Thursday, September 30, 2010

Binky the Space Cat, Part Three

After devouring Ashley Spires' adorable and sting-tastic Binky to the Rescue, my daughter Ivy said, "I wonder what happens next in the story?"  Of course, I said, "You can write that part."  And she did!  With a little typing assistance from her old lady, she composed this rather violent tale (spoiler alert):

Binky, Part Three, by Ivy (age 4) and Mama (age 37)

The bees come and sting Ted and cut him open.  Binky fights back with his atomic flyswatter.  The bees sting Binky and cut him open too.  Binky says, “Shoo, go away, bees!”  Ted says, “Thanks, Binky, you saved my life!”  Then Binky and Ted share a victory pizza.

Then the bees cut their house open and put some sharp stings on there, so when Binky and Ted fall out of their house they will prick themselves.  Then they prick themselves and say, “Ouch, ooch, ouch owch!”  But Binky’s people from outer space come down in a bigger space ship, and rescue Ted and Binky!

Then they see this bright light and a monster eats them.  But they use a sword to cut the monster open and escape.  Another monster comes and eats them, but they escape from this one, too, by opening his mouth and cutting all his gums.  After that, Binky and Ted are so tired from all the fighting that they fall down asleep on the floor.
Next to come: illustrations in KidPix.

I wonder if 4-year-olds are eligible to nominate books in the Cybils?  She won't be awake tonight to get involved in the nom nom nom party, but I'll read through the rules and see if she can participate in the nominations. 

Saturday, September 25, 2010

It's Cybils time!

 
I am so excited to be part of the Cybils again this year.  From the web site: "The Cybils awards are given each year by bloggers for the year's best children's and young adult titles. Nominations open to the public on October 1st."  Anyone can nominate books in all categories. 

For the second time I'm participating on the first round graphic novel panel.  That means I get to read lots and lots of graphic novels this fall!  I also get to give myself permission to read teen fiction, which most of the time is relegated to the summer when I'm not teaching.

I notice a lot of familiar faces among the panelists this year.  I'm looking forward to getting to know new folks in our discussions and decisions!  In the meantime, I'm putting books on hold at my public library (which, luckily, has a well-developed graphic novel collection) and starting my list of possible nominees over at Goodreads.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Review: What If? - Laura Vaccaro Seeger

What If?

written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Ages 4+

32 pages

Roaring Brook Press, April 2010

Happy Picture Book Saturday!

I have been especially fond of wordless books ever since I discovered Tuesday by David Wiesner (and yes, I know, it does have some words... but the point is, you can read the book without reading the words, and it doesn't significantly impact your experience of the book.  Such is the experience with What If?  The sum total words in this book are:

what
if
and
then
but
or

Seeger (niece by marriage of folk singer Pete Singer) tells, or rather shows, the story of three seals playing with a ball.  In the first two of three possible versions of the story, one seal is left out and feels sad.  In the third, they find an alternative that makes all three seals happy. 

My son, 2, is captivated by this book.  He can relate to playing on the beach with a ball, but I think more importantly he finds the feelings of the seals, so adorably presented on their little seal faces, accessible.  What child has not been left out, or left others out, intentionally or not?  Just as repetition is crucial to children learning to read, repetition of pictures is equally crucial to children learning to understand the importance of considering the feelings of others.  This would be a quick and easy springboard to a discussion of feelings without getting didactic. 

Laura Vaccaro Seeger's books have all been well regarded.  She received some recent acclaim when she received the Caldecott Honor, the NYT Best Illustrated Book of 2007 AND the Geisel Honor in one year (for First the Egg).  The following year, One Boy won a similar number of accolades.  But for sheer inventiveness, I especially love sharing Seeger's Walter Was Worried with children.  The book tells the story, in alliterative feeling statements, of children who are confounded by the weather, but the paintings show each feeling using the letters from the feeling word to create the child's face.  For example, if you look closely at the picture of Walter to the right, you can see each of the letters in WOrrIeD. 

It's really pretty amazing what Seeger can share in her seemingly simple illustrations.  I look forward to sharing them with my students this year, and listening to what they see.

Ratings
  • Awesomeness: 7 - quiet and simple, but infinitely accessible to children of all ages
  • Wordsmithing: 6 - almost no words, but the ones she chooses are just right
  • Personages: 6 - sweet little seals!
  • Mesmerizitude: 6 - I've read it several times now, and I see something new each time
  • Illustrations: 7 - beautiful primary colors and sweeping sunsets
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