by Florence Parry Heide
What's that?
Who's there?
There's a great, huge, horrible, horrible
Creeping up the stair!
A huge, big, terrible, terrible
With creepy, crawly hair!
There's a ghastly, grisly, ghastly
With seven slimy eyes!
And flabby, grabby, tentacles
Of a gigantic size!
He's crept into my room now,
He's leaning over me.
I wonder if he's thinking
How delicious I will be.
from Scared Silly: A Halloween Book for the Brave compiled and illustrated by Marc Brown, 1994, Little Brown
Monday, October 31, 2016
Monday, October 24, 2016
A Bird (Monday Poem)
by Emily Dickinson
A bird came down the walk,
He did not know I saw;
He bit an angleworm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.
And then he drank a dew
From a convenient grass,
And then hopped sideways to the wall
To let a beetle pass.
from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems, selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic
A bird came down the walk,
He did not know I saw;
He bit an angleworm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.
And then he drank a dew
From a convenient grass,
And then hopped sideways to the wall
To let a beetle pass.
from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems, selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic
Monday, October 17, 2016
Night Creature (Monday Poem)
by Lilian Moore
I like
the quiet breathing
of the night,
the tree talk
the wind-swish
the star light.
Day is
glare-y
loud
scary.
Day bustles.
Night rustles.
I like
night.
from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems, selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic
I like
the quiet breathing
of the night,
the tree talk
the wind-swish
the star light.
Day is
glare-y
loud
scary.
Day bustles.
Night rustles.
I like
night.
from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems, selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Running for Office (FAMILY magazine reviews)
As we approach this historic
Election Day, consider this small collection of excellent books to share with
your child(ren). Throughout the history of the United States, people have
fought for freedom and the right to vote. Let’s inform our children, and
ourselves as we help to increase understanding. As citizens of our great
country, we are the decision-makers; we choose our leaders.
These
books present a complex subject with sometimes-comic good humor. They can help
us reflect on our country’s past with light-hearted cheerfulness as we move
into the future with energy and good will.
Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio
Illustrated by LeUyen Pham
“Grace
Campbell could not believe her eyes” when she learns the U. S. has never had a
female president. Other students laugh when she decides she wants to be the
first. Grace begins her candidacy in the school’s mock election against a
popular opponent, Thomas Cobb.
Each
student in the two participating classes (except Grace and Thomas) draws from a
hat. They choose one state name - with its accompanying electoral votes. The
two office seekers come up with campaign slogans, make promises, posters and
buttons, and meet with their “constituents.”
Author
DiPucchio gives readers a timely story. It features independent thinkers, and is
matched perfectly with artist Pham’s bright illustrations. The paintings reflect
a multi-ethnic US culture.
The
scoreboard in the gym keeps track of the totals during the Election Day
assembly. Each student, representing a state, casts his or her electoral vote. Very nearly tied -- Thomas with 268,
Grace with 267 votes -- the final state, Wyoming (the equality state and
historically, the first state to give women the vote) decides the winner.
Elements of making history and “calculating” the odds are important
features in this lighthearted picture book. Both students show the confidence
and hard work required by running for office. An author’s note at the end gives
additional background material explaining the Electoral College.
Hyperion, $16.99
Interest Level: Grades 1-3.
Vote! by Eileen
Christelow
For this important election year, Christelow’s bright pen and ink acrylic cartoons bump each other for attention in this instructive picture book. The storyline follows a mayoral contest. Meanwhile, balloon comments from the characters in the illustrations supply additional explanations. Together these sharpen readers’ grasp of the details involved in the race. Voter registration, voter rights, campaigning, political parties, and pollsters are all part of one local race for mayor. Debates on the issues, volunteering, ballots, polling booths and even recounts add information.
For this important election year, Christelow’s bright pen and ink acrylic cartoons bump each other for attention in this instructive picture book. The storyline follows a mayoral contest. Meanwhile, balloon comments from the characters in the illustrations supply additional explanations. Together these sharpen readers’ grasp of the details involved in the race. Voter registration, voter rights, campaigning, political parties, and pollsters are all part of one local race for mayor. Debates on the issues, volunteering, ballots, polling booths and even recounts add information.
The
candidate’s neighbors, family and even the dogs join in the discussions and
politicking. In this way readers are given several views into the complexities
of what happens in an election. Back material includes: a short list of briefly
defined terms, a condensed, yet informative Timeline of Voting Rights, a few
well-chosen questions and answers to explain More About Political Parties, and
a page of websites. This is an entertaining and interesting choice for school
and home.
Clarion Books, $7.99
(paperback)
Interest Level: Grades
1-3.
A Woman for President by Kathleen Krull
Illustrated by Jane Dyer
Not
only was she the first woman to run for the presidency of the United States,
Victoria Woodhull was also the first woman to have a seat on the stock
exchange. She was also the first to own a newspaper, and the first to speak
before Congress.
She was the seventh of ten children
born into a poor family. However, by the age of eight, Victoria was supporting
her family as a child preacher.
As
a young woman, she became a millionaire: She offered financial advice from the
spirit world to Cornelius Vanderbilt – a wealthy businessman. With this earned money
and power, she was able to challenge society’s harsh limits on women.
All but erased from history,
Victoria acted by announcing herself as a candidate for the presidency. She
even paid her own newspaper to publicize her campaign. The Equal Rights Party
nominated her during the convention she organized and funded. This was a
dramatic and unheard of event.
Talented
illustrator Dyer’s luminous watercolors supply a realistic period feel. The
artwork blends smoothly with award-winning biographer Krull’s carefully
researched text. This biography is a compelling personal story from U. S.
history. (An author’s note and bibliography give additional information about
the election, her life after, and the boundaries she crossed.)
Walker & Company, $8.99 (paperback) $16.95 (hardcover)
Walker & Company, $8.99 (paperback) $16.95 (hardcover)
Interest Level: Grades
2-3.
Additional
selections:
So You Want to Be
President by Judith St George
Illustrated by David Small
Philomel $17.99
Interest Level: Grades
2-3 (A bit outdated, but still excellent.)
Elizabeth Leads the
Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote by Tanya Lee Stone
Illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon
Henry Holt $8.99
(paperback)$18.99 (hardcover)
Interest Level: Grades
1-3
I Could Do That:
Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote
by Linda Arms White
Illustrations by Nancy Carpenter
Farrar, Straus &
Giroux, $17.99
Interest Level: Grades
2-3
For older
readers:
The Kid Who Ran for President (156 pp) and
The Kid Who Became President (215 pp), both written
by Dan Gutman
Scholastic, $6.99
Interest
Level: Grades 4-6.
Monday, October 10, 2016
Until I Saw the Sea (Monday Poem)
by Lilian Moore
Until I saw the sea
I did not know
that wind
could wrinkle water so.
I never knew
that sun
could splinter a whole sea of blue.
Nor
did I know before,
a sea breathes in and out
upon a shore.
from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems, selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic
Until I saw the sea
I did not know
that wind
could wrinkle water so.
I never knew
that sun
could splinter a whole sea of blue.
Nor
did I know before,
a sea breathes in and out
upon a shore.
from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems, selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic
Monday, October 3, 2016
Sunflakes (Monday Poem)
by Frank Asch
If sunlight fell like snowflakes,
gleaming yellow and so bright,
we could build a sunman,
we could have a sunball fight,
we could watch the sunflakes
drifting to the sky.
We could go sleighing
in the middle of July
through sundrifts and sunbanks,
we could ride a sunmobile,
and we could touch sunflakes --
I wonder how they'd feel.
from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems, selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic
If sunlight fell like snowflakes,
gleaming yellow and so bright,
we could build a sunman,
we could have a sunball fight,
we could watch the sunflakes
drifting to the sky.
We could go sleighing
in the middle of July
through sundrifts and sunbanks,
we could ride a sunmobile,
and we could touch sunflakes --
I wonder how they'd feel.
from Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems, selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore, Mary Michaels White, Jan Carr, 1988, Scholastic
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