Tara Books

Looking at the book, An Indian Beach: by Day and Night created by Joelle Jolievet, I realized that I hadn't gushed about a favorite publisher of mine, Tara Books, for quite sometime.

An oversight, to be sure.

The books that I love most from Tara Books are handmade (from the paper, to the images being screenprinted, to being bound by hand) and/or often illustrated in unique and interesting ways showcasing traditional Indian folk art styles..

For example, An Indian Beach. This book illustrates the typical activities that go on from morning til night on Elliot's Beach near the city of Chennai, South India. The author depicts people waking up in the morning, engaging in all sorts of activities such as selling fish, repairing nets, eating, jogging, going to work, and playing.  At the hottest time of the afternoon there are very few people out, only a couple of dogs or birds. But by early evening the pace picks up again and people are out and about selling food, playing games, relaxing until nighttime when it's time to return home.

But it's the way in which the daily happenings on Elliot's Beach has been displayed for the reader that makes it stand out. Wordlessly, it has been illustrated as a series of predominately black and white panels joined together to create a never-ending, circular flow of activities from dawn til night. It's a wonderful display that invites the reader to stop and take in the details of each scene. On the inside of the joined panels are multitudes of various species of fish to be identified reinforcing the proximity and importance of the sea to the people living close to this beach. There is a blue border at the top of each page 
identifying the presence of the sea. On the inner side of the book blue colours the water for the fish.

The folder packaging the book provides us with additional descriptions about what's going on in the panels. It also includes suggestions as to how the book can be used and read. Because of the foldout nature of the pages the scenes can be 'read' in various configurations, inviting the reader to create their own stories.

This would make a terrific addition to the Alberta social studies unit studied in grade 3 where students learning about India. I think the book design is provocative enough to be of interest to almost anyone.

As I said at the top of this blog, I love Tara Books because of the books they publish. I love that they take on the challenge of storytelling in unique and innovative ways. An Indian Beach is an excellent addition to my favourites list.

I’ve been extremely busy the last few weeks teaching various library workshops.  One of my favorite ones is for Interdisciplinary Learning. This workshop lets me introduce student-teachers to some really fantastic resources from the Doucette Library’s collection.

Showcasing resources is only part of what the workshop is about, though. We talk a lot about concepts and conceptual thinking. Concepts often will facilitate connections between disciplines. The Arrival by Shaun Tan is an example of a resource with a plethora of concepts associated with the story. Check out this wordless, graphic novel about a man who leaves his family to settle in a new country with the intention of giving them all a better life. The brilliance of the book is placing us in the same situation as this man as he struggles to find his way in this sort-of-familiar-yet-very-different environment.  We, too, struggle to make sense of what’s going on.  Conceptually, there is so much to dig into like immigration, power, identity, family, community, communication, conflict and so many more.

Today, a new book arrived called Our Planet by Jimi Lee.  It’s an older title that I hadn’t come across until now but was thrilled to find.

Maybe it’s just because I’ve been immersed in conceptual thinking for the last several weeks but I see this small board book filled with concepts that will work at the classroom level.

It starts with a small single plant growing along the edge of a hole (an actual hole has been die-cut into the centre of the book to represent the earth). As we flip pages we see more plants/trees growing, then a tree cutter starting to cut them down and houses popping up. After the houses, we see tall buildings taking over and then industrial buildings encircling the earth/hole. The cost of progress, however, is overwhelming refuse and pollution, which in turn, impacts the natural world causing glaciers to melt to the point where there is extreme flooding. Turn the page and a girl and a boy begin to scatter seeds and the cycle begins again with new plant growth. But instead of over-exploitation of resources and total domination over the environment this world is depicted with more balance.  Trees, plants, animals, houses, and buildings can co-exist with each other.

There are so many concepts embedded within Our Planet: cause and effect, change and continuity, transformation, sustainability, regeneration, balance, harmony to name the ones that came to mind for me.

One possible design flaw is a page (paper not cardboard) that comes at the end of the book with a message from Jane Goodall.  My copy arrived damaged and without this page so I didn't even know it was missing the first time I looked at it. Because of the die-cast hole in the middle the book the paper page is at risk to be damaged.  I think... I haven't seen the undamaged book yet.

I would recommend this book for all grade levels even without the message from Jane Goodall.

It’s time for another letter

Dear Early Childhood Educators-to-be,

by Melanie Watt

Welcome to the world of children’s literature.

Boy, are you in for a treat! 

by Julie Morstad

There’s so many good books to tell you about, it’s difficult to know where to start. 

by Istvan Banya

Maybe I should start with telling you to have fun and look for those resources that excite you. If you’re enthusiastic about the book so will your students.

by Rob Gonsalves

The books that make you say, “Amazing”, “Oh wow!”, “Gross”, that make you sigh or cry, tickle your funny bone, or maybe revisit favorites from when you were little or maybe just think a little longer about what you’ve just read  -- THOSE are the ones to bring to class and treasure.

By Amy Rosenthal

by Steve Jenkins

Find wonderful authors and illustrators that will make you look at familiar topics with new eyes.

by Barney Saltzberg

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.  Not every book you bring in will be a hit. But that’s OK. Go find another one. 

by Justin Richardson

If you’re not sure about a book – go find a different one.

Really think about what you want your book to ‘do’ in the classroom. Do you want it to provoke? Surprise? Fill time? Provide information? Extend a topic? Enrich and deepen a topic? Entertain?

Find people you trust to recommend books like other teachers, librarians, booksellers, friends, and  family – you never know who might know of a ‘perfect’ resource to go with your topic.  The final decision is always yours.

These are just a few guidelines to get you started.

Oh, and don’t forget the Doucette Library has many library guides listed on the homepage to help with your literature choices.

Now, go and enjoy. 

by Aaron Becker

So, what’s with crayons?

Once upon a time there was a crayon.

It all started with Harold’sPurple Crayon.  It was fun being with Harold as he drew his way through his travels over mountains and oceans still to be cozily tucked into bed at the end of the day. 

(I’m almost certain that Harold’s purple crayon is related to the purple crayon in Aaron Becker’s  Journey  &  Quest  books.  It, too, has a marvelous sense of adventure in exotic, imaginary places but likes to chum with a red crayon.)

Then there was the Bad Day at Riverbend.  It really should be known as the ‘Worst Day Ever at Riverbend' because really, what could be worse that being scribbled and scrawled all over with smacks of waxy colour? But the befuddled Sheriff and his posse don’t have to worry for too long as the book is closed on this mysterious event by the day’s end.

But then we had deal with The Day the Crayons Quit. My, that was quite a day.  Goodness! So many demands to be met (Red was overworked, White was underappreciated and poor Beige got all the boring jobs) but we managed and all was well.  

Until of course, The Day the Crayons Came Home.  Who knew that these guys could get to so many places and have so many misadventures along the way? Directionally challenged Neon Red makes it back in one piece, though Tan (or is it Burnt Sienna) is a little worse for wear having been eaten and regurgitated by the dog. And I’m happy to report that Yellow and Orange have worked out their differences amicably which is a good thing because they’ve been melted by the sun into one blob.

But Snap! , we’re back with another artist whose imagination is unleashed when he’s crayons break and then begin to be used up. His artistic resourcefulness only leads to more lavish and unrestrained creations.  Who knows where he’ll land for his next foray into the world of art?

And lastly, we can’t forget about Red.  Poor Red he does have a time of it figuring out who he really is and why, even trying his very hardest to succeed, he always ends up blue. But with help from his friend Berry he finally finds his place among all the colors by being true to himself.

There’s obviously something about crayons. 

Besides being the number one choice of colouring implement at the colouring station in the Doucette Library the above books featuring crayons are typically quirky characters having wild adventures.  Just like the colouring station, any of these books will prove to be great stress busters.

Colour me happy.

The Books

 (in order of appearance:)

Harold and his purple crayon by Crockett Johnson

Journey by Aaron Becker

Quest by Aaron Becker

Bad day at Riverbend by Chris Van Allsburg

The day the crayons quit by Drew Daywalt

The day the crayons came home by Drew Daywalt

Snap! by Hazel Hutchins

Red: a crayon's story by Michael Hall

Keen observations and kind impulses

Sidewalk Flowers by Jon Arno Lawson and Sydney Smith perfectly captures the intense level of observation that can occupy a child once something has caught their attention.

This wordless, paneled picture book shows us the walk home for a little girl and her preoccupied father, after picking up groceries at the store.  The little girl wears a red coat which ‘pops’ her out of the black-and-white landscape of her urban neighborhood.  A bright dash of yellow dandelions catches her eye and starts her bouquet of wildflowers that she collects as she goes along.

Walking through a park she notices a dead bird in the middle of the walk.  She leaves a few of her flowers with the bird.  She leaves a spray of lilacs or lupines by a homeless man sleeping on a park bench.  As she shares her floral gifts with those she meets, the city landscape starts to take on more colour, too. After leaving flowers with the bird, the grass in the park changes from grey to green. As she gets closer to home, people and houses also take on more colour.  She leaves flowers in her mother’s hair as she hugs her, and in that of her younger siblings.  Everything touched is transformed.

The close observation she does and the empathy she has for everything around her is effortlessly embodied in the illustrations.  The winsome bouquet that she gathers and again disperses, reflects the girl’s kindness and the overall gentle nature of this slice-of-life story. The end pages are beautifully illustrated with a scattering of these wild, city flowers.

It reminds me a little of Bob Graham’s How to Heal a Broken Wing in which a little boy is the only one in a very busy, bustling city to notice a small injured bird in the middle of the sidewalk.  He follows his impulse to rescue the bird and nurse it back to health.

Both books work well for the primary grades. 

Anticipation and hard-earned dreams

Saving up for something special can be very difficult especially when you’re a child with limited options for making money.  But, in The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett our heroine has the moxie and perseverance to do just that.

 While out walking with her little brother one day, she sees the best green bicycle in the whole-wide-world sitting in a store window.  She races home to see what she has in her piggy bank and quickly starts looking for ways to generate the cash she needs to purchase her dream.  She searches high and low, from under couch cushions and in pant pockets, running a lemonade stand, to raking leaves for a neighbour. Our enterprising protagonist  won’t be daunted.

The one neighbor who initially employs her raking leaves turns into a seemingly regular gig over several months and helping with a multitude of chores allows the young girl to save up enough money for her bike. 

Eventually, when girl has the money she dashes back to the bike shop only to discover the bike has been sold.   Overcoming her disappointment, she decides to buy her little brother a tricycle instead.  On the way home, the kindly neighbor who the girl has been working for gives her a wonderful surprise: the green bicycle is waiting for her in her yard.

A happily-ever-after story if there ever was one.

The book has a very old-fashion feel to it with sepia colouring throughout, and retro-looking clothes and hairstyles for the children, plus the fact the girl is doing chores to earn money.

Being a wordless book, the illustrations do all the work and they are a treat to read through.  The illustration style is fairly simplistic with few details to distract from the characters and their actions.  A couple of pages do include a few bits of information about the neighbour .  Here we see objects that allude to her dreams of flying.  Watch for a red airplane, the only other coloured object (besides the bike) in the book.

An enjoyable read for the primary grades.

The Play’s the thing

I was pretty keen on reading an adaption of Shaun Tan’s The Arrival as a play.

I mean, a wordless book turned into a theatrical production?  Whaaaa?

Well, while it might be said to be ‘based’ on the book it turns out not to be a direct, page-by-page adaption but is better described as a companion piece to the novel.

Which doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have a place in the classroom. 

If you're studying immigration and the migrant experience, then this little play would be very relevant.  It follows three main characters as they think about their lives living in a different country, separated from their families. There are several minor characters of various ethnicities filling out the cast.  They represent the commonalities experienced among immigrants.  One of the characters even says that “We are all in the same boat now!” speaking both physically and metaphorically.  Tan’s male character also undergoes some of the same experiences, leaving his family, sailing on a ship, arriving in a new country, coping with culture shock and meeting new people, often other immigrants.  These overarching occurrences certainly tie the book and the play together.

The play provides stage directions that indicate that at several points, Tan’s illustrations from the book will be projected onto a screen.

This book could be used as an example of adapting one kind of literary work into a different format.  In a conversation with Shaun Tan that is included at the front of the play, we learn that he is also working on the early phases of a feature-length project also based on The Arrival.  He says, “this would be yet another interpretation of story concepts that is likely to depart significantly from the original book, simply because the medium is so different – so quite a challenge.”

I can only imagine what the challenges might be but I'm also very keen to see what this project will look like.

Overall, reading the play is not as rich an experience as reading Tan’s The Arrival.  However, I think watching this play might be the best way to take it in. It incorporates acrobatic and circus-like elements to help impart the story. It looks fascinating.  Take a look and decide for yourself:

I recently saw this ad:

Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.  

And though I might argue that it's not the 'only' thing, I can certainly appreciate the intent behind the message.

Journey by Aaron Becker is a beautiful, wordless picture book that perfectly captures the importance of imagination and the power of finding your way whether it's in the real world or those of fantasy. 

A girl is looking for someone to play with.  Everyone in her family is too busy and she’s left to brood in her bedroom.  Check out her bedroom walls.  Within one panel we learn that she is a dreamer and dreams of travel in faraway places.  A world map, a travel poster of Egypt, sail boats on her bedspread and a hot-air balloon mobile tell us of her desire to explore/experience the world.  Her sepia-toned reality has little interest to hold her interest.

So what does a bored child do when no one wants to play?

She picks up a red crayon and draws a door (escape-hatch) on her bedroom wall.  She enters a verdant forest filled with soft green trees gently lit with exotic lanterns and fairy lights.

Her red crayon is truly magical as it allows her to draw a boat in which she drifts down a gentle stream until she reaches a castle-city. She is welcomed by everyone she sees drifting through canals until she cascades over the end of one of these canals.

But, not to worry - her red crayon and imagination come to the rescue again.  She draws a hot-air balloon that allows her to sail high above the clouds.  She witnesses the chase and capture of a beautiful purple bird that is kept caged on a steampunk-looking airship.  She releases the bird, which incurs the ire of the inhabitants and is then kept prisoner until the bird, in turn, rescues her. 

Yet again, the red crayon enables her to escape her prison on a magic flying carpet that glides over a desert landscape eventually arriving in an oasis.  There the purple bird shows the girl a palm tree with a purple door.  She and the bird enter and arrive back home.  And, lo the bird is welcomed by a boy with a purple crayon. The adventure ends where it began except the girl now has someone to share in future journeys of the imagination.

Highly recommended for elementary grades.

When less is more

Unless you’re a Retriever.  Then less is seldom good and lots of ball/stick/squeeky-toy throwing is never enough.

Here’s a quick recommendation for the primary grades:  Ball by Mary Sullivan

The inside cover pretty well covers it – “One word says it all: BALL!”

This IS a one word book that conveys the deep seated love and obsession a pet dog has for his red ball.

It is how he connects to the people in his world.  It’s what he plays with by himself to keep himself amused.  It consumes his dreams and his nightmares.

Each page typically has a couple of panels depicting our ball-crazy pooch engaging with his ball, trying to get his people to play ball (baby , cat and mom doing yoga not so much success – young person, game on!) and waiting by the door in anticipation of young person returning home to throw ball (oh, joy!) yet again.

The illustrations aren't all that elaborate.  They convey the dog’s emotions, playfulness and actions very well which is the whole intent of the book.  The colour scheme is pretty low key with muted yellows, greens and oranges expect for the red ball, the red hair of his young person and his dream sequences which are more vivid.  There is no way that you will not know how large this red ball figures in the life of this dog.

Highly recommended.

A YA Book and a YA App. Or – Does having the accompanying soundtrack make the book better? - Part 2

Guest blogger - Janet Hutchinson

Janet has recently taken on learning about instructional technologies for the classroom.  Part of her time has been learning about iPads, their usefulness as a classroom tool and related apps.  We've gotten into a few discussions about some of the questions that arise when looking at some of these 'educational tools.'  Do these apps add anything to the reading experience?  Are they educational, entertaining, distracting or altogether off-putting? Do they replace the physical book?  What is lost without the physical book if anything? and so on.   

Janet's conclusions about the following book app has made me want to revisit Chopstick 'the app'.  My first time round with it didn't impress me and I found all the bits to click on rather distracting.  I didn't finish it.  I'll try again .

Click here for  Part 1.

The second book that I bought was the YA book Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony. Not exactly a graphic novel (in the true sense of the word) but not a traditional “book with words”, nevertheless, it tells a compelling story through snippets of the lives of the main characters. It opens with a conglomeration of ‘talking heads” (news anchors, in other words) and then moves to one anchor, telling the breaking news-story of the missing world famous young pianist Glory Fleming.

We then move to 18 months earlier and the story of Gloria (or Glory) unfolds. From her parents meeting and marrying, through to her birth, her gradual development as a piano player and then her mother’s death, all stages are presented through photographs, cards and recital programs. Her continuing rise as a piano prodigy is shown through music programs at progressively bigger venues. Then Francisco moves in next door – and they meet and it is clear from the start they are a couple. But they are a star-crossed couple and through the next few chapters we learn of Glory’s obsession with the tune Chopsticks, Frank’s obsession with her and her decreasing touch with reality.

The app is exactly the same as the book – but this would be a case where I think the app for the book enhances and expands on the book. Throughout the iPad book, there are pages with moving musical notes. When you touch the notes, dialogue appears, pictures can be moved around, and applause is heard. But the theme of Chopsticks is where the true genius of this story comes through You see that it is Gloria’s first recital piece – you see a YouTube video of Joanne Castle playing The Chopsticks Rag – and at various points throughout the book, the theme appears in several ways and at different times and I began to really see the story through her eyes. (And it was in using the iPad version of the book that I realized that F for Francisco and G for Gloria start together in “Chopsticks” and then move further apart – foreshadowing what is to come perhaps?)

I think this iPad version works almost better than the physical book. The ability to connect to YouTube and hear the various versions of Chopsticks – or to actually hear the playlists that the two lovers make for each other really make the story alive (although you do need an internet connection to use the book in its’ entirety – otherwise, it is just a book on the iPad). I had read the physical book when it first came into the Doucette – and then I re-read the iPad version – maybe it was familiarity – or maybe not – but the story resonated with me (and raised more questions) than in the paper version.

Part 3 – Non-fiction books - Where book apps really take off!

How does your city grow?

When was the last time you drove down a road or through a part of town that you hadn't visited for awhile?  All of a sudden you notice something new.  “When did that pop up?” you wonder.  Cities like Calgary are like that.  Things, buildings, stores, houses are forever popping up, seemingly overnight.

Popville by Anouck Boisrobert and Louis Rigaud (307.76 BoP 2010 PIC BK), is a 3- dimensional exploration of how a landscape grows from a single building down a single road in the countryside.  Then come two roads and a few more buildings and a few less trees.  Each flip of the page shows increasing growth, more roads and buildings, growing outward into a rural area.  The last page is a fully developed urban landscape showing a network of roads and railroad tracks for cars and trains, various buildings (skyscrapers, industrial, residential, and a church), green spaces, and even a series of telephone poles with string ‘wires’.  The implication, of course, is that there are more people as well.

The really delightful part is the pop up aspect of the book.  The original building is in the centre of the book on the spine crease. The clever die cast design allows for everything else to grow up around it, ‘popping’ up through cut squares beside it, also along the spine of the book.  Mostly, we look down on to this changing landscape giving us a different, aerial perspective.  When we look closely, at eyelevel we see the fronts of the buildings but these are without much detail. The illustrations are fairly stylized with primary colours.

At the back of the book are questions that asks the reader to consider what is involved when a city grows, such as more people requiring more services and infrastructure.

An interesting book that will work well with elementary grades and up into the middle grades.

Today is Nonfiction Monday and hosted at Books Together.  Lots of great children's literature to discover today.

Summertime reading update: Lots of time off = Lots of reading

Here are some of the reading highlights I enjoyed over the last few weeks while I was on holiday.  You’ll notice that a good many of the titles listed are appropriate for middle grades.  I purposely choose many books with this age in mind as I'm preparing to present a book talk at the end of the August to elementary school teachers focused on the big idea of ‘perspective’.  (See posting from July 5^th for more information.) Many of these books will be included in the book talk.

Fiction

Amulet: The Last Council, book 4 by Kazu Kibuishi (823 K533A4 FIC)

The action continues in the 4^th instalment in this graphic novel series.  A young girl continues to outwit her enemies with her quick thinking, powerful amulet, and the help of her companions.  High quality production.  Suggested for grades 5-9.

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: 14 amazing authors tell the tales by Chris Van Allsburg (823.008 Chr 2011)

I’ve always loved the picture book They Mysteries of Harris Burdick and was more than happy to spend time with this collection of short stories written by various authors that interpret the fine illustrations from the picture book.  Suggested for grades 5-9.

The Conductor by Laetitia Devernay (823 D493C PIC BK)

A beautiful, wordless picture book that reads like a poem.  A conductor arrives in a grove of trees and begins to entice the trees to bend and swirl until the leaves take flight in bird form. Suggested for all ages.

My Name is Mina by David Almond (823 Al68M9 FIC)

This companion book to Skellig tells the story of Mina as she writes in her journal.  She’s creative, forthright, bold but sometimes insecure and looking to make a new friend.  Beautifully written.  Suggested for grades 5-9.

 

Plain Kate by Erin Bow (823 B671P FIC)

A fantasy with an orphan who’s on the run with a talking cat who eventually learns to trust people.  Good adventure and tension build up that kept me interested.  Suggested for grades 5-9.

The Red Blazer Girls by Michael D. Bell (823 B398R FIC)

To solve this mystery, clues involve math, literature, logic and cornering less-than-honest people.  Great group of girls who are smart, adventuresome, and loyal.  Suggested for grades 5-9.

Redcoats and Renegades by Barry McDivitt (823 M144R FIC)

An historical novel that takes us back to when the Northwest Mounted Police (the early incarnation of the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) or Mounties) trekked through the United States to get to the Canadian West.  The trip was fraught with many problems mostly due to inexperience and poor planning.  The book reads like an adventure story as it is told through the eyes of a teenage boy.  This was a good read that manage to blend a good story with lots of history without making it heavy going.  Suggested for grades 6 and up.

Stolen Child by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch (823 Sk68S6 FIC)

A solid story that highlighted an aspect of WW II I knew nothing about.  Nazi’s would kidnap children who fit their ideal of looking Aryan from non-Germans, including Jews.  Nadia has recently immigrated to Canada but is troubled with memories of people who may or may not be her parents. Suggested for grades 4-7.

Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson (823 T596T FIC)

Based on the fairy tale by Charles Perrault, this retelling is placed in pre-colonial India.  Two sisters, both blessed and cursed by a goddess (one has gems and flowers fall from her lips when she speaks and the other, snakes and toads) struggle to understand the meaning behind the goddess’s actions as well as stay alive.  Suggested for grades 7 and up.

Nonfiction

Chuck Close: face book by Chuck Close (759.13 ClC 2012)

Very cool book.  A look at this very interesting artist and how he goes about creating his work.  Loved it!  Suggested for grades 4 and up.

The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie by Tanya Lee Stone (688.7221 StG 2010)

This has been on my to-read-pile for quite sometime.  I’m glad I didn’t pass it over.  Very interesting account of the history of the doll but with lots of anecdotes relating the impact, both positive and negative, of Barbie on the girls (now adults) who played with the dolls.  Suggested for grades 7 and up.

His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg by Louise Borden (940.5318 BoH 2012)

 A fascinating account of this Swedish war hero who save thousands of Jews in Hungry during World War II. Suggested for grades 7 and up.

Lone Hawk: the story of air ace Billy Bishop by John Lang (940.44941 LaL 2011)

A graphic novel, biography of Canadian war hero, Billy Bishop.  It briefly covers with his childhood and his incredible marksmanship.  When World War I starts, he signs up and quickly moves from the mud filled trenches to the wide open, but dangerous skies.  He is accredited with 72 official victories (taking down German planes).  This reads as high adventure but makes us realize the danger and trauma associated with war.  Suggested for grades 5 and up.

Superman Versus the Ku Klux Klan by Rick Bowers (973.91 BoS 2012)

I found this to be totally engrossing.  Learn about the history of Superman, history of KKK and how in the 1940s the radio show featuring Superman, raised awareness about this terrorist group while promoting tolerance.  Suggested for grades 7 and up.

Witches!: the absolutely true tale of disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer (973.2 ScW 2011)

Highly readable account of the witch hunts and trials in Salem, Massachusetts in the early 1600s.  I particularly loved the illustration style of woodcuts that added to the whole feel of olden times.  Suggested for grades 6 and up.