A New Year Comes New Reading!

Happy New Year to all readers out there in the blogosphere and beyond! Another year has come and gone, and we are now at the beginning of the next. Time to explore some highly recommended reading from the new award reading lists provided by the Texas Library Association (TLA)!

In the past month TLA have announced the following reading lists:

Texas 2x2 Reading List

The 2x2s are books that are perfect for readers from ages 2 to 2nd grade. There are picture books then the Easy Readers (aka Beginning Readers) chapter books. This is a collection of books that I always trying to use more because (1) it's always good to promote the award/reading list collections and (2) you know for sure that these books would fit into the required age limit.

Texas Bluebonnet Award

The Bluebonnet books are for readers in 3rd - 6th grade and range from picture books up to juvenile chapter books. These are generally great reads to recommend to people. Schools in Texas actually require students to read from the list.

A master list is created each year and one winning title will be announced by the end of January.

Note: I was very excited to see two great poetry books making the list this year:

Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer and illus by Josée Masse

This is an amazing book of poems about the classic and well-loved fairy tales. Each tale has two poems. They are exactly identical to each other, except one has been flipped text-over-text to tell the story of another important character in the tale. Does that make sense? Look to my Poetry Break I created based off of one of the poems! I must say that this is a must-buy book to introduce poetry on a classic and fun subject.

Amazing Faces selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illus. by Chris Soentpiet

This books is a collection of poems that are about the amazing diverse range of people that we live with. Written by today's popular and some award-winning poets the poems include stories of a baby, a boy who wants to be friends the other boys on the street, a high school football hero, a girl in karate, and the love of an abuela. The book is perfectly diverse in the culture and includes a bilingual poem!

Lone Star Reading List

Lone Stars are for grades 6th - 8th and consist of juvenile and some young adult novels and occasional nonfiction (dependent on how your books are placed into collections, that is).

The first book from this list that I'm going to get my hands on is The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman. I saw this book a couple months back when it first arrived in the library; however, I had forgotten it on my many scraps of "To Read" papers until I saw it on the reading list.

This is about Elizabeth who just an after-school got a new job at the "New-York Circulating Material Repository," a library that circulates objects instead of books. She discovers a room that houses items from all the famous Brother Grimm fairy tales, which begin to disappear and it's up to Elizabeth to find out who.

Tayshas Reading List

Tayshas are primarily young adult novel with the occasional nonfiction and adult reads. They're geared towards grade 9th - 12th grade.

The one book from this reading list that I truly liked looking through was Years of Dust: The Story Behind the Dust Bowl by Albert Marrin. This nonfiction title has amazing photographs from the Dust Bowl, and is a great book for teen readers to explore one of the US's moment of history.


Another nonfiction book that is worth reading is Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don't Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge. This title is about fight to vote and the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965. The story is told through the voices of men, women, children and teens. A very good read to explore and learn.

All in all, I was really happy to see quite a number of books that I'm familiar with make it onto all the lists. My "To-Reading" List just got longer! Follow any of the highlighted links to get to the websites to get the complete reading list!

Explore and enjoy!

Longing for Beauty - A Poetry Break

I got the book from which these poems came from for Christmas (which I was very excited about!), and there were so many good poems to pick from it was hard to choose one for a poetry break!

INTRODUCTION
There are so many different styles of poems! Acrostic, haiku, concret, and more! Poet Marylin Singer has beautifully introduced the Reverse Poem in her new book Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse where she has taken the famous fairy tales and written two poems telling the story from two points of view. The "cool" affect of these poems is they are the exact same words, only one is in reverse. To introduce the a poem, ask the children if they are familiar with the fairy tale and briefly discuss reverse poems to them.

POEMS

Longing for Beauty
by Marilyn Singer

(poem 1)
A beast
can love
beauty.
A moist muzzle
can welcome
a rose.
A hairy ear
can prize
a nightingale, singing.
Beneath fur,
look!
A soft heart
stirs,
longing.

(poem 2)
Longing
stirs
a soft heart.
Look
beneath fur.
A nightingale singing,
can prize
a hairy ear.
A rose
can welcome
a moist muzzle.
Beauty
can love
a Beast

EXTENSION
After reading the poems as the children if they know which poem is about which character: Beauty or the Beast? (Note, if you show the book's illustrations this could help them decide as the artwork generally shows the characters standing on the left or right side of the page just like the poems are.) When the children know what reversible poems, they can create their own simple reversible poems about nature or a single object. If someone wants to be ambitious and try to write their own reversible poem stories based on a fairy tale or beyond let them try!

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Singer, Marylin. 2010. Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse. Illus. by Josée Masse. NY: Dutton Children's Books (imprint of Penguin Group Inc.). ISBN: 9780525479017.

Daddy Fell Into the Pond - A Poetry Break

INTRODUCTION
To add a special touch to your discussions or celebrations of families read this poem by the famous poet Alfred Noyes. For younger groups of children you can include a picture or a flannel board props to help illustrate the poem's story. I read this poem for my "My Family" preschool storytime and had made a simple "daddy" with a surprised face and hands up and a pond to help illustrate. The children and their parents LOVED it! Make sure you read the poem with a dramatic voice!


POEM

Daddy Fell Into the Pond
by Alfred Noyes

Everyone grumbled. The sky was grey.
We had nothing to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing the end of a dismal day,
And there seemed to be nothing beyond
THEN,
Daddy fell into the pond!

And everyone's face grew merry and bright,
And Timothy danced for sheer delight.
"Give me the camera, quick, oh quick!
He's crawling out of the duckweed." - Click!

Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,
And doubled up, shaking silently,
And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft
And is sounded as if the old drake laughed.

O, there wasn't a thing that didn't respond
WHEN
Daddy fell into the pond!

EXTENSION
For the younger groups ask them if they have ever fallen into a pond or a giant puddle? Ask them if they ever knew someone who did. For the older children invite them to share a story (real or made up) about a similar family incident.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Andrew, Julie and Emma Walton Hamilton. 2009. Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies. Illus. by James McMullan. NY: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers/Hachette Book Group. p. 32. ISBN: 978316040495.

The Mad Scientist - A Poetry Break

INTRODUCTION
Happy Halloween! Time to bring out the cute, the scary, the funny costumes and the candy bucket. This is a great poem from a great book of Halloween poetry to share with a class or share with the group of kids at a party. If you can manage it, do some special effects with a flannel board or just in the way you present the poem. Pair this poem with any more from Sklansky's book Skeleton Bones & Goblin Groans.




POEM

The Mad Scientist
by Amy E. Sklansky

He used-


nails
and screws
and nuts
and bolts,

plugs
and wires
with lots of volts,

ceiling fans
and pots
and pans,

toasters,
roasters,
old tin cans.

Then lightning somehow struck the tower
right before the midnight hour.

A spark! A sizzle!
A shock! A stir!

All parts at once began to whirr.

And at long last, his grand design
sprang to life. Meet

FRANKENSTEIN!

EXTENSION
After sharing this poem have the kids describe their own monster. They can also draw pictures of Frankenstein monster described in the poem or a monster of their own creation. For those who want to, they can also write their own poem in describing it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sklansky, Amy E. 2004. Skeleton Bones & Goblin Groans. Illus. by Karen Dismukes. NY: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN: 080507046X.

Look for Me By Moonlight

WP-CC Note: This is one of my most favorite books of all time. In fact, as a teenager, this is was the first book that I started reading one night and stayed up into the wee hours to finish. I couldn't put it down!

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hahn, Mary Downing. 1995. Look for Me By Moonlight. NY: Clarion Books/A Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN: 978035698433.


BOOK REVIEW
When her mother and stepfather were moving to Italy, sixteen-year-old Cynda rebelled and she went to stay with her father and his new family at their bed-and-breakfast inn on the frigid winter coast of Maine. While adjusting to the family dynamics of her father, who she rarely saw before then, his second wife, Susan, who is now pregnant and stepbrother Todd, Cynda struggles to find her place in the family as she realizes that her father has truly moved on since the divorce years ago. On top of that, there is possibility of the inn being haunted by a young girl who was murdered, drained of blood, and thrown into the ocean right near the inn during the 1930s. Though, after starting her home studies, making friends with Will, an artistic teen who is a friend of the family, and having fun moments with Todd, things take a twist when a very mysterious stranger named Vincent who has all the good looks and sophisticated characteristics arrives on their doorstep. Cynda takes an immediate attraction to him as does he. Little does she know that Vincent has a long history that is as old as the inn and its legends and just as frightening. Soon Cynda finds her need for love and attention has become dangerous and had spread to family, and has to fight to save her and her family and friends' lives from Vincents dark powers. Masterly weaving in Alfred Noyes' poem "The Highwayman," Hahn has created a suspenseful story involving murders, ghosts, and a vampire with wonderfully developed characters and storyline. A perfect read for middle schoolers who are into mystery, horror and the ever popular vampires.

CONNECTIONS
*Read more vampire books like: Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde and The Silver Kiss by Annette Klause.
*For older readers try The House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast.

Chasing Vermeer - Audiobook

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Balliett, Blue. 2004. Chasing Vermeer. Read by Ellen Reilly. NY: Random House Audio Publishing Group. Compact Disc - Unabridged, 5 CDs. ISBN: 9780307206732.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW
When a mysterious person claims that some of the paintings claimed to be created by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer are, in fact, not from his brush, then ultimately steals the painting A Lady Writing to make his point, two sixth-graders, Calder Pillay and Petra Andalee are on the case. Mystery and intrigue is around every corner as Calder and Petra become friends and begin to find a connection between their free-spirited schoolteacher, a used bookstore owner, an old woman, and even Calder’s friend Tommy. Putting together the history and art of a famed 17th century painter, a book about unusual phenomena, use of pentominoes, and codes, Balliett’s first novel successfully captures the excitement of a crime solving with a smart and detectives that remind readers of K.L. Konigsburg’s classic From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Reader Ellen Reilly does a good job at presenting each character with a different voice. Though at times Calder's voice, at times, comes across as a nasal and ignorant, the latter of which this main character is not, and, she pronounces Petra's name differently through out. However, as you get wrapped up in Balliet story of mystery, puzzles, and intrigue, you will begin to gloss over these minor faults. A great fun, mysterious and exciting choice to for those who want to read-a-long with the book or to listen on its own.

Recommended Storytime Books

I've started doing storytimes again! So, as I am delving into the world of awesome pictures perfect for the programs I thought I share some of my favorites!

Note: In parentheses I have the initials for which storytime I've used the book for as well as for storytimes that I think they would be good for.

B - Baby Storytime
T - Toddler Storytime
P - Preschool Storytime

• All Aboard the Dinotrain written by Deb Lund and illus. by Howard Fine (P)
• Bark, George written and illus. by Jules Pfieffer (B, T, P)
• Bear Wants More written by Karma Wilson and illus. by Jane Chapman (T, P)
• Bear Snores On written by Karma Wilson and illus. by Jane Chapman
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See written by Bill Martin Jr. and illus. by Eric Carle (B, T, P)
• Chicka, Chicka Boom Boom written by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault and illus. by Lois Ehlert (B, T, P)
• Clip-Clop written by Nicola Smee (B, T, P)
• Cows in the Kitchen written by June Crebbin and illus. by Katharine McEwen (B, T, P)
• Duck on a Bike written and illus. by David Shannon (P)
• Falling for Rapunzel written by Leah Wilcox and illus. by Lydia Monks (P)
• Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed written and illus. by Eileen Christelow (T)
• Fran's Flower written by Lisa Bruce and illus. by Rosalind Beardshaw (P)
• Good Night Gorilla written and illus. by Peggy Rathmann (T, P)
• How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? written by Jane Yolen and illus. by Mark Teague (P)
• It Looked Like Spilt Milk written and illus. by Charles G. Shaw (T, P)
• Jump, Frog, Jump! written by Robert Kalan and illus. by Byron Barton (T, P)
• Mouse Paint written and illus by Ellen Stoll Walsh (B, T)
• Mouse was Mad written by Linda Urban and illus. by Henry Cole (T, P)
• Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! written by Candace Fleming and illus. by G. Brian Karas (P)
• One Duck Stuck written by Phyllis Root and illus. by Jane Chapman (P)
• Pete's A Pizza written and illus. by William Steig (P)
• Planting a Rainbow written and illus. by Lois Ehlert (T)
• Rain written and illus. by Manya Stojic (T, P)
• The Seals on the Bus written by Lenny Hort and illus. by G. Brian Karas (T, P)
• Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods That Make My Day written by Jamie Lee Curtis and illus. by Laura Cornell (P)
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar written and illus. by Eric Carle (T, P)
• The Very Busy Spider written and illus. by Eric Carle (T, P)

These are just of the few titles! I'll be planning another page that will have a more organized bibliography. Stay tuned!