Book talk: Buddy and the Bunnies in Don't Play with Your Food! by Bob Shea

If you're a monster, you have to be tough. Buddy the monster is tough, and he can threaten anyone or anything -- including you, so watch out. He saw some little bunnies playing checkers, so naturally he threatened to eat them. Bunnies make such a tasty snack, don't you think?

However, Buddy the monster loves cupcakes, and that's what the bunnies were making, so he ate their cupcakes instead. Did I mention that he played hide-and-seek with the bunnies? He'll eat them later. Yeah, later...


 But first they have to go swimming...

One must nap before eating bunnies...

You know the expression, "Don't play with your food?" Is Buddy playing with his food? [Get input from the kids.] What?! He's not going to eat the bunnies? Are you sure? Well, what kind of a monster doesn't eat bunnies?!?

Buddy and the Bunnies in Don't Play with Your Food by Bob Shea. Unpaged. 2014: Hyperion. Booktalk to K-2.

Book talk: I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

[Pacing, agitated.] I lost my favorite hat…actually, I think it’s my only hat, and I’m a bear, so I really need my hat back because I’m out in the cold weather all the time. I’ve spent the whole day walking around the woods looking for my hat and asking various animals if they have seen my hat. Wait…did I ask you this yet? Have you seen my hat? [Wait for reply.] No?!?

Well, let me tell you. Those other animals are no help at all. I asked a snake hanging from a branch, and you know what he said? [Mimicking snake] “I saw a hat once. It was blue and round.” Well…that’s helpful! I mean, mine is red and pointed and he’s telling me about some random hat he saw once. Thanks a lot, snake!

I asked another animal – he was kind of weird-looking, to tell you the truth, and he didn’t even know what a hat was! Useless! Absolutely useless!

Okay, I gotta dash. But if you happen to see my hat – which is RED – please just let me know! Don’t make me come back here again!

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen. 2011: Candlewick Press. Unpaged. Booktalk to pre-K through 2^nd. Virginia Readers’ Choice, 2012-2013 (Primary). 

I Want My Hat Back

Booktalk: The Big Elephant in the Room by Lane Smith (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2011-2012)

Pretend your best friend is mad at you, and you don’t know why. You are wracking your brain for the reason. You know there’s a big, big reason which he is not bringing up. Nope, he’s going to let you figure it out. It’s what we call the elephant in the room. He even asks you what the big elephant in the room is! Oh no! You’re in trouble! So this is what you say…

Is it that I broke your computer? No…I guess it wasn’t that.

Is it that I took the cool bike and gave you the bad one? No…I guess it wasn’t that.

Is it that I told a girl you laughed so hard you peed your pants? No…I guess it wasn’t that.

Is that I picked you last for soccer … and baseball … and volleyball? No … I guess it wasn’t that.

Is it that I made fun of your Rainbow Pony backpack? Really? No … I guess it wasn’t that.

And this isn’t about the super glue “accident,” either? Okay, fine, not that one either.

Okay, you’re stumped. You still don’t know what the big elephant in the room is! You’d better get that info out of your best friend, or he won’t be your best friend much longer.

 The Big Elephant in the Room by Lane Smith. Unpaged. Disney/Hyperion Books, 2009. Booktalk to primary grades. Virginia Readers’ Choice 2011-2012.