Garmann's Summer

Written and illustrated by Norwegian author Stian Hole, Garmann's Summer is a unique children's picture book that won the BolognaRagazzi Award in 2007 for it's imaginative storyline and illustrations. This story is about a little boy named Garmann's first day of school, which he is very nervous about! Despite his age, Garmann is a very interesting little boy that ponders over many of life's questions like life, death, fear and courage, beginnings and endings. In his own special way, Garmann observes the world around him, including his eccentric "old aunts" that visit by boat, to help him make sense of his fears and show readers that everyone is scared of something in their own way. Even adults are scared of things in life, not just little kids, which is a great premise for children to understand when they are growing up and facing new things.

My favorite aspect of this story were the illustrations and layout of the book. They are very different and like nothing I've seen before! The author mixes some realistic elements with whimsical artistic variations to create magical images. I also loved Garmann's character because he seems so grown up and wise for such a young boy, and the way that he looks at the world is inspiring and helpful to young readers. The tone of the story is not typical for a children's story book, but I fell in love with it immediately. I could use this picture book in the classroom in many ways that utilize English and creative arts content areas. Since this book has a lot of similes and metaphors within it, it would be a great foundation for a lesson on those literary elements. Students could examine the examples in the book and then create their own similes and metaphors, and then create a collage-like illustration using magazine cutouts (similar style of the book) to accompany their phrase.

Hole, S. (2006). Garmann's summer. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Hiroshima No Pika

Hiroshima No Pika is a story about the catastrophic atomic bomb that devastated the city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. This book is about a young girl named Mii and her family on the day the bomb was dropped, and how she, her mother and her father fled to try and find safety. Hiroshima No Pika is accompanied by harrowing illustrations that depict the tragedy with colors of glowing embers and heavy smoke. It tells of the horrifying outcome of that day, including the deaths of many children, animals and family members and how the entire city was engulfed in flames; the remains of the city were reduced to a burned wasteland. This book also speaks about the second atomic bomb that was dropped on the nearby city of Nagasaki just three days after the first bomb was dropped. Thousands died in these tragedies, and the land and those surrounding it were contaminated by radiation that continued to cause deaths and illnesses for years after the explosions.

I thought this book was really incredible, although very, very sad. It explains in vivid detail the medical trauma that survivors of the attack suffered from radiation exposure and how many of them died from the exposure some time later. It tells how the young girl Mii never grew up after the bomb due to the "flash from the bomb"; her body never grew into adult size. Her father initially survived the burns from the attack, but eventually died from radiation exposure as well. Although this is a devastating story, it is a very important part of Japan's and the United State's history. It would be a great tool to use in a history lesson to introduce the events of World War II that led up to the dropping of these bombs. Students will acquire knowledge about the impact and damage of atomic weapons, and learn about the tragic results of them too. Students could even participate in a debate that discusses the arguments for and against the US using bombs on other nations.

Maruki, T. (1980). Hiroshima no pika. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books.

An Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly

Written by Laurence Pringle and illustrated with paintings by Bob Marshall, An Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly gives readers a colorful look inside the life of a Monarch butterfly. This book informs the reader of the butterfly's life cycles and describes their migration patterns from Massachusetts to the Rio Grande, an amazing cross-continental flight that spans 2,500 hundred miles. The paintings are labeled and identify the parts of the insects and also illustrate the metamorphosis process from the caterpillar to the butterfly. I thought this was a very cool book and is perfect for young readers just beginning to learn about these insects, it provides them with tons of facts in a very readable format. I absolutely adored the illustrations as well!

This is a perfect book to use as a vocabulary dissection. Students would use the information in this book to create an info-graph or graphic organizer that describes and defines the Monarch butterfly. Students would use critical thinking skills to take away the main ideas from this book, such as: Feeding Habits, Predators, Life Cycle, Migration, Mating, etc, and pull important facts to assemble their graphic organizer. They could also draw anatomically correct illustrations of butterflies to accompany their graphic. Activities like this invite students to really become experts on a word(s) or species by examining a scientific text, interpreting the photographs and facts, and synthesizing it into another product.

Pringle, L. (1997). An extraordinary life: The story of a monarch butterfly. New York: Orchard Books.

Words with Wings

Words with Wings is an inspirational youth novel written in poetic prose from the viewpoint of a daydreaming girl named Gabby. Gabby has always been a daydreamer, like her father, but after her parents started arguing at home she begins using her daydreams as an escape from reality. Her father has moved out of the house, and Gabby and her mom have moved cities where Gabby has to start a new school. She struggles with being the shy, quiet girl as the other students make fun of her. She is often reprimanded for her daydreaming by her teachers, mother and peers. Gabby knows that the world inside her head and the person she is on the inside is beautiful, kind and colorful. She wishes her peers would take the time to get to know that part of her, but a new teacher at her school is the one to open her up. This teachers shows Gabby that her daydreams shouldn't be something to be ashamed of, and Gabby learns that her dreams are actually what can allow her to fly. Even though she struggles with making new friends, moving schools and living without her father, Gabby's spirit soars when she uses her talents to embrace who she is.

This book reminded me a lot of the story Love That Dog by Sharon Creech because it is written in similar style with similar characters and plot. I loved how this book began and how it developed into a blossoming story of imagination, one girl's free spirit, friendship and the power of words. It shows teachers that they can make a difference and change a person's life, and it shows readers who are similar to Gabby that they should embrace the unique qualities that make them who they are. I loved how this story is written in different forms of poetry, yet it's atypical poetry because they don't rhyme and look like they could just be story words. But that's exactly what poetry is, and this book is a great tool to use to get students to warm up to the idea of writing poetry. I would have students read this story (together or as a class) and write their own poems about their life experiences.

Grimes, N. (2013). Words with wings. Honesdale, PA: WordSong.

Beyond the Solar System: Exploring Galaxies, Black Holes, Alien Planets and More

Mary Kay Carson is the author of this amazing science informational text, Beyond the Solar System: Exploring Galaxies, Black Holes, Alien Planets and More. This book is absolutely fantastic, and with good reason it has won the NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book in 2014. Beyond the Solar System includes stunning full-page, full-color photographs of our Universe, of infamous scientists, and other astronomical devices. It includes an incredible two-page timeline that references from prehistory, ancient times, modern times and everything in between. There are numerous info-graphics pertaining to how telescopes work, how to spot constellations, how to identify the rotations of planets, and an HR diagram that displays the lifespan of different stars. It truly has everything needed for a unit on the solar system, including 21 activities for the classroom!

After reading this book or using is as a research source, students will learn about the men and women who have made remarkable contributions to science and astronomy, they will understand the electromagnetic spectrum, and know their place in the Milky Way galaxy. I wish I could own this book for myself and my future classroom, and just might purchase it because of how well designed and informational it is! Pulling from the book itself, an activity I would use in a middle school science classroom would be the "Expand a Balloon-iverse" activity which demonstrates how the Universe is expanding by using stickers, a balloon, measuring tape and markers. It is a cross-curricula activity that integrates science, math and art in which students can measure the distances between the stars on their balloons as the balloon inflates. This shows students that every point in the Universe is generally moving further away and explains concepts from the Big Bang.

Carson, M. K. (2013). Beyond the solar system: Exploring galaxies, black holes, alien planets and more. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press, Inc.

Bodies from the Ice: Melting Glaciers and the Recovery of the Past

Bodies from the Ice: Melting Glaciers and the Recovery of the Past is a scientific non-fiction book that is centered around what we can learn from melting alpine glaciers. This book includes archeological discoveries made from glaciers and educates readers about how when glaciers melt, it uncovers not only the hidden rocky terrain underneath but also the bodies of people who had died in the them. This book begins by informing readers of the oldest body ever discovered in the melting ice of an Austrian glacier - known as "Ötzi" the Ice Man, this mummified corpse was not evidence of a recent death, but actually of a person who had lived 5,300 years ago! Scientific studies on this body led to uncovering more surprising data about humans living in this time period, such as the first instance of using acupuncture and the first two-part shoes. Ötzi still remains to be one of the most important archeological discoveries of all time. Bodies from the Ice includes over 65 rare photographs of the mummified remains of the people who had died within the glaciers, of maps, tools, landscapes and scientists. It includes fascinating information about similar discoveries all around the world that help scientists uncover clues about the Earth's past.

This book truly has it all! It is a vast vessel of knowledge and information regarding scientific discoveries, important male and female contributors to these discoveries, lore about glaciers, and more facts about these giant and interesting bergs of ice. As a lover of all things science, I adored this book. It is packed full of photos and information that could lead to endless discussions and activities regarding many topics such as what we can learn from science, what science learns from it's discoveries, and how the contributions to these scientific explorations teaches us about our planet's history. It has tons of scientific vocabulary and great geographical information to use in the classroom. It would be exciting to use this book and it's photographs to try and determine how much ice has melted from the glaciers by looking at the pictures and the timelines. This book has so many opportunities to lend itself to Project Based Learning as well!

Deem, J. (2008). Bodies from the ice: Melting glaciers and the recovery of the past. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

The Deaf Musicians

The Deaf Musicians is a collaboratively-written picture book by Pete Seeger and Paul DuBois Jacobs, with illustrations done by R. Gregory Christe. This story is one about overcoming obstacles, and how sometimes you can still pursue your dreams even if troubles may come your way. The Deaf Musicians is about a snazzy piano player named Lee who enjoys playing jazzy music with his band every night in a club. Unfortunately, Lee begins to lose his hearing and his band-mates certainly notice when he's not following their cues or hitting the right notes. They tell Lee that they can't have him in the band anymore because no one wants to listen to an off-key pianist. Feeling dejected, Lee takes the subway home. On the way, he sees a sign for a school for the deaf and begins thinking that maybe there is some way to learn something new. After attending the school and meeting new friends, Lee learns sign language and creates a new band of his own that "plays" music through sign language! His band becomes very popular and he and his friends have so much fun playing music again!

I thought this was an amazingly optimistic picture book that includes positive characters, experiences and outcomes. I like that they feature characters with disabilities to help diversify the text. It portrays trying new things to be a comfortable and enjoyable experience, which is great for the students who might be struggling with the same thing. Beginning new things can often be scary because you don't know how people might treat you, but this book shows readers that you can continue to do what you love even if it's in a different way than others might expect. Because this book has so many onomatopoeias that help tell the musical parts of the story, I think this is a great book to use in creative writing or when teaching about sound. Even further, teachers can use this book as an introduction to learning American Sign Language and see how they can communicate through signing.

 Seeger, P., & Jacobs, P. D. (2006). The deaf musicians. New York: The Penguin Group.