Anastasia Suen - Developmental Editor

Lilliput
by Sam Gayton (Author) and Alice Ratterree (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Have you heard of the tale that’s short and tall? There’s an island in the world where everything is small! She is a girl three inches tall with eyes like drops of dew. Her clothes are cut from handkerchiefs and stitched with spider silk. For half her life, she has been trapped in a birdcage while her giant kidnapper sits beside her, writing in a leather-bound book the size of a house. Her name is Lily, and tonight she is escaping. She is going home. To Lilliput.

Inspired by Gulliver’s Travels, Lilliput is an exhilarating adventure filled with cunning escape plans, evil clock makers, and talkative parrots. Join Lily as she travels through 18th century London over rooftops, down chimneys, and into chocolate shops on a journey to find the one place in the world where she belongs…home.

Snippet: Lily tucked the atlas into one of the saddle pockets and hurried forward, past a teetering stack of old clocks. Somewhere at the other end of the counter, Swift called out for help.

“Skee! Skee! Skee!”

“Hold on!” she called out, trying to calm him. “I’m almost there! Just a little longer . . .”

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Traits: Sentence Fluency In this escape story, the sentences are detailed and action-packed. The main character is on the move and the sentences reflect that.

In the first sentence, the main character does two very different things.

Lily tucked the atlas into one of the saddle pockets

That’s the first action, but the writer adds more:

and hurried forward, past a teetering stack of old clocks.

The forward motion in this escape story continues in the next sentence:

Somewhere at the other end of the counter, Swift called out for help.

Now Lily has yet another reason to keep running.

“Hold on!” she called out, trying to calm him. “I’m almost there!

And we keep running too. We turn the page to find out what happens next!

Family Money
By William Whitehead (Author) and Mark Beech (Illustrator)

Booktalk: How does a family get and spend its money? Just time for the back-to-school spending, this book looks at many of the expenses families have and how money is spent on utilities, services, health, food, transportation, and more. The concepts of budgeting, borrowing, spending, fiscal responsibility, and financial literacy are discussed in an easy to understand, accessible manner.

Snippet:

Money Talk
How many times have you heard your dad or mom say there’s just not enough money to do this or that? They just can’t afford it! The subject of money and how it’s spent is always around because it’s money that buys everything a family needs. And this matters to you in a lot of ways.

Why do families talk about money so much?
Very simply–it’s money that decides the comfort and the way in which you live. Money gets talked about a lot because whether there’s enough or not enough, everyone in the family seems to need some.

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Trait: Organization This short excerpt from the first page of the book has a chapter title and a subhead (both shown here in bold). These nonfiction text features help organize the ideas in a book.

The chapter title shows readers an overview of the topics that will be discussed.

Money Talk

Under the chapter title, the topic is introduced:

How many times have you heard your dad or mom say there’s just not enough money to do this or that? They just can’t afford it! The subject of money and how it’s spent is always around because it’s money that buys everything a family needs. And this matters to you in a lot of ways.

The rest of the chapter will add more details. These details are divided into smaller sections. Each small section of text will also have a title, called a subhead.

Why do families talk about money so much?

This subhead asks a question. The text below the subhead answers the question, giving the book a “question and answer” organizational pattern.

Very simply–it’s money that decides the comfort and the way in which you live. Money gets talked about a lot because whether there’s enough or not enough, everyone in the family seems to need some.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!