Santa's Secret Helper (1990)

     Santa’s Secret Helper by Andrew Clements is a clever twist on a familiar traditional story. Santa’s elves are especially busy preparing two sleighs, two Santa suits, and two teams of reindeer because “this year Santa has a secret helper”. Debrah Santini’s watercolors have the hint of sepia palette to complement this time-honored tale of reindeer flying over rooftops delivering gifts around the world. We see Santa’s helper eating cookies, resting the reindeer, and waving to parents who are still awake late at night. The surprise ending may help explain how Santa takes so many packages to happy children in only one night.

     This book is read aloud online by Kristn Hubert.

    My Picture Book Talk for this story is here. 

 

If you're not from the prairie . . . (1995)

            David Bouchard shares his intimate relationship with the environment in If you’re not from the prairie .. . “If you’re not from the prairie, You don’t know me. You just can’t know ME.”  This book is an invitation to get to know a little about the author. He and illustrator, Henry Ripplinger, were born and raised on the prairie in Saskatchewan, Canada. The text, much of it in rhyme, and the realistic paintings that illustrate this childhood, describe “a particular beauty”.

 This story could be read—maybe correctly—with attitude. In an author’s note, Mr. Bouchard writes, “…I needed to silence those who didn’t understand that we from the prairie are what we are and who we are because of the cold, the wind, and the sun…Could anyone understand what I was, without having shared my dust, my wind, and my blizzard?” Perhaps it’s because so many people underestimate the extreme challenges and joys of prairie life that David Bouchard wrote “If you don’t know the prairie, you can’t know my soul. . .”  Thank you, Mr. Bouchard and Mr. Ripplinger, for sharing this life with those of us who don’t know the prairie—who can’t know it.

            This book is read aloud online by Shantil Wallace.

            My Picture Book Talk for this story is here. 

The World That We Want (2005)

      Kim Michelle Toft’s The World That We Want is a sparkling visual reference book. It sure looks like she used gold leaf to outline the delicate features of the 45 plants, birds, animals, and aquatic life that literally fill every page of this beautiful book. A glossary identifies and describes the inhabitants of nine different environments: air, rain forest, river, mangrove, beach, tide pool, reef, atoll, and ocean.  The text is a familiar narrative structure. For example, after visiting air, rainforest, river, and mangrove we read “…This is the beach that meets the mangrove that follows the river that weaves through the forest that filters the air that circles the world that we want.” It’s a clever formula for teaching the unity of life in a succinct and effective way.

     This book is read aloud online by Laura Shaver.

     My Picture Book Talk for this story is here. 

Weaving the Rainbow (2004)

 

Weaving the Rainbow, by George Ella Lyon, is poetry dressed up as narrative nonfiction. Stephanie Anderson’s gorgeous watercolors illuminate the intimate transformation of raw fleece into a tapestry. Students of all ages will gain a new appreciation for the art and craft of handmade fiber art after reading this beautiful book.  

On the first page, we meet a woman—"the weaver”. It’s spring, and she’s standing by a fenced-in field; “the weaver sees rainbow sheep grazing in her pasture.” What we see are sheep cloaked in woolly white. Last summer, the weaver’s lambs won blue ribbons at the state fair.  When leaves of gold, brown, and red fell in autumn, they were sheared. They grew a second coat to warm them through the winter.

            Anderson’s vivid illustrations show us how this white wool becomes multicolored yarn. And we begin to comprehend the title, Weaving the Rainbow.  The weaver is planning to weave “a picture, doing with wool what a painter does with paint.” Weavers of all ages will love the detailed two-page spreads that show this short, instructional story.

            This story is read online by School Gardens.

            My Picture Book Talk for this story is here. 

 

Skippyjon Jones (2003)

Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner is a piñata full of teaching moments. Skippyjon Jones is an energetic kitten with an imagination that causes him to break conventional rules of feline behavior. He is not mischievous. He is fun-loving and creative. At the end of the story, his mother acknowledges this.

            This Picture Book Talk focuses on the form and function of language in the text. Judy Schachner plays with words; she draws attention to phonology by having fun with English. Mama Junebug Jones calls her kitten a variety of hilarious names. Skippyjon Jones recites rhymes that listeners will love to imitate. Spanish words appear with context clues to facilitate comprehension. Words in huge fonts pop from the text. Within this story hides language lessons in plain sight.

This story is read aloud online by Read Along.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee (2010)

     In A Sick Day for Amos McGee, by Philip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead, we discover the quiet joy between those who share a gentle temperament. Amos' animal  companions take a city bus to visit him at home to learn why he did not show up for work at the zoo.  They miss him.  When Amos exclaims, "Hooray! My good friends are here!", this uncharacteristic outburst shows us how precious friendship is.  We feel the camaraderie depicted in Erin Stead's illustrations. The elephant, rhinoceros, tortoise, penguin, and owl have learned empathy from Amos. They know that the finest cure for the flu includes the comfort of friends. 

     The sentences in this story feature examples of alliteration and assonance. In my opinion, the listener has a good chance of hearing Philip Stead's melodic word choices at Read to My Children

     My Picture Book Talk for this story is here. 

How Full Is Your Bucket? For Kids (2009)

         How Full Is Your Bucket For Kids by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer celebrates emotional intelligence. It’s a heavy lift made possible with metaphor. Emotional well-being is represented by a full bucket of  water floating above a person’s head. An empty bucket characterizes bad feelings.  Of course, this bucket is invisible to everyone except the main character, Felix, and the reader. Felix is delighted with this insight. When Felix suddenly “sees”  buckets hovering above the heads of everyone at recess, he’s elated. It’s a gift to become more emotionally intelligent. When he chooses to help fill a few empty buckets—help a few people feel better—his own bucket fills too.  With his new knowledge, Felix chooses to be kind to his classmates, his sister, and even his dog. The visually effective illustrations by Maurie J. Manning clearly communicate the story’s message.