Sturdy for Common Things

Throwback Thursday: The Big Jump and Other Stories

The Big Jump and Other Stories

by Benjamin Elkin, illustrations by Katherine Evans

Find it at: Your library | Amazon

Published:  Random House Books for Young Readers (September 12, 1958)

Do you follow NPR’s Backseat Book Club? If not, Backseat Book Club is a series that selects one kid-friendly book per month, and airs a special segment for listeners on the show All Things Considered at month’s end. As it so happens, Gary D. Schmidt, one of my favorite middle grade fiction authors, was featured in February for his novel, Okay for Now. During his interview with Michele Norris, he talked about his favorite book from childhood, The Big Jump and Other Stories.

Growing up Gary Schmidt was considered a lost cause, a “stupid kid”, until a teacher took him by the hand and taught him how to be a reader. The first book he really, really loved was this book. I’m a proud owner of a first edition copy of The Big Jump and Other Stories, so today’s Throwback Thursday is inspired by that interview.  As in Gary Schmidt’s personal account, it only takes one teacher, parent, or a person who cares, and one book to make all the difference in a person’s life.

The Big Jump and Other Stories, one of the first titles in the Beginner Books series for beginning readers, is told in three parts: “The Big Jump”, “Something New”, and “The Wish Sack”. The first story, “The Big Jump”, is about a good king who had many dogs, but one day one of his dogs grows fond of a boy, Ben. Since only kings could have dogs, the king makes a declaration that if Ben can jump as he can, to the top of his castle, then he can keep the dog. In the second story, Ben finds the same king from the first story in a predicament. If the king doesn’t find something new, the bad king will take the kingdom’s gold. The third and final story is about a very magical sack given to Ben by a funny old man. The bad king ends up stealing the sack and Ben has to figure out how to reclaim it. Each story is about one boy thinking outside the box and being brave, and in return claiming victory in each scenario. It’s a special little book, with the charming 1950’s style illustrations, and strong story morals. It’s no wonder it stands out to Mr. Gary Schmidt as his number one read.

If you’re interested in participating with NPR’s Backseat Book Club, the book selection for March is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I have never read it, but very much look forward to doing so. Read with your family, classroom, and spread to the word to your patrons. It’s not just exclusive to children; teens and adults are most certainly welcome to listen in as well!

Reading Together

***Reading Together is a sampling of books I’m currently reading aloud to L, my toddler daughter. Since I work in the children’s room of a public library, I’m always bringing home stacks and stacks of books to share together. Old and new. These are our favorites.  Some of which have been read over and over and over again…. Times thirty. To the tenth power.***

Kansas has seen lots of snow which had left us stuck inside over the past month, but we were quite content with piles of books decorating the couch and most corners of the house. The largest piles were always found close to hot air vents (L is sitting on one in this picture). L’s latest obsession is ballet (thanks to Flora and the Flamingo), and half of the books were about tutus and prima ballerinas. So, I took them off this list and decided to devote an entirely separate post to it in the near future. Stay tuned.

Here’s what we’ve been reading together.

Lucky Ducklings by Eva Moore, illustrations by Nancy Carpenter

A true rescue story about five little ducklings who get stuck in a storm drain, and a town that comes to their rescue. Sweet story with incredible illustrations. Full review later this week!

Inside Outside by Lizi Boyd

We’ve been having so much fun going back and forth between inside and outside, season to season in this lovely die-cut picture book. (Full review here)

Monsters Love Colors by Mike Austin

L loves books about monsters and this one specifically has caught her fancy. Think Mouse Paint but with monsters, Monsters Love Colors is a wonderful preschool book that teachers color recognition and color mixing.

Maisy Learns to Swim by Lucy Cousins

A new Maisy book! We love reading Maisy books, and this latest title about swimming lessons has us wishing for warmer weather when we can hop into the pool again.

My Friends by Taro Gomi

Taro Gomi kind of reminds me of Leo Lioni. This is such a simple story about the type of friends in a little girl’s life. Bonus: there is a ninja gorilla.

Pomelo Explores Color by Ramona Badescu and Benjamin Chaud

L didn’t show much interest in the first Pomelo the Garden Elephant book, Pomelo Begins to Grow, but she loves flipping through this one about how the curious garden elephant sees all the different colors.

Albert the Fix-it Man by Janet Lord, illustrations by Julie Paschkis

This was a find by one of my co-workers. When anyone has something that needs to be repaired, Albert is there to help fix it. But what happens when the fix-it man falls ill? I thoroughly enjoy the message this book shares with its readers.

ABC by Sarah Horne

L has been working on learning her letters and this is the first ABC book I’ve brought home that she has shown interest in. Simple illustrations with large, easy to read letters. It’s also a small book, which makes it easy for her to maneuver- One of the reasons I feel she enjoys the beginning reader books so much.

Clouds by Marion Dan Bauer, illustrated by John Wallace

If you’re looking for books that explain the weather to a young audience, these Ready-To-Read books by Marion Dane Bauer are fantastic. We also have been reading her books about rain wind, and snow.

The Blue Wish by Mary Tillworth, illustrated by Jeffery Conrad

I’m not familiar with the Maryoku Yummy show. We don’t have TV, so I’m a little out of the loop that way. But L found this book at the library a month ago and has really enjoyed it. It’s about a pink blob character named Maryoku (seen above) who wants to help a blue wish come true. Kinda psychedelic for my tastes, but L likes it.

Mouse Around by Pat Schories

Sorry abut the image being so small. I couldn’t find a decent sized one. This was another book L was introduced to by one of my all-knowing children’s literature co-workers.  A wordless picture book about a mouse who falls from it’s nest and has quite the adventure throughout the course of the day getting back home.

The Little School Bus by Carol Roth, illustrated by Pamela Paparone

This is such a great book about a school bus that is not Wheels on the Bus! With rhythm and rhyme, one school bus picks up it’s animal passengers one by one on the way to school.

Love is in the Air by Jonathan Fenske

A original story about the lengths, or I should say heights, one will go to for love. A forgotten party balloon meets a kite and together they are the perfect match.

A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman

A little boy runs to catch a rainbow, but when he gets there it’s gone away. So, he imagines a play date with a rainbow instead.

Jennie’s Hat by Ezra Jack Keats

Ezra Jack Keats’ story about Jennie and her disappointing spring hat. After we read it, L and I play a little game where we pretend to put different hat-like objects on our heads.

The Berenstien Bears and the Missing Dinosaur Bone by Stan and Jan Berenstain

The Berenstien Bears and the Missing Dinosaur Bone was one of my brother’s and mine favorite childhood books. My mom probably read it a bazillion times to us before bed. Now I’ve been reading it to L who is enjoying it. Today we looked at dinosaur bone pictures after reading.

Peter Pan (A Stepping Stone Book) adapted by Cathy East Dubowski from the novel by J.M Barrie

L is still extremely interested in Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, so I decided to check out this abridged version and we’ve been reading a chapter a day ever since. If you know a child interested in a classic work of children’s literature, but might not be ready to take it on yet, these Stepping Stones Book Classics are a great substitute read until they are ready. This edition of Peter Pan has worked like a charm for us.

Abel’s Island by William Steig

Abel’s Island is up there on the list of beloved books I read in elementary school. I brought it home the other day to re-read, but L found it first and pleaded that I read it to her. “Are you sure?” I asked, and  her little two-year-old self gave me an adamant, “Yes!”. So, both Will and I have been reading it to her. She does get distracted if there is a page with no pictures, as it’s a lengthy book for a toddler.  Not sure if we will ever finish it, but she does frequently ask for us to read it to her and seems to take pleasure in listening when we do.

 

So, that’s what we’ve got going on. What books are you reading?

Review: The Center of Everything

The Center of Everything

by Linda Urban

Find it at: Your library | Amazon | Indiebound

Published: Harcourt Children’s Books (March 5, 2013)

Recommended reading age: 9 & up

In a nutshell: Ruby Pepperdine misses her grandmother. It seems as though since Gigi passed away that everyone is acting like nothing has happened. To Ruby, her death has left a huge hole. No more beloved trips to the roof of her parent’s automotive dealership to decipher constellations. No more Gigi. Worst of all, Ruby feels guilty about something her grandmother told her to do the day she died, and Ruby feels she failed to do it. Listen.

Which is why on Bunning Day, Ruby has a plan to rectify the past with one wish.

In Ruby’s town of Bunning, New Hampshire, a place named after a sailor and the inventor of the hole-less doughnut, Captain Bunning, the biggest day of the year is Bunning Day. It was also the day her Gigi loved more than any other. The biggest part of the celebration is the Bunning Day Parade, featuring floats from the town’s various organizations. It’s also when the winner of the Bunning Day day essay, the Essay Girl or Boy, reads their prize winning, one-minute essay to the crowd. This year, Ruby’s essay was selected and she is the Essay Girl.  On Ruby’s twelfth birthday, she made a wish ninety times, on a quarter she pitched through the hole in Captain Bunning’s doughnut, the bronzed statue in the center of Bunning. If you’re able to accomplish this feat, Bunning legend has it your wish will come true before the next Bunning Day was over. Her essay, her destiny, the way things are supposed to be… It’s all apart of her wish. A wish she hopes will lend answers about Gigi.

Without revealing the wish she enlists the help of the inquisitive boy, Nero DeNiro, to help her, which in turn upsets her best friend Lucy. Quickly Ruby starts to feel as if she is spiraling out of control, as the story cycles between past and present, and Ruby’s view point and the view points of various other characters from the town of Bunning.

“Some say it was destiny.”

In the first line of Ruby’s essay and in the early chapters, it was apparent that this book was going to be about something far greater than a girl, her grandmother, and a town parade. Abound with metaphors of destiny, the universe, mathematics, time, and the realities of life, The Center of Everything is flush with theories and curiosities. This is fitting, because Ruby is at a time when friendships, turns of event, and life itself become question marks more than anything else. At least, in retrospect, that’s how I felt as a twelve-year old.

The Center of Everything is full of depth and soul. It is a prime example of why I keep coming back around to being an avid fan of Linda Urban, but I do have one qualm; it will probably also leave you with a serious doughnut craving. A problem I find can easily be remedied.

Don’t take my word for it:  Review from Secrets & Sharing Soda

Extras: Read Linda Urban’s post about reading to “exercise our empathy muscles” in A New Point of View via the Nerdy Book Club.

Follow Linda Urban on her blog home. She also has some excellent tips on writing (a must read for any budding author).

Source of book read: Advanced Readers Copy I picked up from Harcourt Children’s Books while at ALA Midwinter.

Storytime Mixer

Sometimes I get tired of themes. Animal themes. Holiday themes. Seasonal themes. The whole kit and kaboodle. Whenever this happens I like to mix things up.

“Miss Becca’s Storytime Mixer” is my unthemed storytime where I pick a few unrelated, favorite books of mine to read to the kids. There are so many wonderful new books that I’ve been eager to share and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. After storytime, the kids transformed into authors and illustrators and crafted their very own little books. More on that later!

First things first.

Here are the stories we shared together…

Storytime Mixer Line-up:

Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle

I read this book:

to Ponchielle’s “Dance of Hours”:

And I didn’t say a word. This beautiful, wordless picture book (also seen here) doesn’t need words, for the two characters to dance between the pages. I practiced a few times beforehand playing the first sequence of the song using the music as cues to turn the page/lift the flap. When I preformed it for storytime, it was as if the kids were watching a silent film. It took a few pages for them to get into it, but once they did their eyes were fixated on Flora and her dancing friend.

Kel Gilligan’s Daredevil Stunt Show by Michael Buckley, illustrated by Dan Santat

Comic relief of the Sunday’s storytime, Kel Gilligan had the storytimers giggling as he defeated the daredevil challenges of being an everyday kid. Both author, Michael Buckley, and illustrator, Dan Santat, are among the best creating books for kids this day and age.

Rosie’s Magic Horse by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Quentin Blake

Never hurts to add a little magic to the mix. Actually, I think it makes storytime all the better! Rosie’s Magic Horse (full review here) is about an ice-pop stick with dreams of becoming a horse, and a girl named Rosie who has dreams of her own. Together they embark on an adventure to make their dreams come true.

Open This Little Book by Jesse Klausmeier, illustrated by Suzy Lee

I’ve never read anything quite like Open This Little Book (full review here). It’s a story about opening a book, within a book, within a book, and the unlocking of a world within. It was also the inspiration behind the the “little book” craft we made after storytime.

Open This Little Book Storytime Activity:

 The post-storytime activity was inspired by Open This Little Book, and the story behind it (seen here on Chronicle Books Blog). Author Jesse Klausmeier first had the idea for this genius picture book when she was just 5-years-old. You can even see a picture of the book she made way back when she was a girl! Since the storytime kids are only a little bit older, a little bit younger, or the very age when she first conceived of Open This Little Book, we crafted our very own “Little Books” to invoke their inner author and/or illustrator.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of checking this book out yet, here is a peek at what the inside looks like:

We used this ‘series of pages that progressively get smaller and then bigger’ format as a model for the kids to make their own little books. But I emphasized the fact that they did not have to make their books exactly this way. It was their book, the home of their story, and there wasn’t a right or wrong way to go about creating it. Whatever shape the story took, they could model their book after it. This is one of the things I love about Open This Little Book… It’s a great way to introduce a unique perspective on thinking outside the ordinary shape of a book.

Here’s the “little book” example I made:

And here’s a step-by-step on how to make your own!

Materials used: colored paper, stapler, scissors, markers.

The only thing I did to prepare for this craft before storytime was cut the colored paper into four different sizes. The kids did the rest of this project by themselves or with a little help from their caregiver.

First, fold your sheets of paper in half width-wise (hamburger fold).

After the sheets of paper are folded, stack them in the order desired on the fold.

Fold in half together and staple a few times in the center. And that’s it!

I left mine blank because I wanted the kids to make up their own stories. Once again, I persuaded them to make whatever type of book they liked. There was no wrong way. I only used the idea of the descending pages in Open This Little Book as a way to spark their imagination. In the same article I mentioned earlier, illustrator Suzy Lee shared a picture of a book her son made called “Rainbow Book” that also served as inspiration behind Open This Little Book. It was a book with loose leafs of blank, colored paper. That image gave me the idea to make an example similar to that book with the smallest cut paper size from this craft. It served as a model of another type of book the kids could make during this exercise.

The kids had so much fun making their “little books” and several made more than one. One 5-year-old girl gave me her books to send to the author, which I will be mailing out today. How sweet is that? Even though there was quite a crowd at storytime, I made sure to snap a few pictures of the kids’ “little books”…

“Little Books” created by the storytime kids:

Future authors and/or illustrators?

You saw it here first.

Review: Inside Outside

Inside Outside

by Lizi Boyd

Find it at: Your library | Amazon | Indiebound

Published: Chronicle Books (March 19, 2013)

Recommended Reading Age: 2 & up

In a nutshell: Charming is the first word that comes to mind when describing Lizi Boyd’s wordless, die cut picture book, Inside Outside.

The story transitions from the inside to the outside of a little boy’s (or girl’s?) house with each turn of the page. Inside, outside, inside, outside. And as the pages turn so do the change in seasons. Winter to spring to summer to fall to winter. While this sequence is revealed a bit of magic happens; parts of the pages are conveniently cut-out to reveal the next scene.  The windows of a room the from inside show glimpses of the weather outside, and when the reader turns the page, going from inside to outside, elements of the outdoors are reflected inside the child’s house.

In company with the child character are many animals; the birds outside, mice, a found turtle, a pet cat and dog. Each illustration is detailed with natural cycles, the birds preparing their nest and eventually becoming parents, the child seed starting in the winter, and as the weather warms, moving the garden to outside. Crafting something inside to later use outside. Before and after. Today and tomorrow. Day by day.

Here is a glance at summer:

Unknowingly, I ended up photographing each and every page in the book for this post, and didn’t notice until I downloaded the images. Each spread is as attractive as the one before, it’s no wonder I did. But I’ll leave the rest for you to discover on your own.

With peek-a-boo images, sweet illustrations, and noticeable attention to detail, Inside Outside will persuade the reader to open it’s pages season after season.

Don’t take my word for it: I’m not the only one who was smitten. Inside Outside received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.

Vine:

Extras: Check out Lizi Boyd’s stationary company, Lizi Boyd Papers. I didn’t realize it until I visited the website, but I used to buy these cards of hers at a shop in Brooklyn many years ago.

Source of book reviewed: Review copy provided by the good people over at Chronicle Books.