Category Archives: Michigan Author

Gilbert Goldfish Wants a Pet

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Gilbert seems to have everything his fishy heart could want, but he longs for a pet of his own. At first the visiting dog seems like an ideal pet, but he drinks from Gilbert’s bowl, and barks. A lot. The mouse runs away, and the fly gets swatted. Finally, Gilbert gets a pet! One that’s not too loud, not too rude, not too squished – one with whiskers!

Kelly DiPucchio and Bob Shea have teamed up to make a fish tale worth reading again and again. The suspense over what kind of pet will work for a fish will hook readers until the very last line.

Use this book to dive into a fun graphing lesson. Make a bar graph showing the pets your students have and discuss the data. Do more students have dogs or cats? How many have fish? How many have fish that have their very own pets?  Super-brave teachers and parents may be inspired to get a pet after reading Gilbert Goldfish Wants a Pet. And some of us may try to bring back the pet rock fad.

For more information, visit kellydipucchio.com or bobshea.com.

Retelling with file folder puppet theaters

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Kids retell stories all the time: they tell what they did over the weekend, what happened on the playground, who really put the building blocks in the fish tank, etc. Retelling is an important skill, and one fun way to retell a story is with puppets. I snagged this idea for making  file folder puppet theaters off of this super-cool website:  fairy dust teaching (Sally Haughey is one of those amazing teachers who has ideas I love to lift.) Cut windows in two file folders, attach them so you have a sturdy stand, decorate with scrapbooking paper, and ta da! Puppet theater!  So now that folders are on sale for pennies a pack, I’m stocking up to make puppet theaters!

Puppet retellings work best with stories that have a limited number of characters and a straight-forward plot. One Dark Night by Lisa Wheeler and Ivan Bates is perfect for puppet theaters. One dark night, Mole and Mouse creep from their wee tiny house on a journey through the mush-mucky swamp, under sharp thistle thorns, into the marsh-misty wood. Meanwhile, a big giant bear in his big giant lair is feeling hungry. He leaves his den in search of food and finds Mole and Mouse. “Mole shivered. Mouse shook. Their fur stood up straight.” (Your listeners will be on the edge of their seats right about now.) The big giant bear towers over the wee beasts and grumbles, “You’re late!” Bear has been waiting for his two friends, who join him for a feast in his den.

Kids can make Mole, Mouse, and Bear puppets out of paper and popsicle sticks, and retell the story in their own table-top puppet theater! Or, if you’re lucky enough to have fantastic stuffed-animal-type puppets, put Mole, Mouse, and Bear, along with the book inside your Storybox and let the kids practice retelling that way, too.

Chew on these great books

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In a recent Remenar Seminar, a principal pointed out that I share lots of stories, but not a lot of non-fiction. That’s something I’m working on – I love fiction, but I know many learners really respond to informational text. So, I’m trying to pair up books on irresistible topics – like bubble gum!

I’m stuck on the bouncy rhyme of Lisa Wheeler’s Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum: “chewy-gooey bubble gum/ icky-sticky bubble gum/ melting in the road/ along comes a toad” who gets stuck. Then a shrew gets stuck, and more animals get stuck – until a truck comes along! What will they do? Chew! And blow a bubble that lifts them from danger, until…

This makes a terrific storybox. Put this book, with its great illustrations by Laura Huliska-Beith, and puppet characters on wooden sticks in the storybox with a container of homemade pink playdough (make sure it’s non-toxic because one of your sweetpeas will probably try chewing on it) to retell the story.

Then, share Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum by Megan McCarthy. It is excellent non-fiction for younger students. The topic is sure to grab their attention, the text is short but interesting and full of fun facts, and the illustrations are large enough for a group read. At the end of the book, McCarthy adds lots more information (like who holds the world record for largest bubble) for kids who want to really sink their teeth into the subject.

Want a super-duper Dubble Bubble science extension? Ask your students, “Do you think bubble gum will weigh more or less after you chew it?” Use the scientific method of forming a hypothesis, listing materials and procedure, controlling variables (everyone chews the same kind of gum for the same amount of time), and see what your results are!

Potty Animals!

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It’s time to potty! If you work with or have young children, you need Hope Vestergaard’s book “Potty Animals: What to Know When You’ve Gotta Go!”, illustrated by Valeria Petrone. One of the essential literacy skills kids need to become readers is “print motivation”. There has to be a reason and a desire to read, and if you give a kindergartner a book about going to the bathroom, that kid will want to read it! Not only is “Potty Animals” laugh-out-loud funny, it teaches (in rhyme) some very important life lessons like “Knock first!”, “Don’t wait too long!” and “Never forget to wipe!” This book should be read to every preschooler and kindergartner, and even a few forgetful older kids, too.  After reading this book to your class, choose together the rules you want to put on a classroom poster – perfect to hang on the door if your bathroom is connected to your classroom!  Potty on!

Big Chickens

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These chickens really are big chickens – they’re afraid of everything. When a wolf sneaks into the farmyard, they tumble out into the wide, scary world.
“‘I’m afraid to go home,’ said one chicken.
‘Ohh….’ said the others.
‘Me too.’
‘Me three.’
‘Me four.'”
But somehow, these chickens squawk, squirm, squeak, and squeal their way on some big adventures and find out that they are indeed big chickens – big, brave chickens. The language here is so rich that it’s perfect for building phonological awareness, and the art is a hoot.

After reading the book, sing with your listeners “If you’re a big chicken and you know it” and act out the scenes of the story: walk in the woods, jump in the ditch, bump into cows, etc.  It’ll help your Body Smart kids to move their bodies as they retell the story, and everyone will be chiming in “Me too!” “Me three!” “Me four!”

Leslie Helakoski and Henry Cole also have Big Chickens Fly the Coop and Big Chickens Go to Town, and all three books are guaranteed to crack little ones up!