Elementary school | Page 6 of 19

The Day the River Caught Fire, stranger than fiction kid lit for elementary

Which came first the chicken or the egg? That question is one that older readers might ponder after reading The Day the River Caught Fire. It’s the non-fiction story of how the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio caught fire and led to the creation of Earth Day. We just got back from Hollywood Studios in Orlando where the water catching on fire was one of the standout elements in a nighttime show. It’s a simple effect that does a great job at making audiences impressed due to the issue that one can easily defeat the other. However, water, due to its nature, should not catch on fire, should it?

The Day the River Caught Fire is the story of how the explosion of the Cuyahoga River in 1969 was a key moment in people’s awareness of the environment.

the people near The mistake on the lake bred something combustible

Dia de Disfraces, un libro que passé el Navidad Musica exam

I just finished a contract where I was teaching advanced French to high school students. It was great practice for my guttural language skills and allowed me to read their library of French books. In this class library was a couple of dozen children’s books of all ages, with many of them being aimed at lower elementary school. I love it when I teach a foreign language and the teacher has a library of books in that language for students who are learning it. Dia de Disfraces is one of those illustrated books that are great for Spanish classrooms for a couple of reasons.

Dia de Disfraces is a charming illustrated book in Spanish about dressing up and being yourself, even when others aren’t with you.

Every library needs a handful of 2nd language books

The Museum on the Moon, sneaky STEM poetry with dreamy art

I know there’s a golf ball on the moon. I also know that there’s an American flag on the moon. What The Museum on the Moon taught me, among other things, is that the flag was mounted on a metal frame to make it appear that the wind was blowing on the moon, thus providing the illusion that it was flying. The book’s subtitle, The Curious Objects on the Lunar Surface, lets you in on the fact that these tidbits exist, and it does so in the most surprising of ways, via poetry.

The Museum on the Moon is STEM based poetry that won’t put kids to sleep. It will make their minds think and eyes wonder about the possibilities.

Fear not a poem that isn’t The raven

Orion and the Dark, an illustrated book that runs with creative energy

Somewhere between the negative space and the darkness lie Orion and the Dark. In other observations, it’s interesting how the publishing world, entertainment, and intellectual property operate. Orion and the Dark was released in 2014, but it’s gained newfound attention thanks to it becoming a show on Netflix. It’s a very cute illustrated book about a young child who has a fear of the dark. It’s a common fear that children have, as well as, some very creative artwork (and layout), allows the book to run with more energy than many of its contemporaries.

Orion and the Dark was originally release in 2014, the recent movie brings the book back to life and shows that it runs with creative, energetic fun.

The book is great, the movie is tbd

Can You Catch Me? Tutu and the Vehicles, story time fun for the very young

The sublime simplicity of Can You Catch Me? Tutu and the Vehicles is disarming, immediate and resistance is futile. Tutu is a cute cat with disproportionally big eyes and is dressed like a ninja. The first page starts with a taunt of someone telling Tutu that they can’t catch them, as a black tail wisps away. Then we see Tutu jump on all manner of vehicles as they venture through a setting and onto or into a moving object in gentle pursuit of the black thing. Can You Catch Me? has the timeless graphics that today’s crawlers will find just as interesting as those ages will in 50 years.

Can You Catch Me? is a sublime example of less-is-more when it comes to making an illustrated book engaging and fun for ages 3-6.

simple and fabulous for three through six

Are You Big? is picture book laughs for ages three through seven

Elementary school-aged kids know Mo. Mo Willems’ picture books have a way of gleefully speaking to those young students. His style is immediate and can make them smile as they relax, make them think just a little bit, or it can do both. Are you Big? is Mo Willems at his thinking and relaxing best. At its smartest it’s a book about relative proportionality and thinking about the bigger picture that might contain variables that are outside of your influence. As its happiest and simplest, it’s a silly book with anthropomorphic weather systems, land masses and planets cavorting about a picture book that will do what books like this should do, make em smile.

Are You Big? is picture book fun and glory all about size and scale that will delight ages three and up with happy art and simple text.

A picture book that makes em smile….and think…and laugh…

Quest Kids and the Dark Prophecy of Doug doesn’t disappoint

An entertaining first book does not automatically ensure a series. Quest Kids and the Dragon Pants of Gold was a great book that sure looked like it had legs. Quest Kids and the Dark Prophecy of Doug is mglit that runs with fun. It’s a book that lives somewhere between the graphic novel and chapter book world that incorporates the illustrated manic fun of the former while building upon the text-based latter that kids need to know.

Quest Kids and the Dark Prophecy of Doug blends comic style art and quickly paced text for an mglit series that spans elementary and middle school.

Stop, collaborate and read this book

Bunny Vs. Monkey, lays the ground for elementary graphic novel gold

Spy Vs. Spy was my jam growing up. Even when I was well past an emerging reader status, the simplicity of their wordless adventures, combined with the humor that I wanted Mad Magazine was the stuff of legend. Bunny Vs. Monkey offers up some of those same feelings but is collected in an elementary school package that’s shorter, more colorful and a graphic novel. Many people will compare Bunny Vs. Monkey to Dog Man, which is accurate to a point, but the latter has one has more of a staccato presentation which is well-suited to its young audience.

Bunny Vs. Monkey is a rabbit-paced graphic novel that grabs the attention of elementary school readers and keeps them engaged until the final page.

elementary and proud of it