Smoky Night

In this book by Eve Bunting, a neighborhood riot leads to a fire that leaves a boy homeless. The boy is deeply concerned about his cat Jasmin, who is eventually found, and it sparks a meeting that could help to resolve tension in the neighborhood.

Rachel showed her primary concern was about the cat by naming him the main character of the book. Rioting was a hard concept to understand.
Main character: The cat named Jazzmen
Setting: The boy's house
Here's what happened: The roads were old and people did wrong things. They were rieiting! (rioting) And it was broken down.
My favorite part: When the firemen fond (found) Jazzmen.






Audrey also got into the story once the cat took center stage. We enjoyed our storytime in the back yard with this book, and Audrey loved getting to go outside AND read AND eat a snack. Score.
Main character: the boy and the cat
Setting: the neighborhood
What happened: The boy got out of the house because there was a fire. Then he went to a special place that was safe. The cat stayed inside because he didn't know there was a fire. The fireman helped the cat.
My favorite part: The cats became friends.

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

Mordicai Gerstein relates a true story about an acrobat who sneaked to the top of the Twin Towers while they were still under construction. With a cable strung between the towers, he walked a tightrope above New York City. It was refreshing to read a thrilling, daring story about the towers when now they are known for tragedy.

Rachel is drawing more word balloons in her art now. Go, comics!
Main character: Philippe
Setting: New York
Here's what happened: Philippe wanted to walk beetween two towers. But the police said "No!"
My favorite part: When Philippe walked beetween two towers.











Audrey was impressed with the acrobat's tricks throughout the book. We need to find a circus.
Main character: The boy who climbed over the buildings
Setting: New York City
What happened: The guy walked between the towers. He wasn't scared. He was having fun.
My favorite part: He was thinking about how to go on the tightrope.

The House in the Night

This book by Susan Marie Swanson incorporates black, white and marigold yellow into a poetic, circular lullaby. The girls liked the book, but when it came to breaking down the story, they had a difficult time with the specifics, and with good reason. To me, the book was about cycles -- the sun and the moon, the father and the child -- and the constants that remain despite the changes of time -- the key (invention), the book (art), the bird and stars (nature).

Rachel rationalized the non-linear nature of the story by calling it a dream. And maybe she was right. The boy did curl up on his bed at the end and wait for morning.
Main character: The boy
Setting: The boy's house
Here's what happened: He liked the book and he dremed (dreamed) about it.
My favorite part: When he dremed (dreamed) about it.









Audrey wasn't sure which character she was supposed to be focusing on. There was no true protagonist in this story.
Main character: Maybe the boy, maybe the bird
Setting: In the night, in the house
What happened: The dad gave the boy the key. The boy read the book about the bird. The boy went to bed.
My favorite part: When the boy read the book.

Song of the Swallows

Leo Politi wrote this book about the swallows who flock to Capistrano on the same day every year, from the viewpoint of a boy who loved the birds so much he built his own garden while he waited for their return.

Rachel confused swans with swallows while we were discussing this book, so we looked up the difference on the computer. Yay, internet!
Main character: Juan and Julian
Setting: the garden
Here's what happened: Juan loved swallows at the garden. The swallows went away to a warmer place.
My favorite part: When two bird swallows came to his garden.











Audrey tends to answer "inside" or "outside" every time we talk about setting, so we're working on different answers. I was thrilled when she remembered that this story took place in Capistrano!
Main character: Juan and Julian
Setting: Capistrano
What happened: The little boy loved the swallows. He made a garden, so the swallows would come.
My favorite part: When Juan was climbing up that ladder to get to the swallows' nest.

Nine Days to Christmas

This extensive story about a girl's wait for Christmas struck me as mundane, but the girls really liked it. Maybe it was relatable? The book is by Marie Hall Ets and Aurora Labastida.

Rachel said this was her favorite Caldecott book so far. There were no monsters or myths or grand adventures -- just a girl who didn't want to say goodbye to her pinata once her Christmas party came.
Main character: Cici
Setting: Cici's house
Here's what happened: Cici waited for the Christmas party, and she stuffed her pinata.
My favorite part: When she was picking out her pinata.













Audrey, like the girl in the book, loved looking the pinatas. She loved the animal ones the best.
Main character: Cici
Setting: Outside their house, the market
What happened: Cici thought the pinatas were real. She picked out a star one. It's a thing that has a lot of candy in it, and you put on a blindfold, and you try to hit it, and the candy comes raining down.
My favorite part: When she picked out her pinata.

A Story, a Story

This book was in Audrey's Raising a Reader bag, which she brings home every Friday from pre-K. Wow! A Caldecott book that we didn't have to hunt for at the library!

Rachel and Audrey both said they enjoyed the scene with the jungle cat, who the book called Osebo the leopard of-the-terrible-teeth.
Main character: Ananse and Sky God
Setting: The villge (village)
Here's what happened: Ananse wanted the gold box with stories.
My favorite part: When Ananse got the tiger.







Audrey didn't seem to mind the protagonist was called a spider man. He even spun webs too, like a superhero.
Main character: The spider man
Setting: Outside in Africa
What happened: That spider man caught an animal and tied him by his feet. Then he caught the bugs too. Then he caught the fairy. Then he gave them to the sky god. Then the sky god gave the spider man the books.
My favorite part: The spider man caught the animal -- the leopard.

The Hello, Goodbye Window

My mother-in-law invited the girls to her house for the night, so they took this book with them. It is, after all, about going to grandma's house. Special thanks to Grandmother for helping Rachel and Audrey with their reports for this book.

Rachel got some help on her spelling from Grandmother. She learned how to spell "favorite," "character" and "happened."
Main character: The little girl and Nanna and Poppy
Setting: Nanna and Poppy's house
Here's what happened: The girl went to her Nanna and Poppy's house.
My favorite part: When Poppy shooted (shot) her with the water house (hose).






Audrey's art here looks a lot like the book!
Main character: Nanna, Poppy, child
Setting: Inside the house
What happened: The girl goes in the kitchen and colors. She listens to Poppy's harmonica and counts the stars.
My favorite part: The girl is coloring.

The Polar Express

We read this as another audio book, this time with Liam Neeson narrating for us. This movie also fell flat when we tried to watch it a year or two ago. Not enough happening for a full-length movie? Maybe we just like Chris Van Allsburg's books more than his films.

Rachel was our designated page-turner for this audio book. There were no page-turn cues, but she did a great job following along.
Main character: The boy
Setting: The train
Here's what happened: The children whent (went) to the North pole.
My favorite part: When Santa gave him the bell










Audrey loves to play with our wooden train set, which we keep on a play table in our living room. She likes to take the tracks apart and assemble them over and over again like a giant puzzle.
Main character: The little boy
Setting: North Pole
What happened: Little boy went on the train; he was going to find Santa. He found Santa. Santa gave him a present.
My favorite part: When the train brought the boy home.

Jumanji

I found an original art page from this Chris Van Allburg book for sale online. The asking price: $160,000. Wow. If you can't afford the original, my kids will sell you their art, below.

Rachel excelled on her art for this report. I love her monkeys. She rarely refers to the book when creating her pictures.
Main character: Judy and Peter
Setting: Their house
Here's what happened: Judy and Peter found a game. They played it, and it was real!
My favorite part: When the monkeys came!






Audrey refused to watch the movie when it came on TV several months ago. Too scary, she said.
Main character: The kids, Peter and Judy.
Setting: The house
What happened: The animals were in the house because the kids were playing a game.
My favorite part: When the lion got his head stuck under the bed.

Madeline's Rescue

We found some Caldecott books in the audio section of the library! The girls loved following along and turning the pages in the book as we listened to the story. However, I was troubled that the narrarator kept pronouncing the girl's name like Mad-e-lynn. Surely the opening rhyme tells us that it's a long i: Mad-e-line.

"In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines
In two straight lines they broke their bread
And brushed their teeth and went to bed.
They left the house at half past nine
In two straight lines in rain or shine-
The smallest one was Madeline."

Rachel doesn't remember, but I used to read the Madeline books to her when she was a baby. I loved the rhythm of the lines.
Main character: Madeline
Setting: The house in Paris
Here's what happened: Madeline fond (found) a dog that saved her live (life)
My favorite part: When the dog came back.











Audrey tried desperately to draw the dog's puppies. There are lots more scratched-out scribbles that I cropped out of her drawing here.
Main character: The little girl
Setting: In an old house in Paris
What happened: The girl slipped and fell. The dog saved her. She got to keep the dog, but the old woman said "Skat!" She got the dog back.
My favorite part: When the dog got puppies

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

We're determining setting can be tricky since the story does not always tell us. We must use the pictures to find clues. Next time we go the library, we're going to look for a book on eco-regions, so we can learn the differences between forests and plains and deserts and mountains.

Rachel had read this book before and was very excited about re-reading it. But the art segment of the journal was challenging: "Horses are hard to draw!"
Main character: The girl
Setting: Villege (village) and forest
Here's what happened: The girl tryed (tried) to liv (live) with the wiled (wild) horse.
My favorite part: When she turned into a horse.















Audrey had a hard time with this journal entry. She couldn't remember the girl's name. We never learned her name.
Main character: The girl
Setting: Flat land
What happened: The girl took a nap. There was a storm. The horses ran and got tired. The wild stallion said she could stay.
My favorite part: When the girl met the stallion. There was a rainbow after the rain.

The Funny Little Woman

Another folk tale, this one retold by Arlene Mosel and Blair Lent, gave us a very rich story with lots of fun components. I noticed the girls tended to give the same answers for their journals when we they filled them out at the same time. For this book, I separated when it was journal time and got better responses.

Rachel focused on the middle and the climax of the story.
Main character: The funny little woman.
Setting: Monsters' houes (houses)
Here's what happened: She had to macke (make) dumplelngs (dumplings) for the monsters.
My favorite part: When the monsters dranck (drank) the sea water.










Audrey preferred the beginning of the story, and drew a mountain of dumplings on the woman's table. She wanted me to know they weren't in the story but would "look good as a decoration."

Main character: The little woman
Setting: Japan
What happened: There was a hole. It got bigger. The woman fell in the hole. She chased her dumpling.
My favorite part: When the hole got bigger and she said, "My dumpling! My dumpling!"

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

This folk tale was Audrey's choice (probably because it had animals in it). We learned that folk tales have a special place in the children's non-fiction section of the library. This book turned out to be more complex than I had anticipated. In the same progressive style of The Farmer in the Dell or The Old Lady Who Swallowed the Fly, this fable leads us through a dizzying domino effect that shows all actions have consequences.

Here is Rachel's take on the book by Verna Aardema and Leo and Diane Dillon:
Main character: The forest anamils (animals).
Setting: Jugle (Jungle)
Here's what happened: The anamiles (animals) were mad because the mosquitoes were buzzing in people's ears. SLAPP! Mosquitoes buzz in people's ears because they want someone to talk to.
My favorite part: When the mosquito told a lie to the iguana.





Audrey, a fan of slapstick, loved the sound effects we inserted when the modern-day mosquito met his demise at the end of the book.

Main character: Mosquito
Setting: In the Wild
What happened: The animals got mad at the mosquito.
My favorite part: They POW'ed the mosquito -- I mean they slapped it.