FLASHLIGHT NIGHT by Matt Esenwine and Fred Koehler

Esenwine, Matt. Flashlight Night. Illus. by Fred Koehler. Honesdale, PA: Boys Mills Press, 2017. Print.



When you were a child, did you ever sneak in some extra reading time under the covers with a flashlight? I did.

This memory came rushing back to me when I first read the picture book I am featuring on my blog today, Flashlight Night. 

As I am writing this post, I am walking through the book, pointing out what I want to share:

The adventure begins on the title page, as three kids walk toward a playhouse in the dead of night, one gripping a stack of books, one a sleeping bag, and the youngest towing a teddy bear and "blankie".

The endpapers, appropriately, are black -- symbolizing the night's darkness!

With a flashlight poised under his chin, the leader of the trio begins the adventure, telling tales of beckoning woods, rushing waters, ancient ruins, and grand imposing tombs! Along the way, his friends follow along, part of the story, following the narrator's vivid storytelling and becoming characters in the story themselves. The flashlight's beam is our guide, and as it widens, it becomes a metaphor for the way our own worlds expand as we travel via a book, harkening back t Sendak's classic, Where the Wild Things Are.

Suddenly, the backyard is a holding place for all of those settings we have loved in books-- pirate ships, rushing waters, castles, and mountain tops. And here, readers see the true gift of this book as it becomes a reminder of why reading is treasured. Reading indeed helps us go beyond where we are, and makes it possible for for those cannot travel to do so, limited only by pages and time.  Perhaps it also shows us why books remain, even as devices, technology and inventions abound.


And now that I have told you about the book, let me tell you about the creators of Flashlight Night: 

Matt Forrest Esenwine, author of Flashlight Night
Image courtesy of Boyds Mills Press 

I first became familiar with the work of Matt Forrest Esenwine from The Poetry Friday Anthology series (Pomelo Books). And the text in this book is indeed poetic, creating a reader's playground with vivid, imaginative language. 

Fred Koehler, illustrator of Flashlight Night
Image courtesy of Boyds Mills Press 

And I first knew of Fred Koehler from his picture book One Day, the End: Short, Very Short, Shorter-Than-Ever Stories (Boyds Mills Press, 2015). His detailed, pencil illustrations bring out Esenwine's text masterfully, but also, "shine" the light on the power of reading to make our own worlds grander through books. 

Enjoy this picture book again and again, perhaps with a flashlight of your own, in a treehouse, or in your backyard. Wherever you read it, you will be transported, if only for a moment, to a place of imagination and adventure.

Picture Books Express: A Quick List of Titles I Have Read (and enjoyed) Recently

I had the honor of co-hosting #txlchat tonight! The topic? One of my favorite things to talk about EVER: picture books!

I decided I wanted to compile a quick list of picture books I have read recently. I have plans to blog about and review some of these, and some I have already shared on Twitter.

We ask our students to reflect on their reading. It is a great idea for us to do as well! As I look over these titles, I realize how fortunate we are to have these authors and illustrators create these works of art and story for us!

Keep checking my blog in the next few weeks! I will be telling you more about my appreciation of these books.

WHEN'S MY BIRTHDAY? by Julie Fogliano

Fogliano, Julie. When's My Birthday? Illus. by Christian Robinson. New York: Roaring Brook, 2017. Print. 

Children love their birthdays! At least once a week, a student will come up to me and tell me that their birthday is near! Do adults do this, too? Probably not -- or if so, not with as much enthusiasm. 

As I read this picture book, I felt as if I could hear the voices of the children in the book speaking to me, reading these lines. The text has no capitalization (only exclamation marks and question marks), and is filled with repetition -- in some ways mirroring the way kids breathlessly speak when they are beyond excited and just can't wait for something amazing! 

At first, the narrator impatiently asks how far away their birthday is and its season. Different voices chime in, each child wanting something different for a gift. One would like a cake, one would like "tiny sandwiches with soup" - my favorite request in the book. The narrators go about inviting everyone to their party, and then going to sleep. The end of the book means the end to the wait, and the children can finally celebrate. 

The text is poetic, rhythmic, playful, and lively. (I am also a fan of Fogliano's When Green Becomes Tomatoes, And Then It's Spring, If You Want to See a Whale). I turned the pages with the same excitement the children expressed in the verses, drawn in to the fun, and also truly excited to see the work of Christian Robinson (Last Stop on Market Street, School's First Day of School). His illustrations are filled with energy, and each child's face exudes either joy, delight, or a sense of expectancy. Using acrylic paint and collage, Robinson includes grand cakes, tall flowers, a giraffe, a sloth, and even a horse with a necklace! The party at the end brings it all together sweetly, and readers will no doubt feel like as if they are celebrating with the children, too! 

When readers first pick up the book, they should note the tall orientation and shape. My theory is that this space is needed for birthday candles, giraffes, and huge presents! Also, be sure to look under the dust jacket! Robinson has give us gift of an embossed foil stamp and spine. Truly delightful! 

This picture book about birthdays is a gift to readers! I can see it as a read-aloud at many birthday parties and celebrations to come. 

Read more about Julie Fogliano here. 

Read more about Christian Robinson here. 

LA PRINCESA AND THE PEA by Susan Middleton Elya

Middleton Elya, Susan. La Princesa and the Pea. Illus. by Juana Martinez-Neal. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2017. Print. 

I'm always looking for twists on the traditional fairy tale. The book I'm sharing on my blog today fits the bill -- in a delightful way! And it is a picture book!! 

This one takes place in Peru, and Spanish words help tell the story of a queen out to find a princess for her son, el príncipe. A young girl rides into town, and the prince thinks she might be the one! But his mother la reina wants to put the princess through a test first. Out come the mattresses and the pea, and the stage is set for the twist. 

Because I don't want to spoil the story, I will only tell you that the prince has a way to make sure his choice for queen passes the test. And it shows his cleverness as well as his determination. 

I appreciate how the story is told in rhyme, and the Spanish flows well throughout the narrative. Readers will find a glossary in the beginning that helps with pronunciation and meaning. Every word in red is shown in the glossary. Many of the words reminded me of my grandmother, who used to (lovingly) call me pobrecita (poor thing!). 

And, of course, I SO appreciated the illustrations! Throughout the pages, I encountered lush hues of red I might not have ever seen before! What also struck my fancy were the intricate patterns displayed in the quilts and characters' clothing. Such detail! Stunning, yet soft. The most notable illustration in the book (to me) is the double page spread in which the queen realizes she has been foiled. The cat atop her hat mirrors her disgust in both expression and emotion, and the gutter on the page is skillfully placed at the edge of her poncho. (I also loved discovering the huge safety pins in her hat during one of my readings. Although they are pronounced, I didn't note them at first because I was so entranced with the faces and grand use of scale!) 

Indeed, I could write about these illustrations all day long! (So I will tell a little more.) See the faces! See the fringe on the ponchos! And see the sweet soft critters that roam about throughout the story, adding their own energy to the plot. When you read this book, make sure to go to the back to read the notes from the illustrator, Juana Martinez-Neal. It helped me treasure the artwork even more. 

This book is celebrating its book birthday today!! 

My First Digital Breakout!

This summer I attended EdCamp Library in Frisco, TX. While there, I attended a very interesting session about library orientations. I loved hearing all of the awesome ideas shared, and I came home knowing I would try something new out this year to familiarize students with the library once again.

My "something new" would be a digital breakout. I wanted to try this because I'd been hearing and reading so much about them. Right from the start, I made it a bit easier on myself by not using boxes or locks the boxes this first time -- although I do eventually want to try them.

I started out by connecting with my digital learning coach. She gave me the idea to create my breakout using Google Forms. We talked through a couple of the questions, and she showed me how to use "Response Validation" on each question to have students enter a code. With "response validation", the form replies with a "custom error text" when the answer is incorrect.

I first drew up the questions, each of them leading to a spot in the library that they needed to know:

1.) Book return
2.) Fiction
3.) Graphic novels
4.) Texas Bluebonnet Books
5.) Nonfiction
6.) Diary of a Wimpy Kid books
7.) Research station

I decided that I wouldn't connect the questions to another one, but instead give students the option of completing them out of order if they wanted. It is possible to connect them by placing the link on the Google Form, but because this was my first one, I decided to do it this way.

To connect with our back-to-school theme, I gave each a question a bit of a "camping" flavor, serving up the breakout on a picnic-style table cloth.

Here is a screenshot of my first question:

My custom error text was "No, please try again".

For some of the questions, I did not have to come up with a random code. The answer was clear cut!

On the lower right hand corner of each form, you will find the "Response Validation" option. That is how the form checks the answer. This part is a bit tricky because you have to make sure it is not set to "greater than" or "less than" instead of "Equal to"; if you don't do this, the answer will be wrong.  Also, It took me a few tries to get this right.

I added Question 6 because I do get asked this question often! Do you???

Next, I housed all of the questions (7) on a Google Site. It was relatively easy to embed each of the forms.

I then created a QR Code for the Google Site and printed a few of them for my first class.

The teacher and I divided the class in groups of 4 and equipped with an iPad, they were off!

As I did the activity with a few classes,  I realized that seven questions takes awhile - and didn't give as much time as I wanted for checkout, so I decided to make it a challenge instead, encouraging the students to complete as many as possible within our time frame. Learning is all about being flexible, right?

The students enjoyed it, and I was glad I was able to adjust as needed. For my first try, I think it went fairly well, and I know the next one will be even better!