Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More!

Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More!: Poems for Two Voices by Carole Gerber, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin. Grades 1-5. Henry Holt & Co, February 2013. Review copy provided by my local library.

As the days get longer, thoughts may turn to spring, making Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More! the perfect book to display on library shelves or use in classrooms. Poems in this book feature seeds of all kinds, the plant growing process, and various plants and insects, giving a wide range of spring-related content. The poems are written for two voices, clearly demarcated with indentation and font colors. What fun to have students read these poems together and then ask them to compose their own poems for two voices!

Each poem is paired with exuberant artwork by Eugene Yelchin (maybe you know him as the author of the 2012 Newbery Honor book Breaking Stalin's Nose?). The colors leap off the page -  bright pinks, yellows, and blues - and evoke spring with every brushstroke. They pair with the poems nicely to create an upbeat tone throughout the book.

Carole Gerber includes an author's note giving a little more information about seeds, plant parts, and pollination, but this is most definitely a poetry book. It will add much to science units, bridging the gap between science and language arts, but if you're looking for information you'll need to pair this fun poetry book with another text.

Consider pairing this one with Douglas Florian's UnBEElievables: Honeybee Poems and Paintings or Yucky Worms by Vivian French for more on the insects that help our gardens grow.

Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More! is on shelves now.

Listen Up! at the @alscblog

I'm over at the ALSC Blog today, talking about great family audiobooks for spring break road trips! Hop on over there and add your two cents in the comments!

Readers, We're Ready to Advise You

Readers' advisory training: another facet of our year (and beyond!) of Reading Wildly. Last week, we had the awesome Suzanne Walker from the Indiana State Library visit our library to give a training on readers' advisory for youth. Some of my staff have had readers' advisory training and some haven't, but I wanted us all to be on the same page this year as we're striving to improve our readers' advisory through reading many different genres.

I'm a firm believer in providing a lot of training for staff and putting that training to use. I scheduled us so that all my staff could attend the training (we're lucky to have other staff in the building that don't mind occasionally covering our desk). And I attended the training, too, even though I took a course on readers' advisory in grad school. A refresher is never a bad thing! And I wanted to know what had been presented to my staff so that we could all talk about it.

What we learned at the training:

Suzanne pointed out some notable differences between readers' advisory for youth and for adults. Among them: 

• Children and teens might have more difficulty articulating what they are looking for. Of course, sometimes adults have difficulty, as well, but children have less of a frame of reference. They also are still figuring out what kind of books they like, whereas many adults have particular genres or subjects that they gravitate towards. 
• When dealing with children and teens, we have to think about reading level as well as subject and appeal factor.
• We not only have to answer readers' advisory questions from children, but from their parents, as well. Sometimes we have to perform readers' advisory without the child being present. Suzanne highly recommended (and I agree) giving parents a selection of books to take home for their child when they come in asking for suggestions. 

Suzanne talked about the readers' advisory conversation (which can happen anywhere - how many of you librarians have been asked for readers' advisory at the eye doctor's, at church, or in the grocery store?). It's important that librarians are approachable, that we solicit information on what the child/parent is looking for, and use sources to find materials that match their mood. 

With kids, it's important to ask if they're looking for a book for fun or if they're looking for a book for a school assignment. If it's for a school assignment, get any other relevant information: does it have to be a certain page length? A certain genre? etc. And then proceed with your readers' advisory conversation. Even if it's for an assignment, hopefully we can find something that the child's going to enjoy. 

A somewhat standard way to start your readers' advisory conversation is to ask the kid what kind of book they're looking for or what book(s) they've read recently and enjoyed. For some kids, this might be a hard question to answer. Sometimes kids don't know what they want, or they're not big readers. If a kid's not able to tell you any books she's liked, ask about her hobbies and interests or what movies she likes. That will give you an idea of where to start your conversation. 

Suzanne also talked about appeal factors, which is definitely something we'll incorporate into our monthly book discussions. She listed four main appeal factors to think about while you're reading. Reading books with appeal factors in mind (and noting them if that helps you remember!) will help when you get down to your readers' advisory. 

Four Appeal Factors:

• Pacing - Is the book an action-packed page-turner or is it more descriptive and contemplative? Does it have short sentences/chapters and/or does the story take place in a short amount of time (indicating that the book has a quick pace)?
• Characterization - Do characters develop over time or are they types we recognize immediately? Is the focus on a single character or multiple characters? Often, kids get engaged with a character or set of characters and love to see multiple books about the same characters. 
• Story line - Does the story emphasize people or situations/events? Is it action-oriented? Psychological? Does it deal with exterior action or interior (character development, etc.)?
• Frame - What kind of setting does the book have? This can be especially important in historical fiction where a particular setting/time period might be a big appeal factor. 

Readers' advisory is all about making connections. It's about finding out WHY a person likes a book and figuring out what other books might have similar appeal factors. Just because a teen likes The Hunger Games doesn't necessarily mean she's all about bloody dystopian fiction. Maybe she likes the strong female protagonist or the excellent world-building. 

Putting this training into action:

So, we had the training. Now, how are we going to put this into action? Of course, I'm hoping that my staff will put what we learned into practice right away with patrons, but I know that formal readers' advisory training is new to many of them. Incorporating these elements into our monthly Reading Wildly meetings will, I hope, allow staff to become more comfortable with readers' advisory in a relaxed environment. I plan to incorporate the appeal factors into our monthly book discussions right away. Taking the training together gives us the language to identify and discuss appeal factors and help us figure out which books we're reading might be similar. Even if my staff members don't know a particular title to list as a readalike, they can certainly say that they'd recommend Book X to kids who like fast-paced stories or to kids who like books with many characters and alternating viewpoints, etc. 

I also plan to practice our readers' advisory interviews. I think we'll start out by practicing on each other as we discuss and suggest books each month. We may eventually move into doing some role play and practicing readers' advisory conversations as they might actually happen with a kid. Although I know my staff are getting readers' advisory questions from actual patrons in their day-to-day jobs, role playing allows us to pause and offer strategies as we go along.

Now that we're all on the same page with terminology and readers' advisory basics, I'm really excited to see how that will translate in our monthly meetings! 

Spring Storytime: Black History Month

It's that time again! Time for Spring Storytime! Now, here's the thing that happened. We're back at full staff now (yay!), so we started out offering 5 different sessions for the next four weeks. And as of late last week, I only had one child signed up for my session (Monday mornings). So I made the decision to cancel that session and, as a result, I don't have a storytime class this go-round. I am bummed, but we're rethinking how we'll do storytimes in the fall and I think we're going to try some new things.

I didn't want to miss sharing our storytime plans on this blog, but please do note that I have not actually done this storytime with kids. I hope you'll still get some good ideas!

Opening Song: My Hands Say Hello

Book:  This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt, illustrated by R.G. Roth. This is a play on the song "This Old Man" and it has a nice rhythm for you to sign or read.

Felt: "America's Greatest Farmer". Miss Teresa found this poem about George Washington Carver and Miss T made some felt pieces to go along with it.

Book: Kente Colors by Debbi Chocolate, illustrated by John Ward. This book takes kids through the colors used in African kente cloth and explains the meaning behind each one.

Song:  "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" by Ella Fitzgerald from the CD Jazz for Kids: Sing, Wiggle, Clap, and Shake. You could sing this one with puppets or ring bells to the beat.

Activity: Red Light, Green Light. Did you know that Garrett Morgan, son of former slaves, invented the 3-light stop light (traffic signal) in 1923? Miss Teresa made some stop light signals to play a stop and go game with our bells.

Book: This Little Light of Mine, illustrated by Earl B. Lewis. Sing this song with the book or with hand motions. The song is an African-American spiritual which may already be familiar to many of your families.

Poem/Activity: Read the poem "Drums" by Langston Hughes (found in the book Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes) and pass out rhythm sticks for the kids to drum every time they hear the word "drum" or "drums" in the poem.

Mystery Bag: We have retired the Memory Box in favor of the Mystery Bag! I saw the Mystery Bag from the Hedburg Public Library at the ALSC Institute this past fall and we decided we wanted to give it a try. Each week, we'll have a different letter in the Mystery Bag and several objects that start with that letter. As you can see, this week the letter was P and we have a polar bear, a pig (a PINK pig!), and a parrot (and puppet!). We've tried the Mystery Bag with a couple of our preschool classes that have come in or that we've visited and both kids and teachers have LOVED IT. It's definitely a big hit! Miss T made our mystery bag out of a nylon laundry bag turned inside out (it has a skull design on it). She sewed some colorful triangles on it to make it look more fun!

Ending Song:  Do You Know What Time It Is?

Take-Home Craft: Quilt squares. Okay, so the idea of the "freedom quilt" is controversial and possibly made up, but quilt squares are a great way for children to practice manipulating shapes. We provided a sheet of shapes for them to color and cut out and then a sheet showing several different patterns for quilt squares. Kids can match the patterns or make up their own! We also included a list of books to celebrate Black History Month.

Alternate Books: If you don't like or don't have any of these books, here are some other choices. And you may also consider the possibility of focusing on African-American authors and illustrators instead of strictly including books that talk about Black history.

Let It Shine: Three Favorite Spirituals by Ashley Bryan
Rap a Tap Tap by Leo and Diane Dillon
We March by Shane Evans
Please Baby Please by Spike Lee
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands by Kadir Nelson
Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport
Before John Was a Jazz Giant by Carole Boston Weatherford

A couple of sci-fi series

For our March Reading Wildly meeting, we're reading science fiction books, so I picked up books from a couple of series that I'd never read before. Both are older series, so I'm reviewing them here together.

Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist by Jim Benton. Grades 2-4. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2003-2008.

Books in the series:
#1 Lunch Walks Among Us
#2 Attack of the 50-Ft. Cupid
#3 The Invisible Fran
#4 The Fran That Time Forgot
#5 Frantastic Voyage
#6 The Fran With Four Brains
#7 The Frandidate

Franny K. Stein is a little bit different from the other kids in her class. She likes them fine, but none among them can program a robot like she can... or splice genes or create perfectly putrid concoctions... Her family doesn't get it either. But whether it's saving the town from a giant pumpkin-lobster monster, creating (and subduing) a 50-foot Cupid on Valentine's Day, or bringing in a home-built robot for hobby day, Franny K. Stein loves being a mad scientist.

This transitional chapter book series is packed with wacky humor. It's highly illustrated and each volume clocks in at just about 100 pages, making this a good choice for kids just moving up to chapter books or kids who need to build confidence in reading. The tone of the humor is similar to the humor in Captain Underpants, but it's toned down quite a bit. There's occasional light potty humor, but I'd consider this series for parents who are uncomfortable with the Captain Underpants series.

The science fiction element starts with a light hand in the first book and becomes more prevalent in later books, so this might also be a good choice for kids who don't think they like sci-fi.

Readalikes:

For the humor, I'd recommend any of Dav Pilkey's series: Captain Underpants, Ricky Riccota, or The Adventures of Ook and Gluk. You might also try some of the cartoon-illustrated funny books in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid ilk that have sprouted over the past several years.

For kids who like the crazy gadgets and things that Franny K. Stein develops in her lab (and the highly illustrated format), I might try the Lunch Lady graphic novel series.

~*~*~*~*~

Animorphs by K.A. Applegate. Grades 3-6. Scholastic, 1996-2001.

There are 54 books in the series - click the title above to get a full listing.

Jake and his friends were just minding their own business, cutting through the construction site on the way home, when they had a chance encounter with a dying alien that changed their lives forever. The Andalite prince tells them about a war between alien species that's being fought right under everyone's noses on earth as the evil Yeerks take human hosts and control their actions. And the alien gives them a gift - the power to morph into any animal they choose. It's the only weapon they have against the Yeerks and they have to keep up the fight until the Andalites return to restore peace to their planet.

I missed this series by several years when I was a kid and now that makes me so sad because I would have been SO INTO IT. As it is, I read the first book in the series and I liked it quite a bit. The book is action-packed and written in a simple style that gets the action across without too many frills. There are a few dated pop culture references, but really not enough that I think they'll be any issue with newcomers to the series. It's a fun page-turner of an adventure story and the concept of kids turning into animals at will is one that packs wide kid appeal.

Readalikes:

For the fast pace and adventurous storyline, I'd recommend Gordan Korman's thrillers like his On the Run series (starting with Chasing the Falconers) or the Kidnapped series (starting with The Abduction). Readers also might like the 39 Clues series, particularly if they enjoy mystery stories. And readers who are ready to tackle thicker books might try Margaret Peterson Haddix's The Missing series (starting with Found).

For readers who dig the alien storyline, you might try Bruce Coville's My Teacher is an Alien series (originally published around the same time that Animorphs was originally published). Or possibly Aliens on Vacation by Clete Barrett Smith, although the tone is more humorous than in the Animorphs series).

~*~*~*~*~

Both series are on shelves now!

Afterschool: February

Here's what I shared with my afterschool groups this month!

Egg Drop by Mini Grey. Red Fox Books, 2003. The egg was young. If only it had waited. This is the story of an egg who wanted to fly. This book was a hit with both groups this month. It's pretty short and has great pictures (in a large trim size, which is great when sharing with a group). It's also hilarious. The kids particularly liked the pictures of how they tried to put the egg back together again after its drop (sticky tape, string, chewing gum, nails and screws, etc...) and I made sure to read them each caption for those pictures because one of the things they try is tomato soup which looks like blood dripping off the egg (as my first group delightfully noted). 

The Little, Little House by Jessica Souhami. Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2005. This is a retelling of the folktale of a family living in a house that feels too small. The local wise-woman (or, in this case, Aunty Bella) instructs the father to move the chickens into the house, then more the rooster into the house, then move the cow into the house, etc. And finally, when the family turns all the animals out of the house they realize that it's not too small after all. I love this story, but the younger kids in my audience didn't really understand what had happened. I'd probably stick to older elementary kids with this one. That said, everyone delighted in the illustrations showing all the crazy things the animals do inside the house! 

The Yuckiest, Stinkiest, Best Valentine Ever by Brenda Ferber, illustrated by Tedd Arnold. Dial, 2012. As soon as I saw this book come over on our new book cart, I grabbed it for use with the afterschool groups. It's snarky while still showing that Valentine's Day is really about love. It's good for the kids who think V-Day is yucky and for those who enjoy it. And the cartoony illustrations by Tedd Arnold have a ton of kid appeal. Definitely add this one to your school-age rotation! 

This month's craft was making Valentines, of course, and we kept it simple. We brought white paper and die-cut hearts in pink, purple, and blue. The sites had crayons, scissors, and glue sticks. Three of the sites we visit had visits after Valentine's Day was over, and I spun it with my group by saying I know that Valentine's Day was last week but maybe there was someone they forgot to make a Valentine's Day card for. Or maybe they don't want to make a Valentine's Day card but just a card to show someone they care. The kids were a little disappointed not to have scratch art this month, but I am so sick of scratch art! 

Millions, Billions, & Trillions

Millions, Billions, & Trillions: Understanding Big Numbers by David A. Adler, illustrated by Edward Miller. Grades 2-4. Holiday House, January 2013. Unpaged. Review copy provided by my local library.

We tend to throw around large numbers like millions and billions and trillions and we hear about them in the news quite often. But such big numbers can be really hard to conceptualize. What do they really mean? If you had a million dollars, how much is that really?

In Millions, Billions, & Trillions, David A. Adler puts his inimitable skills to work in supplying kids with concrete examples to help them figure out just what such big numbers really mean. Want to see a million? Get a quarter cup of sugar and dump it out onto a dark-colored sheet of construction paper. You have about a million grains of sugar there.

Adler gives a couple of concrete examples of each number (explaining at each step how he's coming up with his figures and estimates) and then some examples of how kids are likely to hear these numbers used. Populations of large cities are often in the millions. The earth's population is in the billions. And when people on the news talk about the country's debts and budgets, the numbers are often in the trillions.

Adler includes an author's note that talks about even larger numbers and he notes that the names for large numbers differ in different countries. The computer generated cartoony illustrations pop with color, adding kid appeal to this kid-friendly math book. They feature a diverse cast of characters and such fun images as giant ice cream sundaes and stacks of pizzas we might order with our million dollars.

Add this book to your repertoire for STEM programming! Pair it with David Schwartz's How Much is a Million? for a discussion about large numbers and challenge the kids to come up with some estimates of their own. This would be a fun way to get to the M (math) in STEM.

Millions, Billions, & Trillions is on shelves now!

Happy Nonfiction Monday! Lisa has this week's roundup at Shelf-employed.

Storytime: Fairy Tales

We recently had a preschool class visit the library and request a storytime on fairy tales and fables. I find fairy tales a difficult subject for preschool storytime because so many of the books are so very wordy. My staff member Miss K and I put together a storytime with lots of inspiration from Storytime Katie's fairy tale storytime. Here's what we did:

Opening Song: My Hands Say Hello

Book: The Three Little Pigs by Heather Amery, illustrated by Stephen Cartwright. This is part of the Usborne First Stories series. Usborne has published several fairy tales that are pretty succinct. Since the kids are so familiar with this story, we asked for their help as we read it.

Flannel Rhyme: Five Knights in Shining Armor from Storytime Katie. When Miss T made our flannel knights, I asked her to make one of them pink so it could be a girl knight (or a boy knight who likes pink!).

Book: Over at the Castle by Boni Ashburn, illustrated by Kelly Murphy. This is a play on the song "Over in the Meadow", so I sung it. As we count up through the song, we explore different parts of the castle and the people working or playing within it.

Action Rhyme: The Grand Old Duke of York:

The Grand Old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men. 
He marched them to the top of the hill
And he marched them down again.
And when they were UP, they were UP!
And when they were DOWN, they were DOWN!
And when they were only halfway up, 
They were neither UP nor DOWN!

We marched for the first part of the rhyme and then stretch our arms up for the word "up" and we bend down for the word "down". We tried it and then did it fast, super fast, and then I had a request to do it super slow, so we tried it that way, too.

Felt Story: Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This was from a felt set we had purchased from somewhere, many moons ago. Again, this is a very familiar story, so we asked for the kids' help in telling it.

Felt Activity: Color bears. I passed out the color bears and invited the kids to come up and put their bear on the board when we said their color. For this activity, I sang the following rhyme:

(To the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star")

Color bears, color bears, what do I see?
I see a red bear smiling at me!

And, of course, you repeat with different colors.

Ending Song: Do You Know What Time It Is?

We don't do crafts for our group visits, so after the storytime the class explored the Children's Room, selected books to check out, and played with the toys and computers we have in our room.

Alternate Books:

If you don't like or don't have any of the books we used, here are some others you might want to check out:

The Three Bears by Byron Barton
Yummy: Eight Favorite Fairy Tales by Lucy Cousins
The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone (and others by Paul Galdone)
The Foggy Foggy Forest by Nick Sharratt
Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox
King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey and Don Wood

The Look

The Look by Sophia Bennett. Grades 7+. Chicken House, March 2013. 336 pages. Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher.

Sisters Ava and Ted (short for Edwina) could hardly be more different. Seventeen-year-old Ava is gorgeous and confident with a gorgeous boyfriend and a gaggle of admirers at school. Fifteen-year-old Ted's nickname at school is "Friday", short for "Freaky Friday". She's too tall and gangly with hair resembling a bird's nest and the bullies at school won't let her forget it. When Ted is accosted on the street by a supposed "model scout", she's skeptical at first, and when he turns out to be legit, Ted has no interest. But Ava's been diagnosed with cancer and their dad has recently been laid off from his job, forcing them to move from their beloved home to a tiny apartment. Ted's modeling career just might be the ticket to cheering up her sister and providing some much-needed income to her family.

This story hit just the right blend of fluffy and serious, of fashion-y fun and cancer drama, and it's all told in a beliveable narrative voice. Ted works quite nicely as the Everygirl, a plain teenager who's astonished to be swept up in the modeling world. Her progression through that world was handled well. At first Ted knows nothing about fashion, but as she starts to learn more she gets more interested in it, ultimately coveting new makeup and clothes in a way she never would have before. And although Ted enters the modeling industry so her sister can live vicariously, there are moments that Ted likes getting the spotlight.

There's just a tinge of romance, which I didn't feel was really necessary to the story, but it's done with such a light hand that it didn't detract from the story, either. And although there were a couple of poignant moments that brought tears to my eyes (the sisters getting their heads shaved together, being one), the overall tone of the book is upbeat and hopeful. The story's about older teens, but the content is very tween-appropriate.

This is a story to get lost in and I had the happy occasion of a day off from work so I could devour the whole thing!

Originally published in England, The Look will be on American shelves in March 2013.

Readalikes: 

For the tone - a mix of funny and serious, fluffy and dramatic, I'd recommend Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick.

For more fashion-related fiction, I'd recommend Sophia Bennett's other novel Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings or Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins or Violet on the Runway by Melissa Walker.

For more cancer fiction, try Before I Die by Jenny Downham (also British!) or The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny)

The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny) by Kathleen Krull & Paul Brewer, illustrated by Stacy Innerst. Grades 2-5. Harcourt Children's Books, March 2013. Unpaged. Review copy provided by the publisher.

John, Paul, George, and Ringo - names known all over the world for their iconic music. But the Fab Four didn't just love music. In addition to being gifted musicians and pop stars, the Beatles were four friends who loved to laugh and be silly. This picture book gives a brief overview of the Beatles from the band's formation through its meteoric rise in popularity, always emphasizing the funny side of the Beatles.

The Beatles used humor to keep their spirits up as they performed show after show as they were gaining their foothold. And they laughed and joked their way to the very top. The book includes specific examples and quotes, including specific jokes cracked in various interviews with each of the four.

This is a jolly celebration that would make a perfect gift for the children of Beatles fans and for kids who have grown up listening to their music. It's not a book that kids will use for their reports, but I can see it becoming a beloved favorite in a family of Beatles fans. The text follows the Beatles chronologically from naming the band (1960) to their last major concert in Candlestick Park (1966). Fun facts are sprinkled throughout the book, like the fact that the Beatles let fans know that their favorite candy was English jelly babies, but American fans, unable to procure the British sweet, pelted them with much harder jellybeans instead.

The illustrations pair nicely with the upbeat, humorous text, depicting bobble-headed (and quite recognizable) Beatles and incorporating quotes, jokes, and song titles in a way that really works to support the text and the entire feel of the book. Back matter includes a basic timeline and a list of sources.

Of course, this is perfect reading for Beatles fans, but it's a great book to introduce the Fab Four and give a brief introduction to Beatlemania as part of a classroom unit on the 1960s.

As a Beatles fan, I have to say that this is a must-buy for your library shelves. And I've already got at least one child in mind for whom I'll be buying this book!

The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny) will be on shelves March 19.

Happy Nonfiction Monday! This week's roundup is hosted by Roberta at Wrapped in Foil, so make sure you check it out!