Mike Lupica has managed to write yet another book with a heart AND a strong sport connection.  The boys Physical Education teacher at my school constantly reminds me that there are all kinds of readers (and non-readers) which I must consider when selecting books.  “What do you have that I would like?” he has asked me.  And I value that!  It makes me remember that all readers do not like the same thing.  I make sure as I purchase for the school collection that I select some novels with Mr. E. in mind.

Mike Lupica, however, writes books that both Mr. E. AND I enjoy reading.  I always tell my students that when an author can write a sports story that “I” find interesting it HAS to be good!  I absolutely loved Lupica’s novel Heat and could not put Miracle on 49th Street down either.

Following her mother’s death from cancer, Molly is on a quest to get to know her father.  But her father is a Boston Celtics basketball STAR… and he does not know that Molly exists.  This story is full of grit, character, emotion AND basketball. 

The only weakness to the book in my estimation is the title; it doesn’t represent the book well.  Pivotal scenes in the narrative, both past and present, took place at NYC’s Rockefeller Center at the giant Christmas tree on 49th street but it still didn’t quite click for me. 

My only other disappointment in the novel was that the famous “breakup” between Molly’s parents was alluded to so many times that I expected a soul baring moment of explanation from Josh, Molly’s basketball star father… but it never came.  (I allow that this complaint is minor!)

Lupica’s sports scenes ring true, of course.  Mike Lupica has had a successful career as a sports columnist so it is hard to question his authority… although I did wonder if a kid like Molly would truly be allowed to trail along to practices and games as she did in the novel.  But if they can’t in real life – well, that is why they call this fiction.  And Miracle on 49th Street is certainly good, strong fiction.  And thank you Mr. Lupica for keeping it gritty AND appropriate for young readers.  There is no cheap stooping in a Lupica novel – just good writing.

I will heartily recommend this one to a broad group of YA readers… AND to Mr. E.!

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!