IMWAYR

The holiday season is about to begin and this past weekend was cold enough to remind us of the festivities to come.

I spent the weekend reading children’s books please take a look at what I found in Kidilit. One book that will make my top 10 this semester is Walk Two Moons a Newbery award winner.  I picked this book because it fits into my semester challenge while being oblivious to the meaningful story.  I hope some of you have read this book and that others will consider doing so.

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Literary Awards

Newbery Medal (1995), Rebecca Caudill Young Reader’s Book Award Nominee (1997), Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award Nominee (1996), W.H. Smith’s Mind-Boggling Books Award (1996), Oklahoma Sequoyah Award for YA (1997)

The figurative theme of the story is to understand everyone has reasons why they do the things they do and its worth the time of others to listen to the reasons and withhold judgement.  This can be done by learning to see life through other people’s eyes.  In this story doing this heals the heart of a 13-year-old Sal a girl who desperately misses her estranged mother. In my opinion I think the author gives us the figurative language of ‘walk to moons’ in order for young readers to explore events in a perspective that is not their own (probably not a thoughtful process that is done by 5-7^th graders).  Walk Two Moons, is a saying among American Indians, it means refrain judgement of others until you walk through life as they have and/or experienced what they have for just a little while (maybe 2 months is long enough?).  It is best said the way my own grandmother and mother told me as a young girl, “Don’t judge them until you walk in their moccasins”.

This story takes place in the Midwest and ends back where it starts.  However, the meat and potatoes of the story happens in a car while driving across the country to Lewiston, Idaho where Sal finds discovers more about her own mother’s life.

Sal’s friend Phoebe has a similar story of her own and the reader soon finds out the details because Sal is retelling it to grandparents who are driving her in the car.  Little does Sal know the healing power in her own life that Phoebe’s story has.

Trees are mentioned throughout the book and are significant because they offer comfort and solace to Sal. In the book, Maple, Willows and Ash trees are all significant and for Sal a place for song and life.  The trees and and the saying ‘walk two moons’ are both repeated multiple times in the story leading to the idea of healing by way of nature.

In the book after the tragedy of Sal’s mothers fate and the death of her grandmother she is comes to acceptance in her grief.  Worth mentioning is the lesson learned at the end of the book when Sal and her grandfather make a game out of the saying ‘Walk to Moons’.  Sal discovers that seeing life through the lens of someone else frees her of painful self-blame.

Capital!: Washington D.C. from A to Z by Laura Krauss Melmed

This is a long read for 3-5^th grades and not easily completed in one sitting especially if you want a child to retain the information.  I would not recommend this book as a read aloud as that is what I hoped it would be good for.  It is a historically accurate non-fiction picture book therefore works well in a classroom library for elementary students but in my opinion would be best utilized as research material for a social studies lesson. It is interesting learning about the Air Space Museum, FBI, and other institutions or places of interest to visit in Washington DC.  I would recommend reading this book prior to visiting our Nation’s Capital in order plan and familiarize your child with the city’s hot spots in ABC order.

If I Ran for President by Catherine Stier

This is a book designed to help children understand the American election process.  This books shares facts like how America is a republic and uses cartoon style pictures to present the information. Children learn that anyone, male or female could be president and what their responsibilities would be.  They also learn how to find and use resources for managing campaigns, rallies and advertising.  I would recommend this book for 5th-6^th grade students as some of the content is complex.

Chipmunks by Mari C. Schuh

This is an informative picture book for elementary grades k-3. The pictures and text would work well with a lesson on mammals. This book says science on all the pages as it describes the habitat, and diet of chipmunks also the author offers web sites for additional research.

Animal Group Behavior by Abbie Dunne

Sea animals, land animals, birds and insects are shown in this picture as living in groups for many reasons.  The author describes dolphins hunting and penguins protecting each other while living in groups.  Children are able to learn about the benefits of working together as they see animals doing this in nature.  At the end of the book the author gives an activity for children to complete and has critical questions for deeper thinking.

This Little Piggy by Annie Kubler (Illustrations)

 

Illustrator Annie Kubler does a fantastic job with this children’s board book meant for babies with simple images that are warm and inviting.  The is nursery rhyme story of the This Little Piggy. Each time you turn the page a baby can see two things.  One page has a baby playing with his toes (the way the game is played) and another page has a picture of what the Piggy would actually be doing if the game was real.  I read this to my grandson and he LOVED it!  This book is a part of the Child’s Play series and the length (reading time) of the book, the actual physical size of the book and the simple pictures work perfect together for babies.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes by Annie Kubler (Illustrations)

This board book is part of the Child’s Play series that has been created for babies.  I rated this book with 5 stars.  The length (reading time) of the book, the actual physical size of the book and the simple pictures help to create an enjoyable read aloud time.  Babies are introduced to two languages Spanish and English while learning the names of body parts.  This is also an interactive book with a song at the end and for an additional cost a Talking Pen can be used with the book to learn more about shapes and language.

iStorm: Wild Weather and Other Forces of Nature by Anita Ganeri

WOW!!!! Make room for more technology and bring on the interactive reader. Augmented Reality is here in a Storm-Ragous way!  The books in the  Carlton’s collection https://www.carltonbooks.co.uk/ are new to me and I would not have discovered them had I not randomly picked up a book at our local library.  I wanted to get something that was not a chapter book or a book for early readers so I picked by cover again and Wow, I was not disappointed.  I look forward sharing these books with the children I work with.  Here’s a brief overview of how this easily tech. book worked with my smart phone.

Pick a Carlton Augmented AR book, download the app on your smart phone, read the factual text on the pages and view in this case volcanoes erupt or an earthquake happen!  This is not a book for under 4^th grade and I would recommend it for children up to 8^th grade.  This is an excellent resource for older students who are studying earth science.  I encourage all who are working with students to experience the book about blizzards, floods, landscape and much more while viewing the action on your smart phone.

What books on my list this week would you like to read?