March Author of the Month Tomie dePaola

My repost for author of the month is Tomie dePaola.  Tomie dePaola passed away last year on March 30,2020.  His books and illustrations are some of my favorites.   

I remember when I met Tomie dePaola at the International Reading Convention in Atlanta.  He was truly one of the coolest people there with his leather jacket and earing.  He  signed my book with his famous Tomie and gave me a big smile.  I was impressed.

I have always enjoyed the illustrations in Mr. dePaola's books.  His web site is filled with answers to many questions about his career, favorite books, and his current life.  He also keeps an updated blog that displays his artwork and current happenings.  He is a prolific writer and illustrator.  Here is a list of his many books.  I also have a Pinterest board filled with ideas. 

I enjoy his books about living with grandparents and the special part they play in our lives.  His book Watch Out for the Chicken Feet in Your Soup is one of the funniest books I have ever read. It is a story about a little boy who takes one of his friends to his Grandmother's house.  The little boy warns his friend about what he considers the strange things his Grandmother does.  His friend is intrigued and finds his Grandmother wonderful.  A great lesson for all of us.

To end, here is a wonderful video of an interview with Tomie dePaola on the value of  reading aloud.  It is a wonderful reminder of the gift we give our children.  Happy Reading!

 ~ Becky

February Author Bill Martin Jr.

 

 

Bill Martin Jr. Books

Our author of the month is Bill Martin Jr.  What is there not to love about a man with a smile that wonderful?  Mr. Martin Jr, an elementary-school principal, teacher, writer, and poet, held a doctoral degree in early childhood education. I found an interview where Mr. Martin shares about Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?  Here is a short biography on Mr. Martin. 

Scholastic has an author study that has wonderful links as well, I set up a Pinterest Board with some great activities too, and
Amazon has a nice book list.    Reading Rockets has an excellent one as well, with some information on each book included. 

I have two favorite Bill Martin Jr. Books.  The First is Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear?, and the second is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I love Polar Bear Polar Bear because I collect polar bears.  (Really, I do. I wanted something obscure to collect.)




Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a classic alphabet book. I have an old one with
magnetic letters we love to use.  There are so many alphabet activities to do with
this book.  Using your own magnetic letters to tell the story, making a tree and writing the letters on the paper, and this fun printable I found from Scholastic books. 


Have fun with Bill Martin Jr. this month.  I am excited to visit some old favorites and find some new friends.

~Becky

Author Ezra Jack Keats

 I have fond memories of reading Ezra Jack Keats books as a child.  I still remember seeing the short film for The Snowy Day.

Mr. Keat's was a fascinating man.  The Ezra Jack Keats foundation is  set up to use the royalties from Keat's books to make the world a better place for children.
Keats has written many books.   There are several wonderful activities on Pinterest using his books.

Happy Reading!
~Becky

Picture Books of the Month!

This is a repost!  I thought it would be fun to run again. My youngest is in third grade so it is kind of my last hurrah with picture books.  Join me on the adventure.  

 I am starting something new at my house.  I feel like my "littles" need some more directed author studies.  I believe there is something powerful in studying an author and reading many books by that author. You get to observe the type of writing style and look at their artwork more closely.  

I have decided this school year, I am going to do an author a month in picture books.  The intended audience of the books is PK-3rd, but my older kids love to revisit their favorites. I am going to gather the books from my personal collection and ask my local librarian to help me gather more by that author.  I am going to put them in a special tub/bin and keep them available for the month.  My hope is that by having them all gathered, I will be able to grab and read them.  I feel like personally I need to be more intentional about reading good literature to my kids.  When I ask them to grab a book we tend to read some less quality titles.  I am also hoping the older kids will read these to the younger ones as well.  

I will try to post these at the end of the previous month.  Hopefully you can join me on my journey. These are the authors I am planning on for this school year.  But, they are subject to change. I am choosing easy to find authors who have published many books.   

January- Ezra Jack Keats
February- Bill Martin Jr. 
March- Tomie dePaola 
April- Margeret Wise Brown
May- Eric Carle

September- Ellen Stoll Walsh.  
October- Lois Ehlert
November- Patricia Polacco.
December- Jan Brett 

I hope you will join me on my adventure.  
~Becky