Book Review: Because Amelia Smiled

Author/Illustrator: David Ezra Stein
Interest Level: Ages 6 and Up

From the Book Jacket: Because Amelia Smiles as she skips down the street, her neighbor Mrs. Higgins smiles too, and decides to send some cookies to her grandson, Lionel...in Mexico. The cookies give Lionel an idea, and his idea inspires a student, who in turn inspires a ballet troupe...in England! And so the good feelings travel across the world, inspiring ever more smiles, kindness, and love along the way.

Why It's On My Bookshelf: I start my year out with the students reading all of my bucket filling books. It's always a positive way to get us headed in the right direction. But I'm always looking for more stories to inspire children to go even farther with kindness. Want to remind kids their kind deeds can start a chain reaction? Well I've found a wonderful book with that inspiring idea. Amelia's smile changes not just those around her but people across the WORLD to do caring things. I'm definitely going to have a map out as I read this so we can trace the chain reaction. I'm going to use this book as an example of how we can make this happen within our own school. Can't wait to have this discussion with kiddos!!

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Book Review: Olive and the Big Secret

Author/Illustrator: Tor Freeman
Interest Level: Ages 6 and Up

From the Publisher: When Molly shares a secret with Olive, the urge to tell is just too great! Olive tells Joe who tells Matt who tells Lola. But Lola is best friends with Molly. Uh-oh, the secret is out, and Olive is in for it! Olive learns the hard way that keeping secrets is tough, and telling them can make for a whole lot of trouble! 

Why It's On My Bookshelf: The main reason I like this book is because the secret is about having a crush on someone. My office is right next to the playground and I can hear a lot of conversations going on. Often I'll hear kids out there talking about boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. Sometimes there is teasing going on. I've had individual conversations and even classwide talks about the inappropriateness of the teasing and how it causes embarassment and hurt feelings. Olive and the Big Secret is very light hearted so I'll be sure to start a serious conversation as we finish the story. So glad to have a helpful book like this to talk about this subject with kids!

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Book Review: Millie Fierce

Author/Illustrator: Jane Manning
Interest Level: Ages 5 and Up

From the Book Jacket: Millie is quiet. Millie is sweet. Millie is mild. But the kids at school don't listen to her. And she never gets a piece of birthday cake with a flower on it. And some girls from her class walk right on top of her chalk drawing and smudge it. And they don't even say they're sorry!

So that's when Millie decides she wants to be fierce! She frizzes out her hair, sharpens her nails and runs around like a wild thing. But she soon realizes that being fierce isn't the best way to get noticed either, especially when it makes you turn mean. So Millie decides to be nice--but to keep a little of that fierce backbone hidden inside her. In case she ever needs it again.

With bright art and an adorable character, it's easy to empathize with Millie. Because everyone has a bad day, once in a while.

Why It's On My Bookshelf: Mollie Fierce is a great example of positive and negative ways to get attention from others. I see children having negative (purposeful) interactions with others on a daily basis in my school. I just love books like this that open up the dialogue and help us get to the root of what's really going on...maybe they are having a bad day, could something be going on at home, are they feeling excluded. Insight! Insight! Millie has a change of heart when one of her actions causes a boy to cry. She reflects and sets on her way to start doing things differently - with kindness. Can't wait to focus on this character trait this year!

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Book Review: Flabbersmashed About You

Author: Rachel Vail
Illustrated by Yumi Heo
Interest Level: Ages 5 and Up

From the Publisher: Readers first met Katie Honors in Rachel and Yumi's Sometimes I'm Bombaloo and Jibberwillies at Night. Now Katie is back as she deals with feeling "flabbersmashed" by her best friend, who suddenly wants to be friends with another kid. We've all been flabbersmashed by a friend--left out of an activity or secret, left to feel sorry for ourselves, or move on. Will Katie ever stop feeling left out?

Why It's On My Bookshelf: This will be a helpful read for K-2 students as the year gets rolling and friendship problems start surfacing. There is nothing worse than a tear stained face kiddo coming up to me and telling me how they've been "dumped" by their good buddy. In the book, Katie describes this as feeling "flabbersmashed." This word is an introduction to all sorts of emotions kids feel when they are left standing alone. Friendship security is a big deal out on the playground. I want to teach the kids to be secure in a different way. The dependence on one friend for their ultimate happiness can lead to constantly feeling "flabbersmashed." Not a good way to go through your school day. So glad to have this in my library. I will bet you anything that a student is going to come up to me on the playground and tell me they are feeling flabbersmashed!

There is something minor about the book I'd like to point out that had me a little concerned. When two of the characters are playing they talk about "killing the bad guys." I'm really careful with what I teach the kids. We have a zero tolerance for violent language at my school - even if it's just play fighting. So there are a couple of ways I might go with this. 1) I might just change the words 2) I might use this as a teaching opportunity about using these words. I'm not sure yet which way I'm going to go. I just know I don't want to send the kids mixed signals about the expectations of safe language out on the playground. Just wanted to point this out to other educators. It's still a great story and is going to help solve some major problems.

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Patricia Polacco's New Book - Bully

Bully
by Patricia Polacco
Interest Level: Ages 7 and Up

From the Publisher: Patricia Polacco takes on cliques and online bullying.

Lyla finds a great friend in Jamie on her first day of school, but when Lyla makes the cheerleading squad and a clique of popular girls invites her to join them, Jamie is left behind. Lyla knows bullying when she sees it, though, and when she sees the girls viciously teasing classmates on Facebook, including Jamie, she is smart enough to get out. But no one dumps these girls, and now they're out for revenge.

Patricia Polacco has taken up the cause against bullies ever since Thank You, Mr. Falker, and her passion shines through in this powerful story of a girl who stands up for a friend.

This book is being released on September 13, 2012 and I have PREORDERED mine. I CANNOT WAIT. We had some awful facebook problems last year with 5th graders. Yep, facebook is on my elementary doorstep! Patricia Polacco delivers such solid stories - I think we all know this is going to be a winner. Looking forward to seeing it's impact in our students' lives. Look for my review of it in September.

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Book Review: The Call of the Cowboy

Author: David Bruins
Illustrator: Hilary Leung
Interest Level: Ages 4 and Up

A Note From the Publisher: When the bear wants to spend the afternoon photographing birds, the exuberant cowboy inadvertently makes a nuisance of himself as he loudly chews bubble gum, hops on a pogo stick and slurps a pop. When the ninja just wants to read quietly, the cowboy is wildly distracting as he drums on rocks, bats a paddleball and gabs on his cell phone. The cowboy's boisterous mood prompts the ninja and the bear to drop their respective activities, leaving their pal alone to wonder why no one wants to be with him. Can he find the peace and quiet he needs to figure it out?

Why It's On My Bookshelf: Ever been focused on an activity and there is a constant interruption? Kinda annoying. Walk into a classroom and you will see all kinds of concentration going on. Take a closer look and you might see some kids off task interrupting that focus. This book is for those little darlings - the invaders of learning. I also love how the story starts out describing cowboy as a good friend, kind, caring, and fun. It's important for the interrupters to know we think they are awesome. But they can be more awesome if they show respect to the other learners around them. This is a short sweet story and it will be making the rounds with me this fall as kids get back into their school groove.

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Book Review: The Lonely Book

Author: Kate Bernheimer
Illustrator: Chris Sheban
Interest Level: Ages 4 and Up

From the Publisher: When a wonderful new book arrives at the library, at first it is loved by all, checked out constantly, and rarely spends a night on the library shelf. But over time it grows old and worn, and the children lose interest in its story. The book is sent to the library's basement where the other faded books live. How it eventually finds an honored place on a little girl's bookshelf—and in her heart—makes for an unforgettable story sure to enchant anyone who has ever cherished a book.

Why It's On My Bookshelf: I saw this on a book list in the spring and showed it to our librarian. Our thinking was it would be a great encourager to get kids to not just focus on the shiny new ones but to take a look at ALL the books no matter how tattered they may seem. But of course since I always have my counselor hat on I saw a bigger message in the story. This is such a cool and empathetic way to introduce the feeling of loneliness. A little girl Alice is the perfect model of inclusiveness and friendship. Can't wait to read this in the fall to the kids. I want them to remember to take an interest in everyone. Lets not overlook one another. What a sweet kind story!

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