How to use this Page

*Picture/chapter book, contemporary
*Two best friends, elementary-aged girls as main characters
*Rating: Super cute and clever book, Bink and Gollie will have fans young and old.

Short, short summary:

Bink and Gollie are best friends, and they are about as opposite as you can get. In the three stories in this book, Bink buys a super loud pair of socks, and Gollie tries to get her to abandon them by compromising. In the second story, Gollie is on a pretend trip, climbing the Andes Mountains; and in the third story, Bink has a fish named Fred, and Gollie might be feeling a little jealous. The illustrations in this book are wonderful, and the text is written by an award-winning children’s writer and a New York Times Bestseller.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Depending on the age of the children whom you read this story with, they can create their own Bink and Gollie adventure. They can write the text and illustrate. If you teach young children or have a young child at home, you can write the story together.

2. Bink and Gollie try to compromise in the first story, but Gollie really just wants Bink to give in. When Bink finally comes up with a compromise, what’s the difference? Ask students to give a definition of compromise. Have any of them ever compromised? What’s another way Bink and Gollie could compromise?

3. In the last story, Bink must sacrifice having Fred as her “marvelous companion” in order to save his life. Ask students what they would have done in this situation. How would they feel? Was there any other possible solution? Why do they think Gollie really did what she did?

Add a Comment

*Picture book, realistic fiction for preschoolers through second graders
*First grade girl as main character
*Rating: Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I don’t) is such a cute picture book and perfect for teachers and parents to share during National Book Week or any time reading needs to be celebrated. (Well, that’s all the time, right?)

Short, short summary:

A first-grade girl tells readers how much Miss Brooks, the enthusiastic librarian, loves books. Miss Brooks dresses up in costumes to share books with her students. As our narrator tells us, ” I think Miss Brooks gets a little too excited. And I bet her costumes itch.” One day, Miss Brooks tells her students that it will soon be Book Week, and they each need to share a book they love with the class and dress up in a costume. The little girl wants to move–her mother informs her there’s a librarian in every town. So, she doesn’t know what book she’ll present until her mother tells her she’s as stubborn as a wart. This gives her a great idea–she loves warts and she’ll read about them! Pick up a copy of Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I don’t) to find out exactly which book the little girl chooses. (Kids will love this!)

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Students young and old can write about a favorite book after reading this one. Let students creatively tell about their favorite book with a journal entry as well as a presentation of some kind–maybe even dressing up in costumes like in the book.

2. Create a class book of poems or holidays or anything that you want. The point is to work on something together as a class. The easy way to make a class book is to have each student create a page, illustrate it, laminate these, and then bind them together with a cover of some sort. Children love to get these class- made books out of the library and read them–even your most reluctant readers.

3. Did students know that Shrek was a book before a movie? Discuss with students other books that have been made into movies. Ask students which they usually like better. For a fun Friday afternoon activity, read a book to students that was made into a movie, watch the movie (or part of it), and then compare and contrast them.

Add a Comment

*Picture book, humorous fantasy (tall tale), for preschoolers through second graders
*A rancher and his wife are the main characters.
*Rating: Meanwhile Back at the Ranch is one of my favorite books to share with children. (It’s by the same author as The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash.

Short, short summary: Rancher Hicks is bored on his ranch. Nothing much ever happens. So, he drives the 84 miles to the town of Sleepy Gulch for some excitement. (It’s not called Sleepy Gulch for nothing!) Meanwhile back at the ranch. . . his wife Elna has quite a day. The president comes to visit, she strikes oil, and her aunt leaves her her entire estate. Meanwhile back in Sleepy Gulch. . .a turtle crosses the road and the slowest game of checkers ever is being played. Meanwhile back at the ranch. . .all the cats have kittens and all the horses have colts. Meanwhile back in Sleepy Gulch–well, you get the picture. When Rancher Hicks returns from his big adventure in Sleepy Gulch, he is in for quite a surprise!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Meanwhile Back at the Ranch by Trinka Hakes Noble is a great book to share with students when you are teaching the 6 + 1 traits of writing–the trait of organization. The organization of this book is very obvious–each page you are either in Sleepy Gulch or at the ranch. The word MEANWHILE is used as a transition. So, you can talk to students about different ways to organize stories, essays, and reports. You can talk to students about using transition words. This book can lead into many discussions and writing exercises for the trait of organization. (It’s perfect for homeschooling lessons on these subjects, too.)

2. Have students write their own MEANWHILE story. One of the most fun is. . .MEANWHILE BACK IN THE CLASSROOM. Students pretend like they are Rancher Hicks and leave the classroom one day to go somewhere they think will be more exciting. MEANWHILE back in the classroom, students create stories where famous people come to visit or they win prizes or the teacher allows recess all day, and so on.

3. Discuss with students: What makes this book a fantasy or a tall tale? Can all of those events happen to Elna in one day? Talk to students about what makes this book a fantasy. Create a list. Talk about hyperbole and exaggeration and how Trinka Hakes Noble uses these to create humor in her picture book. How do the illustrations add to the story?

Add a Comment

*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.

Add a Comment