Rain, Rain Go Away...Gone!

My husband's degree is in meterology but he is far from a weatherman.  He looks at the same radars as you do to check out to see if it's ok to ride his bike or hang clothes on the line.  Yesterday I didn't need to check with him about the weather.  All I had to do was look out the window to see it pouring.

Today, I see some blue sky.  I just checked my phone app and it looks like it will be dry for days.  I have to tell you, though, the rain did not stop me from taking my daily walk.  I donned a raincoat. Put my hood up. Opened the umbrella and marched on. I might have even leaped into a puddle or two.

My favorite rain book is Float by Daniel Miyares.  That book arrived in my Junior Library Guild book box in the fall of 2015 and I fell hard immediately.  I wrote him a gushing email and the rest is history.  He visited us for our gala in 2017 and with every new book, he continues to perfect his craft. Coincident or not, today he has a book birthday!

This book looks gorgeous and has received three starred reviews! It's a  biography about Ramanujan, a boy in India in the late 1800s who reinvented mathematics as we know it today.  STEM friends-Add this one to your list!

Back to Float, which can also be combined with STEM activities like these:

If you read enough of Daniel's books, you will see that yellow pop out everywhere.  I love it.  How could YELLOW not make you smile? I mentioned this to Daniel once and this is what he said about it:

Want to know a fun, crazy fact? Daniel illustrated Kwame Alexander's 2016 picture book, Surf's Up! I know, right?  My worlds totally, positively, colliding! Here's a coloring page (and more ideas) to help you dream of sunny, hot summer:

Like many of my illustrator friends, Daniel is posting art videos on Instagram. His videos might be more suited for older kids, or not. Anyone interested, really. Here is one where he draws a house by the water.  To me, one thing that always stands out in Daniel's work is how he draws shadows.  What do you think?

Subscribe to Daniel's YouTube channel or Instagram so you can watch and draw or paint along to all his videos.

Oh, one last thing--related (because I wanted an inside workout since it was raining, and we are talking about rain...) or, maybe not really. Mr. Biehler shared on his Twitter a new app  he downloaded, Home Court. I checked it out and it is so much fun! It can be used any day and time:  inside (the next rainy day we have) OR outside.  I plan to play with it daily! 

Check out this tweet BY the company.  You rock, Mr. Biehler!

Teamwork makes the dream work 🏀💪 ⠀
⠀@coachbiehler and family shows us how to get it done - who will you tag team today? Mention us at @homecourtai for a chance to be featured.⠀
⠀#stayinthegame #homecourtai #inthistogether #familytime #teamworkmakesthedreamwork⠀ pic.twitter.com/hu1vkBSCSY

— HomeCourtai (@HomeCourtai) April 14, 2020

And not nearly as cute as the Biehlers, but I'll share anyway--my first attempt last night.  Yes, this is before we figured out I should go find an inside ball (tennis?). But there are way more workouts on here than just ball handling.  Rainy day or not, I challenge you to try it out! You won't be disappointed!

Daniel Miyares Part 1

Leaping with Daniel last night

I promised myself earlier this evening that I would blog tonight.  Tonight, per se, is almost over but it still counts.

Almost two years ago (really a year and a half, but almost two years sounds better), I opened my Junior Library Guild box and found a gorgeous book inside.  I read it, shared it, read it again, told everyone about it and even emailed the author.  That book was Float by Daniel Miyares.  I fell hard for it then and still love it today.

Then a crazy thing happened.  My eyes caught something on a poster I had for Kwame's new book, Surf's Up.  Daniel was the illustrator! How could this be?  So we all got more excited.  We threw a "Please Come to CES" party with everyone dressed in Hawaiian attire and sent all the videos to Daniel.  We were on a serious mission to bring him to Castleton, if not for Surf's Up, for something else soon.

Since then we celebrated another book birthday for him in June: Bring Me a Rock and performed a rendition of that book at a monthly morning assembly in November because...

...we had made a date with Daniel to come in May! MAY?!  Yes! THIS MAY! May 9 on the book birthday of his newest book, That Neighbor Kid. That's just hours away!!!

We love everything about this book and 4th graders have taken upon themselves to post hashtags about it all over school:

 #everyfriendshipbeginswithHi 

#dontspillyourjuice

#hammerandnails #blueprints

Mrs. Warland (Doe) with Daniel and her granddaughter, Emma

Daniel's signature grey early in the book becomes mixed with vibrant hues of red, orange and yellow as the friendship and teamwork between the boy and the girl flourishes.  After hard work and determination, their treehouse is complete and how better to celebrate this accomplishment than with a box of juice?

The most talented Daniel is here in my zipcode and we are thrilled to honor him all day as we sing our praises (and Happy Birthday) on the book birthday of That Neighbor Kid and have a gala in his honor in the evening.

ps-When you get your own copy, don't forget to check under case cover.  More surprise beauty lies secretly hidden there.

With Mrs. Harris

With our art teacher, Mrs. Pazienza.  More on our collaboration tomorrow!

Madeline on my mind

I was in Paris this summer with my daughter.  We explored and discovered the magic  for 2 1/2 days. It was an amazing way to to end our 12 day excellent European adventure.

I've noticed that the attacks on Paris have affected me differently than any other foreign terrorist attack of recent times.  Is it because we were just there?  Is it because we can visualize a Paris map and know where we were with respect to where things happened?  It is because we fell in love with Paris and now that it is hurting, we are too?  Whatever it is, we are feeling it.

And then there is Madeline, our beloved children's book by Ludwig Bemelmans.  I always loved Madeline and so when Tari loved her before the age of 4, I was thrilled.  Especially because at that age, you read and re-read and re-read the books again and again.  And in Tari's case, we actually got the audio books out, too, and I remember listening to those stories over and over and over and over, making car rides quite bearable if bearable means listening to the same story at least 12x.

I still have Tari's Madeline doll, although she has moved from her bedroom to my library.  We also bought her the Madeline book that teaches about manners.  I think Tari was having some etiquette issues and we thought if anyone can teach her how to be polite, it will be Madeline.  I think it worked.

Being the kind of person that always wants to be surrounded by friends, family and love, I envied Madeline.  Twelve girls in two straight lines, together, forever. There would never be a loss for a friend or someone to play with.  I was envious. She even made getting your appendix out look fun.

Here it is, November and it's Picture Book Month.  This is a time set aside to celebrate picture books. A time to single out the beauty and wonderfulness of picture books.  Some of my all time favorites are truly the classics:  Madeline, Where the Wild Things Are, Make Way for Ducklings, Blueberries for Sal, The Snowy Day, I'll Fix Anthony even The Little House.  There are more--too many to name! I have newer ones as favorites now too:  Flotsam, Knuffle Bunny, Beekle, Nana in the City and even a 2015 favorite, Float, that I hope gets a medal of some sort in January.

There is nothing like turning the pages of picture book and taking in the sights, sounds and text of each page. In 32 pages, picture books take you to places you have never been, real or imagined.  They introduce you to new friends, new ideas and even teach you how to solve problems and continually stress the importance of family and loved ones.  They are the most perfect way to escape, learn and explore.  Happy Picture Book Month!

A rainy day in upstate NY=Great day for FLOAT by Daniel Miyares

I'm moving into Caldecott territory.  I never really did that before.  Anyone who knows me, knows I'm pretty much all Newbery all the time.  But I just can't let this one go.

Last night I sat at my computer very late at night and was distracted by the sound of the rain.  I woke up this morning as more rain fell.  It was the first day of the 2015-16 school year that we had indoor recess (wish I could say it was the last).  There are puddles everywhere. Needless to say, it's wet outside in Castleton.

Early this morning my eyes caught Float by Daniel Miyares on display in the library. A perfect book to share with students on this rainy day.  Actually, a perfect book to share with anyone anytime.  I haven't met another wordless book that touched me so much since I read my Surf City, New Jersey love, Flotsam by David Wiesner many years ago.

The use of the grays and black, shadows, reflection, the yellow rain suit, the details, the plot, all of it is wrapped up into beautiful wonderfulness.  The two page spread of the pouring rain is so perfect that you can actually HEAR the rain coming down.  No joke.  And it wasn't just me--students agreed and so did other adults.

My K-2 students got it, too.  The noticed the details (ie, marshmallows in the drink=hot cocoa).  They could predict what came next and they understood the feelings of the colors.  We talked about how confident the illustrator must be when he can include a page of one solid color, in this case, black. Hmmm...David Wiesner happened to do that too, in The Three Little Pigs.

I also love the end papers.  Directions on how to make a paper boat in the front and paper airplane in the back.  That's the ribbon on this lovely gift of a book.  I guess I'll be keeping my eye on Mock Caldecott predictions from here on out.

ps-Another winner from my Junior Library Guild book box!

Ms. Malone's Kindergarten class

Mrs. Pryde's first graders PRE JUMP

Leapin Librarian with Mrs. Pryde's leaping first graders!

Mrs. Puccio and Mrs. Seres's second graders