This morning while browsing twitter within minutes
of waking (according to #twitterrevolution I am not alone in this behavior), I
noticed in my feed #pb10for10 and decided to take a look. Here's what I learned: Mandy @ Enjoy-EmbraceLearning and Cathy @
Reflect & Refine sponsor a Picture Book 10 for 10 book jog each August.
I couldn't resist. So here I am on Saturday morning posting my
own 10for10 post. Theme: 10 pictures books an English/Arts &
Humanities Teacher enjoys sharing with her sons. I like these books for a myriad of
reasons—for the exposure to authors, music, artists, beautiful words and
language, and most importantly because they became not only my favorites, but
between my two sons (now ages 10 & 12) these became their favorites as well.
1. Henry Builds a Cabin by D. B. Johnson
My English teacher self couldn’t resist
sharing this book with my sons. Thanks
to D.B. Johnson, my sons have a full awareness of who Henry David Thoreau is and why I think his work is important. There is also available--Henry Climbs a Mountain and Henry Hikes to Fitchburg. We've read them all, but the boys like the dimensions of Thoreau's cabin in this one.
2. Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk
As library mouse hides away in a school
library writing his own books for each genre, this is an excellent tale
reminding us that we are all writers.
This is another message I wanted my sons to hear to encourage them to
enjoy writing and know that they are capable.
(Right now neither of them prefer writing because most of their writing
experiences at school have been spent practicing for the state writing test)
3. John Coltrane’s Giant Steps remixed by
Chris Raschka
Illustrations, words, and style all portray
improv—this book is a great way to learn about jazz improvisation.
4. Slowly, Slowly, Slowly said the Sloth by
Eric Carle
From an early age, my oldest child has
enjoyed science and nature, and since we enjoyed other Eric Carle books, this
one became a delight to us because of the beautiful language and
vocabulary. At the end of the book, the
sloth finally replies to the onslaught of attacks from other animals who accuse
him of being lazy. “It is true that I am
slow, quiet, and boring. I am
lackadaisical, I dawdle, and I dillydally.
I am also unflappable, languid, stoic, impassive, sluggish, lethargic,
placid, calm, mellow…”
5. Old Cricket by Lisa Wheeler
"Old Cricket woke up feeling, cranky,
crotchety, and cantankerous, so when his missus asked him to ready the roof for
winter, he came up with a clever plan."
We loved the opening lines as well words the old cricket uses instead of
curse words of today. Plus, it’s a great
tale about how the cricket tried many excuses to get out of work but really
just needed to dig-in and prepare the roof for winter.
6. Lego Star Wars The Visual Dictionary
This one became a favorite for my youngest
son because of his interest in building and creating with Legos, and his love
of all things Star Wars. I have to
admit, it took a while for me to enjoy this book, but after reading it again
and again with my son, I couldn’t help myself.
Plus, this book became a great example to me of why we can’t base all
our reading decisions for students on Lexile level. This Lexile level for this book is much
higher than my son’s Level, yet he can read the book because it’s a perfect
match for him as a reader.
7. The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
We definitely have this one memorized and can
recite it in its entirety. Who doesn’t
love this one?
8. Masterpieces Up Close: Western Painting from the 14th to 20th
Centuries
With flip open tabs and close-up shots of
sections of each painting, this book became a great one for teaching my boys
about masterpieces of Western visual art.
9. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
What I love about this one? My ten and twelve year old will still let me
read it to them periodically and they love the story.
10. Hush Little Baby by Sylvia Long
I end with this one because my ten year old
still asks me to sing this version of the song to him at night when he goes to
sleep. This natural and beautiful
adaptation of the old lullaby has been part of our nighttime routine for twelve
years (My oldest is twelve). Once the
boys heard the original version of the song and commented that it was
incorrect. Though my twelve year old no
longer asks me to sing him to sleep on a nightly basis, my ten year old is
still cool with it and asks me to sing this song to him right before he nods
off. (Sshh: He would be embarrassed if he knew I’m
telling you—if I’ve been out of town for work or if he’s sick—the twelve year
old has asked for the song within the last year).
