Well, the days got busy and here we are on Sunday. Any day is a good day to read a picture book; even better is to read three picture books. The first two books, I learned about from other #PPBF bloggers, the last I found at my local public library. They are all beautiful in their own way.
Title: The Boy Who Grew A Forest: The True Story of Jadav Payeng
Written by: Sophia Gholz
Illustrated by: Kayla Harren
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press, 2019
Opening: "The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is now. -- proverb
In India, on a large river, among farms and families hard at work, there lived a boy who loved trees. Trees meant shade, food, and shelter for many.
Themes: trees, biography, ecology
Why I love this book:
🌞 Trees, ecology, protecting the earth.
🌞 Such beautiful illustrations.
🌞 This is a beautifully written biography of an unknown person who made a big difference for his community. While it's a story about a young man in India planting trees, it goes beyond that, Jadav Payeng's efforts, helped to protect his people from flooding, provided wood for building, and provided habitats and shelters for wildlife. It is a story that shows not only a person willing to work hard to protect and improve the land, it's a story about how everything is connected.
Activities:
🌳 Plant a tree.
🌍 Work in the garden.
🌳 Learn more about the author and illustrator.
🌍 Learn about India and Jadav Peyeng's home
Title: You are Never Alone
Written by: Elin Kelsey
Illustrated by: Soyeon Kim
Publisher: Owlkids Books, 2019
Themes: ecosystems, Interconnections, earth
Opening Lines: Every moment this beautiful planet showers you with gifts. Clouds rain fresh water to quench your thirst. Your lungs swell with oxygen plants create.
Why I love this book:
While this book is not technically non-fiction, it is based in non-fiction sharing many ways that we are all connected with each other and the earth. It is an earth hug. Soyeon Kim's illustrations feel like they come from the past of the Little Golden Book era of Mary Blair. The tiny people with the the grand world and micro worlds of the story are made up of all shapes and colors. They appear almost as fairies, and yet they are children connecting to the world, seeing and experiencing it up close.
So beautiful. Perfect for bedtime or after lunch and recess. A book to feel good about the earth and spark discussion.
Activities:
🌞 Spend time outside. Take a close up look at the world around you.
🌞 Learn more about all of the connections shared in this book.
🌞 Do something kind for someone you have never met.
🌞 Learn more about the author and illustrator.
Title: Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets
Written by: Kwame Alexander with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth
Illustrated by: Ekua Holmes
Publisher: Candlewick Press, 2017
Coretta Scott King Award
Themes: Poetry, Poets
Opening: Part 1: Got Style? Poets love to make up their own rules about writing; that's what makes it so much fun. Sometime e.e.cummings and Nikki Giovanni use ellipses (...) to separate ideas and lowercase letters at the beginning of sentences. Langston Hughes, who loved jazz, was a master of repetition, rhythm, rhyming couplets, and quatrains. The poems in this section pay tribute to the poets being celebrated adopting their styles and rhythms.
How to Write a Poem
Celebrating Naomi Shihab Nye
Hush.
Grab a pencil
some paper and spunk.
Let loose your heart --
raise your voice.
. . . .
. . . .
-- Kwame Alexander
Why I love this book:
The poems celebrating each poet are beautiful. They introduce you to the writers through the eyes of the authors with poems written in each poet's style.
At the end of the book there is a section with a short biography of each of the poets featured. It is a nice starting place to learn more about the poets.
This beautiful book of poetry celebrating poets, opens your eyes to the wonders of poetry, the beauty of the world as seen through poet eyes, and truly celebrates many poets from many cultures and time periods in history.
Ekua Holmes' mixed-media collage art illustrations add even more life and color to each poem and poet.
Activities:
✏ Write some poetry.
✏ Read books by each of the poets featured.
Be sure to check out Susanna Hill's Blog where you can look for reviews by book, title, and by themes.
Activities:
✏ Write some poetry.
✏ Read books by each of the poets featured.
Be sure to check out Susanna Hill's Blog where you can look for reviews by book, title, and by themes.
I've seen the first two. Both are wonderful. But I haven't seen this third one by Kwame. Wonder how I missed it. Thanks for the heads up!
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