On Market Street

Author: Arnold Lobel
Illustrator:   Anita Lobel
Publisher:  Greenwillow
Publication Year:   1981
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Caldecott honor, NYT Best Illustrated, Horn Book Fanfare, ALA Notable

Summary:  A charming, old-fashioned alphabet book. Inspired by seventeenth century French engravings, each stall on the market is shown by an illustration made up of the wares that eachT merchant has to sell. The details in the illustrations are charming, while the text seems to be an afterthought. However, there is a little twist at the end that shows that all the purchases are for a friend.

Classroom Ideas: Alphabet book, details in illustration.

The Scrambled States of America

Author & Illustrator:   Laurie Keller
Publisher:  Henry Holt
Publication Year:   1998
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   American Bookseller Pick of the Lists, IRA-CBC Children's Choice, Bank Street College Best Book, Publisher's Weekly Best Book

Summary:  When Kansas is in a bad mood because he's bored in the middle of the country, they decide to have a party with all the states. The states decide that they should switch places to see the rest of the country but soon discover that they aren't happy in their new spots (Arizona switches places with South Carolina but doesn't like ocean ruining her hairdo). So they all decide to return home (theme: There's no place like home.)  The collage illustrations are such fun and kids will be loving all the little comments along the way!

Classroom Ideas: Classroom study of the USA- in the back there is a gallery of each state with its nickname, capital, area, and population.

What's the Time, Mr. Wolf?

Author & Illustrator:   Debi Gliori
Publisher:  Walker & Co.
Publication Year:  2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Horn book & Kirkus starred reviews, Kirkus Best Book

Summary:  With allusions to well-known nursery rhymes (he's woken by four and twenty blackbirds), this book tells the story of Mr. Wolf's day. In each hour of the day something annoying happens, but at the end, there's a big surprise party for Mr. Wolf to end his birthday. Both the illustrations and the text refer back to the nursery rhyme and kids will have such fun identifying all the different tales.

Classroom Ideas: This could easily be used with younger students in a study of nursery rhymes, or with older kids when talking about time. Just about every kind of time piece is pictured here in some way, from a pocket watch to a sun dial.

Mr. Lunch borrows a Canoe

Author & Illustrator:   J.Otto Seibold & Vivian Walsh
Publisher:  Viking
Publication Year:  1994
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Publisher's Weekly starred review

Summary:  Mr. Lunch is a dog who is a professional bird-chaser. One day, the birds were invited to the Elephant Brant Bird Seed Company's annual picnic. At the picnic, Mr. Lunch borrows a canoe from the elephant and goes for a ride down the river. He sets up a tent to camp, but a bear recognizes him and Mr. Lunch paddles away from the bear. He falls asleep in the boat, and ends up in Venice. When he goes to explore the city, he must (of course) empty the plaza of all those pesky pigeons and the city honors him with its traditional gift, the Golden Outboard Motor. He takes the motor an returns home to his bird-chasing business. Seibold was one of the first illustrators to ever use computer-generated art and his quirky, campy,  childlike style is highly recognizable.

Classroom Ideas: It would be interesting to talk about the fantasy/reality aspect of this book-- could you really fall asleep in a canoe and end up in Venice?

Extras:

The Secret Plan

Author & Illustrator:   Julia Sarcone-Roach
Publisher:  Knopf
Publication Year: 2009 
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   UBIE award, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Book

Summary: Milo the elephant loves playing with his neighbor kittens Henry, Hildy, & Harriet; but Bedtime! always ruins their fun. So Milo come up with plans to thwart bedtime (my favorite is the one where he paints himself with green stripes to match the walls...no one will notice a green painted elephant, will they?) but they still got caught. Finally, Hildy got the idea to sneak into the attic and it worked! But when they get sleepy, they come up with a super secret, silly plan! The gorgeous acrylic paintings pulled me into the world of these sweet friends. The endpapers include blueprints and Morse code, while each spread includes a hidden mouse-- what kid can resist that?

Classroom Ideas: The characters here are sweet-- it's a story of friendship, but also one of a little naughtiness that any kid can relate to. The plans are silly and perhaps kids could come up with their own ideas of how to put off bedtime.

Strega Nona

Author & Illustrator:   Tomie de Paola
Publisher:  Prentice-Hall
Publication Year:   1975
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:     Caldecott Honor Award, ALA Notable Children's Book, Kirkus Choice, Horn Book Honor List, Nakamori Prize, Brooklyn Museum & Public Library Art Books for Children Citation

Summary:  This is a story about Strega Nona, or "Grandma Witch." Big Anthony goes to work for her and she warns him not to touch the pasta pot. When Strega Nona uses the magical pot, Anthony sees part of the spell but not all of it. So, when Anthony tries to use the pot himself to prove to the villagers that it exists, the pot starts to overflow. Pasta begins flowing out of the pot and taking over the village. Finally, Strega Nona returns and ends the spell correctly. For Anthony's punishment, he must eat up all of the pasta and clean up the village! He learns to pay attention to details and that perhaps there's a reason when you're asked not to do something.

Classroom Ideas: Students could tell stories about times that they disobeyed or didn't listen to details and got in trouble. Big Anthony is a rich character-- what kind of person is he and how would you describe him?

The Man from the Land of Fandango

Author: Margaret Mahy
Illustrator:   Polly Dunbar
Publisher:  Clarion
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Kirkus Best Book

Summary:  The man from Fandango is a round-face, red-cheeked character who only comes to town every 500 years (so you'd better be home when he calls). This silly rhyming book tells the story of what he does when he comes to visit-- dancing, flying, and cavorting with lots of animals, including dinosaurs. The text is written in a curled form and the illustrations are child-like watercolor and collage.

Classroom Ideas: There is rhyme (break and a drink and a cake) and lots of alliteration (friendly fandandical way, tingle and tongle and tangle) here; but mostly this book is just exuberant fun.

If You Lived Here

Author & Illustrator:   Giles Laroche
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   School Library Journal starred review

Summary:  Fifteen different types of houses from around the world are pictured here. The illustrations are intricate collages. The houses include from those popular in history (the dogtrot house of the early American pioneers), French chalets, pueblo homes, and palafitos (houses built on stilts), as well as more. For each house, readers learn what materials are used in their construction, the location where they are found, the dates they were first constructed, and some other facts about them.

Classroom Ideas: Some of the houses would fit into historical studies while others could be included in studies of other countries/ cultures.

The Beetle Book

Author & Illustrator:   Steve Jenkins
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Kirkus Best Book; NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books; SLJ Best Books,  Booklist Top 10 Books for Youth ,ALSC Notable Children’s Books

Summary:  The book starts with the fact that one out of every four creatures on the planet is a beetle. It goes on to describe beetles, their anatomy, and all the different kinds that there are. The illustrations are colorful torn-paper collages and the small text keeps the focus on them.

Classroom Ideas: Classroom study of beetles, animals, and animal parts.

Extras: Index of beetles with latin names

All the World

Author: Liz Garton Scanlon
Illustrator:   Marla Frazee
Publisher:  Beach Lane Books
Publication Year:   2009
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   Cadecott Honor,NYT Best Book, Publisher's Weekly Best Book, Kirkus Best Book, School Library Journal Best Book, Parents' Choice Gold Award, Indies Choice Award

Summary:  This book, told in rhyme, starts from the smallest things ("Rock, stone, pebble, sand") and moving to all encompassing words ("All the world is wide and deep"). The illustrations mirror this idea with a great deal of white space on the first page moving to two-page spreads that fill the space with detail, color and movement.  I am hard pressed to choose my favorite spread- they all invite me to relax and be at peace with the world. What a beautiful book!

Classroom Ideas: This book is full of beautiful images of the world which could be easily mimicked by young writers and artists.

follow follow

Author: Marilyn Singer
Illustrator:   Josee Masse
Publisher:  Dial Books for Young Readers
Publication Year:   2013
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   Publisher's Weekly starred review

Summary:  This unique poetry form (first introduced in mirror mirror) is called a "reverso" poem (per Singer.) The poems are presented in pairs, with the second being the exact opposite of the first with the exception of punctuation and capitalization. The clever word play changes the meanings completely. Each pair is based on a famous fairy tale or fable. An example from the pair entitled "Birthday Suit" (based on the story The Emperor's New Clothes):
Who dares to say he drained the treasury
on
nothing?
Ha!
This emperor has

AND

This emperor has--
ha!--
nothing
on!
Who dares to say her drained the treasury?





Classroom Ideas: Kids will love reading and identifying the stories here which would fit perfectly with a unit on fairy tales or fables. The word choice is excellent and copying these poems would be extremely difficult!

Extras: Author's note explaining the reverso form and how she came up with them. A list of the tales that each poem is based on.

bow wow meow meow: it's rhyming cats and dogs

Author & Illustrator:   Douglas Florian
Publisher:  harcourt, inc.
Publication Year:  
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   Gryphon Award, Parent Magazine Best Book of the Year, Kirkus starred review

Summary:  This is a collection of twenty-one poems about dogs and cats, illustrated with the author's charming and highly accessible watercolors. My daughter loved the concrete poem "The Poodles" where the words are written in curls on the page ("The curls may have whirls, while the whirls may have swirls...")

Classroom Ideas: There are a lot of easily mimicked poetry forms here (like list poetry). The vocabulary is good without being intimidating for younger readers (stride, prey, jowls). There a few really good puns here to ("Few dogs can whippet in a race")

Extras: table of contents

A Stick Is an Excellent Thing: Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play

Author: Marilyn Singer
Illustrator:   LeUyen Pham
Publisher:  Clarion Books
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Kirkus Best Books

Summary:  These poems are all written to encourage and celebrate playing outside. (A bit ironic to write a book encouraging outside, but ....) The things that are lauded here will appeal to any kid, from playing with your dog to jumping rope to hide-and-seek to stargazing. My favorite is called "Making Soup" because I can totally remember doing just that with friends in my neighborhood ("Soup, soup, we're making soup with grass and stones and mud (one scoop), a hunk of cheese, a celery stalk, an old cigar, a piece of chalk.") The pictures are rich and detailed, with children of all nationalities playing together.

Classroom Ideas: This book could be a great mentor text for kids to write poetry about whatever it is that they like to do.

Spinster Goose: Twisted Rhymes for Naughty Children

Author: Lisa Wheeler
Illustrator:   Sophie Blackall
Publisher:  Antheneum
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Bank Street Best Books of the Year, Kirkus Best Books

Bank Street Best Books of the Year
Great Lakes Great Books Master List (MI)
Kirkus Best Children's Book
- See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.net/Spinster-Goose/Lisa-Wheeler/9781416925415#sthash.cbfb5gmj.dpuf

Summary:  The conceit behind this collection of poetry is that Mother Goose sends bad children to the reform school run by Spinster Goose.  ("Bean after bean, the kids turn green. They sweat, and shake, and drool. As stomachs turn, the kiddies learn the motto: Life is Gruel.")

Classroom Ideas: There is, of course, rhyme and rhythm in these poems. The vocabulary is quite rich and sophisticated for the intended audience (mottled, abhor, sordid, bleak). The theme will absolutely appeal to children who completely agree that misbehaving children should get what's coming to them!  ("The pinchers get pinched, and the pokers get poked...") There are also some fun puns included.

Extras: table of contents

This Is Just to Say

Author:Joyce Sidman
Illustrator:   Pamela Zagarenski
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Publication Year:  2007
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Claudia Lewis Poetry Award, Cybils Poetry, Lee Bennett Hopkins Award Honor, School Library Journal Best Book, IRA Teacher's Choice

Summary:  This story told in verse was inspired by W.C. William's famous poem of the same title. In poems, Mrs. Merz' sixth grade class write poems of apology that they bind into a book. They also include poems written by the people to whom they apologized. The poems are in all sorts of forms and cover many topics, but the pairs show a fascinating glance into the relationship between the authors. The illustrations are perfect- combining computer graphic backgrounds with adorable sketches.

Classroom Ideas: The poems could be used to teach poetry forms and types of figurative language. "The River of Forgiveness" - what a wonderful metaphor! But, of course, they are mostly perfect for kids to try and write their own apology poems and maybe even imagine what the reply would be.

Extras: table of contents

Hey, You!

Editor: Paul B. Janeczko
Illustrator:   Robert Rayevsky
Publisher:  Harper Collins Publishers
Publication Year:   2007
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Horn Book starred review

Summary:  A collection of poems written to address objects. The poets included range from Emily Dickinson to Ogden Nash to J. Patrick Lewis; and the objects that are addressed range from a mote of dust to the Vietnam War Memorial. The illustrations have muted watercolor backgrounds with sketched in characters that give a very modern vibe to the book.

Classroom Ideas: The central conceit of this collection would be an easy one to introduce to kids and have them to attempt their own poems of address. The poems all have rhythm and many have rhyme. There are forms and figures here to appeal to any reader.

Extras: table of contents

A Curious Collection of Cats

Author: Betsy Franco
Illustrator:   Michael Wetz
Publisher:  Tricycle Press
Publication Year:   2009
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Lee Bennett Hopkins Award Honor book, ABC Best Book for Children, Horn Book starred review

Summary:  Thirty concrete poems about cats perfectly illustrated. While the poems are beautiful, the subjects are not romanticized, but described in a way that would be recognized by anyone who's lucky enough to be owned by a cat. ("A big, brown empty grocery bag is Sweetie's favorite thing. When he lunges out to grab our toes, Our Sweetie's menacing!") A must have for any animal lover!

Classroom Ideas: The poems contain rhyme, rhythm, and figurative language. They would be highly motivating for kids to write their own cat poetry (or any other animal for that matter). It would also be a fun cross-curricular activity for an art teacher & a writing teacher.

A Dazzling Display of Dogs

Author: Betsy Franco
Illustrator:   Michael Wertz
Publisher:  Tricycle Press
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   School Library Journal starred review, Green Earth Book Award Winner, Indie Kids’ Next List, Printz Honor Title, Edgar Award Nominee

Summary:  A collection of concrete poetry about dogs. The illustrations and the poems are tightly connected and the dogs in the poems are perfectly described. ("Found at the Pound: She didn't bark or make a fuss. She wagged her tail and smiled at us. She trotted out, came straight to me, became a part of my family!") There are different forms, such as a cinquain, but the topic is always the focus. I can think of so many people that I want to run out and buy a copy for!

Classroom Ideas: The poems in the book have rhyme, rhythm, and figurative language in them. There are also examples of types of poetry as well. Concrete poems are such fun for kids to read and to write.

Red Sings from Treetops: a year in colors

Author: Joyce Sidman
Illustrator:   Pamela Zagarenski
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin
Publication Year:   2009
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Caldecott Honor, Claudia Lewis Poetry Award, Cybils Poetry Award, Horn Book Fanfare, Booklist Editor's Choice, CCBC Choices, Junior Library Guild

Summary:  A collection of poems that describes the seasons of the year using colors. The colors sing, dance, squirm, and create pictures in the readers' minds. Each color has its own personality as they go through the year. (I love that Yellow and Purple are friends. :))  The watercolors are gorgeous, each one having the perfect palette for the season it portrays.

Classroom Ideas: Besides being based on personification of the colors, these poems use many examples of figurative language. There is onomatopoeia (cheer-cheer-cheer) and simile (each note dropping like a cherry). Like most well-written poetry, the words are perfectly chosen and incredibly descriptive.

Extras:

The Garden of Abdul Gasazi

Author & Illustrator:   Chris Van Allsburg
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin
Publication Year:   1979
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   Caldecott Honor, NYT Best Illustrated, Horn Book Award

Summary:  Alan is dog-sitting for the bad-tempered dog Fritz when he runs away into the gardden of the dog hating magician Abdul Gasazi. Alan chases after Fritz and soon comes upon Gasazi's mansion. He goes to the door and politely asks for the dog to be returned to him. The magician takes Alan to a gathering of ducks and tells him that one of the ducks is Fritz who will eventually turn back into a dog. Alan takes the duck who steals his hat and flies away. When Alan gets back to Miss Hester's house, Fritz is there and she assures him that Mr. Gasazi couldn't really change the dog to a duck. But at the end, Fritz comes trotting up with Alan's hat..... Van Allsburg's black and white sketches are mesmerizing and make the reader want to go and visit the gardens and the house.

Classroom Ideas: This book could be used to discuss fantasy versus realistic fiction. It would also be interesting to do character studies of Alan and Fritz. How does Van Allsburg give Fritz such personality without him ever saying a word?

A teacher's guide from Houghton Mifflin:
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/thepolarexpress/tg/garden.shtml

Free Fall

Author & Illustrator:   David Wiesner
Publisher:  Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
Publication Year:   1988
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   Caldecott Honor, ALA Notable

Summary:  A wordless book where a boy falls asleep with a book in his hands. We follow him through a surreal landscape suggested by the objects in his bedroom. There's a life-sized chess board, a castle with an elaborate maze, dark woods with a dragon, and a tiny world where the boy is a giant. Still following the map from his book, the boy travels through the dreamscape on the back of a pig, and flies over a beach where he lands on the ocean in a leaf and then floats back to his bed where he awakes the next morning (surrounded by many of the items from his dream world.) Wiesner's characteristic drawings use a muted palette to bring the boy's dreams to life.

Classroom Ideas: A writing teacher could use any of these pages to spark creative writing- or split the book apart and give each child a different page. The attention to detail is perfect and students will never get tired of staring at it.

A Long Way Away

Author & Illustrator:   Frank Viva
Publisher:  Little, Brown and Company
Publication Year:   2013
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   Kirkus, Publisher's Weekly, & School Library Journal starred reviews

Summary:  This is a two-way story- it is opened vertically and then can be read down where an octopus-like alien creature leaves home and travels down going around many obstacles through space. He bounces off the moon, through the sky and into a lagoon, where he ends up taking a nap under the ocean. Because the story is told through one and two word phrases, the book can also be read from the back up so that the alien starts out asleep under the sea and ends up back with his parents.

Classroom Ideas: You could use this book to understand the parts of a book and how they normally work. The book contains many prepositions and could easily be used to teach grammar. There is a great scavenger hunt in the educator's guide.

An educator's guide:
http://media.hdp.hbgusa.com/titles/assets/reading_group_guide/9780316221962/EG_9780316221962.pdf

Along a Long Road

Author & Illustrator:   Frank Viva
Publisher:  Little Brown
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   NYT Best, School Library Journal Best Books, American Institute of Graphic Arts Best, Seven Impossible Books Best Books

Summary:  The graphic style and five color palette (blue, white, black, red, and the yellow of the road) of this book brings to mind the 1960s. The shiny yellow road folows through the entire book, sometimes widening, but never ends. (I love the tunnel!) In fact, the book was created as "a single, continuous thirty-five-foot-long piece of art using Adobe Illustrator." It's a meditative book that invites the reader to stare at the journey. 

Classroom Ideas: The idea of transportation could be examined through this book. It has great verbs and prepositions and could be used to teach grammar. There is a map on the endpages with symbols on it that could be a great introduction for younger readers.
An educator's guide is available at the Hachette web site:
http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/none/along-a-long-road/9780316129251/

Knuffle Bunny

Author & Illustrator:   Mo Willems
Publisher:  Hyperion
Publication Year:   2004
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   Caldecott Honor, Irma Black Medal,Charlotte Zolotow

Honor, ALA Notable Book,IRA Children's Choice, Child Magazine Best Book, NY Public

Wanda Gag Read Aloud Honor ,CCBC Choice Book ,School Library Journal Best Book, Horn Book Fanfare, Kirkus Review  Editor's Choice


Summary:  Trixie, Daddy & Knuffle Bunny go to the laundromat but disaster strikes when Knuffle Bunny is left behind. Trixie tries everything (she fusses, she bawls, she goes boneless) to show unhappy she is, but Daddy doesn't understand. Trixie's Mommy immediately realizes that Knuffle Bunny is missing and the whole family runs back to the laundromat. Daddy finds Knuffle Bunny in the bottom of the washer and then Trixie says her first words, "Knuffle Bunny!" This book always gets to me because my daughter had a beloved Lambie who now lives in a hotel room in Alaska! Willems's groundbreaking technique of inserting his sketches into true photographs of NYC was used for the first time in this book.

Classroom Ideas: The familiar themes would appeal to any young reader. An art teacher could introduce the artistic technique here and have kids try it for themselves.

This Moose Belongs to Me

Author & Illustrator:   Oliver Jeffers
Publisher:  Philomel
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   NYT Best, Irish Book Awards Junior Book of the Year,

Summary:  Wilfred had a pet moose named Marcel  who was pretty good at following the rules of how to be a good pet. Sometimes he wanders away and Wilfred has to follow some string to find their way home, but things are good until they meet up with an old lady. She seems to think Marcel is her moose-- named Rodrigo! But Wilfred corrected her "This moose belongs to Me!" When Marcel doesn't come to him, Wilfred runs away and gets stuck in the woods but eventually here comes Marcel to rescue him. Wilfred realizes that perhaps he didn't really own the moose, but they were still friends. The illustrations are unusual mixed media with beautiful oil paintings for backgrounds and then Jeffers usually sketch style artwork on top.

Classroom Ideas: The theme of this story is one of friendship and maybe an understanding of "ownership."

The Hueys in The New Sweater

Author & Illustrator:   Oliver Jeffers
Publisher:  Philomel
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   NYT Best Illustrated

Summary:  This was published in the UK as The New Jumper.  The Hueys are little pill shaped creatures with stick arms and legs and they were all the same. Until the day when one of them, Rupert, knitted himself an orange sweater. The other Hueys were shocked because he stood out but his friend Gillespie thought it was interesting so he knitted himself a matching sweater. Soon all the Hueys were knitting sweaters. Then Rupert decides to wear a hat...."And that changed everything."

Classroom Ideas: The theme here is one of nonconformity and individuality. This text could be used as a mentor text for younger children to then write and illustrate their own Huey story (while Jeffers' art is beguiling, the Hueys would be very nonthreatening for children to sketch.) An art teacher could use them to talk about shape and line.

The Way Back Home

Author & Illustrator:   Oliver Jeffers
Publisher:  Philomel
Publication Year:   2007
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   Merit- Bisto Book of the Year Awards

Summary:  A boy finds an airplane in his closet and (although he can't remember putting it there) he goes flying in it. He runs out of gas and gets stuck on the moon, where it is very dark because his flashlight goes out. Meanwhile, a Martian crash lands his space ship onto the moon (which by the way is a crescent), and the two meet. Then work together to figure out ways to get back home. The boy jumps with a parachute into the ocean and swims home. When he gets there, he packs up his backpack and hikes to the top of a mountain where the Martian pulls him back up to the moon with a rope. He fixes the Martian's ship and refuels his plane, the two say goodbye, and head back home. At the end, there's a wordless spread where a package is delivered and perhaps the friendship continues...

Classroom Ideas: There is problem solving here- it's quite ingenious. And, of course, the theme of friendship between two very different "ethnic" groups (is that the word for Earthling and Martian?)

Lost and Found

Author & Illustrator:   Oliver Jeffers
Publisher:  Philomel
Publication Year:    2005
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   Nestles Smarties Book Prize, Blue Peter Book Award, Kate Greenway Award Shortlist, CBI Book of the Year

Summary:  A boy finds a penguin at his door and thinks he's lost. He looks for the penguin's home and eventually they set off in a rowboat to return him to the South Pole.  They arrive and the boy leaves him there, but eventually he realizes that he misses the penguin. "The penguin had not been lost, just lonely." When the boy goes back to find the penguin, he finds him in an umbrella rowing out to try and meet the boat so the two friends return the boy's home together. The gouache illustrations are gorgeous with vibrant colors (I especially love the storm at sea with all the movement pictured.)

Classroom Ideas: The idea of problem and solution could be explored, as well as the simple plot easily mapped. There are two big themes here: Be sure you understand the problem (hmmm...this could also be tied into math practices in common core-) before you try to solve it and of course friendship and faithfulness.

Bully

Author & Illustrator:   Patricia Polacco
Publisher:  G. P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Halls

Awards:   Author Study of Polacco

Summary:  Lyla makes a friend Jamie on her first day at her new school, but soon she becomes a cheerleader with the popular girls. She gets a Junior Achievement Award and a Spirit Award and they ask her to hang out with them. They make fun of Jamie, and Lyla pretends not to like him anymore. The girls write mean things on other people's Facebook pages and Lyla starts to distance herself from them. But disaster strikes when Lyla gets accused of stealing the state tests ahead of time and people start spreading rumors about her. Then Jamie admits that he saw one of the popular girls steal the test and Lyla's name is cleared. But the popular kids still hate Lyla and the story ends with a question: "Should Jamie and I go back to school, hope for the best? Or should we go to another? What would you do?"

Classroom Ideas:This book would be a great resource for a guidance counselor or teacher to talk about bullying.

The Art of Miss Chew

Author & Illustrator:   Patricia Polacco
Publisher:  G. P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   NYT Best, Granite Book Award

Summary:  The autobiographical account of Patricia's year in school with a teacher, Mr. Donovan, who understood her need for extra time on her tests and who got her into private art lessons with her tutor Miss Chew. The extravagant Miss Chew recognizes Patricia's use of negative space in art as applicable to her problems with reading and writing. When Mr. Donovan is called home to Ireland, and becomes a champion for her "Theresa" (her name for Tricia). She ends up supporting her in her IEP meeting and even getting one of Tricia's paintings in the art show. The story is told in the perfect voice of the 11 year old that Polacco was when it took place.

Classroom Ideas: The themes that everyone is different and needs some "accommodations" along with the power of art as its own language. The perfect book for any art teacher to cherish and share.