Marilyn’s Monster, by Michelle Knudsen

Published November 29, 2015 by Dagmar

Marilyn's MonsterI wrote about a wonderful book called Going Places a few weeks. ago.  It’s about a young girl who takes a go cart kit and builds something completely different.  I love creative thinkers, kids and characters who have the courage to follow their hearts, even if it means doing something completely different from what others are doing.

In this same spirit, I would like to introduce you to Marilyn, a young girl who is waiting and waiting for her monster to arrive.  All the other children have already met their monsters…at the library, or the playground, on the way home from school or while riding their bikes. Monsters are fun.  They become playmates and protectors. Monsters are great.  Marilyn starts to become upset, even a little angry that her monster hasn’t arrived.

Finally, Marilyn decides to break the rules.  Instead of continuing to wait for her monster, as she is told she must, Marilyn strikes out to find her monster. Like any worthy adventurer, she brings peanut butter and banana sandwiches and juice.  Marilyn looks everywhere.  She calls out to her monster.  Finally, she hears a faint sound.  It’s her monster.  He got lost and then stuck on his way to her.  He was waiting for her to find him.

Michelle Knudsen’s story makes you cheer for Marilyn and Matt Phelan’s illustrations will make you want a monster of your very own.

This is a wonderful story, perfect for younger students.  My students loved it.

Humphrey the Lost Whale, by Wendy Tokuda

Published November 3, 2015 by Dagmar

humphrey whaleI love to take my first graders on journeys around the world on library planes, boats and rocket ships.

Each year, I teach them about whales, and we read the fabulous book, The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson. I promised them last week that we would get on our boat again and visit Humphrey, the humpback whale.

This is the true story of Humphrey the Lost Whale, a humpback whale that swam under the Golden Gate Bridge one day in 1985, right into San Francisco Bay. As wonderful a sight as it was, having a humpback whale as big as a city bus right there in the Bay, there was trouble ahead. Instead of swimming back to the ocean, Humphrey went the wrong way, through the Delta and up the Sacramento River.  The Sacramento River is fresh water. Whales need salt water to live.  Even more troubling, Humphrey squeezed himself under a very small bridge to a place in the river where the water was shallow and narrow.

Everyone banded together, scientists, the Coast guard and citizens. They made loud noises underwater to scare Humphrey back down the river to the Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Humphrey, tired, lonely and hungry headed back down the river, only to stop in front of the small bridge.  He couldn’t get through it. So, once again, his rescuers worked to help him, digging a bigger space for him under the bridge. Humphrey saw the hole and started to swim through, only to get suck in the pilings under the bridge. With a twist of his body, he got through the bridge and moved back toward San Francisco Bay and finally the ocean.

Humphrey came back to the San Francisco Bay several times after his dramatic rescue, one time requiring another rescue. This book combines just the right amount of suspense for young students. My students were waiting with baited breath to see if Humphrey could be saved and all cheered when he made it to the ocean again.

 

Ninja Red Riding Hood, by Corey Rosen Schwartz

Published September 20, 2015 by Dagmar

Ninja Red Riding HoodI love fractured fairy tales. This one is one of my favorites. In Ninja Red Riding Hood, Corey Rosen Schwartz’s wolf is tired of struggling for his dinner. He’s decided that enough is enough. Time to go to the dojo for some martial arts lessons. He trains and he trains until one day, in the woods, he runs into Little Red Riding Hood. Perfect. Did someone say, dinner?

Wolf takes a short cut to Grandma’s house.  Grandma is not there, so Wolf slips into her nightgown and into her bed just in time to greet Red Riding Hood. Red Riding Hood, or Red for short, is suspicious. Why are Grandma’s eyes so big, ears so long, biceps to big, and teeth so sharp? Wolf leaps out of bed but is shocked to learn that Red went to Ninja school, too. Yikes. Evenly matched, wolf is still hopeful that he’ll have his dinner when in comes Grandma. She has been to Ninja school, too; and, Grandma looks fierce in her gi. In the blink of an eye, Red gets a grip on Wolf and flips him.

Wolf tries to give up and leave, but Grandma drives a hard bargain. If he wants to leave, he has to give up Red meat. (get it?) Wolf is stressed by this whole situation. He swears to give up red meat and decides to take up yoga. 🙂

Schwartz’s rhyming is great. Dan Santat’s illustrations are colorful and bold. The characters expressions are priceless. What a fun book. Lots of cheers from my second graders when I read this to them!

The Secret Shortcut, by Mark Teague

Published September 20, 2015 by Dagmar

Have you ever beSecretShortcuten late for school or work and no one believed your excuse? Wendell and Floyd have the worst luck.  The first day they go to school, they are nearly captured by space creatures.  Their teacher doesn’t believe them.  The second day, pirates are loose in the neighborhood.  The teacher does not believe them again.  On the third day, there is a plague of frogs.

Determined to finally get to school on time, they leave extra early one day and take Wendell’s secret shortcut.  This shortcut goes through a thick jungle, quick sand, sleeping crocodiles, a deep gorge and finally a big mud puddle.  It’s amazing, but they actually get to school on time, if a little muddy.  Their teacher, happy that they’re finally at school on time, decides that maybe she doesn’t really want to know why the boys are all muddy.

This is a fun read aloud that my second graders really loved.  It was a CA Young Readers’ Medal nominee in 2000.

Love Twelve Miles Long, by Glenda Armand

Published September 20, 2015 by Dagmar

This book is so touching, that honestly, it’s hard not to well up as I read it.  I shared this book with my third graders for African-AmLove Twelve Miles Longerican History Month in February.

Love Twelve Miles Long is the story of young Frederick Douglass, whose mother travels 12 miles each weekend to see him. She works in the corn fields. Frederick works in the Big House. The story begins as she is about to leave to return to her work. She is tucking him in to sleep. Frederick asks her about her long walk back to her home. She tells him that each mile has a special meaning and helps make the journey shorter. The first mile is for forgetting, the second for remembering, the third for listening, the fourth for looking up, the fifth for wondering, the sixth is for praying, the seventh is for singing, the eighth is for smiling, the ninth is for giving thanks, the tenth is for hoping, the eleventh is for dreaming and the twelve is for love. Each mile is another expression of love for her son and hope that they will be able to live together as a family when they are free.

Colin Bootman’s illustrations are beautiful and bring Armand’s text to life. My students study Frederick Douglass’ life and know that he learned to read, became a free man and a great leader. Now they have the opportunity to imagine his life as a child.

Blackout, by John Rocco

Published September 20, 2015 by Dagmar

blackoutIt’s summer.  It’s hot.  Everyone is busy – too busy to play a game with a little boy.  Mom is working.  Dad is cooking.  Older sister is on the phone.  So, the boy ends up playing video games by himself.  Until…the lights go out.

Huddled together with flashlights and candles, the family plays games.  When the apartment gets too hot, the family goes up to the roof and looks at the stars.  The whole neighborhood ends up on the rooftops – and down in the streets.  It may be a blackout, but it’s a party, too.  When the lights come back on, the family turns the lights right back off. 🙂

This book makes you feel good.  It has great colorful, playful illustrations and was a real hit with my students.  Enjoy!

Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming

Published September 19, 2015 by Dagmar

MunchaHave you ever really wanted to do something and then had the chance to do it?  Well, Mr. McGreely had just such a moment.  He’d wanted a garden so that he could plant vegetables and then gobble them all up.  Unfortunately for Mr. McGreely, there are very cute little bunnies who want nothing more than to gobble all those vegetables, too. (Muncha, Muncha, Muncha).  Mr. McGreely does NOT want bunnies eating his vegetables.  So, he builds a small fence around his garden.  “And the sun went down. And the moon came up. And- Tippy-tippy-tippy, Pat! Spring-hurdle, Dash! Dash! Dash! Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!”  Those bunnies ate those vegetables again.  Each day Mr. McGreely improves the fortifications around his garden.  And each day, “…the sun went down. And the moon came up,” and those bunnies got into the garden.  Finally, Mr. McGreely builds a wall that no bunny, no matter how clever, could ever defeat.  Mr. McGreely is happy.  Little does he know that those little bunnies crawled into his basket when he wasn’t looking!  When it’s time for Mr. McGreely to pick his vegetables, he picks up the basket and climbs a big ladder to get to his garden.  He picks his vegetables and places them in his basket.  As he reaches into the basket, “Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!” Oh no!

Thanks to a friend and volunteer at my school who recommended this book to me as a great read aloud for spring.  She was right!  My students loved it.

Going Places, by Peter and Paul Reynolds

Published September 17, 2015 by Dagmar

I’m a rule follower, excellent at following directions and getting things done on time, but I’ve always admired people that take a different path – who have minds so creative, ingenious and unafraid that they feel comfortable completely departing from the norm to create something new.  I think the best projects take a combination of rule followers and dreamers to be successful.
going places

In Going Places, Rafael is just like me. He is so excited when his class receives go-cart kits.  All the students are to build the kit and then have a race.  Rafael goes home and builds the kit, following the directions to the letter.  His go-cart looks exactly like the picture.  He decides to check on his friend and next door neighbor, Maya to see how she is progressing.  He sees her sitting in her yard staring at a bird on a tree and then at a bird flying.  When she builds her go cart, it doesn’t look at all like the picture on the kit.  It looks more like an awkward flying machine. When Rafael asks Maya why she didn’t building a go-cart, she says that no one said she had to build a go-cart. Rafael sees where Maya is going with her project and asks if they can team up. Nothing in the rules says that they can’t team up.

The result?  A plane!  As they roll up to the start line, other kids laugh.   It’s clear that everyone else in the class has followed the directions exactly, just as Rafael had. When the race starts, the go-carts take off.  The plane doesn’t move; but, then it does move…past all those go-carts.  Rafael and Maya fly to the finish line well ahead of their competitors.  As they roll to a stop, Maya sees a frog jumping off a rock in the lake. She turns to Rafael and smiles. He smiles back. Guess what they build next? 🙂

This is a wonderful book that makes you cheer for all your dreamers and the rule followers can spot a great idea and help bring it to reality.

Squish, Super Amoeba, by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm

Published July 4, 2015 by Dagmar

You might not have realized that there is a whole world within our world – the world of the Amoeba, one-celled organisms that go to school, trade lunches and even read comic books during class.  My students know all about Squish. In fact, this is one series that iSquishs always mentioned when I ask them about their favorite graphic novels.

Squish is just such an amoeba. He has friends, Pod and Peggy. Peggy is an extremely nice paramecium. She’s actually a little too nice sometimes. In fact, one day, after Squish and his friends sit in detention, Peggy chats away to the school’s bully, Lynwood. Lynwood is a “scary amoeba” that loves to eat paramecium. Squish sees Peggy talking to Lynwood and fears that Lynwood will actually eat Peggy right there in detention. Squish has a decision to make. Should he do the right thing and step in to save Peggy, just as his hero, Super Amoeba, would? Or, should he walk in the other direction.

Find out what Squish decides to do and how a little slime mold can be a good thing to have around.

My students absolutely love this series. The Squish series currently has 6 books, with book 7 due to be released on August 25, 2015.  Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm also write the Babymouse graphic novel series.

Zita the Spacegirl, by Ben Hatke

Published July 2, 2015 by Dagmar

This graphic novel might just rank with Amulet as my favorite in my library.  Zita the Spacegirl has characters you’ll love, evil villians, wonderful drawings and a plot full of suspense.  It is a huge favorite with my students.

Zita the SpacegirlZita and her friend Joseph are surprised when a small meteor hits the earth where they are playing. Zita is adventurous.  She goes into the small crater and finds an interesting object that looks like a button. As all adventurous girls are wont to do, Zita pushes the button. Off goes Joseph onto another planet. Zita quickly presses the button again and finds herself on the same strange planet, just in to see Joseph kidnapped.

Zita meets new creatures that soon become friends, a large creature she names Strong Strong, another called Mouse and Piper.  She learns that this new planet is just about to be destroyed by an enormous asteroid.  Everyone is trying to get off the planet before the asteroid hits.  Zita is determined to find her friend.  She learns that he has been taken prisoner by the original creatures to inhabit the planet, Scriptorians.  The Scriptorians think that sacrificing Joseph will stop the asteroid.

Zita sets out with her new friends to find Joseph and save him. Will they be successful? Who will try to stop them? Will the planet survive? Read Zita and the Spacegirl to see how one strong, adventurous girl can team up with friends and make things happen.

Don’t miss the next two books in this trilogy, Legends of Zita the Spacegirl and Return of Zita the Spacegirl. Look for Ben Hatke’s new book, Little Robot, to be released on September 1, 2015.