By Mira Reisberg

I am super excited about today's book peek and because I love this book and former student Yuyi Morales so much I'm doing a giveaway with it. Please read on and watch the video then comment on what was most helpful to you from this post and I'll ask Yuyi, if she can, to pick a winner. I'll be announcing it here on August 8th! So here goes...

Thunder Boy Smith Jr, named after his father, Thunder Boy Smith Sr., loves his father dearly. People call his father Big Thunder, which “is a storm filling up the sky,” while he is called Little Thunder, which he believes sounds “like a burp or a fart.” Thunder Boy Jr loves his dad, but he has a secret. He hates his name and wants his own name.
 
So, he begins to brainstorm new names that might represent him better. He has once touched a wild orca and wonders if “Not Afraid of Ten Thousand Teeth” might be a better fit. He loves going to garage sales with his mom, so possibly, “Old Toys Are Awesome” would work. The dog likes to chase Thunder Boy Jr.’s tail, so perhaps, “Can’t Run Fast While Laughing” is the way to go. Little Thunder is tired of being small, but he doesn’t know how to tell his dad. He loves his dad. His feelings seem to contradict themselves; how can he explain them to his dad?
 
In Thunder Boy Jr, Sherman Alexie shows the importance of both remembering one’s heritage while also embracing one’s unique identity. It is an empowering tale that celebrates aspects of certain Native American cultures while hilariously exploring one boy’s journey to find himself and the love between a father and a son. Alexie’s writing weaves this poignant message through prose that is simultaneously thoughtful and very clever, while Yuyi Morales's art takes the story to a whole other level. The two are like a match made in heaven.
 
In the video below, I show and tell how the illustrations were made and also comment on the wonderful text. I hope you enjoy it.

Dr. Mira Reisberg is: the founder of the Children's Book Academy, an award-winning illustrator & published author, a former kidlit professor, & a former literary agent among other things. Mira was lucky enough to be Yuyi and many other extraordinary people's teacher, many of whom now contribute to her courses including the upcoming annual Illustration course starting Sept 5th. Co-taught with Random House editor Julia Maguire with contributions from editors, agents, & top illustrators, Mira and Julia will also be doing a fab free teaching webinar on Wed August 24th 5.30 Pacific/8.30PM Eastern. So save the date & get first notice right here http://bit.ly/CBAtribe  And do leave a comment below. Yuyi & I would love for you to win a copy of this book!

I found an awesome site that has loads of lists for kids of every type. 
http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/books-for-kids

Check out this site for many read-a-like books. (Ex. For Kids Who Like Harry Potter, For Kids Who Like Diary of a Wimpy Kid etc...)

Also, Scholastic has a great downloadable list for kids of all ages.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/sites/default/files/asset/file/2016-summer-reading-challenge-book-list-all-ages.pdf


Here are a few I am excited about checking out. 

What's on your summer reading list?

By Mira Reisberg
Whispers of the Wolf by Pauline Ts’o is a beautiful story bound to pull on your heartstrings. It takes us back 500 years to the life of a Pueblo boy called Two Birds. Shy and insecure because of his size, he spends time  searching for medicinal plants with his grandfather when he finds a helpless wolf pup and brings it home to care for it. As the wolf pup heals, Two Birds finds himself getting to know and growing closer to the other boys in his village, even telling them stories about his wolf. Time passes and he finds himself with a confidence he previously didn’t possess, becoming friends with both his wolf and his peers. But when summer fades into fall and traveling wild wolves call to the saved wolf pup, Two Birds has to make a choice—should he keep the wolf bound to stay with him, or release him to join a new wolf pack?
 
Pauline has a wonderful way of infusing a wide variety of emotion with her words and images using a short, simple sentence structure.

The gorgeous illustrations are detailed with unique textures that add life, power, and movement to the scenes. Pauline's use of color contributes to each spread being a work of art  on its own. In the wee video below I try to give a glimpse at Pauline's skill in creating this multilayered book that deals with friendships on many levels, pre-Colonial times, inter-generational relationships, having to make an ethical decision, and the vibrancy of contemporary First Nations' culture through beautiful writing and art opening up all sorts of doors for rich discussions.

​Learning to read or becoming a reader doesn’t start in school. It starts day one. And it doesn’t start with just books. Inside of books are words and those words create a language your child will listen to and learn. So, yes please read to your child from day one, but honestly the most important thing to do is talk and interact with your child from day one.
I discovered a great article called Promoting Language With Books. The full article can be found here. But I wanted to highlight a few of their key points.

1. Children need to hear many words often.

“The average child’s vocabulary when he starts school is roughly 5000 words. This means that between the ages of one and five, children learn (on average) approximately 3.5 words every day. In order for this to happen, children need lots of exposure to language. And it’s not just how much children hear, but also what they hear that matters. Several studies have shown that children benefit from exposure to unfamiliar vocabulary (words they don’t hear in everyday conversations, like “damp”, “purchase”, or “frightened”)”

1. Children learn words when they are interested

“Children learn language best when adults follow their lead by joining in their play and talking about their interests. Research has shown that parents who follow their child’s lead and use language related to their child’s interests tend to have children with more advanced vocabularies [1].”
“Books spark children’s interest because they have illustrations with bold colors and topics of interest to young children. Many children’s books offer imaginary topics (such as pirates, princesses, or dragons) that encourage conversation between parents and children. In addition, it’s easy for children to show their parents what interests them in a book, both with and without words (by pointing, gesturing, or drawing attention to a picture).”
3.     Children learn best when adults are responsive to them.
“Much research has shown that young children benefit from interactions with adults who do the following while interacting with them:

• continue children’s topics by responding to what they say with a related comment or question
• express a positive attitude
• use a variety of words and sentences [1]

The effect of parents’ responsiveness is so great that it has been linked to children’s:

• cognitive (thinking) skills
• achievement of developmental milestones
• school readiness
• vocabulary
• math abilities [1]

Books promote adults’ responsiveness because:

• it’s easy to join focus during a book and notice what a child is looking at and talking about. The calm, visual nature of the activity focuses the child, and this makes it easier for the adult to follow the child’s lead and respond to his or her interests.”

 
I really think this last one has a huge impact and is really the most important one. When a parent is interacting with a child and being responsive to them, they are not only making their kid smarter, but they are being a great parent and creating memories with their child. I’ve realized this with Harper. The more I actually play with him and interact with him the more well-behaved and happier he is. Most of the time when he is acting like a crazy little monkey, it’s because I’m not giving him my full attention.
 
4. Words are learned when meanings are made clear
It’s not enough to simply use new words during conversation or read them in a book. Children need to learn what words mean, and this happens when parents:

• explain what a word means
• point to pictures
• use their voice or gestures to explain the meaning of the word (for example, using a quiet voice when reading “he whispered in her ear…”)
• use a new word within a related context (e.g. talking about an “ankle” when having a conversation about body parts) [1]

Books can help parents teach children what words mean because:

• parents can use the illustrations to explain the meaning of new words
• the conversations that occur while looking at a book offer opportunities for parents to pause the story and explain what a new word means
• books often use the same new word on several pages of the book. This provides several opportunities to hear a new word used in a variety of sentences, and this helps children understand the word’s meaning.

​
I saw this little chart on facebook today and while it’s a great little resource for writers, I thought what a great tool for parents!
When talking with your kids use this Very Useful Vocabulary Tool.

​So for example, when you are talking about things your child loves, like trucks, your conversation might sound something like this.
“Harper, do you see that big truck? That truck is very big. That’s a massive truck. The big truck is humongous. Do you see it? Wow what a humongous truck! Look how massive those tires are. Do you see them?”
 
Another great way to have conversations with your child is to find those look and see books.
 
Usborne has a few books that spark conversations or help parents interact with their child through a book. 

http://d5367.myubam.com/p/4459/very-first-book-of-things-to-spot
​d5367.myubam.com/p/4459/very-first-book-of-things-to-spot

http://d5367.myubam.com/p/5268/very-first-book-of-things-to-spot-at-home
​

http://d5367.myubam.com/p/5562/very-first-book-of-things-to-spot-out-and-about
​
These books are fantastic because there are so many interesting details on each page. And as an added bonus there are “parent prompts” on each page. These are helpful things to say to your child as you are reading the book. Things like:
​
“Spot a cat wearing a scarf.”
“Who’s riding a bicycle?”
“Find a duck driving a car.”
“Which car has no wheels?”
 
And I swear this book taught my son the emotion of sadness. On one page it says, “Can you see an unhappy cloud?” And on another page it says, “Which monster is sad?”
After that every time he sees someone who is sad, he will say in a sad empathetic way, “Mommy. Awe. Sad.”


​
Here’s another great conversation sparking book. 

​

​In this charming book, each page asks the reader a question about the lineup of characters featured on the spread. Sharp eyes and keen observation are necessary. There's only one right answer, and it's not always easy! Kids will love learning early concepts like expressions and positions as a natural consequence of their hunt for clues in the details of the lineup. It's a book for all audiences: the seek-and-find call to action on every page makes Who Done It? a wonderful lap or parent read, while the whimsical art, distinctive horizontal format, and hip exposed board ensures this book will be equally appealing as engaging coffee table décor.

So what books do you love to use to talk and interact with your child? Leave a comment below if you have some great ones!