View From the 5th Grade Trenches - October 2011 - I'd Like to Read About...

The kids in my class are reading maniacs. They have accepted our principal's challenge to read 30 books each between August and June. 


When I asked what kind of books they'd like to see, here's what they told me:


I'd like to read a book about...
...a homeless boy who builds something that will be passed on for generations
...a soldier who finds an abandoned bunker filled with robots
...a frog named Andy who goes on a space adventure to Venus and meets an alien named Moe
...a modern kid lost in prehistoric times
...a talent show
...a fifth grader who solves the mystery of bank robbery in his town
...a girl who explores the Costa Rican forest
...Santa Claus and a leprechaun who are stuck in Halloween 
...a funny story about the gold rush
...a fifth grader who falls off a cruise ship and gets stranded on an island
...a fifth grade boy who loses his sports ability when he makes fun of a witch in Las Vegas

Okay all you MG authors. Get writing. Can you say, "NaNo?"

If you write it, they will come.


photo credit

Dragon Love from Bruce Coville

I’ve always had a soft spot for dragons. I wanted one as a pet for years. Not a cranky dragon like Smaug in THE HOBBIT, but one I could ride around the world while roasting marshmallows on its fire breath. Couple dragon love with my goal to read a novel by each faculty member of the SCBWI Summer Conference and you have my discovery of JEREMY THATCHER, DRAGON HATCHER by Bruce Coville.

My search for a zinger read aloud to open the 2011-2012 school year in my fifth grade class might just be over.

The first paragraph in “A Note from the Author” at the end of this wonderful story says it all.

“I desired dragons,” J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote, and it seems he was not the only one. There is some powerful pull about these great creatures, something that sings to the imagination. – Bruce Coville

JEREMY THATCHER, DRAGON HATCHER has all the relatable ingredients to be a hit in my middle grade classroom:

Magic

Humor

Peer problems

Fantastical situations that you believe could really be true

Compassion

School issues

Devotion to a pet

Missteps

Resistance to romance

Increased responsibility

Getting around parental scrutiny

Personal growth and maturity

Heart, heart, and more heart

Best of all JEREMY THATCHER, DRAGON HATCHER is part of Bruce Coville’s MAGIC SHOP book series where kids grow through magical experiences emanating from Mr. Elives magic shop.

I know my new class will be enchanted with Jeremy and his dragon, Tiamat. I forsee a rush from my students to gobble up more stories in this series.

Thank you, Bruce Coville, for bringing your dragon magic into my life.

Do you “desire dragons?”

Ode to Cynthia Lord

I admire authors who take on what many of us consider tough subjects and approach them with open hearts. One of my favorite truth tellers is Cynthia Lord.

Her insightful middle grade book, RULES, takes us inside the dynamics that occur in the relationship between twelve-year-old Catherine and her younger brother David, who is a child with autism.

At my school we joyfully mainstream children with autism into our regular education classrooms. We’ve embraced RULES as the initial read-aloud for the year across the grade level. It serves as an invaluable teaching tool for our kids to build an understanding and compassion for their peers who don’t necessarily fit the blueprint of a typical middle grade student. Our students grow along with Catherine as she navigates her own emotions and realizations. RULES teaches that children with autism and other challenges are not broken, but rather bright lights that allow us to value differences. 

“Wishes are slippery things. You have to be very specific or you can get exactly what you wished for and still end up with nothing.” – Cynthia Lord from TOUCH BLUE

This quote brought tears to my eyes and made me pour through the book, TOUCH BLUE. Again, Cynthia Lord tackles a delicate, but fascinating subject, that of a foster child coming to live with a family. We share this experience through Tess, as she reconciles her whimsical expectations with the gritty reality of integrating someone new into your household.  

Cynthia Lord pulls us into the fascinating world of Bethsaida Island off the coast of Maine where lobster fishing is a way of life. The picture she paints of this setting is every bit as magical as a fantasy story, while still giving the reader a grounded sense of home.

As a teacher, I appreciate Cynthia Lord not only for her wonderful storytelling, but also for the life lessons she beautifully illustrates for my students.

Thank you, Cynthia Lord, for sharing your heart.

Is there an author whose work tugs at your heartstrings?