Not a Box

Title: Not a Box

Author: Antoinette Portis
Illustrations: Antoinette Portis
Published: Portis, A. (2006). Not a box. Toronto : HarperCollins.
Themes: imagination, prediction

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Have you ever given a gift to a little one and when they open it, they're more excited about the box than the actual gift? This book is a little memory of that. From a race car to a rocket ship, this little bunny imagines this box to be anything he wants.

Classroom Ideas:
- If you can, get ahold of a large refrigerator box. Take it into your JK/SK class and see what they can imagine it to be - will it be a puppet house, a rocket ship, a lemonade stand...? The possibilities are endless!

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- Host your very own BYOB (Bring your own box) event! Have students bring in their own boxes to decorate and be creative with.
- The lady at this blog has some fantastic ideas to do NAB yoga - genius!
- Have the kids guess the next stage in the book as you are reading 
- Give each child a piece of paper with a square (box) drawn on it. Give them 10-20 seconds then have them FREEZE and switch papers. Repeat. Discussion: have the kids talk about how the idea was changed from person to person.
- And of course, you could always check out Not a Stick by the same author

What could you do with Not a Box?

- Brooke

Knuffle Bunny

Title: Knuffle Bunny

Author: Mo Willems
Illustrations: Mo Willems
Published: Willems, M. (2004). Knuffle bunny. New York: Hyperion Books.
Themes: childhood, loss, family, adventure

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Trixie ventures out on a special errand with her dad to the laurdomat. As a toddler, Trixie enjoys helping her dad put cloths into the machine and put the coins in their slot. As the two travel home,Trixie realizes that her beloved bunny was left at the laundromat. How will Trixie get her stuffed animal back? Will she ever see Knuffle Bunny again?

My JK/SK class totally LOVED this book! Any why wouldn't you? The illustrations are spectacular; Willems places his cartoon-ish illustrations in front of iconic New York scenarios. This is the first of the Knuffle Bunny trilogy; Knuffle Bunny Too and Knuffle Bunny Free.

Classroom Ideas:
- This is a fantastic book to do some text-to-self connections. Who hasn't lost something in their lives? Even my JK's were able to tell me of a time when one of their toys went missing, how they felt and what they did to help find it. 
- Have students write about their favourite toy using descriptive detail.
- This would be such a great book to have students do some work at retelling.
- Have students create their own art inspired by the book. Give students a black and white scenery and have them place their own characters on top.
- Create a character map for Trixie -- check out the two sequels to see how her character develops through the years.
- Have students compare Knuffle Bunny to other iconic books about stuffed animals, such as Corduroy and The Velveteen Rabbit. Have students create a Venn Diagram to discuss the similarities and the differences.



How can you not love this book?

The Lion & The Mouse

Title: The Lion & The Mouse

Author: Jerry Pinkney
Illustrations: Jerry Pinkney
Published: Pinkney, J. (2010). The lion & the mouse. New York: Little, Brown and Company: Books for Young Readers.
Themes: wordless, friendship, kindness, Aesop fable

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In award-winning artist Jerry Pinkney's wordless adaptation of one of Aesop's most beloved fables; an unlikely pair learn that no act of kindness is ever wasted. This story shows us that even the King of the Jungle needs help, and a tiny mouse can be that helper. With vivid depictions of the landscape of the African Serengeti and expressively-drawn characters, Pinkney makes this a truly special retelling, and his stunning pictures speak volumes. Even though there are no words in this book the story about kindness still comes through. 

This is one of my most beloved picture books in my entire collection; the exquisite 2010 Caldecott Medal winner. Pinkey's illustrations need no words at all; they are so intrinsic and detailed in their own right.

Wordless books, when done properly, have a valued role within our classrooms. This book especially is a fantastic introduction into the concept of visual literacy; how can the illustrations help us know what's going on? What do the character's body language and facial expressions tell us?



Classroom Ideas:

-  Have multiple people "read" the story. Have students reflect on the question - How was the story different from the way I understood the story?
- Using a pad of sticky notes, have students create a dialogue for the characters. What are the animals saying when they're together? What are they thinking when they're alone?
- Create a T-Chart on a piece of paper. On one side write the word "Mouse" and on the other side write the word "Lion". In each column, write down character traits of each animal. How are they different? How are they the same?
- If you were to interview one of the main characters, who would you interview? What would you ask them? Create an interview between you and one of the characters. Have students either record this interview or act it out in front of the class.
- Have students turn to their favourite picture in the book. What visual cues (hints) are present that let the reader know what is happening in the story?
- Can you think of another pair of animals that would make good main characters? Have students create their own wordless book with these characters.
- Reflection question: 
a) The Lion & The Mouse demonstrates “the golden rule”. The golden rule is “do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.” What does this mean? Why is this a good rule?
b) Why do you think the author chose to include animal sounds as the only words in the book?