Little Gorilla, Ruth Bornstein

Published October 13, 2013 by Dagmar

It’s always nice to find a real winner for the pre-k set. Little Gorilla is one of those affirming books that makes everyone, listener and reader feel good.

Little Gorilla is loved from the day he is born. His mom and dad love him, his aunts and uncles love him, all the animals in the forest love him and help him. Until one day…Little Gorilla grows. My students all wonder what will happen when Little Gorilla grows. They wait expectantly until I start singing “Happy Birthday”. They all smile in relief and join in. The last page says, “And everyone still loved him.”

I’m Bored, by Michael Ian Black

Published October 2, 2013 by Dagmar

What a great way to start a school year. We opened our library officially two weeks ago. After moving through establishment of rules and learning where books are, we finally pulled out all the new pictures books that I’ve been dying to read to classes. Here’s the first big winner of the year.

I’m Bored doesn’t have a lot to say, but what it says makes kids laugh. Illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi’s drawings make the sparse book even funnier. The book begins with a girl saying, “I’m bored.” She is soooooo bored. Then, she finds a potato. Imagine her surprise when the potato tells her, “I’m bored.” The girl invites potato to do something, but he only likes flamingos. Soon, she is trying to convince the potato that kids are actually fun. She tries just about everything under the sun to convince the potato that kids are fun. Each time, the potato (and my whole class) says, “I’m bored.” She finally stomps away. The potato turns, only to find a flamingo. A flamingo? Now the potato is ready for some fun – until the flamingo tells him, “I’m bored.” This last dry line just kicks it. It might feel like a long buildup to this final punch line, but my students didn’t think so. They loved the book and immediately wanted to check it out. Of course, here it sits in front of me as I write. It will be on the shelf tomorrow!

Classes begin next week – or today?

Published September 18, 2013 by Dagmar

I had the best surprise today. As I was finishing up last minute administrative projects and preparing plans for my library classes, our transkinder (TK) class showed up, a week early, for their library class. They were so well-behaved. They sat down on the rug with their hands folded on their laps. Wow. Not bad for September! One of my favorite things to do with pre-k/TK classes is to sing. By a stroke of luck, I picked a “singing book” that I love called Five Little Ducks. It’s a book by Raffi, the famous singer of children’s songs. This happens to have been the book their teacher had been singing with them. So, together, we sang and made the hand motions that go with the book. It was a great start to their “trial run” library class. For those of you who don’t know the tune to Five Little Ducks, the music is in the back of the book. It’s simple and sweet. A great addition to any home library or pre-k/TK classroom.

We moved on to one of my favorite preschool books, Ask Mr. Bear. Ask Mr. Bear is an old book, but kept them absolutely riveted as little Danny looks for a present for his mother’s birthday. The repetition, opportunity to practice animal sounds (much to the delight of my students who loved the goat’s “meh, meh” sound the best) and just the right amount of suspense. What a fun and satisfying read aloud.

I was sorry to see them line up to go, but got such a nice feeling that this will be a great school year of classes.

I haven’t written recently, because I’m waiting to make my recommendations to all my students based on my summer reading. I want to see which of my picks they really like, so stay tuned! I’m also very lucky to have a huge stack of new picture books to share with my students – so more news awaits as I read them to my classes. Hopefully we’ll find some books that I love, and they love too.

I hope the beginning of the school year started as nicely for all of you.

Richard Wright and the Library Card, by William Miller

Published July 23, 2013 by Dagmar

This book is a great read aloud for African-American history month. I plan to use it with my third and fourth graders. The illustrations by Gregory Christie are excellent.

Richard Wright loved to read but had no access to books as a child or as a young man. He would read scraps of newspaper or whatever words he could find. When Richard finds work at an optician’s office, he notices that one of the white men there seems different – as he would understand Richard’s need for books. Richard gathers his courage and asks the man if he can use the man’s library card. When Richard goes to the public library. When the librarian questions him about the books he is checking out, Richard lies to her and tells her that he can’t read. He tells her that he is just picking up books for the card’s owner. White people in the library snicker at him.

This is the fictionalized account of an important episode in Richard Wright’s life, written about in Wright’s famous autobiography, Black Boy, published in 1945. Highly recommended.

Ask Mr. Bear, by Marjorie Flack

Published July 12, 2013 by Dagmar

Here is an old fashioned but very sweet book that is always a hit with my preschoolers. Although the illustrations are dated, there is good preschool-level suspense when Danny goes into the woods to talk to a bear.

Danny wants to buy a gift for his mother for her birthday. He asks a hen, goose, goat, sheep, cow and then finally a bear what to give his mother. The bear gives the best answer, a hug.

Baby Beluga, by Raffi

Published July 7, 2013 by Dagmar

This book was the book that made my kindergarten class sing last year. Baby Beluga is a great song song by children’s musician, Raffi. The book is part of the Raffi Songs to Read series. I love to sing, and singing Baby Beluga with a crowd of kindergartners is absolutely the best. We created hand movements and sang this book at every class time. The kids brought tears to my eyes when they performed Baby Beluga with their teacher at an assembly. I love “singing” this book to any young child.

This book follows the song exactly as it is sung. Check out Raffi singing the song on YouTube to hear how the song goes. The illustrations by Ashley Wolff are sweet. Best yet, this inspired an interest in whales in my library! Off we were to discover more about Beluga whales, blue whales, gray whales and more! If you like to sing, Baby Beluga may just be the book for you.

Seven Blind Mice, by Ed Young

Published July 2, 2013 by Dagmar

This Caldecott Honor book is a favorite with my young readers. I usually read it to pre-k through 1st grade. The colors are brilliant, set on a black background.

Seven mice, red, green, yellow, purple, orange, blue and white, try to understand the large object in front of them. Each one feels a different part of the whole and makes a guess as to what the object must be. It isn’t until the seventh mouse runs “up one side, down another and across the Something from end to end” that he discovers that the “Something” is an elephant. The others, then do the same and agree with the white mouse. The moral? “Knowing in part may make a fine tale, but wisdom comes from seeing the whole.”

Women of Hope: African Americans who Made a Difference, by Joyce Hansen

Published June 30, 2013 by Dagmar

I love to read parts of this book aloud to my students during African-American history month. This book features quotes, black and white photographs and a page about many notable African-American women, including: Ida B. Wells-Barnett, The Delany Sisters, Septima Poinsette Clark, Ella Josephine Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ruby Dee, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Marian Wright Eledman, Alica Walker, Alexa Canady, Mae C. Jemison with a list of more notable women in the back of the book.

This book makes a great resource for teachers or a wonderfully inspiring book for young people. Read a page here and there, or read the entire book. Either way, don’t miss it.

The Z was Zapped, by Chris Van Allsburg

Published June 27, 2013 by Dagmar

I’m a fan of Chris Van Allsburg’s work, particularly of The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. I save most of his books for my older students, so finding a book that my younger students can enjoy is great. As always, there are incredible black and white illustrations and just a touch of dark humor in the book. This is definitely a different kind of alphabet book. 😉

In the Z was Zapped, the entire alphabet, presented in “a play in 26 acts”, meets its demise on stage. “The A was in an avalanche. The B was badly bitten. The C was cut to ribbons…” It’s fun watching my students guess at how each letter meets its end. This was perfect for my 1st graders.

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, by Mo Willems

Published June 26, 2013 by Dagmar

Whatever you do, DON’T let the pigeon drive the bus. Mo Willems has a great sense of humor, and this book is simply hilarious. There is not one class, pre-k through 5, that doesn’t laugh hysterically when I read this book.

Pigeon really wants to drive the bus. But, the only thing the bus driver as asked you to do is NOT let pigeon drive the bus. Sounds easy, right? Well, pigeon really, really wants to drive this bus. He’ll tell you just about anything to get to drive the bus. Any adult that’s been around a child will recognize Pigeon’s ploys as he tries to cajole you into letting him drive the bus.

Enjoy! You may just be laughing as loud as the children around you.

This book won a Caldecott Honor in 2004.

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