Oh Bother! Someone’s Fighting (1997)

    Oh Bother!  Someone’s Fighting (1997) by Nikky Grimes is a Golden Books publication based on the Pooh stories by A.A. Milne. Eeyore is moving a pile of thistles back-and-forth and back-and-forth. “It wasn’t a very interesting way to spend an afternoon but then your head nothing better to do." Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, and Pooh give Eeyore advice about how to spend time. Of course, their opinions reflect their own preferences. Unfortunately, Tigger and Rabbit fight over what's best for Eeyore. Piglet saves the day with a suggestion the everyone can enjoy. It might have been nice refocus on Eeyore.  An adult could explicitly point out this alternate solution: What would Eeyore like to do? "'Does anybody want to know what I--' began Eeyore, but he never finished hs sentence. Tigger and Rabbit were so busy arguing wth each other, they forget that Eeyor was even there." Children may empathize with Eeyore's problem of being told what they should like to do.

     Jamie Harmon has Poster: Eeyor Quote.  Meet the Needs has Eeyore File Folder Games. Brilliant Pathways Enterprises has a Winnie the Pooh Craft.

 

James Bear's Pie (1992)

     James Bear's Pie (1992) by Jim Latimer is cuisine for the cook and the chemist. Bear is tired of eating grass. His friend Skunk suggests he make a pie. Crow has an oven; however, Crow isn't available to supervise Bear's cooking. When Skunk leaves to find ingredients, Bear is left alone to make his hilarious mistake. Betsy Franco-Feeney illustrates Bear as earnest and perplexed by a recipe, which may mirror children's experiences. Bear doesn't recognize his mistake throughout the entire story. He's elated with the results of his baking and will never go back to meals of alfalfa. Even though Skunk reveals the blunder, she doesn't completely explain it, so children will need to learn about yeast. The drama isn't frightening. The setting is an old stone bakery with shelves of ingredients, many of which are spilling. Messiness is another quality readers may relate to.  Bear's satisfaction with his pie is palpable. I was dismayed by the poor review of this book on Goodreads. I found it delicious.

     Imperfectly Primary has How to Bake a Pie, Sequence Primary Writing. Audrey Baldwin has No Bake Pumpkin Pie Recipe. Not Your Speech Teacher has Baking a Pie Verb Exemplars. 

 

Now I Will Never Leave the Dinner Table (1996)

      Now I will never leave the dinner table (1996) by Jane Reed Martin and Patricia Marx, and illustrated by Roz Chast has a familiar theme; Patty Jane Pepper has many complaints about her perfect older sister. It's interesting to see how different authors work with classic topics like this one. Joy, the older sister, is babysitting during dinner time, demanding that Patty Jane eat her spinach. Patty Jane takes this opportunity to describe how she feels about her sister: Joy doesn’t like to have fun, has invented 17 ways to cook spinach, eats candy with a fork, folds her shirts neatly, and tattletales on Patty Jane. 

     Patty Jane imagines all kinds of possible responses to her sister. For example, if Joy were to move up the street to live with a stern older couple, Patty Jean would throw all the neatly folded shirts out the window to assist with the move, rent out Joy's diary for two dollars a day, and eat all her dessert. Patty Jean's solution is foreshadowed early in the story when she figures out a way to eat her spinach.  Then, she changes her mind. "Perhaps it would be best for everyone if I allow Joy to remain here." This ending feels too easy.

      I like Roz Chast's use of mugshots to describe Joy and I like the format variations; sometimes an illustration is a full page, sometimes it’s framed; sometimes there’s a couple of illustrations on each page; and there's a two-page spread. Her illustration of Patty Jean's gum keychain collection feels out of character. The book is another option for children with "perfect" older sisters.

     

 

A Fine, Fine School

      When I saw the names Sharon Creech and Harry Bliss on the cover, I expected a masterpiece. But A Fine, Fine School  (2001) was just OK. The insights and surprises I love about Creech's middle grade stories did not appear in this repetetive and predictable text. She does communicate a valuable message: too much school precludes the essential learning that takes place beyond the classroom. Furthermore, "No one knew how to tell Mr. Keene that." Mr. Keen is the dedicated principal of a fine, fine school. But his position of power prevents people from disagreeing with him. Sound familiar? This is unfortunate, because Mr. Keen does listen when a student, in a kind and respectful manner, challenges his decisions. Perhaps he would have listened if someone had spoken up sooner. 

     Marcy Boatman has A Fine Fine School for Journeys. The Learning Beach has Vocabulary Powerpoint: A Fine, Fine School.  Teaching Tomorrow Story has A Fnie, Fine School Digital Vocabulary Supplement.

*Bunny Cakes (1997)

      Bunny Cakes by Rosemary Wells (1997) is another example of her genius, in my opinion. How does she capture powerful messages in the simplest of stories? Her compassion and insight compel me to grab for her books. In this story, it's grandma's birthday. Little Max makes grandma an earthworm cake. But older sister Ruby says, "'No, Max . . . We are going to make Grandma an angel surprise cake with raspberry-fluff icing.'" Let the repetition begin. Max's repeated blunders sends him to the store to replace what he's destroyed in the making of the angel surprise cake. And yet, these repeated trips to the store include novelty and purpose. We cheer on Max in his dogged pursuit. We watch the evolution of line on paper. The story celebrates Ruby and Max equally. Wells' colorful illustrations are closeups that make us smile at every page and we finish the book feeling happy and inspired. 

     Triplets plus One has Bunny Cakes Comprehension Activities. Junior Kindergarten DAyZ has Bunny Cakes Literacy Activity. 

      

The Cable Car and the Dragon (1972)

      The Cable Car and the Dragon by Herb Caen (1972) is a pleasant story about a cable car in San Francisco named Charlie. The narrator is a man who rides Charlie almost every day. He provides a brief history of life before Andrew Hallidie invented the cable car in 1873, before we meet Charlie. He describes how he rides Charlie up steep hills and down valleys, past buildings big and little, through ethnic neighborhoods, and then, "Just when you think you're going to go right into the water, the cable car suddenly turns into a pretty little park, and that's the end of the line." While riding the cable car all alone one night, the man talks with Charlie. "I think I'm getting a little old for the job," Charlie says, and, "I'm not having any FUN." When Charlie and the man pass a Chinese New Year's parade, the cable car jumps the tracks to see the giant Chinese dragon. The dragon is thrilled to meet Charlie and sneaks off to ride the cable car. Of course, some drama ensues. The cover art by Barbara Ninde Byfield invited me to pick up the book. Her illustrations are part of the fun of this fiction.

     Patty Fernandez Artist has Let's Draw a Cable Car! Drue's ESL has San Francisco City Profile.

   

The Island of the Skog (1973)

      In The Island of the Skog (1973) by Steven Kellogg,  a small band of oppressed mice sail to a new land in search of peace and freedom. Their ship goes off course; nevertheless, they arrive at their intended destination and claim ownership of the land. The beginning of this story has a hauntingly familiar historical echo. Bouncer, the voice of militancy, overrides the other mice and advances upon the Island of Skog by assaulting it with cannonballs. This approach almost ends in tragedy. "If only we had talked to each other," says Jenny, the voice of peace. When their fearful delusions dissolve into reality, even Bouncer reappraises the situation.  The ending of this story may prompt debate in older students  who are willing to read this mouse tale as allegory.

     My Picture Book Talk lesson for this story is here. 

     

Grandmother Bryant's Pocket (1996)

       Petra Mather's illustration style feels true for Grandmother Bryant's Pocket (1996) by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. It evokes the feeling of a simpler time. On the first page is a note about pockets: "hundreds of years ago, pockets were not sewn into skirts as they are now.… A woman tied a pocket around her waist, under her skirt. Slits in the skirt allowed her to reach it.” The plot is about loss and healing. In 1787, Sarah Bryant is eight years old when her dog passes away in a barn fire. Nightmares fill her dreams.

  Grandmother Bryant knows a thing or two about recovery. “She knew the medicines that grew in woods and gardens. She hoped she could find a cure for nighttime fears.” Grandmother loans Sarah her pocket filled with healing plants. A nasty neighbor complicates Sarah’s life at the same time a one-eyed cat befriends her. Both characters become sources of strength. This therapeutic story includes a glossary of Grandmother Bryant's herbs: catnip, chamomile, comfrey, dandelion, pennyroyal, and rosemary.

     Grandma's Collections has Grandma's Collection of Songs Poems. forsuchtime has Happy Grandmother's Day. Patricia Kienzle has Grandmother's Dream Tassel. 

 

Tomboy's Doll (1969)

      Older picture books are snapshots of history. With this perspective, I contemplate Tomboy’s Doll by Charlotte Steiner (1969). On the first page of this story, we meet Mary Louise. “Because she was a tomboy nobody ever called her by her right name. They called her Tommy instead.” Tommy doesn't like to play with girls and doesn't care for dresses. Tommy’s mother wants her to be more like the other girls her age, so she bought Tommy a doll. Tommy doesn’t know how to play with a doll. Tommy hits her doll back-and-forth over a badminton net, tries to make it a scarecrow in a tree, ties it to the back of her dog for a ride, and strings it onto a fishing line for a swim. In the end, Tommy does discover how to befriend her doll. 

     I suspect that Steiner heeded the identity struggles of children way back in 1969, and she shared her insights in this story. The resolution works, regardless of who the protagonist is. It's a story about empathy. However, in 2021, I doubt this book would make it beyond a publisher's slush pile.

 MissIrvine's class has Worry Doll Labels . Inner Seagull has The Five Senses Paper Doll. Books Too has a lesson based on Elizabeti's Doll . 

      

What's Under My Bed? (1983)

      What's Under My Bed? (1983) by James Stevenson is playful take on a timeless theme. Why does the child on the cover have a mustache? Because this is the younger version of grandpa as he recalls the sounds and imaginary frights he experienced at bedtime. Mary Ann and Louis are sleeping at grandpa's house. When Leonard, the dog, jumps and howls, all three run to grandpa for help. When Mary Ann explains that something in under the beds, the wise old man replies, "'Why, the very same thing happened to me once.'" It just so happens that he was visiting his grandparents when all sorts of noises and frightening figures haunted him. The two children solve their own problem by dispelling the fears of their ancestor.

   

Something Beautiful (1998)

      Something Beautiful (1998) by Sharon Dennis Wyeth is a tale of empowerment. Written in the first person, a young girl says, "When I look through my window . . . There is trash in the courtyard and a broken bottle that looks like fallen stars." Graffiti mars her front door, and a homeless woman sleeps on the sidewalk. After learning the word beautiful at school, she walks around asking for examples. Her friends reply: a jump rope, beads, new shoes, apples, and dance  moves. Upon returning home, "I pick up the trash. I sweep up the glass. . .I feel powerful. Someday I'll plant flowers in my courtyard." Chris K. Soentpiet's illustrations are filled with light that brightens the gloomy environment of this child's neighborhood. 

     In the author's note, Sharon Dennis Wyeth writes, "When I was eight years old, I asked my mother... for something beautiful. She gave me one of her wedding gifts: a small white china pitcher... I still have the little pitcher. . . It helps keep alive the memory of childhood and my mother's love."

     Alexis Reddy has Assessment Something Beautiful. 

   

 

 

*River Friendly, River Wild (2000)

      River Friendly, River Wild (2000) is a first-hand account of the 100-year flood that destroyed the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Jane Kurtz wrote this collection of poems in the weeks just after the Red River flood of 1997. It opens with a  friendly memory: "The river wiggled like a fat brown thread along the flat quilt of the red river valley, stitching North Dakota and Minnesota together.” With this poetic voice, the following pages describe accumulating snow, piling sandbags, packing suitcases, evacuating her house, watching the floodwaters rise, and then returning home to a neighborhood destroyed.

    Jane Kurtz writes,  “I offer the book as a  salute to all of us who struggled through the 1997 flood and years of recovery; to the volunteers from the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and various churches who helped clean up Grand Forks; and to anyone who has done the amazing job of picking up life after a flood, tornado, hurricane, fire, or other natural disaster.“ This intensely emotional book is illustrated with the deep rich paintings of Neil Brennan that have just enough softness to take away the painful edges of reality.

     "The Red River Flood", presented by Media 523, is a documentary  appropriate for middle school and older. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e9TBqO97V0 )

     Mrs Gov's Classroom has Natural Disasers and their Impact on the Environment. Nathan Ball has Flooding Powerpoint.  Furutrum Careers has How can urban trees redce flooding and pollution?

 My Picture Book Talk lesson for this book is here. 

What's Heaven? (1999)

      What’s Heaven (1999) by Maria Shriver is a conversation between a mother and her young child Kate. Kate comes home from school to find her mother crying. Her mother's grandmother, Kate's great-grandmother has passed away, and, consequently, they have a teaching moment. It just so happens that a friend of mine passed away this week, and Maria Shriver's explanation of death appeals to me right now. Heaven is "a beautiful place up in the sky where no one is sick, where no one is mean or unhappy.” This sounds like the perfect place for my friend to be right now. Kate wants to know how you get to heaven, what’s a funeral, why her great-grandmother‘s body is in a casket. After Kate ponders her mother's answers, she decides that heaven is a place where great-grandmother doesn’t have to be sick in a bed anymore.

    Kate's mother helps her move beyond the concrete by saying that ancestors live in all of us. "Everything she ever taught me is alive in me.” Kate insightfully takes this one step further when she says “those are the same things you always tell me. Now I know they came from great- grandma to grandma to you to me. So great grandma is alive and me too!”

     This is a small book for child size hands. Sandra Speidel‘s illustrations are colorful pastels that soften yet glorify I loved ones transition from this life into heaven. 

    First grade with Mrs. Allen has a Heaven Activity. TeacherWise has God Created the Heavens and the Earth. 

   

Fly Away Home (1991)

      Fly Away Home (1991) sketches young Andrew's life living homeless in an airport. He and his dad can divide their time between many airline gates because Eve Bunting wrote this story in 1991. Now, with heightened security, living in any public building may not be possible. Because the first rule of survival is to avoid notice, Andrew and his dad employ a variety of strategies to blend in with the crowds. A small brown bird trapped in the airport is a metaphor; Andrew is stuck inside the airport and can't get out to lead a normal life. Everything in the airport is on the move except for Andrew and his dad—they stay. Bunting wrote about the tragedy of homelessness 30 years ago in a way that's direct yet  appropriate for children. With kindness, Ronald Himler portrayed the this desperate yet invisible humanity amidst the more privileged travelers. I recommend this book be read with kindness, compassion, and sensitivity to listeners' responses.

     Learn Lead and Love has Fly Away Home Craftivities and Graphic Organizers and Symbols of the Bird.  Teachy Keen has Overcoming Obstacles Through Hope. 

     My lesson for this book is here. 

Joyful Noise (1988)

      The young ecology enthusiast, specifically the entomologist, will smile with satisfaction at JoyfulNoise: Poems for Two Voices. (1988) The narrators are insects! Water striders explain how walking on water is easy. "Whenever we are asked for instructions we always say Come to the ponds edge and do as we do." The poem finishes, "But by that time our student no matter how prudent has usually don't ask me why sunk from view." In this Newbery Medal winner, there are poems by grasshoppers, mayflies, fire flies, book lice and more. House crickets inform us that "Spring to house crickets cricket means no more than the time when fresh greens once again graced the floor cricket . . ." Paul Fleischman prints two slightly different versions of each poem because they are meant to be read aloud simultaneously by two people. What a joyful noise this must make! Eric Beddows black and white illustrations blend accuracy with hilarity. This is not a picture book, but I include it in this blog because it is a unique stroke of genius.

     Sarah Demsich has a Two Voice Poem Worksheet. Lyn Braden has Fireflies - Performance Poem for Two Voices with Reflection. Adapt for Success has 2 Voice Poems Worksheet 2. 

   

 

Chester and Uncle Willoughby (1987)

      Chester and Uncle Willoughby (1987) by Patricia Kier Edwards illustrated by Diane WorfolkAllison  is forty-eight numbered pages. A young child and elderly man sit on the large front porch of a farmhouse in the middle of a countryside. The book has four sections with chapter headings. In " Songs", Chester and Uncle Willoughby make-up lyrics for the familiar tune, "My Country Tis of Thee". American children will have fun playing this musical game. "The Game" is a guessing game in which Uncle Willoughby and Chester take turns asking one another questions like, "What would you do if there was an alligator in your bed?" The section titled "Nothing" is a change in mood. The characters consider what life would be like in the absence of the ordinary and the special. In "Sunny Afternoon", Chester and Uncle Willoughby look at the vast landscape and locate the colors of nature.

     This is a beautiful book for an elderly adult and child to share. It reminds me of How To Babysit a Grandma by Diane Woolfolk in  its goal; however, Allison's illustrations are soft pastels that create a less frantic feel on a farm. This isn't a story about how many different activities can be packed into a short amount of time. Chester and Uncle Willoughby have no props or craft supplies. They just enjoy the present during a relaxed afternoon on the porch.

     Smarty246 has Word scramble for kids about the countryside. Bethany Morton has Wildlife and Countryside Powerpoint (UK).

The Tale of Benjamin Bunny (1904, 1997)

      The Tale of Benjamin Bunny (1904) The cover of this edition (1997) was so beautiful that I had to pick it up. On closer inspection, I read "Beatrix Potter,  the original and authorized edition, F. Warne & Co." It appears the illustration itself is trademarked: a picture of Benjamin Bunny in a brown jacket, large green hat, holding a red handkerchief, and eating an onion. A border with additional characters frames the cover. Other characters decorate the inside cover, first page, back page, and inside back cover. Each page of the book has a decorative border on the outside top and bottom corners. This edition is a work of art.

            Benjamin Bunny takes cousin Peter to retrieve clothes he lost on his last trip to Mr. McGregor's garden. Since the farmer and his wife went out, it should be easy to get Peter's clothes and some onions, too. If only it were that easy. A cat traps the cousins beneath a basket for five hours. This is frightening enough for a very young reader, but, sadly, violence follows when Mr. Benjamin Bunny punishes his son and nephew (with illustration). This domestic violence ruins the story for me. 

Miriam Martinez has Where's the bunny? Prepositions and Adverbs of Place. Creative Kinderoos has Spring Bunnies Color by Number. Artsy Crafter has What Pet Should I Get? Paper Bag Puppet.

Brother Eagle, Sister Sky (1991)

      Susan Jeffers' illustrations are sensuous, which is why I picked up Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: (1991) What a surprise to find two real  feathers tucked inside the front cover. The full title does not appear on the cover, but on the title page: A message from Chief Seattle. Susan Jeffers explains in an author's note:

     ". . .Chief Seattle was a respected and peaceful leader of one of the Northwest Indian Nations. In the mid-1850s when the government in Washington, D.C., wanted to buy the lands of his exhausted and defeated people, he responded in his native tongue, with a natural eloquence stemming from his oral tradition. His words were transcribed by Dr. Henry A. Smith, who knew him well, and that transcription was interpreted and rewritten more than once in this century. . . I too have adapted Chief Seattle's message for Brother Eagle Sister Sky." 

     I view this book as a message from Chief Seattle directly to the future generations of whomever occupies the land. Initially, the cover bothered me. I interpreted Chief Seattle's expression as compliant, as indicating that he willingly handed over the territory of his People to white youth. After reading the book, I view his expression as visionary. He sees across centuries of change and hopes for an earth that is cared for. He looks beyond the brutal generations that tried to destroy the Native American and speaks directly to their descendants in this story. Jeffers' luscious illustrations celebrate the tribes and the earth while hinting at the destruction on the horizon.

      

*Make Way for Ducklings (1941)

     Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack--and Mrs. Mallard--are celebrated in bronze on the Boston Public Garden. The sculpture was installed in 1987 as a tribute to Robert McCloskey, author of Make Way for Ducklings (1941). In this Caldecott medal winner, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard settle upon a tiny island in the Charles River to raise a family. All eight of their eggs hatch and keep Mrs. Mallard very busy. She teaches them to swim, dive, walk in a line, come when called, and keep away from things with wheels. Trouble arises when Mrs. Mallard walks her brood from the Charles to the Boston Public Garden. The sounds of HONK! and QUACK! brings Officer Michael to the rescue. The feathered family march across Beacon Street, "right on into the Public Garden," where they follow the swan boats and eat peanuts tossed by the tourists. 

      On the cover we meet the famous characters within. McCloskey's ducklings are drawn with accuracy and vitality because . . . wait for it . . . he lived with ducks! He brought ducks into his apartment as pets, so he could study them. 

     The Book built Home has Make Way For Ducklings: Handwriting Pattern Worksheets. Miss Sarah Class Abroad has Make Way for Ducklings: Reading and Writing Companion. Home School Matters has Make Way for Ducklings - Tally Marks.

*Swine Lake (1999)

      Hooray, I came across another book illustrated by Maurice Sendak! The illustrations in Swine Lake (1999) were in Sendak's characteristic color palette, complex style, and emotional potential. James Marshall's main character is a wolf down on his luck. On the title page, it brushes sharp fangs while standing beside posters of ballets. Sendak's depiction of the wolf reading a newspaper includes the headline "'McMansions' all fall down!" While the wolf searches for food, it passes  an "Old Fashioned Bookstore" with a sign that reads "90% OFF! Henry James first editions signed!" Any cleverly crafted children's book entertains the adult reader with gems like this. Sendak makes marvelous use of the wolf's large pointed ears, bulging yellow eyes, and long toothy snout to portray a range of dramatic emotions. This wolf can't believe their good fortune at gaining entrance to the Boarshoi Ballet. There are so many pigs in this place! Scrumptious food fills the theater! Yet, "the mangy wolf found himself absorbed in the story." This was an unexpected opportunity, later written in a newspaper review. "Bravo!" Only Sendak could transform a wolf in quite this way.

     MaestroClassics has Swan Lake Curriculum Guide and a Coloring Page Printable. Sharon Risko has a Swan Lake PowerPoint. 

Pigsty (2007)

      Wendell's mother gives him the option to learn by experience. "'If you want to live in a pigsty, that's up to you,'" she says. And he does. In Pigsty, (2007)Wendell's room is such a mess that actual pigs take up residence. He and the pigs play Monopoly every night and leave "the pieces lying all over the floor." It's a young child's dream come true. Alas, there are consequences. "Wendell told himself he didn't mind, but then he found hoofprints on his comic books." Mark Teague knows what's important to a young boy. Life becomes unbearable and Wendell solves his own problem. This book reminds me of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's Won't-Take-a-Bath-Cure, which I reviewed here. The plot is uncomplicated and the illustrations compelling. The lesson is clear without onerous judgement because the humor is amusing.  

     The Jasemine101 has Pigsty Story Questions. Lauren Marchell has Pigsty by Mark Teague. My lesson for Mrs. Piggle Wiggle is here.