A Date with Kate

ALA, Washington DC, June 2019

Ann Patchett wrote this essay in yesterday's NYT.


An adult with no kids, she had never read Kate DiCamillo.  Then she picked up The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and "it changed [her] life." After that, she read all of them. "It was incredibly calming," she writes which is why she recommends reading them now. "...read these books together as a family...Don't miss out."

Kate is an incredible storyteller.  I wish I had a fraction of her creativity. She can make you laugh and cry and crave to do whatever-the-opposite-of-social-distancing-is with her characters.

I'm going to mention a few of my favorites but there are so many. So...don't stall.  Be like Ann. Open up your Sora or Libby app, go to your favorite Indie bookstore and starting requesting.

Bink and Gollie meet Mercy Watson

Oh do I love Bink and Gollie by Kate, Allison McGhee and illustrated by Tony Fucile .  The banter back and forth between these two and the little adventures they have together make for books you will want to read (or watch) over and over again.  Read them with a side of pancakes and some funky socks on your feet. This is the book trailer with Kate and Alison as the voices. One is a Geisel winner but they all deserve a place on your emerging reader's shelf.

Mercy Watson is another fun early chapter book series by Kate and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen.  The pig also has her own website.  Here's an excerpt from the audiobook:

Book Recording | Mercy Watson to the Rescue on TeachingBooks

YOU are in luck! Every Bink and Gollie and I believe every Mercy Watson story is on Tumblebooks! We have a CES subscription and so does the public library.  It's easiest to just go here to login:  TUMBLEBOOKS  If that link doesn't work, please email me.  These characters should provide you with hours of meaningful entertainment on this truly stay-inside-day. 🌧

Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

I identify each Maple Hill High School graduating class by the Newbery winner the year they were in fifth grade.  The class of 2021 is Flora and Ulysses. "Did you read the one about the squirrel?" my mom texted me the night it won. "Yes. Yes, we did."  We had a book group and even Skyped with the illustrator, K.G. Campbell. No, I didn't attempt Kate. We liked Keith! Someone asked him what he would do if he won the Newbery and I still remember him chuckling and saying, "Well, Kate would get the award but it would be pretty cool." I also remember him telling us (and this was WAY before I ever watched Modern Family) that he modeled Flora after Alex Dunphy (Ariel Winter).  You can definitely see the resemblance!

So this is random--(Mrs. Warland, a reliable reader of this blog, says sometimes I go on tangents.  Warning, this is one of them.)--A 5 minute video on the whole 2014 Newbery project with my then fifth graders; now MHHS juniors.  Can you spy the Floras?  The Skype picture of KG "Keith" Campbell? The cheers for Flora? Wow.  For anyone who knows these kids, a stroll down memory lane for sure. Watching it makes me miss those kids and my own students so much.

The Three Rancheros

I can't write about Kate without mentioning Raymie, Louisiana and Beverly.  I love this trilogy and I thought it just kept getting better with each book.  Read them all and let me know what you think.  I know Mrs. Dingman liked Lousiana better than Beverly. Personally, I liked Beverly better but they are all so good. 

What I'm reading constantly carries over into my life. I had a dentist appointment shortly after I read Raymie and was able to convince my dental hygienist to take a photo with me.  She didn't know what was going on but I appreciated it and you will, too, when you read the book.

Check out my resource page for way more activities to pair with Raymie.  Here's a fun crossword to whet your appetite. Thanks to Candlewick, there's a lot more where that came from. 

Hollywood

Don't forget that Kate wrote Because of Winn Dixie and The Tale of Desperaux, Newbery honor and medal winning books that were made into movies.  Read the book.  Pop the popcorn. Watch the movie. Compare. Repeat.

One last thing...

This fall, Kate was in Saratoga, just after Beverly was released.  A bunch of us went, thanks to Northshire Bookstore.  Not only did we get a still picture BUT a leaping one! It wasn't my first time leaping with Kate and I hope it isn't my last...Until then, I wish you the best staying inside as you tackle Kate DiCamillo's canyon. xo

PASTA! PASTA!

Everyday I watch Governor Cuomo. It's my one set routine.  My daughter sits with me when she can. My friends and I text each other. "He just made me laugh," I type. "And cry," one replies.  It's one daily routine we can have in this upside down world.  Yesterday, he talked about being with his Italian family every Sunday.  They would get together for an early dinner and eat spaghetti and meatballs.  I bet it was awesome. He then shared how he attempted to continue this tradition with his own girls.  Knowing he wasn't a good cook, he would go to an Italian shop, buy the meatballs and sauce but cook it on the stove.  His daughters were skeptical (as they should be if he wasn't a good cook) and would just pick around them not aware they store bought. Joke's on them now.

Today's bipartisan post is dedicated to Governor Cuomo and the theme is pasta.

Daddy Makes the Best Spaghetti

Daddy Makes the Best Spaghetti  by Anna Grossnickle Hines was a "book on tape" my daughter frequently checked out of the library.  It started with a catchy tune that my husband and I still sing. 🎶 Daddy makes the best spaghetti...🎶 The book was published in 1986 so some things about it are dated. For one, not all families look like the one in this book. In fact, mine in 1986 didn't look like it. But, after hearing Cuomo's story about his not making the spaghetti, I just had to kick off the post with it.

The author's website has some ideas you can do related to the book.  Here are a few that can be done together whether you read (or sing) the book:

• Ask people: "What is your favorite food?"  Make a graph to show the results.
• Ask people "What is your least favorite chore?" Make a graph to show the results.
• Make placemats: Use paper that is about 12 x 18" and decorate them (color, paint, collage). Maybe make a special one for each person that you live with. If you happen to have contact paper around, you can cover the front and back with it so they can be wiped off and used over and over again.
• Make a recipe book: Fill in the blanks of this sentence-My _____ makes the best _____. Get the recipe, write it down and then draw a picture to go with it. Do this with different people and foods. Put them together and now you have a cookbook!

Strega Nona

Another favorite of Tari's and her parents 😉 was Caldecott honor winning Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola.  It also has a song we still sing.

You can find a ton of activities online to pair with this book.   Scholastic has a bunch including some great discussion questions (Was Strega Nona's punishment for Big Anthony fair? Why or why not? What punishment would you give him? Why do you think Big Anthony disobeyed Strega Nona? Do you think he would do it again? What does it mean that "the punishment must fit the crime"? What is the theme or message of the book?

If you have play dough around, you can make figures of Strega Nona, Big Anthony, the pasta pot or all three.  Don't have play dough? Most homemade recipes call for cream of tartar, not an ingredient we usually have in the house.  I found this one that doesn't call for it.

This activity guide from Storylineonline has many more ideas including making stained glass pasta, how to have a "pasta party", a pizza recipe and ideas for virtual field trips to Calabria.

Noodleheads

Who doesn't love the Noodlehead books?  These are perfect for our emerging readers.  One even won a Geisel honor.  They are hilarious.  I love using them for choral read alouds with first grade. Even if you can't get the books on Sora, you can still check out this great document filled with activities--bookmarks, coloring pages, word find, games...It should keep you busy for a while.

This is a picture of my friend, Amy from Denver, and I when we were together at ALA in New Orleans in 2018.  FUN!

Noodlemania: 50 Playful Pasta Recipes

Every Friday the fifth grade Reading Ambassadors and I have a lunch meeting.  I've been trying to keep it up virtually.  The past two weeks a strong but small group has been attending.  I shared my screen and we read this cookbook together. It was fun! The use of food coloring in some of the recipes make them look less than appetizing. Ha! I  will definitely be purchasing the print book for the library. It has easy pasta recipes and small facts throughout.  Check it out on Sora and get cooking!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Who doesn't love this one?  There is an overabundance of ideas of things you can do with this book.  Want to make a "Delicious Wacky Weather Forecast"? Check out this link for tips on how to do it!  I found a couple of different versions of read aloud for the book.

This one is the actual book:

This one is a little longer and goes along more with the movie:

Read the book, watch the movies and compare.  Then maybe you can write the script for movie #3?

Finally...

For my older friends, want to watch a video on how a chef tries to invent new pasta shapes?
She goes on a wacky scavenger hunt (maybe you can make one throughout your house and backyard) and then gets to work in the test kitchen.

Are you hungry yet?  Craving pasta for lunch or dinner? Sorry!  But, don't blame me.  Blame Governor Cuomo 😁 BON APPETITE!

'Twas the Night Before...

#ALAYMA20

I am surprised I slept so well last night. 

While dozens of librarians are coming to final decisions this weekend, I am holding my breath that the books my students have read, critiqued, passionately debated and genuinely loved are the same books as those of the committees. Considering the spinning going through my brain right now, I may not be as well rested tomorrow morning.

When I first started my months-long award predicting projects many years ago, I would be disappointed when our favorites would not align with those of the committees. How could they not make the same decisions for Newbery as my fifth graders? After my students booed one year because the winner was not at the top of any of their lists, we had to have a full on lesson on sportsmanship.  These days, I remind myself and my students that each committee is made up of a set number of librarians and those gold and silver decisions are based solely on who is "in the room where it happens." Were different people in the room, the outcome could be entirely different. Some years we may agree wholeheartedly and unanimously (ie 2015 for Newbery, 2018 for Caldecott); some years not so much. As I write this, I wonder what kind of year 2020 will be.

But does it really matter if we agree? For months my students have fallen in love with reading "Newbery books" after checking in and out what I deem to be distinguished literature. They have boisterously entered the library searching for yet another "Newbery" book, perhaps the winner or perhaps not.  They have kindly argued on behalf of their book deserving a gold medal in the classroom, the hallway, and at home. My fourth grade nonfiction fans have hugged their books and designed t-shirts with the hopes that on Monday they will be wearing a winner. First graders and their teachers have consistently given 4-5 stars to the beautiful Caldecott contenders we have read aloud this month of "Caldec-ary." If we were committee members, we might have to award ten or more honors across the board.

If you, like me, may not be able to sleep tonight, and you don't want to start another episode of ____ on Neflix, you can scroll down for some Sibert contender recommendations and 2019 middle grade/Newbery contender book trailers.  Maybe, just maybe, there's a winner or two or three in there.

SIBERT SMACKDOWN

Sibert Smackdown Day 1: November 4, 2020

We read and read, determined our favorites, recorded our persuasive paragraphs via Flipgrid and finally designed t-shirts to wear to the Youth Media Awards.  Flipgrid videos that made me ooze with pride are here 👇

Newbery

Need more distractions? Check out some of these awesome book trailers:

The Year We Fell from Space by Amy Sarig King

Ruby in the Sky by Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo






Born to Fly by Steve Sheinkin (We love this for Newbery and Sibert)




The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman (This book won our Consensus Club.)





My Jasper June by Laurel Snyder



Beverly Right Here by Kate DiCamillo (So awesome that Jess got to meet Kate this fall!)



A Time Traveler's Theory of Relativity by Nicole Valentine


Just a few other books we had lots of love for this season:

Here's the link for the awards: http://ala.unikron.com/ As I hit "publish" there are 11 hours to go.  See you on the upside!

Close Encounters of #alaac18

It's been so long since I wrote my own blog post that I almost feel like I have forgotten how.  I hope this will get me back in the swing of things for the summer. There are many great books I want to share! In the meantime, I found myself in New Orleans last weekend to celebrate libraries, librarians, illustrators, authors, publishers, books, book promoters, narrators...

My takeaways from #alaac18 here in the form of ten memorable encounters of the conference. Not in any particular order and certainly not all inclusive:

Pura Belpre winner, Ruth Behar's parents:  The moment after the beautiful Pura Belpre Celebration where I ran up to Ruth Behar's parents and exclaimed, "I'm from Briarwood!  I went to PS 117!" We are family!

Caldecott honor winner, Elisha Cooper:  Leaping with Elisha Cooper at the Macmillan Dessert Party on Friday night.  My second graders were fans of Big Cat, Little Cat since the beginning so this was a thrill for me!  Best part about this encounter?  I found out his newest book is about a canoe trip on the Hudson River.  I screamed! Book birthday at Schodack Island State Park, right?  Stay tuned.  ALSO--One of Mrs. Warland's favorite books is Elisha's Homer! She loves sharing it when she is a guest reader.  After that book birthday event, you know where dinner will be! Note to self: Send Elisha some good upstate honey when you get a chance.

MATT CORDELL con familia:  From seeing the Caldecott medalist at the Macmillan Dessert Party in his spiffy vintage red jacket (and not dipping our fingers into Elisha's honey), to hanging with his kids (and chatting about Simpsonville with his mom) atop of New Orleans, I had to be pinched multiple times that I was actually living in reality. And then the speech.  Matt hit every emotion and just nailed it.  I couldn't leap fast enough to an ovation when he finished his final words.

 

Mover and Shaker, Rocco Staino: Did you know that I want to be Rocco when I grow up?  Lucky me, we were seated next to each other at an Abrams breakfast so I took some notes on how to work on making that happen. Here we are with author, Ellen Potter, who currently lives in Maine but will be a New Yorker soon!

2017 Geisel winner, Laurie Keller: My "date" for the banquet was Laurie Keller (Arnie the Doughnut, We Are Growing, Scrambled States of America, Do Unto Otters...and her newest book, Potato Pants).  I am really glad I put my star-struckedness aside and was just able to hang out, talk about hotmail, where she lives in Michigan, the call, her awesome jewelry from Israel...And then, bonus, on the other side of me was her editor extraordinaire, Christy Octtaviano. We talked picture book biographies (one of my favorite genres), Junior Library Guild, teenagers, the college process...Yeah, I had a pretty darn good seat that night. Thank you, Lucy and the Macmillan family!

Nancy Paulsen:  I have admired editor extraordinaire, Nancy Paulsen's work for many years and I always get a thrill when she likes, comments or retweets my tweets (just happened this morning).  And there she was! Don't be shy, Stacey, I said to myself and a few minutes later we were chatting.

Old and new friends: Powdered-sugar-everywhere-Beignets with Texas rockstar Becky Calzada.  Just screaming and hugging, Texan 2018 Caldecott Committee member, Sylvia Vardell.  Walking the exhibit hall with Coloradan and former Geisel Committee member, Amy Seto-Forrester.  Literally sharing a delicious dinner with Californian #TeamKwame member and old friend, MaryAnn Scheuer.  Squeezing into a phone booth with virtual (and now IRL) Floridian school librarian, Jennifer Underhill at the super hip Penguin event at the Art Garage. Riding a rickshaw with New York friend, Sue Kowalski.

Crown creators, Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James:  Listening to their speeches at the CSK breakfast was one thing but then getting a book signed for my rising sixth grade upstate New York farmer boy and telling them all about how Crown is Zach's favorite book was something even better.  I'm delivering it to Zach at the farm tomorrow morning.

Laurel Snyder with Jonathan Auxier:  I was sitting waiting for a session when my eyes drifted to the name tags of  Laurel and Jonathan. "OMG! OMG!" This Orphan Island and Night Gardener fan was beside herself. And then we got to hang out for a bit...

Dion Graham and Kirsten Cappy: To myself I was trying to strategize what to do next after the banquet on Sunday when my eyes recognized the name, Kirsten Cappy of Curiosity City on her badge.  "I get your emails!" Kirsten was hanging with her friend, Dion, who just won the Odyssey Award for his narration of Trombone Shorty. We saw Trombone Shorty at the opening session.  I got a great big bear hug from Bryan Collier at the banquet so this was a perfect end to memorable evening and an unforgettable conference.

Who else? Feeling like you were eavesdropping on Michelle Obama and Carla Hayden in their living room.  A hug from Kwame, two photo ops with Mr. Schu, almost a "wave" from editor, Grace Kendall, a leap with Nathan Hale, a boomerang with Rafael Lopez, Juana, Pablo, Celia, book reviewer Barb Langridge, Trevor, Jenny, the Rosen family, everyone-knows-Barbara Moon, catching nonfiction rockstar, a hug from Sophie Blackall, salutations with Melissa Stewart for one second or two...

And my passing ship, roommate, Alicia Abdul.  It was fun experiencing the conference with you (sort of!).  No joke--we saw each other for enough seconds on Sunday so she could zip me up and button my clasp! We did have fun together on Friday night! I do believe she was shocked to see me actually tired for the first time in my life on Monday morning. But what do you expect when you get about 6-8 total hours of sleep over a three day period? Ahhhh...but I am completely caught up now. So when's the next event?

All American Boys

My new thing now is to allow myself to listen to YA books while I am alone and running.  It's like a little treat.  I almost feel a little naughty because I am always telling people that I don't read above a fifth grade reading level.

With each book I read (or listen) to by Jason Reynolds, I become a bigger fan.  That's why it has been SO hard for me to follow the tweets and Facebook posts from this past week at ALA Annual in Orlando.  I wish I was there.  I wish I heard Jason and Brendan speak and accept their CSK awards at the breakfast yesterday morning.  I'm just thankful for Twitter though, because at least I can have a slight feeling of being there and can commiserate with those who are also posting with the hashtag #alaleftbehind.

I cannot express enough times how important All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely is for every teenager and adult to read.  It is real.  It hits home.  It makes you think and discuss. It sticks with you long after you finish it.  You want to talk about it with friends and family as if Rashad and Quinn are really people.  How can we stop this?  What can we do?  #NoMoreRashads It makes me want to go out and just buy a bunch, pay it forward and hand them out randomly to any black, white, gay, Latino, Jewish, straight, Asian, Native American, trans, mixed, just plain ole American teenager I see.  It is that an important book. I have this sense, perhaps a false one, but a sense nonetheless, that if everyone read it, maybe we can actually make a difference.

#RashadIsAbsentAgainToday
Innocently, ROTC Rashad goes into Jerry's to buy a bag of chips.  That bag and that afternoon will change his life (and yours) forever.  A woman trips, the bag falls into his bag, a cop accuses him of stealing and beats him till it hurts us all.

#RashadIsAbsentAgainToday
Quinn and his buddies, Guzzo and Dwyer, were outside of Jerry's when they witnessed what happened to Rashad...

#RashadIsAbsentAgainToday
...by Guzzo's brother, Officer Paul.

#RashadIsAbsentAgainToday
And then begins the struggle of Quinn.  Can he really support Paul Galluzzo's story? Paul, who is almost like family? Paul, who, when Quinn lost his father years ago stepped in to play a "big brother-father figure" role?  Paul, who thinks he was "just doing his job"?

#RashadIsAbsentAgainToday
Many questions are left unanswered.  What will happen to Rashad? Quinn? Paul? What about all the other Rashads out there who are absent today? What can we do to stop this? Jason and Brendan did their part to write this incredibly powerful, important book.  What we can do is read it, talk about it, stand up and pass it on.  #PleaseNoMoreRashads

Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics comes to Castleton!

The Olympics came to Castleton on Thursday and it was SPLENDIFEROUS!

Chris Grabenstein, author of the 2013 book, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and now the sequel (which just came out on Tuesday), Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics came to my school and was a rockstar.  One student even told a teacher that he was "Katy Perry of books" or something to that effect. I'll take that as a compliment.

Chris actually arrived on Wednesday night and signed 400 books!  We were able to raise enough money so that EVERY student was going to be surprised at the end of the day with a signed copy of the new book! Here's a fun time lapse video of Chris signing the books:

Chris Signing 400 books

For months we had no idea what our Library Olympics was going to be or look like.  When we finally decided on having every grade focus on an ALA Youth Media Award, it started to come together.  I cannot thank my classroom teachers enough for all that they did to prepare.  Here is a small snapshot of our day:

Chris announced that the Olympics were beginning over our PA system.  He told them to watch the opening video.

Everyone watched the video at the same time.

First stop: First Grade Geisel.  

They shared a song, read and acted out What this Story Needs is a Pig in a Wig by Emma Virjan and educated Chris all about the Geisel Award. They even tried to convince him to write a Geisel level book.  

Chris with all the first graders.

 NEXT UP: Second Grade Caldecott.  

All of second grade focused on Float by Daniel Miyares. We really hope Float gets a sticker on Monday.

Mrs. Donato's class was working on adding text to the Daniel's illustrations.

Chris with Mrs. Roe and Mrs. Segarra's class.

Mrs. Puccio and Mrs. Seres's class tested our knowledge on whether objects would sink or float.  Mrs. Puccio tricked us when she showed us a rock that was really pumice!

 KINDERGARTEN: The Carnegie Award for best video made from a children's book.  

The kindergarteners shared graphs on which videos they liked best and then Chris read Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems, not the most favorite video, but certainly one they liked very much. The video that they liked the best and what they hope will win the Carnegie Award is I'm Brave! Here's the trailer for it:

Chris with Mr. Horan, our superintendent.

 NEXT UP: Third Grade-Coretta Scott King award for illustrations.  

Mrs. Yager's class focused on Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena and illustrated by Christian Robinson.

They wrote a book called, Last Stop at CES.

Mr. Morse and Mrs. Hanna's class shared Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews's book illustrated by Bryan Collier with Chris.

Mrs. Charsky's class with Ms. Atkins shared where they would go with their pens based on My Pen by Christopher Myers.

 NEXT UP: Fourth Grade--Sibert Smackdown (Best Nonfiction for Children)

4th graders shared their best Sibert Smackdown projects with Chris.  He learned a lot about flies!

 LAST STOP: Fifth Graders NEWBERY!

Fifth graders shared animotos, a Reader's Theatre and a debate. It was intense!

LUNCH FINALLY! 

With cake, of course!

After lunch we had our Olympic Closing ceremonies beginning with a parade, a Reader's Theatre of Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics, a presentation of awards from the day and then our big surprise!

Second graders marching in with their Float inspired hats.

The incredibly generous donors (Kasia Mello and Morgan Stanley, Audiologic Solutions, Nassau American Legion, Castleton Kiwanis, Brad Rose Leonard Landscaping, Inc, Schodack PBA, Friends of the Library and Bud's Florist) gave us the opportunity to do THIS:

 Give EVERY student a SIGNED copy of the book!

Woo-Hoo! Thank you donors!

What a day! All day the talk on Friday was "What chapter are you on?"  "I'm on chapter ___!"  "I finished the book!"

Thank you, Chris and EVERYONE, for a great Olympic day!  Now we are just waiting for Monday and the big ALA announcement to see if our favorites match those of the Committees in Boston.