The Man Who Walked between the Towers

Amazing and breathtaking...

 

 

 

I know exactly where I was when it happened. On the early morning on September 11, 2001 I was sitting in front of a computer on the fifth floor of a large building in the middle of downtown Cincinnati. Reading the morning paper online, a news alert popped up on the screen; one of the twin towers in New York had been hit by a jet plane! I couldn't believe what I was reading. I found the nearest television just in time to see a plane hit the other tower and that's when I and everyone else in our country realized that this was no random accident. The U.S. was being attacked! It is a moment I will NEVER forget.

 

Although I absolutely loved the story The Man Who Walked between the Towers written and illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein, reading it was bitter sweet. The book chronicles the death defying stunt done by tight rope walker Phillipe Petit in 1974. While the towers were still being built, Monsieur Petit decided he would do what no one else had ever done. With the help of a few friends, Phillip snuck to the very top of one of the Twin Towers, fed a wire across the two buildings and walked, ran and danced across it for an hour! All this while people watched from below and police waited on either side of his wire. He even laid down on the wire to rest when he grew tired. What an amazing feat! And the only punishment Monsieur Petit received was to entertain the children of New York, which he did happily!

 

This story touched my heart in so many ways. Although I am not a native New Yorker, nor have I ever been there, I was definitely affected by the devastation that took place on the day the Twin Towers burned to the ground. So many lives lost but never forgotten. I believe that this story is a great way to celebrate what was once a symbol of strength and prosperity in our nation. It is also a great way to open up the lines of communication with children about the tragedy that took place on September 11, 2001. They should know why we now, as a nation, solemnly celebrate those that lost their lives, those that sacrificed their lives and those that saved lives when that date comes around every year.  

 

Reflective Reading

• Have you ever done something that you were afraid to do?
• Did you overcome your fear? If so, how did you do it?
• If you had the chance, would you do it again?
• What other things are you afraid of ?
• What aren't you afraid of that other people may be afraid of?
• Ask your family and friends about what they're afraid of. You may be surprised by their answers.
• You'll find that everyone is afraid of something, and that's okay :-)

Active Reading

• Like a lot of kids, when I was little I was afraid of the dark. Are you?
• Let's try something.
• Go to your bedroom and take a good look around.
• Try to take a picture in your head of how your room looks.
• Now, turn the light off and see if you can still picture what your room looks like?
• Without turning the light back on, go into a different room and draw picture of what your room looks like.
• When you are done with your drawing, go back into your room and turn the light on.
• Does your room look like the picture that you drew?
• What did you forget? What did you remember?
• Try this with other rooms in your house.

Resources

Gerstein, M. (2003) The man who walked between the towers. New York; Roaring Brook Press.  

 





A Moldy Mystery

It's no mystery to me...mold is gross!

 

 

 



 

Well, once again I have learned something I didn't know before by reading a book written for children. I guess no matter how old you are, there will always be things you don't know. That certainly is the case for me when it comes to mold. The only thing I've ever known about mold is that it is disgusting but the story A Moldy Mystery written by Michelle Knuden and illustrated by Barry Gott has taught me that mold is actually a living thing and is very useful to our planet.

 

Jeff is a boy who prefers to keep things as tidy as possible ( I can totally relate) but his brother Wayne is the total opposite. Unfortunately for Jeff, he has to share a room with his messy brother and he isn't too pleased about their current living situation. When Wayne leaves for science camp, Jeff takes advantage of his brother's absence and decides to clean up Wayne's side of their room. Boy, was that a mistake. After overhearing a conversation his mom was having over the phone, Jeff discovers that before he left, Wayne was in the process of growing mold for a science project. Mold...like the nasty stuff he found growing in containers under his brother's bed. Oh no! Jeff knew this was a bad situation and calls on his friend Kayla to help him fix the problem. Jeff and Kayla do research on how to grow mold, what mold is and why mold is important. Turns out mold is a fungus that feeds off of moist foods and grows best in dark places. Mold helps to decompose dead plants and feed new ones. They find out that mold is actually a pretty cool thing and have loads of fun growing mold under Wayne's bed while he is away.

 

 

I first picked A Moldy Mystery because I thought it was part of the mystery genre but after reading it I realized that it was a science book. In a way, science and mystery go hand in hand. When trying to figure something out in using scientific methods, you are doing what detectives do; look for clues! So scientist and detectives have the same kind of job; solving mysteries!  

 

Reflective Reading

• Have you ever seen mold?
• What did it look like? Smell like?
• Where did you find it growing?
• Have you ever eaten mold (example: Blue Cheese)?

Active Reading

• Let's do an experiment!
• Find a piece of fruit in your kitchen (apple, orange or grapes).
• Put the fruit in a resealable sandwich bag with a little bit of water.
• Place the bag in a closet or drawer (and you should probably warn Mom about your project).
• Every couple of days check on your fruit to see what it looks like.
• Keep a journal of your findings by drawing a picture of what your fruit looks like.
• Pretty gross, but pretty cool!
• After about 10 days, throw away the moldy fruit otherwise Mom might have a fit!

Resources

Knuden, M. (2010.) A moldy mystery. New York;Kane Press Inc.

 

 

 



Abra Cadabra and the Tooth Witch

The Real Story behind the Tooth Fairy

 

 

I read this lovely story with my ten year old daughter. Knowing that I was writing a blog about it she stated that it could be considered both a fantasy and a folklore story. I thought about it for a moment and decided she was both right and wrong. I'll explain. I picked this story because it definitely falls into the Fantasy genre. When she mentioned that she thought it could be a Folklore story I automatically thought about how most folklore involved stories that were passed down over the years that usually explains how a theory or belief came to be. I believe that the story, Abra Cadabra and the Tooth Witch will someday be considered folklore because the story is about how a little witch became the popular and beloved Tooth Fairy.

 

This delightful book was written and illustrated by Nurit Karlin. Abra Cadabra is a little witch who is given the job as assistant to the frazzled Tooth Witch. After doing her job of collecting children's teeth for 600 years, the Tooth Witch starts to show signs of exhaustion and boredom from her job. As a result, she accidentally drops a bag of teeth which causes the coven of Tooth Witches to make a decision; Abra Cadabra must help collect the teeth. One night while taking a rest on the moon, the Tooth Witch laughs herself off the moon and breaks her broom in the process. This incident causes the coven to send her on a much needed vacation. They then send Abra Cadabra back to the moon to retrieve the teeth. At that moment, the little witch decides that instead of throwing the precious teeth into flower beds to grow rocks, she would scatter them across the sky which is why we have so many stars! To her surprise, Abra Cadabra is then transformed into a fairy and to this day continues to collect little boys and girls baby teeth and puts stars in our sky.

 

My daughter and I enjoyed this story very much. I had always told her that the Tooth Fairy used the teeth she collected to add on to her castle of teeth. Now I see that I was wrong. Thanks for setting the record straight Ms. Karlin.

 

Reflective Reading

• Have you ever lost any teeth?
• If so, how many have loss so far?
• What did you do with your teeth?
• Have you ever wondered what the Tooth Fairy does with your teeth?
• What did the Tooth Fairy give you in exchange for your teeth?

Active Reading

• Get a mirror and look inside your mouth.
• Count your teeth.
• How many do you have?
• What do they look like?
• Do some research. Look on the Internet and find out what animal has the most teeth.
• Does that animals teeth look like yours? Why or why not?

 

Resources

Karlin, N. (1999.) Abra cadabra and the tooth witch. Toronto;Somerville House Publishing

 
 

 

  



Dolphins

My favorite animal...

 

 

 

For as long as I can remember, I loved dolphins. Since I was 14 years old have collected dolphin figurines and jewelry. I have even had the pleasure of going to Hawaii where I took a dolphin watch boat ride. To say the least, it was simply amazing!

 

That is why I chose to read the non-fiction book, Dolphins;Amazing Animals written by James De Medeiros. This book was written for children aged 5 - 9 years old but I found it very informative as an adult. For instance, I did not know that dolphins lived in three types of natural bodies of water: open ocean, along the ocean coast and in rivers. I also did not that dolphins stay with their mother until they are eight years old and then go to find another pod to hunt with. Another thing I learned about dolphins is that each one has their own distinctive whistle but they can copy another dolphins whistle when the hear it.

 

I learned a lot from this children's book which makes me love dolphins that much more. I believe that they are highly intelligent animals and deserve to be protected. I think it is wonderful that De Medeiros makes it a point to write that because of humans  pollution and fishing nets that dolphins either get hurt or die. I think it is very important that children know the truth about the conservation of our animals. We have way too many animals on the endangered species list; I hope we never have to add dolphins to that list. This book has a lot of fun photographs of dolphins and gives great details about the life of a dolphin, how a dolphin survives and what we can do to help keep them around. It was a joy to read.

 

Reflective Reading

• What is your favorite animal?
• Why is it your favorite?
• How does your favorite animal communicate?
• Does it travel in groups or by itself?

Active Reading

• Draw a picture of your favorite animal
• After you've drawn your picture write a haiku poem about it on the same page
• What's haiku? It is a Japanese style of writing poetry.
• There are 17 syllables written in three lines broken down like this: 5, 7, 5.
• For example:

Dolphins are the best

They swim and flip and whistle

They'd make a cool pet!

 

 

 Resources

De Medeiros, J. (2009) Dolphins;amazing animals. New York:Weigl Publishers Inc.

 

 

 

 



 

 





Amazing Grace

Little girl, BIG imagination...

 

 

 

This story is one that, even as an adult, I can totally relate to. As a child, I had a very big imagination. Being an only child, it was quite difficult to find someone to play with me, especially on a rainy day. I would pretend like I was character from a cartoon, a book or a movie and my stuffed animals were the other characters. The little girl in this story reminds me of...well, me. After reading this story, I'm sure a lot of little girls out there can relate to her too.

 

Amazing Grace written by Mary Hoffman and illustrated by Caroline Binch, is a story of a little black girl that has an imagination that is so big that she believes that she can be anything she wants to be, and because of the love and encouragement of her Mama and Nana, she does just that. Grace is a lover of stories of all kinds. After she hears a story, she acts them out and is usually the main character in her 'plays'. At school, Grace has the opportunity to audition for the part of Peter Pan. Her classmates tell her that she can't be Peter Pan because she is a girl and because she is black. Well, Grace proves them wrong. When Grace auditions for the part, she does such an amazing job that she is given the part as Peter Pan!

 

The illustrations of Ms. Binch are very realistic. Binch uses bold colors and soft lines to show just how vibrant Grace's imagination really is. Hoffman's wonderful story of a little girl who dreams big is inspiring. I would consider Amazing Grace to be a contemporary story even though it was written twenty years ago because the subject matter will be forever relevant. There will never be a time when encouraging a child's imagination will go out of style.

 

Reflective Reading

• Imagine yourself as your favorite character. Who are you?
 
• What kind of adventures do you go on as your favorite character?
 
• If you could audition for a play, what play would it be?
 
• What part would you audition for?

Active Reading

•  With a few of your friends/classmates try acting out a favorite story (ex.Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Bean Stalk, etc.) 
 
•  Have an adult put the names of the characters in a hat or bag so that everyone can pick a part fairly.
 
• Practice the play then put on a show for your classmates/family. 



Resources

Hoffman, M. (1991.) Amazing grace. Great Britain;Francis Lincoln Limited



Abraham Lincoln

Who doesn't like 'Honest Abe'?

 

 

I was so very excited when I heard that there would be a motion picture released about my favorite US President, Abraham Lincoln. I have yet to see the film but I will definitely be doing so; as soon as my schedule becomes less hectic. Until then, I decided to take a gander at the biography for children written by Wil Mara,

Abraham Lincoln.  

 

Mara's book covers Lincoln's life, starting at his upbringing on a farm in Kentucky, to his career as a lawyer, to his untimely death in the Ford Theater in 1865. The book includes both illustrations, prints, lithographs and photographs that help tell the story of one the U.S. greatest Presidents.  The various pictures that are used are like those you'd find in a History text book. My favorite is that of a portrait of Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd.

 

The text in the book is simple enough for all ages to understand yet comprehensive enough to give a lot of important information about President Lincoln's various accomplishments. Although it does not into great detail about those accomplishments, the book is a great step in the right direction to introducing President Lincoln to children who may otherwise not have any idea of what a great man he was.

 

Reflective Reading

• By reading this biography, what have you learned about Abraham Lincoln that you did not know before?
• Who is your favorite US President and why?
• What do you think was Abraham Lincoln's greatest accomplishment?
 

Active Reading

• Have you ever seen a picture of President Lincoln in his famous stovepipe top hat?
• If not, do some research on the Internet or at your local library about what a stovepipe top hat looks like then try making one of your own!
• For directions on how to make your hat, just click this link (http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/presidentsday/a/bltophat.htm ). Make sure you have the help of an adult.
• This would be a great President's Day craft!   

Resources

Mara, W. (2002.) Abraham Lincoln. New York: Children's Press.

 

 

 





"Caaaps! Caps for Sale!"

An Oldie but a Goodie :-)

I work as a Instructional Assistant at an Elementary School and one day recently, I noticed a first grade girl reading one of the "Rosey Reader" books. I looked over her shoulder and looked at a picture in the book. There in the book was an illustration of a man with several colorful hats stacked on top of his head, heading down a long road. "Oh my gosh!", I exclaimed, "I remember this book! I use to read it all the time when I was a little girl!" The girl holding the book just looked up at me with a 'so what?' expression on her face, but I just smiled back at her.

The children's folktalke, CAPS FOR SALE: A tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business,  was one of my all time favorite books to read when I was a first grader and just really learning to read. In fact, as I recall, the book was the first one that I read through in its entirety all by myself! I use to absolutely LOVE this book and would read it over, and over and over again. Up until the moment I saw that girl flipping its pages, I had completely forgotten about it. I'm glad that it is in my life once more.

CAPS FOR SALE, told and illustrated by Siberian born author Esphyr Slobodkina, was originally published in 1940. The folktale is about a peddler who walks around town with a tower of colorful hats stacked on his head yelling "Caps! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!" The poor man cannot get anyone to buy his caps which I always thought was weird because fifty cents for a cap is a freaking steal! Anyway, the peddler decides to take a nap under a tree and wakes up to find that his caps have disappeared! He looks all over the place and then finally looks up into the tree. His discovery is that a bunch of mischievous monkeys have taken all his caps (all except his own checkered cap) and have proudly placed them on their heads. This was always my favorite part of the story. As a child I would wonder 'Where did those monkeys come from? Did they escape from a circus or zoo? Those bad monkeys!' As the story progresses, the peddler tries to angrily persuade the naughty monkey's to return his caps but fails miserably. I always felt so bad for the peddler but on the other hand thought it very funny when the monkey's would mimic the peddlers finger waving and foot stomping. Eventually, the peddler gives up,throws his checkered hat to the ground and sadly walks away. Then to his surprise, the peddler sees his caps raining from the tree! The silly monkeys, mimicking the peddlers actions once more,throw all of the caps out of the tree. The peddler happily stacks his caps, places them on his head, and goes on his merry way to sell his wares.

I got great pleasure out of reading this classic tale again after all these years. It reminded me of a simpler time in my life and rejuvenated my joy in reading simply told stories as well. Reading this story as an adult makes me realize why I loved it so much as a child. The abstract illustrations are very eye-catching. Also, the idea that the peddler could carry a tower of caps on his head was always amazing to me. I adored looking at the colors of all the caps and even counting them while he carried them on his head and while they were on the head of the bad little monkeys. Believe it or not, I would also count the caps after the monkeys threw them back (just to make sure the peddler got each and everyone one of them back, of course.)

Now that this book has been re-introduced to me, I will never let it leave my library again. I still enjoy this book for all the reasons I did as a child and hope it stays in publication for many years to come so that other generations of children can enjoy the peddler, his tower of caps and the antics of those naughty little monkeys.

Reflective Reading

• If you were selling caps, what would you do to get people to buy them?
• If you were the peddler, what would you have done differently to get the monkeys to return your caps?
• Like me, do you wonder where all the monkeys came from? Write about where you think the monkeys came from and how they happen to be in the tree.

Active Reading

• Can you balance a tower of caps on your head? Try it!
• Ask everyone in your class to bring a baseball cap to school. Now, while sitting down and with your cap on your head, have your teacher add one cap at a time to your head and see how high it will go.
• Let everyone have a try but make sure everyone uses their own cap as the first one.
• If there is camera available, have someone take a picture of each person with the tower of caps on their heads.

Resources

Slobodkina, E.(1968.) Caps for sale. USA ; Haper Collins Publishers

Slobokina Foundation. (2012.) Slobokina Foundation Website.
Retrieved December 1, 2012 from http://www.slobodkinafoundation.org/about/