Tandem Insights

Sometimes You Just Need a Vacation

      

Everyone needs a break from the routine once in a while. But sometimes you’re so busy, all you can do is read about it. 

Take a good, old-fashioned cross country road trip with a family in Pictures From Our Vacation by Lynne Rae Perkins, author of the Newbery award-winning Criss Cross. Mom gives the kids instant cameras and notebooks, and off they go to document their travels. Some of it is typical road trip stuff and lots of things don’t go exactly the way they’d like on the vacation, but it all comes together at the end in this charming story. 

A great picture book from 2007 has a whole house going on vacation. The door, windows, chimney, and other parts of the house get together to decide where to go when their family leaves in House Takes a Vacation by Jacqueline Davies. 

Another new picture book featuring a summer vaction is A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, by Marla Frazee. Inspired by her son's trip to "nature camp" with his best friend, this is a tongue-in-cheek look at how adults and kids sometimes have different definitions for the nature of "fun."

Whether you're planning an actual vacation or just yearning for a break, these picture books will transport you and leave you feeling refreshed!

Classroom Connections: The Power of Words

History hot off the presses! 

Muckrakers by Ann Bausum takes us into the story of investigative journalism—sometimes called the “unofficial fourth branch of government”—and the reporters who used their medium to change America. History teachers covering the early twentieth century will want to use this book in their classrooms particularly for the more than 50 archival photos it contains.  Pair this with War, Women, and the News by Catherine Gourley and Journalists at Risk by George Sullivan for a history lesson with a focus on journalism.

English teachers reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair or The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck with their classes may want to use Muckrakers to give students some historical context to these works of fiction that began with investigative journalism and ended with some big changes.  Bring it all together by showing your students how words are still making a difference in the way we live our lives today with books like Fast Food Nation (or the adaptation aimed at young people, Chew on This) or An Inconvenient Truth.

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.

Classroom Connections: Calendars

What has 366 days and happens every four years?  That’s right- it’s a leap year which  means 2008 has an extra day instead of the usual 365!  Curious little minds are bound to wonder why?  Help your students learn the answers by teaching about the history and concept of calendars.  Click here!

The Cybils 2007 Awards and Honors Announced

As you may remember from last year Tandem Library Books was eager to promote the Cybils’ freshman year to our customers, including the fact that one of our own, a longtime book blogger Mindy, was involved as a panelist and an administrator. 

Mindy and the entire Cybils Team did it again and we are thrilled to highlight this year’s Cybil winners, which were announced February 14, 2008.

The 2007 Cybils Winners are:

Boy Toy
Young Adult Novels Winner

The Professor's Daughter
Graphic Novels Winner--Young Adult

Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel
Graphic Novels Winner--Elementary/Middle Grade

Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood
Nonfiction Middle Grade/Young Adult Books Winner

A Crooked Kind of Perfect
Middle Grade Novels Winner

The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County
Fiction Picture Books

Lightship
Nonfiction Picture Books Winner

The True Meaning of Smekday
Fantasy & Science Fiction Winner--Elementary/Middle Grade

Book of a Thousand Days
Fantasy & Science Fiction Winner--Young Adult

This Is Just to Say
Poetry Winner     

                                                                                            Don't miss your chance to be involved with this one-of-a-kind award by nominating your favorite titles of 2008 this Fall at www.cybils.com!

                                                                     Here  are  all  62   honored   titles  from   2007.

Getting Teens' Attention With Displays

Library displays are a great way to do silent reader’s advisory.  But they won’t do any good if they don’t get attention.  Here are some quick tips for creating attention getting displays for your teens:

• Get teens involved.  Have them create the display or display reviews they’ve written.
• Don’t get cluttered.  Keep it neat and organized while using your space effectively.  Too many (or too few) books for a space will look messy.
• Notice traffic patterns.  Watch the way teens use your library and put displays where the traffic is.
• Use props.  Add objects to your display that relate to the theme or make it interactive with a puzzle or game.
• Think about the covers.  Use your book covers to really get attention.  Group books by color or other common element for a dramatic display.

                    

• Variety is good.  Mix fiction, nonfiction, audiovisual, magazines, etc.
• Refresh your display regularly.  A picked-over display will likely be passed by. 
• Keep your eyes open for great themes.  Turn the Insightful Lists or the Book Round-Ups into great attention-getting displays for your library or media center.

Classroom Connections: The Year of the Rat

Besides being a great read-a-loud or book to read independently our Book of the Week, The Year of the Rat, can be used as a teaching tool in the classroom.  Ideas are not limited to:

Introducing a unit on parables- Throughout The Year of the Rat, Pacy’s mom and dad share meaningful anecdotes which connect Pacy to her Taiwanese heritage and serve as lessons.  An example to discuss as a class or small groups is her mom’s school lunch story from chapter 27.  There are many wonderful picture books which would work as well in a lesson on proverbs and parables for an elementary-aged audience.  Three titles that come to mind are all by Jon J. Muth.   

Teaching the popular origin myth about the Chinese New Year-  Pacy’s dad tell the Nian Monster story in chapter 34 which explains the reason Chinese New Year is celebrated.  There are many fantastic children’s websites to get students excited about the New Year, one such link is a Countdown to New Years from PBS Kids.

Explaining similes and how the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac are used as symbols- Students can research their own animal sign along the other zodiac animal signs to see which best represents them. A challenge would be to write a persuasive essay describing why that sign fits them best.  Students should avoid using physical characteristics alone to describe themselves (ie. eye color or height) while striving to include qualities (ie. a people person, trustworthy, or adventurous) to describe themselves.  Here’s a list of picture books which outline the Chinese zodiac.

Reviewing student’s resolutions made for the new year- Using Pacy’s experience in the book, can students communicate which resolutions may really be wishes or which of their resolutions rely more fate or destiny?

Movie Review

As promised in our Book of the Week post from November 20, 2007 we’ve prepared a movie review for The Golden Compass which is still in theaters.

Our group left the theater happy and has had time to mull over how well the movie compared to the book.  Many had recently read / re-read all or some of the trilogy before seeing Philip Pullman’s fantastical parallel universe brought so beautifully to the big screen and overall were very satisfied.  As is so often is the case with books made into movies, there are deviations from the book.  This includes a happy ending where there wasn’t one, but overall New Line's production kept with the integrity of the classic novel’s plot and characters.  Even Mrs. Coulter’s character with her dark hair, eyes and personality, whose impression has stayed with so many readers young and old through the years, came through equally as wicked as Nicole Kidman’s fair-complexioned characterization in the movie.

We drew a stalemate concerning what age movie goers would appreciate the fantasy epic’s adaptation. We agreed the movie may not show as well to a person under the age of 10 and it could enchant viewers up into adulthood with its complex characters and a fascinating, and at times all too familiar, plot.  References to philosophy and literature are abundant which count as a draw for many, while perceived anti-Catholic and atheistic themes may have kept some away, hurting the chances for cinematic adaptations of Subtle Knife or Amber Spyglass. 

We hope, as did other younger movie goers in nearby seats, we’ll have the pleasure of seeing more of Lyra’s world on the silver screen and that Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials will continue to enchant an ever growing audience of readers.

Best of the Year Round Up

2007 has been a great year in kidlit land. Here at Tandem Insights we’ve highlighted several of our favorites: see our posts on Elephant & Piggie, Elijah of Buxton, or Long May She Reign. The best-of-the-year lists are now available from Publisher’s Weekly and School Library Journal, two sources we know and trust. We came up with our own Tandem version of a Best of 2007 list, and then decided to compare notes and see which titles everybody agreed on.
There are four unanimous choices: (Drumroll, please!)

Orange Pear Apple Bear, by Emily Gravett

Knuffle Bunny Too, by Mo Willems

The Arrival, by Shaun Tan

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

You can find all three complete lists in the Tandem online bookstore:
2007 Publisher's Weekly Best Children's Books
2007 Best Books from SLJ
Tandem Best Books of 2007

Last Minute Costume Ideas

If you’re anything like me, you have a tendency to leave things till the last possible minute. Well folks, Halloween is tomorrow… if you don’t have your costume together yet, here are some ideas you might try, and the book associations they might conjure up:

Fancy Rabbit: Edward Tulane

Red dress, black-and-white striped tights, Pig snout: Olivia

Cowboy hat & plaid shirt: The Misadventures of Maude March

Orange jumpsuit, shovel: Camp Green Lake captive (Holes)

Dog: HMS Beagle (Higher Power of Lucky)

Princess Dress: Miri (Priness Academy)

Ballet outfit: Siena (To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel)

Leather jacket & Mohawk: King Maggot (Born to Rock)