feelings – Page 6 – Mom Read It

Blank Slater, the Boy with the Dry-Erase Face – a WhatchaReading Review!

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

You may or may not know this, but I review comics and graphic novels for the comics and comic culture site, WhatchaReading. Recently, Chuck over at WhatchaReading gave me the opportunity to review Blank Slater: The Boy with the Dry-Erase Face, written by Matt Bergin and illustrated by Zach Wideman. I was so impressed by this book, which provides a creative way to teach kids about self-esteem, emotions and feelings, and discovering who they are.

When this book hit WhatchaReading’s inbox, I got a chuckle out of the cute cover and figured I’d give it a shot – sounds like it could be fun, a kid with a Dry-Erase face, right? Draw silly faces and stuff? And then I dug in, and realized that there is so much more to this story than that.

Blank Slater is a kid born with a Dry-Erase face. He’s a blank slate (see what they did there?), and he goes through life pretty miserable – wouldn’t you? – until the day where he wanders away and discovers someone just like him! Nada Trace is a girl with a Dry-Erase face, but she isn’t wallowing at all – she grabbed some markers, pencil, and glitter, and made a face of her own! She helps Blank try on different faces, but nothing fits quite right until one day, Blank discovers his own face – and more important, a friend.

For the rest of the review, head on over to WhatchaReading!

Preschool Reads

Book Review: Tough Boris, by Mem Fox/Illus. by Kathryn Brown (Harcourt Brace, 1994)

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Recommended for ages 3-6

Boris van der Borsch is a tough, massive, scruffy, greedy, fearless, and scary pirate with a tough, scary- looking crew. When his pet parrot dies, though, preschoolers see that even the toughest pirate can cry. The story is told through the eyes of a young boy who stows away on the ship in the very beginning of the book, and whom Boris and crew leave back on his home shore at the end of the story, prompting the boy to cry as well. It is a subtle but strong subplot readers will enjoy. The watercolor artwork shows Boris and his crew in all their scruffy, tough pirate glory, with angry faces and bristly beards. The text is rendered in a simple, black font that matches the solemn brevity of the story. Tough Boris is an American Library Association (ALA) Notable Children’s Book (1995).

This is a great book for a pirate storytime, as it portrays pirates as capable of sensitive feelings on top of being rough and tough. It shows young audiences that everyone cries when they are sad – even a mean old pirate. It can be used with more fun pirate fare to lighten the mood, or it can be used on its own to get kids talking about feelings. Children would enjoy a Jolly Roger handstamp as a memento of their day, and there are many printable treasure maps available online, for attendees to color in, take home and start their own search for buried treasure. The British Columbia Public Library has very good Pirates Storytime theme that includes songs and fingerplays.

Preschool Reads

Book Review: How Are You Peeling? Foods with Moods by Saxton Freeman/illus. by Joost Elffers (Arthur A. Levine Books, 1999)

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Recommended for ages 2-8

Do you feel silly? Safe? Shy? Saxton Freeman and Joost Elffers sculpted facial expressions into fruits and vegetables to communicate a wide range of emotions in How Are You Peeling? Fruits with Moods. Using an Exacto knife and natural materials like black-eyed peas and beet-juice coloring, the authors enhanced the natural wrinkles, bends and creases in produce to illustrate emotions. The sculptures, photographed against plain but colorful backgrounds, are large and vivid, allowing the youngest readers to easily identify the emotions depicted. Beginning with the opening question, “How are you feeling?”, the text goes on to asks questions that will provoke thought in listeners: “Feeling blue? Feeling bad? How are you when friends drop by? With someone new… a little shy?” The text is brightly colored and small, letting the produce’s expressions speak for them; this is a book meant to be read aloud and to prompt discussion. The New York Times Book Review voted How Are You Peeling? Best Illustrated Children’s Book in 1999.

The book lends itself to a read-aloud about feelings, where patrons can call out answers to the questions asked in the book and identify the emotions portrayed on the featured produce. Activities can include songs about feelings like “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, and craft ideas include a facial expressions printable to color, or, for older (3-4) participants, the chance to draw different expressions that answer the question, “How are you feeling?”