As a follow-up to learning about Beverly Cleary and her work, 2nd graders were in for a treat: watching a video version of her classic book The Mouse and the Motorcycle!
The laughter in the library was contagious as students went along for the ride with Ralph S. Mouse.
This week 3rd grade classes are reading different books to correspond with their classroom curriculum.
Some are reading The Two Mountains: An Aztec Legend;
others are enjoying Favorite Folktales from Around the World;
and some have heard The Hero Beowulf.
This week 1st grade students were amazed by the video version of The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein.
This Caldecott Award-winning non-fiction book tells the true story of Philippe Petit, a daring French high-wire artist who successfully walked between the Twin Towers on a wire in 1974! The illustrations in this book completely bring the event to life.
This week Kindergarten got to hear another Caldecott classic:
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears byVerna Aardema.
This tale of how mosquitoes came to buzz in people’s ears features so many wonderful illustrations of jungle animals. And students got a treat: we watched the Scholastic video version of the story with awesome animal sound effects and a fabulous reading of the story by renowned actor James Earl Jones!
This week, all classes talked about the 2010 Caldecott and Newbery Award winners:
The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney won the Caldecott Award
and When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (a Dalton parent!) won the Newbery Award.
Congratulations to these two very talented individuals!
January’s Book of the Month is the 2010 Caldecott Award winner:
The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
Pinkney’s trademark illustration style helps bring a traditional Aesop fable to life in this wordless picture book.
What do you think of it? Share your thoughts below!
And feel free to visit Jerry Pinkney’s website to learn more about his fantastic career as an illustrator!
It’s Caldecott Time! This week, 1st graders heard a moving story by Jane Yolen: The Emperor and the Kite.
When asked to consider why this book won a Caldecott Award, many students agreed it was likely because of the “beautiful”, “colorful”, and “unique” illustrations. A great way to continue our discussion about the difference between fiction and non-fiction!
This week 2nd grade learned all about Beverly Cleary, a reknowned children’s book author and Newbery Award winner.
After hearing excerpts from some of her books, many students couldn’t wait to check them out for themselves!
It’s Caldecott Fever!! This week Kindergarten got to hear a classic Caldecott Award-winner: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback.
Students could tell why this book is Caldecott material immediately because of its unique illustrations and cut-out method.
Taback’s style of mixing real photographs in with his illustrations led to a great conversation about how sometimes fiction books have real pictures and non-fiction books have drawings.
House 24 read Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg.
“I really liked how this book was a story instead of lots of facts.”
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“I liked how you could see the boy’s dreams and get to see how the world could be if we don’t take care of the Earth.”
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“The pictures in this book were really interesting and cool! I liked learning about how we need to save trees and recycle for a better future.”