oh no! not again!

I can tell Nate loves Oh No! Not Again! because it frequently gets pulled off the shelf and ends up on the floor of his room after he's done reading it.

The time-traveling bespectacled girl from Oh No! is back, and this time, is in disbelief over one incorrect answer on her history test (she still got an A, mind you).  Her plan to go back in time to 33,000 BCE to fabricate some cave paintings—which will render her answer correct on the test—goes completely and utterly awry.

Ridiculously clever and comedic with a slightly dreadful ending, Oh No! Not Again! has all the makings of a retro sepia-toned sci-fi film.  Perfectly executed, but would we expect anything less from a team like Mac Barnett and Dan Santat?

little lit book series: the family edition

We're sharing books on the theme of family in this month's #littlelitbookseries.

“Their little red car seemed to muster all of its courage as it waited outside, ready for the road.”  Stuck in their car in a torrential downpour on a trip home, Francie and her mother talk about what they will name her baby sister when she's born.  They run through different possibilities, with none of them feeling like a good fit.  But later a significant moment comes when her mother comes up with just the right name, one that Francie will remember forever.

We love how Bob Graham sets the scene with not just what's happening with the protagonists of the story.  He expands his narrative and paints a picture of the environment and other people in it, all part of the bigger picture, just like in our lives.  There is our narrative—the moments that string together to make up the course of our lives—and how that all fits into  the world around us.  Our story becomes a part of everyone else's story.  A beautiful reminder that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves.

Home in the Rain is by Bob Graham and published by Walker Books.

in defense of read-aloud

Been meaning to share this for a while.  If you read The Read-Aloud Handbook, loved it and were inspired by it, this should be next up on your list.

Dr. Steven Layne is Professor of Literacy Education at Judson University, a literacy consultant and was a teacher in public education for fifteen years.  In his book In Defense of Read-Aloud, Dr. Layne presents the art of the read-aloud.  He talks through the how, the when and the why of reading aloud to children and the increasing body of research supporting it.

“Leading researchers in the field of literacy provide positions statements; authors of professional books share insights on books they have loved; leaders of the largest literacy organizations in the United States write about their favorite read-alouds; award-winning authors of children’s and young adults books (Katherine Paterson, Andrew Clements, and Lois Lowry, to name a few) share the powerful behind-the-scenes stories of their greatest books; and real classroom teachers and librarians speak about books that have ‘lit up’ their classrooms and libraries around the world.”

“Amidst the clanging noise of today’s technology, Steven Layne offers here a clear clarion call on behalf of reading to children.  It is insightful, reasoned, entertaining (rare in the field), and carefully researched for those who might doubt the urgent need for something that doesn’t need a Wi-Fi hot spot.  It should be on every teacher’s must-read list.” — Jim Trelease, author, The Read-Aloud Handbook

Published by Stenhouse Publishers.

did you ever see?

“Have you ever sped past in such a hurry that everything you passed was soft and blurry?  And did you ever squeeze your eyes so tight that you saw lots of dots of colored light?”

A book about how children see things, their unique perspectives and their perceptions.  Partly because all of it is new to them, they take things in differently than adults, seeing them close-up, noting details and nuances, realizing that things look tiny from above.  Do you remember the first time you noticed that things looked backward in a mirror?

Your experience of seeing something for the first time leads to wondering, feeling, learning.  The visual experiences you have as a child stay with you and their memories surface at random times during your life.  They also become part of your concrete experiences and the prior knowledge that you build upon when learning new concepts in school.  But they always become a part of who you are, and how you make sense of this big, wide world.

Joanna Walsh’s thoughtful questions and modern illustrations of simple pattern, texture and color speak to children’s sensibilities.  She reminds us to stop, look up, look around, look down, and see the world, observe it, experience it, consider a new perspective of it and remember the wonder of it—whether you’re a child or a grown-up.

Did You Ever See? was written and illustrated by Joanna Walsh and published by Tate Publishing.