Picture Book Thursday: Springtime Holidays

Cinco de Mayo: Celebrating the Traditions of Mexico
Written by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith
Photographs by Lawrence Migdale
Holiday House
Ages 6-12

Book Fiesta!

Written by Pat Mora

Illustrated by Rafael Lopez

HarperCollins

Ages 3-7

That Book Woman

Written by Heather Henson

Illustrated by David Small

Atheneum

Ages 4-9

Cinco de Mayo: Celebrating the Traditions of Mexico

I wouldn't expect anything less than a quality book from Holiday House and this title is certainly no exception. In depth text, great color photos, and skillful graphic design make this book a must have for celebrating Cinco de Mayo in the classroom. Students will enjoy Rosalba Rosas and her family's celebratory traditions. The glossary of Spanish words is the icing on the cake. 

Book Fiesta!

You can't judge a book by its cover, but I won't blame you if you're smitten with the colorful artwork by the time you open to the endpapers. When you reach the two-page spread of "reading to the moon," you'll wonder if Rafael Lopez has the artwork available in poster form.  

Author Pat Mora has done a fine job crafting a book that celebrates reading and nods to the April 30th Mexican celebration "Day of the Child." Written as a bilingual picture book, both English and Spanish speakers will enjoy the celebration that this book has to offer.

That Book Woman

According to the author's note, "This story was inspired by the true and courageous work of the Pack Horse Librarians, who were known as 'Book Women' in the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky." Told from the point of view of a poor farmer's son, Cal goes from disinterest in reading to asking his sister to teach him after he observes "that book woman" and her dedication to her readers. Author Heather Henson does a nice job capturing Cal's voice, while David Small uses his beautiful illustrations to keep the focus on Cal.

Activity

Distribute large index cards to students to make book lists they think the "book woman" should share. Make copies of the cards and bind them into books for students to take home. They'll be able to refer to their friend's book lists when they're choosing what to read.

Video Wednesday: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I have to admit I was one of the many Harry Potter fans that were royally disappointed when Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was moved from November to July. I remember falling head over heels into that book and not seeing the light of day until I finished reading it -- there was so much action and romance! Of course, once I saw the trailer, all was forgiven.

Watch the latest Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince trailer:

Did you just get goosebumps? I can't wait to plop into a theater seat on July 18 and head off to Hogwarts once again. Can you?

New Review Tuesday: Squawking Matilda

I'm beginning to think I have a problem when it comes to picture books about chickens—I love them all! Some recent favorites include Kate DiCamillo's Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken, Terry Golson's Tillie Lays an Egg, and Janice Harrington's The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County. Oh, and Michael Ian Black's Chicken Cheeks, as well as Jacqueline Briggs Martin's Chicken Joy on Redbean Road. See? I do have a problem.

Nonetheless, I found myself charmed once again by Lisa Horstman's new book Squawking Matilda. Matilda is a "chicken with attitude" that the enterprising Aunt Susan sends to her young niece Mae. Mae is a problem solver and at first delighted to take on Matilda, but then gets distracted by her other pets. Poor Matilda loses her feathers as a result of this neglect, and Mae then has to come up with a creative way to keep Matilda warm.

For grades K–2, pair Squawking Matilda with the non-fiction Tillie Lays an Egg, and then compare and contrast Matilda's behavior with that of a real chicken. You might keep track of the similarities and differences in an egg-shaped Venn diagram. Students will also have fun brainstorming their own solutions to Matilda's feather problem.

I can't be the only chicken lover out there, so share your favorite henhouse tales in the comments.

Nonfiction Monday: Space Day

Get ready for Space Day on Friday with this fiction/nonfiction book pair and activities for Grades 6-8.

Facts First

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream
by Tanya Lee Stone (Author)

Reading level: Grades 6-8
Hardcover: 144 pages
Publisher: Candlewick Press

Even though the Mercury 13 women did not make it into space, they inspired the women who came after them to take their place in the sky.

First In Space
by James Vining

Reading level: Grades 6-8
Paperback: 96 pages
Publisher: Oni Press

This historical graphic tells the story of Ham, a chimpanzee that NASA trained for the first sub-orbital spaceflight.

Activities...

Read the collection of poems about the 13 women in Almost Astronauts when the "flying bug" bit.

Preview the first 10 pages of First In Space.

Use primary sources with NASA's Where No Man Has Gone Before: A History of Apollo Lunar Exploration Missions.

If you're blogging about nonfiction books on this Nonfiction Monday, go to at Picture Book of the Day and after you add your blog to this week's Round-up, enter the Space Day Giveaway drawing for FREE Virtual Author Visit for one class on Wednesday, May 13, 2009.

Friday Blog Round Up

OK, I have to admit it, I have not weighed in on the whole Duck! Rabbit! debate. Now that Chronicle has released this video on YouTube, we can all make an informed decision.

Now that your mind is at rest about Duck! Rabbit! you can devote some more time to wondering, "Who knitted Coraline's little sweater for the movie?" That would be miniature knitter extraordinaire Althea Crome.

Margaret Peterson Haddix has a new title out and Achockablog offers a review. I'm not sure how the rating system works but The Missing appears to have earned 4 green chicks.

The folks at PaperTigers are celebrating Earth Day with Jan Reynold's Cycle of Rice, Cycle of Life: A Story of Sustainable Farming. They describe it as a "fascinating photo essay." Sounds like one to add to your classroom bookshelves.

Here's a tip for you as you finish celebrating National Poetry Month with your students. Check out Jack Prelutsky, Karla Kuskin, and Jean Marzollo -- and their writing tips -- on Scholastic's Writing with Writers.

As always folks, have a great weekend and we'll see you back here on Monday.

Picture Book Thursday: Pop Ups

Pets Go Pop!
Written and illustrated by Bob Staake
Little Brown Kids
Ages 4-8

 Pop-Up House of Inventions

Written and illustrated by Robert Crowther

Candlewick Press

Ages 5-11

Earthly Treasure

Written by Kate Petty

Illustrated by Jennie Maizels

Dutton

Ages 6-10

Pets Go Pop!

If you're planning on teaching about pets, you need to get a hold of this book. With a Dr. Seuss like text and over-the-top pop-up animals, your students will get a kick out of the comic goings on. My favorite is a bystander reading a copy of The Catcher in the Rhino. Oh, it even comes with an activity poster that makes a nice addition to your classroom.

Pop-Up House of Inventions

This title is so loaded with interactive pop-up flaps and folds, I'm certain I haven't found them all. A suit of clothes hanging in a closet, a moving shower curtain, and a cookie sheet of gingerbread men in the oven are just a few of the interactive features that even I was having a blast with. Combine these with facts like, "Romans used candles as early as the 1st century A.D. They were made of animal or vegetable fat, and sometimes hungry soldiers would eat them" and you have a hit. A super book to use when teaching about changing technologies.

Earthly Treasure

I've never been one to get excited about teaching about rocks and minerals. Then again, I didn't have a fun pop-up book like Earthly Treasure as a resource. One pop up scene depicts what a house would be like without metal, while another page features an erupting volcano, complete with lava. If this book doesn't get kids excited about rocks and minerals, I don't know what will.

Activity

OK, so this activity is a tad obvious, but I'll make it a bit more intriguing. Pick a theme and have students create a pop-up card. Bind five or six of the cards together to make classroom pop-up books.

Video Wednesday: Monkey and Me Author Reading

I just love listening to authors read their own words -- especially if the author is also the illustrator. 

Watch British author/illustrator Emily Gravett as she reads from her picture book Monkey and Me and explains that it's based on a friend's "wiggly" daughter. It's absolutely charming!

 

Watch the interview with Emily Gravett. 

New Review Tuesday: Monsters the New Pirates?

For the past couple of years it seemed like I couldn't open a publisher's catalog without finding a new pirate-themed picture book. (Insert obligatory "Arrgh!" joke here.) For the record, some of my favorite pirate tales include David Shannon's How I Became a Pirate and Pirates Don't Change Diapers as well as June Sobel's hilarious alphabet book Shiver Me Letters.

But lately there's a new picture book hero: the monster. Perhaps it's the appeal of movies like Monsters Versus Aliens. Or maybe pirate books are taking a back seat because of very real and scary current events, while monsters still rule the world of imagination.

Whatever the case, keep an eye out for a slew of monster picture books hitting book shelves in the coming months. One of the first to arrive is How to Potty Train Your Monster, written by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by Michael Moon. This is one of those books where the kid appeal is obvious without even having to open the front cover. Potty humor plus colorful monsters? Check.

At the same time, this tongue-in-cheek guidebook is entirely classroom appropriate and would be a great model for "how-to" writing for first- through fourth-graders. DiPucchio clearly spells out each step in the potty-training process and you can use that as a launchpad for talking about the importance of clarity in writing instructions.

Other monster books on the horizon include Ed Emberley's latest There Was an Old Monster! (July 1), based on "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," as well as Dian Curtis Regan's Monster Baby (June 15) and Barbara Jean Hicks' Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli (August 11).

Do you have a favorite monster picture book? Share in the comments!

Nonfiction Monday: Dogs

Learn about life with a dog in this fiction/nonfiction book pair and activities for K-3.

Facts First

May I Pet Your Dog?
The How-to Guide for Kids Meeting Dogs
(and Dogs Meeting Kids)
by Stephanie Calmenson (Author)
and Jan Ormerod (Illustrator)

Reading level: Grades K-3
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Clarion Books

Practical advice for kids meeting a new dog.

Pair With

Little Dog Poems
by Kristine O'Connell George (Author)
and June Otani (Illustrator)

Reading level: Grades K-3
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Clarion Books

The dog is little and so are the poems as a girl narrates a day in the life of her dog.

Activities...

Have your students write a "mask poem" to welcome Bo to the White House (and send them to the author of Little Dog Poems.)

Watch Bo at the White House.

Learn about dog care from the ASPCA.

If you're blogging about nonfiction books on this Nonfiction Monday, go to Mommy’s Favorite Children’s Books and add your blog to this week's Round-up!

Friday Blog Round Up

If you're interested in attending a The North Star book release party with Peter H. Reynolds, you should drop him a note. The event is Saturday, April 25th and sounds like a great time. Or if you'd like to simply order a copy of the book and have it personalized you can do that too.

After reviewing baseball books last week, I thought you might like to find out about one more.  Anokaberry Annotated reviewed The Brooklyn Nine: A Novel in Nine Innings and it sounds like another home run.

This news has been floating around in the blogosphere for a month or two now. Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke is officially on board to direct If I Stay, which was released on April 2nd.  It's definitely worth a peek as there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the title.

"#19.  Write a ballad or song about the characters and events in your story.  Set the words to the music of a popular song and sing it to the class."  This is just one of 25 book report alternatives found in Karen Sevaly's November! Idea Book.

Easter at the White House involved the President and First Lady reading from two of their favorite picture books. It sounds like President Obama would have made a good teacher. 

OK folks.  Go order a copy of The North Star and have a super weekend.  We'll see you back here on Monday.

Picture Book Thursday: Spring Has Sprung

Oh, What a Beautiful Day!: A Counting Book

Written by Jeanne Modesitt

Illustrated by Robin Spowart

Boyds Mills Press

Ages 2-6

A Garden of Opposites

Written and illustrated by Nancy Davis

Schwartz & Wade

Ages 3-8

The Twelve Days of Springtime: A School Counting Book

Written by Deborah Lee Rose

Illustrated by Carey Armstrong-Ellis

Abrams

Ages 4-8

Oh, What a Beautiful Day!: A Counting Book

How can you not enjoy a book depicting hugging hamsters, flipping ferrets, and a prancing pig? Young readers will enjoy the simple counting and fun rhyming. Combined with illustrator Robin Spowart's simple color palette and color pencil-like strokes, spring is in the air. Sitting under a tree is the perfect place to share this book with students.

A Garden of Opposites

Printed on heavy paper with young readers in mind, this title features illustrations reminiscent of Lois Ehlert's work. With bold shapes and colors, Nancy Davis features opposites like asleep and awake, plain and fancy, and short and long. As a special treat, there is a fold-out at the end, where children can search for more opposites and check their finds by reading the butterfly's trail on the endpapers.  

The Twelve Days of Springtime: A School Counting Book

Any teacher who reads this book is going to immediately recognize that the creators have done their homework. The tank of tadpoles, easel board displays, craft projects, and writing on the chalk board are all familiar scenes to anyone who has spent in an elementary classroom. Combine this attention to detail with the humorous goings-on of the students and the teacher trying to hold it all together and you have one heck of a fun read aloud.

Activity

Using construction paper, students can create a set of opposites to be featured on a class bulletin board. Choose a theme like gardens, the ocean, or space and list the opposites on the side.

New Review Tuesday: The Summer I Turned Pretty

You may or may not be already thinking about summer reading, but we're getting the ball rolling at Scholastic. The Scholastic Summer Challenge is around the corner, and the upcoming issue of Instructor magazine will feature a bevy of summer reading tips and book recommendations.

Why not start your list now? For kids in seventh grade and up, I'd definitely recommend Jenny Han's The Summer I Turned Pretty. The dreamy cover and promise of summer romance is sure to intrigue tweens and teens, but this moving novel has way more substance than your average beach read. Of course, I wouldn't expect less from Han, whose debut novel Shug blew me away in its depiction of changing friendships and first love. From Shug's opening pages I knew that Han just *gets it,* and the same is true in The Summer I Turned Pretty.

Fifteen-year-old Belly and her family are, like always, spending the summer with family friend Susannah and her two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. But Belly doesn't quite realize that this summer will be different—she finally has male attention (from everyone but Conrad, the one she has her eye on, of course). And there's drama going on behind the scenes, too, as Susannah's family starts to unravel. Meanwhile Belly can't help feel like anything is possible–an emotion your summer readers are bound to understand.

Fans of Sarah Dessen and Susane Colasanti will find another favorite author in Jenny Han. Any idea what books you'll be recommending this summer? Share in the comments!

Nonfiction Monday: Earth Day

Prepare for Earth Day next week with these books, one for K-2 and one for grades 3-9.

Facts First

Keeping our Earth Green
by Nancy Castaldo

Reading level: Grades 3-9
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Williamson Books

The subtitle says it all: "Over 100 Hands-On Ways to Help Save the Earth."

Pair With

What Can You Do with an Old Red Shoe?
by Anna Alter

Reading level: Grades K-2
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt

This "Green Activity Book About Reuse" has 12 activities for young readers.

Activities...

Celebrate Earth Day with Scholastic's activities for K-8.

Stop by EarthDay.gov's kid's pages for games and activities.

Visit Larry Ferlazzo's blog for The Best Earth Day Sites for ELL, ESL, AND EFL.

If you're blogging about nonfiction books on this Nonfiction Monday, go to Abby (the) Librarian and add your blog to this week's Round-up!

Friday Kid Lit Round-Up

Baseball, Snakes, and Summer Squash: Poems About Growing Up is just one of the good books Angela Bunyi suggests on her blog. A big fan of Ralph Fletcher, Angela shares some of his (and her) tips on how to encourage boys to enjoy reading and writing.

More and more I'm hearing about Three Cups of Tea activist Greg Mortenson. With his picture book, Listen to the Wind, recently released, more students will be encouraged to hold their own fundraisers to help support those less fortunate than themselves. My class is currently raising funds to build floors in the mountain schools of India.

Readers of Collecting Children's Book were the first to see, "Graveyard Book to be Stripped of Newbery?" What followed was an in-depth and humorous article. Astute readers noticed it was posted on April 1.

The week of April 13th is on its way and School Library Journal's Battle of the Books is about to begin.  With matches like The Graveyard Book vs. The Trouble Begins at 8 and The Hunger Games vs. The Porcupine Year, this is one smack-down you're going to want to follow.

If you're hoping for a chance to win a trip to Disney World, you need to visit RIF and learn about their Read with Kids Challenge. Every participant who logs time reading will be eligible to win prizes from Candlewick and LC Creations. It's well worth a look.

So while you go log in to win a sunny vacation, I'm off to read a book or two. (I'm always looking for leads, so send me a title or two I may have missed.) Have a super weekend and we'll see you back here next week.

Picture Book Thursday: Hey Batta Batta Swing!

Rules of the Game: Baseball Poems

Written by Marjorie Maddox

Illustrated by John Sandford

Wordsong

Ages 9-14

Change-up: Baseball Poems

Written by Gene Fehler

Illustrated by Donald Wu

Clarion Books

Ages 6-11

You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?!

Written by Jonah Winter

Illustrated by Andre Carrilho

Schwartz & Wade Books

Ages 4-10

Rules of the Game: Baseball Poems

National Poetry Month is the perfect time to celebrate the opening of the season with baseball poetry. Marjorie Maddox, grandniece of former Brooklyn Dodgers manager, has written a compilation that includes Choking Up on the Bat, Beanball, and my favorite, The Line Drive.  This is a book of baseball prose that all student sports enthusiasts will want in their classroom library.

Change-up: Baseball Poems

Wow!  Another comprehensive book of baseball poetry.  Gene Fehler sets forth a series of poems that flow from February, through baseball season, and back to February, covering topics like parents playing ball, superstitions and bench warming.  The combination of picture and poem for Snow Baseball had me feeling like I was in Cooperstown. Fellow Kid Lit Kit blogger Hannah Trierweiler also featured this book in her New Review Tuesday post.

You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?!

If you can stop playing with the lenticular cover of Sandy pitching, you'll learn everything you ever wanted to about this talented ball player.  By the end of 1961, "Sandy had broken the National League record, with 269 strikeouts."  His repeated pitching led to his elbow swelling to the size of a grapefruit after each game.  Readers will enjoy reading about his carer in baseball, as well as the facts sprinkled throughout the work.  This book is a home run.

Activity

Compare "Bench View" from Change-up and "The View from the Dugout" from Rules of the Game.  Have students illustrate the poems, without having seen the original illustrations.  Mount the pictures as a bulletin board display, being sure to include copies of the poems and accompanying artwork.

Hunger Games Movie News & Contest

Two pieces of BIG news about one of our favorite books of the year... The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

First, we're so excited to hear the book is going to be made into a movie, with Suzanne Collins penning the script. Who better to adapt that crazy book than the author herself? (Though, I'll be covering my eyes at the scene towards the end with the dogs and cornucopia. Remember? Eww.) 

I spent the entire walk to the office this morning trying to think of casting choices -- but so far came up empty. Teen tomboys are few and far between in Hollywood these days. Our friends on Ink Splot 26 came up with some interesting picks, check those out and jot your ideas in the comments. I'd love to hear them.

Second, and most exciting, Scholastic is giving one lucky fan a chance to sit down with Suzanne for a private lunch in NYC. Not only will they get to pick the brain of this creative and incredibly nice (we've met her) author, they get an autographed copy of Catching Fire (the sequel, eeek!), and a collectible mockingjay pin. Get the details here. (Unfortunately, Scholastic employees are not eligible. Boo.)

Get inspired for the contest by watching Ms. Collins reading from her book:

Find all things Hunger Games here. And watch an interview with Suzanne Collins.

New Review Tuesday: Change-Up

Last week I blogged about a baseball/poetry twofer; Gene Fehler's Change-Up is another collection of baseball poems, this one for readers in grades 2–5. With 38 free-verse poems on topics ranging from Grandpa's tough pitches to baseball superstitions to rained-out games, this anthology really gets at the heart of the sport.

If you're covering poetry this month, I would use Change-Up to talk about conveying different emotions as well as point of view and perspective. Indeed, the poem "Perspective" compares what it's like to stand in the outfield versus the batter's box, with the words spaced out and floating in the first half of the poem and tightly packed in the second half.

Try challenging kids to write a similar poem about a different sport—the difference between playing soccer midfielder and goalie, perhaps, or what it's like to stand in the diving board versus swim laps. Encourage writers to switch up the physical look of words on the page, as Fehler does.

For more poetry picks, check out my column in this month's issue of Instructor.

Nonfiction Monday: Eggs

Eggs are on the menu for both Passover and Easter this coming week, so here's a fiction/nonfiction book pair and activities about eggs for K-2.

Facts First

An Egg is Quiet
by Dianna Hutts Aston (Author)
and Sylvia Long (Illustrator)

Reading level: Grades K-2
Hardcover: 36 pages
Publisher: Chronicle Books

Explore the world of eggs as you see how they are alike..and different...in many ways.

Pair With

First the Egg
by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Reading level: Grades PreK-2
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

This die-cut book cleverly shows the life cycle of several creatures, and ends with a creative process kids can participate in...making a book! 

Activities...

This Passover for Kids guide has games, activities, recipes and multimedia stories.

Decorate eggs online.

Find out why eggs and rabbits are an Easter tradition.

If you're blogging about nonfiction books on this Nonfiction Monday, go to Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, a Reading Tub Blog and add your blog to this week's Round-up!

Friday Blog Round Up

If you haven't checked out TeacherShare lately, now would be a good time. If you type "lesson plan" into the search box above "resources" on the left, you'll find a treasure trove of picture book related lesson plans. While not all of the hits will be picture books, the majority of them will. They should pop up with the picture book title, followed by lesson plan.

One of my favorite publishing folks, Karen Walsh at HMH, clued me into this fun online resource. The Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Poetry Kit offers classroom activities, downloadable stickers, a Poem-A-Day calendar and a letter from award-winning poet Joyce Sidman. Rhyme on folks!

Our own Anastasia Suen is putting her poetry powers to great use, showcasing a poem a day, from K-12 students.  Keep an eye on PencilTalk this month and you'll be treated to a variety of poems. 

All this poetry talk is making me hungry and I can't help but look back to March, being National Noodle Month and all. Jama Rattigan's AlphabetSoup  serves up a host of pasta related books. Nora Dooley's Everybody Eats Noodles is just the tip of the iceberg.  

By now you're probably rubbing your growling tummy and asking yourself how I could have forgotten to mention Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs?  Well don't despair!  If your "appetite for adventure" is in full swing, you're going to want to check out the movie trailer over on Sony's site. (My favorite is the ratbirds.)

Now that I'm ready for Prince Spaghetti Day, I'll bid you all a super weekend and I'll see you back here on Monday. Oh, and send me a note people!  Let me know what interests you in the Kid Lit World.

Picture Book Thursday: April Poems

Soup for Breakfast

Written and illustrated by Calef Brown

Houghton Mifflin Co.

Ages 5-12

Steady Hands: Poems About Work

Written by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer

Illustrated by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy

Clarion Books

Ages 8-12

Stampede!: Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School

Written by Laura Purdie Salas

Illustrated by Steven Salerno

Clarion Books

Ages 4-9

Soup for Breakfast

According to the book jacket on Soup for Breakfast, Calef Brown tries to write a poem a day. "Believe it or not, I was once very averse to verse, but now all my nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs go forwards and backwards, riffing and rhyming. It's all about the timing." And that they do. With fun poems like "Painting on Toast" where butter is used as a primer and "T.P.L.T.T.F." (The Parking Lot That Time Forgot) that imagines "rumble seats and window fans, classic coupes and vintage vans," students are sure to find some new favorites.

Steady Hands: Poems About Work

Who would have thought that a welder, retail clerk, and programmer would make for good poetry? But they do, along with a host of others. Tracie Vaughn Zimmer does a wonderful job of capturing the nuances of these careers. With descriptive prose found in poems like "Camp Counselor," she holds a magnifying glass to the sensory experiences that might easily be overlooked. "They roll out sleeping bags and -- too tired to speak -- point out shooting stars and listen to the tink tink tink of the flag hook against the empty pole, the restless crickets, the bullfrog by the riverbank."

Not to be forgotten are the collages Sean Addy has created to accompany the poems. His artwork adds a whole new layer to the poems.

Stampede!: Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School

One look at the frenetic, animal and alphabet infused endpapers lets readers know they

are in for some fun. Laura Purdie Salas and Steven Salerno make a super team as they romp through a series of school inspired poems like "Tomorrow Is Picture Day," "Printer Problems" and my personal favorite, "Turtleneck."  Laura does a super job of connecting with students and their school day experiences, while Steven offers up a retro series of illustrations that are just plain fun. Great job guys!

Activity

Based on Soup for Breakfast, cut paper in the size of a soup labels and have students write poems on them. Don't forget to add some illustrations. Wrap the poems around cans and create a display to share the poems.

Where the Wild Things Are Movie Trailer

The first trailer for the "Where the Wild Things Are" movie is available. It looks down-right amazing!

Seeing Maurice Sendak's beloved monsters in living color nearly brought a tear to my eye. And Max is an excellent replica of the little boy in the book. I couldn't be happier that Spike Jones is behind this film adaptation and I can't wait to see how they filled two hours from a simple little story about a bad boy who becomes king of the Wild Things, than wanders home for dinner ... which "was still hot."

Or watch it on Apple.com.

What do you think of the trailer?