Full transparency here: the two books I read today were kind of to bolster my list considering that I’m super-duper behind on making my twelve. Nonetheless, they’re rockstars despite being near-cheating. Especially this first one.
Stats:
Title: Sector 7
Author: David Wiesner
Genre: Fiction – Children’s
Erin’s teaser synopsis: Those of you familiar with Wiesner’s other works, specifically Tuesday, will not be surprised to hear that this is yet another of his wordless books. This time, a young boy meets a cloud (yes, a cloud) on a foggy field trip to the Empire State building.
Why I relate to it: I enjoy “reading” wordless books because I enjoy exercising my imagination. I love that there’s so much freedom to the story, and it’s a valuable way to introduce inferencing, or have students look at it another way. It was super-helpful when I taught ESL, actually. Plus, the pictures are beautiful. And though part of the plot reminded me heavily of one of my younger friends, I can’t decide if she’d like it or tell me that she hates it because it has no words, and therefore is not a book.
Judgement call: I personally think that if you’ve never read a pictures book before, you should. Feel it out, give it a chance, and really think about how it helps students.
Pick one up here for your teensy friends. Or child-at-heart friends.
Imagine Truth 