A week ago I read a lovely new Thanksgiving story to my K-3 students:  One is a feast for a mouse:  A thanksgiving tale by Judy Cox, illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler.  This is a predictable tale of a mouse raiding the after-Thanksgiving dinner table.  Somewhat cumulative, his initial satisfaction with one pea as “a feast for me” quickly disintegrates as he spies a cranberry, and then an olive, and eventually the whole platter of leftover turkey.  The cumulative elements are reflected in both text and illustrations as he piles the items one atop the other, higher and higher.  A novel would be poorly rated if it was predictable and repetitious, but this creates the perfect K-3 read aloud! 

During the reading, when I was assured that the students were predicting the outcome of the mouse’s greedy balancing act, I stopped and shared with them what my mother would have said… “This is an accident waiting to happen.”  Students nodded sagely.  This is wisdom they have heard and understand!

Of course, Mouse loses everything at the end.  But wait!  The pea is still available… and his attitude is repaired.  “Give thanks!  One is a feast for me!”  Given the current economic times (at least as bemoaned by the media) I think the message of the book is timely.  We can all do with much less and still find much for which to be thankful!

“Give thanks!”

Cynthia Kadohata has written her best novel yet in Cracker! Best Dog in Vietnam.  (Sorry Ms Kadohata – in spite of the Newbery Award, I did not like Kira-Kira.)   The 2009 Caudill Award has a nominee on the subject of war dogs in Vietnam, but while they are on the same topic each approaches it in distinct ways. 

Letters from Wolfie (by Patti Sherlock) is a good introduction to the topic of war dogs, but its focus is primarily on the home front.  It provides an excellent overview of both the pro and con attitudes toward the Vietnam war.  (It rang true with my memories of those days!)

Cracker! puts most of the book’s action in Vietnam.  Readers who like war stories will be more than satisfied with the well-researched details and action included.  Cracker! breaks your heart right from the start with the original owner, Willie, giving up his dog – not for particularly patriotic reasons, but because he can’t keep him under the family’s reduced circumstances. Unfortunately the ending was a bit contrived and unrealistic.  The tragedy of the war dogs in Vietnam was that not one of the dogs returned to civilian life.  (http://www.uswardogs.org/id10.html).  Kadohata obviously felt compelled to give readers an unrealistic happy ending.  Rather than making this more suitable for YA readers, because the happy ending is misleading, I find it less suitable.  YA readers of historical fiction deserve the truth – at least in an author’s note.

A unique and very appealing element of the book is the voice which alternates between the handler, Rick and the dog, Cracker.  Unlike the usual approach, the voices are not in alternating chapters but embedded into the narrative.  This, amazingly, does NOT appear contrived and the narrative flows in an natural way between the two voices. 

It is about time we begin to see the Vietnam Era in books for YA readers.  Wolfie, by far, has the broadest appeal:  it works for dog lovers and/or history lovers.  Cracker! is quite a bit grittier and thus more appropriate for the dedicated readers of war stories.  In spite of it’s more narrow audience appeal, Cracker! is by far the better written book on war dogs in Vietnam. 

Cracker! Best War Dog in Vietnam = Cracker! Best war dog book on the shelf!

To read more on war dogs, their handlers, and the memorials see the resources on the Caudill web site.

K-3 storytimes have started for the year!  I love Thursdays when I read aloud to all twelve Kindergarten through Third Grade classes.  Because the library is too busy, to avoid distractions I do stories in the classrooms; most of them have a story carpet or area.  Cramming 12 storytimes into one day is tiring, but with three schools to supervise it works out best for all concerned.

Still in a pirate mood, I began this year’s storytime with “Henry and the Bucanneer Bunnies”.  This is one of the Monarch titles for the year, plus it caught my interest since the author Carolyn Crimi was a speaker at the ISLMA conference last weekend.  Crimi is one of the Three Silly Chicks - self diagnosed as “readers, writers, and reviewers of funny books for kids”.  And this is a funny book for kids, with plenty of humor for the adult reader, too.  Some of the jokes, like Rabbitson Crusoe, the kids don’t understand unless you choose to enlighten them.  Be sure to check out Calico Jack’s cabbage tattoo and think it through…I missed it the first nine readings…) 

I begin the book by explaining that buccaneer is another word for pirate (more or less).  The only other vocabulary that needs an explaination is meteorology.  I chose to break on that page each reading, making sure the students know the word meteorology.  (I rarely provide meanings – I usually ask them for the meaning and guide their thinking if necessary.)  Then I would share and explain the “red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky at morn, sailors take warn” verse.  I had them repeat it after me.  (I believe the more ways we can connect kids, books, and the world to each other, the better readers we will create!)  Then it was back to the book…

With the younger students I edited the text a bit.  “I read it in 101 Things to Do with Palm Fronds and Coconuts” worked better when I didn’t include the funny (but over-their-heads-distracting) title.  “I read it in a book.” worked better with K-1.  On the next page I again edited:  “I found the recipe in a cookbook” worked best with the very primary.

Since “Buccaneer Bunnies” only took 10 minutes to read aloud, I paired it with an old favorite of mine:  Sailor Moo:  Cow at Sea.  Author Lisa Wheeler was at Illinois Reading Conference this past spring (2008).  This lovely book is packed full of humor that must be explained.  Most of the humor is cow or milk related:  hoofed it, coward, Jersey shore, and Half ‘n Half. 

Explaining humor is a good thing – part of education. Humor doesn’t come naturally (except body humor) and must be learned and refined.  I love making the point to the kids that the more you know, the more humor you understand.  Case in point:  unless you know cows have four stomaches, the line “She felt her stomachs ache” isn’t funny. 

Vocabulary that I introduced before starting included the words feline and bovine.  I also discovered that my students did not know what was meant when you call someone yellow.  Yellow, coward, and chicken weren’t in their vocabularies – scaredy cat was, but not the others.  I began telling them how proud of them I was that they didn’t know these!  We strive against name calling and playground bullying – it must be working.  Hopefully they won’t begin calling each other yellow or coward and then claim Mrs. Brandt taught them the taunt!  Of course, I DO hope they remember all of the other wonderful vocabulary this book introduces. 

Sailor Moo and parts of Henry & the Buccaneer Bunnies may be a little over their heads – but I believe in aiming high!  After all – isn’t that the strength and beauty of read aloud?!  We can go together where we could not go alone…

I keep losing Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix.  I brought my library’s partially cataloged copy home this summer and kept misplacing it.  I finally began reading it only to lay it aside unfinished for a lovely week reading Meyer’s Twilight novels.  Two months later I found it, unfinished, in the stack.  I read it and after another month am finally commenting on it. 

Found pales in comparison to the other readings I have done recently, which probably explains why I keep losing track of Found.  My middle school readers (both the proficient and the reluctant) have loved Haddix’ Shadow Children series.  (In our library we fondly refer to them as the “Among the…” books rather than by their correct series title.)  My readers will probably like this first in the new “The Missing” series, but it is not as rich as Among the Hidden and has a trite and sometimes confusing plot.  But it is a fun read and is right on target for the audience; not every book has to be great.  And the cliffhanger ending will have the students pestering me for the next one.  The second book, Sent, according to Haddix’ website, will be out in 2009.

Regardless, Found just loses it somehow.

This book by Melinda Long is hands down my favorite read aloud of the decade.  I love it because I can use a silly pirate accent.  But I truly love it because the audience can participate as the pirate crew. 

The text has bits in large font where the crew echo Captain Braid Beard.  Before I begin reading I prepare the students.  We practice the first line, “A good one to boot!” several times.  If they aren’t pirately enthusiastic at first, we keep practicing until they are laughing and they get it.

Of course kindergarten and first grade don’t always read well enough without assistance, but I’ve used it with them by whispering their lines right before they should say them.  I direct the “crew” chorus with a pirate fist pump across the chest.  (Say “Aargh!” while moving your arm and you’ll know what I mean!)

One pirate crew line later in the narrative, however, is actually a question.  “After it?” the crew is supposed to whisper.   If they don’t catch the question mark and apply the correct inflection this is a great chance to reinforce what they learn in reading.

Recently I used How I Became A Pirate with the seventh graders.  They were beginning a unit where they would be reading a picture book aloud to the lower grades and I was called in to model good read aloud techniques.  The fact that the teacher scheduled this on Halloween inspired me to invent Captain Book and read in costume.

How I Became A Pirate is so rich in humor that it works with the older kids – and they didn’t need me to whisper their lines to them!  For the reading I invited those big, long-legged kids to come sit in front of me for storytime as they had four, five, six and seven years before.  Most of them came without hesitation.  And most participated enthusiastically without hesitation.  The opportunity to participate made it fun and less “babyish”. (Actually, this was a great activity for those who usually DON’T want to participate in class!  They’re cool with being a pirate crew!) 

There is an equally funny sequel called Pirates Don’t Change Diapers … and I promise, it is “a good one to boot!”

A few years ago my aide and I dressed as a little old woman and a little old man for Halloween.  For the first half hour of the day we abandoned our posts in the Library Media Center and went from room to room.  “Have you seen our boy?”  we sobbed dramatically.  “He just ran off… and he shouted horrible things back at us.  Run, run, run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me,” we wept. The kids were confused… and then delighted as they understood we were from the story, The Gingerbread Man. 

One of the first grades had the last laugh, however, as at the end of the day they came into the library shouting, “We found him!”  They had created a gingerbread boy out of construction paper.  We still use him when we decorate for Christmas.

We thought we would never top that memory.  But this year I believe we may have done…

This year for Halloween we were bookaneers:  Captain Book and his sidekick, First Mate Reed.  (Our parrot’s name was Paige!)  We again abandoned our LMC posts and carried an old footlocker from room to room declaring we had a treasure.  We were quite dramatic in exclaiming that we had a truly valuable treasure and we invited the students to guess and then peak at what might be inside.  Even the sixth graders played along, although they knew it was going to be books inside.    It was gold foil covered books inside (from a previous “Golden Oldies” promotion). 

As Captain Book I got on my soap box and told the students that “there were no greater treasure to be found than a good book in yer hand and the ability to read it.”  Before we shoved off I also made each class promise to be “good as gold” that day since Halloween can get a bit silly and wild.  The teachers loved it.  The kids loved it.  We made a good memory for all… and were able to have fun while promoting what we truly believe:  There IS no greater treasure on this earth than a good book and the ability to read it!

Revolution is Not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine is another novel which should only be recommended to more mature readers.  Like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, adults would also enjoy reading this novel.  Unlike The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, most adults are not as familiar as we should be with the events of Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China.  But where Striped Pajamas is deceptively innocent, the intensity of Revolution builds throughout the novel toward sadly realistic raw violence.

Compestine does a terrific job of providing background for the reader.  The novel is semi-autobiographical which means Ying Chang and I must be of similar ages, but I was ashamed that so much of the information was new to me.  I had vague knowledge of Mao and the party of four who were prosecuted, but I was woefully ignorant of all the content contained in this narrative.

This novel could be paired with Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You by Hanna Jansen which details the genocide in Rowanda.  And it certainly could be contrasted in writing style and treatment of a difficult subject with The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. 

How very sad that I hesitate to make these books accessible to younger readers, yet children around the world must live these events.  November is the month of Thanksgiving.  Read one of these novels and be thankful for the blessings we enjoy.  And may we be richer for the knowledge we gain from these novels and therein wiser as we support our leaders in foreign policies.

Suddenly everyone is talking about John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.  You would think they were making it into a movie or something.  Oh.  Wait!  They are.  The movie is being released this week on November 14. 

My dear husband (who does not usually pay attention to any of my reading) actually noticed Boyne’s novel laying on our table.  The movie is getting a lot of press and since my husband is a radio announcer he asked me about it.  (He may actually read it!  But I won’t hold my breath.  He doesn’t usually elect to read fiction.)

The novel was released in 2006 and I had heard some professional library conversation about it, but hadn’t read it myself until now.  Called a historical allegory – a fable – this is a completely unique book.  The novel is innocently horrifying.  This book views the holocaust – Auschwitz in particular – through the eyes of a lonely 8 year old German boy and his friend in striped pajamas on the other side of the fence.  Called by the author ‘a children’s book adults might like’, this is a book no child or young person will understand without strong background knowledge of the Holocaust.  A younger reader (or any reader without the necessary background) will not understand the book and be left with unanswered questions.  Although the protagonist is only eight, I would agree with the reviews which placed this novel as best for grades 7-12 and/or 9-12.  For more mature readers, this novel leaves plenty to talk about either in class or over coffee.  The motion picture promises to do the same.

Ooops.  What happened to October?  Bookfair, Marching Band and a fatal car accident for one of my daughter’s friends happened to my October.  Here is hoping November is more peaceful.

Jordan Sonnenblick is coming to the ISLMA conference this weekend.  One of the joys of being Awards Chair for the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award is hosting the winning authors.   In preparation I have reread the winning title, Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie.  This second reading made me remember why it won.  Sonnenblick is hitting on all points for YA readers – appealing to their interests and emotions in equal measure.  The narrative flows in a natural flow-of-consciousness voice from the main character Steven.  This is yet another strength for attracting today’s YA readers! 

I had a complaint from a parent last April regarding Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie.  (It was interesting timing, since the book had just been named the Caudill winner.)  The mother’s complaint focused on the book being inappropriate for her son.  I had to agree – her son was a fourth-grader with a below average reading ability and maturity to match.  This was not the book for him (as I tried to persuade him when he checked it out).  Since I was in agreement with the mom, her complaint died a quick death and I was able to turn the conversation to convincing her to persuade her son to take our reading recommendations more seriously. 

I successfully sidestepped it, but the mom wanted to complain to me about the book’s apparent focus on “hot girls”.  If this mom had read past page two (which does mention “hottest girl” three times!) she would have discovered wonderful depths in the book.  But she didn’t read long enough to discover that Steven outgrows his obsession with ”hot girl, Renee Albert”.  If she had kept reading she would have seen Steven discovering Renee as a person… and she would have seen him developing a more healthy relationship with Annette.  But she missed it…  (Her loss.  Huge loss.)  Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie is NOT a book for less mature readers, not because of any truly inappropriate content but because it is too rich for them.  This title is best for readers grades 6-12.

Tonight I also finished Sonnenblick’s most recent title Dodger and Me.  In contrast, THIS title IS for 4th and 5th grade readers!  More simple and silly, never-less it has the same great flow in the narrative. As a fifth grader, Willie doesn’t see girls as “hot”‘; he sees girls, Lizzie in particular, as annoying.   Like Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie, though, our hero eventually sees the girl as a person of value.  A friend.  And, like Drums…, it also seems to echo Sonnenblick’s favorite theme:  “give your parents a break, they’re just people, too!” 

Dodger for President comes out in spring 2009.  A sequel is also appropriate for fourth and fifth grade readers who can’t get enough of whatever good thing they are hooked on reading.  Series and sequels suit their reading development needs, so bring it on!  With the election tomorrow and (*sigh) no one running I wish to vote for… perhaps Dodger is the answer!