Category Archives: Timely Reads

Holiday Read Alouds, Part 2: Tales to Warm the Heart

Having taken my own advice about waiting until the perfect “tipping point” to introduce holiday books into the classroom, I now find myself (as I do almost every year) in a slight frenzy.  You see, the size of the stack of books I was hoping to share with my class before vacation doesn’t quite match up with the number of days we have left.  I suppose that’s not the worst problem in the world to have – it does flip the “countdown” feeling in my head to something positive – but I’m surprised by how important certain books feel to me, almost like I wouldn’t be ready for the holidays if I didn’t get a chance to read them.  I suppose the traditions we create within classrooms can become almost as strong and personal as the traditions we create within our families, those non-negotiable ceremonies that make the holidays so special.

Today I’ll focus on two books that I would consider my favorite “heartwarmers.”  I’ll make time later in the week for some books that are just pure fun.

1st edition

1st edition (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (written by Russell Hoban, pictures by Lillian Hoban) – I must admit that I have an ulterior motive in reading this book to my class: it allows me to show the video of the Jim Henson adaptation of this story on the last day before break.  That movie remains one of my favorite childhood Christmas specials.  In fact, I’m not entirely sure I was as connected to the book as a child as I was to the movie, but I’ve rediscovered the book as an adult.  Essentially it is a retelling of “The Gift of the Magi” with animal characters.  Emmet and his Ma are too poor to buy each other Christmas gifts.  A Christmas Eve talent show seems to offer a perfect opportunity to use their musical talents to win some money and buy a “real, store-bought” gift for one another.  They secretly prepare to enter with different acts, but each finds that their act will require a sacrifice: Emmet will have to put a hole in Ma’s washtub to make a bass for his jug-band, and Ma will have to sell Emmet’s toolbox to get the fabric for her costume.  Will their sacrifices pay off in the end?  I learned after my first year of reading this story to children that it’s best to stop right before the talent show if you’re also going to show them the movie, creating some sense of suspense.  Children’s expectations for “happy endings” in stories like this are so strong that the debate is usually about which one of the characters will win the show, not whether they’ll win at all; the actual ending of the story is usually very surprising to them.  The Hobans are familiar to many children from the other books they wrote together, particularly A Bargain for Frances and Bread and Jam for Frances, and the gentle style of the story and pictures in this book is

Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas

Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas (Photo credit: ulalume)

similar to their other works.  I find the low-key, heartwarming tone of both the book and movie to be a nice counterbalance to the more frenetic pace of some holiday specials.  This book is sadly out of print, but you can find it in libraries or used book stores. It’s worth hunting down!  The Jim Henson special is available on DVD, and you can find extensive informationabout the making of the film on the Muppet wiki.

Silver Packages: An Appalachian Christmas Story (written by Cynthia Rylant, pictures by Chris K. Soentpiet) – Cynthia Rylant is truly a remarkable author for many reasons, not least of which is her ability to write in such completely different genres.  Children who know her name from series such as Henry and Mudge or Cobble Street Cousins might be surprised to hear that she also wrote this lovely, touching picture book.  The story takes place in a poor village in Appalachia.  Many years ago, a rich man had a car accident in the hills and was well-cared for by the people who found him.  When he had healed, his caretakers refused to accept any money from him, and he left feeling that he owed a debt to the community.  Every year he rides through the towns in the hills on a train, throwing packages wrapped in silver paper to the children who run alongside.  A little boy named Frankie waits in the cold for the train, hoping every year for a toy doctor kit.  One year his package has a cowboy holster and warm socks; another year it contains a toy police car and mittens.  As an adult, he looks back on those precious packages and makes a decision about a debt of his own that he feels he owes.  The writing in this story is poetic in a subtle way, and I absolutely love the detailed illustrations.  There are some really interesting conversations to be had with children about what it means to owe someone a debt and how the gifts we give can affect others.  If you’re reading this aloud, prepare yourself for the last page, though – I always have to blink back a few tears on this one.

Now, a disclaimer.  This book is actually my runner up for Favorite Tearjerker.  My real Favorite Tearjerker is The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey (written by Susan Wojciechowski, illustrated by P.J. Lynch); however, since I can’t read that book (aloud or to myself) without actually bursting into tears, I have officially removed it from the list of read alouds so I do not scar my children emotionally.  I can usually make it through Silver Packages with just a lump in my throat, so it’s a safer choice.  Do yourself a favor and read The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey … but if you’re anything like me, do it in a corner by yourself with a box of tissues nearby.

Happy reading and happy holidays!

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Holiday Read Alouds, Part 1: Lighting the Candles

In the classroom, I feel that each holiday comes with its own tipping point, its own ticking clock.  Acknowledge the holiday too early and you risk spinning the whole class into chaos for days (joyful chaos, but still).  Fail to acknowledge the holiday and the underground excitement will eventually explode.  Finding that tipping point is a careful operation.  October 30 – business as usual.  October 31 – Halloween math, Halloween read alouds, Halloween poetry …

When it comes to the winter holiday season, that tipping point is even more ticklish.  I find that it is right around this time, a week or two into December, when the tide becomes too strong to deny.  Reports on last night’s Hanukkah gifts, discussions of advent calendars, and the humming …oh, the humming.  “Jingle Bells.”  “Here Comes Santa Claus.”  It’s official: the holidays are coming.

My very favorite way to (calmly) acknowledge the coming of the season is through read alouds.  I’ll be kicking off my yearly Holiday Read Alouds this week in the classroom and sharing some of the ones I love in my next few blog posts.  There’s always room on the read aloud schedule for a few more, so feel free to share some of your favorites through the comments section.

With Hanukkah beginning this past weekend, I’ll be starting this year with one of my favorite picture books about the holiday: Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins (written by Eric A. Kimmel, pictures by Trina Schart Hyman).  Hershel is a traveler who is glad to find a friendly village for the first night of Hanukkah, but the villagers reveal that they are plagued by goblins that hate Hanukkah and stop them from celebrating.  Hershel volunteers to spend each night of Hanukkah in the synagogue to see if he can outwit a series of goblins.  In order to banish the goblins forever, he’ll have to arrange for the king of the goblins himself to light the Hanukkah candles on the last night of the holiday.

The 1996 Hanukkah USA 32 cents stamp

The 1996 Hanukkah USA 32 cents stamp (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This book is an absolutely lovely way to bring this holiday to life for children.  The story is genuinely exciting, and Hanukkah traditions are woven into the narrative in a way that allows children who celebrate this holiday to share their own experiences.  The overall message is a positive spin on a traditional trickster tale: Hershel overcomes the goblins by using his wits and his bravery.  The cast of goblins offers lots of opportunities for silly, dramatic voices.  For me, perhaps the most appealing part of the book is the illustrations.  I’ve always loved Trina Schart Hyman’s work – she manages to straddle the line between cartoonish personality and detailed realism, a style I find particularly effective in her folk tales and fairy tales.  Here the goblins are dramatic but silly, and the king of the goblins is scary without being gory or graphic.  Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins makes a wonderful addition to any holiday library, whether you celebrate Hanukkah in your home or not.  Stay tuned next week for more holiday picks, and happy reading!

Politics with Old Friends

When election fatigue starts to set in, I consider myself fortunate to be surrounded by third graders.  Eight year olds tend to approach this event, as they approach so many parts of their day, with a charming mixture of curiosity and vagueness as to exact details (there have been several grave conversations between children about whether someone named “Romney … or maybe Rombly” will “get a turn” to be president next).  There are many wonderful picture books about elections, politics, and presidents, but two of my favorites use characters that many children know from other books.  Both of these books stand on their own, but children who are familiar with the characters will enjoy seeing these old friends in a new light on the campaign trail.

Cover of "Duck for President (New York Ti...

Cover via Amazon

Duck for President (written by Doreen Cronin, illustrations by Betsy Lewin) continues the story of the farm first introduced in the Caldecott Honor book Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type.  Duck is tired of his chores on the farm, and decides it’s time to move up in the world.  He runs for the job of farmer (much to the surprise of the Farmer, who didn’t know it was up for election) and wins.  Unfortunately, that job has its own problems, so Duck continues to seek out higher and higher office.  Children love the expressive illustrations and the details of each messy job.  There’s plenty of new political concepts to introduce to readers as Duck ascends the ladder of elected positions, and the growing size of the numbers (up to millions in the presidential elections)  in each electoral tally will tickle the mathematically inclined.  Adults may be more entertained by the constant recounts and the unusual places that missing ballots are found.  They may also recognize references to iconic presidential images in some of the hilarious illustrations.  There is a lesson for readers here – something about appreciating your own role and realizing that each job comes with its own headaches – but that lesson is saved from being heavy-handed by a funny twist at the end.

Cover of "Letters from the Campaign Trail...

Cover via Amazon

LaRue for Mayor: Letters from the Campaign Trail (written and illustrated by Mark Teague) features one of my third graders’ very favorite literary dogs, Ike LaRue.  Ike first appeared in the clever picture book Dear Mrs. LaRue, and this book uses the same strategy as that one of telling the story through Ike’s letters to his owner and articles from the local paper.  Ike writes to his owner while she is recovering in the hospital to tell her about his “social club” of dogs, dedicated to “good deeds.”  The rowdy dogs (who are actually spending most of their time knocking over hot dog carts and disrupting baseball games) come to the attention of mayoral candidate Hugo Bugwort, who decides to run on a harsh “anti-dog” platform.  Naturally, Ike has to enter the race against him, engaging in some good old-fashioned smear tactics.  In the end, Bugwort sees the error of his ways and a bipartisan (human and dog, of course) coalition is created.  This book is a nice introduction to the shaking-hands-and-kissing-babies nature of local politics.  However, like the other Ike LaRue books, it also has another lesson for children in the idea of perspective.  Ike writes to his owner in glowing terms about his own innocent activities, and his dramatic voice is one of the reasons this is such a delightful read aloud.  Teague’s illustrations are done in a split screen fashion: Ike’s version of the story is illustrated in black and white, while the messier reality of the situation is illustrated in color on the same page.  Children love picking up on the exaggerations of this unreliable first-person narrator, and they hone in quickly on the differences between Ike’s words and the color illustrations.  This method of storytelling and shifting perspective could lead to a particularly interesting conversation with older children about the ways that political parties use perspective in their ads and speeches.

As you find yourself wading through the piles of election themed books this season, I highly recommend Ike and Duck as humorous incumbents that your child can get behind.  Happy reading!