Me...Jane

Author & Illustrator:   Patrick McDonnell
Publisher:  Little, Brown, and Company
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Caldecott Honor Book, Charlotte Zolotow Award Winner,  Horn Book Fanfare Book, NYT Best Illustrated, NYT Notable A New York Times Notable Children's Book,  Kirkus Reviews Best Book, CCBC 2012 Children's Choices Book, Parents' Choice Silver Honor Book

Summary:  Jane Goodall wanders around outside with her stuffed chimpanzee Jubilee. She loved to be outside being part of the natural world. She especially loved the story of Tarzan and Jane and dreamed of Africa. When she grew up, her dream came true. The illustrations in this book are magical and include childhood drawings, diagrams, and photographs of Jane Goodall.  The focus on Jane's childhood welcomes children to imagine that they, too, could make their dreams come true.

Classroom Ideas: A study of Africa, chimpanzees, or of course biography.

Extras: a biography, letter from Jane Goodall, and one of her original drawings

The Treasure

Author & Illustrator:   Uri Shulevitz
Publisher:  Farrar, Straus, & Giroux
Publication Year:   1978
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Caldecott honor, ALA Notable, NYT Best Illustratred

Summary:  A retelling of a well-known folk tale with a surprising ending. Three times, Isaac has dreams that instruct him to go to the capital and look for treasure under a bridge by the Royal Palace. He walked a long way until he finally reached the bridge but it was always guarded. The captain of the guard laughs when he hears Isaac's story and tells him that he has had the same dream about treasure under the stove of a man named Isaac. When he gets home, he finds the treasure buried under his stove. "Sometimes must travel far to discover what is near."

Classroom Ideas: Asking children to explain this theme would make for an interesting writing exercise. The idea is very abstract, so it would be difficult to put into words. As characters, comparing the Guard Captain to Isaac would be interesting, too.

In the Night Kitchen

Author & Illustrator:   Maurice Sendak
Publisher:  Harper & Row
Publication Year:   1970
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Caldecott Honor,  ALA Notable, School Library Journal Best Book, NYT Best Book

Summary:  Mickey wakes in the middle of the night and falls into the surreal atmosphere of the night kitchen. The strange bakers try to bake him into a cake until Mickey jumps out exclaiming "I'm not the milk and the milk's not me." Mickey flies into the milk jug, fetches the milk, and pours it into the batter. Once the cake is baked, Mickey slides down the milk jug and back into his bed. Because of Mickey, there's cake every morning. Sendak's illustrations are masterful.

Classroom Ideas: While the book is charming and a bit surreal, the nudity in it has gotten it challenged by book banners. I wouldn't bring it into a public school classroom, but it's one that I would always have in a personal and public library collection.

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 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

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.

Bear Despair

Author & Illustrator:   Gaetan Doremus
Publisher:  Enchanted Lion Books
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   starred review Publisher's Weekly & School Library Journal, NYT Best Illustrated

Summary:  In this wordless picture book, Doremus's cross-hatched pen and ink drawn illustrations create a fantastical world for his characters. Bear's teddy bear has been stolen by a wolf who throws it across the forest. Bear gobbles the wolf and then sets off to find his teddy. In succession, the bear is taken by the lion, bird, and elephant. Each animal throws the bear away and Bear eats the animals. Finally, Bear gets his teddy back from octopus and all of the animals climb out of Bear.

Classroom Ideas: Another interesting story that uses a problem solving theme.

We are the Ship: Te Story of Negro League Baseball

Author & Illustrator:   Kadir Nelson
Publisher:  Hyperion
Publication Year:   2008
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:  Coretta Scott King Award, NYT Best Illustrated; Booklist, Publisher's Weekly, School Library Journal, Hornbook, & Kirkus starred reviews 

Summary:  This is a very text-heavy book that tells the history of Negro League baseball from its beginnings in the 1920s to the decline in the 1940s. The voice is that of someone who lived through the time period and is telling memories of the times. Each chapter is named for an inning in the game. The book is illustrated with breathtaking oil paintings that are reminiscent of Norman Rockwell's style. The emotion and affection for the game and the heroes of the League are evident in the beautiful paintings. My favorite is the full spread entitled "Night Game." 

Classroom Ideas: This book would be an excellent resource during the study of segregation and civil rights. I can see it appealing to many boys who love baseball and don't know as much about the history of the Negro League.

Extras: The book begins with quotations from famous players and a foreward by Hank Aaron. It ends with an author's note from Nelson about his interest and research along with a Bibliography and Index.

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11

Author & Illustrator:   Brian Floca
Publisher:  Atheneum
Publication Year:   2009
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Sibert Honor, NYT Best, Society of Illustrators Silver medal, ALA Notable, Kirkus Best Books, School Library Journal Best Books, Horn Book Fanfare, Smithsonian Notable, Cybil Award Finalist

Summary:  The story tells the story of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon in very kid friendly language. It has a mood of excitement shown through lots of run-on sentences and fragments. The drawings are beautiful- on the full page liftoff spread you can practically feel the heat of the explosion. The font size is chosen carefully to match the words.

Classroom Ideas: Obviously this book could be used in a classroom study of space exploration. The word choice is perfect in this book with lots of onomatopoeia (flapping, crackling flame) and alliteration (the moon growing and glowing).

Extras: The endpapers include a cutaway diagram of the shuttle along with a timeline. there is also a sources list and an author's note on the back endpage telling more about the story.

http://www.brianfloca.com/Moonshot.html
Link to Floca's website with more resources.

Flotsam

Author & Illustrator:   David Wiesner
Publisher:  Clarion
Publication Year:   2006
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Caldecott, NYT Best Illustrated, Kirkus Best Children's Books, Horn Book Fanfare

Summary:  A wordless picture book about things in the ocean in Wiesner's captivating richly detailed style. A boy finds an underwater camera with photographs of fantastical underwater scenes. I think my favorite is the octopus family in their living room. When he realizes that many different children have taken their pictures with this camera, he does the same and then sends it back for the story to start again.

Classroom Ideas: This book invites children to look closely and imagine. You could take any illustration and write a story about it. (I want to know more about that octopus family!) It also would be easy to use it as a mentor text to continue the story from where it left off.

John, Paul, George, and Ben

Author & Illustrator:   Lane Smith
Publisher:  Hyperion
Publication Year:   2006
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Horn Book Fanfare Award, School Library Journal Best Books,  NYT Best Illustrated Book of the Year,  Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year,  Parenting Magazine Best Book of the Year, NYT Notable Book, 

Summary:  Despite sounding like a Beatles book, this book is about four (or five) of the founding fathers. Smith chooses adjectives for each one of them: John Hancock was bold; Paul Revere was noisy; George Washington was honest; Ben Franklin was clever; Thomas Jefferson was independent. These traits lead to the accomplishments of the founding fathers, ending with a hilarious "ye olde True or False" section. As always, Smith's illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to the text.

Classroom Ideas: This would be a great book for fourth grade to link Writing, Grammar, and Social Studies. It could be used to talk about adjectives, character traits, and US history.

The Hello, Goodbye Window

Author: Norton Juster
Illustrator:   Chris Raschka
Publisher:  Hyperion Books for Children
Publication Year:   2005
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Caldecott, ALA Notable, SLJ Best Books, Parenting Magazine Best Book, Horn Book Honor, NYT Best Illustrated

Summary:  At Nanny & Poppy's house there is a special window: a hello, goodbye window. But the rest of the house is pretty amazing too. The narrator's pure love for his grandparents and their house just jumps off the page. Raschka's vibrant colorful child-like illustration are gorgeous and the reader can't help but fall in love with Nanny & Poppy's house! (I couldn't find it online, but the illustration of the house at night is my favorite.)

Classroom Ideas: This is such a perfect book as a mentor text. Once they've read it, kids can write and illustrate a story about a special place in their life.

There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly

Author & Illustrator:   Simms Taback
Publisher:  Viking
Publication Year: 1997 
Location: Personal Collection

Awards:  Caldecott Honor, NYT Best Illustrated

Summary:  In the traditional poem, there was an old lady who swallowed a fly, spider, bird, and so on until she swallows a horse (and dies of course). Simms Taback uses his die-cut collages to illustrate this version and shows the inside of the old lady's stomach!


Classroom Ideas: This book can be used to teach repetition and rhythm. Art teachers could use it as an excellent example of the art of collage.

I Want My Hat Back

Author & Illustrator:   Jon Klassen
Publisher:  Candlewick Press
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   NYT Best Illustrated

Summary:  Bear wants his hat back and he's looking for the thief. He asks each animal if they took the hat, and suddenly he remembers where he saw the hat. He discovers the thief and gets his hat back....and the fate of the thief is up to the reader to decide.

Classroom Ideas: The characters in this book are completely shown through dialogue and illustrations, no direct narration of the story. It would be interesting to get the take of students on the "character" of the characters....

Mirette on the High Wire

Author & Illustrator:   Emily Arnold McCully
Publisher:  G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Year:   1992
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   NYT Illustrated, Caldecott Medal

Summary:  The story of a stranger who shows up at a young girl's boarding house in Paris and turns out to be a great tightrope walker. Although he has become scared of the tightrope, Mirette's belief in him and determination help him to return to the highwire with her by his side. The illustrations in this book are beautiful impressionistic  watercolors.

Classroom Ideas: This book could be used as an example of character, since both Mirette & Bellini are strong characters who would be easily described. It also has a good plot which would be easily mapped. An art teacher could use this book to teach about impressionism.

Alphabet City

Author & Illustrator:   Stephen Johnson
Publisher:  Viking
Publication Year: 1995 
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:  
Caldecott Honor Book
ALA Notable Award
New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year
Horn Book Fanfare Award

Summary:  This worldless alphabet book contains realistic paintings of capital letters found in an urban environment.

Classroom Ideas: This book could inspire early readers to go out into their own environment and find images of letters. It could also be used in art class to talk about shadows and patterns, as well as cityscapes.