Blog Archives

Texas Author: Liz Garton Scanlon

11/23/2015

Texas author Liz Garton Scanlon has a way with words.

She has a way of framing a concept into delightful couplets that intrigue the mind with a fresh way of thinking about things and enchant the ear with the sound of language.

Her books cover a wide range of ideas from appreciating wonder in the Caldecott honor book All the World, to coping with change in The Good Pie Party, to celebrating the joy of the arts and creativity in Think Big.

With the publication of In the Canyon, Liz invites readers on a nonfiction exploration of the Grand Canyon.

The Great Good Summer

This year Liz Garton Scanlon published her first book for middle grade readers, The Great Good Summer.
Meet Ivy Green, of Loomer Texas. Her life has turned upside down. Mama has run off to Florida with Hallelujah Dave and she is left at home, trying to learn exactly where her mama is and why she left home. Searching for answers, she boards a Greyhound Bus with her friend Paul to find her mother and answers to her questions. Note: I think this was the year of the Great Greyhound bus odyssey. Young tweens and teens seek for answers and come to terms with loss while traveling via transit coach. Mary Iris Malone heads for Ohio in Mosquitoland, Eva Roth travels to California in Kissing in America, and now Ivy sets her sights on Florida. Cue Simon & Garfunkel's Look for American.
Road Trip! Get on the bus with Ivy and Paul as she seeks for answers. “My problem is, I’ve got a lot of voices inside,” I say. "They interrupt one another all the time.”

Ivy's truths about science, religion, and belief

Everyone is searching for meaning and reasons why

"God is alive and well in Loomer,Texas, so I don't know why Mama had to go all the way to The Great Good Bible Church of Panhandle Florida to him, or to find herself, either."

Religion isn't a cure-all

This is different I just know that church isn’t gonna fix up any holes in me today.

Everyone wants to believe in something

“Oh, dear God,” I say, in that sort of yell-whisper I’ve used all morning. “Oh, please, please, dear God.” Cause really, a little bit of God would come in handy right about now.

Science doesn't have all the answers

“Then, what? You’re the scientist, Paul. You’re in the business of hypotheses. You tell me?”

It's all about believing

But at some point I guess Mama stopped believing it herself. It’s like the cross around my neck. The shine wore right off…”

Sometimes stereotypes are wrong

“Nice to meet you, man,” Paul says, which proves once and for all that he might be the nicest and most flexible guy on earth. It doesn’t fit in with my idea of how the science guys are, but what did I ever really know about them anyway?

How much you care trumps how much you know

“You care more about a God you don’t even know than you do about me!” I shout at Mama over my shoulder. And then I step out completely and slam the door with all my might.

Everyone has their own belief system

I mean, honestly. I’m as likely to become a scientists Paul is to become a preacher.

Hold onto what you really know

...when you're looking up in wonder at the great-good-heavens above,you are so full up with mystery and surprise that it feels nice to hold on to something that you really know.

Many ways to say Thank you

11/16/2015

One of the nicest things that anyone can say is "Thank you." It's more than just good manners. It is an acknowledgement of the goodness and wonder in our lives. There are many ways to help students to become more aware and appreciative.
These picture books and the accompanying materials promote thoughtful discussion and exploration a variety of ways to express gratitude. The bonus video will give students the opportunity to learn to say thanks in another language.

"For as long as anyone can remember, Mohawk parents have taught their children to start each day by giving thanks to Mother Earth. Also known as the Thanksgiving Address, this good morning message is based on the belief that the natural world is a precious and rare gift. The whole universe — from the highest stars to the tiniest blade of grass — is addressed as one great family. " Lee & Low Books

During his life, Chief Jake Swamp delivered the Thanksgiving Address to numerous groups including the United Nations. Listen to him recite it, accompanied by Erwin Printup Jr's evocative art.
TeacherVision offers ideas for enrichment activities. Reading extensions include making a thankful list, learning about the Wampanoags, and eating a seasonal diet.

DePaola's picture book illustrates the value of learning to "look", that is to see the beauty and joy in life. His soft images encourage readers to be more perceptive and receptive to their surroundings.

Teachers can find teaching suggestions aligned with Common Core Standards. I liked the suggestions for exploring the word "gift" by helping students create two lists. One enumerates gifts that can be wrapped and another describes those that cannot be wrapped.
Listen to this short interview with the author and learn about his favorite page in the book.

The publisher offers a downloadable poster as well as an activity page.

For the bees that didn't
sting me and turn me into
a pincushion, thanks.

Pat Mora's delightful bilingual book is filled with humor and warmth. The accompanying video trailer allows students to experience the language of gratitude in both Spanish and English.

In addition to exposing children to a bilingual experience, Mora gives students the opportunity to appreciate poetic language.

In her open letter, Mora offers some wonderful suggestions for incorporating poetry into the classroom, Poetry Resource Guide for Teachers.

The waitress is thankful
for comfortable shoes.
The local reporter,
for interesting news.

Spinelli turns our attention to the often unsung, unnoticed individuals who bring joy to our lives. Two children dress up and then role play various occupations.
What a terrific opportunity to recognize and thank community helpers.
A picture book set in simple couplets and accompanied by soft illustrations that young readers will appreciate.

Bonus: Learn to say "Thank you" in 29 different languages.

Picture Books: What's in it for Older Readers?

11/9/2015

0 Comments

Pictures now do far more work and in far more complex ways than they used to. -Phillip Pullman

When is a picture book more than a great story for young readers?

Perhaps it's the realization that visual and literary elemnents can only achieve full value when experienced by sophisticated readers. Books of this nature provide secondary school students opportunities for in-depth explorations of story

Complexity
Inference
Layers of meaning
Personal narrative
Symbology
Subtle subtext
Theme
Visual Literacy
Voice

I was intrigued with Rebecca Bond's Out of the Woods, a story from the life of her grandfather Antonio Willie Giroux.
Giroux spent his childhood in Gowganda, Ontario,

This tranquil rustic setting is depicted in soft watercolor wash with pen and ink detail.

His mother operated a hotel on the shores of Gowanda Lake, providing meals and lodging for a variety of travelers, sportsmen, trappers, lumberjacks, and miners. They communicated in English, French and Native American languages.
Hotel guests were clearly divided into distinct groups. Those pursuing business and recreational activities slept in separate rooms on the second floor.
Laborers bunked together in the top floor.

The contrast between the various lodgers provides important visual clues regarding class and status.

When Antonio was almost five years old, fire raged through the nearby forest and threatened to destroy the all of the area surrounding Gowganda.
Antonio's family, hotel guests, forest workers, and hotel employees faced imminent danger.

Note the change in color pallet, the frantic angular movements of people and animals.

They retreated to the only place of safety: the lake.
They were not alone. The wildlife that lived in the forest also began to seek refuge in the lake.

"Wolves stood beside deer, foxes beside rabbits. And people and moose stood close enough to touch."

What parallels in history and literature exemplify the concept of separate groups coming together in the face of danger?

Notice what happens to the color pallet when all stand together in the water. Why do you think the artist chose to make this distinct change?

The author's note states that of all of her Papa's stories, this is her favorite and is the story that she wants to preserve for future generations.

What is it about this story that made it so meaningful to the author? Is it the story itself or her grandfather's retelling? How do you think her children will react to the story of their great grandfather?

"Unlike many picture books classified as Sophisticated, which have a wide age range, I believe there are some that only achieve their full value at secondary school level."
"Using Picture Books in the Secondary School"
Cecily Fisher December 2013

0 Comments

Authors and Gracious Goodness

11/2/2015

0 Comments

One of my favorite things about Twitter: the evidence that authors of books for young people seem to genuinely like each other. As I read the postings written by authors of children's literature, I note that many go out of their way to support fellow authors. They seem to find joy in the successes of their peers and will often promote the work of their colleagues.
Social Media is often associated with bullying, fault-finding, complaining and thoughtless attacks. But it doesn't have to be that way. I'm not surprised that so many authors, masters of the art of written expression, have found a way to use 140 characters to sing the praises of other authors and their work. Here are some of the Twitter author posts that give Social Media a good name.

YA author Beth Kephart is the epitome of "gracious goodness". Her Huffington Post article "I Want You: The Politics of Nice on "The Voice" fits perfectly with my thoughts on the importance of appreciation and the soul-saving value of just being nice.
Thanks to all those whose posts make social media a great place to visit.

On the hit NBC show "The Voice," it goes something like this:
Someone who loves to sing begins to sing. Could be a guy who once tuned up a doggie day care, or an approaching-mid-life nanny, or a tiny girl with tinsel teeth, or a boy who has rassled cows. Could be a back-up singer for a kaput band, or a preacher's son, or the guy who collected coins in his guitar case as he played the noon-time crowd at a Philadelphia market. Could be any somebodies with serious talent and quintessential luck, and if the further luck is with them, they will (through the Blinds, the Battles, the Knockouts, the Playoffs, the Lives, the courtesy of celebrity coaches) become part of "The Voice" family.
That's the format, the general frame, but what gives the show its enduring sheen is its politics of kindness. The awe the celebrity coaches (Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Gwen Stefani, and Pharrell Williams, most currently) profess to feel at the trill and croon of perfect strangers. The Choose me as your coach gymnastics. The Standing O's perched upon the arms of the I WANT YOU chairs. The favors begged: Tell us your name.
"The Voice" is the show that hopes for good. It is Blake expressing shock at the vocal range of a young contestant, and Gwen wet eyed and believing, and Adam in his hair du jour signaling galvanizing admiration, and Pharrell receiving the songs like a lake receives the rain, every dent and bend of sound reflected in his gorgeous, plastic features. In a world of racketeering politicking, regressive race relations, murderous sinkholes, and unleashed ISIS "The Voice" is people, right there on our TVs, being nice to one another, being moved by one another, eschewing the ironical distance, putting schoolyard bullies to shame, banishing the barriers between the famous and unfamous. Sure the celebrities are ribbing one another, but that's not what I mean. I mean that "The Voice" (momentarily) irradiates defeat. It glorifies appreciation. It proves love to be its own kind of intelligence, suggests enthusiasm as a form of instruction, and posits personal discovery as a journey that might be carried out within the context of well wishes.
"The Voice" is TV extravaganza, well-promoted entertainment. Its stars are, ultimately, people. It winnows and it winnows until just one Voice is standing. Its immediate mandates are pitch and song choice, hat or no hat, but its overarching message runs far deeper:
Love is not merely sentimental. Mutual respect might yet save us.
Beth Kephart is the author of 20 books, including, most recently, Love: A Philadelphia Affair, an appreciation of her city.

Bonus Twitter post:
Lisa Graff makes applesause inspired by a delightul episode in Beezus and Ramona. It's the classic scene in which Ramona takes one bit out of every apple. But the best part comes when the applesauce is part of the never-to-be-forgotten birthday party with the applesauce.
Thanks Lisa, for reminding me of that treaured book.

0 Comments

Texas Author: Liz Garton Scanlon

The Great Good Summer

Ivy's truths about science, religion, and belief

Many ways to say Thank you

Picture Books: What's in it for Older Readers?

Authors and Gracious Goodness

Category

Archives

Barbara Moon