Check It Out

Are you ready for a fiesta of sites celebrating multicultural literature?  Head over to Chicken Spaghetti to see the 14th Carnival of Children’s Literature.

Happy Reading.

MsMac

I always know when it is spring. Third grade requests all the country books from the library.  It signals me to start my “Folk Tales Around the Planet”. 

Most of my folk tales have been in the library for as long as I have been around.  A good story is like that, it has a long shelf life.  You can see that some of the books need replacing.  So here are five favorites:

Baba Yaga: A Russian Folk Taleretold by Eric Kimmel

Teeth made of iron, bony legs, and a hut that walks  on chicken, what is there not to be caught up in this story.  Kimmel’s retelling of this story is fun.  Marina, a young girl visits Baba Yaga to have a horn in her forehead removed. What she doesn’t know is that Baba Yaga wants to cook her for a meal.  Marina thinks of a clever way to escape and return home.

The Funny Little Woman by Arlene Mosel
This funny little woman makes me smile every timeI read it.  I usually pair it with the Japanese rice paper copy I have had since I was a child.  Sadly, the childhood book is beginning to deteriorate.

Head, Body, Legs; A Story from Liberiaretold by Won-ldy Paye and Magaret H. Lippert
I was introduced to this book a few years ago when it appeared on the Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award.  I love the bold, vibrant art work and the theme of working together.

Tikki Tikki Tembo retold by Arlene Mosel
“Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo”, I love saying it, kids love saying it.  It is one story that I can story tell without the book.  I usually talk about names and how I got mine.

 Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions from Around the Worldby Selby B. Beeler

This is not a folk tale but I love the traditions about what different cultures do with their teeth.  Students find it interesting as well.  The also talk about their own family traditions.

I find that kids really like to talk about their cultures and beliefs.  Books like these help to open the doors to discussions. 

What are your favorite folk tales from around the planet?

Happy Reading.

MsMac

The 13th Carnival of Children’s Literature is posted over at Jen Robinson’s.  There is an awful lot of good reading. 

Drama club had a rehearsal on Saturday. After the break, I asked them if they could go back in time, who would they like to be.  The answers ranged from a knight during King Arthur, being on the Oregon Trail, a person who worked in a lighthouse, now considered on of the gohosts to seven years ago when my father still lived with us.  The responses were fascinating.  Me? I would have liked to travel to the time when my great-grandfather worked on a three masted schooner.

I met up with my book club friends last night. We feasted on Cuban cuisine in honor of our book Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carloe Eire.  It is the first time in a while that all nine of us were in attendance. Great company, discussion, and food.

This week is week two of our state assessment tests. We will pick up from last week where we left off in our studies. I adjusted some classes because the look on their faces when as they came to the library said, “we need a break.”

Happy Reading.

MsMac

Been promoting Laini Taylor’s new book Blackbringerwith my fourth and fifth graders.  I invited them to read the excerpt and prepare questions, write a letter, or draw a scene.

Fifteen students were invited to “Lunch with Laini”.  In this intimate setting, students queried Laini about where she gets her ideas for writing, where did the names in Blackbringer come from, and when she began writing.
What kids took away from their time with her:

1. Keep a notebook. Not necessarily to write a whole stories but for keeping ideas, thoughts, weird stuff in, and juicy words!

2. Supports the whole notion that “Fact is stranger than fiction” Laini records weird facts in her notebook.  For example…there are beetles that eat flesh, leaving  skeletons perfectly intact or haruspicina, the ancient practice of divining entrails. 

3. Read, read, and read some more.  Laini showed a slide of the books at her bedside, mountain of books to read.

4. Don’t stop writing. She did for a while and regrets doing so.

5. A paper dictionary provides more opportunities for words than looking words up digitally.

6.  How the book’s title went from just Blackbringer to Faeries of Dreamdark:  Blackbringer.

Laini is showing students important necessities of writing: a fabulous writing room, coffee, her editor, and other tidbits.

I discovered that many of these students are serious writers themselves.  Having time with Laini really gave them nudges in the right direction. 

We anxiously await the arrival of Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer  in June.  You can visit Laini here.

Thank you, Laini, for visiting Silver Star.

Happy Reading.

MsMac