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You have accessed the blog site for Choosing and Using Books for Children. Throughout the term we'll use our blog to record the books we read and the ideas we have for using them when we're teachers. By the end of March, our class will have read at least 280 books. Happy reading!

Two important protocol actions for EVERY post:
1. Underline or italicize all book titles (choose one formatting style and stick with it--underline OR italicize for all book titles)
2. Add your name in the "label" box before you post each documentation.

One important recommendation:
Create your documentations in a separate Word document, then cut and paste in a blog post.

Basic Documentation

Book Title:

Author(s):

Illustrator/Photographer/Artist:

Publisher:

Copyright Date:

Genre:

Brief Annotation:

Your Rating (1-5) and why:

Readers who will like this book:

Teaching Strategy from Tompkins or Yopp & Yopp (you'll link a strategy to at least 10 of your 40 books) :

Question to ask about this book before a read aloud:

Optional, but noted as extra effort:

1. Interest Level (age):

2. Grade Level Equivalent (grade):
Use book wizard to help with the previous 2 areas


3. List awards

4. Does this book have a book trailer? If so, cut and paste the web address here.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

Book Title: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers


Author & Illustrator: Mordicai Gerstein


Publisher: Roaring Book Press


Copyright Date: 2003


Genre: Picturebook – Non-fiction


Brief Annotation: In 1974, French aerialist Philippe Petit, did something others would never attempt, let alone dream of doing. He fixed a cable between the World Trade Center Towers and spent almost an hour, a quarter of a mile in the sky, walking the tightrope and entertaining stunned crowd of on-lookers. Gerstein captures the events surrounding this amazing feat in a way that young readers can experience and enjoy. His words and illustrations (including wonderful foldout spreads) bring to life the suspense and drama of this event in New York history.


Your Rating (1-5) and why: 5 – There was a little something in me resisting giving this a 5 – like maybe a 4 or a 4.5 – I'm not sure why. Perhaps it’s in the way that Gerstein makes the telling of this story so simple – when in reality, it’s not simple. It deserves a 5 because Gerstein created a children’s picturebook, with a limited number of words and pages, and told the story of Philippe Petit’s walk in a page-turning, suspense-building, make-my-hands-sweat way. I do have a strong fear of heights, so I can’t say how those more height-friendly will react, but I definitely was reacting to the story telling and the illustrations.


Readers who will like this book: Most young readers will enjoy this book. It’s fun that not only is it a great, suspenseful, adventure story, but it’s also true – it seems almost unimaginable that it’s true. Children who like adventure-type stories will especially enjoy this book.


Question to ask about this book before a read aloud: (Showing the book cover – which shows a man walking high in the sky)… This is a story about a man who walked between the towers. Do you think this is going to be a true story? What does it mean if we say a story is ‘fiction’? What about ‘non-fiction’?


Interest Level (age): 4-9

Grade Level Equivalent (grade): 2.5

List Awards: Caldecott Medal

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