Emma and Kate (Patricia Polacco)

 

After we discussed what genre this story was, my students had many reasons why it was fantasy fiction. However, someone asked why some of the pictures were black and white and some were in color. We went back and looked at it. Suddenly one student brought up the idea that Kate might be imaginary because she told her parents about Kate and they said that she has such a good imagination. After that, we had a great discussion about their imaginary friends.

Goodreads says:

That adorable Emma Kate has an imaginary friend.They walk to school together every morning, and sit together in class.They sleep over at each other’s houses, and do their homework side by side.They even have their tonsils out and eat gallons of pink ice cream together. But a hilarious twist ending will have readers realizing there’s more to this imaginary friend than meets the eye!

Another of Polacco’s immensely popular younger books, Emma Kate is a wonderfully original story of pretend play and real friendship.

Chalk (Bill Thomson)

 

I used this during summer school for writing stories. It is a wordless book, similar to the story of Harold and the Purple Crayon or Bad Day at Riverbend. Beautiful illustrations! 

Goodreads says:

Three children discover a magical bag of chalk on a rainy day

Harold and the Purple Crayon (Johnson Crockett)

 

This is a super cute and simple book. It's been made into a movie! I feel like there is great potential for this in our imagination unit. It could also be paired with the book Bad Day at Riverbend, by Chris Van Alsberg. Interestingly, his website says Harold and the Purple Crayon was his favorite book when he was a child! 

Bad Day at Riverbend (Chris Van Alsberg)

 

Chris VanAlsberg is brilliant.

Goodreads says:
Master artist and storyteller Chris Van Allsburg presents a surrealistic journey into the imagination. This provocative story within a story leads readers to ponder the realities of fictional worlds and the lives of the characters who populate them. Riverbend was a quiet little town, the kind of place where one day was just like all the rest and nothing ever happened. Occasionally the stagecoach rolled through, but it never stopped, because no one ever came to Riverbend and no one ever left. The day the stagecoach stood motionless in the center of town, Sheriff Ned Hardy knew something was terribly wrong. What was the mysterious substance on both coach and horses? It would not come off. Soon it was everywhere in the tidy little village. Something had to be done, and Sheriff Hardy aimed to do it. From two-time Caldecott winner Chris Van Allsburg, creator of Jumanji and The Polar Express.

Miss Smith's Incredible Storybook (Michael Garland)

 

Love this story!! Nothing like having stories come to life and having the characters come right out of the book! 

Goodreads says:

When Zack meets his second-grade teacher, Miss Smith, he can tell right away that her class will be different. However, he has no idea just how different it will be.

Zack can't wait for Mrs. Smith to read out loud again from her incredible book. The first story fills the classroom with dueling pirates and the sound of their clashing swords. The second story transports Zack's class to the shady forest of the Big Bad Wolf. At the end of each spellbinding tale the characters slip quietly back into the book. But one day Mrs. Smith is late for school, and the principal takes charge. When he runs away in terror from a fire-breathing dragon, Zack and his classmates set free the rest of the story-book characters and have a morning of high-spirited fun... until they notice that the pirates have hoisted their Jolly Roger on the roof of the school.

My Tree (Hope Lim)

 

This would work with plant life cycles, extreme weather, storms, etc. It would also be a good topic of discussion in our imagination unit.

Goodreads says:

When a young boy's beloved plum tree falls in a storm, he feels like he's lost both a friend and a connection to his old home.

A young boy, recently arrived from Korea, finds a glorious plum tree in his new backyard. It reminds him of a tree his family had back home, and he names it Plumee for the deep purple plums on its branches. Whenever the boy is homesick, he knows he can take shelter in Plumee's tall branches.

And when a storm brings the old tree down, he and his friends have all kinds of adventures on its branches, as it becomes a dragon, a treehouse, and a ship in their imaginations. But soon it's time to say goodbye when the remains of the tree are taken away. Before long, a new plum tree is planted, new blossoms bloom, and a new friendship takes root.

Snow Globe Family (S.D. Schindler)

 

Perfect for a snowy day like today! Today our world is like a snow globe! The little family and the big family live parallel lives. Good review about what parallel means! 

My class loved the little family. The picture are hilarious - especially when the snow globe is being shook and all the family goes flying. They also loved the small man in the tub getting flung out and the baby peering into the snow globe. He was HUGE!

Goodreads says:

"Oh, when will it snow again?" wonders the little family who lives in the snow globe. They long for a swirling snowstorm--if only someone in the big family would pick up the snow globe and give it a great big shake. Baby would love to. She alone notices the little family. She gazes longingly at their snowy little world, but the snow globe is up way too high for her to reach. Then, when a real snowstorm sends the big children outside sledding in the moonlight, Baby finds herself alone in the parlor. . . . Will the snow globe family at last get a chance to go sledding too?

As readers follow the parallel adventures of both families, big and little, they will take special pleasure in the miniature world of the snow globe, where the skating pond is the size of a shiny quarter and a snowman is no bigger than a sugar cube.

The Noisy Paintbox

 

Amazing story about a boy whose senses seem to merge. This blew my class' mind! We know a lot about the senses, about sound and about colors and how to mix them. We did not know that they can have such a connection! 

Goodreads says:

In this exuberant celebration of creativity, Barb Rosenstock and Mary Grandpre tell the fascinating story of Vasily Kandinsky, one of the very first painters of abstract art. Throughout his life, Kandinsky experienced colors as sounds, and sounds as colors--and bold, groundbreaking works burst forth from his noisy paint box.

Ollie's Odyssey (William Joyce)

 

As I read this book, I started to realize I did know this author. I love The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore and it doesn't surprise me that this book is by the same author. He seems to have a romanticized approach to childhood....and it's really something to soak up and enjoy. All the books that my public library has by him look very intriguing....I'm going down that rabbit hole! I do think that elementary students would enjoy this book. They may look at the imaginative life as juvenile...but my gut says something in it would draw them to it since they're not too far removed from toys and imaginative play. I don't think they'd be as slightly annoyed as I felt by the silly words throughout the book. Every kid thinks they can be a heroic rescuer....and this one story would be a great way to relive that. The whole thing made me wish I could go find the old toys I once loved. 

In this book, the villain is a clown that was never loved. My heart kind of broke for him in the end. He's a bully that needs some love. And in the end, he finds his love. 

Text to text connections: The Velveteen Rabbit, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

- Toy World pages where reign of terror under Zozo, pages are a stained yellowed color, as if the paper is old and smelly.

Apparently this book has been made into a movie or series of some sort (Lost Ollie). I was sorry to hear that. I get why authors love it when their book is made into a movie. That's where the big bucks are, I think. Too many people just go straight to the movie though. *sigh* 

This was a pick for my Children's Lit book club. Possible discussion questions:

https://www.pegiwilliams.com.au/pdfs/teachernotes/9781442473560.pdf 

https://www.simonandschuster.ca/books/Ollies-Odyssey/William-Joyce/9781442473560

Goodreads says:

The inspiration behind Netflix animated series Lost Ollie!

From the creator of The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore and The Guardians of Childhood comes a grand adventure of valor, friendship, and a look into the mysterious world of favorite toys.

In the secret realm of toys, there are many mysteries.

There is the Code of the Toys, which is as ancient as childhood.

There’s also the magic of becoming a child’s favorite, the highest honor in the Toy World.

Made by hand by Billy’s mother, Ollie is a special toy, “a toy who will matter.” He becomes Billy’s best friend, confidant, pal, and yes, Billy’s “favorite.”

But there are villains in the Toy World, and Zozo, the clown king, is the most feared. He and his toy henchman (the Creeps) have sworn to steal and imprison favorite toys until they forget their children and become forever lost.

When Ollie is toynapped, Billy must rescue his beloved favorite from Zozo’s subterranean lair in the old Carnival Place, past the park, through the woods, and into the night.

Never has a journey of ten blocks been more epic.

Pete and Pickles (Berkley Breathed)

 

I love this author's style. The book was easy to read and very engaging. We loved the adventures that Pete and Pickles went on.  This would be a great transition book from our friendship unit to our imagination unit.

Goodreads says:

Pete is a perfectly predictable, practical, uncomplicated pig. At least, he was . . . before a runaway circus elephant named Pickles stampeded into his life, needing a friend. Pickles is larger than life and overflowing with imagination. She takes Pete swandiving off Niagara Falls. (Sort of.) And sledding down the Matterhorn. (Sort of.) Pete goes along for the wild ride and actually begins to enjoy himself . . . until Pickles goes too far. And Pete tells her she must leave. Yet sometimes the simple life isn?t all it?s cracked up to be.

Pulitzer Prize?winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed offers two new irresistible characters and a heartfelt, hilarious look at the rarity of true friendship.

Truth Pixie (Matt Haig)

 

Goodreads says this book is 3.5 in the Christmas series. #1 is A Boy Called Christmas, #1.5 is A Mouse Called Miika, #2 is The Girl Who Saved Christmas. I'm not sure what #3 is! 

This one was delightful. It's a rhyming book and has a great story about friendship, the hazards of being a little too honest and trusting that things will work out. 

Goodreads says:

https://ihaveabookyoushouldread.blogspot.com/2022/12/a-boy-called-christmas-matt-haig.html

Gold (David Shannon)

 

A great story to read when we do the decodable, The Prince's Foolish Wish. It would be fun to go find a bunch of versions of this fable.

Goodreads says:

A riotous retelling of the Midas myth by the Caldecott Honor-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author of No, David!

Maximilian Midas was a peculiar little boy.
He didn't much like chocolate and he didn't play with toys.
The first word that he uttered when he was one year old
Wasn't Mama, wasn't Papa; what Maxie said was, "Gold!"

Max Midas isn't like the other kids. Instead of trying to make friends, he decides to make millions and spends it all on what he loves best: GOLD. Gold statues. Gold fountains. Piles and piles of gold, and atop them all, a golden castle. But one day, things get lonely inside his shiny castle and Max finally learns that gold isn't worth anything without friends and family by your side.

David Shannon, the Caldecott Honor--winning and New York Times bestselling author of No, David!, is back with a riotous romp that's sure to be a beloved classic.

A Boy Called Christmas (Matt Haig)

 

I loved this book so much! It was a really good read aloud for December. I didn't quite start it soon enough and so we had a large number of pages to read every day. We didn't quite meet our daily goal so on the very last day while they were finishing the illustrations on the calendars made for parents, I was reading to them. While they were doing their craft, I was reading to them. It made for a really wonderful last day of school! We also watched the movie, which we also really enjoyed. There was a lot of chatter about things that were different in the movie and comments like, 'oh....this or that is coming next!'. The movie ends quite differently than the book. This prompted a great discussion (initiated by one of my students) about movies versus books. When he said, "I think I like the book better then the movie" my heart leapt for joy!! A Christmas miracle! :) 

Quotes and Signposts:

I haven't taught my class about sign posts so I wasn't really actively looking for them, but this book could be a great one for discovering them. 

p. 93 Father Topo: An impossibility is just a possibility you don't understand yet. 

p. 135 "A drimwick is a hope spell. If you have been drimwicked it gives you powers, even if you are only a reindeer,' said the Truth Pixie.

"What kind of powers?"
"It takes all that is good in you, and makes it stronger. It makes it magical. If you wish for something good, the magic will help. It is a very boring kind of magic. Because being good is boring.'

Nikolas thought about Aunt Carlotta throwing Miika out the door. "No', he gold the grubby-faced pixie. "You're wrong. The whole world - or the world I come from, the world of the humans, is full of bad things. There's misery and greed and sadness and hunger and unkindness all over the place. There are many, many children who never get any presents, and who are lucky to get anything more than just a few spoonfuls of mushroom soup for dinner. They have no toys to play with and they will go to bed hungry. Children who don't have parents. Children who have to live with horrible people like my Aunt Carlotta. In a world like that it's very easy to be bad. So when someone is good, or kind, it's a magic in itself. It gives people hope. And hope is the most wonderful things there is.'

p. 143 Memory Moment:
Nikolas is in jail, thinking of how he wants to escape because the troll plans to kill him and the truth fairy wants to see his head explode.

He remembered the day his mother died. Hiding from the brown bear, in the well, holding onto the chain holding the bucket, then losing her grip. The wail, as she fell, while Nikolas watched in horror from the cottage. 
On that day, and for a lot of days after (let's say one thousand and ninety-eight) he had believed that things could only get worse and that he would wake up in tears for the rest of his life, feeling guilty that he hadn't stayed with her, even though he thought she was running too.
He prayed, somehow, for her to come back.
Joel kept on telling him he looked like his mother but his cheeks weren't as red so sometimes Nikolas used to grab some berries and crush them on his cheeks and look at his reflection in the lake. And in the blurry water he could also imagine it was her, looking back from a dream.
"It's funny, Papa," he once said, as his father chopped a tree. "But I could probably have filled that well with tears the amount I have cried."
"She wouldn't want you to cry. She'd want you to be happy. Jolly. She was the happiest person I ever met."
And so the next morning Nikolas woke up and didn't cry. He was determined not to. And nor had he had his usual nightmare about his mother falling, falling, falling down that well. So he knew that terrible things - even the most terrible things - couldn't stop the world from turning. Life went on. and he made a promise to himself that, when he was older, he'd try and be like his mother. Colorful and happy and kind and full of joy.
That was how he was going to keep her alive.

p. 145 That was the point of magic, wasn't it? To do the impossible. 
(reference back to quote at front of book: Impossible - and old elf swear word)

The Curious Garden (Peter Brown)

 

This is beautiful! I love how the author talks about how the garden had its own personality. It's true that if one person starts to make something beautiful, others will get interested! The plant life started a life of its' own.

Best comment from one of my students: I was surprised that one kid could make that big a difference. 

Goodreads says:
One boy's quest for a greener world... one garden at a time.

While out exploring one day, a little boy named Liam discovers a struggling garden and decides to take care of it. As time passes, the garden spreads throughout the dark, gray city, transforming it into a lush, green world.

This is an enchanting tale with environmental themes and breathtaking illustrations that become more vibrant as the garden blooms. Red-headed Liam can also be spotted on every page, adding a clever seek-and-find element to this captivating picture book.

June 29, 1999 (David Weisner)

 

This story is so great. It takes you down one road and the end is a big surprise when aliens are dropping their vegetables. So many unanswered questions!

Goodreads says:

The lively imagination of Caldecott medalist David Wiesner forecasts astounding goings-on for a Tuesday in the not too distant future -- an occurrence of gigantic vegetal proportions.

Dirt Boy (Erik Jon Slangerup)

 

When students in my class looked at the cover for our book there were lots of "ewwww! Gross!" This continued when we started reading....but then a hush came over the class. Who doesn't like getting really dirty sometimes?! And imagine meeting a monster, Dirt Man! We were totally sucked into this story.

Goodreads says:

In this award-winning story--now available in paperback--Fister Farnello runs away from home to avoid taking a bath and is befriended by Dirt Man, a filthy giant who lives in the woods. Watercolor paintings are accompanied by hilarious text.

Big Bad Bruce (Bill Peet)

 

This is really fun to read aloud! The witch's voice and Bruce's voice are so easy to imagine. Great read aloud! It was our inaugural read now that we have a document camera and can read something besides e-books! Yea!!

Goodreads says:

Bruce, a bear bully, never picks on anyone his own size until he is diminished in more ways than one by a small but very independent witch.

I Am A Wolf (Kelly Leigh Miller)

 

Super simple quick read, but a great message on imagination, friendship and family. Great story when time is short but you need to read a story.

Goodreads says:

A dog who insists she's a wolf finds the perfect home with a young girl who sees past her prickly personality in this pet adoption story that's as laugh-out-loud funny as it is heart-tugging.

When a particularly growly pup finds herself in an animal shelter, she insists that she is a wolf--a lone wolf. After all, she's not sweet, she's not cute, and she is just fine on her own! Luckily, there's one little girl at the shelter who knows that sometimes, good dogs act bad when they feel afraid and that extending a little kindness can help even the most wolfish pup at the pound let down her guard.

Little Fox and the Wild Imagination (Jorma Taccone and Dan Santat)

 

Pure Dan Santat craziness. Love it!

Super cute representation of the value of imagination. 
My favorite part is where they have to read all the books (5000!) before bed. 

Goodreads says:

BEWARE!

This is a tale of great caution, terror, and destruction . . .

of bath time, and bedtime, and the battle in between.

This is the story of Little Fox and one VERY BIG imagination.

Debut author Jorma Taccone, member of the hit comedy trio The Lonely Island, has paired up with New York Times–bestselling, Caldecott Medal–winning illustrator Dan Santat to create Little Fox and the Wild Imagination, a picture book about time, space, and even giant-robot-squids.

Lift (Minh Le and Dan Santas)

 

Every kid will relate to Iris. Who doesn't love pushing the elevator buttons?!

This story doesn't have a lot of words...but the pictures tell a lot! 

One great thing that came out of this is one of my students made a comment that she is really being a rock brain (we are doing Superflex and have learned about the villain, Rock Brain). He was right! 

We loved how the girl lets her brother join in the adventure at the end. Good connections made to Magic Treehouse

Minh Le is amazing. I loved Drawn Together and I don't think I've ever come across a book Dan Santas is involved with that I didn't like. 

Goodreads says:
When Iris's elevator button-pushing is disrupted by a new member of the family, she's pretty put out.
That is, until the sudden appearance of a mysterious new button opens up entire realms of possibility, places where she can escape and explore on her own.
This is a story that will lift your spirits and expand your imagination, by the award-winning creators of Drawn Together.