Art

A collection of 39 posts

Art

Celebrate Disability Awareness Month with Music and Art!

This July, I had the incredible pleasure of hearing author/illustrator Cece Bell speak about her creative process. Many of us know Cece from her graphic novel, El Deafo. Her newest picture book, Animal Albums from A to Z, is ideal for punsters, fans of Sandra Boynton, animal lovers, musicians,

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Free for Father's Day!

When Squirrel feels a bit frantic as a single dad to three busy kits, his friends decide to give him a break and take the kits for a day. How hard could it be, the friends figure, to watch little ones for a day? When I ask kids this question

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Loving Kindness For Us All

Loving Kindness written by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Tim Hopgood is the perfect book for December. No matter what the faith of your students, this book shares a message we all need to hear. “You are beautiful just as you are. You are loved, and you love.” We see

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Celebrate all the BEAUTIFUL HANDS!

August is crazy-busy for teachers and parents of little learners, so grab this book for a quick-prep, interactive lesson: BEAUTIFUL HANDS by Kathryn Otoshi and Bret Baumgarten. The book begins with a question, “What will your beautiful hands do today?” which leads to more questions with inspiration-sparking answers: “Will they

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"One Family" is one you need for Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, but it’s a challenge to find Thanksgiving picture books that connect with kids (I find many “pilgrim and Indian” books that are cringeworthy with stereotypes). This year,  I’m focusing on the “thanks” in Thanksgiving and sharing One Family by George Shannon with pictures

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The Most Magnificent Thing

The perfectionist in me was upset to have missed posting last month, so as a reminder to be more patient with myself, I pulled out the very wise, very magnificent book, The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires. The unnamed girl has an idea for a magnificent thing. She uses

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The Poetry of Firebird

Because poetry doesn’t have to rhyme, because poetry can tell a story, because the best poetry lights sparks of hope inside of us –  this is my choice for April’s Month of Poetry. Firebird is written by Misty Copeland and illustrated by Christopher Myers. A little girl sees ballet

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Go, Shapes, Go!

One of my favorite ways to hook readers during March is Reading Month is to do an author study, and one of my all-time favorite author/illustrators for the elementary crowd is Denise Fleming. I’ve had a book crush on Fleming since 1991 when I first read In the

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You Are Stardust

Happy July! This is the month for fireworks and stargazing and wonder, which makes it the perfect month for You Are Stardust written by Elin Kelsey with artwork by Soyeon Kim. It begins like this: “You are stardust. Every tiny atom in your body came from a star that exploded

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"Rah, Rah, Radishes" and Go, STEM!

Happy May, everyone! I had the pleasure of speaking at an early education conference where our theme was literacy and science. I brought stacks of books that tie into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) or STEAM (add Art) to share. Rather than just lecture all day, I led a session

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Battle Bunny

Happy February! This time last year, I was celebrating the sale of my first picture book, GROUNDHOG’S DILEMMA, to Charlesbridge. This February 2nd, I came home from a week of presenting seminars to a cool surprise: my husband (author/illustrator Matt Faulkner) just received the official layout of the

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You Can't Ride a Bicycle to the Moon!

Happy 2014! My goal this year is to share more nonfiction titles with you, so your Common Core Reading Standards Bingo Board will always have Range of Reading covered! I’m enjoying the new “You Can’t” series from Blue Apple books, especially You Can’t Ride a Bicycle to

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Go Ahead and Judge

As I’m weeding the youth collection in my public library, I am finding some gems. I know the old adage is “you can’t judge a book by its cover”, but really? If you had never heard of Little Women before and you saw this audiobook cover, what do

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Knock, Knock!

Trent, one of my preschool pals, couldn’t stop giggling as he told me this gem, “So, a horse walks into a bar and the bartender says, ‘Hey, why the long face?'” Kids love good jokes – and they don’t seem to mind the bad jokes, either! Joke books

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You Can't Taste a Pickle With Your Ear

When it comes to Common Core State Standards, the one that I think is the most fun is Range of Reading. (I know, I know, all the CCSS are fun, but this one is the most fun!) Range of Reading: Informational Text means we want kids to “read and comprehend

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Peace

It has been twelve years since the terror attacks on 9/11. Most of the students in elementary classrooms today weren’t even born yet in 2001, so how do we commemorate that day with kids? The kindest way I can think of to honor the lives that were lost

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Rosie Revere, Engineer

I have the best of reasons for posting late this week: I’ve been on Mackinac Island at the Michigan Reading Association conference, being inspired by dedicated educators and loving the slower pace of an island with no automobiles. Now I’m sitting in a white wicker rocking chair with

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Iggy Peck, Architect

Long have I loved Andrea Beaty’s picture book series about a bear named Ted (grab Doctor Ted, Firefighter Ted, and Artist Ted from your local library and prepare to be charmed.) Then, I saw sitting on the shelf by the Ted books this gem, just waiting to tie in

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A Ball for Daisy and the Power of Wordless Books

I am super-geeked that I am a guest blogger for Nerdy Book Club. Nerdy Book Club is a great resource, especially for those readers who are hard to match with just the right book. I like their Top Ten lists, like Top Ten Middle Grade Novels featuring Homeschoolers  and Top

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Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel

It’s officially the first day of spring, and yes, we have snow in Michigan. *sigh* I need a good book to lift my spirits, and I’ve found the perfect one: Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel written and illustrated by Ruth McNally Barshaw. Usually I blog about picture

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Drummer Boy of John John

Maybe it’s the vibrant art or maybe it’s the tropical setting of Trinidad, but on this snowy March day, I am in love with Drummer Boy of John John by Mark Greenwood with illustrations by Frane Lessac. Knowing that it’s a biography (so it hits the Common

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Spatter and Spark - a free picture book app!

Perhaps my dilemma is familiar to you. I have an iPad, and I want a great picture book app to share with early elementary students. With my tiny budget I’m always on the hunt for the free, but I also like good stuff, and unfortunately, that combination of free

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"This Is Not My Hat" wins the Caldecott Medal!

If you’re a kid-lit lover like me, you already know that This Is Not My Hat written and illustrated by Jon Klassen won the Caldecott Medal for 2012. (Were you huddled around your computer screen that morning, too, watching the live broadcast and squealing when your favorites were announced?

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Let's Talk About Race

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” – Maya Angelou. Next Monday we celebrate the birthday of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. What better way to honor his dream of a nation where our children

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Monkey: a trickster tale from India

It’s January, and is it just me, or are your kids more wiggly than a troop of monkeys, too? Here’s a book to get your kids monkeying around in a good way, and you’ll be teaching the Common Core State Standard of  Key Ideas and Details. Monkey: