September 2014 – Page 2 – Booktalking #kidlit

Rabbi Benjamin’s Buttons

Rabbi Benjamin’s Buttons
by Alice B. McGinty (Author) and Jennifer Black Reinhardt (Illustrator)

Booktalk: The families of the congregation make Rabbi Benjamin a special holiday vest, complete with four shiny silver buttons. Throughout the year—Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Chanukah, and Passover—the rabbi celebrates with his congregation, unable to resist their delicious home-cooked food. But with each holiday his vest grows tight, tighter, until . . . POP! (Recipes included in the back of the book!)

Snippet: During Sukkot, the fall festival of the harvest, Rabbi Benjamin visited a different family’s sukkah each night. Sitting in on their sukkot under starry skies, they sang songs of thanksgiving and ate meals of squash, stuffed cabbage, and sweet potato pie. The rabbi ate and sang until the holiday vest stretched very tightly across his belly.

Bugged: How Insects Changed History

Bugged: How Insects Changed History
by Sarah Albee (Author) and Robert Leighton (Illustrator)

Booktalk: For as long as humans have been on earth, we’ve co-existed with insects . . . for better or for worse. Once you begin to look at world history through fly-specked glasses, you begin to see the mark of these minute life forms at every turn. Beneficial bugs have built empires. Bad bugs have toppled them.

Snippet: When Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes first encountered the Aztecs of Mexico in 1518 he was amazed by the brilliance of the red robes worn by the Aztec leader, Montezuma II, and his high-ranking officials. The color was brighter and richer than any red seen in Europe…Cortes was doubly astonished when he learned that the Aztecs’ brilliant red was made from squashed bug bodies.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Our Solar System

Our Solar System
by Seymour Simon (Author)

Booktalk: Visit the eight planets and their moons, as well as asteroids and comets in this new, updated edition!

Snippet: Our Solar System was born among the billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. About 4.6 billion years ago, a huge cloud of dust and hydrogen gas floating at the edges of the galaxy began to pull together to form a disk.

See inside the book!

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

Dear Wandering Wildebeest: And Other Poems from the Water Hole

Dear Wandering Wildebeest: And Other Poems from the Water Hole
by Irene Latham (Author) and Anna Wadham (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Spend a day at a water hole on the African grasslands in this poetry collection with facts about the animals and their environment accompanying each poem.

Snippet:
Dear Wandering Wildebeest

Wander with me,
meander with me.

Come, be my companion
in this wildebeest sea.

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

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up will be hosted by No Water River.

The Prince of Venice Beach

The Prince of Venice Beach
by Blake Nelson (Author)

Booktalk: Robert “‘Cali” Callahan is a teen runaway, living on the streets of Venice Beach, California. He’s got a pretty sweet life: a treehouse to sleep in, a gang of surf bros, a regular basketball game…even a girl who’s maybe-sorta interested in him.

What he doesn’t have is a plan.

All that changes when a local cop refers Cali to a private investigator who is looking for a missing teenager. After all, Cali knows everyone in Venice. But the streets are filled with people who don’t want to be found…

Snippet: I was only half listening. I spun the wheel of my skateboard with my fingers. It was late afternoon now, and hot. I was in the mood for a nap. Or maybe a slice of pizza. I lifted my head up to see who was working at the Pizza Slice…and that’s when I saw the kid.

Stanley the Builder

Stanley the Builder
by William Bee (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Stanley is building Myrtle a new house. Will he make it just right?

Snippet: First Stanley clears the site with his orange bulldozer.

With Books and Bricks: How Booker T. Washington Built a School

With Books and Bricks: How Booker T. Washington Built a School
by Suzanne Slade (Author) and Nicole Tadgell (Illustrator)

Booktalk: When Booker T. Washington arrived in Tuskegee, Alabama to teach, he found many eager students but no school. So, Booker and his students decided to build their own school–brick by brick.

Snippet: Booker searched the town until he found a old shed he could use. The building had no windows or doors and huge holes in the roof, but it was all he had.

Soon the whole town of Tuskegee was talking about Booker’s school. Dozens of students lined up on the first day. They squished and squeezed inside the tiny shed. Each week the school became more crowded.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Firefighter’s Tools

Firefighter’s Tools
by Anders Hanson (Author)

Booktalk: Find out more about the tools used by firefighters. Young readers will see how a fire engine, fire hose, rescue tools and turnout gear works.

Snippet:
Turnout gear protects firefighters from heat.

Turnout gear is protective clothing. It is able to withstand 500-degree heat for five minutes or more.

Turnout gear includes a helmet, coat, gloves, pants, suspenders, and boots.

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

A Pond Full of Ink

A Pond Full of Ink
by Annie M. G. Schmidt (Author) and Sieb Posthuma (Illustrator)

Booktalk: A poetry collection with an inventive look at the world from the well-known Dutch author, Annie Schmidt. Translated by David Colmer

Snippet:
The Furniture

“Would you like to come out walking,” said the table to the chair.
“I’ve been standing here forever, and would like to take some air.”
“Now that you mention it, I’d love to come, the chair at once replied.
“Why, we both have legs beneath us that we’ve never even tried.”

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up will be hosted by Author Amok.

Abuelo

Abuelo
by Arthur Dorros (Author) and Raul Colon (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Together, a young boy and his abuelo (grandfather) go camping, ride horses, and even confront a mountain lion. Soon, the boy’s family moves to the city from the country, away from Abuelo…

Snippet:
But one day, my family told me
we were moving to the city.
“No te preocupes,” don’t worry,
Abuelo told me, we could visit.