Using Picture Books to Teach 8 Essential Literary Elements


Book Description

An annotated guide to 100 new and classic picture books that model the use of key literary elementsand appeal to grades 48 students."




Teaching Literary Elements with Picture Books


Book Description

Ready-to-go lessons for using picture books to teach the use of literary devices in writing.




The Power of Picture Books


Book Description

Picture books aren't just for little kids. They are powerful and engaging texts that can help all middle school students succeed in language arts, math, science, social studies, and the arts. Picture books appeal to students of all readiness levels, interests, and learning styles. Featuring descriptions and activities for fifty exceptional titles, Mary Jo Fresch and Peggy Harkins offer a wealth of ideas for harnessing the power of picture books to improve reading and writing in the content areas. The authors provide a synopsis of each title along with discipline-specific and cross-curricular activities that illustrate how picture books can be used to supplement--and sometimes even replace--traditional textbooks. They also offer title suggestions that create a "text set" of supporting resources. By incorporating picture books into the classroom, teachers across the disciplines can introduce new topics into their curriculum, help students develop nonfiction literacy skills, provide authentic and meaningful cultural perspectives, and help meet a wide range of learning needs.




Reading Picture Books with Children


Book Description

A new, interactive approach to storytime, The Whole Book Approach was developed in conjunction with the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and expert author Megan Dowd Lambert's graduate work in children's literature at Simmons College, offering a practical guide for reshaping storytime and getting kids to think with their eyes. Traditional storytime often offers a passive experience for kids, but the Whole Book approach asks the youngest of readers to ponder all aspects of a picture book and to use their critical thinking skills. Using classic examples, Megan asks kids to think about why the trim size of Ludwig Bemelman's Madeline is so generous, or why the typeset in David Wiesner's Caldecott winner,The Three Pigs, appears to twist around the page, or why books like Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express and Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar are printed landscape instead of portrait. The dynamic discussions that result from this shared reading style range from the profound to the hilarious and will inspire adults to make children's responses to text, art, and design an essential part of storytime.




Look Both Ways


Book Description

"A collection of ten short stories that all take place in the same day about kids walking home from school"--




The Ramped-Up Read Aloud


Book Description

In this remarkable resource, Maria Walther shares two-page read-aloud experiences for 101 picture books that tune you into what to notice, say, and wonder in order to bolster students’ literacy exponentially. A first-grade teacher for decades, Maria is a master of “strategic savoring.” Her lesson design efficiently sparks instructional conversations around each book’s cover illustration, enriching vocabulary words, literary language, and the ideas and themes vital to young learners. Teachers, schools, and districts looking to energize your core reading and writing program, search no further: The Ramped-Up Read Aloud delivers a formula for literacy development and a springboard to joy in equal parts.




Apples to Oregon


Book Description

The slightly true narrative of how a brave pioneer father brought apples, pears, plums, grapes, and cherries (and children) across the plains. Apples, ho! When Papa decides to pull up roots and move from Iowa to Oregon, he can’t bear to leave his precious apple trees behind. Or his peaches, plums, grapes, cherries, and pears. Oh, and he takes his family along too. But the trail is cruel. First there’s a river to cross that’s wider than Texas, then there are hailstones as big as plums, and then there’s even a drought, sure to crisp the cherries. Luckily Delicious (the nonedible apple of Daddy’s eye) won’t let anything stop her father’s darling saps from tasting the sweet Oregon soil. A hilarious tall tale from the team that brought you Fannie in the Kitchen that’s loosely based on the life of a real fruiting pioneer.




Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Newbery Honor Book)


Book Description

A Time Magazine 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time selection!​ A Reader’s Digest Best Children’s Book of All Time​! This stunning fantasy inspired by Chinese folklore is a companion novel to Starry River of the Sky and the New York Times bestselling and National Book Award finalist When the Sea Turned to Silver In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life's questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her family's fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer. Grace Lin, author of the beloved Year of the Dog and Year of the Rat returns with a wondrous story of adventure, faith, and friendship. A fantasy crossed with Chinese folklore, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a timeless story reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz and Kelly Barnhill's The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Her beautiful illustrations, printed in full-color, accompany the text throughout. Once again, she has created a charming, engaging book for young readers.




The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors


Book Description

New York Times Bestseller! 5 Starred Reviews! "Will have listeners in stitches." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Purely absurd, sidesplitting humor." —Booklist (starred review) "Demands bombastic, full-volume performances." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Perfect for a guffawing share with younger sibs or buddy read." —BCCB (starred review) "The sort of story that makes children love to read." —School Library Journal (starred review) From acclaimed, bestselling creators Drew Daywalt, author of The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home, and Adam Rex, author-illustrator of Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, comes a laugh-out-loud hilarious picture book about the epic tale of the classic game Rock, Paper, Scissors. "I couldn’t stop laughing while reading this aloud to a group of kids," commented the founder of Bookopolis.com, Kari Ness Riedel.




Rectangle Time


Book Description

Perfect for story time, New York Times Book Review editor Pamela Paul's funny and charming story about books, pets, and reading together will enchant readers of all ages. This spunky, self-assured cat has always loved Rectangle Time--when the boy and the man he lives with curl up with their rectangle and read aloud from it. The cat knows how helpful he is during Rectangle Time, of course--his presence is vital to the very ritual! But when the rectangle starts to get smaller, the stories start to get quieter, and worst of all, the boy no longer needs the cat's "help," the cat must find a way to reclaim his part in Rectangle Time, even if slightly different from before. In this fun, funny, and ultimately sweet story about growing up, embracing change, and the ways we all can misread social cues, we see the power of stories to bring everyone together--there's always room for everyone at story time. Praise for Rectangle Time: "The story subtly celebrates the pleasures of being read to and of growing toward reading independence. . . . A good option to hand educators needing to teach inference and for lovers of silly cats." --SLJ "A sweet story about falling in love with reading." --Kirkus "Comforting . . . clever." --Publishers Weekly "This readaloud is sure to become a read-along as the listener's own literacy and vocabulary skills increase." --BCCB "Truly delightful . . . kids will giggle over the familiar feline antics." --Booklist