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*Picture book, fantasy for preschoolers through second graders
*Young boy as main character
*Rating: Orson Blasts Off by Raul Colon is a great adventure-type picture book that kids will love to read over and over again.

Short, short summary:

When Orson’s computer breaks, he doesn’t know what he’ll do to pass the time. He’s already bored! But then his jack-in-the-box, named Weasel (as in Pop Goes the Weasel), talks to him and suggests he goes outside to play in the snow. Of course, Orson can’t believe Weasel can talk or that it’s snowy in July. But when he looks out the window, that’s just what he discovers. This starts Orson’s big adventure through the North Pole, a terrible storm at sea, and outer space–with Weasel as his faithful companion. Raul Colon’s wonderful illustrations paired with his creative story and cute pictures make this a picture book that boys (and girls, too) will love!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Children can choose which setting from the story they like the best such as the North Pole, the sea during the storm, or outer space. Then they draw a picture of themselves, enjoying an adventure like Orson. Depending on the age of the child, ask students to write a sentence or short story about spending a day at this place. They can put Orson and Weasel in their picture and story, too.

2. Have any of your students or your children ever felt like Orson when a favorite toy breaks? Or how about if you lose your electricity? Will they survive without the T.V. or video games? Ask students to tell you about a time when they had to find something else to do just like Orson. You can also ask students which seems more fun–the video games Orson likes to have or the adventures that he went on in his imagination? (Or was it imagination? See #3 below.)

3. Here’s a question for debate: Is this a fantasy story where Orson really goes on these adventures OR is this a story about Orson’s imagination? Ask students what they think and ask them to give reasons to support their answers.

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*Picture book, contemporary fantasy for first through fifth graders
*Young boy as main character
*Rating: Wake the Dead by Monica A. Harris is definitely a witty and entertaining picture book–but for a little older audience than most picture books.

Short, short summary:

Henry is VERY loud; and his entire family is telling him if he’s not careful, he’ll wake the dead. Well, guess what? That’s exactly what happens. Some rather cute skeletons come out of their graves and try to find the source of the noise that woke them out of their sleep. Along the way, a beautician tells one skeleton, “Oh, honey, you look like death warmed over.” At the library, the librarian tells another corpse, “I expect dead silence in here.” When they finally find Henry, he “could guess by their deadpan expressions that they had a bone to pick with him.” He does his best to try and convince this crew to go back to their graves, but they are now wide-awake! So with some witty puns and funny illustrations, Monica A. Harris and Susan Estelle Kwas help Henry solve his problem and get the dead where they need to be! (I realize this is the middle of April, but you should bookmark this book for October!!!)

So, what do I do with this book?

1. The reason why Wake the Dead is so perfect for older students is because they’ve probably heard many of these puns and expressions before in their lives. And so, they can take one of the puns from the book, create their own sentence with it, and then draw an illustration to go with it. Younger students might have a harder time with this book and/or activity. Although, they will still enjoy the cute illustrations. You could have them draw a picture of their favorite part of the book and write sentences explaining why they like that part.

2. A writing journal prompt to go with Wake the Dead: In the book, Henry throws a sleep over for the dead folks. He plans many fun activities. If you could plan this sleep over with Henry, what would you do? What are some of your favorite activities to do at sleep overs?

3. A fun October activity would be to show students the two-page spread of the skeletons dressed up in their Halloween costumes and let them choose the winner of the costume contest. Henry chooses George Washington because the winner was a “dead-ringer” for him. Which one would your students choose and why? You could display your results on a bar graph to find the winner.

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Easter books for preschool kids and primary students can be fun and give you several activity options to welcome spring!

*Picture book for preschool through second grade students
*Our favorite, old-eating-everything lady as the main character
*Rating: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick is another fun book for young children in this wonderful series.

Short, short summary:

“There was an old lady who swallowed a chick. I don’t know why she swallowed that chick, but she didn’t get sick.” Of course, she didn’t get sick. This lady can swallow just about anything as we’ve learned from other books about her. In this Easter book for preschool kids and elementary students, the old lady swallows a chick, straw, Easter egg, jellybeans, Easter basket, and more. What finally does her in this time? Well, nothing really, she starts to hop, and she meets the Easter bunny!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. With this fun Easter book for preschool kids and primary children, you can either order felt board pieces for a retelling of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick, or you can make your own. Children love to be a part of telling the story, and they can help you manipulate the felt board pieces and retell the story.

2. Lucille Colandro has written another great book that can help young children work on sequencing skills. After you have read the book a few times, ask students or your children what does the old lady swallow first, second, and so on. You can even ask students questions such as: “What happens first–the old lady swallows the straw or the candy?” or “What does she eat after she swallows the Easter egg?” You can extend this discussion by providing a worksheet with pictures of the different objects the old lady swallows out of order. Students would cut these objects out and glue them onto a separate sheet of paper in the correct order.

3. Students may want to write their own class version of this fun Easter book for preschoolers. As a shared writing activity, you could either stick with the Easter theme or switch to another theme such as summer or Independence Day. You will want to help students with the format, such as writing on chart paper ahead of time: “There was an old lady who swallowed a _______________. I don’t know why she swallowed a __________.” and so on. Once you have written a version as a class, you can assign different students to illustrate different parts of your class book. If you do this as a home school project, you and your children can work together to create the book.

Do you have a favorite There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed. . . book?

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*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders
*Bea the sheep as the main character
*Rating: Be unique is the message in Bea Rocks the Flock, and this book’s illustration and cute sheep make it unique, too.

Short, short summary:

Bea is having a hard time in the flock. She just doesn’t do the same things as all the other sheep. One day, she gets fed up and decides to leave and go to New York City. In the city, she gets several ideas of how to spend her life, but none of them seem to work out so well. She enters a dog show and dyes herself pink. She wins the most unique sheep, and this gives her a great idea. Bea goes back to the flock and convinces them that being unique is not so bad after all. Bea Rocks the Flock by Victoria Jamieson will leave each child in your classroom or your home happy to be unique!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Bea Rocks the Flock is all about being unique and following your own interests. Ask students to name one thing that makes them unique such as: they are a yellow belt in karate or they take ballet lessons or they have a rock collection. After each student has shared one thing that makes him unique and you have written it on a piece of chart paper, then children should draw an illustration of themselves doing the activity and copy down the sentence from the chart paper.

2. In the middle of the book, Bea is trying to figure out what she should do in New York City to pass her time. After the library scene, ask students to give their ideas on what she could do each day. You can even create a class book with these ideas called, Bea Rocks New York City. Students can illustrate the ideas for Bea in the city, and teachers can type the ideas and glue them to each page. Laminate the pages, connect them together with string or plastic binding, and you have a new class book for students to read based on Bea Rocks the Flock.

3. You can actually use this book with older elementary students to talk about one of the 6+1 traits of writing–word choice. Victoria Jamieson uses several specific nouns and verbs to make her story shine. For example, at the end of the book Flossie doesn’t just say she wants to grow flowers, she says she wants to start an organic daisy farm. Choosing the words “organic daisy farm” brings a different picture into readers’ minds than if the author chose to just write “flower garden.” Find several examples of specific word choice throughout the story and discuss them with your students.

And don’t forget the new Rule of Sheepdom. . . .BEEEEEEEEEEE yourself!

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To get ready for spring and April, National Poetry Month, I thought we should start having some Wacky Wednesday posts about teaching kids poetry. Whether you teach your kids at home or you are a K-12 teacher, your students can benefit from reading and studying poetry. The next two weeks, the Wacky Wednesday posts will target elementary school students, using a book called More Pocket Poems poems selected by Bobbi Katz and illustrated by Deborah Zemke. Then I’ll have a post or two for middle school and high school teachers and home schoolers. So, on to April, poetry month, and looking at poems. . .

Bobbi Katz wrote a poem titled “Put the World in Your Pocket.” In this poem, she talks about how it’s nifty to hold a quarter or key in your pocket, but that a pocket can’t hold really big things like summer, elephants, or the sea. However, and here’s the secret–if those things are in a poem, a pocket sure can hold them! This is the introductory poem in the book More Pocket Poems, and it’s a perfect starting point for teaching kids poetry and doing several poem activities during April, poetry month.

The rest of the book has poems by some very famous poets, and all of this poetry could easily fit in a pocket or two. For example, “March” by Emily Dickinson is included in this book with a cute illustration of hats flying in the wind–did students know they could carry March around with them? There are also “Skeleton Parade” by Jack Prelutsky and “Song of the Witches” from MacBeth by William Shakespeare. Bobbi and the poets take children through the four seasons, and the illustrations add to the poetry fun. Teaching kids poetry with this book might just be e-a-s-y or at least easier.

Once you have shared some poems from this book with your students, ask them to choose a poem either from the book or a favorite. They should copy it down; or if they are too young, you can make a copy for them. Ask them to illustrate it, fold it neatly, and put the poem in their pockets. (Maybe send a note home earlier in the week to make sure students can wear a jacket or pants with a pocket that day if you teach in the classroom–or bring some aprons with pockets in case anyone forgets.) At the end of the day, gather students around or put them into small groups and ask them to take out their pocket poems to share for April, poetry month, activities.

Stay tuned next Wacky Wednesday (3/17) for some poetry writing fun while teaching kids poetry. Also, don’t forget there’s a book giveaway going on this week. See yesterday’s post for a chance to win a copy of Aries Rising, the first book of a new contemporary YA series with some astrology mixed in! Contest goes until Friday at 11:55 p.m. CST.

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Talk about timeless–how about this book from 1937? It’s Dr. Seuss’s first children’s book, and I thought I’d wrap up this week of celebrating his birthday with talking about one more of his classic books. And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street is, of course, a fantastical version of an actual street from Ted Geisel’s childhood–Mulberry Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. I’m telling you, Dr. Seuss is one of those living-proof legends that wrote what he knew with great success!

So, if you’ve never read this classic Dr. Seuss tale, then here’s a quick summary: Marco’s dad always says to him, “Marco, keep your eyelids up and see what you can see.” So, Marco does, but he’s a bit frustrated because when he tells his dad the things that he has seen, his dad says, “Your eyesight’s much too keen. Stop telling outlandish tales.” So, what kind of outlandish things does Marco see on Mulberry Street? Well, there’s the zebra pulling a wagon–actually a chariot; and oh wait–it’s not a chariot with a zebra, it’s an elephant pulling a big brass band. Marco’s imagination (or keen eyesight) continues to see this wagon pulled by an animal in all sorts of ways, and he just can’t wait to tell his dad until he gets right there with him–and Marco winds up telling him that he saw “a plain horse and wagon on Mulberry Street.”

Children today will love Marco’s imagination and keep turning the page to see what he comes up with next. They’ll also want to see what he reports to his father. Since teachers and parents are often complaining that children don’t spend enough time imagining any more because they are playing video games and watching movies and TV, And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street is an important book to share with children and celebrate imagination.

After reading this book to students or your children, discuss with them what they could turn the wagon and horse into in their imaginations. Ask them to draw their versions and write a sentence about them. You could even do this activity in an art class with older students–especially if you want to study Dr. Seuss’s illustration style.

And next time you and your children (or students) are outside looking at a street, what can you imagine that you see on South Street or Main Street or Green Street? Create your own version of Dr. Seuss’s celebration of imagination And to Think I Saw it On Mulberry Street!

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Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders, fantasy
*Young boy as main character
*Rating: Dr. Seuss is at his best in If I Ran the Zoo–from made-up creatures to fantastical places to those ever-clever rhymes.

Short, short summary: Gerald McGrew says that his local zoo is a “pretty good zoo.” But it just has the normal, old animals that all zoos have. So, if Gerald ran it. . .he would do things a little differently. For example, he would travel up past the North Pole in his Skeegle-mobile and bring back a family of “What-do-you-know!” He would hunt in the mountains of Zomba-ma-Tant and even brave the blistering sands of the Desert of Zind. People from all over, of course, will want to see these amazing animals at the McGrew Zoo. And as he points out at the end, Gerald would just make a few changes to the zoo. (BTW, did you know that Dr. Seuss’s father actually ran a zoo in Springfield, Massachusetts for thirty years? Write what you know, everyone. )

So, what do I do with this book?

1. If I Ran the Zoo is full of Dr. Seuss’s wonderful illustrations. You can do two activities with illustrations. You can read the descriptions of a creature to your students and ask them to draw what they imagine. You can also ask them to create an animal for McGrew’s Zoo, name it, and even write a description–depending on their age and ability levels.

2. Students can write their own versions of If I Ran the Zoo by writing about what they would do with a zoo, or they can also change the place: If I Ran the School or If I Ran a Pizza Parlor. If you have young students, you can do this as a shared writing activity with the repeating sentence: “If I ran the zoo, I would have a ____________________.” If you have older students, they can create their stories themselves.

3. Some of the places such as the North Pole, Africa, and North Dakota are real (of course). Other places, it is clear that Dr. Seuss made them up. Ask your students to give you a thumbs-up if the place you are reading about is a real place (with made-up creatures) or a made-up place. You can also make a list of both on chart paper in a T-table. This can also lead to a discussion of what makes If I Ran the Zoo a fantasy even though parts of it are real.

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My Basset Hound, Hush Puppy, under the Christmas tree

*Picture book for preschoolers through 2nd graders
*Young girl and cute dog as main characters
*Rating: Anyone, child or adult, who has ever been searching for the perfect pet will love You? by Vladimir Radunsky.

Short, short summary: In the park, a poor, little lonely dog is searching for someone to love him. A poor, little lonely girl is searching for a friend in the same park but in a different place (like over the fence). Many funny, cute, and peculiar dogs and their owners pass by, and the lonely dog and the lonely girl wish to be with them all. Finally in the end, they spot each other and say, “Woof?” and “You?” One of the cutest things about You? is that the dog speaks in “dog language” with woofs, arfs, and bow-wows, and this is translated into English by Vladimir Radunsky’s dog, Tsetsa. (Brilliant dog!)

Speaking of brilliant dogs, here’s our Boxer, Chester, when he was 7 1/2 months old.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Children will have such fun with this book. They will love the dog speak and translations! Students can get creative, pick an animal, do a couple illustrations, and write in cat speak or tiger speak or bird speak what the animal is saying and the English translation!

2. You? is a good book to discuss children’s emotions. How is the little girl feeling at the beginning? Sad and lonely. Ask students to tell you, write about, or draw a time when they felt the same way. In the end, the girl feels differently. How does she feel? Why? Students can also make a personal connection with this feeling at the end, too.

3. Children will want to talk all about their pets after you finish reading this book. You might want to save You? for a pet day or a show and tell day. Students could bring in pictures of their pets (or their favorite animals if they don’t have a pet) and share their pets with the class. If you home school, children could make a book about their pets, almost like a baby book–when the pet was born, when he came to your house, what he likes to eat, and activities he likes to do.

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*Picture book for preschoolers (However, this can be used with elementary students during a poetry unit.)
*Young boy as main character
*Rating: Red Sled is a clever book about a night time sled ride for a boy and his dad. Not to mention, there’s wonderfully bright illustrations!

Short, short summary: A sad lad and a sad dad take a red sled down a hill of freshly fallen snow one night. They have a ton of fun until–oops, crash! But falling in the snow is not so bad. When they go home to warm up, they are no longer sad, and now they are glad lad and glad dad. This book may sound simple, but it really is not! Patricia Thomas wrote Red Sled in the form of a chiasmus (ky-AZ-mus). This is a type of ancient writing. Here’s what she says in the back of her book: “This format creates a kind of mirror image, with thoughts, words, or even word sounds flowing toward a center point, then reversing to reflect that order as it reaches the end.” She, then, shows the reader in the author’s note the form of a chiasmus, using her Red Sled book. Very cool!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. The most obvious thing is to write a chiasmus, either as a whole class in a shared writing lesson or individually for older students. This will NOT be easy for anyone, so take your time, have fun, and play around with rhyme and the English language. Pick an easy, well-known, action-filled subject such as Patricia Thomas did.

2. Ask students to write or draw about a time when they went on a sled ride. If you live somewhere with no snow or sledding, then you can ask children to make up a story about sled riding, based on the book Red Sled.

3. This is a great book for oral reading, listening to rhymes, text patterns, and noticing the rhythm to language. Students could actually read this book with teachers because the text is large, or they could repeat after the teacher or parent. A really fun part to read with children is when the dad and boy are on the sled, and the text says, “Go! Go! No! No! Whoa! Whoa! Flip-flop stop.” Have fun with this book!

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*Picture book, Kindergartners to third graders, contemporary, Christmas
*Three children (two boys and one younger girl) as main characters
*Rating: Santa Calls is a great adventure Christmas story for children.

Short, short summary: Art Atchinson Aimesworth receives a call from Santa to go to Toyland in the North Pole. He takes with him Esther (his sister after she begs and cries) and Spaulding (his buddy). They have a fabulous adventure in the North Pole, and they meet Santa and Mrs. Claus as well as the Dark Queen and her elves (and they defeat her, of course). However, they can’t figure out why Santa called them to come to the North Pole. He’s just so secretive; and every time Art asks, Santa doesn’t answer the question. In the end, Esther and the reader figure it out!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Try to decide before you and your child read the last page why Santa called. It may be hard, but read carefully and look for clues.

2. Use the map of the North Pole in the front of the book and make up a story (as a class or as individual students) about the North Pole and an adventure other kids could have there.

3. Write a descriptive paragraph about what Toyland looks like. Use the illustrations of Toyland from the book.

Have a Merry Christmas!

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Journal writing prompts are sometimes hard to come up with. So when I saw this contest sponsored by Target and Twitttermoms, I thought this could also be a journal writing prompt for just about any age student or child (or even adult!).

The contest goes like this. I must answer the question: “What Was the Most Surprising Gift I Ever Received?” and then do a couple other things like link to Twittermoms and Target and tweet about it and so on! I thought it sounded fun, and I immediately thought of this story about the most surprising gift I ever received!

When I first started dating my husband, who I met on Match.com, we went to see the movie Love Actually. That was our first “real” date, just the two of us, and I was very excited that he would take me to see this awesome chic flick. Right around Christmas time, our relationship was sailing along, and we were in the mall shopping. In a music store, I said, “Oh look, here’s the sound track for Love Actually. Remember when we went to see that?”

He pretended he didn’t. As a matter of fact, he acted like he had no idea what I was talking about and finally admitted, “Oh that movie. Yeah, it was all right.” I wanted to strangle him. When we got back to his apartment, he told me to shut my eyes, and he would be right back. So, I did, still fuming a little about his lack or memory.

When he came back, he put a wrapped gift in my hand, and I opened it. What was it? Well, to my surprise, it was the soundtrack CD to Love Actually with the ticket stub from when we went to see it tucked inside the case. I guess he did remember after all! And I remember that was the first time I told him that I loved him. Sappy, huh?

Okay, so if you use this journal writing prompt this holiday season, you probably and hopefully won’t get such a sappy response, but you might get some heartfelt journal entries from your students or your children. Sure, you’ll get the answer that their Wii was the best gift and biggest surprise from a few, but some answers might just surprise you. If you answer this question for yourself, you might just surprise yourself at your memories; and maybe the holiday rush will slow down for a few minutes as we reflect on some of the wonderful ways people in our lives have shown their love around the holiday season.

Other Journal Writing Prompts for the holidays:

1. What is your favorite tradition around the holidays? Who do you do this with?

2. Giving gifts is better than receiving gifts because. . .

3. If I could give a gift to anyone in the world it would be. . . because. . .

4. What are your plans and goals for the New Year?

5. When Joshua woke up Monday morning, he looked out his window, and it had snowed. WOW! It had really snowed, so he decided. . .

Here’s a book all ages can enjoy that can help you think of gift giving in a less consumerism-way:

Have fun!

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*Picture book, contemporary urban fable, for preschoolers through first graders
*Young boy as main character
*Rating: How to Heal a Broken Wing’s beautiful illustrations tell this heartwarming story along with a few simple words.

Short, short summary: A little boy finds a bird with a broken wing in the middle of the city. He convinces his mom to let him take the bird home and fix its wing. With his parents’ help and a lot of time and patience, the bird heals. The family takes the bird back to the spot where they found it and let it fly away. Here’s what Bob Graham (author and illustrator) has to say about his book How to Heal a Broken Wing: “I wanted to show that there is still hope in a coming generation of children who have curiosity and empathy with the world around them, and that care and attention can sometimes fix broken wings.”

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Books like How to Heal a Broken Wing where illustrations tell a large part of the story are perfect for use in the classroom or with home school students. Your children or your students can provide the text for the illustrations that Bob Graham did not. You can work on dialogue and punctuating dialogue as a shared writing activity. What are the parents and the little boy saying to each other about the bird’s broken wing? Children can also write about what the boy or even the bird might be thinking in their reading response journals.

2. How to Heal a Broken Wing is considered an urban fable. So a good discussion to have with children about this book is, “What should you do if you find a wild animal hurt? Who should you call or tell?” It’s always a good idea to call your local humane society even if they can’t help because they will have numbers for who to call. Children should NOT touch these animals, and adults should always wear gloves. Use Bob Graham’s book to start a safety discussion.

3. What else can time and patience do? Although you will be reading this book to younger children, you can still talk to them about how this book has a message that time and patience can do remarkable things in our world–look at the Grand Canyon. Make a list with your students. If they are having trouble getting started, you could help them think about things that grow–such as time and patience to get a seed to grow into a seedling OR time and patience to teach a dog to sit and so on.

Have you read this book?

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It seems on Wacky Wednesdays that I am on a bit of a poetry kick. Last week, I discussed acrostic poems and how they can be useful tools in the classroom for creative writing skills and assessing subject matter knowledge. This week, I have found this wonderful book at my public library, and I just have to share it and some lesson ideas for poetry with you. Teaching poetry to kids is not always easy. When we find tools, we must share them!

Falling Down the Page is a new book of list poems, edited by Georgia Heard. In her introduction, Ms. Heard shares with the reader that she has compiled a book of list poems, and “the list or catalog poem is one of the oldest and most accessible of poetic forms.” She mentions a famous list poem most of us adults know–”Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman. She also discusses how these poems connect to one another and how list poems can take on many forms; so when teaching poetry to kids, these are important concepts to point out. Georgia Heard also suggests some lesson plans for poems: “After you read a few of these poems, I bet you’ll feel inspired to write one of your own. Think about your day. Jot down what you notice. And let your (list of) words fall down the page.”

Students will love these list poems that you read while teaching poetry to kids. Take for example the very first poem in the book, “Good-byes” by Eileen Spinelli. In her poem, she is discussing how hard it is to say good-bye to summer, and her list in her poem includes, “castles rising from the sand,” “Annie’s caramel popcorn stand,” and “matinees and indoor games.” OR How about Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s list poem, “On the Menu For School Today”?

-an excerpt
“Label planets
in our sky.
Learn how numbers
multiply.
Count coins.
String beads.
Shake bells.
Plant seeds.”

Once you share this book with students during your lesson plans for poems, then allow them to write some of their own list poems as Georgia Heard suggests. They could start with an actual list or a word web to brainstorm ideas, and then put these ideas into poetry form. One thing you will want to do when teaching poetry to kids is point out how these list poems are not simply a list, such as a grocery list, but the poets have chosen their words carefully and put their ideas in a poetic form–there is a reason for each word being where it is. Of course, students will not perfect this in a day or two, but it will be fun trying!

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photo by Vadim Lavrusik www.flickr.com

*Picture book for preschoolers through third graders, contemporary
*Young boy as main character
*Rating: Looking Like Me is a rhythmic self-esteem-builder journey for young children by father/son duo Walter Dean and Christopher Myers.

Short, short summary: Looking Like Me is basically a list of all the things that a boy/girl can be. For example, in the beginning of the book, Jeremy says: “I looked in the mirror and what did I see? A real handsome dude looking just like me. He put out his fist. I gave it a bam!” Then along comes, Jeremy’s sister and tells him he is a little brother. She puts out her fist and he says, “I gave it a bam! Jeremy and brother, That’s who I am.” Thus the book continues as Jeremy takes the reader through every title that makes up who he is from son to writer to runner. And of course, each time, he gives the person a BAM! Looking Like Me by Walter Dean Myers is a book to read aloud to children over and over again.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. This is one of those books that would be a great activity for the beginning of the school year. Students could write at the top of a piece of paper, “I AM. . .” Then they could make a list of all the “titles” or “people” they are from family relationships to interests to everyday titles such as student or neighbor. You could also cut some letters out of magazines and build the words underneath the I AM with magazine letters instead of written letters to make the list more in the style of Christopher Myers’s illustrations.

2. Speaking of illustrations, the pictures in Looking Like Me are something to study. Each page has a photograph (at least one) under a multi-colored boy. Once you have read the book out loud to children, go back and study the pictures with them. Maybe even make a list of the photos and the words to see if there is any pattern. For example, on the page about being a runner, there’s a picture of an upside-down ketchup bottle and then a drawn illustration of a boy running. Students can even make their own illustrations in Christopher Myers’s style to go with their I AM lists.

3. Looking Like Me is an example of good word choice (one of the 6 traits of writing.) Discuss the specific words that jump out at students and why those are the perfect words to use in this story. Ask students if they think Walter Dean Myers just sat down and got these exact perfect words onto paper the first time he wrote the story. Did he have to play around with the word choice? Why does it make a better book?

Anybody who wants to share an I AM list here. . .feel free!

Technorati code: JCXNC3NYFSJ9

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What could be better than two boys and an adventure in Egypt? It’s hard to think of anything! So, join me today with Fiona Ingram while she visits my blog on her WOW! Women On Writing blog tour to talk about her middle-grade novel, The Secret of the Sacred Scarab.

**BOOK GIVEAWAY CONTEST: Please leave a comment or question for Fiona about her book, Egypt, or any of the resources she has for us here. If you are a teacher, home school parent, or librarian, you can use all of Fiona’s information and her book to teach your students and children about Egypt.

The Secret of the Sacred Scarab:
A thrilling adventure for two young boys whose fun trip to Egypt turns into a dangerously exciting quest to uncover an ancient and mysterious secret. A 5000-year-old mystery comes to life when a scruffy peddler gives Adam and Justin Sinclair an old Egyptian scarab on their very first day in Egypt. Justin and Adam embark upon the adventure of a lifetime, taking them down the Nile and across the harsh desert in their search for the legendary tomb of the Scarab King, an ancient Egyptian ruler. With just their wits, courage, and each other, the boys manage to survive. . .only to find that the end of one journey is the beginning of another!

A special treat! An interview with the author:

Margo: Hi Fiona! Welcome to Read These Books and Use Them! Where did you get the idea for The Secret of the Sacred Scarab?

Fiona: Believe it or not, but a family trip to Egypt with my mom and my two nephews inspired the book. We had a wonderful time, filled with exciting and memorable events. And on our return, I decided to do something different. I decided to write my nephews a short story to keep as a souvenir of our holiday. Pretty soon, that short story just ran away with me and turned into a book; and by the end of the book, I knew there was still a lot of story to complete. So, here I am with a book series facing me.

Margo: But how exciting that you have so much to say! How long did you research this book since it is set in Egypt? What are a couple of your favorite research methods?

Fiona: I am a journalist so I tend to “collect” things on any trip—souvenirs, postcards, museum tickets, air tickets, post cards, book marks, and guide books. These act as triggers for my memory. I also scribbled down things on the Egypt trip. Then of course, the real experiences of the place are important—the heat, the people, the customs, the different clothes, the monuments, the endless waves of desert sand, the blinding sunlight. . . Back home, I structured my story and then did solid book research on the places and historical things that would play a part in the unfolding of the plot. I tend to plot the whole story, then create my chapter points, then look up all the information I will need in each chapter. I always do a final “fact check” before completing a chapter. The entire project took about three years from start to finish, from starting the manuscript to finally getting it published.

Margo: Thank you for sharing your process with us. If anyone reading this post is a children’s writer or aspiring to be one, your answer could help them on their journey! What are some challenges of writing a mystery for kids

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Yesterday, I shared with you a really cool book called On the Edge with Coolhead Luke. I also shared with you two of the silly poems and illustrations in the book and compared it to Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky’s work. To see this post and read about the book by the mother/son duo, you can click here.

Don’t forget to leave a comment or question on today’s post or yesterday’s for a chance to win this book. Comments need to be left by Friday, November 13 at 4:00 p.m. CST to be considered in the drawing. Now, on with the interview. . .

Margo: Welcome to Read These Books and Use Them. I’ve head a lot of positive comments about your poems and your artwork from yesterday’s post. Everyone loves the snake poem! So, where did you first get the idea to publish a poetry book with text by Jen and illustrations by Colin?

Jen: Ever since Colin was a toddler, he’s drawn faces. When he was ten, I took a look at one of his piles of drawings and picked up a particular image. It was a city bus filled with eccentric passengers. As I looked at it, I wondered what he was thinking as he drew it. At that moment, a couple of rhyming lines popped into my head…and then a verse. It suddenly occurred to me that I could choose a group of Colin’s best drawings and write poems to accompany them, and that maybe we could publish the collection as a book!

Colin: She kept it a secret at first, then she showed the poems to me and my sister, Devon. We really laughed.

Jen: That’s when I knew I had something.

Margo: So, true, if you can get your own children to laugh at your poetry, then others definitely will! How long did it take you to write, illustrate, and publish your first book, Coolhead Luke and Other Stories?

Colin: My mom used illustrations that I drew when I was 8-10 years old for the first book.

Jen: Yes, I used illustrations he’d already done. It took about 2 months of focused work for me to write the accompanying poems, and then another month for tweaks and edits. After we finished our manuscript, the publishing process took over a year.

Margo: First of all, Colin, let me say what a talented artist you were between the ages of 8 and 10. You are even more talented now. And, Jen, how cool to write the poems to go with the illustrations instead of the other way around. That’s an amazing process! How is the second book, On The Edge with Coolhead Luke, similar to and different than the first book?

Jen: Colin is a few years older now, and his images have developed to represent the themes that are common in middle school.

Colin: Also, for the second book, my mom wrote some of the poems first, and I had to draw the illustrations to go along with them.

Jen: Both books are similar in that they present funny poems and drawings for kids aged 8-12. Both also have a glossary of poetic terminology and a teacher’s guide in the back pages.

Margo: I love that you are writing funny poems and that you are including teaching material in the back of the book. That is my cup of tea! Your book reminds me a bit of Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky. What children’s poets do you like? What artists/illustrators do you like?

Jen: Thank you; that is an enormous compliment. As a child, I was a big fan of Dr. Seuss. I feel his influence in many of my verses.

Colin: I love surrealists like Salvador Dali and MC Escher. I also like the work of Matt Groening.

Margo: For those of you who don’t know, Matt Groening is the creator of The Simpsons. I can see a little of his work in yours, Colin, but you are also very original. Jen–who doesn’t like Dr. Seuss? How can parents and teachers use your experience with your son, Jen, in their own homes or classrooms—even if they don’t want to illustrate a book?

Jen: The grading structure in our education system rewards excellence across the board, but most kids are not equally good at all skills and subject areas. Every child has uniquely different aptitudes and abilities, and it’s important to celebrate their individual strengths. Whatever you see to be a passion in your child–that is what you can help him develop. Working in collaboration with Colin has been a wonderful parenting experience for me and a great esteem builder for my son.

Margo: Jen, I agree with you one hundred percent and often say the same type of things on this blog. That’s one of the many reasons I wanted to invite you and Colin on here! This is a wonderful Wacky Wednesday idea for classrooms, home schoolers, and parents. We can all learn to work on any projects that celebrate the passions of our children or students. Colin, if kids are interested in illustrating, what are a few tips you can give them for improving their skills?

Colin: I went to a lot of art camps and workshops. Just keep drawing and trying new things!

Margo: Yep, art is just like anything–writing, basketball, or playing the piano. You have to practice! How can people buy your books?

Jen: Both titles are available at Amazon.com:

Margo: Great, thanks. If anyone is interested in purchasing either of these books, you will have to buy them through Amazon, or you can contact Jennifer through her website to get an autographed copy. How can people get in touch with you/let you know they like your books?

Colin: We have a website at http://www.coolheadluke.com . There are some fun things to do there for kids.

Jen: Or email us! jenwhite (at) charter.net

Margo: Thank you, Jen and Colin, for answering our questions and sharing your creative process with us. I wish you the best success and look forward to a book 3! In the meantime, readers, don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a Coolhead Luke poetry book!

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How Snake Babies are Born

Not with a sigh
Nor with a cry

Not with a groan
Nor with a moan

Not with a slurp
Nor with a chirp

But with a burp!

Mother and son team, Jennifer and Colin White, have their second poetry book out, On the Edge with Coolhead Luke, after great success with their first collaboration Coolhead Luke and Other Stories. If you like silly poems and poems with some wit in the style of Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky, then you will love these books. The poem and illustration above, “How Snake Babies are Born,” is one of the poems from the second book.

***Good news, good news! Anyone who leaves a comment on today’s post or tomorrow’s interview with Jennifer and Colin will be entered to win a copy of On the Edge with Coolhead Luke. You can share this link using the button below this post and leave a comment that you shared it (like on Facebook or Twitter) for an extra entry into the contest.

Here’s a description of the book from the author herself:

On The Edge with Coolhead Luke (Oct. 2009)

Brought to you by the mother and son team that created Coolhead Luke and Other Stories, this second collection has been eagerly anticipated by fans of Coolhead Luke. Jennifer’s funny poems and Colin’s delightful illustrations play off each other beautifully, inventing a new cast of bizarre characters presented with a unique set of challenges and absurdities. The poems are composed in an animated, jaunty style that is a joy to read. In the midst of the fun, there are teachable opportunities to demonstrate the fundamentals of poetry, including a teacher’s guide in the back of the book. Ideal for ages 8-12, this is a charming collection for children and parents alike.

Here’s another illustration and poem from the book:

Invitation to a Ghoulfest

Witches, warlocks, goblins and ghosts
answer this call from your hideous hosts.

Come to our Halloween Ghoulfest and be
startled by specters that jump from a tree,
skeleton bones coming out of the ground
and slippery creepers that slither around.

We live on an inland that’s somewhat remote
and reached by a bridge, for there isn’t a boat.
The night will be cold and the air will be thick;
be careful, the footpath is slimy and slick.

The ghouls will be there and will want you to play.
We’re confident you won’t be stolen away
by wizards and lizards that hide in the night
or linger in bushes just out of your sight.

At dinner you’ll join in the slurping of brew
and feasting upon our delectable stew
of dragon tongue, newt eye and talon of owl;
a recipe sure to make anyone howl.

Come to our Ghoulfest, we’re sure you’ll have fun.
We’re happy to serve you… rare or well done.

On the Coolhead Luke website, there are resources for parents and teachers and more sample poems. Don’t forget to leave a comment or question by Friday at 4:00 p.m. CST for a chance to win a copy of On the Edge with Coolhead Luke.

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I usually pride myself for keeping up with the times, but now I have fallen way behind. I didn’t even realize students were participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, which is always November) until I was reading some teachers’ blogs over the weekend, and they were talking about their students’ word counts.

If you are not a writer or you don’t know a crazy writer who wants to write a novel in a month, then you might have never heard of NaNoWriMo. To find out more information about this writing month, you can click here. If you are a teacher or a home school parent, then it might be too late to get your students or your children started this year in the Young Writers’ Program, but I had a couple ideas about this. 1. Write on your 2010 calendar in September that you want your students/children to do NaNoWriMo in November next year–do it now (or you’ll forget). 2. You don’t have to do NaNoWriMo in November, necessarily, if you missed it this year. You can have your own NaNoWriMo at your school or in your home in January or February when the holidays are over and many of us are freezing cold.

Look at the awesome workbook with this post. They have one of these for middle and high schoolers, too; and according to the Young Writers’ Program (YMP) official website, these workbooks have “worksheets and activities that will spark your imagination and guide you through your noveling journey.” If you are a young writer (under 17 years old) or you have young writers in your class or your home, they can actually sign up on the YMP website and enter their own word count goals. So, an 8 year old can sign up for NaNoWriMo and is not expected to write 50,000 words. Maybe he could write 100 words a day and have a goal of 3,000 words. What’s great about this if you are a teacher is you can differentiate your writing instruction since you know some of your students are capable of writing a ton and others painfully produce a page a week. If students are 13 or older, they can sign up on the website, but their goal is 50,000 words because the main site does not allow you to enter your own word count goals.

If this sounds up your alley, your students’ alley, or your children’s alley, then do it this year “unofficially.” You can always use chart paper and post-it-notes to keep track of word count goals and how students are reaching them.

Here are a couple novels written by teenagers!

If you are participating in NaNoWriMo yourself or with your students, tell us about how it’s going.

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photo by H Dickins www.flickr.com

I picked up this book at the library immediately because most parents I know, including myself and my husband, deal with a fussy eater. My stepson is not terrible, but there’s still some days when he will throw me for a loop over something he won’t eat. That’s kind of what happens to Freya’s parents in this book. I think this book is an hysterical way to get kids to go back to eating foods they decided they didn’t like anymore, but some parents might find it a bit extreme in dealing with fussy eaters. Read on . . .

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders
*Young girl as main character
*Rating: Fussy Freya is a great book for talking to kids about eating and not being a picky eater. The illustrations are super cute and fun!

Short, short summary: Katharine Quarmby tells Freya’s tale of being a fussy eater in rhyme with some repeatable text. Fussy Freya is great for a read aloud in a classroom, at a library story time, or before bedtime. Freya used to eat all her food; but one day, she decides that she is not going to eat her mum’s dhal and rice, even though her baby brother and the cat eat every spicy bite. She says some not-so-nice things to her mum and does not eat anything her mum puts in front of her. She throws fits–throwing fish on the floor, which the cat loves, of course. But soon, her mum and dad have had enough, and so Mum calls Grandma. Grandma tells Mum that she acted the same way when she was three years old, and Grandma says, “Send her to me!” When Freya goes to Grandma’s house, she’s sure she will get anything she wants–candy and sweets, especially. But she is not prepared for the lesson that Grandpa and Grandma teach Freya about the delicious food she could be getting at her parents’ house. Cute idea and the illustrations in Fussy Freya are the type that children can look at again and again and find new stuff while teaching a small lesson to fussy eaters.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Ask children to draw a collage of their favorite foods. (You could also have them cut pictures out of magazines.) Once children have their collages made, ask them to write a short poem (with a rhyming 2nd and 4th line like in Fussy Freya) about one of their favorite foods (or all of them). If you have young students, you could write one poem together as a class that they could copy, or they could write a poem at home with their families. Display the collages and the poems around the room.

2. This is a great book for starting a discussion with students about manners since Freya displays so many bad manners throughout the book. You can easily use Fussy Freya as part of character education. Have fun with it! Maybe students can even role play examples of good and bad manners.

3. This is also a great book to use for teaching about the Food Pyramid and healthy eating. The United States Department of Agriculture has many resources for teachers to talk with students of all ages about nutrition and healthy eating. Click the link and check them out!

Before I was in first grade, I was Fussy Margo. My mom made me all sorts of separate meals, so I didn’t have to eat what my parents were eating. Then in first grade, my teacher had a food challenge. We got a star on a chart for each new food we tried. I loved this contest and came in 2nd place. Since then, I haven’t been quite as fussy. So, it’s an idea if you have some fussy eaters around you.

Any more ideas? Let us know!

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*Middle-grade/tween book, contemporary and realistic
*Middle-school boy as main character
*Rating: While listening to the audio book, I laughed out loud in several parts and said, “Oh no!” in others. Jeff Kinney knows how to write for this age group and the parents who are peeking in.

Short, short summary:Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is the first book in a series of four books about our hero, “a wimpy kid,” Greg Heffley. His diary, which his mother is making him write in, takes readers through a school year in Greg’s life, and all the many realistic, and completely hysterical, problems that a student in middle school can have. Like trying out for The Wizard of Oz school play, being cast as a tree, and deciding not to sing the special song written for you titled, “We Three Trees” to the tune of “We Three Kings.” Or How about creating a haunted house, charging the neighborhood kids, and filling a pool with ketchup for a lake of blood? Surely, no one’s parents will mind . . . Diary of a Wimpy Kid also deals with problems kids have like being good friends, siblings, and homework/tests. I’d recommend this book to anyone!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. If you home school or your children love Diary of a Wimpy Kid, you can actually buy them this book to get them to practice writing and writing about emotions, etc. Let your kids make their own Diary of a Wimpy Kid:

2. In this first book, Greg has a lot of trouble with his best friend, Rowley. They don’t talk to each other for over a month because of something that Greg does. Ask students to write or discuss Greg’s actions toward Rowley. How would they feel if their best friend did what Greg did? How else could Rowley and Greg solve the issues between them? What does Greg expect from a best friend? Does he give the same in return? This should be a lively discussion, and you will see if you have any “Greg Heffleys” in your room.

3. In Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rowley and Greg try to make some comic strips for the school newspaper, which is harder than it seems. Ask students to work together or independently (whichever they prefer) and make a comic to share with the class. You could also study some comic sections from the newspaper and talk about the difference between comic strips and political cartoons.

Which one of the four Wimpy Kid books are your or your children’s favorite?

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by Clearly Ambiquous www.flickr.com

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders
*Two young boys as main characters
*Rating: I am in love with Let’s Do Nothing! I laughed out loud at this picture book. Tony Fucile’s illustrations are hilarious, and the story is so cute!

Short, short summary: Frankie and Sal do not know what else to do with themselves. They have “played every sport ever invented, painted more pictures than Van Gogh, and baked enough cookies to feed a small country.” So, they decide to do nothing. But did you know that doing nothing is much harder than it seems? When Frankie tries to be as still as can be and imagine the things that Sal says to imagine, he just can’t do nothing. Even through Sal’s frustration, he still realizes that they have proved a very important point that the whole world should realize!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Ask students what they would pretend to be if they had to sit still and do nothing. In the book, the boys pretend to be statues, trees, and buildings. You can do this as a shared writing activity for younger students, where you make a list on chart paper and each child comes up with an idea to illustrate. For older primary children who are reading Let’s Do Nothing!, you can ask them to write about this prompt in their reading response journals.

2. Is it impossible to do nothing? That’s what the boys say in the book. Ask children this question and brainstorm answers. You can even work this into a health lesson. What parts of the body are still working and moving when you are doing nothing? How about when you are sleeping? Why do these particular body systems continue to work even when you are doing nothing?

3. Ask children to tell you what they like to do when they are bored. Have they ever run into the same problem as Frankie and Sal in the book? How would they solve this problem? Help children to make a personal connection to the text. When students or your children make personal connections with Tony Fucile’s text, then they are improving their reading comprehension, which is a very important skill.

Have you read Let’s Do Nothing! with your class or your children? What did you think?

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by optimal tweezers www.flickr.com

*Picture book for preschoolers through 2nd graders
*The Vowel Family (mom, dad, and kids) as main characters
*Rating: Children will get caught up in the Vowel Family’s problems and wonder how to fix them right along with Pm Smth and Sm Vwl!

Short, short summary: Pam Smith (Pm Smth) and Sam Vowel (Sm Vwl) get married, but obviously there’s a problem–just look at how their names are spelled. Pm and Sm have trouble communicating and understanding each other with no vowels, but luckily they have some children. First comes A and E–Allen and Ellen, and life gets a little easier, but there’s still a lot of words that have vowels other than A and E. So, they have some more children: Iris, Otto, and Ursula. Now their family is almost complete! But what about that tricky Y–sometimes Y is a vowel. Thankfully, Aunt Cyndy enters the picture, and now the vowel family can understand everything they say to each other!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. One of the easiest and most fun activities is for children to insert the vowels into the words without vowels throughout the book. Can they decipher what the Vowel Family is saying to each other in Sally Walker’s book? You can do this as a shared writing activity for younger students. For older students, you can challenge them to decipher words individually or in pairs.

2. Make vowel word lists to hang around your room. At the top of each list, put the Vowel family child who represents that letter. Then with your class, make a list of words that start with that letter. To make more of a challenge, you can think of words in certain subjects that you are currently studying. For example if you are studying plants in science, then students should think of words that start with vowels and are plants (fruits and vegetables can be included). Hang these lists in your room, near your word wall.

3. You can play a challenging word game with your students to familarize with them vowels. Ask students to think of as many words as they can that use only one vowel. For example, the students think of words that only use “a” and no other vowel. (and, hat, mat, had, as,) Depending on the age of your students, they can work in pairs or independently.

Students will learn the vowels better with fun activities than with just rote memorization.

I am so happy to announce that Donna Volkenannt won a prize from Tilbury House for leaving a comment on my blog about the elephant books last Thursday. She is going to receive an autographed copy of Just for Elephants from Tilbury House, and she can’t wait to share it with her grandchildren!

Tilbury House also announced. . .”We had so many great responses that we’ve decided to add a sort of bonus prize, an extra donation to the [Elephant] Sanctuary on behalf of everyone who participated in the [blog] tour. For the 100 or so people who posted comments, tweeted, or hosted a stop, we will be sponsoring 100 lbs of peanut butter, a favorite snack of “the girls” at the Sanctuary. :)” ~from Sarah at Tilbury House.

AWESOME! Remember you can help the elephants by buying elephant books from Tilbury House before December 31.

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by szlea www.flickr.com

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders
*7-year-old boy as main character
Rating: Bright illustrations match the cute text in this tennis tale that might just make you want to go to the court with your classroom or your child.

Short, short summary: Tennis, Anyone? tells the story of a 7-year-old boy who gets a tennis racket for his birthday, and he is wondering what to do with it. He doesn’t know anyone who plays tennis, and he thinks this present is kind of lame. Then he goes out to the courts with his dad, and he sees that tennis is pretty fun after all. Besides he can also use his racket for a guitar.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Do a shared writing activity about the different uses of a tennis racket. In the end of the story, the main character says that his tennis racket could also be a guitar. What else could students use a tennis racket for? You should get some interesting answers. Write answers down on chart paper. For younger students, allow them to illustrate their answers. For older students, they should write a few sentences and illustrate.

2. Many social studies curriculums in younger elementary grades focus on family units and communities. In Tennis, Anyone? family and community members are included in the story. Use these characters to discuss students’ or your children’s family members. Then discuss what sports and/or hobbies they enjoy. Younger students can illustrate their ideas, and older students can write about them.

3. I love Tennis, Anyone? because it is promoting getting out and playing a game with family members instead of children playing alone with all their electronic toys. PE teachers and health teachers could use Tennis, Anyone? in their classrooms. Homeschoolers can use this book to start a discussion about health and exercise. Elementary teachers can tie Shane McG’s book to the health curriculum.

Have you read this book? Leave your comments below. Any more activities or lesson ideas? Please let us know. Or simply share your favorite sport or favorite sport book.

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by Phyllis Root www.flickr.com

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders
*Paula Bunyan (Paul Bunyan’s sister) as main character
*Rating: Paula Bunyan is a clever, cute picture book with a twist on the old classic Paul Bunyan tale. Phyllis Root has thrown a little environmental education in there, too.

Short, short summary: Did you know Paul Bunyan had a little (well, not quite so little) sister named, Paula? Well, according to Phyllis Root, he did! And she’s as lovable of a giant as he is. Instead of a blue ox, Paula has a grizzly bear as her sidekick. She spends her days catching 100-pound fish, singing harmony with the wolves, and rescuing her bear from mosquitoes. Things are going along pretty well when Paula notices that all her beloved trees are being cut down and not replaced by some irresponsible lumberjacks. She quickly devises a plan (WARNING! WARNING! Read this section before you read to kids–no big deal, but Paula undresses to her “skivvies”, just be prepared) to get rid of the lumberjacks and replenish the forest.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. One of the easiest activities to do with this book is compare and contrast the story of Paul Bunyan to Paula Bunyan using a Venn diagram. For younger children, you can do this as a shared writing activity. For older children, they can each make their own Venn diagram.

2. Students can write their own Paula Bunyan adventure. You can have them write it as a) a letter from Paula to Paul about an important event b) a journal entry about a day in the life of Paula Bunyan c) in the same voice as the book and another adventure of Paula’s.

3. Students can study tall tales with this book and make a list of characteristics of tall tales. You can also talk to students about exaggeration/hyperbole and why authors use this technique in their stories.

Have you used Paula Bunyan in your classroom? If so, leave us a comment and tell us about it. Do you have a favorite tall tale or fractured tall tale? Let us know!

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photo by Paul Mannix www.flickr.com

*Middle-grade contemporary novel
*Fourth-grade boy as main character
*Rating: Two hysterical authors, Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver, write a truly funny novel that boys (and girls, too) will love!

Short, short summary: The first book in the Hank Zipzer series, Niagara Falls or Does It? introduces us to underachiever Hank Zipzer. Hank is starting school–fourth grade–and he just so happens to get Ms. Adolf instead of the cool teacher. She wants the class to write a 5-paragraph essay, and Hank can’t think of anything worse to do. In the meantime, he and his friends form a magic act and practice for their first gig at the bowling alley. When his parents find out he has to write the essay, it cuts into his rehearsal time, and so Hank decides to build a living essay–a model of Niagara Falls like no one has ever seen before. He has a lot to say about the Falls and his family’s trip there, but he just can’t seem to get it from his head to the paper. He is super excited about his project until the flood gates open–literally. Join Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver for a great start to a funny series, Hank Zipzer: The Mostly True Confessions of the World’s Best Underachiever.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. This book is a great read aloud, especially if you are teaching writing 5-paragraph essays. Some of your students may be feeling the same way as Hank, and you can open up discussions on difficulties they are having writing these essays. Many children feel the same way as Hank Zipzer–the information is in their heads, but how do they get it down on paper? Students can even journal about this topic and share their feelings about writing, math, science, and so on.

2. Niagara Falls is an obvious topic of study while reading this book. Students can make a list of all the facts that Hank Zipzer quotes in the book about the Falls. You can also challenge each of your students or your children (if you homeschool) to find one more fact about the Falls that Hank has not stated. Ask students to write it on an index card. You can make a Niagara Falls fact bulletin board. If you want to be really brave, you can try a class project and build the Falls like Hank does. Just hope that your tubing and pipes hold up!

3. At the end of the novel, one of Hank’s teachers helps him out a little by talking to his parents. During the talk, his dad basically says he is lazy and doesn’t try hard enough. Ask your students to describe Hank and his character in a paragraph. Then ask them to write another paragraph and support either his dad’s point of view or his teacher’s. Tell them to use specific events in the book to support their opinions.

For more information on the Hank Zipzer series by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver, please see the Hank Zipzer website.

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