Annie and Helen : Book Review and Giveaway!

Today I have the pleasure of sharing a book review for an upcoming release : Annie and Helen by Deborah Hopkinson, with illustrations by Raul Colon. 

Annie and Helen tells the remarkable story of Helen Keller's journey through her relationship with her teacher, Annie Sullivan.  The story is a familiar one to most, but Hopkinson and Colon make the story engaging and accessible for young children in this book.  Hopkinson's prose is beautiful and poetic, and is a wonderful example of using expressive language in non-fiction storytelling.

Helen was like a small, wild bird,

throwing herself against the bars of

a dark and silent cage.

Colon is able to communicate the story well in pictures, also.  The reader gets to see Helen transform from a wild girl with no way to communicate with the world, to a young woman writing letters home from college.  

Although many people are familiar with the story of Annie and Helen, many of us experienced it in a longer book in elementary school, perhaps a beginning biography, or in a study of non-fiction books.  Hopkinson's interpretation of the story not only makes it more accessible for younger children, it provides a teaching tool.  I think about children in first and second grade who are learning about fiction and non-fiction, the features of books, and the features of language, as they grow as authors.  Hopkinson's language is so expressive - but at the same time, factual.  It would be a wonderful example for children learning about writing styles.

Annie spelled into Helen's palm all day long.

Like someone on a windy peak

trying to kindle a fire for warmth,

Annie kept hoping for a spark to catch.

A final striking aspect of this book, for me, is its ability to begin to explain something as abstract as loss of sight and hearing.  For young children with no experience with deafness or blindness, it is a difficult concept to understand.  With his illustrations, Colon shows that Helen is, in many ways, just like any other child.  And with her words, Hopkinson is able to tell the story of Helen's learning in small pieces that the reader can digest before learning more. From trusting her teacher to fingerspelling to braille and writing, Helen's journey is told in an understandable way.

(The back cover contains a raised Braille alphabet.)

Annie and Helen is an example of a book that could be used for multiple purposes, and for multiple age groups.  From a read aloud for preschoolers to a book for readers to explore as part of an inquiry on language and communication, I think this would be a nice addition to a classroom or home library.  I rarely use "non-fiction" as a read aloud, but Annie and Helen is almost a different genre, combining the elements of a great read-aloud with true and meaningful facts.

Thanks to Random House Kids, the publisher of Annie and Helen, I have a copy of the book to give away to a Bakers and Astronauts reader!  If you'd like a chance to win, please leave a comment below by midnight on Monday September 10th, sharing how you might use literature like this at home or in the classroom.  I'll choose a comment at random and announce the winner on Tuesday, September 11th, when the book is released.  If you are a teacher beginning your school year, this would be a wonderful tool that is bound to work within your curriculum!

Good Luck!

I am part of a Blog Tour for Annie and Helen, and you can visit all of these other stops for more information about the book!  The book is available for pre-order now,

and will be released on September 11th.

September 1^st:  Watch. Connect. Read  

September 1^st:   SharpRead

September 2^nd: Nerdy Book Club

September 3^rd: Bakers and Astronauts

September 4^th: Two Writing Teachers  

September 5^th: Cracking the Cover  

September 6^th: Teach Mentor Texts  

September 7^th: Nonfiction Detectives

September 8^th: Booking Mama

September 9^th: Children’s Book Review  

September 10^th: Random Acts of Reading  

September 11^th: 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Giveaway Winner

The winner of the Abiyoyo book giveaway is Danielle!  Congratulations - I'll be in touch to find out where you'd like me to send your book. 

Thanks for everyone who entered!  There were some great book suggestions that are new to me that I will check out, and there were some real classics mentioned, too.

Cheers!

A Thank You for Reading Giveaway!

It seems that more and more people are reading the blog, and that is pretty exciting!  I'm glad that you're looking around and sharing your thoughts and ideas.  Although I have not been the most regular poster, I imagine that once we settle into our new home, I'll be writing more again.

To thank you all for reading (and for passing on the word about this site), I went to one of my favorite bookstores, Elliot Bay Book Company, in a place I used to call home - Seattle.  I looked around for a long time, debating what would be best.  There are way too many books that I would call "essential" for an early childhood classroom.  I thought about something about teaching, but I don't think we get the best inspiration from books for teachers.  We get them from children.  And so, the giveaway is a FANTASTIC book that always gets children talking, playing, and interacting.

I'm giving away a copy of the Abiyoyo Book and CD by Pete Seeger.  He is a wonderful storyteller and musician, and this story has the imagination and magic that so many children connect to.  I have seen some fantastic retellings of the story as children browse the book themselves.  It would be a great addition to your classroom or home bookshelf.

To win, just leave a comment here about reading with children.  What do you love to read with children? Why?  Perhaps we can get some ideas to talk about in the coming weeks in this space.

The contest ends next Sunday, July 24th, at 8pm PST.  I'll announce the winner on Monday, July 25th, and ship the book from Oregon to wherever the winner is.

Good Luck!

Winner!

The winner of the ABC with Imagination giveaway is sunnygirlsf -- congratulations! I'll be in touch with the details!

Hopefully there will be another giveaway at some point...and I hope you all come back for it.

ABC With Imagination Giveaway

I'm so excited to be teaming up with Morgane from little circus to bring you this giveaway!

ABC With Imagination is a set of foam shapes designed by Bruno Munari that are meant to be used to experiment and explore shapes and lines. Children can use them to create letters, or simply designs.

It is essential to honor everyone's learning style in the classroom, and I like this material for my students who really need an alternate route to understanding letters. Before I bought my set, I had one student in mind. She has made progress over the course of the year with fine motor skills, but she was not writing letters -- not even her name or the letter it began with. Understanding that she always gravitates towards activities with sensory elements, We created a sandpaper name card for her and offered fingerpainting activities with letters nearby to inspire her. The ABC With Imagination set allows children to use their body to create letters -- big, bold shapes that they can connect to. She set to work soon after it was on the table and proudly made a K.

I have to say I find them lovely as a design tool, whether you are making letters or not. Another group of girls made a long snaking line across a table.


So! To be in the running to recieve this wonderful item from little circus, please comment on this post between now and Sunday, May 10th, at midnight (Belgian time!). Don't forget to leave some contact information! All of the names will go into a good old fashioned hat, and we'll find a winner that way. It will be announced on Monday, May 11th.

Good luck, happy commenting!

A giveaway!

A few weeks ago I mentioned that there would be a little giveaway happening at the beginning of May. Well here we are at the beginning of May!

My students have been exploring these ABC With Imagination foam shapes designed by Bruno Munari. I got them from Morgane over at little circus. And now Morgane and I are getting for a giveaway! One bakers and astronauts reader will win an "ABC With Imagination" set for their little one(s).

Come back on Wednesday to hear more and to get in the running to win!

Happy Monday!