Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site
Newsletter, Volume 19, Issue 1
Site Additions and Updates
It's been a long time since I've been able to put out a newsletter. I've missed being in touch with you and it's great to be back.
Today it's cold, cold, cold in Massachusetts--a good day to curl up under a soft throw blanket and read a good book. So, this newsletter is filled with my suggestions of some great books to fit the bill.
On the website two books, a historical novel and a picture book, have been expanded to include classroom activity and discussion ideas. There is a Featured Subject article on Racism and Tolerance, and an annotated booklist of animal books. There's also a review of a great new picture book about a family building their home together.
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Featured Book Teachers Guide
Grades 4 - 8
The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. Novel. 224 pages.
Find this book: Local Bookstore, Amazon
This is a very special book. It starts with humor and ends with tragedy. Byron Watson lives in Michigan with his parents, brother and sister. Most of the first part of the book is devoted to the high-jinks, many of them hilarious, of Byron who walks on the edge of delinquency. His parents are finally pushed into doing something drastic about Byron. The decision is made to drive to Birmingham, where Mrs. Watsons' mother lives and leave Byron with her for the summer. The real climax, however, comes when the church where his sister is at Sunday school is bombed. Read More in our Featured Book Teachers Guide with discussion questions, extension activities, related books and links.
Featured Book Teachers Guide
Grades 2 - 4
Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman. Illustrated by Stephen Gammell. Picture Book. 32 pages.
Find this book: Local Bookstore, Amazon
This Caldecott Award winner tells a simple story, told by the grandchildren, of a grandfather who takes them to the attic where he opens a trunk full of costumes and props from his days as a song and dance man. When the stage is set and the spotlight (an old bridge lamp) is turned on, the act begins and Grandpa is transformed into the showman he once was. The colored pencil illustrations show Gammell's usual unkempt and slightly grotesque people who are somehow beautiful and familiar. Read More in our Featured Book Teachers Guide with discussion questions, extension activities, related books and links.
Featured Subject
Tolerance, Racism and Prejudice:
An article with novels, picture books, nonfiction, classroom discussion ideas and activity ideas for grades PreK-9.
http://www.carolhurst.com/products/booksetstol.html
Annotated Booklist
Animals: Recommended Books for the Classroom
An annotated list of some of Our favorites for grades PreK-9:
http://www.carolhurst.com/subjects/animals.html
Book Review
Grades PreK - 3
Building Our House by Jonathan Bean. Picture Book. 48 pages.
Find this book: Local Bookstore, Amazon
This is an affectionate picture book portrayal of a family building their own home from scratch. Everyone helps over the course of a year and a half while they live on site and the small family grows from two to three children. There are lots of timber frame building details while the focus stays on the warm and loving family creating a home together. A beautiful example of the emotional and material power of teamwork. This book won the Boston Globe Horn Book Picture Book Award for 2013. Read More.
Related Areas of Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site
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All Our Featured Book Teachers Guides
with discussion questions, extension activities, related books and links.
http://www.booksintheclassroom.com/featuredtitles.php -
Subjects Index: A listing by subject of our Featured Subject Articles with classroom activities, recommended books and links as well as our Annotated Booklists.
http://www.carolhurst.com/subjects/subjects.html
That's it for this issue.
Happy reading!
- Rebecca Otis
You can read back issues of this newsletter in our archives at:
http://www.carolhurst.com/newsletters/newsletters.html
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