Beginning Reader Survey: What do you call them? How do you shelve them?

Hi, Geisel Guessers! I hope many of you are looking forward to a relaxing weekend, but please take a minute right now to answer this three-question survey about how beginning reader books are shelved and leveled in your library. Feel free to answer this survey even if you're not the one making these decisions (for instance, if you are a library patron, you can describe  how the library you use shelves these books). If you're a teacher, you can answer for your classroom library, or the library in your school, or the public library you visit most often. We'll be back next week with a post about the results we get, so encourage your friends and colleagues to participate, as well!

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Harold & Hog Pretend For Real! by Dan Santat

photo credit to Nikko Custodio

Sylvie Shaffer served on the 2018 Geisel Committee. She’s the preK-8 librarian at the Capitol Hill Day School in Washington, DC and is active in several overlapping kidlit-focused communities including ALSC and Capitol Choices. She is currently serving on the Sydney Taylor Book Award and is busy parenting her own six year old emerging reader with help from her wife in Takoma Park, Maryland where she also serves on the Board of the Friends of her local library. You can find her online at www.SylvieJuliet.Shaffer.com.

Harold & Hog Pretend for Real!
by Dan Santat cover

Harold and Hog Pretend for Real is the brain-bending story of Gerald and Piggie reading the story of Harold (an elephant who looks quite a bit like Gerald) and Hog (a pig resembling Piggie) pretending to be Gerald and Piggie, who are reading the book Harold and Hog Pretend for Real. Things get hectic (in typical Elephant and Piggie style) when, after realizing that Hog is too careful to effectively pretend to be carefree Piggie, and exuberant Harold has trouble tempering his verve enough to play staid and nervous Gerald, the porcine/pachyderm pair comes to the conclusion that if they can’t even pretend to be best friends...maybe they can’t BE best friends, either! As in other “Elephant and Piggie Like Reading” entries, and in “Elephant and Piggie” books, the story is told entirely in color-coded dialogue bubbles, and the book’s all-over design—cover, endpapers, trim size, page count, font—looks like an "Elephant and Piggie" title. It’s very smart, very funny, and very, very meta.

Could Harold and Hog Pretend for Real earn Geisel recognition? Sure, obviously it could. It has all the hallmarks of a winner or honor: Clear, easy to parse design, concise storytelling, controlled vocabulary with lots of repetition, illustrations that support the reader as they decode, humor, and stakes that rise with each page turn, propelling the story to its satisfying conclusion. As a meta-satirical “Elephant and Piggie” title, it’s a textbook example of what’s won in the past: Willems’ "Elephant and Piggie" titles have taken two golden Geisel medals and five honors (not counting the Elephant and Piggie Like Reading titles, as they have different authors/illustrators.)

The 2017 gold medal went to "Elephant and Piggie Like Reading" title We Are Growing by Laurie Keller, which coincidentally shared a release date with The Cookie Fiasco, the only other series entry (to date) penned by Santat and Willems. So there’s precedent for both “Elephant and Piggie” books and for “Elephant and Piggie Like Reading” books to earn Geisel citations. Perhaps it’s also worth noting that Willems’ We Are in a Book, a 2010 Geisel honor, is, like this title, one that stretches the confines of what we expect an easy reader to be and do in terms of storytelling and self-reference.

But whereas We Are in a Book breaks the 4th wall, this book knocks down that wall, replaces it with a mirror, and then sets up another mirror opposite the first, creating a delightful and recursive callback cycle that loops ad infinitum.

Whoa.

Finally, consider the Geisel criteria “demonstrate creativity and imagination to engage children in reading” Huh. Wait—if the premise of this story is Gerald and Piggie reading a book about Harold and Hog pretending to be Gerald and Piggie...doesn’t that mean Harold and Hog Pretend for Real is literally simultaneously about and demonstrating creativity and imagination to engage the book’s reader? I mean, what even is pretending if not creativity and imagination?!

Ouch. I think I broke my brain.

Hey, Water! by Antoinette Portis

Photo of Betsy Bird. 

Courtesy of Betsy Bird. 

Betsy Bird is the Collection Development Manager of Evanston Public Library and the former Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library. She writes for the Fuse #8 Production blog hosted by School Library Journal and reviews for Kirkus. Betsy has written several books and her latest, THE GREAT SANTA STAKEOUT, is out this year. She also runs a picture book podcast called Fuse 8 n’ Kate. Find Betsy at betsybirdbooks.com or on Twitter @FuseEight. 

Hey, Water! by Antoinette Portis

book cover

The Geisel Award is not a particularly old award. Yet in its scant 13 years it has managed to encompass a wide range of styles (both written and artistic) and reading levels. And, as with other literary awards like the Newbery or the Caldecott, it inclines towards fiction more often than fact. Informational books aren’t unheard of Geisel winners (2009’s Wolfsnail by Sarah C. Campbell proves as much), but they seem to crop up only once in a blue moon. 

Until now? 

Hey, Water! by Antoinette Portis begins with our guide, a brown-skinned girl named Zoe, calling out, “Hey, water! I know you! You’re all around.” She proceeds to list all the different ways you can encounter this essential resource. It’s in your home. In large bodies of water. In a teardrop falling from your eye. There’s steam and fog, snowmen and fish, even your own body! What’s the best thing to say after all of that? “Hey, water, thank you!” 

Now I’m coming at this book from a children’s librarian standpoint, and you know what we children’s librarians love? New STEM related books for our thematic storytimes! That’s part of the joy of this book. For the kids just learning to read there are short sentences peppered throughout. For the youngest squirmy types, each image shows a single simple word for them to see and comprehend. Tackling big ideas (like the water cycle) with simple words and images is one of the hardest jobs to do in this business. Oh, and did I mention it’s gorgeous? The Geisel Award terms and criteria state that the awards go to creators that, “through their literary and artistic achievements, demonstrate creativity and imagination to engage children in reading.” Not much more is said about those “artistic achievements” but as they are alluded to, I’d like to recommend that folks take them into consideration. 

Image of child running through the sprinklers on the left. On the right, a child standing in the shower. 

It’s not perfect, of course. For example, at one point the book likens an iceberg to a rock, joking that it’s a rock that can float, or a rock you can skate on. I could see some scientifically minded gatekeepers not caring much for that, saying that it misleads children into thinking that ice and rocks are one and the same. Another concern involves the repetition of words. The Geisel Award criteria is fairly clear that, “Words should be repeated to ensure knowledge retention.” The book is almost too simple to repeat many words, though I did notice that “water” does crop up from time to time. 

Image on left of a teapot steaming on the stove. On the right, three birds flying below a cloud. 

The Geisel Award criteria does not preclude nonfiction, nor does it encourage it. As with all things, it is up to the discretion of the committee itself to determine whether or not a book meets with its standards. Even so, I can hope that a book this joyous in its willingness to teach, not just language skills, but science as well, will earn the respect of all gatekeepers. Fun, funny, and desperately smart, this is a book to keep your eye on.

Charlie and Mouse Even Better by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Emily Hughes

Our guest blogger today is Taylor Worley. Taylor (she/her) is a Youth Librarian at Springfield Public Library in Oregon. When she isn’t reading, she can be found drinking tea while stuck in a video game, making something with yarn, or exploring. She has two dogs, Olivander (Oliver) and Gregorovitch (Gregory). You can find her on Instagram or Goodreads @thatonelibrarian.

Charlie and Mouse are back for round three! These two adorable kids leapt onto the early reader scene in 2017 with their debut, Charlie and Mouse. Author Laurel Snyder and illustrator Emily Hughes took home the Geisel Award for that first book in 2018. Since then, readers got to know Charlie and Mouse more in Charlie and Mouse and Grumpy and now in Charlie and Mouse Even Better. Even Better is eligible for the 2020 Geisel Award, but does the third outing stand up to the legacy of the first? 

Even Better is divided into four short chapters: making pancakes with Mom, gift shopping with Dad, birthday party prep and disaster, and operation “distract mom”/successful birthday celebration. This format, accompanied by Hughes’ distinct illustrations, is consistent throughout the series and is a large part of what makes the titles successful for beginning readers. The chapters are not numbered; they are simply headings that provide a key for the plot’s shifting focus. The text stays tight and straightforward with wide margins and ample line spacing. The illustrations are the epitome of sweet, with bright colors and feathery lines. Commendation must be given to Hughes for her ability to express a vast array of emotions through eyebrows alone!

With the history of the series, there is no denying that Charlie and Mouse are a great resource for beginning readers. The question here, however, is if Even Better reaches that benchmark of “distinguished” above all other beginning reader titles this year. When reading Even Better to a variety of willing participants, one thing particularly caught my attention. My youngest listeners - those entering Kindergarten in fall 2019 - very much enjoyed this title as a read-aloud. They engaged with the pictures, asked questions, and wanted to continue through each page until the end. However, an even slightly older audience quickly lost interest in this title. When surveying families, those with incoming first and second graders unanimously said, “No, my child wouldn’t be drawn to this book.” So, where is the disconnect? 

Charlie and Mouse are young characters, and the cover of Even Better looks, in my sample audiences’ words, “babyish”. The text, however, is more challenging. The disconnect, I believe, is in the presentation of this particular title versus its intended audience. The intended audience is just a touch older than the audience that is enjoying this title as a read-aloud. Consequently, this book struggles to find the sweet spot of “motivating independent reading” while maintaining the “page-turning dynamic.” This doesn’t mean it is a bad book by any stretch, but it does undermine the book’s ability to take home a Geisel for being the “most distinguished” beginning reader title this year.

The TLDR is that Charlie and Mouse Even Better is another warm, fuzzy, and lovely entry in the Charlie and Mouse series. It is a good resource for some, but perhaps not all, beginning readers. It should absolutely be in your libraries, but I would be surprised if it walked away with the gold this year.

Circle by Mac Barnett, Illustrated by Jon Klassen

Head shot of Ellysa Stern Cahoy.

Courtesy of Ellysa Stern Cahoy.

Ellysa Stern Cahoy was a member of the 2019 Geisel Award Committee. She is an Education Librarian and Assistant Director of the Pennsylvania Center for the Book in the Penn State University Libraries, University Park, PA. 


Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen (2012 Geisel Honor for I Want My Hat Back) are back with the final entry in their Shape Trilogy, focused on the misadventures of geometrically shaped friends. Circle follows Square and Triangle, and the book is similar to the other titles in this triumvirate in design and plot structure. 

Circle by Mac Barnett, 

illustrated by Jon Klassen 

book cover

Circle, Square, and Triangle are friends, and like all friends, they have their quirks. Triangle is a trickster, and is always trying to mischievously fool his friends. Square is, like his shape, more conventional and tries hard to follow the rules. Circle is also a lover of rules and is a good friend to all. In Circle, he plays hide and seek with Triangle and Square, and implores the two to follow his rules -- the most important of which is no hiding behind his waterfall (because it is dark behind it). While Square follows the rules (of course), Triangle (of course) does not, and Circle is forced to go behind the waterfall to rescue his three-cornered friend. A mysterious encounter follows, and Triangle and Circle quickly make their way back outside to safety and their pal Square. As with all of the Shape Trilogy books, Circle ends with an open-ended question related to the story and directed towards the reader. 

Image of Circle, Square, and Triangle look at Circle's waterfall from Circle by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen

Each of the Shape Trilogy books feature a cardboard cover with rounded edges, with the cover featuring the shape at the center of each book. The design is very artistic and spare, placing the focus on the illustrations, created digitally and with watercolor and graphite. The page layout is very clean and simple, and the New Century Schoolbook font is one used in many easy reader texts. There is ample white space and the text is placed in accompaniment to illustrations in a manner that is easily navigable to readers. At 42 pages, the book more than meets the minimum number of pages required for Geisel consideration. The sentences are simple, straightforward, and repeat words, such as ‘waterfall’, ‘dark’, ‘rules’, and ‘farther’. The illustrations are evocative (including those picturing the darkness behind the waterfall) and match the plot, which is well paced and encourages the reader to finish the book. The innovative design, creative illustrations, and unique plot combine to create a successful experience for the reader. 

Image of Circle searching the darkness for Triangle from Circle by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen

Will Circle make the Geisel Award list for 2020? It is perhaps telling that Circle’s predecessors, Triangle and Square, have not been recognized by prior Geisel Award Committees. While the books in this series are highly original, they are also very quirky. Each book (Circle included) ends with an existential question (in Circle, it is directed at the mysterious shape encountered in the darkness behind the waterfall, asking the reader, “If you close your eyes, what shape do you picture?” The brief, episodic plot and ending philosophical question makes Circle (and the earlier titles) feel slight. Circle’s darkness encounter behind the waterfall involves mistaken identity, and may be confusing to some. While the Shape Trilogy titles are beautiful, highly creative, and well constructed easy readers, they are perhaps not books that a young reader would want to hear more than once. 

What are your thoughts? Do you think that Circle will be the shape that gains Geisel attention?

How to Do Nonfiction for Emerging Readers (And How Not To...)

Ashley Waring is a Children's Librarian at the Reading Public Library (MA). She loves informational books, because learning something new is awesome!

Young children are curious about the world around them, and a well-written nonfiction book can provide information and excitement. The Sibert Award celebrates the best informational books for young readers, ages birth to 14. While Sibert-winning titles are by definition exceptional nonfiction books, they are not necessarily successful at supporting a child who is learning to read. A Geisel-winning nonfiction book will not only inform the child, but will support and encourage her beginning reading experiences. According to past Geisel committees, finding a nonfiction book that can do this is rare – only 3 nonfiction books have won Geisel honors since the award was first given in 2006.

Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre,
illustrated by Steve Jenkins
2008 Geisel Honor Winner

Hello, Bumblebee Bat by Darrin Lunde,
illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne
2008 Geisel Honor Winner

Wolfsnail by Sarah C. Campbell,
photographs by Sarah C. Campbell
and Richard P. Campbell
2009 Geisel Honor Winner

Certainly, plenty of nonfiction books for children are available. All librarians who work with children know that image- and fact-packed titles from Eyewitness and National Geographic can be enjoyable for kids to pick up and browse. But there is often no narrative structure, and the pages are cluttered and busy. So what does make for a successful beginning reader nonfiction experience? Let’s look at the three Geisel Honor-winning books to find out.

Interior from Vulture View

The clear and engaging narrative of Vulture View follows vultures through a day. Sayre’s phrases encourage the reader to keep going and turn the page, by asking questions like “Going where?” at the end of page 3. She uses a very simple sentence structure, most words are one or two syllables, and the font is a large, black sans serif. Cut paper collage illustrations support the text and give clues to the reader. For the text, “They eat, then clean. Splash! Dry. Preen” on page 17, Jenkins portrays a large vulture preening its feathers with its beak, since on this page, “preen” is most likely the newest vocabulary word to the young reader.

Interior from Hello, Bumblebee Bat

Hello, Bumblebee Bat has less of a narrative structure, but facts are presented with a repeated call and response structure, making it more accessible and engaging. Every page begins with a question, for example, “Bumblebee Bat, how small are you?” The answer is presented in short, simple sentences without complicated vocabulary, while gentle and realistic illustrations support the reader. An example of the success of this nonfiction book is the explanation of echolocation on pages 9-10. The illustrations include other familiar animals that help to give a sense of scale.

Interior from Wolfsnail

Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator provides a riveting read for the slightly older reader. The narrative follows a wolfsnail as it wakes up, hunts its prey, then returns home to rest in a suburban yard. The book is better for a more experienced reader due to its longer sentences and more complex vocabulary. But the large color photographs support the reader in deciphering meaning. On pages 12 and 13 the words “tentacles” and “extensions” are clearly illustrated in the close-up images of a leaf-eating snail and wolfsnail. The fascinating topic combined with the slow pace of the nail-biting snail chase makes this a real page-turner.

All three titles are about animals, a perennial favorite topic for children, and a fit for the Geisel criteria: “The subject matter must be intriguing enough to motivate the child to read.” By having strong narratives, supportive illustrations, straight-forward sentences, and uncluttered design, all of these books meet Geisel criteria while also being informative books for beginning readers.

Look Out! A Storm! and Poof! A Bot! by David Milgrim

Stacey Rattner

Stacey Rattner is our guest blogger today. Stacey is the librarian at Castleton Elementary School in upstate New York. She has been running a Mock Geisel project with first graders for the past three years. Stacey also runs a Mock Caldecott and Newbery and Sibert Smackdown. One of the highlights of her year is when she watches the ALA Youth Media Awards live in the auditorium with all her students. You can find Stacey on Twitter @staceybethr @C_ESLibrary or blogging at http://librarianleaps.blogspot.com.

I made an appointment to meet with my friend, Natalia. She was spinning around when she greeted me at the door. Her parents assured me that she was ready to read but warned she might be a little rusty. "No problem," I said as I handed the rising first grader Look Out! A Storm! and Poof! A Bot! both by Geisel honor winning author and illustrator, David Milgrim.

Image courtesy of the author. 
Used with permission.

Olly the rhinoceros is in a bad mood. His friend Otto doesn't know it until he greets him with a big "HI!" (Natalia had fun shouting that!). Oh no! Olly starts chasing Otto right into Flip and Flop. And NOW Flip and Flop are chasing Otto who is running after Olly until...a storm comes. Everyone hops on Olly's back to find cover. They wait the storm out and everyone, including Olly, is now in a good mood.

Natalia needed help with only a few words. The names "Olly" and "Flip" were a challenge at first. She struggled with "storm" but after I encouraged her to use the illustrations as clues, she figured it out. "Now" was difficult but she knew "know" so we had a nice discussion about the differences in those words.

Look Out! A Storm! by David Milgrim

The book teleported me back to 1975 and Mrs. Marcus when I read the repetitiveness of "See Olly go. See Otto go." However, this book is so much more exciting than Dick and Jane ever were. Natalia is proof: "I liked that the storm was cool. I didn't like the chasing part because Olly has a sharp horn and I'm afraid he's going to hurt Otto."

Poof! A Bot! is categorized as a "Ready-to-Go!" reader, one level easier than Look Out! A Storm! The opening pages include all the words in the story. Natalia sped through most of them. The bonus words were, well, rightly labeled "bonus" (ie, eye, mint, pie, tea) but by giving her a preview ahead of time, Natalia was more successful when she read them in the story.

Zip, the alien, zaps a bot. Zip demands his bot to make him some hot mint tea. Instead the bot throws a pie in his eye. "'I see it fly into my eye.' Oh, my." Natalia confidently remarked in her cute 5 ½ year old voice, "Little rhyming words," and then giggled when she turned the page. Zip was mad. His anger backfires and multiplies the bots, each with a pie in hand! Hilarious! Finally, Zip zaps a tea and a pot and together they have a tea party.

Poof! A Bot! by David Milgrim

"Mint tea" slipped Natalia up at first (I thought for sure she would recognize the tea bag in the illustration since her mom is a tea drinker?) "Coffee? Hot chocolate?" Those were really the only words she had trouble with.

"I like the illustrations, especially the baby alien," she said pointing at the page. "And the pie in the eye was funny," she said laughing. "There really wasn't anything I didn't like."

It's no wonder that David Milgrim has won two Geisel honors. He has a knack for writing exciting, funny, page turners for our newest readers. And even though Natalia rated both books 4 ½ stars out of 5 (Does giving a half sound grown up?), I would easily zap these books to the top of any Geisel contending list. Go, David, go!