The Picture Book Project at Hogarth School

In the words of the Von Trapp children . . .

2010-12-03T13:18:00.004-05:00

Actually they're the words of Rodgers and Hammerstein, but no matter. The point is, this is my last post at The Picture Book Project. There are only so many hours in the day, and , in the words of Johnny Mercer, "something's gotta give." That something is The Picture Book Project. I'm going to leave the blog up, but after today there'll be no more active posting. I hope you've enjoyed it!

Early last month, the children read and discussed several books by Don and Audrey Wood. I promised to let you know how the Woods fared in EK and PK Top Book voting. The children read King Bidgood's in the Bathtub, The Napping House, and The Little Mouse, the Red, Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear. The EK kids also read Heckedy Peg, Piggies and Quick as a Cricket. As you can see, The Little Mouse wiped out the competition in PK.

The EK kids had two rounds of voting. Heckedy Peg won in the first round, which meant it went on to compete in the second round.

Heckedy Peg proves that you just can't beat a good old-fashioned-type of fairy tale. It won the second round to become Top Book of the week in EK.

We'll continue to vote for Top Book each week, and the children will even blog about books from time to time, but I'll be writing about that over at the new Hogarth Country Day School website. In the meantime, here's the last Picture Book Project blogging done by a few of the EK and PK kids a couple of weeks ago. They talked about their favorite Don and Audrey Wood books.

Katherine: (Bidgood was her favorite.) I liked the part when they had to go fishing in the bathtub. This was my favorite because I liked all the water.

Skyler: (Bidgood was her favorite.) It was funny when they ate all the food in the bathtub. The king told the boy to clean up all the food in the bathtub. He [the boy] didn't like it. And he [the boy] didn't like the steam. I want to talk about a different book now. It said, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! It was a funny part. And this is a funny part because he's going to pick up a big, giant strawberry. We have strawberries at home! We have strawberry drinks. You have to blend it with strawberries inside. And we make banana drinks at home. It was funny when he was picking the strawberry up, because he was pointing his nose up. That was funny.

Summer: (The Big Hungry Bear was her favorite.) It was about the mouse. He thought the bear was trying to eat the strawberry. He was trying to get the strawberry. He wrapped it with the thing [chains]. He put glasses and nose and a mustache and put the strawberry on a seat, and he did the same thing.

Emelyn: (The Big Hungry Bear was her favorite.) I like it when the mouse putted it in chains 'cause he didn't want the bear to eat it. And I like the other one where he cut it in half so they could share. He shared it with the bear. I want to look at another one. This one [Heckedy Peg] I liked, too. They let the witch in 'cause they gave the witch pipes. She was going to give them a pot of gold. She turned them into food. I liked the cheese . . . I liked all the things the witch was going to eat. I liked this part. The mommy knows which one wants what. I like this one, too. The mom turned them back into kids. That's what I like.

Eva: (Heckey Peg was her favorite.) A witch came to their house and said, "Let me in! Let me in!" And they wouldn't let her in because their mother said that strangers are not allowed in the house. And then the witch said, "Burn some fire on the twigs to light my pipe." And then they said, "Our mother won't let us touch fire." And then she said, "If you do what I say, then I'll give you this." And then they looked in a bag full of gold and she said, "If you let me in I'll let you have this gold." They let her in, and they burned the fire and lit her pipe, and then she turned them into food. And then she took them to her house. And then the mother arrived and then she called her kids, but they weren't there. So she went all the places the witch went, and up to her house, and then she went to her house and the witch wouldn't let her in because her shoes were too dirty and her socks were too dirty and then her feet were too dirty. And then she said she would cut off her feet but she just hid them under her dress. And then the witch let her in the house and she found all her childs were food and then she know what they wanted and she pointed to all the food and it turned back into their childs. See! I think that's the witch, but it looks more like a man. Oh, it is the witch! And then she ran, and the witch fell off the bridge.

Olivia: (Bidgood was her favorite.) The king wanted to go into the bathtub. The little boy brought the water upstairs and then they [the king and the knight] played in the bathtub. The knight wanted to have a fight. They wanted to have a battle. Then the boy cleaned it all out. Then they ate in the tub. They really did eat in the tub. They made food lambs and food birds and a food swan. Then the boy took it all out. Then they fished in the tub. They fished in the tub after all. See? And then, you know what happened next? The boy cleaned the fish all out and the lily pads. Then they danced in the tub. Dit-ta-dit-ta-dit-too-doo! Then, look at his face because he took the plug out! Then he had to go all out again. The end!

Lindsey: (Big Hungry Bear was her favorite.)The bear will eat the strawberry so the mouse ate it. The bear will run and run and get it because the bear will eat it.

Alexis:(Big Hungry Bear was her favorite.) The big mouse and the strawberry. The mouse runs on the bear. The bear was growling and then the mouse was scared. The mouse was running with the strawberry. Then he shared it in pieces.

Anna: (Big Hungry Bear was her favorite.) The bear run away from the mouse. When it's all tangled up [the strawberry is in chains] he has a key. He hid from his strawberry. He cut a knife from a strawberry. He cut it and eat it and all share it. The candles is blow out and he ran away from the bear.

Luke: (Big Hungry Bear was his favorite.) The bear wants to eat the strawberry. The bear really has sharp claws. The bear was eating the strawberry. The bear ate the mouse. The bear ate the ice cream. I like spider webs. [NOTE: The bear didn't eat the mouse. Don and Audrey Wood's stuff isn't that dark!]

And the winners are . . .

2010-11-13T20:23:00.001-05:00

We have three Top Book election results to share from last week. The EK children, who are studying the effects of cold weather on animals as well as the number 3, read Old Bear by Kevin Henkes, Don't Wake Up the Bear written by Marjorie Dennis Murray and illustrated by Patricia Wittmann, and The Triplets by Barbara Seuling. (Can you guess which book goes with which unit of study? I bet you can!)

If you remember the elections from the first week of November, Old Bear was the winner with the PK kids. Not so this week with the EK kids. It was a tight race between The Triplets and Don't Wake Up the Bear, but Don't Wake Up the Bear garnered 7 votes to 6 votes for The Triplets. Old Bear might as well have stayed in bed that day, receiving only 1 vote.

The PK children have also been studying the effects of cold weather on animals, the letter P, and the effects being a Bossy Boots has on play situations. (3 and 4-year olds can sometimes be a tad bossy with each other.) We read Bear Snores On written by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Jane Chapman, Dinofours: I'm the Boss written by Steve Metzger and illustrated by Hans Wilhem, and Pigsty by Mark Teague. (Can you guess which book goes with which unit of study? I bet you can!)

Steve Metzger was bossy at the ballot box, winning with 7 votes to Teague's 4 and Wilson's 2. I was a bit surprised, if the truth be known. The kids loved all three books, especially Wilson's. They were SO invested in the bear not waking up, and even "read" the repeating refrain without any prodding from me: "BUT THE BEAR SNORES ON!" (You have to shout it if you're 4-years old.) I was stumped when it only received two votes. Possibly, the voting was too far removed from the reading. I'll have to look back and see how Monday books fare on Wednesday voting days. Or maybe I should just move on. Who am I to question the will of the people?

Move on I will, to the results of the CPG voting. Because of the Veterans' Day holiday, we only met for one class this week. I decided to start my Don and Audrey Wood unit in CPG by reading The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear and Piggies. Don and Audrey Wood's King Bidgood's in the Bathtub is on my Top Ten Picture Book List, and I always love reading their stuff to my students. The Little Mouse is one of those magical books that speaks to nearly every preschooler who hears it. There's just enough tension to make it more than a sweet piece of fluff, and the gorgeous illustrations bring added depth to the seemingly simple storyline. I wasn't at all surprised when it won CPG Top Book this week, slamming Piggies with an 11 to 2 vote count.

The Don and Audrey Wood Readapalooza continues next week in all classes. Who will be the winner? Will it be Quick as a Cricket? Will it be The Napping House? Will it be my personal favorite, King Bidgood's in the Bathtub? You'll find out next Friday. Or Saturday. Or maybe Sunday. I'm not sure when I'll get it posted. In any event, you'll find out!

Shhhh! Don't Wake Up the Bear!

2010-11-05T11:58:00.000-04:00

It's Friday at Hogarth, which means it's Election Day. To go with a hibernation unit we started in PK and CPG this week, children in both classes read Old Bear by Kevin Henkes and Don't Wake Up the Bear! written by Marjorie Dennis Murray and illustrated by Patricia Wittman. Don't Wake Up the Bear! has just the right amount of tension to keep preschoolers on the edges of their little seats. Let me tell you, Murray gives preschoolers as much of a thrill as Stephen King gives grown-ups. I'll let the CPG Kids speak for themselves.

Zephan: I was scared of the mouse that waked up. I was scared when the bear waked up. It chased the mice. He found something to eat. Berries.

Delaney Roache: The fox was scared of the bear. The mouse slept in the bear's ear. They said, "Don't wake up!" Somebody woke him up.

Emma: The mouse woke up the bear with a KERCHOO! He woke up and he was angry and he had to get something to eat.

Cooper: The bear waked up because all the animals were on him. He chaseded them.

Killian: The rabbit said, "Don't wake up the bear." They sleeped with him.

Samuel: The bear was sleeping and the bad wolf came in to sleep. What is that? [Me: It's a badger.] Oh, a badger. What's a badger do? Look it! Here comes a wolf! What is that? [Me: It's a fox.] It's a fox! He didn't still wake up. That mouse is in his ear. Look! He waked up! He said, ROAR! Look he's eating some berries. I loved this story. I need to read it. (Samuel leafed through the book again, reenacting the story as he went.)

Patrick: He waked up the bear. The mouse. The bear was mad. He made a mad face.

Camryn H.: A bear was sleeping. Then a hare came along and he wished he could snuggle with that bear. Then he did. Then a fox, then something else, I don't know. What is it? [Me: A badger.] Then the mouse came along. Then the hare said, "Don't wake up the bear!"

Cameron W.: The mouse sneezeded. Then they ran away.

Delaney Riley: Don't wake up the bear!

So how did the elections turn out this week at Hogarth? Don't Wake Up the Bear won CPG Top Book today with 6 votes to Old Bear's 4.

In PK, Top Book was Old Bear with 6 votes over Don't Wake Up the Bear! with 5 votes. Those were both pretty close races, if you ask me.

To go along with this week's EK lessons on letter Pp and number 3, the EK kids read The Three Pigs by David Wiesner and Pigsty by Mark Teague. The Three Pigs was elected Top Book by a 9 to 5 landslide.

Again, we had that little bit of tension with Wiesner's version. When the wolf actually ate the pig, there was an audible gasp from a few of the kids. (Not to worry, folks. The pigs ultimately emerged unscathed from the book. Literally.)

The Bumpy Little Squishy Squashy Dirty Pumpkin

2010-10-25T16:01:00.002-04:00

The EK and PK children discussed The Bumpy Little Pumpkin written by Margery Cuyler and illustrated by Will Hillenbrand. Little Nell, Big Mama, Big Lizzie, and Big Sarah had a Big pumpkin patch. At Halloween, the sisters selected pumpkins to carve. When Little Nell chose a small, bumpy pumpkin, her Big sisters said it was little and ugly. They said Little Nell needed a bigger, better, nicer, smoother pumpkin. They left Little Nell in the pumpkin patch with orders to find a bigger and better pumpkin. With a little help from her animal friends (okay, it was a lot of help) Little Nell's pumpkin was transformed into a jolly, little jack-o-lantern. Of course, her sisters still weren't impressed, but that was okay. Big Mama liked it just fine, but more importantly, so did Little Nell.

Here, the EK Kids share their thoughts on The Bumpy Little Pumpkin.

Acadia: They're finding a perfect pumpkin. They were taking care of their pumpkin patch and then they were making jack-o-lanterns. She was going back and forth and back and forth and she said she liked the bumpy little pumpkin. Her sisters said, "I don't think I like that one." She was sad. Her animal friends helped her carve the pumpkin. And then the robins helped them make the face.

Katherine: I liked the part when her animal friends helped her carve the pumpkin.

Emelyn: The sisters said, "That's an ugly little bumpy pumpkin." She [Little Nell] was sad. I liked it when the friends helped the kid carve it. I liked the deer. I liked all the animals.

Summer: The pumpkin was too bumpy. The animals did the pumpkin. The moose cutted the pumpkin. The bear grabbed out all the stuff out of the pumpkin. The birds made a face for the pumpkin. She runned home. The mom hugged her.

Emmett: I like the hare because he's cute. The hare was whistling to the birds for them to carve the pumpkin.

Irena: The people said the pumpkin was ugly. She was sad. Her friends came over and they helped her make the pumpkin. She was whistling for the birds so they could help some more. They carved the eyes and the mouth and the nose. She was happy. She ran, ran, ran all the way home. They said it was a little ugly still. And then the mom thought it was fine. She gave her a kiss.

Eva: They grew a bumpy little pumpkin. They said she couldn't have it because it was too bumpy. She got sad. Her friends carved and pulled lots of stuff out of the pumpkin and carved the pumpkin. And then she brought it home. She got to keep the pumpkin.

Mackenzie: I like the animals because they were kind of cute. They turned the bumpy pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern, it was little and kind of funny. And I liked it when the birds come and carve the smiley face. It's kind of funny, too. It was sad when she starts crying because her sisters were being mean to her. In the end, the mom gave her a big, slobbery kiss.

Brady: I like this page because they found two good pumpkins. I like this page because she found a good size. It was too bumpy. I like this page because she was laying in the wheelbarrow. I had to sit in the wheelbarrow when I was like two and I had to hold two pumpkins. They were heavy. This is the last page I like because her friends helped. The moose cutted around.

Alec: The animals carved her pumpkin for her because the moms didn't do it for her.

Shea: The bear carved the pumpkin because her mom thinked she can't carve it because it's so bumpy. The deer carves the face. The crows cut the top off. And the bunny rabbit cutted the top off. She was running to the house to show her mom and sisters. The sisters said, "It still looks too bumpy!" But the mom said, "Nonsense! It's perfect!" They putted a bulb in it. One was tall, one was like a pumpkin, and one was bumpy.

Camryn: Big Lizzie and Big Sarah didn't like the bumpy because they thought it was too bumpy and too ugly. Little Nell was sad. Then the animals came. They helped Little Nell get it to be a good jack-o-lantern. Little Nell drawed a face. She took it home and Sarah and Lizzie still didn't like it. The mom liked it. The mom bended over and gave her a big, sloppy kiss.

Aiden: It was too scary, so I hid under the table! All the pages were scary. Look at the scary decorations. We have window stickers for Halloween. We have a glass pumpkin that glows up.

Skyler: They were going to pick a pumpkin. That's skinny. [The pumpkin.] It's really, really skinny. You know what she's getting? A bumpy one. They said it was ugly. She was sad. A bunny comed. Then a bear, then a deer because she was feeling sad. They helped her make the pumpkin. She whistled for the birdies to carve it. We made a pumpkin before! And we saw kids and we saw deers. We saw them on the street when we were driving, but we didn't run over them. One was little and one was big. [Turns her attention back to the story.] She showed them, but they said it was still ugly. She [the mom] hugged her and she was happy. Look! They have a whole bag of candy.

Here's what the PK kids had to say.

Olivia: Big Lizzie said it was too bumpy. Little Nell just cried and cried and cried and cried. Her friends the animals carved and carved and carved and carved, then she hugged it.

Bob: I like when she was doing the jack-o-lantern.

Anna: When she was picking a pumpkin, her was crying. Her cried and she drew the picture with her finger. When her picked the pumpkin, her wouldn't be sad anymore. Once her get home to the Big Mama, she brought it home and she was sleeping.

Mikayla: She picked a bumpy pumpkin but her mom [her sisters] said she can't get it. She had a tear, and more tears. She hugged the bumpy pumpkin. Her friends came and helped her. She whistled for the birds. They cut out the face. She ran inside. The sister said, "No picking it!" The mom said, "You can pick it." The mom gave her a hug.

Luke: She had tears on her face because she wants that fat pumpkin and her mother's gone. She whistled for the birds, because she wanted a pumpkin. She got a pumpkin. She runned home.

Robbie: He teared the cap off with his own antlers. The bear ripped the cap off with his long claws. He scooped out because they're going to carve the pumpkin because they're going to make a jack-o-lantern. The birds poked and poked and maked a hole for the jack-o-lantern for the face. The girl went running home. The mother comed out and said, "How did that get carved?" She said, "It came from the pumpkin patch." They made all jack-o-lanterns. Her thinked her jack-o-lantern was the best, and her thinked her jack-o-lantern was the best, and the mother said, "They're all beautiful!" And it said, "Happy Halloween!"

Autumn: She didn't know which pumpkin to pick. She wanted a bumpy little pumpkin. They [the sisters] didn't like it. They said, "Pick another pumpkin." She stayed with the little pumpkin. Her friends helped her carve the pumpkin. She ranned and bringed it home. Her sisters said, "That is still ugly and bumpy." The mom said, "I like it."

Lindsey: The animals helped the girl with the pumpkin. The girl whistled. She was calling the birds. They need to help the girl do the pumpkin face. She runned and get home. They loved it. The mom hugged the girl.

Alexis: The little girl picked the bumpy pumpkin. Her sisters said, "That looks squishy and squashy and dirty." She felt sad. The animals comed and helped her make a pumpkin. The moose helped the little girl carry it. The bear took all the seeds out. The birds made a face for her. She runned and bring it in the house. Her sisters said, "It still looks ugly!" The mom said, "It's great!" And then she hugged her mommy.

Ryan: I liked the whole thing.

We're Back!

2010-10-16T19:53:00.000-04:00

After a longer than expected blog hiatus, we're back! Just because the kids and I haven't been blogging, it doesn't mean that we haven't been up to our eyeballs in books since starting school last month. We began this school year the same way we begin every school year by reading Bill and Eric's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? (I've read Bill and Eric's books so many times I feel like we're close enough for first names. If you don't know their last names, click over to Books We've Read This Year to find out.)

There's a reason I always start with these books. They're fabulous! The simple storyline and repetitive, predictable text beg my students to participate in "reading" the story. These books are wildly popular, and many children have already read them before starting school. Even if they haven't, they are so masterfully written and illustrated, and so kid-friendly that they immediately feel familiar to these young readers. Besides, the cat is purple and the horse is blue. You aren't going to find a blue horse this side of Oz in many other places. And the teacher has glasses just like mine! In fact, if you're three or four-years old (or if you have any imagination at all) that teacher could be me, and those children staring back at her could be them.

I decided to add a new component to my literacy and math curriculums this year. Each week, the children are voting for their favorite story from among the books read that week. The voting started for EK and PK that first week of school, with the CPG kids jumping aboard the voting train the second week. Here's how things turned out for the bear books:

We went on to read several more Carle classics: The Grouchy Ladybug, The Very Quiet Cricket, and Carle's indisputable masterpiece, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. (I invite you to dispute away.)

But what do the kids think about these books? Would they agree that The Very Hungry Caterpillar represents the apex of Carle's career? We'd find out at the ballot box. (It's actually a pocket chart.) It was a landslide victory in EK for the The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The Grouchy Ladybug ran a distant second, and The Very Quiet Cricket might as well have stayed home.

The PK kids bucked conventional wisdom when they voted The Grouchy Ladybug into the number one position. The Very Hungry Caterpillar didn't know what hit it, as it tied with The Very Quiet Cricket for second place. Or last place, depending on how you look at it.

The CPG kids had their own ideas about which Carle book deserves all the attention. It was a much tighter race that saw The Very Quiet Cricket win by a nose, closely followed by The Grouchy Ladybug, with The Very Hungry Caterpillar limping over the voting finishing line dead last. So much for indisputable masterpieces.

Speaking of indisputable masterpieces, the children tried their hand at cut paper art, Carle's preferred medium. Too bad Eric didn't have googly eyes for his caterpillar.

The kids will be back blogging within the next few weeks. In the meantime, I'll get the rest of the election results posted. We did a Margaret Wise Brown unit that the kids are still talking about!

Books We Read (2010-2011 Academic Year)

2010-10-05T10:58:00.034-04:00

November Books

The Three Pigs by David Wiesner (2002 Caldecott Medal Winner) (EK)
Old Bear by Kevin Henkes (PK, CPG and EK)
Good for You! written by Catherine Lukas and illustrated by Joel Schick (Acadia's Sharing) (EK)
Playing with My Cat by Deborah Charren (Mack's Sharing) (EK)
Down by the Bay adapted and illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott (Eva's Sharing) (EK)
Hooray for Fly Guy! by Tedd Arnold (Eva's Sharing) (EK)
Teacher's Pet written by D. Jakobs and illustrated by Jim Talbot (Summer's Sharing) (EK)
Good Night Beach written by Adam Gamble and illustrated by Cooper Kelly (Lindsey's Sharing) (PK)
Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss (Mikayla's Sharing) (PK)
Pigsty by Mark Teague (EK and PK)
Don't Wake Up the Bear written by Marjorie Dennis Murray and illustrated by Patricia Wittmann (PK, CPG and EK)
Bedtime written by Elizabeth Verdick and illustrated by Marieka Heinlen (Emma's Sharing) (CPG)
The Triplets by Barbara Seuling (EK)
Bear Snores On written by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Jane Chapman (PK)
Dinofours: I'm the Boss written by Steve Metzger and illustrated by Hans Wilhelm (PK)
Piggies written by Audrey Wood and illustrated by Don Wood (CPG)
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear written by Don and Audrey Wood and illustrated by Don Wood (CPG)

October Books

And the Good Brown Earth by Kathy Henderson (EK & PK) (Project Nature book)
Vera's Halloween by Vera Rosenberry (EK) (Katherine's Sharing)
Mommy? by Maurice Sendak (EK) (Eva's Sharing)
Wake Up, Lazy Bones! no author/illustrator given in this book from Waldman Publishing (EK) (Emelyn's Sharing)
The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle (EK) (Eva's Sharing)
Two Little Trains written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon (EK and PK)
Red Light, Green Light written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Leonard Weisgard (EK and PK)
The Dirty Little Boy written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Steven Salerno (EK and PK)
Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley (CPG) (Emma's Sharing)
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (CPG) (1963 Caldecott Medal Winner) (Read for Jumpstart's Read for the Record)
Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats (CPG)
Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag (EK) (1928 Newbery Honor Book)
Cat's Colors by Jane Cabrera (EK)
Owl Babies written by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Patrick Benson (PK)
Charlie Anderson written by Barbara Abercrombie and illustrated by Mark Graham (EK and PK)
Six-Dinner Sid by Inga Moore (EK)
Owl Moon written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by John Schoenherr (PK) (1988 Caldecott Medal Winner)
I am Fire written by Jean Marzollo and illustrated by Judith Moffatt (EK, PK and CPG)
Drip, Drop written by Sharon Gordon and illustrated by Don Page (CPG)
Pumpkin Eye by Denise Fleming (EK and PK)
Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni (EK)
Cool Cat, Hot Dog by Sandy Turner (PK)
Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni (EK)
No, David! by David Shannon (CPG) (1999 Caldecott Honor Book)
Mama, Do You Love Me? written by Barbara M. Joosse and illustrated by Barbara Lavallee (CPG)
The Bumpy Little Pumpkin written by Margery Cuyler and illustrated by Will Hillenbrand (EK and PK)
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything written by Linda Williams and illustrated by Megan Lloyd (EK, PK and CPG)
Littlebat's Halloween Story written by Diane Mayr and illustrated by Gideon Kendall (EK, PK and CPG)

September Books

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? written by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle (EK, PK and CPG)
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? written by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle (EK, PK and CPG)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (EK, PK and CPG)
The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle (EK, PK and CPG)
The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle (EK, PK and CPG)
Don't Eat the Teacher by Nick Ward (PK)
Tucker's Best School Day by Susan Winget (PK)
The Apple Pie Tree written by Zoe Hall and illustrated by Shari Halpern (EK and PK)
Apples by Gail Gibbons (EK and PK)
Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace (EK and PK)
Before the Storm written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Georgia Pugh (EK and PK)
The Runaway Bunny written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd (EK, PK and CPG)
Goodnight Moon written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd (EK, PK and CPG)
My World written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd (EK, PK and CPG)
Little Donkey Close Your Eyes written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Ashley Wolff (EK, PK and CPG)

(Gasp) Someone writed in it!

2010-07-19T11:09:00.003-04:00

Today was Animal Day at Hogarth. Camryn shared that she is going to Boston for the Duck Tour this summer. Of course, Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings was the perfect choice for storytime. I bought my copy second-hand 30 years ago, and it is well-worn. The previous owner fancied himself an artist, and there are scribbles throughout the book, which the kids found positively scandalous. (I said "himself" because somehow Julianna figured out that the previous owner was a boy. I guess she must be right since all the other kids agreed with her.)

Our blogging has been more "off" than "on" this summer. Our last day is tomorrow, so this will be the last post by the children until we start back up after Labor Day.

Camryn: Someone writed in it! This is my favorite because the man duckling and the mom duckling hatched their babies. I'm going on the Duck Tour. I think there's going to be ducks, and I think we're going to play games to punch the pretend ducks. I'm going on the swan boat. The swan pushed the boat.

Julianna: A daddy duck and a mama duck were looking for a place to live and then he asked about where they were going to live and stuff. The mama said, "NO! Quack! Quack!" Because there were foxes and turtles and stuff. And then they found here in Boston. Then they went to go get something to eat. Then they saw a boat and then they threw peanuts in the water to feed them. And then they followed the boat all around. And then the daddy duck almost got ran over. Hey! There's writing there! I think he drew a bird there! My favorite part was when the baby ducklings hatched.

Annalee: The mama said, "Don't go near the woods because there's wolfs that can get them!" So later they found a nice island and the mama said, "We should stay here for the night." Then they catched some fish, and they said, "There's not many things in this pond." They thought the swan was real, but it was pretend. They liked peanuts from the people. The mama duck screamed because there's a boy biking down the road. He almost ran over the ducks. They flew away and they found a place to get their babies. Then she counted her babies and they were all there. There were eight. Then the babies hatched and they learned how to swim. Then they swam in one line. Then they walked on the highway. Then the mama yelled and the babies cheeped. Then the policeman ran because there's ducklings trying to get through and he yelled, "STOP!" Because they wanted to go with their mama, they followed her. They went home. They're finally back home.

Abbie: Writing! Do you like people when they write on your books? [I said: I don't like it when people write on my books, but I still like the people.] I don't like that the people keep running over the ducks. Maybe they just saw them, and they couldn't really stop. Maybe the pedals are really loose. I liked when the ducklings hatched out. I like when Mr. Mallard is like looking at that duckling. I think he feels happy. I like when Mike came when he stopped the cars.

Emmett: Cars are zooming by ducklings. The mama duck is not happy about it. She's mad. The policeman comes running by. He calls all the policemen to hold the traffic. They can cross the street. Make Way for Ducklings!

Teagan: I liked when these ones all hatched because I like the baby ducklings. That's all. Bye bye!

The Summer Kids Talk Turkey (Vultures)

2010-06-22T19:01:00.000-04:00

We're back! I'm teaching a small group of mixed-age kids for six weeks this summer, and will be blogging off and on with them. Today we worked on letter Vv, painted volcanoes, and read Vulture View written by April Pulley Sayre and illustrated by Steve Jenkins. You can read what April Pulley Sayre has to say about Vulture View at her website. Sayre's nonfiction picture books for young children are among my favorites. Check her stuff out the next time you're at the library. I guarantee your kids are going to love her books.

Annalee: I like the picture where he found some food. I liked that bear climbing a tree. I like this picture. He's sitting in a tree fluffing up his wings. I saw a baby hedgehog today when I was going to my school. It was running across the road.

Arthur: I like this page because they are eating this animal because it's dead. It was smelly.

Teagan: I will tell you which part I love. I like this part. [Illustration of the rotting bones of an animal whose species the children debated. Their guesses ranged from buffalo to elephant. It looks to be in the cattle family to me.] Here's all the parts of this animal. I don't know what it is.

Camryn: All I know is that these animals might be extinct. The vultures fly. When it's cold, they go down, and when it's sunny they go up. They're looking for something good to eat. They like to eat something dead. Not that snake! Not that fox, because it's alive! They want to eat this deer because they like stuff that is dead and real stinky.

John: I learned that vultures are good for the earth and they eat all the dead stuff. And when the bad stuff drops into the ground and touches all the plants and stuff, they die. So the vultures are the animal garbage people. I liked when the vulture was gliding and soaring through the air at the second page.

Olivia: I was going to talk about these guys that are skeletons. This is a ram, and that's a pig. And this deer I'm talking about because he's dead. They're going to eat it, because they like eating animals that are dead. And I like vultures that fly in the sky. I like snakes. I like foxes. I like vultures that stand on branches. I like bears. I like vultures that go in a family tree.

J.J.: I learned about that vultures eat yucky food. I think there's a big ant on this page.

A Very Good Cause

2010-04-27T15:23:00.000-04:00

Marianne, a friend (and Hogarth parent) who works for Pearson Education recently told me about We Give Books. This year alone, the Pearson Foundation, in partnership with the Penguin Group, is planning to donate more than a million books to children who do not have books. You can drive the effort simply by reading free books on-line at We Give Books. You'll find picture books for children through age ten, with a good mix of fiction and non-fiction. There are read-aloud books, and books for older children to read independently. New books are added each month, and you'll find special seasonal offerings, as well.

How does it work? For each book you read, one book will be donated to the organization of your choice. And it doesn't cost you a penny. When you first log on, you'll be asked to register and choose your designated charity from among several literacy organizations. You can even switch up your designated charities to spread the wealth.

Did I mention it's free? (I know that I did. Three times. I just want to over-emphasize that it doesn't cost you anything to be a hero.)

Aside from contributing to the very worthy cause of child literacy, if you're a picture book author you'll be able to "research read" within your genre. If you're a parent, you can teach your child about philanthropic giving as you read with him or her. Older children can experience the joy of giving as they read books on-line on their own. Teenagers could even design a service project around We Give Books. Everybody wins, but only if you log on now, register, and start reading.

It's free, by the way.

This post originally appeared at The Write Sisters' blog on April 26, 2010.

Read It Again!!

2010-04-22T10:24:00.001-04:00

The CPG and EK children read an out-of-print old favorite, Little Cloud, by Robert Tallon. After I finished reading it, cries for me to read it again went up from the CPG kids. I wasn't at all surprised. Over the years, Little Cloud has elicited this response over and over. What a shame that a book kids connect to so strongly has gone out of print. I'll never understand the publishing industry!

Creative Play Group Responses:

Teagan: The lightning knocked off the mountain's nose and it fell off. I liked when it knocked off the nose. See! The lightning's touching the nose. His nose fell off and he said, "Aaaaw!! My nose!!" Look it. He blowed his nose when it was off him on the grass. He was tearing [crying] because his nose fell off in the dark.

Maeve: The cloud was near the big mountain. The big mountain scared everybody. He knocked off his nose because he didn't want him to be mean. The mountain grumbled. I liked it because he knocked off his nose.

Aria: There was no more water for the animals. I like this one. [Illustration showing Mean Mountain's nose on the ground.] His nose is all sad.

Brady D.: It was a story about Mean Mountain and Little Cloud. I liked when Little Cloud wanted to go to the other side of Mean Mountain. The water was drying up because there was no rain. Mean Mountain scared away the clouds. I like this part. "Blast off!" He got his nose!

Ryan: Big Mountain was mean to the clouds and he said, "Go away!" The water went all up because of Mean Mountain. I think he drank it all, so now the tree said, "I need water." Little Cloud was going to bring his friends. Mean Mountain was mad at Little Cloud. All the clouds gathered up and Little Cloud was the leader. When they got to the mountain the lightning shot Mean Mountain's nose. And then clouds rained and filled up the water.

Lindsey: Little Cloud rained. The nose fell off.

Alec: I like that page because it's scary. Mean Mountain is mad.

Aidan C.: The tree didn't have any water because it didn't rain. Little Cloud broke Mean Mountain's nose off because he was mean to him. He was going, "My nose! My nose!" I like that part.

J.J.: Little Cloud got all his friends and made the big mountain's nose fall off because the mountain was mean. The water was drying up and the animals were really thirsty.

Aiden R.: The animals needs some water, and even the trees. The water is getting all dried out. There was no rain. This is my favorite. [Illustration in which lightning streaks out from Little Cloud, knocking off Mean Mountain's nose.] His nose just fell off! The thunder was just cracking it.

Early Kindergarten Responses

Keegan: There was a little cloud that couldn't get over the mountain because the mountain was mean. There wasn't a lot of water for the animals and trees. I liked the part where his nose broke off. And he kind of looks funny with his nose off. I think he's supposed to be The Old Man in the Mountain, but I'm not sure. This book kind of looks old.

Daniel: It's about a cloud who saves a valley from the bad mountain. He always scares the rain clouds away because he looks mean and scary and throws pebbles and rocks. The valley dried up. Little Cloud got all of his friends. Little cloud struck a light of thunder and knocked off the mountain's nose and brought water to the pond so they could drink and live. The last page was the mountain crying at his broken nose.

Allison: The mountain laughed at the cloud. All of the animals didn't have water. Lightning knocked off the mountain's nose. All of the animals and the trees had water.

Brady K.: Little Cloud found Mean Mountain. Lightning came out of Mean Mountain's nose. It fell on the ground.

Bella: I like the Little Cloud story because he had an idea to make lots and lots of rain because he wanted to make Mean Mountain's nose fall off. The water hole wasn't filled. So Little Cloud went to talk to a tree and the tree whispered because he wanted some rain. And then Little Cloud wasn't afraid of Mean Mountain.

Annalee: The mountain broke his nose because the lightning strucked him. The tree needed the water. His leaves were falling off and the leaves were very dry. The water was going away because the sun was up.

Sophie: Where's the nosy part? [Flips through book to find illustration of Mean Mountain's grounded nose.] Well, the mountain's nose came off and he was just looking at it, crying. And the nose melted, because I see the green. [It's actually the nose's shadow.]

Leah: The tree was whispering to the cloud because every time the clouds went by Mean Mountain scared them away. Little Cloud and all the clouds filled up over the sea with water. They made a big cloud all together with Little Cloud in the lead, and then they went to Mean Mountain and then lightning struck from Little Cloud onto Mean Mountain's nose. His nose fell onto the ground and it was gathering all the dust up. I just saw something! You [in my blue shirt] and the [blue] end pages match!

Brooke B.: Little Cloud went to Mean Mountain and Mean Mountain wouldn't let Little Cloud go over him, but Little Cloud went around him. The valley had no water, and the tree whispered, "Can you bring some water?" Little Cloud asked her friends if they would help her, and they did. And then Little Cloud shot a big lightning bolt at big Mean Mountain and cut off his nose. And then he let water into the valley's waterfall and Little Cloud stayed in the valley.

Hayden: All of the clouds said, "Hey come back, Little Cloud!" He just floated away and met Mean Mountain. He was crabby. When you be crabby, that means you're mad. Everybody is so hot because there's no water to play in . The tree whispered, "Please make it rain." And Little Cloud go back over Mean Mountain, and Mean Mountain blasts him off to the stars. Little Cloud got an airplane and taked one little snooze. That's what I do when someone's going to come over to my house. And then Little Cloud said, "Hey, why you all sleeping?" The clouds said, "Shhh! We're taking a little nap." Than all of the clouds maked an arrow, and went back to Mean Mountain. And then the mountain did some thunder. All the thunder came to Little Cloud. Everybody was so happy because Little Cloud brought the rain from the ocean. Then Mean Mountain cried because all the clouds knocked his nose off. He got a big tear coming out. And then Little Cloud saved everybody's life.

John: I liked when Little Cloud struck a streak of lightning and it knocked off Mean Mountain's nose and he said, "My nose! My nose!" And he groaned. And that's it!

Let's Talk About Books!

2010-04-15T13:23:00.000-04:00

I wasn't planning to blog today, but Emelyn asked if she could talk about books with me. Of course I said, "Of course!" Emelyn and her pals decided to talk about Beaver's Lodge by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert. We are weaving the room this week, and read Beaver's Lodge because our sculpture just might be a beaver's lodge. Or it might be a giant spider web. Or maybe it's a pirate ship.

Emelyn: The beaver falled and he had blood. Maybe he got the blood on this pointed stick right here.

Christel: First Beaver fell down, then he got hurt. He got pointies by those sharp sticks. Beaver's dam was all into rubble. And then Bear came and they brought him to Bear's house and then he fell asleep. I love the mouses on the pages! Squeak! Squeak! One little mouse is swinging. And then Bear and Porcupine fixed Beaver's dam. They decorated the dam. That shoe doesn't look like a shoe. It looks like a shark. There was none door! Beaver said he would chop himself in.

Arthur: I want to talk about the end papers. Beaver is falling down and the porcupine is scared because it's going to fall down on him and the bear is going to catch him.

John: Beaver was filling some holes in the top of his lodge. He fell down and his lodge broke and he got hurt. Beaver was sad. He was not sad because he got hurt, he was sad because his lodge broke. Hedgehog called Bear to come along and help him with all of his cuts. I liked when they were building the lodge and they had to decorate it. And I liked when the lodge was there and it was all fixed and it had Bear and Hedgehog on it. Bear was a stuffed animal, and Hedgehog was made from twigs and shells and mud. Right before that when Beaver was feeling better from all of the leaves on his cuts like Band-Aids, I liked it.

Camryn: I liked the part when they build the new lodge. The other one fell down. That's all I want to talk about.

On the Road with Mr. Goody Wuthrie

2010-04-12T10:51:00.001-04:00

We had a traveling theme in Early Kindergarten this morning when we read This Land is Your Land written by Woody Guthrie and illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen, and The Trucker written by Brenda Weatherby and illustrated by Mark Weatherby.

Bella [Blogged about This Land is Your Land]: I like the golden valley. It has flowers, wolves, and bulls [buffalo]. I like all the colors. I like that. [Statue of Liberty] I think I saw it on Wonder Pets. I like that [a rainbow]. I saw a rainbow before with my daddy.

Hayden [Blogged about The Trucker]: The little boy fell asleep in his room and he had a dream, except it happened. His truck got bigger, and bigger and bigger and he got into the truck. And the truck had to stop so the people could walk by. And those are so cute! What are they? [Me: Deer.] Oh, I like deers! On the alphabet line, reindeer starts with "R." I like this page because he blew the tire, but he needed help putting the big tire back onto the truck. He can't do it if it's raining.

Keegan [Blogged about The Trucker]: I love the fact that trucks have been around for millions, and millions and millions of years. A lot of the old ones didn't survive, they got scrapped. The toy truck transformed into a humongous big rig. And some rigs are so huge, they're bigger than a big house and they could hold millions and millions and millions of tons!

Daniel [Blogged about The Trucker]: He was playing with his truck, and it became bigger, and bigger, and bigger and bigger until it was big enough so he could fit in it. Some kids saw him in the truck and they did the truck signal and it meant they wanted him to blow his horn. And on the next page he drove on the highway, and then he was bored so he called on the radio. Then he saw a truck that was stuck in a hole. The storm went by and there was trouble. A tire popped and it was called bubble trouble. The tow truck came to help him and followed him a ways, and then he pulled off the road to take a nap. It was a dream! And he was with his Dad to work. His Dad was a truck driver.

John [Blogged about The Trucker]: The truck got bigger and bigger and bigger and then BOOM! It got humongous. He first checked all the equipment, and then he went to the lumber yard. At the bus stop, the kids wanted him to honk his horn. They gave the signal and then he gave a big, BOOOOOOM! He passed a deer crossing sign. Then he needed some company so he called up someone on his radio and he said, "Anyone out there got your ears on?" Then he was going past a tow truck that drove off the side of the road, and the big truck helped him back on the road. Then the storm came and thunder and lightning went, BOOM! BANG! Then he said, "I lost a bubble!" That means he lost a tire. He needed help to put the tire back on and then the tow truck was grateful enough so he put the tire back on. And then he got happy again and he was at the lumber yard. And then it was time to get his shut-eye. It was all a dream, and then his mom and his dad put him in his seat and he went to work with his dad. He works driving a truck at the lumber yard.

Sophie [Blogged about The Trucker]: My favorite part was when that guy [the tow truck driver] was stuck there. The other truck pulled him out.

Leah [Blogged about This Land is Your Land]: They thought they had a job here, and then one people had no gas because they didn't have much money. Mr. Goody Wuthrie was strolling down the highway. Me and Sophie were lying on our backs because we were pretending we were seeing the Redwood Forest. They're so tall. There he is walking. It's Mr. Woody Guthrie.

Brooke B. [Blogged about This Land is Your Land]: Mr. Woody Guthrie was walking down that ribbon of highway. I like this page because I like how they like painted the mural and how they created the playground.

Annalee [Blogged about The Trucker]: The truck is growing bigger and bigger. He's driving it. He didn't know how to drive. There's deer right there. I saw deer in Colorado. I went with Abby. We visited my cousins.

Dev [Blogged about The Trucker]: He was playing with his toys and the truck began to be big. He could ride it. He was talking on his radio. The rain starts to go. It was raining hard. At the end the truck went small again.

Arthur [Blogged about This Land is Your Land]: The policeman comed, three of them, and they wanted to give them gas, but they couldn't because there was no gas there. A lot of things were damaged because some burglar or some bad guy putted some fire on it. On the next page they fixed it. I like this because they think it's a rainbow, but it's really not a rainbow. It's a brick wall painted like a rainbow. Mr. Woody Guthrie is really a singer. The fog is moving on this page.

Arthur [Blogged about The Trucker]: I want to talk about something on the end. They want some food. That's all!

Here Comes the Sun/Son! (Doo, doo, doo, doo!)

2010-04-01T14:36:00.004-04:00

The EK kids read and discussed Gerald McDermott's 1975 Caldecott Medal Winner Arrow to the Sun. March was such a wet and dreary month here in the Northeast, we just had to celebrate this first sunny day of April by reading a book featuring the sun. Arrow to the Sun is a perennial favorite, and this year's crop of kids enjoyed it as much as my first class back in 1980.

Hayden: When the boy tried to find his Daddy someone put an arrow to the sun and the boy gets on the arrow and then he goes to the sun and he sees his father up there. He had to go in the Kiva of Lions. And then he had to go in the sea lions [serpents]. Then he trapped the lions. Then he curled up the sea lions. And then he goes into the bees. He trapped them. And then he goes in the lightning. He got hisself rainbowy. The father sended the boy back to earth. I liked when he goes in the lions and the sea lions.

Brady: The boy turned into an arrow to find his dad. Arrow Maker maked the boy into an arrow and shooted him up to the sun. The father said he had to go into the Kivas. They were lions, snakes, bees and lightning. His father shot him back to the earth. My favorite part was when the boy turned into the arrow.

Brooke N.: His dad said, "Kill the bad guys." The bad guys were the snakes and the bees and the lion. The boy was brave. My favorite part was when he was fighting the bees. [I ask which Kiva she would enter.] I would fight the bees.

Bella: I liked it 'cause of all the pictures. It looks really cool, and I liked it when he goes through the lava [Kivas]. My favorite was the lion. [I ask which Kiva she would enter.] I would go through the lions.

John: It was about a boy looking for his father. He asked the bow and arrow maker to shoot him all the way to the sun. Then he met his father. The father told him he had to go in four Kivas. The Kiva of Lions, then he tamed them. The Kiva of Snakes, then he turned them into a circle. The Kiva of Bees, then he turned them into honey. The last was the Kiva of Lightning. On the last Kiva he got static shocked and formed into a color just like his father. Then his father shot that arrow right back to earth, then I think the boy was king of the earth.

Annalee: His dad told him, "Go to the lions." He tamed them.

Leah: I love this part. She [Arrow Maker] gave the biggest arrow that she made to him. I liked the lightning part because I liked the colors. And then the father shot the arrow back down. He [the father] was the sun.

Keegan: It's kind of cool because I like these people. I like the buildings because they're Indian-style and I like that because it's like a hundred years ago and I like that. It's about a boy who went up and found his father up on the sun. He got shot up there by an arrow. His clothes changed up on the sun.

Daniel: In the Lion Kiva he made the lions not be so mean. Then it was the snakes. He made them not be mean. And then bees. He made the bees not be so mean. Near the end he was in the lightning place then when he came out he was looking different. Before he was in there he lookeded black with one flower in a circle around it. After he was like black with orange and blue and green and pink all over him, just like his dad. Then he was shot on an arrow back down to earth and everyone was nice and the mom was watching down on them.

Dev: I like this page where the arrow goes to the sun.

Allison: He was going to the lions. I like that part.

Arthur: I like it because he tamed the lions and he tamed the snakes. And because he tamed the bees and because he tamed the lightning.

Perfect is Perfect

2010-03-22T10:40:00.003-04:00

I found Perfect the Pig by Susan Jeschke on a visit to the Harvey-Mitchell Memorial Library last week. I read it in the aisle, and was dangerously close to making a spectacle of myself. I was nearly moved to tears! I am a VERY critical reader, so any book that can stir that level of emotion in me screams to be shared with my students.

Leah: He lived with his mommy and his mommy didn't even know he was there. Perfect wished for wings, and one day one pig fell in the road and Perfect pushed him on his paws, and then the pig turned her into wings. And then his brothers and sisters said, "Go away with the birds!" And then the birds said, "Go away with another family!" And then a little girl spotted her and then she picked up her and then she took very good care of her. And she named her Perfect the Pig, and then she feeded her and then she drawed a lot of pictures of her. And then one day Perfect flew up to the ceiling. And Perfect didn't like waiting in line and he didn't like walking on the pavement so she carried him. And then Perfect got lost. And then a mean man, he ran home with the pig. And then he feeded him garbage. And then he trained him to fly. Then he tied him to a pipe. And then he bought a cute little costume for Perfect the Pig and he took him for a show and all the people clapped their hands. And then when the man got back he got a cage. Perfect was crying. Then the little girl looked for him, and then she saw Perfect's picture and she got a ticket and she went in there and it was Perfect! And then the judge said, "Let the pig choose." And the pig choosed the little girl and they lived happily ever after.

Hayden: I like when he had a dream he was having wings. When he got wings, these pigs said, "Get out! You can sleep where the birds are!" But the birds didn't let the flying pig in the nest.

Annalee: I like when she was looking in the sky for the flying pig. She was worried.

Bella: Perfect's wings hurt. He couldn't fly. He's a bad guy. He put Perfect on the leash and he yells at him. Then Perfect saw the girl. He could fly again!

Brooke N.: They were getting milk from the mother so they could get strong, then the little pig went out and he got wings. And then the pig said, "Get out!" And then the birds said, "Get out of this house!" And then the lady found her when she was lost, and then she got a bath and then she went to sleep. And then she got food and she went away. She got out and then a bad guy got her away and she didn't like garbage. And then she went in the show. She was crying because she didn't know what to do. And she was in a movie, and then she saw her family. And she choosed her. And then it was a happy ending.

John: I liked when the pig could fly and flew all around and it could fly really high. And I liked when it went lower and lower and lower then higher and higher and higher.

Kaitlyn: This part was scary. That guy had a scary voice when he waked the pig up. I thinked he was going to eat him. He trapped him in a cage and he gave him garbage. He tied him around a pipe and then he dressed him up and the pig looks kind of sad. The mean guy's happy because he's evil. When she [Olive] was looking for him [Perfect], she loved him, and he loved her. Perfect was sad at the mean guy's house.

Christel: This page [where the pigs banish Perfect from the pen and the birds refuse to let him stay with them] was really mean. I didn't like this bird. It looked like a crow and it was really mean. They didn't like Perfect because they didn't want him. He was trying to get a family. That's so cool. I wish I could draw like that. Look at this grass. That's pretty grass! I like this part where the pig's flying. And I like the big submarine. You should tell the library.

Emelyn: I don't really like it when he tied him to the pipe. I thought he was going to be there forever. I thought he was going to be with the mean man forever. Perfect was sad. The man put him in a cage because he wants him to stay there. I thought he was going to be there forever.

Mack: I want to talk about the one where he was in the cage. I thought he was going to be trapped forever. He felt like he was going to be trapped in there forever and he was crying. That made me worried.

Brady L.: He hooked him up because he had wings.

Eva: He [the mean man] looks like he has goblin teeth. Goblins only have two teeth. I don't like that guy. I like that cute, little pig. You know which one makes me feel happy? [Flips to illustration in which Perfect and Olive are reunited.] That one because the pig sees the lady and the lady sees the pig and then she gets to bring him home.

Katherine: I like this page because the woman's being nice to him. She's giving him a bath in this one. Perfect is happy because he's smiling.

Arthur: My favorite page is this because the bird said, "You can't live in this!" [Closes book and points to cover illustration.] I like this because it has a bed. I just love beds.

Don't Bite the Leprechaun!

2010-03-17T13:55:00.000-04:00

Today, in both EK and PK, we read Clever Tom and the Leprechaun, retold and illustrated by Linda Shute. A few of the PK kids wanted to blog about this story, which is a faithful retelling of the Celtic fairy tale The Field of Boliauns.

Camryn: I like that part. He's finding the leprechaun. He had gold. His name is Tom. I have a show of Tom and Jerry! Leprechaun. That's a long, long word!

Kaitlyn: Tom tried to bite that guy. [The illustration depicts Tom holding the leprechaun close to his face. This particular illustration is not the cover art. Tom has an angry expression on his face, and appears to be ready to bite the leprechaun.] He wanted the leprechaun to give him his gold. He grabbed his shovel. He was going to start shoveling. He shoveled everywhere. He shoveled a hundred one. He was digging but he couldn't find the treasure because the little guy tricked him. He told the kids about it, and the little guy laughed. And that's the end!

Katherine: I like this part. I like when he grabbed the leprechaun. He wanted gold.

Christel: Tom wanted the leprechaun's gold. He was peeking at the leprechaun trying to see what he was doing. Now this one's kind of crazy. [Looking at illustration showing an extreme close-up of Tom's face.] He grabbed the leprechaun. He been mean to him.

Mikayla: He wanted gold. He took it. He bite his shoe. He couldn't find the gold.

Emmett: The guy was angry at the leprechaun because he wanted his gold. The leprechaun lied and he buried his gold under one of the stalks, but he lied. It was a great story.

Each Peach Pear Plum

2010-03-11T12:25:00.001-05:00

The Creative Play Group children read Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. This rhyming romp through story land has a hidden picture element that preschoolers just love.

J.J.: I like it when he [Tom Thumb] hides in the tree. Finding the pictures is a little hard. And I like it when I see the bears. I liked the bear part. I like the part where she [Bo Peep] was looking for the sheep and they [Jack and Jill] were tumbling down the hill. I like the whole entire thing!

Aria: The mouse was going to eat the pie. Snow White [Cinderella] was dusting. It's [Baby Bunting's basket] floating in the river. [Starts reciting.] Jack and Jill went up the hill to get a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after. The cat said, "I'm just a cat!"

Ryan: I like when the witch screamed. Look at her face! I like when Robin Hood said, "Ha, ha, ha! I'm going to get her!" I like when you could only see one leg. It was hard and easy to find the pictures. I'm smart! I like when the baby went, "Me! Me!" He was happy. I like when the baby bear thought he was the Dada, but he's not. The Dada's right there.

Brady D.: I like this part. They [Jack and Jill] fell down the hill. I like this page. [The last illustration.] They were all there.

John: I like when Robin Hood was trying to shoot the witch and the cat said, "I'm going to hold on tight!" I like when they all hided in the picture ready to get out and eat everything, and when they all jumped out they ate and ate and ate until they were too full.

Maeve: I like the wicked witch. She wanted all the stuff from her friends. He [Robin Hood] was shooting that [arrows] at the witch's broom stick.

Arthur: I like this because they were all hiding. It's a hard time finding them.

Lipstick on a Fish: You Have to Love Leo

2010-03-10T19:46:00.001-05:00

The Prekindergarten children read Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni today. I love Lionni's work. When I want to read a story about friendship or acceptance to my students, Lionni's books are always at the top of my list. Fish is Fish engaged the children with humor and suspense, and with illustrations that stretched their imaginations.

Emelyn: I liked it when the fish is not in the water. He wanted to go see his friend Frog. He couldn't breathe. The frog throwed him back in the water.

Katherine: The fish wanted to see where the frog went and the frog throwed him back in the water when he went on land. He wanted to see what all the things were like that the frog saw. He thinked all the people they looked like they were fish and they were all riding on a cow that looked like a fish.

Camryn: I like when the fish was on land and he was upside down. He wanted to see his friend again. His friend helped him jump back into the water.

Mack: The tadpole turned into a grown-up frog and I liked it when the fish was out of the water. He wanted to see everything in the world 'cause the frog told him. My favorite part was when he thought everything was like him.

Acadia: I like the one with all the birds because I like all the colors. They look like a fish, but with those. [Points to the gills.] I don't know why it's like a fish. I like it because all the colors are like a rainbow.

Summer [Who has been listening to Acadia.]: Me, too!

Kaitlyn: I like when the frog was a baby. I like this [illustration] because she's wearing lipstick and she's a fish. And she's wearing clothes! The fish doesn't know what they look like. My second favorite one is where he was trying to like get out, and he couldn't breathe. In the last part the frog picked him up and put him back in the pond and he sat with his fish friend.

Christel: I like the pretty fish that look like birds. And I really like the cow because it has a funny cow/fish tail. I love that there's beautiful flowers and the mom and the beautiful birds and the beautiful butterflies.

Yellow Jackets, Wind and Fire

2010-03-03T16:00:00.001-05:00

Last week, New Hampshire experienced a windstorm that left more than 300,000 folks in the dark. Those of us without wood stoves or fireplaces were also left in the cold. I decided to read Fire Race, A Karuk Coyote Tale retold by Jonathan London and illustrated by Sylvia Long to the EK and PK children. It retells the Karuk tale of how fire came to the people. The story opens with a group of shivering animals huddling together for warmth. I couldn't help but think of the thousands of people who ended up doing much the same thing last week after the storm.

Fire Race is retold with such intense drama that you are sucked right into the story. One of my students actually covered her eyes and peeked between her fingers at the pictures depicting the evil Yellow Jacket sisters. (I've watched parts of my favorite Quentin Tarantino films that way myself!)

A few of the children wanted to blog about the story and about their storm experiences. Thankfully, there were no yellow jackets to add to the chaos that was the Great New Hampshire Windstorm of 2010.

Hayden: The animals were cold because there's been no fire. The bees had the fire. I liked when the frog got fire in his mouth, when the frog got a branch with fire on it. I liked when the bee stinged the turtle. I think the bees have been naughty.

Leah: The animals lived in a dark wood and it was cold. And then the wolf knocked on the bee sisters' door. And then he said, "If you close your eyes, I'll make you more prettier." And then he took the fire and he ran off. And then he tripped and then the eagle caught the fire. And then the mama tiger got it. And then the fox got it and jumped up and ran off. And then the bear got it. And then the caterpillar got it. The turtle got stinged and then the frog got it. The frog ate the fire. I thinked he was going to catch on fire. He didn't. He was under the water holding his breath and the fire. And then the bee sisters gave up. And then the frog hopped out and put the fire log on the branch. And then everybody asked if they could get warm. [Windstorm discussion.] While I was driving I saw a lot of trees on the wire. And guess what! When I drived back, I saw a tree on someone's house!

Daniel: The coyotes were pretty cold and they needed to eat their food raw. I liked when he went to steal fire from the yellow jacket sisters. When their eyes were closed he took a charcoal from the fire and ran away. When the yellow jacket sisters opened their eyes they chased the fox and the eagle caught the fire. Then jaguar thought they were going to sting him, then they went after him. Then the ant got the fire, then the turtle got it and the turtle got stung and then the frog came in and swallowed it. He hopped in the water and the wasps flew around in a circle one, two, three times and flew away. And the frog hopped out and spitted out the fire. Then one of the frogs asked the old and wise one how to make fire, and then it was the end.

Brooke N.: I like when the wolf got into the bees' house. He was stealing the fire because he wanted to make himself warm. And then he was playing a joke and then he stole the fire. [Windstorm discussion.] The winds were starting to make the trees fall down. We didn't have no water when we lost power. We went to Nana's house. Daddy stayed at home because he had to go work.

John: The animals didn't know that you could make fire from bark, so they wanted to get the fire from the yellow jacket sisters. The sisters wanted the fire all to themselves. I like when the turtle's tail got stung because he went into his shell. [Windstorm discussion.] It was really, really windy, and I bet my Dad got confused when the power went out because his computer went out. The power went out when the TV was on.

A Good Book is Timeless

2010-02-18T11:29:00.000-05:00

The Creative Play Group kids talked about a book published 75 years ago. Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack is every bit as appealing to the 2010 child as it was to the 1932 child.

Aiden R.: My favorite animal was the hen because I liked the hen.

J.J.: The little boy needed a present for his mama. He asked all the animals if they would give him something for his mama's birthday party. My favorite animal was the cow.

Lindsey: It's his mama's birthday. I like the chicken one. A cow! Moooo! A hugging bear. [Looking at illustration of the boy giving his mother a bear hug.] He's so silly.

Olivia: He wants to give something to his mom. The hen said to give an egg to his mother. [I ask what he gives his mother.] Maybe a big bear hug.

Arthur: This is my first favorite page because it has a chicken. The chicken said, "Could I give you some eggs?" And then the little boy said, "My mom already has eggs." And then they gathered along and then they saw a goose. The goose said, "Could I give you some feathers to give you a pillow?" And the boy said, "I already have a pillow." And then they gathered along again, and then they found a goat. And the goat said, "Could I give you cheese and milk?" And the little boy said, "We already have cheese and milk." And then they gathered along again, and then they found a sheep. And the sheep said, "Could I give you some fur?" And then they gathered along again, and then they met the cow. And then the kid said, "Do you have anything for my mom for Valentine's Day?" "Yes, I do," the cow said. And then the cow said, "You should go to the bear." And then one person gathered along and it was the kid, and then he was running. And then he finally got to the woods and saw him, and then the kid said, "Do you have anything for my Valentine?" "No, but I could show you what I could give you for Valentine's." And then he whispered in his ear. And then his mom guessed all of those things that they wanted to give them, and it was a bear hug.

Carter: Carter didn't really like the book much. [I'm sure he wouldn't have liked it much as a 1932 child, either.] He said, "Nothing happened." He did like the boy, though.

Alec: Here's the bear and here's the little boy. I don't know what his [the little boy's] name is. He was a friendly bear.

Aidan C.: I like the part where the little boy said to his mother, "I got something to show you." It was the part where he gave her a hug.

Aria: He's sad because he don't have anything for his mother's birthday. He saw a chicken. He runned with the chicken with him. Then they saw the goose. He saw a goat. And he saw a sheep. And they saw the cow. And then he ran up the hill. Then he saw the bear. I like the bear! And the bear whispered in his ear and said, "Give your mama a great bear hug."

Lions and tigers and boats. Oh, my!

2010-02-04T10:30:00.000-05:00

The CPG children read and discussed Toy Boat by Randall de Seve and Loren Long. As you read through their comments, you'll see the children were delightfully scared by the boat's misadventures. It's obvious that de Seve and Long have written the perfect "thriller" for the preschool set. They've given their readers just the right scare factor, with the happy resolution coming soon enough to diffuse the tension.

Aria: I like this part in the tub. I like the boy and the boat. I like this part, but he let go of the boat. The boat got lost. I like this part, 'cause he said, "Boat! Boat!" I like this part 'cause it's pretty scary. The weather blowed it away. I like this part, cause he [the big boat] said, "Move!" He's sad 'cause he misses his boy.

Alec: The [tub toy] shark looks happy. The boy's in the tub with his boat. [Flips to illustration of a speedboat with flames and teeth painted on its sides.] It's scary! Those are bad boats! [Flips to illustration in which the boy and boat are reunited.] That boy said, "Boat!" The end.

Teagan: [Flipping to illustration of a speedboat with flames and teeth painted on its sides.] I'm going to the shark one. The boat shark. It maked me freak out. The speedboat's yell did. When he said the thing. ["Move along!"]

John: I liked the picture with the speedboat. The speedboat had flames and some teeth and lots of yellow on it and a white cover on the top. The speedboat zoomed by and kicked up a lot of water and the speedboat went really, really fast. The toy boat got wet. The speedboat screamed, "Get out of my way!"

Maeve: [Flips to illustration of a speedboat with flames and teeth painted on its sides.] I like when the scary boat was shooting by. The boat's scary. My favorite part was the teeth.

Aidan C.: The toy boat escaped from the boy. I like the part when it was scary. The part when it was dark. The toy boat got lost and he couldn't find his friend. They were together in the end.

I wish I was in this book.

2010-02-02T09:30:00.003-05:00

This week the EK kids are blogging about alphabet mystery written by Audrey Wood and illustrated by her son Bruce Wood. And, yes, I meant to write the title all in lower case letters because that's the way it appears on the cover.

Hayden: When the Big "M" said he was going to eat the little letters he was going to put them in his soup. He was yelling at the letters. I like when Little "x" flew on the pencil and got to the castle.

Brooke N.: Crooked "I" said, "If you wake up 'M' he's going to throw you in the soup!" It was funny. And then the flewed off and then they goed in the castle.

Sophie: I liked the end because it had a birthday cake. It said, "I love you Mom."

Bella: Little "x" floated away on one of the pencils. He ran away because nobody wanted to work with him. And then all the other little letters took one pencil and they floated into the night sky. They goed right here. That's a castle, and there's the pencil Little "x" took parked. Crooked "I" was so crooked because he crooked hisself by hisself. Maybe. Big "M" had paint and beads on him. He was a little bit naughty, but then he started crying because he missed his Mommy. Look it. That's Big "M's" shadow. He made the little alphabet shake because he wanted to make them alphabet soup and they were sad because they were going to miss their mommy. And then the Big "M" misseded his Mommy, too. See? Now he's crying because he misses his Mommy. The big tears are falling on the little alphabet. And look it. They're all picking things for all their moms. My favorite was the beads. They flied off, and Crooked "I" and Big "M" flied off on a pencil with all the other little letters. They made a birthday cake and then they put kisses on the cake. It was little "x."

John: All the letters were sleeping in their beds, but little "x" wasn't because he drove in one of the pencil cars to a castle. He left because the kid who had the whole alphabet didn't use him. And there's something funny about when they went out the window -- "z" was in front and "a" wasn't in front. They went backwards not forwards. And there was a castle with lots of different color flags. And little "b" was the bravest and said, "We're looking for little "x." And Crooked "I" said, "Come in, but don't awake The Master!" And when the Big "M" said, "I'll cook you in the alphabet soup," the letters shivered. Little "x" told him M also stands for mother. Big "M" cried because he hasn't give his mother a present in so long. Big "M" told them they could each pick one present for the kid's mother. My favorite present was the "j" jack-in-the-box.

Arthur: The best part was when all the letters picked out things. My favorite was the "t" because it had a Teddy Bear. I like the pictures. I think the artist used crayons to draw the pictures. I like to draw stuffed animals and animals. I like Star Wars and one more thing. Actually two more. I like to draw cars and I like to draw Super Heroes.

Annalee: I like when the "x" flied away. I like this picture. He's (little "x") singing a lullaby to the big "M." He's kind of mean. He was going to put the little letters in the soup. The little letters were shaky.

Leah: I really like the abcs in it. I think the artist made the letters so beautiful because he used colorful ink. And I love that they took home the "I" and the "M" 'cause they love them 'cause the "M" was going to make them into alphabet soup but then they made him into nice and then he was getting to put on the cake. It said, "I love you Mom." It was so cool that they took off on the pencil. It was so beautiful on the ground. I wish I was in this book.

You say goodbye, and I say hello.

2010-02-01T19:32:00.002-05:00

This past weekend I went to Kindling Words (KW) in Vermont. KW is a retreat for published children's authors, illustrators and editors. Because so many folks want to attend, the retreat spots are awarded in a lottery.

The Picture Book Project actually came up in conversation over the weekend. A couple of the attending authors are regular Picture Book Project readers, and they had a few suggestions. (After scolding me for being such a blog-slacker last month.) They suggested if I keep each post to just a few kids, it will be easier for the reader to follow, and for me to manage.

As you read on, you'll see I took their advice. Each blog entry will include contributions from only a few of the children. I'll keep track of who has blogged, and encourage all of the children to blog at least once each month.

Today the PK kids read the 2006 Caldecott Medal Winner The Hello, Goodbye Window written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Chris Raschka. Chris Raschka was at KW this year, leading the illustrator thread. It was a complete kick to sit in on two of his illustrator sessions, and I couldn't wait to get back to school to read this book to the children.

Acadia: [Looking at the dinosaur-in-the-window illustration.] It's not real! They're extinct! I don't know why she saw the head of a dinosaur in the window. I don't know why she saw the pizza and the queen. How come did she see these in the Hello, Goodbye window? [I ask, Were they really there?] Noooo! She was just pretending they were there. I like to pretend I'm a Princess Fairy.

Christel: I liked that the Poppa was squirting the hose at the little boy. The little boy liked it. I liked that the Mommy and Daddy were going to work. I like that the Grandma has curly hair. I like that there's so many stars up in the sky so-o-o-o-o big. It's kind of cool how the artist did the circles in the sky. I like that she said the cat was a tiger. If I was there, I would just walk near the tiger. I want to show the Grandma that it's just a kitty. I like that he took a nap. I wish they were making so fun things and being noisy.

Camryn: I like it when the medal [Caldecott medal on cover] is gold. I like blond, pink, silver, purple and gold. I like that the end papers look like mustard. I like the very big house. I liked it when the Grandma said don't touch anything under the sink because it's chemicals. I liked when the Grandma thinked it was a tiger but it was a kitty. I call my grandmother my Grammy.

Eva: I liked the part when she stayed over at her Grammy's. I like when the Grandfather was chasing the little girl with the hose. He was being tricky and he was having fun.

Arthur: They were saying goodbye to their parents. Sometimes I stand on a chair and wave goodbye to Mommy and Daddy and blow them hugs and kisses.

John: Sometimes when my Mom goes to work, I go to my Mom's work at her daycare. If we get there early, we get to go to her desk and we get to color whatever we bring. When it's time for Mommy to work, we go into the daycare. There's toys. At lunch, Mommy meets up with us and we have lunch then she goes back to work and we go play. And then after we go play, it's the end of work and we go home. The book made me think of it.

Interested in learning a bit about Chris Raschka and his work process? Check out this video.

'Twas Eight Days After Christmas . . .

2010-01-03T18:46:00.000-05:00

I had wanted to get this entry written and posted before Christmas, but being the good teacher I am, I waited until vacation to get really sick. I'm recovered and ready to return to class tomorrow, and thought I'd sneak this in before the children and I get back down to blogging business later this month.

The EK kids participated in the Hogarth School's 8th annual Vote for The Night Before Christmas. I read three different versions of Clement C. Moore's poem The Night Before Christmas illustrated by three different artists -- Corinne Malvern, Cheryl Harness and Jan Brett.

Malvern was the winner with 7 votes, Harness came in second with 5 votes, and Brett came in last with 2 votes. Corinne Malvern tied to win one year, and flat-out won the other 7 "elections."

Now, don't start crying, Election fraud! I do my best to assure a fair result every year. I try to remain impartial and not give any hints as to which is my favorite. The children vote privately, and do not receive a ballot to mark until they physically pick up the book for which they wish to vote. That way, they don't simply mark off the first box on the ballot.

I love this curriculum unit, and am intrigued that Malvern wins year after year. Although her version was originally published smack in the middle (almost) of the 20th century in 1949, those very traditional renderings of Santa and his reindeer still hold enormous appeal for a 21st century audience.

Last year, I found it interesting that my 11 and 13-year old nieces were appalled that Jan Brett was not the clear winner. In fact, Brett's illustrations have come in last 7 out of 8 elections.

My nieces are fantastic artists, and Margaret (the 11-year old) is an aspiring illustrator. We talked about what Brett's problem might be (at least with the preschool set) and determined that you could never put a red nose on a Brett reindeer. We think it's as simple as that. Kids just can't fit a realistic-looking reindeer into their existing reindeer schemata. I think Brett has the same problem with her Santa. That guy would never live at the North Pole. Which is kind of what New England is feeling like these days.

See You in 2010!

2009-12-18T09:53:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays to all of The Picture Book Project followers! The children and I are taking a break until after the New Year, and will be back with weekly posts starting the week of January 11th. We'll see you then!

Frozen Antlers and Cold Snorts

2009-12-07T16:45:00.000-05:00

This week the PK children talked about Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Christmas written by Joy Cowley and illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller. I met Joy several years back when she was my mentor at the week-long Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop at Chautauqua. She was as delightful as Mrs. Wishy-Washy!

Katherine: I like when all the snow was down. I like when they all didn't want to go in the tub. I like the part when she poured the cold water in the tub. I like the part when Mrs. Wishy-Washy went away and they went upstairs to take a bath. I like the part when he's [the duck] standing on [the edge of the bathtub] right there. I like the part when they got in the tub with the pink bubbles. I like the part when she came back and she yelled. I like the part when they're in the living room with the presents. I like the part when she brought all the animals in the living room. I like the part when she picked the duck up. I like the part when she gave them presents and she ate some treats with the duck. And I like the part when she shared the cookies with them. It was a fun story.

Acadia: I like this part. They're taking a bath -- a duck, a pig and a cow. I didn't know if Wishy-Washy liked that. She said, "Don't go in the bathtub again!"

Summer: She cleans the pig and the cow and the duck. The animals went up the upstairs bath because it was too cold in the outside tub. The duck has bubbles on his head. She screamed because they weren't in the outside tub. She took the presents and she give them back to Santa.

Camryn: The cow and the pig and the duck were cold in the tub 'cause they were in the snow. They got mud all over the floor. They take a bath in the bathroom. The cow jumped in the tub. Wishy-Washy screamed 'cause she saw mud all over the floor. The pig and the duck and the goose and the cow did it.

Kaitlyn: She was trying to wash the pig and cow and duck in the cold water. They had a plan and then they got in the bathtub. And they scrubbed and they made bubbles. She came home and it was a mess. There was a Christmas tree and they standed at it. She said, "Don't ever do it in the bathtub 'cause they would get all fur in it." She was not that mad, and then she said, "You can get into other." And she made cookies.

Eva: Mrs. Wishy-Washy said, "Time for a bath!" The animals yelled, "No! No!" Because they didn't want a bath because it was too cold. The water turned into ice. The duck said, "I have a good idea!" They opened the door and got mud all over the floor. They went to the bathroom. It has cream and shampoo and it also has bubbles. And then they scrubbed in bubbles and shampoo. Mrs. Wishy-Washy said, "Someone's using my bathroom!" She said, "I know!" Then she found them and their faces nodded. She was going to take away their presents, but then she said, "Okay." She gave all them presents. She put her Santa hat on and gave all them presents. And she made cookies for them.

Mack: I think when the snow was falling down on the barn and the animals gotta get clean and they were too cold to get in the bathtub. And the duck had an idea and they were doing something that they weren't supposed to do. And they were going in her bathtub room. She said, "Someone was using my bathtub room!" And the animals were nodding their heads, and that was my favorite part.

Christel: It's snowing, and I really like snow. The animals were getting covered with snow. They were freezing! The duck said, "Oh, no! My beak's going to get cold!" Then Mrs. Wishy-Washy poured a big bucket of water, and the duck said, "Oh, no!" My beak's going to get covered in rain!" And then the pig said, "Oh, no! My snort is going to get covered in cold ice!" And then the cow said, "Oh, my antlers are going to be freezing cold covered in ex-ice." That's ice that will freeze you. But then they went upstairs to get a bath. "That is warm steam," said the duck. And then the cow jumped in and said, "That was good soap!" And then Mrs. Wishy-Washy ran to get the animals. And then they said, "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Wishy-Washy." And then they were happy to have a warm bath. The end.

Mikayla liked the illustration in which the animals are bathing in Mrs. Wishy-Washy's tub.

Brady L.: The duck had a good idea and the cow and the pig came in the bathtub. And then she screamed. And then she gave the duck a big hug.

Arthur: Mrs. Wishy-Washy wanted them to go in a cold, cold bath. They didn't want to go in there. They followed the duck and goed in Mrs. Wishy-Washy's bed. No! What is that thing? A tub! She [Mrs. Wishy-Washy] screamed like a fire alarm. I like this part with all the presents. The pig got shampoo, and this cow got a scrub with a rope on it, and the duck got a bar of soap.

John: I like when Mrs. Wishy-Washy came home and she said, "Tub thiefs!" And I like the picture when all the animals were near the tree and all the presents. And I like that the animals could kiss their presents goodbye because they thought that Mrs. Wishy-Washy was going to shake her finger and tell them to go back to the tub out in the snow and the cold. And I like when Mrs. Wishy-Washy made cookies. That's it!

Emelyn didn't feel like talking about books today.

EK Kids See How the Woods Stack Up

2009-12-06T18:57:00.001-05:00

Don and Audrey Wood have created some of my all-time favorite picture books. Their 1986 Caldecott Honor Book King Bidgood's in the Bathtub is, in my opinion, close to picture book perfection. I've been reading this story to my students for 20+ years and it never fails to delight. It has all the elements necessary to capture and keep a preschooler's attention.

Visually, it's stunning. The costumes are lavishly detailed, and the medieval setting rings completely true. The characters' facial expressions and body language leave no doubt as to what's going on in the story. It could almost be a wordless picture book, but I wouldn't lose one syllable of text.

Audrey Wood knows how to tell a story that preschoolers want to hear. She knows that this young audience needs a storyline that can be summed up in one short sentence, like this: King Bidgood's in the bathtub and he won't get out. The scene is set for the hapless little page, who has to haul the water and mop up the mess. He looks to the adults in the book for help. "King Bidgood's in the bathtub and he won't get out! Oh, who knows what to do?"

The queen, duke, knight and the rest of the king's court are all sure they can coax Bidgood out of the tub, but of course they can't. They can't because Audrey Wood knows Rule Number One of picture book writing. If you're going to have a child hero, that child hero must solve his or her own problem. So the page is left to deal with Bidgood, who proves that it really is good to be king as he battles with his toys in the tub, eats lunch in the tub, fishes in the tub, and holds a masquerade ball in the tub.

Finally, with the king's court dripping wet and calling for help, the page takes matters into his own capable hands and pulls the plug. The problem is solved by the child hero, and the king is left fleeing the draining tub wrapped in a towel that reveals just a hint of royal behind. Do Don and Audrey Wood know their audience, or what?

We actually read three books by Don and Audrey Wood in EK last week. In addition to King Bidgood's in the Bathtub, we read The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear as well as Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear!

EK Kids Respond to Don and Audrey Wood

Brady K. talked about The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear: We didn't see the Bear. He [the Mouse] hided the strawberry under a blanket from the Bear. I like the book 'cause the Mice ate the strawberry.

Dev talked about King Bidgood's in the Bathtub : This guy [King Bidgood] was still in the bathtub. He was keep on eating some stuff. They [the king's court] called for help. He [our hero, the little page] pulled the wire [plug] out and he [King Bidgood] ran away.

Daniel talked about The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear: It was about the Mouse carrying the ladder to pick a big ripe, red strawberry and the narrator on the radio or us, I don't remember, we said, "What about a big hungry Bear? He can smell a ripe, red strawberry from a mile away. Especially picked ones. No matter where it is or who's guarding it or where it's hidden. Or only if it's cutten in half and shared with the big hungry Bear." And that's the end!

Arthur talked about Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear: I like when the Bear gave the Mouse the present. I think cheese is in the present.

Keegan talked about King Bidgood's in the Bathtub while looking at the illustration in which the Knight and King battle in the tub: Is this a real story? [I tell Keegan this is a work of fiction.] But were the real ships like this? Like the toy ones? I mean are these like the toys back then? [I said that possibly kings would have had such grand toys.] I would like to have all the men [toy soldiers] and that bridge. And I don't even know what that is. It looks like a cannon. And by the way, I have karate tonight. This is my favorite page because it has all the toy ships. And this is the Knight! He's going to get rusty in that water. And look at that ship. It's sinking. There were bridges like that back in the day.

Sophie talked about The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear: Well, the Bear really wanted that strawberry because he really sniffed it and he really wanted it. The Mouse guard it and hide it, and there was one thing to do. Split it in half and eat it. He shared it with the big hungry Bear.

Brooke B. talked about The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear: I liked it because when the little Mouse said, "I'm going to pick this red, ripe strawberry." "Little Mouse, have you ever heard of the big hungry Bear? Oh, how he loves red, ripe strawberries. Even ones that just got picked." The red, ripe strawberry got ate by the little Mouse.

Bella talked about King Bidgood's in the Bathtub: He's [King Bidgood] putting his hand out because he wants to get this guy [the Knight] in the bathtub so he can fish [battle]. Then he got wet. Then the Queen came. She wanted the king to eat. Then what happened then she got wet 'cause in the bathtub. And then these guys came then they got fishing. They fished in the bathtub. And then he [the Duke] got all wet. And then all these guys [the King's court] came. They danced in the bathtub. And then that guy's [our hero, the Page] just sweeping the mop. Look it! Everybody's saying, "Help!" He [the Page] pulled the drain then all the water came out. He [King Bidgood] just had a face and he got out of the bathtub. Finally!

Leah talked about Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear! "because Christmas is coming up!": The Bear really likes presents and the Mouse didn't know the Bear liked presents. And then he looked out his window and he saw the big cave and then he wrapped all the presents up. He put them in the blanket because he was guarding it from the big hungry Bear. And then he was scared of the Bear. He was crying because he didn't want the presents away. Then he dressed up like Santa so the Bear wouldn't get his presents and then he put a little bit of presents in the blanket and then he took off to the cave with the presents. He was sharing his presents with the Bear so the big hungry Bear wouldn't see the Mouse's Christmas presents. And then he ran super fast so the Bear wouldn't eat him. Guess what? I have this book [Red Ripe Strawberry book] at home.

[I love the fact that Leah interpreted the Mouse's actions not as an altruistic gesture toward the bear, but as payment to leave him and his presents alone. Maybe that bear's last name is "Soprano."]

Hayden talked about The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear because "I love strawberries.": A hungry Bear almost is going to eat the strawberry so the Bear and the Mouse are going to share it. The Mouse got a ladder to get the strawberry.

Brooke N. talked about The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear: The Mouse got a ladder and he was trying to get the strawberry and he was trying to pick it down in his door and he was trying to dig it but he locked it up and he hided it. He thought the Bear was going to eat it. And he [the Mouse] eated it.

Allison talked about Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear!: He [the Mouse] puts the star on the top. He puts decorations on the door. Santa bringed presents. The Mouse put bricks on the door because of the big Bear. He was going to go inside of Mouse's house and take all the presents. He [the Mouse] locked up the presents. He was sitting on the presents. He was crying because Santa won't come. Santa put on his boots and his hat and he put a red suit on and Santa was going to the Bear's cave and then he bringed presents.

Annalee talked about The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear: The big hungry Bear he wanted to eat the big ripe strawberry. He [the Mouse] dressed the strawberry up. I think he hid it because I think he got it first because he wanted to eat it because he got it first. He [the Mouse] ate it.

John talked about The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear. He actually started his discussion at the end of the book, and then flipped around through the illustrations as he talked: I liked when the Mouse split the strawberry in half and shared it with the big hungry Bear. And I liked when the Mouse was shivering with fear. And I liked when the strawberry and the Mouse were in disguise. And I liked when the little Mouse was guarding the strawberry. He locked the strawberry up in chains and he put tacks on the floor and put wood on the door. And I like when the little Mouse was going to bury it. And I like when the little Mouse was taking the ladder out of his house and was going to pick the strawberry. And I like when the little Mouse was running with the strawberry above him. And I like when the Bear went BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! And that's it!

Run, Turkey, Run!

2009-11-24T10:34:00.049-05:00

EK and PK children discussed Run, Turkey, Run! written by New Hampshire author (and my good friend) Diane Mayr and illustrated by Laura Rader.

I first heard this story several years ago when Diane brought it to our critique group to read. Because I've talked about this story so many times with my adult writer friends, it was great fun hearing what the children, Diane's intended audience, had to say about Run, Turkey, Run!

EK Kids Respond:

Sophie: The farmer was chasing the turkey because it was Thanksgiving and he really, really wanted turkey. The turkey keeped on trying to get away from the farmer. He goed in the pond, he rolled in the mud, he sticked his head in the bucket, and he hid in the trees and the farmer couldn't find him. On the end the farmer had grilled cheese and peas. I liked it because the turkey rolled in the mud.

Arthur: I liked it because this thing is upside down! [The cover of our copy of RUN, TURKEY, RUN! is upside down, so we needed to turn the book around and read from what appears to be the back. The kids loved it when I opened the book after we talked about the cover art and endpapers only to find we were looking at the upside-down last page of the book.] When he said, "Could he think I'm a pig when I'm in the mud?" And I liked when he saw he wasn't a pig. And I liked when he said, "Would he think I'm a duck when I'm in the water?" But he found he wasn't a duck. And when he said, "Could he think I'm a horse when I'm in this bucket?" When he said, "Would he think I'm a tree when I'm in the branch?" And he thought he was a tree! And that's all I like.

Keegan: How old is it? [I told Keegan the book was published in 2007 so it's two years old.] I'm way older than this. I'm almost five, so I'm way older than this. There's no such thing as a turkey that has a whole red neck. I did not like the book because there's no such thing as animals peeking out from a tree and talking. I don't know how old the barn is. It looks like it's red, so it's a red barn, so I think it's new. I like old barns. Up to camp there's a barn that was there before the barn that was there now. It got burned down. Hay burns once it's not dry. The year after that they built the new barn.

Leah: The turkey was sad because he was going to get cooked. And then the farmer was walking down the stairs and the turkey started running. Next the farmer was trying to get him and he went in the duck pond and then he saw him and then he went into the barn and stuck his head in the horse bucket and then he was running and his friends said, "Run, Turkey, run!" The farmer was chasing after the turkey. He was hiding behind the branches and the farmer didn't see him and then he danced along with his bunny friends. And then when they were going to get a Christmas tree they saw the turkey. And then they were going to have him for Christmas dinner and the kid said, "Run, Turkey, run!" And do you know what I liked the best? I like that the endpapers were the same.

Bella: I like how he was saying, "Pacock!" in the window. And then he got all muddy. He was trying to hide from the farmer. He was running and then he was swimming, but the farmer still knows where he was. Look it! He's sticking his head in the bucket. I'm done.

Allison: The farmer didn't know he was there [in the window]. Then the farmer was going downstairs and the turkey was running and he got mud on him because he splashed into the pig mud thing. Then the farmer was chasing after the chicken, and then he was swimming in the water. And then he got wet and he got wet, and then the chicken put he's head in the bucket, and then he was running again. And then his friends said, "Run, run!" And then he's hiding from the farmer behind the tree. Then the chicken and his bunnies were dancing. Then he was running away 'cause the farmer saw him.

Brooke N.: I liked it because he feeleded sad and the farmer went outside to get the chicken and he went in the mud and he went out of the mud and he went with the duck pool and he felled off and then his [the farmer's] shoes were all wet. And then he went in the farm and he said, "Go, Chicken! Run, run!" And then he screamed 'cause he found him in the tree.

Annalee: I liked it because the man was standing by the window. He was drinking coffee. The turkey was outside. Then the farmer whistled and he was going to catch the turkey. He ran. He went in the mud and the farmer didn't think he was a pig. They ran. He swam in the water like a duck. He went splish, splash out of the water. He went into the farm. He hid like a horsey. Then he [the farmer] had this one [the bucket] stuck on his boot. He hid like branches. He had a stick in his hand.

John: I think I have this book at home. The problem was that the farmer kept chasing the turkey and he never stopped. The turkey thought he could pretend he was a duck. And he pretended that he was a horse. And I like when all the animals said, "Run, Turkey, run!" And I like when the animals said, "Run from the farmer!" I like it because when it became Thanksgiving and they didn't have any turkey to eat the farmer was sad. And I like when the turkey was jumping around in the leaves with his bunny friends. And I like when the kid said, "Run, Turkey, run!" because they might eat him for Christmas dinner.

Brady K. said: I liked this story 'cause the turkey kept running from the farmer 'cause he was going to get eaten. The farmer didn't see him when he was hiding in the trees. That means he didn't get eaten.

Brooke B. didn't feel like talking about books today, but she did like Run, Turkey, Run!

PK Kids Responds

Kaitlyn: The turkey had a bad day because the farmer was going to catch him. The turkey ran. The farmer looks mad. I thought it was a kid. Is the farmer a kid? He's in the mud! He got all muddy. A duck is in the water and even that turkey was in the water.

Acadia: The farmer was going to cook the turkey for Thanksgiving. And they said, "Run, Turkey, run!" And then he was trying to get the turkey. I'm all done.

Christel: It was crazy! He was going to get eaten by the farmer. What happened is he went downstairs and the turkey went, "Aaaah! Run. I'm going to run and run around all the way home to the woods!" He couldn't see the turkey hiding in the trees and he said, "At last! Am I safe? YES!" They find the chicken. They were looking for a tree for Christmas. "Run, Turkey, run to another tree!"

Summer: The farmer was walking to the turkey and they said, "Run away, Turkey!" He walked down the stairs and he was coming to get the turkey. He couldn't find the turkey because of the trees.

Camryn: The book was upside down! That was the funniest part! The farmer was chasing the turkey 'cause he wanted to eat him. He couldn't catch the turkey. He was run, run, run! They turkey hided and he got mud. He slide down in the water then the farmer went down.

Katherine: I like when the turkey was looking sad because he had a bad day because they're going to eat the turkey for Thanksgiving. I like the part when the farmer went down with the bag and he was chasing after the turkey and the turkey ran. I like the part when he was all muddy in the mud. I like the part when the pigs were yelling at the turkey and saying, "Run, Turkey! Run, Turkey!" I like the part when he was in the water and the ducks looked under the water. I like the part when he jumped right out of the water and started running again. I like the part when he was running down the hill and stuck his head into the box and the horsies looked at the turkey and said they know that he was a horse. And I like the part when the turkey ran out of the barn and the farmer was chasing after him and he was running and said, "Clinkety clank. Clinkety clank." I like the part when the turkey put the bucket on his head and his friends said, "Go, Turkey! Run, Turkey! Run, Turkey!" I like the part when he ran into the forest. I like the part when he was look at the farmer and the farmer went back home and the turkey was safe at last. I like the part when he sat down at the rectangle table. I like the part when the turkey did the dance. I like the part when the family came and the little girl looked at the turkey and said, "Go, Turkey! Go, Turkey! Go!"

Emelyn: I like this part! [In the pig pen.] I thought the farmer thought this was a pig 'cause this had mud on it 'cause pigs have mud on it. He got out! He chased him! I like the farmer thought he was a duck.

Eva: I like the part when he ran through the mud. That was silly! I like when he got in the boat and the chicken was in the boat [pond] and he [the turkey] had this thing [goggles] on his face and he [the farmer] fell out of the boat and he was all wet. And when the chicken went in the barn. He put his head in the food bucket and the farmer saw his back. That's silly!

Mack: He was going to get eaten by the farmer. He was drinking some coffee and then he went out and had a bag to catch the turkey in and he chaseded him and then he started chasing him again. The turkey was in the mud so he couldn't see him. And then the farmer started chasing him again and then the farmer looked and see him in the water and he was in the horse one and then he went in the woods and then he didn't get eaten and then the sister said, "Run, Turkey, run!"

Brady L.: The farmer was going to get this turkey for dinner. And this farmer is covered in mud because he was trying to catch the chicken, but then the ducks said, "Go, Chicken, go!" Then the chicken stucked in the bucket. And then the farmer stepped with the bucket on his foot. And then the pig said, "Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!" That's all I know.

Mikayla: He's going to eat the turkey. That thing went in the mud. He was chasing that turkey again.

Emmett didn't feel like talking about the book, but he liked it. He said, "I'm too busy playing!" Playing is the most important thing we do here, so I agreed that he needed to keep at it.

Feeling Thankful

2009-11-20T10:22:00.015-05:00

Children in all classes read Feeling Thankful written by Shelley Rotner and Sheila Kelly, Ed.D. and illustrated by Shelley Rotner. After, they reflected on the things in their lives for which they are thankful.

EK and PK Children commented on November 23rd.

Keegan said, "I'm thankful for steam trains, old army airplanes, old cars, old steam boats, and old steam cars, but those are a hundred dollars."

Brooke B. said, "I'm thankful for my Mom, Dad, cat, and brother. There's two more things. I'm thankful for my cousin and my Mimi and my Papa."

Bella said, "I'm thankful for my dogs, Wigel [rhymes with "Nigel" -- I'm guessing at the spelling] and Gertie."

Leah said, "I'm thankful for my Mommy 'cause she helps when I need help. She pushed me on the swing set sometimes. She puts on a show when I get home from Ellen's. I'm thankful for my flowers that I have in my garden."

Allison said, "I'm thankful for my dog, Hunter. I love him. I'm thankful for my Mommy and my Daddy. They let me play games."

Hayden said, "I'm thankful for my family 'cause I love them. I'm thankful for the breeze 'cause it might be nice and warm. I love to color trees and houses and bats and pigs. I'm thankful for animals 'cause I want to go to a party with animals because I'm invited to Tess's animal party with baby kangaroos and skunks. And I'm going to go to Papa's party and there'll be real presents. Santa's going to bring one present and I really want Handy Manny's workshop for Christmas. My birthday is after Santa. Why are you having a birthday? You're not going to have a pinata. That's only for kids. I'm going to have a pinata because I'm a kid."

Brooke N. said, "I'm thankful for my family because when Leah comes over she just takes off her shoes 'cause she always wants to get in my house first. I love to go to the park. I like going to Storyland and go to Santa's Village."

Annalee said, "I'm thankful for my doggies, Rocky and Lady. Lady runs real fast. I'm thankful for flowers. I like to paint. I like to run."

Sophie said, "I'm thankful for Mommy because every school day she lets me watch TV and then have a snack. I'm thankful for my sister Alexa because she makes me laugh."

John said, "I'm thankful for my family because my Dad gives me treats once in a while and my Mom always says goodnight to me and because my dog Litunga when I go upstairs to do all my nighttime chores before I go to bed my dog comes up with me. And Arthur because sometimes he shares some of his animals with me. I'm thankful for my animals. Nanny gave me a few of the animals. Most of them my Mom just buyed for me. I'm thankful for that I have toys and I'm thankful for that I have a great family."

Arthur said, "I'm thankful for a lot of animals. A lot of people gave them to me. And I like being with my Mom and my Dad because at the end of our dinner we get our treat and a show. And if I ever go outside just with Litunga I like being with him. And if we go at the hotel for a sleepover I can bring three of mine animals. And I like to play computer games and print out stuff and I like when Litunga licks me. And I like my family -- Mommy, Daddy, John, Litunga, you, Nanny. I just like the end of the day when we could print out stuff and that's all."

Brady said, "I'm thankful for my house because it's big and because I have a radio in it. I'm thankful for my family -- Ryan, Kevin, Tess, Mama, Daddy, Remmie. They take care of me."

Daniel said, "I'm thankful for having a family that loves me. I'm thankful for having nice friends. We play and I think we read books, too. I can't read but I think in one book I can read, but not all of the page. When Dad comes home and Lightning's outside she barks. I'm thankful for having fruits and vegetables."

PK Comments

Mikayla said, "My Daddy because he picks me up and gives me a big hug."

Kaitlyn said, "For my Mom because she feeds me everytime when I need to eat. She tucks me in when it's nighttime. She takes care of me."

Brady L. said, "My family, my dog, and I'm thankful for my Grandmas and Grandpas and I'm thankful for my friends."

Mack said, "I am thankful for my Mom because she has candy for me. She does good things for me like read stories to me and make cakes and set up birthday parties. I'm thankful for you because I like you. Everyone likes you, you know." [Note: Mack just "made" my entire holiday season!]

Emmett said, "I am thankful for my toys. I'm thankful for my Superhero toys and I'm thankful for my sister and you." [Note: Emmett was not influenced by Mack as he didn't hear her dictate her blog entry. My holiday season is getting better by the minute!]

Camryn said, "I'm thankful for myself. I'm thankful for water, soap, numbers. I'm thankful for Nantay. I play with her a lot. I'm thankful for John. [Note: John happened to be standing and listening to Camryn dictate her blog entry.]

Christel said, "I'm thankful for the zoo and the zebras. I'm thankful for the sink 'cause I like to wash my hands and it's really fun at Mimi's house. I use the big tub soap, kind of like tub soap, it looks like a tub, and I put some water on it and I wash my hands. It's really fun. I'm thankful for you because I like your glasses and your shirt. I'm thankful for pianos at Mommy's school. I get to play with the cymbal at Mommy's school." [Note to self: Wear that shirt and those glasses more often.]

Emelyn said, "I love my cousins. J.J. and Ethan. I'm thankful for pizza. I'm not thankful for anything else. Only pizza."

Acadia said, "I like my Mommy because she lets me read books at night. She gives me healthy food. I like to jump and play."

Summer said, "Mommy because she gives me gum. She snuggles me. I'm thankful for Daddy."

Eva said, "I'm thankful for being The Mystery Kid. I like my Mommy tucks me into night and she kisses me and I love her kisses. And I love to be The Mystery Kid."

Katherine said, "I'm thankful for my Mama because everyday Lily likes us and everyday she just wants to eat with Mommy. I'm thankful for my Daddy coming here to bring me here."

CPG Children commented on November 20th.

Alec said, "I'm thankful for my toys. My favorite is little, tiny diggers. Little dump trucks. I'm thankful for animals like bugs and hornets. Oh, I don't like hornets! I like bugs."

Aidan C. said, "I'm thankful for my Mom because I love her. She turns on the TV for me and she lets me wash dishes."

Lindsey said, "Turkeys!"

Aiden R. said, "I'm thankful for my house. My family lives in it. I play with my toys."

Olivia said, "Turkeys! Pumpkins! The playground! Dogs and cats! Zebras! Elephants! Cows!"

Aria said, "Mommy! Her makes stuffing and cranberry chicken and rice. I like plain rice. Maggie bite my hand and Mommy said, 'Go outside!' When I was coughing her take me to my hospital. I love Mommy!"

Ryan said, "My family because Mama has long hair and I like to snuggle with her. Because Dada plays X-Box. My Grammy says, 'Okay. I'll ask Santa if you can buy the Wii for Christmas. But be a good boy because he's watching you right now.' Because Brady's my friend and I wish he was my family. And Jasmine bites bad guys, and kitty can scratch the bad guys and he can jump on the bad guy's head and claw him and he can rip his hair. Because Tommy says, 'Oh, you can come up to watch me play X-Box 360 the new Call of Duty when I finish my homework.' Because Shannon makes the cat try to scratch me and I go, 'Aaaah!' She's teasing. Me and Nenah went on a hunt on night, but we didn't see any grizzly bears. The car door shut and went, 'Aaaah!' I said, 'Something may be following us.' And Dad was like, 'Aaaaah!' He screamed. And I went, 'Dad, don't tease me!' It was funny."

Brady D. said, "For my family because Jake let me watch him play 3XD. Because Tommy Boy lets me in his room. Darby says, 'Don't come in here!' Then her says, 'Go away!' I'm thankful for my cats because I feed them and because they like me. They lick me. One of the cats had a tick on her head. Shannon took the tick off and it dropped on my Mom's upstairs table and the tick opened up and all this stuff came out. I'm thankful because my Mom likes me. And my Dad. We went hunting for deer."

Maeve said, "I'm thankful when Noni gives me presents and movies. I'm thankful for books. My favorite is Racecar Driver. I'm happy when Mommy brings presents. I'm thankful for Daddy when he gives me phones."

J.J. said, "I'm thankful for all of my stuffies. I like to play with them. My favorite is the multi-colored cat. I'm thankful for my Mama and my Daddy because they're nice to me when I'm good. Because I love them and they let me sleep with them when I'm scared. Because they give me stuff that's hard for me to reach."

Teagan said, "For my door and my house. I'm thankful that I'm going to get a playground. I'm thankful for Lisa. I'm thankful for the whole, wide world."

EK kids talk pigeon. PK kids talk turkey.

2009-11-18T16:48:00.003-05:00

The EK kids extended the Mo Willems conversation started by the PK and CPG children last week.

Brooke B. discussed Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!: I liked it because, "Hi! I'm the bus driver. I'm leaving for a little bit, but don't let the pigeon drive the bus." I liked it when the pigeon said, "I thought he'd never leave." When he said, "Can I drive the bus?" "No!" "Please?" What did all that say again? [Brooke is looking at the double page spread in which the pigeon pleads, whines and lists several reasons why he should be able to drive the bus.] The bus driver came back before he could get a chance to drive the bus. The pigeon said, "Hey!" And then he was thinking about driving the truck.

Bella discussed The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!: I like how the duckling marched onto the page. I like how the pigeon was getting mad. He was just being goofy. The duckling was just asking that he wants to have a hot dog. I like how he was writing down all the stuff. I like how the pigeon just yelled at the duckling. Look. There's two words. The duckling was just laying.

Leah discussed The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!: The pigeon wanted a puppy. And do you know what was the funniest part? The puppy page because he was afraid. He said, "I want a walrus!" That was so funny! And you know what? Some of the pages are funny. And you know what? He was scared and he jumped out of the page. That was the funniest. I laughed at that part!

Brooke N. discussed The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!: He said, "I want a puppy! I will feed him one thing of water." What does this say again? He wanted a puppy. He heard barking and then he freaked out and he jumped out of the page because the dog was huge. And then he wanted a walrus.

Hayden discussed The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!: You know I love hot dogs! And look! A little chick is peeking out at the hot dog. He found a hot dog and he jumped out of up there and then he flapped his feathers and he's so glad to have a hot dog. And then he hold the hot dog and he flapped his feathers and he can't wait to eat it. Then the pigeon got so mad because the chickie wanted the hot dog and he didn't know what kind it is. He don't know what a hot dog is for. The duck wrote HOT DOG, CHICK PET, and BIG DOGGY on his list. The chick had an idea. The chick said to the goose, "Let's share that hot dog!" And he thought, "This is my hot dog!" And on the next page, on the back of it says, "Split it!" The goose holds the hot dog up in the air and the chick can't get it. Then they split it and then the goose and the chick really like the hot dog. He thought he didn't like a hot dog, and he did! He loved the hot dog!

Allison discussed Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!: The pigeon couldn't drive the bus. The bus stop man walked away. I'm done.

Annalee discussed The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!: He found a puppy at the end. It scared him. He wanted a hippopotamus.

Sophie discussed The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!: The pigeon is so excited. He found a hot dog, but he didn't want to share it. He screamed and shouted and he saw a duckling and he didn't want the duckling to eat it all so in the end he gave the duckling a part of the hot dog. The duck said it needed a little mustard. That is funny!

Brady K. discussed Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!: When the bus driver walked away the pigeon was sneaking into the bus. He said, "I thought he'd never leave." He wants to drive the bus. He can't drive the bus. He's thinking about driving the truck.

Dev discussed The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!: The pigeon wanted to get a puppy. He was hiding from the puppy. He changed his mind. He wanted these. [Points to walrus crate on endpapers.]

Daniel discussed The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!: The pigeon and the duckling. I think the duckling's really cute. The duckling was being mean of bugging about the hot dog. The pigeon didn't want to say anything, so he had black stuff above his head. This page was kind of silly. I don't know what those letters say. That's an A and that's an S. The duckling thought about splitting the hot dog, and he said, "Hmmm. This needs mustard." The hot dog needed mustard. And on this [endpapers] one there was a bunches of full hot dogs and one split in half.

Keegan discussed The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!: That's ridiculous! Somebody dropped a hot dog and it's probably dirty. He must be one dumb pigeon. The duckling was trying to take it. It wanted to steal the hot dog 'cause he wanted to steal it. It's dirty! That's it.

John discussed The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!: The pigeon went flap, flap, flap and said, "Oooooh! A hot dog!" And I like that he said, "Yummy! Yummy! Yummy!" The pigeon didn't want to share his hot dog with the little duckling. The duckling wanted the hot dog. And the pigeon didn't want him to have the hot dog. And the pigeon was relaxing and going to eat the hot dog. He got really mad because the duckling was annoying him. The duckling said, "Does it taste like chicken?" And I like when the pigeon said, "Can you believe this guy!?!" And then he said, "It just tastes like a hot dog, okay?" And I like when he said, "Finders keepers, that's what I say! What does a hot dog even taste like? Blah, blah, blah." The little duckling said, "I have an idea." They they splitted the hot dog.

Arthur discussed The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!: My favorite was when he said, "The slobber and the teeth and the claws and the wet nose."

PK kids discussed This is the Turkey written by Abby Levine and illustrated by Paige Billin-Frye.

Kaitlyn: The turkey went flying. It landed in the fish tank. They ate other stuff. They made pumpkin pie.

Katherine: I like the part when Max picked out the turkey. I like the part when the sister was making bread. I like the part when the Grandma when she bringed the beans. I like the cousins and the cookies and the brownies. I like the part when she tripped over the little boy and I like when the turkey went flying. And I like the part when it fell in the fish bowl. I like when Grandma came back. And I like when Grandpa said, "I'm hungry. Let's eat!" I like the part when they all sat down.

Mikayla: The cat jumped over there because the water splashed. The turkey got wet.

Emelyn: They throwed the chicken in a fish tank. They got fish poop on it. They don't like fish poop. They ate everything else.

Brady L.: The family came. The girl tripped over a boy and then the turkey went in a fish pond.

Emmett: I want to tell you the silly part. The mom tripped over the kid and the kid tripped over the car. The turkey went flying. It landed in a fish bowl. And look! A fish is flying!

Mack: The sister tripped over the little brother. The turkey fell in the fish tank. They had plenty more to eat. And then all of the customers leave and they had a happy Thanksgiving Day.

Camryn: The chicken just falled into the fish tank 'cause the lady just tripped over Max. That was funny!

Christel: The turkey fell in the fish tank. The sister dropped it and tripped over the boy. They had all the other stuff. It was salad, famous green beans, cranberry sauce, bread, pumpkin pie, and maybe some squash, I guess. They played games, looked at family in pictures, and the fishies were all back in their safe home. They had a good time. And then all of them went to the door and the boy was the one that said, "I think we had the best Thanksgiving ever!"

Acadia: I can't know what the story telled. I liked it, but I can't know what it says. [Acadia picked out her favorite page. It was the one in which the turkey went flying into the fish tank. Who'd a thunk?]

Summer: The turkey went in the fish bowl. They couldn't eat it. They ate salad. They ate green beans. They looked at pictures. And that one still's eating dinner!

Eva: She tripped on the child. "Yikes!" The turkey fell in the fish tank. They had lots of vegetables and no turkey. They look happy. Even Max, like my brother Max! That one's sleeping on the couch. You're not supposed to sleep on the couch! You're supposed to sleep in bed. Here's the fish tank. Hey, I don't see any turkey in the fish tank anymore. Maybe they threw it in the trashcan. He's blowing on the coffee. You're not supposed to blow on the coffee! And these two are playing a game. And those two are looking at the family pictures. Hey. They're coming in here. Everybody left to go home. Max said, "This is the best Thanksgiving that is sold out!"

What Did He Say There??

2009-11-14T17:23:00.006-05:00

Typically when I sit down to write this blog with a student, I'll ask the child to tell me what happened in the book. If that doesn't elicit much of a response, I'll ask the child to talk about his or her favorite part. Either way, the child will usually leaf through the book, sometimes talking about each page, sometimes choosing a favorite illustration to discuss.

His or her commentary is usually driven by the illustrations, which presented a bit of a dilemma when we discussed the pigeon books. You see, there's not a lot of action or change of scene in the pigeon stories. With a few exceptions, most of the pigeon-book illustrations depict the pigeon standing in a scene devoid of scenery and other characters. It's just a pigeon on a blank page. Granted, the pigeon is emoting all over the place, but a child has to be able to "read" the pigeon's body language and facial expressions in order to "get" what's going on in the story. That's a pretty tall order for 3 and 4-year olds with only one or two readings of the story under their little belts.

When we sat down to write the blog, the kids looked through the pigeon books, asking over and over, "What did he say there?" Without the visual cues more detailed illustrations typically provide, many of the children simply did not know how to go about retelling the story. They could all pretty much get the set-up for the story, and the final resolution, but what happened in between was a bit of a muddle for many. I found it interesting to hear the responses to the pigeon stories, and I hope you find those responses just as interesting to read. (I think you'll be able to determine which children have these books in their own libraries.)

Last week, the Prekindergarten children read the following Mo Willems books: my copy of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, John and Arthur's copies of The Pigeon Wants a Puppy and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, and Katherine's copies of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale, Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity and Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct. The PK kids voted for their favorite Mo Willems book, and The Pigeon Wants a Puppy was the winner with 6 out of 14 votes. Many thanks to Katherine, John and Arthur for sharing their Mo Willems books with us!

PREKINDERGARTEN RESPONSES

Kaitlyn talked about Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: They're all my favorites so it's a hard decision. I'll talk about Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. It was a good book. I liked the first page. The bus driver had to go out for a little while and he said, "Can you watch things for me? Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo." He walked away. "I thought he'd never leave," the pigeon said. "Hey, can I drive the bus? Please? I'll be careful. I tell you what: I'll just drive." What's his cousin again? I forget that one. [Me: Herb.] "My cousin Herb drives the bus almost every day. True story. Vroom-vroom! Pigeon at the wheel." He was going to drive the bus, but he couldn't. "But, I'll be your best friend. I'll give you 20 bucks. No fair! I never get to do what I want! Please? Double please? LET ME DRIVE THE BUS!!! Hi, I'm back! You didn't let the pigeon drive the bus, did you? Oh, no! Bye! Hey . . ." That was a funny part. It was a good book!

Katherine talked about Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: I like the part with the endpapers where the pigeon is thinking about driving the bus. I like when he's peeking out right there. I like he was walking to see he was going to drive the bus. I like when he was telling his friends he wanted to drive the bus. I like the part when his friend told him not to drive the bus. I like the part when he ran and his friend didn't like the pigeon to drive the bus. I like the part when he was look what else he could drive. I like the part when he said he would give him twenty dollars. And I like the part when the driver came back and said, "I hope you didn't let the pigeon drive the bus." I like the part when he drived away and the pigeon was real sad. And then I like the part when he saw the big truck. I like the part when he was thinking about he could drive the truck.

Mack talked about Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct: I like the endpapers because the cookies. There was one kid that didn't like her and then they were in the class and then this page came next and the teacher said she might make cookies now and then he left out in the class and then the page with Edwina again. And then he went out of school and brushed his teeth and went to bed. And then this page when he handed out the paper. And on this page he was sad and sat down and cried. And then Edwina came and he brought her to school, and then this page, and then this page is where she didn't care and it was the part where he didn't care either and then she made chocolate chip cookies for him and then the same endpapers.

Emmett talked about Knuffle Bunny: I like the page with "Aggle, kaflaggle, snurf!" He got in the washing machine and her dad couldn't find him.

Emelyn talked about Knuffle Bunny: I like there 'cause these guys went over there that baby noticed that he didn't see Snuffle Bunny. He forgot that he put the Snuffle Bunny in the washing machine. He wanted to go back and get it.

Camryn talked about Knuffle Bunny Too: That girl's mean. She had a Knuffle Bunny, too. The teacher took the Knuffle Bunnies away 'cause they took it away from someone. They returned them. She had the wrong one. She woke up and that wasn't her Knuffle Bunny. She marches in Mama and Daddy's room. She said, "That's not my bunny!" They had to call them. They had to run in their jammas outside. Now they got back together again. Now they're back where they belong. They're hugging with their Knuffle Bunnies.

Brady L. talked about Knuffle Bunny: They were going to wash the jeans. And then he got to put the money in then they walked home. Then he forgot his bunny. Then he started to cry. And then he said, "No!" He's crying. Mommy said, "Where's Bunny?" Then they go back to the washing machine. Then they find him.

Acadia talked about Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: The pigeon wants to drive the bus. I liked that part. I'm finished.

Summer talked about Knuffle Bunny Too: I like the girl Knuffle Bunny. [Summer, as did Brady L. and several other kids, thought the original Knuffle Bunny story featured a boy character, which it does not. The main character is a nearly bald baby girl. Knuffle Bunny Too takes place a few years later, and the baby character is now a preschooler and very obviously female, which is why Summer declared that she liked "the girl Knuffle Bunny."] They had the wrong one. He had to switch in the night.

Christel talked about The Pigeon Wants a Puppy: The pigeon said, "I want to drive a bus. I want a hot dog. I want a puppy." He got scared and surprised when the puppy came. And he wanted to lick him. He was scared. "I want a walrus!"

Mikayala liked Knuffle Bunny best.

Eva talked about Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct: She was extinct. She ran out of the building. The boy went out. [Eva spotted Knuffle Bunny in an illustration.] Hey! Knuffle Bunny! And look at this part. The boy doesn't like Edwina because she is extinct. He didn't like her, and then he did like her.

John talked about The Pigeon Wants a Puppy: He's going to play tennis with it, and he's going to have a piggyback ride on the puppy. And I liked when he said, "Puppy! Puppy! Puppy!" And I liked when he said, "A puppy!" And I liked when he said he wanted a puppy at least since last Tuesday. And I liked when he said, "Oh, I got it. You don't want me to be happy, do you?" And I liked when he said, "I'm a puppy-lovin' pigeon!" And I liked when he said, "You just don't get it." And I liked when he said, "Puppies!" And I liked when he said, "I WANT A PUPPY! HERE RIGHT NOW!" And the puppy said, "Woof!" And he said, "What was that?" And the puppy went, "Woof! Woof!" And I liked when he said, "Have my dreams finally come true?" And I like when he said, "The teeth! The claws! I mentioned the teeth, right? Really, I had no idea!" I liked it because he was afraid of the puppy. And I like when he said, "I change my mind." I like when he said, "I want a walrus." That was the silliest page I thought it was on.

Arthur talked about The Pigeon Wants a Puppy: The pigeon wants a hot dog, but that's not my favorite part. My favorite part was he said, "Aaaaaagghh!!!' because the dog was big. He said, "The slobber. The teeth. And did I mention the claws?" He said, "I want a walrus!" It will be much bigger than the puppy!

The Creative Play Group children read my copy of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Arthur and John's copies of The Pigeon Wants a Puppy and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog.

CREATIVE PLAY GROUP RESPONSES:

Olivia talked about Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: The pigeon said, "I want to drive the bus." Then he wanted to drive the big truck. That's so funny! That was so funny!

Alec talked about The Pigeon Wants a Puppy: The pigeon wants a puppy. He screamed. [When the puppy came.] It was funny!

J.J. talked about The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog: The little ducky -- I liked that! And the hot dog! He [the pigeon] was surprised because he saw a hot dog. And I liked because the ducky came. I liked the new, little character.

Aiden R.: talked about The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog: He's keeping his hot dog. He doesn't want his duck to get it because he wants it so much. [Turns to last illustration.] The pigeon's sharing!

Lindsey liked The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog.

Aria talked about The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog: He found a hot dog. He said, "Oh, my! Oh, my! I found a hot dog!" The duck said, "Can I have a bite of your hot dog?" The pigeon said, "It's my dog!" The little duck keeped talking to him. The pigeon said, "It's my hot dog!" [Looks at last illustration.] He shared it.

Ryan talked about Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: He said, "I want! I want! Please, please!" He couldn't drive it because he's not allowed to. He said, "I don't care! I'll do it right now!" [When the driver came back he said,] "Aw! Thanks for watching him! Bye-bye!" At the end the pigeon decided to drive a truck.

Brady D. talked about The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog: He didn't share his hot dog with a little duck. Then they shared.

Teagan talked about Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: Uh-oh! The pigeon's in a bus! Don't let the pigeon drive the bus! There he is, sneaking in the bus. There he is, looking at the bus. [Flips to last illustration.] He's dreaming about a truck.

Maeve talked about The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog: He ate the hot dog from the duck. The duck wanted a hot dog with him. He wanted to share with him. They split it.

Aiden C. talked about The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog: The duck wanted the hot dog when the bird ate the hot dog. The bird shared it.

John talked about The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog: I liked it when the pigeon said, "Aaaaaaahhh..." And I liked when he went flap, flap, flap. I like when he said, "A hot dog!" And I like when he said, "Yummy! Yummy! Yummy!" And I like when the little duckling went, "Squeek, squeek, squeek," into the page. And I like when he said, "Who are you?" The pigeon wanted his hot dog all to himself and the duckling wanted to know what it tastes like. I like when the little duckling was writing down everything. And I like when the little duckling said, "What does it taste like?" "Not A hot dog, MY hot dog." That's what the pigeon said that I liked. And I like because he said, "What does it taste like? Is it chicken?" I like because at the end cover of the book one hot dog been aten.

Arthur talked about The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog: My favorite part was when he saw a hot dog. And mine other part when he flapped, flapped, flapped and when he holded the hot dog and my other favorite part was the little duckling peeking out of the page and when he walked, walked, walked so fast. The duckling said, "Is that a hot dog?" That was my favorite part. The pigeon is holding the hot dog and the duckling is writing everything down. My favorite part is he's holding the hot dog and he's mad. And the other holding the hot dog and another holding the hot dog and the duckling said, "Enjoy!" And mine other favorite part when he said, "Does the hot dog taste like chicken?" And my other favorite part when the pigeon said, "Could you believe this guy!?!" And my other favorite part was he was tapping his foot. And when he was so mad. And he was thinking dark and when he put his hand on his head and when the bird was flying. And when he was very mad and my other favorite part was when the duckling fell down on his head. And when he said, "I have a idea!" And when they split the hot dog. And my last favorite part was when I saw this -- the hot dog was broken apart on the end papers. [When Arthur speaks of "thinking dark" he's referring to the wordless double-page spread pictured above. While we were reading the story, one of the children wanted to know what the "scribbles" above the pigeon's head meant. I said that maybe the pigeon was thinking dark thoughts.]

EK CHILDREN will add their 2 cents next week.

We Want More Mo!

2009-11-04T17:21:00.003-05:00

This week and next, prompted by the book John brought in to share, we are reading several Mo Willems books in all classes. The children will share their thoughts next week, but in the meantime I thought you might enjoy reading a related blog post I wrote at The Write Sisters today. It's entitled Rethinking the Pigeon, and your children's reactions to Willems books inspired me to write it.

You and your children might enjoy watching this video of Mo Willems talking about many of the characters he has created.

I just had an idea! If any of your kids have any Mo Willems books in their personal collections, send the books into school next week. (If you want to, of course!) We'll make a book graph with the books and count how many Mo books the kids collectively own. (I'll stick a post-it note in each book with the owner's name so we don't mix up the books.)

I'll be back next week!

The Little Old Lady Who (Said She) Was Not Afraid of Anything

2009-10-26T19:13:00.033-04:00

Fear is a part of life. How we face our fears (or don't face our fears) determines whether we live life fully or live on the fringe of life. We learn to start dealing with our fears as children.

What do young children fear? They often fear separating from parents to attend preschool. They might be afraid of the dark, or of flying insects. Because they engage in magical thinking, they are able to embrace the notion of Santa Claus or The Tooth Fairy. Magical thinking has a dark side, however, allowing children to believe that monsters inhabit the world with us.

Fairy tales often present sinister scenarios, bringing childhood fears to life. One of the reasons fairy tales have been popular for hundreds of years is that they allow children to safely explore their fears and in the end, witness the triumph of "good" over "evil."

I love fairy tales. I loved them as a child and I love them as an adult. As an adult, however, I have a problem with the preponderance of female villains and victims. The villain usually takes the form of an evil stepmother or wicked witch. The victim is usually a beautiful but personally powerless princess who ultimately needs rescuing.

This week all three classes are reading and discussing The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything written by Linda Williams and illustrated by Megan Lloyd. The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything is a wonderful modern-day fairy tale with a strong female protagonist who faces her fears and solves her own problem.

Don't be fooled by the titled. (The children weren't.) The LOL was most definitely afraid, but she kept her cool and took command of the situation. The book provides enough tension to push the preschool thrill button, but never crosses over to truly scary. Its enormously satisfying conclusion leaves the reader smiling, and just a bit more personally powerful than he or she was at the beginning of the story.

To read more about this subject, check out Mentor Monday -- Horror: How Much Is Too Much? posted on October 26th over at The Write Sisters, the blog on writing for children.

CPG Kids Respond (Added CPG in on 10.29.09)

Aria: The little old lady just went out to get seeds and pumpkins. The shoes go CLOMP, CLOMP. She said, "I'm not afraid of you, Shoes!" She saw pants and she go, "I not afraid of you, Pants!" She run away and then a shirt did CLOMP, CLOMP. And the gloves go CLAP. The pumpkin smiled and the pumpkin go CLOMP. Then she run away. She was staying home and the door knock. She said, "What do you want, you things?" He want to scare her. And she said, "Go scare the crows." He turn into a scarecrow and all the crows fly away.

Teagan: She said, "I'm not afraid of you, Shoes." The scary pumpkin face went, WOOO! WOOO! She saw that scary pumpkin face and she run away real fast. The shoes go CLOMP, CLOMP. She said, "What do you want?"

Ryan: She was hot 'cause she was red. [The LOL was rather red-faced in the illustrations.) She said, "I'm going to pick some blueberries." She heard footsteps. CLOMP, CLOMP, CLOMP. She said, "AAAH! I'm not afraid of you!" And she runned in her house, and said, "Oh, okay. You can stay with me. I'm not ascared of you! Okay!" And they put it all on like a scarecrow.

Brady D.: She going go outside and walk. But it keep getting darker and darker. CLOMP, CLOMP. The pants said, WIGGLE, WIGGLE. A shirt said, SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE. A hat said CLOMP, CLOMP, CLOMP. A gloves said CLAP, CLAP, CLAP. And a pumpkin said BOO, BOO! She was running really fast. Then she was sitting down. Then she open the door and then, "I'm not scared of you!" Then, "You can be a scarecrow." Then they scared all the crows. The end!

J.J.: I like the whole book when she went for a walk, and the little old lady wasn't afraid of anything. And the clippity, cloppity shoes didn't scare her. And the pants chased her and she bumped into a shirt, and gloves, and hat and a pumpkin. And then they came in and they tried to scare her and when she looked out the window was a scarecrow. I liked that!

Aiden R.: It was about a little lady. She heard a noise -- shoes! The shirt was in the way. She said, "I'm not afraid of you!" The scary pumpkin did BOOO! [Flipped to final illustration.] It's a scarecrow!

Aidan C.: The little old lady got scared by a pumpkin. She went in her house and somebody came knocking. She whispered something in his ear, "You can't scare me!" She woked up and then there was a scarecrow.

Lindsey liked the story!

Alec didn't feel like talking about books today.

EK Kids Respond

Brooke B.: I liked it when the old lady saw the big spooky pumpkin face that went, BOO! BOO! I liked it when she was running inside her cottage. I liked it when she heard the KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK on her door and then she opened it and she saw one clomping pair of shoes, one shirt go SHAKE, SHAKE, one pair of pants go WIGGLE, WIGGLE. And I liked it when one tall black hat went NOD, NOD, and I liked it when the pumpkin head went BOO! BOO! And then I liked it when the little old lady whispered into the pumpkin's ear and said, "You can be a scarecrow!"

Daniel: The little old lady who was not afraid of anything I think was afraid of the pumpkin. I know what she whispered in the pumpkin's ear. "Go out in the garden and be a scarecrow!" I think that's what she whispered. And I also think he's ruining the garden with his feet. And I also think the crows are going because of him.

Dev: I like that part with the little shirt there.

Allison: The lady's walking out her cottage. She hears the shoes clomping. She says, "I'm not afraid of you!"

Keegan: There's no such thing as all of the dancing shoes, the pants, the shirt, everything. Even the pumpkin. It's all made up. Even the pants don't do whatever they do. Shake, wiggle. Even that thing that says, BOO! They wanted to scare her, but I don't know why. I think they just wanted to scare her for fun. She was not scared of anything. Nothing scares me. Not even a giant pumpkin.

Brady: A little old lady was running away from the shoes and the pants. She was sitting in her rocking chair in the cottage and they knocked at the door. They said they're there to scare her. She said, "I'm not scared of you." The little old lady whispered in the pumpkin's ear to go outside and be a scarecrow. He was a scarecrow.

Brooke N.: She wasn't afraid of anything. She heard CLAP, CLAP and she heard WIGGLE, WIGGLE. She's running away to her college [cottage]. She's looking behind her chair because she heard a knock on her door. She saw everything that was following her. Everything was trying to get in her house. She looked out the window and she saw a scarecrow. They made a scarecrow.

Hayden: The little old girl was not afraid of anything. She hear some shoes clomping in behind her. And she look behind her and she saw a pair of shoes. She just keep walking back to her house. She saw a pair of pants, but she didn't be afraid of the shoes or the pants. She almost kick the pants out of her way. When she kick them away they backed up and ran to the lady. And she saw a pair of a big white shirt and it might can't fit on her because she already have a dress. And the pants and the shoes follow her all the way to the shirt. And the pants and the shoes were jump into the shirt because they were afraid of the gloves because they go CLAP, CLAP, CLAP and hurt all of their ears. And look! I see a hat! And the hat's behind the gloves 'cause he didn't know he'd been hiding a pair of gloves. The shoes and the pants and the shirt and the gloves and the hat and the girl have a parade all the way back to her house. A pumpkin going to fall out of the tree and go in the lady's way. And the shoes and the gloves and the shirt and the pants and the pumpkin face knock her over onto the floor. So when she falls all the nuts and leaves [in her basket] fall down to the floor. The lady hear a knock on the door and she thought, "Should I answer the door?" And the lady said, "No, I can't." She answered the door and there been shoes, and a shirt and a pumpkin head and gloves and a hat. So she whisper something to the pumpkin's ear. She said, "Make a scarecrow!" So a lady look out her window and she saw all the clothes fall off the scarecrow. And you know what else happens? The scarecrow falled down 'cause he's leaning.

Leah: She was running 'cause she was scared 'cause she didn't want all these to scare her. Then she was scared of the pumpkin 'cause he said, BOO! BOO! She was running in her cottage. Somebody knocked on the door. She speaked in the pumpkin's ear, "Go make a scarecrow." The next morning she woke up and she saw a scarecrow. And it scared all the crows away.

Bella: I like when they were all like running behind the lady. I like when she saw the hat and gloves. I like the scary pumpkin. We got a lot of pumpkins on our step. 'Cause we got a garden and one got aten by the worms. My mom squished them, though. They ate our tomatoes, too, did you know that? [Turns attention back to the story.] I like when she was rocking. Then she heard a knock on the door. All the pants and the gloves and the shoes and the pumpkin and the shirt were at the door. I like when he turns into a scarecrow.

Sophie: The little old lady was not scared of anything. It was the shoes and the pants and the shirt and the gloves and the hat and the pumpkin -- they were all following her. And when she got in the cottage she heard a knock and she opened the door and she whispered to the pumpkin to be a scarecrow.

Annalee: She went out. She found shoes. She's running away from them because the pumpkin's saying, BOO! She locked the door. She opened the door. She's whispering in the pumpkin's ear. The pumpkin made it into a scarecrow.

Arthur: This is my favorite part. The scarecrow was scaring all the crows away, but I like all of it.

John: The little old lady came upon some gloves that went CLAP, CLAP and a hat that said NOD, NOD. The little old lady was going at a fast pace to her house because she was scared. I think the scariest part was when the pumpkin was, BOO! BOO! She whispered into the pumpkin's ear and said, "You should go outside and scare the crows away." I like it that there was a scary pumpkin face that scared all the crows away.

PK Kids Respond

Emelyn: I like she being scared of the WOOO pumpkin. I like she said, "Get out of the way, Clomp Shoes!"

Emmett: [Looking at final scarecrow illustration.] See the post-ez that go all the way up here? The scarecrow just built its own things.

Brady L.: The lady bumped into a shirt. She bumped into two gloves and a hat. All these followed her. The scary pumpkin said, BOO! The lady runned as fast as she can. Then she rocked in her rocking chair. And she heard a knock on her door. And then she put her arms like this [akimbo] and she said, "I'm not scared of you!" And then the pumpkin said, BOO! The lady whispered and telled him a secret to go outside and be a scary scarecrow.

Eva: A little lady was scared because she was scared of the pants and the pumpkin face. I like this part because she was scared like this, "Aaaah! Aaaah!" and she ran away. She heard two knocks on the door. She answered it, "I'm not scared! I mean business!" And she whispered to the pumpkin, "If you can't scare me, go outside and scare the crows!" And she looked out her window and there's the scarecrow.

Summer: The shoes were following her. The pants wiggled in front of her. She said, "I'm not afraid of you!" There was a shirt in front of her, and then she said, "I'm not afraid of you!" Then she saw gloves and a hat, and then she said, "I'm not afraid of you!" She saw a pumpkin that was a head and then she put her hand on her hat and runned home. Someone knocked on the door and then she was going to open the door, and then she opened the door. She saw shoes, pumpkin, gloves, a shirt and pants. They wanted to scare her. She said, "I'm not afraid of you!" Then she told the pumpkin to scare the crows away. She saw the pumpkin out in the garden.

Acadia: They can't walk without people. [The shoes, pants, etc.] That's so silly! The pumpkin said, BOOOO! BOOOO! and that scared her. She runned and runned. Where did that come from? [The pumpkin in the tree.] I don't know where that comed from.

Kaitlyn: Two big shoes thumped. She said, "I'm not afraid of you!" They were following her. Then she saw one pants RATTLE, RATTLE. She bumped into a shirt and she said, "I'm not afraid of you!" She saw two gloves CLAP, CLAP, CLAP and a hat. And then they followed her back home. Look it! There's the pumpkin! She saw the pumpkin up in the tree. WOOOO! WOOOO! She went home. There was pants on the other side [standing on her doorstep] that she saw already and the pumpkin. She told the pumpkin to scare the crows away and not scare me.

Camryn: The little old lady wasn't afraid of anything. She heard shoes TAPPING, TAPPING, TAPPING. Something was in her way. Then WIGGLE, WIGGLE, WIGGLE. Then SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE. Then the hat said, NO, NO, NO [nod, nod, nod]. And then the pumpkin said WOOO! WOOO! And then she scrammed home! Like the pretend monsters scram at my house. And then she rocked in her chair by the fire. Then her hands were on hips and she unlocked the door and all the things came home with her. She whispered, "Make a scarecrow."

Mack: The little old lady that wasn't afraid of anything said she wasn't afraid of anything. She walked away from the cottage and then she saw some shoes that walked all by theirselves. And then pants, and then a shirt, and then she started go home and then she saw a humongous pumpkin that went BOOO! and that scared me. And then they all did their stuff together and they totally scared her out. And then she ran in her cottage and then the knock and then she opened it and then that thing that moved by itself came in and then it turned into a scarecrow and scared all the crows away and then the end.

Mikayla: Those guys [shirt, shoes, etc.] were trying to get her because they like her. She's sad 'cause they following her.

Katherine: She heard everything -- the shoes, the pants, the shirt, the gloves and the hat. She was going home and they were all following her. The pumpkin said, BOOO! She ran! She rocked in her rocking chair, sitting by the fire. She hears a KNOCK, KNOCK on the door. They all come out. She whispers in the pumpkin's ear then he's a a scarecrow.

Christel: It was about pumpkin scary. Shoes came and they went CLOMP, CLOMP. And the little old lady said, "Get out of my way." And then a pair of pants came, and she said, "Get out of my way, pair of pants." And then a shirt came and said WIGGLE, WIGGLE. And she said, "Get out of my way, you pair of shirt!" And then she saw a pair of gloves and a hat, and they went CLAP, CLAP and NOD, NOD. And then they followed her. And then a pumpkin came and said, BOOO! BOOO! And then everything came and she went, "Aaaaaaah!" And then she ran, ran, ran until she got home inside her house. She rocked and she rocked and she rocked and she rocked. And then this was my favorite part. Everything she saw when she was on her adventure are in her home. She said, "Go outside and scare the crows!" She looks kind of freaked. And then this part, I thinked this was her shirt on her bed and she's using it as a pillow. And this part, he was happy to scare the crows.

Teeny Tiny Blog Entry

2009-10-23T09:43:00.001-04:00

CPG kids respond to The Teeny Tiny Ghost by Kay Winters and Lynn Munsinger.

Ryan: He looked like a Grandma. He was like, "Aaaah! Who's that? I look like a Grandma myself!" He looked like a scary monster, too.

Brady D.: A little guy was trying to get scared from the bad guys. The ghost scared himself when his friends were trying to go in the door to scare him.

Aidan C.: The other ghosts were trying to scare him. He puffed and puffed and puffed and then he said, "Do not come in the place!" It was just his ghost friends. They were dressed up.

Maeve: It was just his friends, it wasn't a witch. They dressed up as Halloweens. They flew up to the trees. There was a clown on the tree.

Aria: He was scared of his friends. He was in there [the grandfather clock] 'cause he was hiding. The teacher give him a hug. They were flying in the sky.

J.J.: I like the kitties. I like the ghosts and his scary OOOOOs. I like the whole story.

Aiden R.: Ghosts went to school. He scared hisself.

Olivia: Rat-tat-tat! [At the door.] The ghost friends trick-or-treat.

Teagan: His friends are knocking at the door. He didn't know it was his friends. He feeled scared. He turns into a big ghost, and he WOOOOOED and he WOOOOED and he WOOOOED! And everyone cheered for him. They gave him a big costume.

Bob liked the sailor ghost the best of all.

Lindsey liked the fairy princess ghost the best of all.

Ready . . . Set . . . Write!

2009-10-20T16:43:00.006-04:00

Today is The National Day on Writing, and blogging at The Picture Book Project is the perfect way for my 4 and 5-year old students to participate. We'll be discussing Littlebat's Halloween Story written by New Hampshire author Diane Mayr and illustrated by Gideon Kendall.

Littlebat and his mother live in a small colony in the attic of a country library. He discovers a small hole in the attic floor, which allows him to peek in on storytime. He can't see the pictures, and wants desperately to fly down for a closer look. Quite by accident, Littlebat drops in on storytime, and panic ensues. When he escapes into the attic, his mother tells a shaken Littlebat that he must wait for "changes" before he can go safely into the library for storytime.

See if you can figure out what those changes might be from reading the children's comments.

EK Reponses

Daniel: He should listen to his mom. She said, "Don't get too close to see the pictures." He went like that -- ZOOM! The kids yelled and everyone was afraid. On the bug pictures, I didn't know that bats eat the same thing as frogs. I think that I didn't know that.

Keegan: That's cool -- they can hang upside down. I like the fact that they can hang upside down. It's weird. Bats can fly, and we can't, 'cause they have wings. They were scared that the bat was going to hurt them. I would be pretty brave. I would try to catch it. I'm pretty fast. I bet I would be faster than a bat.

Hayden: It's about fly away and everybody was scared of it and the teacher flapped it with a book. And then a kid went under the table. Littlebat been scared and the mother been happy and say, "It's okay, Baby."

Brooke B.: I liked it when Littlebat poked his head through the hole in the ceiling at the library. He thought he should go look and see what was happening. I liked it when he fell through the hole at the library and everyone was scared. And then his mother said, "You shouldn't do that." I liked it when he was acting to be a paper bat.

Brooke N.: A bat popped out of the hole. He wanted to listen to the library. He thought the butterfly was a moth, and it was weird, and he freaked out. And the library was trying to die him with a library book. And then he saw his mommy.

Brady K.: I liked all of it. I liked this page because there's a bat. They're trying to kill it.

Leah: It was funny when the children screamed of the bat. It looks all creepy, that page. All the bugs look all dark. And do you know what was the funniest one? I thought the frog was a crocodile!

Sophie: The kids were scared of the little bat. The teacher waved her book and tried to shoo the bat away. The kids were yelling and one kid was hiding. Littlebat was worried and scared.

John: Littlebat wanted to see the stories up close. He couldn't because people might hurt him. Littlebat's mother was worried that he would get hurt. She said don't go down in there. I thought that page was exciting because he was flying around in the library. The librarian just swooped her book at him. The kids were yelling and screaming. If a bat came in my house I would open the door and let it out the garage. I like this page because it had all of the costumes. My favorite one is the guy with the mask.

Bella: I liked it when he was sticking his head out to see the pictures of it. I like when they were all running 'cause they were afraid of the bat. I think the bat was scared of them. The mom [bat] said, "Don't go so close."

Annalee: I liked it when he was asleep. I liked it when he sleeps in there with his mama. The mama's putting her wings around him.

Arthur: My really favorite part is the changes was there. The kids saw the little bat and they thought he was a decoration. But my really favorite part was all of it.

Allison: I like the bat flying in the air. The kid's putting her hands up to her ears 'cause of Littlebat. He wanted to see the pictures.

PK Responses

Eva: I like the baby bat because he didn't get smacked by the book. I liked when they were dressed up. That's a dinosaur. This is a witch.

Camryn: He falled and he landed right in the room. They yelled and the lady almost smacked him. That was funny. I love it when the bats hang upside down. The lady thought it was a decoration.

Mack: My favorite was this girl on the table. The bat was scaring the children. He [the bat] feeled worried. He got safe with his mom. It was Halloween and the kids thought the bat was a decoration. I think this girl [the librarian] thought it was a decoration, too. At the end he [the bat] was reading a book.

Emelyn: The bat's right there and they got surprised. She's going to get hurt. [A frightened girl standing on a table.] She's going to fall on this book and get her head hurt.

Katherine: I like this one because I like the decorations. The kids are reading. The bat wants to see the pictures. I like the page when he was hanging down like a decoration.

Kaitlyn: [Looking at an illustration of Littlebat peeking through the hole in the ceiling.] I didn't know necks could stick out that far. He started falling from the book. The bat fell and he would get hurt from the book if it swinged at him. He'd get a ginormous book boo-boo on his belly.

Acadia: The changes came and baby bat comed out and listened very quietly.

Christel: It looks like he was falling through the hole. And I liked it when he fell down. That was funny. Those books were supposed to be on the bookshelf. And that guy was looking up at the bat. He looks kind of scared. And it was really funny when the boy with the book on his head.They were scared of the bat 'cause they didn't like him. They're trying to hide. She's trying to smack him. [Flips to night pond illustration] I didn't know what that was. Oh! It's a night caterpillar. Cool! I liked the moon's look. And I liked that right there. [I asked what "that" was.] I have no idea! [Told her it was a moth.] Oh! [Flips to another illustration.] I liked the fireworks and there were 2 bats hanging outside.

Brady L.: I like this page because the bat was falling down and the kids were going crazy. She's [the librarian] screaming.

Mikayla: That girl [the librarian] whacked that bat. They're sad because she doesn't like the bat.

Summer: That one [Littlebat] fell in. They screamed.

Emmett was very busy creating pattern block patterns and didn't feel like talking about the book today.

Watch our for those fish, Old Bear!

2009-10-14T21:29:00.007-04:00

Children in EK, PK and CPG read Old Bear by Kevin Henkes this week. When the reader meets Old Bear he is settling into his winter hibernation. Henkes takes the reader through the four seasons using the bear's hibernation dreams as his vehicle. The fantasy/dream illustrations were especially appealing to the kids. I was intrigued by the children's interpretations that the dream cub feared the fish. The bear is depicted clinging to a tree and looking over his shoulder at the fish in the river. He, obviously, is stationary and the fish are moving in his direction. The fish all have their heads out of the water and appear to be looking at the bear. The bear's mouth is hidden by his shoulder, leaving the reader to put his or her own spin on the bear's emotional state. The kids are seeing the bear as victim and the fish as aggressors, which I find fascinating.

CPG Responses (added in on Friday, October 16, 2009)

Aidan C.: He's sleeping in a croke [crocus]. When he was sleeping then he woke up and he ate honey.

Ryan: I like where he was eating the blueberries because it has to be rain. I see a little bit of rain. He ate blueberries from the ground. I see blueberries that he ate. He's like, "Oh! It's raining blueberries. I'm going to eat them because I like them!" I see a flower up in the sky. I think it's a cloud flower. And he said, "Hey! I want that bear!" This page was red, orange and brown. And the bear's climbing the tree because he doesn't want to get catched by the fish and aten by the fish and to bite him on his bum. He'd go, "Owwww!"

Brady: He is eating the blueberries because he's eating blueberries and the flowers are coming back. He is climbing on a tree because the fish is trying to get him. It's my favorite. And winter is coming because the snow is coming back and it's cold. And the sun is on still. And in winter he sleeps and sleeps. And it comes back [spring] and no snow comes.

Olivia: He's sleeping in the flower. [Turns to front end papers and points.] The brown end papers. [Flips to back end papers.] I want to see the purple.

Alec: He dreamed about berries. It's raining berries. He's putting them in his mouth.

J.J.: I liked it when he was dreaming that he was in a giant crocus. I liked it when it was raining blueberries, too, and he was catching them. I liked it because he sees the rainbow fish and he might jump in and eat one. He might catch one right in his claws.

Aiden R.: He was sleeping. He was sleeping in the flower. It's raining blueberries. He's sticking his tongue out. He's trying to eat the blueberries. He's trying to climb up that tree because he's trying to find some food. I think he's trying to look for some doodleberries. They're purple.

Aria: He's dreaming that it was summer. He's sleeping, sleeping a lot. He's eating the blueberries in the clouds. I think the fish going to eat him. He's going to get away from the fish. [Flips to winter dream scene.] I like this part. I like this white part -- it's snow. I like snowflakes. I like to stick my tongue out to get them. My hands get cold in the snow. My dog's only scared of bears. Maggie have sharp teeth.

Maeve: I like the sleeping. I liked it when he sleeped in the flower. I liked when he ate blueberries in the waterfall. He's trying to get the fish. He's going to fall into the water.

Linsdey: He's sleeping. He's in the tree.

EK Responses

Allison: It was snowing. The bear was dreaming. There he's in the flower. It's raining blueberries. I like blueberries.

Leah: He slept through winter. He wished that he was a little bear. He dreamed of the raining was blueberries. And he wished that everything was orange and yellow. And he like to climb up trees. Bears are very good climbers up trees. They sleep through winter and when they wake up in the morning they walk around and think, "Oh! This is summer!"

Brooke N.: They sleep in the winter. He's sleeping in the flower and he wish he was a little bear.

Brady: He dreamed. He was dreaming that he was a cub again. It rained blueberries. He was a polite bear 'cause he covered his mouth when he yawned.

Annalee: I like that one [illustration] because I like snow. He's sleeping in a flower. It's raining blueberries. He's trying to eat them.

Sophie: I liked when the cub was sleeping in the flower. It was so cute! And he was eating blueberries out of the sky. And the sun was a daisy! It was so funny! And I like the colors of the fish and the bear thinks the fish are trying to eat him because look it! He [dream cub] just hopped [onto the tree]!

John: I liked that there were raining blueberries in the sky. And I like when at the last part when it was spring again and it was very nice and stuff because some of the trees had leaves that were going down. And I liked it when he's just smelling everything. And I like when he blinked and sticked his head out. That's all.

Arthur [Talked mainly about his own personal bears, placing them right in the story.]: My bears are hibernating. One is Heavy Bear, but it's not the one I'm talking about. I call my black one Black Bear. I really like this bear [Old Bear] because both of all my bears at home are hibernating. And all mine animals are sleeping in flowers and trees. That's what their first dream that they dreamed about. Then they dreamed that blueberries were raining. And then they dreamed about all the fish were out and all my bears could catch the fish. And then they dreamed about it was snowing. Then they slept. And then they yawned and then they opened their eyes and then it was walking and then it dreamed about purple was everywhere. And then they dreamed about there was flowers everywhere. That's all I want to tell you about.

Hayden: I like that one. Winter and fall is come together and he make a lovely pillow in his den. He thinking of dreams and the winter blowing the leaves in his den. He think he is sleeping in the big flower and he pretends it's spring. Then he think a rain is blueberries and he going to eat them all up and he get a tummyache. Butterflies are going to find a lovely place and they're going to get blueberry juice all over them. And he's going to think of a fish dream. The bear is afraid to go in the water because he don't want to be eaten up by the fish. He's climbing the tree 'cause he wanna be safe. He think of dreams and he sitting in the snow and he really wants to catch snowflakes on his tongue. And he thinking of he really love the sun in his eyes. He making a big yawn because he wake up so nice and early in his den. And when he wakes up he didn't remember anything anymore.

Brooke B.: I liked it when he was dreaming that he was a cub and it was spring. I liked it when Old Bear was dreaming that it was raining blueberries. I liked it when he was dreaming that it was fall again and the fish were rainbow colored. I liked it when he was dreaming that it was winter again. I liked it when he was dreaming when it was winter and he said the stars were all colored. I liked it when he woke up and it was spring again.

Dev: I like the front part. Snow and leafs are falling down on him.

Daniel: It was silly when it rained blueberries! The bear was that big [referring to the dream cub sleeping in a crocus] and if a person stepped on it it would be squashed into maple syrup. That would be funny. I like that yellow fish a lot. If I was that big and the bear was really that big and I didn't see it I would probably step on it. Imagine a bear eating it's own head! [Comment made while viewing an illustration consisting of 4 different views of the sleeping bear's head.] It would be funny. This [back]end paper's purple and this [front] end paper's brown.

Keegan: I like this page. I like the fact that the flowers are beautiful. And that looks some kind of like a dandelion. And it's weird. He's sleeping in a plant. It's weird. It's raining blueberries.

Bella: I like when he was winter and it was all the color in the sky. I like all the colors on this page, like the green and the yellow. Like the grass is green over here. I like the purple and the yellow and the big crocus he was sleeping in. Note: When we discovered that Bella's dress was almost a perfect match for Old Bears' back end papers, we just had to take a picture for the blog.

PK Responses

Christel: I liked all the blueberries and I liked the sun. It was pretty funny. The butterflies were my favorite animal. And I loved the bear inside the flower. I liked the little stars and the snow all over the trees. And I think he was watching the sun go down.

Brady L.: A bear was dreaming about he was a little cub. And he was dreaming about snow and the rain was blueberries. And all the leaves changed and the fish turned colors. And the stars turned colors. And then he yawned and then he waked up. And then he opened his eyes. And then he was going look for food. [Old Bear was actually a gift from Brady L. last year! Thanks again, Brady L.]

Camryn: He's falling asleep. He's dreaming, too. I love that page when he was a little cub! It's so cute. He's sleeping in a little flower, and he's so funny. I love that. It was raining blueberries! He was freaking out! Everything was orange and brown and every color. Yellow. There was stars and snow.

Acadia: I like those a lot [colorful stars] because it matches my green and purple leaves on my dress. [Flips to illustration in which Old Bear awakens in spring.] He blinked and blinked and blinked.

Emelyn: I like him yawning and putting his paw on his mouth. That's what I do when I wake up. [Flips to an illustration with the dream cub sleeping in a crocus. Points to the cub and laughs.] Bear in a flower!!

Eva: He was dreaming he was a little cub sleeping in a flower. I like the blueberries because he wished he was a tiny cub licking the blueberries and eating them. The fish are swimming around the ocean and he was climbing the tree. He was funny!

Summer: He's sleeping in a flower. They're raining blueberries. The fish are colored.

Kaitlyn: He was digging a lot. He was soft sleeping. And then he was dreaming about flowers and being a cub. It was raining blueberries. And he was dreaming the sun being a sunflower. And the leaves were butterflies. And then he was dreaming about the colors and like about rainbows. He doesn't go out of his house. And he sleeped and sleeped and sleeped and sleeped. And then he yawned and yawned. And he woke up. And then it was real. His dream was real. And he's walking away to get food. He went out the book on the front. [Illustration on the dedication page depicts the back half of Old Bear. He looks like he's walking out of the book.]

Mikayla: He was sleeping in a flower. Then it was raining blueberries. He stick his tongue out. He's going to catch the blueberries. He's gonna eat it. Fishies going to get that little bear. I'm not afraid of fishies. I got a Super Hero cape. [Flips to another illustration.] It's a winter day. Bears don't run in the snow. They just sit there. He put his paw on his mouth because he's tired. Then he sticked his head out. It was a rainy day.

Emmett: He's sleeping right now. He keeps sleeping then he sleeps in the flower. And it's raining blueberries. He's trying to get them in his mouth.

Katherine and Mack are still not feeling well and did not attend school this week. Feel better, girls!

Last Week in Review

2009-10-12T18:17:00.008-04:00

Firefighters and cats and dogs. Oh, my!

Last week we started a 2-week unit on fire safety in EK and PK, and we'll be reading many fire-themed books. On Monday the EK children read I Am Fire written by Jean Marzollo and illustrated by Judith Moffat. Some of the children responded below.

EK Responses

Sophie: I liked this book. I already knew before we talked about Stop, Drop, and Roll because I already learned about it. I really want to be a fireman and I really went to see a fire truck and did the hose and I went in the fire truck.

Brooke N.: I liked it. They were doing a fire drill at school. [Flips to another illustration.] Someone saw a fire over where the leaves. [Flips to another illustration.] She went out without her shoes because [the house] was on fire.

Hayden: I liked it. A girl and a puppy went outside and helped the brother get away from the fire.

Daniel: I know the words Stop, Drop, and Roll and I know on this page if the door is all blocked by fire and the windows weren't blocked you can go out the windows. And on this page I didn't know that leafs could go on fire. And I know if there's a fire you should go on your hands and knees. And I think he [boy in an illustration] was really big so he shouldn't play with matches, he would know you shouldn't play with matches, or you shouldn't play with cigarettes. And I know that you put a marshmallow on your stick when you're roasting marshmallows. And I know that there's only three words -- nine, one, one. At home we have a wood and screen attached to the wood to keep us away from the fireplace. And I have seen fireworks on TV and when I was upstairs and Mom was reading a story in my bed I heard them. [Turns his attention to another illustration.] The puppy is too close to the grill and the girl is right next to the mom. I liked it except the fact it made me remember on the computer it was a video like Land Before Time, but it wasn't one it was a one where he could spit out fire and he could also eat it. I didn't like it because it made me think that I was eating it without being trained.

Brooke B.: I liked it when the dad was reading a bedtime story to the kid. And I liked it when a boy blew out the candles. And I liked it when they were watching the fireworks together. I liked it when they practiced the fire drill. I liked it when they did a fire drill at school. I liked it when the kid told a grown-up when she saw a pile of leaves burning. I liked it when a boy crawled under the smoke. I liked it when that boy dropped, stopped and rolled. I liked it when they went camping and roasted marshmallows. I liked it when the girl called 9-1-1.

Dev: I liked that part. [Kids having a fire drill at school.]

[On Monday the EK kids also reread THE STORY OF FERDINAND written by Munro Leaf and illustrated by Robert Lawson.]

The PK children still needed to vote for their favorite animal, dog or cat. On Monday the PK children read two books: Clifford's Tricks written and illustrated by Norman Bridwell, and Caldecott Honor Book Green Eyes written and illustrated by A. Birnbaum. They voted, and the vote tallied up at 8 for dogs and 5 for cats.

Christel: I liked the Clifford book best. I liked it 'cause Clifford rolled over the truck and when he went WOOF loud. The girl fell in the water. It was a good thing the dog saved the girl. And I liked it when Clifford was the best dog ever. And Clifford really is a good dog. Well, sometimes he doesn't do the right things we want him to do 'cause sometimes he's naughty.

Camryn liked Clifford's Tricks: I liked Clifford. She [a girl walking on the railing of a bridge] fell in the water because she was doing something dangerous. Her foots were up there [on the bridge railing] then her head was upside down [as she fell from the bridge]. Her dog tried to save her but he couldn't because he wasn't big. Clifford saved them.

Emelyn liked Green Eyes: I liked this kitty book. I like he slipping down the box. [Flips to another illustration.] All the animals thought he was a little lion in the jungle.

Emmett liked Green Eyes: He's like a tiger.

Eva liked Green Eyes: Because he has green eyes and he could climb out of his small box. I liked when he was in the grass like a baby lion.

Katherine liked Clifford's Tricks: I liked the Clifford one because Clifford and the other dog saved the little girl.

Kaitlyn liked Clifford's Tricks: Her dog was a little less smarter. The girl with the yellow dress. But Clifford -- no. Not that smart. He didn't know anything. And he barked so loud people were arguing. He rolled over on the police car. [Flips to last illustration.] And then they both hugged them. [Emily Elizabeth and her new friend hugged their dogs.]

Acadia liked Clifford's Tricks: Because Clifford saved them. I like them because they like them. [Emily Elizabeth and her new friend both like their dogs.]

Mack liked Green Eyes: I like the kitty best because her name was Green Eyes because she was a kitty. When she was [getting bigger] her box was getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger.

Mikayla liked Clifford's Tricks: That book silly.

Summer liked Clifford's Tricks best.

CPG Kids Read for the Record

Thursday, October 8th was Jumpstart's Read for the Record day, and children across the country read Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Even though we read this book early in September, we reread it in CPG in order to participate in this important event. On Friday, we read Little House, Little Town by Scott Beck.

Ryan spoke about The Very Hungry Caterpillar: I like this picture because he eats one apple on this day, and two pears on the other day, and three . . . What are these again? [Me: plums] 'Cause he ate the plums and he ate the strawberries and he ate the five oranges but he was still hungry. So he ate the chocolate and the ice cream and the pickle and the cheese and one slice of salami and a lollipop, and pie, and a sausage, and a cupcake and the watermelon then he had a bellyache. 'Cause he ate those leaves but I don't know why he cut the holes out to pretend he ate them. Then he was a big fat caterpillar then he was a butterfly and that's it.

Aidan C. spoke about The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Part of it was when he was in a egg. Part of it was when he popped out. When he ate all the things he had a stomachache. When he feeled better he ate part of a leaf.

Alec talked about Little House, Little Town: He didn't have a helmet. She's scared of the dog. They're climbing up the tree. She ate an ice cream. He's [a dog] trying to pull the chain.

Olivia spoke about Little House, Little Town: The baby had a different face. [We had commented that the baby looked like he had a grown-up face.] [Turns to an illustration of boys riding bikes.] Riding bikes! They didn't have a helmet. [Flips to another page.] She's getting ice cream.

Arthur talked about Little House, Little Town: [Looking at title page.] My favorite is that part because the baby looks like he has a man's face. I think this is the end because the baby is standing up and saying, "Hey!" [Flips to another page.] I like this page because there was a dog in the page and ice cream. [Flips to another page.] But my really favorite page is when they leave their bike out. [Flips to another page.] No. My REALLY favorite page is that there was a lot of buildings.

J.J. spoke about The Very Hungry Caterpillar: I like that part because it's funny because the egg -- it looks like a rock! And I like this when he ate through these, and again, and again, and again, and again, and AGAIN! I like the WHOLE book!

John talked about Little House, Little Town: I liked about it that it has when all of the guys were riding on bikes. And I liked that when the grocer was trying to make a tower with these cans. And I liked that the girl was going to get ice cream. And I liked that they put on the sprinkler. And I liked when the girl was finishing her ice cream cone. And I like when it was all quiet in the church and everything and it showed the church and everything. And that's it.

Bob wanted to talk about You Can Name 100 Trucks by Randy Chewning, a book he pulled off the shelf and "read" on his own. Bob points to a building on fire and says, "Fire!" Points again and says: "School bus. Fire truck."

Teagan didn't feel like talking about books this week.

NOTE: We had 5 children absent in CPG on both Thursday and Friday this week.

Apparently Cats Rule.

2009-10-02T11:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday the CPG children read Circle Dogs written by Kevin Henkes and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino. Today they read Caldecott Honor book Green Eyes written and illustrated by A. Birnbaum, and then voted for their favorite animal. The election results were as follows: 4 votes for dogs and 6 votes for cats.

Brady and Ryan discussed the books together.

Brady: Circle Dogs was my favorite because them were circley. I love the black one.

Ryan: I like the black one, too. And I do like that one, too. [Green Eyes]

Brady: Cat one for me, too, because it has green eyes.

Ryan: Mine's because I like that one, too. [Green Eyes] I like green.

Brady: I do to. Green's my favorite.

Ryan: Hey! I thought you like purple.

Ryan: I do. And green, too.

The rest of the children discussed the book individually with me.

Aria: I liked Green Eyes. He was a little cat. I like the chickens. I like the end pages -- grass, sun, winter, fall.

J.J.: I liked it because the Circle Dogs were sleeping in a circley way. [Flips to another illustration.] Digging! I liked that part, too. I liked the story.

Maeve: I liked Green Eyes because he jumped out of the box. He's trying to get the mouse, but it wasn't a mouse. It was a leaf. He jumped and tried to get it, but he was thinking about it. He was sleeping near the radiator because the snow was going to fall on him and he'd get cold.

Olivia: [Olivia liked Circle Dogs best.] They smell bones. They wake up the people.

Aiden R.: [Aiden liked Circle Dogs best, too.] It turned into a circle. They digged in the yard. They were licking people.

Lindsey: [Lindsey picked Circle Dogs as her favorite book, and the orange dog as her favorite character.]

Aidan C.: [Aidan liked Green Eyes best.] She climbed in the box. She run around the tree. She was watching the man walk the cows. [Milk the cows.]

[Teagan didn't feel like talking about books today, and the rest of the children were absent from school.]

Check This Out

2009-10-01T00:30:00.001-04:00

I also contribute to The Write Sisters' blog, and posted a Mentor Monday post on September 28th entitled Know Your Reader. I included an excerpt from The Picture Book Project and recommended that the authors reading The Write Sisters visit The Picture Book Project to research their picture book audience. I think you might find some of the comments from a few children's authors interesting.

THE STORY OF FERDINAND: Snotting and Butting and Kicking

2009-09-30T17:26:00.002-04:00

[Today we read THE STORY OF FERDINAND written by Munro Leaf and illustrated by Robert Lawson in 1936. John was the only child to contribute today, because he missed discussing GROWL BEAR yesterday. I asked him to pick his favorite, and he wanted to talk about THE STORY OF FERDINAND. He actually flipped page by page through the book as he talked.]

EK John: I liked it because it had a big "O" [the first word of the book is ONCE, and the O is giant in comparison to the rest of the font] and a tall tower. And I like it because Ferdinand was eating a little grass. And I liked when all of the bulls were just butting around and stuff. And I liked when Ferdinand was walking to the cork tree. And I like it when he was just relaxing at the cork tree. And I like when his mother was going to ask if he was lonely. And I like when he said, "I'm not lonely." And I liked when the mother was just walking away. I liked this page because it marked how old he was. And I like it when he was just sitting under the tree calmly.

And I like it when they saw they could have been chosen to the bull fight. And I like it because all the men were wearing funny hats. And I liked it when all the bulls wanted to be chosen. And I liked this page because he sat on a bee. And I liked it when he had his eyes wide opened because he was sitting on a bee. And I liked it when he just jumped up because the bee just stung him. And I liked it when he was snotting and butting and kicking.

And I like when they were pulling him to the ring. And I like when they were all bringing him to the ring. And I liked when the girls had the flowers in their hair. And I liked it when they brung out everything to make them mad, and I liked everything else that they wanted to make him mad with. And I liked it because they bring out the sword and he [the matador] was smiling a lot. And I liked the one where Ferdinand just peeked out of there. And I liked it when he was walking out to the ring. And I liked it because he was just sitting around smelling the flowers. And I liked it when all the men were so mad. And I like that guy [the matador] was so sad. And I liked it when he was going to leave the ring. And I liked it when he was just sitting under the cork tree.

I liked it in the front [cover illustration] when he was in a different color red instead of white. In the black and white pictures when they [the baby bulls] were running there was some black on the grass and they [the bulls] had some black spots on them. This was very old and I like painting in the olden days.

A Look at Picture Books Past

2009-09-29T17:54:00.001-04:00

EK and PK children will look at picture books written at least 50 years ago today and tomorrow. Today we read Growl Bear, written and illustrated by Margot Austin and first published in 1951. This story grabbed every last child in both classes and held their attention from endpaper to endpaper. It was republished as A Friend for Growl Bear in 1999, newly illustrated by David McPhail. We read the original, with black and white illustrations.

Usually when I read a book illustrated in black and white, at some point somebody will stop me and mention the black and white illustrations and ask why they aren't done in color. Only one child mentioned the illustrations, and that was after the reading while he and I were discussing the book. Rather than lament the fact that they weren't done in color, Keegan loved them. I consider this a sign that the story completely entranced the children, and that the black and white illustrations worked perfectly with the story.

Growl Bear looks at how people (as portrayed by the animal characters) perceive one another, and how misunderstood intentions can lead to harsh and hurtful reactions.

As you read through the responses, keep in mind that when a child says he or she liked it when something bad happened to the bear, they aren't approving. They're reacting to the strong emotion within the story, and to their own emotional attachment to the bear.

EK Responses

Sophie: I liked it because the guys hurt the bear. They were really angry and they started pushing him. They thought he was going to eat them because bears eat different animals and I liked the bear. He wanted to say, "Hey! I'm not going to hurt you. I just want a friend." He wanted to play with somebody, and they didn't because they thought he was going to bite somebody but he didn't. He just wanted a friend! He just said, "Grrrrr!" because he couldn't say anything because he's a bear and he just can't talk. And he was too little to talk.

Annalee: I liked this book because I liked Mouse.

Allison: He wanted friends.

Keegan: I like it 'cause it's very old. What I like that's my favorite is the color -- black and white. The bear wanted a friend. Everybody was afraid of him because of his growl. He didn't know how to talk because he was very little.

Brooke N.: All the people didn't like him because he wanted a friend and the rabbit throwed him in the pond. He wanted a friend and nobody would let him be a friend. I liked it.

Brooke B.: I liked it when he got hit with the nut by the squirrel. I liked it when he got pushed into the pond by the rabbit. I liked it when he was sitting on the mailbox. I liked it when Old Owl slammed the door in front of the bear's face. He thought mouse would come out and play with him so he sat on a log then he standed on his head then he laid on his back, but mouse wouldn't come. Then he hanged on a branch, and then mouse comed and the branch started to break and then he fell on his head. Then he said, "I know. Maybe the songbirds will play with me." Then he climbed up on a tree and then the songbirds flew around his head and then he got so dizzy that he fell off the tree. I liked when his friends were all standing in his front yard and then they played and played and played.

Bella: I liked it cause at the ending I liked it when they were running around the tree. They were friends.

Brady: I liked it. He was trying to find a pal. He kept saying, "Grrrr." That means he'll bite. He wasn't really going to bite.

Allison: I did like it. The mother was going to give cookies.

Hayden: Him friends didn't like him because he say, "Grrrr!' 'cause he a bear.

Dev: He was grrrrring. I liked the book.

Daniel: I liked the words and I loved the baby. I didn't like the way his friends were acting. When he came up to see the rabbit he was pushing him in the river. They all did mean things to him. When he went grrrr they run away from him because they thought he was going to eat them. He couldn't say anything else because he's a baby. The owl said that you shouldn't be afraid to him because he wasn't going to eat them. The mom brought cookies out while they were all swinging. It was a happy one.

PK Responses

Emmett: I like this page because they're all playing at his house.

Mack: I liked this book because the Owl slammed the door and he opened it a little and then the bear started crying a little . . .

Eva joins in: And then he cried a lot. This is my favorite part because Owl said he couldn't talk yet and be nice.

Mack: And my else favorite part is when Owl came over into his house.

Katherine: I liked it because at the end they started to chase.

Emelyn: He was crying because Owl was so mean.

Acadia: I like the endpapers. I liked when he was waiting and waiting for the little mouse. I don't have mouses in my house. They live in little holes in your house. Do you have mouses in your house?

Me: Gee, I hope not.

Acadia: I like this one [illustration of all the little animals playing together] because his friends are not scared anymore.

Camryn: He was sad because he wanted someone play with. Someone was doing something busy. They were folding laundry. I love this page [Mother Bear bringing cookies to Growl Bear and his friends at the end of the story] because I love it so much.

Kaitlyn: At the first page he walked with his Teddy Bear. Then he was there to Rabbit's house, to his friend Rabbit. And then he went to the mouses' house. I liked where the mouse ran away 'cause he was catching the mouse. He bunked his head and he started crying. Then he knocked on Old Owl's door again and then he said, "Grrrr!" Old Owl said, "I told you to stay away." He started crying. He went home and his friends waited and waited for him to come out and play with them. They played tag. Growl Bear was happy.

Mikayla: The mouse ranned over there. He was chasing the mouse. The mouse was sad if the bear grabbed him in his hand. [Flips to another page.] That mommy bear chases that rabbit give him some cookies. And I like the wolf [squirrel] because he's not ascared of anything.

Summer looked through the book and pointed out her favorite illustration in which Mother Bear is bringing cookies out to the little animal friends.

More CPG Thoughts

2009-09-25T10:36:00.003-04:00

Today we read Caldecott Honor Book The Stray Dog by Marc Simont. I asked the children to pick their favorite book we read this week to discuss.

Olivia: I like that doggy. He is Willy. I like Willy every time. He's my favorite pet dog. [I asked her how she felt when the dog catcher caught Willy.] That was bad! He has to go to the dog patch. So he got his leash. [The girl gave the dog catcher her hair ribbon, telling him it was Willy's leash.][Olivia points to the boy, who is removing his belt and telling the dog catcher it was Willy's collar.] He could save him!

Teagan: I liked this [Kitten's First Full Moon] best because the kitty jumped in the pond. I like this one. The kitty's climbing up the tree. She's a poor kitten because she fell down to get the moon. She's trying to get that moon. She thinks it's a bowl of milk. She's trying to drink the milk. She jumped in the pond. First she went on the grass. Then she jumped in the pond. [Flips to another illustration.] The bug got in her tongue. It was funny! The firefly.

Lindsey looked very carefully at the covers of Kitten's First Full Moon and The Stray Dog. I asked if she liked the dog book best, and she just wasn't quite sure. I asked if maybe she liked the cat book best. She smiled and said, "Yes!"

Aidan C.: I liked it because I liked the bathtub one. They have a dog in it with people. The girl was scrubbing the dog. The boy was turning up the water. [Turns to Willy-in-the-dog-catcher's-net illustration.] Hey! He didn't get his tail!

Maeve: I liked this [Kitten's First Full Moon] best because he licked the bowl of milk. I liked it because he jumped in the water because he wanted to get that milk. He thought it was milk.

Aria: [Ryan is looking over Aria's shoulder at the illustration.] I like the catcher one. I like it. I like Winnie. Winnie wags her tail a lot. [I ask who Winnie is.] Winnie lives at Aria's house. I like the sun setting. [In one of the illustrations.] I like this one. [Illustration shows the dog catcher chasing the dog.] He is dead.

Ryan: No! He's just hiding.

Aria: He got caught. The girl give her ribbon. [For a leash.] The boy is just like this. [Illustration shows the boys holding up his pants because he took his belt off to use as a collar. Aria pretends to hold up her pants and laughs.]

Ryan: [Looking at the bathtub illustration in which the kids are in the tub bathing the dog.] So the kid's hair is funny! [Flips to another illustration.] Look! "Here's his leash!" [Said in a sing-song voice, as if he -- Ryan -- is the boy in the story.] He's holding up his pants so they don't fall down and bring a policeman. I like the boy the best. He chased the dog.

Julianna: My favorite part was the dog catcher trying to catch the dog. It was funny! I was trying not to laugh.

Brady D. and Bob were not in school today, so they'll contribute to next week's CPG entry.

Random CPG Literacy Note: Teagan announced that he was making end papers while tracing circles on paper in a Mickey Mouse pattern in the writing corner. These are the moments that I live for in my teaching life!

CPG Children Share Their Thoughts

2009-09-24T14:19:00.000-04:00

On Thursday, September 24th, the CPG children read the 2005 Caldecott Medal winner Kittens First Full Moon, written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes. Because today was our first visit with Miss Mary from Project Nature, I only had enough time to discuss the book with four of my students. I'll post what the rest of the children had to say tomorrow.

Aria: I liked the kitten one because I do like the moon and the house and the cups and the milk. I liked this one. [Illustration in which the kitten climbed a tree in an attempt to reach the moon, which it had mistaken for a bowl of milk.] The kitten got all sad and got all wet. I like all the kitties. I got Sammy and Summer and Sophie. They're kittens. I like the tree one. Her got scared. And she can't reach the moon and climb and climb. I like the house one and I like the sleep one.

Ryan: I liked it because he saw the milk and he thought the moon was a big milk and I liked it because it looked like it was 150 milk and it was getting bigger and bigger like a snowman because he came and he saw the milk and that's why I like it. I like the part where he saw the milk and he said, "Oh! I want a milk! Oh, ya!" And I liked when he saw the milk but it wasn't. It looked like a big ice cream bowl, but it wasn't."

Aiden R.: I liked the stars. He fell right there. [Illustration in which the kitten jumped into a pond reflecting the moon, which it had mistaken for a bowl of milk.) He gets wet and he looks scared then he got home.

J.J.: I liked this because she tried to get the moon and she climbed the tree to try to catch it, but she couldn't!

We'll continue our cat/dog theme tomorrow when we read a doggy book.

Miss Mary, by the way, read The Flying Tortoise, An Igbo Tale retold by Tololwa M. Mollel and illustrated by Barbara Spurll.

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

2009-09-22T17:42:00.005-04:00

The children will discuss books with me on Monday and Wednesday this week. If you don't see a contribution by your child in the Monday discussion, look for it in the Wednesday discussion.

Our theme this week is Dogs and Cats, and the children will vote for their favorite animal on Wednesday.

On Monday, September 21, 2009 the EK and PK children read and discussed My Big Dog by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel. The author referred to the dog and cat as "it" making it impossible to determine the animals' gender. You'll notice the children freely interchange feminine and masculine pronouns in talking about the animals, especially the cat. Most of the children referred to the dog as "he." The cat was a bit trickier for them.

EK Responses

Brady K.: I liked this book because the dog kept going, SLURP, SLURP, SLURP!

John: I liked it because it had the cat saying, "Everything's all mine!" And I liked it when the dog kept finding the cat and the dog kept slurping and the cat kept trying to get him away, get him away, get him away. And I liked it because it had when the dog kept growing bigger and bigger and BIGGER! And I liked when he was so huge. And I liked when the cat want to run away and the lady took her and the cat thought it would be a nice idea to make the girl take her home. Then she decided it wasn't so nice after all. And when she saw the CAT WANTED sign and she decided to go in there and got pushed out by a broom. And I liked when a boy picked her up but the boy and the girl were fighting over it. And I liked when he had to sleep and then it was raining. And I liked when the dog found the cat and took her home. And I liked when the cat wanted to make friends and share with the dog. And then she would share her dog, and then he licked her. And I liked when we had that voting at the end about purple and blue on the end papers. [When we previewed the book and looked at the end papers, the children couldn't agree what color the back end papers were. Some thought purple, and some thought blue. We took a vote after reading the book. Nine children voted for purple, and 4 children voted for blue.] And I liked when they showed the light blue at here. [The front end papers.] And there's two more things I like. I liked the outside [cover] at the front. And I liked the outside [cover] of the back. Now I'm done.

Brooke B.: I liked it because when he started out as a puppy and the cat said, "My everything!" And when she said, "I let my owners pet sometimes when I feel like it." And when she said, "I'm tired. I've been up from breakfast. It's almost time for my nap!" And when said, "Here comes my owner!" I liked when she said, "Dog alert! Dog alert! Time to hide!" I liked the part when the cat got licked. And I like when she put crumbs all over the outside to get away from him, but that didn't work. Then she knew she would take him for a walk and said, "I know! I will tie him to a tree." That didn't work. That's it!

Brooke N.: I liked it because the dog found the cat and because he licked the cat. The cat felt weird. I liked it because the dog was getting big. My dog was little before so he had to have a home and we took him from the pet shop to our house. My dog is named King. He's a little bit big dog not that much.

Bella: I liked the pictures. He said that all the stuff is his. I liked the dog. I'm done.

Sophie: I liked it because the girl said, "It's my kitty." She took it from the boy.

PK Responses -- On Monday, September 21st the PK children had a special story guest -- my big lion puppet. Mr. Lion visited to model storytime etiquette such as listening without interrupting. (Mr. Lion interrupts a lot!) He also modeled responding to my questions following the reading, which I'm hoping will inspire the children to really elaborate on their own responses.

Mack: I liked it because it had a cute, little kitty. I liked it when the dog found her crying and he brought her back home. And when the kids said, "It's my kitty! No, It's my kitty!" I liked it when the kitty said, "Could we be friends?" And when the girl dressed her up like a show kitty.

Kaitlyn: I liked it because I like when the cat said, "Can we be friends?" I liked when the dog bited the cat. He was helping the cat. He was saving it. I liked the part when the cat felt very sad. I know she was very sad in this picture. Look at her face. Everything was hers, and she didn't care about the dog.

Katherine: I liked it because of the first part he told himself everything was all his. And I liked it when he hided. I think he hide under his bed, then on the desk, then in the drawer.

Camryn: I liked it because I loved the dog slobbered the cat. I loved the people trying both have the cat. I loved that part! That was funny. I loved the cat get his nails done. The person picking the cat up -- I loved that. I loved the end papers, too.

Acadia: I like it because he said everything was his. That was my favorite. And I liked when the girl was picking him up and she was bringing him home. That was my favorite. I liked this part because he runned away and then he runned out like that from the broom. And because he was sad because the rain was pouring on him. I liked it when the dog was picking him up and bringing him home. I'm done.

Arthur: I liked all of the pages. My favorite part was just like Mr. Lion's [the puppet] when the dog keeped finding the cat.

CPG Children Weigh In On Eric Carle

2009-09-18T12:37:00.001-04:00

In addition to Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear? and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the CPG children read Eric Carle's "Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth and My Tool Belt. The children reacted to their favorites as follows.

Olivia: The Very Hungry Caterpillar is my favorite because they turn into butterflies then they go into a cocoon and then they turn into a butterfly.

Julianna: I liked the Sloth. I liked it when he was boring. And I liked it when he was hanging upside down. And I liked this [indicates picture] with the monkey and tortoise.

Ryan: I liked the Caterpillar best. I liked it because he ate so much food and he was green and that was my favorite color. Mom would like the red and she would say, "Ryan! I have that book!" And that's why I like it.

Brady D.: I liked the Sloth because him was keep staying right there and because the animals kept coming back and forth. I liked this one best. [Points to Yellow-Spotted River Turtle on the back end papers.]

Bob: I like the Polar Bear because I like the elephant.

Lindsey wasn't quite sure which book was her favorite. I agreed with her that when it comes to Eric Carle books, it's very hard to pick just one favorite.

Aidan C.: I like the Caterpillar one because we read it. My favorite part was when he was in the egg. If I was a hungry caterpillar, I would eat the lollipop first.

Maeve: I liked the Sloth book because of the night. [I asked Maeve which animal was her favorite, and she pointed to the anteater and the caiman. When I asked why, she pointed to the caiman's teeth and said, "Claws!]

Aiden R.: I like the Caterpillar because it itches. Polar bears would like that story. If I was a hungry caterpillar I'd eat the watermelon and the cupcake and the candy and the lollipop and the pickle and the cheese and the cake.

Teagan: I like Brown Bear best because I saw a bird and a bunny and a dog in there. My favorite animal was the purple cat.

Aria: I liked My Apron because I do. I liked the pages. [Indicates end papers.] I liked this one. [Indicates page with Aunt Elizabeth making an apron for young Eric Carle.] Her making an apron for her. I liked this one. [Indicates page with the house with the incomplete roof.]

Even More Eric

2009-09-15T09:40:00.013-04:00

We continued exploring Eric Carle's books today when we read The Grouchy Ladybug. Once again, I asked the children to pick their favorite Eric Carle book from among those we've read thus far.

EARLY KINDERGARTEN RESPONSES

Leah: I loved The Very Hungry Caterpillar so much! I liked the food part best. I loved that. That was so silly. If I was a hungry caterpillar I would just eat three plums so I wouldn't get a tummy ache.

Brooke N.: I liked The Grouchy Ladybug because there were a lot of people who were big, but she said they were not big enough, but they were big enough. I liked the rhinoceros part because he was trying to eat him but he was too big.

Bella: I liked The Grouchy Ladybug because of the pictures with the little pages and the big pages. I liked all the clocks because the hungry ladybug did all of that. [Points at clocks.] I liked the elephant best because I saw one at the zoo.

Dev: I liked The Grouchy Ladybug because of this one. [Searches out and points at praying mantis illustration.]

Annalee: I liked The Very Hungry Caterpillar because I liked the pictures of it. If I was a hungry caterpillar I'd eat pie first and ice cream.

Arthur: I liked all of these books. My favorite was The Grouchy Ladybug because he keeps saying, "You're not big enough!" I liked that it did it like this. [Indicates the differently sized pages.] My favorite animal was the whale because it slapped the tail on the ladybug and the ladybug said, "Ah-h-h-h-h!" And then he put his tail back and that was my favorite part.

Hayden: I liked Brown, Bear, Brown Bear best. I liked the goldfish because it's yellow because I love yellow. I liked the duck because I love yellow a lot, because the ducky is gold and the goldfish is gold.

Brooke B.: I liked The Grouchy Ladybug because when he said, "No, you're not too big!" I liked the hyena best because it reminds me of Izzy. She really likes hyenas and she's my best friend.

Allison: I liked The Grouchy Ladybug because it had a ladybug in it. I liked the skunk best because it's in the book.

John: I liked The Grouchy Ladybug because the nice ladybug offered, but the ladybug said, "Hey, you! You want to fight?" But she said, "Aw, you're not big enough!" And I liked it because it had when the ladybug said to the tail on the whale, "Hey you! You want to fight?" And the tail gave her a big slap. And I liked it because it had the house and the lighthouse. And I liked it because when the ladybug met the wasp and he showed it his big stinger. And I liked when that animal [points to stag beetle] showed him his big claws. And I liked when the mantis wanted to fight and he said, "If you insist." And I liked the bird because I knew it was going to eat the ladybug. I liked the lobster because he opened his claws and I knew he was going to snap him in his claws. And I liked the skunk because he lifted his tail and I knew he was going to release a stinky smell at the ladybug. And I liked that the snake was going to eat the squirrel and the ladybug for his breakfast. And I liked the hyena because he laughed and he was going to eat him. And I liked the gorilla because he was beating his chest and he was going to punch him. And I liked the rhinoceros because he was lowering his horn and he was going to run into him and then he said, "Oh, you're not big enough!" And I liked the elephant and he was showing his tusk and his trunk a long way out. And I liked the whale because he said nothing and I thought that the ladybug was going to run into the water going up out of the whale. And when he said, "Hey, you! You want to fight?" and the flipper said nothing. And when he asked the fin to fight the fin said nothing. And I liked when the ladybug spoke to the whale's tail and said, "Hey, you! You want to fight?" and the tail gave him a big slap and he was flying over where he started and he got to eat some aphids. And then I liked it because the ladybug said, "You're welcome." And I liked that the leaf said, "Thank you!" And I liked the fireflies were dancing around the moon and I liked the moon and I liked the stars. And I liked the green grass at the beginning and at the end. I think Eric Carle wrote nice books. I think he does his art in not a fast way, but in a slow way. I like that art best.

PREKINDERGARTEN RESPONSES

Christel: I liked The Grouchy Ladybug because he said, "You're not big enough!" I liked when the whale flipped the Grouchy Ladybug into the sky. And I liked this part when the lobster tried to bite him. And the skunk looked like he was going to spray. And the snake looked like he was going to eat the ladybug. And I liked this one [hyena] when he looked like he was going to bite the ladybug. And I liked the gorilla! [Christel then turns to the last double-page spread in which the ladybugs share the remaining aphids.] This is my favorite part because he let him share the bugs! And I'm all done!

Brady L.: I like Polar Bear, Polar Bear because it has animals. I like the hippopotamus best.

Camryn: I liked The Very Hungry Caterpillar because it's my favorite. I have some caterpillars in my yard. Their backs go up and down. [Points to caterpillar on cover.] I like his back. I love his ears, too! [Points to caterpillar's antennae.] If I was a hungry caterpillar I would eat the cake and ice cream first.

Mack: I have caterpillars in my yard, you know. My mom found one and she was very colorful and she had a red head and she was so soft and she had little antlers sticking out and she had the legs that she could climb.

Emelyn: [Popping briefly into the conversation.] Miss Murphy! I liked Brown Bear.

Kaitlyn: I liked the Ladybug book and the Caterpillar book. [The rest of Kaitlyn's commentary relates to the Ladybug book.] I liked the nice one and the grouchy one, because the grouchy one said, "Hey! You want to fight?" The nice one said, "Why don't we share?" And they didn't share. I liked that one [sparrow] because he thinked the bird was too big, but it was too small, but it was really big. That one [elephant] was definitely big. He talked to that one [whale's fin] but it wouldn't talk. I liked that it ended up back where he started.

Arthur: [Popping into the conversation.] Why did they put the clocks on the ladybug book?

Miss Murphy: Eric Carle used the clocks to take us through the whole day with the ladybug. The clocks let us see what time the ladybug met up with each animal.

Mack: I really like the Polar Bear book because the polar bear saw the lion. All the kids dressed up like the animals. I like Eric Carle's drawing about the ladybug. I like the caterpillar one because I like his green eyes. I like his legs. This one isn't attached.

Let's Get Started!

2009-09-14T10:33:00.009-04:00

The first three books we're reading at Hogarth this year are Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? written by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar written and illustrated by Eric Carle. In our class discussions following the readings, we looked at Carle's illustrations and noted that the endpapers of the Bear books were illustrated with stripe patterns, and the endpapers of the Caterpillar book was illustrated with a dot pattern. References to stripes or dots within the children's comments relate back to that discussion.

In order to get the book discussion ball rolling, I asked each child to pick his or her favorite from among these books and talk about what made that book so appealing. If this didn't prompt a big response, I followed up with questions specific to their favorite book. If they picked either Bear book, I asked which animal depicted in the book was their favorite. If they picked the Caterpillar book, I asked which food they'd eat first if they were a hungry caterpillar.

I'll be posting the children's responses each day this week until all the kids have participated. Here's what some of the children had to say today.

EARLY KINDERGARTEN RESPONSES

Keegan: My favorite was Polar Bear. I liked the front cover. My favorite animal was the peacock because of his spots, and I never seen a peacock.

John: I liked them all because I liked when the zoo keeper came to feed the walrus in Polar Bear and because all of the kids were dressing up like animals. I like Brown Bear because the class was looking at the teacher and the teacher was looking at the fish and looking at the kids. I like The Very Hungry Caterpillar because of Monday, Tuesday and all of that stuff when they flipped over and there kept being more and more food. The Caterpillar one is my very favorite. I liked the way Eric Carle did the end papers. One had dots and one had stripes facing up and one had stripes going sideways.

Daniel: I liked the Caterpillar one best because it had the folds in the paper. I liked it when the caterpillar was a baby and I liked the part where it was a butterfly. It was really pretty.

Brady K.: I liked Brown Bear best because I liked the stripes on the end. My favorite animal was the purple cat because he's purple!

Sophie: I liked Brown Bear best because the teacher was reading the book about animals to the kids. My favorite animal was the purple cat because of the purple. I like purple.

(Note: Neither Brady nor Sophie heard the other one's purple cat preference. Mack in PK also referred to the purple cat. Obviously, this is a very appealing illustration.)

PREKINDERGARTEN RESPONSES

Kaitlyn: I liked the Caterpillar because it was super hungry and he ate too much and he had a stomach ache. If I was a hungry caterpillar I'd eat the apple first.

Katherine: I liked the Polar Bear book because it has a polar bear and I liked the stripes. I liked the zebra.

Eva: I liked the Caterpillar best because it ate a leaf up and then had a tummy ache, that's why. I liked the part where the caterpillar ate up all the food. If I was a hungry caterpillar I'd eat a leaf first.

Emmett: I liked Brown Bear best because it had a goldfish and a yellow duck.

Mack: I liked Brown Bear best because it had the kitten. It was purple. I liked that one. And she was licking her elbow. Meow! Meow! Meow! I can do the sound of her. That made me laugh.

Emelyn: I liked the Caterpillar because it was silly when you said the moon was an egg!

Summer: I liked Brown Bear. My favorite animal was the blue horse and I liked the goldfish.

Acadia: I liked the Caterpillar because I got it at home and it's my favorite book. I like the colors of the circles. If I was a hungry caterpillar I'd eat the pickle.

See You in September

2009-07-18T08:35:00.000-04:00

This collaborative effort between me and my preschool students at The Hogarth Country Day School in Epping, New Hampshire will officially start in September. The children and I will post once-a-week book reviews throughout the school year. From time to time, I'll post reviews of my own.

See you in a few short weeks!

Books We Read (2009-2010 Academic Year)

2009-06-17T13:48:00.143-04:00

EK = Early Kindergarten PK = Prekindergarten CPG = Creative Play Group

Summer Program Books

It's the 12 Days of Summer at Hogarth! We've enjoyed reading:

Six-Dinner Sid by Inga Moore
The Quilt Story written by Tony Johnston and illustrated by Tomie dePaola
Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells
Vulture View written by April Pulley Sayre and illustrated by Steve Jenkins
Tanka Tanka Skunk! by Steve Webb
I've Got Music! written by by Cathy Molitoris and illustrated by Sarah McConnell
If You Were Born a Kitten written by Marion Dane Bauer and illustrated by JoEllen McAllister Stammen
Misery Moo by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
Off Go Their Engines. Off Go Their Lights. written by Janice Milusich and illustrated by David Gordon
What James Likes Best by Amy Schwartz
Make Way for Ducklings (1942 Caldecott Medal Book) by Robert McCloskey
I Love School! written by Philemon Sturges and illustrated by Shari Halpern

May Books:

All Year Long written by Kathleen W. Deady and illustrated by Linda Bronson (EK and PK)
It's Time! written by Kathleen W. Deady and illustrated by Jill Newton (EK and PK)
Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten written by Joseph Slate and illustrated by Ashley Wolff (EK)
The Runaway Bunny written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd (PK and CPG)
Red Light, Green Light written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Leonard Weisgard (CPG)
Silly Sally by Audrey Wood (EK)
Wag a Tail by Lois Ehlert (PK)
That Toad is Mine! written by Barbara Shook Hazen and illustrated by Jane Manning (EK and PK)
Andy and the Lion by James Daugherty (1939 Caldecott Honor Book) (EK)
Bright and Early Thursday Evening dreamed by Audrey Wood and imagined by Don Wood (PK)
Animals on the Move translated by J. Elizabeth Mills and illustrated by Pierre de Hugo (CPG)
1, 2, 3 to the Zoo by Eric Carle (CPG)
All the World (2010 Caldecott Honor Book) written by Liz Garton Scanlon and illustrated by Marla Frazee (EK and PK)
Sail Away Little Boat written by Janet Buell and illustrated by Jui Ishida (PK)
When Rain Falls written by Melissa Stewart and illustrated by Constance R. Bergum (EK)
Under the Snow written by Melissa Stewart and illustrated by Constance R. Bergum (EK)
Little Rabbits' First Number Book written by Kate Petty and illustrated by Alan Baker (PK)
Into the Forest by Anthony Browne (CPG)
Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney (CPG -- Alec's Sharing.)
I Love You written by Jean Marzollo and illustrated by Suse MacDonald (EK -- Brooke B.'s Sharing.)
Biscuit Goes to School written by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and illustrated by Pat Schories (EK -- Brooke B.'s Sharing.)
Everywhere Babies written by Susan Meyers and illustrated by Marla Frazee (PK -- Eva's Sharing.)
Friends by Helme Heine (EK and PK)
Pete's a Pizza by William Steig (PK)
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom written by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault and illustrated by Lois Ehlert (CPG)
Where Are You Going? To See My Friend! by Eric Carle and Kazuo Iwamura (CPG)

April Books:

Too Loud Lily written by Sofie Laguna and illustrated by Kerry Argent (CPG)
Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott (EK -- 1975 Caldecott Medal Winner)
Peter Cottontail written by Amanda Stephens and illustrated by Christopher Santoro (CPG)
This Land is Your Land written by Woody Guthrie and illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen (multiple EK readings)
Giant John by Arnold Lobel (PK)
Angus Lost by Marjorie Flack (EK)
Go to Sleep by Melvin and Gilda Berger (PK -- Acadia's Sharing.)
What Use is a Moose? written by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Arthur Robins (EK and PK)
Will You Take Care of Me? written by Margaret Park Bridges and illustrated by Melissa Sweet (PK)
Bugs written by Jinny Johnson and illustrated by Richard Coombes, Joanne Cowne, Adrian Lascom, Bernard Robinson, Colin Woolf, and Sharon McCausland (CPG)
When I'm Sleepy written by Jane R. Howard and illustrated by Lynne Cherry (CPG)
The Trucker written by Brenda Weatherby and illustrated by Mark Weatherby (EK)
Get Busy, Beaver! written by Carolyn Crimi and illustrated by Janie Bynum (EK, PK and CPG)
Beaver's Lodge by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert (EK, PK and CPG)
There's Always Room for One More by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert (EK)
This Land is Your Land written by Woody Guthrie and illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen (PK)
Ox-Cart Man written by Donald Hall and illustrated by Barbara Cooney (EK)
Alfred's Alphabet Walk by Victoria Chess (PK)
First Family written by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrated by AG Ford (EK)
Little Cloud by Robert Tallon (EK and CPG)
Pauline by Georg Hallensleben (CPG)

March Books:

Mama's Coming Home written by Kate Banks and illustrated by Tomeck Bogacki (EK and PK)
Fire Race, A Karuk Coyote Tale retold by Jonathan London and illustrated by Sylvia Long (EK, PK and CPG)
Sparky's Bone written by Claire Daniel and illustrated by Eldon Doty (CPG)
Valentine O'Byrne written by Declan Carville and illustrated by Brendan Ellis (EK - Brooke N.'s sharing)
Mrs. Toggle's Class Picture Day written by Robin Pulver and illustrated by R.W. Alley (EK and PK)
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle (PK)
Toy Story adapted by Kristen L. Depken and illustrated by Ben Butcher (EK -- Brady's sharing)
Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni (PK)
Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg (CPG)
Clever Tom and the Leprechaun retold and illustrated by Linda Shute (EK and PK)
It's Mine! by Leo Lionni (CPG)
The New Baby Calf written by Edith Newlin Chase and illustrated by Barbara Reid (CPG)
Perfect the Pig by Susan Jeschke (EK and PK)
Drip Drop written by Sharon Gordon and illustrated by Don Page (EK)
The Napping House written by Audrey Wood and illustrated by Don Wood (PK)
Hi, Harry! written by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Barbara Firth (EK and PK)
Hop! Plop! written by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Tali Klein and illustrated by Olivier Dunrea (CPG)
The Happy Day written by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Marc Simont (PK)
Sail Away Little Boat written by Janet Buell and illustrated by Jui Ishida (EK, PK and CPG)
Peter Cottontail written by Amanda Stephens and illustrated by Christopher Santoro (EK and PK)
Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes (EK -- 2005 Caldecott Medal Winner)
The Bumblebee Queen written by April Pulley Sayre and illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne (PK)

February Books:

alphabet mystery written by Audrey Wood and illustrated by Bruce Wood (EK)
The Hello, Goodbye Window (2006 Caldecott Medal Winner) written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Chris Raschka (PK)
Go to Sleep, Groundhog! written by Judy Cox and illustrated by Paul Meisel (EK)
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina (EK)
The Way I Feel by Janan Cain (PK -- Acadia's Sharing)
The Dance Recital by MaryAnn Cocca-Leffler (PK -- Summer's Sharing)
The Emperor's Egg written by Martin Jenkins and illustrated by Jane Chapman (EK and PK)
The Valentine Bears written by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Jan Brett (EK)
Toy Boat written by Randall de Seve and illustrated by Loren Long (CPG)
Flying High written by Nick Eliopulos and illustrated by Loston Wallace and Davide Tanguay (CPG - Maeve's Sharing)
Five Little Penguins Slipping on the Ice written by Steve Metzger and illustrated by Laura Bryant (EK)
Cool Cat, Hot Dog by Sandy Turner (PK and CPG)
Will You Be My Valentine? written by Steven Kroll and illustrated by Lillian Hoban (EK and PK)
Mouse's First Valentine written by Lauren Thompson and illustrated by Buket Erdogan (PK and CPG)
McDuff's Wild Romp written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers (EK)
Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang (PK)
Abraham Lincoln written by Amy L. Cohn and Suzy Schmidt and illustrated by David A. Johnson (EK)
Yankee Doodle illustrated by Patti Goodnow (EK and PK)
Stanley Goes Fishing by Craig Fraizer (PK)
Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack (CPG)

January Books:

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening written by Robert Frost and illustrated by Susan Jeffers (EK)
The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett (EK and PK)
Millions of Snowflakes written by Mary McKenna Siddals and illustrated by Elizabeth Sayles (EK, PK and CPG)
A Winter Day by Douglas Florian (EK, PK and CPG)
Shoveling Snow by Pat Cummings (PK)
Bear Snores On written by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Jane Chapman (EK, PK and CPG)
A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. written by David A. Adler and illustrated by Robert Casilla (EK)
Stella Queen of the Snow by Marie-Louise Gay (PK)
Sea Squares written by Joy N. Hulme and illustrated by Carol Schwartz (EK)
Snow on Snow on Snow written by Cheryl Chapman and illustrated by Synthia Saint James (PK)
A Pair of Socks written by Stuart J. Murphy and illustrated by Lois Ehlert (EK)
Alphabeep: A Zipping, Zooming ABC written by Debora Pearson and illustrated by Edward Miller (PK)
The Emperor's Egg written by Martin Jenkins and illustrated by Jane Chapman (CPG)
The Jacket I Wear in the Snow written by Shirley Neitzel and illustrated by Nancy Winslow Parker (CPG)
Alligators All Around: An Alphabet by Maurice Sendak (EK)
Goodnight, Irene by Andrea Murphy (EK, PK and CPG)
alphabet mystery written by Audrey Wood and illustrated by Bruce Wood (PK)
Blueberries for Sal (1949 Caldecott Honor Book) by Robert McCloskey (PK)
Trashy Town written by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino (CPG)

December Books:

Hello, School Bus! written by Marjorie Blain Parker and illustrated by Bob Kolar (EK -- Dev's Sharing)
The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition written by Carol V. Aebersold and Chanda A. Bell and illustrated by Coe Steinwart (EK -- Arthur's Sharing)
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? written by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle (EK -- Allison's Sharing)
The Night Before Christmas written by Clement C. Moore and illustrated by various artists (EK -- Hayden's Sharing. This book will be featured later this month in my December curriculum, so rather than read it today, we spent time looking at the illustrations.)
The Sweet Smell of Christmas written by Patricia Scarry and illustrated by J.P. Miller (PK -- Mikayla's Sharing)
That's Not My Fairy written by Fiona Watt and illustrated by Rachel Wells (PK -- Camryn's Sharing, which Camryn read to her pals all by herself!)
Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman (PK -- Katherine's Sharing, which Katherine read to her pals all by herself!)
That's Not Santa! by Leonard Kessler (EK, PK and CPG))
King Bidgood's in the Bathtub written by Audrey Wood and illustrated by Don Wood (1986 Caldecott Honor Book) (EK)
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear written by Don and Audrey Wood and illustrated by Don Wood (EK, PK and CPG)
Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear! written by Don and Audrey Wood and illustrated by Don Wood (EK, PK and CPG)
Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Christmas written by Joy Cowley and illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller (EK and PK)
Get Dressed, Santa! by New Hampshire's own Tomie DePaola (CPG)
The Biggest, Best Snowman written by Margery Cuyler and illustrated by Will Hillenbrand (EK and PK)
One Snowy Night written by M. Christina Butler and illustrated by Tina Macnaughton (EK)
Snowbear's Christmas Countdown by Theresa Smythe (PK)
Rabbit's Gift written by George Shannon and illustrated by Laura Dronzek (EK)
The Night Before Christmas written by Clement C. Moore and illustrated by Corinne Malvern (EK and PK)
The Nutcracker illustrated by Jerry Smath (EK, PK and CPG)
The Bear Santa Claus Forgot written by Diana Kimpton and illustrated by Anna Kiernan (CPG)
Careful, Santa! written by Julie Sykes and illustrated by Tim Warnes (PK)
The Night Before Christmas written by Clement C. Moore and illustrated by Jan Brett (EK)
The Night Before Christmas written by Clement C. Moore and illustrated by Cheryl Harness (EK)

November Books:

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems (2004 Caldecott Honor Book) (PK, EK and CPG)
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy by Mo Willems (EK, PK and CPG -- John's Sharing.)
In the Rain Forest by Maurice Pledger (EK -- Sophie's Sharing.)
My First Book of Sign Language by Joan Holub (EK -- Brady K.'s Sharing.)
Big Fire Engine written by Kay Barnes and illustrated by Andrew Everitt-Stewart (EK -- Dev's Sharing.)
I am Batman written by Catherine Hapka and illustrated by Adrian Barrios and Kanila Tripp (EK and PK -- Arthur's Sharing.)
10 Minutes Till Bedtime by Peggy Rathmann (PK -- Katherine's Sharing.)
Duck Soup by Jackie Urbanovic (PK -- A gift from Brady L. Thank you, Brady!)
Vulture View written by April Pulley Sayre and illustrated by Steve Jenkins (EK)
Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems (PK - loaned by Katherine. Thank you, Katherine!)
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems (2005 Caldecott Honor Book) (PK - loaned by Katherine. Thank you, Katherine!)
Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems (2008 Caldecott Honor Book) (PK - loaned by Katherine. Thank you, Katherine!)
The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog by Mo Willems (EK, PK and CPG - loaned by Arthur and John. Thank you, Arthur and John!)
Thanksgiving Is For Giving Thanks written by Margaret Sutherland and illustrated by Sonja Lamut (CPG)
This is the Turkey written by Abby Levine and illustrated by Paige Billin-Frye (EK and PK)
Harry the Dirty Dog written by Gene Zion and illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham (EK)
Over the River: A Turkey's Tale written by Lydia Maria Child and illustrated by Derek Anderson. (PK)
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims written by B.G. Hennessy and illustrated by Lynne Cravath (PK)
Feeling Thankful written by Shelley Rotner and Sheila Kelly, Ed.D. and illustrated by Shelley Rotner (EK, PK and CPG)
Thanksgiving Day by Gail Gibbons (EK, PK and CPG)
Squanto written by Sonia W. Black and illustrated by Bob Doucet (EK)
Run, Turkey, Run! written by Diane Mayr and illustrated by Laura Rader (EK and PK)
The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear written by Don and Audrey Wood and illustrated by Don Wood (EK)
Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear! written by Don and Audrey Wood and illustrated by Don Wood (EK)
That's Not Santa! by Leonard Kessler (PK)

October Books:

Circle Dogs written by Kevin Henkes and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino (CPG)
Green Eyes by A. Birnbaum (1954 Caldecott Honor Book) (PK and CPG)
I am Fire written by Jean Marzollo and illustrated by Judith Moffat (EK and PK)
The Story of Ferdinand written by Munro Leaf and illustrated by Robert Lawson (EK)
What's Polite? written by Harriet Ziefert and illustrated by Richard Brown (EK -- Annalee's Sharing)
Firefighters written by Norma Simon and illustrated by Pam Paparone (EK, PK, and CPG)
Clifford's Tricks by Norman Bridwell (PK and CPG)
Tinker Bell: A Fairy Tale by Apple Jordan (PK -- Summer's Sharing)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (CPG on Read for the Record day.)
Little House, Little Town by Scott Beck (CPG)
Old Bear by Kevin Henkes (EK, PK and CPG)
Dinofours: It's Fire Drill Day written by Steve Metzger and illustrated by Hans Wilhelm (EK)
The Littlest Pumpkin written by R.A. Herman and illustrated by Betina Ogden (EK)
Littlebat's Halloween Story written by Diane Mayr and illustrated by Gideon Kendall (EK and PK)
My First Halloween by Tomie dePaola (EK and PK)
Monster Parade written by Shana Corey and illustrated by Will Terry (EK, PK and CPG)
Five Little Pumpkins adapted and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino (PK and CPG)
The Teeny Tiny Ghost written by Kay Winters and illustrated by Lynn Munsinger (CPG)
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything written by Linda Williams and illustrated by Megan Lloyd (EK, PK and CPG)
Inside a House That Is Haunted written by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and illustrated by Tedd Arnold (EK, PK and CPG)

September Books:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle (EK, PK and CPG)
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle (EK, PK and CPG)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (EK, PK and CPG)
The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle (EK and PK)
Today is Monday by Eric Carle (EK)
Where Are You Going? To See My Friend! by Eric Carle and Kazuo Iwamura (PK)
"Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth by Eric Carle (CPG)
My Apron by Eric Carle (CPG)
My Big Dog by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel (EK and PK)
Hondo and Fabian by Peter McCarty (2003 Caldecott Honor Book) (EK and PK)
We Love Fall! by Diane Muldrow and Jill Dubin (EK and PK)
Green Eyes by A. Birnbaum (1954 Caldecott Honor Book) (EK)
Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag (1929 Newbery Honor Book. The Caldecotts had not yet been established. This book has never been out of print, making it America's longest continuously-published picture book.) (EK)
The Story of Ferdinand written by Munro Leaf and illustrated by Robert Lawson (EK)
Circle Dogs written by Kevin Henkes and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino (EK)
The Stray Dog by Marc Simont (2002 Caldecott Honor Book) (EK and CPG)
Flying Tortoise: An Igbo Tale by Tololwa M. Mollel and Barbara Spurll (CPG)
Kittens First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes (2005 Caldecott Medal Winner) (CPG)
Clever Tortoise by Francesca Martin (EK and PK)
Growl Bear written and illustrated by Margot Austin (EK and PK)