Book Tour and Netflix Show! Who Was Pablo Picasso and Who Were the Wright Brothers

What do you get when you cross The Electric Company, Zoom, and Schoolhouse Rock? Oh that’s easy, you get Netflix’s new show “The Who Was? Show.  First, I’ll start with a little background.  Random House Penguin has a fantastic series of biographies on famous people called Who Was…  My student’s love them.  The books are filled with interesting facts and illustrations.  They are age appropriate, but they don’t shy away from serious details. 

Luckily for us Netflix decided to highlight these books with a hilarious show. Two famous (actually three this time) people are show cased in each episode. I got to spend a little time with Pablo Picasso and The Wright Brothers.  The difference between the books and the Netflix show is enough that a student can’t watch the show and learn everything in the book.  The show is almost a teaser for the book.  “Hey kids wanna learn about a famous person?  Here is a bit of information.”  Hey kids want to learn more? Great! Here is a book that will teach you so much more!”

Thank you Penguin for the Books! 

In the episode I watched one of the Wright brothers is annoyed that they each didn’t get the same amount of time as Picasso.  I, also, don’t think it is true that the Wright brothers tried to invent clothes for cats.  But, you never know!   

Earlier, I commented that the books don’t shy away from serious details.  For example, in the Who Was Pablo Picasso

book it talks about the death of his sister and best friend and how this loss dramatically impacted his art.

Combining the humor and seriousness of life is what makes for an interesting watch and read.  I look forward to continuing to share the books with my students, and now I can share this wonderfully delightful show.

Baby Monkey, Private Eye

Thank you Scholastic for the copies

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In walks an opera diva, a pizza chef, a clown, and an astronaut.  It sounds like a beginning of a joke, but it is anything but a joke.  These are new clients for a very special private eye.  No, the detective is not Cormoran Strike, but Baby Monkey.  Brian Selznick and David Serlin’s newest character. 

A couple weekends ago, was a literacy filled.  Thursday and Friday was the CCIRA annual conference.  The conference was wonderful, and just what I needed to rejuvenate me. It continued to get better because Denver was host city to the ALA Midwinter Conference.  On Saturday I attended the exhibit hall where I was able to pick up an advance reader copy of Baby Monkey Private Eye by Brian Selznick and David Serlin. (I’ll be honest I picked up two copies.) I was so excited to get my hands on this joyful book.  Back up a little bit.  It is not longer in my possession.  The students in my class got a hold of it and created a wait list to be fair.  The amount of laughter is amazing!

I love this book.  As usual Brian Selznick illustrations are breathtaking. The text the two created is engagingly funny to high third grade readers.  Looking at the changing details during each new chapter is fun.  I mean really Maria Callas and the first footstep on the money.  The creativity to come up with this is just…WOW!

Finally, anyone that has watched a toddler try to put on pants will love watching Baby Monkey try to put on his pants.  Again, the laughter of third graders reading this part is priceless.  This book reminds us that if we only allow kids to read books at “their level” most kids will miss out on the joy of a masterpiece.   

New Book Club and a Symphony of Armpit Farts

The discussion of Dog Man by Dav Pilkey was fun.  The boys spent more time than usual pointing out the merits of the graphic novel.    They were polite to each other, and when they disagreed with someone they would say, “I disagree with you because..”  I thought, “wow what a new civilized group”.  Well when 12 boys get together after school with food and beverages the civility doesn’t last long.  All it takes is one, third grade, boy to change the tune of the meeting.  As the last boy finished the symphony of armpit farts began.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the boys tried to play a song with their armpits.  I knew if I didn’t intervene it was down hill, and no way to get back.  “Hey what did you guys read over break?” I asked.  Luckily for everyone involved they quickly moved on to answering the questions.

A little background about this Guys Read Book Club:  I currently teach at a Title 1 school with a magnificent view of downtown Denver.  We can walk to the a few museums and Denver Public Library’s main branch.  We are, also, a school in which 60% of our students have been either homeless, or in some type of foster care.  It is a tough school.  Our achievement on the state’s test shows that we lag behind students from middle class schools.  There are about 14 boys this year that come to the monthly meeting.  Of the 14, 11 come from homes where English is not the primary language, and at least one parent is a new immigrant.  Four of the boys read significantly below grade level.  All 14 boys are your typical goofy boys.

After 10 years of doing a book club it is exciting and rewarding to see a group of boys come together and participate in a book club.  It is just like any “fun” book club.  We eat, drink, laugh, talk a little bit about the book, talk, laugh, eat… I am very fortunate that I get a grant to buy the books.  Each month the boys get to keep their books.  For some families these are some of the only books that are in the house.

January 2018

I have worked in Title 1 urban schools and in most of them there is a belief that “these kids won’t do that” or “these kids can’t do that”.  I know that if we don’t provide opportunities for kids in Title 1 schools we will never break the cycle.  Is it challenging? YES.  Is it worth it? Look at the picture.  The saying goes “A picture tells a thousand words.”  In the case of these guys the picture tells a million words!

Waylon! One Awesome Thing by Sara Pennypacker and My First Read Aloud of the Year!

Next month the new school year begins.  I am excited that I am at a new school, but more importantly I am thrilled that I found my first read aloud for the new year.  The first read aloud is vital to setting the stage for one of the most important times of the day.  Over the years I have found that the first book must be short, funny, and have a male main character.  I avoid books that deal with recent divorce, illness, death, etc.  Not because these topics shouldn’t be discussed or read, but I don’t know my new kids.  These books will come later.

The reason I find it important to start the year with a book with a male protagonist is because I want to lasso my boys into the world of books on day one!  The last couple of years I read Otis Dooda by Ellen Potter. It is a hilarious book about a family that moves from a small town in the South to an apartment building in New York City.  The book focuses on Otis’ first week getting to know his new friends.  I love this book, and I had planned on reading it this year.  It is a good fit since I will be new at the school this year. 

However, I read Waylon! One Awesome Thing by Sara Pennypacker and changed my mind.  In the book we are introduced to Waylon, a new fourth grader and classmate of Clementine.  Knowing that Clementine is in the class sets the tone that this is no quiet class.  Anyhow, Waylon soon discovers that the class “leader” is dividing the boys into two groups.  Arlo is the “decider”, and what he says stands.  Boys from opposing groups are no longer allowed to be friends with boys from the other group.

One day a new student arrives.  Actually, he was in the class briefly the year before; but left shortly after the school yea started.  Everyone is terrified of Baxter.  He shows up the first day with a scar and stubble on his face.  Waylon discovers that the scar is bubble gum.    Soon after Baxter’s arrival Waylon finds himself groupless, and not fearing Baxter.  As time goes on Waylon discovers that Baxter is not the person everyone thinks he is.

Waylon! One Awesome Thing has all the components of what I look for in a first read aloud.  Male main character, humor, and short.  With that said, the message this book has makes it perfect.  As teachers we work hard to stop bullying.  Not as easy as people think.  When one boy divides the class he is a bully, even if everyone things he is a nice guy.  The book will hopefully lead to discussions about kindness.  I, also, hope that we can talk about not judging people based on appearances. Finally, the book is very funny.  I think some of the funniest scenes are when Waylon is interacting with his teenage sister.  She has changed her name to “Neon” and constantly says, “What’s the point?”.

I can’t wait to share this book with my new class, and see what else we will read this year.

Crossover by Kwame Alexander

I understand the importance of standards; but when they overpower what we believe, and know is good teaching I get scared.  Very scared.  It is very unlikely that many of the students I have taught over the years will end up as a published poet, but that doesn’t mean that poetry writing should be eliminated from the classroom.  Kids love writing poetry; especially, boys because writing rules can be bent and even broken.  In just a few lines their emotions are down on paper.  They feel successful, and engaged.  Would the following book been written if Mr. Alexander’s teachers hadn’t let him write poetry in class?

One of the books nominated for the Cybils is written in free verse.  Crossover by Kwame Alexander is a beautifully written novel.  It is about twins that are star basketball players.  Their mother is the vice principal of the school, and their dad is a famous ex professional basketball player.  The book is told in first person by one of the twins. Josh Bell, nicknamed Filthy McNasty.  He hates the nickname.  He and his brother are inseparable until a girl comes into the picture.  She causes great friction between the two.

Every once in awhile a book comes around and I start a list of whom I want to share the book with.  This is one of those books.  I can see my friend Carol using this book with a small group of fifth grade to middle school boys at her school.  I can see Liam reading it and sharing it with his friends at middle school.  I can see my friend Jennifer reading aloud to her fifth class.