Big Changes

Raina Telgemeier's Smile is about big changes in a young girl's life. No, not those kinds of changes (although as a father to two girls I'll have my share of those awkward moments). We're talking instead about subtler changes, hinted at from the start by the book's cover, which features a brace-clad smiley face. From Scholastic's Booktalk:

Aah, hanging out with your friends. You laugh. You go shopping. You have sleepovers and you always have fun. Well, imagine this: you and your friends are chasing each other one day and you trip. When you fall, you hit the cement. You hit the cement so hard that you knock out your two front teeth! This is exactly what happens to the character of Raina in the graphic novel Smile by Raina Telgemeier.

After an emergency trip to Dr. Golden's office, the dentist glues Raina's teeth back into her mouth. He covers them in gauze that soon becomes soggy and gross. When Raina takes off the gauze, she discovers that the teeth have been inserted too far. Now she looks like a vampire! Going to school looking like a vampire will definitely make boys notice her, but not in a good way.

While the book on its simplest level is the story of Raina's teeth trials, on a much larger level it's the story of a girl who struggles to maintain her own identity while still fitting in. One part I particularly love is when Raina comes to the realization that she has to move on from her former friends, who are acting less and less supportive, to a new circle of friends in high school. These transitions happen in real life, of course, but less often in middle school lit. Too often we're offered a much simpler, pat solution.

I love Smile for a number of reasons:

• It fits in with my year-long theme of Survival. While it's not survival in the life-and-death sense of The Devils' Arithmetic, it's as authentic (but not as gritty as) The Outsiders. Personally I'd rather face a multitude of other dangers before ever agreeing to be a middle school girl! Other themes for this book include Identity, Acceptance, Affiliation, Change, Coming of Age, Conflict, Choices, Relationships, Loyalty, Conformity, Belonging, and Differences.
• Its autobiographical format makes it more authentic. Truth is absolutely stranger than fiction, and we feel for our protagonist here because she is so true-to-life. (Learn more about Raina at her site).
• The narrative flows without gaps. Many graphic novels assume that readers will be able to plug bill holes between frames. At no time, however, does Telgemeier leave us wondering what we missed.
• The overall design and illustration are flawless. My six year-old was so taken with the illustrations that she squirreled away with the book for two hours, and "read" it from cover to cover, reading, of course, just those words she could. (She then asked to have it read aloud to her before bed each night). To get a good feel for the book's flow, check out this video trailer from Scholastic.
• Scholastic has printed it in standard paperback, rather than oversize, format. This not only allows the book to handled more easily, but avoids the look of a graphic novel. Some students would rather their friends see them with a chapter book than a "comic book." See how cruel middle school can be?
• It uses comic conventions. Thus readers who are successful with this book may move on to other graphic novels, which in turn will keep them reading. (Need some suggestions? Check out this previous post on Graphic Novels and New Literacies from this site).
• Scholastic has provided a very cool Make Your Own Smile Graphix site (see the screen shot here) where students can manipulate scenes, characters, objects, and speech bubbles to create their own stories.

A conference attendee once asked if I'd use a graphic novel (like Smile) for a classroom study, but I know full well that students would race to the end of their own. But I guess that's a good thing, right? And that's also why my classroom shelves boast a nice supply of these books.

What Makes a Good Picture Book?

Marilyn Singer, who's authored over eighty books for children and young adults, asked a group of authors, editors, and other book people this question: What Makes a Good Young Picture Book?

Their responses appear at her web site, and we can take away several things from the conversation.

Many responders mentioned that picture books must deal with universal themes, which are shared across cultures, genders, and age levels. For example, Harriet Ziefert, author of You Can't See Your Bones With Binoculars, says

I believe there are issues that surface in childhood that continue throughout our lives, and that when we're eighty, we're still negotiating these basic issues: separation, loss, and reunion; dependence vs. independence; insecurity (which includes feelings of jealousy, envy, and rivalry) vs. security; delayed vs. instant gratification.

The stories that have the most powerful effects on both child and adult are ones that deal with at least one of these lifelong struggles. Though a child's experiences are different from a 20-year-old's, and a 30-year-old's are different from a 40-year-old's, the same feelings are at the core.

Many others spoke of the need to take out as carefully as you put in; picture books are meant, after all, to be brief, and not a word can be wasted. Jane Yolen, author of over 600 books including How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? proves this by her very concise response:

Lyrical lines, a recognizable sentiment, compression of story, and a character to love.

And finally, several responders spoke of a picture book's ability to make its own world, no matter how new or foreign to a child, one in which he or she will feel welcome. Luann Toth, Senior Book Review Editor of School Library Journal, states it perfectly when she says

I think that the best books for this audience are the ones that tap directly into a young child's experience, allowing him or her to enter the world the author and illustrator have created, no matter how unusual or fantastical, and to feel at home there. The storytelling should be straightforward and spare and the art needs to be uncluttered and clearly delineated. Repetition and rhymes sharpen the ears and often invite verbal responses. And who can resist opening a closed flap?

Be sure to visit Marilyn's site to read all the responses, and if you're a "book person" of any type, share your thoughts with her as well. Thanks, Marilyn, for this terrific insight into the literary form which we love so dearly!

How about, Book People? In your opinion, what makes a good picture book?

Ten Not-to-Be-Missed Picture Book Reference Sites

Almost daily I receive an email asking for a list of books on a certain topic, or genre, or time period, or skill. Many readers of this blog first came here from Google seeking just that.

Fortunately there are some terrific sites out there that can provide teachers with basic lists of picture books, categorized in almost any way imaginable. The ten sites I've listed below will help you locate "the good stuff." Also be sure to take advantage of the expertise available through your local librarian or media center specialist.

Know of a site that should be here? Email me and let me know!


Dr. Sue LeBeau's Links to Picture Books

This nicely categorized collection of picture books provides a comfortable starting point for any teacher looking to incorporate picture books in a purposeful way. Sue has categorized them by Math, Science, Social Studies, etc. A site worth bookmarking.

Help Readers Love Reading

Here you'll find short and fun reviews of picture books. It's hard to keep up with all the new books out there, so a resource like this is your best bet. Blogger Brian Wilhorn reviews a single book every few days, and he seems to have some passion for it.

Reading Workshop

This site features a list of picture books that you can use to teach specific reading skills and strategies (foreshadowing,, predictions, setting, etc). For those looking for ideas for incorporation, and for those seeking specific titles, this site is an excellent resource.

Writing Fix: Picture Book Prompts

This site is packed with tons of resources, although for our immediate purposes I recommend the 60+ picture book inspired writing lessons (that's what I've linked to). You'll find some of your favorites here, along with complete lesson plans and ready-to-go printables for student use. All free! No registration or membership needed. Equally cool at this site, however, is the chapter book excerpts as mentor texts section, which enables you to use just a few pages, or a chapter at most, of a novel as a writing model.

Storyline Online

Famous celebrities read aloud from popular children's books! A fine and growing collection of favorite picture books.

Picture Book Database

A really terrific online tool that allows you to search picture book titles alphabetically by theme or topic.

Trade Book Matrices

Although it says at this site that these are book for adult learners, many of the titles in these downloadable Word docs are picture books. Books are grouped by topic (Westward Expansion, Civil Rights, Grandparents, Immigrants, etc.) and some teaching ideas are included for select topics.

Book Wizard from Scholastic

At this site, Scholastic provides a really valuable tool called BookALike. This allows you to enter a book title, find the exact grade-equivalent level of that book, and then browse books of similar reading difficulty and topic. What's even more useful is that you can use a "slider" to choose books of slightly greater or lesser difficulty. So if a student loved The Magic Tree House as a second grader two years ago, you can simply enter that title and then slide up two grades to locate appropriate titles for fourth grade.

Database of Award Winning Children's Literature

This database allows you to focus a search for both picture and chapter books as narrowly or as broadly as you choose by selecting such variables as genre, historical period, grade level, and even genre of protagonist. And as the title says, the titles produced in your search are award winners, so you can be relatively sure that they're worth a look.

All Together Now

A really extensive clickable list of themes, read-alouds, values, and topics. So many ways to search similar ideas, and the results are pretty complete! What's really cool is that the list is now online as a wiki, which means you can easily add titles to the list, thereby increasing its value to teachers like you! I personally added a list called Focused Reading Skills, and I absolutely encourage you to add your recommended titles.