How to Get a Job by Me, the Boss

How to Get a Job...by Me, the Boss by Sally Lloyd-Jones
Illustrated by Sue Heap
2011
Ages 4-8

     The Boss is ready to give us some well thought out advice on how to get a job.  OK, so the Boss might not even be out of first grade yet, but she definitely knows what she's talking about. She knows the definition of a job, "A Job is so you can have something to do and get money for your family. And sometimes a Job is so you can get all dressed up and wear your new shoes to work."  She knows what isn't a Job: "Sitting in you chair eating cookies (school is a sort of job because you do homework. Except they don't pay you ANY MONEY.)" She also has plenty of hilarious advice as to the jobs you could have when you grow up:  a Super-Ballerina-Soccer-Mermaid-Fairy Princess, a Cowboy or Explorer and even a Penguin "but that's just silly."  "Except you shouldn't be a Robber. It's not allowed."  The most important advice the Boss has though, is to do something that you love and "something you're GOOD at or no one will want you to do it for them."
     If I tried to describe all the parts I liked of How to Get a Job...by Me, the Boss, this will be a very long blog entry. My favorite, and I know I'm being bias here, is the Boss's description of the job of a teacher:

If you are a Teacher,

first you need to find some kids

and make them all come to your School

and Behave.

[...]

Teachers MUST know all the answers

and how to be NOT BORING.

          How to Get a Job...by Me, the Boss is delightful, clever and funny.  It's a great classroom read-aloud with great vocabulary and hilarious illustrations.  I can't wait to check out the other books in this series.

   

   

Don't let the Pigeon Drive the Bus

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
2003

     The Bus driver has to leave for a little while and there is one thing he asks of us; "Can you watch things for me until I get back? Thanks. Oh, and remember: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!"  Here come the pigeon, all cute and persuasive, trying to convince us, the readers, to let him drive the bus.  The pigeon is hilarious and clever.  The best thing about Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! is reading it out-loud to kids, the larger the group, the better.  And the more you read it, the more interactive it becomes. since the kids feel like they really need to take their job of keeping the pigeon away from the bus seriously.  Check out all the other books in this Pigeon series. Mo Willems rocks!

Press Here

     

Press Here by Herve Tullet

2011

     I was at a bookstore today with my family and from very far away I saw this cover of a book on the children's section.  Simple, white with a yellow dot in the middle and the words PRESS HERE.  I couldn't resist. I walked directly up to it and called my son over to sit down and read it with me.  What a find!  Press Here is one of the most original and entertaining picture books I've seen in a long time (it's a French import and its original title is actually Un Livre).  

     As you open the book, you are immediately asked by the writer to become and active participant and follow his commands.  By the way, at the end of the day all kids enjoy following specific commands -it gives them a sense of order and security-. especially when the commands create a sort of magic result, as it's the case in Press Here.  

(Press Here and turn the page)

(Great! Now press the yellow dot again.)

     As you go through the pages, more dots appear, with different color and sizes and they seem to dance around the pages as a result of the interaction between the writer and its obedient reader.  Rub the yellow dot three times and it turns read in the following page; shake the book and the dots scatter all over; tilt the book, and the dots seem to be about to fall of the edge.  My son was completely captivated.   When the book cheered him on and congratulated him on following the steps, he was excited and eager to continue...and to read it again and again. This is the interactive book for the iPhone generation. It really is fantastic!

My Name is Not Isabella: Just How Big Can a Little Girl Dream?

My Name Is Not Isabella by Jennifer Fosberry
Illustrated by Mike Litwin
2010

     Isabella is the coolest girl character I have found in a while.  She dares to dream of becoming anything she chooses, a different exceptional woman every moment of her day.  Just as her mom wakes her up with "Good morning, Isabella", she answers "My name is not Isabella!"  "Then who has been sleeping in my daughter's bed?" asked the mother. "I am SALLY, the greatest, toughest astronaut who ever was!"  Isabella is imagining she is Sally Ride, the first US woman to travel to space.  As her day moves along, Isabella imagines being Annie Oakley, Rosa Parks, Marie Curie, Elizabeth Backwell, and finally her own mother.
     My Name Is Not Isabella is a perfect book to show girls that there's no limit to what they can accomplish, that they have the capacity to become whatever the set their minds to.  The best thing about My Name Is Not Isabella is that it conveys this message without being "preachy" or overly educational; it's a delight to read and a lot of fun as well.  The illustrations are wonderful and the play/changes on the typography really adds to the story and its message.  At the back of the book there is also short biographies on the amazing historical women that Isabella has dreamed of being.  This is a book to share with all the girls in your life!
   

Go Away, Big Green Monster!

Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley

1992

     Die-cut pages allow the reader to construct and deconstruct a  big green monster in this engaging book.  The first page shows only the big yellow eyes; the next page adds the long bluish-greenish nose; the third page adds the big red mouth with sharp white teeth...and so on until we have constructed page by page the whole green monster. Then comes the kicker: we get to yell at the monster and make him go away: "...YOU DON'T SCARE ME! So GO AWAY"  And now, page by page, we get to deconstruct the monster: first the scraggly purple hair goes away, then the squiggly ears, and the nose...all of it, until the monster is gone. "GO AWAY, Big Green Monster! and DON'T COME BACK! Until I say so."

     Not only is Go Away, Big Green Monster! a great read-aloud, one that the kids soon memorize and join in the read, but it's also a go to book when they are scared and need a way to face their fears.  By constructing the monster and then being able to deconstruct it, they gain the power over their fear.  I'll have to check out the other books by Emberley.

Argus

Argus by Michelle Knudsen
Illustrated by Andrea Wesson
2011

     Sally's class is working on their new science project.  When the teacher, Mrs. Henshaw, hands them each an egg, Sally complains that hers looks different.  "Don't be difficult.  Some eggs just look different," says Mrs. Henshaw to Sally.  Different is an understatement.  While all the other eggs hatch and cute little chicks start running around the classroom, Sally's egg hatches to reveal a green dragon.  She names him Argus.  Not quite sure yet if she likes her "chick", Sally goes along with all the different parts of her science project: measuring weight and size and graphing the results, taking Argus out to eat in the school's yard, creating a growth chart...but Argus keeps causing all sorts of trouble -like trying to eat all the other chicks and the children - and Sally now must sit by herself during recess keeping Argus away from the other children and chicks.  She's not enjoying standing out and being different all the time.  One day, after recess, Sally turns around to look for Argus to bring him back inside and he's gone.  Sally expected to feel relieved and "waited to feel happy," but instead she felt sad and worried.  Sally, Mrs. Henshaw and her classmates search around the neighborhood until they find Argus. Back in the classroom, Sally looks at the new pie graph she created about Argus; it looks totally different from the other kids' graphs and that's just fine with Sally.
     Argus is a very special book.  I'm glad to see that Argus didn't become something he was not to gain Sally's acceptance, and instead it was Sally who learned the value of being different.  As much as I like Argus as a character, I've got to say that my favorite was Mrs. Henshaw.  I loved how she seemed to ignore the obvious fact that Argus was not a chick, and would tell Sally to relax and just deal.  I especially loved the scene when, after finding Argus at a neighbor's yard -where he has destroyed the lawn- as the homeowner begins to complain about the damage done to her property, Mrs. Henshaw simply hands her an orange emergency cone and says, "Don't be difficult." And walks away.  Brilliant! Some adults should be treated just like children...

The Boy Who Loved Words

The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter
Illustrated by Giselle Potter
2006

     Selig was a collector or words. He loved everything about words "-the sound of them in his ears (tintinnabulating!), the taste of them on his tongue (tantalizing!), the thought of them when they percolated in his brain (stirring!), and most especially, the feel of them when the moved his heart (Mama!)."  Selig would stuff his pockets and socks with words, literally.  He would carry his words everywhere and eventually, people at school began to call him Wordsworth and Oddball, which made him feel lonely. Selig had a dream where a Genie told him he needed to go and find his purpose.  Selig leaves home and weighted down by all the words in his pockets, he takes them off and hangs each one from a branch in a tree where he lays down to sleep.  That night, a poet looking for the right words to write about the moon, comes across the words Selig has hung from the tree.  The poet completes his poem using Selig's words and Selig realizes he has found his purpose: "spreading the word -sharing his words with others!" From then one, Selig became Wordsworth.
     The Boy Who Loved Words is a beautiful tale about the love of language and the power of words.  The vocabulary used in the story is a wonderful tool to use in the classroom as well as at home. It can  be used to teach figuring out meaning of unknown words from context.  At the end of the book, there is a glossary with all the advanced vocabulary included in the story.  It's a treat for those who love words as much as I do.