For the ballerinas...

This book is filled with references to Impressionism artists (Monet, Renoir, Cassatt, etc.) and the illustrations are beautiful.

     In the text, Monsieur Degas paints portraits of ballerinas dancing.  Monsieur Degas accidentally takes a young ballerina's bag, which has her costume for the evening's performance.  She looks all over Paris looking for Degas and her missing satchel.  The illustrations are very "impressionist" like and I think this book is perfect for budding dancers and readers who like art.  The ballerina in the story runs into many famous painters working in historic Paris.
     The actual paintings that inspired the story and the illustrations are listed in the text.  It's a sweet little book that I think readers to love dancing will enjoy reading it.

Jackie Robinson

While perusing the shelves at our local bookstore, I came across Testing the Ice:  A True Story of Jackie Robinson.  This book takes place after Robinson retires from baseball and has settled in Connecticut with his family.  The story is beautifully told and written by his daughter, Sharon.
     There is a lake on the property and all the children want to ice skate as soon as it freezes over.  Jackie says they can go skating, but only after he "tests the water" to make sure it is safe.  But for some reason, it's the first time he has gone near the water since the family moved to their new home.

     Jackie pokes and prods the ice... and faces a fear he's never shared with his family.  He doesn't know how to swim!  But he bravely continues until he reaches the middle of the lake and declares it safe for skating.  Not the first time he's overcome a fear to help others. 

     Kadir Nelson (Caldecott Honor Medalist) has filled the book with incredible artwork.  You can check out an interview with both the author and the illustrator at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K_8z-29nwk 

     This is definitely a book I'll be adding to my collection of "Stamina and Endurance" books!

Clean Your Room!

After three days off last week for snow days and having our children on fall break at the same time, this is the moniker we were using around our house, "Why don't you clean your room?"

     In her book, How to Clean Your Room, Eileen Spinelli provides some much needed advice for children hearing the same question from their parents; in the most delightful and poetic way!  "First, wade through the clutter of color like an artist. . . what a lovely mess. Next stop at the books teetering by the bed, tottering with words, worlds you have read about, pages you have danced in. . ."  The author is a bit more kind than I am, I'm afraid.  Who knew cleaning your room could take on such a pleasant tone?  Who would have thought that cleaning your room, the most dreaded chore of all, could become such a pleasant experience?

     This book is filled with pop-ups, pull tables, and even a spinner... so your children might just spend more time reading this book than actually cleaning their own rooms.  It might also make a special gift for someone who keeps things tidy.  And perhaps it might inspire children to take on the piles, the "stuff", the clutter...

     It might just help a child realize that having a bedroom to clean is a gift.  Or, it might just encourage them to write a bit about other chores that they dread... with language so graceful that the chore is quickly forgotten.  "How to" writing with a special twist that only Eileen Spinelli could spin!

Walter Dean Myers...

When you look in a mirror, who do you see?
      A boy? A girl?
     A son? A daughter?
     A runner? A dancer? 
Whoever and whatever you see–
just put out your fist and give yourself an I am BAM!

     In this new book, Looking Like Me, Walter Dean Myers writes about Jeremy trying to discover himself by looking in the mirror and seeing other members of his family.  Jeremy discovers who he is... a brother... a son... a dancer... a runner... an artist.  Myer's son, Christopher, did the illustrations is such a unique way.
     The book is really about celebrating who you are and who you will become... the poetry is rhythmic and jazzy.  And the story is an important one.
     I could see using this book to encourage learners to write about their own uniqueness during a study of poetry.  It might also lend itself to determining what's important in text.  Reading this book was a special treat.

Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop

Today's the day, Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop makes its debut.  There are so many people who have made this project come to fruition:
  

• Bill Varner, my editor, and the staff at Stenhouse Publishers, who have nudged me for quite some time to get this book written
  
• My friends and colleagues, Randi Allison and Troy Rushmore, who inspire me every day to be a better teacher
• My students, past and present, who make conferring such a thought-provoking and wise part of our reader's workshop
• My colleagues at the PEBC (Public Education and Business Coalition) for our 20+ years of learning together
  
• My mentors, especially Judy Gilkey, Debbie Miller, Ellin Keene, and Cris Tovani, who always make me think
• My fellow "Friday Freaks" (Cheryl Zimmerman, Lori Conrad, Missy Matthews, Troy Rushmore, Randi Allison, Ilana Spiegel, Kristin Venable, Karen Berg, Susan Logan) who make the first Friday of every month a night of learning, sharing, and blessings
• My dad, Glenn, and mom, Freda, who are looking down right now and smiling.  Boy, I miss them
  
• My family - Susan, Graham, Anneke, Jensen, and Lauryn - for their patience, understanding, and constant encouragement as I wrote this book.
  

You can read Conferring online at stenhouse.com for limited time.  I'm very proud of this project and I hope you'll enjoy taking a gander at it.  And, I hope you'll continue to hone your own conferring, look at your students today, and ask, "So... what do you think?"  I know I will be.   

The Truly Terribly Horrible Sweater... That Grandma Knit

What is the worst gift you've ever gotten from your grandmother?  
      My favorite, a yellow plastic tissue box cover with gold plastic filigree from Dollar General.  Even into her 80s, my mother made sure every member of the extended family got a gift at Christmastime... the tissue cover was ours one year.  I still look at it an smile (it's been chosen to adorn to the desk in the basement).

     In The Truly Terribly Horrible Sweater, Cameron receives a "lovely" hand knit sweater from his grandmother.  He can't stand the sweater... he pours mustard on it, puts the sweater on the dog, and tries to send it to the nearby rummage store.  He thinks it is, indeed, a truly horrible sweater; not quite the gift her was hoping to receive.

     Little does he know, but his grandmother took great care in choosing the colors for his striped sweater--green to represent a soccer goal, yellow because he's the "sunshine" in her life... of course there comes the point where he has to wear it in front of his grandmother and learns the truth about why she knitted it.

     This is a sweet book; a new telling of an old story (think 1950s sitcom or the pink rabbit pajamas in A Christmas Story)..  The authors include the instructions for knitting the same sweater, a nice touch.  

     So glad I can't wear a gold plastic tissue cover!

Never Smile at a Monkey....

Steve Jenkins, the author and illustrator of the Caldecott Honor–winning What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? has a new book called Never Smile at a Monkey:  And 17 Other Important Things to Remember. 

     In this book, he explores several mysteries of the animal world, including the things you should never do when you come upon a platypus, a cone shell, a tang fish, an electric caterpillar, a cassowary, and many other animals.  Jenkins explores the unusual ways some creatures have come to protect themselves... and what we should do if we see any of them.  And some of the book's stories are almost scary!

     Of course, the illustrations are typical Jenkins... colorful, detailed, compelling... it's a nice addition to the collection of his books I just bought at Kohl's a few weeks ago (part of the Kohl's Cares for Kids program).

      Steve Jenkins is a Colorado author and you can learn more about him at: http://www.stevejenkinsbooks.com.  On his website he says, "Every book starts with an idea.  Usually the idea is really a question.  It might be a question that a child asks, or something I'm curious about myself."  There is a great video about the making of a book on the site; it's worth taking a look!  I love how he links science to picture books in such a fascinating way.