The Death Knell for Show-and-Tell

 The Death Knell for Show-and-Tell

For  Library Card Sign-Up Month, I visit every Kindergarten class in town.  I talk about all the great reasons to have a library card, drop off applications for each student, and read a book - preferably a funny one.  Because I visit at least 12 different classrooms, I usually bring an assortment of books so I don't get bored reading the same one in each class.

This year, I brought Otto the Book Bear by Katie Cleminson (not funny, but a perfect choice for pitching libraries!) A Perfectly Messed-Up Story by Patrick McDonnell (the "what not to do with your library book" book), and Elise Parsley's, If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't!.

If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't (2015, Little, Brown) is a new book that I find hilarious.   A little girl brings her alligator to school for show-and-tell, and all havoc breaks loose.  I thought it would bring some giggles to Kindergarten kids.  At my first visit, I asked the teacher if the kids had begun show-and-tell yet. I wanted to make sure they would get the joke.  I was told that the new, more rigorous Kindergarten curriculum did not allow the time necessary for the rather lengthy process of show-and-tell.  The teacher suggested that the book would be best shared with preschoolers as they are the only ones with time for show-and-tell.  How sad.

This isn't an individual teacher's decision, it is a by-product of strict, standards-based education.  I get it.  I truly do, but I am glad that I am not a child today.  Today's body of knowledge is so much greater than it was when I was in school, and the process of educating children has moved to a business-like model.  These factors combine to remove much of the joy of early learning - free play, music, art, and show-and-tell.

If you're a parent or librarian or teacher with a few minutes of free time, spread some joy wherever you can.  Life is hard - even in Kindergarten. 

Picture book roundup - Library books

September, National Library Card Sign-Up Month, is almost over, but if you're still looking for a good book to share, here are two new ones:

• Kohara, Kazuno. 2014. The Midnight Library. New York: Roaring Brook. 

By the time this month is over, I will have visited thirteen kindergarten and four preschool classrooms to promote Library Card Sign-Up Month.

It doesn't matter what other books I have in my bag.  When kids see The Midnight Library, it's the one they want to hear!  Apart from Kazuno Kohara's eye-catching linocut illustrations in three colors, here's why I like it:

• It features a library that's open all night long.  I wouldn't want to work there, but it makes for a really good story!
• It highlights the fact that libraries are adaptable.  The squirrel band needs to practice some new songs for an upcoming concert?  No problem!  The library has an activity room they can use.
• It features one of a librarian's favorite activities - reading stories.  Wolf is crying because her book is sad?  No worries! The librarian reads it with her.  It has a happy ending!
• It's absolutely perfect for Library Card Sign-Up Month!  Tortoise can't finish that 500-page book before the library closes at sunrise? A library card is what he needs!

See this and more interior artwork at the publisher's website.

• Becker, Bonny. 2014. A Library Book for Bear. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton.

I've loved the Bear and Mouse series ever since it came out, and while this one is not my favorite (I still love A Visitor for Bear best!), it's a good addition to your collection of library-themed books.  You really can't go wrong with Bear and Mouse.

Picture Book Roundup - funnybone tickler edition

If you're a public librarian with a very popular summer reading club, you need patience and a happy disposition. Here are three funny new picture books that are guaranteed to put you in a good mood - unless you're a goat (more on that later).  I wish I'd had these books when I made 25 school visits this month!

• Barnett, Mac. 2013. Count the Monkeys. New York: Disney Hyperion. (Illustrations by Kevin Cornell)

These monkeys are so cute.  Who wouldn't want to count them?  But first, you'll have to find them!

It's fun. It's easy.  All you have to do is turn the page ... and Count the Monkeys.

YIKES!  1 King Cobra has scared off all the monkeys.  Turn the page very slowly, very carefully so he doesn't notice us.

... And so it goes. King Cobras, mongooses (or is it mongeese?), bee swarms, lumberjacks - everything but monkeys! You won't find them until the endpapers.  Kids will love not counting monkeys!  Fun, fun, fun.

• Daywalt, Drew. 2013. The Day the Crayons Quit. New York: Philomel. (Illustrations by Oliver Jeffers)

Duncan's crayons are not happy, and they've let him know it.  Each crayon has written him a letter - in crayon, of course - to complain about a problem.  Yellow and orange are fighting over which is the true color of the sun.  Poor blue is overworked,

I have really enjoyed all those oceans, lakes, rivers, raindrops, rain clouds and clear skies.  But the BAD NEWS is that I am so short and stubby, I can't even see over the railing in the CRAYON BOX anymore! I need a BREAK!

Your stubby friend, Blue Crayon

 Peach Crayon's problem is even worse - he's naked! But, no worries - Duncan has a colorful solution. Great concept and stellar illustrations.

See a great selection of artwork from The Day the Crayons Quit at Oliver Jeffers' site.

This is Drew Daywalt's first picture book.  Can you get any luckier than to have Oliver Jeffers illustrate your first picture book?

• Shea, Bob. 2013. Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great. New York: Disney Hyperion.

Goat had it pretty good until that show-off Unicorn moved in!  One time, Goat "made marshmallow squares that almost came out right."  And what did Unicorn do?  "He made it rain cupcakes!"

Look at me! I'm Unicorn!  I think I'm so-o-o cool!  blah, blah, blah, blah, blah ...

Poor goat. But don't feel too sorry for him - sometimes a goat can make the unlikeliest of friends!
Loaded with humor, attitude, and goofy fun.





Although I was feeling more funny than factual today, don't let that stop you from visiting the July 1, 2013,  Nonfiction Monday roundup at Ms. Yingling Reads. (Can it really be July already?)

! a review

Rosenthal, Amy Krouse and Tom Lichtenheld. 2013. Exclamation Mark. New York: Scholastic.



Looking back over five and a half years of reviews on Shelf-employed, I'm shocked and surprised that I've never reviewed a book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal or Tom Lichtenheld.  A bad error of omission on my part I assure you, since several of my favorites are by the talented twosome - most notably,

• Spoon (which never fails to crack me up)
• Little Pea (who, I just found out, has his own theme song!)
• Duck! Rabbit! (one of the best 2-person reads for storytime and a favorite for school visits)
• Cloudette (who is just irresistibly adorable!)

As a matter of fact, it occurs to me that other than Jon Scieszka, Amy Krouse Rosenthal is my most frequent companion on school visits.

In any case, I've had a copy of ! in my bag that I've been meaning to review for months, and now the book has been published and everyone already knows that it's wonderful, but I'll chime in with my agreement.

It is a great and wonderful talent to be able to impart knowledge and compassion in the cloak of humor.  If everyone could do it, we'd all be smarter and happier for it; but not everyone can.  So, when you find an offering by two people with just such talents, Amy Krause Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld, grab it, read it, and share it.  You won't be disappointed.

Exclamation Mark was

 "typeset in Brandon Grotesque and Mrs. Eaves.  The illustrations were rendered in ink and other exciting materials."   

See what I mean?  Even the copyright page sounds fun!

Other reviews at

• Waking Brain Cells
• School Library Journal
• proseandkahn

Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood

Artell, Mike. 2001. Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood. Ill. by Jim Harris. New York: Penguin.

While I was in New Orleans, I attended the 8th Annual Poetry Blast sponsored by ALSC. As I mentioned on the ALSC blog, one of the highlights of the evening was Mike Artell's reading of his book Petite Rouge.  Of all the fractured folktales that I've ever heard, this has got to be one of my all-time favorites! Hearing it in New Orleans, in Cajun country, made it that much better. I went down to the French Quarter and purchased a copy the very next morning.

In Artell's version, Petite Rouge and her cat set off in a pirouge (a small boat used with a pole to travel the bayous) to grand-mère's house, carrying homemade gumbo. 

In the swamp, she runs into a wily gator named Claude,

Dey don' be gone long
when dey see by a stomp,
a big, long, green log
dat got plenty a' bomp.

Dat log it come close
to de pirouge and say,
"Now what you two doin' out here ...
si'l vous plait?"

It was Claude, dat ol' gator.
Petite Rouge gotta honch
dat ol' Claude t'inkin' he'd
like to have her fo' lunch.

Petite Rouge uses her pole to get away, but old Claude catches up with her at grandma's house, with very funny results involving TeJean, the cat, and a bottle of Cajun hot sauce.

It's hard to say what's funnier - the story, or Jim Harris' detailed and expressive illustrations.

© Jim Harris

  www.jimharrisillustrator.com

For a real treat, or some pronunciation help, you can download or listen to mp3 files of Mike Artell reading Petite Rouge here. His narration is flawlessly funny!

Also, be sure to check out illustrator Jim Harris' site for some backstory, photos of bayou homes that inspired Petite Rouge's, and preliminary drawings for the book.

Included in the book is a brief history of Cajun people and a glossary of unfamiliar words with their phonetic spellings as well.
Great fun!  Perfect for sharing with all ages!  With some practice, I think I'll be able to read this one on school visits.

Finally! The Little Red Pen: a review

Stevens, Janet. 2011. The Little Red Pen. Ill. by Susan Stevens Crummel. Boston: Harcourt Childrens.

Finally!  I've been dying to get my hands on this book ever since I saw it during a spring preview webinar!  It was worth the wait.

You know the story of the industrious Little Red Hen, you know, the one who planted the seeds, raised the wheat, milled the flour, and baked the bread without any help from her lazy friends?  Well, look out, 'cause here comes the desk set version -  the Little Red Pen with her similarly unhelpful friends, Eraser, Pencil, Highlighter, Scissors, Stapler and Señorita Chincheta (don't you dare call her Pushpin!) - and they've got papers to grade! But unlike the traditional story, this Little Red Pen can't do it all on her own.  She's collapsed from exhaustion and fallen into  "The Pit of No Return!" (aka "The Trash")

With puns

"I have another bright idea," said Highlighter.

"What? Me, a bridge?" Ruler snapped. "I'm not budging an inch."

jokes,

She's pushing!  Well, I'm a pushpin! 

and hilarious artwork, The Little Red Pen makes a point and gets an A+ in the grade book!

Written and illustrated by siblings, Janet and Susan, it must have been a lot of fun!
An Activity Kit is available from the publisher.

Highly recommended!

Picture Book Roundup

In no particular order, these were some of the wonderful picture books

 that I found in my book bag this week! I loved them all.

Spinelli, Jerry. 2010.I Can be Anything! Illustrated by Jimmy Liao. New York: Little, Brown.

A rhyming romp through all of the possibilities of the future - "cross-legged sitter, make-believe critter, deep-hole digger, lemonade swigger." Who knows? Bright and joyful illustrations!

Fuge, Charles. 2010. Yip! Snap! Yap! New York: Sterling.

Another lively, rhyming romp! This one featuring delightfully goofy dogs!

Thomson, Bill. 2010. Chalk. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish.

The illustrator of the exquisitely illustrated, Baseball Hour, Bill Thompson outdoes himself with Chalk - a wordless book that tells the story of a magical, rainy day at the playground for three children and a mysterious bag of chalk.  Let your imagination run wild and enjoy Bill Thomson's hand-crafted brilliance!

Geringer, Laura. 2010. Boom Boom Go Away! Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. New York: Atheneum.

Music lovers, noise makers, and children who don't want to go to bed will love Boom Boom Go Away! Its cumulative rhyme is full of playfulness and imagination.  The warm illustrations evoke picture books of an earlier era.

Jeffers, Oliver. 2010. The Heart and the Bottle. New York: Philomel.

This is not a book for storytime.  It's a serious book for a special child - perhaps a grieving child, a child with a profound loss, a child who may have placed her heart in a bottle, a child who needs to know that there is a way to retrieve her own heart.  Gently and tastefully done.

Bottner, Barbara. 2010. Miss Brooks Loves Books (And I Don't). Illustrated by Michael Emberly. New York: Knopf.

The tagline for the book is "a librarian and a contrarian face off in this tale of a very reluctant reader." I predict that this will become a librarian favorite! When Miss Brooks assigns a book report (in costume!) for Children's Book Week, it prompts the best line in the book -

When I get home, I ask my mother if we can move to a new town. My mother says there's a librarian in every town.

 Too funny!

Share

The Book That Eats People

Perry, John. 2009. The Book That Eats People. Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press.

Who can resist a book that eats people? If the yellow caution tape on the cover does not scare the reader, the book that eats people surely will! Just think of the fate of poor Victoria Glassford. After disguising itself in a cheery "Dolphins" book jacket, the "book that eats people" attracted Victoria's attention; she checked it out of the library and took it home one evening.

She put the book on her nightstand, but before she could finish brushing her teeth, it jumped up, thumped her on the head, and gobbled her down, beginning with her polished pink toenails.
Have you ever heard a book burp?

Beware - this book is ALWAYS hungry.

Great fun with hilariously gruesome illustrations.
(Not for the youngest listener - this book DOES eat people.)

I'm taking this one on school visits!