Olivia Kidney and the Exit Academy by Ellen Potter

      Upon opening Ellen Potter's novel Olivia Kidney and the Exit Academy I became instantly attached to the main character, as I could see some of my reflection in her.  Olivia Kidney, the young girl and main character of this story, is about to move into her new home, a shabby brownstone building in New York City.  Just weeks before, her father, a handyman, had received an anonymous note asking him to take on the job of a live-in handyman for Ansel Plover.  Entirely disinterested in the thought of moving to a new home and becoming the new kid on the block yet again, Olivia begrudgingly drags her suitcase up the stairs to the front of the brownstone.
      Much to her surprise and liking, the world within the building stands in sharp contrast to the world beyond its walls. As she and her father climb the stairs and arrive at the second floor, they discover a lagoon in the center of the room.  Yes you read right, a large body of water has enveloped the entire second floor.  Personally I had to re-read this section of the novel to ensure that I had in fact understood it correctly.  Olivia and her father make their way across the lagoon in a small boat and up a metal staircase to their new rooms.
       Within these first few pages readers are bound to continue reading and never put the book down.  Those who do continue will soon find that Olivia has a special way of communicating with her brother who recently passed away.  As the story further unfolds, hidden secrets of Ansel's brownstone building will be unveiled and it even becomes evident that Olivia's father is doing every possible activity except for handy-work.  Soon you will become weary of Ansel, especially when Olivia stumbles across his late night auditorium rehearsals. 
         Ellen Potter's writing style is absolutely wonderful for young children who may easily become distracted during reading.  Each page is festooned with countless details and descriptions making it so that the story comes alive in a reader's mind.  In fact, I found the few illustrations in the book a bit distracting because I had already crafted my own characters.  Though that is my personal opinion and it's quite likely that a younger child may greatly appreciate the comic-like illustrations of Peter Reynolds.
          Though I certainly enjoyed the book and would encourage my own students to read it, I would suggest that they come to me with any questions while reading.  The end of the text slightly delves into the topic of death and after-life, a topic that could easily cause uneasiness or controversy.  However, Ellen Potter discusses the fact of life lightly and with comic relief, making it more appropriate for young readers.   
          You must be itching to find out why this book is called the Exit Academy?  Before you dive head first into this book I suggest you first try Olivia Kidney, the prequel to this tale, if you have not already read it.  You have already read these books and want more, you say?  I suggest you check out other books by Ellen Potter, like Pish Posh, Olivia Kidney Secret Beneath City, Olivia Kidney Stops for No One, and Slob.

I'm still here in the bathtub (brand new silly dilly songs) by Alan Katz

If you were fond of classic songs such as "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Three Blind Mice", and "Bingo" during your childhood then you are bound to fall in love with the book of poems Alan Katz has concocted.  In this collection Katz re-writes each of the classic nursery rhymes and songs, giving them a new and funky twist.  He keeps the rhyme scheme and general format of the tune identical, but each of the songs has an revamped storyline.   

If the silly songs haven't entirely sold you, though I certainly hope this is not the case, take one peek at the illustrations and you'll be hooked.  David Catrow's bright, colorful, hugely hilarious, and detailed depictions wonderfully extend the text of the songs, keeping readers engaged long after the song is finished.  It's simply impossible to take in all of the many details on each page during one run-through of the tune.

Katz takes the original tune "Bingo" and cleverly alters the words of the tune so that it tells the tale of a small boy ranting about the items of clothing his parents have purchased for him.  Readers will find a resemblance to the original tune when they sing "I-T-C-H-Y", but that is where the similarities begin and end.  The clever illustration of the brown pooch practically pops off the page and those who look carefully will find a small boy peering from behind a slender tree.  Take a peek inside this book to discover why this small boy is hiding off in the distance.       

Within pages readers will be greeted by the chubby cheeks and pursed red lips of Aunt Marie.  The hilariously silly tale of relatives that smother and smooch upon a small child must be sung to the tune of "The Alphabet Song" for full effect.  Once again Catrow's captivating illustrations hook readers' curiosity making it difficult to flip the page without reading to find out more about these gigantic rose-colored pursed lips.   

This collection of funny songs is a wonderful opener to a poetry unit, emphasizing to children that poetry is not always serious but quite right wacky and nonsensical.  Children who have a fear of poetry may likely open their minds to the realm of rhyme and metaphorical language after hearing several of these hilarious jingles. 

If you were fond of these silly songs, then you'll also like other song books, such as Are You Quite Polite? Silly Dilly Manner Songs, Smelly Locker: Silly Dilly Songs, and On Top of the Potty: And Other Get-Up-and-Go-Songs.

Stories from the Billabong

Have you ever wondered how the kangaroo got its pouch? Or perhaps why frogs croak?  Maybe you have even been curious about how the crocodile got its scales?  Take a peek at Stories of the Billabong, with tales retold by James Vance Marshall and illustrated by Francis Firebrace, to find out. 

In this compilation of myths and legends, Marshall retells the stories of the Aboriginal storytellers of thousands of years ago.  For quite some time the stories were passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth and it was only recently that the myths were transcribed using written text. 

The opening tale beautifully depicts the creation of the Earth as described by the Aboriginal people of 60,000 years ago.  According to the Aboriginal people a rainbow serpent, the Great Mother Snake, traversed empty lands creating hills and valleys and awakening the sleeping creatures of the Earth.  Illustrations of Francis Firebrace capture the art forms of the time with bold brush  strokes of paint, bringing life to the words of the tale.

Small children will likely become instantly enthralled in the next story as they become attached to the small kangaroo baby who cannot keep up with his mother as they flee from the attacking hunter.  Will little Joey get lost behind?  Read the tale to find out and even unearth the mystery of the kangaroo's pouch.

The Aboriginal people told a clever story of the origins of the frog's croak.  Perhaps you have given thought to why the frog croaks while countless other animals have quite beautiful singing voices or peaceful chirps.  In reading this legend of the Little Green Frog you will discover the origin of the croak and likely learn a bit about the repercussions of pride and boastfulness.  It's certainly an eyeopening story with a wonderful moral for young children tucked inside.


If the tales and illustrations are not enticing enough, each story concludes with a short excerpt about the animals mentioned in the tale.  After learning how the kangaroo got its pouch you will discover that there are 50 different species of kangaroo and that the largest are the red kangaroos and stand over 7ft tall.  I doubt you have ever heard of the broglas of Australia; I certainly had not before cracking open this book.  These pale-grey birds actually perform ceremonial dances as part of their courting rituals, however you will have to read the book to find out more fun facts.

The short blurbs of information about each animal or species provide a great spring board for further exploration of the creatures in the Aboriginal tales and add the aspects of nonfiction to an otherwise fictional and imaginative retelling of Aboriginal tales.  Teachers can easily encourage children to pursue further research about the myths using the excerpts as a basis.  Or they may even ask students to write their own legend about an Australian creature.  There are simply countless lesson plan opportunities emerging from this collection of Aboriginal tales.  

Now I know you are just itching to find out how the kangaroo got its pouch!  The answer is only a library trip or bookstore purchase away!

Wolf

Becky Bloom presents a tale about a quite unusual wolf, a wolf who will likely inspire your students to take a page out of his book.  Like many picture books the story commences before the text even emerges, on the inside of the opening cover.  Readers will find a grumpy wolf with nap-sack trudging through the streets of town.  The wolf chooses to make his way to a nearby farm to find himself something to eat, but when he arrives  he is alarmed to discover farmyard animals who not only have no fear, but appear engrossed in their reading.  The animals are quick to inform the wolf that he must learn to read if he wishes to become a part of their community.  The wolf takes the challenge and attends school in order to become educated like the animals on the farm.  The story takes readers through the phases a beginning reader must progress through as they learn how to read.  At first the wolf reads a very easy reader, with words "Run, wolf! Run!, and gradually progresses to reading The Three Little Pigs.  However, the animals criticize the wolf for his reading style and he quickly returns to the library to read more books and become more fluent in his reading.  When the wolf finally ventures back to the educated animals they are completely astonished by his reading abilities and beg him to read book after book, after book.  
       I discovered this book in my practicum classroom as the teacher read it aloud to the students.  In the first few pages of the story I predicted that the book would be a parody of The Three Little Pigs since the wolf was on his way to find food of the animal variety, however the tale took a sharp turn upon the encounter of educated farm animals.   I couldn't help, but wonder whether the students had made a similar connection to the The Three Little Pigs and had I been in charge of the read aloud I think I might have probed for their thoughts.
     The teacher chose the book in order to demonstrate concepts from reading workshop to the children.  Reading workshop is a reading program in which children read in whole-groups, small groups and individually.  When children read individually they are allowed to make themselves comfortable throughout the classroom, as the teacher calls on particular children to conference about their reading.  The vibrant water color illustration of the animals reading outside the barn, specifically the cow lounging on the pile of hay, provides a perfect depiction of the atmosphere that ought to be present while children are reading quietly during reading workshop.  Later on in the story, when the animals asked  the wolf to change his reading style, the teacher explained that the animals were referring to the wolf's fluency.  Defining the concept of fluency, she let the children know that they would be practicing their fluency and the best way to practice fluency is to read and read and read.  
    On a side note, while listening to the read aloud I became aware of how the new generation of children has no recollection of the Dick and Jane books.  The teacher had to explain that "Run, wolf! Run!" was in fact a reference to a Dick and Jane book with the phrase "Run, Spot! Run!".  The teacher and I exchanged glances and chuckled at this discovery.      
   All in all I love how the book ensures children that learning to read is not impossible.  Children can easily relate to the wolf and aspire to work hard and become a star reader just like him.  Sue Sherif says "Parents, teachers, librarians, and newly skilled readers will love the unabashedly undisguised message of the text".  Thus, the tale is for all ages and inspires both children and teachers alike!

Pumpkin Soup

    Do you have children at home or in the classroom who might need a little help with the concept of sharing?  Well, then Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper may just be your ticket to success.  Cooper's clever tale depicts the adventures of three animals and their encounters with the twists and turns of friendship.
     Readers meet the Cat, Squirrel, and Duck  in a cabin in the woods, playing music late into the night.  Frequently the three friends work together to make pumpkin soup and each friend has their own job.  The Cat slices the pumpkin, the Squirrel stirs the water, and the Duck measures just a "pipkin of salt".  After eating their soup the animals play their tune and drift off to sleep under a blanket made with the help of all friends.  The Duck's technique for measuring a "pipkin of salt" caused memories of my great grandmother to flood into my mind.  My mother frowns upon me when I am too precise while baking, telling me stories of how my great grandmother would measure salt and other dry goods in the palm of her hand.  Anything she baked turned out absolutely perfect, regardless of the precision of her measuring. 
         Back in the story, the animals are sleeping happily in their bed until little Duck is struck with an awfully tempting idea and he makes his way to the kitchen, his mind fixed on a wish to become the head chef of pumpkin soup.  Grabbing the spoon he announces to his sleeping friends that he wishes to stir the soup today and a terrible quarrel unfolds.  The illustration of the animals attacking one another with spoons and spouting curse words (cleverly depicted by symbols) perfectly portrays the ruckus that has unfolded in the kitchen.  However, this illustration is not the first drawing to extend the text and illustrate the little creatures' emotions.  In fact, each page is festooned with large pictures to the left or right of the text and smaller drawings between sections of text. These tiny drawings create a scene-by-scene description of the occurrences in the story and will likely engage readers such that they do not miss a beat.
         The quarrel subsides and the Duck announces that he is running far away from his friends.  The Cat and Squirrel soon begin to search for their missing friend, but after no luck they head in for the night and cook soup that tastes absolutely horrid.  The illustration depicting the Squirrel crying over his soup and looking at himself in his spoon would create great discussion in regards to the emotions the animals are feeling.  Teachers reading the story aloud may wish to probe their students to see whether they understand the hidden meaning found in the Squirrel looking at himself and broach the topics of friendship and sharing with one another.
           When there still is no sight of the Duck, his friends make their way deep into the woods (which seemed to be an interesting reference to the Wizard of Oz), worrying about their friend.  Still no luck the two return back to the cabin telling themselves that the Duck possibly found a better life without them.  To their surprise the Duck is home waiting for his friends and the three joyously make soup together, allowing the Duck to stir regardless of the mess he makes.  All seems back to normal until the Duck proclaims his wish to play the bagpipes and the animals break into a fight on the final page of the story.
             At the very end of the story one will find a recipe for pumpkin soup, a version for humans, of course.  After reading the story aloud it would be especially fun to make and eat the soup together as a class.  While making the soup children could practice their sharing and direction-following skills.
              If you liked Pumpkin Soup then you might consider reading these other books by Helen Cooper: The Boy Who Wouldn't go to Bed, Delicious, or A Pipkin of Pepper.  
                    
     

One Fine Day

Nonny Hogrogian grasps her readers attention before they even so much as move their hand to open the front cover of her tale One Fine Day.  The  marvelous illustrations crafted using delicate brush strokes on canvas won Hogrogian the Caldecott Medal winner in 1971.  These paintings commence the story before any glimpse of the text emerges, as readers will find an old woman with a pail walking and a small fox lurking in the woods on the title page.
      The text appears and story unfolds, as the little fox makes its way to a pail of milk.  The angry old woman and owner of the milk becomes outraged and cuts off his tail in one fell swoop, claiming that she will not return his tail until he returns her milk.  The fox meanders on to find a cow, who requests some grass in exchange for the milk.  The field beckons the fox to bring it some water and the fox continues on its way to the stream.  Like the field and cow, the stream would like something in return, specifically a jug.  Continuing along his journey the fox talks with a fair maiden, a peddler, and a hen.  The hen's request for grains sends the fox searching for a miller and when the poor little fox reaches the miller he bursts into tears.  Showing more apathy than the creatures and people before him the miller agrees to give him some grain out of the goodness of his heart.  After returning and retrieving all of the items the fox finally makes his way back to the old woman with the milk she requested and she reattaches his tail.
    The story ends as it began, with a simple illustration and no text.  However, the read must be certain to flip to the back of the very last page to find the little fox scurrying through the woods to find his friends.  The illustrations also provide the element of time to the story.  At the beginning of the tale the sun is slowly rising far to the left of the center binding, and as the fox proceeds on his journey the sun makes its way across the top of the page.  The sun finally sets far to the right of to center binding depicting that the fox has traveled for an entire day to complete his mission and retrieve his tail.  Furthermore, the fox's emotions are carefully depicted in the paintings, as the light of hope and happiness slowly vanish from the fox's face. Though at first glance the illustrations seem simple and devoid of details, it takes a discerning eye to unveil the extensions these paintings make to the text. 
     Nonny Hogrogian found inspiration for her story in an Armenian folktale, in fact there are quite a few Armenian folk tales for those interested in expanding their knowledge of Armenian history.  Hogrogian has written a another rendition of an Armenian tale, entitled The Contest.  Teachers may wish to take time to introduce children to the country of Armenia after reading this book to allow children to make connection between the setting of the book and the country.  The story also lends itself to a lesson in which children can sequence the events that take place on the fox's journey.  For example, students could be given slips of paper with one step of the journey and asked to work together to rewrite the story on the board.   

   

Berlioz the Bear

Looking for a way to incorporate music and reading?  Ever heard of a bear playing a bass?

     Open the cover of Berlioz the Bear and dive into a world of instrument playing animals, cleverly crafted by Jen Barret.  A group of bears, an orchestra of bears to be exact, are on their way to perform for the ball in the village.  Poor Berlioz is fretting about the disturbing buzzing noise coming from his double bass.  Paying too much attention to his buzzing bass and too little attention to the mule pulling the bandwagon, he is unable to steer away from a deep hole that halts their journey.  Despite the help of several animals, the wagon remains stuck on the path as the time of the ball draws near.



   
 Jen Brett's colorful illustrations bring the story to life and there certainly is not a lack of detail in her vibrant depictions of the journey to the gala.  It is particularly interesting how she captures both the adventures of the bandwagon in the foreground and the occurrences in the town square in the background and along the upper border on each page.  While animals are coming to assist the helpless band, the border along the top of the page enables to the reader to see the number of animals that are making their way to the town square.  On each new page, two new animals walk along the path on the left and right margins of the pages to join the rest of the town.
     When all hope seems to have vanished Berlioz bows his bass so that it buzzes, which releases a bee from the instrument's hollow body.  With one sting from the bee, the mule lurches forward and pulls forward, bringing the band to the town square just in the nick of time.  Once the band reaches the square the illustrations along the upper border of the page vanish, signaling that the band has arrived.  As if her illustrations could not add more to the text, readers will discover a hidden reference to the "Flight of the Bumblebee" on the final page of the story.
      The story not only provides classroom discussion through the illustrations, but also unfolds countless lessons about the orchestra, composer Hector Berlioz, and the Flight of the Bumblebee.  Looking closely at the instruments in the bandwagon students will become familiar with the various orchestra instruments and the book can easily be tied into a lesson on the orchestra.  Teachers can likewise ask their students if they have any idea as to why the bear was named Berlioz, explaining that he was named after a famous composer named Hector Berlioz.
      Personally at first I was hesitant to read this book, but grew to love it as the story developed.  I even found that I could certainly use this book to connect to my own lives and demonstrate personal connections to my class.  In fact, my favorite animal has always been a bear and since about fourth grade band has been an important puzzle piece in my life.  Through telling a bit about my own interests I would challenge my students to make connections to their personal lives when reading any book they pick up.