Clyde’s Costume I’m a gingham sheet and I used to sleep tucked into the guest room bed. One day – surprise! Clyde cut out eyes and slipped me over his head. Now I’m ghastly and ghoulish and ghostly, a will-o’-the-wispy fright. Pardon my pride, but with Clyde inside, I’m the hit of Halloween night. […]
It’s fun to pair some of the titles and make comparisons and contrasts within the MACBA nominees. There are two that beg to be discussed together – Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm (Random) and Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool (Random). These also happen to be titles about which I have been raving […]
Our 4th, 5th, and 6th Graders participate in the reading incentive program, the Massachusetts Children’s Book Award (MACBA). Each year there are twenty-five nominees, and the titles represent a variety of genres. It’s fascinating to see which titles become popular among our readers. They start recommending certain books to their friends, and they become “hot.” […]
One of my favorite books to share with children is Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. When I introduce the book to my third graders at the beginning of our author study, I often hear some groans or see some of them roll their eyes. I let them voice their doubts which are always that […]
“How did the monster football team win the game?” They kicked a field ghoul! Creepy Riddles by Katy Hall and Lisa Eisenberg, illustrated by S. D. Schindler (Dial Books for Young Readers, 1998)
As I was riding to work, I heard an interview on NPR with Michael Sims, the author of The Story of Charlotte’s Web. The subtitle of Sims book describes his research well: E. B. White’s Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic. Adults who enjoy reading literary criticism might want to […]
Tina Nichols Coury spent over 17 years working on her first book, Hanging Off Jefferson’s Nose (Dial, 2012). During that time, she searched for information about the great sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, who designed and supervised building Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. As Coury learned more about Gutzon, she also found that his son, Lincoln Borglum, […]
My creative colleague, Lisa Houck, is a professional artist and art teacher. Her main website describes some of her projects. Lisa has embarked on a new mosaic project, and she has started a blog to describe it. http://lisahouck.wordpress.com/ She is working on a series based on Edward Lear’s poem, The Owl and the Pussycat. Her […]
Pie by Sarah Weeks (Scholastic, 2011) is one book that I confidently recommend to many of my intermediate readers. This novel has humor, a misunderstood protagonist, and just enough of a mystery to keep the reader turning the pages. Alice Anderson loved her Aunt Polly, and it wasn’t because Polly made the best pies in […]