Margin Notes

As a teacher and Literacy Coach I was recently challenged by elementary students to take a look at gender stereotypes in children’s literature and so I was thrilled to see this book on display when shopping for new titles at a local bookstore. I promptly purchased it and gifted it to a middle school teacher who plans to use it with her students on Monday! 

We all know the outdated role of women and young girls in need of rescuing in the traditional nursery rhymes. Little Miss Muffet is terribly afraid of spiders and the girls weep when Georgie Porgie kisses them. We love nursery rhymes because they are fun to chant, easy to remember and they make you laugh. Well, this new revamped collection of rhymes are fun to chant, easy to remember and will make you laugh as well as challenge your thinking about gender stereotypes. In Jeanne Willis’s version Miss Muffet sits down beside a giant spider and strokes their furry legs, and Georgie Porgie learns the meaning of consent before attempting to kiss girls. Doctors are female and girls can fix scooters, but it is not all girl power… All readers can feel empowered whilst enjoying these non-traditional rhymes as we learn that both boys and girls are made of “sun and rain and heart and brain”.    

Isabelle Follath’s illustrations are bright and quirky and the perfect companion to these fun and enticing poems. A must have title for any classroom and teacher wishing to add fun as well as another perspective on gender stereotypes to their collection.  

Newly published, this book will resonate with any parent of a child that turns into a monster when hungry. My younger daughter was once that child and now, at the age of twenty-three, still fights the wolf when waiting for dinner to be served. Inspired by Andy’s own children when hangry, Wolfboy is the hilarious story of a young wolfboy prowling amongst the hills, forests and streams searching for his dinner. He becomes more and more hangry as the search drags on, until he spots a pair of long ears, “Rabbits, rabbits, where are you?.”  Read to find out what happens when he is ready to feast! 

The illustrations are sculpted by hand using clay and are truly unique. The detail is exceptional and inspiring for any young author/illustrator looking to express their ideas using a medium other than paper and pencil. You will appreciate the author’s note on creating the artwork and a quick YouTube search will bring up a short clip of Andy demonstrating his artistic process. 

Young children will truly enjoy this gem of a book as well as searching for hidden bunnies throughout the illustrations. A fun read aloud with great word choice to delight readers, old and young.  

Also, of note is the wonderfully “scary” Book Trailer which, for horror movie fans, is delightfully enticing and worth checking out!  

Aaron Blabey’s ever growing popular graphic novel series, The Bad Guys, released its 12^th edition called, “THE ONE,” in November, 2020.

The Bad Guys series is based on a group of animals destined to be bad, trying to prove they are indeed good. This series captures the reader with the funny, hilarious, and sometimes insulting dialogue between the characters that is sure to bring belly laughs from the reader.

In the 12^th Bad Guys edition, readers that are fans of this series will question what they have known about Snake prior to now and wonder what is going on with him. Readers will also be very surprised to find out there is more than meets the eye with Agent Fox! (the BAD GUYS: THE ONE, by Aaron Blabey. Published by: Scholastic In, 2020)

In All Because you Matter, Tami Charle captures her audience with this heart felt story that serves to remind children that they matter.  While this story was written to tell, “especially those [children] from marginalized backgrounds, that no matter where they come from, they matter”, any child can benefit from this lyrical tribute.     

The pictures of this story by award-winning illustrator Bryan Collier’s do not go unnoticed, with each page carefully illustrated.   

This is a must-have for your classroom library! 

New York Times best-selling author of The Reading Strategies Book, Jennifer Serravallo, has just released a new book called, “Connecting with Students Online” (Grades K-8), based on her own and other educators experiences’ during the COVID-19 pandemic.   Jennifer’s book offers “more than 55 step-by-step teaching strategies and videos showing conferring, small groups, messages for caregivers, student conversation and collaboration.  In addition, her book addresses deeper topics on assessment and progress monitoring, student engagement and accountability, supporting students’ social and emotional needs, getting books into students’ hands and avoiding teacher burnout.” (Heinemann, 2020) 

Jennifer’s book gives educators a “how-to” not only in building relationships with students but also building relationships with caregivers during remote teaching environments.  Additonally, she offers a “how-to” in adapting to the new online setting, focusing on the social and emotional learning needs of students.   

This rescource also guides educators to consider priorities that matter most during online instruction and how to schedule the day to maximize the teaching and learning.  Also included are suggestions for highly engaging short lessons and tips for conferring with small groups of students.  

Whether you are in a home learning situation now or have the potential to move to a home learning situation, any teacher would benefit from the section, Connecting Goals Across Reading and Writing in Chapter #3, where she offers a side-by-side chart to give you a visual of how simple it is to connect goals across subject areas.   

Cece Bell, author of Newbery Honor Book, El Deafo, has taken the stage with her new, “Chick & Brain” series for children learning to read. Egg or Eyeball? is the second book in Cece’s series. Not only is she the author of this book geared to generate many laughs from its readers, but she also boasts the illustrator title for this series too!

What I particularly love about this title and the previous book, Smell my Foot, is that Cece captures the audience with comedy about manners gone wrong with the characters Brain, Chick, and Spot.

So, what is this mysterious discovery?  Chick and Spot say it is an egg with supporting facts, and Brain says, “eyeball.” Sit down, relax and judge for yourself. You may be surprised with the outcome!