February 2015 – Booktalking #kidlit

Searching the Sky

Booktalk: Follow clues and use the scientific method to find out what happens when a meteor comes close to earth.

Snippet:
“Look!” Tomiko shouted, pointing at the ground where Samantha had stumbled. “That rock wasn’t there earlier.”
Samantha looked at her friend. “Do you think … ?
“It could be a meteorite!” Tomiko jumped up and down at the possibility.

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

Come With Me To Paris

Come With Me To Paris
by Gloria Fowler (Author) AND Min Heo (Illustrator)

Booktalk: A rhyming look at the city of Paris!

Snippet:
Paris is a beautiful city in France;
Please come visit,
should you have the chance.

The French call it Paree,
and there is so much to see;

Come with me and you’ll agree,
it’s a great place to be!

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by My Juicy Little Universe.

Out the Window (board book)

Out the Window
by Cybèle Young (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: It’s frustrating when you accidentally throw your ball out the window, especially if you are just too small to see where it has gone. But ingenuity saves the day in this cleverly constructed (almost wordless) board book, and flipping the book over reveals a wonderful surprise–an amazing and inventive parade!

Snippet:

See the book trailer.

Rory’s Promise

Rory’s Promise
by Michaela MacColl and Rosemary Nichols (Authors)

Booktalk: Twelve-year-old Rory and her little sister, Violet are, at least, living together in the Catholic Foundling Hospital in New York City. But in 1904 the hospital begins to send orphans to the Arizona Territory to be adopted by devout Catholic families. Too old to be adopted, Rory is desperate to find a way to accompany Violet. With no other recourse, she stows away on the “orphan” train determined to make sure the family who adopts Violet is a good one. But Rory soon discovers that the families the Sisters have chosen for the white orphans are actually Mexican immigrant families, which deeply offends the local Anglo community. The trouble that ensues is much more complicated and dangerous than anything the resourceful Rory had bargained for.

Snippet: Suddenly, Mrs. Gatti pushed past them to grab ahold of Violet. Before Rory could stop here, she had snatched Violet away.

“Rory! Violet cried. “Help me!”

I’ve got you!” Mrs. Gatti cried, “First come, first served!”

“Give her back! Rory yelled, putting up her fists. A man’s hand closed over her shoulder, his fingers digging into her skin.

A Penguin Named Patience: A Hurricane Katrina Rescue Story

A Penguin Named Patience: A Hurricane Katrina Rescue Story
by Suzanne Lewis (Author) and Lisa Anchin (Illustrator)

Booktalk: At roughly 6 pounds and approximately 20 inches tall, Patience, the South African penguin, is small, but at 24 years old she is also the “penguin in charge” of the penguin exhibit at New Orleans’s Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the city and severely damaged the aquarium.

Snippet:
Patience knew something was terribly wrong.

It was dark and steamy hot inside her home at the Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans. Being an African penguin meant she was used to a warm climate, but not this warm!

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Starting From Scratch: What You Should Know about Food and Cooking

Starting From Scratch: What You Should Know about Food and Cooking
by Sarah Elton (Author) and Jeff Kulak (Illustrator)

Booktalk: This book is NOT a cookbook, it’s a book about the science of food–how it works, why it works, and what you need to know to make the kitchen your playground.

Snippet:
There are all sorts of incredible things that happen to food when we prepare it. We use chemical reactions to transition ingredients from one state to another, such a turning cream into ice cream. We even use little critters like bacteria and yeast to transform what nature has given us into the stuff we put into our mouths.

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

Those Magnificent Sheep in Their Flying Machines

Those Magnificent Sheep in Their Flying Machines
by Peter Bently (Author) and David Roberts (Illustrator)

Booktalk: The sheep on the hillside were munching away, much as they always did, day after day, when suddenly something went ZOOM overhead! “Let’s go and see what it is!” they all said. And so begins a ripping, round-the-world adventure as the magnificent sheep take to skies in their spiffing, yellow flying machine…

Snippet:
A bright yellow aeroplane stood nearby.
“How spiffing,” said Eunice, “to fly in the sky!

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by TeacherDance.

Red: A Crayon’s Story

Red: A Crayon’s Story
by Michael Hall (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: A blue crayon mistakenly labeled as “red” suffers an identity crisis…

Snippet:
He was red

TURN THE PAGE

But he wasn’t
very good at it.

Princess Pistachio

Princess Pistachio
by Marie-Louise Gay (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Pistachio has always known she was a princess. When a mysterious gift turns up on her birthday, she’s sure it’s only a matter of time before her real parents, the king and queen of Papua, arrive to take her away. But in the meantime, she still has to eat her spinach and get up for school. Her school friends still laugh when she wears her new gold crown to class. And her annoying baby sister still makes endless trouble. What’s a princess to do?

Snippet: “Princess?” Gabriel sniggers. “Even an ugly old toad would want nothing to do with you!”

“To die for a mustachioed pistachi-toad! Ugh!” Jacob cries out.

They run away laughing like monkeys.

“Brutes! Peasants!” Pistachio screams. “I’ll feed you to the lions!”

Love Is Real

Love Is Real
by Janet Lawler (Author) and Anna Brown (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Families of foxes, bunnies, and bears teach each other about the power of love…

Snippet:
Love is in the little things
that fill my heart until it sings.

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Merely Day by Day.