Operation Frog Effect

Operation Frog Effect
by Sarah Scheerger
320 pages; ages 8-12
Random House Books for Young Readers, 2019

Some books have a prologue. This book starts its story on the jacket cover with a letter to the reader from some kids:

Hi--
It's us, Ms. Graham's class. We didn't mean to mess things up. But we did. We took things too far, and now Ms. Graham is in trouble--for something we did. We made a mistake. The question is, can we fix it? Ms. Graham taught us that we get to choose the kind of people we want to be and that a single act can create ripples. So get ready, world--we're about to make some ripples.
Sincerely,
Kayley, Kai, Henry, Aviva, Cecilia, Blake, Sharon, Emily (and Kermit, class frog)

The thing is – everyone makes mistakes. This book explores what happens when your mistakes hurt someone else. It begins with a rescued frog who becomes a resident in Ms. Graham’s fifth grade classroom. And is told through the perspectives of eight students through the pages of their journals:

• Blake ~ who would rather draw than write words (and makes excellent frog noises)
• Emily ~ who is feeling hopeful about her first day of school, but heartbroken when she thinks her two best buddies are leaving her out
• Kayley ~ who seems to have her nose in a snit most of the time
• Sharon ~ who writes in verse
• Henry ~ who sees the world through the eyes of a film director (or screenwriter)
• Kai ~ who writes his journal entries to the frog
• Cecelia ~ who misses her abuelita tremendously and writes letters to her, including “words to practice” that are translated to Spanish; besos y abrazos!
• Aviva ~ BFF of Kayley but wants to include Emily but then what will Kayley think?

It’s fifth grade and for some kids, the academic pressure is on - which leads to stealing (or borrowing) ideas for the egg drop challenge. There are lunch table exclusions (and inclusions), making new friends (and worrying whether that means you have to leave old friends behind), and desk-top letter boxes. There are group projects that sometimes go sideways – which is how the gang of eight end up in hot water.

Mostly, fifth grade is about learning who you are – and the kids in Ms. Graham’s class get an A for effort. This book came out near the beginning of the year, but makes a perfect summer read.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Reviewed a copy from my library system

Poems from the Farmer's Market

Fresh Delicious: Poems from the Farmer's Market
by Irene Latham; illus. by Mique Moriuchi
32 pages; ages 4-8
WordSong, 2016

What's round and smooth and red and "ripe like a summer moon"? If you guessed tomato, then you're right. And if you're eating juicy red tomatoes straight out of the garden - or fresh from the farmer's market - then you know there is nothing that says "summer" like tomato juice dripping down your chin.

Unless it's watermelon. Or peaches. Or blueberries or strawberries... or any of the fruits and vegetables featured in this book of fresh, right-off-the-vine poems.

The language is not only lyrical, it's mouthwatering. Take this ending of a bit about lettuce:
"Sometimes / I crunch / into a leaf
the very / same flavor / as rain."

Or the image of okra pods as "mouse-sized swords". Or the poem about shooting watermelon seeds... makes you want to grab some fresh watermelon and have a seed-spitting contest right now!

At the end are recipes from the farmer's market: salsa, fruit kebabs, fritata, pizza, ice cream. YUM!

The combination of yummy poems and bright, bold illustrations will tempt you to head out on an expedition to your local farmer's market. Make sure you take a notebook and some colored pencils along with your shopping bag, because you might want to jot down your own delicious poems and draw some pictures of the fruits and veggies you meet.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Whose Hands are These? and Author Interview!

Winner! Keila wins the give-away for Shmulik Paints the Town. Congratulations! And now to the book of the day...

Whose Hands Are These?

By Miranda Paul; illus. by Luciana Navarro Powell

32 pages; ages 4-9

Milbrook Press, 2016

Theme: community helpers, growing up

Opening: Hands can wiggle, hands can clap.

Hands can wrap and flap and tap.

But hands can help, too. What can they do? Turn the page to find out! This book shows how people living in your community use their hands to help each other.  Some people use their hands to raise vegetables while others use their hands to slice and dice those veggies. Some create art while others fix engines.

What I like: Not only does Miranda introduce youngsters to a diversity of jobs, but she does it with rhythm, rhyme, and panache. This book is just plain fun to read out loud. What’s even more fun: every page is a riddle. Can you guess the answer before you turn the page?

Beyond the Book: There are so many ways to help other people. What will your hands do....

...to help around your house? Can you wash vegetables or sweep a floor? Sort silverware? Fold socks? Do something to help the people you live with.

... to help the earth? Could you turn out the lights when you leave a room, or ride your bike instead of asking for a ride? Here are some things kids are doing to help the planet. 

... to help other people?  Maybe you can wash a neighbor's car or mow their lawn. Maybe you can make sandwiches for homeless people or help another kid at school with homework. Think of something you can do, and make a plan.

Miranda Paul helped me by answering Three Questions!

Sally: What inspired this book?

Miranda: I got the idea because I'd been talking a lot at the time about all the different jobs I'd done (note: Miranda has worked in a zoo, at a store, as a teacher, and now a writer). Originally I called the manuscript "Helping Hands". My husband is one of those people who can fix just about anything, and I think it's amazing what hands can do. 

Sally: How did you decide whose hands to include in the story?

Miranda: They had to be ones that I could rhyme with! I wrote a few extras that didn't make it into the book (and I'll be sharing those top-secret ones with schools that I visit!).

Sally: I love that you have more information at the back of the book. Talk about why you included "back matter".

Miranda: I love back matter—because the book doesn't end so fast! I also love back matter because I'm a lifelong learner. I included back matter in Whose Hands Are These? for a number of reasons.

•  The publisher, Millbrook Press (Lerner), sells heavily to school and library markets. I consider the book a tool for teachers and librarians and wanted to make it the best tool it could be for a unit on community helpers.
•  Since each occupation gets only one spread of spot illustrations (hands) and a half-spread in a single setting, it was important to explain the diversity and range within each job. An example is farmers—who are depicted on a small family farm in the illustration, but many farms today are large-scale and work with heavy machinery and I wanted to speak to that. In fact, as the back matter points out, "There are more than 200 farm-related careers, including fishing, selling, or delivering farm products, and managing parks and forests."
•  When I tell kids some of the steps to becoming a writer, they're fascinated. And yet, many jobs have even more interesting pathways! I tried to include some of the steps or education needed to become each kind of community helper. I even learned through the process that many referees have to pass a test on the rules of their game before they can work at a professional level.
•  In the author's note, I share a thought with kids that it's OK if they don't know what they want to be, and that it's all right to be more than one thing. There's no need for them to have anxiety about not knowing what they want to do, or switching their mind. People can be community helpers in more than one way.

You can find out more about Miranda at her website, where she has a trailer for Whose Hands Are These? Last summer I reviewed her book Water is Water. You can read that review here.

Today is PPBF (perfect picture book Friday) over at  Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books. On Monday we'll join the folks over at Nonfiction Monday. Review copy from the author.

Be A Changemaker ~ Blog Tour! Author Interview! Book Giveaway!

Today I'm kicking off the BlogTour for a brand new book - and offering readers a chance to win a copy of... 

Be a Changemaker: How to Start Something That Matters

by Laurie Ann Thompson

240 pages; ages 12 & up

Simon Pulse/Beyond Words, 2014

We’ve all done it: thought, “someone should do something about (fill in the blank)”. But here’s the secret: if you want something to change, you might have to be the changemaker.

The cool thing: you don’t have to be a president or congressman to be a changemaker. You don’t even have to be “old”.

In Be a Changemaker, Laurie Thompson profiles young people who saw a need and took action. One 12-year old boy, appalled at how children were forced into labor in slave-like conditions, founded a group that became Free the Children. Another kid formed a club at his school that he called Earth Savers, which grew and evolved into Greening Forward, a group that helps kids develop their own Earth Savers clubs.

Thompson writes about kids who’ve created gang-free community centers, raised money to feed the homeless, developed an acting company focused on preventing accidents, and more. In each chapter she also focuses on specific skills needed to bring about change. Want to know how to conduct interviews and surveys? Check out the chapter on researching your ideas. Need advice on how to raise money through donations and grants? Thompson’s got a chapter on that, too. She also includes personal reflections about everything from raising money selling Girl Scout cookies to taking the plunge to become a writer.

As if that’s not enough, I asked her Three Questions – which she most graciously answered.

Sally: Why did you want to write this book?

Laurie Thompson

Laurie: When I was a child, I desperately wanted to do something important that would make the world a better place. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to do something like that… or any inkling that I even could! I couldn’t wait to grow up so I could go out and make a difference. I didn’t end up realizing that dream until I was in my 30s, and by then I wanted to help make sure no one else would have to wait so long.

Sally: I really like the structure: profile of a change-maker; a "how you can do it"; and your reflections. Can you talk about the process of writing the book and how you came to this structure?

Laurie: I knew all along that I wanted each chapter to have a profile of a young person or team who was already doing it, followed by hands-on how-to sections so readers could emulate the changemakers profiled, but the “In My Experience” sidebars grew organically during the revision process. There were a few chapters where I kept slipping into a first person point-of-view. I was trying hard to fix and/or remove them, but I was having a hard time saying what I wanted to say in the way I wanted it said. My editor liked those sections and suggested pulling them out and making them sidebars. Once we did that, we decided to make it consistent by doing one for every chapter. I’m a shy, private person, so those sidebars were the hardest parts of the book for me to write! In the end, though, I’m glad we did them. I wanted the book to feel like an honest conversation, and I think those personal experiences add a touch of vulnerability and authenticity that helps keep it real and engaging.

Sally: So, are you a "change-maker?" 

Laurie: I never would have thought that I would be, and despite having important roles at big companies, co-founding a technology startup, volunteering countless hours at many organizations, and a commitment to philanthropy, I never used to feel like one. Now, I do. Being the co-regional advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators of Western Washington for three years was my first taste of really being a changemaker. I had the good fortune of inheriting a strong, healthy organization, so I didn’t have to build anything from the ground up, but we did make a lot of small changes and put our marks on it, and I know it made a difference in the lives of writers and illustrators in our region and also in the lives of the children (and adults) who will get to enjoy their great work. And, of course, I hope that putting this book out into the world will have a wide-reaching ripple effect of positive change around the world, both through the projects readers launch now and in the changes in their later lives as a result of that early empowerment.

Sally: Question three-and-a-half ~  What’s your next book? 

Laurie: My first nonfiction picture book, Emmanuel’s Dream, comes out in January of 2015. It’s a biography of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, who was born in Ghana with one leg. In his early twenties, he rode a bicycle nearly 400 miles to change the way disabilities in his country were perceived.

Sally: Wow! He sounds like a changemaker!

You can learn more about Laurie at her blog, LaurieThompson.com. 

Book Giveaway Rules: All you need to do is leave a comment. Then email me so that if you win I can contact you. send email to sueheaven (at) gmail (dot) com. Book giveaway is open only to US residents.

And Please visit the rest of the stops on Be a Changemaker blog tour

Tues, Sept 9 ~ at Girl Scout Leader 101 

Wed, Sept 10 ~ at Unleashing Readers 

Thurs, Sept 11 ~ at Teen Librarian Toolbox

Fri, Sept 12 ~ at The Nonfiction Detectives

   and Kirby's Lane   

Sat, Sept 13 ~ at The Styling Librarian  

Mon, Sept 15 ~ at NC Teacher Stuff   

Tues, Sept 16 ~ at The Hiding Spot 

Wed, Sept 17 ~ at Kid Lit Frenzy   

Thurs, Sept 18 ~ at GreenBeanTeenQueen   

Fri, Sept 19 ~ at A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust

Sat. Sept 20  ~ at Elizabeth O. Dulemba  

Whew! I hope I got everyone on the list. Have fun! Review ARC provided by Blue Slip Media.

No Dogs Allowed!

No Dogs Allowed!
by Linda Ashman; illus by Kristin Sorra
32 pages; ages 3-8
Sterling Children's Books, 2011

This is a book of few words - with many of those words scribbled in chalk on a sign board. Alberto's City Lights Restaurant is open for the Early Bird Special! But when he sees a boy and his dog approach, he whips out his chalk and writes "No Dogs Allowed" on the slate board. When a girl and her cat approach, Alberto adds "or cats" to his sign.

Alberto updates his sign as people walk by with their pets... and at one point the sign reads "No one with fur, feathers, shells or scales allowed" - and we have pages to go before the end. But when a problem arises, Alberto steps up to help and everyone - even the penguins (yes, there are penguins) is happy.

It's a fun book to ... read, look at, and explore the rich illustrations, and talk about what's happening. And it's a great example of how much you can say in few words.

Review copy provided by library.