Literacy – Page 5 – Booktalking #kidlit

Unexpected…

Picture Book of the Day

by Maya Soetoro-Ng (Author) and Yuyi Morales (Illustrator)

Booktalk: A little girl climbs a golden ladder to visit her late Gramdmother on the moon…

Snippet:

One cool new evening,

Suhaila asked her mama,

“What was Grandma Annie like?”

She was like the moon,” her mother replied.

“Full, soft, and curious.

Your grandma would wrap her arms

around the whole world if she could.”

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Chapter Book of the Day

The Vampire Dare! (Daphne’s Diary of Daily Disasters)

by Marissa Moss (Author, Illustrator)

80 pages

Booktalk: Daphne decides it’s kinda cool to be bitten by a vampire because you’ll live forever—and if you can’t die, you can’t get old and wrinkly. So when the teachers announce a costume day, Daphne wants to be the best vampire ever!

Snippet: There are three really hot things in my school these dys–Lamar Graham, the cutest boy in fourth grade, the horseradish the cafeteria serves with the hot dogs, and vampires. Any kind of vampire, but teenage or kid vampires are the best.

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Literary Links

Writng advice from agent Donald Maas: “What’s one way your MC tackles the big problem? Find another character who can do the same thing, or the opposite. Add.” (via @donmaass)

Nominate a book for the Cybils awards!

Preschool activity of the day: Make a Paper Pumpkin! (via @preschoolers)

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My NEW book, The Zombie Project (The Boxcar Children Mysteries #128)

Unexpected…

Picture Book of the Day

The Little Red Pen

by Susan Stevens Crummel (Author) and Janet Stevens (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: An fun comic book style retelling of the Little Red Hen, as a Little Red Pen. She’s not baking a cake, she’s correcting homework… and the deadbeats are the other office supplies in the teacher’s desk.

Snippet: Where are my helpers?

Stapler, Scissors, Pencil

Eraser, Pushpin, Highlighter!

Are you hiding in the drawer?

Get up here now! Let’s get to work.

BONUS! See the video!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlVSwfglD6g]

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Chapter Book of the Day

Till Death Do Us Bark: 43 Old Cemetery Road: Book 3

by Kate Klise (Author) and M. Sarah Klise (Illustrator)

144 pages

Booktalk: When a shaggy dog arrives at Spence Mansion, Seymour is overjoyed. His adoptive parents, Ignatuis B. Grumply and Olive C. Spence, are less enthusiastic — especially when Secret, the dog, begins barking all night long. (A story told in letters.)

Snippet: Dear Olive and Mr. Grumply,

A dog followed me home from the library today. I’ve always wanted a dog, and this one has a lot of personality. He even smiles!

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My Book of the Week

Road Work Ahead by Anastasia Suen

A transportation picture book

Copyright: 2011
Ages: 3-5
Hardcover
Publisher: Viking

“Suen’s sparse rhyming verse leads readers through the busy scenes and uses simple vocabulary that suits both the youngest listeners and those just beginning to read.” ~ Kirkus Reviews

“A batch of Grandma’s homemade oatmeal cookies beckons, but for this backseat narrator, the sights and sounds along the road to her house are equally compelling.” ~ Publishers Weekly

Activities:

Play the Road Signs Matching Game.

Take the online Traffic Sign Quiz for Kids.

Watch the construction site video.

Make a Traffic Light Necklace with yarn and stickers.

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Literary Links

How are picture book apps created? Editor Anne Hoppe shows us with @alyankovic’s WHEN I GROW UP (via @thepageturn)

Nominate a book for the Cybils awards!

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My NEW book, The Zombie Project (The Boxcar Children Mysteries #128)

Great Books

Picture Book of the Day

Grandpa’s Tractor

by Michael Garland (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Grandpa Joe brings his grandson Timmy back to the old family farm…

Snippet: Grandpa Joe and Timmy were going to see the old farm where Grandpa Joe used to live when he was a boy.

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Chapter Book of the Day

Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories

edited by Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones

384 pages

Booktalk: Read your favorite authors’ stories about bullying–as silent observers on the sidelines of high school, as victims, as perpetrators.

Snippet:

End of the World

by Jessica Brody

Everybody asks

But no one wonders why.

I laugh as you pretend

to take interest in my life,

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5 Great Firehouse Books

Clifford The Firehouse Dog

by Norman Bridwell (Author, Illustrator)

Clifford helps out his brother, the firehouse dog. Picture book

Dear Dragon Goes to the Fire House

by Margaret Hillert (Author) and David Schimmell (Illustrator)

A boy and his class (and his pet dragon) visit the firehouse. Level 1 easy reader

Firehouse!

by Mark Teague (Author, Illustrator)

Edward the dog visits the firehouse and tries to become a firefighter. Picture book

Flat Stanley and the Firehouse

by Jeff Brown (Author) and Macky Pamintuan (Illustrator)

Flat Stanley wins a trip to the firehouse. Level 2 easy reader

Little Critter: Going to the Firehouse

by Mercer Mayer (Author, Illustrator)

Little Critter and his class go on a trip to the firehouse. Level 1 easy reader

BONUS! See the Firehouse! video!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsmV1wwt-PI]

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Literary Links

My new book Road Work Ahead (Viking) is on tour at Great Kid Books today!

EverythingMom reviews Road Work Ahead. “The text uses simple vocabulary in a fun rhyme making it easy for beginner readers.”

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My NEW book is here!

Read and Write Sports: Readers Theatre and Writing Activities for Grades 3-8

Young Readers

Picture Book of the Day

The Busy Life of Ernestine Buckmeister
by Linda Ravin Lodding (Author) and Suzanne Beaky (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Ernestine is in over her head. Monday through Sunday, Ernestine’s week is packed with after-school lessons—tuba, knitting, sculpting, water ballet, yoga, yodeling, and karate. Overwhelmed and exhausted, Ernestine decides to take matters into her own hands…

Snippet:
On Mondays she sculpted with Clay Lumpkin.
On Tuesdays she did water ballet with Miss Goldfisher.
On Wednesdays she knitted with Mrs. Pearl Stitchem.
On Thursdays she took tuba lessons with Mr. Oompah.
On Fridays she yodeled with Little Old Lady Hoo.
On Saturdays she studied karate with Grand Master HiYa!
And on Sundays she practiced yoga with Guru Prakash Pretzel.

BONUS! See the video!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BustjCHbkDw&]

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

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Chapter Book of the Day

Alice-Miranda at School
by Jacqueline Harvey (Author)
272 pages

Booktalk: Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones can’t wait to start boarding school. When she arrives at Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale Academy for Proper Young Ladies, the adventure begins . . . only not quite as Alice-Miranda expects. The minute she sets foot on the school’s manicured grounds, she senses that something is wrong: Miss Grimm, the headmistress, is nowhere to be seen, the gardens have no flowers, and a mysterious stranger seems to be hiding out on the premises.

Snippet: Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones waved goodbye to her parents at the gate.
“Goodbye, Mummy. Please be brave.” her mother sobbed loudly in return. “Enjoy your golf, Daddy. I’ll see you at the end of term.” Her father sniffed into his handkerchief.

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September 2011 Carnival Of Children’s Literature

Our September 2011 host is Texas Librarian.
Please send in a link to YOUR post by September 26th.
The carnival will go live on September 28th.

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Literary Links

Tired of blog scrapers stealing your online writings? Help Google fight digital pirates (via @galleycat)

Berenstain Bears helping revive an endangered American Indian language in a new TV animated series (via @educationweek)

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My NEW book is here!
Read and Write Sports: Readers Theatre and Writing Activities for Grades 3-8
Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Great Books

Picture Book of the Day

Pickles, Please!: A Dilly of a Book
by Andy Myer (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Alec Smart loves pickles! But no one understands why, and that makes Alec sad…

Snippet: “It isn’t good to eat so many pickles,” said Alec’s Mom. “You’ll grow up to be a small green man who smells like vinegar.”
“I’ll smell PICKLICIOUS,” replied Alec.

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Chapter Book of the Day

Zitface
by Emily Howse (Author)
202 pages

Booktalk: Thirteen-year-old Olivia Hughes has always considered herself a lucky girl. She knows what she wants to do with her life–be an actress. And she’s already on her way. She just

launched a national ad campaign that should get her noticed. Then her luck runs out. A little pimple turns into a full-blown case of acne…

Snippet: Wendy switched gears. “What happened to your face?”

Of course that question was coming, but I wasn’t going to get into it. Wendy means well, but she simply cannot keep her trap shut.

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5 Great New Fall Books

Animals in Fall: Preparing for Winter
by Martha E. H. Rustad (Author) and Amanda Enright (Illustrator)
Five short chapters show how animals get ready for winter. (Do the craft and make “blubber gloves!”) Nonfiction picture book

Fall Apples: Crisp and Juicy
by Martha E. H. Rustad (Author) and Amanda Enright (Illustrator)
Pick the apples and make apple crisp! (Recipe in the back.) Nonfiction picture book

Fall Leaves: Colorful and Crunchy
by Martha E. H. Rustad (Author) and Amanda Enright (Illustrator)
See how leaves change through the seasons in three short chapters. Nonfiction picture book

Fall Mixed Up
by Bob Raczka (Author) and Chad Cameron (Illustrator)
Fun rhymes and silly mix-ups! Can you find them all? Picture book

Fall Pumpkins: Orange and Plump
by Martha E. H. Rustad (Author) and Amanda Enright (Illustrator)
Plant pumpkins in the spring for pumpkins in the fall (and roast pumpkin seeds). Nonfiction picture book

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Literary Links

New @pubperspectives newsletter launched, will focus on children’s publishing (via @galleycat)

LAST CALL! Looking for bloggers with early literacy backgrounds to judge the 2011 Cybils Awards. (Sept 15th deadline)

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My NEW book is here!
Read and Write Sports: Readers Theatre and Writing Activities for Grades 3-8
Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

I Can Read Carnival, Eat and Play

Picture Book of the Day

Welcome to the September 2011 I Can Read: A Carnival for New Readers

Join us for this monthly meme that celebrates easy readers and illustrated chapter books to encourage kids working to become successful readers.

Around the middle of each month, we’ll collect reviews of easy readers and/or short chapter books. Each host picks a 3 to 5-day window where visitors leave links to favorite easy readers and illustrated chapter books, offer tips or ideas about reading with new readers, or personal stories with memories or experiences with the kids in your life.

Don’t have a post that fits those criteria this month? Not a problem, your review can be from the previous year. So in September 2011, feel free to pull a post going back to September 2010! To learn more about Easy Readers and Early Chapter books, click this link.

Please leave your links in the comments and I will add the to the roundup from September 13-15. (If you have not commented on this blog before, your comment will need to be approved. Thanks!)

And now for my easy reader, yes on this picture book blog! Holiday House has a new picture book series for emerging readers, called I Like to Read Books. These books are for kindergarten and early first grade reading levels. This one is Level E.

Boy, Bird, and Dog (I Like to Read)

by David McPhail (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Boy and Bird can go up to the tree house, but Dog cannot. Boy has an idea…

Snippet:

Boy went up.

He pulled the rope.

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Chapter Book of the Day

The Water Seeker

by Kimberly Willis Holt (Author)

310 pages

Booktalk: What would you do if you knew you had a special gift–a sixth sense–that was passed down from one generation to the next?

Snippet: “When I was a boy, my pa dowsed to earn extra money when we had a lean year. And when he put the branch in my hands for the first time, I felt a burning inside me because I had that gift, too. Just be thankful I didn’t hand that gift down to you.”

Amos figured it was probably best not to tell his father it was too late.

BONUS! See the video!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pBhfoUJwU0]

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My Book of the Week

Look what just came out from Chronicle! I had fun creating the activities for this Eat and Play kit…

Little ones will devour the fun served up in this totable set of 40 place mats, 24 plate sheets, and fork, knife, and spoon crayons. At a restaurant or at the kitchen table, kids will have a blast playing games, drawing their favorite foods, and writing notes to the chef.

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Literary Link

Scholastic & Ruckus Media to target out-of-print kids’ books with new transmedia imprint (via @galleycat)

Need some guidance on implementing the common core #standards? Download our free spotlight (via @educationweek)

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My NEW book is here!

Read and Write Sports: Readers Theatre and Writing Activities for Grades 3-8

Nonfiction Monday

Picture Book of the Day

My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden’s Childhood Journey
by Jeanne Walker Harvey (Author) and Elizabeth Zunon (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Follow Romare Bearden’s journey as a young boy in North Carolina who travels by train with his parents up to Harlem. This biography was inspired by one of Bearden’s collage paintings.

Snippet:
“I snip a patch of color and add a cut-out face.
Oh! I glue on jazzy blue for sky and add another face.
People walk into my work as if it’s always been their place.

My hands sing the blues when I paint and cut and paste.
I never know what I’ll create when I paint and cut and paste.
I use paper, fabrics, photos, and nothing goes to waste.”

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

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Chapter Book of the Day

U.S. Presidents: Truth and Rumors
by Sean Stewart Price (Author) and Eldon Doty (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Everybody has secrets and former U.S. Presidents are no exception. Discover which stories about America’s past leaders are true and which ones are just tall tales.

Snippet: Ulysses S. Grant got a $20 fine for speeding in a horse and buggy. He was the first president to get a speeding ticket while in office.

True or false? Read the book and find out!

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Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday

This week’s Nonfiction Monday Round-up host is Wrapped in Foil

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September 19-23 Road Work Ahead blog tour

Road Work Ahead by Anastasia Suen

Coming on September 15th!

Monday 9/19	Fiction Notes	revising a manuscript
	EverythingMom	creating art
Tuesday 9/20	The Reading Tub	a literacy connection
Wednesday 9/21	Great Kid Books	students creating art
Thursday 9/22	Imagination Soup	books and children at play
Friday 9/23	Check It Out	students writing poetry

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Literary Link

Looking for bloggers with early literacy backgrounds to judge the 2011 Cybils Awards

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Young Readers

Picture Book of the Day

Trains!
by Charles Reasoner (Author)

Booktalk: See what the busy train does all day in this board book.

Snippet:
ALL ABOARD!!!
I’ve got a big busy day ahead
and need to be on time.

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Chapter Book of the Day

Piper Reed Gets a Job
by Kimberly Willis Holt (Author) and Christine Davenier (Illustrator)
160 pages

Booktalk: Piper Reed and her fellow Gypsy Club members are in need of a clubhouse. Raising money to buy one proves a challenge. Piper, being the resourceful fifth grader that she is, launches her own party-planning business and gets her first job throwing young Brady’s birthday celebration. But things don’t go as expected…

Snippet: Beep! Beep! Six thirty. I turned off the alarm, threw off my covers, and popped out of bed. My insides did flip-flops. There was something exciting about the first day of school.

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Literary Links

Today is International Literacy Day. Here are some ways to participate via @Life_Literacy + @owlkids

Education Dept. Unveils Resources Page for Teaching 9/11 via @educationweek

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Great Books

Picture Book of the Day

A Storm Called Katrina

by Myron Uhlberg (Author) and Colin Bootman (Illustrator)

Booktalk: It is August 2005, and a hurricane named Katrina is bearing down on the Gulf Coast. See how Louis Daniel and his family cope with this natural disaster…

Snippet:
Finally the rain stopped, and everything got real quiet.
Daddy opened the door. “Water’s rising fast,” he said. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

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Chapter Book of the Day

The Popularity Papers: Book Two: The Long-Distance Dispatch Between Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang
by Amy Ignatow (Author, Illustrator)
208 pages

Booktalk: After spending all of fifth grade studying popularity together, Julie and Lydia are finally ready to put their hard-earned lessons to use in junior high. But before they can, tragedy strikes: Lydia’s mom gets a job in London for six whole months! (A graphic novel journal)

Snippet: Today is the first day without Lydia, and until the Goldblatts hook up their computer I have no idea what she’s doing.

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5 Great Books About Starting Preschool

Maisy Goes to Preschool
by Lucy Cousins (Author, Illustrator)
Maisy has a busy day with her friends at preschool. Picture book

My First Day at Nursery School
by Becky Edwards (Author) and Anthony Flintoft (Illustrator)
As the school day goes by, a girl misses her Mom less and less. Picture book

Preschool Day Hooray!
by Linda Leopold Strauss (Author) and Hiroe Nakata (Illustrator)
A rhyming look at the preschool day. Picture book

The Night Before Preschool
Natasha Wing (Author), Amy Wummer (Illustrator)
It’s the night before preschool and Billy can’t fall asleep. Picture book

What to Expect at Preschool
by Heidi Murkoff (Author) and Laura Rader (Illustrator)
Angus the Answer Dog answers questions about preschool. Picture book

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Literary Links

2011 Cybils Call for Judges

Keeping House in a Literacy-Rich Classroom

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Back to School

Picture Book of the Day

Sea Monster’s First Day
by Kate Messner (Author) and Andy Rash (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Starting school is a big job, and it’s an even bigger job you’re a sea monster!

Snippet: “This is it,” my mother said. “You’re a big sea monster now, Ernest. Remember to introduce yourself, play nicely, and use your imagination. I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun.”

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Chapter Book of the Day

Stupid Fast
by Geoff Herbach (Author)
320 pages

Booktalk: My name is Felton Reinstein, which is not a fast name. But last November, my voice finally dropped and I grew all this hair and then I got stupid fast. Fast like a donkey. Zing!

Now they want me, the guy they used to call Squirrel Nut, to try out for the football team. With the jocks. But will that fix my mom? Make my brother stop dressing like a pirate? Most important, will it get me girls–especially Aleah?

So I train. And I run. And I sneak off to Aleah’s house in the night. But deep down I know I can’t run forever. And I wonder what will happen when I finally have to stop.

Snippet:
This could be a dark tale!
It’s not.
I don’t think so.
Maybe.
I can’t sleep. It’s 1:03 a.m. Almost September. The weather is warm, even though it’s football season. There’s a huge moon in the sky, but I can’t see it from the basement, where my bedroom is. I saw plenty.
Tonight.
Dark tale? My dad did commit suicide.
Not so dark? It’s me. I hop up and down.

BONUS! See the video!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQWkjsjHL_I]

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August 2011 Carnival Of Children’s Literature

Our August 2011 host is Great Kid Books.
Please send in a link to YOUR post by August 26th.
The carnival will go live on August 28th.

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Literary Links

Ready to write your novel this fall? The next Children’s Novels Workshop is Sept 7-Oct 26 (online)

On September 8th, get involved and take the International Literacy Day Challenge.

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