Unleashing Readers

Women Who Broke the Rules: Sacajawea, Judy Blume, Sonia Sotomayor, and Dolley Madison by Kathleen Krull

November 4, 2015 by Kellee

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!

Women Who Broke the Rules series
Sacajawea: Lewis and Clark Would Be Lost without Me
Judy Blume: Are You There, Reader? It’s Me, Judy!
Sonia Sotomayor: I’ll Be the Judge of That!
Dolley Madison: Parties Can Be Patriotic
Author: Kathleen Krull
Illustrators: Various
Published 2015 by Bloomsbury

Publisher’s Summary: Many awe-inspiring women have changed the course of history. From fighting for social justice and women’s rights to discovering and shaping our amazing country, women have left an indelible mark on our past, present, and future. But it’s not easy to affect change, and these women didn’t always play by the rules to make a difference! Kathleen Krull blends history and humor in this accessible young biography series.

My Review: I was first introduced to this series at Kid Lit Frenzy in June when Alyson shared these four biographies with us (along with an informative Q&A and a fun quiz), and as soon as I read her posts, I knew I had to get my hands on them. I am a huge fan of well-done biographies because I think they are an essential part of spreading history into a new generation’s memory. I am an even bigger fan of well-done biographies of strong women. While there has been a good chunk of biographical picture books lately about women, I am very happy to see that students will have longer biographies to explore strong women from history. I also really like that Krull’s series has a mix of contemporary and historical figures and is filled with diversity. Next Krull will be sharing Coretta Scott King and Mary Todd Lincoln’s life.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: There are so many ways these books will be used and loved in the classroom. First, add them to your classroom libraries! Krull’s biographies will be a wonderful rung above picture book biographies and below the “big head biographies” on a reading ladder. Also, they would a perfect addition to a unit on women in history and could definitely be used in inquiry lit circles where each group became an expert of a different female leader to share with the class.

Discussion Questions: In what way did ____ play a part in history?; Why was ____ included in the Women Who Broke the Rules series? What rules did she break? How did it change her part in history?

We Flagged: “Like most little kids, Judy Blume had a lot of questions. Okay, maybe more than most kids. What she didn’t have were answers. She grew up in a stifling time, when the rules stopped people from being honest and real.” (p. 7, Judy Blume)

“Was Sacajawea skittish about traveling into the unknown with an infant strapped to her back on a cradle board? Was she scared to be the only woman in a large group of men? We don’t know. The men seemed to treat her with respect, calling her ‘a good creature, of a mild and gentle disposition.'” (p. 13, Sacajawea)

“A girl grows up in a tough neighborhood. Her poor immigrant parents don’t speak English and don’t get along. She tackles a serious illness. . . and rises, rises, rises to become one of the country’s guiding lights.” (p. 7, Sonia Sotomayor)

“Dolley Payne was born with extra zip. And she was going to need as much energy as she could muster.” (p. 7, Dolley Madison)

Check out Kid Lit Frenzy’s post for interior artwork.

Read These If You Loved: Biographies

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Linette at Bloomsbury for providing copies for review!**

Top Ten Tuesday: Movies We’d Like to See Adapted Into Books

November 3, 2015 by Ricki

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.

Today’s Topic: Movies We’d Like to See Adapted Into Books

The book to movie route is common, but we are switching it up and writing about the movies we’d like to see adapted into books!

Ricki

Let me start by saying I don’t like movies very much (insert gasp). My husband laughed when I told him I was writing this post. We compiled this list together, and took us a long time. I would much rather read a book than watch a movie, and the fewer movies I watch, the more I stray from them. Most nights, my husband watches a movie on the TV, and I sit next to him, curled up with a book.

1. Crazy Stupid Love

This is my favorite movie. It was so enjoyable, and the weaving plot lines would make for a great book.

2. Downton Abbey (TV Series. I am cheating.)

They are making a movie, right? This series would translate really well to literature!

3. Hotel Rwanda

This movie gutted me. I showed it every year to my students, and it promoted a lot of discussion. I’d love it in book form.

4. The Thing Called Love

I used to watch this movie hundreds of times when I was growing up. It would have to come with a CD, too, I suppose, because the music is important.

5. Any Movie with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore

I love every comedy made by this duo (including Blended, not pictured). I am not sure if they’d translate well to books, but I’d read them!

Kellee

Ricki, I so agree about Sandler/Barrymore movies! Here are some of my favorite movies that I would love to read as a book.

1. American History X

What an epic movie, and I would love an extended version to learn more about the characters and get deeper into the story.

2. Memento

It would be so interesting to see how Memento would be executed as a book. The way clues are shared throughout the movie would be fascinating to read. (Memento is technically based on a short story, but I would love to see it as a book.)

3. Pulp Fiction

I really love movies where a bunch of different story lines come together, and I love books that are the same, and Pulp Fiction is one of the best.

4. In Time

I loved the premise of this dystopian movie, and I would love to have a series based around the world.

5. Any Pixar Movie

I love all Pixar movies, and I would love to have novels about the movies. There are picture books about them, but I would love to see these expanded.

Which movies would you like to see adapted into books?

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 11/2/15

November 5, 2015November 2, 2015 by Kellee

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

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme started by Sheila at Book Journeys and now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 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!

Kellee and Jen, of Teach Mentor Texts, 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

Kelly G.

for winning copies of Mercy Watson to the Rescue and the two Deckadoo Drive books AND a Mercy Watson plush!

Last Week’s Posts

Tuesday: Scariest Topics

Wednesday: Baba Yaga’s Assistant by Marika McCoola

Thursday: Monstrous Fun by Travis Nichols

Friday: Reviews and Giveaway! Monster Books from Sterling Children’s Books

Giveaway open until Thursday!

Sunday: Author Guest Post!: “Games to Battle Writer’s Block” by Madelyn Rosenberg, Author of How to Behave at a Dog Show and Nanny X Returns

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: This week, I finished The Lost Tribes by C. Taylor-Butler. This book ended up being quite a ride and was much different than I expected when I started! I look forward to sharing this title with you all and with ALAN attendees! I also read the four Women Who Broke the Rules books to review them for you this week. Such a wonderful series!

Ricki: This week, I finished The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine. What a beautifully complex book! I imagine that teachers love using this book because there is so much to analyze!

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: This week, I plan on rereading Eleanor and Park in preparation for my AEWA NCTE session. I’m also going to start listening to The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates #3 starting tomorrow, and I am so excited because I loved the first two! I also have Hook’s Revenge #2 to read if I get to it this week.

Ricki: I am almost finished with Surviving Santiago by Lyn Miller-Lachmann. I haven’t read Gringolandia (the companion to this book), but I’ve loved getting to know Tina Aguilar and learning about the setting of Chile.

I am also diving into the adult world of books. I am reading Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates in short spurts because I need time to digest it. It is very well-written. And I’ve loved listening to the audio of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. I can’t tell if I love it so much because it is a neat story or if it is because the reader (Ari Fliakos) does such a great job. This may be my favorite audio that I’ve ever listened to.

Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday

Tuesday: Top Ten Movies We Would Like to See Adapted into Books

Wednesday: Women Who Broke the Rules

Thursday: Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond

Friday: Elwood Bigfoot: Wanted: Birdie Friends! by Jill Esbaum

Sunday: Author Guest Post!: “Choosing Your Stepping Stones” by Margaret R. Chiavetta, Author of The Alchemist’s Theorem: Sir Duffy’s Promise

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!

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“Games to Battle Writer’s Block” by Madelyn Rosenberg, Author of How to Behave at a Dog Show and Nanny X Returns

November 1, 2015 by Ricki

“Games to Battle Writer’s Block”

A few years ago, I visited a fifth grade classroom after a long week of state testing. The students were still grumbling, particularly about the writing test, which was new that year in Virginia. They’d spent weeks practicing various writing prompts. But some of them still got stuck.

“Writer’s block,” one of them told me. I’d seen the same expression on my daughter’s face after a recent soccer loss. I hated to think the kids felt like they were losing at writing, too.

But there was good news: If they had writer’s block, that meant they were thinking of themselves as writers. The bad news, of course, is that thinking like a writer didn’t help with the stuck part. I spent part of my time in the classroom talking about the games professional writers sometimes play when they’re stuck, too. It wouldn’t help with that year’s school testing. But maybe it would help loosen the students up when they received classroom writing prompts in the years ahead. I’m listing some of my writing games here, in the hopes they’ll be of help in other classrooms as well.

Game 1: Fortunately/Unfortunately

In this game, I start out with a simple prompt, usually based on the classroom teacher: “Mrs. Wohlford walked into the classroom carrying a giant box.”

Then I walk around the room, tapping heads like we’re playing Duck, Duck, Goose.

“Unfortunately,” I say, tapping Head No. 1.

The kid in the Minecraft shirt, picks up the story. “Unfortunately the box was full of snakes.”

I touch another head. “Fortunately.”

“Fortunately the snakes weren’t poisonous,” says a girl with a Katniss braid.

I touch the shoulder of the girl sitting next to her. “Unfortunately…” I begin.

“… one of them was,” she finishes.

By the time we make it around the classroom, poor Mrs. Wohlford has died and been resuscitated about six times. I make sure to end on a “fortunately.”

My son’s friend Patrick, who has played this game with us a few times, says it reminds him of the Direct TV commercials (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ80SVOHKoo). Except in the Direct TV commercials, they don’t live happily ever after.

Game 2: What if?

I ask myself this when I’m not satisfied with a plot point. And then I ask myself again. And again. And again. I ask until I have a situation that will move my story onward and upward.

In the classroom, I give the kids a scenario. “The fifth graders were sitting quietly at their desks, just before lunch. What if?”

Hands pop up like popcorn.

“What if they heard a rumble and aliens landed on the roof?”

“What if an earthquake split the classroom in two?”

“What if a dinosaur broke loose from the Smithsonian and grew flesh and stuff and started charging toward the school.”

Admittedly in this game, we are often dealing with an elementary school version of the apocalypse. But there’s plenty of laughter, too.

Game 3: Take a walk.

This isn’t a game so much as an activity, but take a walk. When I have true writer’s block, nothing unblocks me more quickly than changing the scenery and going for a walk outside. A walk outside with your students might be a great way to unstick them, too. And it’s also something they can do if they get stuck in their writing at home.

If you’re unable to walk, due to time constraints or weather, try suggesting a change of scenery in the writing prompt itself. Have the students move their character outside, to a park, to the mountains, to the sea.

Game 4: Reverse the order.

Stuck on a beginning? Have the students start in the middle or at the end. Sometimes, initial writing directions can be intimidating: Write five paragraphs, use complete sentences, don’t forget your summary sentence, etc. It’s not as daunting if you plunge in, kind of like jumping off the diving board without testing the water.

Once you’re in, you’re in deep.

Game 5: Add an elephant.

When students get stuck, have them add an extra ingredient that can change the plot, even if it doesn’t make total sense. There’s a lot that can happen when an elephant lumbers into the cafeteria.

Or better yet, keep a jar full of types of animals, planets, natural disasters, and methods of time travel on your desk. When the kids get stuck, let them pluck something from the jar to add into their story. Bonus activity: Have the kids fill the jar themselves–their own arsenal of writer’s block busters.

Game 6: Pass it on.

Remember the Exquisite Corpse game you used to play as a kid? Someone draws the head, then folds the paper and you draw the middle, and then you fold the paper and pass it to a friend for the legs? This works the same way, except with a story.

Students split into groups of three. They can each write a beginning, and then pass the story around so a different student writes the middle and a third student writes the end. They can do it completely blind, to make a nonsense story. Or they can do it reading one line from the section above. Either way, the results are always fun. And that’s exactly how we want students to think of writing.

About the Author:

Madelyn Rosenberg is the author of eight books for kids of all ages. Her most recent books include Nanny X Returns and How to Behave at a Dog Show. Visit her online at www.madelynrosenberg.com or @madrosenberg.

About the Books:

How to Behave at a Dog Show

In How to Behave at a Dog Show, a picture book written by me and illustrated by Heather Ross, Julia and Charles learn that Rexie is not exactly Best-in-Show material. But he IS best at lots of other things. We’re hoping readers will see what’s best in their own pets, and in themselves. This book can be used in classrooms as a mentor text (How to Behave at a Tea Party is also in the series and kids could easily discuss how to do anything!) I also have a guide for how to host a classroom pet show. I’m attaching the link for that here, along with the link for the book trailer my son made for me. Teacher’s Guide

Nanny X Returns

Nanny X Returns is a middle-grade novel. The first book in the series, Nanny X, has found favor among reluctant readers and I’m hoping this book will, too. The first Nanny X is a finalist for the Land of Enchantment Book Award. The follow-up chases Nanny X and her young charges around Washington, D.C., as they attempt to save our national treasures from someone named The Angler, who wants a statue of a fish installed on the White House lawn. I’m enclosing a discussion guide that can be used in classrooms. Teacher’s Guide

Thank you to Madelyn for these fantastic games and activities to battle writer’s block!

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Reviews and Giveaway!: The Color Monster by Anna Llenas, Dining with Monsters by Agnese Baruzzi, Mind Your Monsters by Catherine Bailey, and Monster Trouble! by Lane Fredrickson

October 30, 2015 by Kellee

The Color Monster: A Pop-Up Book of Feelings
Author and Illustrator: Anna Llenas
Published September 1st, 2015 by Sterling Children’s Books

Goodreads Summary: We teach toddlers to identify colors, numbers, shapes, and letters—but what about their feelings? By illustrating such common emotions as happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and calm, this sensitive book gently encourages young children to open up with parents, teachers, and daycare providers. And kids will LOVE the bright illustrations and amazing 3-D pop-ups on every page!

Kellee’s Review: I was blown away by this book. The personification (monsterfication?) of the emotions were so well done. It is hard to explain without showing an example:

Llenas did a beautiful job making entire scenes and monsters that embodied the emotions. I also liked the uniqueness of the pop ups. They were multimedia with collages and rope.

Ricki’s Review: Opening a pop-up book is exciting. Opening this pop-up book is mind-blowing. This text is a work of art, and I kept spinning the book in different ways while wondering, “Wow. How did she do that?” My son couldn’t keep his hands off of this book. It is quite magical. Every child deserves to have this book. It would make a great gift.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: The Color Monster would be a great text to mix socio-emotional lessons with academic lessons. While reading the book, the class can discuss the different emotions, why the author illustrated them the way she did, and how emotions look in real life. Then students could choose emotions and illustrate them with their own setting and monster.

Recommended For:

Dining With…Monsters!: A Disgusting Way to Count to 10!
Author and Illustrator: Agnese Baruzzi
Published September 1st, 2015 by White Star Kids

Goodreads Summary: What do hungry monsters like to eat? 1 spider swallowed whole, 2 leaping frogs, and 3 entire whales for the ogre with gigantic claws and scales! And for Mr. One-Eye, four mice are very nice. Kids will enjoy this fun feast of a counting book, with 10 colorful creatures and their meals of grasshoppers, scorpions, owls, and prickly porcupines. Foldout pages and simple, humorous rhyming text make this a delight to read aloud.

Kellee’s Review: This book is so much fun! Trent had such a fun time reading this book with me because the flaps are like a little surprise each time you lift them. We would open and close them like the monsters’ mouths and make nom nom noises. The illustrations of the scary-ish, (though more) funny monsters are elaborate and colorful, and the text is quite funny.

Ricki’s Review: My son absolutely loves books with flaps, and he is a tough critic. If the flaps aren’t interesting enough, he tosses the book over his head. He was engaged in this book from the front to the back cover. At each flap, he started bouncing up and down in excitement. I am really happy to have this book because it will be very helpful for me as I teach my son to count. This is an excellent counting book, and I highly recommend it.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: What a fun text to use in early education classrooms to talk about colors, adjectives, rhyming, and counting! This text would be perfect for around Halloween because each page has a different monster that is described with adjectives then, with a flap flip, you find out a rhyming thing the monster eats. This text could also then lead to a writing activity with describing a monster and finding a rhyming thing for it to eat. Additionally, there are some great vocabulary words (shrieks, icky, grisly).

Recommended For:

Mind Your Monsters
Author: Catherine Bailey
Illustrator: Oriol Vidal
Published August 4th, 2015 by Sterling Children’s Books

Goodreads Summary: Vampires and werewolves and zombies—oh my! It’s a monster invasion, and the stinky-smelling creatures are destroying Wally’s peaceful little town. They scare the kids, knock over the lampposts, and make a mess of everything. And no one can stop them—until, fed up, Wally says . . . the magic word, “PLEASE.” Learning good manners has never been as monstrously fun!

Kellee’s Review: I love the realistic setting and character illustrations mixed with the huge, imaginative monsters in the book. It really brings the book to life. I also think the protagonists will be kids that readers can connect with because they just seem so real and easy-going. Also, this book will be a very fun book to read with kids because it really doesn’t go the way you think it is going to go when you start reading it (and the message is one that we want all kids to learn).

Side note: I appreciate the author including diversity in the town featured in the story. There are all different types of people which really does reflect society realistically.

Ricki’s Review: Parents and teachers love books about manners, and this book is no exception. Both teachers and parents will nod enthusiastically when Wally says, “Please.” The illustrations are gorgeous, and readers will be drawn to the beauty of this text. I loved the many different kinds of monsters that were featured in the story (from more traditional to contemporary). This will provide teachers and students with many opportunities to make connections to other texts about monsters and scary things!

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Like many teachers, we enjoy making social contracts with my students. Together, we created a list of rules and then signed the contract. It involves students in a more democratic process. We think that this book would be a great way to kick off a discussion on rules and manners. This could precede the creation of the social contracts.

Recommended For:

Monster Trouble!
Author: Lane Fredrickson
Illustrator: Michael Robertson
Published September 1st, 2015 by Sterling Children’s Books

Goodreads Summary: Nothing frightens Winifred Schnitzel—but she DOES need her sleep, and the neighborhood monsters WON’T let her be! Every night they sneak in, growling and belching and making a ruckus. Winifred constructs clever traps, but nothing stops these crafty creatures. What’s a girl to do? (Hint: Monsters HATE kisses!) The delightfully sweet ending will have every kid—and little monster—begging for an encore.

Kellee’s Review: What a fun premise and a great way to promote love instead of fear! I can just picture this book being paired with Monsters, Inc. to discuss perceptions and fears of monsters. Maybe teachers could even talk about where the folklores that started the “monster/bogeyman in your closet” fear. My only worry about reading this book aloud at bed time is that this book will make young readers think monsters are going to invade their room, but I think it is something we can discuss and hopefully move on from after talking about how there isn’t anything to be afraid of.

Ricki’s Review: The monsters in this book are illustrated in a silly way, which makes the concept of monsters much more approachable for kids. I was giggling as I read this one to my son, and that made him giggle, too. (Then, of course, I smothered him in kisses.) I loved the premise of this charming book and will absolutely be keeping it in my library for when my son develops a fear (monsters or not).

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Teachers could hold a classroom discussion of fears, and students might critically examine their fears. Winifred is quite brave, so the students could discuss how they would show bravery when they encounter their fears.

Recommended For:

Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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**Thank you to Josh at Sterling Children’s Books for providing copies for review!**

Monstrous Fun: A Doodle and Activity Book by Travis Nichols

October 29, 2015 by Ricki

Monstrous Fun: A Doodle and Activity Book
Author and Illustrator: Travis Nichols
Published: August 11, 2015 by Price Stern Sloan (Penguin Young Readers)

Goodreads Summary: You may think you know your holidays, but have you ever heard of Eggster? What about Fangsgiving? This fun-filled book has 64 pages of fantastic monster-themed activities, puzzles, and games, plus plenty of space to color, doodle, and imagine what these wild monster celebrations might look like. Get your pens and pencils ready, and start being monsterific-ly creative!

Ricki’s Review: We don’t typically review activity books on the blog, but we loved the way that this one takes a playful interpretation on holidays. Plus, it is Halloween week, so it is a perfect fit! This fun doodle and activity book is not intended for humans. The pages are designed only for monsters, and each activity flips a holiday on its head (from a monster’s perspective). This would be a great book for parents and teachers to get kids thinking about creatively reimagining the holidays. It would be a great kickstart to a creative writing unit.

Kellee’s Review: What I loved specifically about this activity book is the variety of fun it includes. For parents, kids, and adults alike, there are so many fun activities to do such as word searches, drawing & coloring, finding differences, mazes, hidden pictures, and more!

For teachers, I specifically like the Claws brothers trading cards which includes a photo, description, likes, and dislikes of each Claws brother. This would be a great start to writing a narrative or as a jumping off point for talking about characterization. There’s also Halloween songs that rhyme, made up holidays that could allow students to think out of the box and create their own, a comic to complete, and a page to design a machine that accomplishes a task. All of these activities are fun, but also have educational implications if done correctly.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Ask students to pick holidays they celebrate. Ask them to research customs and traditions of that holiday and to write a reflection about what that holiday means to them. Then, have all of the students design activities that creatively reimagine those holidays. This can lead to classroom conversations about perspective.

Discussion Questions: What are classic traditions behind holidays or traditions your family celebrates? How might these be different for other families?; How does the author take a monster’s perspective for this text? How might you use a different perspective in your own writing?; When creating a character, what should you think about?; What is essential in writing a comic?

We Flagged:

Image from: http://iamtravisnichols.com/monstrousfun

Read This If You Love: Warning: Do Not Open this Book by Adam Lehrhaupt; The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone; Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems; Activity, Coloring, and Doodle Books

Recommended For:

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**Thank you to Katharine at Penguin for providing copies for review!!**

Baba Yaga’s Assistant by Marika McCoola, Illustrated by Emily Carroll

October 28, 2015 by Kellee

Baba Yaga’s Assistant
Author: Marika McCoola
Illustrator: Emily Carroll
Published August 4th, 2015 by Candlewick Press

Goodreads Summary:

ASSISTANT WANTED ASAP
Must have skills in hauling, obeying orders, cooking, and cleaning. Magical talent a bonus. Must be good with heights. Enter Baba Yaga’s house to apply.

Most children think twice before braving a haunted wood filled with terrifying beasties to match wits with a witch, but not Masha. Her beloved grandma taught her many things: that stories are useful, that magic is fickle, and that nothing is too difficult or too dirty to clean. The fearsome witch of folklore needs an assistant, and Masha needs an adventure. She may be clever enough to enter Baba Yaga’s house on chicken legs, but within its walls, deceit is the rule. To earn her place, Masha must pass a series of tests, outfox a territorial bear, and make dinner for her host. No easy task, with children on the menu!

Wry, spooky and poignant, Marika McCoola’s debut–with richly layered art by acclaimed graphic artist Emily Carroll–is a storytelling feat and a visual fest.

Kellee’s Review: I first learned about Baba Yaga when I was in middle school, and I learned about Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition suites based on paintings by Viktor Hartmann. Suite 9, “The Hut on Fowl’s Legs” was based off of his painting of a clock in the form of Baba Yaga’s hut. Because I liked the music so much when I first heard it, I wanted to learn more about it, and one of the things I distinctly remember researching was Baba Yaga who I found fascinating! I then was reintroduced to Baba Yaga when I was reading the Fables series by Bill Willingham, and once again I went and read all about her folklore. Which meant when I saw that there was an upcoming graphic novel, my favorite!, about her, I had to get it.

Marika McCoola’s retelling of the Baba Yaga folktales does them justice. With a mix of classic stories of Baba Yaga and McCoola’s story of Masha, the book does a wonderful job of introducing the readers to who Baba Yaga is at the core, a conflicted witch, and also puts a twist on it all. Masha’s story is more than just an addition to Baba Yaga’s story though. She is the star. Her story is a sad one, and Baba Yaga may just be what she needs. This text will really start some discussions around Masha’s family status and why Baba Yaga and her may just be perfect for each other.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Although it isn’t necessary, knowing the history of Baba Yaga would definitely make the reading of this text even more meaningful. I would love to have Baba Yaga’s Assistant during a traditional literature unit looking at diverse folktales and retellings of those tales.

Discussion Questions: Why was Masha prone to working well with Baba Yaga?; How did Masha’s grandmother influence who she is today?; How did the author intertwine traditional literature with a new story of Baba Yaga?; What do you think is going to happen next?

We Flagged:

Read This If You Loved: Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz, Fairy Tale Comics edited by Chris Duffy, Rump by Liesl Shurtliff, Castle Waiting by Linda Medley, Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Candlewick for providing copies for review!**