Snow Day! Rainy Day!

Incredibly, summer has arrived.  All of a sudden, we went from school day wake-ups, which were always a struggle and sometimes involved tears, to happy smiles, shorts, and warm mornings.  Yet here in Montana, snow is never far from our minds.  When we visited the library recently, I spied Snow Day! on the shelf and we checked it out.  I liked the format so much that we placed Rainy Day! on hold so I could write about them both.  There is a third title in the series (Beach Day!), but our library didn't have that one.  These are oldies but goodies - books that are fun no matter the season.

Snow Day! begins with an alligator named Sam who calls his friends (Pam, Will and Jill) to tell them it has snowed overnight.  They are all so excited that the four speed through getting dressed to go outside and sled.  When Sam, Pam, Will and Jill meet up in the thick white powder, they realize they can't possibly sled until they have their protective gear on - goggles and helmets for everyone!  Now that they are all geared up, they are ready to sled.  Or are they?  There is one important thing they've forgotten - it's a school day!!  The alligators rush back inside and make the call to cancel school.  They are the principals, after all!!  Now the sledding can begin!

In Rainy Day!, the morning doesn't begin quite so excitedly.  It's another rainy day and the four friends are all cooped up inside, as bored as can be.  They've already done all the fun indoor stuff, but the rain hasn't let up.  The alligators decide to take their boredom and bad moods outside to play in the rain.  Again, they put on their protective gear - boots, umbrellas, hats and coats and head outside.  As the rain pours down and the fog grows thicker, the group becomes lost.  What emerges from that soupy fog?  Among other things, they find a pirate ship. a monster face, and a big, furry dog.  And they find a place to chase the rainy day blues away - the library!

What I love about these two titles is Lakin's way of telling a story in very few words.  As we all know from hearing Dr. Seuss's tales of writing The Cat in the Hat, it is very tricky to create an interesting story with a controlled vocabulary.  Both of these titles use just a few phrases, in rhyming combinations, to convey the story.  In Rainy Day!, as they try to negotiate the cloudy weather, the car full of friends drives cautiously along: "They took a left.  They took a right.  A pirate ship came into sight."  In Snow Day! as the alligators decide where they should sled,  the text reads "'The yard?', said Sam. 'The walk?', said Pam. 'The drive?', said Will. 'The hill?', said Jill."  It is constructed carefully, so that Lakin uses the minimum amount of words possible while still expressing the meaning.  There also isn't very much narration or description in either book, so the plot has to move forward in dialogue.  This could be an awkward  burden for the characters, but it doesn't feel that way in either book.  In fact, I found it entertaining to marvel at how the story unfolds through short (four or five word) pieces of dialogue.  And the dialogue is primarily questions or exclamations too.

I know, however appealing this short text is, that is wouldn't work as well for beginning readers without the illustrations.  Pages where all four alligators speak are usually broken into panels.  This allows the reader to match the character with their action.  In Rainy Day! when the friends stumble across a mini golf park in the fog, they all use different words to explain how they will get the golf ball into the hole.  "'Putt it!' said Pam" and in her panel, she is doing just that (although she's putting with her umbrella!).  Two pages later, the alligators come across a strange creature.  The creature takes up one whole side of the double-paged spread, and his contribution ("GRRRRRR!") is in large bold letters.  On the other side of the page, all four friends pile together in fear.  But the text still matches with each friend, so a reader can match their expression with their worried exclamations.  In these books, text and illustration work hand in hand to give meaning.

One of the ways these books would work with even younger children would be in units about clothing.  In both types of inclement weather - rain and snow - the alligators wear the proper clothing and spend time naming those accessories to the reader.  The friends make it clear that bad weather doesn't stop them from enjoying themselves as long as they are well protected.  The four assemble umbrellas, boots, rain coats and hats when they go out.  Unlike Frances and Gloria, when it snows, those four alligators put on long underwear, boots, mittens and scarves.  All of these items allow them to play outside longer than they would endure it otherwise.  And of course when Sam, Pam, Will and Jill go sledding, they all don helmets and goggles.  There is one page in Snow Day! where they are all taking off their winter gear.  The page is set up in a grid, with each alligator assigned their own square where they take off the designated accessory.  Even better, the alligators are depicted putting the item away (something that I cheered when I saw it the first time!).  These alligators are fairly neat.  These books, particularly Snow Day! would go well with other books such as The Jacket I Wear in the Snow and Froggy Gets Dressed (one of our favorites!).

These books are fun and full of exuberance.  I love that these alligators make the most of these experiences  - it will encourage young readers to try to go outside too.  And I love that Lakin and Nash's twist on beginning readers.  I just thought about the fact that it would be fun to "perform" these books as reader's theater, with four voices.  I think it would be a perfect fit!

Snow Day! Patricia Lakin; pictures by Scott Nash.  Dial Books for Young Readers, 2002.
Rainy Day! Patricia Lakin; pictures by Scott Nash.  Dial Books for Young Readers, 2007.

borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library

Maya Makes a Mess

I don't usually talk about graphic novels for children for one simple reason - my public library doesn't carry them!! When I worked at the Glendale Public Library in Arizona, I had librarians on my staff with excellent graphic novel taste (this book was written by one of my staff) and I honestly could not imagine living in a place without graphic novels for children.  Now I want my girls to begin reading some graphic novels, and I can't get my hands on them - it is frustrating!

One of those series is the innovative easy-to-read comic book series produced by the Candlewick Books imprint, TOON Books.  TOON Books is remarkable for being a collaboration between Francoise Mouly (art editor of the New Yorker  among other accomplishments) and Art Spiegelman, who is a celebrated, award-winning comic book creator.  They have taken many famous comic book and graphic novel creators and artists and have them create books designed specifically for emergent readers.  Comic books can help young readers "crack the code" of literacy - the illustrations and text help guide them from left to right, and from the top to the bottom of the page.  Also, even though these are beginning readers, they are great stories as well.  One of my favorites, Little Mouse Gets Ready, was written and drawn by Jeff Smith (who created the uber-popular Bone series).  The books are leveled, so parents and teachers can tell at a glance what would be most appropriate for their reader.

TOON's backlist is very strong, but there are a couple of books that are coming out this fall that I wanted to draw your attention to.  I am interested in seeing A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse, by Frank Viva.  Last year I read his picture book, Along a Long Road.  What is remarkable about that book is that it was created as one enormous piece of art (from the book: "created as a single continuous thirty-five-foot-long piece of art using Adobe Illustrator").  It had a retro yet modern feel to it.  I cannot wait for this new title from him - I think he will only continue to become more innovative.

But I'm really here to tell you all about an opportunity to get a new TOON books Fall 2012 title for yourself.  TOON Books is celebrating the publishing of the book Maya Makes a Mess with a very fun giveaway.  This book is written by another high-quality graphic novelist - Rutu Modan won a Eisner Award for Best New Graphic Novel for her first published work.  She has written about a topic that is very familiar to parents - Maya, who has atrocious table manners, is suddenly invited to dine with the Queen.  Will the Queen find Maya's manners lacking? I don't want to give too much away, as I plan to blog this soon.  But TOON Books is offering copies of this title to the readers who are the messiest eaters.  I hate to tell you this, but bad manners are encouraged here!!  Follow this link to see how to enter (but basically all you have to do is email a picture - what could be easier?).  While you are there, check out some hilarious pictures of TOON staffers making...well, a mess.  It is a fun way to encourage reading.  If you win a copy, you'd better let me know!  By the way, don't wait to enter - this giveaway ends August 15th.

Watch for my review of Maya Makes a Mess coming soon.  I hope that more reviews of great graphic novels and comic books for children will convince the children's librarian at our public library to reconsider.  For now, look for TOON books at your library and enjoy them!

Little Mouse Gets Ready.  Jeff Smith.  TOON Books, 2009.
A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse.  Frank Viva.  TOON Books, 2012.
Maya Makes a Mess.  Rutu Modan.  TOON Books, 2012.

Penny And Her Song

Let me start out by telling you that I love Kevin Henkes.  Truthfully, while I don't know anyone who is a Kevin Henkes hater, I'm a little over the moon about him.  I have met him several times at conferences, have signed books, and even asked him to come to my library when I worked on Nantucket (he really was interested, but couldn't).  I have loved all of his books (even Kitten's First Full Moon grew on me after a few readings).  And when I found out that he had written a reader, called Penny and Her Song, and that he had featured a new mouse character, I begged my HarperCollins connection for one.  And I mean BEGGED.  When I received it in the mail, I was thrilled.  I'd already heard some pre-pub buzz, and it was all positive.

But instead of sitting right down and reading it right there, I let it sit.  I didn't even open the cover.  I couldn't figure out why for a long time, and told myself that I was letting the anticipation build.  That I had received my ARC so far ahead of time that I didn't want to read it and write about it immediately, since it wouldn't be published yet.  But the real truth was, I was afraid.  I was afraid Penny wouldn't live up to his other fabulous mouse characters, who have helped guide children through all of their growing up.  I was afraid Henkes, who has capably handled multiple other formats, wouldn't be a strong beginning reader author.  I didn't want there to be a conditional book for me "Well, I love Kevin Henkes, except for that one..."

These were all silly worries.  Kevin Henkes is an award-winning author for a reason, and his first beginning reader is definitely not a mis-step.  But now that I've reassured you, I'll go back and tell you a little about the text.

Penny comes skipping home from school with a song to sing.  She wants to share it with her parents, but they both tell her the song will have to wait - that the babies are asleep.  Penny is dejected, and goes off to sing in her room.  Singing to herself in her room doesn't work either - this special song needs an audience.  Penny moves on to other activities, and her song is temporarily forgotten.  When the family is together at dinnertime, Penny tries to share this song again.  Her parents remind her that the dinner table is also not an appropriate place for this song. 

Just when the reader is beginning to feel that Penny will never get to sing her song, dinner is finished.  Penny begins her production, singing proudly to her beaming audience.  Her song is so infectious that the whole family is singing along.  They dance, they sing, even the babies "sang along in their own baby way" (p. 23).  It's a true family hootenanny, including funny costumes and more songs.  This impromptu performance has the added benefit of wearing everyone out and getting them ready for bed.  The book ends peacefully, with a reassurance that Penny will not forget her special song.

A few words now about the format - this reader is unleveled, but should be fairly easy for a strong first grade reader to read with a little help.  Most words are easy to decipher, and there are only a couple that young readers might struggle with - "beautifully" and  "flopped" and a couple of  others.  The story is broken up into two chapters, with dinner being the dividing event.  Most pages have four or five lines of text on them, with plenty of white space to rest readers' eyes.  The text is repetitive, but there is a natural energy to the story.  It keeps moving ahead and readers want to continue to find out more about Penny's song.  Henkes has also included plenty of illustrations in a variety of sizes.  These help both with context for unfamiliar words, and also to give more information about the characters than the brief text allows.

There are several things going on in this text.  Penny's story reminds me a little of the Frances books (Hoban) with the story including Penny's song.  Her song is a perfect creation - it includes rhymes and its simple counting theme also suits young children, who will want to continue singing it (so a word to the wise, when you sing it as you read, pick a familiar tune).  The coziness and structure of Penny's family also reminds me of the Frances stories.  While there are clear expectations set out for Penny (she may not sing during dinner or while the babies are napping), she is clearly cherished.  Her creativity is appreciated, and when it is finally the right time, her song is the star of the show.  The needs of the entire family come first, but Penny's individuality is also recognized. 

While this is a new format and new character for Henkes, there are definitely some familiar characteristics.  Penny is shown strutting around, just like Lilly does.  While Penny's parents are reminiscent of Frances, they also have the coziness and loving reassurance that Chrysanthemum's parents exhibit.  Musical notes break the planes of the illustrations, a technique Henkes uses in several other stories.  The pastel colors are Henkes hallmarks as well.

Penny and Her Song is a terrific addition to both any beginning reader collection and to a collection of Henkes' works.  The story is simple and sweet, with a conflict that many children can relate to.  I shouldn't have worried - Henkes has produced another great story.  I can't wait to read more stories about Penny and her family.

Penny and Her Song.  Kevin Henkes.  Greenwillow Press, 2012.

ARC sent by publisher for review

Fancy Nancy: Splendid Speller

When I was “just” a children’s librarian, I will freely admit that Fancy Nancy was a little too…fancy for me.  I’d show families where they were on the shelf, buy the latest copies for the library, but I’d leave the reading to them.  Now Frances is four years old, and we’ve read our share of Fancy Nancy titles – she loves the glitz and glamor of Nancy’s outfits, and I do admire her sophisticated vocabulary.  So when I got a box of books from HarperCollins to review, there was excited shrieking when Fancy Nancy: Splendid Speller emerged.  Both Frances and Gloria looked at it several  times then, and afterwards I hid it away to review it later. 

When the girls and I went on vacation a few weeks ago, I stashed Splendid Speller in Frances’ carry-on backpack so we could read it on the plane.  Due to missed connections, we ended up spending 8 hours in the Seattle airport, and boy, was I grateful to have Fancy Nancy in tow!! She stood up to repeated readings that day and has been in rotation ever since.

In this title in the series, Nancy is faced with her first spelling test.  She’s sure it will be a breeze because she is such a splendid speller.  Nancy studies all week, but during the test her confidence wavers on a word.  She looks at her friend Bree’s test paper for confirmation, and then realizes that she might have done something wrong.  This moral dilemma (to confess to the teacher or not) colors the rest of the story, but don’t worry, Nancy solves her dilemma in typical fancy style.

First things first – this book is a level one reader, which HarperCollins defines as beginning reading.  The back cover adds that level one books include “simple sentences for eager new readers”.  Because of Nancy’s impressive vocabulary, I would suspect that the first time through, a beginning reader would need some help reading words like splendid, memorize, bravo and impressed.  However, one of the things I like best about Fancy Nancy is that O’Connor does a terrific job of allowing Nancy to define new words in the context of the story.  Sometimes she’ll explain the word’s meaning in parentheses “(Splendid is even better than great.)”.  When she spells the word chien, not only does she give a meaning, but also gives the pronunciation to help out.  Again, I think the pronunciation would need an adult reader’s guidance the first time through before the reader has confidence to tackle it themselves.

This book is firmly rooted in first grade, and I imagine it would be very comforting for a first grader to read.  While Nancy has confidence in her spelling ability, when the spelling list is announced, there are children in the class who look anxious and worried.  Not everyone in the class thinks spelling is easy, but for children for whom spelling is a problem, the book shows Nancy using study skills to memorize the words.  She draws pictures that are labeled with the spelling word and practices the words aloud.  Nancy doesn’t just rest on her belief that she is a great speller, but takes the test seriously.  Their teacher is kind, concerned and sparkly – someone who readers will gravitate towards.  They will feel Nancy’s anxiety when she realizes she may have cheated by looking at Bree’s work.  They’ll also be relieved by Ms. Glass’ discreet, comforting handling of the situation.  Nancy isn’t “in trouble” and has the confidence to make it right.  She has to decide if it is better to have her splendid reputation intact or to be honest about her shortcomings.

The illustrations are as girl-centered as ever, and I mean that in a good way.  The pictures are packed full of curlicues and flourishes and all the things little girls hold dear.  Nancy and Bree’s hair are packed full of baubles and barrettes, and their clothes are just as fabulous as ever.  And the rest of Nancy’s family is reassuringly plain and restful to my adult eyes.  I appreciate that Nancy isn’t depicted as wearing all pink or all dresses – that other colors and styles can be equally fancy.  And Ms. Glass is in turns accessible and stylish – just the sort of teacher we’d envision for that Fancy Nancy.

All in all, I think this book is well-created for the young elementary school reader.  The ethics of cheating are handled naturally without being too didactic but still staying true to the character.  There is a glossary of Fancy Nancy’s Fancy Words to help the unfamiliar words stay fresh in children’s minds.  Fun and thoughtful, too.

Fancy Nancy: Splendid Speller.  Jane O’Connor; cover illustration by Robin Preiss Glasser; interior illustrations by Ted Enik.  Harper: HarperCollins Publishers, 2011.

FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy, hoping I would review the book.

We Are In a Book!

I have always loved Mo Willems.  Every time we've read one of his books - whether at home with Frances and Gloria, or at storytime when I worked at the library - I came away with some new tidbit he had tucked away in an illustration or newfound respect for the way Willems interacts with his audience.  But when Willems won his first Geisel Award for There is a Bird on Your Head!  in 2008, I hadn't read the Elephant & Piggie series.  I thought "Good for him!", but didn't take it any farther.  Even after a co-worker who is a regular reader of my blog told me this series was genius, and how much her daughter loved it (Hi, Sofia!), I still didn't make an effort.

But I'm here today to tell you how much I love the Elephant & Piggie series, and how revolutionary these readers are, just in case you've been skipping over them like I did, thinking "Oh, they're just readers - I know what readers are."  No, you really don't.  Let's talk about Willems' latest Geisel Honor winning book We Are in a Book!

To give you a little background, Elephant (whose name is Gerald) and Piggie (whose name is just Piggie) are friends.  Best friends.  They do everything together.  Elephant wears glasses, Piggie does not.  On the very first page, Elephant and Piggie are sitting down, back to back.  Piggie says "Thank you" and closes his eyes.  As Piggie closes his eyes, Gerald opens his and hisses to Piggie that someone is watching them!  Piggie gets up to examine the intruders and tells Elephant that there are indeed people watching them, and those people are called READERS.  Then Willems begins an intricate dance between characters and the reader.  Piggie first declares that he'll make the reader say "a word".  That particular word, when said by the reader, throws Elephant into pages of infectious, hysterical laughter.  But then the friends begin to panic when they realize they are drawing near the end of the story.  So they beg the reader to start the book again.  Remember Piggie's thank you at the beginning?  It's a delightful circle - the kind that all kids enjoy following again, and again, and again...at least in my house.

Part of Willems' creativity in this series of books is in the emotions of the friends and how those are expressed on the page.  When Elephant is laughing hysterically, his hee's and ha's grow bigger and multiply until the page full of laughs makes the reader helpless - they have to laugh along.  Emotions are clear on Elephant and Piggie's faces, giving needed context to beginning readers.  Yelling is done in a large font, whispers in italics...these books ask to be read aloud by an expressive reader.

One of the fascinating things about this particular book in the series is how Willems experiments with perspective.  On the title page, Elephant's proclamation "We Are in a Book!" is the title and Elephant himself is so large he blocks out Willems' name.  As Elephant and Piggie interact with the reader, they move up close and then draw back into middle ground, bringing the reader in with them.  Piggie also hangs off some word balloons, turning our traditional sense of a picture book on its ear.  However, the backgrounds are uncluttered and the drawings simple, to help focus readers on what is important - the words.

There are very few words on each page, and what's there is solely dialogue.  Another genius idea of Willems' was to color coordinate the word bubbles with the friend who is speaking.  Elephant's word bubbles are grey; Piggie's are pink.  Beginning readers can grasp plot movement very quickly when using the words in the word bubbles along with that character's actions and facial expressions (Side note - these books not only make terrific read-alouds, but would be fun plays, too!). 

While I'm spending a lot of time talking about beginner readers (after all, these are the awards Willems has won three times!), I don't want those of you with preschoolers to just ignore this series.  One of the best things about this series for my girls (3 1/2 and 2) is that they can "read" the books themselves.  The combination of facial expressions, movement and limited word choice makes it easy for them to retell the stories over and over again, and that, my friends, is an important step on the road to literacy.

I can't say enough what great books these are.  Elephant and Piggie's personalities bring to life what can be seen as a chore (learning to read).  It's hard work writing a beginning reader with a controlled vocabulary, and there's a good reason Willems keeps winning the award named after the greatest beginning reader author of all - Dr. Seuss.  The books have sparkle and wit.  Have I told you yet how fun they are to read aloud?  Go get them!!!

Willems, Mo.  We Are in a Book! (Elephant & Piggie) Hyperion, 2010.

Borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library