Bats at the Ballgame (Brian Lies)

 

Fun for kids who love bats (or when you do a bat unit!). The bats are characters in the story...doesn't really teach about bats. 

Goodreads says:

We’re off to watch the bats play ball!

You’ll never forget your first game: the green so green, the presence of heroes past, and togetherness with family and friends, rooting for the home team.

But you think humans are the only ones who enjoy America’s national pastime? Grab your bat—the other kind—and your mitt, and join these captivating bats as they flutter off to watch their all-stars compete. How about a mothdog?  Or some Cricket Jack?

In sweeping compositions that transport fans to the rightside-up and upside-down world of bats at play, Brian Lies treats us to a whole new ballgame.

Dinosaur Bob And His Adventure With the Family Lazardo (William Joyce)

October 12, 2018: After we read this book, one of my students had put on his Special Student poster that the pet he would most like to have is a whale! It was totally plausible to everyone because we knew of Dinosaur Bob.

Re-read Feb 10, 2020: My class LOVED this story. It is a great example of use of imagination and entertaining. Who wouldn't want a dinosaur for a pet?!

Goodreads comments:
" it’s a charming little tale totally for young readers out there who want to travel to exotic places, love baseball, and wishfully dream of a dinosaur for a pet."
 - Apokripos

 I like this story because it is different from most children's stories because there is not a moral at the end of the story, it is a story for the sake of a story. No grand lesson to be learned. I think this book would be wonderful in the elementary grades. It could be included in a unit on love, the love the Lazardo family has for Bob and the fact that they are ready to walk away from their home rather than be separated from him. 
- Melissa



Goodreads says:
Proclaimed "the most adorable of dinos" by The New York Times, Bob is grander and greener than ever in a definitive new edition of modern picture book classic. This deluxe volume features seven new illustrations, an additional adventure, and a song ("The Ballad of Dinosaur Bob"), with easy-to-play arrangements.

Breadcrumbs (Anne Ursu)

 

I love this book!! It is brilliantly written. It captures beautifully the magic of imagination alive with children. It makes you wonder if we all shouldn't stay in that phase of life. It is a book a well-read child would really get. And best of all, the princess has to save the prince! It made my feminist heart proud.

The story is about a girl named Hazel who has a best friend named Jack. Girls' and boys' can be best friends, of course, but there comes a time in life where people start thinking it's not okay. Hazel is at that point in life. Her friend Jack seems to be turning away and hanging out with boys more. Hazel knows something is wrong and only she can save him because only she knows the truth - his heart has been frozen by the White Witch. She has to do something! Sometimes the princess CAN save the prince. And sometimes kids DO know more than adults, and luckily they have magic and imagination on their side.

This book is full of themes that kid's face: leaving the magical world of imagination and growing up, figuring out who you really are (p. 176), learning to fit in (p. 17), or realizing it's okay to not fit in, being stifled by school and it's silly rules (p. 10), being adopted (p. 17), being a proper young lady like people expect you to be (p. 9) and relationships with parents. In this book the parents are lost in their own world and really no help to the kids because either they don't believe, or they're too busy with their own issues to even know the big problems the kids are facing...just like in all fairy tales. Parents and adults are totally peripheral.

The bread crumb theme was really interesting. I think the purpose of that was to talk about how sometimes you have to follow the clues that are left to comfort yourself, and sometimes you have to follow them to save yourself. (p. 15, p. 150)

I love how the author brings fairy tale characters into this story. It is brilliant! Because the characters in this story are familiar with so many great stories, they're able to build their lives around rich imaginative play. It is powerful! (p.224) Hazel's friendship with Jack is a strong one because he is the only person she knows who sees things for what they could be instead of what they are. Together they can see what lives beyond the edges of what your eyes take in. (p. 20)

Stories and books referenced:

p. 2 Narnia
p. 13 Wrinkle in Time
p. 31 The Golden Compass
p. ? Harry Potter
p. 161 Red Riding Hood
p. 164 Alive in Wonderland
p. 168 a woodsman
p. 171 Dorothy (red shoes)
p. 176 3 witches/fairies....from Cinderella??
p. 187 the witch from Sleeping Beauty?? she wanted to be beautiful....swan lady
p. 200 Hansel and Gretel (only Hansel's name is Ben)
p. 220 magic potions abound!
p. 224 a couple who turn little girls into flowers so they can keep them (??)
All through out part 2 there are wolves....they seem bad. Wolves are always bad in fairy tales right?  But on p. 252 she realizes these woods are ones where the woodsman tells lies, and so maybe the wolves are telling the truth (and they are!)
p. 253 the Little Match Girl
And of course, there is a magical object they use to save themselves from danger (a signed baseball!)

Brothers At Bat (Audrey Vernick)

If my dad were still alive I'd buy him this book to read to kids!

The  Acerra family had twelve boys and four girls, and a dog named Pitch. They loved baseball. For 22 years in a row their high school baseball team had an Acerra on it! In 1938 they formed their own semi-pro team and completed against other teams in New Jersey. Their dad was the coach. It was a family game for them and they loved playing it together.

They were the longest playing all brothers baseball team ever.

I love the illustrations in this book too.