Our district is a small district; it doesn’t have a lot of funds or a lot of students. What it does have is community support. We have people from the community who say, “I know your kid. I read with him in SMART reading.” Or “I know her; I worked with her for ASPIRE.” We see the gym packed for basketball, but just as crowded for winter and spring concerts and graduation.

So, what does this have to do with Book Week? Well, you see you can read because of a teacher. Those teachers put in time, energy, and creativity to make their classes worth it to the kids. They want the kids to succeed. They work their tails off with multiple hats to make ends meet for themselves, but to see your child do the best he or she can. Kids learn to read or learn to love to read based on teachers. My son struggled through first and second grade with reading. It was torture! Then along came Miss Eve. She piloted some computer programs, she learned about brain games, she put energy into my son. By fourth grade, we went to Hollywood to share the success of one of the piloted computer programs. By then, my son was reading above grade level! It was a teacher who helped.

As you go about your day today, remember those teachers who helped to shape and mold you. If you know a teacher, encourage them. The year is almost over, and kids are antsy to be outside. It takes extra energy and enthusiasm to make it through the end. And if you have a chance, swing by and read the article and watch the video done by The World Newspaper. If you watch the video, you’ll see my daughter welding and you’ll catch a glimpse of my Eighth Grade Spanish class. You’ll be introduced to my town.

Pacific High Pirate

The last several weeks at school, my Spanish 2 students have been working on a fantasy story. The majority of them thought the story up in English and then are translating it over into Spanish with varying success. The real success though is watching them work. The process was noisy to begin with as they looked at the fantasy motifs and hero’s round that I handed out. They talked and talked and talked. “Hey, what about…” “I know, I’ll…” “What if the dragons become dinosaurs!” Then as the stories were shared with their classmates and put into English, the noise level dropped. They studiously began working on translation. They learned a lot about how to transfer ideas into another language. Finally, they began talking again as they illustrated their books. “Would you draw a dinosaur for the army?” “Here’s my story” “My illustrations will never compare to yours!”

These stories though have great potential for children’s books. We have the dinosaurs versus elephants with a mighty glowing peanut and a spatula made from lightning from the gods. We have an angel who falls in love with a “man” who turns out to be the god of Hades; they have a little girl who is watched over by a special person. We have a twist on Hansel and Gretel. All of them deserve recognition.

Every once in a blue moon, one of these types of stories makes it into the publishing world–Tom Bombadilo from Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Peter Pan, Dragon’s Future. Wait! What was that last one? Yep, a story that I wrote and read to my son will be published by Booktrope. It is scheduled to come out this summer. Because my story managed to make it into publishing, I have encouraged my students to try. Why not dream big? Why not put forth the effort to put your story into someone’s hands? In the meantime, the Spanish stories will be turned in and then cherished by some of them. I wish I could mass produce a few of them. But I will encourage them to grow, learn, keep trying, and above all–Dream Big!

As I had kids, I looked for fantasy and science fiction books that I could share with them. Timothy Zahn’s Dragonback series was one of those fun finds. I read the story of Jack and was immediately hooked from the first chapter with the shipwreck. It was fun to read it with my husband and then to see my kids read them. They loved it as well. The struggles of Jack to try to clear his name and move from thief to a poet warrior give hope to kids and make the reader cheer him on.

It wasn’t always that I showed books to my kids. Sometimes, they found a book and said, “Mom, you have to read this!” One such book was “Mom, you have to listen to this!” They found Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke in an audio book. We sat down in their room and listened as Brendan Fraser worked his magic with Cornilia Funke’s words. Sorrel the Brownie came to life as did Ben, Firedrake, Twigleg, and Nettlebrand. The characters still to this day have his voice when I read the book. The interactions of these characters with each other make the book work and make readers love it. When I teach students to write a children’s fantasy story in Spanish, I use excerpts from this book to show them character development. You can read an excerpt of Dragon Rider online.

The last two years, I had the privilege of spending 50 minutes each day on a one way road trip to school with my now seventeen-year-old son. We found the best way to spend the time, and stay awake, was to listen to audio books. We found all kinds of books. Some that were okay, but not great, and others that made it to my top 10 plus three list of children’s books. One of these was Beyonders by Brandon Mull. The story weaves from the real world into a fantasy world. Jason reaches it by falling into the hippo’s mouth! Literally! From there, he finds himself an unexpected hero. He must fight against the emperor to try to put the Blind King back on the throne. Jason works with another girl from the real world who followed a butterfly into the magical realm. Jason has an opportunity to return home, and must decide if it is worth returning to finish the quest. They go through numerous adventures as they try to fulfill the quest. It is well written, page-turning (if you’re reading it, CD changing if your listening) and encourages the reader to follow after good.

If I haven’t given you enough ideas for a book, then check out the other posts this week from Children’s Book Week. Whatever you do, find a book and curl up and read. Read to your kids, read to your family, read to yourself. Enjoy!

My kids enjoy a book read to them by their grandpa.

Jim Kjelgaard introduced me to the world of the man and his dog. He created worlds of wonder where dogs loved men and boys and the impossible was possible. Big Red was the first one. A poor boy who loved Irish Setters works at a kennel and falls in love with a purebred dog. There is no way at all believable or imaginable that he will get a dog. As the story unfolds, the reader is drawn into the boy’s mind and his world. The reader cheers the boy on wanting what he wants, loving the dog he loves. Other stories told of tame dogs gone wild. Desert Dog tells of a dog that was dropped off in the middle of nowhere. The reader wanders with the dog as he fights for his life. It is truly an inspiring tale. To read some of his stories online, go to http://jimkjelgaard.com/. Jim Kjelgaard wanted boys to desire reading. He wrote for that junior high boy who doesn’t want to read. So, if you have a boy in that situation, see if you can tease him into reading using Mr. Kjelgaard’s books. They also work well for young girls.

The next series of animal stories I found was Walter Farley’s Black Stallion series. Again a poor boy (not as dirt poor as in Big Red) dreams of owning an animal, this time a horse. Alec is shipwrecked with a wild black stallion. The story takes you through their time on the island and how Alec works at befriending the Black. The two become inseparable–or so the reader thinks! The series follows Alec and the Black and then children of the stallion. Again, the underdog is the one the reader cheers and applauds. Children are encouraged to dream and reach for the stars.

The final animal series that caught my attention as a child was Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague. Two children find a pony and work with her. The three books follow the brother and sister and Misty and her foal through several adventures. The underdog is the hero, and children see everyday life on the island of Chincoteague. Marguerite Henry wrote several other horse stories about famous horses. She wove the same love of horses into those stories as she did into her Misty books. You can learn more about the Misty books and the real world of Chincoteague at http://www.mistyofchincoteague.org/misty.html.

Know a child who loves animals? Want a good read yourself?  Want a look back into time when kids roamed the streets without fear? Take a look at these fun children’s stories.

My son’s horse. He purchased it for $1 just like Alec.

1. Vocabulary:  The author doesn’t talk down to the audience.  The reader may learn new vocabulary from reading the book.  Rockjaw threw the rat over one shoulder, chatting to lieutenant Morio as he did.

‘Wot does the Major mean by arboreal verdance, sah?’

‘Hmm, arboreal verdance, lemme see, I rather think it means treetops, leafy green ones.’

‘Oh! Then why didn’t ‘e say treetops?’

‘Why should he when he knows how t’say words like arboreal verdance?’ Redwall series.

2. Characters:  They are memorable and work well together.  These are the kind that you want to really get to know and meet in real life.  You want to walk into the book to meet them.  The hero is real—he makes mistakes and learns from them.  “My values are not based on violence. My values are based on courage, which you see time and time again in my books. A warrior isn’t somebody like Bruce Willis or Arnold Schwarzenegger. A warrior can be any age. A warrior is a person people look up to.” ~ Brian Jacques from http://redwallabbey.com/forum/index.php?topic=308.0 

3. Protective Character:  There is always some wiser and maybe older character to whom the main character can turn to for help.  There’s a Gandalf for Frodo, an Uncle Press for Bobby Pendragon, a Draco for Jack, a Mr. Drew for Nancy, or a Firedrake for Ben.

4. Good vs Bad:  There is a definite line between good and bad.  The two don’t get confused.

5. Plot:  The story moves along with lots of action and imagination.

I hope this helps in understanding what makes a good kid’s book. These are things that not only appeal to children, but what they need as they are shaping their world.

Tomorrow is the last day to vote for this year’s winner of the choice book awards. Follow the link on the side of the page and you can vote for a teen book, several children’s books based on ages, and for illustrator of the year.  Go take a look and vote!