Read Aloud – Page 5 – Unleashing Readers

Apart, Together: A Book About Transformation by Linda Booth Sweeney & Ariel Rutland

October 17, 2023October 17, 2023 by Kellee

Apart, Together
Author: Linda Booth Sweeney
Illustrator: Ariel Rutland
Published October 17th, 2023 by Balzer & Bray

Summary: This bold, surprising picture book demonstrates the magic of everyday transformations (and introduces cause-and-effect) for the youngest readers.

What happens when 1+1 equals . . . something other than 2?

Apart, blue is blue and yellow is yellow . . . but together they make green. Bees and flowers together make honey. Soap and water become foam!

With playful art and a simple, lyrical structure, this picture book is a delightful read-aloud and the perfect way to talk about all the wonderful ways that, so often, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

About the Author: Linda Booth Sweeney is a writer, educator, game maker, and trampoline jumper who writes fiction and nonfiction for children and adults. Her picture books include Monument Maker: Daniel Chester French and the Lincoln Memorial, When the Snow Falls, and When the Wind Blows. She lives in Boston, MA. You can visit her online at lindaboothsweeney.com.

Review and Tools for Navigation: This picture book seems simplistic, but its underlying lessons are so much more complex than at first glass. The book’s creators definitely have created something that is accessible for so many ages of readers and will lend itself to read alouds and lessons.

This text has so many discussion opportunities. It looks at cause & effect; science including animals, plants, & pollination; primary/secondary colors; team work; and baking! It is also a wonderful mentor text for students to create their own apart & together spreads, including illustrations.

Discussion Questions:

What other items can you think of that are different when they are apart versus when they are together?
How are some apart, together examples, like the soccer one, different than the others, like the paint one?
What other colors combine to make another?
What else do bees and flowers combine to make?
What else do seed, soil, sun, & water combine to make?
What else do flour, eggs, & sugar combine to make?
What else do bricks & blocks combine to make?
What else can players combine to do?
What else do soap, hands, & water combine to make?
What else do twigs, feathers, & love combine to make?

Flagged Spreads:

Read This If You Love: Simplistic picture books that teach big lessons

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Spark Point Studio for providing a copy for review!**

Frankie and Friends: Breaking News by Christine Platt, Illustrated by Alea Marley

October 3, 2023 by Kellee

Frankie and Friends: Breaking News
Author: Christine Platt
Illustrator: Alea Marley
Published October 10th, 2023 by Walker Books

Summary: Frankie’s mama is leaving to cover a breaking news story. Frankie, Papa, and Frankie’s teenage sister, Raven, are all proud of Mama, even though they miss her when she’s away. But Frankie has a great idea: she can make her own news show! After all, Mama has told her that news is happening around her all the time. With a little assistance from her friends—including her doll Farrah, Robert the toy robot, and her tabby cat, Nina Simone—Frankie prepares for her first “broadcast.” And when she hears someone crying in the house, she knows that’s the developing story she must cover. With humor, empathy, and imagination, Frankie gets the scoop—and learns that even mature older sisters can miss Mama sometimes. With sweet illustrations throughout, this engaging new series embraces communication and compassion and is a refreshing portrayal of Black women in journalism. Young reporters will learn the terms of the trade, which are clearly presented in the text and reinforced in a glossary at the end of the book.

In a charming new chapter-book series by a social-change advocate, young Frankie emulates her journalist mama by reporting on household news with the help of her sister and an unlikely news crew.

About the Creators:

Christine Platt is a literacy advocate and historian who believes in using the power of storytelling as a tool for social change. She holds a BA in Africana studies, an MA in African American studies, and a JD in general law. Although her only daughter is now in college, Christine Platt continues to draw on their adventures together as inspiration for her children’s literature. She has written more than thirty books for young readers and currently resides in Washington, DC.

Alea Marley is an award-winning illustrator of many books for children, including Phoebe Dupree Is Coming to Tea! by Linda Ashman. She loves creating whimsical scenes that are filled with patterns, texture, and bursts of color. Alea Marley lives in northern England.

Review: I love when I read a book, and I can immediately see it being loved by readers and how educators can utilize it in the classroom. Breaking News did exactly that–readers are going to love Frankie, her family, her group of stuffed animals, and her go-get-em attitude. They will also connect with Frankie’s emotions and curiosity. Then, on top of that, educators can easily grab so much from the book to use in the classroom, especially the journalism aspects. And all of this is done in a early chapter book that is age appropriate, full of family dynamics, promotes imagination, and has beautiful full-page color illustrations!

Tools for Navigation: The author does a great job intertwining journalism terminology with the story and also has back matter which delves deeper into the different terms. I would love to see these aspects used to help a class get started on a class newspaper or, like Frankie and her mom, an oral report that is news-based.

Discussion Questions:

How does Frankie’s curiosity help her start the important conversation with her sister?
What emotions does Frankie, and her family, go through when her mom needs to leave to cover a news story?
How does Frankie’s mom inspire Frankie?
What traits does Frankie have that will make her a good journalist?
What journalistic terms did you learn from the book?
What do you think was the author’s purpose in this book?

Flagged Spreads:

Read This If You Love: Polly Diamond series by Alice Kupiers, Illustrated by Diana Toledano; Pigeon Private Detectives series by Christee Curran-Bauer; King and Kayla series by Dori Hillestad Butler, Illustrated by Nancy Meyers

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Nicole Banholzer PR for providing a copy for review!**

There Was a Party for Langston by Jason Reynolds, Illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey & Jarrett Pumphrey

September 26, 2023 by Kellee

There Was a Party for Langston
Author: Jason Reynolds
Illustrators: Jerome Pumphrey & Jarrett Pumphrey
Published October 3rd, 2023 by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

Summary: New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jason Reynolds’s debut picture book is a snappy, joyous ode to Word King, literary genius, and glass-ceiling smasher Langston Hughes and the luminaries he inspired.

Back in the day, there was a heckuva party, a jam, for a word-making man. The King of Letters. Langston Hughes. His ABCs became drums, bumping jumping thumping like a heart the size of the whole country. They sent some people yelling and others, his word-children, to write their own glory.

Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, and more came be-bopping to recite poems at their hero’s feet at that heckuva party at the Schomberg Library, dancing boom da boom, stepping and stomping, all in praise and love for Langston, world-mending word man. Oh, yeah, there was hoopla in Harlem, for its Renaissance man. A party for Langston.

Praise:

Melding celebratory text and kinetic, graphical art, the creators underscore the power of the subject’s poetry to move and to inspire. – Publishers Weekly, *STARRED REVIEW*, 8/14/2023

Evocative and celebratory words float around the dancers like strains of music, all the way to a culminating whirl of letters, laughter, and joy. Who knew these esteemed literary lions could cut the rug like that? – Booklist, *STARRED REVIEW*, 08/01/2023

Reynolds and the Pumphrey brothers take readers on a dazzling journey through Langston Hughes’ legacy … A bar set stratospherically high and cleared with room to spare. – Kirkus Reviews, *STARRED REVIEW*, 08/01/2023

This book is an absolute textual and pictorial glory of people, places, word-making, song-singing, storytelling, history-making moments, and images that are unforgettable. A beguiling, bedazzling collaboration that will send children to the shelves to learn more about all the names within, especially Hughes. – School Library Journal, *STARRED REVIEW*, July 2023

About the Creators:

Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, a two-time National Book Award finalist, a Kirkus Award winner, a UK Carnegie Medal winner, a two-time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, an Odyssey Award Winner and two-time honoree, the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors, and the Margaret A. Edwards Award. He was also the 2020–2022 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. His many books include All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely); When I Was the Greatest; The Boy in the Black Suit; Stamped; As Brave as You; For Every One; the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu); Look Both Ways; Stuntboy, in the Meantime; Ain’t Burned All the Bright (recipient of the Caldecott Honor) and My Name Is Jason. Mine Too. (both cowritten with Jason Griffin); and Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Honor. He lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.

Jerome Pumphrey is a designer, illustrator, and writer, originally from Houston, Texas. His work includes It’s a Sign!, Somewhere in the Bayou, The Old Boat, and The Old Truck, which received seven starred reviews, was named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly, and received the Ezra Jack Keats Writer Award Honor—all of which he created with his brother Jarrett. They also illustrated Jason Reynolds’s There Was a Party for Langston. Jerome works as a graphic designer at The Walt Disney Company. He lives near Clearwater, Florida.

Jarrett Pumphrey is an award-winning author-illustrator who makes books for kids with his brother, Jerome. Their books include It’s a Sign!, Somewhere in the Bayou, The Old Boat, and The Old Truck, which received seven starred reviews, was named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly, and received the Ezra Jack Keats Writer Award Honor. They also illustrated Jason Reynolds’s There Was a Party for Langston. Jarrett lives near Austin, Texas.

Review: This book may just be perfection. All of it–the words, the story, the inspiration, and the art.

First, we have Jason Reynolds’s verse, written with a rhythm that is screaming to be read aloud (I can’t wait for the audiobook). The story is a celebration of Hughes about a celebration of Hughes, so the love is truly emanating off the pages. And the story of Reynolds’s inspiration is just so wholesome and a snapshot into history that deserves this book.

Second, the cherry on top is the pieces of art that illustrate Reynolds’s words. The Pumphrey brothers use handmade stamps to create spreads that complete the book into the complete package that it is. I loved how they included Hughes’s words and Reynolds’s words within the art as well.

I highly recommend reading Betsy Bird’s Goodreads review because she is so much more articulate and detailed than I am about this book in all of its glory.

Tools for Navigation: This text should be combined with Hughes’s work. His words are intertwined within the book which lends directly into picking up Hughes’s work to read alongside it. Readers could also find words within the illustrations and find which of Hughes’s work it comes from and look at why that particular section would be included at that point.

Additionally, other beloved authors were introduced to the readers, not only Maya Angelou and Amiri Baraka but James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, Ashley Bryan, Octavia Butler, Countee Cullen, W.E.B. DuBois, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Alice Dunbar Nelson, Ralph Ellison, Nikki Giovanni, Alex Haley, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Richard Wright. These introductions could lend themselves to be the start of an author study, including asking why Reynolds and the Pumphreys would have chosen to include these specific authors.

Discussion Questions:

Why did Langston Hughes have a party at the library?
What are some ways that Reynolds captured the excitement and glory of the evening with his words?
How did the illustrators use words in their art? What does it add to the book?
How did some of Hughes’s purposes relate to issues we’re still facing in America?
What inspired Jason Reynolds to write this book?
How is this picture book biography different than others?

Flagged Spreads:

Read This If You Love: Poetry, Langston Hughes, Jason Reynolds

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Simon & Schuster’s Children’s Publishing for sharing a copy for review!**

Dear Unicorn by Josh Funk, Illustrations by Charles Santoso

September 16, 2023September 14, 2023 by Ricki

Dear Unicorn
Author: Josh Funk
Illustrator: Charles Santoso
Published: September 19, 2023 by Viking Children’s

Summary: Two pen pals receive the shock of a lifetime in this giggle-inducing ode to friendship, art, and keeping an open mind!

Connie’s art class is partnering with Nic’s as pen pals, and the two of them love trading their artistic creations back and forth. They have slightly different approaches to art, but sharing their perspectives is what makes being pen pals so fun. Both of them eagerly await the end of year art festival where the classes will finally meet.

But they are in for quite a shock…

Connie doesn’t know Nic is a unicorn. And Nic has no clue that Connie is a human.

It turns out, though, that even this surprise can’t get in the way of true friendship. Through their letters, they see that their differences are their strengths—and that they have a lot to learn from each other.

With Josh Funk’s signature laugh-out-loud humor and Charles Santoso’s explosively fun illustrations, Dear Unicorn is a celebration of new friends, art, and stepping outside your comfort zone.

Review: This book made me feel so much joy. It’s epistolary, and the letters from the child to the unicorn are full of all of the joys and concerns of many children. Kids will see themselves in both characters, and they’ll love the illustrations that the child and unicorn send back and forth to each other. The ending is what truly makes this book magical. The child and unicorn meet and discover how very different they each are, and they see strength in each other. I will definitely be getting a copy of this for my son, who loves unicorns, writing letters, and pink. This book is a great gift!

Tools for Navigation: This is the perfect book to start out a penpal unit. Teachers might ask students to make illustrations with their letters, too! If the penpals are meeting (e.g. a school exchange), this book also offers fodder for conversations about what to expect upon meeting their penpals.

Discussion Questions:

What do Nic and Connie seem to expect when they meet each other? What do their reactions teach you?
How do the illustrations add to the pen pal letters? What did they do for you as a reader?
How did the voice change for each character’s letter? How could you tell whose was whose?
What does the addition of artwork from each character add to the story? Show you about their personality?
What lessons does this book teach you?

Flagged Spread:

Read This If You Love: Dear Dragon by Josh Funk; epistolary stories; pen pal writing; unicorns; joyful stories; stories about friendship

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Jaleesa from Penguin Random House for recommending this book!**

Pigeon Private Detectives #1: The Case of the Missing Tarts by Christee Curran-Bauer

August 29, 2023 by Kellee

Pigeon Private Detectives #1: The Case of the Missing Tarts
Author: Christee Curran-Bauer
Published August 29th, 2023 by Union Square & Co.

Summary: The Pigeon Detectives are looking forward to devouring a delectable platter of jam tarts—until the tasty treats are stolen from right under their beaks! With tummies grumbling, the PPD are on the hunt for clues, but can the detectives recover the tarts in time before they are all eaten—or worse—stale? As the list of suspects grows longer, our heroes wonder if they’ll ever catch the thief jam-handed.

Pigeon Private Detectives: The Case of the Missing Tarts, Christee Curran-Bauer’s author-illustrator debut, pokes fun at detective procedurals with kid-friendly humor!

Praise:

“[W]ith a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor and plenty of puns. The narrative, told through a mix of comic book–style panels and prose, is brought to life with crisp-lined cartoons with mostly pastel tones and a bit of film noir thrown in when the mood is right. An enjoyable homage to the dramatic mystery.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Readers will flock to Curran-Bauer’s lighthearted mystery. A glossary defining detective terms and a fact sheet conclude.” —Publishers Weekly

“Full of clues and coos, The Case of the Missing Tarts is a delightful and delicious detective tale!” –John Patrick Green, author of the InvestiGators series

About the Author: Christee Curran-Bauerhas a BFA from Pratt Institute in communications design/illustration, and is a proud member of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Christee is a Jersey girl currently living in Virginia Beach with her family and spoiled French bulldog. She invites you to visit her at christeewithadoublee.blogspot.com and on Twitter at @ChristeeDoubleE.

Review: This book is going to be a great ladder between early readers and longer chapter books as it is an introduction to pages with a bit longer text but it is mixed with paneled pages. This aspect, combined with the cartoon-esque illustrations, is going to lend itself to finding so many readers. Oh, and everyone loves a mystery, and this series is off to a great start with its first case. I also was a fan of the three pigeons, their different personalities, job focuses, and sense of style.

Tools for Navigation: The mystery of this text lends itself directly to predicting. Readers can look at clues and make guesses right along side the Pigeon Private Detectives! Also, the book takes the reader through 6 steps of an investigation which could lead directly to activities and could even be compared to the scientific method. OH! And with so much baking in the book–a baking cross-curricular activity would fit right in.

Discussion Questions:

Follow the investigative steps with the Pigeon Private Detectives. Did you predict who the culprit was? If so, what clues did you use? If not, what tricked you and what did you miss?

Flagged Spreads:

Read This If You Love: Mysteries, animal chapter books

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Jenny at Union Square for providing a copy for review!**

Who Made This Mess? by Laura Gehl, Illustrated by Aleksandar Stojsic

August 8, 2023 by Kellee

Who Made This Mess?
Author: Laura Gehl
Illustrator: Aleksandar Stojsic
Published July 31st, 2023 by Capstone

Summary: Mud splattered everywhere, tangled-up wool in huge piles, and carrot tops strewn about–what in the world is happening in this animal village? It’s quite a mystery! But thanks to rhyming clues, everyone will be able to easily guess the animal culprits–or will they? In this laugh-out-loud, expectation-defying picture book, Laura Gehl (May Saves the Day and The Hiking Viking) uses a rhyming mystery to help readers adjust their outlook, keep an open mind, and learn not to make assumptions.

About the Creators:

Laura Gehl is the award-winning author of more than forty popular picture books, board books, and early readers including One Big Pair of Underwear, Except When They Don’t, My Pillow Keeps Moving, Apple and Magnolia, and the Baby Scientist series. Laura lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with her husband and four children. Visit Laura at lauragehl.com.

Twitter: @AuthorLauraGehl
Instagram: @authorlauragehl
Facebook: @AuthorLauraGehl

Aleksandar Stojsic graduated from Novi Sad Academy of Arts in 2006. He is a prolific character designer and children’s book illustrator who has been producing humorous illustrations for clients for over two decades. He has worked with many leading publishers and animators around the world.

Review: The full page, colorful illustrations in combination with the silliness and rhyming will lead to so many kids loving this book. It is entertaining concept that will lead to so much fun back and forth when reading allowed: “Who made that mess??” then kids yell the answer and discuss then continue. It will be so much fun! And it lends it self to reading and writing opportunities in the classroom!

Tools for Navigation: This book will lead to conversations when read aloud and a fun writing activity. First, each new mess gives an opportunity for prediction. Second, because some are unexpected while others aren’t, the predictions can lead to discussions about assumptions. Third, the rhyming text can be used as a mentor text to make their own “Who Made This Mess?” spreads.

Discussion Questions:

Who do you think made the mess?
Were you right or wrong?
Why did you assume ____ had made the mess?
What does this book teach us about assumptions?
Would you want to go to the party?
What type of mess could you write about an animal making? What about a mess YOU make?

Flagged Spreads:

Read This If You Love: Silly animal picture books

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Barbara at Blue Slip Media and Capstone for providing a copy for review!**

Cat Jokes vs. Dog Jokes: A Read-From-Both-Sides Comic Book by David Lewman, Illustrated by John McNamee

July 27, 2023 by Ricki

Cat Jokes vs. Dog Jokes: A Read-From-Both-Sides Comic Book
Author: David Lewman
Illustrator: John McNamee
Published: June 20, 2023 by Workman Publishing

Summary: In this silly, comic-style joke collection for kids, one side is packed with cartoons of dog jokes told by cats, and the other side stuffed with cat jokes told by dogs—for more than 200 jokes in all!

There are few rivalries across history that are quite as formidable as CATS vs. DOGS. In this fully illustrated joke book, they go head-to-head—with a twist or two that may give you…paws. Presented in tête-bêche format (read-from-both-sides), the first half of the book consists of cat jokes told by a recurring cast of dogs—What do you call an insect in a cat’s bathroom? A litterbug! But, flip the book over to start from the other side, and it becomes a book of dog jokes told by What’s the difference between kibble and a heavy mist? One is dog food, and the other is fog, dude! In the middle spread, the casts of cartoon dogs and cats come together for a midbook finale of, believe it or not, shared giggles, snorts, and guffaws. The comic-book-style illustrations throughout offer added layers of humor, funny visuals, and wisecracking characters who don’t just tell the jokes, but comment on and react to them, too.

Review: This book has been the center of our household, and although I always donate the books I receive for review to the local schools—it is going to take a lot of effort to pry this out of my kids’ hands! Not a day has gone by in the last several weeks that I haven’t heard a dog or a cat joke. My kids love the rivalry between the dog and the cat in this book. I asked my first grader which jokes were the funniest, and he said, “The cat jokes!” I was shocked because he loves dogs and asked him why he liked the cat jokes more. He replied, “Because the dog is telling the cat jokes, and he is so funny!” I recommend this book for classrooms—it will pull in all kinds of readers, and they won’t even realize the great vocabulary that they are gaining!

Teaching Tools for Navigation: I would use this book as a way to inspire conversations about writing for humor. Students could also create their own tête-bêche (read-from-both-sides) books!

Discussion Questions:

Which jokes really resonated with you? What type of humor did they use?
Do you think the dog or the cat is funnier? What kinds of humor do each of them use?
What other funny jokes do you know?

Flagged Passage:

Read This If You Love: Humor; Jokes, Animals

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Ivanka at Workman for sending a copy of this book for an honest review!**