Category Archives: Print Motivation

The Teeny Tiny Woman

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In one teeny tiny tale, you can have teeny tiny listeners more than a teeny tiny bit hooked on a book. There are several versions of The Teeny Tiny Woman (the one pictured is retold by Jane O’Connor and illustrated by R. W. Alley) but if you have a teeny, tiny bit of trouble finding this one, check out versions by Barbara Seuling, Paul Galdone, or Arthur Robins.

The teeny tiny woman goes for a teeny tiny walk and finds a teeny tiny bone. Back in her teeny tiny home, she puts the teeny tiny bone in her teeny tiny cupboard. Soon, a teeny tiny voice begins to call, “Give me my bone!” This story is a teeny tiny bit scary, just right for listeners who want a spooky story for Halloween but don’t want to be *really* scared. With all the teeny tiny repetitions, kids will be chiming in and repeating the story in no time. Retelling a story is an important pre-writing skill, and this story is perfect for retelling. You can either make a teeny tiny house with a teeny tiny woman, or if you have a dollhouse and dolls, encourage students to use them along with the book to retell the story to a friend. Make a teeny tiny bone and a teeny tiny ghost from paper, clay, or any other crafty material you have. Great, big fun from a teeny tiny book!

The Sad Book

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It is with deep sadness that my family said goodbye today to Leo. Leo was an affectionate, opinionated, mostly blind, mostly deaf, 18-year-old ginger cat. He was a good friend, and he will be greatly missed.

In honor of Leo and for all those who know what it’s like to be sad, this week I’m sharing Michael Rosen’s Sad Book written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Quentin Blake. This beautifully thoughtful picture book works even for preschoolers and kindergartners, because it shows how sadness feels in honest, child-friendly terms. “Sometimes I want to talk about all this to someone. Like my mum…. Sometimes I don’t want to talk about it. Not to anyone…. I just want to think about it on my own. Because it’s mine. And no one else’s.”

Rosen writes about some things that help him when he feels sad: “Every day I try to do one thing I can be proud of. Then, when I go to bed, I think very, very, very hard about this one thing.” But never does Rosen downplay the truth of the emotion, or sugar-coat it, or say any other falsely cheerful things that don’t ring true to those children who do know what real sadness is. For children who’ve suffered a devastating loss, this could be just the right book.

After sharing this book, or parts of this book, with your children, look again at the first two pictures, the one where Rosen is smiling (“Maybe you think I’m happy in this picture. Really I’m sad but pretending I’m happy”) and the next page where we see how Rosen really feels, all grays and glum. Let children draw pictures of themselves, either how they feel or how they want people to see them. Talk about times when we’ve felt sad, and what helps. For Rosen, birthday cakes and candles and remembering those he loved helps. For many of us, reading a truthful, wonderful book like Michael Rosen’s Sad Book helps, too.

For more information, visit michaelrosen.co.uk or quentinblake.com.

 

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

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Halloween is coming, and do you know what is scarier than a pumpkin head floating all by itself? Seeing how much my book budget has been slashed for next year! AHHHHHHHHH! Perhaps you, too, have limited funds but an unlimited desire for good children’s books.  In the next few weeks, I’m sharing some of my favorite classic books that should be easy to get at your local library, in case you’re finding it tricky to get your hands on all the new books you’d love to have.

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything written by Linda Williams and illustrated by Megan Lloyd is one of those books I can’t resist using every year. Even when she’s followed home by scary things, like two shoes going CLOMP, CLOMP and one shirt going SHAKE, SHAKE, this little old lady is not afraid. In fact, she takes all those scary things and puts them to good use, making a scarecrow to keep crows away from her garden.

This cumulative story is perfect for a feltboard or magnetic board retelling. Cut pieces of felt into the shapes of the shoes, shirt, etc., or draw those objects on paper and glue them to magnets (I always grab extra free magnets from pizza parlors and drugstores just to make magnet stories). Kids can use the pieces to retell the story. Keep the book handy with the pieces so kids can refer back to the book as they retell. I know some teachers who aren’t afraid of anything (though I would never refer to them as little old ladies) who brought in real shoes, shirt, pants, etc. to build a life-size version of this story in their classrooms. Enjoy sharing The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything with your students, but beware: after one reading, you may find your classroom full of shoes that go STOMP, STOMP and many voices saying “More, more!”

Can You Make a Scary Face?

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With Halloween approaching, I’m on the lookout for spooky stories, and this one caught my eye: Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas. It is the ultimate participation picture book, and your wiggly ones will love it. A big, goofy ladybug gets kids to stand up, sit down, wiggle imaginary bugs off noses and shirts, and even chicken dance. When a giant, hungry frog comes along, the ladybug needs the readers’ help to scare him away: “Help! Make a scary face NOW!” Turn the page and see both the frog and the ladybug looking frightened. “Yikes! Not THAT scary!” With bold, bright pictures that will work for large groups and the scary parts all played out by the readers, this is a terrific book for little ones who aren’t ready for ghosts and ghouls. After reading, challenge your little ones to make the scariest faces they can, and play “The Monster Mash” so kids can dance and move in “scary” ways. You’ll have lots of happy faces by the end of storytime.

For more information, visit janthomasbooks.com.

Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow?

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Before I rave about  Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? by Susan A. Shea and Tom Slaughter, first I must rave about the public librarians in Washington. I just spent a day talking about great books and ideas with some of the most dedicated, hardworking, professional librarians I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. These librarians do it all in their eastern Washington libraries, and I am inspired by them to do more when I get back to my library in Michigan.

But if I’m spreading the love this morning, I have to send some love to Susan A. Shea and Tom Slaughter for this book.

“If a snakelet becomes a snake, can a cupcake grow and become a (lift-the-flap) cake?”

How do I love thee, Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? Let me count the ways.

1.I didn’t know they were called snakelets, so yay for learning vocabulary in context.
2. Nothing like lifting a flap to grab a young audience.
3. The flaps are actually sturdy enough to withstand multiple readings.
4. Love the rhyming practice we get to guess the right answer.
5. Half way through the book, we stop to get the answer (yes to these, no to those) and then we go to round two, which ends with a baby grows to become – you!
6. Tom Slaughter’s art is yummy.

This works wonderfully for the early science units on living and non-living things. An easy extension idea for non-crafty folks like myself is to give students a large piece of construction paper folded in half. At the top of the page, write “Do you know which ones will grow?” One one half of the page, write “Yes” and write on the other half “No”. Kids can choose die-cut shapes, or shapes cut from magazines, to glue on the appropriate side. Cute for a class book or a bulletin board, too. You know all your students will grow to love this book.

For more information, visit tomslaughter.com