I don’t think I’m alone in rejoicing when the calendar flips from January to February. Welcome to a sweet new month — I have lots of good things to share with you!
Picture Books
Other classes have cockatiels, chinchillas, and bearded dragons. The kids in Room 109 have…a plant. Indifference for the class plant slowly grows to appreciation and then all-out fervor as the school year progresses and the plant is named, researched, and lovingly cared for. This absolutely hilarious book made me really want to get a spider plant for my school library. (This writing duo also wrote Dear Substitute, the perfect book to leave in sub plans :)
Tochi receives a mysterious invitation to come to the top floor of the house with 100 stories. The book opens vertically, and every ten floors of home has a different set of creatures inhabiting it. A House of 100 Stories begs to be read and re-read on a lap, with lots of time for careful exploration of each spread.
An Early Reader + An Early Chapter Book
The whole Fox series by Corey Tabor is wonderful, but Fox Has a Problem is exceptionally funny. Great repetition of phrases and Tabor’s signature creativity on full display in the illustrations. It’s a perfect books for kids who really want the satisfaction of reading a pleasurable book themselves.
Henry, Like Always, is a great book those ready for their first chapter book. It has five short, heavily illustrated sections — one for each day of the week leading up to a class parade on Friday. Henry, a routine-loving child, hates that the parade is altering the regular classroom schedule. I read this to my first graders aloud as part of a Mock Geisel unit. Autism is never mentioned, but my students immediately recognized and felt empathy for Henry and his commitment to the way things usually go. The wry humor in the illustrations captures classroom life in an all-too-accurate way.
Nonfiction Picture Books
The Bees of Notre Dame tells the story of a honeybee colony maintained on the rooftop of the cathedral. And then, one spring day, everything changes when a terrible fire engulfed the roof. Firefighters work to save precious relics inside. E.B. Goodale’s springtime in Paris illustrations are a delight, and there are so many wonderful extensions for this book — researching honeybees or cathedrals, or reading news articles about restoration efforts. This website features some great photos and information about progress.
Beautiful Noise invites readers into John Cage’s unusual world right off the bat with endpapers showcasing a table of objects, ideas, and feelings, including the hum of a refrigerator, annoyed, and a cat missing. The second person text poses “what if” questions about how you experience sounds in the world, allowing us to experience sounds as Cage did. Il Sung Na’s artwork is a chaotic, disarming, colorful explosion — a perfect match for the subject matter. With my older students, I’m looking forward to showing them a clip from this performance, and Lisa Rogers shares a great activity kit.
Middle Grade Books
In The Lion of Lark-Hayes Manor, Poppy moves to Oregon so her parents can restore an old manor. There, she discovers the magic she’s always believed in actually exists. A sea nymph gifts her a flying lion, but it comes at a high price — every day that Sampson grows, another book disappears from the world. This lovely book works equally well as a family read-aloud for lower elementary, or as an independent read for slightly older children.
Chinese Menu is Grace Lin’s latest masterpiece, combining food history, myths, legends, and her incredible paintings in one satisfyingly hefty book. This is one you can dip in and out of over many read-alouds. It would also make a wonderful gift for a food loving tween. My fourth grader has been peppering us with all kinds of tidbits since she started reading it about chopstick etiquette, the myth behind rice as a Chinese food staple, and much more.
Bits and Bobs
Watching and enjoying: Anatomy of a Fall, Fargo, True Detective, and In the Know — the stop-motion NPR parody I truly did not know I was missing.
Holey Moley: Categorized under strange things my children are obsessed — this is a wacky and very fun mini golf competition show.
Grown-up books I’ve been loving: True Love Experiment (very fun for recovering Bachelor fans like myself!) and The Personal Librarian.
And finally…my first grader had to do a 100 word project in honor of the 100th day of school. He was thrilled to research and type up Andrew’s Weird Word Magazine! Not to be outdone, my fourth grader created her own: Lizzy’s Dog Magazine. If anyone would enjoy a hard copy, reply to this email sharing your address. They would be beyond thrilled to send mail to a subscriber :)
See you all next month!