New Book News
January/February/March 2008
Excerpt
Featured Book
Zen Ties by Jon J Muth.
Scholastic Press, 2008 (all ages)
Stillwater encourages his haiku-speaking nephew, Koo, and his new friends to help a grouchy neighbor in need.
Idea
This story reminds readers that everyone needs a friend. Encourage your readers to begin the new year by being nice to someone they would ordinarily ignore. Discuss strategies that readers can use to reah out so someone who may be sad, lonely, alone.
Note how Koo always speaks in the traditional Japanese haiku poetry format. Readers can write a poem about their new friend uysing the 3 line format of 5-7-5 syllables.
Idea
Koo reused his paper cup when he visited his uncle, and then saved it as a souvenir of their special time together. Encourage readers to reuse something that they can keep as a souvenir of an experience - a napkin, a bag, a bookmark, etc. Discuss whether there are any benefits of using items more than once.
Idea
The names of the characters in this story are not accidental. Encourage readers to decide why Stillwater and Koo are the selected names. Discuss the phrase "still waters run deep", and how that might apply to the main character in this story.
Ideas for the following books also appeared in the January/February/March 2008:
purchase the full version of New Book News >>
- Albert Einstein: A Biography
- by Milton Meltzer.
- (gr. 2-5)
- Artful Reading
- by Bob Raczka.
- (gr 2+)
- Artist to Artist:
- 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About their Art
- (all ages)
- Bloom:A Little Book About Finding Love
- by Maria van Lieshout.
- (all ages)
- Clinton Gregory's Secret
- by Bruce Whatley.
- (gr. K-2)
- Farmer George Plants a Nation
- by Peggy Thomas.
- (gr. 3-6)
- Full House
- by Dayle Ann Dodds.
- (gr. 2-4)
- George Washington Carver
- by Tonya Bolden.
- (gr. 4-6)
- Heroes for Civil Rights
- by David A. Adler.
- (gr. 2-5)
- Jenny Found a Penny
- by Trudy Harris.
- (gr. K-2)
- Maple Syrup Season
- by Ann Purmell
- (gr.K-2)
- The Old House
- by Pamela Duncan Edwards.
- (gr. K-2)
- Stand Tall, Abe Lincoln
- by Judith St. George.
- (gr. 1-4)
- 3-D ABC
- by Bob Raczka.
- (gr. 2+)
- When Is a Planet Not a Planet?
- by Elaine Scott.
- (gr. 3-6)
- Women Daredevils: Thrills, Chills, and Frills
- by Julie Cummins.
- (gr. 3-6)
- The Year of the Rat
- by Grace Lin.
- (gr. 3-5)
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