(Gasp) Someone writed in it!

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!

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

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.

CPG Children Share Their Thoughts

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.