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Our favorite books for April teach some important lessons!

One celebrates the human body and diversity, while others teach kindness and the keys to a true friendship. You’ll find a story that will help foster kids’ sense of empathy and understanding and an award-winning novel that tackles the topics of prejudice and police brutality.

For Pre-K –K (Ages 3-6):

Happy in Our Skin written by Fran Manushkin and illustrated by Lauren Tobia

This affirming and informative book is a charmer and a true celebration – both of diversity and of the human body! Kids will enjoy poring over the diverse faces and hidden details on these pages as they learn about the important role skin plays in their lives.

 

 

For 1^st and 2^nd Grade (Ages 6-8):

My Best Friend written by Mary Ann Rodman and illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Friendships and healthy relationships – those are two key themes of this read-aloud that will have your students’ undivided attention. Honest and relatable, it perfectly illustrates the confusion kids experience when they want to be liked but set their targets on the wrong person. This book will help them understand that a true friend treats others the way we all want to be treated – with kindness.

 

 

For 3^rd & 4^th grade (Ages 8-10):

Toys Go Out: Being the Adventures of a Knowledgeable Stingray, a Toughy Little Buffalo, and Someone Called Plastic written by Emily Jenkins and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky

Hilarious and heart-warming, this chapter book is a perfect pick for kids wanting a laugh-out-loud funny book to read on their own. It also makes a perfect family read-aloud!

 

 

 

For 5^th and 6^th Grade (Ages 10-12):

How to Steal a Dog written by by Barbara O’Connor

Empathy, understanding, and a clearer sense of right and wrong – these are just some of the lessons kids will take away from this wonderful, highly accessible book about a well-intentioned girl whose frustrations get the better of her when her family loses their apartment and is forced to live out of their car.

 

Grades 7 & up (Ages 13+):

All-American Boys written by Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely

Teens will be both won over and bowled over by this tremendous novel about prejudice, power, and police brutality. Fantastic fuel for discussion, it’s A 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor book and the recipient of the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature!

The post Monthly Book List: Our Five Favorite Books for April appeared first on First Book Blog.

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Title: Happy in Our Skin Written by: Fran Manushkin Illustrated by: Lauren Tobia Published by: Candlewick Press, 2015 Themes/Topics: diversity, self-acceptance, skin Suitable for ages: 2-5 Opening: Look at you!                               … Continue reading →

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Thanks to the very generous folk at Walker Books I got to do something which makes me very happy earlier this week – read aloud lots of fabulous picture books with friends and their kids, and then give the books away, all part of a Picture Book Picnic…

The day started early, baking “Walker Bear” Gingerbread biscuits…

With the first of our “emergency supplies” ready for scoffing, we got to to the main business of the day – reading together!

We started with The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems, humorous take on why it’s so nice to be polite.

Full of chocolate chip cookies (we used this recipe) and cold milk I then read How to Get a Job by me The Boss, actually by Sally Lloyd-Jones & Sue Heap. After a long conversation about what everyone wanted to be when they grew up, I interviewed the kids for the post of Explorer. All the kids sailed through their interviews (Do you like being outdoors? Yes! Are you afraid of snakes? No! Do you like climbing trees? Yes!) and so we got down the map of our local area and off we set on our bikes to have an adventure.

We set up our first camp by a sunny stream, perfect for a reading of Arthur’s Dream Boat by Polly Dunbar.

After the story we made paper boats and floated them off down the river.

Then we climbed up a hill to one of my favourite climbing trees, and in we all clambered to read Anna Hibiscus’ Song by Atinuke and Lauren Tobia.

Anna Hibiscus’ Song is an exuberant, joyous book about what makes people happy – just perfect for me on a day doing what makes me happy!

Anna Hibiscus (yes, the very same character as in the fabulous early chapter books also by

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Atinuke, illustrated by Lauren Tobia,
Good Luck, Anna Hibiscus
Have Fun, Anna Hibiscus
Kane Miller, 2011.

Ages: 5 – 9

Atinuke, a Nigerian-born storyteller, is the author of the award-winning Anna Hibiscus series. Anna Hibiscus is a precocious, curious young girl who lives in a “big white house” in “Africa…[a]mazing Africa” with her big, sometimes overbearing, but always loving, family. While Atinuke has not identified a specific African country for the setting of her books, she has successfully captured the beauty of the African continent through her playful short stories.

Good Luck, Anna Hibiscus and Have Fun, Anna Hibiscus both focus on Anna as she prepares to visit her grandma in “Canada…[c]old Canada.” Both books are divided into short chapters, each of which is like participating in an intercultural exchange. From cuisine to familial hierarchy and even linguistics, Good Luck, Anna Hibiscus and Have Fun, Anna Hibiscus present a glimpse into the life of a child who is discovering two different cultures while also identifying her place in the world.

Each chapter also has a lesson to be learned, from the power of forgiveness to the unconditional love of family to more difficult topics, such as the breaking down of stereotypes and the prejudice and poverty that is present in both African and Canadian society. Atinuke doesn’t look in-depth at these issues, but she frames it in such a way so young readers can understand it and note its importance to Anna and her friends and family.

The illustrator, Lauren Tobia, has created what look like rough sketches to depict certain scenes throughout the book. She doesn’t use color, but instead opts for small details, such as small animals hidden within the plants or adding patterns to items of clothing to complement Atinuke’s colorful descriptions and storytelling.

The Anna Hibiscus series will tickle the senses of both young and old readers thanks to the colorful writing of Atinuke and the drawings by Tobia. Readers will take away not only a better understanding of the world, but also a better sense of what it means to live in an increasingly diverse world.

Keilin Huang
May 2012

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The African proverb "It takes a village to raise a child" is demonstrated again and again in Anna Hibiscus, an early chapter book by Atinuke. Set in Africa in an unnamed country (that sounds a lot like Nigeria), the book features its eponymous character, a young girl who lives with her extended family "in an old white house with balconies and secret staircases."

Anna can't image a life not surrounded by grandparents, aunties, uncles, and many, many cousins. So when, in the first story, Anna's father announces that only the immediate family will be going on a beach vacation, Anna is incredulous. And rightly so. For without the help of their relatives, the workload is overwhelming, and Anna's twin baby brothers, Double and Trouble, prove a handful. Father returns home to fetch the aunties to help with the work, then the cousins to amuse the twins, then the uncles to keep him company, and finally his parents for their wisdom and their ability to restore order to the squabbling household.    

With all its dozens of family members, the household would seem to be complete. But it's not. Auntie Comfort lives far away in America on the other side of the Atlantic. Anna can't wait until she is strong enough to swim right across the ocean to see her aunt. Luckily, she won't have to make such an arduous journey because the family learns that Auntie Comfort is coming to visit. Preparations begin at once, with everyone doing his or her part. Anna notices that Grandfather is worried that his youngest daughter might have forgotten "the proper African way" of doing things. With the help of an uncle, Anna sends messages to her aunt, reminding her of their customs. When Auntie Comfort arrives, dressed in traditional garb, Anna is reassured.

Anna learns an important lesson in the third story about work, money, and class. Bored with the quiet life in the family's comfortable compound, she yearns for the excitement of the city outside its walls. She's especially enamored of the girls who sell fruit and vegetables from baskets on their heads. Anna longs to be one of them, and begs her grandfather to allow her to do so. When he ignores her, she fills a basket with oranges and marches off. Because her oranges are freshly picked, they sell quickly. At the end of the day, Anna has a handful of coins in her pocket. The other girls do not fare as well, and Anna learns that they and their family will go hungry. She confesses to her grandfather, and the next morning he has Anna work for the girls. All day she walks back and forth to the market to fetch the girls the fruit that they sell. When evening falls, Anna's feet have blisters and she is sore through and through. But she knows "what it is to work hard."

The final story involves Anna's desire to "set her eyes, her feet, her hands, on snow." In her family, only her mother, who was born and raised in Canada, has experienced its frosty delight. Anna goes about the compound trying to recreate snow and failing. It's only when a letter comes from Granny Canada that Anna gets an inkling how to make her dream come true.

Anna Hibiscus is a finalist in the 2010 Cybils awards and deservedly so. Beginning readers are rarely given the opportunity of reading a book set in a world so different from their own. Luckily for them, Atinuke has a storyteller's natural voice. She brings Anna and her family to life through snatches of spot-on dialogue and by showing what it really means to be part of a large, loving family. Sometime

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Lauren's 100 days of drawing
and website

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