December 15 – It’s Universal Human Rights Month

About the Holiday

December is Human Rights Month, an observance established by the United Nations in order to raise awareness of, promote, and protect the equality of the world’s citizens. Following World War II the United Nations General Assembly put forth thirty articles covering rights of education, freedom, health, and more. These articles serve to protect people in times of war and peace to help ensure that all people around the world are allowed to live in freedom and safety. It takes vigilance, compassion, dedication, and determination, but achieving the goal of equal human rights is a responsibility we all share.

School Days Around the World

Written by Margriet Ruurs | Illustrated by Alice Feagan

Every day millions of children around the world go to school, but schools can vary from place to place. Some classes are held in large buildings with libraries, science labs, and computer rooms while others gather in small buildings or even outside. “Schools around the world may be very different, but children everywhere like to have friends and learn new things.” In School Days Around the World, readers meet children from thirteen countries to learn what their educational day is like.

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Image copyright Alice Feagan, 2015, text copyright Margriet Ruurs, 2015. Courtesy of Kids Can Press.

First, children meet Tamatoa, who attends school on Rarotonga, one of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. Tamatoa arrives to school on a scooter just as the “thang-Thong-thang! of the wooden slit drum calls students inside. Tamatoa’s teacher is wearing flowers in her hair as she does every day. She teaches the children their Ura language, and in the afternoon they dance the hupa, the island’s traditional dance. In Singapore Raphael goes to an international school where the students speak many languages. Raphael knows Dutch, English, and Spanish. His best friend Aamon speaks Hindi, Chinese, and English. Raphael likes to read and write stories on the computer. Sometimes they “have a craft fair to raise money to help children in other parts of the world.”

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Image copyright Alice Feagan, 2015, text copyright Margriet Ruurs, 2015. Courtesy of Kids Can Press.

Marta walks to her school in Azezo, Ethiopi, even though she is blind. Her friend Ayana holds her hand tightly to help “her around potholes and cow patties.” There are so many students that there are two different sessions. Marta goes in the morning with 500 other children. There are 70 students in her class. They learn Amharic and about Ethiopia. At noon Ayana and Marta “hurry home to help feed the ox and cow and to fetch water from the village well.”

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Image copyright Alice Feagan, 2015, text copyright Margriet Ruurs, 2015. Courtesy of Kids Can Press.

Camilla is from Germany. Her older brother Johannes lives at a boarding school during the school year. He shares his room in an old stone house with three boys. Everyone eats together and cleans up afterward—just like in a family. In class he learns “about nature and science. They also learn how to sail.” Camilla can’t wait until it’s her turn to go to school.

If you visited Annika at school in Copenhagan, Denmark, you would probably spend most of the day outside. Some days the students take a bus to their forest school. There the “run and climb on an old boat.” They “play on swings and with a ball.” Outside they also listen to birds and learn about plants and insects and other parts of nature.

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Image copyright Alice Feagan, 2015, text copyright Margriet Ruurs, 2015. Courtesy of Kids Can Press.

While Annika enjoys spending cold days outside, Ana’s days are usually warm. She lives in San Luis, Honduras and walks an hour from her home in the hills to her new school. Inside, two teachers show the children how to read and write. Sometimes, Ana says, “a nurse visits our school. She teaches us how to brush our teeth and stay healthy.” One day a van delivers backpacks full of school supplies, books, and even running shoes.

In Alberta Canada, Shanika goes to a First Nations school where she learns her traditional Cree language along with math and language arts. After lunch, they hear stories, and elders teach them “powwow dances, drumming and how to raise a teepee. They also hold feasts where there are prayers, and the whole community shares tea, soup, bannock loaded with beans and cheese, and berries.

You can also spend school days with Lu in China, Alina in Kazakhstan, Mathii in Kenya, Bilge in Turkey, Luciano in Venezuela, and Amy and Gwen in Alaska, USA.

In her short, engaging stories based on the lives of real families, Margriet Ruurs takes readers globe-trotting with new friends to show readers a typical school day in cities big and small. The details of each child’s experience—both familiar and unique—help readers learn more about their peers, promoting greater empathy and understanding now and for a better future.

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Image copyright Alice Feagan, 2015, text copyright Margriet Ruurs, 2015. Courtesy of Kids Can Press.

Alice Feagan’s cut paper collages are full of joy and personality as kids dance, play, read, and study together. While the students’ clothing, lunches, and school buildings may differ from country to country, readers will see that the enthusiasm to learn is universal. A world map at the beginning of the book points out where each featured child lives.

A discussion following the text gives teachers, homeschoolers, and individuals tips on using the book to expand on the stories told. A glossary provides definitions and a pronunciation key for the native words found throughout the book. School Days Around the World offers a wonderful opportunity to jumpstart lessons on world customs and geography.

Ages 3 – 8

Kids Can Press, 2015 | ISBN 978-1771380478

Discover more about Margriet Ruurs and her books as well as activities for teachers and readers on her website!

You’ll find more about Alice Feagan and a portfolio of her illustration work on her website!

Universal Human Rights Month Activity

Friends Around the World Coloring Page

Having friends from all over the world is fun! Grab your colored pencils or crayons and enjoy this printable Friends Around the World Coloring Page!

Picture Book Review

October 28 – Make a Difference Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Make a Difference Day was instituted in 1992 on February 29 – leap day – to encourage individuals and groups to find a way to help others. The idea took off and has become one of the largest single-day celebration of service nationwide. Thousands of people across the country use this day for projects big and small that change the world for the better. To celebrate today consider how you might make a positive change. As today’s book shows, just being a caring friend can go a long way in making someone’s life better.

Bonaparte Falls Apart

Written by Margery Cuyler | Illustrated by Will Terry

Something was happening to Bonaparte. Whenever “he rode his bike or played catch or visited the doctor’s office”—basically all the time—his bones broke apart. “Sometimes his bones rolled away, and it took him forever to find them.” He wondered what would happen when school started. He was worried that everyone would make fun of him.

Bonaparte’s friend Franky Stein thought that by gluing and screwing his bones into place, Bonaparte would stick together. But when they tried it, Bonaparte found that he couldn’t move at all. Blacky Widow, Bonaparte’s spider buddy, figured she could tie his bones together with her web, but after she had spun and spun her threads around him, Bonaparte was just left hanging and tangled up.

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Image copyright Will Terry, 2017, courtesy of Crown Books for Young Readers.

Mummicula thought he had the perfect solution and wrapped Bonaparte round and round until he was completely wrapped up—completely. Bonaparte couldn’t see anything, so “Mummicula had to undo all his hard work.” While the summer passed, Bonaparte grew more and more worried. One day he thought about it so much “that his head fell off.”

As Franky Stein picked it up and returned it to its rightful spot, he and the others all vowed to find a way to solve the problem before school started. They tried lots of remedies: Mummicula thought a staple gun might work; Blacky Widow liked the idea of using clay, and Franky Stein got out his hammer and nails. But nothing did the trick “until…a dog ran by with a bone in his mouth.”

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Image copyright Will Terry, 2017, courtesy of Crown Books for Young Readers.

Mummicula suggested that someone who loved bones so much would be a perfect companion for Bonaparte. They brought the dog to Bonaparte, and Bonaparte was immediately smitten. “‘What a fetching dog!’” he exclaimed. Then Franky told him the plan: “‘You can teach him to retrieve your bones.’” Bonaparte loved this idea—and his crew. “‘You are my bone-a-fide friends!’” he said.

Bonaparte spent the last two weeks before school started teaching Mandible to fetch the bones he lost. As he waited at the bus stop that first day, Bonaparte was still a little nervous, but as his arm and the ball flew out into home-run territory, the kids cheered. At lunch, losing his teeth just made him a “jaw-dropping sensation, and in science class he made for a “rib-tickling wonder” of a skeletal exhibit. At last, Bonaparte realized that he “could hang loose without anyone making fun of him, and this made him very happy.”

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Image copyright Will Terry, 2017, courtesy of Crown Books for Young Readers.

Margery Cuyler’s monstrously cute story of a little skeleton who just can’t keep it together will have kids giggling along with every “clack clack” of Bonaparte’s errant bones. But Cuyler presents more profound issues as well. Readers will understand and sympathize with Bonaparte’s worrying over being different and made fun of because of his unusual plight. Through Bonaparte’s caring, tight-knit group, children will see that by supporting a friend through tough times, they can help find solutions and make a positive difference. Cuyler’s charming story is true to children’s natures and ideas and offers a “bone-anza” of puns that will delight kids.

Will Terry knows a thing or two about monsters—adorable monsters, that is. As Bonaparte’s hands drop off, legs and arms go flying, and head rolls under the bed, his expressive eyes seem to take it all in stride. He also accepts his friends’ attempts to keep him together with patience and an endearing smile. Franky Stein, Mummicula and Blacky Widow are also sweetly earnest in their attempts to help. Kids will love the hilarious illustrations of Bonaparte and Mandible at school and linger over the last two-page spread where young zombies, pirates, vampires, witches, and other students play on the jungle gym.

Bonaparte Falls Apart is a unique book about friendship and school for any time of the year, and would be a favorite of little monster lovers for home and the classroom.

Ages 3 – 7

Crown Books for Young Readers, 2017 | ISBN 978-1101937686

Discover more about Margery Cuyler and her many books for children on her website.

You’ll find a gallery of books and artwork by Will Terry on his website.

Make a Difference Day

Friendship Hot Chocolate Jar

Being a good friend is one of the best ways to make a difference, and with this gift you can show your friends how much they mean to you!

Supplies

Mason jar or other wide-mouth jar
Large canister of hot chocolate mix
Mini marshmallows
Chocolate chips, milk chocolate or semi-sweet
A scrap of material large enough to cover the lid of the jar
Paper
String or ribbon
Marker
Scissors

Directions

Measure 1 cup hot chocolate mix and pour it into the jar
Sprinkle in a layer of marshmallows
Pour in another 1 cup of hot chocolate mix
Add another layer of marshmallows
Continue layering until you reach the top of the jar. The hot chocolate mix and marshmallows may become mixed together.
Top with a layer of chocolate chips
Put on the lid and tighten
Cut a circle from the material 1-inch diameter larger around than the size of the jar lid
Secure the material around the lid with ribbon or string or, if using a mason jar, place it between the sections of the lid.
Make a tag for your gift with the paper
Give your gift and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate with your friend!

Picture Book Review

September 2 – It’s National Save a Tiger Month

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

National Save a Tiger Month promotes awareness of the dangers facing the world’s wild tiger population. With only 4,000 still in existence, the tiger is threatened with extinction unless people work together to protect them. Many factors have led to the tiger’s decline, including habitat destruction, climate change, and poaching. Environmental and other groups, such as the World Wildlife Federation, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and the Smithsonian Institution are working towards a solution.

A Tiger Tail (Or What Happened to Anya on Her First Day of School)

By Mike Boldt

Even before the story properly begins, Anya discovers something incredible and incredibly disturbing. Overnight she has grown a tiger tail—not a pony tail or pigtails, but an honest-to-goodness black-and-orange-striped tiger tail! All she wants is to stay in bed, but unfortunately that’s not possible because it’s Anya’s first day of school.

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Image copyright Mike Boldt, courtesy of simonandschuster.com

Anya wonders if “girls with tiger tails are even allowed to go to school” and what the other kids will say. Her mom thinks it’s wonderful. The tail goes so nicely with Anya’s red hair and brings out her “fun, wild side.” But Anya’s only worried about her back side! Her dad likens her predicament to when he got glasses and tells her she’s still “exactly the same wonderful Anya you’ve always been.”

Anya figures she’s on her own with her problem. She tries tugging on her tail, pulling on it, and squishing it, but it remains firmly attached. Perhaps the right outfit from her closet—or all of them together—could hide her tail, but that solution had its own problems. There was just one last thing to do—panic! “‘Calm down,’” says her mom. “‘You’ll make yourself sick.’” Ah-ha! There’s a good idea! Anya thinks as she goes back to bed with tissues and feeling for a fever.

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Image copyright Mike Boldt, courtesy of simonandschuster.com

Anya’s mom thinks her antics are so funny and that the kids will love her sense of humor, then she shoos her off so she doesn’t miss the bus. Ah-ha! There’s another good idea! Anya hides in the bushes, but her dad discovers her and considers it a “special treat” to drive her to school.

Walking up the sidewalk to the school’s front door, Anya realizes that she has only one option—running away to join the circus. How bad could that be? But as Anya daydreams about eating popcorn for dinner and swinging from a trapeze, she misses her chance to escape. The school bus pulls up to the door and all the kids pile out. “Anya was doomed.” But she watches all the kids race past her without a glance and doesn’t see the boy headed straight for her who also doesn’t see her. CRASH! Their impact sends them tumbling to the ground amid fluttering papers and flying books, shoes, and backpacks. Even the boy’s baseball cap pops off! Anya stares and then smiles. Standing straight up from the boy’s head are two long rabbit ears.

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Image copyright Mike Boldt, courtesy of simonandschuster.com

“‘Hi, my name is Ben,’” the boy says as he holds out Anya’s shoe. “‘I’m Anya,’” Anya replies. Joe takes his hat from Anya and bounds up the steps. “‘Come on, Anya! We don’t want to be late on the first day.’” Anya follows, and when she sees her class she knows she’ll fit right in.

Mike Boldt whimsically captures the first-day jitters—of school or any new experience—that can result in an explosion of self-consciousness, doubt, and fear. Boldt’s little girl with a wild cloud of red hair is a loveable, plucky heroine as she takes matters into her own hands when the adults around her seem oblivious to her plight. Boldt’s vivacious illustrations burst with energy and emotion that kids will recognize and respond to. Boldt depicts children so honestly, from their crinkled nose abhorrence to their enthusiastic smiles, and the adults, with their clueless dialogue and quirky expressions, are rendered through a child’s eyes.

Image copyright Mike Boldt, courtesy of simonandschuster.com

Readers will laugh at Anya’s panicked face and her multi-layered getup designed to hide the tail that is still obvious through its ribbon wrapping. The crash meeting between Anya and Ben provides delightful surprise and insight, and the final spread of the classroom is inspired. Not only do most of the kids have unique traits, but the teacher also displays rabbit teeth as everyone poses for a class picture.

A Tiger Tail (Or What Happened to Anya on Her First Day of School) offers comfort and understanding as it reminds readers that everyone is an individual, and that one of humankind’s strongest and most common bonds is our diversity. A Tiger Tail should be embraced by every classroom and will make an often-asked-for addition to any child’s library.

Ages 4 – 8

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2016 | ISBN 978-1481448857

Learn more about Mike Boldt and his books and view a portfolio of his artwork on his website!

Pounce on this awesome book trailer for A Tiger Tail!

National Save a Tiger Month Activity

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Tricky Tigers Find the Differences and Coloring Page

These two picture of tigers in the jungle have some differences—just like Anya and her classmates. Can you find all eleven changes? Have fun searching and coloring this printable Tricky Tigers Page!

Picture Book Review

August 23 – It’s Back to School Month

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

A lot can happen over the summer. Going on vacation can give new perspectives; a growth spurt means new clothes and shoes; and a little more maturity can cause unfamiliar feelings. It’s all enough to make a student’s heart race when crossing the classroom threshold on that first day. Sometimes, though, when looking around at all of the known and new faces, that little flutter of the heart can be…love.

The Day I Became a Bird

Written by Ingrid Chabbert | Illustrated by Raúl Nieto Guridi

On the first day of school a little boy sees Sylvia and falls instantly in love. At home he draws picture after picture of her. Although the boy only has eyes for Sylvia, she doesn’t see him. Instead, the boy says, “Sylvia is a bird lover. She can’t bear to see them living in cages. She quietly observes them in the wild and gently cares for them when they are injured.”

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Image copyright Raúl Nieto Guridi, 2016, text copyright Ingrid Chabbert, 2016. Courtesy of Kids Can Press

Everything she does and wears is somehow associated with birds. Even “her voice sounds like birdsong.” The boy has lost all interest in his toys, the sports he plays, and all of his old pursuits. He thinks differently about birds now, too. One day he decides “to dress as a bird.” He constructs a costume with glistening feathers “like the ones you see in the forest in summer.” When he puts it on he feels handsome. In the costume he dreams of flying with Sylvia to the top of the Rocky Mountains or a pyramid.

In school he doesn’t care if the other kids stare and giggle. And even though it’s hard to walk, play soccer, and climb trees, he doesn’t want to remove his costume. He is a bird. One afternoon, the boy says, “I come face to face with Sylvia. And finally our eyes meet.” Sylvia approaches and takes off the boy’s costume. “My heart is beating a hundred miles an hour,” he relates. “In the sky, I see a flock of birds take flight.” Sylvia gives him a long hug.

Standing completely still, the boy doesn’t know how to react. He knows he’s not a bird anymore, but still, he feels as if he’s flying.

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Image copyright Raúl Nieto Guridi, 2016, text copyright Ingrid Chabbert, 2016. Courtesy of Kids Can Press

Ingrid Chabbert’s enchanting revelation of first love encompasses in its spare text all the obsessive but ultimately freeing power of this universal emotion. While in the midst of his “normal” life, the boy’s world is suddenly transformed when he spies Sylvia. Leaving his toys behind, he chooses Sylvia’s bird’s eye view. Likewise, when Sylvia sees the narrator, she allows her birds to take wing and considers boys—or at least one boy—in a whole new light. Chabbert’s use of first-person narration reinforces the intimate nature of love and the idea that when love is right, being “captured” is a most liberating experience.

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The themes of Chabbert’s story are so movingly rendered by Raúl Nieto Guridi’s simple, monochromatic line drawings. Although the boy states that “one morning” he decided to dress as a bird, from the first day when the boy falls in love with Sylvia—gazing at her wistfully while her eyes are instead trained at the sky or cast down at her chalk drawings—his costume begins to take shape. As it comes together, its wire skeleton resembles a bird cage, suggesting so many ways in which we may feel trapped by our emotions, our things, even changes in life.

When the boy dons the costume and begins to navigate the world in an unfamiliar way, readers will understand that he is no longer the boy he was, but neither is he a real bird. It is this unique creature that Sylvia responds to when, through holes in the costume where feathers are missing, she sees not the bird, but the boy. So it is that into everyone’s life there come people—or perhaps one particular person—with whom all costumes and cages are discarded, and we soar.

The Day I Became a Bird is a quiet beauty that gets to the core of what it means to give your heart to someone else. It would make a wonderful and touching addition to home libraries.

Ages 4 – 7

Kids Can Press, 2016 | ISBN 978-1771386210

Watch this The Day I Became a Bird book trailer!

Back to School Month Activity

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Let’s Study Together! Coloring Page

Going back to school means getting back with friends! Grab your colored pencils, markers, or crayons and enjoy this Let’s Study Together! Coloring Page!

Picture Book Review

August 3 – It’s Back to School Month

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

I know, I know…you’re not ready to go back to school yet! But all over the country, teachers, administrators, parents, and…yes, kids…are preparing for the day when school opens again for another year. Now’s the time to pick that folder that’s just right, find a new backpack, buy some new clothes, and decide that this year is going to be the best year yet! And as today’s book shows—even school is getting ready for school!

School’s First Day of School

Written by Adam Rex | Illustrated by Christian Robinson

During the summer an empty lot was cleared and leveled. Bricks were brought in and stacked in neat order to become a school. A sign reading Frederick Douglass Elementary was placed above the door. “’That’s a good name for me,’ thought the school.” On most days Janitor came to the empty school to buff floors, wash windows, and spruce up the classrooms for opening day. The school liked the peaceful days with Janitor.