New Books from BER seminar, part 1

Hello!
Last week I told you I would be sharing information from my BER (Bureau of Education and Research) seminar by Judy Freeman. One of you mentioned that you would also be attending the same seminar but in another town a few days after me! So, Shelley, you will have to correct me if I get anything wrong, and also let me know if I leave out something that you loved.

Judy Freeman’s seminar is titled “What’s NEW in Children’s Literature and Strategies for Using it in Your Program (Grades K-6) 2019.” So all of these books will be new books published in 2018. I don’t have copies of all of these books, so I will be sharing titles, and the information Ms. Freeman gave us in the Resource Handbook.

This week I will be sharing a list of easy fiction/picture books.

All Are Welcome. Penfold, Alexandra. Illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman, Knopf, 2018. 36p. E (Gr. PreK-2) RL: 2.0.
If you want a book with diversity, multicultural families, and a general ‘melting pot’, you will enjoy this story about all children feeling welcome at school. Written in rhyme, each verse ends in the phrase “All are welcome here.” As the school day progresses, we see the children in different classes, lunch, recess, and story time. The ending is: “You have a place here. You have a space here. You are welcome here.”

Baby Monkey, Private Eye. Selznick, Brian, and Serlin, David. Illus. by Brian Selznick. Scholastic, 2018. 191p. E (Gr. PreK-2) RL: 1.0.
Yes, you read the number of pages correctly. This is a book on a first grade reading level that has 191 pages! If you have other books by Brian Selznick, you will understand. Many of the pages are full page illustrations in typical Selznick fashion and very few words. Brian won the Caldecott medal about 10 years ago for The Invention of Hugo Cabret with a story, but most of the two-inch-thick book was simply illustrations telling the story rather than words. Baby Monkey is a private eye who solves mysteries for people. Each story has the person come for help from Baby Monkey, who takes notes, and then gets ready to go. But first, he puts on his pants. The contortions he goes through to get his jeans on will have your children laughing so hard, it might be a distraction in the classroom. Judy advised us to get multiple copies for our school libraries. This is a great book for those children who want to check out a thick chapter book but may not be advanced enough to read it. However, they WILL be able to read Baby Monkey. I can’t wait until my copies come.

Can I Be Your Dog? Cummings, Troy. Illustrated by the author. Random House, 2018. 32p. E (Gr Prek-3) RL: 1.9
Poor Arfy. He is homeless living in a dilapidated cardboard box in the alley. He writes a letter to residents on Butternut Street asking if he can be their dog. “Woof! Can I be your dog? I am potty trained and I have my own squeaky bone. Also: I love to play. I see you have a cat, but I’m willing to work with you. Whooooo’s a good dog? I am! Sincerely, Arfy.” The family declines, but Arfy doesn’t give up. He writes more letters to other residents on the street. One day Arfy gets a letter. “Dear Arfy, Can I be your person?” It is from the letter carrier and Arfy finally finds a home.

Judy suggests that this is a great start to a persuasive letter unit. In any case, it is a fun book.

The Day You Begin. Woodson, Jacqueline. Illus. by Rafael Lopez. Penguin/Nancy Paulsen, 2018. 32p. E (Gr. K-6) RL: 1.8
Jacqueline Woodson is probably an author you already have in your school or library. This is one to add to that collection. This book has many themes that provide discussion points for your students: how to fit in, how to make friends, withstand teasing, and how to believe in your own talents and life experiences. All this in one picture book. The book begins, “There will be times when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you. Maybe it will be your skin, your clothes, or the curl of your hair.” My favorite line is this one: My favorite line is this one: “And all at once, in the room where no one else is quite like you, the world opens itself a little wider to make some space for you. . .”
Very simply done, but powerful text makes this a wonderful addition to your library.

The Dinosaur Expert. (Mr. Tiffin’s Classroom series) McNamara, Margaret. Illus. by G. Brian Karas. Schwartz & Wade, 2018. E (Gr. K-4) RL: 2.4
I am NOT a fan of dinosaurs, but this isn’t really about dinosaurs. Kimmy loves the natural world and collects rocks, shells, leaves, feathers, and much more. She is so excited when the class goes on a field trip to the natural history museum and looks forward to sharing her knowledge of dinosaurs and fossils. Then one boy comments that girls aren’t scientists. Kimmy is silenced by this and notices the photos of all the male paleontologists pictured. Her understanding teacher notices this and gently guides Kimmy over to the recent find of a dinosaur skeleton and points out that the species is named after the fossil hunter Dr. Brandoni de Gasparini – a woman. Kimmy quickly realizes that she CAN be a scientist and begins to share her wisdom with the class after all.
So I am not a fan of dinosaurs, but I AM a fan of encouraging little girls to be scientists.

I Walk With Vanessa: A Story about a Simple Act of Kindness. Kerascoet. Illus. by the author. Schwartz & Wade, 2018. 2p. E (Gr. PreK – 3) RL: 0.0
I love wordless picture books and this is a lovely one. The soft illustrations tell the story of a new girl who arrives at school and is bullied by a boy. Vanessa sits alone at lunch and walks alone during the day. Our little heroine watches all this from a distance and thinks about it. She tries to get her friends to help, but they each walk away. Our heroine thinks about this all evening and the next morning she goes to Vanessa’s house to walk with her to school. Other children join them all gathering around Vanessa until nearly the whole school is walking with Vanessa. The bully looks on, but cannot get near her to continue his bullying. Vanessa is safe and has friends.
The endpapers are very interesting. The front endpapers are in shades of gray, but the final endpapers are bright colors. Judy suggests we ask the children why they look the way they do. What a wonderful supplement to a unit on bullying!

Saffron Ice Cream. Rashin. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine, 2018. Illus. by the author. 40p. E (Gr. K-3) RL: 4.0
This is autobiographical by the Iranian author. She comes to America and is excited to go to the beach. But, not just any beach – an American beach. She remembers her trips to the beach when she lived in Iran where she knew the rules of the beach. Long curtains divide the sand and water into two sections with men and boys on one side and women and girls on the other. Illustrations help show what it is like in Iran for the people. But now, Rashin lives in America – in Brooklyn, NY and doesn’t know the rules of this beach. Things are very different, and they don’t sell her favorite flavor of ice cream – saffron. She is homesick for her beach, her friend, and everything that is familiar and begins to cry. The ice cream seller encourages her to try another flavor and things begin to look up for Rashin.
Judy comments that children in our country likely are unfamiliar with sex-segregated beaches and this opens a teachable moment for us when sharing this book.

Stegothesaurus. Heos, Bridget. Illus. by T. L. McBeth. Henry Holt, 2018. 32p. E (Gr. PreK-3) RL: 2.4
I believe I mentioned above that I am NOT a dinosaur fan. However, I am a fan of words and I like using a thesaurus. The book jacket blurb inside begins: Once upon a time there were three dinosaurs. A stegosaurus. (The dinosaur says, “Hi.”) Another stegosaurus. (This dinosaur also says, “Hi.”) And a stegothesaurus. (THIS dinosaur says, “Hello! Greetings! Salutations!) He was a little different from his brothers.
What a fun way to introduce a thesaurus to children and to help them increase their vocabulary.

We Don’t Eat Our Classmates! Higgins, Ryan T. Illus. by the author. Disney-Hyperion, 2018. 40p. E (Gr. PreK-3) RL: 2.0
For a person who doesn’t like dinosaurs much, I bought THREE books about them! Penelope, the little T. rex dinosaur, is excited about her first day of school. The illustrations of her supplies for the day are hilarious. Her new backpack has her favorite on it. Ponies! Because ponies are delicious! She also has a pony lunch box and three hundred tuna sandwiches and one apple juice. When Penelope actually gets to school she is very surprised to find that her classmates are CHILDREN! So. . . she ate them. Because children are delicious. Of course the teacher has Penelope spit them out and they are all mad at her. She tries to make friends but no one wants to be her friend. Penelope was lonely. At home, she cries and tells her dad that no one would be her friend. Penelope’s dad asked her if she ate her classmates. “Well, maybe just a little bit,” was the reply. Dad responds with, “Sometimes it’s hard to make friends especially if you eat them. You see, children are the same as us on the inside. Just tastier.”
So goes the story. Penelope gets a taste of her own medicine when the goldfish bites her finger. She learns what it is like to be someone’s snack and she doesn’t like it one bit. Penelope learns to make friends and stays away from Walter the goldfish! He knows that dinosaurs are delicious.

Well, I think that is enough to get you started. More next time.
Have a great week and safe holiday.
Audrey

High-Low books ideas needed

Greetings!
High-Low Books: One of you asked me for lists of books for low readers in higher grades; particularly students in middle school who are reading at about 2nd – 4th grade reading levels. I will keep an eye out for titles like this, but I will be the first to admit that this is NOT my specialty. If any of you have found books on these levels that are age appropriate for upper levels, please send those titles to me and I will compile a list that we can all use when needed.

I hope you have a great week.
Audrey