Esmé Raji Codell's Blog, page 10

ME AND ROLLY MALOO (FICTION) and 10 PICTURE BOOKS I WOULD NOT WANT TO TEACH WITHOUT

My list of 10 Picture Books I Couldn't Teach Without is posted atHit the Ground Running:  The Educating Esme Blog!
Cathy Mere, author of MORE THAN GUIDED READING and blogger at  Reflect and Refine:  Building a Learning Community, in cooperation with Mandy at Enjoy and Embrace Learning,  invited/challenged members of the Kidlitosphere blogging community to come up with ten picture books they couldn't teach without.  Please visit my other blog especially for educators to see which titles I...

DOGS DON'T DO BALLET (PICTURE BOOK)

PICTURE BOOOK
DOGS DON'T DO BALLET by Anna Kemp, illustrated by Sara Ogilve (Simon and Schuster)

For my birthday I get tickets to the Royal Ballet.  "Can Biff come, too?"  I ask Dad.  "He loves ballet..." 
"No," says Dad.  "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times: Dogs don't do ballet!"

Miss Polly, the ballet teacher, concurs with Dad. This does not stop the little bulldog from twisting his neck upward to longingly admire a tutu hanging on a doorknob, or peering over a windowsill...

ORANGUTANS ARE TICKLISH (NONFICTION)

NON-FICTION ORANGUTANS ARE TICKLISH: FUN FACTS FROM AN ANIMAL PHOTOGRAPHER by Steve Grubman, with Jill Davis (Schwartz & Wade, 2010)The cheerful little organgutan, hands on his knees, postured like an old vaudevillian foreshadows the fun inside this book. All sorts of familiar wild animals get double-page spreads, each with a great photo and unusual facts. Did you know giraffes whistle, moo hiss and roar (and sometimes kiss), kangaroos can't hop backwards, and like snowflakes, no two zebra ...

THE STRANGE CASE OF ORIGAMI YODA and GREAT SUMMER READS (FICTION)

For children, so much of the school year is clogged with assigned reading, it's a treat as delicious as an orange push-up to get to choose books that reflect personal tastes without judgment or tests and that can be read at any pace, books that are relaxing and friendly and plain old fun, books that make us laugh or carry us away! I had such a wonderful time recently on NPR's On Point with Tom Ashbrook show, discussing some of the best summer reading (click to listen!) with experts Pete...

MISS BROOKS LOVES BOOKS (AND I DON'T) (PICTURE BOOK)

PICTURE BOOK
MISS BROOKS LOVES BOOKS (AND I DON'T)  by Barbara Bottner, illustrated by Michael Emberley (Knopf, 2010)

 Miss Brooks tells us about something truly terrifying:  Book Week!
"You each need to pick a favorite story to share with the class.  I want you to wear a costume and tell us about it.  Really show us why you love it!"
"I'll never love a book the way you do," I tell Miss Brooks.
"Don't be so sure," she says.

Fairies?  No.  Dogs?  No.  Cowboys?  No.  This reluctant reader is...

FARM and A DAY IN THE COUNTRY

It's beautiful summertime, what could be better than a day in the country? Here's a book that will take you there.
FARM by Elisha Cooper (Orchard, 2010)I don't know why, why, why BEACH didn't win one of the most major awards the year it came out in 2006, I suppose I just have to file that one under "s" for "shrug" or "w" for "what the heck more could they want?" or possibly "what-evah," but luckily the voice of this quick-sketching artist has not been quieted.   In these latest pages is a...

THE NIGHT FAIRY (FICTION)

FICTION
THE NIGHT FAIRY by Laura Amy Schlitz, illustrated by Angela Barrett (Candlewick, 2010)

On the night of Flory's peril, she was less than three months old.  It was a windy night: cool and sweet with springtime.  Flory was coasting on the breeze, letting it toss her wherever it liked.  She was still very tiny--as tall as an acorn--and her green wings glittered in the moonlight.  A little brown bat swooped down upon her, caught her, and crunched up her wings.
Flory cried out...If she had...

BIG RED LOLLIPOP (PICTURE BOOK)

PICTURE BOOK
BIG RED LOLLIPOP by Rukhsana Khan, illustrated by Sophie Blackall (Viking)
When I was teaching at a Chicago Public School, a wonderful, seasoned kindergarten teacher described a debacle:  a new student, from China, who barely spoke English, had been excluded from receiving an invitation to a birthday party that other girls had attended.  The new girl did not know what an American birthday party comprised, having never been to one, and if she wasn't invited, how could she learn?&nbsp...

MY GARDEN (PICTURE BOOK)

PICTURE BOOK
MY GARDEN by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow, 2010)
What if you had a garden in which the flowers could change color and pattern with the variety of a turning kaleidoscope, just by thinking about it?  What if the rabbits were made of chocolate?  What if you planted a seashell, and seashells grew...or jellybeans, or buttons, or umbrellas?  What if the strawberries glowed like lanterns?  In the tradition of Ruth Krauss' THE CARROT SEED and the lesser-known LOLLIPOP TREE by Cherney Berg...

MIRROR, MIRROR (POETRY)

POETRY MIRROR, MIRROR:  A BOOK OF REVERSIBLE VERSE by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Josée Masse (Dutton, 2010)


It may be sucha fairy-tale secret,this much I know:The road leadswhereveryou need to go.
***
You need to gowhereverthe road leads---I knowthis much.A fairy tale secret?It may be such.
According to our inventive author, a reverso is a poem that can be read from top to bottom or bottom to top, the only changes allowed in punctuation and capitalization.  They can be about any topic, but...