I search Under Oaks by Laura Purdie Salas & Illus by Mercé López

I search under oaks

and gather tasty treasures--

winter is coming. 

--From Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons

I Perch on the Porch by Laura Purdie Salas & Illus by Mercé López

I perch on the porch, 

spooky face frozen in place,

fire burning inside. 

--From Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons

Under a Mushroom by Anita Lobel

This is a wacky little book that only the 1970s could have produced. 

Mushrooms, fairy folk, wildflowers. Yep, that's the 1970s. 

This is about a family of trolls with their cozy little house under a mushroom. 

Mrs. Troll loves the "pleasant, peaceful way" they live, but Mr. Troll thought it was a bit tame. 

One night as it begins to pour down rain, travellers ask them if they can shelter under the mushroom from the rain. Mr. Troll is thrilled! 

As more and more creatures seek shelter under the mushroom, finally Mr. Troll has a little excitement!

Unfortunately the poor mushroom could not contain that many creatures having a wild party and disaster struck.

Now no one had shelter from the rain. 

When the rain cleared, a whole new crop of mushrooms appeared, giving the Troll family their choice of new homes. 

Mrs. Troll breathes a sigh of relief and starts cozy-ing up their new home. 

Mr. Troll, wanting to ensure their life does not descend into quietness again, invites all their guests to make their home in the new mushroom development. So life is never boring or quiet again. 

But poor Mrs. Troll--she liked their quiet and peaceful life before. But too bad for her. 

As I said, it is a weird little book. Why couldn't poor Mrs. Troll have a nice, quiet life? Sigh. Life is just a vale of sorrows for women. 

I wish there was a sequel where Mrs. Troll got to have things quiet again. 

Reward for Raking by Laura Purdie Salas & Illus by Mercé López

Reward for raking: 

A crispy crowd of loud crunch 

when you jump in me.

--From Lion of the Sky: Haiku for all Seasons

You are Home by Evan Turk

I have always loved the National Parks. As a kid I poured over Ansel Adams pictures and made roadtrip plans for my future, driver-licensed self. Ironically, I never was able to visit a national park until I was in my twenties. I mean we lived in New York. There is no national park anywhere near New York. Being an east coaster is tough. 

When I saw that this book was an ode to the national parks, I was immediately biased in its favor. 

Sorry, subjectivity is not my strong suit. 

In gorgeous illustrations, Turk goes through all the people and animals the parks belong to. 

Bison!

Fireflies!

City kids, country kids!

The style sort of reminds of some of Georgia O'Keefe's pictures. And I love it. 

Native Americans

Isn't this gorgeous?!

So dramatic!

And then, there is a big fold out.

And a listing of all the national parks in the system and the ones pictured in the book. 

See New York/New England/Mid Atlantic? A desert of national parks. 

I'm Red, Delicious by Laura Purdie Salas & Illus by Mercé López

I'm red, delicious--

with a quick twist of your wrist,

I'm free from the tree. 

--From Lion of the Sky: Haiku for all Seasons

Lawrence in the Fall by Matthew Farina & Illus by Doug Salati

Happy fall!

This is a sweet little book about a young fox and his father exploring the woods and noticing things.

I had fun gathering leaves for this picture. And I liked this little leaf with the rebellious green patch. 

Why are anthropomorphisized (clearly not a real word) foxes so charming? 

A badger teacher! 

Students had to bring in their collections, but Lawrence, had no collection to bring in. Isn't he adorably worried here? 

His father reassured him that he knew just where to find a collection for Lawrence. 

In the morning, they set off into the woods. 

"There is no better place to find what you need than the woods," Papa explained. 

I am not quite sure if he is being specific or general here, but I believe this in a general way. The woods are always good for what you need. 

Spiders eat their collection of flies. Not what Lawrence was hoping for. 

After looking for several collectibles and not finding one just right, a storm starts. 

In all the running and pell-melling, Lawrence gets separated from his dad. 

He calls and calls for his dad, but the only response is a leaf falling on his head. 

Eventually he finds his dad. 

And he shows his dad how trees drop leaves to him when he calls. 

With a new collection of leaves, they head home to their hobbit hole. That door in the hillside--so cute!

Everyone loves Lawrence's collection. 

So he takes his classmates exploring and they collect their own leaves!

The end papers are leaf identification pages. 

I love this book. Mostly because I just love nature, but also the springboard it gives little ones to go out and collect leaves. I plan on reading this book and then taking my students out to the woods to make their own collection of leaves. I might pair it with Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert and have them make little leaf men from the leaves they collect. For older students, I might pair it with field guides and have students identify some of the leaves they bring in. 

More excuses to get kids outside? Yes please! 

I'm a Yellow Train by Laura Purdie Salas & Illus by Mercé López

I'm a yellow train,

carrying thoughts from your brain

to the page.

--From Lion of the Sky: Haiku for all Seasons

To Dance by Siena Cherson Siegel & Illus by Mark Siegel

This is a lush and elegant look at the world of dance from a teen ballerina's perspective. 

Siena Cherson Siegel was part of the New York City Ballet and her husband is an artist. So together, they created something to charm anyone who dreams of ballet or who loves a well crafted graphic novel. 

Running on the beaches of Puerto Rico where she was born. 

The endpapers at the front. Which come full circle to the endpapers at the end. Which is so nice and symmetrical. 

Siena was a dancing child, loving movement and rhythm. However, doctors said that with her flat feet there was really no point in her taking dance lessons. However, her mum was no dummy and let her take dance classes anyway. 

After seeing a performance of The Swan, Siena was completely captivated. It was all she could talk about, how the ballerina entered so completely into the performance that she was the swan, dying unwillingly. 

With that performance spurring her onward, she dove into ballet with all her energy. 

Her passion and talent began to be noticed. Finally she was offered an audition to train with the New York City Ballet.

Intimidation in the form of Madame Tumkovsky. 

In the rarefied world of ballet, all the important people were Russian. And wore black. 

Ballet took even more of her life now. But there were rewards. Like finally getting her first pair of toe shoes. 

Oh the delight of those toe shoes! 

So much to do and so much to learn. Like how to wear Japanese robes while wandering around backstage. 

Loving ballet as she did, she would stand backstage to watch the dancers even when she wasn't dancing, learning as she watched how to be the principal ballerina. 

Across the stage, also standing in the wings, was Mr. B, George Balanchine, the director of the NYC Ballet. 

Life went on, with a few speed bumps in the form of arguing parents and friendships. 

But always, always ballet.

Being seeped in ballet so much helped her see ballet all around her. Even in football games in Florida with her father. 

But there were times of normalcy, being a teenagers in the 1980's in New York City. 

After an ankle accident at eighteen, her ballet career was chopped short. She had to shift her life focus completely, but eventually she began to dance again, not professionally, but because dancing "...fills a space in me." 

And then the endpapers at the back, as she is dancing across the beaches again with her baby and husband in tow.