Late summer means thunderstorms and, sometimes, hurricanes, too. Our collection of storm-themed books can be used to learn courage in the face of bad weather and to find resilience in times of change that we cannot control.
Tag Archives: Children’s Literature
Literature in Context: A Literary Guide for Maple Syrup Season
In late winter when the days are warm but the nights are still cold, the sap starts to run in sugar maples. Throughout New England, buckets and tubing begin to adorn trees, and the steady plinking of sap dripping into buckets can be heard throughout the sugarbush. This month’s literature guide spotlights titles that can be used to learn about sugaring – both the science behind it and the role that it plays in rural New England culture.
Literary Guide for Robert McCloskey’s “Make Way for Ducklings”
“Make Way for Ducklings,” written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey, is our featured title this week in our Summer Reading Resource series. This downloadable literature guide, written for use with 1st & 2nd grade students, includes outlines for activities that call for readers to create their own list of rhyming family names, write a new adventure for the Mallard family, and gain practice reading aloud. The guide also includes suggestions for post-reading discussions about the historical context of the story, the book’s illustrations, protecting animals, and the relationship that animals have with humans when they live so close to each other…
Literary Guide for Roald Dahls’ “Danny the Champion of the World”
Our Summer Reading Resource Literary Guide series continues this week with Roald Dahl classic, “Danny the Champion of the World.” The literature guide is written with 4th grade students in mind, but the story can be easily read and appreciated by youn…
George Washington Carver: A Life in Poems
In honor of Black History Month I want to share an extraordinary book about an extraordinary human being: Carver, a life in poems (Front Street, 2001) is an intimate portrait of the botanist, inventor, scientist, artist, musician, and teacher, known as…
3 Folktales for National Folktale Month
Three Favorite Folktales It’s National Folktale Month! And I’m digging into the vaults to share three of my favorites, all starring leading ladies. For me, folktales are food for the soul. And when packaged into a picture book, also provide a feast for the eyes. They are an important part of your child’s literary diet, […]
Picture Books for Spring Time
A Trio of New Picture Books Just In Time For Spring Every year I am surprised when the fields and forests finally turn green. Just when I think it will be brown and barren forever, the snow turns to rain, the ground thaws, and those first brave shoots …
200 Years Ago: The Boyhood of Charles Dickens
A Boy Called Dickens Imagining the Boyhood of A Legendary Author This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. Though Dickens never published an account of his life, and didn’t speak of his childhood until he was in his 30’…