Camp Read-a-Lot 2014 Reading List

I will once again be a "counselor" at Camp Read-a-Lot, this summer held in West St. Paul on August 7. I will be among the librarians leading the book discussions for the 4th-5th grade books. This year's author is Jack Gantos!

 More information here

4th and 5th Grade Reads:

 

Fiction

1. Camper’s Choice – Choose one title below to read and review:

• Serafina’s Promise by Ann E. Burg
• Counting by Sevens by Holly Goldberg Sloan

 
2. Camper’s Choice – Choose one title below to read and review:

 

• The Adventures of a South Pole Pig: A Novel of Snow and Courage by Chris Kurtz
• Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein  
• The Platypus Police Squad: The Frog Who Croaked by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

3. Camper’s Choice – Choose one title below to read and review:

 

•  Doll Bones by Holly Black
• Jinx by Sage Blackwood

4. Camper’s Choice – Choose one title below to read and review:

 

•  The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel by Deborah Hopkinson  
• The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata

 

5. Camper’s Choice – Choose one title below to read and review:

 

•  Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
• Boy on the Porch by Sharon Creech

6. Camper’s Choice – Choose one title below to read and review:

 

•  ChickenHare by Chrise Grine
• Monster on the Hill by Rob Harrell
• The Lost Boy by Greg Ruth

7. Camper’s Choice – Choose one title below to read and review:

 

•  Dead End In Norvelt (Norvelt Series #1) by Jack Gantos
• From Norvelt to Nowhere (Norvelt Series #2) by Jack Gantos

Camper’s Choice

 

8. Camper’s Choice – Any title of your choice (fiction or nonfiction) that meets the following criteria:

 

a. You have not read it before this summer

 

b. Original copyright is no older than 2012

 

c. Ideal for classroom use or free reading

 

d. Avoid highly popular titles, books recently made into movies, major award winners

 

 

Nonfiction

 

 

9. Camper’s Choice – Choose one title below to read and review:

 

•  Eruption!: Volcanoes and the Science of Saving Lives by Elizabeth Rusch
• Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled: How Do We Know What Dinosaurs Really Looked Like? by Catherine Thimmesh
• The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees: A Scientific Mystery by Sandra Markle

10. Camper’s Choice – Choose one title below to read and review:

 

• Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson
• Wild Boy: The Real Life of the Savage of Aveyron by Mary Losure
• Becoming Ben Franklin: How a Candle-Maker’s Son Helped Light the Flame of Liberty by Russel Freedman

11. Camper’s Choice – Choose one title below to read and review:

 

•   Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin by Jen Bryant
• My Weird Writing Tips by Dan Gutman
• When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop by Laben Carrick Hill
• Pug and Other Animal Poems by Valerie Worth

Giants Beware! by Rafael Rosado & Jorge Aguirre

Giants Beware! by Rafael Rosado & Jorge Aguirre. Art by Rafael Rosado. 2012.

Fiery Claudette wants nothing more than to be a giant killer like her monster-slaying father. Unfortunately, he is now a wheelchair-bound blacksmith who met his match in an angry female dragon who was defending her litter. Regardless, Claudette wants to test her mettle and stop the horrible Baby-Feet-Eating Giant. With some slight manipulation of the truth, she persuades her younger brother Gaston and  friend, Marie, a Marquis' daughter, to join her. Gaston is somewhat meek and has a strong interest in creating cuisine for his family and friends, but also really wants to learn the skill of sword making. Marie is smart and has one career goal: to be a princess. These are unseasoned warriors, and to get to Giant's Peak, the kids must pass through the Forest of Death, fight some ferocious trees, escape the dangerous Apple Hag and more. With only the help of a wooden sword, Gaston's culinary skills and their faithful pug Valiant, can they succeed in their quest? Heck yes, because Gaston is brave, Marie is charming, Claudette is bold, and the loving blacksmith and his friend have got their backs!

Kids who like graphic novels will love the humorous adventures of Claudette and company. Adults will find something to like in strong heroine Claudette, as well as her friends, who are true to themselves and get things done their own way, with a little support from each other.

Camp-Read-a-Lot!

On Tuesday, I went to this year's Camp Read-a-Lot, sponsored by MELSA. They held it at Como Park Lakeside Pavilion in St. Paul. Unfortunately, the weather was really hot and humid, which kept us inside, but other than that, I had a terrific time!

 

Our opening speaker was Kathleen Baxter, author of many titles about book talking nonfiction to kids, such as Gotcha!: Nonfiction Booktalks to Get Kids Excited About Reading, Gotcha Covered!: More Nonfiction Booktalks to Get Kids Excited about Reading, Gotcha for Guys!: Nonfiction Books to Get Boys Excited About Reading and more. She is an exciting speaker, very funny and enthusiastic. She obviously has a handle on what gets kids charged up about nonfiction! Baxter began with a list of "gross" books. You know, scientific or historically based books about bodily functions, icky bugs, toilets or carrion eating animals. That'll grab a boy's (and many girl's) attention! She then continued with a long list of great options of all kinds of nonfiction choices. If you're looking for some excellent book suggestions, check out her work. If you're hunting for a dynamic speaker, she's your woman.

Photo from Kathleen Baxter's website

Find out more about her at her website: Kathleen Baxter .

David LaRochelle, photo from Collecting Children's Books

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Our afternoon speaker was David LaRochelle,, author of The Best Pet of All and The End for kids and Absolutely Positively Not for teens. I loved his talk and his sense of humor. He told us about his passions, like entering (and winning) contests and carving pumpkins, and about his road to getting published, accompanied by a funny Power Point presentation. He got us excited about his forthcoming publications 1+1=5: and Other Unlikely Additions and Minnesota's Hidden Alphabet. 1+1=5 has really unexpected ways of getting to 5, such as 1 Bicycle + 1 Trike = 5 (wheels) or 1 set of twins plus 1 group of triplets = 5 (babies). Minnesota's Hidden Alphabet is a really beautiful book, with photos by Joe Rossi, tied nicely together with a poem by LaRochelle. The alphabet is spelled out by forms found in the natural world. I look forward to November, when it is published.

I bought a copy of Absolutely Positively Not and Mr. LaRochelle kindly personalized it for me. He spent plenty of time autographing books for each person, drawing pictures and really making the receivers feel special. Look for him at his website, linked above.

My role as a camp counselor was a breeze, because I had a really insightful and invested group of teachers to work with. I was supposed to lead small group discussion of the core titles that I've been sharing with you over the past months, and also the two books each that we all chose to show the others. That went very well, and as I read the books suggested, maybe I'll write them up here, too.

 I really hope to be a counselor again next year!

The Dollshop Downstairs by Yona Zeldis McDonough

 

My second Camper's Choice book is The Doll Shop Downstairs by Yona Zeldis McDonough, illustrated by Heather Maione. This is a perfect choice for 2nd-4th grade girls (maybe some boys, too) who enjoy old fashioned books about little girls. Set at the start of World War I, this story is about nine year old middle sister Anna, whose parents own a doll repair shop. She and her siblings Sophie and Trudie love to help out in the shop, and each loves a special doll waiting to be fixed up. When the war begins in Europe, German doll parts are unavailable to the owners of the lower east side business, and Anna decides she will find a way to help her family keep their shop thriving.

McDonough has taken the setting from the life of Bertha (later Beatrice) Alexander, creator of Madame Alexander dolls, and added her own characters and storyline. She has written a cozy and comforting story with a similar feel to Betsy-Tacy (Betsy-Tacy Books) or All-of-a-Kind Family. Highlights include the family's birthday visit to FAO Schwartz, the sale of their first doll, named Nurse Nora, and the fulfillment of Anna's special wish. I enjoyed the details of life in New York in 1914.  After the story, McDonough has included a glossary and timeline. Maione's friendly black and white drawings sweetly bring the children's world of family and dollys to readers.

Frankie Pickle and the Pine Run 3000

For my first Camper's Choice book for Camp Read-a-Lot, I selected Frankie Pickle and the Pine Run 3000 written & illustrated by Eric Wight. Possum Scout Frankie Piccolini is kind of like a little boy Walter Mitty. We can find him on the back cover in a variety of disguises: suited up and sporting a fedora, as a chef with a large decorated cake and in armor wielding a large sword. His proud motto is, "Reality is for grown-ups!"

In this title, Frankie has a bit of a dilemma: because of his daydreaming, he failed knot tying and does not have enough points to advance with the rest of his troop from Pygmy to Shrew and do new and dangerous scout things. But fear not, because Frankie has a chance to earn the points if he wins the legendary model car competition, the Pine Race 3000. His dad wants to help him, but Frankie knows that he can do it all on his own. He is ready to be inducted into the Hall of Awesomeness, and nothing will hold him back!

I enjoyed Frankie, his dream life, and this story of father & son bonding.  The black and white drawings of wide eyed Frankie have a retro quality, and cartoon panels let us share his fantasy life. Although if he does look a little like Speed Racer on the book's cover, he is completely his own boy.

Red Sings From Treetops = So Dreamlike

I was going to write about Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, earlier this year, and it was pure laziness on my part that I didn't. I'm glad that it popped up on my Camp Read-a-Lot list, because this title deserves more attention. Personally, I love both the poetic language and the lovely artwork of this book. It is far more than a standard "let's learn our colors" title and thus has potential for a much wider audience.

Describing the arrival of colors in familiar things from spring through winter, Sidman lets you experience them through all of your senses. She explains spring white as sounding like storms, in the shape of lightning and hail, or smelling the same as flower petals. Summer yellow tastes like salt, fall wind feels black and winter pink blooms in the sky. A crowned person and a dog seem to glide through the pages, enjoying outdoor seasonal pleasures. This description gives you the jist of the book, but not the sensual flow of the words as she writes them. For that, you should read it for yourself. Please do.

Zagarenski's imaginative mixed media paintings on wood and computer illustrations are a perfect match for the text. Gorgeous layers of color fill each page. The sky can look like turquoise veined with gold like a stone in one drawing, then be swirled with white, grey and pale blue in another. A nest of slightly fuzzy pink hatchlings, each wearing its own gold crown, gape wide yellow and red beaks toward the sky.White moths fill and escape the sail on a boat. A huge grey whale pauses behind a stupendous and  pale full moon. Every spread shows interesting texture and pleasing detail.

Together, Sidman & Zagarenski have created a little world that feels like our own in its best moments. It's one that you, me, or your favorite child  might wish to visit often.

You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?!

Next on my list of Camp Read-a-Lot titles is You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! by Jonah Winter. It is a picture book biography, about 32 pages and fully illustrated. I'm not a baseball fan, so everything in it is news to me! In the voice of one of his Dodger teammates, this book tells the story of Koufax's career from 1955-1966. You may know that Koufax was an extremely talented left handed pitcher, who currently lives in Florida.  At the time, he was one of few Jews in baseball, so he blazed a trail there as well with his impressive pitching record.

Baseball facts are given throughout the text, which is followed by a relevant glossary. Andre Carrilho's pictures are based in gray scale, with color touches he added with Adobe Photoshop. His style has a vintage feel, stylized like drawings of politicians seen in newspapers, yet conveying lots of movement with simple lines. My library copy has an especially cool cover, called lenticular, but which I knew as a plastic piece that has a moving image when you tilt it back and forth.This shows Mr. Koufax in his pitching glory and ought to catch young readers' eyes.

14 Cows for America

I can't give you an objective review for 14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy, collaborating with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah, but I can give you a glowing one. Naiyomah had come from Kenya to New York City to study to be a doctor, and was there on the day of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This is a true story about his Maasai people's response to America's pain and their desire to help us heal. Gorgeous illustrations in pastel, colored pencil and airbrush by Thomas Gonzalez make this a beautiful story in presentation as well as theme. The vivid primary colors of the Maasai villagers' clothing contrast with the earthy backgrounds, and the people's faces glow with emotion. This is a fine, hopeful tale to share with kids!

Living Sunlight by Molly Bang & Penny Chisholm

In the lovely Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring The Earth To Life, Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm explain photosynthesis, and while the scientific facts are  thoroughly covered, this is far from a dry, old school textbook treatment. The poetic viewpoint and lush illustrations convey the wonder of science and the natural world. The reader is directly addressed by the sun who makes this story about you, asking you to feel your heartbeat and warmth and know that it is the sun's light inside you. The interconnectedness of all living things is stressed as the sun's gift of energy circles from plants to humans and round again.  Gorgeous illustrations using deep blue contrasting with tiny yellow dots to suggest sparkling sunlight and showing fertile vegetation, multicultural people and a wide variety of animal life jump off the page. Children will enjoy identifying all of the familiar creatures.  More facts about photosynthesis follow the main story. Highly recommended.

Wiggle and Waggle and The Big Fat Cow That Goes Kapow

Wiggle and Waggle by Caroline Arnold, illus. by Mary Peterson is an easy reader about two worm friends and the work that they do in their garden. My favorite part is their digging song:
"We wiggle and waggle, squiggle and squirm.
Digging in dirt is the life of a worm.
We dig and we sing all day long,
Our wiggly, waggly, gardening song."
 The story is followed by information on how worms help plants grow and other worm facts. Color illustrations throughout.

 The Big Fat Cow That Goes Kapow is by Andy Griffiths, author of  The Day My Butt Went Psycho, and his early reader books have been described by School Library Journal like so: "Imagine the outcome if Dr. Seuss, Dav Pilkey, and Lane Smith were locked in a room until they came up with a book for beginning or reluctant readers." For me, this title will be an acquired taste, but that will hardly matter to kids who giggle over his tales of  a rock-and-role mole, Ruth and her super-loud hooter horn and yes, an exploding cow or two.

Julian Rodriguez: Episode 1, Trash Crisis On Earth by Alexander Stadler

For eight years, First Officer Julian Rodriguez of the Federation has been working undercover as a human boy on planet Earth. He has received deplorable treatment at the hands of his Maternal and Paternal Units, endured State Assessment Tests at his education center and suffered attacks by alien mercenaries Mamie and Doris. His only support comes from the canine Lieutenant Ripley. But the worst trauma comes when the Evilomami demands that Julian...gasp...take out the trash. What can a brave and charming galaxy-wide hero do?

Creative kids should be able to relate to Julian's daily tribulations and grand sacrifices. Everyone should get a chuckle from seeing the life of an eight year old through the eyes of a spaceman as imagined by the child.  The pictures by author Alexander Stadler are lively and expressive, often done in cartoon panels which suit the zippy story. Stadler has also written and illustrated the Beverly Billingsly picture books.

Bird, Butterfly, Eel by James Prosek

The beautiful watercolor paintings in Bird, Butterfly, Eel, by James Prosek, immediately grab your attention. Lush spreads show the environment and habits of each individual. You are in butterfly's colorful meadow, eel's green-filled pond and bird's barn rafters, trailed by a little black cat. Once hooked, you will learn  parallel migration stories of the title creatures, who live on the same farm. When autumn comes, each knows just where to go, even if their journeys are hundreds or thousands of miles. More detailed facts about Monarch Butterflies, Barn Swallows and American Eels follow the story.

Author and illustrator James Prosek sounds like a fascinating man. Apparently, by the time he was twenty, he had traveled through forty nine states painting all the North American trout species and subspecies (Trout: An Illustrated History) and also "...won a Peabody Award in 2003 for his documentary about traveling through England in the footsteps of Izaak Walton, the seventeenth-century author of The Compleat Angler" (Bird, Butterfly, Eel jacket copy). It's not that I am interested in fish specifically, but I admire anyone who follows their passion like this, and has the talent to get others to love their obsession too. Prosek's website is http://www.troutsite.com/.

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping... by Lenore Look

In Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters by Lenore Look, illustrated by LeUyen Pham, second grader and middle child Alvin is afraid of many things, but at the top of his list is going on a camping trip with his dad and little sister. Luckily, he's found his dad's credit card, so he can shop for some protective camping supplies. He also has a powerful Batman ring. Plus, his talented Uncle Dennis (is he really a secret agent?) knows many survival skill tips, including how to start a fire with dryer lint or make a dangle trap to catch prey. So, with his feisty sister Anibelly, his well-meaning father and his new friend Beufeuillet the fourth, Alvin  braves the great outdoors. Will he meet aliens? Starve to death? Maybe have a good time?

Pleasing and expressive black ink illustrations enhance the story. Also try Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things and look for the forthcoming Alvin Ho: Allergic to Birthday Parties, Science Projects, and Other Man-made Catastrophes.

Never Smile At a Monkey by Steve Jenkins

Just what I need, more things to be afraid of. But the animals in Steve Jenkin's Never Smile at a Monkey: And 17 Other Important Things to Remember are presented with such style that it's worth the sacrifice. ;)
Grandly illustrated with collages of cut and torn paper, each animal and their dangerous ways are described on one and two page spreads. You will learn why you need to be cautious of beasts like a hippo, a spitting cobra and an African buffalo, as well as more unassuming creatures such as a platypus, a Tang fish and ... a caterpillar? More detail about the animals, as well as further reading suggestions, are found at the end of the book.

On a personal note, the picture of the cassowary's head completely freaked me out. This ostrich-like bird has an armored head. It looks positively prehistoric, and as someone who had childhood nightmares of pterodactyls, this guy is frightening enough even without without its kicking talent.

Jenkins has created many other fantastic books that teach kids about animals; you may remember the amazing title Actual Size (Bccb Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award (Awards)). For more, take a look below.

The Best Pet of All by David LaRochelle

If you wanted a pet dog, but your mom said no, how would you convince her to change her mind? In The Best Pet of All by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Hanako Wakiyama, the little boy pleads for a dog, only to be told that they are too messy and loud. So, he decides to ask for a pet dragon instead. His mother foolishly allows him to keep one, if he can find it. Do you think that dragons are tidier and quieter than dogs?The retro style color illustrations perfectly convey the story, and the pictures of the tambourine playing, spaghetti bath taking dragon are priceless. This adds ups to a surefire storytime winner.

David LaRochelle, who has also written Absolutely Positively Not for teens, will be a feature speaker at Camp Read-A-Lot this summer.