Walking to School: A Story from Northern Ireland by Eve Bunting

Walking to School: A Story from Northern Ireland by Eve Bunting, Clarion Books, 2008, ISBN 0-618-26144-3
When the path to 8-year-old Allison's Catholic school goes through hostile Protestant territory in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Allison finds she is not alone in her loathing of the situation. Beautifully written and illustrated, and a great way to tell the story of an historic situation without being boring.
Main idea: small act of kindness goes a long way.
Point of view: Catholic vs. Protestant; children really are the same (could be friends "if grown-ups would let us").
This book is mentioned in a great blog: A Year of Reading.

The Wolf's Story by Toby Forward

The Wolf's Story (What Really Happened to Little Red Riding Hood) by Toby Forward, Candlewick Press, 2005, ISBN 0-7636-2785-2
Compare/contrast: Little Red Riding Hood (classic version). This is a cute, entertaining, slightly irreverent story which shows the wolf's point of view. Good for grades 4-5. Check out the author's website.

A Special word about E. B. Lewis

E. B. Lewis the illustrator. One of my absolute favorites. Visit his website. His illustrations have graced the pages of such books as The Negro Speaks of Rivers (Langston Hughes poem), The Secret World of Walter Anderson, This Little Light of Mine, and Circle Unbroken. Talkin' about Bessie, Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys, Jacqueline Woodson's The Other Side, and Dirt on Their Skirts. More than 30 books for children. Each page of each book is a masterpiece worthy of framing and a special place on the wall. His characters are so real you can hear them breathing. His use of light so accurate that you can feel the heat on the beach. His splashes of ocean so real you can feel the sea spray. A very talented, insightful man.

The Secret World of Walter Anderson by Hester Bass

The Secret World of Walter Anderson by Hester Bass, illustrated by E. B. Lewis. Candlewick Press, 2009.
The author describes Walter Anderson as a "man who loved nature, an artist, and an islander. He may be the most famous American painter you've never heard of." She also says "art is an adventure, and Walter Anderson was an explorer, first class." This book is written so that it makes perfectly clear how much of an adventurer Anderson was, and his love of nature is evident. EB Lewis's illustrations, though starkly different from Anderson's style of painting, are perfect for this story. They evoke the heat of the beach, the quiet mystery of pre-dawn, the laziness of Anderson's days on Horn Island. Between the author's careful words and descriptions, and the illustrator's stunning pictures, the reader comes away with a very good picture of "the painter you'ven ever heard of."

Home on the Range by Deborah Hopkinson

Home on the Range: John A. Lomax and His Cowboy Songs by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by S.D. Schindler, GP Putnam's Sons, 2009.
More Western flavor from the author who gave us Stagecoach Sal. This book, however, is a true story about John A. Lomax, the boy who was "singing the sun awake in the morning and crooning the moon to sleep at night." Set on a farm "near the old Chisholm Trail", the story relays how farm workers and cattle drivers alike would create songs to pass the day and make the chores easier. John eventually wrote all these songs down and stored them in the bottom of an old trunk. While a student at the University of Texas, he showed the songs to a professor, who found no value in "these songs of plain, ordinary folk." However, after going back to school at Harvard University, he met a professor "who changed his life." Professor Barrett Wendell did something really creative: he had his students write about their home, and report it to the class. Risking ridicule, John wrote about the home and the cowboy songs that he loved. John asked for help from the folks back home, and the letters poured in! As John tells his story and sings his songs, the illustrator cleverly transports the class to the plains of Texas, complete with campfire. After his time at Harvard, John continued to collect and preserve these cowboy songs. This book reminds us of the importance of "our families, our homes, our work, and our troubles", and the songs that accompany us on the journey.
Visit the author's website.

Stagecoach Sal by Deborah Hopkinson

Stagecoach Sal: Inspired by a True Story by Deborah Hopkinson, pictures by Carson Ellis, Disney Hyperion Books, 2009
Old West charm characterizes this story of Sal, who loved to drive the stagecoach and sing for the passengers. Who would have thought that her ability to sing would help her outsmart and capture the famous 'Poetic Pete", the most polite bandit in all of California? She became known as "Singing Sal, the Stagecoach Gal". Based on the life of Delia Haskett Rawson (b. 1861), who was "possibly the first and only woman to carry the US mail by stagecoach." Poetic Pete is based on a real character as well: Black Bart.
The book's language and song verses are reminiscent of yesteryear, and help create a "picture" of this time period in America's history. The author gives a reference for the Kids' Pages of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences if you want to hear some of Sal's favorite folk songs.

Aunt Isabel Tells a Good One by Kate Duke

Aunt Isabel Tells a Good One by Kate Duke, Puffin Unicorn, 1992, ISBN 0-14-050534-2
My tags: storytelling, books about writing
Penelope asks her aunt to tell her a story, a "good story", which is the hardest kind to tell, according to Aunt Isabel. While telling the story, Duke goes through the elements of a story: the When and the Where, the Who, the Problem, the Villans, a Little Danger, and the Happy Ending.
Grades: 1-4
This would be an excellent book to use when teaching students the elements of a story. Would leave the door wide open for students to create their own story using the same format (this would work best with 3rd and 4th graders).
Buy it on Amazon
Visit the author's website.

Written Anything Good Lately? by Susan Allen and Jane Lindaman

Written Anything Good Lately? by Susan Allen and Jane Lindaman, Millbrook Press, 2006, ISBN 0-7613-2426-7.
Tags: Rhetoric-juvenile literature
My tag: books about writing
Grades: 2-4
In alphabetical order, lists things you could write: an autobiography, a brilliant book report, Christmas and Chanukah cards for my classmates, etc. Leaves room for brainstorming to see what students can come up with. Alternate idea: have them illustrate either the original phrases in the book or one of their own creation.
Buy it on Amazon
Companion book: Read Anything Good Lately? from Kirkus Review: an invitation to consider the many things and places to read: an atlas at the airport, a biography in bed...(See review in this blog)

Patches Lost and Found by Steven Kroll

Patches Lost and Found by Steven Kroll, illustrated by Barry Gott, Winslow Press, 2001, ISBN 1-890817-53-8
Summary: Jenny draws, then writes, a story about losing and finding her pet guinea pig.
Tags: drawing, guinea pigs, authorship
My tags: books about writing
Grades: 2-4
Really cute book about the writing process: write what you know, look around you for writing ideas, write from your everyday life, take an event and expand it and describe it in detail. Gets the point across without being too obvious.
Buy it on Amazon

Look at My Book by Loreen Leedy

Look at My Book: How Kids Can Write and Illustrate Terrific Books, by Loreen Leedy, Holiday House, New York, 2003. ISBN: 0-8234-1590-2
Summary: Provides ideas and simple directions for writing, illustrating, designing and binding books.
Tags: authorship, book design, illustration of books, handicraft
My tags: books about writing
Grades: 4-6
This book goes from A to Z as it takes a young writer through the entire process of writing and producing a book. Covers: ideas, brainstorming, genres, research, characters, setting, plan, rough draft, rough sketches, title, share, revise, edit, format, layout, artwork, lettering, binding, and some examples. Resources listed in the back of the book include books about learning to write and Illustrate, Research skills, bookmaking and getting published.
Research skills: The Kid's Guide to Research by Deborah Heiligman, Scholastic Trade, 1999.
and Researching on the Internet Using Search Engines, Bulletin Boards and Listservs, Enslow Publishing, 2003.
Buy it on Amazon