May 2012 – Booktalking #kidlit

Big Bad Sheep

Big Bad Sheep
by Bettina Wegenast (Author) and Katharina Buhoff (Illustrator)
64 pages

Booktalk: The big bad wolf is dead! But no sooner do the three little pigs start celebrating than the sheep Karl decides to apply to be the wolf’s replacement. He’s barely slipped on the wolf’s skin when he starts to change before the very eyes of his friends, becoming perhaps a bit more wolf than anyone expected.

Snippet: The dwarf turned to Karl again. “So why should we appoint you to the post of Wolf?”

“Because…” Karl looked at the ground.

“Well?” the dwarf drummed impatiently on his desk.

Karl took a deep breath. “Because…because I want it. Because I’m the best. Because I’m not one of those bell-wearing types.”

Big City Otto

Big City Otto (Elephants Never Forget)
by Bill Slavin (Author, Illustrator)
80 pages

Booktalk: Otto is a lumbering, sweet-natured elephant who can’t forget his childhood chum Georgie, a smiley-faced chimpanzee who was abducted and shipped away from their forest home by the mysterious and sinister Man with the Wooden Nose. Accompanied by a wisecracking but protective parrot named Crackers, Otto decides to hop a plane and look for Georgie in America. But once they hit the wild streets of the concrete jungle, Otto and Crackers court trouble at every turn…

Snippet:
CRACKERS: They were good times, Otto, but Georgie’s gone! You’ve gotta get used to it.

OTTO: But I miss him Crackers! We were pals! And that day haunts me. I just feel I could have done more.

Bug and Bear: A Story of True Friendship

Bug and Bear: A Story of True Friendship
by Ann Bonwill (Author) and Layn Marlow (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Bug wants to play, but Bear wants to nap.

Snippet:
Bug was being annoying.
He zipped and zapped aound Bear’s head.
“Will you play with me, Bear?” he buzzed, “Please, please, pleazzze?”
Bear didn’t want play. She wanted to nap.

Ellen’s Broom

Ellen’s Broom
by Kelly Starling Lyons (Author) and Daniel Minter (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Ellen always knew the broom resting above the hearth was special. Before it was legal for her mother and father to officially be married, the broom was what made them a family anyway. But now all former slaves who had already been married in their hearts could register as lawful husband and wife.

Snippet: Sunday morning, Ellen sat on the front pew with her family. She wiggled on the wooden seat, trying to get comfortable.

**Kelly is one of my former students!**

Hockey (Record Breakers)

Hockey (Record Breakers)
by Blaine Wiseman (Author)

Booktalk: Whether it is a huge play to win the Stanley Cup or a big trade, hockey is full of exciting moments. Learn about the greatest achievements of hockey’s biggest stars.

Snippet:
Shut the Door
A shutout is very important in hockey. It happens when the goalie stops every shot in a single game. During a game, if the opposing team has not scored, it is considered bad luck for a player to say “shutout.”

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Little Quack Counts

Little Quack Counts
by Lauren Thompson (Author) and Derek Anderson (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Two little ducks count to five.

Snippet:
Little Quack and Widdle
see 1 butterfly.

Little Bea

Little Bea
by Daniel Roode (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Little Bea is a busy, busy bee. When the sun wakes up, so does she.

Snippet:
Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz!
Little Bea scoots from her flower and takes off.
Flutter. Flutter. Flutter. Hello, Butterfly!
Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz.
Little Bea buzzes as she flies by.

Aliens on Vacation

Aliens on Vacation (The Intergalactic Bed & Breakfast)
by Clete Smith (Author) and Christian Slade (Illustrator)
272 pages

Booktalk: Scrub isn’t happy about having to spend the summer with his hippie grandmother in “Middle of Nowehere,” Washington. When he arrives at her Intergalactic Bed & Breakfast, he’s not surprised by its 1960s-meets-Star Wars decor; but he is surprised by the weird looking guests. It turns out that each room in the inn is a portal and his grandma is the gatekeeper, allowing aliens to vacation on Earth. She desperately needs Scrub’s help with disguising the tourists as humans. As if that weren’t difficult enough, the town sheriff is already suspicious of Granny. One wrong move and Scrub could blow Grandma’s cover, forcing the B&B to shut down forever. And when it comes to aliens, every move seems wrong . . .

Snippet: A sheriff’s car cruised down the street, and the driver stared at me as he passed. A wide-brimmed hat cast a shadow over his round face, partially obscuring his frown and bushy mustache. A toothpick jutted out of the side of his mouth. His gaze stayed fixed on me as he drove by.

Wetland Animals

Wetland Animals (Saving Wildlife)
by Sonya Newland (Author)

Booktalk: Wetland Animals investigates how people are working to save one of our most important ecosystems, and the millions of animals that rely on the world’s wetlands for survival.

Snippet: Over the last 100 years, more than half of all the wetlands in the world have disappeared as humans have taken the land and the water to meet their own needs.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Friday Reads

Picture Book of the Day

Sir Cumference and the Viking’s Map
by Cindy Neuschwander (Author) and Wayne Geehan (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Xaxon Yellowbearyd was the fiercest Viking warrior of his time. Now a map to his hidden treasure lies in Radius’s and Per’s hands. Together the cousins must decode the strange numbered grid on the map-and figure out the secret of the Viking’s X and Y axes. As bungling bandits pursue them, Radius and Per use coordinate geometry in their quest for “treasure of the greatest measure.”

Snippet: “We’re well and truly lost,” Per said to her cousin, Radius. “How I wish we had a map.”
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STEM Friday

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

Come share your link!

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Chapter Book of the Day

Self-Portrait With Seven Fingers
by J. Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen (Authors) and Marc Chagall (Illustrator)
40 pages

Booktalk: A biography in free verse, penned by J. Patrick Lewis, the 2011 Children’s Poet Laureate, and Jane Yolen, “the Hans Christian Andersen of America,” with paintings by Marc Chagall on every spread, this collection of fourteen poems is aptly named, as to do something “with seven fingers” is a Yiddish expression meaning to do something well or adroitly. Notes for each painting explain the vocabulary as well as Chagall’s art and personal history.

Snippet:
Paris Through the Window (J. Patrick Lewis)
My window opens to you, Paris!
Inhabit my brushes, dine on my canvas.
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Poetry Friday