The thrill of a big snowfall. Snow angels. Snow days! These three picture books celebrate the snowy season. 

Some Snow Is . . .

Ellen Yeomans’ Some Snow Is . . . revels in winter, exploring how wildly different each snowfall can be. There’s First Snow (the “we’ve waited for so long snow”) and Spring Snow (“time to go away snow”), with lots of variations in between. There’s Yellow Snow (uh oh, watch out) and Sledding Snow, which takes your breath away and freezes your face. Yeomans also explores the emotional extremes of such weather—from the frustration of light, early-winter Fluff Snow that doesn’t stick, to the complicated relationship with Driveway Snow, which makes Papa growl but also allows the building of a snow fort, which succeeds in making Papa smile. 

Illustrator Andrea Offermann takes readers on this journey with three children, best friends eager for outdoor winter play. She juxtaposes vivid colors against the bright white of snowfall. In one striking spread, we see a field of snow angels formed by a group of happy children, the text reading merely, “A flock of angels sing.” On a spread about Snow Day snow, Offermann’s energetic pen-and-ink lines nearly conceal houses in “a world of swirling white.” 

Yeomans writes in pleasing, flowing rhymes that form paired stanzas, with the first three lines of each stanza ending with “snow.” It all makes for an engaging read-aloud. 

Snowy Race

It’s another wondrous, wintry world in April Jones Prince’s Snowy Race. A young girl rides with her father in his snowplow. She has been counting down to this day and now feels abundant pride at the opportunity to help. But the snowplow does more than just clear the roads; it also takes the two of them to meet someone special at the train station, kicking off a thrilling race to reach a family member they love. 

Prince effectively uses short rhyming phrases (“whirl of snow”) and simple sentences (“off we go”), making this briskly paced tale a winning storytime choice. Prince writes with bustling verbs—slip, slide, chase, spin, whistling, howling, climbing, growling—as the plow chugs along, the snowy winds accumulate and father and daughter, always smiling, brave the elements. 

The page turns on these landscape-oriented spreads are especially compelling as the vehicle plows through the snow toward its destination. At one point, illustrator Christine Davenier even puts readers in the vehicle, seated behind father and daughter as we look through the windshield with them. Reds, greens and blues pop off these snowy-white spreads, as do the lemony yellows of the snowplow’s headlights and the sun trying to peek through winter clouds. 

The final spread is a wordless one, showing a family happy to be together—warm, safe and snug inside on a frigid winter’s day. Look closely at the opening and closing endpapers to see the impressive amount of snow that fell during the adventure.  

Almost Time

Written by Newbery Honor recipient Gary D. Schmidt and his late wife, Elizabeth Stickney (a pseudonym), Almost Time is a story about anticipating the turning of the seasons. Ethan is eager for winter’s exit, when the warmer weather causes the sap from the trees to run. But for now, there’s no maple syrup on his pancakes, cornbread or oatmeal. He must wait patiently for the days to heat up and the nights to get shorter. 

One day, he discovers a loose tooth. Eager to pull it, Ethan now has “two things to wait for.” Even children unfamiliar with the process of collecting and boiling sap—which illustrator G. Brian Karas depicts in three of the book’s final spreads—can relate to this story, because all children know how interminably slow time creeps when they’re excited for something to happen. 

Karas depicts the joys of sledding and chopping wood in a cozy, wintry-white world, even if Ethan wears an impatient scowl as he does these things. He’d rather be single-mindedly wriggling his tooth, thanks very much, or trying “not to think about maple syrup.” Once the sap starts to run, his tooth also comes out; it was all worth the wait. Spreads dominated by white snow make way for a closing spread of warm greens, as the snow melts and Ethan finally gets sweet maple syrup on his pancakes. 

Tips for Teachers is a monthly column in which experienced teacher and children’s librarian Emmie Stuart shares book recommendations and a corresponding teaching guide for fellow elementary school teachers.

Charlotte Mason, an English teacher living at the turn of the century, is one of my heroines. She once wrote, “We cannot measure the influence that one or another artist has upon the child’s sense of beauty, upon his power of seeing, as in a picture, the common sights of life; he is enriched more than we know in having really looked at even a single picture.” Her writings have significantly influenced my views on childhood, teaching and the purpose of education. One of her strongly held beliefs was that children should be served “a delectable feast” of literature, music and art. Well-illustrated picture books are all miniature works of art, influencing a “child’s sense of beauty.”

The following books introduce children to three significant illustrators and their art, but they also go beyond just that. They, too, are works of art in their own right that offer children delectable feasts of illustration, information and inspiration.

It Began With a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way written by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Julie Morstad

Growing up in a Japanese American family, Gyo Fujikawa knew from an early age that she wanted to be an artist. “She loved the feeling of a pencil in her hand.” Though she often felt invisible to her white classmates, her drawings caught the eye of two of her high school teachers. Their encouragement and monetary assistance opened the door for Fujikawa to attend art school and then to travel to Japan for further study.

Upon her return to the United States, she began working as an animator on the East Coast. When her family was sent to an internment camp, however, she struggled to continue drawing. Inspiration returned when she realized that her drawings could help fight the racial prejudice that pervaded the country. Her groundbreaking book, Babies, published in 1963, showed babies of all races playing together, and the book was a great success. Full of action and determination, the story of Fujikawa’s life shows children their natural talents can go far to fight injustice.

• Comfort and Creativity

  In school, Fujikawa often felt invisible; when her family was sent to an internment camp, her heart was broken. At first, she was so sad that she could not draw, but eventually she began to take comfort in color. Color lifted her spirit, and she wondered, “Could art comfort and lift others too?” Allow time for students to think and journal about a time when they felt invisible, worried, anxious or sad. Come back together and discuss strategies for working through these hard feelings. Ask another question: “What comforts and lifts you when the world feels gray?” For many children (and adults), expressing feelings through a creative project can be a comforting and healthy way of processing emotions. Provide art supplies and let students get lost in a creative project.

• Women at Disney

  The book’s excellent back matter has a timeline of significant events of Fujikawa’s life. One of the events mentions a Glamour magazine article spotlighting “Girls at Work for Disney.” Show the article to students and ask them what they notice about the caption under Fujikawa name. It reads, “Gyo, a Japanese artist.” What is wrong about this caption? Show students the article and then research some of the other women who worked at Walt Disney. Read aloud Amy Guglielmo’s Pocket Full of Colors: The Magical World of Mary Blair, Disney Artist Extraordinaire and parts of Mindy Johnson’s Pencils, Pens & Brushes: A Great Girls’ Guide to Disney Animation.

• Sketching a la Gyo

  Set up a Gyo table. Provide copies of her books, white paper, black ink pens and colored pencils. Throughout the week, let students read her books, study her illustrations and create their own Gyo-inspired artwork.

Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist written by Julie Leung, illustrated by Chris Sasaki

Tyrus Wong emigrated from China to the United States when he was only 9 years old. Due to the Chinese Exclusion Act, he was forced to become a “paper son,” to take on a false identity in order to pass through the rigorous strictures of the immigration process. After being detained at Angel Island for weeks, he finally passed the intense interview with immigration authorities and was reunited with his father. He worked hard to graduate from high school and art school.

Landing a job as an “in-betweener” at Walt Disney studios, Wong was excited when production plans were announced for an upcoming film, Bambi. His combination of Western and Eastern artistic styles heavily influenced the film, but he was only credited as a “background artist.” Shedding a light on the difficulties of immigration and showing the practical implications of racism, Wong’s story is sure to spark classroom discussion.

• Immigration Stories

  Wong was detained for weeks at Angel Island. Read other stories about children who emigrated from China to the United States and compare them to Wong’s experience. My 4th grade students and I read Helen Foster James’ Paper Son: Lee’s Journey to America, parts of Russell Freedman’s Angel Island: Gateway to Gold Mountain and Bette Bao Lord’s In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, which is one of my very favorite novels.

• Song Dynasty Art Study

  Tyrus attended art school in Los Angeles and studied artwork from China’s Song dynasty. Combining Western and Eastern styles and influences in his painting allowed him to offer a unique artistic perspective to Bambi. Enlarge a few landscape paintings from the Song Dynasty. Give students time to study them and write down or orally share their observations. Then compare the paintings with stills from Walt Disney’s Bambi. Invite students to share how they think the Song Dynasty paintings influenced Wong’s work in Bambi.

• History of Animation

  Wong was featured on an episode of the PBS series “American Masters.” Show students the portion of the episode (which starts at the 31:00 minute mark) that discusses Wsong’s work with Walt Disney studios and specifically his work on Bambi, the film that Walt Disney considered to be “the best picture I have ever made, and the best ever to come out of Hollywood,” as he told TIME magazine at the time.

Hi, I’m Norman: The Story of American Illustrator Norman Rockwell written by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Wendell Minor

Grabbing readers’ attention with engaging first-person narration (“Hi, I’m Norman. Norman Rockwell. Come on in.”), Robert Burleigh’s account of Rockwell’s life and work is a solid introduction to one of America’s most recognized and beloved illustrators.

Starting with his childhood love for “telling stories with pictures,” Rockwell explains how he worked his way through art school and, in an attempt to outrun the fear that he “wasn’t good enough,” accepted menial jobs until five of his illustrations were accepted by the Saturday Evening Post. He recounts how he got his ideas, shares stories about his use of various types of model and informs readers about how major American events, including World War II and racial segregation, influenced his artwork. Inviting and informative, the stories behind the illustrations had my students eagerly begging for me to show them Rockwell’s “real” artwork.

• The Four Freedoms

  When America entered World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Rockwell was too old to enlist. He decided that he would fight “with the one weapon I had—my art.” Watch a small portion of Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech. As a class, discuss the four freedoms. Give older children time to copy down the four freedoms; give younger students an index card with the four freedoms listed. Print out oversize copies of each of the paintings in Rockwell’s Four Freedoms series and hang them around the classroom. Label them numerically, one through four, and let students participate in a silent gallery walk. Can they match each of the four freedoms with its respective painting? Emphasize the power of observation and unhurried art study. After students have spent time studying the art (perhaps the next day), gather back together. Going one painting at a time, let students share their observations and explain which freedom the painting represents. Invite children to discuss, “Do we still have these freedoms today?” and “Do you think everyone in the United States or the world shares these freedoms?”

• The Problem We All Live With

  Give students two minutes to take a visual inventory of Rockwell’s “The Problem We All Live With” and then let them share what they notice. Ask them if it reminds them of anything or anyone they have encountered in previous learning. Read Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story by Ruby Bridges. Allow time for students to reflect on Bridges’ story. Invite them to consider ideas such as, “Do things like this still happen in our neighborhood, city or world today? Where and how?” Write down their responses on the board or piece of chart paper. Show students the video of Ruby Bridges looking at “The Problem We All Live With” alongside President Obama.

• Cover Stories

  In the book, Rockwell explains, “Doing covers is doubly hard because a cover has to tell the whole story in just one picture.” Give students time to share or journal about a humorous or meaningful small moment from their life. Can they tell this story through a single illustration? After students have had time to experiment, brainstorm and doodle, provide blank white paper or a Saturday Evening Post template and let them illustrate their story.

When we’re feeling anxious or sad, sometimes we need to pause, escape reality for a moment and give ourselves time to find calm. Isn’t it wonderful just to soar above it all? In these two books, that’s exactly what the characters do, as they ride on the wings of birds and planes through the dazzling landscape of imagination.

When You Need Wings
Oh, that flittery-fluttery feeling inside! It’s the one we all get when we’re nervous. Maybe we’re too excited, or we’re afraid something won’t go well, or we just don’t want to do whatever it is we’re about to do. In When You Need Wings, author-illustrator Lita Judge’s evocative, expressive pencil-and-watercolor art shows a little girl who transforms her anxious energy from distressing to enervating, as the narrator encourages and motivates: “That isn’t your heart. It’s the sound of your very own wings, beating within.”

And so, the little girl who wordlessly resists entering the cacophonous playground at Little Dreamers Preschool takes a moment to focus inward. Ethereal white doves fly her away, and suddenly, she’s in a forest, cavorting with wild animals. The Maurice Sendak-style boogieing scenes are joyous and detailed, providing much to discover on repeat reads, from an alligator’s backward baseball cap to a squirrel’s chunky-knit sweater.

Confidence restored, the girl dashes onto the playground, where a gaggle of new friends welcome her. Attentive readers will notice that each new friend is wearing something reminiscent of the forest animals. Clever! It’s a happy, reassuring ending for a beautifully rendered tribute to the quiet kids whose imaginations help them find real-world tranquility and delight.

Paper Planes
In Jim Helmore and Richard Jones’ Paper Planes, we meet best friends and neighbors Mia and Ben, two kiddos who are really, really into making paper airplanes. They frolic with their dogs (who show adorable and assiduous interest in everything the children do), swing on tires, go sailing and plot to build an airplane that’ll make it all the way across the giant lake behind their houses.

Readers will love the kids’ bobblehead-esque proportions—all the better to showcase Mia’s red beret and Ben’s aviator goggles. Dramatic, chalk-textured sweeps of verdant landscape and fish-filled water beckon readers to contemplate what it would be like if (oh, no!) their best friend were to move far away. When it happens to her, Mia feels abandoned and angry, but then she has a wondrous dream: A flock of geese invite her and Ben to climb in planes and join them as they fly through the sky. When Mia awakens, her emotional storm has passed—and a package from Ben arrives in the mail. Won’t she help him finish the airplane he started?

It’s fun to follow Mia’s determined quest as she realizes that strong connections aren’t easily broken. After all, “not even an ocean could keep them apart.” Paper Planes is a meditative, uplifting tale about imagination, resourcefulness and new beginnings that’s sure to inspire an uptick in paper-airplane making.

Tips for Teachers is a monthly column in which experienced teacher and children’s librarian Emmie Stuart shares book recommendations and a corresponding teaching guide for fellow elementary school teachers.

In my first year of teaching, I taught fourth grade in a school where the students were mostly African American. My students familiar with the names Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln and Ruby Bridges. They connected these names with African American history, but their understanding was fragmented. When one of my students asked, “Was Abraham Lincoln at the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech?” I knew that something needed to be done to clarify—and more importantly, to honor—these figures and the history they represented.

An oversized hallway timeline was the answer. I started in February, and for the next three months, I shared books that recounted the contributions of African Americans to our shared history. After each title, my students and I printed pictures and wrote down facts to add to our timeline. This was the beginning of a tradition.

For the past ten years, when February arrives, I pull out the pieces of the timeline and coordinating books. But now, the row of books is far longer than the timeline. Each year brings new stories. There are stories of hatred and heroism, of injustice and integrity, of bigotry and bravery, of pain and perseverance. The stories in the following three books were new to my students—and new to me as well. Share them knowing that stories can be the most powerful weapon in our fight against injustice and the most effective tool for raising compassionate human beings.

Overground Railroad
written by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James Ransome

One morning, Ruthie and her Mama and Daddy wake early to board the Silver Meteor, which will take them from North Carolina to New York. Author Lesa Cline-Ransome tells of their journey through simple poems, each describing significant moments of their Great Migration. Though they are “free,” Ruthie’s family continues to face persecution; for example, they are not allowed to eat in the dining car and are ignored by some passengers. Their dream of a life with new freedoms helps them persevere with optimism and hope. The Great Migration is a period often overlooked in African American history curricula, and my students were full of questions sparked by Ruthie’s odyssey.

• Compare & Contrast

Most students are familiar with the Underground Railroad. On a piece of chart paper, write “Underground Railroad,” then create a list of what students know about it. Supplement a few details if needed. After reading Overground Railroad, explain that Overground Railroad is a term that refers to a historical period known as The Great Migration. I told students, “At the end of World War I, many African Americans left their homes in the South and traveled North for a better life in cities, where most of them had better chances of finding work. Ruthie’s family was going to New York. Other families went to big cities in Illinois, Pennsylvania or Michigan.” Read aloud Jacob Lawrence’s The Great Migration: An American Story and Eloise Greenfield’s The Great Migration: Journey to the North. On another sheet of chart paper, write what the students know about the Overground Railroad. Using the class’s information, create a Venn diagram comparing the Underground Railroad to the Overground Railroad.

• Biographies

Ruthie’s teacher gives her the a copy of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. It becomes her companion as she undertakes a journey much like Douglass’. Though they lived many years apart, Douglass and Ruthie both share feelings of hope and trepidation. Like Douglass, Ruthie is “running from and running to at the same time.”

Gather several picture book biographies and place them in a designated spot in your classroom. For the next few days, encourage your students to read several (ideally more than 10). Prompt them to consider which biography resonated with them. Ask, “How is this person’s life like your life? How is this person like you?” Turn this into a larger biography project with the understanding that, as a part of the project, students must connect this person’s life with their own.

A Ride to Remember
written by Sharon Langley and Amy Nathan, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

In this biographical picture book, Sharon Langley recounts the story of her monumental carousel ride. Prior to 1963, children like Shirley and their families were not allowed to enter the local amusement park because of a segregation law. The process of integration was not easy; it included peaceful protests and a series of arrests before the park became open to everyone. The narrative thread, a conversation between Sharon and her mother, makes the Civil Rights Movement accessible for the youngest of readers. By focusing on a small yet universal childhood experience, Sharon’s story will spark empathy as students see the weight and grief of injustice and how segregation affected the daily life of all African Americans.

• Significance of Objects

The Gwynne Oak Amusement Park carousel, renamed the Carousel on the Mall, was installed on Washington’s National Mall in 1981. Using Google Earth, show students the carousel. Ask, “Why is this carousel so important that it is deserves a place along the National Mall?” Guide them to the idea that historical objects are valuable and special because of what they symbolize. The carousel itself is just painted wooden horses, but it serves as a reminder of the our Civil Rights journey. It is a tangible representation of the idea that equality means “nobody first and nobody last, everyone equal, having fun together.” Show students other historical objects that are significant for what they represent. Using the Smithsonian’s online collection, we looked at the Greensboro lunch counter and a broken bus window and discussed what these objects represented in the fight for Civil Rights.

• Local Civil Rights History

A Ride to Remember focuses on an incident in a local community that was a small representation of what was happening on larger scale around the country. Contact your local library and ask if they have any Civil Rights resources that tell stories from your community. If possible, invite a guest speaker to come share their experience of growing up during this time.

• The March on Washington

Sharon’s historical ride occurred on Aug. 28, 1963—the same day that Martin Luther King addressed the crowd at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Give your students more context about this event by watching footage and reading aloud two excellent picture books, Shane W. Evans’ We March and Angela Johnson’s A Sweet Smell of Roses. Both books are told through the eyes of a child. Invite students to use what they have learned to write a first-person narrative imagining what it was like to be part of the march. Encourage them to include the sights, sounds, smells and sensory details of the day.

Big Papa and the Time Machine
written by Daniel Bernstrom, illustrated by Shane W. Evans

When a young grandson expresses first-day-of-school nerves, he becomes a passenger in Big Papa’s vintage car on a journey through the past. Together, the pair visits the places that formed Big Papa and determined the course of his life. Each stop shows Big Papa taking action despite his own nervousness and fear of the unknown that accompanies all significant transitions. Bernstrom writes dialogue between the two that’s honest and full of wisdom. Without veering into didactic or overly saccharine territory, Big Papa shows his grandson that courage is not the absence of fear, but the choice to carry on through it. Both the textual story (the journey through historical events) and the subtextual story (acknowledging and facing our fears) are strong testaments to the courage and sacrifices of older generations and will help students understand that the freedoms and privileges they enjoy today were hard-earned.

• Time Travel

Oh, time travel, that most magical of concepts! Invite older students to plan their own journey though the past. As a class, brainstorm historical events to get ideas flowing, then let students take over with their own ideas. My students’ journeys included everything from “The 1998 National Championship game,” “my mother’s high school graduation,” “the 1960 Olympics, so I can watch Wilma Rudolph” and “my first day of kindergarten.”

Use butcher paper to create a long timeline. Let students work together to determine the earliest year of their journeys and then to decide how to mark the other years. After the timeline structure is in place, let each student add their journey stops to the timeline.

• Bravery Interviews

Big Papa acknowledges his fear and nerves at each new situation, but he explains, “ . . . sometimes you have to jump in an ocean of scared.” Later, Big Papa tells his grandson that being scared never goes away.

When I was in elementary school, I thought adults were never afraid. After I read this book to my students, I shared a few understandable instances in my life when I felt nervous and scared. Like Big Papa, persevering through these fears resulted in growth and joy. Ask students to interview parents, grandparents or other adults in the school. As a class, create some questions so that students will have purpose and clarity in their interviews. Realizing that everyone has fears and uncertainty can be a liberating concept for children. This exercise gives them assurance that their personal fears are not unusual or wrong.

Tips for Teachers is a monthly column in which experienced teacher and children’s librarian Emmie Stuart shares book recommendations and a corresponding teaching guide for fellow elementary school teachers.

In the spring of my junior year of high school, I was assigned The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. But staying true to form, I went rogue. My wayward book of choice was Anna Quindlen’s How Reading Changed My Life, a slim book I discovered nestled on my mom’s bookshelf. And change my life it did. In her personal love letter to reading, Quindlen writes:

“In books I have traveled, not only to other worlds, but into my own. I learned who I was and who I wanted to be, what I might aspire to, and what I might dare to dream about my world and myself. More powerfully and persuasively than from the ‘shall nots’ of the Ten Commandments, I learned the difference between good and evil, right and wrong.”

I have never posted rules in my library. I have never delivered an anti-bullying lecture. I have never given a child a “you can be anything you want to be” pep talk. But I believe deeply in library behavior, compassion for all and student empowerment. So how do I address these issues with my students? Through bibliotherapy.

Bibliotherapy uses books to create an entry point into the social and emotional lives of students. Any teacher will tell you that SEL (social emotional learning) is a hot topic in the education world—as it should be. Children often have trouble naming and expressing their emotions. Sometimes they express their feelings in ways that violate the peace of the library and of other students.

Books offer children places to see feelings validated through characters and story. Stories help children encounter issues from an objective viewpoint before gently guiding them to personal application, sparking self-awareness and empathy. For teachers, books can be nonthreatening points of entry, doorways into sensitive discussions. When unkindness or deliberate exclusion occur among our students, we can stand and lecture like Charlie Brown’s teacher, or we can gather the children around us on the rug with Eleanor Estes’ The Hundred Dresses: “Today, Monday, Wanda Petronski was not in her seat. But nobody, not even Peggy and Madeline, the girls who started all the fun, noticed her absence.”

In the spirit of Quindlen’s description, the following books invite students to travel through words and pictures into the worlds of others, as well to the worlds of their own minds and hearts. These books help them discover who they were, who they are and who they aspire to be, whether in the next hour or in their dreams. They serve as validation, affirmation and excellent launching points for classroom discussions.

Paolo, Emperor of Rome
written by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Claire Keane

Paolo the dachshund lives in Rome, the Eternal City filled with “fountains, food, and music.” It is, “above all, a place of freedom”—but for Paolo, Rome is not a place of freedom. He is confined to Signora Pianostrada’s hair salon, where he sits with his nose pressed against the window and longs for a chance to explore the city. One morning, someone leaves the salon door ajar, and Paolo escapes into the beauty and chaos of Rome. He scampers around the city, visiting cafes and cathedrals, temples and statues. When challenges (city cats, alley dogs and falling nuns, among others) arise, Paolo confronts them with a tenacious spirit and heroic energy. With a lovable pup at its heart, this cinematic tale heralds bold self-assurance and valor.

• Self-perceptive art

Signora Pianostrada calls him “Lazy Paolo,” but Paolo’s heart and self-perception is the opposite. In his dreams, he zooms around on a scooter and balances trays of Italian food on the tip of his nose. (Be sure to show children this illustration.) Discuss how our self-perceptions (try using the word “view”) are sometimes different and much more important than how others perceive us.

Ask the following questions: “Can you think of a time when someone called you something that hurt your feelings because it wasn’t true? Maybe they called you lazy, mean, shy, dumb or too rowdy? Do you see yourself this way, or do you see yourself differently?” Tell students that they are going to be like Paolo and draw versions of “their best self.” Before having this discussion with a first grade class, I drew a picture of myself as a first grader. I was holding a book and looking down at the floor, but in my dreams, I was building my own backyard flower shop and running track like Wilma Rudolph.

• Peaceful hearts

When he watches the sunrise wash the city in a pink light, Paolo’s heart is “at peace.” Walk your students through a peaceful heart mindfulness activity. Before beginning the exercise, invite students to articulate why they think Paolo’s heart is at peace. I made a script to use with my students. You can find it here.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our starred review of Paolo, Emperor of Rome.

An Ordinary Day
written by Elana K. Arnold, illustrated by Elizabet Vukovic

At first glance, it seems to be another ordinary day in the neighborhood. Mrs. LaFleur waters her roses, Kai and Joseph hunt for reptiles, and Magnificent the Crow caws in disapproval. Amid the morning neighborhood bustle, two houses sit “unusually quiet.” A car pulls up in front of each house, and two stethoscope-wearing visitors emerge. A female doctor quietly knocks on the door of one house, and a male veterinarian quietly knocks on the other. Two stories unfold simultaneously. What is an ordinary day for most of the neighborhood becomes an extraordinary day for these two families.

In one house, the doctor helps a mother as she brings new life into the world. In the other house, the veterinarian oversees the death of the family’s pet dog. When the “final breath was exhaled” and the “first breath was inhaled,” each is surrounded by family and love. Spare and sensitive, An Ordinary Day gently addresses the fragility of life, the nature of love and the power of small moments.

• “I spy” awareness activity

Without fail, when I pull out blocks or building logs and let students have free building time, an unfortunate event inevitably follows: One student always accidentally knocks over another student’s creation. I always wonder, how did they not see that tower in the middle of the floor? Many children have trouble noticing their environment. Use an awareness game to help students practice social and spacial awareness.

An Ordinary Day begins with small, ordinary neighborly activities. Ask children, “What are some of the things on your street, in your home or in our classroom that happen every day?” List student responses on the board. Invite children to wonder with you. “I wonder if we are forgetting things because they are so ordinary that we don’t even notice them.”

Take students to the playground or another school room or hallway. Tell them that it is their job to “spy” the details that are happening around them. When you return to the classroom, help students connect their observations with an appropriate behavior. For example, “I spy a long line by the slide. Maybe I should go to the fort first.” If you observed a hallway, you might say, “The first graders’ artwork is hanging on the wall, so I’m not going to lean against this wall.”

• Bibliotherapy

The birth of a sibling and the death of a beloved family pet are enormous and impactful events in the life of a young child. The classroom can be a safe place for them to discuss the big feelings that accompany these changes. Hearing friends share similar feelings can be comforting. Encountering these experiences and feelings in the context of a book can be equally comforting.

If possible, purchase or check out books that deal with new siblings, the death of a pet and other common changes. Keep them in a special basket and encourage children to read them whenever they are sad, confused or frustrated because of changes in their lives. Some of my favorite titles include Judith Viorst’s The Tenth Good Thing About Barney, Corinne Demas’ Saying Goodbye to Lulu, Bill Cochran’s The Forever Dog, Susan Eaddy’s Poppy’s Best Babies, Kevin Henkes’ Julius, the Baby of the World and Russell Hoban’s A Baby Sister for Frances.

Are Your Stars Like My Stars?
written by Leslie Helakoski, illustrated by Heidi Woodward Sheffield

This lyrical concept book invites children to consider how families around the world experience color. Each double-page spread showcases a color through a sensory-filled stanza that concludes with a refrain in the form of a question. A family picking apples begins the red exploration: “When you stroll in an orchard, / do sweet smells fill your head? / Is the fruit bold and flashy? / Is your red . . . ” The page turn reveals a family surrounded by red Chinese New Year lanterns and finishes the refrain, “ . . . like my red?” Without resorting to didactic or heavy-handed prose, the book invokes curiosity, empathy and global unity. To quote one of my kindergarteners, “The world is big. Huge. I mean, it’s the whole universe! But we all see colors, so it’s actually really small.”

• Color association

Gather oversized sheets of colored paper. Have students sit on the floor with clipboards or at their desks. Stand or sit in front of your students and tell them, “Close your eyes. When I say open them, I want you to look at me. In my hand will be a piece of colored paper. Write down one or two images that come to mind when you see the color that I am holding. For example, when I first saw this dark green paper, I thought of my ivy plant and the couch that was in my family’s den for years.” After the exercise, invite children to share their associations. Remind them that this is not a time to think of the funniest thing to share, but rather a time to understand how colors represent different things for all of us.

• Culture study artwork

Provide children with photo atlases and books with vibrant and clear photographs of children and places around the world. National Geographic Kids has a great collection of online videos, as well. Let students choose a country and create a piece of artwork based on a color association that represents the country. For example, for a child living in England, red might mean the color of double-decker buses, while for a child living in India, blue might be the color of a peacock. Incorporate social emotional learning concepts by discusing how daily life is different for children around the world. Use the discussion to introduce the understanding that, although these differences can seem big, the similarities in our lives are even bigger. For further reading, I recommend Jenny Sue Kostecki Shaw’s Same, Same but Different and Norah Dooley’s Everybody Cooks Rice.

When there’s thunder and lightning, people and wild creatures alike head for safe places to stay dry and ride out dangerous weather. Two beautiful and reassuring new picture books relate stories of characters who shelter together during summer thunderstorms. 

Together We Grow is the debut picture book from Susan Vaught, neuropsychologist by day and author by night, who has something to say about inclusion in this tale of barn creatures facing a harsh nighttime storm. In spare, eloquent rhyming couplets—“Lightning gash! Windy lash!”—the book opens as fierce weather drives a frightened fox and its cubs to a barn full of animals. After the animals tell the fox to scram (“Go away! We’re full today!”), a small, unassuming duck heads outside to assist the fox family and convince the other animals to allow some space in the barn—and in their hearts. 

Illustrator Kelly Murphy employs a color palette of deep, rich blues that juxtapose marvelously against the vivid oranges and yellows of the foxes, the duck and the warm light of the barn’s interior. Several spreads, including those toward the end of the book when the storm has passed, are lush and cinematic, and Murphy wields light and shadow to dramatic effect. The two-page spread in which the duck calls to the fox and its family to invite them inside is particularly striking; the duck stands in front of a block of yellow interior barn light, which accentuates the hope and promise embedded in an otherwise foreboding scene. Unusual perspectives and angles, many of them aerial, make for visually dynamic moments. 

Vaught’s depiction of furry farm life leans toward anthropomorphism, avoiding the messy biology of the food chain as it delivers a poignant message about embracing those who are different and caring for neighbors during difficult circumstances: “Learn and show / together we grow.” 

When the Storm Comes also unfolds in rhyming couplets, but author Linda Ashman adds a call-and-response structure: “Where do you go when the sky turns gray— / When the grasses bend and the treetops sway? / We gather here below the eaves. / We roost beneath some sturdy leaves.” Ashman’s use of the first-person collective “we” suggests that we’re all in this together. Like Vaught, Ashman considers how various creatures, including humans, respond to dangerous weather. Some of these creatures—a house cat, a pet dog—dwell indoors, while others, such as a hive of bees and a family of rabbits nestled in a hollow log, make their homes outside. Ashman’s narrative continues into the storm’s aftermath, depicting both cleanup efforts and a communal celebration of sunny skies. 

Illustrator Taeeun Yoo sets When the Storm Comes in a coastal town; among the humans’ preparation efforts, boats must be latched and tied in this neck of the woods. The comforting curves of Yoo’s linework give way to harder lines of flashing lightning and driving rains as the tempest arrives. Though storms are scary, there’s a cozy feeling when all the humans, along with the pet dog, gather inside to play a game, share stories and “curl up tight.” Once the storm has passed, Yoo returns to her signature soft and warm illustrations in this satisfying story of community.

These two books offer children an empathetic look at what it’s like for animals who fear storms just like we humans do. Readers will be comforted to see communities come together to stay safe during wild weather.

Tips for Teachers is a monthly column in which experienced teacher and children’s librarian Emmie Stuart shares book recommendations and a corresponding teaching guide for fellow elementary school teachers.

I’ve been meeting with my students virtually for about eight weeks. Last week, I asked them to share what they miss most about school. Most of them answered without hesitation: They miss their friends.

Childhood friendships are some of the most formative, intense and enriching friendships we’ll ever have. My best friend from kindergarten came to town this weekend. Spending time with her renewed my weary spirit and reminded me that there is life beyond face masks and virtual happy hours. As Alexander McCall Smith writes in The Ladies’ No. 1 Detective Agency, “You can go through life and make new friends every year—every month practically—but there was never any substitute for those friendships of childhood.”

The following two books demonstrate the tenderness and joy of childhood friendships.

My Best Friend
By Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki

A little girl meets a new friend at a park. Her new friend “laughs at everything” and is “so smart.” The two girls learn more about each other as they twirl, create, pretend and explore the park together. Their adventures and commonalities lead the narrator to the conclusion that “she is my best friend / i think.” Only at the story’s end does author Julie Fogliano reveal that the girls have yet to know each other’s names.

Making predictions before reading
Students who are asked to make predictions before they read will form connections between their own personal knowledge and what they discover in a book. This is a great strategy for keeping readers actively engaged.

Before reading, hold up the cover of My Best Friend and ask, “What do you predict will happen to the two girls you see here? Why do you think the illustrator used only two shades of colors? Do you have a best friend? What makes a best friend? How do we make new friends?”

The whole book approach
Educator and children’s literature scholar Megan Dowd Lambert created the whole book approach as a way to invite children to engage with all the parts of a picture book—not just the story but also the illustrations and production and design elements—in order to support both visual and verbal literacy. My Best Friend provides ample opportunities to try this approach with young readers. Here are some elements you can discuss.

Typography
Text placement throughout the book varies; there are only a few capital letters (the words “LOVES” and “HATES” are written in all caps), and the only punctuation is a period after the book’s final phrase. Show students the page with “skeleton hand” leaves; the word “Boo” is capitalized and set in a larger size that spans across the page. Ask, “How does the size and shape of this word show us how to read it?” A few cursive letters illustrate the narrator’s “fanciest” handwriting. Ask students whether they think these letters are part of the book’s text or its illustrations.

Color
My Best Friend employs a limited color palette dominated by warm, rosy peaches and deep forest greens. Ask students why they think illustrator Jillian Tamaki chose these colors.

Lines and white space
The illustrations’ ample white space and the book’s white background keep visual focus on the book’s vignettes and full-spread images. Several of the vignettes run off the edge of the page. The illustrations contain many fine lines that add texture and movement, and the girls’ adventures are dominated by curves and swirling lines. Prompt students to speculate about what kinds of artistic materials illustrator Jillian Tamaki used to create the images. What is the effect of her choice to “cut off” some of the images on the edge of the page?

Production elements
Underneath the dust jacket, the book’s case cover features a wraparound illustration of the girls playing hide-and-seek. Ask students to reflect on this image before and after reading the book. The book’s front and back endpapers are a warm chestnut shade of brown, while its back jacket is forest green. Ask students to speculate about why these two colors were chosen. The book has a strong portrait orientation. Discuss why this shape was the best choice for the book.

Cross-curricular activities
With a little creative thinking, it’s easy to create activities that incorporate picture books into many parts of the curriculum. Here are a few ideas for activities to extend learning after reading My Best Friend.

Personal reflection
Discuss what activities students like to do with friends. What is something about ourselves that our good friends understand? Invite younger students to respond to these prompts and the discussion through drawings or other visual art. Invite older students to respond through journaling.

Nature art
The two girls in My Best Friend make skeleton hands out of leaves. Take students outside and give them time to create something from items they find. Divide them into small groups to share their creations.

Similarities and opposites
The narrator of My Best Friend hates strawberry ice cream, but her new best friend loves it. Divide students into pairs and let them interview each other. Each pair must determine one way in which they are alike and one way in which they are different. Gather students back together and prompt them to share what they learned about one another.

Creative movement
The narrator makes her new friend laugh by pretending to be a pickle. Divide students into pairs. Ask one partner to name a noun; their partner must act out the word.

How to Be a Pirate
By Isaac Fitzgerald, illustrated by Brigette Barrager

When her aspirations are squashed by neighborhood boys who tell her she can’t be a pirate, CeCe visits her grandfather. She asks him, “What’s it like to be a pirate?” Using his tattoos as inspiration, Grandpa tells CeCe that pirates are brave, quick, fun and independent—but the most important thing a pirate needs is love. Her spirit renewed, CeCe returns to the boys with an emboldened and tenacious spirit. How to Be a Pirate wonderfully explores themes of intergenerational friendship, self-confidence and imaginative play.

Dialogic read aloud
Read How to Be a Pirate once straight through without stopping. Then read it again and pause to ask the following questions and to discuss students’ responses.

• How do you think CeCe feels on the title page of the book? What makes you say that?
• Before CeCe goes inside Grandpa’s house, what do the illustrations tell us about Grandpa?
• Once the illustrations show us Grandpa’s living room, what clues can you find to tell you even more about him?
• Why does CeCe believe that Grandpa can teach her how to be a pirate?
• Are CeCe and Grandpa really on a ship or in a jungle? What evidence can you find in the illustrations?
• Do you notice anything about the dog?
• Grandpa says pirates must be independent. Do you agree? Why or why not?
• How does Grandpa show CeCe that he loves her?
• What other traits can you think of that would help CeCe face the boys and be a pirate?

Writing letters
Ask students to think about different types of friends. For many students, conceptualizing a grandparent, a beloved pet or a cousin as a “friend” will be a novel idea, so ask students to think about a friend who is not in their classroom or in their grade level. Give them time to make a list of the ways this friend enriches their life, then guide students in transforming their lists into letters to their friends. Be sure to provide logistical instructions on how to fold, address and mail the letter.

Future homes
Readers learn so much about Grandpa through Brigette Barrager’s illustrations of his home. Ask students about their goals for when they are older. Provide pieces of oversized drawing paper and drawing supplies and challenge them to draw a house that reflects their future aspirations. For example, a librarian’s house might have lots of bookshelves and a Little Free Library in the front yard. An artist’s or musician’s home might have a studio. Encourage them to add details to their houses’ interiors and exteriors.

Gender stereotypes
Children receive messages about gender norms from birth. Invite students to categorize imaginative play activities as “for girls” or “for boys.” Let their responses guide you toward questions that give them space to consider why they consider activities to be divided between these categories. Provide time for them to share moments when they were excluded from playing with others or stereotyped because of their gender.

Tips for Teachers is a monthly column in which experienced teacher and children’s librarian Emmie Stuart shares book recommendations and a corresponding teaching guide for fellow elementary school teachers.

A contemporary Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama is often called “the princess of polka dots.” Ella Baker was an activist in the American civil rights movement. Flannery O’Connor is considered one of the greatest American writers. At first glance, these three women and their life’s work overlap very little. But as I learned more about Kusama, Baker and O’Connor from these these three books, I was struck by two commonalities: Each woman held tight to strong ideals and personal convictions, and these ideals and convictions the driving force behind their work—work that became their legacy and affected the future for generations.

As I sit here typing this, I’m wearing a long-sleeved sweatshirt covered with subtle polka dots. Next to my chair is a stack of reading material; the pile includes the July 2020 issue of Rolling Stone magazine with Kadir Nelson’s protest artwork on its cover, and my book club’s September selection, A Good Man Is Hard to Find, O’Connor’s short story collection. The traces of these three women in my little bubble of personal space are but a small reflection of their wide-reaching, significant and lasting cultural impact.

Kusama, Baker and O’Connor each touched the future, but much of their work was accomplished behind the scenes. They didn’t seek the spotlight or cave to societal expectations. Perhaps this is why their names are not well recognized in schools across the United States. Perhaps this is why their stories remain largely untold. When classes begin again, I look forward to introducing my students to Kusama and her polka dots, to Baker and her peaceful protests and to Flannery and her peacocks.

Yayoi Kusama Covered Everything in Dots and Wasn’t Sorry
by Fausto Gilberti

As a child growing up Matsumoto, Japan, Yayoi Kusama loved drawing and longed for the day when she could travel to learn about artists around the world. She moved to America and was a struggling artist until Georgia O’Keefe took interest in her work and connected her with an art gallery. Soon Kusama’s modern and experimental artwork gained recognition and she began making films, outfits and mirrored rooms. When she returned to Japan, she continued to work, always pushing boundaries and adding her trademark polka dots to everything from pumpkins to dresses to walls. This story of Kusama’s boundary-breaking artwork is an excellent way to introduce students to a new artist and to the concept of modern art.

• Design an Infinity Room

Show students photographs of Kusama’s infinity rooms and watch these two videos. Discuss the concepts of repetition and infinity. As a class, talk through the design of an infinity room. Discuss its theme and how the theme will be carried and enforced throughout the room. Write notes on a piece of chart paper, then let students work independently or in pairs to brainstorm, design, draw and color their personal infinity room.

• Celebrate Dot Day

Each September, children around the world celebrate International Dot Day. Pair this book with Peter Reynolds’ The Dot and invite students to stretch the boundary of what constitutes a dot. In Reynolds’ book, a teacher challenges a resistant little girl to “make her mark.” Lead a class discussion on artists who made their mark and ask students to explain how Yayoi Kusama continues to make her mark in the world. 

Provide students with a large variety of art supplies (including different colors of paper and several forms of artistic mediums) and let them create polka dot art. Provide dot stickers in a range of sizes for students who wish to take that approach. If possible, display images of Kusama’s artwork around the classroom room for inspiration.

Lift as You Climb: The Story of Ella Baker
by Patricia Hruby Powell,
illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Growing up under the bright North Carolina sun, young Ella Baker listened to her grandfather’s sermons, her grandmother’s stories and her mother’s gentle admonition to “lift as you climb.” Their influential words guided her as she grew up to become a leader in the civil rights movement who worked tirelessly to make sure that people of all backgrounds and classes were represented in the fight for equal rights. Working alongside prominent figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and members of the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Baker focused on grassroots efforts that sought change “from the bottom up.” She gathered other like-minded people, “workers, partners, believers—mostly women,” and together they visited community institutions such as bars, schools and bootblack parlors to make sure that people of all backgrounds were educated about their rights. She always left people with her personal driving question, “What do you hope to accomplish?”

Ella’s life was one of quiet and persistent leadership. She didn’t seek the spotlight, but instead dedicated her energy and effort toward meeting with individual people and encouraging them to “lift and climb.” Too often students learn about vocal, outgoing leaders with little attention given to the figures outside the limelight who make just as much of a difference by faithfully serving and loving their communities. Ella’s life and the question she asked others, “What do you hope to accomplish?” illustrates how every person has the power to make a difference.

• Grassroot Efforts

“Ella worked from the bottom up— /from the grass roots.” Explain the concept of grassroots organizing as it applies to politics and community change. It can be a tricky idea for students to grasp, but discussing practical action steps and showing students examples of grassroots efforts will help them conceptualize it. Read Andrea Beaty’s Sofia Valdez, Future Prez and F. Isabel Campoy’s Maybe Something Beautiful, then let students articulate how the characters in these books created community change through grassroots efforts. Remind students of Ella’s driving question, “What do you hope to accomplish?” Give them a few minutes or an evening to consider what change they would like to see in their school or community. Afterward, give them time to discuss with each other ideas for small “grassroots” action steps that would help make progress toward their goals.

• Current Event Connection

2020 has been a historic year in the United States. Ask students what they know about the events and social movements that have taken place all over the country. With older students, read news stories about peaceful protests and about those that became violent and discuss the differences between the two. Ask students to consider how Ella Baker might have responded to this year’s events. Using the information learned from the book, help students use inferencing and synthesizing skills to articulate what they think Ella Baker would be doing to support and further social justice if she was still alive today.

The Strange Birds of Flannery O’Connor
by Amy Alznauer,
illustrated by Ping Zhu

“Right from the start young Flannery took a shine to chickens.” Perhaps she connected with them because her pigeon toes and big imagination caused her to feel “like kind of an odd bird herself.” Using birds as a connecting thread, Alznauer tells the story of Flannery O’Connor’s life, from her days struggling to fit in at a girls prep school to the ways she found solace in her writing, before concluding with her early death. From her time spent at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop to the years she spent on her family farm with her peacocks, O’Connor constantly observed people and their choices. She realized if she studied something hard enough, “she could always discover some hidden strangeness, making it beautiful and funny and sad all at the same time.” By paying attention to her oddities, unique worldview and her fascination with chickens and peacocks, Alznauer paints a realistic and relatable picture of one of America’s great writers. Though they will not encounter her writing until they are older, O’Connor’s diligent work ethic, her bizarre characters and her love of strange birds are sure to make an impression on students.

• Peculiar Pet Persuasive Paragraphs

From chickens to peacocks, Flannery had some peculiar pets. Give students time to research their “dream” pet. Use this writing activity to review the process of gathering and recording important and valid information. After they have finished collecting information, guide students into using it to write a persuasive letter to their parents. Write three or four questions on a piece of chart paper and remind students that they must address each question at some point in their letter. Provide an outline for younger students to scaffold their first persuasive letter draft.

• Short Story Study

Flannery O’Connor’s short stories are read and studied around the world. Short stories and short story collections are often overlooked in the elementary school classroom. Teach a quick short story mini-lesson; emphasize the idea that a short story is a short piece of fiction with a beginning, middle and end. Read an example of a strong short story and then provide several short story collections containing authors from diverse backgrounds and stories with diverse themes, genres and characters. 



Some of my favorites include Virginia Hamilton’s Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales, Betsy Bird’s Funny Girl: Funniest. Stories. Ever., James Herriot’s Treasury for Children and Angela McAllister’s A Year Full of Stories: 52 Classic Stories From All Around the World.

For the next couple of days, allow children time to read selections from the collections. With younger students, read one or two stories aloud each day for a couple of weeks. At the conclusion of the study, older students can share their favorite short story or practice writing their own and younger students can illustrate a scene from their favorite story.