Craft and Structure

A collection of 49 posts

Craft and Structure

I Pledge Allegiance

Happy August! Although summer is in full swing in Michigan, one of my local elementary schools is already back in session. Whether your school bell has tolled or you have one more glorious month to enjoy, you’ll want to have this beautiful book in your classroom: I Pledge Allegiance

Body Smart

Here Come the Humpbacks!

Happy March, everyone! This month I’m sharing a terrific informational picture book about humpback whales and a fabulous, free activity guide that will have your students up and moving as they process information. For those Nature Smart students who’re fighting the winter blahs, this kind of reading will

Art

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

Craft and Structure

A Warm Winter Tail

Here’s what you need this chilly January: A Warm Winter Tail by Carrie A. Pearson and illustrated by Christina Wald! This nonfiction picture book about animal adaptations in winter is perfect for a Range of Reading lesson (Core Standard #1 – check!). Carrie Pearson, a Michigander who knows all about

Craft and Structure

Wumbers

“What do you get when you combine a word with a number? A wumber!” Wumbers  is wri10 by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustr8ed by Tom Lichtenheld, the dynamic duo who made Duck! Rabbit! and other books I love passion8ly. With Wumbers, kids have 2 pay at10tion to the sound of

Art

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

Craft and Structure

Words with Wings

This novel-in-verse is for the daydreamers and for the teachers who want to guide, not squash, those who have such vivid imaginations. Words with Wings by Nikki Grimes is one of those gorgeously-written books you can read aloud to your class for wonderful group discussions and then watch them eagerly

Craft and Structure

This Plus That: Life's Little Equations

Not only is this week’s picture book a fun way to teach some of the Common Core State Standards in Reading, it is also the best inspiration for your “welcome back to school” classroom bulletin board. This Plus That: Life’s Little Equations written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and

Biography

Eleanor, Quiet No More

This morning, I sat basking in the presence of an amazingly talented author. Doreen Rappaport was speaking at our local university, and because my husband, Matt Faulkner, will illustrate her biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matt and I were able to sit in on her lecture. I’ve been a

Craft and Structure

All the Water in the World

Summer in Michigan means swimming in lakes, running through sprinklers, diving into pools. It’s a good time of year to share  All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson. Science, poetry, and art swirl together in this gorgeous picture book. “That rain that cascaded

Art

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

Craft and Structure

The Pet Project

As soon as I picked up this new poetry book, The Pet Project, I thought of the animal reports many of my students are doing and I knew I must get this book into the hands of those kids and their teachers! The Pet Project: Cute and Cuddly Vicious Verses

Craft and Structure

Dear Hot Dog

When writing poetry with kids, one of the biggest complaints I hear is “I don’t know what to write about.” I can’t blame them. There are plenty of times when I look at a blank sheet of paper and I don’t know what to write about, either.

Art

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

Craft and Structure

Doggone Feet is Doggone Fun!

There are many perks to being a children’s librarian (no overdue fines has saved me a bundle over the years) but one of the best parts of my job is getting to know supah-cool authors and illustrators like Leslie Helakoski. Leslie is a Michigan treasure I’ve had the

Art

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

Art

Got a new device? Play with "Chalk"!

If you were lucky enough to get an iPad, a Kindle, or some other fun e-gizmo this holiday season, and you’d like your kids to use it for more than just throwing (understandably) angry birds, get yourself some Chalk. Chalk by Bill Thomson is a visually stunning wordless picture

Craft and Structure

Grace for President

“Red” voters, “blue” voters, undecided voters, here’s one thing we can all agree upon:  Grace for President written by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by LeUyen Pham wins for Most Fun Picture Book for Early Elementary Students to Explain How the Voting Process Works. This book gets my vote for

Craft and Structure

From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate

If you’re craving engaging nonfiction to share with early elementary students, I have a book that will satisfy the pickiest readers: From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate by Robin Nelson. It is arguably the yummiest title in the “Start to Finish” series by Lerner (although From Milk to Ice Cream

Body Smart

I'm Not

Being friends with really cool people can sometimes lead me down the “compare and despair” spiral of gloom. My husband is an artist. I’m not. One of my friends is a belly dancer. I’m not. Another friend is an organic gardener. I grow weeds. *sigh* So when I

Body Smart

Go, Go, Grapes!

Hip, hip, hooray for April Pulley Sayre and Go, Go, Grapes! A Fruit Chant! How do you make healthy eating fun? With Sayre’s vibrant photos of fruits taken at her local farmer’s market paired with her contagious rhymes: “Nectarines, tangerines, hit the spot. Glum? Go plum. Or apricot!

Art

Planting the Wild Garden

Everywhere in my yard, plants are growing, many of which I didn’t plant (some call them weeds, I call them uninvited green guests.) How do all those plants in the meadows, by the creek beds, in fields, and by the sides of roads get there? In Planting the Wild

Art

America the Beautiful

When I see the words “O beautiful for spacious skies”, I  automatically sing in my head “for amber waves of grain”, but I didn’t know some of the other verses of this song that, for me, are so moving: “O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more

Art

Adventures in Cartooning: how to turn your doodles into comics!

The Center for Cartoon Studies presents: Adventures in Cartooning (how to turn your doodles into comics!) by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, and Alexis Frederick-Frost is just what the budding cartoonist needs. A knight, a magical elf, and a candy-loving horse are on a quest to defeat a dragon, but the