Bossy Bear (2007) and Just Like Bossy Bear (2009) will find their way into the Good Manners basket and I will be reading them at the beginning of the year as we start to set expectations for our classroom. There will lots to talk about as we discuss the behavior of the main characters in these books. Bossy Bear is VERY BOSSY! He wants everything his way and he wants it right now. As can be expected, he doesn’t have very many friends. That is until he meets Turtle. When he demands Turtle’s balloon, Turtle very willingly hands it over. Bossy Bear asks him, “You don’t think I’m bossy?” Turtle tells him honestly, that he is indeed bossy, but he doesn’t have to be. That gives Bossy Bear something to think about and he lets go of the balloon. The last 2 pages show Bossy Bear giving Turtle a present…a crown to match his own. The reader is left with the hope that Bossy Bear has learned his lesson.
Alas, it’s not to be. In Just Like Bossy Bear, Turtle watches his friend shout, demand, and yell at the characters around them. Now Turtle wants to be just like Bossy Bear, so he starts making his own demands (“Gimme! Do this! Now!). Hmmm…Bossy Bear realizes that Turtle is not being very kind and he knows he needs to change his ways. He decides to set a good example. Bossy Bear stops being bossy and starts being friendly and considerate. (Reminds me of the first time my then young daughter used my favorite 4 letter word and I realized that I had to set a better example.) Will it work? The reader has to wait until the very last page to see if Turtle has learned a lesson from Bossy Bear and starts using good manners.
The author, David Horvath and his wife Sin-Min are the creators of the Ugly Dolls. The simple cartoon-like characters resemble the Ugly Dolls. The sparse text is in a bold font on bright, single colored backgrounds. I think these books will invite young readers to go back to the book over and over. Emergent readers will be able to “read the pictures” from the start and transitional readers will be able to sit and read the words. I found a Bossy Bear doll and am thinking I might get one for my classroom. My kids love to get out the stuffed animals and read to them, so they might like having Bossy Bear right there to remind them to use their good manners. I’m even thinking that making our own Bossy Bear book of manners might be the first class book we publish.
I am a die hard fan of Gooney Bird Greene. I loved Lois Lowry’s first book and used it a lot in my classroom for writing workshop. Her newest book, Gooney Bird is So Absurd, is wonderful. Gooney’s teacher, Mrs. Pidgeon, begins each day reading poetry to her second grade classroom. She introduces her students to couplets, limericks, haiku, free verse, and poems for more than one voice. What makes these poems extra special, is that they were written a long time ago by Mrs. Pidgeon’s own mother. Her students then get to try all of these poems during their writing time. Gooney Bird, always a little different from the rest of the class, wears green ruffled underpants on her head (calling them a two-ponytail hat) to keep her brain warm. It must work, because she always comes up with some good poems.
You get the idea that Lowis Lowry has spent some time in the classroom. Each of the students in Mrs. Pidgeon’s class is recognizeable as a student in my own room. There’s the kid with marker all over his hands, the little Japanese-American girl with a lisp because she’s missing her 2 front teeth, the boy who shouts out, the extremely studious child, and many more.
Lois Lowry uses a lot of wonderful vocabulary that I can see adding to my “Interesting Words” chart- words like “savor” and ”slurping through the slush.” I also think that my students will find the antics of Gooney Bird and her classmates hilarious. It is evident that both Lowry and Mrs. Pidgeon have respect for the students in this classroom. Catastrophe strikes when a not-so respectful sub appears one morning. A master story teller, Lowry creates a tug-at-your-heart ending that is very poignant. I don’t know if kids will have the same reaction, but adults reading the book will understand the impact of the last poem. It’ll be a great conversation to have with your students, especially the message that our best writing comes from our hearts.
Bill from Literate Lives recommended Savvy by Ingrid Law during our trip to Cover to Cover. I absolutely loved this book. I always gravitate toward an author’s first book, and this one did not disappoint me. The quirky characters reminded me of the somewhat peculiar Southern women in The Secret Life of Bees. The age 13 for the Beaumont family is magical. It is then that they gain some kind of supernatural ability called a savvy. One of Mib’s brothers can cause hurricanes (the family had to move to the middle of the United States, away from all major bodies of water) and another one can create electricity, or even cause a power outage. Right before Mib’s 13th birthday, her father is in a terrible accident, causing Mib’s mother and oldest brother to travel to his bedside leaving Mib, Grandpa, and her siblings at home. All’s well, until the well-meaning, nosy preacher’s wife shows up to take care of the family and plan a huge birthday party for Mib. Knowing that she can’t attend this party, because who knows what might happen when her savvy appears, and being determined to get to her father’s hospital bed, Mib, along with her brothers, and the preacher’s kids hide on a bright pink bus that is going toward the town where Poppa is recovering. However, it’s not an ordinary bus. Lester, the bumbling bus driver, is having a hard time selling the boxes of pink bibles stacked in the back of the bus. And unfortunately, the bus turns in the opposite direction of the hospital when he leaves the parking lot. This eccentric crew encounters one adventure after another, which brings them many surprises and teaches them about each other.
Not only is this a hilarious, fantastic tale; the author weaves interesting words and descriptive language throughout this story. For example, outraged at the box of pink Bibles, the minister yells at poor Lester, “What do you think we are? A church full of mollycoddled sissies?” I found myself either grinning or laughing through most of the book! I could see using this book to collect examples of colorful language an author uses to help the reader get a better understanding of the story or characters. This would be a great read aloud for 4th and 5th grade and a fun read alone for 5th grade and up.
Check out Ingrid Law’s website. It looks fun!!
