August
2012-2013 SISD Book of the Month Booklist
Enemy Pie
by Derek Munson
TumbleBook Library
www.tumblebooks.com
Storyline Online
www.storylineonline.net/enemy/fullscreen_yt.html
Discovery Education
www.discoveryeducation.com
Have You Filled a Bucket Today?
by Carol McCloud
Interview with author
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GOh18uZBlw
September
Abuela
by Arthur Dorros
You Tube (puppet show presentation)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SUbbPhCxbI
Knots on a Counting Rope
by Bill Martin Jr.
It was the perfect summer. That is, until
Jeremy Ross moved into the house down
the street and became Enemy Number
One. Luckily, Dad has a surefire way to
get rid of enemies – Enemy Pie. But one
of the secret ingredients is spending an
entire day with the enemy! In this funny
yet endearing story, one little boy learns
an effective recipe for turning a best
enemy into a best friend. With charming
illustrations that bring to life the
difficulties and ultimate rewards of
making new friends, Enemy Pie serves up
a sweet lesson in friendship.
Through simple prose and vivid
illustrations, this heartwarming book
encourages positive behavior as children
see how rewarding it is to express daily
kindness, appreciation, and love. Bucket
filling and dipping are effective
metaphors for understanding the effects
of our actions and words on the wellbeing of others and ourselves.
In this tasty trip, Rosalba is "always going
places" with her grandmother--abuela .
During one of their bird-feeding outings
to the park, Rosalba wonders aloud,
"What if I could fly?" Thus begins an
excursion through the girl's imagination
as she soars high above the tall buildings
and buses of Manhattan, over the docks
and around the Statue of Liberty with
Abuela in tow. Each stop of the glorious
journey evokes a vivid memory for
Rosalba's grandmother and reveals a new
glimpse of the woman's colorful ethnic
origins. Dorros's text seamlessly weaves
Spanish words and phrases into the
English narrative, retaining a dramatic
quality rarely found in bilingual picture
books. Rosalba's language is simple and
melodic, suggesting the graceful images
of flight found on each page. Kleven's
mixed-media collages are vibrantly hued
and intricately detailed, the various
blended textures reminiscent of folk art
forms. Those searching for solid
multicultural material would be well
advised to embark: Vamos!
Gathered near a campfire under a canopy
of stars, a Navaho Indian boy hears the
tale of his birth from his grandfather.
Born on a windy night, the child was
weak and frail. In the early morning,
Grandfather brought him out to meet the
morning. Two blue horses galloped by,
Discovery Education
http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guid
AssetId=84E9A556-57E1-4937-87BB3C1BF33D65CA&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=
US
You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgwmxMEiJ2U
Storyline Online
http://www.storylineonline.net/knots/fullscreen_yt.ht
ml
October
The Gruffalo
by Julia Donalson
YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzMa_dJGpJ4
Clever Trevor
by Sarah Albee
stopped and looked at him; the baby
raised his arms to them. Grandfather said,
"This boy child will not die. The great
blue horses have given him the strength to
live." Named Boy-Strength-of-BlueHorses, the child later needs that well of
strength to deal with the fact that he is
blind. Rand's atmospheric, vivid paintings
evoke the tale's sensibility as they move it
along. The beauty and vastness of the
Western sky and the intimacy of two
loving figures by a campfire are portrayed
with equal fluidity. A rich tale of
intergenerational love and respect, this is
bittersweet and unsentimental. It is a
moving collaborative effort that
reverberates long after the book is closed.
A mouse is taking a stroll through the
deep, dark wood when along comes a
hungry fox, then an owl, and then a
snake. The mouse is good enough to eat
but smart enough to know this, so he
invents . . . the gruffalo! As Mouse
explains, the gruffalo is a creature with
terrible claws, and terrible tusks in its
terrible jaws, and knobbly knees and
turned-out toes, and a poisonous wart at
the end of its nose. But Mouse has no
worry to show. After all, there’s no such
thing as a gruffalo. .
In an attempt to reclaim the playground,
Trevor figures out how to use an uneven
seesaw to teach Buzz and his bully
buddies a lesson.
TumbleBook Library
www.tumblebooks.com
November
So You Want to be a President?
by Judith St. George
Discovery Education
www.discoveryeducation.com
Tired of books about the presidency that
present themselves as history books?
Author Judith St. George has created a
book about the presidency that's serious
fun. The basic theme is that anyone can
be president: a fat man (William Howard
Taft) or a tiny man (James Madison), a
relative youngster (Teddy Roosevelt at
42) or oldster (Ronald Reagan at 69).
Presidential hobbies, sports, virtues, and
vices all get a tongue-in-cheek airing,
perfectly matched by Small's politicalcartoon style of caricature painting. It's
fun, but the underlying purpose is clearly
serious: to remind kids that the American
presidents have been a motley group of
individuals, not a row of marble busts.
Ironically, that message makes the
presidency far more interesting (and
Tops and Bottoms
by Janet Stevens
TumbleBook Library
www.tumblebooks.com
December
appealing) than it seems in some of the
more traditional books. There's a factual
addendum at the back giving all the dates
and names, with a one-line bio for each
past-president.
Hare solves his family’s problems by
tricking rich and lazy Bear in this funny,
energetic version of an old slave story.
With roots in American slave tales, Tops
& Bottoms celebrates the trickster
tradition of using one’s wits to overcome
hardship. “As usual, Stevens’ animal
characters, bold and colorful, are
delightful. . . . It’s all wonderful fun, and
the book opens, fittingly, from top to
bottom instead of from side to side,
making it perfect for story-time sharing.”
Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
by Susan Wojciechowski
This story focuses on Jonathan Toomey
who is the best woodcarver in the valley.
But he bears a secret sorrow, and never
smiles or laughs. When the widow
McDowell and her son ask him to carve a
creche in time for Christmas, their quiet
request leads to a joyful miracle, as they
heal the woodcarver's heart and restore
his faith.
Olive, the Other Reindeer
by Vivian Walsh
You won't understand the premise of this
book if you've never sung "Rudolph the
Red-Nosed Reindeer," so let's start there.
The carol begins, "Rudolph the red-nosed
reindeer / had a very shiny nose / and if
you ever saw it, / You would even say it
glows / All of the other reindeer / used to
laugh and call him names / They never let
poor Rudolph / join in any reindeer
games." If you notice that "all of the other
reindeer" sounds suspiciously like "Olive,
the other reindeer," you've discovered the
source of Olive's adventures! Olive is a
dog. But when she hears this holiday
tune, a bit of an identity crisis sets in. She
decides she must be a reindeer and heads
to the North Pole to see if she can join
Santa's reindeer team. Olive gets to the
North Pole just in time. Comet (the
biggest reindeer) uses a piece of extra
ribbon to tie Olive to the reindeers'
elaborate harness system. As the sleigh
rose high in the sky, "Olive was surprised
it was so easy to fly." (The sight of a dog
dangling beneath Santa's sleigh will
reduce readers to charmed giggles.)
Despite Olive's lack of flying ability and
the unfortunate mishap caused by the
reindeers' distraction, she, in her inherent
dogginess, proves to be useful as both a
flute retriever and a cookie smeller.
TumbleBook Library
www.tumblebooks.com
January
My Dream of Martin Luther King
by Faith Ringgold
Faith Ringgold had a dream about Martin
Luther King. Simply narrated in her own
voice, Ringgold paints a vivid, powerful
picture of King's childhood and strong
family life, along with glimpses of
prejudice, segregation, and protest. Her
vision blurs dreamily into King's adult
life--from his family, to protests of Rosa
Parks's arrest, even to his assassination:
"This time we had come to mourn Martin
Luther King's death by trading in bags
containing our prejudice, hate, ignorance,
violence, and fear for the slain hero's
dream. We emptied the bags onto a great
pile, and as the last bag was dumped, the
pile exploded into a fire so bright that it
lit up the whole world. There,
emblazoned across the sky, were the
words: EVERY GOOD THING STARTS
WITH A DREAM."
50 Below Zero
by Robert Munsch
Jason is awakened by the sounds of his
father's sleepwalking and finds him
asleep on top of the refrigerator. After
returning him to bed, he is later awakened
to find father asleep in the bathtub and
later on top of the car in the garage. The
fourth time it is footprints in the snow
that lead him to a stiff father who must be
thawed in the bathtub. He then ties one
end of a piece of rope to his father's toe
and another to his bed to limit the walks.
It is his mother who is awakened in the
final picture to find Jason asleep on top of
the refrigerator and father asleep midstep
with a toe tied to a piece of rope. What
starts off as a humorous idea is run into
the ground with repetition in the text so
that even the humor of the final picture is
lost in the stupidity of the story.
TumbleBook Library
www.tumblebooks.com
You Tube (read by Robert Munsch)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7fyiahPAB8
February
Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch
by Eileen Spinelli
Storyline Online
www.storylineonline.net/hatch/fullscreen_yt.html
One wintry day, a postman delivers a
mysterious package with a big pink bow
to a lonely man named Mr. Hatch.
"Somebody loves you," the note says.
"Somebody loves me!" Mr. Hatch sings
as he dusts his living room. "Somebody
loves me!" Mr. Hatch whistles as he does
his errands in town. "But who," Mr.
Hatch wonders, "could that somebody
be?" After some time, Mr. Hatch
discovers just who his secret admirer is
and, in doing so, enjoys the biggest
surprise of his life!
I Love You the Purplest
by Barbara M. Joosee
You Tube (read by an adult)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYAl64ng09c
March
There Is a Bird on Your Head
by Mo Willems
You Tube (read by children)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw5FNKmJeP4
ish
by Peter Reynolds
TumbleBook Library
www.tumblebooks.com
B001IOFCLE
April
A perfect book for Mom to read to her
children on Valentine's day. Every child
wants to be loved the best. The Mom in
this book figures out a way to answer her
sons where they feel loved the best
without sibling rivalry. The mother uses
colors to describe the love for her sons each color describing part of their
personality. The illustrations are colorful
and visually demonstrate how the mother
feels towards her children.
Gerald is careful. Piggie is not.
Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can.
Gerald worries so that Piggie does not
have to.
Gerald and Piggie are best friends. In
There Is a Bird On My Head!, Gerald
discovers that there is something worse
than a bird on your head—two birds on
your head! Can Piggie help her best
friend?
Ramon loved to draw. Anytime.
Anything. Anywhere. Drawing is what
Ramon does. It¹s what makes him happy.
But in one split second, all that changes.
A single reckless remark by Ramon's
older brother, Leon, turns Ramon's
carefree sketches into joyless struggles.
Luckily for Ramon, though, his little
sister, Marisol, sees the world differently.
She opens his eyes to something a lot
more valuable than getting things just
"right." Combining the spareness of fable
with the potency of parable, Peter
Reynolds shines a bright beam of light on
the need to kindle and tend our creative
flames with care.
Kids Pick the Funniest Poems
by Bruce Lansky
A collection of humorous poems selected
by a panel of children, featuring an allstar cast of poets from Dr. Seuss and Shel
Silverstein to Judith Viorst and Jack
Prelutsky. Includes new poems and
humor pieces from relative unknowns that
kids liked as well as--or better than--the
more famous entries.
The Librarian of Basra
by Jeanette Winter
When war seemed imminent, Alia
Muhammad Baker, chief librarian of
Basra's Central Library, was determined
to protect the library's holdings. In spite
of the government's refusal to help, she
moved the books into a nearby restaurant
only nine days before the library burned
to the ground. When the fighting moved
on, this courageous woman transferred
the 30,000 volumes to her and her friends'
TumbleBook Library
www.tumblebooks.com
You Tube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTWSd5WVRp4
homes to await peace and the rebuilding
of a new library. In telling this story, first
reported in the New York Timeson July
27, 2003, by Shaila K. Dewan, Winter
artfully achieves a fine balance between
honestly describing the casualties of war
and not making the story too frightening
for young children. The text is spare and
matter-of-fact. It is in the illustrations,
executed in acrylic and ink in her
signature style, that Winter suggests the
impending horror. The artist uses color to
evoke mood, moving from a yellow sky
to orange, to deep maroon during the
bombing, and then blues and pinks with
doves flying aloft as the librarian hopes
for a brighter future. Palm trees,
architecture, dress, and Arabic writing on
the flag convey a sense of place and
culture. Although the invading country is
never mentioned, this is an important
story that puts a human face on the
victims of war and demonstrates that a
love of books and learning is a value that
unites people everywhere.
May
Thank You, Mr. Falker
by Patricia Polacco
Storyline Online
www.storylineonline.net/thankyou/fullscreen_yt.html
You Tube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljk1DDVI-fY
Love you Forever
by Robert Munsch
You Tube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyZaOQu9chQ
Polacco shares her childhood triumph
over dyslexia and discovery of reading in
an inspiring if slightly formulaic story.
Young Trisha is eager to taste the
"sweetness of knowledge" that her
grandfather has always revered (here
symbolized by drizzling honey onto a
book and tasting it, which harkens back to
Polacco's earlier The Bee Tree). But
when she looks at words and numbers,
everything is a jumble. Trisha endures the
cruel taunts of classmates who call her
"dumb," and falls behind in her studies.
But finally the encouragement and efforts
of a new fifth grade teacher, Mr. Falker,
trigger a monumental turning point in
Trisha's life. She begins to blossom and
develop all of her talents, including
reading. Polacco's tale is all the more
heartfelt because of its personal nature.
Young readers struggling with learning
difficulties will identify with Trisha's
situation and find reassurance in her
success.
The mother sings to her sleeping baby:
"I'll love you forever / I'll love you for
always / As long as I'm living / My baby
you'll be." She still sings the same song
when her baby has turned into a fractious
2-year-old, a slovenly 9-year-old, and
then a raucous teen. So far so ordinary-but this is one persistent lady. When her
son grows up and leaves home, she takes
to driving across town with a ladder on
the car roof, climbing through her grown
son's window, and rocking the sleeping
man in the same way. Then, inevitably,
the day comes when she's too old and sick
to hold him, and the roles are at last
reversed.