The Little Red Pen

Has your child ever wondered what goes on in their classroom during the night?  I know I thought about it as a kid.  I thought my teacher lived in my classroom!  The Little Red Pen by Janet Stevens is a story about classroom supplies and their nightly adventures.  Papers need graded, but only Little Red Pen is willing to do any work.  All the other supplies have an excuse as to why they cannot help the Little Red Pen.  However, the Little Red Pen finds herself in some deep trouble.  Read the story to see if they other supplies help her out!

On top of this just being a cute story, it is a GREAT book to read if your child has been studying personification. Personification is giving human traits to non-living objects. As you read the story with your child point out a few times the author uses personification (personally, I love the eraser).   After reading the story with your child you can practice personification!  Grab an object and brainstorm ways to give it human traits.  How could you personify the refrigerator?  The couch?  Their are endless possibilities.  If you lead with an example, your child will want to keep personifying objects because they will find it fun!  

If you are a teacher, this is a great story to convert into a Readers' Theater Script!  Each character's dialogue is written in a different color!  

The Plot Chickens

Who doesn't love a story about chickens?  The Plot Chickens by Mary Jane and Herm Auch is not just any story about chickens.  This story is about a chicken, Henrietta, who loves to read and write!

This book is genius on many levels! First of all, it is about a chicken and for some reason children love chicken stories.  Secondly, it is visually appealing! It has an almost comic book feel to it. Kids will be drawn into the story through the illustrations.  Lastly, and in my opinion most importantly, this book teaches the writing process. Who knew a children's book that talks about the writing process could actually be interesting?

Summer break is just around the corner.  How often does your child write during the summer?  I know it is hard to get students to sit down and write a five paragraph essay, but that is not a fun activity! This is a book that actually inspires young children to write their own stories.  At the end of the story, they will want to be just like Henrietta.  

Be sure to capitalize on your child's momentary interest of writing with a follow-up activity.  Review with your child the rules Henrietta followed when writing her story.  Write them out on a poster so you can easily refer back to it.  Follow each rule and create a story with your child. Do not make them do this on their own.  The magic of writing this story is writing it together!  After following the rules, gather up some fun paper and let your child get creative with "publishing" their story.  After finishing the final "published" copy, it is time to celebrate.  Gather some kids in the neighborhood and hold and author's party (better yet, have the kids in the neighborhood write stories too).  Serve some cookies and punch and let your child share their story with their friends! 

This is a GREAT book for teachers to serve as a springboard for a creative writing unit!  If you are a teacher, get your hands on this book.  I know you will love it.  

Big Red Lollipop

Do you have a little brother or sister?  I do!  Now that we are grown we are best friends, but that was not always the case when we were little. I thought I was too cool to hang out with my little sis and she always wanted to spend time with me and my friends.  If this sounds familiar to you Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan is a must read.

This is such a great story about siblings and relationships. The main character, Rubina, gets invited to a birthday party and is super excited. Her little sister, Sana, wants to go to the party too. Rubina's mother says she may go to the party, but only if Sana is allowed to go too. Rubina does not want to take Sana to the birthday party, but she really wants to attend the party. 

Before actually reading this book with your child, you will want to take a few minutes and build your child's background knowledge. Introduce the main characters to your child before reading.  The mother is referred to as Ami in the text.  If you do not explain this to your child before reading the story, they might find it a bit confusing. Also share with your child that not all cultures celebrate the day they were born with a birthday party.   

This book is all about making text-to-self connections.  Your child will have no problem making connections to this book.  

Here are few questions to guide your conversation:

1.  Read to "They just do!  Can I go?" and ask your child:  How do you think the little girl feels?  How do you feel when you get invited to a birthday party?

2.  Read to "I know she thinks I'm weird" and ask your child:  How would you feel if you had to take your little brother/sister to a birthday party?  

3.  Read to "SANA!" and ask your child:   The little girl is pretty upset.  What would you do if you were her?

4.  Read to " No!  I can't take her!  She's not invited!" and ask your child:  Why is Sana upset?  Do you think she has a right to be upset?  

5.  Read to "So Sana gets to go by herself" and ask your child:  Why do you think Rubina tells Ami to let Sana go by herself to the party?  What do you think you would have done?

6.  Read to the end of the story and ask your child:  Why do you think Sana brought Rubina home a lollipop?  

This is such a great story to read with your child if they are having a hard time including siblings during playtime, etc.  Empathy is very powerful!  

Shark vs Train

Do you have a son?  If so, Shark vs Train by Chris Barton is a must read!  It is such a cute story.  It starts out with two boys rushing towards the toy bin. After tossing toys left and right each boy settles on a toy. One boy selects a shark and the other selects a train.  The battle begins: Shark versus Train! Who will win the competition?  Well, that depends on what the competition is and where it takes place.

This book is jammed pack with action and full of imagination.  Of course, I enjoy the book because it is a great opportunity for children to practice the comprehension strategy of creating inferences.  Shark and Train hold lots of competitions.  They face-off on a seesaw, in hot-air balloons, and play basketball.  The author does not tell the reader who wins each competition.  They reader needs to use their schema (background knowledge) and picture clues to figure out who wins.  When reading the story with your child ask them the following question after each competition: Who do you think won this competition?  Why? 

Wow!  It is easy to create inferences with this text! 

Of course, not all the competitions have clear winners.  When Shark and Train play hide-and-seek or have a sword fight on a tightrope it gets a bit fuzzy as to who the winner is.  The characters are thrown into situations that lead to a variety of emotions.  When reading the story, you and your child can infer the emotions Shark and Train feel!  Ask your child:  How do you think Shark feels?  Train?  Why do you think this?

A great extension activity for this book would be to give your child a toy shark and train (dig one out of your toy bin!) and create your own imaginary battles!  Who will win the shark or train?

Odd Boy Out Young Albert Einstein

One of my favorite genres of children's literature is the biography.  I especially love picture book biographies. Even as and adult,  I learn so much when I read a picture book biography.  Biographies share rich stories about people who have helped shape our world.   

Odd Boy Out by Don Brown is an interesting biographical story about Albert Einstein.  Einstein is such a fascinating person to study.  Children love learning about the eccentric scientist with the big hair!  Brown does a super job of showing the reader Einstein was human. This particular biography does not spend much time on Einstein's theory of relativity.  Instead, the reader learns about Einstein's childhood and the events that shaped his scientific mind.  

Biographies tend to share a lot of information with the reader --too much information to remember!  When readers are presented with a lot of information they need to determine what is important to keep in their brain files.  Determining importance is often a challenging skill for kids.  They want to remember it all.  Before children can determine what information they need to remember and what information they can discard, they need to know their purpose for reading.  For example, are they looking for new facts? Seeking answers to questions?  Learning how to complete a task?  Once children identify their purpose of reading, they can decide what type of information that are going to try and remember.

Before reading Odd Boy Out, take a moment and activate your child's schema (background knowledge).  Ask your child what they already know about Albert Einstein.  You can share what you know about Einstein too!  After sharing, set your purpose for reading by asking your child what they hope to learn about Einstein.

As you read the story about Einstein, prompt your chid with the following thinking stems:

• I want to remember...
• It's interesting that...
• One thing we should notice is...

You can also use the above stems to model your thinking for your child. Not only is the book good for working on determining importance, but it is also good for making text-to-self connections.  As you read the story, you will see Einstein was often the "odd boy" in society.  See if your child can make any connections between Einstein and their own life.  

Once you are finished reading the story (be sure to read the author's note at the end!), ask your child what is the most important thing they want to remember about Einstein.  

Baseball Saved Us

I love historical fiction.  Especially in picture books. Historical fiction allows children (and adults) to learn about events of the past, but in story form.  Children are much more likely to remember concepts important to history when they are shared through a story.  Baseball Saved Us by Ken Hochizuki is a touching story about a Japanese American boy, nicknamed Shorty, during World War II.  After the attach on Pearl Harbor,  Shorty and his family are forced to leave their home and are sent to live in an internment camp.  Shorty needs something to look forward to in camp.  His father builds a baseball field and a league is formed in the camp.  


I love this story because it appeals to many ages.  Young children can relate to the concept of being different and learning how to overcome obstacles.  Older children can discuss equality issues, the impact of war in regard to race and/or religion.  It is a story of hope and courage that shares an important part of American History.

I am always talking about the importance of schema (background knowledge) and making connections.  Schema is really important when sharing this book with your child.  The author has a nice note at the beginning of the story.  I encourage you to read and share the note with your child.  It will help give your child some important background knowledge so they are able to understand the story.  You might also ask your child what they know about World War II and share what you know with them.

When you read the story with your child not only will your child be able to make text-to-self connections, but they will also be able to make text-to-world connections.  Text-to-world connections are when a connection is made between the text and the larger context of the world.  Since this is a historical fiction book it is natural to make connections to world.  What is great about this story is that connections can be made to past world events, but they can also be made to current events.

Some questions to guide your thinking:

1.  Read to "We stayed there for a while until we came here" and ask your child:  How do you think it feels to be picked last for the team?  Why do you think the kids started calling him names?  Do you think that is fair?

2.  Read to "Babies cried at night and kept us up"  Talk with your child about the word barrack and what is might be like to live in a barrack.  Share with your child some history about internment camps.


3.  Read to "They looked almost like the real thing"  Ask your child:  Why do you think they worked so hard to make the baseball field?  Have you ever worked hard for something you really wanted?


4.  Read to "Everyone got quiet and the pitcher threw."  Ask your child:  What do you think is going to happen?  Why do you think the boy get made at the guard?


5.  Read to "Looked up at the tower and the man, with a grin on his face, gave me a thumb's-up sign."  Ask your child:  Why do you think the guard smiled?  How do you think the guard feels about the little boy?


6.  Read to "I had to eat lunch by myself" and ask your child:  Why do you think the kids were mean even though the war was over?  Share with your child a recent day connection you can make.


7.  Read to "it meant they hated me" and ask your child:  How would it make you feel if people called you names?  Can you think of a time when someone was not nice to you?  


8.  Read to the end of the story.  Ask your child:  How do you think the little boy feels now?  How did baseball help him fit in with his peers?

9.  Have a conversation with your child about the history part of the story.  Ask them:  Do you think it was right Japanese Americans were sent to interment camps during World War II?  Why do you think this?  

LMNO Peas

I am getting more and more interested in alphabet books because of my two little ones.  I love Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, but I need a break from the coconut tree!   When I was searching the library last week I came across a keeper and thought I would share.  LMNO Peas by Keith Baker is one cute alphabet book.

The book is full of peas who live within the alphabet.  The peas are energetic little characters who share with the reader their occupations and hobbies.  As the peas weave through the letter A, they share they are acrobats, artists and astronauts!  As you read the prose aloud you will feel a gentle rhythm.  The illustrations really make the book.  The peas are cleverly illustrated.  If you look closely you will find much humor in the pictures.

This is a great book to introduce the alphabet and to enhance young children's vocabulary.

A special gem in this book is the hidden ladybug on each page.  Kids will love trying to find the hidden ladybug!

Peas read this book with your child!