Who are some of your favorite children's authors? What is your all time favorite? Get to know that author more intimately so that we can get to "Know a few authors well", as Katie Wood Ray talks about. Who will be that author that you can quote inside and out? What can you discover about this author's craft that makes them unique? Let's begin this process together, realizing that as we get to really know these authors we are planning for infinite teaching situations ahead! You never know when you might need Patricial Polacco's help through a lesson!
And yes, Patricia Polacco would be one of my all time favorites because of the way that she structures each of her texts. But the one text that I know the best and that I use over and over is a book called Emma by Lisa Say. I love this book because of it's rich illustrations and how it allows you to get to know the character, even though she never says a word. I love how this author creates a story that forces it's readers to wonder, think and feel with and for the characters. I have used this book to teach questioning, inferring, connections, sensory images, writer's craft and more. It is because I know this story so well that I can use it well. It is not about getting to know a million different stories on the surface, but going deep with one that you love that you can have by your side as you teach everyday! As we want our students to live with a stack of their mentors on their desks, you too need to have yours!! draft
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Favorite children's authors? Of course I like Polocco, and I really like Henkes because he is so great for making connections to. But I think a new favorite of mine is Eve Bunting. Her works are of such great depth for a picture book. My first encounter was with the book The Wednesday Surprise, a book about illiteracy in adults. Then I read Fly Away Home, a book about homelessness and another about immigration and yet another about war. She makes these topics accessible to kids, yet they are thinker books. I relish a story that I have to read the page over and over again. A book I can use to teach with for years and never grow tired or commonplace when reading the pages. Each reading can produce new insight.
I confess, I usually use her work to teach inferring. There is so much to think about at a deeper level. But looking at writer's craft is new for me. I am looking forward to learning what makes her writing soooo good. What is it that hooks me?
I have a few old favorites and I few new favorites. I too have always loved Patricia Polacco. I love the way she tells stories about family. I enjoy the way she starts her stories with an ordinary moment that turns into anything but ordinary. The Keeping Quilt is an example of this. It starts “When my Great-Gramma Anna came to America, she wore the same thick overcoat and big boots she had worn for farm work.” There is very little color to the illustrations, emphasizing the material used to make the quilt. The quilt becomes a part of four generations of lives. Knowing that this story is drawn from Patricia’s own life makes it even more appealing.
When I was teaching first grade, I became familiar with Kevin Henkes stories. I was drawn to his stories because my students were able to make wonderful connections. They wanted to hear about the mice- Wemberly, Wendell, Julius, and of course Lilly.
My newest favorites were suggestions from Debbie Miller. The more books I read by Cynthia Rylant and Eve Bunting the more I knew I needed to add their books to my library collection.
It's funny reading Jen and Ronnie's blogs because we have such similar tastes in books. I love Henkes, Polocco, and Bunting for all the same deep and purposeful reasons. However, my favorite author to read to kids is Shel Silverstien. He makes me giggle. He makes them giggle! I love how outlandish everyday situations become in his poem. For example "Sarah Sylvia Cynthia Stout" is about a girl who would not take the garbage out. My students wriggle and squirm as I read the enormous list of rotting items in her garbage pile. It just cracks me up that without seeing a single illustration the children get so grossed out by Shel's descriptions.
Shel's peotry also reminds me of a very simple folk tale in that there's always some kind of message. "Jimmy Jet" turns into a T.V. set from watching too much television. Sarah should have just listened to her parents and taken the garbage out. One child shouldn't have eaten the whole whale... just a reasonalbe amount of whale for dinner. Okay, I'm not when our students would ever have a chance to stick their heads in a lion's mouth, but now they know not to! I would love to be able to look at the world through Shel's kid glasses.
hi I love all the authors that have been mentioned. Like Gina, my students as well as my own girls loved his books when they were little! I also have favorites that I use for teaching connections, strategies, etc. If I have to pick an author that is special to me and one that warms my heart it would be Mercer Mayer. His Little Critter books are short and sweet and they are great for connections to everyday life too! When I read them in class- my students are making "c's" on their chest! (connection :) ) Some of his stories hold a special place in my heart too. My youngest daughter, Krysta is a big fan too. I had been reading them to her older sisters before she was born-Big Sister, Just Me and My Little Sister, Just Go To Bed- etc. Krysta is the one who fell in love with them the most. Our favorite Little Critter book is "Me Too!". I used to love to buddy read this with her! She always had the "me too" part. We have been collecting his books for years. A few years ago, I emailed him to tell him how much I loved his stories. I think he is down to earth and he has said he writes about his own life and what goes on with his children. I remember being so excited when he took the time to personally e mail me back!
Wow! What a question! I'm glad I waited to answer this one because all of the people who wrote before me had wonderful ideas! I have so many books and authors that have been close to my heart because of being a reader, then I discovered so many more as a teacher, and now I fall in love with them all over again as a mom. I love to use Cynthia Rylant's books with the kids when teaching inferencing and connections. Donald Crews is great for model text for zooming in on a moment to write about. My kids and I read anything by Mo Willems, also great for inferencing,questioning, using dialog, showing emotion to your writer and a million other things! I love that there are so many wonderful stories and poems out there for kids!
If I'm being completely honest I'll tell you that I have been asked this question before by family members and such and have replied with the answers I always heard other people using- Cynthia Rylant, Kevin Henkes, etc. However, I've never really stopped to think about my favorite children's author- for real. Thinking now I would have to say I'm still not sure. I never really looked at a story like a writer, I just enjoyed the message in a story, and didn't necessarily take the time to think about how the author chose to deliver the message, as being meaningful. Does that even make any sense?!
I do love Kevin Henkes' books because I love his characters. I think they are easy for kids to identify with. I do like Cynthia Rylant, especially An Angel for Solomon Singer. The first time I read the book I wasn't so crazy about it but I read it again with my class last year when we were working on questioning and I couldn't believe some of the things I had never noticed myself. They really made the book a special read for me. Other favorite books of mine are Stand Tall Molly Lou Mellon- again because of the message, Meanwhile Back at the Ranch- this one is fun to read because it repeats the title of the book and the kids like to read that part with me when we get to it, and Mr. Peabody's Apples- yes Madonna wrote this book but I will absolutely, flat out, not name her as my favorite children's author! I guess I just can't seem to choose one favorite author since I have so many favorite books.
Favorite authors… this is a hard one for me. Like many things I think of books like tools in that, I always have a variety and not just one I use to get the job done. I feel like I look more and more to books that make children laugh. I continue to find that children read just to do it and not because they truly love and can connect with it. My favorite books are always those that can make a child laugh out loud. There is nothing like a good laugh in our silent room during independent reading time. I can definitely say that I too enjoy many of the same authors already shared. Patricia Polacco has been one of my favorite authors because of the way children can connect with her stories. I particularly enjoy My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother and Babushka’s doll. Her stories all send such amazing messages and have a special touch that is difficult to describe. Chris Van Allsburg also has some great books that leave the children with so many questions as they read. Although so many people dislike good old Junie B. Jones, I just love her. I can hear Lilly and Jack giggling from across the room as I write this. I remember when Junie B. Jones became a hit. I started reading the stories as bedtime stories to my husband at night. He thought I was crazy, but had a few good laughs too.
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