From Kellee’s (Huge) Library Pile Part One | Knock Knock by Daniel Beaty, What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada, Emily’s Blue Period by Cathleen Daly, This is a Moose by Richard T. Morris, My Teacher is a Monster by Peter Brown, & The Mermaid and the Shoe by K.G. Campbell

Share

From My (Huge) Library Pile

Because of It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? posts, I find myself often with huge piles of picture books from the library that were highly recommended by fellow bloggers. I celebrate many of the nonfiction pictures books on Wednesdays, but I want to share some of the fiction picture books I have enjoyed. So, I decided to start series here on UR where I can pass on the love for these books sporadically as I read them. Here is a list of some great pictures books that I’ve read recently from my huge library pile (part 1!).

knock

Knock Knock: My Dad’s Dream for Me
Author: Daniel Beaty
Illustrator: Bryan Collier
Published December 17th, 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Daniel Beaty’s def jam session brought to life with his beautiful words and some amazingly detailed and deep artwork. This is an important book as it deals with divorce/death/incarceration of a parent. This is one of those subjects that are not talked about in many picture books, but should be as millions of kids deal with it. Knock Knock is told from the point of view of a boy whose father doesn’t wake him up one morning and how he deals with the loss and continues to grow. Such a powerful book that will generate many conversations.

idea

What Do You Do With An Idea?
Author: Kobi Yamada
Illustrator: Mae Besom
Published February 1st, 2014 by Compendium Inc.

What Do You Do With An Idea? is a book about the power of ideas and how you should nurture ideas and allow them to grow into whatever they are going to become. I love that it promotes creativity, imagination, and thinking as these are all things that are often pushed aside too often in the world of rushing and testing. This book would be a great companion to The Most Magnificent Thing and a read aloud of the two books would be a great basis for a unit.

blue period

Emily’s Blue Period
Author: Cathleen Daly
Illustrator: Lisa Brown
Published June 17th, 2014 by Roaring Brook Press

Emily’s Blue Period is actually a early chapter book that is about a much deeper topic than the cover/title makes it seem. Emily’s parents are divorced, and she is dealing with the emotions and frustration with her new separated life. These are feelings that so many children go through each year, and Cathleen Daly truly delves into this subject in a thoughtful and deep way. Additionally, I adore the inclusion of Picasso into the text as I felt it added an extra element to the text.

Moose

This Is A Moose
Author: Richard T. Morris
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld
Published May 6th, 2014 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

This book actually made me laugh out loud. The poor duck director just wants to do a documentary on a moose, but the moose is definitely not cooperating. He wants more to life, and he is NOT acting like he should! And neither is the chipmunk. Or the giraffe (why is a giraffe there?!). Or anyone! What is a duck supposed to do?!?!
This book is going to be an amazing read aloud, and I am a huge fan of the end.

my teacher

My Teacher Is A Monster
Author: Peter Brown
Published July 1st, 2014 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

This book was very different than I thought it was going to be, and I am not going to give away what it is truly about because I want you to be able to discover it with you. Like always Peter Brown gives us a thoughtful, funny, well-done book that is going to be loved by kids.

mermaid

The Mermaid and the Shoe
Author: K.G. Campbell
Published April 1st, 2014 by Kids Can Press

I adored K.G. Campbell’s illustrations in Flora and Ulysses, and he did not disappoint with The Mermaid and the Shoe. This book is about discovery and being different. Minnow is not like her sisters (all whom are perfect), and she just hasn’t figured out what she excels at yet; however, through some adventures, she finds out what she truly is good at. Minnow is a great role model for kids. She doesn’t let comments or other people’s judgments from being who she is.

What picture books should I add to my pile next? 

Signature

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 10/27/14

Share

IMWAYR

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It’s also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…you just might discover the next “must-read” book!

Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee decided to give It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit – join us! We love this meme and think you will, too.

We encourage everyone who participates to support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

Congratulations
ANNE S.
for winning the set of hardcover copies of the Double Vision series!

Last Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday NF PB 2014

bramble1 bramble2 bramble3 shadowenigma

Tuesday: Top Series We Want To Start

Wednesday: Nonfiction Graphic Novels List

Thursday: Bramble and Maggie blog tour with a Q&A with author Jessie Haas

Friday: Author guest post from Teresa Flavin, author of The Shadow Lantern

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: I had a wonderful reading week. I finished This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki and An Army of Frogs: Frogs versus Scorpions by Trevor Pryce and Joel Naftali. I really wanted to love This One Summer. I love coming-of-age stories, and I love graphic novels (and I love so many of First Second Books’ books); however, I just felt like this one was missing something. I did like it, but I wanted to love it. The artwork was fabulous though! And the blue really added a special tone to it. Well done, but I just didn’t connect to it the way I wanted to. In the world of anthropomorphic books, Trevor Pryce’s and Joel Naftali’s Army of Frogs is definitely holding its own. This action-packed adventure about Darel, a not-so-ordinary frog, and the war he finds himself in the middle of is going to be a huge hit for fans of Warriors, Seekers, Guardians of Ga’hoole, Wolves of the Beyond, Silverwing, and Redwall. What does make this series stand out even more, though, is the AMAZING illustrations! You should read it for the story, but you HAVE to read it for the illustrations.

Additionally, I did read a ton of picture books that I got from the library after IMWAYR friends praised them. Reading all of these picture books has prompted a start to a new “series” that I’ll have randomly–“From My (Huge) Library Pile.” Since so many of them are so good, I want to be able to share them with you. My first “From My (Huge) Library Pile” post will be this week, and I already have 2 others planned.

Trent and I mostly did rereads this week; however, we did read Books Always Everywhere by Jane Blatt (recommended by Alyson) which is a wonderful book about different types of books in all different places. I specifically liked that there were babies in the illustrations showing books in babies’ lives.

Ricki: I finished Rosenblatt’s Literature as Exploration. I couldn’t stop highlighting! I always type up all of my highlights (because I am a little bit obsessive), and I will be doing a lot of typing. She just gets it. I think any reader of this blog would love the book. Rosenblatt is the reader response guru. She validates what I believe about teaching reading.

Henry’s grandparents and aunt bought him several adorable puppet books, like this one. We were all laughing hysterically this week as Henry kept grabbing the puppets. I also loved The Magic of Maxwell and His Tail by Maureen Stoler Kanefield. It has a fantastic moral and teaches children to make the most of their unique qualities. I rarely review picture books, but I will definitely be reviewing this one in the upcoming weeks. I want to read it a few more times first. 🙂

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I started Mira’s Diary: Home Sweet Rome this weekend, and I am so happy to be back in Mira’s world. I adored the first one, so I am very much looking forward to reading the 2nd and 3rd book of the series. I also have some graphic novel e-galleys from First Second Books that I plan on reading soon. Additionally, I am still rereading my Walden books in preparation for ALAN.

Ricki: For professional development, I am reading Mingshui Cai’s Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults: Reflections on Critical Issues. I am also planning to read Suzanne Myers’ Stone Cove Island, a YA book that will be released next month. Of course, Henry and I will find some new picture books to read. It depends on his mood. (Don’t tell anyone, but I am planning his first birthday party, which will be Goodnight Moon-themed! I’ve been working on the decorations all weekend. I figure that my blog readers won’t tell the guests.)

Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday From My (Huge) Library Pile worst witch festival

Tuesday: Top Ten Characters Who We Would Love To Be For Halloween

 So, what are you reading?

Link up below and go check out what everyone else is reading. Please support other bloggers by viewing and commenting on at least 3 other blogs. If you tweet about your Monday post, tag the tweet with #IMWAYR!

 Signature andRickiSig

Author Guest Post and Giveaway!: The Shadow Lantern, Book 3 of The Blackhope Enigma Trilogy by Teresa Flavin

Share

shadowenigma

The Shadow Lantern
Author: Teresa Flavin
Published July 22nd, 2014 by Candlewick Press

Publisher’s Summary: It’s Halloween at the Blackhope Tower and the spirits are rising… When a mysterious oil lantern and a box of painted slides appear at Blackhope Tower, Sunni and Blaise are drawn back to the place where their adventures first began. When they discover that the slides conceal secrets about artist-magician Fausto Corvo, the pair find themselves once again caught up in a deadly pursuit. An old enemy is still tracking Corvo and will stop at nothing to find him. Sunni and Blaise must fight to protect Corvo’s secrets and rid themselves of Soranzo’s evil threat once and for all.

Sunni and Blaise face their most dangerous challenge yet in their third and final adventure.

The Shadow Lantern is the third book in The Blackhope Enigma trilogy.

Book 1’s Publisher’s Summary: For centuries, Blackhope Tower has been shrouded in intrigue, centering on a labyrinth and painting in the Mariner’s Chamber. When fourteen-year-old Sunni Forrest visits the tower and sees her stepbrother, Dean, disappear, seemingly into the painting itself, she must find him and risk being drawn into the heart of the Blackhope enigma. This action-packed debut follows Dean, Sunni, and her friend Blaise on a journey to the heart of an age-old mystery.

An ancient painting, a magical labyrinth, and skeletons found in a locked room.

Book Trailer: 

Scribd Chapter Sampler: http://www.scribd.com/doc/201971141/The-Shadow-Lantern-Chapter-Sampler

About the Author: Teresa Flavin was born in New York and studied art in Boston and at Syracuse University. After moving to Glasgow, Scotland, she was awarded the Scottish Arts Council New Writers Bursary. She has illustrated a number of picture books. Her first novel, The Blackhope Enigma, was nominated for a Cybil Award. Teresa Flavin lives in Scotland.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Tumblr

Today we are lucky enough to have Teresa here at Unleashing Readers to talk to us about her process:

I’m a planner, pure and simple. Once an idea for a story has taken hold in my head, I make notes, create mind maps and get the bones of it down on paper. At the same time, I don’t want to have every scene mapped out so tightly the story can’t breathe and evolve in an unexpected and interesting way – which it inevitably does!

I look forward to previously unplanned characters showing up on the page wanting a piece of the action. And because I find so much inspiration in history, and do a fair amount of research, I often stumble on a nugget of information that can move my story in exciting and serendipitous ways. For example, when I learned that the development of some artists’ paint pigments was tied up with alchemy, I saw what a great element it could bring to the second story in the trilogy, The Crimson Shard.

Before I get too far with a new story I share a short synopsis with my agent because she’s great at asking tough questions that test the bones of my idea. I revise that synopsis until we both consider it viable, knowing that the story will change a lot. When I look back over old versions of my synopses I am astonished at how much the stories evolved before I even started writing them.

Once I know roughly where a story is going, I write it from start to finish. I am not good at skipping around and writing scenes out of order. That would feel like fast-forwarding the film and missing important links in the middle. I admire authors who can work in a non-linear way but I prefer my own method. I like how a story unfolds, how one scene influences the next.

If I’m on a deadline, I write to a daily word count, breaking the story down into manageable chunks. Some days are definitely more productive than others! I revise my finished manuscript at least two or three times on the recommendations of my editors. I am infinitely grateful to all of them because they read with clarity when I am too close to the story. Though I am the writer, I see my books as team efforts, with my editors inspiring me to make the best story I can.

People often ask me whether I read other children’s books while I’m writing my own and what books influenced my trilogy. I tend to avoid reading children’s fiction while I am creating my own, but I do read adult non-fiction such as history books. If I read any fiction, it’s for grown-ups and generally quite different from the kind of fantasy books I write.

Before I started writing for young people, I read very little children’s or young adult fiction. I think that my writing is probably influenced most by the books I enjoyed as a kid, from The Chronicles of Narnia to Sherlock Holmes to Ray Bradbury stories like The Illustrated Man. If it was a colorful, atmospheric adventure, I was hooked. If my own trilogy can intrigue young readers as fully as any of the books I loved, my mission is accomplished.

Many thanks to Unleashing Readers for hosting me!

And thank you Teresa! We loved hearing about your process!

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so much to Teresa Flavin and Candlewick Press for the guest post and giveaway!

Signature

Nonfiction Graphic Novels

Share

NF PB 2014

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and was started to help promote the reading of nonfiction texts. Most Wednesdays, we will be participating and will review a nonfiction text (though it may not always be a picture book).
Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other nonfiction books are shared this week!

Although many elementary students enjoy and love nonfiction, this love tapers off when students get to middle school. Very few of my students read nonfiction at all. However, there is a wonderful thing happening that is helping increase the amount of nonfiction read in my school: memoir and informational nonfiction graphic novels. Here are some that I have read that my students and/or I have truly enjoyed.
(Clicking on any cover will take you to the Goodreads page or my review.)

Children’s/Middle Grade

deafo around the world primates

deadspy ironclad donner treaties

media dust bowl jay z

FC_BC_9780545132060.pdf sisters sharks dinosaursGN

Middle Grade/YA

dumbest 911 annefrank beirut

YA

fist feynman dahmer maus

Hope you and your students enjoy some nonfiction graphic novels!

Signature

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 10/20/14

Share

IMWAYR

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It’s also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…you just might discover the next “must-read” book!

Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee decided to give It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit – join us! We love this meme and think you will, too.

We encourage everyone who participates to support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

Congratulations to
LINDA B.
for winning a copy of Julie Sternberg’s 
book Friendship Over!!!!

Last Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday deafo

Code Name 711--cover Double Vision front cover Double Vision The Alias Men hi-res cover

captain1 captain11

Tuesday: Top Ten Places We Want To Visit (After Reading a Book)

Thursday: Guest Post “Five Ways to Bring MG Books into the Classroom” by Fleur Bradley, author of Double Vision

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: Well, my ambitious goals of reading were defeated by another bout of ear infections and work for school. Such is life! I did get to finish one graphic novel I got from Top Shelf Productions on Netgalley called Maddy Kettle: The Adventure of the Thimble Witch which was a Coraline-esque tone/mood with a mix of Wizard of Oz and Miyazaki. The illustrations were a bit messy, but in a purposeful way that made everything feel urgent. I am looking forward to the sequel.

Trent and I did some rereading including revisiting David Smells by David Shannon and Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman. We also read Up Close by Gay Wegerif and Kiss, Kiss Good Night by Ken Kesbitt for the first time. Up Close is a unique way to talk about shapes, colors, and animals. I’m sure it will be a favorite. Kiss, Kiss is a sweet book that is a great bedtime story.

Ricki: Henry and Trent are both in the sick club. My poor guy has been sick all week, and we had to make a few trips to the doctor’s office. But we read! I finished a very well-written, comprehensive book called Holocaust: A Concise History by Doris L. Bergen. I read it in preparation for a Teaching the Holocaust Workshop I am attending this Wednesday. It is an integrated workshop for secondary history and English teachers.

Henry is obsessed with Goodnight Moon. When his father or I try to read him a different book, he fusses. The second we take out Goodnight Moon, his whole body relaxes and he giggles. So we read it every night. Meanwhile, I’ve been reading to him as he crawls around the room—he will only sit in my lap for Goodnight Moon. I want to expand his reading list a bit, so chasing him with a book is necessary. We enjoyed Brian Patten’s Can I Come Too? and Alex Latimer’s Pig and Small. Both were charming picture books. I also read an early chapter book to him, Worst Witch by Jill Murphy. I scheduled a blog post about Worst Witch for October 30—just in time for Halloween!

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I am currently in the middle of two books: An Army of Frogs by Trevor Pryce and Joel Naftali in preparation for my NCTE panel with him on teaching graphic novels and This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki, and I hope to finish them both. I also want to revisit all of the Walden books. Additionally, I still have that huge library picture book pile LOOMING at me from the other side of the living room. I need to spend some time with them. Finally, I will be rereading the Matt Tavares biography picture books I read a couple of weeks ago as I am writing a teaching guide for them this week. BUSY week ahead!

Ricki: I just started Regina Brooks’ Writing Great Books for Young Adults. I am enjoying it thus far and will keep you posted when I have read more! I am still reading Rosenblatt’s book. It is great, but I had to finish my Holocaust book in preparation for the Workshop I described earlier. Can I pause the day and just read, please?

Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday NF PB 2014

bramble1 bramble2 bramble3 shadowenigma

Tuesday: Top Series We Want To Start

Wednesday: Nonfiction Graphic Novels List

Thursday: Bramble and Maggie blog tour with a Q&A with author Jessie Haas

Friday: Author guest post from Teresa Flavin, author of The Shadow Lantern

 So, what are you reading?

Link up below and go check out what everyone else is reading. Please support other bloggers by viewing and commenting on at least 3 other blogs. If you tweet about your Monday post, tag the tweet with #IMWAYR!

 Signature and RickiSig

Captain Underpants Series by Dav Pilkey

Share

captain1 captain11

Captain Underpants series
Author: Dav Pilkey
#1: Adventures of Captain Underpants published September 1st, 1997 by Scholastic, Inc.
#11: Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000 published August 26th, 2014 by Scholastic Inc.

Goodreads Summary #1: Pilkey plays with words and pictures, providing great entertainment. The story is immediately engaging – two fourth-grade boys who write comic books and love to pull pranks find themselves in big trouble. Mean Mr. Krupp, their principal, videotapes George and Harold setting up their stunts and threatens to expose them. The boys’ luck changes when they send for a 3-D Hypno-Ring and hypnotize Krupp, turning him into Captain Underpants, their own superhero creation.

Goodreads Summary #11: When the Incredible Robo-Plunger defeated the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, George and Harold thought their toilet troubles were over. Unfortunately, their porcelain problems were only beginning . . . Just when you thought it was safe to flush . . . The Turbo Toilet 2000 strikes back! The carnivorous commode known for devouring everything in its path has built up a real appetite . . . for REVENGE! Join Captain Underpants for another epic showdown of Wedgie Power vs. Potty Power as our tighty-whitey-wearing superhero GOES TO ELEVEN!

My Review and Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Ever since I started teaching I have had Captain Underpants fans in my classroom. Readers (especially boys though, like all books, it is not exclusive) love these books. When I started teaching intensive reading, my students loved that I read so much but were astonished that I had never read a Captain Underpants book. So, during the summer of 2012, I read the entire series that was out at the time.  And suprsingly, I am happy I did. I enjoyed the books so much, and I found many different ways that I could use in the series in classroom. As I read I not only enjoyed the stories (well most of them; the booger one was quite gross), but I kept notes on different ways each book could be a mentor text.  I know that students already love the books so I would love to be able to use them in the classroom. I think that part of what makes Pilkey’s humor work is that he never talks down to his reader. The humor is intelligent and witty, and he makes sure to have his books be as entertaining as possible to keep the reader’s attention.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Some of my favorite things that are addressed in the series are spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and puns. The spelling is not directly addressed; however, Harold and George misspell a lot of words and it would be good to use to talk about phonics and spelling.  Also, each book begins with an anagram which is great word play.  The grammar is sporadic only showing up in some books, but the vocabulary is in all of them.  Some vocabulary I found was billowing, narratively convenient, fizzled, improbability, jubilant, mock, scurried, and merciless and that is just in book 3! Also the puns in each book are really quite clever (check out p. 34 in #11 and any of the flip-o-ramas to see what I mean). Each book also has some great alliteration (#11, p. 29, 27, 208)- each title alone has alliteration in them. There are also allusions and onomatopoeias!

Additionally, I love the set up of the novels. They are a great mix of novel, graphic novel, comics, and picture books. It is a great transition between picture books and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I especially like the flip-o-ramas. They are unique to the Captain Underpants books and I think it puts a great interactive and kinesthetic feel to the books.

One thing I do not understand is why these books are challenged. Yes, they have some potty humor. Yes, the adults aren’t the best representation of teachers. Yes, it is silly. But they are harmless and actually have some really great qualities to them.

Discussion Questions: In the first Captain Underpants, Harold and George brainstorm a superhero including his name and then create a comic based on their superhero. With a partner, brainstorm a name for a superhero and then complete a story to go along with your superhero. To expand it even more, complete a comic for your superhero.; In #11 novel, time travel plays a large part of in the plot. What event could you go back in time to try to change?; In some of the Captain Underpants books, there are grammar, convention, and spelling mistakes. Why do you think Dav Pilkey makes the choice to use incorrect grammar? What mistakes idd you find?; In #11, Harold and George end up being cloned (kind of). What would you do if there were two of you?

We Flagged (#11): 

Read These If You Loved: Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney, Big Nate series by Lincoln Peirce, Charlie Joe Jackson series by Tommy Greenwald, The Adventures of Ook & Gluk and Super Diaper Baby series by Dav Pilkey, Lunch Lady series by Jarrett Krosoczka, Frankie Pickle series by Eric Wight, Knights of the Lunch Table series by Frank Cammuso 

Recommended For: 

readaloudbuttonsmall classroomlibrarybuttonsmall

Signature

Review and Teaching Guide!: El Deafo by Cece Bell

Share

NF PB 2014

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and was started to help promote the reading of nonfiction texts. Most Wednesdays, we will be participating and will review a nonfiction text (though it may not always be a picture book).
Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other nonfiction books are shared this week!

deafo

El Deafo
Author: Cece Bell
Published September 2nd, 2014 by Abrams

Publisher Summary: Going to school and making new friends can be tough. But going to school and making
new friends while wearing a bulky hearing aid strapped to your chest? That requires superpowers! In this funny, poignant graphic-novel memoir, author/illustrator Cece Bell chronicles her hearing loss at a young age and her subsequent experiences with the Phonic Ear, a very powerful—and very awkward—hearing aid. The Phonic Ear gives Cece the ability to hear—sometimes
things she shouldn’t—but also isolates her from her classmates. She really just wants to fit in and find a true friend, someone who appreciates her as she is. After some trouble, she is finally able to harness the power of the Phonic Ear and become “El Deafo, Listener for All.” And more importantly, declare a place for herself in the world and fi nd the friend she’s longed for.

Author: Cece Bell has written and illustrated several books for children, including the Geisel Honor book Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover. She lives in Virginia with her husband, author Tom Angleberger.

My Review: There are times that you read a book and when you are done, you just know that it is a special book. El Deafo is one of those books. As you all know, I am a huge fan of Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby, and one of the reasons I am is because it looks at disabilities in a positive light and shows that a disability is not an end, but just a change. El Deafo is another novel that does this. Although Cece, like Joey in Hurt Go Happy, finds herself deaf at a young age, we see her overcome this blow and turn it into a superpower. But this book is about more than deafness; it is about being a kid, about growing up, about friendship, about ackwardness, about school, about crushes, about family, about life. This book is truth.

Teachers’ Tools For Navigation: There is so much you can do with this graphic novel. Many activities can be found in the teaching guide that I wrote for Abrams. This book is perfect for independent reading, for lit circles  with other graphic novel memoirs, for jigsawing, for read alouds, and for looking deeply into the text.

(Also, and I didn’t want to harp on this because they are both such unique books, but this book will be loved by the readers of Smile. They both look at such an important part of life.)

Discussion Questions: Language Arts:  Cece uses many different kinds of clues to help her lip-read. (pages 30–31) What are the 4 types of clues? How do they help with lip-reading? In what other ways can these clues be helpful?; On page 60, Cece shares an analogy of her friendship with Laura. She feels like a baited fish that is caught on Laura’s hook. What analogies could we make to
describe Cece’s friendship with Ginny? Martha? Emma?; Science: What is meningitis? How can it cause deafness?;  What is an audiologist? What would you have to study to become one?; History/Social Studies: Many deaf and hard of hearing individuals have made history, including Helen Keller, William Ellsworth Hoy, and Juliette Gordon Low. Research these or other deaf or hard of
hearing individuals throughout history and today. How did being deaf affect their lives? What were their accomplishments?

We Flagged: 

01ORIGINSPanelsREVISED
**From Cece Bell’s blog**

Read This If You Loved: Smile and Sister by Raina Telgemeier, The Dumbest Idea Ever! by Jimmy Grownley, I Remember Beirut by Zeina Abirached, Odd Duck by Cecil Castellucci

Recommended For: 

classroomlibrarybuttonsmall readaloudbuttonsmall closereadinganalysisbuttonsmall litcirclesbuttonsmall

Signature