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.
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.
Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.
I’m coming to the end of my time as the reading specialist for an after school program. I didn’t have to think very hard about the book I would feature in my final lesson cycle:
Do you know this fable? The forest is on fire and all the animals run away in fear. All except the Hummingbird. She carries single drops of water from the stream to the fire over and over again. Finally, the bear asks her, “What are you doing?” And the Little Hummingbird answers, “I’m doing everything I can.”
If you are feeling bleak about the world these days, read this book with small humans and let them tell you what they know about the ways small actions can add up to a big difference.
Several groups didn’t like that the book ended the way it did. They wanted more. They knew for certain that the Little Hummingbird’s choices were influencing the other animals and that they, too, would get involved and help put out the fire, each using their own talents. “When they work together, they can put out the fire.”
YOU BROKE IT! by Liana Finck Rise x Penguin Workshop, 2024 review copy from the public library
This is a very funny book and it made for an interesting research question, but you don’t need to buy it for your classroom or school library.
It was written/drawn by a cartoonist, so it should come as no surprise that the whole story consists of a series of sight gags — adult animals scolding their young for doing what they naturally do: a turtle moving slowly, a tornado making a mess, an earthwork squirming. Finally, the young octopus stands up for itself, the adult has an AH-HA moment, and all is made well with a multi-armed hug.
My research question was, “Who would think this is a funny book?” I took it to the after-school program where I work and tested four different audiences.
The director, a mom with grown children, thought it was funny. One of the classroom aids, a college-aged lad, didn’t think it was funny at all.
When the kids arrived after school, I tested it on a group consisting of two kindergarteners and a first grader. They were quick to use the cover and endpapers to infer that the adult bird was mad at someone who broke the egg. The adult bird didn’t break the egg, and the baby bird didn’t break the egg. Someone else broke the egg and this was going to be a book about Who Broke The Egg. So when the second spread featured an earthworm, they were thrown for a loop. However, some very good inferring ensued: “I’m not sure what squirming means,” said the first grader, “but I think it might mean wiggling.”
Besides the inferring, some surprising background knowledge was revealed. Eventually they realized that the adult animals were probably parents, and because the tornado was wearing a bowtie, it was a dad. When we turned the page to the frog, the first grader refused to choose between mom and dad. “I think the frog is non-binary.” Then, concerned, she asked me, “Do you know what non-binary means?”
“Yes, I know what that means.”
“Good,” she said, turning to the kindergarteners. “Do you want me to explain what non-binary means?”
I quickly intervened, “Let’s save that conversation for later.”
Final verdict from the K/1 crew: not a funny book. It didn’t even answer the question of Who Broke It?
My next group consisted of two third graders and a first grader, all in gifted/enrichment programs at school. On the first page turn after the bird and chick (worm and wormlet), one of the third graders exclaimed, “Oh, I get it! This is going to be a book about grownups yelling at kids for doing what they naturally do!” Every page turn after that was met with a chorus of “…because that’s what we’re SUPPOSED to do!” At the pony page (“Get the hair out of your eyes!”) I stopped and asked if adults had ever said any of these things to them. And indeed, they had been told (“a million times”) to get the hair out of their eyes, or hurry up, or settle down.
Final verdict from the 1/3 crew: a very funny book.
Everything we know about the development of children’s ability to move beyond the literal and understand humor was confirmed. There also seems to be a component of experience that determines whether this book is funny. The 1/3 crew is still in the phase of life where adults are correcting their behavior on a regular basis. The college lad is well-removed from that, but hasn’t had the experience of being on the parental end of those corrections. The mom with grownup kids has the lived experience of this book.
So, who should buy this book, since lots of kids are either not going to get it, or not going to pick up a book that consists of a series of corrections they hear from the adults in their lives, with very little agency given to the young animals in each situation (except for the octopus fry)? Seems like a $20.00 baby shower card, given to remind new parents that kids will be kids, even though the “big idea blurb” on the back of the book has it the other way around: “Parents will be parents…”
Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.
In 2020, Buffy Silverman took readers “puddle-sploshing” in On A Snow-Melting Day: Seeking Signs of Spring. Vivid photographs and a snappy rhyming text earned this book recognition as an NCTE Notable Poetry Book for 2021.
Then last fall, we wandered through forests and meadows, pausing at ponds to witness animals and plants in On a Gold-Blooming Day: Finding Fall Treasures, a 2023 CLA/NCTE Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts, and a Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year for 2023.
I missed getting to share “Snow-Melting” with students in 2020, but every one of my after-school kiddos loved “Gold-Blooming” last fall. I can’t wait to share “Flake-Flying” in a few months! Reading these books with small groups gathered close allows for time to study and talk about the photographs, to track the rhymes, and, when a question comes up, verify facts or vocabulary with the informational back matter and/or glossary. In a regular classroom setting, teachers could create a seasonal text set for each book using the titles listed for “Further Reading.” And in writing workshop, the books would make fantastic mentor texts for studying creative ways to hyphenate words as well as ways to craft leads and endings.
My favorite rhymes in ON A FLAKE-FLYING DAY are the ones that start the book off: “On a feather-fluffing, seed-stuffing, cloud-puffing day…” My favorite photo is the frosty-topped cedar waxwing practically posing with a berry in its beak:
And my favorite fact is that dragonfly nymphs prowl for minnows and other aquatic insects below the frozen surfaces of winter waters. (Dragonflies are amazing in all the stages of their lives!)
I asked Buffy to tell us a little bit about her process. I wondered if the photos came first, or the words. Here’s what she had to say:
Although I enjoy taking photographs, I’m really not a visual thinker. The words always come first for me–and then I hope that there will be a way to illustrate them! With this book I followed the pattern from ON A SNOW-MELTING DAY and ON A GOLD-BLOOMING DAY. In each of the books there are four sets of refrains (On a feather-fluffing, seed-stuffing, cloud-puffing day…) followed by three pairs of rhyming sentences (Weasel whitens. Cardinal brightens…) In each of the books I included sights and sounds from a field, a wetland, and a forest, and ended with a child outside, enjoying the season. Basically the books are the nature walks I would want to take with a child or other reader!
Lots of us in the Northern Hemisphere are looking forward to winter’s relief from this summer’s heat. Pre-order ON A FLAKE-FLYING DAY now so that come October 3, you will be guaranteed snow, ice, and frost…if only between the pages of Buffy’s newest (fantastic-as-the-other-two) book! Thank you, Buffy, for giving me this opportunity to help you spread the word, and thank you, Millbrook Press, for the review copy!
Amy has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at The Poem Farm.
Those of you who were curious about what I had in mind for my poem last week, it was a combination of literal (a traffic jam of cars) but also metaphorical (life changes following retirement). I had loads of fun hearing what pictures the poem made in your minds and I’m SO glad I chose not to add an image!
Search the Next Generation Science Standards and you will see that physical science concepts are taught beginning in kindergarten. Therefore, every elementary school teacher needs a copy of this book!
All of the basics of your physics science curriculum can be found between these covers, explained by a kid, a dog, and poetry: matter, phases of matter, motion, sound, force, inertia (both kinds), gravity, magnetism, energy, electricity, friction, relative motion, reflection of light, and even a paradox with which to end the book. The notes at the end of the book contain scientific language to explain each concept. Nineteen poems. A poem a week. Sweet (and FUN!) nibbles of physics for half the school year. Abstract concepts presented in a kid-friendly way, for effortless retention. Need I say more?
Tabatha has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at The Opposite of Indifference (one of the most perfect blog titles EVER).
And here’s a quick update on this week’s Sealey Challenge books. Day 4: MUSICAL TABLES by Billy Collins, Day 5: COURAGE OUT LOUD by Joseph Coelho and PEEK-A-BOO HAIKU: A LIFT-THE-FLAP BOOK by Danna Smith, Day 6: ANIMAL ARK by Kwame Alexander, Day 7: PUSH-PULL MORNING by Lisa Peters, Day 8: worked the polls for the Ohio special election, Day 9: SOCCER QUEENS by Charles R. Smith, Jr., Day 10: WELCOME TO THE WONDER HOUSE by Rebecca Dotlich and Georgia Heard.
In the past two weeks, this book has done good work in the world. (Okay, in all fairness…has helped ME do good work in the world!)
I’m a once-a-week Reading Specialist at each of the three sites of our community resource center’s after school program. The first week of May, we had a whole-group read aloud and then in small groups, folded zines that would be the container for our own poems, which we would write the following week.
My young friends and I have a ritual for reading picture books. We examine the dust jacket, opening the book wide to see if the cover illustration spans the entire cover (our favorite), or if there’s an important nugget from the book on the back cover. In the case of How to Read a Poem, there is this nugget that we watched for as we read:
“The words have been waiting to slide down your pencil.”
Next, I lift the dust jacket so we can see if the cover illustration is the same. (Our favorites have a different cover illustration!) Then, we examine the end papers, which, for How to Read a Poem, show the alphabet, and which were the source of a lively discussion:
Me: Melissa Sweet chose the alphabet for the endpapers. These letters are everything you need to make the words for your poems!
Child 1: There’s no A!
Me: I noticed that. I wonder why she…
Child 2: There’s the A! It’s really big!
And then, just like the best optical illusions, the A showed itself to all of us. Now I can’t unsee it!
Before I began reading at one site, one of my youngest friends asked, “But what IS poetry?” After praising him for his insightful question, I quoted Kwame’s back matter. He quotes a third grader’s response to this very question:
“Poetry is an egg with a horse inside it.”
This led to a discussion about what makes poetry poetry: it gets to break rules, it doesn’t have to make the kind of sense we expect, it’s short, and yes it sometimes rhymes and has a form like haiku or acrostic or limerick, but mostly it gets to be whatever it wants to be.
Kwame’s book reinforces these ideas (and Melissa Sweet’s illustrations are just as much a poem as his words). His poem-text hits the notes of wonder, listening to the world, using imagination, playing with words (“…a cotton candy cavalcade of sounds”), accessing both joy and sorrow, and becoming “a voice with spunk.” The book ends with the invitation, “Now show us what you’ve found.”
Here is some of what we found this week:
“Inspiration is everywhere you just need to look.”
“Lonch youere self to the MOON with your jet pack of ceativeaty.”
“Star bright in the air let my dreams fall down to my hands.”
“There is magic falling all around us growing tall roped into our life like how forks are roped to food open your door and let in the wind let it go in and out”
“alligators eat the sun”
“flower birds sing rain”
“the pizza is made of teeth”
So. Much. Fun.
Here’s wishing you joyful poetry writing!
Robyn has the Mother’s Day edition of Poetry Friday at Life on the Deckle Edge. Happy Mother’s Day to all the men and women and non-binaries who nurture small humans, fur babies, gardens, and the world.
My Powerful Hair by Carole Lindstrom illustrated by Steph Littlebird Abrams Books, 2023 review copy from the public library
Once upon a time, I wrote a book about the power of read aloud. One of the stories in that book was about the time when I read aloud The Watsons Go To Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis. Our exploration of Byron’s new “conk” hairstyle led to a whole class share time of hair products and tools, with the highlight being my Sikh student and his mother educating us about the role of uncut hair in their religion. It was one of the most powerful moments in my teaching career.
There are now lots of books exploring hair and identity, the newest being My Powerful Hair. This book is important AND it is beautifully written and illustrated. Don’t miss the endpapers. Don’t ignore the Author’s Note and definitely don’t shy away from the shameful history of Indian boarding schools. Don’t neglect to share with your children/students that both the author and illustrator are Indigenous creators. Don’t miss this book.
Twenty Questions by Mac Barnett illustrated by Christian Robinson Penguin Random House, 2023 review copy from the public library
While we’re on the subject of questions (see previous post), you need this book in your classroom and/or life.
The text of this book is, indeed, composed of twenty questions. (I counted.) The first is very literal. You can use it to teach the word literal: “How many animals can you see in this picture?” The next question lets the reader know that this will not be a (boring) literal book: “How many animals can you not see in this one, because they’re hiding from the tiger?” It gets more and more creative (inferential, opinion based) from there, one of my favorites being “Which of these children is dreaming of peaches?”
This is a book that will invite conversation and story telling. This is a book that will invite creative question-asking. It might even invite collage-making along with creative question-asking. Let’s get started!
A(nother) Year of Reading 