Explorink » Lower Grades Holidays

‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving-Dav Pilkey

Letha — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:20:13 +0000

First of all, we need to give kids some credit. They truly do realize that ‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving is just a fun take-off on the Christmas “‘Twas…”. The book (As one person seems to purport.) is not a “Let’s all become vegans!” platform nor is it a recommendation for children to steal. Farmer Mack Nugget (Gotta love the name.) does zone a bit into the dark side with his ax-planation, but it hasn’t proven to be too scary for any students to whom I’ve read the book.

Eight children board a school bus for a field trip to a turkey farm. Once there, they romp. They play. They gobble up all the fun they can. One little naive child then notices Farmer Mack Nugget’s (Still loving it.) ax. “What is it for?” His graphic explanation has reality rearing its ugly, wattled head. The clever children concoct a scheme to save the day by tricking the unfortunately unobservant adults and wattling, I mean, waddling back on the bus. If we exclude the fiendish farmer, the tail, er, tale ends satisfactorally. That is, it all ends satisfactorally unless you’re of the faction that feels there are children out there just waiting for their next visit to Farmer Mack Nugget’s (Ah, you know.) farm to exercise some perversive dalliance in delinquency. The students love this rhyming book and after all these years of reading it to them, I have yet to hear that Tommy or Gertrude has been picked up on charges of turkey “stuffing.”

“Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving
Written and Illustrated by Dav Pilkey
Accelerated Reader RL 4.0

A Creepy Countdown-Charlotte Huck

Letha — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:36:09 +0000

A Creepy Countdown by Charlotte Huck is a counting and a countdown book-this is good. It’s a rhyming book- what kid could not love that. But, most of all, it’s a book with marvelous illustrations and this is great. Students love counting the creepy, ever so Halloween-y, creatures: “One tall scarecrow standing on a hill. Two lumpy toads sitting very still.” Until “Ten tiny mice, feeling very brave squeaked…” and the countdown begins until, again, we have “One tall scarecrow stood all alone.” Jos. A Smith is quite the illustrator. His scratchboard technique is perfect for the scary creatures. I read the story to all ages in the library-some for the counting and all for the rhyming and art. Some of the students listening to the story and loving the illustrations want to immediately try the scratchboard effect-elementary school-style, of course. I’ve seen some pretty impressive attempts . The book’s illustrations are done in black and white with effectively placed watercolor details. A Creepy Countdown is a book well worth reading and admired.

A Creepy Countdown
Written by Charlotte Huck
Illustrated by Jos. A. Smith
Pre K-Grade 2

Heckedy Peg-Audrey Wood

Letha — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 00:53:00 +0000

Why is it that kids are so fascinated with scary stuff? Actually, I don’t think they’re fascinated with “real” scary things, but books and movies and campfire tales and peek-a-boo delight them to no end. And one of those “delightful” scary things? Why no other than Heckedy Peg, a book by Audrey Wood. The mother in our story is off on an errand to town. Each of her seven children (for being so good) is to be brought back one requested item. Before she leaves, the mother admonishes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday not to play with fire and not to let a stranger in. Exit Mom. Enter children playing with fire and letting in the tricky and oh-so-nasty Heckedy Peg. Heckedy Peg changes the children into “dinner”, loads them into her cart and takes the “food” to her hut. It’s up to the returning mother to discover her children (Thank goodness for nosy blackbirds,) and heroically save the day. Let’s see: We have fire; transmutation (hey); kidnapping; strangers; faux dismemberment; drowning and egg pudding. What more could a child desire in a book? Okay, maybe not the egg pudding. The pictures by Don Wood are impeccably done-could we expect less? Oh, back to that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday thing-interestingly, that’s how most of the students visiting the library ask for the book: “Where’s that Tuesday Sunday book?” You gotta love it.

Heckedy Peg
Written by Audrey Wood
Illustrated by Don Wood
Accelerated Reader RL 3.2

Piggie Pie!-Margie Palatini

Letha — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 17:54:27 +0000

(Warning: When reading this book to children beware of an abundance of alliterative “p” words. Hand out tissues.) Gritch awakes one morning with a tremendous craving for Piggie Pie! Lacking the most important ingredients-8 plump piggies-she jumps on her broom and flies off to Old MacDonald’s to rectify the situation. Noticing her arrival overhead at the farm, the piggies read the writing on the wall, er, in the sky and decide subterfuge to be the best protection against Gritch’s hungry needs. Disguised as various farm animals, the piggies undergo some rather intense witchy interrogations. Even a conspicuouly lumpy looking “Old MacDonald” is no help. “No piggies.” (Thankfully, Gritch isn’t the most observant witch in the covey.) “Now what was she going to eat?” Enter a huffing and puffing wolf. “Wolf’s the name.” Both the wolf and the witch leave the farm with, respectively, visions of a Gritch hamburger and a Wolf sandwich dancing in their heads. And in the heads of the piggies? …a neener neener here. And a neener neener there. Here a neener…

Piggie Pie!
Written by Margie Palatini
Illustrated by Howard Fine
Accelerated Reader RL 2.5

The Ghost-Eye Tree-Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault

Letha — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 15:55:26 +0000

All of us are very lucky that Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault first created The Ghost-Eye Tree as a reader’s theater piece. This makes it the perfect read-aloud for our Halloween or our “Why do kids love scary books so much?” needs. A mother, who, by the way, desperately needs to work on her think-ahead skills, sends her son and daughter to town to get a bucket of milk. (We must not be in Kansas anymore. Bucket of milk?) Halfway to Mr. Cowlander’s is the very frightening “ghost-eye tree…feared by all…the great and the small…” The by-play between the older sister and her brother is, well, very brother and sister-y: “Come on fraidy cat! Don’t hang back!” “I’m not hangin’ back, I’m getting my hat.” “Your dumb hat…” There are barely heard mutterings from the brother expressing his true fears just begging to be read softly and with trepidation. The illustrations by Ted Rand complete this atmospheric gift to us. “There’s nothing here, nothing to fear…” (Boo!)

The Ghost-Eye Tree
Written by Bill Martin,Jr./John Archambault
Illustrated by Ted Rand
Grades K-3

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie-Alison Jackson

Letha — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 15:32:32 +0000

Could I do it? Could I write a “based on” book? Let’s see. Medical: I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Sty. (No, too yucky.) Tragedy: I Know an Old Lady Who Stifled a Cry. (No, too depressing.) Realism: I Know an Old Lady Who Told a Big Lie. (No, too close to home.) Okay, okay, I’ll stop. On to the review! I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie written by Alison Jackson is a super Thanksgiving book to be read to or by children. I should say sung to or by children. How can you not? “I know an old lady who swallowed a pie. A Thanksgiving pie, that was really too dry. Perhaps she’ll die.” Our old lady starts off as a skinny frail little thing and as she eats more and more, the inevitable happens. (Just ask my scales.) The last word we need to rhyme is “bread” (read with dire forboding) but, as we find out, lots of words rhyme with “bread”. The illustrations by Judith Byron Schachner are super and I really enjoyed the cat and mouse interplay. Wait! How about: I Know an Old Lady Who Sucked a Joke Dry?

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie
Written by Alison Jackson
Illustrated by Judith Byron Schachner
Accelerated Reader RL 3.9

Night in the Barn-Faye Gibbons

Letha — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 22:10:54 +0000

In the childhood adventure, Night in the Barn by Faye Gibbons, two brothers and their city cousins decide to spend the night in a barn. The oldest brother (“Bet you’re afraid…” So you ready?”) pushes the younger (“S-sure.”) to act braver than he really feels. So the adventure begins. This book is oozing with atmosphere from the dark and beautiful illustrations by Erick Ingraham to the “rustle…rustle” of the unknown and the “Oooooo” of the wind. When I read the book to students, they get completely caught up in the images and language and experience a little fearful anticipation. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “Ah, I knew that was gonna happen.” and this, usually, from students who sat there mesmerized throughout the whole story. The ending is great fun and, well, thank you, Faye. Erick and, of course, Amos.

Night in the Barn
Written by Faye Gibbons
Illustrated by Erick Ingraham
Accelerated Reader RL 3.2

Mama, Do You Love Me? – Barbara M. Joosse

Letha — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 03:46:26 +0000

Mama, Do You Love Me? written by Barbara M. Joosse is a charming book. (Note to self: Never use words like “charming”, “endearing”, “quaint”, “delightful”, “precious”. Self: Got it.) In the story a little Inuit girl is asking her Mother a series of up-the-ante questions about the limits of maternal love. “What if I put a salmon in your parka…?” “What if I turned into a polar bear?” And Mom: “… I would love you.” As the book’s setting is in the arctic, new words, sights, and dress are presented to the reader. The illustrations are (Be careful, here.) eye-catching and the blue shades perfect for the atmosphere they depict. Now a word of warning: This questioning little daughter will someday be a teenager. “Mama, would you still love me if I got a ticket for speeding the first time you let me drive the station wagon and didn’t tell you about it until “someone” how to shell out the fine?” “I’m thinking. I’m thinking.”

Mama, Do You Love Me?
Written by Barbara M. Joosse
Illustrated by Barbara Lavallee
Accelerated Reader RL 2.3