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By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: May 7, 2012

Here’s the scoop on the most popular destinations on The Children’s Book Review site, the most coveted new releases and bestsellers.

Five Family Favorites with Catherine Newman

Books for Boys: 5 Funny Kids Books

Best Young Adult Books with Andrea Chapman of Reading Lark

How Picture Books Play a Role in a Child’s Development

Where to Find Free eBooks for Children Online

THE NEW RELEASES

The most coveted books that release this month:

The Serpent’s Shadow (The Kane Chronicles, Book Three)

by Rick Riordan

(Ages 9-11)

Theodore Boone: The Accused

by John Grisham

(Ages 8-12)

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons

by Eric Litwin

(Ages 4-7)

The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)

by Michael Scott

(Ages 12-17)

#53 Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco (1998)
33 points

Could never read it to the kids without getting teary eyed. Great story about what a difference a teacher can make in a child’s life. – Cheryl Phillips

This is such a powerful books to read to young kids. All of the kids benefit from hearing this semi autobiographical story, but especially the struggling readers. – Alexandra Eichel

I think it’s fair to say that this book was a big surprise.  Not that people voted on it, of course.  People voted on it on the last poll, but its numbers were far too low to get on the final count.  So to see it make it, and at the more than respectable #53 . . . well, it just does the heart good.

The description from the publisher reads, “In this autobiographical story, Little Trisha, overjoyed at the thought of learning how to read struggles when she finds that all the letters and numbers get jumbled up. Her classmates make matters worse by calling her dummy.  Finally, in fifth grade, she is lucky enough to have a teacher who recognizes Trisha’s incredible artistic ability — and understands her problem, and takes the time to lead her to the magic of reading.  Although dyslexia is never mentioned in the book, this story will provide great reassurance to children who struggle to overcome learning disabilities.”

As you may already know, the book is autobiographical for the most part.  On her website Ms. Polacco addresses this saying, “I REMEMBER FEELING DUMB, THAT TERRIBLE FEELING ABOUT MYSELF WAS COMPOUNDED BY BEING TEASED BY A BULLY. THAT BOY CHANGED MY LIFE AND MADE ME FEEL SO UNSAFE AND SO SAD THAT I DIDN’T WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL ANYMORE. MR. FALKER, MY HERO, MY TEACHER, NOT ONLY STOPPED THIS BOY FROM TEASING ME, BUT HE ALSO NOTICED THAT I WASN’T READING WELL AND GOT A READING SPECIALIST TO HELP.”

It is undoubtedly the best-known (and probably best period) picture book featuring a dyslexic child we’ve ever seen.  All the more reason to check out this lesson plan called Digging Deeper: Developing Comprehension Using Thank You, Mr. Falker.”

It has some sequels, so to speak, of its own.  Using the same characters and themes, Ms. Polacco returns time and again to her own youth for inspiration.  In 2010 she published The Junkyard Wonders in which Tricia finds her tribe.  This year we’re seeing the publication of The Art of Miss Chew where Tricia is able to connect with an art teacher as well.

PW said of Thank You, Mr. Falker, “Polacco’s tale is all the more heartfelt because of its personal nature. Young readers struggling with learning difficulties will identify with Trisha’s situation and find reassurance in her success. Polacco’s gouache-an

This listener submitted review comes from Kevin Hodgson of Kevin’s Meandering Mind blog. This is Kevin’s fifth review for our show! He’ll soon need his own theme music.

This time, Kevin shares his thought about Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair by Patricia Polacco.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Send your MP3 recorded or type-written review in email to justonemorebook@gmail.com, or phone it in to our JOMB listener hotline (206-350-6487).

Need some inspiration? Give a listen to 21 previous listener submitted review episodes here.

Today I’m participating in a mass blogging! WOW! Women On Writing has gathered a group of blogging buddies to write about family relationships. Why family relationships? We’re celebrating the release of Therese Walsh’s debut novel today. The Last Will of Moira Leahy, (Random House, October 13, 2009) is about a mysterious journey that helps a woman learn more about herself and her twin, whom she lost when they were teenagers. Visit “The Muffin” to read what Therese has to say about family relationships and view the list of all my blogging buddies. And make sure you visit Therese’s website to find out more about the author.

I chose WOW!’s “Family Relationships Mass Blogging Day” to write about one of my favorite picture book authors/illustrators, Patricia Polacco. She has written and illustrated many picture books, including some of my favorites: My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother; Thank You, Mr. Falker; and Pink and Say.

The reason I chose her for today is many of her picture books are based on true accounts of her childhood, and she does not try to mask these events behind some fictional characters. She includes herself and her family members, and the stories are touching, often bringing tears. The book I chose especially for today is Thunder Cake. If you have a child scared of storms, this is the perfect book for you. It will help you and your child share special moments as Patricia and her grandmother did when she was a child.

Short, short summary: Thunder Cake is the story of how Patricia Polacco learned to conquer her fear of storms when she was a young girl. Her grandmother senses a storm is coming, and so she convinces Patricia to go outside and gather the ingredients they need to bake thunder cake. This includes eggs, tomatoes, and milk. While the cake is baking, Grandmother recaps what young Patricia did OUTSIDE as the storm was approaching, and she convinces her granddaughter that only a brave girl could do those things. Patricia agrees. This is one of the perfect family relationship books as it shows the heartwarming love between a grandma and her granddaughter, and it can help you as a parent (or even a teacher) with a child who has a fear of storms.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Make a thunder cake with your students or you child. (If you are doing this with a classroom, you can also turn any cooking lesson into a math lesson–studying fractions, doubling recipes, and so on.)

2. Ask students or your child to write (or make a list together) all the reasons why rain is a positive thing–why do we need rain? Why is this important? If children can see why rain is necessary and helpful, it might give them more positive feelings toward storms. When your child starts to become afraid during storms, draw pictures of the ways rain helps, create poems, or even make up a play or story with older children. This will distract them from the storm and promote positive feelings.

3. Make noise with your child or students as a storm is approaching. Can you make your own thunder? Often children just don’t like loud noises they can not control, and this is why thunder scares them. Get out some pots, pans, and wooden spoons. Have a storm concert. Chant favorite poems and play music to drown out the outside sounds.

Another super easy thing to do is just talk with your child about Patricia’s bravery and see what they think. Thanks for checking out my post today as part of WOW!’s mass blogging day!

Each day leading up to Christmas, I'm going to feature a Children's book that I've really enjoyed and would make a great choice to share with your family for the holidays. It may be one I've loved for years or one I've just recently found, but all would be great additions to your Christmas story list. Hopefully you'll find something to enjoy!

"When a bad leak ruins the sacristy wall in his father's church, Jonathan Jefferson Weeks thinks his family's first Christmas Eve service in Detroit will be ruined too. Luckily, he and his father find a beautiful tapestry for sale in a secondhand shop-just the thing to cover the damaged wall and give the church a festive look!

But there is more to the tapestry, as they discover when an old Jewish woman who is visiting the church recognizes the lovely old cloth. It is her discovery that leads to a real miracle on this unforgettable Christmas Eve."

Patricia Polacco is awesome in all the books she's written, but I really do love this one. A great mixture of a holiday story, family relationships and history, love, and different cultures coming together. It's a bit longer than in text than a typical picture book, so older kids will probably get more out of it than your younger ones.

Not a flat-out Christmas book, but a lovely family read aloud that includes the holidays, some Christian traditions, some Jewish traditions, and fabulous miracle at the end!


Christmas Tapestry
Patricia Polacco
48 pages
Picture Book
Philomel
9780399239557
September 2002
Copy borrowed from library


To learn more or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon. I am an Associate and will receive a tiny commission from your purchase. Thanks!