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These were words spoken to a National Writing project group by Commonwealth of Kentucky Poet, George Ella Lyon, in respon"Lost is a place on the map."
These were words spoken to a National Writing project group by Commonwealth of Kentucky Poet, George Ella Lyon, in response to a comment that one was stuck in and on a piece of writing.
I was that writer.
Lost is a place on the map. As as Kao Kalia Yang demonstrates in A MAP INTO THE WORLD, loss, too, is a place on the map.
The dust jacket and case present in soft yellows and greens, natural tones for the themes that will be expressed in the book. The book presents as a capture of a season within a season and depicts a young Hmong American girl that readers will come to know at Paj Ntaub (a Hmong term describing a movement across time and the name of a girl ((our main character)). From the cover art to the peritext on the copyright page A MAP INTO THE WORLD becomes a gatefold story from its very beginnings in orienting the reader, young and old to the terms that will be used with the story to come.
The main character is the narrator of the story who weaves the story through a reporting of both season and surroundings. . .and the siblings to come. We meet our family as they are just moving into a new house. There is evidence of season in the text that hints at a garden with tomatoes and green beans and watermelon "as round as my mother's belly." A MAP INTO THE WORLD seems to begin a sense of the natural elements of life (within seasons) from the first page.
That Tais Tais kneels down to touch the dirt in a single sentence is carrying this since of soil and seasons and siblings and sensitivity into the story.
"The green house became our house." With the spare text offered by the picture book format, the author demonstrates how to move in time and space from freshness to settling into a home. Our main character and Tais Tais pin up a special story cloth on their wall. This is a look into the past that invites a look across the yard when Paj Ntaub sees an "old man and woman through the window." This little paragraph above the depiction of a couple we will come to know as Bob and Ruth is a mentor text in sentence variety and alliteration making A MAP INTO THE WORLD a mentor text for the writing classroom.
Paj Ntaub recognizes that Bob and Ruth look "older" than Tais Tais which is a quick little window into the progression of age inviting classroom teachers to share and to talk about those who are older than us through a lens of multi-generational insights and interactions.
Again, Kao Kalia Yang offers subtle shifts in season with Paj Ntaub and Tais Tais picking tomatoes and beans and checking on watermelon. We might talk about the fact that these were presumably planted "in season" before the arrival of Paj Ntaub's family which invites conversations around seasons and what we leave behind in this earth as we move on. As a flower gardener I appreciate this quiet little time jump that brings into the story Paj Ntaub's twin baby brothers.
The approach of fall brings descriptions of gingko leaves turning "yellow like apricots. " All age levels. This is a writing workshop invitation that invites the senses of food recognition, sight, smells, and possibly tastes. We have simile here that presents a model for students to try in their own writing. A MAP INTO THE WORLD shows its potential once again to be gatefold title inviting classroom teachers to go into the back list to connect classic picture books like Leo Buscaglia's THE FALL OF FREDDIE THE LEAF.
The depiction of Bob and Ruth here show Bob raking while Ruth watches the activity. Paj Ntaub wants to bring a leaf into the house to show her siblings, but she is told that the babies are too young to touch these leaves. This might not work as a reference for younger readers, but classroom teachers might consider how these consultations with the mother that repeat in regard to what the babies can and cannot do is really a subtle suggestion of Paj Ntaub's not being too small to see and to process the seasons changing around her. Kao Kalia Yang inserts this so subtly into the text that I wanted to point this out as a talking point for classroom teachers to consider when contemplating whether or not an audience is too young to consider and to talk through stories with loss as subject and theme.
The loss of a neighbor is handled with the same subtle shifts in scenes and seasons and situates the loss during the winter months when the text slows down and illustrator's depictions bring the reader winter through the same windows through which Paj Ntaub receives the warmth and color of seasons passed and promised to come again.
When spring comes, Paj Ntaub finds the "first worm of spring," the first turning and tilling of the dirt into which Tais Tais will add green onions to the plants/vegetables already growing. That Paj Ntaub picks lilacs from a shrub to share with her brothers is a nod to classic Whitman poetry (go ahead and take the bridge; extend that ladder to older readers in the room).
The end of the book shows Paj Ntaub demonstrating through her art a deep sense of sensitivity and empathy toward her neighbor, Bob, a man that she has "lost" in the winter season as winter is often wont to create distances in the snow not nearly as long as those eventually closed in the green of spring.
No spoilers for this book other than this book is one about experiencing loss. And how we help one another to be found again. Or as Ram Dass would write, "We're all here to walk each other home." Paj Ntaub offers the one condolence she can offer at her young age. And she offers this in the earnest of youth to the wisdom and receptiveness that comes of age.
I want to present A MAP INTO THE WORLD to classroom teachers as a natural extension to the activities created and codified by master/mentor poet, Georgia Heard, in her book HEART MAPS. Kao Kalia Yang, probably without knowing about Heard's book has created a natural companion to the text.
In these "heart maps," writers of all ages are able to stay in the process of creating their story before writing their story. These graphic organizers" are maps "into their worlds" that help us when they are "lost" to the process of writing. These are the same maps that guide us to write. . .and to light.
Lost is a place on the map. And on that map we can find ourselves on our way into the world. Many times, we pick up a friend along the way.
In BEAUTY IS EMBARRASSING, a documentary of which he is the subject, artist Wayne White exclaims of the field in which he is standing, "It's so beautiful, it hurts my feelings."
This is what Kao Kalia Yang's A MAP INTO THE WORLD is for me. A book so beautiful. . .it hurts my feelings. What hurts my feelings the most is probably the fact that many young readers will not see this mentor text in community relationships and empathy because it will not appear at the big box stores to sit alongside the ubiquitous mass market offerings to young readers.
For those of us who share picture books at the secondary level, this is where our work really begins. We cannot bridge all of the gaps of quality picture books and illustrated texts our readers might have missed, but we can recognize the books that create natural bridges to, into, across, over, and through. . .these "reading ladders" described by Dr. Teri Lesesne (Professor Nana) in her book for educators of the same title (READING LADDERS).
As a teacher who reads Mitch Albom's TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE with its vignettes into other cultures and how they describe their view of life and of death, A MAP INTO THE WORLD would fit wonderfully well as a read-aloud, read-along share in the room.
This book is a debut picture book offering from Kao Kalia Yang, a Hmong American. The illustrator, Seo Kim, is also sharing her first picture book published in America which is an invitation for classroom teachers to add to their classroom library collections more voices presenting multicultural subject matter from within that culture and that cultural expression. The words and the images come together in this type of presentation that will make the reader feel as though they are part of something new and uniquely-special in the reading and sharing of this book with students of all ages.
I received a digital copy of this book and I purchased a copy from my classroom, Room 407 at Silver Creek High School. ...more
When my Indiana-based poet friend, Rebecca Kai Dotlich shared a news story associated with Kevan Atteberry's GHOST CAT ("The Surprising Inspiration BeWhen my Indiana-based poet friend, Rebecca Kai Dotlich shared a news story associated with Kevan Atteberry's GHOST CAT ("The Surprising Inspiration Behind Bellevue Artist's New Children's Book"), I did not expect to be surprised thinking it was surely a cat that might have come into the author/illustrator's life that left an indelible mark inspiring a book.
This is not what the news story revealed. The news story chronicles the Atteberry's wife's journey through memory loss. And this took me into a different reading of GHOST CAT once it arrived on my doorstep.
As a former Activity Director for a Memory Care Unit, I have seen and worked with people as they lose and continue to lose a hold upon a life once lived and the loves once experienced fully. I understand even more about reality therapies and approaches in working with elders than I ever did as a twenty-something, well-intended AD (sometimes I wish I could have another go at this kind of work; books like GHOST CAT would be in my office to offer to my families who would come to visit).
From a design aspect, the book features a beautiful dust jacket when, once removed, reveals the barely-visible but tangible outline of a cat with its eyes rendered in gold foil that look out from the case. This is where we might begin to talk about, before the end papers, what memory loss can look like on both sides of the memory that is lost and the attempt at reclamation (it's right there, that faint outline that you can reach out and touch and be assured that it is almost real). In the Activity Director line of work, we would not tell Mrs. Atteberry, "But, your cat is gone." We might orient more toward, "Tell me about your cat, Mrs. Atteberry."
And here is where GHOST CAT begins on a reading of another level inspired by Kevan's news story.
The first page of the story introduces us to the main character who informs the reader, "There is a ghost in my house." He does not suggest that this ghost is a cat. This is the work of the picture book as it brings together words and pictures to convey messages and meaning. That our main character is sitting at a piano in sharing this revelation (and how might we respond if a friend turned to us and told us the same thing?). Perhaps a practice session has been interrupted here. Or perhaps the main character was remembering a favorite song of the one who has been lost.
The next opening has the main character sharing with the reader that he has only experienced fleeting glimpses of this ghost which he believes to be his cat. He holds this belief because he shares on the facing page, "I used to have one." The piano side-facing just a page before is turned to present keys-out to the reader revealing two pictures of the cat alone and one taken with the boy. In the fuzzy world of memory loss, the presence of pictures can be an invitation to share and to remember.
The next few pages has the main character expressing to the reader the difficulty he has had in actually seeing and realizing the "ghost cat" in order to assure himself that this is what he is seeing. The same is true here in memory care when we see that "glimpse" our our friend, neighbor, uncle, grandmother, husband, or wife. It is always presenting itself quickly, in a flash, and then moving around the corner of orientation and reality.
A deeper reading of GHOST CAT might lead us to consider how Atteberry presents encounters with the "ghost cat" now that he is almost sure of its presence. In the bedroom where sleep and slumber and dreams are shared. In the jangle of of a toy down the stairs, we see the glimmer of a boy and a cat at play and memories of joy spent together. In the den where work may have been done and interrupted for a quick encounter is another place through which the cat moves. In the kitchen where memories of meals shared reveals itself in the quickening of a "ghost cat." And in the "living room" where the name of the place suggests what happens in our homes.
It is through the places that Atteberry's main character thinks he sees the "ghost cat" that he finally realizes that he is in fact seeing what he thought to have lost.
It is these places that I spent most of my time talking with those in my care in an attempt to make connection. Tell me about your work. Tell me about what you would be cooking for supper tonight. Tell me about the games you used to play. Tell me about this picture. Can you sing this song with me? In the work I did once upon a time, I am able to walk through and work through Atteberry's newest book. Don't miss this one for opportunities to extend past what you think you see if there is something deeper coming through the pages, words, and images.
No spoilers for this book. This is not what we do in our reviews. But as much as Atteberry's picture book, intended for children, is a look at the mystery of what happens to the pets we lose, it is also about what we gain in returning to their memory.
No spoilers. You're going to want this sequel to THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN. Annie meets the man who saved her in the first installment. . .I'No spoilers. You're going to want this sequel to THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN. Annie meets the man who saved her in the first installment. . .I've said too much already. ...more
Run, don't walk to LOVE. Read LOVE slowly. Share LOVE locally. Gift LOVE widely.Run, don't walk to LOVE. Read LOVE slowly. Share LOVE locally. Gift LOVE widely....more
I got to see the SoulPancake video of the "My Last Days" series that featured Zach Sobiech in May of 2013. Our school year had already ended.
As it tuI got to see the SoulPancake video of the "My Last Days" series that featured Zach Sobiech in May of 2013. Our school year had already ended.
As it turned out, by the time I saw the now viral video featuring Zach Sobiech, his life had ended.
I remember posting the video to my Twitter stream and my Facebook wall with something like, "If we were in Room 407 today, we would be watching this." I'm known for the videos I select to watch with my students in the classroom and I knew that this kind of post attached to the video would get the attention of my friends at both social media sites. But this was more than a platitude. I knew that there was one reason I had really wished that we had been in school--just for one more day. . .so that I could show this video.
And when I returned to Room 407 with a new group of juniors, Zach Sobiech's story was one of the first videos we watched together with the new English 11 students (one of my laments is that last year's juniors--this year's seniors--did not get to see it). We invited the students to try to capture a five-paragraph essay (I know. . .I know. . .but it is what is in their toolbox when they first come to me in the fall) that would allow them to respond to Zach's story.
And the connections went beyond platitude. Many of my new students who tied to "show themselves" to be tough and above anything creative or sensitive wrote some of the most powerful responses to Zach's story. This is a kid. . .their age. . .talking about the one thing that scares them to death. It is the one thing we usually don't talk about in an English class so we see characters die within the films we see and within the books we share together. When we read Tuesdays with Morrie, death becomes--as Steve Jobs says--a "concept," but we are still somewhat removed from the pain and the process due in part to the fact that Morrie is not us. Morrie is an old man. Morrie has gone to college, got married, had children, had a career.
Zach Sobiech never got to do any of these things. And Zach is more like my students in the room than Morrie could be. Zach is the face of real life that "ladders" so poignantly to the young reader who will lose it at the end of Patrick Ness's A MONSTER CALLS or John Green's THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. Zach played the guitar. He had a girlfriend. He listened to coffee shop bands. He had brothers and sisters. Zach is the student in your third period class that you kind of know but not at all that well.
Laura Sobiech has undertaken what has probably been the hardest job to do as a parent. Move through the terminal process and all the procedures that come along with a terminal illness and rendered any and all of that into a beautiful book here. Early on, I thought about Denise Taylor (I had one of her children in my class during a difficult year--I have the last of her children in my class this year) who wrote a self-published book called HEAVENLY BIRTH about her daughter, Jonnae, and their journey through cancer together.
Much of the book follows along with the twenty-two minute video features at SoulPancake, but more than what the video can offer are the interior monologues and thinking of Laura Sobiech. When Laura is at her most personal within the book, we see concerns for a son, a marriage (one that had been established some time ago with her husband, Rob, and the one that was being planned for Zach's older sister, Alli). The reader gets to share the initial diagnoses and the initial treatments that bring together the strength that surpasses what we originally see in the video. Laura's book here celebrates faith, friends, and family and draws all of these around the memory of a young man who touched many lives with his song, "Clouds."
As I read the book, I found myself being drawn along with the chronology of the story mapping out elements from the page to what I had seen in the video (I watched it again Saturday morning as I began to read the book with Maddie ((11)) who will be reading this book next). What I really like about Laura's sharing in this regard is that she shares the difficulty of having strangers come in to film your family when that family is struggling to hold on to a sense of routine. For this aspect, I love that Laura pulls no punches whatsoever to describe some challenges and some hurts that even moved into and within the filming of Zach's well-known video.
What was most compelling for me, the reader, was Alli's story as this part of the narrative wove through the overall book to present a sort of foil to the notion that everybody just comes on board to openly to surround Zach and to openly display their feelings to the world. In a part of the book where decisions have to be made by the parents between a funeral and a wedding, the reality of Zach's story really comes to light. That Laura includes a blog of Alli's that was written during this time really adds a sense of "okay. . .this is how some people might feel and process pain" kind of feel. Laura shares--with senstivity--not only Zach's story, but the rest of the family in a most motherly and wifely manner. It is one of the elements that really make this book shine.
FLY A LITTLE HIGHER is a book that promises a connection to faith. And it delivers. But, not in such a way that would hinder a classroom teacher from adopting the book with any anxiety. Readers get Laura Sobiech's interior monologue and her conversations with Zach around issues of faith. We see Zach attending a confirmation ceremony in the midst of his treatments. That faith would have been an essential part of the conversations between the author and her son are kept intact within the telling of Zach's story without "breaking the fourth wall" to come out to the reader holding the book.
And for all of this. . .I'll be giving away a copy of Laura Sobiech's book to one of our Books and Bagels attendees tomorrow morning as we consider THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN. I want to be known as the kind of teacher who pushes the edge of young adult literature--sure--but I also want to be the kind of teacher that pulls a reader in to say, "Let's talk about this book together too, okay?'
FLY A LITTLE HIGHER will be our first Books and Bagels book selection for the 2014-15 school year. And even though this year is wrapping up and I could use a little summer, somehow I cannot wait for fall to share and to talk about this lovely little book.
Thank you, Zach.
Thank you, Laura.
Thank you for inviting us to "fly a little higher."
I got to see the ARC of this title at NetGalley. I would like to see the accompanying artwork to this tender text when the book releases in October.
TeI got to see the ARC of this title at NetGalley. I would like to see the accompanying artwork to this tender text when the book releases in October.
Tender text tells the story of Rachel and when her Zayde comes to live at her house at the end of his life.
This is one of those poignant picture books we talk about that get missed when we write off this format for our younger and older readers. Here is an issue that many of our young people face. I love Zayde's gentle voice and counsel in this one and I am "laddering" this title with Tuesdays with Morrie.
A very pretty book. Worth a look at all levels. Another of those, what level is this book? Human. It's human level. A very pretty book. Worth a look at all levels. Another of those, what level is this book? Human. It's human level. ...more
Silverstein. . .Prelutsky. . .Amy Krouse Rosenthal. . .or switch it/reverse it. Do it backwards. Weave in and out of each. But don't you dare miss THESilverstein. . .Prelutsky. . .Amy Krouse Rosenthal. . .or switch it/reverse it. Do it backwards. Weave in and out of each. But don't you dare miss THE WONDER BOOK for what it has to offer to children's poetry.
Whimsical and playful, THE WONDER BOOK is what children's poetry has looked like traditionally, and what it looks like today. Paul Schmid's black and white illustrations make this book look most familiar and most unique at the same time as he would have had to have illustrations the wonder of Amy's thinking to create pairs of fruit on a double date or things that don't grow on trees (for the purposes of clarification).
Delightful pull-out poems within that would make wonderful classroom posters encouraging the sharing of poetry each day of the school year. I'm of the belief that word play and silly verse are keys to unlocking further creativity and for these keys, THE WONDER BOOK stands by as a mentor text.
A parody of "This Little Piggy" invites parody. And what kid doesn't like to engage in a little parody?
"The Less Famous Friends of Mary Mack" might invite lead learners to share this classic jumping rhyme/chant while exploring "What if/What of" types of writing invitations that draw younger readers closer to the text to ask these kinds of questions.
What Amy does best in this--and all of her works--is tuck a little universal truth in the smallest of places like a little love note for the heart.
The final poem in THE WONDER BOOK, "Rhyming Summary of the Universe," makes such a strong connection with TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE, that we'll have to have a copy of THE WONDER BOOK in Room 407.
Oh, and for those who "periodically" need reminders about "table manners," I'll definitely be sharing this with Mr. Emery, the AP CHEM instructor (and not because he needs such reminders).
And. . .you'll note that I had to break my own moratorium on awarding stars on the reviews to make sure that this one was on your reading radar for sure. I'd give it six if the universe would allow. ...more
Sanskrit Aaron Zuckerman is on a journey to find himself. Which isn't easy when:
You have an absentee father distractSuper new title from Allen Zadoff.
Sanskrit Aaron Zuckerman is on a journey to find himself. Which isn't easy when:
You have an absentee father distracted by waiting for "the big one." You have a mother who spends most of her time upside-down. You have a sister who extorts your money for her silence. You have a best friend who's had a religious experience. You have a crush on a girl so hard you can only refer to her by her initials. You have a commitment to school life that includes wearing the appropriate headgear. You have a dead grandfather who pays your tuition.
You've just told the biggest lie one can tell that involves them all.
So, who do you turn to when all paths lead to and away from understanding?
Could it be the guru in white?
How do we create our own identities? How important are the names we are born under? Who gets to choose the path we walk?
Intant "ladders" to The Crucible and Pete Hautman's Godless. This book would work well with Amy Fellner Dominy's OyMG. For a stretch, pair up Zadoff's new title with Night or The Chosen to weigh out the condition of finding oneself in the midst of their faith.
So much to say about SINCE YOU LEFT ME. Zadoff keeps getting better with each book in presenting male characters in a time of crisis and exploration. Don't miss this fantastic author your young young guy readers. But. . .don't discount Zadoff's books for your young lady readers. As much as we say Cosmopolitan and Seventeen are sometimes gateways into how young ladies think, Zadoff's books pull back the curtain into all-too-familiar--but not often discussed or explored--adolescent scenarios.
I read this one on the deck as part of my #bookaday run for Summer 2012. I saw Gary Anderson post this title and I had seen it at the store and I had I read this one on the deck as part of my #bookaday run for Summer 2012. I saw Gary Anderson post this title and I had seen it at the store and I had passed it up a couple of times. Then, I saw another dad reading this before recitals on Saturday and I said to myself. . .well. . .let's take a look at it.
A nice summer read with baseball references.
This one would pair up very nicely with The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca....more
Faces of Death meets Wild Kingdom meets the playful urges of two of children's literature and poetry's biggest names.
The classic work and stylings ofFaces of Death meets Wild Kingdom meets the playful urges of two of children's literature and poetry's biggest names.
The classic work and stylings of Edward Gorey are seemingly updated in this new collection of silly verse a word play from Jane Yolen and J. Patrick Lewis.
Fan's of Neil Gaiman and Gris Grisly will enjoy the short poems that describe the demise of many animals. The illustrator seems to have fun with the illustrations. Readers who look carefully can find animals described earlier in later illustrations.
Themes and depictions are playfully dark but I would want to know my audience that was sharing this book within learning communities serving younger readers....more
Sometimes life's little equations are simple and whimsical:
1 + 1 = US
And other times, life's little equations are progressive:
practice + practice = leSometimes life's little equations are simple and whimsical:
1 + 1 = US
And other times, life's little equations are progressive:
practice + practice = learning
practice + practice + practice = mastering
Amy Krouse Rosenthal who has delighted readers with titles this year like PLANT A KISS and CHOPSTICKS, and other Room 407 favorites like AL PHA'S BET and THE OK BOOK, gifts readers with something really special in LIFE'S LITTLE EQUATIONS.
Younger readers and writers may enjoy breaking down favorite activities, their surroundings and favorite places, and significant relationships into these "equations." To see these "little equations" worked into a math lesson--perhaps even posted outside of a math classroom would be a Common Core States Standards plus in my book (especially when considering standards that ask for multiple texts presenting a similar idea or concept).
For a new hashtag I've started at Twitter, #secondarypbs (Secondary Picture Books), I have started with THIS PLUS THAT: LIFE'S LITTLE EQUATIONS. For its discussion of the "tension of opposites," I picked up this picture book for Room 407 to use as a ladder with TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE, particularly the equation "good days + bad days = real life." And Rosenthal does explore some opposites in regard to sincere apologies and politeness in the book which work well to bring a little light to Professor Swartz's concept of being pulled in opposite directions.
But looking closer at the book, I see something that can be used in the research process as well.
Classification is a skill that older reader and writers really need to break down a subject into a workable topic for the length of papers they might be asked to write. An introduction to Rosenthal's book might demonstrate how something complex (like a rainbow--or a relationship) can be broken down into its simple parts.
For example, a student desiring to do a paper on a diagnosis might think of that diagnosis as Definition+ Signs + Symptoms + Early Treatments + Research Studies + Current Treatment.
A student desiring to do a paper on a historical figure might think of that person as Brief Biographical Information + Significant Contributions To ____________ + Awards and Distinctions + Lasting Legacy.
And while these two examples are pretty simple here, what this approach really does is invite the older reader and writer to be able to focus down into a subject by appreciating its parts.
Like the recipe approach that is popular with multi-genre projects, I think a lot of students could benefit from this THIS PLUS THAT kind of approach to pre-writing....more
A focus on feeling small in comparison to vast spaces and larger entities would make this a nice "quick-hit" introductory read-aloud for a transcendenA focus on feeling small in comparison to vast spaces and larger entities would make this a nice "quick-hit" introductory read-aloud for a transcendentalism unit. Finding one's self in the company of others make this a natural fit with many of Walt Whitman's pieces. Just a couple of suggestions for how to plug a sweet little "one book/four hands" title into the larger picture of the secondary classroom. ...more
I've not read the other Petunia books, but I love this one with its ladders to WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (with a nod from Sendak in the afterward), TUI've not read the other Petunia books, but I love this one with its ladders to WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (with a nod from Sendak in the afterward), TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE (and the idea of being "fully human") and WALDEN (with the idea of sometimes needing to get away).
One of my grandmother's made rhubarb that grew wild in her back yard.
Another grandmother continually raked a hillside on Greenwood Church Road in ordeOne of my grandmother's made rhubarb that grew wild in her back yard.
Another grandmother continually raked a hillside on Greenwood Church Road in order to prepare a flower garden each year. I still see her working in her house dress, using a dirty glove to sweep a lock of shock-white hair from her face as she worked.
As a younger child, my mother worked in a long-term care facility. Her shift was such that I would ride to work with her and then catch the bus from tAs a younger child, my mother worked in a long-term care facility. Her shift was such that I would ride to work with her and then catch the bus from the facility to my school (yes, this was the seventies. . .we did these kinds of things).
I still remember Otto who made these lovely items out of rubber balls and yarn. I wish I had mine still.
I still remember Frieda who would bang her spoon around her bowl when it was empty. The memory is as clear as the Maypo I would share with the residents.
And perhaps this is why I am drawn to this Mem Fox story about a young man who lives next door to a group home of elderly residents. Each of these individuals have something to offer Wilfrid, but there is one special lady--one who has four names too--that has a special place in Wilfrid's heart.
When Wilfrid overhears his parents talking about Nancy Alison Delacort Cooper's memory, Wilfrid sets out to find out what a memory is. And with each resident giving him a different definition of the word, "memory," Wilfrid sets out to put together a memory collection for his friend.
Writer's Workshop ready for discussions and writing invitations about memories.
For older readers, talk about the power of definition.
Wonderful, natural ladders to TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE, SOMETHING TO REMEMBER, TIP-TAP POP, and a host of other books that celebrate multigenerational interactions....more
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