Ben Rides On

Written and Illustrated by Matt Davies

A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press

ISBN 978-1-59643-794-4

Grades 2 and Up

Book Review

A crow, a bicycle, and a green-striped hoodie populate Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Matt Davies’s first picture book, but no grown-ups. By maintaining a child’s worldview, Davies allows protagonist Ben to be at the center of the decision-making in this humorous and surprising new book about bullying. While the illustrations allow the reader to imagine lots of twists and turns on the way to and from school, the actions of Ben and bully Adrian Underbite will resonate with kids living in the real world. In a culture in which helicopter parents often hover, Davies reminds children and adults alike that kids have agency all their own. With wonderful vocabulary and brisk pacing, Ben Rides On can play many roles in the classroom, from examining temporal sequencing in story, to exploring the realities of bullying, to comparing and contrasting illustrating fiction and composing political cartoons.

Teaching Ideas and Invitations

Grades 2-3

• The Backstory. Ben Rides On begins by saying: “Now that he had the bicycle of his dreams, Ben Lukin loved going to school.” Why does the bicycle make such a difference? How did he used to go to school? What was so terrible about Ben’s previous method of transportation? Have students write short “prequels” to Ben Rides On that provide the backstory. Was Adrian Underbite involved?

• Real vs. Imaginary. If you read the straight text of Ben Rides On, it is a completely realistic story. But if you explore the pictures, you see a range of imaginary and fantastical experiences alongside the realistic ones. Have your students list what is real and what is fantasy in the illustrations. How do these illustrations contribute to the overall mood of the story?

•  Getting to School. How do students in your class get to school? Do they walk? Ride a bike? Take a bus, train, or boat? Do adults accompany them or do they travel on their own like Ben? Why or why not? Have students discuss the ways they get to school to compare and contrast the range of transport. Next, have students write about how they wish they could travel to school and what they would see along the way. Use Ben Rides On as a mentor text, combining realistic and fantastical before-school journeys.

• Why the Crow? In almost every illustration, a crow accompanies Ben on his journey to and from school. Why? Have your students explore the crow’s contribution to the story. Does it make the story funnier? Did Ben need some sort of friend or companion?

• Story Sequencing. The book begins by stating, “Now that he had the bicycle of his dreams, Ben Lukin loved going to school.” Later in the story, we learn that he only loves going to school. “It was arriving at school that Ben hated.” The story then goes on to use other time-based words: after, when, just, suddenly, while, and still. Have students craft a short fictional piece that uses these time-based words to great a twist in some way.

Grades 2-5

• Duet Exploration: Exploring Bullying. Read Ben Rides On and Each Kindness in the Duet Model. Have students compare and contrast the bullying that occurs in each book. The two books have decidedly different moods and different outcomes. What do students make of that? Which is more “realistic” to them?

• Duet Exploration: Gestures of Kindness. Have students read A Homefor Bird and then Ben Rides On in the Duet Model. In each book, the protagonist does something good for someone else. In the case of Vernon the toad in A Home for Bird, he searches far and wide to bring Bird, a stranger, home. In the case of Ben, in Ben Rides On, he rescues Adrian from a terrible fall even though he has suffered from Adrian’s bullying. What motivates Vernon and Ben?

• Decision-Making. Begin to read Ben Rides On aloud with your class. But stop on the page immediately after Adrian steals Ben’s bike, with the close-up of Ben’s face. Have half the class write what Ben is thinking, and have half the class write what Adrian is thinking. Partner up to compare and contrast each character’s perspective. Finish the book and compare their responses to the ending Matt Davies selected.

• No Grown-Ups? Why are there no grown-ups in the story? Why didn’t Ben tell a grown-up that Adrian stole his bike? Why didn’t Ben get help from a grown-up once he discovered Adrian dangling off of a cliff?

• Similes. At the climactic moment of the story there appears a wonderful simile, as Adrian Underbite “lunged like an airborne walrus toward his rescuer.” Have your students come up with other similes to describe actions that include other animals and interesting verbs. The funnier, the better! Illustrations might be a helpful as a starting point for concrete thinkers. Students can draw an action they see in their mind’s eye, and then come up with an appropriate simile.

• Simple Story, Sophisticated Vocabulary. Ben Rides On is an easy story for intermediate grade students to read on a technical level, though it has sophisticated themes. It also has sophisticated vocabulary. Use the book as a way to teach the meaning of some great words, including: gleaming, devastated, revolve, whereupon, significant, perilously, eternity, hauling, galoot, momentarily, and lunged.  

Grades 6-8

• Exploring Strong Victims: Read Ben Rides On as a scaffold to a longer and deeper exploration of how some children respond to bullying. After your students discuss Ben’s actions, have some students read Wonder by R.J. Palacio and others read Loser by Jerry Spinelli. How do Ben, August Pullman of Wonder, and Daniel from Loser respond to bullying in similar ways? How do they differ from one another? How do their actions and attitudes influence their peers? Are these books realistic? How so? How not?

• Author-Genre Study. This is Matt Davies’s first picture book. But he is an accomplished political cartoonist with a tremendous volume of work. Use his website as a means of introduction to the content of his cartoons. Assign or allow students to select a “tag” on his blog to explore in a small group setting. Some students may need to read additional articles or listen to news stories to fully understand the sophistication of his political cartoons. Have each small group compare and contrast what he does with words and pictures in his political cartoons with what he does in Ben Rides On. How are the similar? How do they differ? This is a wonderful way for middle school language arts and social studies teachers to team up and explore political discourse.

Further Explorations

Digital Resources

Matt Davies’s Official Website

http://mattdaviescartoon.com/

Kids on Bikes (Colorado Springs)

http://kidsonbikes.net/

Kids Who Walk or Bike to School Concentrate Better Study Shows

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2013/02/kids-who-walk-or-bike-school-concentrate-better-study-shows/4585/

“What’s Lost When Kids Don’t Ride Bikes to School” NPR Story

http://www.npr.org/2012/05/02/151867390/whats-lost-when-kids-dont-ride-bikes-to-school

New York Times Topic: Bicycles and Bicycling

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/b/bicycles_and_bicycling/index.html

Stop Bullying

http://www.stopbullying.gov/

Bullying – American Psychological Association

http://www.apa.org/topics/bullying/

PBS It’s My Life: Friends and Bullies

http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/friends/bullies/

What You Need to Know About Bullying

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,2095385,00.html

Books

Cooperative Children’s Book Center Bibliography on Bullying, Teasing, Relational Aggression, and School Violence

http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/detailListBooks.asp?idBookLists=309

Palacio, R. J. (2012). Wonder. New York: Knopf.

Spinelli, J. (2002). Loser. New York: Harper.

Stead, P. (2012). A home for Bird. New York: Roaring Press.

Woodson, J. (2012). Each kindness. Ill. by E.B. Lewis. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books.

The Universe of Fair

The Universe of Fair
Written by Leslie Bulion
Illustrated by Frank W. Dormer
Published by Peachtree Publishers, 2012
ISBN # 978-1561456345

Grades 4 and up

Book Review

     Eleven year-old Miller's life revolves around the Holmsbury Fair, a longstanding celebration that electrifies the entire town each year. This year, though, he is determined to convince his parents he does not need adult supervision, that he's trustworthy, responsible, and old enough to enjoy the fair with his best friend, Lewis. Proving so means diligently saving his money and babysitting his six-year old sister Penny and her friends without complaint in the days leading up to the event. It doesn't mean mistakenly eating his father's entry for the baking contest, losing his rambunctious six-year old charges, and roping Lewis into one predicament after another to come clean about the pie. Throw in Miller's fascination with a local ghost story and his stabs at using String Theory and a Theory of Everything to make sense of his day, and his misadventures become an uproarious tale of a middle schooler's attempts at independence and maturity. Penny and her friends, in particular, are a realistic and endearing source of humor - even if Miller doesn't see it that way. With simple black-and-white line drawings, Dormer's illustrations underscore the earnestness and lightheartedness of Bulion's text. For a clear-sighted perspective into an early adolescent mindset, or for a sheer upbeat and entertaining read, share The Universe of Fair with your students.


Teaching Ideas and Invitations

• Leslie Bulion Author Study. Leslie Bulion has written several books for children across the ages. Gather multiple copies of her books and conduct an author study. Ask your students to identify patterns in setting, theme, character, and plot across the fiction titles. Examine Bulion’s storytelling techniques in the books, as well as the topics and perspectives she writes about in her poetry collections. Gather information about Bulion from her website listed below, your local librarian, the Internet, and as other biographical sources. 
• Fairs Around the World and Throughout Time. Fairs have been popular events throughout the world and throughout history. What is the purpose of a fair? How is it similar or different from a carnival? What unique contributions and facts have fairs made to local cultures and histories? Gather a set of texts about the stories, events, exhibitions, and contests that take place at different fairs. You can start by comparing and contrasting other chapter books and novels set at fairs, such as Watch out World, Rosy Cole is Going Green! and Fair Weather. Use picturebooks to gather more visual information about fairs (see Further Explorations below). Use websites about fairs, especially ones about the World’s Fair, to investigate further (see Further Explorations below). Finally, round out this set of texts about fairs by listening to NPR Road Trips: Fairs and Festivals: Stories That Take You Away, a captivating audio CD collection of stories and silliness that occur at fairs across the United States. If a local fair happens to be nearby, enrich their understandings with a trip there and behind the scenes. 
• What Does It Mean to Be Responsible? Miller is determined to prove to his parents that he’s responsible, but there are times he debates what is the more responsible course of action. Divide students into literature circles, and share several of the children’s books below that deal with characters trying to prove they are responsible, such as Flour Babies and No Such Thing. Guide each group to consider the following questions: How does each character define “being responsible”? Are they trying to prove something more? What obstacles must they overcome to show they are responsible? Can showing responsibility in one way also show lack of responsibility in another? 
• Debating Theories of Everything. Miller ponders several scientific theories to help figure out the mysteries and problems he encounters throughout the novel. In particular, he focuses on String Theory and a Theory of Everything. Pair The Universe of Fair with another novel in which the characters attempt to explain the events surrounding them through a specific scientific theory, such as Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me. Direct your students to websites (see Further Explorations below) and easily digestible printed explanations of the various theories under consideration. After engaging them in a discussion about the various theories, set up a debate in which students argue and defend each of the theories against the others.
• Inner Monologues. Miller’s first-person narration allows us to know what he thinks about the people and events around him. One of the ways Leslie Bulion accomplishes this is by writing out Miller’s inner monologues, or the actual long train of thought that goes through his mind as he experiences life around him, such as whenever he contemplates the Theory of Everything. Have students reread some of Miller’s inner monologues, studying how Leslie Bulion shapes them to reveal more about character and plot. Then, using The Universe of Fair as a mentor text, encourage students to try inserting inner monologues into their own fiction writing. You may want to scaffold this strategy by having students assume the role of one of their characters and then freewriting from that character’s point of view. 

Further Explorations

Online Resources

Leslie Bulion’s website
http://www.lesliebulion.com/index.htm

Frank W. Dormer’s website
http://www.frankwdormer.com

International Association of Fairs and Expositions
http://www.fairsandexpos.com

The World’s Fair Museum
http://www.expomuseum.com

Fairs Everywhere
http://www.fairseverywhere.com

Facts about Fairs
http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/americas-wackiest-state-fair-contests
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,761316,00.html

Kid-Friendly Websites about String Theory
http://www.superstringtheory.com
http://www.ehow.com/how_2020214_understand-string-theory.html
http://stringtheory4kids.wordpress.com

Websites about the Theory of Everything
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/theory-of-everything.html
http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/th/Theory_of_everything

Books

Cleary, B. (1957). Henry and the paper route. New York: Morrow Junior Books.

DiCamillo, K., & McGhee, A. (2012). Bink and Gollie: Two for one. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

Fine, A. (1994). Flour babies. Boston: Little, Brown.

Greenwald, S. (2010). Watch out world, Rosy Cole is going green! New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Kehret, P. (1995). Danger at the fair. New York: Cobblehill Books.

Krulik, N. (2013). Katie Kazoo switcheroo: All’s Fair. Ill. by John & Wendy. New York: Penguin Young Readers Group.

NPR. (2012). NPR road trips: Fairs and festivals: Stories that take you away. [Audio CD]. HighBridge Company.

Peck, R. (1998). A long way from Chicago. New York: Dial Press.

Peck, R. (2003). Fair weather. New York: Puffin.

Stead, R. (2010). When you reach me. New York: Yearling.

Tudor, T. (1998). Corgiville fair. Boston: Little, Brown & Company.

Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors? The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell

Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell

Written by Tanya Lee Stone and Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman

Published in 2013 by Henry Holt

ISBN: 9-780805-090482

Grades 2 - 8

Book Review

“Back in the 1840’s, there were lots of things girls couldn’t be…. being a doctor was definitely not an option.” But, this didn’t discourage Elizabeth Blackwell, who persisted in applying to medical school despite receiving twenty-eight rejection letters. Addressing her readers in second person to maximize engagement, award winning nonfiction author, Tanya Lee Stone uses the genre of picture book biography to impress upon us the remarkable achievements of Blackwell, the first female student at Geneva Medical School and the first practicing women physician. Stone’s direct, yet detailed narrative tone is well suited to convey Blackwell’s personality traits: “But Elizabeth didn’t believe in couldn’t or shouldn’t. She refused to give up. She was stubborn as a mule. Quite rightly!” Touching briefly on Blackwell’s childhood with greater focus on her application to and experiences in medical school, this overview is more fully fleshed out through a two page author’s note at the conclusion of the book. Marjorie Priceman’s energetic gouache and India ink illustrations further enliven this portrait of one seriously determined lady. Students reading this title will gain perspective on the challenges and accomplishments of women’s history and will be inspired to persist in pursuing personal goals.

Teaching Ideas / Invitations for Your Classroom:

Grades 2 – 8

Pioneering Women. Gather a collection of picture book biographies that feature women who were pioneers in their field. Divide students into small groups and ask students to read the books and make notes about the subjects of their books. Ask students to prepare a brief summary to share with classmates. After each group shares their summary in a whole group session, ask your students to brainstorm categories to construct a comparison chart featuring the women’s lives and accomplishments. Return to small group work with and ask groups to complete the information to construct the chart. When the chart is assembled, hold another whole group discussion, noting any patterns across the categories. The Classroom Bookshelf blog features several titles ideally suited to this activity, including Me…Jane and  The Watcher (Jane Goodall), Night Flight (Amelia Earhart), Annie and Helen and Helen’s Big World (Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan), Life in the Ocean (Sylvia Earle), Miss Moore Thought Otherwise (Anne Carroll Moore) and Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World.

Persistence. Despite many obstacles, Elizabeth Blackwell persisted in her goal to become a doctor. Ask students to recall the opposition that Blackwell faced and her efforts to keep moving toward her goal. Ask student to think about and then they write about a time in their lives when persistence was needed. Students could illustrate their stories, which could then be bound into a class book to share with others.

Focused Comparison: Stone as Biographer. Tanya Lee Stone has also written a picture book biography featuring suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, titled Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right To Vote (Holt, 2008). Read each title to first compare the life stories of these women. Next, reread the stories with a focus on writing style.  What can you learn about writing biography from studying Tanya Lee Stone’s writing choices? In each book, what events in the subject’s lives receive most emphasis? How does Stone use details to characterize her subjects? How are quotations used and documented? What kinds of information are provided in an author’s note? For a broader study of biography, move into a comparison on Stone’s writing style with that of other picture book biographers or extend your author study to include Tanya Lee Stone's other biographies (listed on her website).

Women’s Rights Movement. This book has a place in a more comprehensive study of women’s rights and efforts to open doors previously closed to women. Gather texts that support an understanding of the timeline and advocacy involved in the Women’s Rights Movement. Suggested include Tanya Lee Stone’s Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right To Vote (Holt, 2008), Shana Corey’s You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer (Scholastic, 2000), and Jean Fritz’s You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton? (Putnam, 1995). These, and other books, can be contextualized with the timeline found on the website of the National Women’s History Museum (Smithsonian). You and your students may be inspired to explore aspects of women’s history more deeply, developing inquiry questions to pursue through books, primary source documents, and perhaps through first hand research (for example, interviews).

Grades 2 - 8

The Craft of Picture Book Biographies

Biographers’ Choices: Which Story to Tell? When writing biography for a child audience, authors make decisions about how to frame the subject’s life; they make choices about which available information to include and which to exclude. Gather together additional biographical information about the subject of a picture book biography. Your local librarian will be willing to help you locate additional biographies for a child audience, including series titles. Read across the collection of biographies about a single subject, noting commonalities and discrepancies in the way particular events are relayed. Discuss how and why biographers make decisions about how to tell a life story.

Biographers’ Choices:  Life Story. Biographers must also make choices about which events to highlight in a subject’s life. Some biographies highlight a particular event in a character’s life, while contextualizing the event within a life trajectory (for example, Rosa by Nikki Giovanni, a picture book biography of Rosa Parks). Other biographies focus on the childhood of a famous figure, foretelling their accomplishments with childhood interests (for example Me.. Jane by Patrick McDonell, a picture book biography of Jane Goodall). Other titles place more even emphasis across the lifespan of the subject. Assign small groups of students several picture book biographies and ask them to examine the structure and content of the book in order to describe how the author narrates the subject’s story. This close look will prepare students to make decisions when composing about how to structure a biography.

Characterization: Details that reveal character. As biographers relay the story of their subjects’ lives to their readers, they must work to convey their personalities, traits, and idiosyncracies. We call this ‘characterization’ or ‘character development.’ Often, authors incorporate details and descriptions of characters’ actions or behaviors that reveal character. For example in Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors?, Stone lets the reader know that Elizabeth Blackwell liked to challenge herself, exploring her limit, revealing this characteristic by describing her as “a girl who tried sleeping on the hard floor with no covers, just to toughen herself up.” Biographer can also reveal character through dialogue (using quotes from the subject), by describing the reaction that others’ have to the subject, and through illustration. Work with your students to review a collection of biographies, mining them for specific examples of character development. Make a two column chart, recording quotes from biographies on the left side and a description of how this quote reveals character on the right side. This exercise will prepare students to write more sophisticated biographies.

The Author’s Note: Back Matter. Gather a collection of picture book biographies and conduct a focused study of the back matter, in particular, the Author’s Note. What kinds of information do authors include in an Author’s Note? How does this information enhance or clarify a reader’s understanding of the text of the book? Use a variety of Author’s Notes as mentor texts for students’ own writing.

Online Resources

Macmillan Group Book Page

http://us.macmillan.com/whosayswomencantbedoctors/TanyaLeeStone

Tanya Lee Stone

http://www.tanyastone.com

NIH: Changing the Face of American Medicine: Elizabeth Blackwell

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_35.html

National Women’s History Museum: Elizabeth Blackwell

http://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/elizabeth-blackwell/

National Library of Medicine

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_35.html

Times Topics, Elizabeth Blackwell, The New York Times

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/elizabeth_blackwell/index.html

The Elizabeth Blackwell Society, New York City

http://www.downtownhospital.org/the-elizabeth-blackwell-society

Gale/Cengage: Elizabeth Blackwell

http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/whm/bio/blackwell_e.htm

Hobart-William Smith/Geneva Medical College

http://www.hws.edu/about/blackwell/

The Blackwell Sisters, Library of Congress

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/awmss5/blackwell.html

Elizabeth Blackwell, Gilder Lehrman Institute

http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/first-age-reform/timeline-terms/elizabeth-blackwell

"Women in Medicine: How Female Doctors Have Changed the Face of Medicine," Yale Journal of Medicine and Law, May 2012

http://www.yalemedlaw.com/2012/05/women-in-medicine-how-female-doctors-have-changed-the-face-of-medicine/

Biography

http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-blackwell-9214198

Books

Ashby, R. and Ohrn, D.G., Eds. (1995). Herstory: Women who changed the world.  New York, Viking.

Corey, S. (2000). You forgot your skirt, Amelia Bloomer: a very improper story. Ill. by C. McLaren. New York: Scholastic.

Fritz, J. (1995). You want women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton? Ill. by D. DiSalvo-Ryan. New York: Putnam.

Gorrell, G.K. (2000). Heart and soul: The story of Florence Nightingale. Toronto: Tundra Books (Grades 5-8).

Goldsmith, B.Z. (2010). Dr. Mary Edwards Walker : Civil War surgeon & medal of honor recipient. Adina, MN: ABDO Pub.

Snodgrass, M.E. (1993). Crossing barriers: People who overcame. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

Stone, T.L. (2008). Elizabeth leads the way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the right to vote. Ill by R. Gibbon. New York: Henry Holt.

Look Up! Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard

Written and Illustrated by Annette LeBlanc Cate

Candlewick Press, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-7636-4561-8

Grades 3-8

Book Review

“Some people think that nature is something experienced by other people – people who live out in the country. But no matter where you live, you are a part of the natural world, just as the birds and other creatures are. Your thoughts, feelings, and observations about nature are just as valid as anyone else’s.” This call for observation by Annette LeBlanc Cate, for the deep experience of sustained nature watching, is one that teachers, parents, librarians, camp counselors, and nature center educators alike can heed. Look Up! is a thoughtful exploration of the basics of bird-watching, serving as a primer on how shape, color, and field marks all serve as useful guides for bird-watchers, and on important aspects of evolutionary design for specific birds in their particular habitats. Visual vignettes and humorous insets of talking birds help to personally connect readers with the content and further explain nuances of bird behavior and physical features. The book is rich with both visual and verbal explanations of bird habitats, attributes, and actions, with robust vocabulary throughout. This book can serve as the entryway into an exploration of birds, a sensory observation of the natural world in general, and a mentor text for writing humorous and informative nonfiction; it can be used in classrooms throughout the school day and beyond, in after school programs, summer camps, and at nature centers.

Teaching Ideas: Invitations for Your Classroom

Grades 3 and Up

• Duet Model. Read Look Up! in a Duet Model (click here for an explanation of the Duetmodel) with Bird Talk by Lita Judge. How does the information on bird communication in Bird Talk help students understand the more general information they learn about North American birds in Look Up? Students may want to specifically examine how birds are communicating with one another in their own observations of birds. If you have a zoo in your area with a bird house, have your students compare and contrast the ways in which the birds in your region communicate with one another and how birds at the zoo, mostly likely from around the world, communicate with one another. For more teaching ideas for Bird Talk, see our entry from last spring.

• Seeing vs. Experiencing. Early on in the book, the author-illustrator suggests to the reader that you need to spend time watching birds in order to really learn about them. One afternoon alone will not make someone into a bird expert. But there is another advantage to bird watching. As the author suggests, “when you take the time to sit and patiently draw them, you do more than just see them: you experience them. You feel yourself more connected to the natural world, more at home in it.” As you study birds in your own classroom, have your students reflect on the scientific recordings they are making. Observe every day, but reflect after a period of time has passed. Perhaps you start observing birds and spending time outside before you begin a formal study. This way, your students will be developing their own data (words and pictures) about birds, and having a more extended experience of the outdoors. How, over time, do your students see their attitude towards birds and the natural world changing as a result of drawing and writing about birds regularly?

• Anthropomorphism in Nonfiction Illustrations.  If nonfiction books depict “real” things and factual information, then why would the author-illustrator include illustrations of talking birds, a sparrow fashion show, and a pair of puffins sitting at a kitchen table? The primary illustrations across each two-page spread are realistic depictions of birds. But almost every two-page spread also includes a dialogue bubble for one or more birds.  What do readers have to gain from these? How do these talking birds help to shed light on the realities of bird life? Have your students explore these smaller illustrations as a matter of style, and have them demonstrate how the fictionalized vignettes help the reader better understand something about birds. To further extend this stylistic focus, students could create their own fictionalized bird vignette to explain another fact about birds. 

• Onomatopoeia. There is a chart on page 29 that asks budding bird watchers to listen to bird song and consider what they hear, the quality of the sound, and what it sounds like to them. To complete this chart, the author-illustrator had to decide what adjectives to use, what kinds of questions could prompt students to make connections between sounds, and to then match the sound with words that exist already or that are invented purely to imitate the sound (onomatopoeia). Have your students explore the chart and then have them listen to the bird calls described within it using the resources of the Cornell Ornithology Lab. How did the author’s questions and words help guide them? What other words would the students use to describe the sounds birds are making?

• Mentor Chart. On page 32, the author-illustrator compares and contrasts the features of two different birds. Have your students create charts that compare and contrast two birds of their own choosing, using this chart as a mentor text.

• Vocabulary. Throughout the book, author-illustrator Annette LeBlanc Cate uses great vocabulary words, both general and domain-specific. Have your students explore her use of general vocabulary as way to support conceptual understandings of birds and their habitats. Compare this to the ways in which she uses domain-specific vocabulary. General vocabulary words include: connoisseur, agile, fanciful, gregarious, cryptic, phenomenal, extracting, putrid, noxious, mottled, thrive, ubiquitous, and influx. Domain-specific science and ornithological vocabulary include: plumage, habitat, carrion, field marks, range, displaying, colonies, perching, crests, roost, territorial, social, migration, precocial, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.

• Endangered Species. While examining the map on pages 40-41, have your students identify the endangered bird(s) in your region of the country. Why is it endangered? Is it a bird with a very specific kind of habitat? What is happening to that habitat? To what extent is the habitat endangered because of human action? What can students learn to help save that habitat and educate your school and local community? Perhaps your school can partner with the local chapter of the National Audubon Society and cosponsor a public awareness campaign.

• Bird Watching with Reading Buddies. Older elementary or middle school students may want to read Look Up! and then spend some time watching birds and gathering data. Next, they can prepare to share what they have learned with their reading buddies. Older students can make key ring charts using information on bird color, shape, and field marks to help the younger students identify birds. Students can bird-watch together, writing, drawing, and talking about what they observe and using the digital and print resources below. As a culminating project, you can create a Reading Buddy Bird House, like one might see at a zoo. Buddies can select a bird and build a model, paint a portrait, or make a puppet. Students can write informational text, poetry, and songs about the bird. Make sure you have a recording of the bird song available to hear, via iPad or MP3 player. If you were really ambitious, you can group birds by habitat, and have students paint the appropriate backdrop as well or create a bird fashion show like the sparrow fashion show on pages 24-25.

Grades 6-8

Critical Literacy

• Where Does Bird Watching Occur? At the beginning of this book, Annette LeBlanc Cate makes it clear that you can bird watch just about anywhere, from the city to the country, from the mountains to the shore. Bird watching in the city gets its own two-page spread. After completing the book, have your students do a picture walk. Ask them why so few other illustrations depict birding in an urban setting. Is this problematic? Should there be an equal spread of urban, suburban, and rural settings? Should the focus be on bird habitats regardless of where they are located? What do the students know about the author-illustrator and where she lives? How might her location, and that of the publisher, have shaped the illustrations, consciously or unconsciously?

• Birding and Technology. There are many digital tools included below that can help budding bird watchers improve their craft. But how much is too much? To what extent does digital technology take away from the “experience” of sustained watching and drawing that Annette LeBlanc Cate writes about? To what extent does it further enhance the experience? Take a look at the digital tool the Cornell Ornithology lab is building. Your students might want to participate in developing the tool. Have them consider whether such a tool diminishes the skills of observation that bird watching cultivates or helps to more finely hone those skills. What is gained and what is lost when a technological tool does the skillful work that some people cultivate over many years? 

Further Explorations

Digital Texts

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

www.allaboutbirds.org

and

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Page.aspx?pid=1478

Cornell Lab of Ornithology Bird Cameras

http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/

Cornell Lab of Ornithology “Build Merlin”

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/labs/

Celebrate Urban Birds

http://celebrateurbanbirds.org/

NY Times Topics: Birdwatching

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/b/birds/birdwatching/index.html

Audubon Society

http://www.audubon.org/

Audubon Mobile Apps

http://www.audubonguides.com/field-guides/mobile-apps.html

Books

Bond, R. (2007). In the belly of an ox: The unexpected photographic adventures of Richard and Cherry Kearton. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Burns, L. (2012). Citizen scientists: Be part of scientific discovery from your own backyard. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Bouler, O. (2011). Olivia’s birds: Saving the Gulf. Minneapolis, MN: Sterling.

Davies, J. (2004). The boy who drew birds: A story of John James Audubon. Ill. by M. Sweet. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Judge, L. (2012). Bird talk: What birds are saying and why. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

Henkes, K. (2009). Birds. Ill. by L. Dronzek. New York: Greenwillow.

Hoose, P. (2009). The race to save the Lord God Bird. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux.

Kelly, I. (2009). Even an ostrich needs a nest: Where birds begin. New York: Holiday House.

Markle, S. (2013). The long, long, journey: The Godwit’s amazing migration. Ill. by M. Posada. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook Press.

Ruddell, D. (2007). Today at the bluebird café: A branchful of birds. Ill. by J. Rankin. New York: Margaret McElderry.

Spinner, S. (2012). Alex the parrot: No ordinary bird. Ill. by M. So. New York: Knopf.

Stewart, M. (2009). A place for birds. Ill. by H. Bond. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree.

Yolen, J. (2011). Birds of a feather. Ill. by J. Stemple. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong Poetry.

Article for Educators: 

Cappiello, M.A. (Fall, 2009). 927 Fifth Avenue vs. Pale Male: A framework for building a nonfiction text set for a critical literacy curriculum. Dragon Lode: Journal of the Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association. 28 (1), 42-51.