When I was young, so was television.  The were only two or three channels and there weren’t many shows for children.  I remember Romper Room and Corky the Clown (St. Louis TV!), but mostly I remember Captain Kangaroo and his Treasure House.  Mr. Moose and ping pong balls, Bunny Rabbit and bunches of carrots out of the Captain’s pocket, Dancing Bear, Grandfather Clock, the Magic Drawing Board, and Mr. Green Jeans were there for me every weekday morning.  I remember many things about the show, but mostly I remember the Captain reading to me.  There was no animation,  just the Captain’s voice bringing the book to life as the camera focused on the pages of the book.  Many of my childhood favorite books I connect to the Captain.  Apparently I’m not alone in connecting books to the Captain;  there is an Amazon Listmania for books Captain Kangaroo read in the 50s.

A tornado barely missed our house one night when I was four.  It knocked down huge old trees in the yard and with them, the TV antenna.  I remember sobbing, for in my four year old wisdom, the greatest tragedy that morning was no Captain Kangaroo!  Not many weeks later I recall watching the adults around me sob but not for the Captain; Captain Kangaroo was off the air for the three days of funeral coverage for President Kennedy.

I had outgrown the Captain by the time they began filming in color in 1969.  And the Captain was off the air by the time my children were born.   But I swear I am a lover of books thanks to my mother (of course) and the Captain. 

Frances O’Roark Dowell makes books very intimate, and Shooting the Moon is no exception.  Perhaps this one resonates particularly well because is drawn from the author’s childhood as an “army brat”. Jamie Dexter and her older brother TJ have been raised to worship Army all the way.  Hooah, yes sir!  So it is a huge surprise to both of them that their father, the Colonel, is unhappy when TJ enlists right out of high school .  But TJ is determined and is sent almost immediately to Vietnam.  The letters he begins sending to Jamie from Vietnam aren’t letters at all, but undeveloped rolls of film. 

Jamie develops sweet relationships with a couple of the young soldiers at the Fort Hood rec center; Private Hollister plays gin rummy with her and Sgt. Byrd teaches Jamie to develop her brother’s film.  Jamie confesses, “I was six months away from turning thirteen and I thought I knew everything.”  But the film helps Jamie see that the realities of war in Vietnam aren’t anything like the games they played at home.  The book has an abrupt ending, but the sufficient closure will satisfy most readers.

Woven throughout the narrative is a lot of Vietnam War slang, but the book is not overly graphic or particularly political.  I thought the book gently bittersweet.  My aide at the library, however, cried most of the way through the book.  Her cousin Butch died in Vietnam.  Dowell’s books do that to people. 

Earlier this year when I first booktalked Dowell’s novel, Chicken Boy, I thought it was an average story.  But as I described many of the difficult family situations the main character encounters in that book, one young teen nodded sagely.  “I’ll read that one,” she said quietly.  I knew enough about the young woman’s sad homelife to know Chicken Boy was resonating with her personally.  Once again, a Frances O’Roark Dowell book made a powerful connection with a reader.

Shooting the Moon should connect especially well with readers who have loved ones in the armed forces today.  The book’s narrative is nonlinear, however, making this book a more challenging read.  I recommend it for strong readers grades 4 and up. 

Second in the top-ten-from-my-childhood-favorites read aloud series is the 1943 Caldecott Medal Winner The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton.

Before I started reading the book to the students, I used it to discuss endpapers, title pages, and copyright date:

• We looked at how endpages are heavier to attach the book to the cover and how they can often be decorative in themselves.
• With each group we examined the title page. Kindergarten students were able to read the title along with me. We discussed how Virginia Lee Burton was both author and illustrator. For the second and third graders I mentioned how important the title page will be when they begin reading for information and must cite where they obtained the information. And, yes, I used the word “cite” but I explained it in context.
• I then referred to the back of the title page and challenged the teachers (who all remain in the room while I read) whether they knew the official name for the back of the title page. None of them knew it was a Latin word, verso. I assured the students that verso is probably a library/publishing only word – but now they know it, too! With some groups I mentioned how verso and reverse are related words because of the Latin.
• The copyright date of The Little House is 1942. I always try to relate copyright years to the world for students: In 1942 World War II was just started, and my father was six year’s old. Not all students have a concept of time; one first grader followed my time-line explanations by asking me how old I was in 1942. Without any hint of criticism I guided him to think about how old I would have been if my father was six years old. “We’re only six,” another student pointed out, not unkindly. The light bulb went on.

As I open to the first page I ask the students to watch the Little House because she is definitely the main character in this book. I point out how Burton made the house seem alive with emotions as the book progresses. I find this one of the most appealing aspects of the book and the students agree!

Many books can (and should) be read straight through so pace and story aren’t interrupted, but The Little House invited stopping to examine a few things. Vocabulary words and concepts we paused for included phases of the moon taking approximately a month (as beautifully represented in Burton’s illustration) and older words such as horseless carriage and cellar. I usually don’t give definitions or explanations, but rather lead the students with questions so they can make the connections themselves. This is SO much more valuable and they are very proud of themselves when they figure it out or already know it. And it is not always the “best and brightest” who make the connections so it can be a real boost for any student. We also discussed how the nearby large town once had trolleys, how Chicago is famous for her elevated trains, and how a nearby apple orchard is blurry pink if you pay attention driving by right now. After this very long and snowy winter spring is coming!

Read more:

SLJ article on 60th Anniversary

Houghton Mifflin books by Virginia Lee Burton

Lesson plan for The Little House

A successful two months of Monarch read alouds needed to be followed with another strong series of books. It had been a number of years since I focused on my favorite books so I thought it was time to explore them again. Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey remains number one on my personal list of childhood favorites. Certain titles retain echos of Captain Kangaroo’s voice and this is chief among them.

Make Way for Ducklings was the 1942 winner of the Caldecott Medal. (A number of Caldecott winners are on my top ten list of childhood favorites, however I do not recall focusing on that award as a child.) With its charcoal line drawings this book was timely for our school. Mark Kistler had just presented a wonderful assembly on drawing so my students immediately recognized elements he taught them such as shading and shadow in McCloskey’s wonderful drawings. (Kistler refers to elements of drawing as Renaissance Words and I was impressed with how much the students retained.)

The reading of Ducklings was followed with a short PowerPoint created from personal vacation pictures and photos from the Internet. (Google Image search is quick and easy!) So much in the book is real: Boston’s Public Garden, the Swan Boats, the Charles River and the Longfellow Bridge, and the State House to name a few. The PowerPoint included a map of this part of Boston. With the help of animated arrows we traced the ducklings’ trip from the Charles River across highway 28 (with Michael’s assistance), down Mt. Vernon street, right on Charles Street, across Beacon Street (with the help sent by Clancy) and into the Public Garden gate. Since 1987 visitors to the Public Garden are greeted just inside the very same gate by a statue of Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings. McCloskey’s drawings are so accurate and richly detailed! The students and teachers both enjoyed comparing the pictures in the book with the real places. (Later I discovered a wonderful resource on Google Earth – Google Lit trips - that I wish I had used.)

By connecting the book with the real world of Boston I hope to subtly introduce Information Literacy skills – higher order thinking, map reading, verifying what is real and what is not through the use of additional resources, etc.Although the humans depicted in the book are wearing 40s clothing, the book is not otherwise dated and my students responded to the book with the same enjoyment I have felt for all these years. They may be ducks, but it is still a warm story about family that leaves the reader satisfied.

Resources:

Map activities

Google Lit Trip! using Google Earth

Radio Interview with McCloskey - Enjoy yourself, but don’t bore the kids with it!

I read aloud to my K-3 students on a weekly basis throughout most of the school year.  Throughout January and February we focused on the 2008 Monarch books.  Our school voted for Traction Man, but, as usual, the state winner was something else.  I read Traction Man aloud with my best British accent.  (The book’s author, Mini Grey, is English and the book just begs to be read that way!)  I choose to think that it was my reading that pushed it over the top in our school!

Reading the Monarchs is a team effort at our school.  This year I read 15 of the titles while the teachers read aloud the chapter and longer picture books.  Students vote at the end of February.  We stress thinking for yourself and not letting others influence your vote.  Twenty large cans (from the school cafeteria) spray painted Monarch orange (by the high school shop teacher) are used for voting each year.  One of the twenty covers is taped to each of the cans and students vote by dropping a navy bean in the can of their choice.  We have them vote one at a time while the rest of the class looks the other way for privacy.

This year the last class to vote was a first grade.  Since they are learning to group by tens, they helped total the votes.  They were excited to be the first to know our school’s winner!

There is great value to participating in a childrens’ choice award.  The exposure to great books and the lessons about voting rights and privileges are only part of the benefit.  The Monarch creates a special focus and reading community while it lasts.  And it causes students to look at books and their relationship to them critically.  It becomes important to the students.  This year one first grade girl was home sick with a high fever, but she begged to come to school because we were voting for Monarchs that day.  Her mother contacted me and begged me to include her daughter’s vote.  We did, of course!

Next year’s titles are already announced.  We could begin sharing them with students, but at our school we prefer to read them within a condensed time period to help K-3 students better focus.  We are already looking forward to next January….