Learning about seasons with DEAR STREET by Lindsay Zier-Vogel & Caroline Bonne-Muller

Why this book?

I found this story when doing some research for my grade 1 class when we were learning about community. My students kept talking about the book, even weeks afterward.

My thoughts as a creator:

This book is a great example of how to incorporate many layers into a picture book. It includes seasonal changes, letter writing, taking different perspectives, noticing things in the environment and taking steps for social change. I would study this one to learn about how to create a fun story while including lots of layers. The illustrations are lots of fun with many shapes and patterns.

My thoughts as an educator:

With all the layers in this book, there is a huge potential for using this as a mentor text in the classroom. I especially liked the way it shows different perspectives on the same place. I thought it would be great for inspiring an inquiry about the school neighbourhood, which could be returned to over the different seasons of the year. It was nice to see thought bubbles and letter writing as examples kids could use for their own writing.

Ages: 5 - 9

Grades: Gr 1 - 4

Connections: community, kindness, taking action, letter writing

Activities:

Art/Social Studies:  Discuss all the patterns in the illustrations. Encourage student to create their own “street scene” using different patterns. Which season would they like to show in their scene? A part II of this activity could be to use a paper doll template to create themselves  and “dress themselves for the weather” so they can put themselves in the scene.

You could also connect this to a neighborhood photo walk using this lesson from the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia  (click HERE)

Or learn about seasonal changes through a resource guide about the art of Maud Lewis from Art Canada Institute (click HERE)

Literacy/Drama: After discussing the different perspective of the girl and the people in the neighborhood, encourage students to share their understanding through a drama activity. In pairs, kids could work together to share their different points of view about different types of weather or seasonal occurrences  (e.g., snow, rain, sunshine, wind, leaves changing colours etc). Volunteers could present their “skit” to the class.

Social Studies Inquiry: Set up a centre where students can note observations about the neighborhood or a street outside your school. Take a walk and make observations. Have students draw and label what they notice. What might they want to learn more about? Make predictions about how the street or neighborhood will change during different weather conditions. What would they see? Why?

 

Visit the author online (click on the name):

Lindsay Zier-Vogel

Visit the illustrator online:

Caroline Bonne-Muller

Visit the publisher online:

Kids Can Press

*They provide a cute letter writing template for photocopying

 

Learning about the Métis culture - MÉTIS LIKE ME

One of the things I love about reading children’s books is the opportunity to learn new things. I was delighted to find this book. It gave me a chance to learn more about the Métis culture. I discovered this book after seeing it mentioned in the children’s book recommendation feed on Bluesky. (Find me on Bluesky: @andreamack.bsky.social).

Why this book?

At first, I was first drawn to the playful illustrations, but I especially loved the way the book shows how different children experience their culture and celebrate their heritage. It's unique in the way it honors different perspectives and experiences. 

My thoughts as a creator:

I haven't seen a picture book told with the perspectives and voices of several different children. I thought this structure was a good way to bring in the idea that individuals experience their culture and heritage in different ways. 

My thoughts as an educator:

This book provides a window into a culture and heritage that I don't know much about myself, so I'm looking forward to sharing it with my grade 1 students. I think they will find many different ways to connect to this story. I also really liked the positive approach to learning more about your own cultural background, even if you don't know much about it. I think this would inspire some young children to ask questions about their own heritage. 

Ages: 4 - 9

Grades: K - 3

Connections: Metis culture, Indigenous learning, individuality,  

Activities:

Social Studies:  Make a list with students: What are some of the elements of Métis culture that you noticed in the story? What are some important aspects of your own culture? Encourage students to draw or write about an aspect of their own culture. Why is it important to you?

STEAM: Explore some Métis dot designs. I found this really interesting explanation and demonstration of Metis dot art with some background information from Lacombe Tourism (click HERE) . I also found a shorter video with a dot art drawing activity from Richmond Art Gallery (click HERE). 

Visit the author online (click on the name):

Tasha Hilderman 🍁

Visit the illustrator:

Risa Hugo 🍁

Visit the publisher:

Tundra Books (Penguin Random House) 🍁

I also found this news interview with the author from CITL CKSA:

Inspire young gardeners with MILLIE FLEUR'S POISON GARDEN

I'm always on the lookout for charming and unique picture books and I recently discovered this one through a recommendation on Bluesky. I'm looking forward to sharing more of my Bluesky book discoveries along with tips and ideas for using them in the classroom. 

(Find me on Bluesky: @andreamack.bsky.social).

Why this book?

I love hanging out in my garden, so I couldn’t pass up the chance to check out this delightful picture book by author-illustrator Christy Mandin. This story is such fun for curious young gardeners! It will no doubt inspire some interesting STEAM and writing projects. 

My thoughts as a creator:

I love the unique twist on the theme of gardening with Millie's very unusual plants. The title made me curious! It was a bit of a surprise that the story in this picture book was charming and not at all scary. I can imagine the illustrations were a lot of fun to work on as there are lots of creative garden possibilities like “tentacled tansy.” The color scheme is in natural tones and reminds me of nature.

My thoughts as an educator:

There can never be too many stories with the theme of celebrating being yourself and following your own passion! This picture book would work well as part of a unit about growing plants and also would be a nice book for talking about developing creative writing ideas.  

Ages: 4 - 7

Grades: K - 2

Connections: plants, individuality, being yourself, creativity 

Activities:

Social Emotional Learning:  Millie's passion was her garden, but what are other things people might care strongly about? Encourage students to draw a picture of one of their own unique interests. What makes you special?

STEAM: Design your own unique and weird plant for Millie's garden. Will your plant be creepy or interesting? What unique features might it have and how will they help the plant survive? 

Students can make weird plants in 3D! Provide paper scraps in a range of colours, along with scissors and glue. Demonstrate different ways to tear, bend and fold the paper and encourage students to create different features of the plant.

STEM/Science: Provide "mystery seeds" (e.g., beans, lentils, marigolds, sunflowers) for students along with flower pots and soil. What might grow? Students can make observations and predictions about their growing plants. 

Literacy: Retell the story. Question to discuss: Why did the people in the town get upset about Millie's garden?

 

Visit the author-illustrator online:

Christy Mandin

Visit the publisher:

Orchard Books/Scholastic

Check out the trailer for Millie Fleur's Poison Garden:

Raindrops to Rainbow by John Miklos Jr. & Charlene Chua

 

Why this book?

What a fun rhyming book about colours! I really loved the cute illustrations that showed a little girl and how she felt and the colours she enjoyed over a rainy day. Even though this story seems simple, there are lots of layers and ways to use this story in the classroom (another thing that attracted me to to this one).

My thoughts as a creator:

If you’re interested in writing rhyming stories, the text in this book is a great example of how to weave another concept, in this case colours, into a rhyming story. The way the illustrator kept the focus on the main character and showed her emotions was great for helping young children connect to the story.

My thoughts as an educator:

Not only does this story teach us about the colours in a rainbow and give kids a chance to practice colour words and names, but it also showed the different emotions a young girl experienced throughout the day. This book is a good length for preschool or kindergarten kids and the rhyming words and colours keep students engaged during a read aloud.

Ages: 4 - 7

Grades: K - 3

Connections: colours, rainbows, emotions, storms

Activities:

Active Learning/Math: Have students go on a colour hunt for items of different colours around the room. Build a giant rainbow together using the items!

Literacy: Encourage children to listen for the rhyming words in the story. Choose one of the words and see how many rhymes you can come up with!

Social-Emotional Learning: Draw emoji faces to show the different feelings the girl experienced in the story. Encourage students to try to think of a time when they felt scared or joyful (or one of the other feelings they discussed). Encourage students to draw their own picture about a time when they experienced one of the feelings.

 

More resources:

Rainbow Activities for Kids at Growing a Jeweled Rose

Rainbow Activities for Preschool at Preschool Inspirations

Description from the publisher: 

Raindrops are falling outside, but there’s still a world of color to experience! Delightful rhymes and brilliant illustrations detail how a gloomy, rainy day might not actually be so gloomy after all when you get to spend time with Mom, Brown Bear, and the colors around you. And when a “beaming rainbow, bold and bright” cuts through the sky, everyone gets to experience the joy of all the colors that can only come after the rain.

Raindrops to Rainbow, written by John Miklos Jr. and illustrated by Charlene Chua was published by Penguin Random House.

I feature this book in Episode 3 of #3in3 (and Tea) with Debbie Ridpath Ohi. For other picture books we've featured, check out Debbie's Youtube playlist here.

ARABELLA AND THE MAGIC PENCIL by Stephanie Ward & Shaney Hyde - What would you do with a magic pencil?

This delightful what-if story is a perfect way to escape! What would you do with a magic pencil? I received a beautiful signed copy of this book as a prize from Justin Colon – a huge supporter and encourager of picture book creatives, as well as the founder of #PBChat on Twitter. For more about Justin, check out his website, https://justincolonbooks.com or twitter feed @JustinColon

Summary from the publisher:   

Arabella is a beloved only child who has everything until her brother, Avery, arrives. While she loves him, it’s sometimes hard to like him. She spends her days creating marvellous things with her magic pencil, and ignoring him. But when he spoils her tea party, she decides drastic action is required and she erases him from her life. Oops! Can she get him back?

Arabella and the Magic Pencil was written by Stephanie Ward, illustrated by Shaney Hyde and published by EK Books in 2019.

 

Opening:    

There once was a girl named Arabella.

She was the only child of a duke and duchess who dote on their delightful daughter.

By royal decree, Arabella was granted one wish each year.

 

My Thoughts as a Writer:

I love the imaginative way that Arabella deals with the problem of an annoying little brother. Writers could study this story to see how to add a surprising twist to their story.

Whimsical watercolour illustrations create a beautiful fairy-tale feeling. I enjoyed studying all the small details on the clothing and in the backgrounds.

 

My Thoughts as an Educator:

This is a fun story that would be great to use as a mentor text for writing imaginative fantasy or fairy-tale themed stories. It clearly shows a problem for the main character, as well as her solution.

Ages: 4-7

Grades: K – 2

Themes: drawing, imagination, coping with siblings

Activities:

Discuss: What is your favourite page in the story? Explain why.

Draw & Write: What would you do if you had a magic pencil? What problems would arise from your decision?

More Drawing Fun:  Take turns drawing or painting a picture with a younger or older sibling. What happens when you disagree? How do you solve problems?

Try this Magic Pencil Craft from the author. And here's author Stephanie Ward reading the book aloud: 

Want to read more great picture books? Check out the list at Perfect Picture Book Friday, a regular Friday feature organized by children's author Susanna Leonard Hill. 

UNDER MY HIJAB: A story about different ways to express yourself by Hena Khan & Aaliya Jaleel

I was really interested to learn about the hijab and all the different ways it can be worn!

Summary from Amazon:

Grandma's hijab clasps under her chin. Auntie pins hers up with a whimsical brooch. Jenna puts a sun hat over hers when she hikes. Iman wears a sports hijab for tae kwon do. As a young girl observes the women in her life and how each covers her hair a different way, she dreams of the possibilities in her own future and how she might express her personality through her hijab.

With cheerful rhyming text by the author of Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns, and charming illustrations from a talented newcomer, Under My Hijab provides a friendly introduction to hijabs for all readers, and celebrates the many Muslim women and girls who choose to wear them.

Under My Hijab was written by Hena Khan and illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel. It was published in 2019 by Lee & Low Books.

Opening:    

 

Grandma peeks into the oven

as a brown loaf of bread starts to rise.

Her hijab is carefully folded,

like the crusts on my favorite pies.

My Thoughts as a Writer:

One of the things I found intriguing about this text was the structure. Each woman or girl is shown first in one situation wearing a hijab, and then in a situation without it. I haven’t seen many picture books written this way, but I like the way it allows the reader to compare the situations easily. I really enjoyed the way the women are shown with many different roles and interests.

My Thoughts as an Educator:

This is a great book for talking about individual differences and cultural or religious traditions. I loved how each character expressed themselves differently through their clothing.

Ages: 4-9

Grades: K – 3

Themes: individual differences, women, traditional clothing

Activities:

Dramatic Play: Provide pieces of cloth for children to fold and experiment with wearing.

Draw & Write: Do you have a favourite piece of clothing? Draw a picture of it. What makes it special to you?  (Educators could hang the drawings around the classroom for a “gallery walk” as a basis for more discussion on individual differences.)

STEAM Challenge: Design a piece of clothing that can be worn on the head – a head scarf, hat or hair accessory. What patterns and colours could you include? Draw your design first, and then try to make it using paper, cloth and other materials.

TANGLED: A story about shapes by Anne Miranda & Eric Comstock

Happy New Year! I’m starting off Perfect Picture Book Friday this year with a story about shapes. As an educator, I especially liked how this rhyming book includes both 2-D and 3-D shapes.

Summary from Amazon:

When the neighborhood shapes go climbing on the park jungle gym the last thing they expect is a tangle. First the circle, next the triangle and then the square. One by one soon all sixteen shapes are trapped. They push and pull and tumble and cry for help. Who will save them? One special shape can set the others free. Can you guess which one it is? This charming story makes learning the names of sixteen shapes as easy as a day in the park.

Tangled: A Story About Shapes was written by Anne Miranda and illustrated by Eric Comstock. It was published in 2019 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Opening:   

  

One day, a little circle, just as happy as could be,

Got caught inside a jungle gym and couldn’t wiggle free.

My Thoughts as a Writer:

This is a fun rhyming book. I don’t write rhyme, but it’s nice to see how rhymes can be used when telling a complete story with a problem and solution.

The illustrations show flat 2-D shapes as well as shaded sides to show the 3-D shapes. The expressions on the faces of the shapes are great and really help to show their feelings. As some other reviewers have pointed out, it would have been nice if the circle character wasn’t referred to as female and coloured pink with a bow. Questions I had: Why do the shapes need a gender? Why does the girl need to be rescued? 

My Thoughts as an Educator:

This book is a good introduction to shapes. Since it includes both 2-D and 3-D shapes, it’s allows for some interesting discussions about them. I thought that including the jungle gym was clever, since children will relate to similar structures on their playground (and maybe even the experience of momentarily being caught in the structure) and it also reminded me of classroom activities for building shapes using sticks and modeling clay.  There's a great chart on the endpapers that shows many different shapes.

Ages: 4-8

Grades: PreK – 2

Themes: shapes, problem-solving, rhyming

Activities:

Draw/Count: Provide dice and drawing materials. Roll the dice. Draw one dot on your paper for each number on the die. Switch papers with a friend and join the dots to make a shape. How many sides does the shape have? How many points? Give the shape a face and a personality!

Compare/Contrast: Provide a collection of 2-D and 3-D shapes in a bag. Pull out two different shapes at a time. How are they the same? How are they different?

STEM Challenge: Provide craft sticks and playdough. What shapes can you build? Help your brain grow by trying more than one way to build a shape.

Read and Think: Read the book My Shape is Sam by Amanda Jackson & Lydia Nichols (see my review here). Which book did you like best? Why?

PICK A PUMPKIN by Patricia Toht & Jarvis – A perfect introduction to Halloween traditions

Carving pumpkins is one of my favorite fall activities! After I read this, I knew I just had to read it to my kindergarten students.  Another great book for my personal teaching collection.

Summary from Amazon:

Pairing a wonderfully rhythmic read-aloud text with expressive retro illustrations, author Patricia Toht and illustrator Jarvis capture all the excitement and familial feeling of a favorite holiday tradition. Readers will be happy to follow along with each step, from picking out the perfect specimen at the pumpkin patch (be sure to stop for cider and toffee apples) to carting it home, scooping out the insides, carving a scary face, and finally lighting a candle inside — savoring the familiar ritual of transforming an ordinary pumpkin into a one-of-a-kind glowing jack-o’-lantern.

Pick a Pumpkin, written by Patricia Toht and illustrated by Jarvis, was published by Candlewick Press in 2019. 

Opening:     

Pick a pumpkin

from the patch—

tall and lean

or short and fat.

My Thoughts as a Writer:

The process of picking and carving a pumpkin is brought to life here with lovely language and illustrations. Study this one to see how the author carefully chooses words to evoke the feeling of fall. The rhymes and near rhymes work very well. I really enjoyed the gorgeous illustrations – they enhance the story, adding lots of extra detail and creating images of a treasured family experience.

My Thoughts as an Educator:

The length of this story is perfect for reading to kindergarteners and preschoolers! Kids will love examining all the details in the illustrations. This book would be a great introduction to Halloween traditions as well as a book to read afterward to make connections to life experiences. An excellent choice for a library or classroom collection! 

Ages: 4-8

Grades: PreK – 2

Themes: pumpkins, Halloween, family traditions

Activities:

Discuss: What is your favorite page in the book? Why?

Art: Provide pencil crayons, paints, crayons for students to create their own Halloween scene.

STEAM Challenge: Create a pumpkin face using paper shapes, cutting out the eyes, nose and mouth. Hang it up on a window to see light shine through!

Check out this interesting interview with author Patricia Toht at BookSeedStudio.   

TRUMAN by Jean Reidy & Lucy Ruth Cummins – A book to build empathy

What a lovely story about patience and friendship! A book I definitely want to study more closely. I think I will purchase for my personal collection.

Summary from Amazon:

Truman the tortoise lives with his Sarah, high above the taxis and the trash trucks and the number eleven bus, which travels south. He never worries about the world below…until one day, when Sarah straps on a big backpack and does something Truman has never seen before. She boards the bus!

Truman waits for her to return.
He waits.
And waits.
And waits.
And when he can wait no longer, he knows what he must do.

Even if it seems…impossible!

Opening: 

    

Truman was small,

the size of a donut—

a small donut—

and every bit as sweet.

My Thoughts as a Writer:

I loved this different take on a “going to school” story. The unique voice of this story drew me in. The carefully chosen details, rhythm of the language and repeated phrases kept me reading along. This book is full of emotion. I especially loved the “Be brave” moment. If you write stories that are considered “quiet” this is a great example to study. Lots of heart! 

My Thoughts as an Educator:

I loved the way the author turned around the traditional “going to school” story to look at a pet’s perspective. Being curious about what happens to a pet when a child is away at school is a great conversation starter!  I think young children will relate to the idea of separation and the ways that Truman tries to cope. It’s also a great book for helping to build empathy by sharing another character's perspective.  

         

Ages: 4-8

Grades: K – 3

Themes: friendship, loyalty, bravery

Activities:

Discuss: How was Truman brave? Can you think of a time when you were brave?

Draw & Write:  What does your pet do while you are at school? If you don’t have a pet, draw a picture about what your favorite toy or your Mom does while you are at school.

STEM: Provide a small toy tortoise, a wall and building materials (e.g. invert a toy bin and use the bottom). How can a little tortoise get up to the top? Build a structure for the tortoise to climb.