Spike Ugliest Dog in the Universe

Spike Ugliest Dog in the Universe by Debra Frasier is the fourth book I am sharing and considering for the Teacher's Choice project with IRA.  This book could be used to discuss animal shelters and rescue dogs. The illustrations for this text are interesting to look at and created using collage and fabric, two of my favorite techniques.  The background for almost all the pages is a denim pair of jeans.  Debra Frasier gathered 129 pairs of worn jeans to find the shading of blue she wanted to use for each page. 

Spike just won an award for being the Ugliest Dog in the Universe and isn't so happy to have this title.  What dog would be happy?  His owner abandons him for love and adventure.  Spike gets lucky when the neighbor boy, Joe notices he has been abandon and takes him into his home.   Joe would love to keep Spike but his mother says they can't afford him right now and he needs to go to the animal shelter.  Spike worries greatly about the animal shelter, he thinks those words mean Dog Pound and he needs help to avoid the Dog Pound. The beautiful cat next door teaches him what to do to win Joe's heart and more importantly the heart of Joe's mother. You have to see the fabric chosen for this beautiful cat.  In the meantime, Joe becomes a neighborhood hero all on his own and this random act of kindness saves him. 

Octopus Alone

Octopus Alone by Divya Srinivasan  The characters in the this book are creatures from the reef and they are living in a busy community.  I think there are children who will appreciate and understand Octopus.  By reading about Octopus' journey, I think the reader will be able to learn more about themselves.  Do they like the busy community Octopus likes, leaves, and misses?  Do they like the open and quiet space  he discovers and enjoys for a bit of time.  I think the reader will ask questions about why Octopus inks the water which could foster discussion about protecting and being bashful.  

Our lives tend to get really busy, if we let them.  Being in a classroom of twenty plus students can be very overwhelming.  I often find some children need to take a break from each other.  Octopus is a great mentor for realizing this and then realizing it's okay to go back and be with your community when you miss them.

Ike's Incredible Ink

Ike's Incredible Ink by Brianne Farley is the second book I am sharing and considering for the Teacher's Choice project with IRA.  I'm going to share my thinking carefully following the review guidelines from IRA.  As a writer and watching children become and be writers for twenty years this book tugged at my heart.  It's hard to get a piece of writing started.  It's sometimes way more fun to collect things to use for writing and have lots of tools than sitting down to act as a writer.  I think writers often want their writing to be perfect from the start.  I also think Ike's problem of writing to write big is common for writers too.

When thinking about the realism of the characters, I find Ike a bit unrealistic.  He is a black dot of ink that has been "humanized" with arms, head, and legs.  However, I think students will enjoy Ike.  I wonder if students will realize Ike is a splotch of ink.  I didn't find any slang or poor grammar and found the dialogue format to be realistic.  I don't think this story expands the curriculum but I think it will guide some children to have connections and feel as Ike does.  The artwork is pleasing and the illustrations fit the text.  The mediums used are ink and digital collage.  I was surprised to read collage was used because it didn't feel like collage to me.  Maybe I don't know enough about digital collage.  Collage is one of my favorite mediums and I often pick books up because I can see, feel, and enjoy the collage format.  I do think this book will help students think about their own writing life and how sometimes things have to be just right to write.  It can be a springboard for students to get to know themselves better.  I found myself wanting to know more when the story finished.  Ike makes a great ink to write with.  He starts to write and I want to know what Ike writes about.  

If I was reading this book with my everyday teaching and reading lens I would say it's a book to have in your books about writing collection.  

Teachers' Choice and book selection criteria

I am excited to share with you I am participating in the Teachers' Choice Project, sponsored by the International Reading Association.  I am even more excited because three other teachers at my school joined me for this project and together we have been given the opportunity to read new books, think, share, and review books with each other and our students.  We are representing grades K-3.  The Teachers' Choice Project began in 1989 and you can read annotated lists from previous years on their website.

The criteria for selecting a Teachers' Choice Project is going to make me think differently about books.  We are looking for books that present characters realistically without stereotyping.  We are looking for books with a valuable message that might provide a unique point of view.  I will be asking myself are there elements that reflect our times.  I am really fussy about the language within a book and I'm glad to find out the Teachers' Choice Project is looking for books with poor grammar or slang where warranted.  The dialect for a story is to be realistic for the setting or situation.  Does the story expand the curriculum?  Is the story informative? I am so glad we get to consider the artwork.  Is the artwork pleasing?  Do the illustrations fit the text?  Does the book use a variety of art forms?  Does the story help children understand themselves?  And then the Teachers' Choice criteria includes example questions that might be raised by reading this book.  I love that we want a book to further our thinking after it has been read.  

I wanted to share the criteria and thinking I am being asked to consider because I know so many of us are thinking about books and selecting books to use with our students.  I found myself thinking about books a bit differently then I would on a daily basis.  I will be sharing a couple of books each month That I receive courtesy of the IRA and the Teachers' Choice Project.