Depending on your point of view, 2012 is almost half over—or just about halfway getting started. Whatever your perspective on June, the end of the month marks the middle point of the year, making it the perfect place to set your own reading goals and then get started on them. Some websites such as Goodreads.com feature the 2012 Reading Challenge through which you can decide how many books you want to read in a year and then track how close you are to reaching your goal. If your friends get involved, you can even support each other while trying to meet the expectations you have set for yourselves. Sometimes all it takes is a little nudge to start reading for pleasure again. Then again, you might want to hone your read aloud skills with some new shorter texts. Whatever your goals, to help you in making some reading choices for your to-read pile and insure that you don’t experience any reading slump during the summer, members of the International Reading Association Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) offer their thoughts on some recent titles that captivated them this year.
GRADES K-3
Coombs, Kate. (2012). Water sings blue: Ocean poems. Illus. by Meilo So. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
Many folks are often drawn to the ocean during summer vacation season, and this themed poetry book of 23 poems is a nice complement to the season. The short poems vary rhyme and rhythmic patterns alongside illustrations that enhance each poem, making this great reading for individual readers or for reading aloud. From whales to shipwrecks, jellyfish to sea turtles, waves to ebbing tides, this poetic and beautiful ode to the ocean is a real pearl in the oyster. Teachers might enjoy pairing the lesson “Slippery as an Eel: An Ocean Unit Exploring Simile and Metaphor” with these engaging poems. The lesson can be found at ReadWriteThink at www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/slippery-ocean-unit-exploring-832.html.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant
Judge, Lita. (2012). Bird talk: What birds are saying and why. New York: Roaring Brook Press.
As young readers leaf through this book, not only will enjoy beautiful pictures but they will learn a great deal about birds. Who has not stopped to listen to a bird singing without realizing exactly what message the bird was communicating? Judge, whose grandparents were ornithologists, has given young readers an inside look at what birds are “saying” through their chirps, cheeps and caws in addition to explaining the significance of their movements from preening to swooping as they greet, woo or communicate danger to other birds. Over 28 avian species are introduced to young readers with additional information about each bird and habitats at the back. The author’s website offers even more information at www.litajudge.com/BirdTalk.html.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant
Lane, Adam J.B. (2012). Stop thief! New York: A Neal Porter Book/Roaring Brook Press.
One evening after dinner a little boy, Randall McCoy, stands up and declares that he is a big boy now. This is news to his parents who ask if he will continue to need a booster seat or a kiss good night anymore. Randall says, “No, thank you.” He even thinks he is too old for Mr. Pigglesworth, his favorite stuffed pig, and puts him on a high shelf for safe keeping. Later that night, Randall can’t fall asleep. When he silently creeps down the stairs to retrieve Mr. Pigglesworth, he discovers a burglar stealing his pig. Randal screams, “Stop thief!” but the robber slips out a window. Thus begins a long chase all around town with Randall trying to catch the burglar. They run through the zoo, Wunda Chocolate Company, a Museum and a fair. Children will love following the yellow dotted lines with their fingers and reading aloud Randall’s continuous cry of “Stop Thief!” Eventually the robber doesn’t realize where he is headed, resulting in a hilarious ending. Children will beg to hear this story again and again in part because of the comic-like features in the illustrations.
- Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver
Roop, Connie & Peter. (2012). Baby whale’s long swim. New York: Sterling Children’s Books.
This nonfiction paperback is part of the American Museum of Natural History Easy Readers Series. Through beautiful photographs beginning readers will learn about a baby gray whale’s life. He swims alongside his mother so that he can drink her milk. Later, the mother pushes her calf to the top of the water so that he can breathe. The text compares the baby’s blowhole to the nostrils of humans. When it is spring the mother and son travel to Alaska where there is food. A map shows the gray whale’s journey. The family travels with a pod, and just as is the case with human children, the calf gets tired of swimming all day and sometimes must rest against his mother. Eventually mother and son make it to Alaska where they catch tiny plants and animals in their mouths. Different vocabulary words such as breaching, splash, roll, and wave are introduced throughout the text.
- Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver
Sutton, Sally. (2012). Demolition. Illus. by Brian Lovelock. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
Preschoolers, kindergarteners, and other truck-obsessed readers will love this new look at what big machines and a wrecking ball can do. Big sounds and big trucks are readied as men and women workers put on their hard-hats as the wrecking ball begins to swing. This book goes a step further to give children an ecological look at what to do with the building debris once the trucks have completed their demolition. As the piles are sorted and recycling decisions are mad, readers may notice how building materials are reusable. A special treat waits at the end when a playground is built on the very spot where the building was demolished. Teachers may want to pair this title with Eve Merriam’s Bam Bam Bam (1998) and explore the sounds of demolition through onomatopoeia. Both books could make for a very fun, and LOUD, choral or response reading.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant
Wardlaw, Lee. (2012). Red, white, and boom! Illus. by Huy Voun Lee. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Celebrations of the nation’s birthday will begin shortly, making this a perfect read aloud to commemorate the holiday. In simple rhyming verse the picture book begins with a parade marching through town, “Bugles call / Marchers tall.” Everyone is dressed in red, white and blue and waving patriotic flags. In the afternoon families fly kites, eat picnics or splash in the waves. Cut-paper collage illustrations show, “Melon grins / Juicy chins.” In the evening the night sky lights up with, “Peacock plume / Sunburst bloom / Star flakes spill / Heart-thump thrill.” Firecrackers burst with the colors of red and white and the sounds of boom while spectators exclaim with oohs and ahhs. Slowly, the children’s eyes close, and it is time for bed. The fun-packed holiday finally comes to a quiet close.
- Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver
GRADES 4-6
Applegate, Katherine. (2012). The one and only Ivan. Illus. by Patricia Castelao. New York: Harper.
Summer is a great time to visit the zoo where children often have favorite animals to view. This story, based on a real silverback gorilla, is a heart-wrenching tale of friendship between two animals. It might give children a new way to look at animals in captivity. For 27 years, Ivan has lived in his small cage at The Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. Before his elephant friend Stella passes away from neglect, she begs a promise from Ivan to help the new baby elephant, Ruby, escape so she won’t have to endure a life of imprisonment. Ivan makes good on that promise, and with the help of a few other friends such as Bob the stray dog and Julia the custodian’s daughter, he orchestrates their escape. This story was inspired by the true-life story of the real Ivan who now lives in Zoo Atlanta. Readers are sure to enjoy checking out the website devoted to this book and also learn about “the real Ivan” at http://theoneandonlyivan.com.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant
Bell, Juliet. (2102). Kepler’s dream. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
Spending part of summer vacation with a relative or grandparent is not an unusual occurrence, but it can be if you are from a divorced family and have never met the grandmother you are visiting. Ella considers it “Broken Family Camp.” Her mother is going to receive chemotherapy treatment for leukemia, which means Ella must spend the summer in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Upon her arrival at the sprawling adobe hacienda, Ella calls it the House of Mud. Her grandmother’s prim and proper ways, especially when it comes to grammar, in addition to the pride she has in her extensive book collection, make life difficult for Ella at first. As she gets to know her grandmother and becomes friends with a neighbor girl, life appears to get better, although her mother’s health is always in her thoughts. During Ella’s visit, the most valuable book in her grandmother’s library collection disappears. Ella finds out that her grandfather was an astronomer and the missing book, Kepler’s Dream, causes her grandmother much anguish because she cherished that book as a remembrance of her husband. Ella sets out to recover the missing book. While tracking down this mystery, Ella uncovers much about her own family history. This is the author’s debut children’s novel. She writes books for adults as Sylvia Brownrigg. Readers may want to explore her website at http://julietbell.com and view the book trailer. They can also listen to the author discuss Kepler’s Dream in a podcast on West Coast Live at www.wcl.org/podcast-list.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant
Jenkins, Steve. (2012). The beetle book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.
Summer brings out the bug collectors in kids who use anything from butterfly nets to jars with holes in the lids to capture them. As he has done previously in his earlier books Actual Size, Move, Living Color, Life on Earth, among others Steve Jenkins creates detailed cut-paper illustrations so that readers can see his subjects up close. His latest work delves into the vast world of beetles, beginning with the incredible fact that every fourth living thing is a beetle. Scientists have named over 350,000 beetles to date and believe there are even more yet to be identified. Jenkins has presented dozens of beetles and accompanying information. His black silhouette illustrations often show the actual size. Facts about numerous species, habitats, physiology and unusual characteristics coupled with beautifully detailed illustrations make this a bug-lovers’ delight. Youngsters might want to try writing some buggy poetry from a lesson at ReadWriteThink: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/multipurpose-poetry-introducing-science-69.html. Curious readers can learn more about this author on The 7 Impossible Things before Breakfast blog: http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=1112 or visit the author’s website at: www.stevejenkinsbooks.com.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant
GRADES 9-12
Fogelin, Adrian. (2012). Summer on the Moon. Atlanta: Peachtree Publishers.
Although the mean streets of his urban apartment complex are tough to navigate, eighth grader Socrates (known as Socko to his friends) has mixed feelings when his family leaves them behind. If his hard-working mother agrees to take care of Socko’s curmudgeonly great-grandfather from whom she has been estranged, he will buy them a house in a new housing development. Although he knows the move to Moon Ridge Estates during the summer will keep him safe from his old neighborhood’s gang violence, Socko worries about leaving behind his friend Damien. Although the family has problems working out their issues at first, eventually Socko and his great-grandfather become closer, even while swallowing their disappointment that no one else seems to live in the housing development. Things improve when Livvie, the developer's daughter, moves in with her family, too, and then other, down-on-their-luck folks arrive to save the development. Meanwhile, Damien seemingly has made his own choices and has thrown in his lot with Rapp, the leader of the neighborhood street gang. Or has he? Filled with humor, hope and reminders that there are caring folks around us and seeds sure to grow with a little nourishment, the novel asks hard questions about surviving against obstacles while offering glimpses of a brighter future for many of the characters.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman
Moon, Sarah (Ed.). (2012). The letter q: Queer writers’ notes to their younger selves. New York: Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Books.
Although books featuring gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered teens are much more frequent than they were 20 years ago, coming of age today is still difficult when others perceive you as being different from the norm. In this advice-filled title, sixty-four authors and illustrators craft letters to their younger selves, providing inspiration and insight. In a sort of "If I'd known then what I know now" fashion, the brief entries provide peeks into the contributors’ lives as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered individuals. All of the pieces are reminders that life improves after high school, and many provide perspectives across the decades. While some of the entries such as Paige Braddock’s are filled with humor, others such as Mayra Lazara Dole’s describe heartbreaking periods of isolation and bullying. Brian Selznick responds to a letter he wrote to his future self when he was 13, and Arthur A. Levine describes the different prejudices he faced when he was junior high. Reminding readers that the line between the bully and the person being bullied is thin, one author, David Levithan, even owns up to owing an apology to his science teacher. In the book’s concluding letter, David Ebershoff relates how he burned the gay-themed books he read one summer in order to keep his sexual identity a secret. Although some of the authors who write for adults will be unfamiliar to teen readers, they’ll recognize other literary friends. This is a wonderful collection of advice shared through text and drawings, not just for the queer or questioning teens in our lives, but for all of us to read, share, and ponder the infinite variety of humans and the nature of love and resilience.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman
Ritter, John. (2012). Fenway fever. New York: Philomel.
Baseball fans and those who root for the underdog will love this book, perfect for a summer’s day. The plot revolves around Stats Pagano, born with a heart defect, and his Boston family, all rabid Boston Red Sox fans. The family has had season tickets to the Red Sox games for 72 years, and they run a concession stand, selling hot dogs at the games. The team heads into a losing streak, and Stats's favorite baseball player, pitcher Billee Orbitt, is removed from the team’s roster for a brief time. Billee and Stats figure that too much is going wrong for it to be a coincidence. Certain that the harmony of Fenway Park has been disrupted, the two take steps to put things back into the proper order so that the Sox will win again. After all, if the baseball team isn’t winning, nothing in Stats's world can be right. Call them coincidences or call them miracles, but things suddenly start turning around for Billee and the Sox and even for Stats. Love for the sport dubbed “America’s pastime” fills the book’s pages, reminding readers what the game of baseball is really all about. With its moments of pathos, heroism, mysticism, and wonder from a master craftsman, this seamlessly-written book will make readers believe in all sorts of miracles and maybe prompt a trip to the ballpark.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman
Saldin, Erin. (2012). The girls of No Return. New York: Scholastic.
Troubled sixteen-year-old Lida has been sent to a reform school in the wilderness of the northern portion of Idaho, far from civilization. The school is filled with strange adults and even stranger girls with histories of violence. As Lida adjusts to the school’s rules, she realizes that some of the girls are more troubled than others. Before she knows it, Lida is caught in the middle of a conflict between Boone, the school's teen queen and resident bad girl, and Gia, the beautiful but mysterious new girl to whom the other girls flock. Lida desperately wants Gia’s approval while being fearful of Boone. When Boone shares a secret with Lida, she inadvertently reveals the secret to Gia. The consequences of that one betrayal lead to a series of betrayals and ultimately to unexpected violence. The author turns readers' expectations around cleverly, gradually revealing truths about each of the girls and their choices as they test themselves in the rustic setting and prepare to return to the real world. As is often the case in situations such as this one, there are many lies and secrets as well as recognition of uncomfortable truths played out against the austere beauty of rural Idaho. The author describes the setting vividly while forcing readers to ask difficult questions about Lida’s actions. Clearly, the need for love and acceptance may lead to unspeakable—and perhaps unforgivable—actions. Readers will eagerly turn the book’s pages to find out what happened to Lida during her journey of self-discovery.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman