ReedALOUD: a greyhound A GROUNDHOG

I first read a greyhound A GROUNDHOG with students during Children's Book Week in May. It was an instant hit. The marriage of narrative and art creates a joyful and energetic adventure. Emily Jenkins' playful language is perfectly paired with Chris Applehans' spare and sprightly illustrations. While the reader romps through the tongue twisting text, the illustrations invite the reader deeper into the plot. We see the two animals waking up and stretching. We see their surprise and meeting each other. We absorb the joy of their adventure. It's wonderful.

I just love how these paw prints lead us into the story, where we meet this sweet and playful looking greyhound...

...and this adorable groundhog.

Mutual stretches from a long nap...

...lead to a chance encounter and the joyous adventure begins.

That lolling pink tongue! Those bodies in motion! The game of chase in on! But it's not just their game of chase, we readers are brought into the action through Jenkins playful and tongue-twisting text. 

As the new-found friends' energy increases so does the readers. The pacing is superb.

I read this today with my first graders and it was just a fun as last year. In fact, after I read the book, the students took over for the second round, which made it even more fun.

BEFORE reading the book, I asked students, "What is a tongue twister?" I used VoiceThread to capture some of their responses. You have to listen. It is just too sweet.

AFTER reading a greyhound, A GROUNDHOG, the students had a few options to connect with the story. They could share a tongue twister using VoiceThread:

OR, they could write their own tongue twisting page:

Too much fun, right?

The Year in Books that Grew Minds and Hearts

Looking back over the last twelve months of books that my students and I have read together, there are those stories which stand out for the conversations they inspired -- conversations that grow hearts and minds. These are the books that my students still talk about and still ask for, books that get referenced in conversations. These are the books whose influence can be seen in how the students look at and think about the world around them and their place in it.

Here are the top fifteen from this year:

15. It Takes a Village




14. Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya*

13. A Poem for Peter

12. Smoot


11. Give Me Back My Book!

10. Each Kindness


9. The Only Fish in the Sea


8. Little Fox in the Forest

7. We're All Wonders


6. Come With Me


5. Why Am I Me?


4. Book of Mistakes

3. Her Right Foot


2. Wolf in the Snow*

1. After the Fall


There are many books that the students and I read each year that I don't have the time to blog about. These books would rise to the top regardless because of the conversations they engendered.

*Some blog posts never got posted, but will soon!