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

The War that Saved My Life--WOW!

I could not move out of bed this morning until I finished this incredible 5* book by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.  This one is going to stay with me for a long time.

[DISCLOSURE:  I am still new at figuring out how to write coherent book reviews...please forgive...Also, please forgive because I realized that my blog is so simple looking and I need some help jazzing it up but have run out of time.  I'm glad that I at least have a blog.]

10 year old Ada and her 6 year old brother, Jamie, live in London with their mother, Mam.  Mam is so ashamed of Ada's clubfoot that she keeps her inside all day, every day.  She is not even allowed to crawl to the shared hallway bathroom.  She sits in a chair looking outside to a place that she can never appreciate. When she crosses Mam, she is sent to the reeking tiny cabinet where all the roaches roam. Ada's speech and vocabulary are limited because of her seclusion from the outside world.

Then World War II hits England and children are sent out to the country to be safe and are called "evacuees."  When Jamie goes to the train, Ada sneaks out with him.  When no one chooses them, they are taken to live with Miss Susan Smith, a single woman, who ends up benefiting as much from their placement as they do with her.  And so begins a long, hard journey of trust, friendship, love, perseverance, heroism and ultimate joy during the War that saved more than one life.

I cannot wait to share this book with my students beginning on Tuesday, our first day of school!  I will be meeting with the whole class of fifth graders not once, but twice!  I can see myself holding this book in my hands and telling them it will be at the top of my Newbery list.  I will stumble with my words because I will be almost too excited to describe it coherently.  My only regret is that I didn't pick it up when it first came out in this past winter so I could have shared it with last year's students.  And it will definitely be a fifth grade book group selection!  If you have students reading it, please let me know and maybe we can chat about it virtually together!  It's a winner! It will bring anyone who reads it hope and JOY!

The book paired perfectly with my cup of joe yesterday morning.

PS-Look! Another Junior Library Guild selection! If there is one vendor I feel most strongly about promoting, it is definitely them!  Save on collection development time, great customer service and excellent book selections!

ALA Post Blog #2--There's a 6 minute video involved! #alaac15

It has been on my list now for a week to blog about my experiences at ALA.  I'm not sure why I keep putting it off.  Maybe because if I actually reflect upon the experience, it means that it is actually a thing of the past and yet I want to hold on to the memories and feelings for a long time.

So far, I am.  I look at things differently ("Those glasses remind me of Jenni Holm's!").  I notice things from an ALA perspective.  Like when I should be glancing through 100's of pictures of kids at sleep away camp searching for the ones of my own children, I see other things, too ("See that random girl in that camp picture?  See what book she's reading? No?  Well, look more closely because I am noticing that she is reading El Deafo!") and I'm still thinking all about the magic of Kwame.  How lucky we were to connect last summer over Twitter when I first read The Crossover.  How even luckier I was to share the book with students in the fall.  How even luckier we were to Skype with him in January and luckiest to be at ALA to cheer him on and watch him gain 20,000 more followers.

And it all began at the airport:

I should have left that pillow at home.  Yes, I packed a lot.  See my previous blog post. 

Note that I think those of us from NY were the ONLY ones there who actually worked and went to school the day we left for San Francisco.  People couldn't believe it when I said, "My student gave me this lovely bag YESTERDAY!"

I decided to create an Animoto on my experience.  I was there to celebrate Kwame, so there are a lot of pictures of him.  It looks like all I did was pose with authors and illustrators.  I learned a lot.  I networked.  Just being there, I soaked it all in.  And I know as these weeks go by this summer, I will remember more and just think how lucky I was to be there.  Thanks to Kwame for giving me the nudge--He even THANKED all of us (Susan, Mary Ann, his friends at the table I was at) in his speech! We are the leaders of the KAFC*!

Here's the Animoto...



*Kwame Alexander Fan Club

Ok...This is now finished...I can move on and think about 2016.  I can review books (Sunny Side Up, Crenshaw, George, Circus Mirandus...I've read them all believe it or not.)  I am moving on but not forgetting...

The Case for Loving

Happy Saturday!  Since my commute is a .3 mile walk I don't get the luxury to listen to NPR to and from school.  The beauty of this world today is that nothing is missed with the Internet and online streaming.  (and yes, me who is always up till midnight actually fell asleep on Dave Letterman's last night but luckily got to watch it the next day this very way)

I have been tweeting a lot about how much I love Junior Library Guild and my "books of the month," especially the ones recently.  In my May box, I received,

Such a beauty by SELINA ALKO and SEAN QUALLS.  I didn't realize it, but I already "knew" Sean Qualls--He's illustrated a bunch of other books  including, Dizzy, Scit Scat Raggedy Cat, Before John was a Jazz Giant and more!  We used all those books for our Acoustic Rooster jazz musician project for Kwame!

The Case for Loving is getting a lot of attention now and was even on NPR (YES! There's the connection to NPR, if you were wondering) yesterday.  If you missed it, here's the story:

   The illustrations are gorgeous and help tell the story of how it was illegal for interracial couples to be married as late as 1967 in Virginia.  I am sure this would be hard for any young person to grasp these days, even me!  This hits home to me personally because my own inlaws are an interracial couple.  Although slightly different circumstances since they are Asian and Caucasian and living in California, it was still 1967 and they could have still experienced some discrimination.

The Lovings moved from their home state to Washington, DC (where it was legal) so they could raise their family without grief.  You have to get your hands on this book!  Good discussions could be had with students of all ages.  I have to be honest, I haven't had the chance to share it with my students, but definitely will in the future.  It is a great addition to my library and again, I am grateful to Junior Library Guild for passing it on to me.  The book could be paired so well with some of our chapter books with the older grades, too.  Hmmm...like, Revolution by Deborah Wiles perhaps?  As an aside, I know she is working on the third book in the trilogy now and I believe it will take place in the late 1960s, so definitely, YES! Looking forward to that one when it comes out...

I'm all over the place this morning.  Probably haven't had enough coffee yet.  I just wanted to put a shout out for Selina Alko and Sean Qualls!  Maybe they'll be at ALA and I'll get to jump with them?More later….

Don't believe my heart will be left there but I'm going to SF!

It's been a wild week!  Started off with my mission to figure out how to make it to San Francisco for the  ALA Annual Conference and with some emails and phone calls, it happened!  The lead to me leaping and jumping the rest of the week!  I purchased my tickets Thursday morning and didn't touch the ground all day.  I will be at THE NEWBERY BANQUET, cheering and crying and laughing and who knows what, right there for KWAME!  We only had 400 11 and unders shouting "Kwame! Kwame! Kwame!"  I can't imagine what 1,000 will sound like?  (Or would they be a bit more reserved???  I know I will be shouting it regardless!) AND I will be at the CSK AWARDS!  I'll tell you what, I love Jackie Woodson--and really, that's another committee I'd like to be on some day as well.  So yeah, it was tough to be grounded this week.

The Greater Capital Region Teacher Center is funding part of my trip as professional development to help me teach a class on the Newbery in the fall!  I'm so excited for this opportunity!  It will be an insane Fall (daughter's Bat Mitzvah, NYLA in Lake Placid, AASL in Columbus, OH) but those will all enhance the teaching of the class!  I just wish ALA Midwinter (in Boston in 2016!) wasn't so early (January 8-12)! That's insane!  We're going to have to start our Newbery project in October!

I had some time to really dig into my Junior Library Guild box of books later in the week and I LOVE them all!  The highlights are:

Matthew Burgess's book on ee cummings illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo.  Yeah, ee cummings used to be my favorite poet of all time  (like we read one of his poems at our wedding even) until I met this guy with the initials, KA.

Then there was this one, Roger is Reading a Book.  It's new to us in the US this year and is funny! The illustrations actually remind me of Christoph Neimann.  The ending made me laugh out loud, for real!

Another great book was a beautiful biography, Talkin' Guitar by Robbin Gurley, on Doc Watson. I used to listen to a bluegrass show on WRPI every  Sunday morning called "Sunday Morning Coming Down" and they played Doc Watson all the time. The illustrations in this book are gorgeous and a great introduction to a musician I am sure not many of my students have heard of.

There was yet another beauty of a biography in my box this week about a patriot who baked gingerbread for Revolutionary War soldiers. A fun and fascinating read that made me want to eat some gingerbread, of course! 

There were other gems in the box, including Completely Clementine, a new graphic novel with a rutabaga as the central character and more! This really was a great month for Junior Library Guild! I hope I get to see them at ALA to tell them so in person. 

It was field day on Wednesday and Mrs. Donato jumped with me after school because we were twinning orange bandanas.

Mrs. Ciampoli and Mrs. Nolan's first graders are almost done with poetry. The zoo projects are coming along and Mrs. Segarra's class started animal research. 

Beginning Monday I will start chaperoning some classes down to the public library. A nice little walking field trip, although the uphill on the way back could be a good workout for some! 

2 1/2 more weeks of school and then ALA!!! San Francisco or BUST!