My Father's Arms are a Boat

Author: Stein Erik Lunde
Illustrator:   Oyvind Torseter
Publisher:  Enchanted Lion Books
Publication Year:   2013
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Norwegian Ministry’s Culture Prize for the Best Book and “Most Beautiful Book Award” for best picture book, Kirkus starred review

Summary:  A boy can't sleep and goes to sit on his father's lap. The two discussion the trees and birds in the forest and then that the boy's mommy will never wake up. The two go outside into the night for a while and then return inside where the man reassures the boy that "everything will be all right." "Are you sure?" "I'm sure." The subject is addressed in a straight forward way with no melodrama and shows the loneliness of both characters. The mixed-media illustrations are strange, but realistic. Kirkus describes them better than I can: "They seem grounded in reality, yet they are dreamlike, giving the impression one has been privileged to see someone else’s memory. A breathtaking masterpiece."

Classroom Ideas: Wow, the language in this book- "crackling of he fire" "tongues of fire like his face"  "the moon that looks like a boat" "eyes, black as night, are dark and deep in his face"
Although this is a picture book, both the words and the theme make it appropriate for older children.

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...)

Song and Danceman

Author: Karen Ackerman
Illustrator:   Stephen Gammell
Publisher:  Dragonfly Books
Publication Year:   1988
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Caldecott Medal, Horn Book Fanfare, Booklist Choice,

Summary:  Grandpa danced on the vaudeville stage and he shows the kids his memorabilia from the ear. He puts on his old costume and performs for the kids in the attic. His show is "better than any show on TV." The enjoy the show, but Grandpa knows he wouldn't trade anything for the time he gets to spend with his grandkids. The illustrations are beautiful with lovely rainbow backgrounds that glow with the good feelings that Grandpa has with his memories and with his life.

Classroom Ideas: The word choices here are wonderful (lots of similes like "shoes make soft, slippery sounds like rain on a tin roof") Although Grandpa doesn't talk too much, he's a strong character.

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.")

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").

Abe Lincoln's Dream

Author & Illustrator:   Lane Smith
Publisher:  Roaring Brook Press
Publication Year:   2012
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   featured on "Calling Caldecott" blog, Horn Book & School Library Journal starred reviews,

Summary:  Presidental scholars will immediately recognize the inclusion of Roosevelt, Johnson, and Reagan's dogs as they begin this story of a girl who goes on a White House tour and encounters Abraham Lincoln's ghost. The book deftly moves between silly jokes and serious questions as they discuss the issues ("Our union was so fragile, so uncertain. Like that ship on the rocky sea.") of union and equality that so plagued President Lincoln. The girl Quincy reassures Lincoln of the progress that has been made since his time. The Afterward explains Abraham Lincoln's reoccurring dream of himself in a ship moving toward a distant shore and also introduces the president dogs that are in the story. Lane use of a muted palette here fits the "historical" feel of the story and the typography looks like those used in newspapers of Lincoln's time. There are many pictorial references to history in the illustrations as well.

Classroom Ideas: Along with the obvious history curriculum connection, there are several uses of simile here. I wouldn't use this one to introduce Lincoln as you have to have some understanding of the issues he faced to get the story, but rather to enhance a study of his presidency.

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 Dark

Author: Lemony Snicket
Illustrator: Jon Klassen
Publisher:  Little, Brown
Publication Year:   2013
Location: Knox County Public Library- Powell

Awards:   Starred reviews from Horn Book, School Library Journal, & Publisher's Weekly

Summary:  Laszlo (the perfect character name here!) was afraid of the dark. The dark invites Laszlo into the basement to see something. When he gets there, the dark offers him a night light which ends the book with a funny conclusion. Klassen's illustrations set the ominous mood perfectly with their muted palette.

Classroom Ideas: This whole book is an example of personification which my kids loved. There's also some great similes in here ("The voice of the dark was as creaky as the roof of the house, and as smooth and cold as the windows....") There's a page of narration which has caused controversary from a pacing point of view. I think this would make an amazing lesson for young writers to discuss editing decisions.