New Year, New Books!

The box of new books arrived on my doorstep just the other day. Couldn't wait to tear open the box and see what delightful books would become my favourites this year. But first, let's set the scene... fresh pot of hazelnut coffee, fresh croissant, new jar of strawberry jam...ready!

 I dreamt...A book about hope written and illustrated by Gabriela Olmos

Children whose daily lives are afflicted by violence dream of a different world in this powerful book created by Mexican artists as a fundraiser for the IBBY Fund for Children in Crisis.  In many parts of the world, including North America, children are living with violence. Wars, gangs, guns, crime, bullying, harassment and fear keep many kids from living the full, free lives that every child should enjoy. This book was created in Mexico, where for the past six years a vicious war against drugs has brought fear and insecurity into every child’s life. Many children’s dreams have become nightmares. Some of Mexico’s best illustrators have donated their art to create this book, which gives children a way to talk about their fears, a reason to hope and the inspiration to resist falling into grief and depression. Like some city trees they have the possibility to grow strong and, despite everything, to try and make the world a better place. (www.houseofanansi.com)

Doug Unplugged written and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

Doug is a robot. His parents want him to be smart, so each morning they plug him in and start the information download. After a morning spent learning facts about the city, Doug suspects he could learn even more about the city by going outside and exploring it. And so Doug . . . unplugs. What follows is an exciting day of adventure and discovery. Doug learns amazing things by doing and seeing and touching and listening—and above all, by interacting with a new friend. Read the review in GoodReads. (www.goodreads.com/book/show/14823951-doug-unplugged)


Circles of Round written by Signe Sturup, illustrated by Winnie Ma

Despite the odd bump in the road, all the Circles in the town called Round live happy lives. Until, one day, an obtuse stranger comes to visit, with an even stranger machine. Called the Corner Transformer, the stranger boasts that it will give them all a new angle on life, and a better shape, too. All the circles eagerly try it out... but changing from Circles to squares and triangles isn't quite what they expected... Simply yet strikingly illustrated with photos of three-dimensional shapes made of paper, this story is a great way to introduce children to the powers of advertising. (http://www.simplyreadbooks.com)


The Best Thing About Kindergarten written by Jennifer Lloyd, illustrated by Qin Leng

It’s graduation day and Ms. Appleby asks her students,  “What is the best thing about Kindergarten?” They all have an answer—and every answer is different. But Ms. Appleby has a secret answer that will surprise them all! (http://www.simplyreadbooks.com)

What are some of your favourites? Post a comment and let us know 

All is a Flutter

I didn't want to begin this entry with an apology but when I realize how long it's been since I've updated, I believe an apology is necessary. So, sorry about that...we're back and I have lots to share about picture books and ways to use them.

Summer is the time I look forward to attending a workshop hosted by the Monarch Teacher Network of Canada (www.monarchteacher.ca). I've been attending these workshops for years and, although the workshop is similar each time, I leave these workshops in awe of these magnificent creatures. I also come out with an armload of ways to incorporate using monarch butterfly concepts in my teaching. I can't wait for our new teacher candidates to begin their pre-service year next month. I've ordered a Monarch Butterfly Rearing Kit (www.cambridgebutterfly.com/conservatory/monarch-rearing-kits) from the Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory so that both the butterflies and my students can experience a truly remarkable metamorphosis this year! Workshops go on every summer and are worth their weight in gold!

There are many books that deal with butterflies, both fiction and non-fiction. Many butterfly stories also have a message - we associate butterflies and metamorphosis with concepts like change, hope, freedom, purity, beauty, love, rebirth and our departed souls. In terms of teaching a science unit on life cycles butterflies  are easily accessible and undergo complete metamorphosis during their life cycle in that there are four stages of development (egg, larva, pupa and adult). They appear to be very close and appearance and behaviour to moths but most children will quickly learn the key ways to differentiate a moth from butterfly and a cocoon from a chrysalis. Children are fascinated by these beautiful insects and often are keen to befriend a caterpillar or be kissed by a butterfly. Below are some exceptional examples of great titles to begin with butterflies in your classroom this fall! We have a more complete book list that can be accessed by clicking here!

Click on a title below for more information and happy browsing!

                

Question... What's the right one?

As my students have now left the nest and are off on their first practicum experience I reflect on the past six weeks of my teaching at the faculty of education. My focus has been on inquiry and how that translates into good teaching in science. The trick is to teach children to ask the right questions – ones that are investigable and interesting, and questions that are written in a way that children understand them and can begin to discover ways to answer them.

My natural instinct is to turn to picture books and look at those books that ask questions or that ask us to ask questions.

A Room Full of Questions written and illustrated by Tracy Gallup

Synopsis: Open the door to the room in your soul where all your questions live. Is magic in every one of us? Is anything always? This is a book to explore, cherish, and mark life's most important passages. It will encourage the reader to linger over each question and examine his/her soul.

Professor Aesop’s Crow and the Pitcher written and illustrated by Stephanie Gwyn Brown

Synopsis: A hot, dry desert. A tired, thirsty crow. A tall pitcher of water. Think you know the story? Think again! In her reinterpretation of Aesop's classic fable of perseverance, Stephanie Gwyn Brown guides readers through all six steps of the scientific method—from question to communication—with Crow as the model scientist. But it takes a strong work ethic and a series of comic attempts before he invents a way to bring the water to a life-saving drinking level. Readers are ultimately invited into Crow's laboratory where they learn much more than just a moral to the story. This book is a wonderful way to introduce scientific inquiry and how to pose answerable questions.

How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? written by Margaret MacNamara, illustrated by Brian Karas

Synopsis: "How many seeds in a pumpkin?" Mr. Tiffin asks his class as they gather around the big, medium, and small pumpkins on his desk. Robert, the biggest kid, guesses that the largest one has a million seeds; Elinor, sounding like she knows what she's talking about, guesses the medium one has 500 seeds; and Anna, who likes even numbers better than odd ones, guesses that the little one has 22. Charlie, the smallest boy in the class, doesn't have a guess. Counting pumpkin seeds is messy business, but once the slimy job is done, to everyone's surprise, the smallest pumpkin has the most seeds! As Charlie happily exclaims, "Small things have a lot going on inside of them." Only one way to find out!

How Full is Your Bucket? written by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer, illustrated by Maurie J. Manning

Synopsis: When Felix wakes up one morning, he finds an invisible bucket floating overhead. A rotten morning threatens his mood - and his bucket - drop by drop. Can Felix discover how to refill his bucket before it's completely empty? This book offers some excellent jumping off points for dealing with bullying and self-esteem.

If...

If... opens doors to so many ideas and possibilities. Picture books open these doors on many levels for those who are willing to read more than just the text. Here are some ifs to get your going!

Leslie McGuirk's If Rocks Could Sing is an extraordinary alphabet book, the result of years worth of beachcombing to find just the right rock to do the job. Photographs of amazing rocks in the shapes of letters and numbers beg me to open my eyes to look on the ground to see what I may have been missing. Apparently, it took the longest to find a rock that looks like a "K"! McGuirk's patience paid off but she reminds us in a note at the end of the book called Rock Talk "For many years I waited for the letter K to appear. There was nothing I could do to make it show up. I understood that nature has its own timing, and my job was to be aware and expectant."

If... by Sarah Perry, published in 1995 is a timeless book of surreal images and preposterous thoughts that compel us to consider the impossible. Reminicent of Rob Gonsalves' illustrations in his Imagine a Day, Imagine a Night and Imagine a Place books, Perry's simple text and illustrations provoke our imagination. For example, "if frogs ate rainbows..., if mice were hair..., if ugly were beautiful..." what then?

Jim Averbeck's Except If tells it like it is! "An egg is just an egg except if, after hatching, it becomes something else." Mind stretching ideas push readers to think of the possibilities. Simple, bold illustrations make it happen.

Finally, What If? by Laura Vaccaro Seeger asks us to consider one situation and a variety of possible outcomes. WHAT IF a boy found a beach ball and kicked it into the ocean? WHAT IF two seals found it and began to play? WHAT IF a third seal appeared on the beach looking for a friend? In this spare and deceptively simple book, Laura Vaccaro Seeger shows us the same story with three different outcomes, each highlighting the possibility in possibilities.Youngest children will enjoy this visit to the beach and the chance to guess what happens when different choices are made.

The presses kept rolling while I was away!

It's been a month since my last blog entry and lots has happened in the publishing world! I'd like to highlight a couple of titles that will appeal to a variety of audiences.

My Tattooed Dad by Daniel Nesquens

Synopsis: A young boy describes what life is like when his dad comes home -- how he fries up chicken samosas for dinner, how he makes jokes and fools around, and how he carries him off to bed when he is sleepy. His dad also tells wonderful stories of his adventures in far-off lands, often inspired by his many exotic tattoos. His letters to his son are full of great stories about the past -- what the first date with the boy's mother was like and how he saved the boy's life twice, once when he was stolen from his baby basket by a dog and once when he flew out the car window. But as his mother says, his dad has ants in his pants, which means he's often not around. Still, life rolls along with one fantastical tale after another, in good times and bad. This extraordinary father's gift is the life of the imagination, which is always with his son, even when he is not.

Comments: The illustrations in the book are reminiscent of fantastical tattoos. The artist created pencil drawings that were scanned and then coloured digitally for an incredibly rich affect. As quoted from Kirkus' reviews: alternating tattoo-style vignettes of animals, hearts, skulls and the like framed in baroque flourishes with wildly fanciful full-page cartoons, pop surrealist Magicomora provides urbane visual counterparts to the stories’ increasingly freewheeling flights.

Also from Groundwood Books comes the story of Mexican Mennonite migrant workers, many living in Southwestern Ontario, aptly named Migrant by Maxine Trottier.

Synopsis: Each spring Anna leaves her home in Mexico and travels north with her family where they will work on farms harvesting fruits and vegetables. Sometimes she feels like a bird, flying north in the spring and south in the fall. Sometimes she feels like a jack rabbit living in an abandoned burrow, as her family moves into an empty house near the fields. But most of all she wonders what it would be like to stay in one place.

Comment:
Without a heavy message, this sensitive offering captures a small child’s experience of constant upheaval as she flies like a feather in the wind. A long final
note fills in more facts about Anna’s unique migrant group of Germans. (Hazel Rochman, Booklist)

Finally, a comment about a past post. Lemony Snickett, aka Daniel Handler, is performing with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony this upcoming weekend. Among other stories he will be featuring his work titled The Composer is Dead (see post from January 27, 2011) or for more information visit http://kwsymphony.ca/media/releases/10-11Int3Release.pdf

Magic Suitcase is on the move!

We are three more sleeps away from taking flight on another Nepali adventure. Those who have travelled with us or followed our adventures in the past will know that there is lots more going on than drinking tea (although we have had the privilege of experiencing the "three cups of tea" phenomenon each time).


This year we embark on our journey with 9 students and 5 adults. Our group of 14 from Canada is a strong and determined team and we look forwad to combining efforts with our Nepali cohorts. Led by Karma Sherpa and members of the YESS (Yangrima Ex-Students Society) group we will be visiting the village of Thakani, where we will work together to build a playground (which was the thrust of our fundraising efforts this time). Following our stay in Thakani we will trek to Sermathang, on the other side of the valley in the Helambu region, to visit Yangrima School, where our other hosts are from. Our team is prepared for the physical labour, the trek, the cultural experience and for the food! But, we are most excited about the life-long friendships our group will make, as we have.

The Magic Suitcase plays a role here as well. Last year 7 adults travelled to Helambu to work on two projects. One was to offer a 4-day sports training workshop for physical education teachers. We had 26 participants, all from Helambu schools. The second project was to build a library collection for Yangrima School. The best part of this project was purchasing the books in Kathmandu! Can you imagine what it looked like to have 7 teachers let loose in a four-storey building filled with books. We chose over 1000 books, had them transported up (2700m) to Yangrima school and sat for 2 days while we pasted cards and envelopes and catalogued each book before placing them on their new shelves. Thanks to Wintergreen and Brodart for their support.

This year's project is in conjunction with Run for Life, which collaborates with educators to deliver school-based running programs. Their Global Outreach program is an initiative that recycles running shoes and educational materials, including books, and repurposes them to rural schools in developing countries. They currently link Canadian Schools with schools abroad - in our case, Nepal. A direct school-to-school link is established via the use of smart phone technology to foster a unique learning experience for students in both communities. Please follow our journey via this link: http://schools.runforlife.ca/nepal


The Magic Suitcase's role has been to support Run for Life's initiative by finding suitable picture books in support of their varied running/literacy programs. Running Shoes by Frederick Lipp has been a "shoe-in" (pun intended!). In support of another running program called "Run Like a Girl" we recommend titles from the Planet Girl series such as Centsibility by Ellen Warwick and Stacey Roderick. Check out the art work provided by Monika Melnychuk and then visit http://www.runforlife.ca/ for the uncanny coincidence!

Gotta run... to Nepal!

Good things are happening here!

Magic Suitcase has been chose as the Bookstore of the Month at the House of Anasi Press! Check out Judy's interview at http://www.anansi.ca/