be found. Spoiler alert: the book does have a happy ending, and in addition to the amazing true story, it is also a fascinating look at ocean life and a testament to the power of human-animal connections.

Grayson is a quick, engaging read and will make a great read-aloud for classrooms and libraries. Readers of all ages will enjoy this remarkable story. Pair it with a unit of study on oceans or marine animals, and be sure to read the epilogue for ideas on how teachers and librarians have integrated it with curriculum.

View this book in the Tandem Library Books online bookstore.

2008 ALA Awards

Many of you can identify with our giddy sense of anticipation as we awaited the award announcements from ALA Midwinter. Here at Tandem we gathered in the office at 6:30 a.m. to watch the live webcast from Philadelphia. All the lists of winners and honor books can be found at our website.

                                  

Some of our predictions came true; other winners were total surprises. We felt certain that an Elephant & Piggie book would get a Geisel, since these are a pretty unanimous choice for the best early reader books of all time. The Newbery winner is a nice surprise from an author who is a school librarian: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices From a Medieval Village is a series of monologues that depict village life, along with some well-researched nonfiction narrative. We were shocked but pleased that The Invention of Hugo Cabret won the Caldecott this year. It's a major departure from the traditional picture book format winner, and we think Brian Selznick is utterly deserving for his imaginitive, compelling illustrated novel.

Did one of your favorite books from 2007 get honored? Click here to see all the 2008 ALA award lists. Need to know which book was the ultimate winner in each category? Read on...

• 2008 Caldecott: The Invention of Hugo Cabret
• 2008 Newbery: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!
• 2008 Printz: The White Darkness
• 2008 Geisel: There Is a Bird On Your Head!
• 2008 CSK Steptoe Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything In It
• 2008 CSK Author: Christopher Paul Curtis, Elijah of Buxton
• 2008 CSK Illustrator: Ashley Bryan, Let It Shine
• 2008 Sibert: The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
• 2008 Pura Belpre Author: Margarita Engle, The Poet Slave of Cuba
• 2008 Pura Belpre Illustrator: Marisa Montes, Los Gatos Black on Halloween
• 2008 Batchelder: Brave Story
• 2008 Edwards Award for lifetime achievement: Orson Scott Card

Featured List: Sportswriters

Sports stories, real or imagined, often feature several of the qualities that make great narrative: teamwork, competition, heartbreak, reward, heroism, to name a few. Good sportswriters are particularly adept in the use of synonyms, action words, and metaphor. From daily papers, popular magazines, and the Internet, some sportswriters have branched out to offer action-packed and thought-provoking titles for younger readers. Check out these great books by authors who make a living writing sports commentary.

                            

Book of the Week: Ballerina Dreams

Lots of little girls have ballerina dreams. But what if you have a physical disability that makes it difficult to dance? One physical therapist decided to help these dreams come true, despite the obstacles. This is the true story of five little girls who realized their ballerina dreams.

The students in this special ballet class have cerebral palsy or some other muscle deficiency. A photo-essay format introduces each girl and helps the story come to life as they rehearse for their performance. Each girl has a helper to assist them with movements, but the dancers have learned the steps on their own and will complete them to the best of their abilities. Photos from backstage and of the performance itself, including the audience’s reaction, capture the spirit and determination of these girls, who prove that dreams really do come true.

View this book in the Tandem Library Books online bookstore.