I was drawn to this book because of its intriguing illustrations. Looking closer I realized its look was intriguing because it was crafted by the likes of Jon Klassen.
Think The Folk Keeper.
Think Skellig.
Now, think Coraline.
What happens when the hero of the story is an anxious child? One who cocoons beneath his covers each night and cannot commit to sleep until he’s recited his litany of gratitude—twice.
Add to this drama the fact the fragile protagonist has a brand new baby brother who is desperately ill.
What happens when that protagonist, once he’s finally drifted off to dreamland, encounters the queen-of-all-angel-wasps whose come to “save” the baby?
Unsettling?
Quite.
But for upper elementary and middle school level readers, this is a book worth reading to glean, among other treasures, its message of perseverance in the face of fragility is heartening.
The lexicon here is simple, but I found it deceptively and wondrously so.
For example:
“I knew I wouldn’t get back to sleep—didn’t even want to—so I pulled on jeans and a T-shirt and went outside to the backyard. It was early to be cool still, though you could feel the heat already clenched up in the earth and air, just waiting to unfurl” (70-71).
There is something magical about the way the author uses the words “clench” and “unfurl” to surprise the reader, to turn the tone of this statement.
And here too:
“I hated it when her eyes got wet. It made me scared. Like she wasn’t my mom any more but something fragile that might break” (41).
In two small sentences leading up to a third longer statement, we sense the drama of this family who is thin with worry for the sick baby. We readers are invited to experience the story’s main conflict through small turns in simple language. These three small sentences, all straight forward on the surface, demonstrate the inviting voice of this book. Here, the building of rhythm, the sensory information—those wet eyes—and, the last statement beginning with that awkward prepositional phrase, “Like she,” work together to give us a fresh understanding of a child responding to a mother’s tears.
While it is not likely The Nest, by Kenneth Oppel will make it to our Level 3 or 4 lineup in the near future, it is a recommended read for those interested in magical realism, especially for those who like the genre best when it is pushed toward the realm of science fiction or fantasy as this book pushes in both directions.
“A capacity, and taste, for reading, gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others. It is the key, or one of the keys, to the already solved problems. And not only so. It gives a relish, and facility, for successfully pursuing the unsolved ones.” -Abraham Lincoln
Celebrate a birthday this month as you begin your year in books.
When Leonardo Da Vinci died he left the world more than 6,000 pages of ideas.
Think revolving bridge, winged glider, or self-propelled car, and you will begin thinking like Leonardo.
Now, think colossal horse, and you will most certainly be moving in the direction of the Renaissance man. Most of us have heard of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, but, Il Cavallo? Not so much.
So this past week, we gathered to learn more of this marvelous dreamer, and to be inspired by his prolific idea making. And after reading Leonardo's Horse by Jean Fritz (and ogling over the illustrations by Hudson Talbott), we got to work.
As I tried to imagine the complex engineering of the inner scaffolding, what Leonardo had to consider to create the clay model, let alone the bronze cast, I decided to focus our art making on the bones of sculpting. So from pipe cleaners, pom pons, yarn, and a lump of air drying clay we fashioned our horse.
And what a horse. It's not Leonardo. No. But it is certainly an inspired idea. And I imagine, this would make Leonardo smile. For he knew, better than most: "Art is never finished, only abandoned."
Once upon a time, in the summer of 1768, Captain James Cook sailed from England on H.M.S Endeavour, beginning a three-year voyage around the world on a secret mission to discover an unknown continent at the bottom of the globe. What is less known is that a boy by the name of Nicholas Young was a real live stowaway on that ship. Yep, eleven year old Nicholas Young really did stow away on Captain Cook's voyage around the world! And what did Captain Cook do when he discovered the stowaway? Well, he commissioned Nick into the Royal Navy, made him assistant to the ship's surgeon aboard the Endeavour. And, as if this is not enough, Nick was the first person on Captain Cook's ship to spot New Zealand and later explored Antarctica.
Karen Hesse took this little bundle of history and spun a fictional journal filled with hurricanes, warring natives, and disease, as Nick discovers new lands, incredible creatures, and lifelong friends.
Begin the year immersed in the wonder of impossibility.
"Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said. 'One can't believe impossible things.'
I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
-From Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Celebrate a birthday this month as you begin your year in books.
on the third J R R Tolkien
on the fourth Jacob Grimm
on the fifth Lynne Cherry
on the twelfth Jack London
on the eighteenth A A Milne
on the thirty-first Rosemary Wells
on the twenty-seventh Lewis Carroll
and on the twenty-eighth Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice was first published
What happens when the worst kids take over the Christmas pageant?
The Herdman kids lie, steal, smoke cigars, swear, and hit little kids. So no one is prepared when this outlaw family invades church one Sunday and decides to take over the annual Christmas pageant. Thanks to the Herdmans, the pageant is transformed into the most unusual anyone has seen and, just possibly, the best one ever.
During the summer of 1768, Captain James Cook sailed from England on H.M.S Endeavor's first voyage to explore the little known southern hemisphere. Eleven-year-old Nicholas Young was a stowaway on this voyage. True story.
Karen Hesse invites us to delve into this pocket of history alongside the stowaway and experience the astonishing adventure alongside Nick.
After reading, encourage your students to recreate the adventure in a meaningful and lasting way. Section 5 in our Literature and Writing Discovery Guide will present opportunities to move beyond mapping out the story details to identify the impact the story had on the heart.
My youngest son, Søren, spent significant time and effort researching the ship itself and committing his personal reflections to marks burned on wood. Creativity tied to a great story helps the reader retain and apply in ways where the essay falls short.
Captain Cook reminds us sky's the limit, "Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again."
Every time you finish reading a book, think tinker.
The word “tinker” comes from the middle English referring to people who engaged in the work of patching worn tin kettles. When I was young, tinkering was a crude, quick fix of any object regardless of the medium, be it tin, wood, brick, or fabric. My great-grandpa Ted was a tinker. I loved exploring the bits and bobble in his shop, creating assemblages of junk while he merrily tinkered. Back then tinkering was not considered an art form, it was something more akin to the household junk drawer. When I was young, tinkering was pretty much DIY before the acronym came to be.
Fast forward, I LOVE how the growing maker movement has brought a deeper meaning to this wonderful word. Nowadays, “to tinker” is recognized (rightfully so) as a significant step in the process of making, in the process of bringing shape to ideas.
What better way to deeply integrate and apply knowledge gleaned from great stories than to thinker an idea to shape?
So how to begin?
Think wire. Buttons. Tags. Cork. Think ric rac and ribbon. Paint Glue. Hooks and chain.
Think junk drawer and you are moving in the right direction for a tinker project.
After reading Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Jac began her tinkering. She decided to explore the theme “overcoming weaknesses” with a self-portrait assemblage of objects on a turntable. She wanted to display her strengths anchored to the base and her weaknesses as distracting creatures tangling her momentum unless she exerted significant effort.
And so she did. Exceptionally well, I might add.
So the next time your child reads a book, think tinker.
