Saturday, December 7, 2013

Twitterville Talk #129

Something exciting (more than usual) happened on Twitter this week.  Several members of my PLN were talking about goals, resolutions.  Several tweets later a movement was born #nerdlution.  It's a fifty day commitment to do whatever you can when you can, writing, reading, good deeds, noticing the little things in life or exercising.  The support is amazing. This is what it means to be a part of a community.  It's not to late to join.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Take time for reading. Look for the giveaways.


This is a fantastic list. You might want to think about sharing it with administrators, parents and school board members.  25 Ways Schools Can Promote Literacy And Independent Reading

Thanks for this tweet goes to Ben Gilpin, elementary principal and blogger at The Colorful Principal.





It pays to stay up-to-date, Creative Commons unveils new 4.0 licenses.

Thanks for this tweet goes to Joyce Valenza, teacher librarian and blogger at NeverEnding Search.







Hooray! The Nerdy Book Club nominations have been tallied and the list has been revealed.  Follow this link to Donalyn Miller's SlideShare of the titles or this link to the Nerdy Book Club post.  Get reading so you can make informed choices!
To the first person who can tell me the first title on the picture book list, I will send a copy of Spike, the Mixed-Up Monster by Susan Hood with illustrations by Melissa Sweet.  Please send me a DM on Twitter or leave your answer in the comments below.

This is how you build a reading community---Little Red Goes to School (By Way of Boston)

Thanks to Donalyn Miller, teacher, author of The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child and Reading in the Wild: The Book Whisperer's Keys to Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits, co-founder of the Nerdy Book Club and blogger at Donalyn Miller for these tweets.




If you are looking for a way to give books a second life, give these 7 Bookish Craft Projects to Put You in the Christmas Spirit a try.


Thanks to Book Riot for this tweet.







It's not too late to make one of these or tuck this idea away for next year, How to create an online Advent calendar.


Thanks to Kelly Tenkely, founder of Anastasis Academy, Learning Genome Founder, tech integration specialist, instructional coach and Mac evangelist, for this post and tweet.





In case you missed the fast and furious tweeting for last Sunday's #titletalk on on resilience literature here is the archive.

Many thanks to Cindy Minnich, educator, co-founder of the Nerdy Book Club and blogger at Charting By The Stars, for complying the archive and for this tweet.







For fans of the series, Spirit Animals, author Maggie Stiefvater is reading the first chapter of Hunted.

Thanks for this tweet goes to Scholastic.







Little Chicken's Big Christmas book trailer previewed this week.



Thanks to author illustrator Katie Davis for this tweet.








John Flanagan talks about why the Ranger's Apprentice series has ended.



Please follow this link for the latest updates in the best books lists.

Are you ready?  Here are this week's book trailers.












Have you seen Booklist's Top 10 Science & Health Books for Youth: 2013?  
To the first person who can tell me one of the four books on this list which was reviewed on this blog, I will send a copy of The Beginner's Guide to Running Away from Home by Jennifer Larue Huget with illustrations by Red Nose Studio.  Please leave your answer in the comments below or send me a DM on Twitter. (This title has been won.)

The interviews and presentations from the 2013 National Book Festival are starting to be posted.  Follow this link for all the updates.

Reading Rockets has posted some useful seasonal ideas, Top 10 Family Reading and Writing Ideas for the Winter Holidays and The 2013 Holiday Buying Guide from Reading Rockets:  Books As Gifts.

Here are some great titles to add to your holiday shopping via Scholastic.



Thanks to John Schumacher, teacher librarian, co-host of the monthly #SharpSchu Book Club, 2011 Library Journal Movers & Shakers, 2014 Newbery Medal Committee member, and blogger at Watch. Connect. Read. for these tweets.






In case you missed the post #Nerdlution is looking for pictures.

Thanks to Colby Sharp, educator, co-host of the monthly #titletalk, co-host of the monthly #SharpSchu Book Club, co-founder of the Nerdy Book Club and blogger at sharpread for this tweet.





With every post the anticipation grows---Scholastic Spring Kids 2014|Preview Peek

Here is another---A Peek at First Second's Spring Collection

Thanks to School Library Journal for these posts and tweets.












This is one of the most beautiful essays I have ever read about the act of reading---Slice of Life: Life Has a Certain Uncertainty


Thanks for this tweet and post go to elementary school librarian and blogger at Reederama, Jennifer Reed.






It's always great when an author or illustrator shares their process with we lucky readers.



Thanks to James Burks, author illustrator of Bird & Squirrel on the Run!, for this tweet.









One of the tricky things with introducing tools into the classroom is adhering to the requirements for age.  This list will be useful to many educators, Webtools: No Registration Needed For Students
To the first person who can tell me the first category on this list I will send a copy of City Chickens by Christine Heppermann.  Please leave your answer in the comments below or send me a DM on Twitter.

Thanks to Richard Byrne, educator, speaker and blogger at Free Technology for Teachers for this tweet.







Here is another outstanding list of books---The Horn Book Fanfare!


Thanks to The Horn Book for this tweet.









The short list for the Morris Award has been announced.

Thanks to Teri Lesesne, college professor, speaker and blogger at The Goddess of YA Literature, for this tweet.





This might be handy if you are looking for a special gift for a reader friend---Children's Illustrators on ETSY



Thanks to illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi for this tweet.








This is a collection of some of my favorite tweets this week.  Several are included from #titletalk this past Sunday.  Many more are to be found in the #titletalk archives noted above.  My furry friend has added her favorites treats of the week too.































Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Friday, December 6, 2013

From The Ashes, Dreams Come True

To see the downtrodden lifted up, for a moment or for happily ever after, is food for the soul.  We cheer for their good fortune.  To see hope realized is a necessity.

A perennial favorite fairy tale, in all its variations, is of the orphan bullied by spoiled sisters and their haughty mother.  Who better to retell the tale than Jan Brett in Cinders: A Chicken Cinderella (G. P. Putnam's Sons, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.).  Let's open the cover stepping into a wintry Russia of the eighteenth century.

Snow on the outside, feathered friends on the inside.
  
At the end of every day Tasha takes a meal of oats to the chickens housed in the old tower.  Tonight it's hard for her to get there; a fierce blizzard is throwing wind and snow in all directions.  Finally out of the weather, three chickens, Largessa and her daughters, Pecky and Bossy, push their way forward to get most of the food.

Tasha brings Cinders out from beneath the wood stove where she hides. With Cinders in her arms, Tasha feeds here.  Snow has drifted against the door, leaving Tasha with no choice but to stay in the tower for the night until her father returns tomorrow.

Lulled by the cozy comfort found next to the stove in the chickens' tower, Tasha falls asleep.  Within seconds a golden light appears in the room.  The chickens' lives are about to take a flight of fancy.  There is an invitation to the Ice Palace by Prince Cockerel himself.

Cinders is at the peck and cackle of Largessa, Pecky and Bossy as they preen and dress for the ball.  After everyone leaves clothed in their finest gowns, Cinders is dismayed by her appearance and lack of anything to wear.  Her tears are interrupted by an unexpected light and the appearance of a Silkie hen.  Ah yes...a wand-waving fairy god-chicken has arrived to set things right.

A pumpkin, pigeons, mice and three ducks will serve as a sleigh, footmen, drivers and pullers taking Cinders dressed in a silver sarafan dress and slippers of crystal to the Prince's Ice Palace.  Cinders' arrival causes quite the stir among the gathered fowl.  Prince Cockerel is bewitched by her beauty.

The ice clock's chiming signals the breaking of the spell.  As dawn breaks on a new day, a crystal slipper, a shining egg, and an arrival complete not one but two stories.  On full moon nights you can never be quite sure what you might see or hear; perhaps magic will pay a visit.


One of the more unique qualities of this retelling by Jan Brett is having the Cinderella story told within the context of Tasha's love for her chicken friends.  It's only when she sleeps we readers see the chickens' other lives.  Alternating between a narrative and dialogue, Brett weaves a spell with her words like the Silkie does with her wand.  We are surrounded by the wonder of the events unfolding.  Here is a passage from the story.

The snow stopped and the moon shone a path through the window.
The chickens dressed in all their finery flew off to the Ice Palace.
All except Cinders. She looked down at her wet feathers and frayed
wing tips and started to cry.
Suddenly, the log in the stove flared. Into the light flew
a beautiful Silkie hen Cinders had never seen before.
"I'm here to get you ready for the ball," the Silkie promised,
and she brushed Cinders with her wand.


Jan Brett is known for visiting the place of her settings, to make sure everything, down to the tiniest detail, is authentic.  She and her husband, Joe, did indeed travel to St. Petersburg to become immersed in the architecture.  Unfolding the jacket and cover Cinders, riding in her sleigh is drawn through the snowy eighteenth-century Russian forest framed in white panels on the front as the Silkie hen wearing a glittering gown waves her sparkling wand framed in elegant scrollwork, cultural folk art and a wintry landscape on the back.  Endpapers in a brushed golden rose feature Cinders looking like she has been carved from wood surrounded by embellishments.

All the illustrations for this title are rendered in watercolor and gouache, spreading across two pages with a few exceptions.  Readers will be dazzled by the four page gatefold of the dancers at the ball.  The dark of night, the white of winter and the vibrant colors used for all the pictures inside contrast in a glorious array.  As readers have come to expect, Jan Brett adds to her story in the side panels giving us hints of the tale's path.  Intricate details on all the pages will have readers pausing and marveling at her skill, her love of art and storytelling.  I think one of my favorite illustrations is the outside of the Ice Palace with Silkie peering inside at the ball, right before the gatefold.


I highly recommend you add Cinders: A Chicken Cinderella written and illustrated by Jan Brett to your folktale collection, no matter how many variants you currently hold.  This depiction is simply lovely in word and pictures.  It will be a pleasure to share with one or many listeners.  Of course, I'm wondering if she still tucks Hedgie into her books.  I'll go back to look again and again.

Please follow the link embedded in Jan Brett's name to access her official website.  This links to her 2014 calendar based upon Cinders.  For a special page to color of Cinders follow this link.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Sailing Away

Comfort can be found and felt in the smallest of things.  The smell of bayberry candles reminds me of my Dad's smile and laughter; it was his favorite scent. The taste of hot chocolate reminds me of all those mornings counting the bubbles on top of a fresh hot mug; each representing a monetary amount.  The sight of Xena lying at my feet as I write and read reminds me of the countless hours we've spent walking and running.

Children find solace in a favorite blanket, stuffed animal, story or in the company of those who love them; as we all do.  In this third tale, Willy continues to find companionship with Bobo, his sock monkey.  Earl, the family cat, is never far behind, ready to steal Bobo away.  The entertaining trio is off on another adventure in Bobo The Sailor Man! (Atheneum Books For Young Readers) written by Eileen Rosenthal with illustrations by Marc Rosenthal.

This morning Willy woke up with a plan.

Not only is Willy taking Bobo exploring but he has BIG ideas.  The exuberance of Willy is contagious; knowing they might uncover dinosaur bones or, as improbable as it might be, a volcano.  With Willy and company a patch of mushrooms is not just a patch of mushrooms; they must be poisonous.

Each new item, acorns, a caterpillar, a stick, and a forgotten comb, are discovered treasures.  Their place in the world is elevated by Willy's imagination.  Cloud gazing reveals a menagerie of creatures past and present.

An abandoned pail by a nearby river, sends the ever present and most willing, Bobo on an unexpected voyage.  Willy can't run fast enough and the rocks are far too slippery to get Bobo back.  With a stern command to Earl to watch over Bobo, (as if he is not always doing so anyway), Willy runs off to get help.

What we see and Willy fails to see, will have readers giggling to their hearts' content.  Who's the rescuer and rescued?  Water trips, sailor hats and afternoon naps tell the tale.  And Earl...let's say he has the last laugh...again.


In each story Eileen Rosenthal, has created characters we want for friends.  The persistence and determination of Earl are to be admired.  No one would ever have a bad day with Willy's zest for life, his optimism, and his willingness to find joy at every opportunity.  Told entirely in Willy's conversations and thoughts, except for the first sentence, we can easily place ourselves in the middle of the action.


Bright yellow on the matching jacket and cover immediately attracts the viewer to the latest installment in the adventures of Willy, Bobo and Earl.  The contrasting vibrant red text, pail and boots hint at events to come.  As in the two previous titles, the back features Willy, clad in his pajamas, intent on his next undertaking, holding Bobo as he and Earl gaze out a window.

Plain pale yellow covers the opening and closing endpapers, with one exception.  In the lower right-hand corner of the beginning sits a tiny newspaper sailor hat.  Like the other two titles, the verso information takes on a specific shape.  This time it forms a pail.  

Drawn in pencil and colored digitally, Marc Rosenthal infuses each illustration with lively emotion.  For the most part chocolate brown lines define the settings with color filling in the characters and those elements specific to the narrative.  Text size accentuates the emotions flowing around several small illustrations on a page, single page pictures or the expressive double page spreads.  I think my favorite two pages are a series of six small pictures of Bobo's rescue.  I can't look at them without smiling.


The wife and husband team of Eileen Rosenthal and Marc Rosenthal have created another lighthearted winner in Bobo The Sailor Man!  Whether shared one-on-one or in a group setting, readers will fall in love all over again with these characters.  I would even venture to say, there might be more requests for lovable sock monkeys this Christmas season.  Bobo dressed in his bumblebee black and yellow is hard to resist.

If you want to discover more about the author and illustrator please follow the link embedded in their names to access their official websites.  Here is a link to the Simon & Schuster website for a look at more pages from the title.  It includes four activity pages to extend the fun of Willy and his friends. Here are links to my reviews of I Must Have Bobo! and I'll Save You Bobo!  For more sock monkey fun I would pair this with the series by author Cece Bell and Emily Gravett's book, Monkey and Me.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)