Visit Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to participate in the kidlit version of this weekly meme.
On the blog:
- A curation of the best online reading from last week
- An interview with Kelsey Empfield about her student teaching experiences
- A Top Ten list of the picture book authors and illustrators I’ve read the most
- My #pb10for10 list: 10 picture books I can’t wait to share with my college students this fall
In reading:
Will Richardson’s new book, From Master Teacher to Master Learner, lays out a powerful argument about education reform in just 70 pages. Richardson claims that in this age of access to abundant information and knowledge, the role of the teacher and the role of school fundamentally need to change. He has so many smart things to say about the many dysfunctions of school–as well as sound practical advice for how to change. But where I think his book is most helpful is in its focus on what the individual teacher can do. It’s often difficult to see how we can change our institutions. It’s much easier to change ourselves and our classrooms, and Richardson tells us how to do this with one elegant and simple shift in perspective: teachers now need to be the master learner in the classroom. Highly recommended!
Wonderful illustrations by Janet Stevens in this feel-good title about how we are all beautiful and right, just as we are. I truly never need a rhyming text, but I did rather enjoy Karen Beaumont’s writing. And I loved the message about celebrating our differences.
A new favorite fractured fairy tale. Cat is trying so hard to narrate her favorite fairy tale, only Dog keeps interrupting with questions and comments that, according to Cat, are entirely beside the point. The use of white space is masterful, and the dialogue between Dog and Cat really hilarious. I especially loved Dog’s observation that Little Red isn’t very bright.
In preparation for Global Read Aloud, I’ve been adding to my Amy Krouse Rosenthal collection. It’s Not Fair is a title I hadn’t seen before. As always, Rosenthal provides many clever examples of situations that aren’t fair. There’s a wonderful shift three-quarters of the way through the story where the examples of “it’s not fair” become increasingly absurd, which underscores just how much we complain about situations that really aren’t that big of a deal. Lichtenheld’s cartoonish art is the perfect match for Rosenthal’s text.
A re-read for me, but a first read for my son. We’re Team Rabbit. This is such a simple concept and so brilliantly executed. The blank page after our unseen narrators scare the duck/rabbit away is especially masterful.
the dirigible plum 
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