I am I

Fitzpatrick, Marie-Louise.(2006). I am I.  New Milford, Connecticut: Roaring Brook Press.

I showed this incredibly beautiful book to Susan, Louisa and Jennah's classes before Remembrance Day using the document camera.  The story of two boys living on opposite sides of a river in an imaginary landscape and declaring themselves king of all they see spirals into a sad tale of war and destruction. Their proud, defiant and hateful words turn to barbed wire and eventually a fire-breathing dragon that leaves their world scorched and barren. The boys' remorse is genuine.  Their tears become a rain storm and germinate new life.  In the final illustration the boys face each other in a cobbled front yard bringing the story back to reality. The amazing, double page spread illustrations tell the story with very few words. The wonderful imagery in this book inspired thoughtful and insightful discussions in every class.

Primary, Intermediate picture book, Teacher resource

You Will Be My Friend

Brown, P. (2011). You Will By My Friend! New York: Little, Brown and Co.

Over the years I have learned three important lessons about making new friends.

                      Lesson 1: Always be yourself.

                      Lesson 2: New fiends appear when you least expect it.

                      Lesson 3: Do not scream, "YOU WILL BE MY FRIEND!" at people. Trust me, that 

                      never works.

Lucy bear wakes up one morning determined to make a new friend. At first she is too exuberant, ruining things by accident.  Next she tries to fit in by copying others - also not popular. Then she tries threatening or ordering people to be her friend. When she has finally given up, a friend appears. This colourful, cartoon-like picture book uses boxy illustrations and large speech bubbles to express Lucy's excitement and frustration.  It is a great conversation starter for talking about strategies for making friends - ones that work, and ones that don't.

Primary

Who Likes the Rain?

Kraner, Etta. (2007). Who Likes the Rain? Toronto, Ont.: Kids Can Press. (E-book retrieved from Tumblebooks).

This year our school purchased a subscription to Tumblebooks (ask Kathy or Carla for the password to use them at home).  I have been using them in my Kindergarten classroom.  Last week we watched and listened to "Who Likes the Rain?".  This wonderful mixture of fiction and non-fiction describes children playing in the rain and explores all the reasons we like rain. When a child states "I like the rain because the worms come out.  I wonder why the worms come out?", the next page explains why worms come out when it rains. Every reason for liking rain is a starting point for another age appropriate scientific explanation. The children were mesmerized and learned a lot.  Afterwords we did our own writers' workshops about why we like (or don't like) rain. This is a great book acknowledging our natural curiousity and introducing the idea of inquiry learning (asking "wonder" questions and then looking for the answers).

Primary

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny - Detectives Extraordinaire!

Horvath, Polly. (2012). Mr. and Mrs. Bunny - Detectives Extraordinaire! Groundwood Books, Toronto, Ont.

An absolute treat!  A fast paced mystery with human characters mixed up with talking rabbits, foxes and marmots (never trust a marmot), this clever story written in large, well spaced font interspersed with full page pen and ink illustrations appears at first glance to be an early chapter book. The wry humour and social and political commentary, however, will bring smiles to more sophisticated readers. Madeleine, who lives on Pender Island with her hippie parents, returns home from work one evening to discover her parents have been kidnapped - by foxes. The foxes need the help of her code breaking uncle and hope her parents will lead them to him. Madeleine's uncle falls into an sudden coma (a great way to get a rest, he says)  and she must enlist the help of Mr. and Mrs. Bunny, two talking rabbits who take her in and look after her.  Much high jinks ensues including an unpredictable marmot, some purple disco boots and a desperate last minute rescue. This book can be enjoyed on many levels. It would make a wonderful read-aloud for a mixed audience too.

Late Primary/Intermediate/Adults too :)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Kinney, J. (2009). Diary of a wimpy kid: dog days. Amulet Books, New York.

 The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books are very popular in our library.  I skimmed the first one when it came out and was not impressed with the main character, Greg Heffley. I had thought the stories would be about a misunderstood, misfit kid readers could identify with.  I found a quite unlikeable, self-centered kid instead BUT.... the Wimpy Kid continued to be popular.  So last week I gave him another try. I still did not like Greg Heffly, but I could see his appeal. In fact, I am sure my own children could relate to some of Greg's disappointing summer experiences - like the surprise summer trip where his Mom packed healthy snacks (no pizza stop), the surprise was the 'Slip Slide Water Park' (definitely not cool for a middle school kid), once the family did get settled a thunder storm appeared and the park was closed due to lightening, they got caught in the traffic jam leaving the park, and his younger brother told those four year old jokes (the ones that don't make sense) all the way home. Between losing and regaining his best friend, starting a doomed summer business, surviving a summer crush and navigating the horrors of the men's change room, Greg is certainly someone a middle grade kid can relate to. Greg is still self-centered and thoughtless, but his misdeeds do have consequences. Perhaps Greg Heffley is just mischievous and irreverent enough to appeal while the consequences of his actions maintain some safe boundaries - a way to explore tempting thoughts we know are not really right, but might be fun at the time.  The black line, newspaper comic style illustrations add some details to the diary style narration and break up the text making it feel like an 'easy read'. I have to admit, I did crack a smile a few times....

Late Primary/Intermediate

Who's In My Family

Harris, Robie. (2012). Who's In My Family: All About Our Families. Sommerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press.

This detailed picture book with gentle illustrations explores the diversity of families. The illustrations are filled with people of different ages, nationalities, genders and abilities while the simple text reveals that families eat different foods, enjoy different activities, have different numbers (and genders) of parents and children and may contain different nationalities. Robie Harris certainly appears to have covered all the possible permutations and combinations of family. Families have happy times, sad times and angry times, but in the end "most of all and most of the time, and no matter what - children and grown-ups and their families really do love one another!"  This book is a wonderful tool for teaching about diversity and beginning discussions about tolerance. Even though all families are different, "every day and every night and all around the world, families talk, laugh, sing, play, cuddle up, tell stories, read books, and make sure their children are healthy and safe and loved".

Primary

Bink and Gollie

DiCamilllo, K. & McGhee, A. (2010). Bink and Gollie.

Bink and Gollie won the Theodore Seuss Geisel Award in 2011. This lovely picture book is divided into chapters and illustrated in a graphic novel style with full page, mostly black and white illustrations with the colourful Bink and Gollie really 'popping' and short captions or speech bubbles. The endearing, mismatched friends get up to all sorts of adventures from shopping trips to mountain climbing.  Gollie's intellect and imagination make a perfect foil for Bink's irrepressible fun-loving style. DiCamillo's understated humour coupled with McGhee's expressive illustrations bring the two lovable and engaging characters to life. Despite Bink and Gollie's differences, they discover that compromise, and pancakes, are the key to lasting friendship.

Primary, Late Primary, (Intermediate students enjoy the illustration style and Gollie's dry humour too)

Visit Bink and Gollie's Website at http://www.binkandgollie.com/