Blog: #kidlit Book of the Day - Page 1336 of 1360

My Leaf Book
by Monica Wellington (Author/Illustrator)

Booktalk: When the seasons change, a young girl visits the arboretum to collect fallen leaves and make a book with them. Basic concepts such as counting and shapes are introduced alongside tree and leaf identification. Readers can make their very own leaf books, prints, and projects by following the directions on the last page of the book.

Snippet:
So many trees, so many leaves.
When the trees change colors, autumn is here,
and I go to the park to see
how many leaves I can find.

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Trait: Ideas The Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data says that this is a fiction picture book. You can see it online at WorldCat, “the world’s largest library catalog”. The WorldCat listing for My Leaf Book says:

Summary: “A young girl visits an arboretum in the autumn to collect fallen leaves. She identifies various trees by the shapes of their leaves and pastes her collection into her own leaf book.”

Below the book summary are the Subjects. In the book they are numbered like this:

1. Leaves — Fiction.
2. Trees — Fiction.
3. Autumn — Fiction.

This picture book has a story, an imaginary story, that is filled with facts. The facts that are included are seen in the Summary:

She identifies various trees by the shapes of their leaves

The facts are also included in the Subjects:

1. Leaves —
2. Trees —
3. Autumn —

This book is fiction because it has an imaginary story, but the facts in the story are all true. Each leaf is identified by its unique characteristics and each of those characteristics is correctly named. In a small box at the bottom of the page the scientific terms (lobes, veins, etc) are used.

Fiction + Facts = Faction

Question: Why does this book have two genres?
Answer: Many preschool concept books use a fiction story to teach facts. Some educators use the term faction to describe these books with two genres.

Preschool children are ego-centric. At this stage of their development, the children think that the entire world revolves around them. What they think and say and do is all that matters–and that is how they learn.

When preschool children listen to a story, they imagine that they are the main character in that story. They imagine themselves acting out the events in the story. They experience the same emotions that the story character has. And after the story is read aloud, children also act out the story in the real world. (Educators call this dramatic play.)

This book keeps the reader in mind by tapping into a young child’s hands-on approach to life. Young readers will use this book again and again throughout the fall season. A MUST for the preschool crowd!

Lovely Old Lion
by Julia Jarman (Author) and Susan Varley (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Lenny the lion loves his grandpa, King Lion. But when King Lion starts to forget things, Lenny begins to worry. He can’t understand why grandpa keeps getting muddled and doesn’t want to play any more. Lenny doesn’t know what to do, but with a little help from grandpa’s old friends, perhaps he can find a way to help him remember.

Snippet:
King Lion was Lenny’s grandpa.
He was kind and clever but one afternoon,
when they were playing Snakes and Ladders,
he forgot the up and down rule.
And he couldn’t remember Lenny’s name.

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Trait: Organization A picture book is very short, so you need to get right to the point. On the first page of this picture book story, the two main characters are introduced. We meet them both and find how they are connected in just 5 words.

King Lion was Lenny’s grandpa.

In the next sentence, readers find out what the story problem is.

He was kind and clever but one afternoon,
when they were playing Snakes and Ladders,
he forgot the up and down rule.

Traits: Word Choice A note on the book flap says. “A moving tale of the loving bond between grandparent and grandchild, which transcends the tragic disease of dementia.”

The word dementia is NOT used in the story. It only appears in the sales copy on the inside of the book’s front jacket flap. Adults know what dementia is and what it does, but children do not.

Instead of using the medical term and expecting young readers to understand what it means, the author uses carefully choosen words that show what dementia looks like in daily life. The second sentence in the book shows young readers a specific example.

He was kind and clever but one afternoon,
when they were playing Snakes and Ladders,
he forgot the up and down rule.

The final sentence on this story page comes back to the main character. It is the second example of what dementia looks like in real life and like the first, it is very specific.

And he couldn’t remember Lenny’s name.

Now the story problem reaches beyond the game of Snakes and Ladders. It’s personal and painful and confusing! What is Lenny going to do?

Readers will turn the pages to find out what happens next in this gentle story. (And yes, young readers can use what they learn from Lenny in this story and apply it in the real world. Highly recommended!)