Howling for Halloween

Reading Halloween books this week to a few classes makes me want to share some Halloween book love.

Halloween books give me special credence to use all sorts of fun voices for read-alouds!  Students are thrilled as I stomp around our reading circle reading these favorites.

1.  The Perfect Pumpkin Pie by Denys Cazet:  I love pie and this book makes a great read-aloud about a dead man's love for pie. 
This book has a marvelously fun refrain about pumpkin pie with delightful illustrations.

2. That Terrible Halloween Night by James Stevenson:  Louie and Mary Ann think they have Grandpa tricked when he doesn't know that October 31st is Halloween but it's really Grandpa tricking them.  Kids love the speech bubbles in the illustrations and the ending had everyone thinking!!

3. The Three Bears' Halloween by Kathy Duvall: Mama, Papa and Baby Bear dress up for Halloween and trick-or-treat around the forest.  When they find a house door open they venture in...A funny take on Goldilocks, kids love it when they figure out the story is the reverse of the original. 

4. Where's My Mummy by Carolyn Crimi:  Little  Baby Mummy wants to play one more round of Hide and Shriek and runs away from Big Mama Mummy.  When she doesn't come looking for him, he has to search for  her in some unusual places.  John Manders illustrations show us a perfectly creepy graveyard with a wildly un-frightning but fun cast of characters.  This also has some easy repitition for young ones to repeat with you. 

5. Boris and Bella also by Carolyn Crimi:  A romantic tale of a friendship that forms between Bella Lagrossi and Boris Kleanitoff-one messy and one tidy vampire, both wishing to host a Halloween Bash.  Everyone heads to Harry Beastie's party instead as he's neither messy or too clean.  Cris Grimly illustrates this one for Crimi and they are perfectly spooky!  Crimi is the only author on this list to have their own website...such a shame!!  I think it should be a requirement for publishing houses to get a website up and running for an author with a few books under their belt, at least!  [soap box moment]

I discovered this interesting interview with Crimi at Make It Better, a North Shore publication.

Check out these fun Halloween Sites:

Pumpkin Carving Artist
Pumpkin Nook

Great Video-5 Little Pumpkins!

Fiction vs. Nonfiction

     I used two sets of great books this year to help 2nd students compare and contrast fiction and nonfiction books.  We read one of my favorites; Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel-we read the first chapter (oh, and they loved the idea that this was a CHAPTER BOOK!!)  and compared it to Frogs and Tadpoles by Anita Ganeri and Anni Axworthy and Toads by Julie Murphy.  I didn't read but a few pages of the nonfiction titles but we looked at all the photos and talked about how nonfiction is set up different. 

Because second grade had some prior owl knowledge we did the same with Owl Babies by Martin Waddell (hmm, another of my longtime favs) and looked at Owls; Flat-Faced Flyers by Adele D. Richardson and Owls by Wayne Lynch.  Owl Babies is a great choice to use as a comparison because it gives some accurate information about owls-making it harder to decide for students.  The key element making it a fiction choice is that the owls "tell" the story to us. 

Brilliant Author Studies

     Kindergarten students are still studying Eric Carle.  We've read The Very Hungry Caterpiller, The Very Busy Spider, The Very Clumsy Click Beetle, 1, 2, 3, To the Zoo, Rooster's Off to See the World and Little Cloud.  We've made trains carrying animals and clouds floating in the sky to represent Carle's beautiful artwork.  We've also watched Eric Carle read The Very Hungry Caterpiller to us and watched a few of his stories on video.  By the end of this study Kindergarten students will really be able to recognize all things Eric Carle!!

     First Grade students are studying Nancy  Carlson, who lives only one state over in a Minneapolis suburb.  We've had a great time finding new characters in all of Carlson's books.  We've read Henry's Amazing Imagination,  I Don't Like To Read!, Harriet's Halloween Candy, Harriet and the Roller Coaster, Harriet and the Garden, and Louanne Pig Makes the Team.  Most of these books have themes that fit with the Six Pillars and making good choices so we've had some really interesting discussions!  We plan to graph the characters next week. 

    Second Grade students have enjoyed the art of Graeme Base for the last three weeks.  We've read Jungle Drums, Animalia and The Water Hole; all books of his representing the natural world and all its beauty.  His books have offered a new look at the world and students have  enjoyed discoving his books. 

    Third Grade students have studied author, Eve Bunting.  We've read a few of her fun books that focus on imagination such as Little Badger; Terror of the Seven Seas and Mouse Island but we've also read a few of her more thought-provoking books like Fly Away Home, Some Frog! and The Wednesday Surprise.  With these titles we've discussed Author's Purpose and come up with the problems of homelessness, divorced families and an irresponsible Daddy and how important reading is (literacy) issues.   What authors do you love?  Stop in and find a new author today...

Great Library Books about the Library, of course!!

Here is a list of books we read at the beginning of the year to understand what a library is in our lives as students and humans in the world.  I always want students to know that what I teach them inside our library doors makes a difference outside the doors of our school as well. 

Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen; illustrated by Kevin Hawkes:

This is a well-written tale with dreamy illustrations that make you just want to fall into the book  A lion comes to visit the public library and the head librarian lets him stay as long as he learns not to roar.  The lion arrives early every day for storytime and finds joy in helping the librarians by dusting encyclopedias, licking overdue notices, and as a step stool for small children.  He loves being the library lion until Miss Merriweather falls and he roars to get help.  The kids love the idea that the lion is forgiven and invited back to the library-after all libraries truly are generally very forgiving places! 

Reading Makes You Feel Good by  Todd Parr:

This is a great list book with perfectly silly illustrations and is a perfect starting point for young listeners to see how important reading can be in their lives.  It has a catchy "refrain" of and you can do it anywhere!, which students love to repeat with you.  At the end I relay how I carry a book with me everywhere so I can read if I'm left waiting in line, stuck in traffic, or waiting at an appointment.  All the reasons to read are touched on in the book (using your imagination, recipes, following directions, traveling to new places are just a few), which provides students with a bigger reason to read than just schoolwork-or "because my teacher makes me!"  Kids will love the illustrations and Todd's word choices.

B is for Bookworm; A Library Alphabet written by Anita C. Prieto is a very informative text on all the many aspects of a library.  It begins with A is for Author;  There are thousands of books on the library shelves, just waiting for you and me.  They were written by people who love to create.  Do  you know who those people might be?  There is also tons of information in a sidebar about each topic but I didn't read that part to students.  This book introduces lots of great library vocabulary and I found a great teacher's guide by Patricia Pierce.  Of course I found the lesson plan after I had read the book but I be ready with it next year!

The Boy who was Raised by Librarians by Carla Morris; illustrated by Brad Sneed:

I read this book with third grade students and they loved the idea of how helpful each librarian was at this public library.  Melvin is one curious child (we all know a Melvin or two) and he wants to know a little about everything...Marge, Betty and Leeola are the librarians who help him find out everything he is interested in.  The librarians created by Sneed are a treat and happily look like really lively librarians.  One curious child in my story circle did inquired "Where are his parents?"- we never do meet them-it is the 3 librarians who stand with him as he graduates from high school.  A nice surpise ending that will have each child smiling at the end!

The Library Pages by Carlene Morton; illustrated by Valeria Docampo:

This is a new addition to our library and students really got the whole book but then were still surprised by the ending.  The librarian is at home on maternity leave and gets a mysterious video package from students.  It seems the guest teacher likes to sleep while the "Library Pages" or helpers organize/destroy the library!  My students had shocked looks on their faces and are so happy when they find out the joke is on the sweet librarian at home!

There are many other great choices to teach library lessons-these are just a few I used this year.  What are your favorites?

Caterpillars to Butterflies

     Kindergarten and first grade students listened to The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert.  Each book talks about the life cycle stages of a butterfly and each has bright, bold illustrations to capture a young audience's attention.  Ehlert's book is nonfiction, which gave us the opportunity to talk about nonfiction information and

compare it to Carle's fiction writing which gave the same information in a funny way.