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Bear and Bird: A Favorite New Series for Transitional Readers

I’ve always been interested in finding the best books for transitional readers—readers who have learned to read and who are becoming more sophisticated readers. They often are new to chapter books, so finding books that support them as readers is important as they build skills and agency as readers.

I discovered the Bear and Bird series by Jarvis this summer. I love so much about this series and one thing I especially like is that the humor in the books appeal to a wide age-range of readers (maybe 3rd graders who are just starting chapter books).

The first Bear and Bird book I read with a child was “The Stick and Other Stories”. We both laughed aloud on the first page and we were both hooked. The first page made us laugh out loud and fall in love with one of the main characters at the same time.

Since that first book, I’ve enjoyed all of the Bear and Bird books and they have become one of my favorite new series for transitional readers. (I think there are 6 total books in the series now.) The latest book in the series is Bear and Bird: The Secret and Other Stories.

I love so much about this series. Most of all, while reading these books, I have the same feeling I had when I read Frog and Toad and Henry and Mudge books. Great stories about two friends -stories filled with humor and lessons in friendship.

These books are part of Candlewick’s “Sparks for New Readers” collection and as I have read these with children, I see the way that these books support transitional readers.

Each book has several stories within. The stories may be connected but they stand alone. This is important for readers new to chapter books as they learn to hold onto a story over time.
The characters are lovable and predictable. The more you read, the more you come to know the characters and the more you have expectations as readers. Getting to know characters with depth is important for transitional readers and each story allows us to get to know these characters through their relationship with each other.
The text and visuals are balanced. The illustrations match the text which I think is an important feature for this stage of reading. The illustrations also include some unique visuals (lists, signs, etc.)
The text is accessible to readers while also having features such as dialogue, parentheses and ellipsis that might be new to readers.
The themes in each story are very accessible to young readers and are common themes in friendship stories.

This is a great series for readers who are new to chapter books and who like great characters and a little humor! They make great read alouds for younger readers, too! Try one and if you love it, read the whole series!

Read Aloud and Text Complexity

Read Aloud is one of the most important parts of the school day. For one, it is joyful-there is nothing like sharing a story as a community. Secondly, it is a time in the school day that supports growing readers in so many ways. For readers in Grades 2-5, read aloud can do so much to support growing readers in understanding the complexities in text.

When we wrote In Community With Readers: Transforming Reading Instruction with Read Alouds and Minilessons, we identified several skill that are important as children move from picture books that you can read in one sitting to chapter books. This list is in no way comprehensive, but it does help us think about the experiences children need with text as they become more independent with complex texts.

So, I am always reading with an eye toward read aloud, asking myself, “How can this book support readers, especially those who are new or semi-new to longer chapter books?” When I am reading with this lens, I know I want some features that may be new to readers, but I don’t want a read aloud that is so complex that I have to do the thinking for readers. I’m always looking for a book that can become a really good scaffold for growth and with many access points for the variety of readers in a classroom. This summer I found a book that I think is a perfect read aloud for grades 3 and 4—Growing Home by Beth Ferry, with art from The Fan Brothers.

I picked the book up because I love everything I’ve read by The Fan Brothers. But I had no idea what to expect. This book is the perfect illustrated chapter book and I found so many reasons it would make a great read aloud as I read. It has:

a plot that is accessible to young readers
an accessible theme
strong characters
endpapers worth talking about
a dedication that adds meaning
a Prologue, which might be a new feature for middle grade readers
Back Matter: “Letters from Toasty”, which adds a bit to understanding the character
Foreshadowing that is accessible

I like that the book is an accessible fantasy. So many middle grade readers love fantasy adn this one is anchored in realism so the setting (a home) is not one they have to imagine.

I like the dedication page for several reasons. Readers often skip these, but when we teach kids that the author often gives clues about the theme, etc. in the dedication, it adds some depth to the reading. These dedications will definitely give readers some angles to think about through the story.

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I also love what the author does with foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is such a common literacy technique but often young readers miss the foreshadowing. Luckily, in this book, the author adds a bit to make the foreshadowing a bit accessible. She adds a sentence after the foreshadowing in case readers missed it. She writes, “We’re coming to that shortly. Just be patient.”

I think Growing Home is a book middle grade readers will LOVE and one that will help them grow as readers. The characters are fabulous, the theme is accessible and there is so much to talk about as you read. And for readers who don’t know this author or these illustrators, this book is a great introduction that might inspire them to read more of their work. Enjoy!

Reading Aloud More Nonfiction

*My posts and reviews focus on books for the classroom and library. I am passionate about sharing books that invite natural conversations and learning and choosing the books we share with intention. I am always looking for books that kids will love AND that will support their growth as readers and writers.

I am definitely one that reads aloud and shares more fiction with students than nonfiction. And I always try to balance that better. I know that kids LOVE nonfiction so building in more time for nonfiction read aloud is important. We know nonfiction builds background knowldge and vocabulary. Plus, the skills for reading nonfiction are a bit different from those needed to read and understand fiction. So I have been looking for informational books that also make great read alouds and are short enough for minilesson work.

I found 3 new picture books that are perfect for elementary readers. I’m not sure these would be categorized as nonfiction but each is based on a true story, information is embedded and each one has backmatter that is nonfiction and tells more of the true story behind the picture book.

I used to ignore the author’s notes and back matter, but not anymore. When reading aloud and sharing these stories with readers, I’d definitely make time to read the back matter as it is fascinating information and I don’t think the books are complete without it. Geting young readers in the habit of reading the author’s note and back matter helps them read with more depth and understanding.

The Escape Artist: A True Story of Octopus Adventure by Thor Hanson and Galia Bernstein tells the story of Inky, the octopus who escaped from a New Zealand aquarium. The story is told in a way that predicts what Inky might have been thinking and doing. It tells the reader what investigators know and what they wonder. Readers learn not only about Inky but there is a lot of octopus information throughout.

The True and Lucky Life of a Turtle by Sy Montgomery and Matt Patterson is the story of Fire Chief, a snapping turtle. The story includes information on baby turtles and how they grow and then focuses on the accident that injured Fire Chief and of the Turtle Rescue League that helped in his recovery. Readers can see the real Fire Chief in photo in the backmatter. They can also learn more about snapping turtles.

Not a Spot to Spot: The True Story of Kipekee, the Giraffe Born without Spots by Elizabeth Weiss Verdick and Zoe Waring is the story about a rare giraffe born without any spots. One thing that is unique to this story is that the backmatter touches on which parts of the story are true and which were changed a bit, as this is a book “inspired by” the true story.

All three of these books are perfect for elementary readers, whether as read alouds or to read independently. Each may also ignite an interest in a topic they want to read more about.

The Cartoonist Club by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud

*My posts and reviews focus on books in the classroom and library. I am passionate about sharing books that invite natural conversations and learning and choosing the books we share with intention. I am always looking for books that kids will love AND that will support their growth as readers and writers.

I am not a natural graphic novel reader. But, as a teacher, it isn’t about what I like or what is easy for me as a reader. So, I’ve worked hard over the years to learning to read and understand graphic novels—really using both words and visuals to create meaning. And in that time, I’ve seen the power of graphic novels in the classroom.

As a person who is not a reader of graphic novels, I was surprised at the diversity and sophistication of graphic novels available to elementary readers. Once I embraced graphic novels, I saw the powerful stories that are told and I’ve seen readers try a new genre because it’s in graphic novel format. I’ve seen middle grade readers grow in so many ways when graphic novels are part of their reading lives.

I also think there are readers like me, who don’t really understand how to read a graphic novel. As a 4th and 5th grade teacher, incorporating graphic novels into minilessons and read alouds was important as we could grow together as readers of graphic novels.

In one of my years teaching 5th grade, I chose New Kid by Jerry Craft as a read aloud. AND instead of reading it myself, I shared the audio version while I projected the ebook on the large board. The read aloud was powerful for so many reasons. The narrator read more than just the words on the page. The narrator narrated the images as part of the audio. We could not only talk about the incredible story and characters, but we could talk about how we navigate a graphic novel and the ways that words and images work together.

I just discovered a new graphic novel that I think is an important one. It is The Cartoonist Club by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud. This is the story of a group of middle school students who start a club where they write comics and graphic novels. They have an incredible librarian who facilitates the club and teaches them important things about the craft of creating graphic novels.

I am currently using this book with a small group in a Graphic Novel Writing Club and it is sparking such great conversations and inviting them to try new things as writers. Just this week, one of the students looked back at the section where the club was talking about showing characters’ feelings through facial expressions and she revisited that part of the book to revise the frame she was working on.

I love the book for so many reasons. First of all, for fans of Raina Telgemeier, this is another book and one that is a bit different for her. For readers who. have read all of her books, this book will give them insights into the choices she makes when creating and will invite them to read with more depth. For readers new to graphic novels, this book might help them make sense of how they work and for children who write in this format, this book is a must-have! Our Graphic Novel Club members are already marking pages they want to go back to. I imagine this being a well-worn book for graphic novel writers everywhere!

There are some other backmatter components I love in this book. The “About the Author” page is done visually which is unique and a great invitation for writers. There is an interview with Raina and Scott that lets us know so much about the story behind the story. There is a glossary and a list of jobs that are available to cartoonists. My favorite piece of backmatter is the “How We Made This Book” section that shares the process that the two used to collaboratively create this book. The backmatter alone invites some great conversation and learning.

This is a book I’d definitely have in my classroom library and would possibly read aloud to the whole class or share in a small group setting. It does a lot of teaching naturally and I’ve found that reading aloud a graphic novel lets the entire class know that they are valued and important for readers. There are so many opportunities for conversation about the characters and also about reading and writing graphic novels.

Check out The Cartoonist Club Book Trailer! and an Interview With the Creators.

Two Books Perfect for Our Youngest Readers

I remember a few years ago when I read Everybody in the Red Brick Building by Anne Wynter and Oge Mora. I read it and thought “What a perfect book for young readers!” It has so much of what I look for when I am looking for books to share with PreK-2nd graders. I have read this book over and over to so many groups of children and I was right. This book is perfect in that it is engaging AND it has so many invitations for young readers to build so many literacy skills-the illustrations, the change of fonts, the repeated phrases and so much more!

Well, I felt the same way last month when I picked up Oh Dear, Look What I Got! by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury (the team that brought us We’re Going on a Bear Hunt so many years ago!). I’ve had the chance to share this book with a few groups of young readers and I was right—it is PERFECT for so many reasons. When I picked it up, I could not imagine it could possibly compare to We’re Going on a Bear Hunt but I loved it just as much and I think it offers just as much for young readers who are beginning to understand story and print and rhyme.

First of all, the book invites the kind of engagement that young readers need. They are predicting, joining in to the repeated phrase, using rhyme, noticing changes in font and supporting their thinking with evidence in the text and illustrations. It is a book you can’t help but fall in love with —a book you want to read over and over.

I love the many access points that both of these books provide for young readers. The plot is one that is easy to follow and retell and the ending is definitely worth talking about! Some readers pick up the rhyming words quickly. For those not picking up on rhyme, they may use the illustrations to make predictions instead. Some might recognize the eclipsis at the page break and this invites a discussion about punctuation and the meaning of this. This is a book that young readers can get more of each time they read the book.

Time is precious and I know teachers choose books they share during read aloud with great care—always looking for a book children will love AND a book that helps them grow as readers. These two books definitely meet that criteria!

*You can watch the author/illustrator team of Oh Dear, Look What I Got! share some of the book here.

Back to Writing About Reading, Books and Teaching

Mary Lee and I had lunch last week and I told her how much I miss blogging. I loved the years that we blogged at A Year of Reading and life got busy and I just couldn’t keep up. Lucky for me, Mary Lee has kept up the blog with her incredible poetry. Since retiring, I’ve stayed busy (as I knew that I would!) but I am finally figuring out the ways that I want to spend my days. One thing that has become clear over the last few months is how much I miss writing about books and reading and literacy. So I am going to build back in this thing that I love.

I’ve been reading lots. I don’t get to spend as much time in classrooms as I did when I was teaching full time but I still work with teachers in and out of classrooms and I work with groups of children at OH What a Space so I am always reading and sharing books infomally.

So, every week, a few times a week, I’ll write about books and reading and children and literacy and learning. And, of course, the occasional random thing. I’ve decided to try Substack because I like the format and I like the community that has grown on Substack. Once I week, I’ll crosspost my writing to A Year of Reading (thanks to Mary Lee:-) because I still love that space so much and am excited to be part of it again. (You can find me on Substack here.) If I post more than once a week, you can find those posts on Substack.

It is an interesting time to be thinking about children and books and reading and education. There are so many challenges at a time when so many incredible books are being published. There are more mandated curriculums and more constraints. But teachers and families are still committed to joyful reading experiences for their children.

So I’ll share books that I’ve discovered with an eye toward instruction. I’ve always worked to support joyful literacy experiences for children of all ages—the kind that support children in becoming lifelong readers. There is nothing like falling in love with a good book. But as teachers, we also want our readers to grow as readers so our book choice and planning is always intentional. So, I’ll be sharing books with a lens toward instruction that is authentic—grounded in the kinds of conversations that will naturally emerge because of the book. I am looking forward to sharing books through my writing again:-)

Boring Tea Drinker

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

I am a tea drinker. So, this piece by KimHaynesJohnson yesterday caught my eye. I loved the story and I so understand this ritual (or addiction) to tea.

I drink tea all day every day. I drink hot tea in the winter and I drink hot tea during the hottest months of summer. I start every single day with tea. But I am a very boring tea drinker.

I only enjoy black breakfast tea. Plain, no milk, no sugar, no honey, plain. Waiters often suggest Earl Grey as a similar option. It is not. I would rather have no tea than have Earl Grey. Once in a great while I’ll have a flavored tea, but mostly when I am out for dinner and I need something decaffeinated. And I don’t really enjoy it. LOL.

I don’t love when my tea choices change. Up until recently, I went to Starbucks for tea every morning. Probably for about 15 years. (With being more intentional about where I spend my money these days, I make tea at home now.) Several years ago, Tazo English Breakfast was the tea they served but they changed brands and I was not happy. I survived the change but only keep Tazo or Lipton at home.

During Covid, I remember purchasing 6 boxes of Tazo tea, laughing that certainly that would be enough to get me through the few weeks of covid lockdown…..

I now keep boxes of Tazo English Breakfast tea at home. I start every morning with tea and typically carry around a cup until mid afternoon. I have a few favorite mugs that I rotate.

I am a consistent, yet boring tea drinker but drinking tea is definitely a ritual that is not optional for me!

Little Surprises

I like little surprises. I like when I take the dust jacket off of a book to find some little surprise under the cover. I like that the Pigeon is hidden in all of the Mo Willems’ books. I like when a friend sends a meme that is a match to how I am feeling.

I was reminded of how much I delight in little unexpected things that pop up in the day. Today a visitor to OH What a Space had on these shoes (below). Fancy shoes with this crown that you may not notice on the back!

We opened our new business a few months ago. It is a play-based learning studio. It is full of joy and fun and making. 2 of my favorite things in the space are little surprises. I like them myself and I love to watch children discover the surprises.

First, we have a fairy door. Sometimes it takes kids a few visits to discover it. But then they are down on the floor, joyful at the idea of a fairy living in our space.

Second is an amusing sign I found on Etsy. It says “There’s like, a lot of craft supplies in here.” It made me laugh and decided we needed it for our business because, well, there are a lot of craft supplies in there. It makes me smile every time I notice it. But even more fun is when an 8 or 9 year old sees it for the first time. They laugh to themselves or mention something to one of us.

I appreciated these little surprises today and realized how much I appreciate surprises across ordinary days.

Kitchen Island as a To-Do List

We moved into a house a few years ago that needed a kitchen redo. The kitchen redo gave us a large island. When we first saw it, we said, “Wow, we’d better be careful not to start piling things on that island. It will hold a lot of stuff!”

Now, a couple years later, I am looking at our island from the kitchen table and it is piled with stuff. A lot of stuff. A mess doesn’t bother me if I can clean it in under 15 minutes when I hear company is coming, and these piles on the island can definitely be picked up in less than 15 minutes.

Looking at it, I realize it is a kind of to-do list. A few things that need taken to work. A few books I want to read. some paperwork that needs taken care of, a gift that needs wrapped.

I grew up in a house that had nothing out of place. My parents could not go to sleep if there was a dirty spoon left in the sink. It was nice to live in a space that never had a mess but as an adult, that is big expectation. So for years, the guilt of a little mess was a lot. But I’ve come to be okay with it. In my house, there are ALWAYS things to pick up. I am always in the middle of a few projects and you can tell what they are when you walk in the door.

But it cleans up nicely and it is never overwhelming. Finding the balance between perfection and an overwhelming mess is a constant but looking at the island, it seems to be that I’ve figured it out. It is a good balance:-)

Loving my Reading Week

So, I seem to have gotten past my reading slump and have found lots of joy in my reading this week. I do not typically read more than one book at a time but I do have an audio going (sometimes) at the same time I am reading a book. I am not a great listener, so I am limited in my choices in audio–usually nonfiction, self-help, memoir, etc. It is hard for me to choose fiction when choosing an audio book.

So this week I started Let’s Call Her Barbie by Renée Rosen on audio. I thought it was a nonfiction book, but turns out it is historical fiction and I am loving it. It is the story of how Barbie came to be and includes many of the real people involved in her creation. I am only a few hours in but love thinking back to this. It’s a good audio. I love the creative process being slowed down for me as the reader–I always appreciate a good story about the creative process! And knowing how it turns into such a success while reading makes it more fun. I also love reading the backstory of a toy I loved growing up. And there is something about this work being done in a time when women didn’t have a ton of rights–women involved in the creation and then Barbie, the toy, having an impact on girls and their dreams. Seems timely to me to remember that everyone’s work impacts change–there are so many ways to impact our world for the better.

The other book I am reading and enjoying is One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon. I have loved Yoon’s young adult books so decided this was a good pick. I was hooked right away. I like a lot about this book and am anxious to spend some time reading this weekend.

Finally, I picked up Whale Eyes by Brian Rea today and was so happy when I flipped through it to see the unique format-the visuals, the colors, etc. I nearly squealed when Bryan at Cover to Cover showed me the design under the dust jacket because I love when that is a smidge surprising. Not sure when I’ll get to this one but I think it will be soon.

And I got a notice from Bookshop today that Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins should be delivered today!

Hope you are having a good reading week!