Picture Book

Author Guest Post: “STEM + Poetry = Fun!” by Lydia Lukidis, Author of Deep, Deep Down: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench

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“STEM + Poetry = Fun!”

Hi everyone! I’m so excited to talk about my new STEM book, DEEP, DEEP, DOWN: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench written by me, Lydia Lukidis, illustrated by Juan Calle, and published by Capstone Editions, a Capstone imprint.

First off, here’s a short summary of the book:

Deep, deep down, at the very bottom of the ocean, lies a secret world. Through lyrical narration, this spare-text STEM picture book takes readers on a journey to a place very few humans have ever been–the Mariana Trench. The imagined voyage debunks scary myths about this mysterious place with surprising and beautiful truths about life at Earth’s deepest point. DEEP, DEEP, DOWN: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench shows a vibrant world far below, and teaches readers how interconnected our lives are to every place on the planet.

Why Poetry?

When writing nonfiction, finding the right structure and voice is critical. When I was researching DEEP, DEEP DOWN, I fell into a rabbit hole and watched hours and hours of trench footage. Many creatures were mesmerizing and moved slowly and gracefully, like underwater ballet. That’s when I realized that the Mariana Trench itself is a poem; a mysterious, remote trench at the deepest spot on our planet, full of wonder. To really do it justice, the text would have to reflect the beautiful poetry I witnessed. So, I chose to write the narrative with a lyrical voice and felt it could not have been written any other way.

Science and poetry are two of my biggest passions, so why not merge them? After all, there’s so much beauty and poetry in science, and there’s also a certain science and rhythm to writing poetry. Below are a few activities for children (in class or at home) to help them become inspired by the written word and craft their own poetry.

Figurative Language

Children can read the definitions below as well as my examples from the lyrical text of DEEP, DEEP DOWN.

-Onomatopoeia: When you use a word that makes a sound close to the action it refers to.

SWISH!
Something shimmers.
Not a monster,
but a fish.
A rattail
drifts through the darkness,
in search of food.

Now ask the child to make up a new way to use this poetic device.

-Alliteration: When you repeat the first letter or sound of several words close to one another.

Diving deeper,
a long, thin body
slinks and sways,
ever so slowly.

Now ask the child to make up a new way to use this poetic device.

-Simile: When you compare two unlikely things, usually using the words “like,” “as,” or “than.”

Glide forward,
past rows and rows of xenophyophores,
clustered like cabbages.

Now ask the child to make up a new way to use this poetic device.

Fun with Haikus

Another great exercise is learning how to write haikus. Children can read the information below to inspire them to write their own haiku about one of the creatures that lives in the trench.

-Haikus have 3 lines, each with a specific number of syllables. They don’t need to rhyme.

-This is the structure:

Line 1: 5 syllables

Line 2: 7 syllables

Line 3: 5 syllables

-Here’s an example:

“The Old Pond” by Matsuo Bashō

An old silent pond

A frog jumps into the pond—

Splash! Silence again.

Ask students to pick one of the trench creatures and write a haiku about it:

More Fun Stuff

I created a 40-page teacher guide that provides dozens of curriculum standards in Common Core ELA and Math, and Next Generation Science Standards that align with the narrative. It also proposes various curriculum-based activities for students K-6.

Click here to download the guide: http://www.lydialukidis.com/img_educators/DEEP,%20DEEP%20DOWN-%20Teacher%20Guide.pdf

Capstone and I also created a beautiful poster and trading cards for children. You can find them on my website:
http://www.lydialukidis.com/books.html

I hope you enjoy my book and the material!

About the Author: 

Lydia Lukidis is the author of 50+ trade and educational books for children. Her titles include DANCING THROUGH SPACE: Dr. Mae Jemison Soars to New Heights (Albert Whitman, 2024), DEEP, DEEP, DOWN: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench (Capstone, 2023), THE BROKEN BEES’ NEST (Kane Press, 2019) which was nominated for a Cybils Award, and NO BEARS ALLOWED (Clear Fork Media, 2019). A science enthusiast from a young age, she now incorporates her studies in science and her everlasting curiosity into her books.

Lydia is an active member of SCBWI, CANSCAIP, 12 x 12, and The Authors Guild. She’s very involved in the kidlit community and also volunteers as a judge on Rate your Story. Another passion of hers is fostering love for children’s literacy through the writing workshops she regularly offers in elementary schools. Lydia is represented by literary agent Miranda Paul from the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

Social Media Links

Website & order links: http://www.lydialukidis.com/
Twitter: @LydiaLukidis
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LydiaLukidis
Blog: https://lydialukidis.wordpress.com/
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3fATvqtKDk

Thank you, Lydia, for sharing this focus on poetry and its tie in with your books!!

K is for Kindness by Rina Horiuchi, Illustrated by Risa Horiuchi

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K is for Kindness
Author: Rina Horiuchi
Illustrator: Risa Horiuchi
Published: April 26, 2022 by Viking Books

Goodreads Summary: Debut author/illustrator and sister duo have crafted a sweet ABC book that expresses how kindness can be found anywhere.

Ape picks an apple for Aardvark below.
Bat puts a bandage on Brown Bear’s big toe.

From aardvark to zebra, this delightful cast of animal characters illustrates the many ways to show kindness to others, while teaching the youngest readers their ABCs.

Debut author/illustrator and sister duo Rina Horiuchi and Risa Horiuchi have crafted a warm and tender gift that affirms kindness can be found anywhere.

Ricki’s Review: This book is just so charming. It is a great way to learn the alphabet along with all of the ways that we can be kind. The book doesn’t feel didactic, and it was enjoyable for me, as an adult reader. There aren’t just simple animal names on each page, but instead, they read like this: ““Narwhal takes Newt, his new neighbor, to lunch.” The repetition is really helpful for young readers. I’ve been having my 6-year-old read it to my 3-year-old, and it makes my heart swell. I love the ending, in which readers are asked how they are kind—this allowed for some great discussions in our house.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This book inspires me to want to choose an emotion or an abstract concept to make my own alphabet book! Kids would have a lot of fun making a shared book together!

Discussion Questions: 

  • Which page was your favorite, and why?
  • How do you demonstrate kindness?
  • How do the pictures and words work together to create a vivid representation of kindness?

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**Thank you to Rina and Risa for this phenomenal book! It is a great addition to children’s literature!**

Kellee’s 2022 Reading Round Up: Statistics, Favorite Reads, #mustreadin2022 End-of-Year Check In, #mustreadin2023 List

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Here is my 2022 Reading Round Up!

And just for fun: here is Trent’s 2022 Year in Books!
(It was my first year we tracked his independent reading on Goodreads; it was so much fun to get this data at the end of the year!)

Here are my favorite books read in 2022! Although not all of them are 2022 published books, 43 of them are (and 1 is even 2023). If you want to learn about these books visit my FAVORITE READS IN 2022 Goodreads shelf. 

I introduced my #mustreadin2022 list last January (<– visit that link to see the list in its entirety), and I will say that I was quite successful! I read 36 out of 42 books on my list!

I love the Must Read challenge! I took part in 2015-2019 & 2021-2022, so I am happy to join again! It helps me remember to read certain books!

Thank you to Carrie at There’s A Book for That for starting this challenge and to Leigh Ann of A Day in the Life and Cheriee of Library Matters for reviving it in 2022.

For those of you new to the challenge, it has you take a look at the books you wanted to read, but for whatever reason, you have not gotten to them. You then make your own personal list of books you want to commit to (trying to) read.

There is no set number of books and books can be published from any year, in any genre or format, and in any category. These books will not be the only ones you read this year but will be the ones included in your personal challenge.

This year, I may have gone a bit wild with my lists. I just couldn’t choose! (If you follow here, you know that is a trend of mine…) This means, I ended up with 64 titles on my #mustreadin2023 list which I’ve separated into middle grade and young adult. (And to be honest, I am tempted to make an adult and graphic novel/manga list because I love having these lists as reminders!)

Middle Grade

  1. 12 to 22 by Jen Calonita
  2. The Accidental Apprentice (Wildlore #1) by Amanda Foody
  3. Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling
  4. Answers in the Pages by David Levithan
  5. Area 51 Interns: Alien Summer by James S. Murray & Carsen Smith
  6. Astrid the Unstoppable by Majia Parr
  7. Atlantis Rising by T.A. Barron
  8. The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Raúf
  9. The Mystery of Clockwork Sparrow (Sinclair’s Mysteries #1) by Katherine Woodfine
    *Oops! I thought it was just named The Clockwork Sparrow but it isn’t, so it is out of order alphabetically…
  10. Consider the Octopus by Nora Raleigh Baskin & Gae Polisner
  11. Cuba in my Pocket by Adrianna Cuevas
  12. Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat (Emmy #1) by Lynne Jonell
  13. Fifty-Four Things Wrong with Gwendolyn Brooks by Caela Carter
  14. The First Rule of Climate Club by Carrie Firestone
  15. H.I.V.E.: Higher Institute of Villainous Education (HIVE #1) by Mark Walden
  16. Troublemaker by John Cho
    *Oops! I thought it was named John Cho Troublemaker but it isn’t, so it is out of order alphabetically
  17. Love Like Sky #1 by Leslie C. Youngblood
  18. Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee
  19. The Midnight Children by Dan Gemeinhart
  20. My Own Lightning by Lauren Wolk
  21. New From Here by Kelly Yang
  22. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (Wingfeather Saga #1) by Andrew Peterson
  23. The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy (Penderwicks #1) by Jeanne Birdsall
  24. A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus
  25. The Prisoner of Cell 25 (Michael Vey #1) by Richard Paul Evans
  26. Race to the End of the World (Mapmaker Chronicles #1) by A.L. Tait
  27. Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca
  28. A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga
  29. Thirst by Varsha Bajaj
  30. The Tornado by Jake Burt
  31. Tuesdays at the Castle (Castle Glower #1) by Jessica Day George
  32. Tumble by Celia Pérez
  33. The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street (The Vanderbeekers #1) by Karina Yan Glaser
  34. Worser by Jennifer Ziegler

Young Adult

  1. Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
  2. All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
  3. Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer
    *This is a reread. I want to read the sequels, so I am starting at the beginning.
  4. The Extraordinaries (Extraordinaries #1) by T.J. Klune
    *This is a reread. I want to read the sequels, so I am starting at the beginning.
  5. Fatal Throne: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All by Candace Fleming, M.T. Anderson, Jennifer Donnelly, Stephanie Hemphill, Deborah Hopkinson, Linda Sue Park, and Lisa Ann Sandell
  6. The First to Die at the End (Death Cast #0) by Adam Silvera
  7. Five Survive by Holly Jackson
  8. Flight 171 by Amy Christine Parker
  9. Furia by Yamila Saied Méndez
  10. Gamechanger by Neal Shusterman
  11. Heartless by Marissa Meyer
  12. Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed
  13. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
  14. The Ivies by Alexa Donne
  15. Legendborn (Legendborn #1) by Tracy Deonn
  16. The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes
  17. Me: Moth by Amber McBride
  18. Murder Among Friends: How Leopold and Loeb Tried to Commit the Perfect Crime by Candance Fleming
  19. The Murder Game by Carrie Doyle
  20. The Naturals (The Naturals #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
  21. Nothing More to Tell by Karen McManus
  22. Queer Ducks (And Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality by Eliot Schrefer
  23. The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon
  24. The Selection (Selection #1) by Keira Cass
  25. Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1) by Tahereh Mafi
  26. Simone Breaks All the Rules (Simone Breaks All the Rules #1) by Debbie Rigaud
  27. So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix (Remixed Classics #2) by Bethany C. Morrow
  28. Steelheart (The Reckoners #1) by Brandon Sanderson
  29. Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
  30. Truly Devious (Truly Devious #1) by Maureen Johnson
  31. We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez
  32. We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds
  33. We Were Kings by Court Stevens
  34. What the Fact?: Debunking Disinformation to Detangle the Truth by Seema Yasmin

Happy reading in 2023, friends!!!
To see all the books I’m reading, visit my READ Goodreads shelf and feel free to follow 📖💙

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Author Guest Post: “Encouraging Young Readers” by Bethan Woollvin, Author of Three Little Vikings

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“Encouraging Young Readers”

The very first inklings of my new tale, Three Little Vikings came about back in early 2020 after I’d been spending a lot of time reading old Nordic tales over Christmas. I wanted to create another original tale centred around an era in history, just the same as my previous tale, Bo the Brave, which is set in a medieval kingdom. Deciding upon the Viking age, I began researching the era and diving deeper into the history, traditions, beliefs and folklore. During my research, I discovered that many Vikings believed in, and feared, all kinds of mythical creatures, which naturally I was fascinated by!

Steadily, my story developed, as did my characters. I began to draw this horrid forest-dwelling creature, who crashed and bashed his way through the Viking village. But who was going to stop this awful beast? I needed some mighty shield maidens. 

Naturally, akin to all my protagonists, they were going to be feisty, brave and full of wit – exactly what the Viking village needed with a destructive creature on the loose! Soon enough, I had created Helga, Ebba and Wren, my heroic Viking trio. 

But my three Little Vikings are faced with a bit of a problem. They discover that something or someone is causing chaos in the village, and despite raising the alarm and telling the Chieftain, they simply cannot get their voices heard. Having your voice disregarded or overlooked is a familiar feeling amongst women and young girls, and this book gave me the perfect opportunity to explore this further, weaving in an important message throughout the book. My aim when creating this book, was to encourage young readers to challenge authority, question the world around them, and to stand up and do something – even if your voice isn’t being heard. 

But Three Little Vikings isn’t all about rebellious children and challenging authority (though, I’m sure I’ll write that book one day). It’s a celebration of the friendship that Helga, Ebba and Wren share. The mighty little shield-maidens embrace each other’s strengths and differences, all while working together to rid their village of the horrid creature from the forest. If that’s not sisterhood, I’m not sure what is!  

Bringing Three Little Vikings into the classroom:

  1. Make your own Viking helmet – If you’re looking for a Viking-themed crafting activity, try creating a Viking helmet. This craft can be easily created using cardboard, scissors, tape and pencil, and involves making a simple band from cardboard to go around your head. You can get really creative with the design of your Viking helmet, and it can be adorned with all manner of things, including horns, buttons, feathers, jewels, or twigs!

  2. Make your own Viking shield – In Three Little Vikings, Helga carries a shield for protection. You could try crafting your very own Viking shield to protect you from that horrid troll! For this activity, you’ll need some cardboard, scissors, glue, markers, tape and any items you’d like to decorate your shield with. The shield is straightforward to make, created by cutting out several circles from card for the shield and a strip on the back for the handle. Have a go at decorating your shield with markers, tape and perhaps some jewels or buttons!

  3. Creating a wild garden troll – In Viking lore, trolls are known as mythical creatures that live in the wilderness in isolated caves, and can easily blend in with their natural surroundings. Make your own forest troll using materials that you find outside or in a garden. Using the troll in Three Little Vikings as inspiration, look for items that you would be able to use for different parts of the troll. Use glue to stick it all together, and just like that – you’ll have your very own garden troll!

  4. Baking Viking bread – For an authentic Viking experience, why not try baking some Viking bread? Hearty bread made from wheat and oats was a staple for most Viking diets, served with tasty soups or drizzled with honey. Yum! You’ll be pleased to know there’s plenty of free and easy recipes for Viking bread online for little hands to get busy with. But be careful of any looming trolls (they’re always hungry!)

  5. Viking Treasure Hunt – The horrid troll has been defeated and the Three Little Vikings, Helga, Ebba and Wren, are basking in their victory. But wait! All that precious Viking treasure has been strewn across the village…Find all the Viking treasure, count all of the jewels, gold and silver and make sure there isn’t any missing! This is a really simple activity, which involves a little imagination and some Viking treasure. (If you don’t have any coins or jewels, you could always have a go at making some from cardboard!) Begin by hiding your jewels and coins and encourage your Viking scavengers to find the missing treasure. Once they’ve picked up all of the treasure, make sure they count it all to check all the missing treasure has been found!

You can find a downloadable activity pack for Three Little Vikings and activities for Bethan’s other books by following this link: https://www.peachtreebooks.com/resources/

Published August 30th, 2022 by Peachtree

About the Book: Three little Vikings fight off a fearsome troll in this funny, feminist adventure story for little rebels from award-winning and critically acclaimed creator Bethan Woollvin.

Once upon a time in a Viking village, everything seems to be going wrong. Chickens are disappearing, trees are falling down, and there’s lots and lots of crashing and bashing. The silly Chieftain won’t listen to the three littlest Vikings, but can they work together to figure out what’s going on and save the day?

Three Little Vikings is all about cooperation, bravery, and getting your voice heard, from the creator of the New York Times Best Illustrated Book Little Red, Bethan Woollvin.

About the Author: Bethan Woollvin is a recent graduate of the Cambridge School of Art, where she won the prestigious Macmillan Children’s Book Competition with her version of Little Red Riding Hood. It was her first picture book. She lives in England.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bethanwoollvin/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bethanwoollvin
Website: https://t.co/kqJQaPJ22X

Thank you, Bethan, for sharing these fun activities that add enrichment to your book!

Author Guest Post: “Fridge Problems” by Josh Funk, Author of Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast #5: The Great Caper Caper

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“Fridge Problems”

First, thank you, Ricki and Kellee, for inviting me to post here at Unleashing Readers! It’s an honor to share on your awesome site.

As the fifth Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast adventure, The Great Caper Caper, was just released, I thought I’d share a little bit of what I talk about with students when I visit schools.

After reading one of the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast books and discussing how I wrote it and how Brendan Kearney illustrated it and how long (three and a half years) it took from the time I came up with the idea until it was available on bookshelves, I like to get some volunteers and create some characters. I’ll usually ask students to share their favorite foods and jobs they want to have when they grow up – and then we mash them together and end up with Doctor Pizza. Or Professor Cupcake. Or President Peanut. And we’ll make up a little story with these characters, but it doesn’t really get good until we introduce the most important ingredient: Conflict.

I tell students that in a story, we always need our characters to encounter some sort of challenge. Or something bad has to happen that they have to overcome. Or maybe we need … a villain (at which point I’ll rebrand the principal or librarian or some faculty member to be someone’s least favorite food mixed with a super scary animal/monster/creature. Say hello to Evil Mushroom Spider. Or Moldy Broccoli Vampire).

But conflict isn’t always a villain. In fact, when I write the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series, the conflict rarely is a villain (at least not directly). It’s usually a fridge problem. And I always try to keep them relatively kid-relatable.

I ask myself (and students) the question: What is a problem that could happen in a fridge?

  • Have you ever fought with a sibling over the last slice of pizza or last cookie or last drop of syrup? That’s what happens in the original Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast (the two titular characters race for the last drop of syrup).
  • Have you ever opened the fridge and smelled something kind of funny? That’s what happens in The Case of the Stinky Stench (a rotten smell threatens to take over the fridge)
  • Have you ever opened the fridge and things were too cold and starting to freeze? That’s what happens in Mission Defrostable (the fridge starts to freeze over).
  • Have you ever been excited to eat something, but when you took it out of the fridge it was all moldy and spoiled and gooey and gross? That’s what happens in Short & Sweet (Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast start to go stale).

And in the newest book in the series, The Great Caper Caper, fridge problem is: Have you ever opened the fridge and the light bulb had gone out?

I believe it’s important that conflicts have high stakes (pun intended). The higher the stakes the more satisfying the ending will be when the characters overcome the challenges. Sometimes the conflict affects the entire fridge community. Other times it’s more personal and affects only our main characters, but those stakes can be just as important.

So when it’s time to break out a pencil and paper and everyone creates their own characters, I always try to ask one question as I go around to see what all of the students have come up with:

What is the worst thing that could happen to your character?

And when they answer that all of the ketchup and mustard and relish paint was stolen from Art Teacher Hot Dog’s classroom, I tell them that that is the story they should write. And I can’t wait to see how their characters solve those conflicts.

Published November 15, 2020 by Union Square & Co

About the Book: Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast are back in a Las Veggies heist for the ages!

Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast awake one morning to near-darkness. Who could possibly have stolen the fridge light? And what if the fridge is—gasp—dark all the time? Not to worry; Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast are on the case! Along with their friends, they assemble blueprints, collect supplies, and investigate. Will they bring the fridge back to its bright self, or will they have to live in semi-darkness . . . forever?

About the Author: Josh Funk writes silly stories such as the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series (including sequels The Case of the Stinky Stench, Mission Defrostable, Short & Sweet, and The Great Caper Caper), the How to Code with Pearl and Pascal series (including How to Code a Sandcastle and How to Code a Rollercoaster), the It’s Not a Fairy Tale series (including ​It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk, It’s Not Hansel and Gretel, It’s Not Little Red Riding Hood, and It’s Not the Three Little Pigs), the A Story of Patience & Fortitude series in conjunction with the New York Public Library (including Lost in the Library and Where Is Our Library?), Dear Dragon, My Pet Feet, and more.

Josh grew up in New England and studied Computer Science in school. Today, he still lives in New England and when not writing Java code or Python scripts, he drinks Java coffee and writes manuscripts. Since the fall of 2015, Josh has presented (or virtually presented) at over 650 schools, classrooms, and libraries.

Josh is terrible at writing bios, so please help fill in the blanks. Josh enjoys _______ during ________ and has always loved __________. He has played ____________ since age __ and his biggest fear in life is being eaten by a __________.

For more information about Josh Funk, visit him at www.joshfunkbooks.com and on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at @joshfunkbooks.

Thank you, Josh, for this fantastic idea as well as your always present and loveable humor!

Atlas Obscura: Explorer’s Guide for The World’s Most Adventurous Kid by Dylan Thuras and Rosemary Mosco; Illustrations by Joy Ang

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Atlas Obscura: Explorer’s Guide for The World’s Most Adventurous Kid
Author: Dylan Thuras and Rosemary Mosco
Illustrator: Joy Ang
Published: July 19, 2022 by Workman Publishing Company

Goodreads Summary: Journey to the World’s Most Mysterious Places

Created by the same team behind Atlas Obscura, the #1 New York Times bestseller that has over 600,000 copies in print in its first year, The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid is a thrillingly imaginative expedition to 100 weird-but-true places on earth. And just as compelling is the way the book is structured—hopscotching from country to country not by location but by type of attraction. For example, visit the site of the Tunguska event in Siberia, where a meteor slammed into the earth in 1908—and then skip over to the Yucatan, ground zero for the ancient meteor crash that caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs. Then, while in Mexico, tour the fantastical Naica caves, home to crystals ten times larger than the average person—then, turn the page to Vietnam to a cave so vast you  could fly a 747 through it. Illustrated in gorgeous and appropriately evocative full-color art, this book is a passport to a world of hidden possibilities.

Ricki’s Review: The images in this book are absolutely captivating. My children read a few pages each day (and seem to think their parents have an unlimited wallet for travel). This is the kind of book that really appeals to me as an adult who reads to my kids. I am absolutely fascinated by the places in this book, so it makes for a wonderful shared reading. I highly recommend this one.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Teachers might ask students to create an Atlas Obscura of their community. Each student can take a local place that is “obscura” and write a description. The book can be compiled and bound. Another idea is to have students select one of the places as the setting for a story. This book inspires story!

Discussion Questions: 

  • Which places do you want to visit most?
  • What did each of these places remind you of?
  • How did the illustrations enhance your reading?

Flagged Spread:

 

Recommended For: 

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RickiSig

**Thank you go Barbara at Blue Slip Media for providing a copy for review!**

Crayola: Follow That Line!: Magic at Your Fingertips by JaNay Brown-Wood

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Press Here
Author: JaNay Brown-Wood
Illustrator: Rob Justus
Published July 26, 2022 by Running Press Kids

Goodreads Summary: Do you want to know a secret? You have magic in your fingertips!

Use your fingers to follow a line and help it burst into color. Make magic with blooming flowers, tall mountain tops, splashing waves, and more by tracing lines with all four fingers and your thumb. Celebrate the power of creating artwork with Crayola products in this delightful and bright interactive book.

Ricki’s Review: My children LOVED this book. I’ve read it multiple times to them in the past few days. Kids of all ages will have a lot of fun with this one. It’s interactive (sort of in the style of Let’s Play by Hervé Tullet), and it asks kids to follow the line as they create the magic of the book. The colors are bright, and the writing is very engaging. This book would make an amazing holiday gift for a child or teacher.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: After we read this book the first time, my kids were inspired to draw. It would be really neat for each student in a class to draw one page of their own Follow That Line book (fanfiction at its best). The teacher could ask the students how they should organize the pages for a cohesive story and bind the book.

Discussion Questions: 

  • Which page was your favorite, and why?
  • What might the author’s purpose be for this book?
  • How does the book creatively reach readers?

We Flagged: “Do you want to know a secret? You have magic in your fingers. Want to see? Turn the page.”

Read This If You Love: Interactive books, art

Recommended For: 

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RickiSig