craft Archives - Page 31 of 40

When Spring Comes
by Kevin Henkes (Author) and Laura Dronzek (Illustrator)

The award-winning, bestselling husband-and-wife team of Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek collaborate for the first time since their acclaimed picture book Birds (2009).

Before spring comes, the trees are dark sticks, the grass is brown, and the ground is covered in snow. But if you wait, leaves unfurl and flowers blossom, the grass turns green, and the mounds of snow shrink and shrink. Spring brings baby birds, sprouting seeds, rain and mud, and puddles. You can feel it and smell it and hear it—and you can read it!

#kidlit Writing Lesson: the small details

Some pages of this picture book for ages 2-4 have a simple before and after pattern. It’s a compare and contrast story arc.

On one left page it says:

Before Spring comes, the garden is just dirt, and empty.

The facing page on the right says:

But if you wait, Spring will push green shoots through the dirt to fill up the garden.

The “before” page states a fact. The “after” addresses the reader with the words:

But if you wait

. . . before stating a contrasting spring fact.

Everything is personal to preschoolers, even the seasons!

BONUS! Read an interview with Laura Dronzek

Snippet: “Laura Dronzek’s color-drenched illustrations for When Spring Comes (Greenwillow, 2-4 years) bring husband Kevin Henkes’s poetic text into full bloom.”

West Meadows Detectives: The Case of the Snack Snatcher
by Liam O’Donnell (Author) and Aurélie Grand (Illustrator)

Booktalk: The BIG Picture

Meet Myron: a third-grade detective who loves logic, facts, and solving mysteries. He does not love new things. Unfortunately, everything is new this year: Myron has a new baby sister, his family has moved across town, and now he’s starting his first day at a new school. But when the school kitchen is burgled, leaving the morning snacks nowhere to be found, Myron gets his chance to crack the case with help from his classmates from Resource Room 15.

Myron’s unique perspective from the autism spectrum makes him a top-notch sleuth. Similarly, the other kids in his resource room demonstrate creative problem solving and unique talents that come in handy for the case. Together with his detective partner, the hyper-energetic Hajrah, and tech-savvy Danielle, known as “Glitch,” Myron gets to the bottom of the mystery — all while trying to avoid the school bully, Sarah “Smasher” McGuintley, who’s intent on sabotaging their efforts.

#kidlit Writing Lesson: the small details

In chapter 2, Myron meets his new resource room teacher. After his mother leaves, Myron looks around the resource room:

Mr. Harpel smiled at me.
“Welcome, Myron. Come in.”
“Four,” I said.
“Sorry?” Mr. Harpel said.
“You said ‘welcome’ four times,” I said. When someone says something over and over, it’s called repeating. People repeat themselves when they are really serious or really nervous. Good detectives always notice when people repeat themselves.

The dialogue reveals Myron’s personality:

Mr. Harpel smiled at me.
“Welcome, Myron. Come in.”
“Four,” I said.
“Sorry?” Mr. Harpel said.
“You said ‘welcome’ four times,” I said.

Myron’s inner monologue provides context for the reader:

When someone says something over and over, it’s called repeating. People repeat themselves when they are really serious or really nervous. Good detectives always notice when people repeat themselves.