Diversity Saturday- Food Around the World!

I’m excited to be participating in Diverse Children’s Books, celebrating diversity in children’s literature hosted by Katie @ The Logonauts;  Myra @ Gathering Books, Mia @ Pragmatic Mom, Crystal @ Reading Through Life and co-blogger @ Rich in Color and Carrie @ There’s a Book for That.   If you have your own diverse children’s books you’d like to share, head over to Katie’s blog to link up.

Today I am celebrating diversity through picture books about FOOD – a delicious way to learn about different cultures!  Many of the students in my school come from diverse backgrounds, so these books are excellent anchors for making connections, a starting point for a inquiry unit on food and cultures around the world, or creating a multicultural cook book filled with recipes and stories.

Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji – F. Zia  (India)

A lively, lovely story about grandparents visiting from India.  Many cultural traditions are shared through the grandfather’s stories, great illustrations and playful tone.  This is a perfect connect book for my students!

What Shall I Make? – Nandini Nayar  (India)

Sweet imaginative story originally published in India.  Neeraj’s mother gives him some chapati dough to play with while she cooks. “What should I make?” he wonders? His little ball of dough morphs into a snake, a mouse, a cat, and a lion, until finally – a big round chapati hot and puffy from cooking on the tavawho.

Bee-bim Bop! – Linda Sue Park  (Korea)

This lively rhyming book follows a young girl as she and her mom make a traditional Korean dish called Bee-bim bop, which translates to “mixed-up rice.”  From the grocery store to the kitchen, this book shows diverse characters, foods and language. A wonderful recipe is included that even has parts for a child and parts for the grown up. Love the language in this one.

Duck for Turkey Day – Jacqueline Jules (Vietnam)

Excellent book for explaining diversity and inclusion as a young girl worries that her family is having duck on Thanksgiving instead of the traditional turkey.   A great message that no matter how you celebrate or what you eat, it’s the gathering of family that is important.  This would make a perfect book for making connections for my students.

Dumpling Soup  – Jama Kim Rattigan (Hawaii)

Marisa gets to help make dumplings this year to celebrate the New Year.  Set in the Hawaiian islands, this story celebrates the joyful mix of food, customs, and languages from many cultures representing the diversity that is Hawaii;  Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiian, and haole (Hawaiian for white people, according to the book:)

Dim Sum for Everyone!– Grace Lin  (Asian-American)

Wonderful, simple story that follows a family sharing the many small  dishes in a traditional dim-sum restaurant.  I enjoyed the explanation of some of the dishes as well as the history of this Asian tradition.  A perfect connect book!

Too Many Tamales – Gary Soto (Mexico)

A touching story of a young girl named Maria who loses her mother’s wedding ring as she makes traditional tamales for a holiday celebration during the Christmas season. Problem solving, family support and culture all woven together.

What Can You Do with a Paleta? – Carmen Tafolla   (Mexico)

Children will make many connections to the ice cream truck when reading this book about a young girl who is waiting for the “Paleta truck” to arrive in her neighbourhood one hot summer day.  I love the colorful, lively illustrations in this book and the writing that focuses on the many senses of the “bario” (neighbourhood).  This would be an excellent anchor book for writing about place and using your senses.

Cora Cooks Pancit – Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore (Philippines)

This story is about a young Filipino-American girl, named Cora, who finally gets the chance go help her mother cook her favorite Filipino Dish,  Pancit.   I enjoyed how both the process of cooking and the heritage of the dish are woven through the mother’s stories while they are cooking.  Beautiful illustrations and recipes included!

The First Strawberries A CHEROKEE STORY – Joseph Bruchac

Traditional Cherokee legend which tells the story of how the first strawberries came to be.  Respect, kindness, relationships and nature are all themes included in this book.  Gorgeous illustrations.

Eat, Leo, Eat! – Caroline Adderson  (Italy)

When Leo doesn’t want to eat Nonna’s lunches she comes up with an intriguing tale for each dish. The pages of this book are filled with vivid illustrations, tradition, and the love of food and family.  I loved the additional glossary of Italian words and the spread about pasta names with their Italian origins.

Mama Panya’s Pancakes: A Village Tale from Kenya– Mary and Rich Chamberlin (Kenya)

When a young boy and his mother go to market to buy ingredients for her famous pancakes, he generously invites the whole village to join them!  Now Mama is worried they won’t have enough to go around.  Wow… this touching book contains so many themes besides food, it’s hard to list them all:  sharing, generosity, hunger, culture, community, Kenya, market.  An important book about sharing what little resources you have.

Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat! A Chanukah Story – Naomi Howard

Wonderful story celebrating Chanukah with a Russian Jewish version of the magic cooking pot. Would be great to pair with Strega Nona and the Magic Porridge Pot.  Colorful, expressive illustrations similar to Patricia Polacco.

Hiromi’s Hands – Lynne Barasch  (Japanese-American)

The true story of Hiromi Suzuki, a Japanese American girl who defied tradition to train at her family s restaurant, and became one of the first female sushi chefs in New York.  Great introduction to sushi and would be a great segue into a discussion about immigration with older students.

Everybody Cooks Rice – Norah Dooley    (Multicultural)

A young girl discovers a multitude of different traditional rice dishes in her neighbourhood from all different countries.   This book is from a series which includes Everybody Brings Noodles and Everybody Serves Soup.  It would be a great launch for an inquiry into the history and uses of rice around the world.

No More Beige Food – Leanne Shirtliffe (multicultural)

When Wilma Lee looks at her boring plate of beige food she decides it’s time to take action. She visits her neighbors where she learns how to cook colorful food from Thailand, Mexico, Lebanon, and Paris. Told in rhyme with vivid illustration this fun book is perfect for discussing diversity and trying new dishes.

Hungry yet?  Hopefully hungry for some of these delicious picture books to share with your students and celebrate diversity through food!  What are your favorite food books?

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – New Books from Kids Can Press (part 1)

 

It’s Monday and I’m happy to be participating in a weekly event with a community of bloggers who post reviews of books that they have read the previous week. Check out more IMWAYR posts here: Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers.

Last week, I was thrilled to receive a box of new Spring Releases from Canadian children’s book publisher Kids Can Press.  I am on their list for previews.  There are MANY wonderful books that I am excited to share.  This week I will focus on the fiction books, and next week I will share the nonfiction titles.

Eat, Leo! Eat! – Caroline Adderson

There is a lot to love about this one! Every Sunday, Leo’s large Italian family meet at Nona’s house for a big, noisy meal of her homemade pasta. Leo, who we infer is a bit of a fussy eater, does not want any. … So Nona tells him a story about a little boy who is going to see his Nona, but she cleverly weaves the shape of the pasta into the story. As Leo listens to the story, his appetite grows. Each week, Nona tells a story connected to the shape of the pasta. One week stars, one week bow-ties. This book is a celebration of food, family, traditions and pasta! There is a glossary of Italian words at the front, an interesting pasta page at the back and charming illustrations. If you love pasta, family gatherings or anything Italian – this is the book for you! 

Me, Too!  – Annika Dunklee

There are many books with a similar friendship theme:  what happens to best friends when a new friend comes onto the scene, the feeling of being left out, “three’s a crowd” scenario.   (Think The Worst Best Friend and Chester’s Way) What makes this one unique is the addition theme of international friendship – one of the girls is from Sweden and one is from France.  This book is also adorable – simple text, charming illustration, humor (Annie makes up words so she, too, speaks “another language”).  The author does an excellent job of showing girls how to express themselves in a productive & inclusive way.  Lovely book!

The Bus Ride – Marianne Dubuc

This sweet book (first published in France) is reminiscent of Little Red Riding Hood. This simple story is about a young girl, riding the bus alone for the first time, on her way to visit her grandmother’s house.  Along the ride, passengers including rabbits, a bear, a turtle, a mouse and a very sleepy sloth come and go at each stop.  This is not a book to rush through.  Much of the pleasure of is found in the soft, detailed illustrations.  Subtle things change on each page and children will want time to look closely at the pictures, particularly after the tunnel switches things around.  Pay attention to the newspaper headlines!

Walk on the Wild Side – Nicholas Oldland

This book is adorable – so much to love about it!   It is the latest in a series of books that feature these loveable characters.  Moose, bear and beaver are all friends who love adventure but sometimes their competitive nature gets in the way of their fun.  The three set off one day to try to hike to the top of a mountain – and things begin to go sideways.  This is a wonderful story about friendship, compromise and working together to reach a goal.  There is humor, colorful illustrations and wonderful messages about working together and about stopping to appreciate the moment.

My Family Tree and Me –  Dušan Petričić

This unique celebration of family ancestry traces four generations of a young boy. From the front of the book, we trace the family from his father’s side and from the back, you trace the family from the mother’s side. They all come together in the middle of the book to show the boy’s family tree.  A beautiful, simple introduction to the concept of family ancestry and I particularly like the cultural diversity of the boy’s family which shows both European and Asian ancestors. Includes amazing illustrations by the award winning Canadian illustrator (The Boy and the Violin). This book would make a wonderful springboard for having children research and create their own family tree. 

Jasper John Dooley You’re In Trouble – Caroline Adderson

There is always a need for early chapter books for ages 7-9 that feature boys so I would highly recommend this series to have in your library!  This book is the 4th in a series that features the delightful Jasper John Dooley.  In this book, Jasper accidently choses an energy drink from the vending machine.  He knows it’s bad but he hides the drink and keeps taking sips from it, eventually learns important lessons about making good choices.  I love this book – it’s funny, age-appropriate, realistic characters, short chapters, larger font (I didn’t need my reading glasses!) and cute illustrations.

                                             The Ghastly McNastys – The Lost Treasure of Little Snoring – Lyn Gardner
Ahoy maties!  If you are 7-10 year old and love a real rip-roaring tale of adventure, filled with nasty pirates, kid heroes, silly humor and jokes about slime, boogers and butts then this is the book for you!  The McNasty pirates are twin brothers, Captain Gruesome and Captain Grisly McNasty who sail in their ship, The Rotten Apple, in search of treasure. This is their first adventure in which they attempt to discover a lost treasure on the Island of Little Snoring.  This book is hilarious, includes great illustrations, some wonderful triple-scoop words and a surprisingly good plot.  While I may not chose this book for literature circles, I can see kids loving this first in a series featuring the Ghastly McNasty brothers!

The Confabulist – Steven Galloway

For book club this month, we are reading The Confabulist by Canadian author Steven Galloway, author of The Cellist of Sarajevo. This book is a fictionalized account of the life of Harry Houdini and the young man, Martin Strauss, who supposedly contributed to Houdini’s sudden death.  Strauss suffers from a memory disorder, called confabulation, in which one produces fabricated and distorted memories about oneself.  The person who experiences this is unaware that they are making up stories so are usually confident that they are speaking the truth.  The book moves from Strauss’s story to Houdini’s story, and much is left for the reader to fill in (lots of inferring!) how the two men’s lives connect.  This book is a mix of historical fiction, mystery, conspiracy theory, secrets behind magic and also about love, loss, truth and identity.  I’m not finished it yet, but so far, I am intrigued.  I love the two voices in the book and especially when the voice of Houdini reveals some of the secrets behind some of his magic tricks.  I’m fascinated by how these two stories are going to come together but will have to keep reading!

Thanks for stopping by!  Please leave me a message to let me know which books have caught your eye!

Picture Books – 10 for 10 (2014)

I am excited to be participating in the Picture Book 10 for 10 event for the second time!  This celebration of picture books is hosted by Cathy from Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community and Mandy from Enjoy and Embrace Learning

Choosing only 10 picture books is a huge challenge for me as there are SO many amazing new ones to chose from.  Last year I focused on new books that can be used for Reading Power – 2 books for each of the 5 Reading Power strategies:  Connect, Question, Visualize, Infer and Transform.  (You can check out my 10 for 10 2013 post here) The response was very positive, so I have decided to continue this trend.   Below are my favorite 10 picture books from 2014 that could be added to your reading power collections.

CONNECT

                  

It’s OKAY to Make Mistakes – Todd Parr   

I love Todd Parr books – they are bright, colorful and positive and perfect read-alouds for  younger students.  In this new book, he reassures children that mistakes are okay – from spilling milk to coloring outside the lines – children will make connections with every page!

What If…? –  Anthony Browne                                                                                                                                                                                             

Anthony Browne is an amazing author/illustrator and I was excited to see this brand new book on display in my favorite book store.  In this story, he focuses on the anxieties of a young boy who is on his way to a party. His mum is taking him but not staying with him – What if I don’t know anyone? What if nobody talks to me?  What if I don’t like the food?  While walking to the party, his imagination begins to take over and in classic Anthony Browne surrealist style – his illustrations lead us through some of his scary thoughts.  It all turns out in the end, reminding us that our imaginations can be scarier than our world.  I loved the firm, reassuring mother who helps the boy overcome his fears.  A perfect book for any child who has found themselves feeling anxious about a new experience.

QUESTION

       

Three Bears in a Boat by David Soman

There is so much to love about this book – the adorable characters, the detailed illustrations, the epic adventure and the slightly surprising ending.  After breaking their mother’s favorite blue shell, rather than telling her, the three siblings set off to try to find a replacement shell!   This is a delightful book – from the first page to the very last and I know that younger students will be filled with questions about just what will become of these delightful bears and if they will ever find that perfect blue shell.

Norman, Speak!  by Caroline Adderson

This is a wonderful and thought provoking book that invites a lot of questions.  When a family adopts a dog from an animal shelter, they quickly discover he doesn’t understand even simple commands like “sit” or “come”.  The family (and the reader) conclude that their new dog (who they name Norman) is not very smart but he is friendly and lovable.  During a chance encounter at a park, the family discovers that Norman understands Chinese and that is why he has not been able to follow their commands.  The family starts taking Chinese lessons so that they can communicate with their beloved dog.  There is so much to love about this book – and many important messages about language and communicating.  The book is long but a perfect read-aloud for grades 3-5. 

VISUALIZE:

       

Following Papa’s Song – Gianna Marino

I LOVE this book!  The stunning illustrations are amazing and I loved how the fictional story weaves in many scientific facts about whales and migration.   I considered including this as a book for Questioning but after several reads, I realized that the magic of the book lies with the images created by the journey these whales take through the depths of the ocean.  Lovely images to invite visualizing:  “…through the liquid light and deep into the mysterious black”    A wonderful book to launch a unit on whales and an anchor book for an art lesson for students to capture some of the images they visualized.

Hi, Koo! – A Year of Seasons – Jon Muth

Icicles.
reach down with dripping fingers
will they touch the ground?

What is not to love about this book?   Jon Muth is one of my favorite writer/illustrators.  I adore his soft watercolor pallet of colors and his gentle words.  This book is a charming collection of haiku poems to celebrate the seasons.  From careful observations of nature to insightful moments to nudge our thinking , I love every corner of this book.   Because haiku poems are short, I find they lend themselves well to capturing single visual images.  Try giving one haiku poem from this book to a group of students and inviting them each to create a visual picture.  The results will amaze you!

INFER

      

Quest – AaronBecker

I use wordless picture books to help scaffold the strategy of inferring with my students.  Last summer, Aaron Becker’s breath-taking book Journey had just been released and was included on my top 10 picture books of last year.  (It went on to receive a Caldecott honor last year!)  My students spent HOURS pouring over the illustrations in that book and inferring endlessly!   So I just couldn’t resist including his new book Quest on my list this year. It’s hard to believe that Aaron Becker could match the magic he created in his first book, but I thought this one was even more magical!  It follows the same characters from Journey as they begin a quest to rescue a king and his kingdom from darkness. The illustrations are, once again, stunning.  Readers will be captivated and have endless opportunities to infer and practice creative problem solving.  This book is MAGIC!

Flashlight – Lizi Boyd

Another unique, magical book takes readers through a dark forest with a flashlight.  What magic hides in the darkness?  What hidden treasures can be discovered by the beam of a flashlight? I loved Lizi Boyd’s Inside Outside so was thrilled to discover her latest creative wordless masterpiece.  A boy takes a walk through the dark woods, shining his flashlight into the wonders of the woods.  The effective illustrations shows the beam of the flashlight and the hidden discoveries found in the forest – small creatures, flowers, moss.  I love this book makes the dark inviting and friendly and would be a perfect book to read before heading out on a nature walk.  A celebration of exploration and wonder! 

TRANSFORM

Sometimes a book can change the way we think about something. When searching for books to use to teach this strategy, I look for books that deal with an issue that students have some experience.  We “take stock” of our thinking about the issue or topic before and after reading, so that the students can visibly notice how their thinking has changed.  These books have the ability to “change your thinking”

      

What Do You Do With An Idea? – Kobi Yamada  

This lovely book explores the notion of paying attention to your ideas and just what can happen when you befriend and attend to your ideas.  I see so many possibilities of how this book can change our thinking and can remind us that ideas are possibilities waiting to happen.

The Most Magnificent Thing – Ashley Spires

There are so many things I love about this book, not to mention it is a Canadian author!   This book invites us to revist our thinking about so many things – perseverance, creativity, collaboration, communication, dealing with frustration and being able to adapt to change.  It is so well written and is a perfect book for inviting students to revisit their thinking of what it means to be creative.  A must have for your classroom!

Extraordinary Jane – Hannah E. Harrison

OK – I know I have gone over my limit but I could not resist adding this heartwarming book to my top 10 list.  I have seen many reviews about Extraordinary Jane but I am not a huge circus fan so I suppose I was not particularly drawn to it.   But now I can’t stop hugging it!  This book is such an important one to read to children.  Many children feel the pressure to be the best, fastest, smartest, prettiest.  This book reminds us that you can be extraordinary just by being ordinary.  It is not the skills or talents on the outside that makes us special – but the tenderness inside.  You will fall in love with Jane – I promise!

Well there you have it – my top 10 picture books (plus 1!) for 2014.  I hope you found some new titles that you can use in your classroom!  What are your top picks of the year so far?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – Early Summer Sensations!

It’s Monday and I’m happy to be participating in a weekly event with a community of bloggers who post reviews of books that they have read the previous week.  Check out more IMWAYR posts here: Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers

It’s amazing to me how many wonderful new books keep appearing!   I can’t seem to keep up with all the amazing picture books being released and my collection keeps growing!  Here are some of the new treasures I have fallen for in the last few weeks:

What Do You Do With an Idea? – Kobi Yamada

Every once in a while I discover a book that floods my heart with emotion and my mind with deep thoughts.  Here is such a book.  This is a book that celebrates ideas – no matter how small and how insignificant they may seem.  A little boy has an idea.  At first he doubts it, worries about it, almost rejects it – but the idea follows him around and slowly begins to grow and take shape.   I love how the idea is an actual “thing” that you can see.   The illustrations are wonderful; I loved how when the story begins, only the idea is in color – everything else in black and white.  As the idea grows, so does the color on the page.  So much to love about this book.  A great book to discuss the power of never giving up on an idea.  I would definitely use it for helping students understand how a book can change our thinking.  (TRANSFORM)

Norman, Speak! – Caroline Adderson

This is a delightful story of a family who adopts a dog from an animal shelter.  They love this dog so much but discover that he is “not very smart”.  He does not respond very well to his new home and has a hard time learning to do what other dogs do.  While at a park one day, they discover why – this dog speaks Chinese!  They watch in amazement as he responds to the Chinese commands from another dog owner at the park.   Now it is the family who doesn’t feel very smart and decide to take Chinese lessons so they can communicate with their beloved dog.  A wonderful story to  promote questioning about animal adoption and animal communication.   My only issue was the length of the story – almost too long for a single sitting – but certainly worth reading over a few days.

Whimsy’s Heavy Things – Julie Kraulis

This beautiful and thought-provoking books deals with depression as a simple metaphor:  “heavy things” that can weigh you down.   Whimsy carries around her “heavy things” until she discovers that by breaking them into smaller pieces, they become easier to manage.  I love the soft illustrations and the gentle tone of the story.  I can see this being an excellent book for discussion and using to infer (What do you think “heavy things” are?)  and connect (What are some heavy things that weigh you down?)

Same, Same but Different – Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

Comparison writing is one of six nonfiction text structures I focused on in my new book Nonfiction Writing Power.  Since using anchor books (mentor texts) is an important part of writing instruction, I am always on the look-out for new books that model the different writing structures.  While this book would be classed as fiction, not only does it work well as a model for comparative writing, it is an excellent book for teaching diversity and multiculturalism.    The book features two boys:  Elliott who lives in America and Kailash who lives in India.  They begin their friendship as pen pals and through their letters, learn about the many similarities and differences between their two lives.  A great book for making connections to culture, family and lifestyle.  Colorful, cheerful illustrations.

Whale Shines – An Artistic Tale – Fiona Robinson

Beautifully illustrated story of Whale trying to find something he can contribute to the upcoming undersea art show.  All his sea creature friends have artistic talents, but whale feels like he has nothing to offer.  I loved the illustrations and the great message of perseverance and creativity. Also a great link to science – learning about different sea creatures as well as whale’s discovery of bioluminescent phytoplankton that he uses to create his art.  I also love how each sea creature uses their own natural characteristic to develop their artistic talent.    

The Numberlys – William Joyce

Once upon a time there were no numbers – only the alphabet. And so begins the latest visually stunning book by master creator William Joyce.  The text is simple but the illustrations add a layer of sophistication to this story of the world before numbers were created. The book starts out with only numbers in the world and the world is gray, lifeless and dull. Then The Numberlys decide that change is necessary and they create Letters !   And then the world comes to life and the pages have color!  The value of both numbers and letters is reminiscent of 1, 2, 3 Versus A, B, C by Michael Boldt, but Joyce manages to add a sophisticated flair to the concept.  This would be a great book to illustrate the value of numbers and letters in learning.

                 

 The Winning Goal – Sally Rippin        The Birthday Mix-Up – Sally Rippin

It’s often hard to find books for emergent readers that are both age and language appropriate.  Sally Rippin‘s series are excellent for children who are transitioning into very easy chapter books.  There is a series of books featuring Jack and another featuring Billy Brown (who is a girl). But the fun part is that Jack is a character in the Billy books and Billy is a character in the Jack books.  Very simple vocabulary and stories children will find many connections to.

 

Thanks for stopping by!  I’d love to know which book has caught your eye!