Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2022 i Book Links

For more than three decades, Book Links has served the educational sphere by providing resources that link valuable titles to the curriculum. In that time, we’ve done our best to change with the seasons: in past issues, Book Links has linked features to the Common Core State Standards, to Next Generation Science Standards, and has taken a STEM and maker focus. In the last few years, as with Booklist, we began publishing a digital edition of our print magazine, bringing our content to a wider audience. But if the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing years have taught us anything, it’s that change is the only constant. An increasing demand for digital content, and the flexibility that that content offers, has led us to realize that it’s time…

These books, included in the list above, are also notable for incorporating fantasy elements into their stories and are re-listed again here for convenience. The Abandoned Lighthouse. By Albert Lamb. Illus. by David McPhail. 2011. 32p. Roaring Brook (9781596435254). PreS–Gr. 2. Caspian Finds a Friend. By Jacqueline Veissid. Illus. by Merrilees Brown. 2019. 36p. Chronicle (9781452137803). PreS–Gr. 2. Faraway Things. By Dave Eggers. Illus. by Kelly Murphy. 2021. 40p. Little, Brown (9780316492195). PreS–Gr. 2. The Sea Chest. By Toni Buzzeo. Illus. by Mary GrandPré. 2002. 32p. Dial (9780803727038). Gr. 2–4.…

• “What Is the ‘30 Million Word Gap’?” By Cara Barthelette. Available at bundoo.com/articles/what-is-the-30-million-word-gap • “Language Gap between Rich and Poor Children Begins in Infancy, Stanford Psychologists Find.” By Bjorn Carey. Available at news.stanford.edu/news/2013/september/toddler-language-gap-091213.html • “The Word Gap: The Early Years Make the Difference.” By Laura J. Colker. Available at naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/feb2014/the-word-gap • “Let’s Stop Talking about the ‘30 Million Word Gap.’” By Anya Kamenetz. Available at npr.org/sections/ed/2018/06/01/615188051/lets-stop-talking-about-the-30-million-word-gap…

Big Bug. By Henry Cole. Illus. by the author. 2014. 32p. Simon & Schuster/Little Simon, $14.99 (9781442498976). PreS–Gr. 1. A colorful, large-size ladybug and the accompanying text, “Big bug,” in an equally large font open this concept picture book. A turn of the page reveals that the ladybug is actually a “Little bug” compared to a “Big leaf,” while the leaf, in turn, is little compared to a “Big flower.” These differences in scale continue across a meadow and a farm and into a farmhouse, where a “Big dog” wants a “Little nap.” I’m Not Small. By Nina Crews. Illus. by the author. 2022. 32p. Greenwillow, $17.99 (9780063058262). PreS–K. A young Black boy, excited to play in his backyard alone, is encouraged by his mother, who tells him, “You’re a…

The following are suggestions for implementing the Common Core State Standards with the books recommended in this article. In the Classroom: Read aloud The Bumblebee Queen, by April Pulley Sayre, stopping at key points to ask the students to share one fact that they have learned about the bumblebee queen. At the end of the read-aloud, ask the students to talk with a partner about five facts that they have learned. Encourage the students to keep track of the facts, using their fingers to count as they share. Common Core Connections • R.I.K.2. With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. • R.I.1.2. Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. In the Classroom: Read aloud In the Trees, Honey…

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Roma Agrawal is a working engineer and advocate for increasing diversity in the field. She is the author of Built: The Hidden Stories behind Our Structures, for adult readers, as well as How Was That Built? The Stories behind Awesome Structures, the companion title for middle-graders. She credits her childhood interest in Legos and breaking things as instrumental in her career path and speaks around the world to encourage that sort of exploration in future generations. Below, Agrawal talks to us about her first book for young readers and the fascinating ways that structural engineering can reach children in the classroom and the library. Damron: Congratulations on the publication of How Was That Built! In 2019, you wrote a book for adults about structures. How did you come to adapt this topic for…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts contain four strands: reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language. In previous issues of Book Links (September 2012, November 2012, and January 2013), we have highlighted recipients of the Caldecott Medal, which celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary in 2013, and paired the award-winning books with instructional strategies that support the CCSS reading strand. This time, the emphasis will be on how Caldecott Medal books can serve as mentor texts in writing exercises. The writing standards in CCSS are designed to help students develop the skills necessary to offer and support opinions, demonstrate an understanding of what they are studying, and convey real and imagined experiences and events. What better books to use as mentor texts than the Caldecott Medal–winning books and…

Perennially popular and vital to ecosystems the world over, bees remain a buzzworthy topic for young readers. These recent titles—fiction and nonfiction published between 2017 and 2022—illuminate these marvelous pollinators and why we need to help them survive. —Julia Smith Am I Even a Bee? By Felicity Muth. Illus. by Alexa Lindauer. 2022. 40p. Baobab (9781936097401). PreS–Gr. 3. 813.6 With her blue-green coloring and slender form, Osima is experiencing an identity crisis because she doesn’t resemble the popular black-and-yellow honeybee. This playful but enlightening picture book introduces some less-familiar members of the bee family Bee. By Charlotte Voake. Illus. by the author. 2022. 40p. Candlewick, (9781536220452). PreS–Gr. 2. A young boy goes on an unexpected adventure when the bees he’s observing offer him a black-and-yellow, winged suit that shrinks him…

Open dialogues with your students with the following questions. To explore facts: • Consider the lighthouse in each book and the story that is told: • How does the lighthouse do its job? • Who tends the light? • What are the normal systems that make everything run smoothly? • What happens when they don’t? To explore metaphors and guiding principles to apply to our own and our readers’ growth: • How is the lighthouse in the book a safe harbor? Whom do you harbor? Who harbors you? • Lighthouse keeping can be a lonely profession. What do the lighthouse keepers and their families in the books do to sustain and entertain themselves? What do you need to sustain yourself when you are working alone? • How do the lighthouse…

In this updated section, we offer recent and notable books that introduce another important building block for young language learners: the ABCs. —Maggie Reagan A Busy Creature’s Day Eating. By Mo Willems. Illus. by the author. 2018. 32p. Disney/Hyperion (9781368013529). PreS–K. A purple creature chomps his way through the alphabet (eventually to the detriment of his stomach, introducing “potty,” “queasy,” and, uh-oh, “vomit,” into the mix) in this hilarious narrative abecedary. A Is for Bee: An Alphabet Book in Translation. By Ellen Heck. Illus. by the author. 2022. Levine Querido (9781646141272). K–Gr. 3. 407. Sixty-nine languages are represented in this animal abecedary, which organizes the animals by their first letter, often with surprising results. For example, fox is found not under F but under R for the French renard, Hungarian…

What’s big? What’s small? Sometimes it depends on what we’re comparing. Fortunately, an assortment of books introduces the concept of scale to young readers. While text explanations can be helpful, visuals carry the learning load, from charts to graphical representations to lifesize illustrations. And while most of the books focus on animals (because who isn’t impressed by the enormity of a blue whale or curious about a sloth’s speed?), other titles spotlight the scale of the human body and the vastness of the universe. Still more let children consider scale through unusual creatures and even their own scale in the world. Actual Size. By Steve Jenkins. Illus. by the author. 2004. 32p. Clarion (9780618375943). Gr. 1–3. 591.4. Now a modern nonfiction classic, this oversize picture book pairs Jenkins’ signature cut-paper…