The Most Magnificent Thing

The Most Magnificent Thing
Written and Illustrated by Ashley Spires

This is a charming story that I can really relate to. It's about a "regular" girl and her best friend, her dog. She is a creative, hard-working, spunky girl who likes to invent things and then build them. When she thinks up THE MOST MAGNIFICENT THING, she excitedly gets to work to make it happen. Unfortunately, it's not coming together quite like she imagined and there are several hiccups along the road. But she overcomes her feelings of defeat and finds a way to create something magnificent, even though it may not be perfect.

One of my favorite things is before the story even begins, when Spires dedicates the book to "all the little perfectionists of the world." Ya know how everything is always way harder and way more time consuming than you think it is going to be? Like I said, I can relate to this one. And I bet most kids can. But it's important to learn strategies to deal with those feelings of frustration and defeat. This is a great story to talk about what makes us feel frustrated and what we can do when we feel like quitting.

It is such a fun story and has adorable illustrations. My two-year-old loves it and I love reading it to him. It's a great bedtime story but I would absolutely use it in my classroom, too. Here are a few ideas:

Verbs: Learning and practicing parts of speech is an important part of every grade. This book is great for exploring verbs. Here in Utah, students are expected to "explain the function of verbs" in third grade (standards here). This story could be used to introduce verbs earlier than that or to review them in the later grades. There are SO MANY verbs in it. It's the thing that jumped out to me the first time I read it. This girl is always doing something. After discussing the role of verbs, ask students (individually or with partners) to make a list of all the verbs they can find in this book. Go over a page or two together first so they can see how you do it.

Writing: This story is a great inspiration story to kick-off a personal writing session. Ask students to write about a time when they had a problem and had to solve it. Or when they created something. What problems did they run into? How did they deal with them? What did they create? In fifth grade, Utah students are supposed to "write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences" (standards here). Make sure students pay attention to the event sequence. There should be a clear problem and solution. Ask them to use descriptive verbs in their story like Spires. I love that there are so many different words for "make." Sure, she spends most of the story making something. But there are so many better, descriptive, interesting words for what she is doing. The story would be a whole lot more boring without those juicy words.

Prediction: Prediction is probably the easiest comprehension strategy to practice because it can be used with almost any story! This one is fun because from the first page, we know the little girl is going to make something magnificent. Each page and picture after gives us clues to what it is, but it's not until the very last page that we find out what she has been envisioning all along. To practice, ask students: What do you think she wants to build? How will she make it? What do you think it will look like? What will she do when she starts to feel frustrated?

Experimenting: I'd love to start an experiment or project (or heck, even a math lesson) with this story to talk about how scientists and engineers often spend a lot of time and energy to find answers or make something that works. A big part of their job is to come up with a hypothesis, test their experiment, analyze the results, and then go back and tweak their experiment. It probably won't work the first time but that's okay! Making mistakes is okay. Working hard is okay. The process of trial and error is important in a lot of subjects and professions (just ask my husband, the computer programmer). Failing is a part of finding answers. Failing is valuable. It is usually through our mistakes that we recognize what is right. The girl in the story has to revisit all 14 of her "wrong" inventions, come at her problem from a different angle, and find the parts that she did right before she finally creates the magnificent thing that is just what she wanted. This is a great pattern for us to realize in our own lives. (Related side note: This made me think a lot about the great book I'm reading now called Mindset. Check it out! It's definitely worth reading!)

Are you convinced that this is a great story yet? Go read it to the little tinkerers and inventors in your life. It's got a great message, subtle humor, and a magnificent story!

A Home for Bird

A Home for Bird
Written and illustrated by Philip C. Stead
Winner of the Cybils Award for Fiction Picture Book published in 2012

Vernon is a very friendly toad who meets a new friend, Bird, while foraging for interesting things. After showing Bird around and introducing him to his friends, Bird remains silent. Vernon becomes worried that Bird is sad and misses his home. A loyal friend, Vernon goes on a quest to help Bird find his home in order to make him happy.

This is an incredibly cute story! Vernon is a thoughtful, patient friend who tries so hard to help his new friend. The illustrations are great - what looks like a combination of crayon and watercolor. They help bring out the subtle humor of the story, showing us that Bird is actually made of wood (though Vernon doesn't seem to notice). I loved seeing how Vernon interpreted all the moments of Bird's silence as positive personality traits. The story is not complicated but has a perfectly happy ending. It is a fun read and I have no doubt you will enjoy it.

This would be a fun story to use in the classroom. It would be a great, quick read aloud for younger grades, but can be used for older grades as well. I love using picture books when introducing and practicing reading comprehension strategies. Because they are short and simple, students can practice a particular skill on the whole book within a single lesson. They are engaging and interesting and require no background knowledge of the story. This book would be great to use in a lesson to practice questioning or making inferences.

Questioning: Good readers ask themselves questions while they read to clarify and better understand the text they are reading. I really like the QAR (Question-Answer Relationship) strategy for asking and answering questions based on differing amounts of explicit information. It is a good guide to helping students think about different kinds of questions and the application of what they are reading. Let's review the four parts of the QAR strategy with examples from this book:

• Right There: These are questions that have a single answer written explicitly in the text. You can point to the answer. 
• Example: What was Vernon doing when he found Bird? Answer: He was foraging, or searching, for interesting things.
• Think and Search: The answer to this question can also be found explicitly in the text, but is usually found in more than one spot. 
• Example: Why does Vernon think Bird is shy? Answer: Bird does not say anything when Vernon introduces him to his friends.
• Author and You: Readers must use their prior knowledge AND information in the text to answer the question.
• Example: Why do you think Vernon was sad during his journey? Answer: He was probably sad because he really wanted to help Bird find his home, but nothing seemed to be working. I get sad when I'm trying to help someone but cannot.
• On Your Own: These questions are answered based on a reader's prior knowledge and experience. Though they are related to the story, reading the text is not essential to answering these questions. 
• Example: How do you feel when you help a friend? Answer: I feel happy and proud of myself because my friend is happy, too.

Making Inferences: Good readers make inferences to "read between the lines." They use background information and clues in the story to understand what the author means even if he doesn't say something explicitly. This can be a difficult strategy for students and they need to see it and practice it many times in order to become comfortable doing it. I like to break it into three parts (and provide graphic organizers for the students): 1)The author says, 2) and I know, 3) so I can infer... This story provides several opportunities to practice inferring. Here are some examples I found in this story:

          The author says: Vernon thinks Bird is a good listener.
          I know: I like to be friends with people who listen to me.
          So I can infer: Vernon thinks Bird is his friend.

          The author says: Vernon was sad.
          I know: I feel sad when I am trying to do something but it is not
          working.
          So I can infer: Vernon is sad because he doesn't feel like he's helping
          his friend.

          The author says: Vernon thinks Bird is very brave when they use a
          balloon to fly.
          I know: I would probably scream if I was flying away with a balloon.
          So I can infer: Vernon thinks that Bird is brave because he isn't acting
          scared.

There are a lot of places students can make inferences about what Vernon is thinking and why he does what he does. The pictures also create many clues that can be used to infer. I would probably use this story to model making inferences or to practice with students during a lesson by asking them questions. They probably made many inferences naturally without thinking much about it. Students can also practice making predictions which is a type of inference. They use clues to make their best guess about what will happen. There are several opportunities for students to make predictions throughout the story as well.

Whether as a tool in the classroom or as a fun bedtime story, go find this book at your library! It is a cute story about friendship and has a really fun ending.