Tandem Insights

‘Tis the Season!

If you’re looking for a few last minute Christmas ideas, or even some holiday stories to check out from your local library, here are some of our favorites!

Russell is back again in Rob Scotton’s third book, Russell’s Christmas Magic.  Santa  declares that “Christmas is cancelled” when his sleigh crashes in Firefly Wood.  Russell the Sheep comes to his aid equipped with a welder, hammer, and circular saw-labeled “ask parent before using this tool”!  Will Russell’s efforts be enough to save Christmas?

Told in a silly Christmas rhyme, A Christmas Stocking Story, by Hilary Knight, is a book that all will enjoy.  Stork, Hippo, Lion, Fish, Elephant, Snake, Fox and Bug’s stockings were mixed up while being washed on Christmas Eve.  Will the animals ever figure out how to get the right presents from Santa Claus?

A hockey outfit, makeup kit, and a chemistry set – are all great Christmas gifts according to Morris.  Unfortunately Morris is told that he cannot play with them because he is “too young.”  Unsatisfied with his new teddy bear, Morris finds an unwrapped present under the tree – a disappearing bag!  Find out about the mysterious disappearing bag in Rosemary Wells’ Christmas classic, Morris’s Disappearing Bag.

Bill of Rights Day!

Freedom to speech.  Freedom to assemble.  Right to bear arms.  We know these freedoms from discussions in classrooms or in the media, but what do we really know about the Bill of Rights?

This December 15th take your students deeper into the freedoms we are granted with Russell Freedman’s In Defense of Liberty.  This Orbis Pictus Honor book breaks the Bill of Rights down chapter by chapter talking about the history, the controversy, and the ordinary citizens who have stood up for each amendment.  Compare this title to Milton Meltzer’s now of of print The Bill of Rights: How We Got it and What it Means to talk about how the Bill of Rights has changed even since 1990 as new issues arise, like electronic privacy and homeland security, which were barely on the radar in 1990 when Meltzer’s book was published.  Add in Kathleen Krull’s Kid’s Guide to America’s Bill of Rights for a look at how freedom affects even young people’s lives. 

Inspire your students with examples of those who have stood up for their freedom with Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott starts with Rosa Parks’ famous refusal to move to the back of the bus in 1955.  But you can go back even further in time with We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin to read about how this little-known civil rights activist staged his own bus protest some thirteen years before Rosa Parks.  Women, too, have changed the shape of freedom in this country, and Ann Bausum’s With Courage and Cloth explores the women’s suffrage movement from 1848 to the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.

Get to know your rights and be inspired to change the shape of your world this Bill of Rights Day!

Unlikely Friends Round Up

There are some pretty amazing friendships out there.  We’ve managed to round up six tremendous examples of unlikely friendships that have left a lasting mark on readers this year.

Although Cowboy and Octopus have different opinions about beans and knock-knock jokes, their friendship grows in these seven humorous mini-stories.

Owen & Mzee bonded with one another despite some pretty unimaginable differences. Owen, a baby hippo was separated from his mother during the devastating 2004 tsunami, and Mzee, a 130-year-old giant tortoise invited the inspiring, inseparable friendship.

After conquering the unknown beyond his nut tree in 2006, Scaredy Squirrel is ready to socialize in Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend.  Once he's spotted a perfectly safe candidate (with no teeth), will he be able to make the Perfect Friend?

                                           

The moment they saw each other, Ivy & Bean knew they wouldn't be friends. But when Bean pulls a trick that goes wrong, Ivy comes to the rescue, proving that sometimes the best of friends are people who never meant to like each other.

Graystripe and Millie are from two different worlds, but that doesn’t stop the feisty kittypet Millie and second-in-command of ThunderClan Graystripe from becoming the best of friends.  Lost Warrior is the first of a new graphic novel series based on the incredibly popular Warrior series.

Lincoln and Keckley star in An Unlikely Friendship, a fictionalized dual biography by one of the premier writers of historical fiction for young readers. Find out how two women--one who grew up in a wealthy Southern home and became the wife of the president of the United States, the other who was born a slave and eventually purchased her own freedom--come to be such close companions.

*Keep your eyes peeled for Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach April 2008.
*That goes double for Warrior's Refuge at the end of December 2007 and Warrior’s Return in April 2008.
*We can’t forget about Ivy and Bean Take Care of the Babysitter in April 2008.

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

Itchy Feet? Take a Trip with a Book!

If the holiday season has you itching for travel but you can’t actually get away, check out these great travel-themed books. 

                      

John Green’s Printz Honor winning An Abundance of Katherines takes us to Tennessee with Colin and Hassan since, of course, a road trip is the ultimate cure for a broken heart.  They end up in Gutshot, TN, a town as unique as the name makes it sound.  If you like Tennessee, you can also find yourself there in Tallulah Falls by Christine Fletcher when Tallulah gets stranded there on her way to Florida.                                                                 

If you’re feeling spontaneous, you might hop a bus to Alabama like Erin in In Search of Mockingbird   by Loretta Ellsworth.  Harper Lee has been her hero for a long time, and she is determined to meet the reclusive author.  Erin finds more than she was looking for on her trip.  Much like Sophie in Red Glass, who travels to Mexico with her great-aunt, but soon is on her own in Guatemala.  It turns out she’s much stronger than she thinks she is.

             

Another Sophie takes a trip in The Wanderer by Sharon Creech.  This Sophie sails across the Atlantic with her three uncles and two cousins to see her grandfather. We read Sophie’s journal of the trip as she talks about her grandfather and the sea, but we also get her cousin Cody’s journal entries, which provide a much different look at the trip and give us a different perspective on Sophie.  This is a personal favorite of mine, great for upper elementary or middle school readers.

Don’t leave the kids behind!  The Year I Didn’t Go to School, Giselle Potter’s autobiographical picture book based on the journal she kept while her family traveled around Italy when she was seven, proves that travel is just as exciting for kids as it is for adults.  This book is a great opportunity to share the idea of keeping a “travel journal” with kids. 

Or take a trip in your imagination with Rainstorm. In Barbara Lehman’s latest picture book, a boy finds a mysterious key, which leads him on a magical journey one rainy day.  This wordless story will change the way you look at gloomy days. 

Whether it’s a real vacation or just an afternoon daydream, happy travels to you!

88th Annual Children’s Book Week – Rise Up Reading!

Since 1919 communities around the country have been dedicated to celebrating the love of reading and spreading the word about children’s literature.  Join librarians, students, teachers, families, and booksellers nationwide to help celebrate Children’s Book Week.  Need some ideas?  Visit the Children’s Book Council website!  You will find lots of activities from holding a Children’s Book Week party where you dress up as your favorite character (see 10/30/2007 post for costume ideas) to organizing a school-wide Read-In where EVERYONE in your school reads silently at the same place and time – school staff included. 

Here at Tandem, we had a discussion about some of our favorite books.  Titles including The Paper Bag Princess, Pippi Longstocking, and Drummer Hoff were a few titles mentioned.  The general consensus was that there were too many great books to choose from, we each couldn’t just pick one!  Here are a few favorites from a couple booklovers at Tandem:

Mindy said:

"Before there was the adorable little bunny in Not a Box making a plain old cardboard box into anything he could imagine, there was Christina Katerina.  Originally published in hardcover in 1971, Christina Katerina and the Box has been a childhood favorite of mine for years.  As a kid, I loved watching the box transform from a castle to a clubhouse to a racecar to whatever else Christina Katerina could dream up.  A new generation can get to know this imaginative heroine in paperback or Tandem-bound versions of this classic picture book."

Kristi added:

"My favorite childhood book(s) are the Ramona Quimby books. I loved them all for their realistic way of telling great stories. I will never forget many of the illustrations and descriptions used in the books.  The descriptions of Ramona’s feelings are so real, for example, Ramona cracking an egg on her head and feeling so upset when she had to sit in the nurse’s office afterwards and heard the adults calling her a “nuisance.” The feeling of adults not understanding you was perfectly captured in that story."

Don’t forget!  Next year and going forward, Children’s Book Week will be moving to May and will be celebrated in the first or second week of that month.

Bring Nature Into Your Classroom

Last year, I was able to sit in on social studies and art classes in a small school here in the Twin Cities.  The best part was getting to know the kids and watching them experiment with new painting techniques or eagerly talk about the history of the National Road during class.  But it was also neat to see books in action in a classroom.  Ever since then, I’ve been more aware of what a book might do. 

Like Beetle Bop by Denise Fleming, for example.  This brightly colored picture book by Caldecott wining author/illustrator is part field guide, part poetry.  Young audiences with bugs on their minds will be fascinated by the simple presentation of all the different types of beetles, where they can be found, and what they do (crawl up walls, hide from predators, munch on leaves, etc.)  Add this one to your buggy science classes for a visual treat to pore over with your students.

Think spring with Bob and Otto by Robert Bruel.  A caterpillar and a worm are best friends.  They don’t notice any differences between them until nature takes them in opposite directions--literally, Bob climbs a tree and forms a cocoon while Otto digs into the ground spending all his time eating, sleeping, and digging. Bob transforms into a beautiful butterfly while Otto, of course, remains an earthworm.  Eventually the two friends realize how much they rely on each other in this gentle nature lesson perfect for preschoolers and kindergarteners.

Classics like Miss Rumphius and The Gardener illustrate the many benefits of planting gardens, but On Meadowview Street by Henry Cole shows the benefits of preserving gardens that already exist.  Caroline finds a flower in her yard and decides to protect it.  Then she finds more.  Soon she is protecting her whole yard and it is full of flowers, birds, and butterflies.  Perfect to read aloud to accompany units on the environment or gardens, this may be an inspirational title for young naturalists.

Heroic Reads

What makes a hero?  Courage, ability, honor, strength... These are a just a few words people use to describe their heroes.  Maybe a hero is someone who has stood up for what’s right, or maybe a hero is someone you know who has struggled against the odds. 

Anyone can be a hero, even animals.  The cat in Eileen Spinelli’s Hero Cat shows great courage and selflessness to save her kittens from a fire. This picture book is based on a real cat, but if your animal lovers want more fact than story, give them Snow Search Dogs by Maida Silverman, which is part of Bearport’s Dog Heroes series.  Or for those cat lovers who just aren’t interested in the bravery of dogs, suggest Cats to the Rescue by Marilyn Singer for a collection of stories about cats who have some amazing adventures and find themselves heroes.

         

Inspire your would-be heroes to action with Laura Driscoll’s Real Heroes Don’t Wear Capes.  This easy-to-read story includes facts about heroes of all sorts while emphasizing the idea that anyone can be a hero to someone.  Some people want to be heroes, like Dex in Dex: The Heart of a Hero and others just stumble into it, like the boy in A Strange Day who is oblivious to his heroism as he goes about his day.  Both books make entertaining readalouds for grades 1 to 3.

   

Heroes can be found in history or in our own lives. These are just a few books to help your students define their own heroes. Or become someone else’s.

New and Exciting in October

October is winding to a close, and because all you’ll be thinking about next week is Halloween, here’s our round-up of some of our favorite new books from this month.

Emi and the Rhino Scientist by Mary Kay Carson with photographs by Tom Uhlman is the latest installment in the Scientists in the Field series, which features photo-filled books on topics ranging from tarantulas to the woods.  These fascinating (and, yes, educational) books can be used from upper elementary school on up. The Rhino Scientist is Terri Roth, and Emi is a rare Sumatra rhino. Sumatra rhinos are smaller with stubbier horns than the image I had in my head of “rhino.” This book chronicles Terri’s years-long struggle to help Emi become a mother. I’m giving away the ending by telling you that Terri and Emi are successful, with Emi becoming the first Sumatran rhino to give birth in captivity in over a century. However, you’ll have to read the book yourself to see the amazingly cute pictures of the new rhino calf!

Melanie Watts became a Tandem favorite with her book Scaredy Squirrel. Her new character--a big, wily, opinionated cat named Chester--is giving Scaredy Squirrel a run for his money. OK, we admit it, we’re suckers for books about books. Chester begins as the story of a mouse, but then Chester, the cat, takes over with a fat red marker, sending the mouse on vacation and turning the dog vegetarian. This hilarious picture book even features a red-marker dotted circle on the cover, with text noting “Place My Award Here.” Chester is nothing if not confident!

I was fortunate enough to see the “Newberyettes”--Sharon Creech, Kate DiCamillo, and Katherine Paterson--perform a short selection from Sharon Creech’s newest title, The Castle Corona, at the Newbery Reader's Theater in St. Paul two weeks ago. Kate DiCamillo made an excellent King Guido! King Guido rules over a very small feudal kingdom from the Castle Corona. The kingdom, and therefore Guido’s life, usually run very smoothly, but now there is a thief in the kingdom. He has stolen a pouch which two peasant children find. These peasant children, Pia and Enzio, discover that the contents of the pouch have the power to change their lives completely. David Diaz has provided gorgeous illustrations throughout this original fairy tale for older elementary school students and fairy tale lovers of all ages.

Here's a list of more exciting October releases.

Picture Books for Older Readers Round Up

All last week I posted about how fairy tales aren’t just for little kids.  And, it seems, neither are picture books these days.  Teachers and librarians have long been using picture books with upper elementary and middle school students to great effect.  Some use wordless picture books like those by David Wiesner and Barbara Lehman to inspire creative writing assignments (or even foreign language writing assignments).  Others use historical fiction like Eve Bunting’s Terrible Things to start off social studies units or a book like Jacqueline Woodson’s Show Way to bring up a discussion of truth.  One might also bring a little humor into that discussion with John, Paul, George & Ben, which is a hilarious look at the founding fathers.

Add to your Holocaust curriculum with Memories of Survival.  This beautiful picture book tells the story of Esther Nisenthal Krinitz’s experience during World War II, illustrated by remarkably intricate embroidered panels. The story is in Esther’s words, supplemented by her daughter Bernice’s contextual explanations about the time and place. In the introduction Bernice said that while many Holocaust survivors refused to speak of the past, her mother “couldn’t keep from telling” about the things she experienced. She tried writing her stories in notebooks, but eventually she wanted to show her children visually what her life had been like. That was the beginning of The Esther Project. She used her talent as a seamstress to create these embroidered panels to tell her story visually.  This critically acclaimed book is not to be missed in any collection of picture books for older readers.

Picture books are great opportunities to talk about art and photography with your students.  P Is for Peanut is a photography book disguised as an alphabet book.  It features twenty-six black and white photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum collection.  Each photo is accompanied by a simple statement that is sometimes obvious and sometimes might make you think about what the photograph is saying.  At once playful, witty, and dramatic, this alphabet book is definitely for more than just those learning their ABCs. 

But photography books aren’t just for art teachers.  English teachers will want to take note of Charles R. Smith’s new picture book version of a Rudyard Kipling’s poem, If: A Father’s Advice to His Son.  Smith takes the classic poem and pairs the lines with his signature photographs of athletes in action.  He writes in the afterword that he wanted to use sports to illustrate the poem because to him “sports share the virtues explored in “If”: confidence, determination, leadership, effort, and the ability to dream.”  Use this book to connect poetry with sports or to start a group discussion about the poem.