Twisters and Other Terrible Storms - A Magic Tree House Research Guide

Osborne, W. and M. (2003). Twisters and Other Terrible Storms. Random House.

One of THE most popular series of chapter books in my second grade classroom year after year is the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne. This fantasy series is enjoyed by children for their fast pace, familiar characters, and fantastic adventures back in time. Teachers like them for the way the children are engaged in devouring book after book, and by the way the fantasy element combines to draw in historical facts about the particular place and time the characters are traveling back to explore. I share a particular one aloud with my students, Day of the Dragon King because the two main characters, Jack and Annie, travel back to Ancient China, and explore time period things such as the way people are dressed, how reading on bamboo scrolls was endangered, the famous Terra Cotta soldiers (accidentally) and have a run in with the emperor Ch’in (aka “The Dragon King.”) If the fire for this series isn't already lit in one of my students, there curiosity is certainly peaked after this read aloud!

Osborne added to the series by creating companion non-fiction guides, each one themed to compliment one of her fiction offerings. The current regular series of books stands at 28, with 15 of them having a corresponding research guide full of facts to further children’s understandings of the history encountered in the fantasy adventure. Some of the research guides highlight the history of the fiction book, such as Mummies and Pyramids to compliment Mummies in the Morning, and some highlight the science aspect of the particular book, such as the one that I am reviewing that I had not yet read entitled Twisters and Other Terrible Storms, which goes along with Twisters on Tuesday. Some of the fiction books are mostly focused on a historical time period, whereas some take place in the past, like Twisters on Tuesdays does, which is during the 1870s, but an element of science is also a part of the story, and thus lends itself to be the focus of the accompanying research guide.

Again, these research guides are a favorite of my classroom library by me as the teacher for several reasons. They are great to use with a guided reading group or a whole class modeling think aloud about how to read non-fiction and how to use the supportive elements such as a table of contents, index, diagrams, and photos. We can also relate what is fact and what is fiction in the story (think also Magic School Bus stories.) I plan on sharing this book with my class as a non-fiction read aloud starting this week, to correspond to our study of weather during our Roots and Shoots gardening program. Students use their listening and visualizing skills, as well as prior knowledge of what things look like in real life and in photos in true books, and can connect to the fiction Twisters story if they have personally read that selection. Some features that I especially like about this particular research guide is:

-the listing and diagrams of weather tools
-important vocabulary written in italics to draw attention to them
-words that may be new to the reader are defined in the margin by Jack or Annie (ex. “The line where a high pressure and low-pressure area meet is called a front.”)
-plentiful diagrams – not just illustrations but labeled drawings and photos are labeled as well
-Jack and Annie “Facts in Action” – points in the book where the reader learns about how to do simple scientific observations (such as how to observe snowflakes or how to tell how far away lightening is from where you are.)
-“Doing More Research” section in the back – where students can find specific sources to find out more on weather – such as particularly age appropriate particular books, videos, museums, CD-ROMS, and Internet sites.

I highly recommend having these in any elementary classroom (grades 1-5.) The focus grades would be grade 2-3, in my opinion, but can find an interested audience in older elementary grades for certain!

Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems

De Regniers, B., Moore, E., White, M., & Carr, J. (compliers) (1988). Sing a Song of Popcorn. Scholastic.

This collection of 128 poems is compiled with a wide array of variety and draws from some of the most well-known poetry authors and children’s book illustrators, and brings together old classics and newer fare within one cover. The treasury is divided into eight themed collections, and each one of the eight sections is illustrated by one famous Caldecott picture book illustrator for all of the differently authored poems within that subgenre section (except one section is illustrated by a married couple together, who also have won a Caldecott for their collaborative work). The eight different sections are entitled:
-Fun With Rhymes
-Mostly Weather
-Spooky Poems
-Story Poems
-Mostly Animals
-Mostly People
-Mostly Nonsense
-Seeing, Feeling, Thinking
-In a Few Words

I selected excerpts from a few selected poems in which I liked the language and how it was played with and what the words provoked me to think about.

From: April Rain Song – Langston Hughes
“Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.”

Even though water is colorless, you do see the raindrops, and describing “clear” as a color of them, especially when they are in movement, is hard. Silvery, almost the image of liquid mercury, crosses my mind.

From: Snowflakes – David McCord
“Joints, points, and crosses. What could make
Such lacework with no crack or break?
IN billion billions, no mistake?”

With the appreciation of snowflakes from childhood, as well as from the picture book Snowflake Bentley By: Jacqueline Briggs Martin, I have awe and appreciation of these intricate gifts from nature’s sky in the bleak and grayness of winter. Snowflakes in all of their detail are indeed amazing!

From: The Steam Shovel – Rowena Bennett
“He crouches low
On his tractor paws
And scoops the dirt up
With his jaws;
Then swings his long
Stiff neck around
And spits it out
Upon the ground…”

I love similes and metaphors, and the metaphoric comparison of a steam shovel to the jaws of a prehistoric dinosaur, giving it animalistic qualities, illustrates the might and strength of the teeth of the shovel of this machinery.

From: Lengths of Time – Phyllis McGinley
“Time is particular
And hardly exact.
Though minutes are minutes,
You’ll find for a fact
(As the older you get
And the bigger you grow)
That time can
Hurrylikethis
Or plod, plod, slow.

Another thing I like to see and do with language is to have opportunities to enjoy or write with language in unconventional ways. Here, to illustrate the way time does indeed sometimes crawl and sometimes flies, the author crams “hurrylikethis” to exemplify the speed and bumbling together of events within a day or event where its hard to slow down and comprehend events (and here, words) properly (the first thing it makes me think of is an average school day – they ALWAYS fly for me! I always have so much I HAVE to do, and then there’s also so much I WANT to do with my students!) In contrast, the “plod, plod, slow” actually seems to drag out of my mouth with the sounds of “plod,” like a dull thud falling in the day.

From: Tree House – Shel Silverstein
“A tree house, a free house,
A secret you and me house,
A high up in the leafy branches
Cozy as can be house.”

What child doesn’t love the idea of a secret place to play, daydream, and escape away from the real world (think: Bridge to Terebithia!) Children need a place that’s safe to explore their imagination and outside environment, and even kids need a break from adults. I didn’t have a tree house growing up, but I did have a great playhouse my father built me, with electricity, an old house window in the front, an old crank window in the back from a camper shell (perfect for our “drive through” and secret spy notes to be slipped through!) and a special small sized doorknob. My two best friends and I adored it, especially on a winter or rainy day!

From: Arithmetic – Carl Sandburg
“Arithmetic is where numbers fly
Like pigeons in and out of your head.”
As a person who is seeking a graduate degree in reading, language, and literacy, I apparently have a passion for language (and in my case, a large slant toward the language part of my brain, and less towards mathematical thinking.) I chuckled to myself when I read these opening lines, because I don’t know how many times I felt that’s just what numbers were doing in my math classes in high school!

From: How to Tell the Top of a Hill – John Ciardi
“The top of a hill
Is not until
The bottom is below.
And you have to stop
When you reach the top
For there’s no more UP to go.”

Another thing I like to see in poetry is when something is explained in a creative, matter of fact way. You can’t really argue with it, and the unconventional explanation sticks with you.

Granny Torrelli Makes Soup By: Sharon Creech

Creech, S. (2003). Granny Torrelli Makes Soup. HarperCollins.

In this selection, Sharon Creech has formatted the writing to be spaced out and thus reading the book seems to flow quickly because of the double spacing used between dialogue and paragraph switching. The voice that the story is written is told from the perspective of the main character, twelve year old Rosie. Rosie tells the story in present tense when she is talking with her Granny Torrelli, and in past tense when she is talking about the past, it is typically told in past tense, and rather than cluttering the pages with quotation marks, spoken words are written in italics to differentiate them from the storytelling text. The bulk of the story involves Rosie reflecting with her Granny Torrelli about the current angst that she is feeling with her best friend, Bailey, just a week in difference from the age of Rosie, and have spent their lives growing up next door to each other. Since Rosie is talking to you as the reader, the problem between Rosie and Bailey unfolds petal by petal, with clues leading you to use your skills of inference to realize that Bailey has a sight impairment and this leads to Bailey having challenges that Rosie doesn’t have to deal with in life.

Rosie was hurt with Bailey’s words, “Get over yourself!” which was said “in that cold voice and slam the door in my face as if I am nobody.” Rosie is only seeing her own perspective of this, and it is through her Granny Torrelli’s subtle ways that she comes to understand Bailey’s perspective on the situation. It is done in the kitchen, through the main activity of making soup, or zuppa as her Italian Grandma calls it. Granny Torrelli gently walks Rosie through discussing elements of the problem and her thoughts, and lending Bailey’s possible point of view to the situation. The problem is amplified when a new and very friendly girl named Janine moves into the neighborhood, threatening Bailey and Rosie’s friendship on another level. Grannny also relates to Rosie by sharing about a special friendship that she had with a girl named Violetta and then with a new boy named Marco. In the end, with her wisdom and insight on life, as well as tender heart, leads Rosie to understand Bailey better, and be open to the changes life brings. The story culminates with friends, new and old, with family, enjoying the “fruits of their labor,” the zuppa, which was created while working through problems. This book shows a realistic portrait of friendships between children, still told in a tender way, leaving Rosie as well as the reader to walk away with being reminded of what to cherish and appreciate in life.

But I'll Be Back Again By: Cynthia Rylant

Rylant, C. (1989). But I'll Be Back Again: An Album. Orchard Books.

As you can see from a previous blog, I had the streak of luck finding Cynthia Rylant's But I'll Be Back Again: An Album at a used book sale at a local public library. They were discarding it (gasp!) and I acquired this out of print book for ten cents! I read it that evening, and I gained additional understanding of this author that has been featured in our children's literature class, and she has also been featured and studied in my second grade classes for each of my nine years of teaching. As an appreciator of Rylant's crafting, I find myself learning more about her style and nuances about her as a person every year, whether it is something I see, or a student interprets about a book at read aloud or independently during a reading workshop conference. I really delved into Rylant's crafting after reading in 1999 Katie Wood Ray's professional resource entitled Wondrous Words. Ray is a BIG fan of Rylant, and she showed me things about the creative ways that she writes that I had not quite noticed before, and that fire was lit in me to think of author's craft with all literature in a fresh way ever since.

In this memoir published in 1989, Rylant writes of different memories of growing up as a child and young teen in Beaver, West Virginia. She includes real photographs from growing up and as an adult, which are in black and white, since there is no color in the interior layout of the entire book. A copy of a letter Rylant received from her father is included. In most of the one page letter, he refers to himself in third person, which I see as a type of detachment. The significance of that letter to her is clear, since as an adult, she still has it. Although not officially in chapters, Rylant has particular stories of a memories as a theme within a section, and these sections are transitioned to new topics with selections of lyrics from Beatles songs. These snippets of songs serve as a preview as well to what lies ahead in the upcoming memories. Besides The Beatles clearly being a favorite of hers growing up, she idolized Bobby Kennedy. Rylant was thrilled when he visited West Virginia, and includes a photo taken of him, and later on in life, she was devastated when she found out that he had been killed. This happened at a transitional age of thirteen, typical of a time when children feel that they are becoming teens, eager to grow up, and internally scared to let go of yesterday at the same time. Within the same year, she lost her father just as he was about to come back into her life after living in out of state. Those events must have made Rylant grow up some, in a way she didn't want to, but had to. I found a passage of hers in relation to this poignant:

"Children can forgive their parents almost anything. It is one of those mysteries of life that no matter how badly a parent treats a child, somewhere in that child is a desperate need to forgive, a desperate need to be loved."

With that selected subject and quote, it is clear that this book is not completely full of happy, lovely memories of a perfect childhood. The opening line of the book reads: "If you are a child who is never told the truth, you begin to make up your own." There are some sad, heartbreaking things that the reader listens to in the text as Rylant writes, and I find myself thinking that this book is not written for a child who is a fan of her picture books. I really find myself feeling like it is written for adults, and could be used with young adults, but not necessarily to study her crafting. This book is more about understanding the roots of the author, her inspirations and challenges, and for the reader to see these influences in books that they have read that are authored by her.

I loved being able to make an text-to-self connection of discovering that Rylant was a majorette. I was a majorette as well (seven first places in VA!) and I still love twirling with my Baton Twirling Club at school. On page 41, I found Rylant's comment about flirting with words with a funny boy named Robert intriguing, because I have used sarcasm more than my fair share in life:

"I think Robert liked me so much because I could match every smart remark he threw my way with an even smarter one. It was my only ammunition with this overpowering boy, and the constant tension between us honed my desperate sarcasm."

Rylant discusses flirting and her first days of being infatuated and curious about boys. She also discusses her struggles to grasp a personal understanding and connection with God, which shows up in several of her books, including Waiting to Waltz. She also discusses how she feels she became a writer:

"They say that to be a writer, you must first have an unhappy childhood. I don't know if unhappiness is necessary, but I think maybe some children who have suffered a loss too great for words grow up into writers who are always trying to find those words, trying to find a meaning for the way they have lived."

Writing has clearly helped Rylant deal with unresolved issues from the past, explore pleasant memories, romanticise her favorite times as a child, and create happy experiences for younger children through her picture books.

As a related text, there is a series of "Meet the Author" books (published by Richard C. Owen, Inc.), and one of the selections is indeed written Cynthia Rylant entitled Best Wishes. It IS written with younger children in mind, and is readable to a class to provoke connections and discussions. The book includes color photos on each spread of Rylant and her current home at the time in Kent, Ohio, as well as photos of the humble homes of her Grandmama and mother. You can see she's a real person, quiet and sometimes perhaps a loner when entrenched in thoughts of creativity. To see photos of her standing at a famous scenic spot in West Virginia where I past by during Spring Break was neat as well. A recommended quick read for teachers and to share with your students as well.

The Seashore Book Written By: Charlotte Zolotow and Illustrated By: Wendell Minor

Zolotow, C. (1992). The Seashore Book. HarperCollins.

In the picture book The Seashore Book, written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated with paintings by Wendell Minor, the story starts out with a little boy at home with his mother in the evening as the sun sets on the mountain behind their tidy white washed house with welcoming lighting seeping through the windows. The boy asks the question, "What is the seashore like?" as the first line of the book, and the mother begins to describe it to him, since he's never been there and only knows of the mountains.
The book continues with the mother explaining and describing, and the illustrations that accompany each page portray what she is describing, with the little boy incorporated in the pictures, echoing what he must be imagining in his head while the descriptions his mother is giving unfold for him. The paintings of gouache and watercolors are realistic in tone, depicting the nature, animals, surf, sand, and skies that surround him in his visualizations that his mother is "painting" for him, helping something so foreign to him come alive. It's an interesting side note that one of the three places that the illustrator enjoys spending time painting the seashore is on the Outer Banks in North Carolina, or "the beach" as locals around here in Williamsburg refer to it.
The mother's descriptions help him to not only see the scene, but smell, feel, and hear it as well. It she describes what it would be like to be at the beach for the day, and she describes how the day changes as the sun comes up, then is later overhead in the noon heat, and later on begins to set. Zolotow's prose is lyrical and inviting, and the book invites itself to be a favorite before bedtime, with a calming, peaceful effect.
There is so much to admire about the use of language to describe in this book. A few of my favorite descriptive lines are:

"The cold water makes your skin feel like peppermint, and you are tired."

Describing the noonday sun:
"...it feels warm as a big soft cat covering you, taking away the chill of the waves."

Describing the lighthouse in the evening:
"Outside, the lighthouse is flashing

golden gleam on

golden gleam gone."

This book lends itself well to lessons on visualizing, especially to have students only hear it the first time through, with an additional reading or a showing of illustrations after the first reading. Predicting is intertwined with that practice of visualization, making good guesses about what is in the picture, based on what what specifically stated, and with the use of inference, what could also be in the picture while they are not seeing it. This book is a great teaching tool as well as a bedtime treat between two loved ones!

Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices By: Paul Fleischman

Fleischman, P. Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices. HarperCollins.

I enjoyed reading the collection of poems entitled Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices Written By: Paul Fleischman and illustrated with finely detailed pencil sketches of insects by Eric Beddows. This book was honored with the Newbery Medal in 1989, and it is clear that the inventive crafting of Fleischman won him the distinguished prize. On the back of the book, as well as in the interior prior to the first poem, the reader is instructed to read the poems with a partner, and they are better enjoyed by sharing them with some type of listening audience. Sometimes the person to the left reads a line, sometimes the person to the right is doing the reading, and on other times the two people read them together. For two people to do this, the poems must be read aloud, and that is an innovative format to write in.

I relish in coming across unique metaphoric comparisons, and similes that make me see connections that I had not thought of before. My favorite comparisons are found in the poem Fireflies:

"Light Light
is the ink we use
Night Night
is our parchment"

and at the end of this poem:

"Six-legged scribblers Six-legged scribblers
of vanishing messages
fleeting graffiti"

I thought the poem entitled The Moth's Serenade was humorous, with the moth conveying his undying longing for the porch light, finding it irresistible, as if madly in love with the woman of his dreams! I see that on Fleischman's web site, that he has two versions of "The Moth's Serenade" that people have composed in a music format, paying homage to this poem! In the poem Cicadas, merely hearing of that insect reminds me of that all too familiar sound in the trees of Tidewater, Virginia in the irrepressible heat of July and August. I especially like this line:

"Air kiln-hot, lead heavy"

Hearing that reminds me of stepping out of an air-conditioned space, and having your breath sucked out of you, either by the dryness of the heat, or the wet, heavy, humidity in the air, both making breathing a big more tasking.

I look forward to sharing some of these poems with students in my class in the near future! The poetry in this themed collection are a perfect compliment to our insect studies and upcoming Bugz 2nd grade play in a few weeks, where my class will be a hive full of bees - with kazoos! It's important to do some different things with students this time of year, to take a break from the everyday hum drum routine, to keep the students engaged and excited to come to school each day. The format of these poems is just the type of new novelty to bring to my students, and the challenge of reading in a different format, along with working with a partner, is the type of engagement that students forget that they are learning a host of skills, because they're having too much fun!

Long Night Moon Written By: Cynthia Rylant and Illustrated By: Mark Siegel

Rylant, C. (2004). Long Night Moon. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

I recently read another selection written by Cynthia Rylant entitled Long Night Moon. It was illustrated by Mark Siegel. Rylant’s writing is true to her craft in that she doesn’t feel bound by traditional writing styles or more common grammatical usage of words. The placement of the text on each full page spread is thought out, so it does not interfere with how the illustration communicates to the reader just as the words themselves do. The flow of the book truly begins on the initial end pages. So the growing flow of the opening tone of the book’s story is uninterrupted, the page with copyright and official book information does not appear until after the story is told by being placed in the back of the book.

There is a playful version of cursive font used in the text, almost to set a scene that this was written by hand onto the pages, homespun like an orally told story that is passed on to generations to seek meaning in. The story is actually told as originating from the Native Americans who named each full moon a particular name, fitting to the time of year and season. The color of the font itself is in various pastels to compliment the text and spread's main idea. Each month has a particular name for the moon, which is highlighted with a contrasting, bolder pastel colored text to emphasize its presence. Names of the moons include, “Strawberry Moon” for June, “Harvest Moon” for August, and “Thunder Moon” for July. The few lines describing the moon on each page spread is sparse, but in classic Rylant crafting, paints a visualization that starts with the illustration on the page and comes alive with the particular selected words, with their spacing and line skips punctuating and pausing the reader’s rate of reading. A wonderful example comes from July:

“In July,
the Thunder Moon trembles
shudders,
and disappears
in a thick black sky.

It listens to the
clouds
Beat their drums.”

I saw on a website called kidsreads.com a letter that Cynthia Rylant wrote for the site that’s posted to read. In it, she discusses a variety of things about herself, things that she likes in life, and she goes on to mention how she enjoys creating the text for picture books. “I especially love writing books that are illustrated. They are so beautiful to see, the paper is so nice and shiny, the colors so beautiful and rich. Picture books glow in your hand, and they never get boring (if they are done well).” Having that prior knowledge of Rylant’s viewpoints, I thought of that particular quote as a read through Long Night Moon. The text figuratively and literally has a glow to it, thanks to the soft moonlight. Even though the entire book is in a rotating scene of darkness, light resonates from each spread’s full moon, and illuminates text's specific touches throughout the layout. The light punctuates the darkness, and gives the reader a safe feeling simply by the softness and light provided by the moon.

The illustrator, Mark Siegel, uses his artistry with light in the pitch darkness to tell the story on each page. The illumination from the moon plays upon the scene below, which is really just a continual rotation of the same scene, the reader "moving" in an orbit just as the Earth does during the course of a year with 12 full moons. I found it interesting that after I googled Mark Siegel's name and went to Wikipedia, there was the cover of Long Night Moon with a few other picture book covers that he drew, but that the style of the other covers were in a very different, more graphic cartoon style. It said in the text that he is noted for his work with creating graphic novels for all ages, which are really more lengthy comic books. The art Siegel created for Long Night Moon is clearly uncharacteristic of his usual and favored method of illustrating. What was especially interesting was his note in the back, at the top of the book informational sheet entitled, “The Adventure of Illustrating Long Night Moon.” In it, Siegel discusses how he was drawn to Rylant’s writing, and struggled to find what he felt would be the best medium to draw with. After experimenting with several mediums, Siegel still wasn’t satisfied. He began to take evening walks on a country farm and made himself take in the nature around him. It’s truly moments of “stopping to smell the roses,” to jump off the Ferris wheel of life and really take in the complexity of nature. Once Siegel did that, he opened up to what he should capture about the moon. While exploring mediums again, he found that charcoals captured the moon: "It returned me to that velvety mysterious light that softens everything, bathing nature in a dreamy luminosity.” When I read that, I thought about how I was really intrigued to hear about the illustrator’s train of thought process to interpret an author’s words, to give them the right justice and express the author’s lyricism and feelings on their behalf with their own artistry entwined. Sometimes authors discuss their motivations and inspirations for stories, whether in an author’s note in a book or in an interview, but it is rare to hear the illustrator’s point of view. That was intriguing, especially since Rylant’s works are illustrated by numerous artists.

I couldn’t wait to use this book with my class this week! The text is short, and to an average kid, they would have independently flipped through the book in no more than ten minutes. At this point of the year, my students are at that wonderful time of year that they talk “book talk” and get the big picture and all the details that go along with it! When I began to introduce the book, I didn’t even have a chance to say who the author was, because one of my keen kids saw in the small script on the cover, “This is a Cynthia Rylant book! I haven’t seen that one before!” I love the fire these kids have not only for books, but for the stylings of favorite authors, knowing that if they have savored selections from them before, that they are most likely in for another enjoyable journey. My kids were into it the moment I opened up the the initial end pages, and I let them chat to a neighbor about the setting and what they thought the book would be about, because they were buzzing with curiosity after I read the interior flap of the cover and turned to the title page.

After letting a few partner pairs share briefly with the whole group about their predictions, I began to read. When I got to the first page of text which states that the Native Americans gave names to each full moon, they chatted to revise their predictions, and shared with the class that they thought each spread would be for a month and the name would fit the month’s weather and season. A student also commented that they noticed the same gazebo in the three pages so far, and that we were zooming closer to it, and that its place on the page spread was moving. At this point, I thought to myself, I wish this was being videotaped! These children were getting concepts some adults wouldn’t pay attention to! Another noticed that the zooming up reminded them of when we read Rylant’s Scarecrow back in the Fall, when we were first studying Rylant’s writings. A neighbor noted that he remembered how we zoomed up close and far away for our individual illustrations of scarecrows that we did to go with their poetry in the hall showcase.

We discussed with neighbors and sometimes as a whole group each page spread. They noted things such as the words she chose were the main ideas of what was shining with light in the pictures, and that it fit the season and time of year. A partner pair caught on as the big tree moved in location on a sequence of spreads that it was like we were standing in one spot, just turning around with slow steps to observe different parts of the very same place. That’s when I explained that they were indeed right, and I had one student stand up and turn in a 360 degree manner, and we’ve reference that all week for fun in class. Students noticed how the moonlight glowed on the nest of baby birds, how the wording and light on the “Strawberry Moon” spread for June was pink, echoing the pinkness of the inside of a real strawberry. They also discussed with partners how in real life when the moon is closer, you can see the craters and ruts just like they could see in the “Acorn Moon” spread. One student also mentioned that the light coming from the window of the little house was warm and welcoming, and that it made them feel safe.

Before I knew it, a book that I thought might take my bright group 15 minutes to enjoy had bypassed 35 minutes. They were engrossed in the book, and I was engrossed in their ideas and observations. I was so proud of them! They get it! At this time of year, it makes me eager to share more than one book a day (when I can) with them, for they are as ravenous as I am when it comes to exploring great books! What fun!

Check out Cynthia Rylant’s letter at Kidsreads.com: http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-rylant-cynthia.asp


Here’s the entry on Mark Siegel on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Siegel

My Travels Through the Town of Beaver: Looking for Rylant's Waiting to Waltz Roots

Rylant, C. (1994). Waiting to Waltz: A Childhood. Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers


Waiting to Waltz by Cynthia Rylant is a collection of thirty short, free verse poems, each one encapsulating a memory of a vignette in her young life. The pictures are drawn by artist Stephen Gammell, are sparse and impressionistic in their black sketchings, romanticizing the vignettes that are shared about people, places, and memories of Rylant’s childhood. This poetry compliments her memoir in their autobiographical point of view, and of their own memories.

Having read Cynthia Rylant’s memoir But I’ll Be Back Again I come to this book of poetry with some background knowledge. I know that she grew up in the Appalachian culture of West Virginia in a town called Beaver. The book opens up with a poem entitled “Beaver.” I liked the lines that follow some descriptions of a simple country town:
“Beaver Creek holding it all together,
And me on the edge,
Like the water, muddy and rolling.”

From the poem “Wax Lips,” I can see Rylant’s hinting of flirting as a young child that I read about in her memoir:
“and walked the streets of Beaver,
Our teeth sunk hard in the wax,
And big red lips worth kissing.”

In the poem “Holiness,” I again hear echoes from her memoir, where you hear that she struggles somewhat with her understanding and view of what God means to her. In this snapshot in the poem, she recounts her Pentecostal babysitter, who is boisterous at church, and it seems like the rambunctious way of praise adds to her confusion and resulting intimidation of religion as a child.
“And on the church bus back
I looked out the window, away from her,
Because I didn’t understand
Such noise
And was frightened
By God.”

In the poem “The Rescue” she tells of once when she guided a younger girl home that she comes across because she is frightened of the oncoming storm that they already could hear the cracking thunder of. A full page bleed of the endless field and house is portrayed when you turn the page, emphasizing her need to find internally a source of braveness in a seemingly very lonely setting.
“I turn around
And walk in the storm
Slow and straight,
But inside,
A little girl crying.”

Although not emotionally charged, the memory Rylant shares in “Band Practice,” which once again echoes from her memoir about being a majorette. As a side bar, I was a majorette, and I still twirl today with my Baton Twirling after school club for girls in grades 3-5 at Matthew Whaley. I call it my “secret talent,” although I don’t know why I bother because I am “famous” for it. ;) I don’t know what possessed me to overlook the fact that I was tossing a steel rod in basically a 300 dollar sequined bathing suit, but I loved it. High tosses, two baton, and even fire baton for Homecoming halftimes. I like how she ends it:
“Forgot a lot about playing
Trumpet.
Learned a lot
About
Playing.”

The source of the book’s title is within the poem “Teenagers,” where she talks about that transition time where it’s a fuzzy line between being a child anymore, and when can she hurry up and be a teenager with all of its trappings, the kissing, dating, using makeup, and such.
“Waiting to shave
And wear nylons
And waltz.
Forgetting when
I was last time
A child.”
Never knowing
When it
Ended.”

During my Spring Break this week, I traveled through West Virginia on my way to Ohio, and before leaving, I mapped out my journey and wrote down directions to follow along the way. When I looked near the town of Beckley on the map, I realized that Beaver was located nearby. Even though I had a ten hour road trip ahead of me, I knew I had to at least take a quick tour of the heart of Beaver. I couldn't come so close to Rylant's roots that have inspired her writing so much and not a least take a good peak. It's located near a major town of Beckley, which has become a big tourist pit stop, and so I am sure that has had quite an modern influence on the town of Beaver. I did take the main exit for Beaver and drove to a "big part" of town, where your typical off the interstate fast food restaurants and mom and pop eateries are located. There were several churches around, and you could tell that this was located in the Bible Belt with the church signs and such. I wish I could have known where her childhood home was, or if I was near the stores and church she spoke of, but I at least got a quick feel for the rural West Virginia old homes and farms that dotted the road to the shopping center and places to eat. I have included some photos I took of the interstate sign, the nearby mountains, and the "Beaver Creek" antique store, a place where I am sure it holds onto the memories of a town of yesterday. Enjoy!