Twenty Questions by Mac Barnett

I'm so grateful for friends who tell me I need a book. Thanks to Mary Lee Hahn, I purchased Twenty Questions by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Christian Robinson without even seeing it in person. Mary Lee knew I needed this book and I tried it out right away on two of my young adults on an ice cream date.

The first page sets readers up for success with a very concrete, right there question. Readers are asked to count the number of animals on the page. The girls looked at me with a puzzled look and I felt a hesitation with a quiet so....... shared.

Then the second page spread completely changes the readers thinking with an open ended question. "Which of these ladies just robbed a bank?" We each picked a different lady and could justify why we picked her. The justifications were varied and believable. 

The book continues in this format; a two page spread illustration and a question to ponder. As we stood in line waiting for ice cream we kept reading through the pages and discussing our answers. Some of them were realistic and some were not. Even if the justification wasn't realistic it could be possible with we used our imagination and asked why not.

This book has entry points for all readers. It sparks inquiry and conversation. It invites multiple perspectives and accepting different ideas than your own. I can't wait to use it this coming school year. It's a book you can start and then revisit one two page spread at a time. It's a book to start and revisit during the year because we grow as thinkers.

It's Monday, What Are you Reading? {#IMWAYR}

It's Monday, What are you reading? and my answer is The Book of Boundaries Set the Limits That Will Set You Free by Melissa Urban. I usually start the summer off with a self improvement book and this has been in my TBR pile for a few months. I'm enjoying the gentle advice and organization of this book.

Part One goes over boundary beginnings and guidance for using the book. Part Two is organized by different settings we need boundaries for; work, balance, parents, neighbors, friends, partners - that's how far I am and I'm about half way through the book. 

My biggest love so far is the different scenarios described and Melissa's scripts for setting a boundary. I never imagined levels for boundary setting. Melissa offers three suggestions for each scenario and they are color coded by green, yellow, and red. Some boundaries can be simply shared in generally positive manner and some need to be pretty direct.

I'm finding I can read a scenario - see if it applies to my life now or maybe in the future and breeze through a few pages at a time. 

                   

                             Thank you Jen at Teach Mentor Texts for co-hosting this event 

with Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers.

Rain Before Rainbows by Smriti Prasadam-Halls {Mental Wellness}

When I share books to help us with our emotions and mental wellness I usually end with this book. Rain Before Rainbows by Smriti Prasadam-Halls because I've learned it can rain really hard and rainbows can appear. Hanging on to the moments of rainbows will help you get through the rain.

This book takes readers on a journey with a girl and fox. As this friendship pair begins walking the reader senses they are leaving something behind. The author gives great examples of things that were and what they can be offering readers - a feeling of forward movement. For example, "Night before daybreak. The old day is done." 

I love the encouragement I felt about the hardships we all face. "Dark days may shake us and worries creep in, with dragons to duel and battles to win." Girl and fox discover friends who are helpful and kind. I just wanted to say YES! friends are a rope to hold on to especially when it's so easy to keep things to ourselves when life gets hard. The story ends with the reminder that morning is bright. 

Illustrator David Litchfield used ink and paint and then rendered the images digitally and all I can say is WOW! The shading and intentional use of light brings softness to each page. This softness on the pages of darkness makes the darkness seem natural. We all have mountains to climb. 

As I opened the book Rain Before Rainbows by Smriti Prasadam-Halls something caught my eye in the small print section with all the publishing and copyright information. "Inspired by Psalm 30:5 - "Weeping my tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning." I hope to find an interview with Sriti Prasadam. I'd love to know more about this.

My Bibliotherapy moment - 

"Rain before rainbows, clouds before sun, night before daybreak - a new day's begun."

The Little Book of Joy by His Holiness the Dalai Lama & Archbishop Desmond Tutu {Mental Wellness}

A friend gifted me the book, The Little Book of Joy by His Holiness the Dalai Lama & Archbishop Desmond Tutu when my world felt a little bit uncertain and it brought me a lot of comfort. I teared up reading with several moments of bibliotherapy. 

I'm going to share the bibliotherapy moment that tugged most at my heart. 

"Even if you slam the door and your joy can't get in, it's just not he other side waiting in al loving hug."

I was reminded while I couldn't feel joy right now and missed it, it was waiting and would return which is the message of this entire book. His holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu share their story of growing up away from each other longing for a friend. They share if we look at just sadness that is all we see and encourage readers to look around for joy.

Their examples of joy are easy to find; the warm sun on us, being silly, a cozy bed, and rain puddles to name a few. They also share once they found joy they found sharing their joy created more joy.

I think it's a great mentor text for writing a list of joyful things. I think it's a great text to launch sharing joyful things from our classrooms into the world. I'm going to be pondering how to do that more intentionally this summer for next year.

Maybe Tomorrow? by Charlotte Agell {Mental Wellness}

Maybe Tomorrow? by Charlotte Agell is a tender story about getting low, feeling bogged down and finding others to help us realize there is a tomorrow. Elba is a purple hippo with a big block she drags around with as string. Norris is a green alligator who dances everywhere. 

Elba and Norris meet in the park and we watch Norris try to engage Elba with a picnic. Norris wants to know what is inside Elba's block. They have tea in the rain and Norris keeps trying to find out what is in the box with no luck. As they walk to the ocean, Elba shares she misses Little Bird and is sad. Elba tells Norris all about Little Bird. The block starts to shrink and get lighter. 

Elba and Norris model what friendship filled with kindness and empathy can do to bring comfort to a sadness. Sometimes we all need a little encouragement and checking to try the next tomorrow.

My bibliotherapy moment - 

"How?" whispered Elba.

Lemonade Hurricane by Licia Morelli {Mental Wellness}

Lemonade Hurricane A Story of Mindfulness and Meditation by Licia Morelli is told from he point of view of a sibling with a very active younger brother. Emma likes moments in her day to rest and Henry is very active with running, wrestling, and noises. Henry has days filled with activities and really enjoys karate putting all his energy in to it. Emma calls all his energy - a lemonade hurricane.

She'd love for Henry to slow down and tries to show him how to be still. Henry is all over the tree and the yard while she is sharing how to pause and breathe. Then she shares an idea of riding an elephant and Henry can sit and breathe with Emma.

I love hearing about the emotions and journey a sibling has while trying to share strategies for an overactive family member. 

The author's note shares an analogy for mindfulness and meditation to a glass of lemonade. A great visual to use with readers. She also shares strategies for practicing mindfulness and meditation. 

My bibliotherapy moment - 

"When I sit I can feel the ground beneath me. I can hear the birds chirping. I can smell the grass."

When Sadness is at Your Door by Eva Eland {Mental Wellness}

When Sadness is at Your Door by Eva Eland is my favorite book about sadness. We need to talk about sadness more and picture sadness. Eva has taken a topic often illustrated with dark hues and uses a light aqua teal to represent sadness. Along with brown, choral, and a smooth white/ivory background readers are encouraged to accept sadness.

Eva reminds us sadness surprises us. Sadness lingers. We can try to hide it. Then she writes giving readers ideas for living with sadness. We need to name it, listen to it, understand where it comes from and what it needs. We don't have to understand it and we need to sit with it. 

Sadness can want us to sit and not do very much. This is okay and we need to do opposite action activities - things that we don't really want to do so we get engaged and moving. Eva shares ideas like drawing or listening to music to name a few. Reminding us that tomorrow is a new day.

A great follow up is a writer's notebook entry about things that make you sad.

On Eva's website she has teaching notes to guide our work with her book.

My bibliotherapy moment - 

"If you don't understand each other, just sit together and be quiet for a while."