Picture Book 10 for 10 is Coming! {#pb10for10}

Dear Cathy,

It was so great to see you in person last month!  What a year it has been! We kept up our Voxer conversations weekly pondering what the CDC was advising us on in a pandemic. We had so many thought ramblings about what we were trying to do educationally in such uncertain times. I always felt better after our chats and realized we could only do our best each day and try again the next. 

Then in March you shared you were retiring. My heart was happy for you and sad for me. I'll be honest, I was worried you'd get lost in that retirement fog of what day is it? Lost on your deck reading and writing poetry and not to mention playing with new grand babies as much as possible. All those things are well deserved. You reassured me - while you had no plans you'd still be there on Voxer. We'd still be here for #pb10for10 and #nf10for10 and here we are. Thank you friend, I'm not ready to do this without you!

One month from today is our annual Picture Book for Ten event. I really can't wait to see what our community will share this year. We've learned so much in the past year about relationships, race, color, gender, acceptance, stepping back, giving space, and offering grace. Authors and illustrators have stepped up to the plate and brought us rich literature to help us think and process on our own and with students.

I can't wait to see what picture books will be shared this year. It might be the hardest year yet to pick just ten books you can't live without! 

The Basics

Want to join the conversation? 

• What:  10 picture books you can't live without.
• Hashtag:  #pb10for10
• Hosts:  @mandyrobek (you're here), 
•             @cathymere (Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community)
• Who:  Anyone interested - 
•           educators, media specialists, librarians, parents, and book lovers.  
• When:  Tuesday, August 10th
• Where:  All posts for 2021 will be linked at Reflect and Refine, Cathy's blog.

Here's how you can participate:

1. Grab a Badge (just copy the URL address of the one above or take a screenshot)
2. Choose Your Favorites:  All you need to do is choose ten picture books you cannot live without for whatever reason.  In the first days of this event, everyone shared their ten very favorite titles.  This still works.  You will notice, however, that many past participants choose some type of theme or thread to connect their selections.  We'll leave this up to you.
3. Narrow Your List to Ten:  It isn't easy, is it?  We've seen some crafty ways to get around that number.  
4. Write Your August 10th Post:  Write a post about the ten books you cannot live without.  Share the link to your collection here, at Enjoy and Embrace Learning, on August 10th.  
5. No Blog?  No Problem:  If you don't have a blog, this might be the perfect time to start one --- or there are a million digital ways to join.  You could post from a Google page, create a S'more, share in Twitter (and copy the Tweet link), or any other creative idea you may be considering.  We will also be tweeting from the #pb10for10 hashtag.    
6. Comment:  On August 10th (and maybe for a week --- there are a lot of posts) take some time to read posts from other participants.  Please comment on at least three.

Ten Years - 1 Book Each Year {Picture Book 10 for 10}

When Cathy and I met and Picture Book 10 for 10 began I never envisioned ten years later I would be gathering and writing posts about my must have picture books.  I am grateful for Cathy.  While she maintains a huge spot on my mentor/teaching hero list she has become a colleague, confidant, and friend.  I can't wait for school to start next week because it means our Tuesday Talks via Voxer will pick back up.  I am grateful for Twitter and how that plays in a role in all of us sharing great book titles and connects us with kindred spirits.  I am grateful for you - readers and participants who make this project even possible.  This project isn't about Cathy and Mandy.  It's about the community and sharing that will happen today.

So, without further ado - here's my list for 2019.  Just one book from the previous lists.  I have 100 books to narrow down to 10.  I was teaching kindergarten and now I'm teaching second....I might need a crystal ball.

1. (2010)  Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Eric Carle changed my life in college!  I was sitting in my reading methods course at SUNY College at Buffalo when Dr. Phelps read this book in class.  I was introduced to a predictable pattern, shared reading, Eric Carle, collage hand made papers, turning the page slightly ahead of the text to encourage student participation and I'm sure much more.  I remember thinking this was much more fun and engaging than the basal readers and reading groups I grew up with.  I've never had a group of students who didn't fall in love with this book.

2. (2011) Cornelius P Mud, Are You Ready for School?  by Barney Saltzberg is a book while simple in text the inferring and ah ha moments expand primary grades.  As we reread this book together we really notice humor within the illustrations.  Cornelius is a great character for young students, they can connect with him.

3. (2012) Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox is about older people, it's about spending time with them, it's about memories.  Memories give us ideas for writing.  As in this story, memories help us remember.   I think we need to work harder and bridge the gap between our young and old.   I think we need to work harder as a profession to help students make writing easier by writing about memories and things they have done.  I just love the relationship between these two characters.

4. (2013) I can't believe I removed this book for a year and am glad it's the one making it to the top ten in ten years. Ish by Peter Reynolds is a must have for any classroom to embrace the arts and the differences between artist capabilities.  It encourages the reader to look at things in a different way, with a different lens.  Looking at things with a different lens is essential for 21st century learning.  Glad you, stayed, Ish!

5.  (2014) Once Upon a Time Niki Daly shows us how Sarie doesn’t mind the hot sun in the South Africa and worries about being at school and learning how to read.  The reader follows Sarie’s journey and how she does learn to read.

6. Oh no, 2015 I actually didn't write a post.  This always falls during the changing of summer to getting ready for school seasons and I could only find hosting/sharing post for participation.  Life gets busy and that's okay.

7. I Wish You More (2016) by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Wishes aren't just for birthdays or seeing the first star at night.  I usually read this story at the end of the year but I'm thinking about starting the year with it and then revisiting it at the end of the year.

8. (2017) Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard has a very grumpy character who doesn't really want  to interact with others.  However, his friends think differently and decide to join him on his walk; it's a way to spend time with him.  The walk turns into a little simon says in a way and changes one grump to happy. 

9. (2018)  I am a Warrior Goddess by Jennifer Adams gives us guidance for tackling your day and affirmations for how you can help others and tackle your day.  I used this book to guide students in writing affirmations to hang with their self portraits.

10.  (2019) I Will Be Fierce! by Bea Birdsong is an empowering new picture book with our main character ready to tackle her day.  I love the very first page.  Our main character sits up in bed, raises her arm up high with a fist and declares, "Today, I will be fierce!"  The following pages and illustrations show the reader examples of what being fierce can look like.  

#pb10for10 Nuts and Bolts

Happy 10 for 10 Picture Books Day !

Here are the nuts and bolts for joining and sharing picture books today.

1. Grab a Badge (I like to select the image and save image as...)
2. Join the #pb10for10 Google Community
3. Choose Your Favorites:  All you need to do is choose ten picture books you cannot live without for whatever reason.  In the first days of this event, everyone shared their ten very favorite titles.  This still works.  You will notice, however, that many past participants choose some type of theme to determine their selections.  We'll leave this up to you.
4. Narrow Your List to Ten:  It isn't easy, is it?  We've seen some crafty ways to get around that number, but really ten is plenty. 
5. Write Your August 10th Post:  Write a post about the ten books you cannot live without.  Share your post on August 10th and link it to the Picture Book 10 for 10 Community.  
6. No Blog?  No Problem:  If you don't have a blog, this might be the perfect time to start one --- or now with the Google Community it is quite easy to just post your favorites directly into the community without a blog.  We will also be tweeting from the #pb10for10 hashtag.
7. Comment:  On August 10th (and maybe for a week --- there are a lot of posts) take some time to read posts from other participants.  Please comment on at least three.

10 for 10 Picture Book is Coming!

Dear Cathy,

I have to be honest with you.   I don't have a clue what my #pb10for10 will be about this year.  If you recall last year I was SO ahead of the game and even changed my plan up to focus on a theme.  I don't know if you realized how big this was for me.  I like routine and by just tweaking my list each year a smidge, I've been comfortable with our project together.  However, since I had the list already by this time last year and it had a theme I am sweating just sitting here in my kitchen.  

What will I do?  This year life is a bit calmer because I'm going to be teaching second grade again.  Yahoo!  Maybe I can ponder what kinds of picture books I want to use right away because August 10th is my first teacher work day with students coming on the 12th!  Maybe I can think of a content area I need to collect books for.  Maybe I can make a collection for a writing or reading unit.  But wait, maybe I can collect some poetry books to share with my students.  Oh my, this idea of a theme has endless possibilities and while I'm thinking about all of the content theme areas why not a list of books to enjoy on any day of the school year, just because.  If I don't want to stress out about something new, I could always go back to an old list and think about tweaking that.  

I certainly hope our #pb10for10 friends will join us and stay tuned to my dilemma this year and that my thinking above helps them generate some ideas.  

Participating

We are hoping you will join us.  

1. Contact Us:  Contact us on our blogs, on Twitter (@mandyrobek or @cathymere), or by e-mail to let us know you are joining this event.  This way we can try to be sure we don't miss anyone on the day of the event.  

1. Grab a Badge:  Add the Picture Book 10 for 10 Badge to your blog.  

1. Choose your favorites:  All you need to do is choose ten picture books you cannot live without for whatever reason.  Believe me, that's not as easy as it sounds.  Here are some tips that might help (Choosing Picture Books and More About Choosing Picture Books). 

1. Write Your August 10th Post:  Write a post telling us about the 10 books you cannot live without.  Share your post on August 10th and link it to our Google Plus community, which Cathy will provide more information on and I will update that here.

1. No Blog?  No Problem:  If you don't have a blog this might be the perfect time to start one --- or you can find alternate ways to participate here.  Cathy and I are not huge rule followers so feel free to adjust as needed.  

1. Enjoy August 10th:  It's such a fun day to be in the blogging/twitter world!  We feel fortunate to have so many friends new and old join us and share some book love.  This is our 6th year and each year we aren't the only ones reserving lots of library books and/or increasing our personal book budgets!

Pass the news along to all your crazy picture book friends.  Educators, media specialists, parents, book enthusiasts are all welcome!  The more the merrier! 

Picture Book 10 for 10 is back

Dear Cathy,

I am sneaking out from my blogging break and moments of renewal to check in with you.  Did you remember today is the day we launch Picture Book 10 for 10?  It's just one month away and I can't wait to co-host this event with you.  I still tell people who ask me about blogging and twitter how I met a mentor when I shared reading her book and then she asked me what my favorite picture books were to use in my classroom.  I was just thrilled you left me a blog comment and I was clueless how we could brainstorm and feed off each other to make this teaching journey fun, more work, and rewarding!  It is an honor to be your colleague and friend.

I do have to give you a heads up though.  I had a piece of writing not accepted for publication elsewhere but realized it was really meant for this event.  It was more about my own learning and of course 10 picture books are included.  So, I am ahead of the game.  I have my pre-event post to share some new learning I recently have.  I have also completely changed my list of 10 favorites, anchoring them to a theme.  This is huge my friend.  If readers look closely, my list just get tweaked a bit each year.  Favorites are like good habits, why break them?

I can't wait to see what everyone shares.  I was scared last year when you did some big publicity that the participant numbers would be too high.  It wasn't, it just proved that the more the merrier actually works!  I hope this note finds you a bit nervous.  Do you have your list of 10 favorite picture books, ready?  Do you have the energy for positive people to join us and share such wonderful ideas?  Did you plan a #pb10for10 book shopping budget?


Your friend, Mandy

PS Readers - 

Contact us on our blogs, or Twitter (@mandyrobek or @cathymere), or by e-mail to let us know you are joining this event.  On the day of the event - August 10th - we will be linking all the "must have" posts. Please use the hashtag #pb10for10, it's another way to help us find you.   In the  past, we or I should say Cathy creates a Jog the Web.  I can't wait to have you join us!

August 10 for 10: Picture Book Event is Here 2013

Good Morning Everyone, it's going to be a great day!  It's August 10th, 2013 and that means Cathy at Reflect and Refine Learning Building a Learning Community and I are here to host our fourth annual 10 for 10 Picture Books blog sharing event.  If you could see my laptop right now, I have four screens opened for my blog.  One tab has my list from the inaugural August 10 for 10.  The second tab has the second collection of picture books I put together in 2011.  The third tab is 2012.  I really thought I would put a new spin on my list - Cathy even requested this spring a list of math books.  It sounded like a really fun idea.  However, I am a creature of habit.  I've decided to look at my previous lists and think critically to see what I must keep, what might I let slide off the list because something new has just touched my heart.

My list is not in a ranking order, I've just numbered them to make sure I stop at 10!

1.  Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Eric Carle changed my life in college and has to STAY for a fourth year!  I was sitting in my reading methods course at SUNY College at Buffalo when Dr. Phelps read this book in class.  I was introduced to a predictable pattern, shared reading, Eric Carle, collage hand made papers, turning the page slightly ahead of the text to encourage student participation and I'm sure much more.  I remember thinking this was much more fun and engaging than the basal readers and reading groups I grew up with.  I've never had a group of students who didn't fall in love with this book.  It has to stay because reading this book is one of my fondest memories to each of my three daughters who are now bigger and I'm sure took turns reading it to each other at some point in our journey together.

2.  Suddenly, is a book I found a year ago and think it needs to stay on my list for another year.  Suddenly! by Colin McNaughton is perfect for helping kindergarten students think about predicting.  The text is larger in size.  The illustrations are very supportive to the text and using our picture clues to understand the story is essential.  The text also has a pattern and would allow us as writers to think about the word suddenly and what happens following that word each time.  The rest of this post was written November 10, 2011.

3.  The Three Bears by Byron Barton has to STAY for a fourth year!  I just enjoy reading this book to students.  The text is simple and repetitive and for whatever reason my inflection is at it's best reading this book. I think the simple collage technique is an easy one for students to see and replicate.  I love to help children figure out there's one color for each character that gets repeated in clothing and objects.  My two classes shared creating retelling murals this year using Byron Barton has a mentor and then we interactively wrote our text.   These were beautiful pieces of collaboration and fostered so much literacy learning.

4.  Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox is about older people, it's about spending time with them, it's about memories.  I want it to STAY for year four!  Memories give us ideas for writing.  As in this story, memories help us remember.   I think we need to work harder and bridge the gap between our young and old.   I think we need to work harder as a profession to help students make writing easier by writing about memories and what is known to them.

5.  Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins. In the past I've used it for mathematics, when we were working on directional words.   The students enjoyed it so much we retold it through painting the different places Rosie goes.  We were building a map and created labels through interactive writing.  When we mounted our mural for a retelling, we used Velcro for Rosie and she could move along the mural as she does in the story.

6.  Me Hungry! by Jeremy Tankard is a complete delight to read and use with students and has to return.  I reviewed Me Hungry earlier a couple of years ago and it was a hit in our room right away.  I instantly thought this book would be great for my boys and found out boys and girls would both enjoy it.  I find it's easy for me to pick books in general for the entire audience and easy for me to pick books for girls in mind.  My three daughters make that easy.  However, this is probably the first picture book that wasn't nonfiction I thought my boys would like.

7.  I can't believe I removed this book for a year and am so glad it is staying.  Ish by Peter Reynolds is a must have for any classroom to embrace the arts and the differences between artist capabilities.  It encourages the reader to look at things in a different way, with a different lens.  Looking at things with a different lens is essential for 21st century learning.  Glad you, stayed, Ish!

8.  Cornelius P Mud, Are You Ready for School?  by Barney Saltzberg is a book to return from an older 10 for 10 list. As we reread this book we really noticed humor within the illustrations and had to infer.  Cornelius is a great character for young students, they can connect with him.  He has three books, a little series for young readers. Which opens doors for more books for my readers.  I think I'm in a back to school mode with this title returning.

9.  Mouse Views, What the Class Pet Saw by Bruce McMillan is a great photo essay about perspective.  It's also a question/answer format.  It's a great mentor text to create your own from a tour in your classroom or the library.  I shared this book with my librarian years ago and he made his own version of our library to introduce the students to different things in our library.  I bet students would love taking a photo just like Bruce McMillan and compiling a class book for the classroom.

10. I'm bringing back, Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin for one of my ten.  I have let other Pete the Cat books take a spot on my top ten list and I still adore these but sometimes the first one holds a special spot.   The predicting and participation from students is invigorating.  The tune is uplifting and the message is a good one for all of us to embrace daily.  Life has ups and downs.  Schools have ups and downs.  In the end, we all try our best and it's all good.

I'm so glad you stopped by.  If you have a post, please leave your link and a quick sentence in the comment section.  You can let us know via twitter @cathymere or @mandyrobek but the only way to make sure you go on a Jog with us is by leaving the link for your post in the comment section.  We will then connect all of our comments via a Jog.  Make sure you settle in with a large class of water to stay dehydrated, I think the Jog will be a long one with lots of interesting things to view.  Thank you for participating.

PS - Next year will be our 5th anniversary and I think I will start thinking now to break the habit of sharing those that are near and dear to my heart.  It's never too early to start planning.

Momentum for #pb10for10 is Building!

Momentum for #pb10for10 is building and WE LOVE IT!  Cathy and I often laugh at ourselves and wonder which is more dangerous of our duo.  She won the most dangerous move for this project when she wrote a Nerdy Book Club post without telling me about it until she pushed send.  The post was great.  We think it's increased our audience along with the news spreading via twitter.  We have loved reading tweets from so many saying they are going to participate.  Today, Cathy shared a list she was keeping as she has heard about participation, again an organized dangerous move I didn't know about and in the same tweet she said she would buy me ice cream.  So, now all her dangerous moves are better because I get ice cream!  

When we started this project we wanted to encourage as much participation as possible. We didn't know if anyone would join us.  We asked anyone to let us know via a comment on our blog and/or via twitter with the hashtag #pb10for10.  While these are both great ways to find out and gather participants it can be a bit crazy trying to keep track of them all.  Last year, I had the idea to alphabetize blogposts by the blog's name in the jog and it helped a bit.  I think I'm the less dangerous partner with this move.

In anticipation of increased participation and keeping us a bit sane for gathering all of your wonderful list, we need your help. We are going to ask anyone participating and wanting their post linked to our jog to leave a comment here or at Cathy's site Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community.  Yes, to be included in the jog please leave a comment on one of our blogs.  We will be sharing the links to post and remind people a lot on Friday and Saturday.  We got this idea from participating in Poetry Friday.

Continue to tweet and use #pb10for10 on Saturday as a way to share your post and increase your audience. We hope to make some "tweeting" noise on Saturday, see you soon.

Dear Cathy, @pb10for10

Dear Cathy,

I wanted to write you a note of apology.  As your partner in gathering 10 great picture books from those we know and those we meet, I'm afraid I let you down a bit.  I agreed to launching our one month reminder last Wednesday on July 10th.  Exactly one month from our event, which takes place on August 10th.  But I didn't launch that reminder because my whole being was swept away while vacationing on Keuka Lake in NY.  

I even had plans of writing and scheduling a post before I left and then I got busy parenting and packing.   You were so kind to text me with a reminder while I was away and I confessed I forgot to schedule it but thought I could post from afar.  Isn't that the beauty of the web?  Everyone can join us from where they are.  I opened my blogger app on my new phone and began a draft but was called away by sunshine and lake water.  To be honest, I just couldn't put the words together in a short post and I didn't have my photo to go with the post.  Sometimes, writers have to wait.  So I did.  I did try to check in on twitter and respond to those who are excited about our reminder.

I look forward to co-hosting this event again with you.  I was honored when you started asking me about my favorite books and am thinking about what I might share this year.  I know it's hard to pick just 10 of my favorite books but I will try.  I always think  Pick 10 books, just 10 picture books you can't live without.  Books I  think each and everyone of us need to be able to get our hands on.  I love how we support each other by sharing our thinking and reasons for selecting these books.  Over time, it has been very interesting to see the spin participants put on their list of 10 picture books.  

I personally keep tweaking my list each year and this is how I do it.  I look over last years list of books and decide which ones I truly still can't live without.  Then I think about books I have used this past year that might make my list.  I like keeping something old and adding something new.  However, I might change things this year a bit.  I am worried my library wishlist and bookstore shopping carts will grow out of control.

I can't wait to see what everyone shares.  I hope you will accept my apology and know we are 7 days closer to our August 10 for 10 picture book event.

Your friend,Mandy

PS Readers - Contact us on our blogs, or Twitter (@mandyrobek or @cathymere), or by e-mail to let us know you are joining this event.  On the day of the event - August 10th - we will be linking all the "must have" posts. Please use the hashtag #pb10for10, it's another way to help us find you.   In the  past, we or I should say Cathy creates a Jog the Web.  I can't wait to have you join us!

August 10 for 10: Reflection

I just wanted to thank everyone who has stopped by and enjoyed our August 10 for 10: Picture Book event.  If you shared a top ten list, they are just fabulous and a great resource for us to turn to.  I loved reading so many personal insights for the books chosen.  It was fun to see books appear on more than one list.  It was fun to read the different ways people collected their books.  It was fun to meet new people via technology.  With such a wealth of book suggestions I started out handwriting a list of books that were new to me.  I also said I wasn't going to buy any books but could use the public library.  Then I got excited about books and made a plan.  Amazon does a three for four deal on paperbacks and wham! I was over at the amazon.com website in a flash.  My goal was just one three for four grouping, four new books and this was going to show control.  As I typed in titles many came up only in hard back and I passed right over those.  They made it to the library list.  I was really going to be able to keep to my three for four goal until, one hard cover book was a super deal.  I just couldn't pass it up.  A principal bought it for every teacher in her building, a picture book, a mentor text for student writing.  I had to buy it and if you search the JOG you too will find the one book I got.  I slightly fudged my plan.  A huge shout out to Cathy for helping make this event happen, I couldn't do it without her.

August 10 for 10: Picture Book Event is Here

Good Morning Everyone, it's going to be a great day!  It's August 10th, 2011 and that means Cathy at Reflect and Refine Learning Building a Learning Community and I are here to host our second annual 10 for 10 Picture Books blog sharing event.  I've been thinking a lot about top 10 list.  In the music industry it changes weekly.  I'm not that flexible or fickle.  I like routine, I like what feels good, I like what I know but I am willing to change and seek new ideas.  When I first looked at my list from last year a few days ago I gave a big UGH and closed the screen.  Last year it was interesting to follow other's thinking and read the personal spin they took to a top ten list.  I went shopping to IKEA with Cathy and she mentioned she had a focus for her 10 for 10 but never led on to what that was.  I instantly thought, I don't know if I'm ready for a focus.  To be honest, I don't know if I can change my 10 for 10.  Let's see what happens.

My list is not in a ranking order, I've just numbered them to make sure I stop at 10!

1.  Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Eric Carle changed my life in college and has to STAY!  I was sitting in my reading methods course at SUNY College at Buffalo when Dr. Phelps read this book in class.  I was introduced to a predictable pattern, shared reading, Eric Carle, collage hand made papers, turning the page slightly ahead of the text to encourage student participation and I'm sure much more.  I remember thinking this was much more fun and engaging than the basal readers and reading groups I grew up with.  I've never had a group of students who didn't fall in love with this book.  It has to stay because reading this book is one of my fondest memories to each of my three daughters who are now bigger and I'm sure took turns reading it to each other at some point in our journey together.

2.  Suddenly, is a book I found last fall and knew the minute I finished reading it with my students it would be a NEW additon to my list.  Suddenly! by Colin McNaughton is perfect for helping kindergarten students think about predicting.  The text is larger in size.  The illustrations are very supportive to the text and using our picture clues to understand the story is essential.  The text also has a pattern and would allow us as writers to think about the word suddenly and what happens following that word each time.  The rest of this post was written November 10, 2011.

3.  Me Hungry! by Jeremy Tankard is a complete delight to read and use with students and has to STAY.  I reviewed Me Hungry earlier last year and it was a hit in our room right away.  I instantly thought this book would be great for my boys and found out boys and girls would both enjoy it.  I find it's easy for me to pick books in general for the entire audience and easy for me to pick books for girls in mind.  My three daughters make that easy.  However, this is probably the first picture book that wasn't nonfiction I thought my boys would like.

4.  The Three Bears by Byron Barton has to STAY.  I just enjoy reading this book to students.  The text is simple and repetitive and for whatever reason my inflection  I think the simple collage technique is an easy one for students to see and replicate.  I love to help children figure out there's one color for each character that gets repeated in clothing and objects.  My two classes shared creating retelling murals this year using Byron Barton has a mentor and then we interactively wrote our text.   These were beautiful pieces of collaboration and fostered so much literacy learning. 

5.  I feel a bit risky putting a NEW book on my list I've  never read to students but I have that much faith in this book to say it's going to be a top 10.  I've been to New Hampshire five times and each time I hope, wish, and actively look to see a moose in the wild.  I've seen moose crossing signs and my hopes get higher.  Each time to be slightly disappointed when I realize another trip has gone by and I haven't spotted a moose.  So, imagine my excitement and overwhelming joy when I found this just right book I could highly connect with!

Looking for a MOOSE by Phyllis Root is hysterical to someone in my situation.  After reading the first two pages, I bought this book to share with my students and my family, without reading more.  You can read the rest of this original post from July 9, 2011.

6.  Cornelius P Mud, Are You Ready for School?  by Barney Saltzberg has to STAY.  As we reread this book together we really notice humor within the illustrations and have to infer.  We can do so much thinking within what appears a simple emerging reader text.  Cornelius is a great character for young students, they can connect with him.  He has three books, a little series for young readers. Which opens doors for more books for my readers.

7.  NEW!  Pigs to the Rescue by John Himmelman is funny and had my young readers laughing.  This laughter was a sign of comprehension and enjoyment.  What a great combination to achieve together.  Farmer Greenstalk and his family are having all kinds of problems on their farm.  Each day of the week presents a new problem for the farmer, his wife, and their son.  When each problem happens a group pigs come to the rescue with creative solutions.  For example, one day Mrs. Greenstalk found a leak in her garden hose.  When the reader turns the page they discover pigs in bathing suits carrying buckets of water and a swimming pool above their head filled with water.  My students loved the repetition on every other page, "Pigs to the rescue!"  The pigs continue to get funnier as the story progresses.  The Greenstalks run out of milk for their last problem and they freeze hoping the pigs don't come to the rescue.  The pigs don't come but someone else from the farm does.  I'm excited to share there is a Chickens to the Rescue and soon to be released, Cows to the Rescue. 

8.  Big Mama's by Donald Crews is one of my favorite mentor text for writing and gets to STAY.  He writes about things from his own life and turns it into a story for others.  Visiting Big Mama is a pretty normal thing to do and our children need to see writing about everyday things can be just right.  It's also a great book that easily fosters conversations for students.

9.  Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox is about older people, it's about spending time with them, it's about memories.  I want it to STAY.  Memories give us ideas for writing.  As in this story, memories help us remember.   I think we need to work harder and bridge the gap between our young and old.   I think we need to work harder as a profession helping students make writing easier by writing about memories and what is known. 

10.  Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin was on my list last year and has been slightly moved over by this NEW Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes!  (Both titles link you to my original posts for these books.)   I honestly had a dream two nights ago I went to school and the room was filled with parents and students.  The room was set up but I had no handouts, no sign up sheets and really no introduction to kindergarten speech planned.  It bordered a nightmare and as I conclude this list I know just like Pete the Cat says, "because it's all good." the next couple of weeks will all work out, it always does. 

I'm so glad you stopped by.  If you are joining us this year please let us know.  You can let us know by leaving a comment on our blogs.  You can let us know via twitter @cathymere or @mandyrobek.  We will then connect all of our list via a Jog.  Make sure you settle in with a large class of water to stay dehydrated, I think the Jog will be a long one with lots of interesting things to view.