The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Author & Illustrator:   William Joyce
Publisher:  Antheneum
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Kirkus starred review, inspired the Academy Award winning short film

Summary:  Morris Lessmore loves books and then a storm comes and destroys his house and the book that he was writing. (And the illustrations go from color to sepia) He looks up and sees a lovely lady being pulled by flying books (Back to full color now) and she sends him his own flying book. The book takes him to an amazing library where the books are all alive. Morris starts to take care of the library and share the books with everyone. He starts to write his own book again. The years pass until Morris has written the last page of his book. He flies away and a little girl comes and begins to read his finished book.

Classroom Ideas: The book opens with a beautiful metaphor: "His life was a book of his own writing..."  There's also a great deal of alliteration: "happy bit of happenstance" "lovely lady" "festive squadron of flying book"  The whole story is based on personification as the books in the library are alive.

Extras: there is an ipad app as well as a short film based on this book

Rocket Writes a Story

Author & Illustrator:   Tad Hills
Publisher:  Schwartz & Wade
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

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

Summary:  For Rocket, a book is "a place he'd never been, like a friend he'd never met." He loves books and words and decides he will write his own story. Unfortunately, a blank page is scary! His teacher and the bird try to help him with ideas, and he decides to write a story about an owl he sees living in a pine tree. As he visits Owl and learns more about her, he finishes her story and shares it with his new friend Owl.

Classroom Ideas: Obviously, this book is perfect for beginning writers- the intimidation of the empty page, the coming up with inspiration, the choosing good words, the writing of an ending. There is also lovely language here and some figurative language as well. (I love how Rocket goes to sniff out new words! What fun that would be to create a bulletin board around...)

All the water in the world

Author: George Ella Lyon
Illustrator:   Katherine Tillotson
Publisher:  Atheneum
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   School Library Journal & Booklist starred reviews, CBCC Choices, ALA Notable

Summary:  The text is a poem all about water, where it comes from and why it is important. The words are very kid friendly and the water cycle is explained in a friendly way (along with a great vertical spread!) The illustrations are based on collages made from gorgeous hand-made papers. The colors are vivid and the spreads are beautiful.

Classroom Ideas: There are wonderful words here, including onomatopoeia (wobble), personification (Thirsty air licks...sips...guzzles)  and alliteration (cascaded from clouds, meandered down mountains, wavered over waterfalls).  This can also be included in a Science study of water and the water cycle.

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.

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:

January's Sparrow

Author & Illustrator: Patricia Polacco  
Publisher:  Philomel
Publication Year:   2009
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   SC School Book Award, Sequoyah Award, Charlotte Award,

Summary:  Eight year old Sadie "Sparrow" Crosswhite is a slave. She and her family watch in horror as a runaway slave, January, is drug into the year and whipped. Sadie is devastated as she remembers January giving her a carved sparrow when he told her that he was "fixin' to fly." After learning that the master was planning to auction of Sparrow's brother, her family flees on the Underground Railroad. They finally make it to Marshall, Michigan, where the whole town is part of the railroad. Sadie makes a new friend named Polly, but the family is still worried that the slave patrols are tracking them. One morning, Sadie's carved sparrow turns up on their doorstep and soon the master's soon and other trackers show up to drag the Crosswhite family away. The whole town rallies around them, but the white men quote the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 that the family can be taken back to their rightful owner. January even shows up to back the family but they are brought in front of a judge, Polly's father -- who jails the men for attempting kidnapping so the family has time to flee to Canada. After the war, Sadie returns to Marshall for good. With Polacco's typical marker and pen sketches, this 94 page picture book tells a true story from the town where she lives. 

Classroom Ideas: Obviously there is a lot of historical content here about the Underground Railroad and slavery. There is vocabulary from the time period as well (paddy rollers= slave patrols that captured runaways). The story is told in slave dialect and contains many instances of figurative language ("You lovin' one of the white folks is like a dog lovin' the hickory what beats it.")

Bone Dog

Author & Illustrator:   Eric Rohmann
Publisher:  Roaring brook Press
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   starred Kirkus review, Capitol Choices Noteworthy titles, School Library Journal Best Books, Horn Books Best Books

Summary:  When Gus's dog Ella dies, Gus is very sad and doesn't want to do anything. On Halloween, he trudges out through the graveyard and is surrounded by skeletons. The skeletons try to eat him ("You've got guts kid...but not for long!" LOVE this line) The Ella the dog skeleton shows up to save him and they howl and scare off the skeletons. The dark relief print illustrations famed with black are perfect for story and the whimsical skeletons are dark but never scary.

Classroom Ideas: This book has great verbs (trudged, lunged, whirled) and figurative language (personification: the wind moaned. The clouds swallowed the moon; onomatopoeia: shriek, growl, screech, swoon, hiss, howl; idioms: You've got guts, Well tickle my ribs) The theme here is one of friendship, promise, and faithfulness. This book could also be shared during Halloween time.

Sleep Like a Tiger

Author: Mary Logue
Illustrator:   Pamela Zagarenski
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Caldecott Honor; Kirkus, Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, School Library Journal starred reviews

Summary:  When a little girl doesn't want to go to sleep, her parents assure her that she only has to put on her pajamas, brush her teeth & wash her face, and climb into bed. Then she talks to them about all the animals in the world sleeping: dogs, cats, bats, whales, snails, and bears. Even tigers sleep. The little girl gets comfortable in her warm bed and falls asleep like a tiger. The illustrations are mixed-media on wood and practically beg the reader to enter the peaceful fanciful world. The final spread with the tiger asleep holding a girl doll and the girl curled up next to him holding a stuffed tiger is a masterpiece. If I was having a baby, THIS would be the theme of the nursery!

Classroom Ideas:This book is full of beautiful figurative language. There are great similes ("lying as still as an otter floating in a stream").

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.

Ginger and Petunia

Author & Illustrator:   Patricia Polacco
Publisher: Philomel
Publication Year:  2007
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee Branch

Awards:  Author/illustrator study Patricia Polacco

Summary: The elegant, flamboyant piano player Virginia Vincent Folsum, Ginger, has a pet pig named Petunia. Petunia lives under the staircase in Ginger's house. When Ginger has to travel to London, she calls a Housesitter to come take care of Petunia. But when the housesitter doesn't show, Petunia pretends to be Ginger. She cooks dinner, listens to opera, dresses in Ginger's clothes, teaches Ginger's piano students, and even takes Ginger's convertible to the grocery store! Then she heads to an art museum opening and heads off to dance with the governor. Petunia is tired of being in charge and wants someone to take care of her, but luckily when she returns home, Ginger is there to greet her! The illustrations are vibrant and gorgeous and all I can think is Auntie Mame.

Classroom Ideas: There is a great deal of alliteration here with Petunia the Pig. It would be interesting to discuss fantasy versus reality with kids and ask if a pig could really do the things that Petunia did.

Chicken Sunday

Author & Illustrator:   Patricia Polacco
Publisher:  Philomel
Publication Year:   1992
Location: Personal Collection

Awards:   Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Booklist starred reviews; Golden Kite Award for Illustration; ALA Notable, Booklist Editor's Choice, IRA Children's Choice Book

Summary:  After her beloved babushka's death, Patricia adopts her neighbors as new brothers and takes on their gramma as her own. The kids want to buy a special Easter hat for Gramma but they don't have enough money. The owner of the store where the hat is thinks that they vandalize his shop by throwing eggs at it, so to pay him back (even though they didn't do it) they make him Russian psysanky (painted) eggs. He offers to sell some in his shop to make money for the hat. In the end, he gives the hat to the children who are so proud to give it to Gramma.

Classroom Ideas:This is another book based on Patricia Polacco's life and an example of personal narrative. There are strong characters of different ethnicities. There's also some strong figurative language here- "a voice like slow thunder and sweet rain" "You'll be as flat as a hen's tongue")

Saint George and the Dragon

Author: Margaret Hodges
Illustrator:   Trina Schart Hyman
Publisher:  Little, Brown, and Company
Publication Year:   1984
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Caldecott, Booklist starred review

Summary:  This is a retelling of the class story from Spencer's The Faerie Queen. In this story, George, the Red Cross Dragon, kills the dragon that has been attacking the countryside for years and bring peace to the land. But the real star here is the amazing illustrations by Hyman. She frames all of her drawings and the text so that the book looks like beautiful stained glass windows.

Classroom Ideas: This book is full of excellent vocabulary (foe, veiled, hermit, hideous) and beautiful imagery  ("her shoulder were covered with a black cloak as if she had a hidden sorrow in her heart.") There is plenty of figurative language as well.

Stars

Author: Mary Lyn Ray
Illustrator:   Marla Frazee
Publisher:  Beach Lane Books
Publication Year:   2011
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:  featured on "Calling Caldecott" blog; Publisher's Weekly, School Library Journal &  Booklist starred reviews, ALA Notable,

Summary:  The sweeping watercolors pull you into this beautiful book. In it, stars are explored in all of their different variations- both physical and metaphorical. The descriptive language is beautiful and the text layouts are just perfect. I just wanted to fall into this dreamy world. I adore this book!

Classroom Ideas: A perfect book for a figurative language unit, with both simile (shiny as a star) and metaphor (flowers as white stars or yellow stars).

The Happy Hocky Family

Author & Illustrator: Lane Smith  
Publisher:  Viking
Publication Year:   1993
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Parent's Choice Award

Summary:  This satire of a traditional Dick & Jane primer is full of dry humor and sarcasm. It is most appropriate for older children who can understand the joke. The artwork is perfect in its simplicity. The book made me and my 9 year old laugh out loud several times! I think the ant farm story was my favorite.

Classroom Ideas: I would use this book to introduce the idea of sarcasm and parody to upper elementary students.

The Wretched Stone

Author & Illustrator:   Chris Van Allsburg
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Company
Publication Year:   1991
Location: Personal library

Awards:   Starred reviews Horn Book & Kirkus

Summary:   Written in the form of captain's log, this story documents the effects of a mysterious glowing rock have on the crew of a ship. The whole crew turns into apes and gather around the strange rock. The ship is destroyed in a storm, and the captain discovers positive effects of reading and music on the crew. The men are rescued and after they are separated from the stone, they return t normal (mostly). As usual, Van Allsburg's drawings are lush and detailed and add to the fantasy.

Classroom Ideas: This is an introduction to the idea of a journal/ ship's log. The mood of the story is mysterious. The book could used to talk about mood, as it moves from a very serious to a mysterious tone. For older children, the metaphor of the glowing rock as a TV and the cure being music and reading could be introduced and discussed.