One of the best things about this book is how easy it is to read once children do a book walk and a read through because the pictures can help with the more difficult words AND there’s plenty of repeatable text. Struggling and beginning readers need fun books like Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina to gain confidence and find enjoyment in reading. After all, reading attitude is at least half the battle.

We used to do a lot of activities in my remedial reading class with Caps for Sale. I would have students sequence the events using pre-made sentence strips that I photocopied and they cut out. Another fun activity was for students to act out the peddler’s and monkeys’ story while one or two other students read the text. Finally, we made advertisements for the peddler’s caps, so he didn’t have to go out, peddle, get so tired, and take a nap. Fun activities that work on writing and reading skills plus a great timeless book equals great reading lessons!

Do you remember reading Caps for Sale as a child? Anyone have an old, old, old copy (as in pre-Reading Rainbow) lying around?

**There’s still time to win one of Clara Gillow Clark’s Hattie books (middle grade historical fiction) by leaving a comment on Tuesday’s post. Contest ends at 8:00 pm CST today!**

*Picture book, contemporary urban fable, for preschoolers through first graders
*Young boy as main character
*Rating: How to Heal a Broken Wing‘s beautiful illustrations tell this heartwarming story along with a few simple words.

Short, short summary: A little boy finds a bird with a broken wing in the middle of the city. He convinces his mom to let him take the bird home and fix its wing. With his parents’ help and a lot of time and patience, the bird heals. The family takes the bird back to the spot where they found it and let it fly away. Here’s what Bob Graham (author and illustrator) has to say about his book How to Heal a Broken Wing: “I wanted to show that there is still hope in a coming generation of children who have curiosity and empathy with the world around them, and that care and attention can sometimes fix broken wings.”

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Books like How to Heal a Broken Wing where illustrations tell a large part of the story are perfect for use in the classroom or with home school students. Your children or your students can provide the text for the illustrations that Bob Graham did not. You can work on dialogue and punctuating dialogue as a shared writing activity. What are the parents and the little boy saying to each other about the bird’s broken wing? Children can also write about what the boy or even the bird might be thinking in their reading response journals.

2. How to Heal a Broken Wing is considered an urban fable. So a good discussion to have with children about this book is, “What should you do if you find a wild animal hurt? Who should you call or tell?” It’s always a good idea to call your local humane society even if they can’t help because they will have numbers for who to call. Children should NOT touch these animals, and adults should always wear gloves. Use Bob Graham’s book to start a safety discussion.

3. What else can time and patience do? Although you will be reading this book to younger children, you can still talk to them about how this book has a message that time and patience can do remarkable things in our world–look at the Grand Canyon. Make a list with your students. If they are having trouble getting started, you could help them think about things that grow–such as time and patience to get a seed to grow into a seedling OR time and patience to teach a dog to sit and so on.

Have you read this book?

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders
*Two young boys as main characters
*Rating: I am in love with Let’s Do Nothing! I laughed out loud at this picture book. Tony Fucile’s illustrations are hilarious, and the story is so cute!

Short, short summary: Frankie and Sal do not know what else to do with themselves. They have “played every sport ever invented, painted more pictures than Van Gogh, and baked enough cookies to feed a small country.” So, they decide to do nothing. But did you know that doing nothing is much harder than it seems? When Frankie tries to be as still as can be and imagine the things that Sal says to imagine, he just can’t do nothing. Even through Sal’s frustration, he still realizes that they have proved a very important point that the whole world should realize!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Ask students what they would pretend to be if they had to sit still and do nothing. In the book, the boys pretend to be statues, trees, and buildings. You can do this as a shared writing activity for younger students, where you make a list on chart paper and each child comes up with an idea to illustrate. For older primary children who are reading Let’s Do Nothing!, you can ask them to write about this prompt in their reading response journals.

2. Is it impossible to do nothing? That’s what the boys say in the book. Ask children this question and brainstorm answers. You can even work this into a health lesson. What parts of the body are still working and moving when you are doing nothing? How about when you are sleeping? Why do these particular body systems continue to work even when you are doing nothing?

3. Ask children to tell you what they like to do when they are bored. Have they ever run into the same problem as Frankie and Sal in the book? How would they solve this problem? Help children to make a personal connection to the text. When students or your children make personal connections with Tony Fucile’s text, then they are improving their reading comprehension, which is a very important skill.

Have you read Let’s Do Nothing! with your class or your children? What did you think?

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders
*Young girl as main character
*Rating: The Dog Who Belonged to No One is a whimsical, loveable story of a young girl and a cute puppy who find friendship with each other!

Short, short summary: Lia must pedal her bike all over town to deliver the bread her parents bake. She is lonely. The dog who belonged to no one tries to be a good and helpful dog by finding baseballs and mittens. But he is also lonely. They both dream of friends and warmth and times when loneliness is not around. One day during a storm, they both hurry toward the porch of the crooked little house, where Lia’s parents are waiting.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Children may need to discuss some of the emotions in this book–including feeling lonely. What does it mean to feel lonely? How do the dog and the girl combat loneliness? Does this work? Some of your students may feel lonely at times, too. This is a very delicate subject, but it can be discussed with children. Perhaps, students can brainstorm some ways to make sure people in their own class or own family are not feeling lonely.

2. The text in The Dog Who Belonged to No One provides a good example of using specific word choices. If you are studying the 6 traits of writing, you could use Amy Hest’s text as an example of good word choice. For example, the page about the storm has several strong verbs. Amy Hest writes: “He shook. He shivered. He dripped.” You can show students how she could have just said, “He was cold and wet.” But when she uses verbs like shook, shivered, and dripped, the language is more lively, and it brings a clear image to the reader.

3. Through most of the book, this is a parallel story. The dog who belonged to no one has one story. Lia has another. Before you get to the pages about the storm, ask students to predict how they think the two stories will eventually intertwine. You will also want to talk about how the author used certain techniques and specific language to show similarities between Lia and the dog.

I love the picture book, Make Way for Ducklings, written in 1941 by Robert McCloskey because he “noticed the traffic problem of the ducks” in Boston when he returned there to work. He had heard stories about them, and so he wrote and illustrated this timeless picture book.

Why should you still use this book with preschoolers, kindergarteners, and first graders? Because they will love it. First, the illustrations are priceless. My favorite is when the ducks want to cross the street, and they are all quacking at the cars. Which one is your favorite? What about your students? What do they think of Robert McCloskey’s style? What about the brown and white pictures in Make Way for Ducklings?

If you teach or live in Boston, you have to share this book with your students or your children. Do they recognize the places drawn or mentioned in the book? You can even talk about rhyming words and make up silly names with this book. Just look at the names of the ducklings–they all end in -ack. That’s pretty appropriate, don’t you think?

Have fun with Make Way for Ducklings! Show your students this Caldecott Winner, and then a Caldecott Winner from recent years. Ask them to compare and contrast the books.

The thing I love about Timeless Thursdays is that I get to revisit all these old books and realize why I still remember them.

*Picture book for preschoolers through first graders
*Little boy and pirate girls as main characters
*Rating: The Night Pirates is a fun read full of imagination and playful language!

Short, short summary: Tom is a nice little boy who is trying to go to sleep. But he hears shadows outside his window, and he wonders if they could be monsters or trolls? Nope, they turn out to be pirates; and what I love about this is that they are LITTLE GIRL pirates!!! And even better, they don’t care that Tom is a little boy. They invite him to come along on their adventure anyway. They have to steal the front of his house to disguise their ship, but no big deal! Who will ever know? This is one of those great, clever picture books with a twist at the end shown through the illustration. Children will ask to have The Night Pirates read to them again and again.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. The language in this book is so fun from page one! “Down, down, down the dark, dark street they came.” “Up, up, up the dark, dark house they climbed.” Children will love to read the book out loud with you, especially the repetitive parts. They may even like acting it out–tiptoe down the street, pretend to climb up the house, and stay as quiet as mice.

2. As a shared writing activity, ask students what else the girl pirates and Tom could disguise their ship as. How about the Empire State Building, Arch, or Grand Canyon? You can get big, silly, small, or funny. Make a list on chart paper, assign one to each student, and ask them to write/draw about disguising the girls’ ship with their place.

3. Teach a prediction lesson with this book. Most people will think when the girls and Tom get to the pirates’ island that the pirates will capture them or be mean to them. But the opposite happens. So, before you read the part about what happens to the pirates, ask students to predict what they think will happen. Ask them what they are basing their predictions on (probably movies or books they’ve read like The Pirates of the Carribean).

If you have read this book with your students, let us know here. We always want to know what your children/students liked about it or what activities you did!

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders
*7-year-old boy as main character
Rating: Bright illustrations match the cute text in this tennis tale that might just make you want to go to the court with your classroom or your child.

Short, short summary: Tennis, Anyone? tells the story of a 7-year-old boy who gets a tennis racket for his birthday, and he is wondering what to do with it. He doesn’t know anyone who plays tennis, and he thinks this present is kind of lame. Then he goes out to the courts with his dad, and he sees that tennis is pretty fun after all. Besides he can also use his racket for a guitar.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Do a shared writing activity about the different uses of a tennis racket. In the end of the story, the main character says that his tennis racket could also be a guitar. What else could students use a tennis racket for? You should get some interesting answers. Write answers down on chart paper. For younger students, allow them to illustrate their answers. For older students, they should write a few sentences and illustrate.

2. Many social studies curriculums in younger elementary grades focus on family units and communities. In Tennis, Anyone? family and community members are included in the story. Use these characters to discuss students’ or your children’s family members. Then discuss what sports and/or hobbies they enjoy. Younger students can illustrate their ideas, and older students can write about them.

3. I love Tennis, Anyone? because it is promoting getting out and playing a game with family members instead of children playing alone with all their electronic toys. PE teachers and health teachers could use Tennis, Anyone? in their classrooms. Homeschoolers can use this book to start a discussion about health and exercise. Elementary teachers can tie Shane McG’s book to the health curriculum.

Have you read this book? Leave your comments below. Any more activities or lesson ideas? Please let us know. Or simply share your favorite sport or favorite sport book.

Well, the end of the summer is coming near, and my family and I are getting ready to go on our last hurrah!

We are going to Memphis, and my hubby and stepson will see Graceland for the first time. Then we are going on to Baton Rouge to visit my best friend, Kristin! YAY!

So, I will see you again in blog-land around August 17th.

Hope you are getting to enjoy a last hurrah, too.

Until then, check out these children’s books by Mo Willems. I love anything by him. They are a blast and perfect for the last hurrah!!

See you soon!

Tell me about your last hurrah if you feel like it. Have fun because unfortunately, summer is almost done.

photo by Breibeest www.flickr.com

*Picture book for prekindergartners through second graders
*Dog as main character
*Rating: Denise Fleming’s second Buster book is so creative, and many children will be able to relate to Buster’s fears when he goes to Cowboy Camp.

Short, short summary: In Buster Goes to Cowboy Camp, Brown Shoes (which is the name Buster gives his owner) has to go out of town and take Buster to Cowboy Camp. Buster is scared and doesn’t want to sleep away from home. But then he meets Red Boots, and Cowboy Camp doesn’t seem so bad. There are other dogs, art projects, food, and play time. Next time Brown Shoes has to go out of town, I’m sure Buster will want to go back to Cowboy Camp!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Your students can have fun making their own version of a Buster book with this creative writing activity. First, ask students to describe themselves and/or their family members by their favorite pair of shoes as Denise Fleming does with Buster’s owner, Brown Shoes. So, some girls in your class may be Pink Ballet Shoes, or some boys may be Light-up Sneakers. For younger students, they can draw a picture or write one sentence about Buster and themselves such as: Pink Ballet Slippers played catch with Buster. Older students can write an entire short story about themselves (described as their shoes) and Buster.

2. Your students or your children will probably really relate to Buster and his feelings of sleeping away at home. Use Buster Goes to Cowboy Camp to start a discussion with students about some of their fears or insecurities. Have their parents ever gone on a trip and left them with their grandparents? Did they feel scared? How did the grandparents make them feel better? Did they do special activities like Buster did?

3. Some of the cowboy terms may not be familiar to your students. You can do a context clues lesson with this book. For example, can your students or your child figure out what “hit the hay” means from the context of the story? (The illustrations should help, too.) On a piece of paper or chart paper, make a cowboy dictionary of terms from Buster Goes to Cowboy Camp, and let your students come up with the definitions using context clues.

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com

*Picture book for preschoolers through 2nd graders, contemporary
*Marley the dog as the main character
*Rating: Marley and Me meets the picture book format with roaring success! John Grogan’s book will delight dog lovers young and old.

Short, short summary: The happy family on Churchill Road buys a puppy named Marley. (If you’ve seen or read Marley and Me by John Grogan, this picture book is based on that story.) Marley is a puppy with a lot of spunk and a knack for getting into trouble. He eats off the table, climbs onto the counters, drinks out of the toilet, and chews up feather pillows. He hears, “Bad Dog, Marley” all the time, so he tries to be good. Finally, Mom has had enough of this bad dog, and she says that the family must get rid of Marley. So, Dad puts an ad in the newspaper, and some people come over to see Marley. He always greets them with his regular enthusiasm, and no one decides to take him home. Thank goodness–because one day when Mom is busy, Baby Louie gets into some trouble. It’s Marley to the rescue, and bye-bye to her bad dog status. John Grogan wrote a fun book for children, so they too can enjoy the story of Marley and Me.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. When you read Bad Dog, Marley! to your children or your students, they will want to share pet stories with you. Children LOVE to share their personal stories; but as you know, this can take up a huge chunk of class time. One way you can allow students to share their personal stories about their pets and save time is to ask students to draw a picture or write about their best memory of their pets (or the story they most want to tell.) Then as students are working, you can visit each table and ask students about their pictures. You can also allow students to share with each other in small groups. This way, students have “planned” what they will say, and they are also more involved in each other’s stories in smaller groups.

2. To go along with this book, ask a dog trainer to come in as a guest speaker. If you do not know a dog trainer, you could also contact someone from the Love on a Leash program to see if they could do a presentation in your classroom. Students will love to see dogs in action. If you homeschool your children, call your local Humane Society. They often conduct tours for small groups.

3. In Bad Dog, Marley, John Grogan presents us with the problem that Marley is so bad, he will have to be given to another family. So, the family’s solution is to find a new home for Marley. Ask students to brainstorm other solutions that the family could also try (especially since they decide to keep Marley after he helps Baby Louie). Use the terms “problem” and “solution” when you discuss these events in the story, so students are familiar with identifying problems and solutions in stories.

If you have used this book in your classroom or at home, please let us know what activities you did or discussions you had. For more information about children’s books and writing, check out Teaching Authors.