Tandem Insights

Hanukkah Must-Reads

Every year we see more and more Hanukkah books for children.  We’ve compiled a list of Hanukkah-themed titles for elementary-age readers for the celebration of Hanukkah, which starts at sundown Tuesday, December 4th, and runs through sundown December 15th.  This list features new releases and old favorites with plenty of dreidels, menorahs, latkes, recipes, and fun mixed in.  Enjoy!

Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story by Lemony Snicket voices a very angry latke which may resonate well with an American culture that sees the Christmas season coming earlier and earlier each year.

Celebrate Hanukkah: With Light, Latkes, and Dreidels by Deborah Heiligman overflows with the vivid photography of National Geographic and the joyous celebrations of Jewish people around the world.

  Jar of Fools: Eight Hanukkah Stories from Chelm by Eric Kimmel draws on traditional Jewish folklore to relate Hanukkah stories / antics of the people of Chelm, thought to be--perhaps incorrectly--a town of fools.

Elijah's Angel: A Story for Chanukah and Christmas by Michael J. Rosen tells the story of Michael and Elijah, who are friends, but when Elijah gives Michael one of his special carved angels, Michael doesn’t know what to do.

Check out all of our Hanukkah must-reads.

Pig Out on Books!

In honor of the vast quantities of food that will be consumed on Thanksgiving, we thought we’d highlight picture books featuring PIGS!

First there is the (relatively) new classic: Olivia by Ian Falconer. Her latest adventure, Olivia Helps with Christmas, which has just been published, is all about getting ready for the holiday—how she “helps” her family prepare for Christmas while watching for Santa…and waiting for Santa…and watching and waiting for Santa some more, all in true Olivia fashion.

Our two newest pig favorites are the Elephant and Piggie early reader series by Mo Willems, and The Adventures of Max and Pinky picture books by Maxwell Eaton III. Lovable characters, humorous stories, and brilliant, deceptively simple illustrations make these books irresistible.

           

In the twisted tales category, two outlandish versions of the Three Little Pigs story stand out: David Wiesner’s The Three Pigs, in which the wolf blows the pigs right out of the story, and Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith’s The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!, in which the wolf finally gets to tell his side of the tale.

Here's a list of more prime pig picture books.

Phonics Comics

           

Let’s face it: kids love graphic novels. Their popularity is ever increasing. Last week’s blog posts featured a bunch of really stellar graphic novels that no library should be without. But we also know there are still some haters out there. For anyone who thinks that graphic novels have no business in the classroom or in helping kids learn, I’d like to suggest the Phonics Comics series from the small publisher Innovative Kids.

These leveled readers are the same trim size as other familiar early reader series. The stories combine phonics-based narratives with bright, comic-style illustrations that support the text. Struggling or reluctant early readers will likely feel comfortable with the paneled format and the straightforward, sans-serif text in the talking bubbles. There are stories about dinosaurs, robots, and flying ponies, among other intriguing subjects. Each volume contains three separate stories, so they can be read in short bursts or all at once. The cartoon-like illustrations definitely have kid appeal. Developed with the help of a literacy educator, these fun stories support the tenets of the NCLB fluent literacy platform in a fun, exciting way.

View these books in the Tandem Library Books Online Bookstore

Favorite Science Picture Book Authors

Today I’d like to feature seven of our favorite authors or author-illustrators whose science titles are beyond comparison: Nic Bishop, Vicki Cobb, Gail Gibbons, Steve Jenkins, Sandra Markle, Sy Montgomery, and Seymour Simon. 

Each of these authors or author-illustrators has earned a broad-level of recognition from teachers, librarians, students and others.  Glancing through the titles on today’s featured list I came up with a few reason’s why each are awarded a place on so many school, library and home bookshelves. Please see if you agree:

• Movitating--Eye-catching, exciting and appealing illustrations enhance a commitment to learning, knowing and using science
• Accessible--Great potential for classroom teaching as well as a simple and effective approach to science themed topic to individual study
• Outstanding--Inspires and informs while being accurate, concise and clear
• Useful--Encourages further scientific exploration and allows for curriculum connections

A few well-reputed awards to recognize outstanding science books written for a K-12 audience include the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12, Giverny Book Award, American Institute of Physics (AIP) Science Writing Award for Children, and Washington Post-Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award.

View some of the award winning titles from these favorite science authors.

Elephant and Piggie Books

Get ready for the funniest books of the year! I was audibly cracking up the first time I read these, in the publisher’s booth at the ALA exhibit. Mo Willems has created the ultimate early reader series. Lovable characters, humorous stories, and brilliant, deceptively simple illustrations make these irresistible.

Elephant Gerald (Get it? Say it aloud, and think of jazz music) and Piggie are best friends. Piggie has a generally positive outlook on things, while Gerald tends toward pessimism. Each book in the series follows a conversation they are having with each other. These books are great choices for reading along with young kids -- have the adult do one character and the child the other.

Check out Piggie’s facial expression when she shows her party invitation to Gerald in my personal favorite of the four books, I Am Invited to a Party! (pg. 6). The characters’ emotions are impeccably conveyed in Willems’ pencil-and-ink illustrations. That’s what makes these characters and their stories so endearing. If it were up to me, one of these books would definitely win the Geisel Award this year.

View these titles in the Tandem Library Books Online Bookstore

For Your Youngest Readers

Choosing picture books that will entice your pre-readers is no easy task, but if you have the right books, reading with this age group is very rewarding.  They can now understand more complex stories that you won’t mind repeating as many times as they will want to hear it.  But what makes a good picture book for your pre-readers?

Here are some elements that we recommend looking for:

• Repetition – Get kids involved with the storytime by allowing them to predict what comes next.
• Language Play – Use these stories to develop early phonemic awareness.
• Rhythm and Rhyme – These stories read aloud well and invite listener participation.

Other aspects to think about are humor, surprising endings, unusual characters and child-friendly illustrations.

We especially liked the illustrations in Digby Takes Charge by Caroline Jayne Church, which depict the determination of Digby the sheep dog to make the sheep do what he wants them to do, and the satisfaction on both his and the sheep’s faces when they finally find a solution that makes them all happy.  This is a cute animal story that teaches the importance of “please” without taking itself too seriously.

Add to your collection of Mother Goose rhymes with Mother Goose's Storytime Nursery Rhymes by Alison Green and illustrated by Axel Scheffler (The Gruffalo), which puts the familiar rhymes into a narrative context that will catch kids’ interest and help them to see how the stories relate to their lives as Mother Goose tells the stories to her goslings to keep them from wandering off.  Designed to be read aloud, this volume of familiar and forgotten favorites will bring to life these stories to a new generation.

And don’t forget to introduce your youngest readers to poetry.  There are so many great children’s poetry collections out there, but even so, you will not want to be without Jane Yolen’s latest offering: Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry.  This collection of sixty poems by various writers is specifically designed with preschoolers and primary graders in mind.  With starred reviews from both SLJ and Booklist to urge you on, this oversize volume should not be overlooked.

More great suggestions for your preschoolers to first graders: New Picture Books for PreK-1