Category: Review

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.

Poetry Friday: Sedoka

Image from the front page of The Burlington (CO) Record

I thought I was writing this poem to the photo that appeared on the front page my hometown newspaper, but as it turns out, the poem also has echoes in an extraordinary book that I finished just last night. THE ANTIDOTE by Karen Russell is set in Nebraska in 1935 between two cataclysmic environmental events: the Black Sunday dust storm and the flooding of the Republican River (24 inches of rain in 24 hours). So it’s a story of the land, but inseparably, it’s a story about the people there. Here’s how Russell (with James Riding In) describes what she attempted to do in THE ANTIDOTE:

THE ANTIDOTE uses fantastical conceits to illuminate the holes in people’s private and collective memories, the willful omissions passed down generation to generation, and the myths that have been used by the U.S. government and White settlers to justify crimes against the citizens of Native Nations and the theft of Native lands.

It was a book that puzzled me at first, then fascinated me, then horrified me, then made me read the last hundred pages at a gallop (which is why I’m “late” posting), then ultimately left me with some measure of hope.

Which brings us back to the photo and the poem. I grew up at the edge of the same Pawnee lands in THE ANTIDOTE, in a part of the country where White farming techniques have resulted in loss of topsoil and the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer. And I grew up with the myth of the noble (White) farmers, who toiled at the whim of the sparse rainfall and the destructive summer storms, and whose hope was what kept them going.

It’s time to tell the truth. All of it. And it’s time to listen to the land and agree to change the ruinous human part of our relationship with her. She wants to live, and she can heal, if we let her. If we help her.

.

Marcie has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at Marcie Flinchum Atkins. You can find there the Poetry Sisters who had the bandwidth to write to this month’s challenge, to write a sedoka, along with others who joined in the challenge.

PLEASE NOTE THESE CHANGES IN THE POETRY FRIDAY HOSTING SCHEDULE: Heidi and Margaret are changing places, so Heidi will now host on August 15, and Margaret will host on September 5.

Slice of Life: You’ve Got This!

You’ve Got This!
by Lindsay Bonilla
illustrated by Keisha Morris
Holiday House, 2024

We all need some encouragement at times. Life can be hard.

Whether it’s learning to ride a bike…

…or taking a test…

…it helps when there’s someone there who cheers us on with, “YOU’VE GOT THIS.”

Stepping out on stage? Getting a shot? Standing up to bullies? Admitting your mistakes? YOU’VE GOT THIS!

But the best part is

This book, with its catchy rhyming text, was made for the beginning of the school year (and frequent re-reads thereafter), the week before state tests, graduations (all ages and stages), and for anyone who needs a reminder that you’re there for them, believe in them, are rooting for them.

Slice of Life: Shameless Self-Promotion

40 Poems for 40 Weeks
edited by David L. Harrison and Timothy V. Rasinski
Routledge, 2025

It is a huge honor to have one of my poems living inside this book with poems by so many poets whose work I admire!

This book was inspired by a school librarian who wanted a source for poems that she could share, one a week, in her library. As a bonus, a word play activity — a word ladder — was created to accompany each of the poems. The joy of poetry and the fun of word games, combined! What’s not to love?!?!

In her introduction, Sylvia Vardell, who blogs at Poetry for Children and who, with Janet Wong (Pomelo Books), has worked tirelessly to encourage the use of poetry for developing language skills, lists fifteen solid benefits for sharing poetry with children. One of my favorites is #7 “Poetry has built-in opportunities for choral reading, group presentations, recitals, and performance.” Almost every Friday in my classroom was Poetry Friday. Students would choose a poetry book and a partner (or go it alone), find a poem, practice reading it aloud, then perform for the class. It was a favorite time of the week for the students and a weekly opportunity for me to do informal assessments of oral fluency!

Do you need to get a little more poetry into your classroom EVERY week and month of the year (not just in April)? This is the book for you!

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

Dear Bookstore by Emily Arrow

Some of our favorite family memories are visits to bookstores. It is something we’ve done together since my children were very little and it is something we still enjoy!

I seem to be a collector of books about books and reading. There are so many great books that capture our love of books and many of these help start great conversations with elementary readers as they begin to build their identity as readers.

Dear Bookstore by Emily Arrow and illustrated by Geneviève Godbout is a new favorite in my collection of books about books and reading! I am a long-time Emily Arrow fan so I was thrilled when I saw she had a new picture book out-the fact that it is about books and bookstores makes it even better.

The simple book does an incredible job of capturing the joy of bookstores as we follow a reader from her very first visit! I can only imagine the kinds of memories and conversations this book might ignite in classrooms.

The illustrations are unique and magical. I love the author’s note from Emily Arrow–about her visit ot Parnassus Books (a bookstore I am dying to visit because who doesn’t love Ann Patchett!?) . Both the author and the illustrator dedicated the book to bookstores and booksellers.

And of course, Emily Arrow has a “Dear Bookstore” song🙂 A great companion to the book!

In this time of reading mandates, book censorship and more, this book came at the perfect time. A reminder of the importance of our indie bookstores and the magic inside.

A Book For These Times

Let’s Move the Needle: An Activism Handbook for Artists, Creatives, and Makers
by Shannon Downey (aka Badass Cross Stitch)

You don’t need to identify as an artist, creative, or maker to read this book. Read it as An Activism Handbook.

Shannon is wise and funny, opinionated and knowledgeable. She doesn’t just talk the talk, she walks the walk…and has been for years.

“Build community and make change!” — that’s what it’s all about.

We’ve got this. Let’s go.

A Book to Pre-Order Today!

“Created by real-life rivals and #1 New York Times bestselling authors Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft this hilarious illustrated story features two talented fifth graders going head-to-head in a competition for the ages.” (From Hachette Book Group)

I have never been a fan of bloggers recommending books that I can’t buy yet! But I couldn’t wait to share this one with you and I know Barnes and Noble has their PREORDER25 code active now for ordering preorders. So I highly encourage you to go to your local independent bookstore or to Barnes and Noble to preorder this book today! (I could write a whole post on this being a great time to be very INTENTIONAL about where you are spending your money, but that is for another day.)

So, I finished J vs. K by Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft this week! I picked up an ARC at NCTE’s annual convention –it was the one book I really hoped I could get before the publication date because it looked so fabulous. It definitely met and exceeded all of my expectations and I can’t wait to share this one with kids and teachers.

I love everything about this book! First of all, the characters are both fabulous. Both main characters are 5th graders. K is an incredible writer and J is an incredible artist. Both use these skills for storytelling and their classmates love their stories (words and pictures.). As a literacy teacher, how could we not love characters whose passion is to tell stories!? The characters are also kind and funny and most of all, genuine. There are features throughout the story where the authors talk to us and where the healthy competition by the authors is mirrored by the actions/words of the characters.

I also love the plot. There is a big storytelling contest at the school and it is a BIG DEAL. The whole school is getting ready and even though no 5th grader has ever won, both J and K are certain they can win. Threaded through this is a theme of friendship.

The format of the book is great. Lots of text and lots of visuals throughout. There are some fun features that focus on vocabulary, some back-and-forth between the authors and font changes throughout.

Every detail of this book is intentional–from the Dear Reader to the Author/Illustrator(Not Illustrator) bios. 

Kids are going to love this book. Teachers and parents will love it too. It is a great story full of humor and it seems like it might be the first in a series! For fans who already love Kwame Alexander or Jerry Kraft, they will be thrilled to see this author pair coming together to create something. For readers who have not yet discovered these authors, I am sure they will go on to read more of their books. 

The book comes out May 6. But I recommend preordering it today!

Slice of Life: Tear Jerkers

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

I have this thing for books that make me cry. When I was in middle school, Sunday afternoons were for kicking back on my bed and rereading LITTLE BRITCHES or WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS or OLD YELLER or LOVE STORY or CHARLOTTE’S WEB and letting the tears roll down my cheeks and into my ears even though I knew what was going to happen. Maybe especially because I knew what was going to happen.

I recently listened again to Krista Tippet interview Kate DiCamillo (On Nurturing Capacious Hearts) and Kate (in a response to an essay by Matt de la Peña) gave me the words for why I love books that make me cry:

“My childhood best friend read Charlotte’s Web over and over again as a kid. She would read the last page, turn the book over, and begin again. A few years ago, I asked her why.

“‘What was it that made you read and reread that book?’” I asked her. “‘Did you think that if you read it again, things would turn out differently, better? That Charlotte wouldn’t die?’

“‘No,’” she said. “‘It wasn’t that. I kept reading it not because I wanted it to turn out differently or thought that it would turn out differently, but because I knew for a fact that it wasn’t going to turn out differently. I knew that a terrible thing was going to happen, and I also knew that it was going to be okay somehow. I thought that I couldn’t bear it, but then when I read it again, it was all so beautiful. And I found out that I could bear it. That was what the story told me. That was what I needed to hear. That I could bear it somehow.’”

Go listen to the whole interview. Both Kate and Krista are wise and funny and generous.

And if you wonder why the world needs TELEPHONE OF THE TREE, a book about a grief so palpable I dare you not to feel it and weep, it’s so that every reader has access to what Ursula Le Guin calls our Operating Instructions and what Rudine Sims Bishop called windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors.

Here’s more about Ursula Le Guin’s essay “Operating Instructions” from which Kate quotes “The reason literacy is important is that literature is the operating instructions. The best manual we have. The most useful guide to the country we’re visiting, life.”

Here is Matt de la Peña’s essay in Time Magazine, and here is Kate DiCamillo’s response (although you can, alternatively, read it in the transcript of the interview with Krista and not be bothered by the ads).

Slices of Life

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

Slices of life —

onionskin thin
just as fragrant — redolent
tantalizing

back porch eclipse watch
astronomical magic
transformed our world

reading Jane Hirschfield
before my own pencil moves —
aspirational

Louder Than Hunger*
Jake silences The Voice
claims self-worth

*If you haven’t read this book yet, move it to the top of your TBR.