Book Day!–Celebrating Books and Reading

Ages 3-6 and 7-12 in two groups: Children (and some adults) wore costumes celebrating characters from their favorite books

Opened by asking kids to tell what character/book they came from. Then said we were going to read a book about a superhero Librarian --

 

Read: Library Lil – Suzanne Williams (a librarian with superhero strength revitalizes the towns library even convincing the head of the town’s motorcycle gang to become an avid reader)

 

Sing: R.E.A.D. (lyrics here: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2015/04/celebrating-libraries-books-and.html) (did the letters in sign language alphabet – could also do with full bodies – similar to Y.M.C.A.)

(Age 7-12 only): The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak – read by the author here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cREyQJO9EPs (kids love this silly silly book!)

Miss Smith's Incredible Storybook by Michael Garland  When the teacher is late for school one day, all the storybook characters escape from their book!

Booktalked the sequel: Miss Smith Reads Again

(3-6 only) Flannel: Just Use Imagination (lyrics here: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2015/04/celebrating-libraries-books-and.html)

or Throw it Out the Window -- an action riff on nursery rhymes (lyrics here: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2017/07/hands-across-world.html)

followed with:
Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall eating black bananas
Where do you think he put the skins? – Down the king’s pajamas!

Pirate Treasure Hunt by Jan Peck -- pajama-wearing pirates follow their captain in this rollicking action book

Action Song: I'm Being Swallowed by a Boa Constrictor (or Big Alligator) <– I had a green scarf so did the former

 

 

(Ages 7-12 only) Asked whether the first book we read was true or fiction – then showed the following title and asked the same question – kids astonished, this one is true!

Read: Librarian on the Roof: a TRUE story – M. G. King (librarian spends a week on the roof of the library to raise funds for a children’s room - now that is my kind of hero!)

 

 

Sing: Joe Scrugg’s “Read a Book” (lyrics here: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2015/04/celebrating-libraries-books-and.html)

 

 

(Ages 3-6 only) Read: Reading Makes You Feel Good by Todd Parr

(Ages 7-12 only) Book: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore -- William Joyce (story that inspired this Academy Award-winning short film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJvSXQwBBQg, also any iPad Ap)

Then taught silly Humpty Dumpty variant:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Eating black bananas.
Where do you think he put the skins? Down the king’s pajamas!

(refreshments inspired by books were served afterwards)

Muslim Homeschooling Co-op 3/29/2018

More ideas here: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/search/label/Books%20%26%20Reading

 

Bedm SRC 2018 – K-2, selections differed. Found giving them two selections for each book & having them vote worked well!  Librarian on the Roof, Flying Books, Throw it Out the Window (action + Humpty Dumpty black bananas) and Book with No Pictures did well. 

School Age Storytime: Women’s History Month

 

Girls Can! Determination Succeeds.

A storytime for grades K-3 encouraging girls and boys to go beyond their comfort zones,
to take risks and make history!
Featuring women who overcame gender, racial, and religious prejudice and even powered through disability to do things that they were told they couldn’t.

Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman 
(Grace loves acting out stories. Told by her classmates that she can’t play the part of Peter Pan because she’s a girl & black, she learns that she can do anything she puts her mind to.)

“Grace is a fictional character (book in Picture Book/Easy Fiction section) but many real women overcame prejudice…(the next books all in the Biography section – non-fiction (true))”

Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell by Tanya Lee Stone

(Elizabeth Blackwell gets 28 rejection letters but perseveres and when a medical school accepts her,  overcomes the teasing of her classmates and hostility of the townspeople, studies hard and graduates first in her class -- becoming the first female physician in America!)

Asked how many have a woman doctor? (about 1/2)
“next book is about a girl who would have to have many encounters with doctors…”

Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman by Kathleen Krull Newer title Go Wilma Go! by Amira Rose Davis & Michael G. Long.

(Splendidly written inspiring story of a tiny, sickly black girl stricken by polio who overcame her disability and ended up winning 3 gold medals in track at the 1960 Olympics!) 

“Wlima made her mark on the race course. Ruth has made it in the court house…”

I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsberg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy

(Debbie Levy’s wonderfully-written new biography of America’s first Jewish woman Supreme Court Justice vividly shows young readers how Ruth’s early exposure to racial, religious, ethnic and gender prejudice made her decide to become a lawyer and become a lifelong trailblazer and leader in the courts to fight for those rights. It also notably includes Ruth’s lifelong friendship with Antonio Scalia and how their deep disagreements over legal issues did not keep them from talking about these issues and traveling together around the world. It is a message of talking tolerance deeply needed in these divided times.)

My Name is Not Isabella: Just How Big Can a Little Girl Dream? – Jennifer Fosberry

(Over the course of a day, a little girl pretends to be Sally Ride, Annie Oakley, Rosa Parks, Marie Curie, Elizabeth Blackwell, and her own Mommy – concluding “It’s me Isabella, the kindest, smartest, bravest, fastest, toughest, greatest girl that ever was”…dreaming about who she would be…tomorrow.)  
Great book to use to see which of these women the kids recognize – and as a lead in to a show and tell of other biographies for them to read themselves.

More ideas for Women’s History Month: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/search/label/Women%27s%20History%20Month

3.2018 Bedm.

Mock Caldecott Results

Apologies for no cover images – the uploading software has a glitch. Will load them when they fix the bug.

2019 – I conducted 4 Mock Caldecott elections with a total of about 200 K-3rd graders at Bedminster School. I used the basic procedure here (using The Man Who Walked Between the Towers illustrated by Uri Shulevitz and Flotsam by David Wiesner as samples of previous winners and mentioning how the Caldecott Committee is meeting in secret and no one knows which books they are considering – we are all guessing!).

And the winners are…

I Am a Cat by Galia Bernstein (3 Gold, 1 Silver)
Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise by David Ezra Stein (1 Gold, 2 Silver)

 

Honors…
Blue by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (1 Silver)
Drawn Together by Minh Le, illustrated by Dan Santat (1 Silver)
Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall (1 Silver)
Island Born by Junot Diaz, illustrated by Leo Espinosa (1 Silver)
Ocean Meets Sky by Eric & Terry Fan (1 Silver)
The Rough Patch by Brian Lies (1 Silver)

 

9 a.m. Wednesday (Valentine, Rosnell, Oliveri/McCoy, Skiba) Cat, Chicken, Drawn

10 a.m. Wednesday (Isello, Davies, Grundstrom) Cat, Blue, Lighthouse

9 a.m. Friday (McFarland, Hogan) Cat, Chicken, Rough Job

10 a.m. Friday (Spero, Lovejoy) Chicken, Ocean/Sky, Cat, Island Born

1/2019

 

2018 -- I conducted 7 Mock Caldecott elections this year with a total of about 300 K-4th graders.  I used the basic procedure outlined here (using Snowflake Bentley illustrated by Mary Azarian  and Snow by Uri Shulevitz as samples of previous winners and mentioning how the Caldecott Committee is meeting in secret and no one knows which books they are considering – we are all guessing!). I read aloud the 6-7 books that had received the most preliminary votes in each class, and had the kids give me feedback on the illustrations between each.  I also made a change with a couple of the later groups: after the “gold” was chosen, I had the kids who had chosen it disperse to their second choice, and then to their third. This got us past The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors and Claymates to have the kids consider some of the other titles.

 

 

And the winners are… 
The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex (4 Gold, 2 Honors)
Claymates by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge (2 Gold, 3 Honors)
Blue Sky, White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (1 Gold, 2 Honors)

Grand Canyon by Jason Chin (4 Honors)
After the Fall by Dan Santat (3 Honors)
La La La by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Jaime Kim (3 Honors)
Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers (2 Honors)
A Greyhound, a Groundhog by Emily Jenkins,  illustrated by Chris Appelhans (2 Honors)
The Boy and the Whale by Mordicai Gerstein (1 Honor)
Egg by Kevin Henkes (1 Honor)
Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin (1 Honor)
The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken (1 Honor)
Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper (1 Honor)

Mentioned during some of the programs:

• relating to The Boy and the Whale http://www.radiolab.org/story/149761-whale-saying-thank-you/ (this event was not photographed or video recorded) https://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/whalethanks.asp) but another rescue was http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/humpback-whale-saved-tangled-net-14195095 
• relating to After the Fall – a silly rhyme about Humpty Dumpty:
  Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
  Eating black bananas.
  Where do you think he put the skins?
  Down the king’s pajamas!

 

Specific results:

Bradley Gardens Afterschool:

Gold: Blue Sky, White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Honors:
The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex
Claymates by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge
La La La by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Jaime Kim

Bedminster School:

Isello/Rosnell/Wysocki:
Gold: Claymates by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge
Honors: 
Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper
Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers
A Greyhound, a Groundhog by Emily Jenkins,  illustrated by Chris Appelhans

Lewis/Deegan/Oliveri/Resotka:
Gold: The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex
Honors:
Blue Sky, White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Grand Canyon by Jason Chin
A Greyhound, a Groundhog by Emily Jenkins,  illustrated by Chris Appelhans
After the Fall by Dan Santat

Roth/Tarulli:
Gold: Claymates by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge
Honors: 
The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex
La La La by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Jaime Kim
Blue Sky, White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
close behind:
Grand Canyon by Jason Chin
After the Fall by Dan Santat

Valentine/McFarland/Hogan (2nd Grade):
Gold: The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex
Honors: (very close second) Claymates by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge

Lovejoy/Spero/Skiba/Hofman:
Gold: The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex
Honors:
Claymates by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge
Grand Canyon by Jason Chin
The Boy and the Whale by Mordicai Gerstein
La La La by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Jaime Kim
After the Fall by Dan Santat
Egg by Kevin Henkes

 

Milltown Afterschool:
Gold: The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex
Honors:
Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin
Grand Canyon by Jason Chin
The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken
Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers

Books included and preliminary ballot results (Note, I kept the bookmark ballots from 5 classes but some went missing. *indicates one of the ballots was missing in the final count so I extrapolated preliminary votes):
After the Fall by Dan Santat -- 61
Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper -- 48
Blue Sky, White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus, illustrated by Kadir Nelson – 99* (79/4)
The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken – 37
The Boy and the Whale by Mordicai Gerstein – 86*  (70/4)
Claymates by Dev Petty, illustrated by Lauren Eldridge – 89* (72/4)
A Different Pond by Bao Phi – 40* (32/4)
Egg by Kevin Henkes --  85* (69/4)
Grand Canyon by Jason Chin – 97* (77/4)
A Greyhound, a Groundhog by Emily Jenkins,  illustrated by Chris Appelhans – 60
Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers -- 37
La La La by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Jaime Kim – 74* (59/4)
Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin –  62* (50/4)
Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex – 119* (95/4)
Muddy by Michael James Mahin –  39* (23/3)
A Perfect Day by Lane Smith  -- 66* (51/4)
Robinson by Peter Sis --  44
This House Once by Deborah Freedman –  71* (43/3)

 

2/18

“No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.” ~ Helen Keller

Photographic Permissions and Farewell Party

As many of you are aware, I am no longer working for the Somerset County Library System Bridgewater Library.

This week I was sent a “cease and desist” letter from the library attorney informing me that all pictures that were taken by library personnel and downloaded on library computers were copyright the library and ordering me to remove them immediately. Accordingly, I am in the process of taking down many of my older pictures that were taken with library cameras -- so if you want access, you will need to make copies quickly. The photos that will remain were taken with my cell phone camera or the cell phones belonging to some of you. If there are any pictures of your children that you do not want me to continue to display on this site, please email me at cslevin59 (at) gmail.com with photo details & the date of the post(s) and I will remove them forthwith.

I also want to invite all of you to my retirement party at the Bridgewater Library on Sunday February 11th. You and your children are welcome to drop into the program rooms anytime between 2 and 4 p.m. to say goodbye.

All the best,  Carol Simon Levin

School Age Storytime: Snow Day!

 

Read: Snow by Uri Shulewitz (discussed Caldecott Medal – what it means, my plan to return in early February to run a Mock Caldecott with them)

Younger classes: Do the motions to “When It’s Cold Outside” an Elvis-inspired song from Pick Me Up! Fun Songs for Learning Signs

Acted Out: The Mitten by Jan Brett (did with a large tablecloth mitten & sign/masks from janbrett.com details: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/12/winter-storytimetheatercraft-jan-bretts.html)

• Talked about folktale (story retold over generations/centuries (define), then read Jan Brett’s  book with kids holding tablecloth and masks from www.janbrett.com at the “aachoo”, I grabbed the tablecloth and the kids scattered. Another possibility is to have two kids (or grown ups) hold hands and become each side of the mitten, then let the kids crowd in between. (from http://lalalalibrary.blogspot.com/2014/12/flannel-friday-mitten.html)

Singable Book: Frosty
Booktalked: Snowmen at Night – Caralyn Buehner (mentioned hidden pictures), Raymond Brigg’s The Snowman (wonderful video available on Youtube)

 

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, illustrated by Mary Azarian (talked about Caldecott Gold woodcut illustrations, true book – would find in the Biography (bio=life, graphy =writing,stories section)

 

Activity: Snowball fight using plastic bag snowballs, to the music “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson (on album Season’s Greetings)
Making snowballs:
1) Gather a white plastic grocery bag into a long, skinny tube-like length with the handles on one end.
2) Fold the length in half, then in half again.
3) Wind a rubber band around the middle until it is tight.
4) Cut open both ends to remove any folded areas.
5) Then fluff out pieces
Idea courtesy of:  Susan Dailey, librarian, speaker and author of "A Storytime Year"

Singable/flannel: “In the Freezer” by Joe Scruggs – lyrics here.

Action Song: “I’m a Little Snowman”

I’m a Little Snowman Tune: “I’m a Little Teapot”
I’m a little snowman, short and fat
Here is my broomstick, here is my hat
When the sun comes out, I’ll melt away
Drip, drip, drip, I’m a puddle today!

Craft (for afterschool sites): Cut out paper snowflakes http://thechocolatemuffintree.blogspot.com/2012/12/making-giant-snowflakes.html (could use large tissue paper) (booktalked Snowflake Bentley – another Caldecott)

Other possibilities: If Picasso Painted a Snowman by Amy & Greg Newbold (would be fun to create artist-inspired snow people)

Snow creatures (inspired by Ehlert’s book) – Materials: White & colored construction paper, markers, scissors, glue, pompoms, buttons, feathers, etc.

JFK --Did puppet version of Trouble with Trolls by Jan Brett (a bit hard to do all the pieces - slow to take off parts), didn't have time for The Mitten.

More ideas: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/01/let-it-snow-winter-storytimecraft-ages.html, http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/01/pre-school-storytime-button-up-for.html

1/18 Bedm, Afterschools: VH, JFK, Whiton,  BG

School Age Storytime : Gifts and Giving

A storytime for K-2 celebrating seasonal holidays. Featuring tangible & intangible giving, with a nod to geography and figurative writing. Great lead-in for holiday toy, coat & food drives.

Book: Rabbit’s Gift – George Shannon (Chinese folktale in which each animal tries to share the turnip left at his doorstep.)

Storytelling with props/flannel: The Great Big Enormous Turnip (heading to the country north of China with another tale of turnips & cooperation -- based on the Russian book by Alexsey Nikolayevich Tolstoy)

 

Silver Packages: An Appalachian Christmas Story by Cynthia Rylant (Loosely-based on a true story. A rich man rides a train through Appalachia every year at Christmas tossing gifts to the poor children who are waiting in order to repay a debt he owes the people who live there  the young boy waiting for gifts each year who grows up and also gives back to the community.)

The Marvelous Toy by Tom Paxton (sung) (Several book versions available. Hand-me-down toy has special meaning; performed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCjslf_a11c)

 

Book: The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes --Linda Glaser (When unexpected guests are due, a girl borrows more potatoes and eggs from Mrs. Greenberg, the lonely but stubborn older woman next door, and finally figures out a way to convince her to join in the celebration.  This book has delicious examples of figurative language, e.g. "Mrs. Greenberg's house was always clean and tidy, like its face was just scrubbed and its blouse was tucked in, while Rachel's house always looked like it was still in its pajamas and needed to brush its hair yet.")

 

Song/Flannel: Helping  by Shel Silverstein from Free to Be, You and Me. Lyrics & tune: http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/helping-an-illustrated-song-by-shel-silverstein/  (no time today but could also have sung Song/Flannel:  I Had a Little Dreidel (with myriad variations --source unknown -- students encouraged to make up new verses!)

More song lyrics: carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/12/singalong-keep-spiritwinter-holiday.html

Book: Gifts by Jo Ellen Bogart (A grandmother travels the world bringing back gifts both real and fanciful in this lovely rhyming story illustrated with three dimensional pictures created from plasticine clay. The child grows to a young woman and the grandmother gets more frail until the last page shows the child grown up with a child of her own traveling the world and concludes "and everything she shared with me I'm going to share with you." Had kids identify geographic locations mentioned on maps on the endpapers.)

 

The Extraordinary Gift – Florence Langlois (Imaginative fold out book which says that the best gift is a book!)

Song: We Wish You a Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy New Year… (lyrics to this and many other holiday songs here: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/12/singalong-keep-spiritwinter-holiday.html)

If time, could add some of the materials from the programs below:
http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/12/school-age-storytime-gifts-and-giving.html
http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/12/pre-school-storytime-gifts-and-giving.html
http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/11/chanukah-divali-storiesschool-age.html

 

Looking for additional special holiday titles?  Check out this bibliography: http://www.somerset.lib.nj.us/kids/PDFs/holidays2011.pdf

Bedm. 12/2017

School Age Storytime: Look Again–Art, Artists, and Imagination

K-2nd Grade Storytime utilizing the new Keith Haring picture book biography and encouraging kids to embrace art and creativity in themselves and all around.

Opened by sharing Here a Face, There a Face by Arlene Alda (photographs of “found faces” in buildings and objects – book opens with a tribute to John Lennon’s “Imagine”)

Asked if anyone had ever played the drawing game – taking turns adding lines to each other’s drawing – a game Keith Haring played with his father.)

Read: Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing by Kay Haring (Keith’s brother)  (Inspiring picture book biography of this generous-hearted artist who created art often in unused or ugly public spaces – suggested teachers might want to get mural paper and have kids do something similar.)

Read: Changes by Anthony Browne (The objects in a boy’s house morph around him in this intriguing book that pays homage to surrealism…)

Dinner at Magritte’s by Michael Garland(great lead in to the art of Rene Magritte – can share pages from Now You See It—Now You Don’t: Rene Magritte (J759.9493 WEN), The Mad, Mad, World of Salvador Dali (759.6 WEN) both by Angela Wenzel, Salvador Dali and the Surrealists – their life & ideas + 21 activities by Michael Ross (J759.6 ROS) and/or Google: “Rene Magritte paintings” and “Salvador Dali paintings”.)

Mentioned  life-like statues of J. Seward Johnson – many available to view at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton NJ – an incredible place to visit.

Action break inspired by stone parents in above book – “statues” game aka “freeze dance” – sing or play tunes as students dance, then stop the music and “freeze”

Another incredibly imaginative artist M.C.Escher “Ascending and Descending” and “Relativity” (above) inspired:

Read: Palazzo Inverso by D.B. Johnson (book imagines “master’s” apprentice changing the drawing simply by turning it around – book goes forward then returns backwards (upside down) to the place where it starts!) – also have the kids notice the fish/bird end-papers.

Return to Keith Haring who famously said “It’s your job to decide [what my pictures mean]. I only do the drawing!’  Show his pictures from: Keith Haring: I Wish I Didn’t Have to Sleep (J 709.2 HAR), read excerpts and have kids supply their own interpretations.

Finish with:

 

 

Book: If… by Sarah Perry (imagine if cats could fly, leaves were fish, mice were hair, caterpillars were toothpaste, toes were teeth, or frogs ate rainbows…ends with “If this is the end…then dream up some more! – encouraged kids to create their own book of imaginative ideas!) 

Related programs:

http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/03/picture-this-keith-haring-characters-at.html
http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/08/picture-this-art-exploration-for-kids.html
http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2016/05/school-age-storytimeimagine.html

Related books:

Masters of Deception: Escher, Dali & the Artists of Illusion by Al Seckel
Imagine a Place (also Day, Night) by Sarah Thompson, Art by Rob Gonsalves

Bedm 1/2/17