Author Archives: Midge Livingston

The Moon from Dehradun: a Story of Partition

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Written by Shirin Shamsi Illustrated by Tarun Lak

This is a beautifully written and illustrated picture book about the partition of India in 1947. It follows a family that suddenly has to leave their home and move to what is now Pakistan where they find an empty house and move in (presumably because that family had to move to what is now India). While recommended for ages 4-8, this book would be a more relevant purchase for intermediate grades. The story will be relatable to individuals who have an understanding of refugees and individuals that flee from their homelands due to fear. This book also contains maps, a glossary as well as the author’s family experiences in the back that would better explain the story to more advanced intermediate readers.

Pig Makes Art

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Written by Laura Gehl Illustrated by Fred Blunt

This book is an “emerging reader” book about a pig who creates art but leaves out the cat from the picture. The cat gets bored and takes a nap so the pig makes art on the cat while it’s sleeping. This makes the cat angry. In the end, pig and cat both make art together as friends. This book contains a list of word families, sight words and bonus words. It also has questions about the book on the last page.

Astrid the Astronaut: The Astronomically Grand Plan

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Astrid, a lover of all things outer space, is excited to start the new year with a new after school club at school, The Shooting Stars. Being in the group is step one to her goal of becoming the first astronaut that uses hearing aids. She is a determined young lady with a great deal of grit although because of her focus on becoming an astronaut she ignores her best friends desire to be an artist assuming she wants to go to space camp as well. This short book is a wonderful starter into reading chapter books. It not only discusses goal setting, working as a team and being kind, but also being a good listener and friend. I would recommend this book for emerging readers.

Chickadee: Criminal Mastermind

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Written by Monica Silvie Illustrated by Elina Ellis

What a fun book about a bird who feels he is a rebel compared to the rest of his nest mates. His mom and dad teach all of them to never leave the forest and don’t go near the houses. All summer and fall our little “rapscallion” is staying safe in the forest but when winter comes along he is cold and heads to the houses to become the “thief” that he is. This is a humorous book that discusses how we can help birds that do not migrate in the winter by leaving food out for them in our yards and neighborhoods. There is a three pager at the end of the book discussing facts about the Black-Capped Chickadee. There are also online resources and book recommendations.

Out of a Jar

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by Deborah Marcero

Shows a bunny sitting on a jar in a forest.

This picture book discusses feelings and when Llewellyn the bunny experiences tough feelings he puts them aside in a jar and locks them away. This works well for him for a while until suddenly, he isn’t feeling much of anything at all. One day, the jars all break. See what happens to Llewellyn when his feelings all get loose. This book is a good addition to your S.E.L. library. Younger students will enjoy and understand what happens when one does not express their feelings and keep them inside. I would recommend this book for elementary school (k-3).

Sunny Makes a Splash by Jennifer and Matthew Holm

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In book four of the Sunny graphic novel series, our main character anticipates a boring, unexciting summer after finding out her friends are going to be out of town but things change after she gets a job at the Golf and Swim Club snack stand. She makes friends that are older than her and sees others start relationships. This book is a light, fun graphic novel about friendship and being a tween. I would recommend it especially if you already have the first 3 books of the series.

Listen by Gabi Snyder, Stephanie Graegin – Illustrator

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This picture book discusses how even in a loud and overwhelming world if you take a moment to stop and listen you can hear the individual things around you. This book would be a great reminder to students to close their eyes and use their ears to move past the full force of one large cacophony of noise and give your full attention to something. This book has some very nice reference notes about listen.

Fuzzy, Inside and Out: A Story About Small Acts of Kindness and BIG HAIR by Zachariah Ohora

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Fuzzy Haskins is a kind soul who is super fuzzy. He smiled at everyone he passed on the street. He helped others when he saw a need. But when the rain and humidity came smiles around him turned into frowns. He became too fuzzy! This is a lovely book about being kind to others. This is a great book that talks about the positive feelings one can have when they share and are kind to others.