Booktalk: A Isn't for Fox by Wendy Ullmer (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2011-2012)

For this booktalk, have post-it notes on the following pages in advance: the D/dragon page; the L/llamas page; the O/octopus page; the P/possums page;

 [Show the Letter D/dragon page]. Here we have the D page: D is for what? [wait for answer, then read the stanza]: “D isn’t for crow; it isn’t for snow. / D is for dragons from times long ago.” I hope he keeps his stinky breath away from that cat.

[Show the Letter L/ llamas page]. I see that this is the L page: can you tell me why? [wait for answer, then read the stanza]: “L isn’t for dramas; it isn’t for mamas / L is for llamas in fuzzy pajamas.”

[Show the Letter O/octopus page] I see that this is the O page: tell me why? [Wait for their answer, then read the stanza]: “O isn’t for docks; it isn’t for rocks / O is for octopus knitting four pairs socks.” Yeah, he needs a lot of socks.

[Show the P/possums page] Next we have the letter P: anyone know you call those animals? [Wait for answer, then read the stanza]: “P isn’t for goats; it isn’t for boats. / P is for possums in warm, furry coats.”

A Isn’t for Fox by Wendy Ullmer, illustrated by Laura Knorr. Unpaged. Sleeping Bear Press, 2007. Booktalk to primary grades. Virginia Readers’ Choice for 2011-2012.

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.

Booktalk: Machines Go to Work (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2011-2012)

[Have the following pages tabbed: fire truck/cherry blossom; the action news helicopter page; the tugboat page.]

[Open to double-page spread of the cherry blossom trees.] Oh no. There’s a fire truck under those cherry blossom trees. Please tell me they are not on fire. [Open page flap.] Oh! It’s a kitten stuck in a tree. The firefighter is setting her free.

[Turn page to action news helicopter.] The Action news helicopter is getting to the scene. [turn page to stopped traffic.] Has there been an accident? [Unfold flap.] No accident. A little family of ducks is crossing the road: so all traffic has stopped.

[Turn to tugboat page.] That is an awesome tugboat, but it seems to be in a huge hurry. [Turn page] How do you fit a huge container ship like that under a bridge? [Unfold flap.] The bridge went up, and the tugboat led the ship.

Read more stories like these in Machines Go to Work by William Low.

Machines Go to Work by William Low. 1 v. (unpaged). Henry Holt and Co., 2009. Booktalk to primary grades. Virginia Readers’ Choice for 2011-2012.

Booktalk: Otis by Loren Long (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2011-2012)

[Show page {7-8}]. Can a tractor be a mom or a dad to a baby cow? Take a close look at this picture. Here we have a sleeping tractor. His name is Otis. He works hard all day in the fields, and at night he sleeps in the barn.

One night a scared baby cow, called a calf, could not fall asleep. The poor little calf was all alone, so Otis made some tractor noises and the baby calf fell fast asleep. After that the calf followed Otis the tractor everywhere. [Show pp. {11-12}] They played in the hay, they ran in circles together, and they’d sit under the apple tree and watch them farm. They were the best of friends.

[Turn the page, to the big yellow tractor.] Gasp. What’s this? Oh no, please tell me Otis is not being replaced. He’s such a good and loyal tractor! He’s always worked so hard on the farm! That new tractor is huge and scary looking! And what’s going to happen to the little calf if Otis isn’t around? What do you do if someone tries to replace your best friend?

Otis by Loren Long. Unpaged. Philomel Books: 2009. Booktalk to primary grades. Virginia Readers’ Choice for 2011-2012.

Booktalk: The Odd Egg (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2011-2012)

[Hold up cover.] This is you. You’re duck. You found the coolest egg _ever_. It’s huge, white, and covered with green spots. You’ve never seen anything like it.

 [Turn to the first page.] All the other birds have laid their own eggs. Parrot clearly _loves_ hers. Owl is sitting on hers, reading a book at the same time. And then there’s sparrow, who appears to be talking to her egg.

 [Turn to next page.] But you know that your egg, as huge and weird as it is, is the most beautiful egg in the whole wide world. So what if they’re laughing at you? I mean, who cares?

 But seriously. What happens to an egg this huge? Does it hatch? Does it erupt? Is it real? And can you, a small duck, really take care of such an odd egg?

 The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett. 2008: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. Unpaged picture book. Booktalk to primary grades.

Booktalk: The Knife of Never Letting Go (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2011-2012)

It can be really embarrassing if you inadvertently think out loud. Much of the time, you really don’t want other people knowing your private thoughts. But for Todd Hewitt, a young teen, everyone else is privy to your thoughts: all the time. Your thoughts are broadcast out loud, in what’s called Noise. It’s almost as if you have speakers broadcasting what you’re thinking. Zero privacy: try keeping a secret.

Todd lives in a settlement called Prentisstown, which is part of the New World, a world without women, all of whom died. Todd has never seen a woman when we first meet him. His parents are dead, and he’s been raised by two of their male friends. Todd’s closest friend is his dog, Manchee, with whom goes on walks. In one of his walks, Todd encounters a physical presence: silence – an absence of Noise, a freedom from it. It has a powerful effect on him, and when he goes back to town, he leaks his secret about what he experienced through his Noise. Todd’s adopted parents are scared to death for him and urge him to leave Prentisstown immediately. From reading their Noise, Todd can tell that he is very grave danger. All he’s got is his dog, his knife, and a book of his mother’s which he can barely read. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. 479 p. Candlewick Press: 2008. Booktalk to high school. Virginia Readers' Choice, 2011-2012.

Booktalk: Hold Still by Nina LaCour (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2011-2012)

Ingrid and Caitlin are best friends. Ingrid is really, really obsessed with photography – she’s good at it, too – and she keeps these wonderful, quirky journals which are a composite of her drawings, feelings, and questions. The two are inseparable, and although they have other acquaintances (crushes, friends, etc.), they sort of make up their own world. Caitlin’s the more practical, pragmatic of the two. But then Caitlin’s world changes completely. The worst happens. Ingrid commits suicide.

How do you live your life when your best friend dies? How do you go to school and face the people who knew you primarily as part of a pair? How do you survive? Why do you survive? Now that people just pity you, will anyone your age like you just for you? How do you make sense of the way in which life changes?

There are different ways in which Caitlin survives. Some of these ways she’s aware of, and some she may not be. No one can ever take Ingrid’s place, but there are people out there who are kind, interesting, and forgiving; some of them are well camouflaged, but they’re right there, hiding in plain sight.

The subject matter of this novel may be painful, but it’s a fascinating read, for many reasons. Ingrid foresaw that Caitlin would be alone and in tremendous pain, and she did something really nice for Caitlin to help her. Find out what it was in Hold Still by Nina LaCour.

Hold Still by Nina LaCour. 229 p. Dutton Books: 2009. Virginia Readers’ Choice 2011-2012 for high school. Booktalk to high school. Contains sensitive subject matter.