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Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon! With a name like that, i thought it would have indelible, cryptic messages for my kid to go the vegetarian way. The 6 year old wanted a dragon fantasy book and i thought, cynicism aside, it was perfect with the vivid, detailed illustrations and lessons on acceptance.

Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon is a dragon fantasy book / fairy tale about reaching out to others and accepting everyone for what they are. I agree, the book is not as comprehensive as Beyond This Point There Be Dragons but the kid loved it and that made my day. Everytime we pour through the book excitedly, the illustrations always have something new we had not spotted before. Well, despite my initial fears, the book is wonderful and well thought of. But the highlight is the illustrations.

This is a great book. It is a simple and fun read for the kids that gives them insight to the importance of the underground railroad. I used it with a class of third grade students and it helped them to understand the clues slaves used to travel the underground railroad. At the end of the book the words to the song and sheet music is available. Our music teacher learned the music and song and taught the students it during music class. It was great! The kids still know the song one year later.

[…] Follow the Drinking Gourd […]

[…] Follow the Drinking Gourd […]

[…] 16. At A Hen’s Pace (Recorded Books Recommendations)17. Steve Emery (The Marzipan Pig AND Turtle Diary)18. Lauren S. (Ordinary Days)19. Amy(Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust)20. Amy(City of Ember)21. Framed (The Book Thief)22. Kevin (The Mystery Cave)23. Miss Erin (Reality Leak)24. Lori (Under the Black Flag)25. Lori (The Pirate Hunter)26. 3M (Eat, Pray, Love)27. Jen Robinson (The Phoenix Dance)28. Sarah (The Pearl)29. Just One More Book! Children’s Book Podcast (Follow the Drinking Gourd)30. MaureenE (Alaskan Missionary Spirituality) […]

This sounds like a very inspiring and engaging chapter book! I am delighted that the author depicts such colorful and diverse characters. My students will love and will gain much from being able to see people like themselves working together to navigate the world, cooperatively working towards a goal, and confidently making tough choices. Through our critical literacy focus we will explore thoroughly the issue of considering options and choosing a nonviolent approach. Children need to see examples of and learn how to weigh their options for how to react in challenging situations. Mention of Ghandi and MLK will also provide a valuable link for discussion about peaceful action.

Kristin,

Thanks for listening and for sharing your thoughts.

Do let us know what you think of the book, once you get your hands on a copy. We’d love to hear your perspective and the perspective of your students.

Andrea

This book sounds very informative. It seems as if it may relate to some inner city children, and just how their lives may play out. For children to get into the characters of the book really helps the critical literacy aspect of how children view themselves in the characters eyes, this is great. Also,the history dealing with the great leaders in the past, helps children to understand that certain people struggled to make a statement about mankind. To also show children that it was not always this way, and you don’t have to accept it. But you must go about it in a certain manner. Working cooperatively together to produce one common goal.

I found this review to be interesting and mysterious. It definitely makes me want to go out and immediately find out what all the chatter is about! The hosts seem quite taken with the book as they describe imagery, color, and magic. From their description, I believe this book is definitely one that the kids in my classroom will want to read and “get into.” Often, books that are touted to celebrate diversity are simply window dressing without developed characters. Many times these books feel stereotypical and void of real thought. It’s almost like the characters in these books have been painted brown, but the story has not. It is refreshing to hear that there are books that provide real imagery, depth, and insight with developed and complex characters. Children are definitely capable of handling the realness of this approach. My fourth grade class and I will definitely be checking this out!

I was thrilled to find such an engaging review of a book for upper elementary students. As a fifth grade teacher and as the coordinator of our school’s Peer Mediator program I love finding books that address issues of peace and conflict resolution. Soul Force and Spice Cake appears to not only address these issues, using children around the age of my students, but to do it in a funny, sad, suspensful way - key elements of a book to draw in 10 and 11 year old readers. I really liked the comment about how the book uses humor and how silly some of the scenarios are. Silliness and the ability to laugh out loud are so important to older children; we sometimes forget how necessary it is for the “tweens” to be children. The characters sound dynamic, as does the process they all go through as they grow and experience and search for the answers. The review makes the characters and the story elements vibrant, descibing the book full of “color, texture, smell, magic and music.” What more do you need to create a wildly successful read for upper elementary students? I can’t wait to read this book myself and then read it to my students.

I had no idea Joyce Dunbar was deaf. I currently have Shoe Baby from the library (and am a fan of Polly’s work — her daughter, that is), and I just had no idea. I used to work with deaf children (and have worked as a sign language interpreter as well); the work of In The Picture sounds great.

Thanks!

Thank you for doing this show. I’m a special education teacher in Washington, DC and I’m always looking for books and other literature that include people with disabilities to share with my students. I will definitely use some of the books discussed during the show in my classroom. Until recently many of the books including children with disabilities that my students have been exposed to have only shown “disability” or “special needs” using characters in wheel chairs. None of my students can relate to this kind of disability. In fact, most of my students have learning disabilities that are not easily recognizable to the eye. This doesn’t make them any less worth including in literature however. I agree fully with your guest today. Images of children with all sorts of disabilities should be the norm in books because children with disabilities are an important part of our world. All children, regardless of their disability, should be able to see positive images of people like them in books, media and other literature.

Andrea and Mark,

It’s such a pleasure to hear two expert children’s book reviewers notice and comment on so many of the details and elements we worked so hard on in this book: each of the characters’ personalities, the popular kid thing and that feeling of being “in” if he likes you, how to describe grandma’s behaviors without actually calling it dementia or Alzheimer’s, David’s unconditional love for her, the development of the story, the touching ending, the illustrations and everyone’s expressions through the various stages, the little sister running around in the background, my (and your) favorite passage and its closing refrain, “Ruben The Plotnick put down his glass, wiped his hands on his jeans…,” how the parents think Grandma is having a “senior moment” at the end when she asks for the little boy in the sink, the underlying message(s) – you got it all. I could really hear how this book entertained and touched both of you – it came through in your voices. And to hear Lucy’s one-line summation, “He likes people the way they are,” was so satisfying. She really got it, which means we captured the perfect balance. Thank you so much for this rave review.

Shari Dash Greenspan, Editor, Flashlight Press

Shari,

As you can tell, we get very excited about children’s books and we really enjoy the little details that contribute to the enjoyment — images and text. “The Plotnick” is such a great book and it has already made visits to our daughters’ day care and was read with some friends at a noisy restaurant last evening.Thank you for your incredible contributions to children’s literature and literacy!!!

Sincerely,
Mark

[…] 1. Alyssa (Emma Vol. 1)2. Laura (The Northern Lights)3. MFS (On the nightstand)4. Cathy (What we’re reading)5. Krakovianka (North and South)6. Jennifer, Snapshot (Nonfiction recs for students)7. sage (The Valley of Light)8. Heather (Seabird)9. 3M (The Echo Maker)10. Just One More Book! (Getting to Know Ruben Plotnick)11. DominionFamily (Between Walden & the Whirlwind)12. CoversGirl (I Knit Water)13. Coffeeteabooksme(The Thirteenth Tale)14. violet (Renovating Becky Miller)15. whimsy (kidlit we are currently enjoying)16. SFP (New books)17. SFP (The Terror)18. Bonnie (The Poetry of John Donne)19. MichelleD (Songbird by Lisa Samson)20. Carrie K. (An Irish Country Doctor) […]

I wish this book was around when I was growing up (great name in the title!). Ruben sounds like a unique character which must be refreshing for children. Furthermore, the plot seems to take a new spin at the old “popular kid” story. Having friends come over to your house is such an exciting, yet scary event for every kid. The experience exposes the child’s “other side” to his or her friends….ah, memories.

Hi! This is my first time visiting JOMB, recommended to me in my Children’s Literature class at American University in Washington D.C. When I began poking around your sight one of the first things that I did was look up books on confidence because I have been thinking a lot about a student of mine who seems to be loosing a lot of his nerve to speak and interact in class. I am always on the lookout for “Yes I Can”-type games and books that will let him and his classmates understand that they do not all have to be good at everything in order to be valuable members of our community. In response to your comments about the message of this book being thinly veiled, I agree that it is not necessarily a bad thing. I think that sometimes we adults forget that reading and even being read to is tough work. A message that we view to be up front and in your face is not necessarily overstated for a six year old; especially when that child has to sift through decoding and newly learned comprehension strategies to fully grasp a book. Thanks for the recommendation!

Rachel,

Welcome to JOMB! Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts.

As you can probably tell from our existing book list, I’m a big fan of the (well done) thinly veiled message so it’s great to hear your thoughts on this. It’s so easy for us adults to forget how much these little learners are processing when we, ourselves, are so removed from their learning stage. I think another component to consider is that we have also lost a good deal of our ability to suspend disbelief and immerse ourselves in the story — so often the message really jumps out at us.

I guess that’s why our own young audience often surprises us with their reaction to a book — and why they are *sometimes* the best judge of a book.

Thanks for extending the conversation. Hope to hear from you again soon,
Andrea

[…] 15. Carrie K. (Education of a Wandering Man)16. ChristineMM (Chapter After Chapter)17. At A Hen’s Pace (Gilead)18. Shauna (The Enchanted Castle)19. Miss Erin (East)20. MotherReader (Boyfriend List and Boy Book)21. DominionFamily ( Favorite Family Read Alouds)22. Joy (Brother Odd)23. JustOneMoreBook (Little Squarehead)24. Jen Robinson (Ivy and Bean)25. HeidiJane (Woman in White)26. Nyssaneala (Mrs. Dalloway)27. Amy (Amy and Isabelle)28. Maggie (Waltzing at the Piggly-Wiggly) […]

I’d love to hear your interview with Alvina. Where can I find it? And, I can’t wait to read this book!

When I have studies comprehension strategies for reading I often find myself thinking about how important visualization is to me when I read. In fact, it is my favorite thing about reading. The funny thing is that when I began to talk about “movies in the mind” with my young (first grade) students I found that they were not making, or perhaps not able to verbalize, the kinds of pictures that I expected. Often, they told me that they saw exactly what I had just read to them without creating unique images or making any connections to themselves. It sounds to me like this would be a great book to read through with a class once without pictures. Then we could talk about what we imagined and compare it to the lovely pictures that you have described. For me at least, the ability to create my own mental imagery enhances my reading and I love to find pieces that help my students to achieve the same feeling.

Rachel,

Oooh! What a fabulous idea!! I agree that the ability to visualize and extrapolate from text is just as important as being able to decode the print. I always have difficulty with the idea of helping my girls visualize. Now I wish I had had your idea the first time I read this book!!

I guess I would want to make sure that they knew that the actual illustrations provided by Jimmy Liao were just one possible way of mapping the text to pictures — so they would know that their own pictures were equally valid.

I will keep your idea in mind for the next time I come across a new, equally imaginative picture book. (If you have another example of an imaginative picture book I could try it with, I’d love to hear about it)
Thanks so much for your thought-provoking comments. Looking forward to more!
Andrea

[…] The Sound of Colors […]

Hi Andrea and Mark,

Thank you so much for the kind kind words of support. Part of who we are comes from the company we keep, and I always know I’m in good company with the two of you. :-)

What a treat it was, to come home to a new episode of JOMB after a few days visiting family in Toronto.

Almost at 100..how time has flown! Before we know it we’ll be celebrating your 1000th!

Big hugs
vivian

www.clippodcast.com

Vivian,

You are very welcome. We look forward to meeting you by phone in February — and meeting you in person in June!

We’ll do a crossover show with CLIP for our 1000th episode, ok?

Andrea

Hello Andrea and Mark,

Thank you for all the kind words and for playing our review.

Fantastic Job!

Oh, by the way I’m available for an interview for JOMB 101…just in case you were wondering…

;-)

Andy Bilodeau

Dear Andrea & Mark,

Thanks so much for including my review on your podcast! In listening to it again I can hear that my stuffy nose had not cleared up completely, so I apologize to listeners for that.

Keep up the great work!

Heidi from The Book of Life

Andy, Heidi,

Thank you both for sharing your enthusiasm for these great books and for your kind words.

We’ll definitely check out these two books,
Andrea

I think we should do our 1000th crossover show in person…road trip! Sounds like a solid plan to me ;-)

vivian

Me too!
Andrea

Hey Andrea and Mark! Wow - you guys were having quite the debate about whether the doodles in The Not-So-Only Child were, in fact, done by a child. They were. They were done by MY child Rissa, who is acknowledged on the bibliography page but not on the front cover or title page. She was between the ages of 5 and 6 when she did all the doodles. Some of them were done in a style that she learned from a great book by Usborne called I Can Draw People which introduces children to the concepts of amalgamating shapes to create drawings that a little more complex than stick figures. I highly recommend both that book as well as I Can Draw Animals by Usborne.

Aaaahh! Mark puts me to shame once again!

Now that you mention it, I should have noticed the similarity between ther ballerina and the Usborne one!

Thanks for clearing this up — and for the great book!

Andrea

Such a powerful book that really gets at important social issues in a meaningful and respectful way.

Thanks to JOMB, I was able to chat with Heather Jopling after hearing about her from Andrea and Mark. That conversation will air next week on CLIP.

By the way Bayla and Lucy did such a fantastic job on CLIP 26!!!

Thanks Andrea and Mark
vivian

www.clippodcast.com

[…] 23. Mark (Children of Men)24. Kelly (The Thirteenth Tale)25. Just One More Book! Podcast (The Not-So-Only Child)26. Julie (In This House of Brede)27. Kimba (Peace Like a River)28. Elliot (The Revolt)29. Julie D.30. Carl V. (Moonraker) […]

[…] If you’d like to hear more about Heather’s books have a listen at JOMB where Andrea and Mark have a great discussion about The Not-So-Only Child. […]

Mark and Andrea:
It’s just me, Amy, and I want to thank you for the lovely interview. I’m so impressed with Mark’s terrific editing job. We’ll be putting a link to it on our website shortly. I look forward to hearing what your daughters think when you finish reading the book to them. Please spread the word. I am very excited that children are reading the book and having such a good time with it. Thanks again for your enthusiasm.
Amy
PS–just one note, the publishing company is Woza Books (not Wozapress).

Hi guys -

Another neat interview! It was inspiring to learn about the book The Call to Shakabaz, and Amy’s work on Woza Books!

I have a little weekend post on saffrontree about “Just One More Books”…

thanks!

praba

Praba,

Thanks for listening, for the positive feedback and for the great post on Saffron Tree!

How lovely!
Andrea

I was just about to print a copy of the JOMB booklist to our librarian as my wishlist for our school library but you’ve reviewed so many awesome books since so I can’t wait for the next list to come out :-)

How Smudge Came is another new book for me! It sounds wonderful for taking up all sorts of social issues.

On my list it goes!

vivian
www.clippodcast.com

P.S. I really like how you paired up Smudge with Dr.White.

Thanks, Vivian,

We’ve updated the JOMB booklist for you. Thanks for the nudge!

Andrea

[…] 16. Bonnie (Tess of the D’Ubervilles)17. Heather (Humilty)18. be_zen8 (Memory Keeper’s Daughter)19. Bookfool(The Nazi Officer’s Wife)20. Mindy (The Poet Slave of Cuba)21. Les (Shadow Man)22. JustOneMoreBook (How Smudge Came)23. booklogged (Memory Keeper’s Daughter)24. Miss Erin (King of Shadows)25. Marshall Zeringue (An Alphabetical Life)26. Cathy (Flotsam)27. Lisa (Shantaram)28. Literary Feline (Anna Karenina)29. Kinuk (Saturday)30. Classical Bookworm (Dancing from the Heart) […]

btw, I absolutely agree with Richard’s opinion that picture books should be read and enjoyed from cradle to grave. That’s what I always say — I just never say it as well as Richard did!

enjoy!
Andrea

I’ve never heard of this book and now I’m itching to get my hands on a copy!

Happy New Year!!!

I’m slowly getting caught up with my JOMB listening…woo hoo.

vivian
www.clippodcast.com

WooHoo! Vivian’s back!

Great to hear from you. I’ll be very curious to hear your opinion of this contraversial book, if you do get your hands on a copy…

Andrea

Here’s a thought. I haven’t read this one yet, but its possible from what I heard on the show that the authors were using hyperbole to show that people generally come to accept people who stick to who they are. It may have been illustrated in an exaggerated way, but its an important message, especially when the subject of the story has spent the entire story fending off nay-sayers.

I think its important that children learn that there are positive effects at the end. Yes, its important that they learn to stand up for who they are and what they believe, but its just as important to know that by doing so, you can affect change in the world around you. If Suki had come through the entire story without a positive ending, then it would have taught the readers about the importance of being who you are, but might also have left the impression that by doing so, you put yourself in a position outside of the ability to have friends and relationships.

My two cents. Talk to you soon!

Chris
http://www.answers-for-freelancers.com/

Chris,

Thanks for extending the conversation!! Woohoo! This is just what we’ve been hoping for!

I think I see what you mean about ending with Suki being happy but also outside the group. I just didn’t think that the class gathering around Suki and applauding was necessary. Quiet acceptance, appreciation would have worked well for me but perhaps it would have been more difficult to get across in a picture book and might have been too subtle for its young readers. 

Thanks for weighing in. I hope you’ll share your 2cents again soon.

Maybe your comments will even entice some others to offer their thoughts ($1 for each comment this month goes to Raise-a-Reader….)
Andrea

My 5yo daughter loved the book. Her grandma bought it for her birthday this fall because I had brought back a child’s kimono for her on my last trip to Tokyo. She had volunteered (from the audience) to participate in a Japanese circle dance this summer at the Chicago area Japanese Festival. It made it very easy for her to “put herself into the story”. She’s a bit of a ham, so the idea of everyone applauding is right up her alley.

Her first comment when we read the book? “Daddy, Suki forgot her umbrella at school!”

Donald,

That’s a great story. It’s as though Suki’s Kimono was written for your daughter.

Until you mentioned it, I’d never noticed that Suki didn’t have her umbrella on her way home. What attention to detail.

Thanks for listening and for adding to the conversation,
Andrea