Storytime Activity Ideas for Lefty by Mo Willems and Dan Santat

Lefty by Mo Willems, Illustrated by Dan Santat

My son and I are both left-handed (like Dan Santat) and love Dan Santat illustrations (...like Dan Santat, surely?) so I wanted to read this book with him. He's a bit too old for it now, but there are some interesting facts in there that he loved learning to share with his (right-handed) friends. 

It's a fun book and I can picture reading it aloud in a classroom or library, like all Mo Willems and Dan Santat books! 

Activities I would do as a librarian would include: 

• polling the class or storytime group to see who is left-handed and who is right-handed
• tracing hands on paper and coloring them (for younger kids) or drawing things that make you you (for older kids)
• giving them a word to try and write with both their left and right hands
• draw the same picture with both left and right hands
• toss beanbags into a basket with left and right hands

What activities would you incorporate into a storytime or lesson using this book? What have you tried? I'd love to hear how it went!

Back to School: Favorites

 

These are just a few of my favorite Back to School books. There's something about the humor in these books that makes starting a new school year a little bit smoother for everyone involved, students and teachers alike!

First off, who doesn't love the Pigeon?! He's a well-known character sure to put students at ease because of his familiarity. He's so silly in The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! by Mo Willems, resisting school because he's so scared, before realizing school is exactly what he needs! I don't know about you, but my favorite part is being as silly as possible when I read the "Whazza whazza WHAA?!" part.

Some students might already be familiar with Peanut Butter and Jelly from their other books, so I like to show those characters going back to school, too. In Peanut Butter's First Day of School by Terry Border, Peanut Butter is worried about what the first day of school will be like, and everyone gives different answers on how to prepare for the day. Peanut Butter just stays true to himself even though he was scared, and it all works out in the long run.

We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins is, if you ask me, the perfect back to school book for younger children. It's hilarious, but also is a good way to teach the rules and how to be kind to friends. There are a lot of jokes in the illustrations, too, which makes it a great book to read at the start of the year so these younger students will know how important it is to look at a book's pictures in addition to listening to the story.

I already consider School's First Day of School by Adam Rex and Christian Robinson a classic, because it's been in my life for four long years now, since my own kid's first day of school! I love reading this book every August because it's a fun way to show kids that they're not the only ones nervous about starting a new school year!

The Knuffle Bunny Trilogy

Reaching for his beloved books

Plot Summary
     Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale.
Trixie lives in Brooklyn, NY with her mom and dad. She loves helping her dad run errands, like going to the Laundromat. Trixie always brings along her beloved Knuffle Bunny, but when he gets left behind, she can't find the words to tell her dad what happened, instead trying to make him understand "Aggle flaggle klabble!" Will Trixie's father understand her and help her find Knuffle Bunny again?
     Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity.
Trixie is excited to start school and show off Knuffle Bunny to all her friends. When she gets to class, she is upset to find Sonja has her own Knuffle Bunny! They fight and the teacher takes their bunnies away - will they get them back and become friends?
     Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion.
Trixie is older now, and her family is going to visit Oma and Opa in Holland. Knuffle Bunny comes along for the trip, but never makes it off the plane. Her grandparents try to make her happy with a replacement Knuffle Bunny, one that walks and dances and speaks (in Dutch). It’s cool, but it’s not Knuffle Bunny. Is Trixie mature enough to live without her best and oldest friend?

Critical Analysis
The Knuffle Bunny trilogy consists of three very unique books, with Willems drawing his illustrations on top of black and white photographs. This is something that might not be noticed by children, but it's such a pleasure for adults to look at, because there's so much to see in each photograph, and Willems' illustrations add even more to the pages. No detail gets by Willems - he adds his characters' shadows to make it seem like they actually belong in each picture. The font is perfect all around: it looks great with the drawing style, is laid out nicely on the page, and is big enough to children to see. Even those too young to read are pulled in by the words because, at least in the case of my son, the large, comic-looking font just begs to be touched! The page backgrounds are muted, solid colors to ensure the text and illustrations take center stage.

Personal Response
Until having a baby, my experience with contemporary picture books has been extremely limited to buying a book for my nephew's birthday and Christmas gifts. The children's lit course I took in undergrad mostly focused on the origins, the classics, and the retellings of fairy tales and more traditional children's literature. Literature for Children and Young Adults (5603), which I took the Fall 2014 semester, really opened my eyes to what's out there today. I'm sure I would have stumbled upon a lot of new books as I browsed the stacks with my son in mind, but the reading list for 5603 was impeccable; I'm keeping it to go back and read other suggestions from it as I have time.
     All that is to say, I never read a Mo Willems books before last semester. The horrors! No, I don't think you're judging me - I literally mean, the horrors! I can't believe I was missing out on such treasures. I read Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs for class and fell in love with the whimsy of Willems, then checked out The Pigeon Needs a Bath when I saw it on display at the library. That reminded me that we need mo' Willems (I'm sorry, I had to!) in our lives. We picked out Knuffle Bunny and Knuffle Bunny Free without realizing it was a trilogy, so we requested Knuffle Bunny Too from another branch.
     My 6-month-old seemed to love the illustrations, and when I read it aloud to my 5-year-old stepson, he had fun taking in every aspect of the pictures. He searched for Knuffle Bunny when he was lost, and tried to predict what would happen next based on the drawings. Days after we read them, he was still talking like Trixie in the first book: "Aggle flaggle klabble!"

Reviews & Awards
Knuffle Bunny and Knuffle Bunny Too are both Caldecott Honor books. All three books are New York Times bestsellers. The first book has been made into a short film and a musical, and stuffed Knuffle Bunnies are also available. Willems was a finalist for Illustrator of the Year during Children’s Book Week in 2011.
     A starred review of Knuffle Bunny in School Library Journal raves, “Personalities are artfully created so that both parents and children will recognize themselves within these pages. A seamless and supremely satisfying presentation of art and text.” About Knuffle Bunny Free, the same source says “Willems once again conveys a range of emotions through limited text and outstanding illustrations. His sensitivity to children's needs allows the humor to come through without devaluing the feelings. […] This one is a must-have.”

Read it for yourself!
Willems, Mo. 2004. Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.
     ISBN 9780786818709
Willems, Mo. 2007. Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity. New York: Hyperion Books
     for Children. ISBN 9781423102991
Willems, Mo. 2010. Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion. New York: Balzer + Bray.
     ISBN 9780061929588


Right before they came tumblin' down!

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs

Plot Summary
Do you think you know all about the antics of Goldilocks? The three dinosaurs certainly think so. Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur, and no, not the Baby Dinosaur you might be expecting, but rather some other Dinosaur who happens to be visiting from Norway, decide to rig up their house so it is just so. They make it quite clear when they leave the house, but continually reassure everyone involved - readers included! - that they are not hiding in the woods, waiting for a trespasser. Goldilocks comes by the house and, true to her style, goes right in. She tries each pudding, then searches for a place to sit. It is then she realizes everything in this house is big. Much too big for bears. Will Goldilocks find out who lives in the house before they find her?

Critical Analysis
Mo Willems lets his fantastic sense of humor shine in this twist on a favorite fairy tale. He pulls the reader into the story with his simple, clean illustrations, and makes them comfortable by letting them in on the joke. Though I say his illustrations are “simple,” that doesn’t mean they’re lacking, simply that no page is too crammed with artistic elements. He outlines the characters with what looks like a black crayon, though the other colors are smooth and vibrant. He adds a bit of shadow to the characters, which helps them pop off the page. Willems shows some humor in his drawing style as well, by adding homages to his other works in the background of some scenes.
     Willems uses a gentle dose of anthropomorphism to make his dinosaurs more relatable to the reader, especially those who are already familiar with Goldilocks’ mischief. Throughout the book, the dinosaurs seem a little devious, setting traps for the little girl, but they also seem like creatures children would want to be friends with. Besides twisting the well-known fairy tale, Willems also turns it more into a fable by ending the story with morals (however questionable those may be…).

Personal Response
I was smiling as soon as I opened Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs and saw the endpapers, and was thrilled that Willems kept the humor going through the whole story. The illustrations looked like they could easily be animated into a cartoon - which is something I’d love to see! I really liked the wink-wink-nudge-nudge type of humor Willems employed in this book, and am curious to see if that’s his style in other books as well. I feel like it’s hard to mess up a fractured fairy tale because there’s so much freedom to make them silly, but Willems hit the nail on the head with this one. Though the jokes are over his head, I love that my 3-month-old son has only heard fractured fairy tales so far - none of the classics, all of the ridiculousness!

Reviews & Awards
In a starred review, School Library Journal notes, "This is pure Mo Willems, from the many visual gags in the cleanly drawn illustrations and the tight, tongue-in-cheek story line to the endpapers, decorated with dozens of hilarious crossed-out title possibilities." Many children's book are geared only towards children, and some have jokes aimed at the adults reading the story aloud. Willems, however, is a perfect mix of the middle ground, as the jokes can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. It might sound corny, but his books bring readers together by bridging the gap in ages.
     Awards and honors earned by Mo Willems’ Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs include: Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Books of 2012, Picture Books; School Library Journal Best Children’s Books 2012, Picture Books; 2013 Irma Black Award Finalist; Los Angeles Public Library Best of 2012 Children’s Books; ALSC 2013 Notable Children’s Books, Younger Readers; 2013 Sid Fleischman Humor Award Winner; IRA Children’s Choices, Beginning Readers, 2013.

Connections & Activities
Readers will love holding this book on their lap and turning the pages at their own pace, because there is much to be explored in each illustration. Because of the book’s whimsical sense of humor, it inspires lots of fun activities.
     - Find the references to Willems’ other works within the illustrations. If the reader doesn’t know any of his other books, it’s a good opportunity to make them eager to read more!
     - Pause after each page and ask what might happen next. Children who know the more traditional version of Goldilocks might be surprised at the turn of events in this version!
     - The endpapers show that Willems went through quite a few ideas before settling on dinosaurs. Examples include Goldilocks and the Three Naked Mole Rats or Goldilocks and the Three-Piece Band. Have the readers pick a few of their favorites and brainstorm about how that version of the story might go! If time allows, you can expand this project into a storytelling event, or have the children draw the characters for their own book.

Read it for yourself!
Willems, Mo. 2012. Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs. New York: Balzer + Bray. ISBN
     9780062104182