My Favorite Book of 2014

The Most Magnificent Thing is hands-down my favorite book of 2014, and I am so grateful to Alyson Beecher for urging me to read it. Thanks, Alyson! Oh, how I wish this book had been eligible for the Caldecott. But alas, its uber-talented author-illustrator resides in Canada.

Why do I love The Most Magnificent Thing so much? Because it deftly introduces young readers to the trials and triumphs of the creative process.

The unnamed main character decides to design and build something special for her very best friend, her dog.“ She knows just how it will look. She knows just how it will work. All she has to do is make it, and she makes things all the time. Easy-peasy!" So she "tinkers and hammers and measures," she "smoothes and wrenches and fiddles," she "twists and tweaks and fastens."

But making her magnificent thing is anything but easy, and after several failures, she decides to quit. But later, she comes back to her project with renewed enthusiasm and manages to get it just right.

The Most Magnificent Thing is perfectly suited for STEM lessons as well as makerspaces because it expertly models the process engineers and inventors go through as they try to solve problems. But it also spoke to me because I saw my own creative process as a writer reflected in its pages. That makes it a great choice for Writer’s Workshop as well.

Fan-mail Friday

Over the summer, I decided it would be fun to look back through all the mail kids sent me during the 2014-2015 school year. I've picked out some of my favorites and will be posting one every Friday. They truly are inspiring.

Behind the Books: Thinking About Back Matter

Common Core has made educators much more focused on back matter in nonfiction books, and that’s a good thing. Source notes, bibliographies, and further reading lists are the perfect places for curious young readers and report-writers to begin exploring a topic that interests them. By grades 4 or 5, students should be thinking about examining an author’s sources.

But what about nonfiction picture books? When an author has just 32 or 40 pages to work with, how much space should be sacrificed to back matter? And should the back matter consist of the same sorts of research-assisting information as books for older readers? 

I do think that a page or two of back matter is often a good idea even in picture books. It’s the perfect spot for background information that provides context for young readers with limited knowledge of the world. A general note about the author’s process is also helpful because it pulls back the curtain to reveal how professional writers work. And that can inform students’ own writing habits and techniques.

Should a picture book author also include source notes or bibliographies? IMHO, no. Why waste the precious space when the young audience lacks the skills to follow the research trail.

 

For example, for my book Feathers: Not Just for Flying, the research came from personal observations of birds all over the world (which kids can’t repeat), from interviews with scientists (which kids can’t repeat), and from articles in science journals (which kids lack the skills to read).

For No Monkeys, No Chocolate, the information came from observing cocoa trees in Costa Rica, from reading journal articles, and from picking the brain of co-author, Allen Young. Dr. Young is the world’s leading expert on cocoa tree growth and fertilization. Again, kids can’t repeat this kind of research on their own. So rather than wasting valuable real estate listing all the articles I read and scientists I spoke with, it seemed best to simply explain my process in a few sentences. 

In some cases, it might make sense to include age-appropriate materials that can expand upon a book’s general topic. But not for the two books I mentioned above. There are no other books or websites that focus on non-flight uses of feathers or the microhabitat of a cocoa tree—for adults or for children. And if a second or third grader wants a general book about chocolate or feathers, let them type the words into an internet browser or a library database themselves. The results of their own exploration will be much more satisfying.

10 Great Fiction Picture Books for Young Engineers, Inventors, and Tinkerers

11 Experiments that Failed by Jenny Offill

If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen (See also If I Built a House by Chris Van Dusen)

Iggy Peck Architect by Andrea Beaty (See also Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty)

Junkyard Wonders by Patricia Polacco

Mattland by Hazel Hutchins

Papa's Mechanical Fish by Candace Fleming

Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran

The Three Pigs by David Wiesner

Weslandia by Paul Fleischman

Violet the Pilot by Steve Breen

Next week, I’m going to review my favorite 2014 Picture Book for Young Engineers, Inventors, and Tinkerers. Stay tuned. 

 

Fan-mail Friday

Over the summer, I decided it would be fun to look back through all the mail kids sent me during the 2014-2015 school year. I've picked out some of my favorites and will be posting one every Friday. They truly are inspiring.

Behind the Books: Is It Fiction or Nonfiction?

During a recent workshop, a teacher noted, that in recent years, some titles seem to blend elements of fiction and nonfiction. As a result, it may not be clear how to classify it. Is there an easy way to tell the difference?

Yes, there is.

In the United States, the decision lies with the Library of Congress. Prior to publication, publishers send each of their books to the Library of Congress. After a LOC employee reads a title, he/she assigns it a call number (that librarians will eventually use to shelve it), writes a brief summary of the book, and classifies it as either “juvenile fiction” or “juvenile literature.” Juvenile literature includes nonfiction and usually (but not always) poetry.

So when in doubt, look at a book’s copyright page for this information.

BUT also keep in mind that every librarian is the queen/king of her/his own collection. Individual librarians can override the LOC designation and shelve the book where they think it's audience is most likely to find it.

Fan-mail Friday

Over the summer, I decided it would be fun to look back through all the mail kids sent me during the 2014-2015 school year. I've picked out some of my favorites and will be posting one every Friday. They truly are inspiring.

Frog life cycle

Behind the Books: Tinkering with my Tools

Way back in October, I began a series of posts that focus on the five basic tools in my nonfiction writer’s toolbox (type, style, structure, voice, and point of view), and they have all been leading up to this post. Today I’m going to talk about how I use those tools as I’m writing, or to be more precise and use a popular educational term, as I’m pre-writing.

Here’s my process:

1.    Get an idea. Sometimes it’s a broad idea, like I want to write about hurricanes. But usually, it’s more specific and conceptual, like I want to explore the interrelationships of living things using a cocoa tree as the hook.

2.    I do some research to see if my idea is viable and to make sure another author hasn’t already done a brilliant book on the topic.

3.    I dive in.

4.    After I have a solid body of research, I take out my toolbox and start tinkering. I think of my tools as the items on an a la carte menu. I choose each one separately, but with the goal of combining them to create a delicious, nutritious, and satisfying meal.

Here’s a recap of the items on my menu:

Categories: survey, specialized, concept, biography

Style: narrative, expository, persuasive

Structure: description, sequence/order, compare & contrast, question & answer, cause & effect

Voice: lively, lyrical, or somewhere in between

Point of view: first, second, third

It used to be that I’d just plunge into the writing and see where it took me. I was shooting in the dark. Often, I ended up with a big, bloody mess.

But now that I have a have a well-stocked toolbox, it’s easier for me to imagine important elements of a manuscript in advance. (Get ready. I’m about to mix metaphors again.) Will a survey with a compare & contrast structure taste better with an expository style or a narrative style? Will adding a lively voice ruin the meal?

Does this process always work?  No. Sometimes I have to do some sample tasting. And let’s face it, sometimes I still have to just plunge into the darkness. I don’t know if I’ll like a meal until I’ve eaten half or even all of it. But having these tools and thinking about how to mix and match them definitely helps.

Teaching Science with Kidlit

There are so many reasons that I love Twitter. It's a great way for me to connect with teachers and students. Here are some examples.

Mrs. Gelson in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Tweeted this photo of a student reading Insects or Spider? She said that the book inspired a lively discussion in her classroom.

Mrs. Clancy in Massachusetts Tweeted her class's work as they were exploring Feathers: Not Just for Flying and comparing it to A Place for Birds.

Mr. Schaffer in Northwest Washington Tweeted this image of his students reading No Monkeys, No Chocolate to another class on World Read Aloud Day. Great idea!

It love hearing how teachers are using my books with their classes, and how the students are responding.

Fan-mail Friday

Over the summer, I decided it would be fun to look back through all the mail kids sent me during the 2014-2015 school year. I've picked out some of my favorites and will be posting one every Friday. They truly are inspiring.

Behind the Books: The Nonfiction Book Review-Persuasive Writing Link

According to Common Core, students should know how to write persuasive texts. Writing and orally presenting book reviews is one way for them to practice this style of nonfiction writing AND learn to summarize and synthesize the nonfiction (or fiction) books they’ve read.

In the early elementary grades, children can focus on the topic of the book and the information they found most interesting. A sample might look like this:  

Ever wonder what happens to fish and frogs in winter? What about snakes, salamanders, woodchucks, and waterboatmen? Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart answers these question by giving readers a close-up peek at a hidden world. Soft watercolor illustrations show nineteen animals living in four different habitats.

But older students can highlight the nonfiction text types (survey, specialized, concept, biography/autobiography), styles (expository, narrative, persuasive), and structures (description, sequence/order, compare & contrast, question & answer, cause & effect, and problem & solution) I’ve been blogging about since October. The reviews can also include information about the author’s choice of voice and point of view. A sample might look like this:

Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart is a circular narrative concept book with a calm, cozy, soothing voice and a third person point of view. Carefully-chosen words and soft, muted watercolor paintings show and tell readers how a variety of animals eke out an existence during chilly winter weather.

To write these reviews and then present them as booktalks, students will have to closely study the text and determine how the author crafted it. In the process, they will be adding tools to their own writer’s toolboxes.

Massachusetts School Library Association Conference Handout

The Power of Voice in Nonfiction Writing
Nonfiction voice options span a continuum, from lively to lyrical. A writer’s topic and the approach he/she chooses will dictate the best voice choice for a particular piece.

Great Books with a Lively Voice

Animal Grossapedia by Melissa Stewart

Army Ant Parade by April Pulley Sayre

A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano

Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons by Sarah Levine

Bugged: How Insects Changed History by Sarah Albee

Deadliest Animals by Melissa Stewart

How They Choked by Georgia Bragg

I Feel Better with a Frog in My Throat by Carlyn Beccia

It’s Spit-acular by Melissa Stewart

Lives of the Explorers: Discoveries, Disasters (and What the Neighbors Thought) by Kathleen Krull

Look Up! Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard by Annette LeBlanc Cate

Oh, Yikes! History’s Grossest, Wackiest Moments by Joy Masoff

Poop Happened: A History of the World from the Bottom Up by Sarah Albee

See How They Run by Susan E. Goodman

What to Do About Alice? by Barbara Kerley (illus. Edwin Fotheringham)

What to Expect When You’re Expecting Larvae: A Guide for Insect Parents (and Curious Kids) by Bridget Heos

Thank You, Sarah by Laurie Halse Anderson

 

Great Books with a Lyrical Voice

Ballet for Martha by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan

Beneath the Sun by Melissa Stewart

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Dave the Potter by Laban Carrick Hill

An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston Hutts

Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart

Frog Song by Brenda Z. Guiberson

Lightship by Brian Floca

On a Beam of Light by Jennifer Berne

Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai by Claire A. Nivola

The Secret World of Walter Anderson by Hester Bass

Step Gently Out by Helen Frost

Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart

When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan

Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre

 

Great Books with a Neutral Voice

Coral Reef by Jason Chin

Eye to Eye by Steve Jenkins

Frogs by Nic Bishop

Move by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

My First Day by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

Neo Leo by Gene Barretta

Now & Ben by Gene Barretta

Redwoods by Jason Chin

Timeless Thomas by Gene Baretta