Our selection last month once again had us travelling all over the world and this time included poetry, fiction and non-fiction.

First of all, in honor of Poetry Month in the US, we chose Linda Sue Park’s Tap Dancing on the Roof as our reading-together book. We’ve all had great fun dipping into it and taking it in turns to choose and read the poems to each other. There were some gem moments like Older Brother discovering the sijo about how annoying it is to be summoned out of bed to go and clean your teeth – minutes after being subjected to the same treatment himself! The more we explored the poems, the more I marvelled at Linda Sue’s knack for getting the words just right – whether she’s describing a very ordinary, every day event or taking off on a flight of whimsy and metaphor. I’ve already blogged about Tap Dancing on the Roof so I won’t say any more here, but pass on to…

… Older Brother’s choice, which was Grandpa Chatterji by Jamila Gavin, illustrated by Peter Bailey. Here’s what he (aged 9 1/2) has to say:

I really enjoyed Grandpa Chatterji and I thought it was very funny sometimes, especially the part at the fair when Grandpa and Sanjay went on the rockets and they flew up into the air – when they came off they were green! Then in the evening Sanjay said, “Shall we have another go next time?” and Grandpa replied, “Maybe.”

I learned that in India some people pray standing on one foot and then when they pray they say, “Om” and the O is like the shape of the sun. People think of God as the sun because he is bright and the light of the world.

I would recommend reading it because I think people would enjoy it. Now I want to read the other two Grandpa Chatterji books.

In the meantime, Little Brother has enjoyed dipping into and absorbing the Australian Creatures of the Rainforest:Two artists explore Djabugay country by Warren Brim and Anna Eglitis:

I love books, especially encyclopaedia books about animals. This book has some animals in that I love, like echidnas and kookaburras and bandicoots. I learned that some ants are edible (the green ants) and I learned some words in Djabugay like gurrina, which means echidna, and badil, which is a zamia palm tree. Luckily at the end there is a guide to how you say their letters.

The book is by two artists – first there are lino cuts then there are original aboriginal pictures. It is very good.

So, as you can see, we are very much enjoying the PaperTigers Reading Challenge and I know my boys are finding the books they’ve chosen to be fun and enriching. Do let us know how you are getting on – only a couple more months to go!

As we come to the end of National Poetry Month in the US, I wondered what poetry book to choose for my Books at Bedtime post this week – I needed to look no further than Andrea Cheng’s newly released Where the Steps Were (Wordsong, 2008).

It is a story told in verse by five third-grade students in an inner-city school who all come under the empowering and loving influence of their teacher Miss D. As the school year progresses, we gain insight into their concerns and achievements and follow them through school trips – to a local theatre, for example. Overshadowing the whole year is the fact that the school is about to be demolished and the following year they will be moved to a new school, where they will no longer be taught by their beloved Miss D. Miss D. meanwhile guides them through their studies, and we learn in particular about their lessons in American history and the civil rights movement, which is poignant here because the children are black and their teacher is white. They find out that their skin color can still have a bearing on the way they are treated (the theatre visit again). However, Miss D. also provides them with the tools to negotiate what life throws at them, helping them to be honest and ready to stand up for each other and themselves. She is rewarded with their devotion and you come away with the feeling that when these children grow up and are asked the question, “Who was the teacher who influenced you most?”, the answer will be Miss D.

As you read together, (more…)