On the RIVER with Elisha Cooper

photo credit: Jason McCord

The first time I remember suffering from post-party sadness was pickup day (and the days that followed) at sleep away camp.  The ups and downs of eight weeks at Camp Ramah had ended and adjusting to being home was not easy.

That was when I was 13.  I continued to leave home every summer after that. As hard as it was to come home, it was always worth it.

At 24 I threw myself a huge multi-day party. The last person who left was my best friend from camp. We recapped it all and I cried. How could it already be over?

My wedding. Daughter's Bat Mitzvah.
Son's Bar Mitzvah was this Labor Day weekend. My severe case of post-Bar Mitzvah blues began the first day of school.  Not easy.

I don't do well with endings and goodbyes.  

June 2018: I meet an illustrator at an event in NOLA. He tells me he is working on a book about a woman who canoes down the Hudson River.  I tell him I live and work in Castleton-on-Hudson.  Then and there I decide that he will celebrate that book with us ON the Hudson.  Sixteen months later, Elisha Cooper is reading RIVER aloud with the banks of the Hudson behind him.

That was Thursday.
You can only imagine the fog I was in yesterday walking the halls now with only the memories of his visit alive.

Elisha sat in a canoe in the middle of the gymnasium while first graders sang and fifth graders book talked all of his books. Reading teacher, Mrs. Reed hired a banjo player and our tuba-playing-band-teacher to accompany our fifth graders while they sang a Pete Seeger song about the river. Elisha rowed his boat ashore. The rain poured down outside.

We pulled out the red carpet for him when he spoke at a special K-2 assembly.

Then we donned our raincoats, boarded the buses and headed to the river. Elisha insisted we squeeze into the smaller pavilion on the river and I am glad we did. The kids complained. They were cranky. It was cold. Some were not dressed properly. The rain was steady. A boat sailed by. It was amazing. We will always remember.

 

The day was half way over and I was already beginning to feel sad. I don't do well with even thinking about endings and goodbyes.

We returned to our warm school and sketched with Elisha in the art room and wrote poems in the library.

The finale was sitting in the common area observing Elisha paint.  Mrs. Reed returned with her guitar and we sang. For some that was their favorite part of the day.  For others it was the park.  And some loved being taught tips from an award winning illustrator. For me? The whole package.

How did the woman canoeist feel when she began her journey? During? When her adventure was over? Sixteen months ago our journey was imagined. Thursday it happened. Now it is an incredible, unforgettable memory.  "Don't be sad." Elisha comforted me as I walked him to his car. I'm trying not to but I just don't do well with endings and goodbyes.

Broadway Bound

Hello Lulu
Well hello Lulu
In October your story will be sure to rise above the pack

Hello Lulu
Well hello Lulu
I can't wait to put you in upon my stacks

Well, you get it. Lulu the Broadway Mouse by debut author but veteran actor, Jenna Gavigan, hits the shelves this fall.  And although I may be a tad bias--yes, my Twitter bio says that I love all things NYC and theatre (spelled "re" by the way) and this book is for lovers of all that--I did love this book and think it will appeal to young people with all kinds of interests, but especially those of Broadway.  Do you have a thing for cute, talking mice?  Now I do.  Do you know the feeling of wanting a dream to come true so badly it hurts? Sure.  Was/is there a mean girl in your life? We can all name at least one.

Lulu lives in the basement of the famous Shubert Theatre "home to hits and flops, thousands of debuts and hundreds of return engagements" with her mouse family.  Her mother works in the costume department while Lulu hangs out with the actors, young and old.  Lulu's dream is to leap, well in her case, jete, from backstage to performer.  But a mouse, really? Even Lulu doesn't believe it can come true and her friends try to help her see the reality.

"The way the people in this theatre think? The way they think of you? They don't see you as a mouse.  They see you as a little kid, and a talented one at that; you know this show just as well as they do, if not better.  But most people? Regular people? They're just too closed-minded and ignorant to understand. They'd be scared. And we can't have audiences being scared because they might never come back." (p.42)

Inside the Shubert

We want our readers to believe in the impossible.  And they will.  This is a fantasy book that comes to life and feels as real as any singing and dancing teapot and candelabra feel like real life on the stage and film.

It's a feel good kind of story that will make for a fun read aloud in third or fourth grade. Pair it with images of the city, the history of the Shubert Theatre (Hello, Dolly! 
is there right now--hence my pathetic introduction and one of my very favorite shows premiered there in the 70s, A Chorus Line) and a conversation about theatre and plays.  Great conversations will also ensue about choosing kind, friendship and of course, hopes and dreams.  Then when you are finished you could go see a local play or put one on yourselves. Maybe write a Reader's Theatre script from one of the chapters.  Or write a prequel or sequel chapter. Do a class mock Playbill.  Oooh...I'm getting myself excited and it's only July.

Outside the Shubert in January!

So even though you may not have access to celebrate with a cake from Amy's Bread in or even a  candy bar from Duane Reade, don't kiss the year goodbye without reading and sharing Lulu with a wide audience.

More about Jenna Gavigan and Lulu from Playbill here.

Postscript

#squad

Last week Mrs. Warland and I journeyed to the city for a bookish day.  So it began at the KidlitTV studios because Kwame invited me to be a guest on his live "Smoked Salmon" episode of #Bookish. If you have Facebook, you can watch it here with this link:

BOOKISH JULY 12, 2018

PS-I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT TO SAY THAT JENNI HOLM AND I SHARE A BIRTHDAY!

In the afternoon we met Jenna Gavigan for the first time in the West Village for iced tea so we could make some book birthday plans for Castleton. I was taking my chances since I hadn't read the book yet! Phew! Good thing I love the book!

Then Caldecott Honoree, Elisha Cooper, met us and we had fun talking about parenthood, the Hudson River and the New York Times, Modern Love essays. Elisha just happens to be the author/illustrator of Mrs. Warland's favorite book that she always shares when she is invited to be a guest reader.  He surprised her with her own copy (and now signed) of Homer! #WhatADay

AWARDS DAY!

Wow.  Twelve hours ago almost to the minute, my students were filing into our old gym to find out this year's Sibert, Geisel, Caldecott and Newbery winners.

The Pura Belpre Trifecta

As much as it is on my radar, it isn't.  Yet we read and loved all three books!  Now show me how to buy a lottery ticket.

Congrats go especially to Ruth Behar, the one who walked the same halls , took books out of the same library, and sang in the Glee Club on the same stage as I did just about 10 years apart at PS 117 in Briarwood, Queens.

We have a date to Skype with Celia Perez on Wednesday (rescheduled from our snow day) and can't wait to say "Congratulations!" The kids plan to share their zines with her.  

Sibert

I gave the fourth graders a heads up on Friday that a book called, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers could win the Sibert Award and to not be disappointed.  It is too old for us.  So...when it actually did get recognized the kids were happy for it because they had been prepared.

We were thrilled for Grand Canyon.  So deserving--the research, the artwork, the details, the cutouts...

 

Geisel

We love all the Geisel winners!  If you look at this video you will notice that there are fifth graders high giving each other when Charlie and Mouse won.  That's because Charlie and Mouse was on our Newbery list.  Honestly, I love Charlie and Mouse, but love even Charlie and Mouse and Grumpy even more. Would it ever be possible to win a gold and silver in the same category?

Newbery

Congrats ERIN ENTRADA KELLY!  Here's the Animoto that Alex did for Hello, Universe last month:

A friend of mine immediately texted me after the announcement, "HELLO UNIVERSE WAS MY PICK!!!!"

CROWN was a big (but happy, surprise!) We love it but did not expect it to get covered in awards! Woohoo! It's actually a favorite of one of my Reading Ambassadors so all during the month of November for Picture Book Month he chose to read it aloud to younger kids.

Caldecott

I think I might have stopped breathing when the Caldecott Medal was announced.  MATTHEW CORDELL is visiting our school in May.  We have had this on the calendar since June! Too excited for words!

Check out what my superintendent tweeted:

Hey @ALALibrary - if you think authors are excited check out how our students react to the announcement of the Caldecott award winners @CastletonES @SchodackCSD @staceybethr pic.twitter.com/Qe8ktRZkc6

— Jason Chevrier (@jchevrierSCSD) February 12, 2018 

Or if you want to watch a full video of the Caldecott announcement:

 AND Elisha Cooper. Remember this?

Overall, an exciting and surprising day!  BONUS we got to eat cake afterwards! Yippee!

And the winners are...

While driving my daughter to ballet this morning I had butterflies dancing in my belly.  At first I was trying to figure out why.  We already saw Dear Evan Hansen last month.  I don't have any big plans for February break.  Hamilton is still too far in the future to be butterfly excited.  Even TLA is a few months away. Then, what could it be? Oh yeah...Youth Media Awards are MONDAY! That's gotta be it!

The cake is ordered. Two to be exact, since we are having so many kids at our viewing party.  The link has been tweeted and sent home with parents. Mother Nature is going to cooperate. Finally.  Mock Results are in (sort of) and Consensus Club came up with a, well, consensus.

Caldecott 

The snow day and delays really threw us off with Mrs. Roe's Caldecott class.  The highlight, though, was Skyping with Mike Curato, illustrator of All the Way to Havana, yesterday morning after he walked the adorable Princess Leia.  The second graders stumped him as they fired off "What's your favorite...?" questions but he held his own quite well, especially for 9:00 am!  We will all be rooting for him on Monday.

Because we ran out of time, Mrs. Roe will be conducting the vote first thing Monday morning. On a side note: I do like the MST event--it gives us time to work out glitches, do a few things and not mess with specials in 4th and 5th grade. Thank you ALSC and Denver.

Geisel

We didn't run a classic Mock Geisel this year with Mrs. Kosinski's first graders.  A "Read It-Make It-Take It" project morphed into a Geisel project as we ended up creating activities around all the Geisel contenders.  We did 13 projects and read 17 books!  And that doesn't include Jasmine Toguchi Mochi Queen, one of our first projects. No surprise that Ninja in the Kitchen was the favorite since making the pizza from scratch was pretty fun! My favorite? Charlie and Mouse and Grumpy by Laurel Snyder.  When I read that book aloud to them yesterday, I got a big ole frog in my throat.

My personal Geisel 2018 Analogy:

Jonathan Fenske is to laughing as Laurel Snyder is to crying.

Sibert

No standout winner here except for ALL our fourth graders! WOW!  They were amazing! We read a lot of books.  They chose their favorite and alone or with a partner(s), they created a 3-D project (some included food--cookies are cool but check out the grape barbells!), shared ten facts and wrote a persuasive paragraph on why their books should win the 2018 Sibert award. We know not all of our books can and will win but we have a feeling one or two (or three) just might. How to be an Elephant maybe?  Dazzle Ships (for sure?) Grand Canyon, maybe?  What about Nic Bishop's Penguin Day? And to hear the kids exclaim how much they love The Youngest Marcher is the coolest ever.

(Agh...I just spent a whole hour trying to figure out how to put Google Photos into a photo album.  Please look at all of these if you can--I am so proud of our fourth graders!)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/b5P2lP5uvJINkm7E2

Newbery

What can I say about Newbery?  I'm speechless. I look back in my book journal (yes, I do not use Goodreads) and have been reading, listening, discussing and scoring these books for the past 13 months. The final moment will come at around 10:50 EST. This is my sixth time doing this project and over the years we have experienced all different emotions from ecstatic, elated, happy, sad, disappointed, surprised, angry (yes, one year the kids boo'ed--we had a lesson on sportsmanship after that!) but always accepting.  It has taken me some time to realize that the decision comes down to fifteen librarians who may or may not have the same opinions, feelings, background as my students and I do and that's ok.  But it is a let down for me.  I still think about my "Kwame Kids" (2015) and last year screaming and leaping with Ashlynn in her footy PJs and even my first year with Ivan and the boys exclaiming, "Our book won!"  I love Newbery so much and wish we could be this intense about reading ALL year long.  You in, Mr. Reischer?

We did have our Consensus Club meeting yesterday after school.  It was one for the books, literally! The winner (but it was close!) was Orphan Island!  Honors went to: Beyond the Bright Sea, The Ethan I Was Before, Refugee and Chasing Augustus.

I must say that whatever books win on Monday, we are truly all winners for becoming critical, passionate and I hope, lifelong readers.  CHEERS.

Family Caldecott Night at CES

Reading The Book of Mistakes together

It is award season at Castleton Elementary and as par for the course, I have been bitten by the Youth Media Award bug pretty badly!  I've got a second grade Mock Caldecott going strong; a fun and unique Mock Geisel project with one first grade class; Sibert Smackdown in fourth and my sixth year Mock Newbery in fifth. Needless to say my days are full and rewarding but I'd be remiss if I didn't say also exhausting.

And yet, here  it is, after 11:00 pm and I am blogging...

But I can't put it off any longer--We had an amazing evening with families last night!  Mrs. Roe's second graders were invited to the library to read our Caldecott contenders, share their Caldecott scoresheets from their special folders and Skype with one of our illustrators. Oh yeah, and get sated, too, as we had plenty of snacks to go around. Along with ice cream and freeze pops, Mrs. Roe baked cupcakes and I made my famous popcorn.

Everyone shared their the books they love the most with their families.  As you can see, it is quite the variety! We have so many!  Can you spot your favorite?

 

Don't you just want to stare at these pictures all day long?  I do!  Happy parents! Happy Siblings! Happy second graders!  All reading together and in their PJs no less!  

About half way through, we got ready for our Skype with Corinna Luyken, author and illustrator of The Book of Mistakes.  Mrs. Roe went around with index cards to gather questions from kids and parents and then everyone got seated in front of the SmartBoard waiting for our guest to "arrive" or shall I say, "appear."

Corinna was great!  She told us about how she came up with the idea for her book, the actual mistakes that are in the book and shared early sketches of that gorgeous tree.  Her big and beautiful studio is in a separate room in her house. She twirled around and gave us a mini-tour. Corinna likes working with ink and showed us her ink bottle and one of the brushes that she uses.

It was especially fun because Corinna has an eight year old daughter, the same age as the kids in Mrs. Roe's class, so she totally knew how to relate to our second graders. I have a feeling, too, that her daughter is "Quinn." Just sayin'. We have a Quinn in the class AND the book is dedicated to "Quinn." Corinna got a little excited when our Quinn asked her a question.  It might have even been the first one!

We talked about favorite books from 2017 and books Corinna loved when she was little.  She mentioned that it was only 4:15 pm at the time, where she lives in Olympia, Washington.  And that turned into a mini-geography lesson.  I was glad my globe was nearby!

I can't say enough how much I appreciate when book creators take their personal time to meet with us.  Thank you, Corinna!  Who knew that when I read her book to all 410 students at our first Monthly Morning Assembly back in September that we would be Skyping four months later? Just goes to show you how unpredictable and delightful life can be.

Another week in review...

Of course, I wish I was in Phoenix right now at the AASL conference with all my national school librarian peeps. The exhibit hall just opened and I can almost feel the excitement all the way across the country.

However, I am home in Castleton reflecting on my week and thinking about the next couple of days that I will spend at the NYLA conference in Saratoga Springs:

I reunited with The Wild Robot.

Today I started a book group with five third graders.  I've done this for many years with this particular teacher but never with this book.  So far they love it and honestly so do I.  There is nothing more satisfying to me than seeing kids excited about reading. Bonus--the sequel comes out SOON!

My Mock Caldecott has begun!

Our second grade "Committee" has met a few times already to discuss the award and examine books that have already won but on Tuesday we read our first contender, Dan Santat's After the Fall. They loved it.  We will evaluate it next week and then dive into all the other beautiful contenders out there.  

I attended my first official unofficial NYLA Council meeting.

In the spring I was elected to be a Councilor-at-Large for the New York Library Association (NYLA). All new Council members were invited to the meeting on Wednesday even though we don't become official until tomorrow night.  It feels good to be a voice of the school librarians in New York.  I asked everyone around the table to hug and embrace any school librarian they see at the conference this week.

Strong as Sandow: How Eugen Sandow Became the Strongest Man on Earth

This was our "book of the week" with Mrs. Yager's third graders.  Sandow's story definitely fits with our school wide theme of "reach for the stars."  Don Tate has some great resources on his website to go along with this book.  We even had time to watch this video:

And did you know that Don is a Texan?  All the more reason to be a fan!

We honored our local veterans and I exercised my right to vote.

Mr. Reischer is now calling this day his "favorite of the year." What a powerful presentation.  This year five local vets from four different foreign wars shared stories, feelings, knowledge and experiences on what it's like to be overseas, return home, 9/11, patriotism, taking a knee and more.

Happy Picture Book Month!

My fifth grade Reading Ambassadors have signed up for different time slots throughout the month to read to younger kids in honor of Picture Book Month.  So far Olivia and Sophia read The Chupacabra Ate the Candleabra to Mrs. Cook's kindergarteners and Zach and Olivia read Crown to Mrs. Longobardi's second graders.  We have many more classes to cover before the end of the month!

Pirates, Lemmings, Mochi and More!

Mrs. Kosinski's first graders and I were busy the first half of this week! We read Salina Yoon's newest Duck, Duck, Porcupine book has a chapter about "Dress-Like-A-Pirate" day. So we made pirate patches, "arrrrggghhhh" away and had fun!  Jasmine Toguchi. We're almost finished so next week we will make mochi!

The next day we celebrated the book birthday of Read the Book Lemmings.  After lunch we continued with our read aloud of

Tune in soon.

Last week Washington Post reporter, Jacob Bogage, video chatted with the fifth graders to give them interview tips.  This week students got their assignment:  interview a family member on the history of coming to this country OR an adult on what it means to be an American.  Wednesday is our "podcast party" as we begin listening to the interviews.  If they are going to be anything like last year's, we're all in for a treat.

The balloons didn't pop.

In fact, they did the exact opposite! Last week Mrs. Yager's book of the week was Lighter Than Air: Sophie Blanchard, the First Woman Pilot. This totally became a cross curricular event lasting over a week.  On Thursday we conducted a science experiment and observed how adding baking soda to white vinegar in a two liter bottle can blow up balloons. The kids did math (measurement), science, spelling, predicting and database research. Pinch me for this project was what you want all collaborations to look like.

Looking ahead.

Newbery Kickoff is Monday with a special video chat hangout in the afternoon.  Yes! We are going to meet fifth graders from Fort Worth who have already begun their Mock Newbery project and can share what books they really love.  I have a feeling this will be awesome! Book groups start on Friday!

I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and into the world of Physical Education next week when my mentee, Coach Biehler, and I attend the Association for Physical Education Recreation and Dance conference.  I hear there's a lot going on between literacy and physical education. I look forward to wearing my yoga pants, meeting new people and learning A LOT!

Looking behind.

I've been busy.  A couple of Saturdays ago I went to the Bank Street Book Festival.  Well worth the drive from Albany to meet a listen to an incredible slate of fabulous authors and illustrators. Bonus: I had a bonding moment with Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann over Giant Squid and stories of my students.

Halloween was a blast dressing up as Stephen Savage's "Little Plane" and "READ Cloud" with Mrs. Kelliher.

I finished Allegedly.  It was one of those books I couldn't stop reading but was kind of fuming about the ending.  I'd love to chat with you about it.  I also finished Orphan Island. Can we talk about that one, too?  I have a ton of questions.

This post has gone on for too long. Sorry! I just like knowing that someone might read it and get ideas.  Please email or comment if you ever want clarification or more details.  Perhaps mochi or balloons are in your future...