Sharing a Terrific Post: Lesley Burnap on Nerdy Book Club

One reason I'm comfortable taking a "let it ride" approach to this picture book blog for a few months is that there are such excellent blogs and guest posts appearing on the blogosphere daily. While I continue working on projects related to my spring release of ODIN'S PROMISE, I still follow and read the helpful reviews and insights of others. It's hard to say what makes me happier: finding favorite titles of my own being highlighted in other blogs or discovering special titles, recent and classics, that are new to me. 

It's an even bigger treat when I read a post like this one by third grade teacher Lesley Burnap on The Nerdy Book Club Blog. I retired after decades of teaching but I still feel a visceral pull of "back-to-school" impulses each August and September. I feel twinges of loss at not facing a room full of eager faces to share the best of the best in books, particularly picture books. I felt a deep commitment to that effort, but an undeniable degree of isolation in my mission.

Then I read a post like Lesley's and I'm reassured that the good work goes on across this country. I remember that when I retired a few years ago, the Nerdy Book Club didn't exist, Donalyn Miller's THE BOOK WHISPERER was just getting its initial "buzz" and social media had not yet provided a forum for like-minded educators and librarians. 

That's when I realize that waking without an alarm clock, focusing my attention on reading and  writing, and investing my energy on a broader scope of literary and educational issues feels like the right fit after all.

It also allows me to muster my limited influence to boost Lesley's post even further. Please, click this link and take the time to read it. Several of the books she featured are archived in posts here. If they aren't, they are well worth exploring and using in homes and classrooms. Everything she suggests developing as great "habitudes" in the classroom are just as do-able at home and in child care facilities.

I'm confident the good work of Lesley and so many others will continue, will mushroom exponentially, and will develop an entire generation of kids with the "habitudes" of readers.

You go, girl! (Shows how old school I am, right?) You can follow Lesley on Twitter @auntierez. 

Something for Everyone...a Polacco Christmas Collection

Penguin Putnam Books for young Readers, 2002

It was inevitable that a Patricia Polacco title would be among Holly Mueller's ten favorite picture books in her post at The Nerdy Book Club blog. The challenge must have been to choose only one from among Polacco's many titles with themes centered on Christmas. Her choice of CHRISTMAS TAPESTRY had me nodding my head in agreement, then digging out my copies of her other books.

Aladdin, 2000

THE TREES OF THE DANCING GOATS immediately 

cried out for a mention.  Offering Polacco's characteristic 

illustration and story-telling style, an abundance of ethnic details, and a high-stakes plot, it would stand up well on any "best of the holidays" list. The fact that it expands a Christmas story to engage neighbors who celebrate Hannukah gives it bonus points by my standards.

Philomel, 2004

Then AN ORANGE FOR FRANKIE caught my eye and it was a three-way race. Polacco's stories are often rooted in family history as well as American history. In this case Frankie is from a generation removed, but his story feels near and dear to my heart. 
In a previous post I wrote about my mom's Appalachian childhood. Her holiday memories focused not on gifts but on music, at church and at home with her family. When she told of waking to find an orange in her stocking, with a few nuts and a peppermint stick for good measure, the expression on her face was very much like Frankie's on the cover illustration. His acts of spontaneous generosity and the support of his large family are further reflections of Mom's stories from childhood.

Puffin Paperback, 2002

Judging only by the cover, readers are likely to feel WELCOME COMFORT is the most logical choice of all. Although set in Union City, it is firmly rooted in fiction rather than history. 
Goodreads says:
"It's not easy being Welcome Comfort-a foster child always moving from home to home and getting picked on by the kids at school. Even Christmas, the most wondrous time of the year, isn't so wondrous for Welcome, since he has no family, no presents, and no Santa Claus. But when Welcome meets Mr. Hamp, the school custodian, he finally finds a friend. And when Christmas comes around, Welcome is taken on an extraordinary adventure that changes his life forever."


Polacco is so prolific and her stories so distinctive that you may have favorites of your own. Further suggestions are always welcome. After all, they may be deliciously rich and satisfying, but they're calorie free!