The award-winning illustrations of 57 Caldecott Books (1938-1994) have inspired a multitude of lessons that guide students in creating art with similar qualities. Focusing on such principles and elements as line, color, texture, shape, value, and space, these classroom-tested projects have step-by-step instructions, materials lists, and detailed illustrations for teachers who have little or no art training. Various art media are explored, including pencil, crayon, marker, colored pencil, chalk, stencils, collage, watercolor, tempera, color mixing, and printmaking. These projects use limited materials so they're great for the classroom as well as the art room.

Today's students need to be able to do more than score well on tests—they must be creative thinkers and problem solvers. The tools in this book will help teachers and parents start students on the path to becoming innovative, successful individuals in the 21st century workforce. The children in classrooms today will soon become adult members of society: they will need to apply divergent thinking skills to be effective in all aspects of their lives, regardless of their specific occupation. How well your students meet complicated challenges and take advantage of the opportunities before them decades down the road will depend largely upon the kind of thinking they are trained and encouraged to do today. This book provides a game plan for busy librarians and teachers to develop their students' abilities to arrive at new ideas by utilizing children's books at hand. Following an introduction in which the author defines divergent thinking, discusses its characteristics, and establishes its vital importance, chapters dedicated to types of literature for children such as fantasy, poetry, and non-fiction present specific titles and relevant activities geared to fostering divergent thinking in young minds. Parents will find the recommendations of the kinds of books to read with their children and explanations of how to engage their children in conversations that will help their creative thinking skills extremely beneficial. The book also includes a case study of a fourth-grade class that applied the principles of divergent thinking to imagine innovative designs and come up with new ideas while studying a social studies/science unit on ecology.

The 10th anniversary of the humorous children's read-aloud story that celebrates (and lightly pokes fun at) many of the classic children's story books we know and love—now with bonus content. Max hates his picture books. His room never turns into a forest or a boat, or anything wild! Green ham tastes BAD! Drawing on the walls with a purple crayon lands him in trouble. Nope, every last book has to go in the trash. But wait. What about the one where the little bird returned safely to its nest? That book was the best. And the one with the flying snowman? Or the big stack of turtles? Also good. Just then, Max learns how invaluable the power of magic and his own imagination is, and has a BIG change of heart. Now go away, so Max can read his picture books! Join writer and illustrator Timothy Young as he masterfully blends humor and irreverence, poking fun at, and celebrating, the classics of children's literature. I Hate Picture Books! celebrates the joy of reading, reminding the reader of the immeasurable treasures found within the pages of a book. This 10th anniversary edition of I Hate Picture Books! features an additional 50 famous children's book stories illustrated in the background of the depicted scenes, serving both as Easter eggs for discovery and as a source for new great picture books to put on a reading list.

"The mayor of the noisy city of La Paz institutes new laws forbidding all singing, but a brave little rooster decides he must sing, despite the progressively severe punishments he receives for continuing to crow"--

Big Ideas for Little Kids includes everything a teacher, a parent, or a college student needs to teach philosophy to elementary school children from picture books. Written in a clear and accessible style, the book explains why it is important to allow young children access to philosophy during primary-school education. Wartenberg also gives advice on how to construct a "learner-centered" classroom, in which children discuss philosophical issues with one another as they respond to open-ended questions by saying whether they agree or disagree with what others have said.

A grim prognosis, brain cancer, leaves the speaker in Kirkpatrick's Odessa fighting for her life. The tumor presses against her amygdalae, the "emotional core of the self," and central to the process of memory. In poems endowed with this emotional charge but void of sentimentality, Kirkpatrick sets out to recreate what was lost by fashioning a dreamlike reality. Odessa, "roof of the underworld," a refuge at once real and imagined, resembles simultaneously the Midwestern prairie and a mythical god-inhabited city. In image-packed lines bearing shades of Classical heroism, Kirkpatrick delivers a personal narrative of stunning dimension.

AV2 Fiction Readalong by Weigl brings you timeless tales of mystery, suspense, adventure, and the lessons learned while growing up. These celebrated children’s stories are sure to entertain and educate while captivating even the most reluctant readers. Log on to www.av2books.com, and enter the unique book code found on page 2 of this book to unlock an extra dimension to these beloved tales. Hear the story come to life as you read along in your own book.