Perfect Picture Book Fridays: Julius…The Baby of the World

Posted on March 2, 2012 by viviankirkfield

Today is Perfect Picture Book Friday where I link up with Susannah Leonard Hill’s fantastic group of writers who contribute a picture book review and related resources. Before I do the review, I have a few things I need to share with you.

My little poem, Fears of the Inner Child, took second place in Marylin Warner’s February Poetry Contest. You can see all of the awesome entries on her blog: Things I Want to Tell My Mother.

It’s also the beginning of a new month…so we will be choosing the February winner of the Positive Parental Participation Reading Challenge and sending a picture book out in the next few days. I know parents are so very busy…but I hope you are reading with your children every day, even if you are not able to post a comment.

Since February has come to an end, it’s also time to check-in with the 12 x 12 group…yes…my February picture book draft is completed.

Last, but not least, today is Dr. Seuss’ birthday!!! For more information, resources and events, you can go to the official Dr. Seuss website.

Oh…sorry…one more thing! Don’t forget that March 7th is World Read Aloud Day…go to the LitWorld website to find out about planned events…or celebrate by reading aloud to kids. I just got back from reading Spaghetti Eddie to 15 Pre-K children…they LOVED it! Fifteen hands shot up when I asked “Who likes to eat spaghetti?” Next week, to join in celebrating World Read Aloud Day, I’ll be reading Julius – The Baby of the World, to 20 Pre-K kids at Keller School.

You can also visit Ella Johnson’s wonderful website to get more information about the NEA’s Read Across America program and to enter to win several books and hop from there to over 100 other blog sites that are hosting book giveaways.

And now…(drumroll please)…Perfect Picture Book Friday.

My picture book selection today is one of the hundred picture books I recommend in my book for parents and teachers, Show Me How. Julius: The Baby of the World is a veritable “baby” compared to some of the others I have picked…only twenty-two years old…but again, as relevant today as when it was published in 1990.

Julius: The Baby of the World

Written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes

Publishers: Greenwillow Press

Ages: 3 – 8

Themes:

Sibling rivalry, bullying, celebrating an individual’s unique strengths and talents

Opening:

“Before Julius was born, Lilly was the best big sister in the world. She gave him things. She told him secrets. And she sang lullabies to him every night.”

Synopsis:

Lilly eagerly awaits the birth of her baby brother, but when Julius finally arrives, Lilly wishes that he would go away. Her jealousy causes her to resent the attention her mother and father shower on Julius, even though they continue to treat her with love and affection as well. She sings mean songs to him, tweaks his tail and draws a family portrait leaving Julius out of the picture. Her parents call Julius, the baby of the world, but Lilly wishes he would go away so that things would go back to the way they were before he was born. At a family party for the baby, her cousin begins insulting Julius. What will Lilly do…join her cousin in making fun of Julius…or defend her baby brother?

Why I like this book:

Sibling rivalry is a common occurrence. Many children resent the arrival of a new baby…and why shouldn’t they? Now they have to share the time and attention of their parents…and sharing is a difficult skill to learn. Reading this book to a young child who is in that situation would provide parents with a great opportunity to engage with their child and discuss how their child is feeling about the situation..allowing the child to express his or her feelings. The author/illustrator, Kevin Henkes, uses his amazing talent for knowing just what little ones are thinking and feeling. Lilly leans over and whispers to her baby brother, “If you were a number, you would be zero.” The book is funny and heartwarming. If I could change anything about the book, I would wish that Lilly was not such a bully as she insists that her cousin praise Julius. Perhaps this is Lilly’s persona…but I would rather end with her learning a “kinder, gentler” way to encourage others to see things her way.

Related Activities:

When I read picture books to kindergarten and Pre-K classes, I always follow-up the story with a simple arts and crafts project. Not only does this extend the learning experience, it also gives the kids a chance to talk about the story and how it relates to their own situation.

For this story, I love to make Popsicle stick puppets. The kids love this activity…and then can do role-playing with the puppets they have made…another opportunity for them to express their feelings. Parents can encourage their children to put on a puppet show with the family of puppets they have made and then join in, perhaps taking the role of the child while the child becomes the mother or father.

Popsicle Stick Puppets

You will need: Several Popsicle sticks, construction paper, markers or crayons, scissors and glue.

1. Let your child decide how many puppets to make and who they will be.

2. Draw the people (you can also use people cut out from magazines).

3. Cut out the people and paste them onto the top half of each Popsicle stick.

4. Put on a play!

The above image is from the blog of Muffin Tin Mom.

Read/Write/Think has a lesson plan for Julius the Baby of the World.

You can find lots of quick and easy instructions for Popsicle stick puppets at ehow.com here

Education.com also has great puppet-making instructions here.

This post is part of a series for parents and teachers called Perfect Picture Book Fridays hosted by Susannah Leonard Hill. Click on her link and find lots of other picture book suggestions with summaries and activities.

Seeing a new picture in picture books (mummumstheword.wordpress.com)

PPBF: Crow Boy and World Read Aloud Day

Posted on February 24, 2012 by viviankirkfield

Today is Perfect Picture Book Friday where I link up with Susannah Leonard Hill’s fantastic group of writers who contribute a picture book review and related resources. Parents and teachers can find the best of the best in picture books…a little synopsis, a thoughtful review, and an activity and/or resources to extend the learning experience. This is a great way for parents and teachers to preview a book before they take it out of the library or spend money buying it.

My selection today is another classic picture book recommended in Show Me How!…this one from 1955…the author/illustrator, Taro Yashima, won the Caldecott Honor Book Award.

World Read Aloud Day is coming up on March 7^th and I thought that Crow Boy would be a perfect choice to get us all in a global awareness mood.

Crow Boy

Written and illustrated by Taro Yashima

Publishers: Viking Juvenile (original edition 1955), Picture Puffins (1976)

Ages: 4 – 8

Themes: Celebrating the uniqueness of each individual, bullying/teasing, mastering tasks and skills, positive attitude, goal-setting, fitting in.

Opening: “On the first day of our village school in Japan, there was a boy missing. He was found hidden away in the dark space underneath the schoolhouse.”

Synopsis: Many years ago, in a small village school in the countryside of Japan, a young boy attends school. Chibi is always perceived as stupid and is treated as an outcast by the other students. When Mr. Isobe, the new teacher, observes Chibi’s strengths and talents (the boy is a wonderful artist and is also the only person with perfect school attendance even though he has to walk seven miles to school each day), he encourages the boy to participate in the school pageant with an imitation of the voices of crows. Does Chibi’s performance have any effect on how the children perceive him? Remember the talent show in Oliver Button is a Sissy.

Why do I like this book:

Wonderful illustrations give the reader the sense of the small rural area in Japan…I love books that give young children a window on the world. The story addresses many important issues as well…bullying/teasing, teacher recognition and encouragement of a student’s gifts and talents, overcoming obstacles in order to achieve one’s goals…as relevant today as it was almost sixty years ago when it was first published.

Related Activities:

Black and White Painting

Although Crow Boy had a difficult time expressing himself verbally, he was able to do so more easily with his artwork. Painting is a wonderful way to allow a young child to express his feelings and to encourage his creativity.

You will need: Paper (construction paper or grocery bag cut open), black and white non-toxic tempera paint, brushes (or Q-tips) and coverups to protect work surfaces and clothing.

1. Cover the work surface and your clothing to protect from splatters.

2. Pour a small amount of black and white paint into two separate containers.

3. Let your child paint several pictures using different size brushes and/or Q-tips.

4. When dry, hang up this amazing art.

5. Tip to parents and teachers: Art is one thing…crafting is another. Art is pure expression. Crafting is following certain rules or steps to produce a particular product. This activity is art…the child is creating whatever he or she desires…if you ask, “What is this?” or you inquire, “Didn’t you forget the dog’s tail?”…you are passing judgement on your child’s creative voice…I beg you, please don’t! You can engage with your child by asking, “Please tell me about your art.” In praising, it is more empowering to say, “I’m so proud of how hard you worked making thick strokes and thin strokes. Was it difficult?” instead of just saying, “That’s nice!”

Crayola official website with lots of arts and crafts activities and print-outs for kids.

Website for the Japanese American National Museum where you can purchase the documentary narrated by Mr. Yashimo, Golden Village.

Taro Yashimo papers in the de Grummond Collection

SAVE THE DATE:

WORLD READ ALOUD DAY…MARCH 7TH

Do you have anything special planned?

You can go to LitWorld’s website to get more information and/or register…there will be events online and in different locales around the world.

They are a global literacy organization that aims to help entire communities through books. We all that that, I know! According to their website:

“LitWorld’s mission is to use the power of story to cultivate literacy skills in the world’s most vulnerable children through Education, Advocacy and Innovation. Lit World creates resilience building reading and writing experiences which connect and fortify communities.”

2012 Positive Parental Participation Reading Challenge Comment Page for February (viviankirkfield.wordpress.com)
New Picture Book Expert (natashawing.wordpress.com)

PPBF: Millions of Cats and some awards

Posted on February 17, 2012 by viviankirkfield

English: Wanda Gág (1893-1946), American autho...

Image via Wikipedia

Today is Perfect Picture Book Friday where I link up with Susannah Leonard Hill’s fantastic group of writers who contribute a picture book review and related resources.

My selection today is another classic picture book…this one from 1928…the author/illustrator, Wanda Gag, won the 1929 Newbery Honor Book Award. According to Wikipedia, Ms. Gag pioneered the double page spread in this book. “She used both pages to move the story forward, putting them together with art that sweeps across the entire page spread.”

Millions of Cats is the oldest American picture book still in print!

Millions of Cats

Written and illustrated by Wanda Gag

Publishers: Coward McCann (1928 original edition), Penguin (more recent editions)

Ages: 2 – 8

Themes: Celebrating the uniqueness of each individual, caring for pets, companionship

Opening: “Once upon a time there was a very old man and a very old woman. They lived in a nice clean house which had flowers all around it, except where the door was. But they couldn’t be happy because they were so very lonely.”

Synopsis: A lonely old couple want a pretty little cat to keep them company. When the husband finds a hillside FILLED with cats, he has trouble picking the prettiest…and all of the cats follow him home. “Cats here, cats there, cats and kittens everywhere. Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats.”

When the man and his wife leave it up to the cats to determine who is the prettiest, mayhem breaks out and the couple run into their house! Will the cats be able to choose who is the prettiest? Will the old couple get the cat that they want?

Why do I like this book:

The Rhyme!

The Rhythm!

The Illustrations!

The fact that this book is over EIGHTY years old and adults and children still love it and it is still in print! Kudos to Ms. Gag!

The Story! The results of the catfight are somewhat grisly…but the underdog (or should I say, undercat) wins out…through modesty and non-violence…definitely an important message for today’s world!

Related Activities:

New Hampshire Public TV has a kid-lit site where Caldecott Award winning books are read. You can hear Millions of Cats here: http://video.nhptv.org/video/1688016012/

Anita Silvey’s Children’s Book-of-Days Almanac has a wonderful review of the book and additional information about Wanda Gag and her groundbreaking picture book work here: http://childrensbookalmanac.com/2010/12/millions-of-cats/

Scholastic has a page that provides some guidance for parents and teachers on how to use the book to encourage discussions about caring for others here: http://westonwoods.scholastic.com/products/westonwoods/study_guides/millions_of_cats.pdf

Last week I shared the Valentine Boat made from a shoebox. Plain brown paper bags also make very versatile (and inexpensive) craft projects for kids. I found this awesome cat made from a paper bag here: http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/mbagcat.htm Dltk-kids.com a wonderful resource for craft ideas.

You will need: Plain brown (or white) paper lunch-size bag, 2 pieces of construction paper (one should probably be black for the eyes and whiskers and the other can be pink…or any other color your child would prefer), glue, scissors, crayons or markers.

1. Cut from the black paper: 2 pupils for the eyes and 6 whiskers.

2. Cut from the other color paper: 2 eyes, oval stomach, nose, 2 triangles for ears, several small circles for the paws and a small triangle for the mouth.

3. Place the closed bag with the open end down and attach the eyes, nose, ears, mouth, paw pads and whiskers with glue.

4. Use marker or crayons to draw the line from the nose to the mouth and add other lines to make the bag more cat-like.

When dry, this cat-bag can be used as a puppet for role-playing or as a snack bag for a special book-reading picnic where Millions of Cats is read aloud!

I also wanted to thank Catherine Johnson, one of my new kid-lit picture book writing blogging friends for giving me the Liebster Blog Award and the Kreativ Blogger Award…you can see what she’s up to at: http://catherinemjohnson.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/campaign-trails-and-blog-awards/

This award comes with instructions to pass it along to others:

Bern at Momto2Postlildivas: http://www.momto2poshlildivas.com/ for her Sunday Showcase link-up that provides parents and teachers with an unbelievable array of crafts for kids.

Barbara at Spanish for Kiddos: http://www.spanish4kiddos.com/

D at Spanish Pinay: http://spanishpinaynanay.blogspot.com

Danae Farias at Believing Unbeliever: http://www.danaefarias.com/

Heather at Saved by Love: http://www.heather-riggleman.com/

PiP at Piglet in Portugal: http://pigletinportugal.com/

I hope you will take a few minutes and visit these great bloggers…they all have important things to say…and they say them very well!