Read & Romp Roundup: Sept/Oct 2014

Welcome to the September/October Read & Romp Roundup! And since it's actually November, this post also gives me an opportunity to highlight one of my favorite online celebrations -- Picture Book Month! The Picture Book Month blog is full of posts from children's book authors and illustrators who have been sharing all month long why picture books are important to them. It's a very inspiring read, and one I am feeling thankful for this time of year!

Just in time for the cold weather, Darshana at Flowering Minds reviews the new picture book Flora and the Penguin -- the sequel to the popular Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle. Her post includes a delightful trailer for this lift-the-flap book about friendship, told through beautiful ice dancing scenes with the two main characters.

At Wild Things Yoga, Kathleen shares some yoga ideas to go with Manfish: A Story of  Jacque Cousteau by Jennifer Berne and Eric Puybaret. She uses the book to talk about the concept of Ahimsa (non-violence) and try out some fun yoga poses related to the sea!

At Mother Daughter & Son Book Reviews, Renee and her son highlight the new picture book Twelve Dancing Unicorns by Alissa Heyman and Justin Gerard -- a variation of Twelve Dancing Princesses but with unicorns instead! Renee says the book is "an absolutely enchanting tale weaving the themes of magic, love, and friendship" with artwork that is "among the best I've seen in picture books."

Book to Boogie is a monthly series of the Library as Incubator Project in which guest bloggers pair picture books with movement activities for story time. The September post was on Quick as a Cricket by Audrey and Don Wood. The October post was on Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball by Vicki Churchill and Charles Fuge.

Debbie at American Indians in Children's Literature features Girls Dance, Boys Fiddle by Carole Lindstrom and Kimberley McKay. The main character is a girl named Metisse who would rather play the fiddle than dance, even though most people in her community expect girls to dance. Metisse is part of an Aboriginal group known as the Métis people, who live in parts of Canada and the Northern United States. According to Debbie, you can find elements of Métis culture on every page! 

An Interview with Author Marlena Zapf: Part II

I’m happy to re-introduce picture book author Marlena Zapf to you today. Last week Marlena talked with me about the writing and publication process for her debut picture book Underpants Dance. Today we’re going to focus our discussion on movement -- the movement in the book, Marlena’s background in dance, and how she uses yoga and movement for her author visits!

Welcome back, Marlena! I love how you left a lot of room for illustrations in Underpants Dance, especially when Lily is dancing in her room. “First she did this. Then she did this. Then she went round and round like this. Then she said, “TA-DA!” At these places in the book, were the illustrations by Lynne Avril what you envisioned, or a total surprise?

I feel so fortunate that Lynne agreed to illustrate Underpants Dance. She brings Lily’s spirit to life so perfectly. I believe that picture books are a dialogue between text and illustration, and so I deliberately left room for Lynne to do her thing. I only gave my editor a few notes about what I wanted (like the Toulouse-Lautrec in the museum scene) and trusted the rest. I was expecting Lynne to come up with new things, so I wasn’t incredibly surprised by the illustrations in general.

What did surprise me was that when I received the cover illustration of Lily, it looked strikingly like a dance photo of myself that had been taken that very same week. I will add that Lynne had NEVER seen a picture of me.

Your website also includes some other great photos of you either dancing or wearing that really cool tutu. Do you have a background in dance? 

I’ve always danced for fun, but I never studied dance until I was an adult. (My mother decided to save me from repeating her own unpleasant childhood experience with ballet by signing me up for Girl Scouts instead. I think I would have preferred dance class.) Perhaps it’s for this reason that people often tell me my dance has a childlike quality. I have fun, dance with abandon, and don’t care what anyone thinks of me.

As an adult, I’ve studied a bunch of different kinds of dance, and continue to take new classes when I can. I do something called contact improvisation, which is done with partners or groups, and plays consciously with the physics of gravity and momentum, as well as human connection — it’s a great metaphor for how we move through life and relationships. I’m also part of a community in New England that hosts what are sometimes called “barefoot” or “ecstatic” dances. Really what that means is you take off your shoes and dance however you want. For me, it’s a moving meditation.

School visits are such a big part of marketing picture books these days. How do you present your book to children, teachers, and school librarians? (A little birdie told me that it might involve movement.)

Lily’s story is really about self-expression, so I encourage kids to express themselves through activities that accompany the reading. And I don’t just stand there and tell the kids what to do. I engage with them. I’m certified to teach kids’ yoga and movement, so I use some of those techniques to help kids focus and then have fun with them after the reading.

If the children are sitting on the floor, I like to spread out colorful Yoga Dots, which I learned about from Rosemary Clough. You can buy them or make them out of old yoga mats. (Kids love to pick out their favorite color.) They serve a dual purpose. They give kids focus and a place to sit for the portion of the presentation for which they need to stay still(ish). Afterward, you can use them to play games in which the kids step, dance, jump, and move on or around the dots. This way, kids get their wiggles out, but the dots provide a focus that keeps things contained so that the “wild rumpus” doesn’t turn into utter mayhem. (Teachers are not fans of mayhem.)

Here’s a simple example. Set the dots around the space and play music or sing a song while kids move around the dots. You might encourage them to move at a certain speed or with a specific movement. When the music or song stops, kids jump on a dot and assume their favorite shape or yoga pose. Repeat!

Wow. I didn’t realize you were certified to teach kids’ yoga and movement, too. You are very multi-talented! It’s been a pleasure learning more about Underpants Dance and how you incorporate yoga and movement into your author visits. Thank you, Marlena! 

In case you missed Part I of my interview with Marlena, you can check it out here. You can also learn more about Marlena on her website at www.marlenazapf.com!

Read & Romp Roundup: May/June 2014

Welcome to the first bimonthly Read & Romp Roundup. Thanks to those of you who submitted posts this time around. I also happened to stumble across a few additional posts related to picture books and dance, so I've included those as well. Hope you enjoy the roundup!

Danielle at This Picture Book Life shares a post about the picture book Bonjour Camille, which will be released in August from Chronicle Books. Dressed in a tutu and a top hat, Camille is a little girl with a whole lot of things to do! Check out Danielle's post to learn more about these "things" and to see several bold and energetic illustrations from the book.

Atelierstorytime shares a blog post by Anna Forlati -- the illustrator of the Italian picture book Yoga Piccolo Piccolo. Translated as "Small Small Yoga," Yoga Piccolo Picollo may not be available in an English version, but the gorgeous illustrations in this blog post will speak to everyone!

At Maria's Movers, Maria explores the wordless picture book Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle, which won a Caldecott Honor in 2014. Read her post to see how she used the book in a workshop for 6-year-olds about creating new dances!

Maria was also featured in the June Book to Boogie post at the Library as Incubator Project, where she shared movement ideas to go with the picture book Here Are My Hands. A month earlier, the May Book to Boogie post featured movement ideas to go with the picture book SPLASH! by Ann Jonas.

At the Dirigible Plum, Elizabeth reviews the nonfiction picture book Dancing to Freedom: The True Story of Mao's Last Dancer. The book tells the story of Li Cunxin, who grew up in rural China and was selected as a boy to move to Beijing to train as a ballet dancer. Interestingly, the book is written by the dancer himself. The illustrations by Anne Spudvilas, some of which you can see in Elizabeth's post, help tell his emotional story.

And last but not least, Reading Today Online shares a fun interview with Connie Schofield-Morrison and Frank Morrison -- the husband-and-wife team who created the new picture book I Got the Rhythm. They actually interview each other about creating the book. You don't want to miss it!

Good Night, Animal World: A Kids Yoga Story

A lot of movement-themed picture books are not the best bedtime picks because they can rile up little ones and make it hard for them to fall asleep. But Good Night, Animal World -- a new children's book by yoga teacher and independent author Giselle Shardlow -- was written to be read specifically at bedtime.

The yoga-inspired text and the illustrations by Emily Gedzyk are all meant to help wind children down at night so they can relax and sleep well. What a great premise -- and one that definitely got me excited (especially as a mother) to look inside this book!

Inside, six characters take readers to six parts of the world -- Australia, England, Guatamala, India, Tanzania, and the United States -- to say goodnight to animals from those specific regions. Each page shows an illustration of an animal, accompanied by some simple text (some imagery about the animal and a goodnight message) and a yoga pose. The 13 poses in the book, chosen for their calming potential, include forward bends, restorative poses, gentle twists, and some inversions.

Below is the "turtle" page from the book, followed by a book trailer that includes other images from the book plus some book reviews -- all set to relaxing music, of course!

It's actually hard to see how children wouldn't be calm after finishing this book. "Embrace their creativity and let them experiment with the poses. Whatever helps them release extra energy before bedtime is the perfect pose," says Giselle. The poses are even laid out in a sequence that facilitates flow from one pose to the next. And my favorite part of the book? The resting pose at the end! Just thinking about it is making me super sleepy… I think I need to take a rest!

This post is part of a blog tour hosted by Mother Daughter Book Reviews, where you can also see the full schedule for the tour. To learn more about author Giselle Shardlow and her series of Yoga Kid Stories, go to her website at www.kidsyogastories.com.

Read & Romp Roundup: February 2014

Welcome to the February Read & Romp Roundup! As usual, we have a nice mix of submissions this month, including some poetry. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the reading -- which will hopefully lead to some romping as well!

Amy at Picture-Book-a-Day is back to share a short review of the new picture book A Dance Like Starlight: One Ballerina's Dream by Kristy Dempsey and Floyd Cooper. The book is set in the 1950's and tells the story of a fictional African-American girl who sees the first "colored" prima ballerina --Janet Collins -- perform. The review is part of a roundup that includes some other recent picture books:  Don't Play with Your Food, Mr. Flux, and Yellow is My Color Star.

Amy was also featured in the February Book to Boogie post at The Library as Incubator Project. In her post, she summarizes the picture book Move! by Robin Page and Steve Jenkins and describes her ideas for using it to inspire movement during library story time.

Elly at Yoga & Creative Movement with Elly suggests retelling the classic picture book Fortunately (by Remy Charlip) through movement games and yoga poses. She also suggests having kids tell, act out, or write their own story in a "fortunately…unfortunately" format. Check out her post for all the details!

Kathleen at Wild Things Yoga is a kindred spirit with a love for picture books and movement, especially yoga. This month she shares a lesson plan -- a shorter version for preschoolers and kindergartners and a longer version for first and second graders -- for combining yoga with the picture book The Leopard's Drum by Jessica Souhami. The book, which is a West African tale about a leopard who doesn't want to share a huge drum he makes, also lends itself to discussions about fairness and problem solving.

And last but not least, two guest dance educators join Maria's Movers to share their experiences using different kinds of poetry in their creative movement classes. Becca Beck and Kerry Bevens discuss building dances around poems, using poems as warm-ups, exploring nursery rhymes in class, and more!

Read & Romp Roundup: November 2013

Here, finally, is the November Read & Romp Roundup for you to enjoy over the next few weeks. Like last year, I'll be skipping a December roundup because of the sheer business of this time of year, but look out for the next call for submissions in early January. Maria from Maria's Movers and I are also planning a "Read It. Move It. Share It" post for January. It's been a while since we've collaborated, so I'm looking forward to picking up our series again in the new year. Happy holidays, everyone!!

Marta from A Bilingual Baby features two yoga-inspired picture books by Giselle Shardlow and Emily Gedyzyk. The first is The ABC's of Australian Animals: An Interactive Kids Yoga Book. You can read all about it in Spanish on Marta's blog! The second is Sophia's Jungle Adventure: A Fun and Educational Kids Yoga Story. In her post, Marta includes a link to a YouTube video about the book, in which a young girl named Sophia explores Costa Rica through yoga poses. Marta, who has been using the books to do yoga with her son, joins us from Barcelona, Spain!

At Story Snug, based in Germany, Catherine features the all-time classic Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees. She recommends using the book to stimulate discussions on friendship and originality. She also recommends buying the book's accompanying CD, which has what she refers to as a fun "calypso jungle rhythm"! On Catherine's post, you can also find out how you can use colored paper, finger paints, and wool to create portraits of the book's main character, Gerald. So adorable!

If you haven't heard about the new picture book Penguin Cha-Cha by Kristi Valiant, now is your chance! Here on her blog, Kristi discusses the importance of reading with children at home and offers tips to help cultivate the love of reading. The post also links to lots of information about Penguin Cha-Cha, including a free activity kit that goes with the book. Congratulations on the book's launch, Kristi!

In November, Angela at OMazing Kids hosted a giveaway of the new picture book Colors for Zena by Monica Wellington. Although the giveaway's no longer open, you can still read all about this book plus two others by the same author/illustrator: Apple Farmer Annie and the coloring book Color and Cook Healthy Snacks. In her post, Angela shares all the reasons she likes these books. She also shares a collection of yoga poses to go along with Apple Farmer Annie!

Elly from Little Friends shares a yoga and creative movement class inspired by the Nutcracker. Intended for children ages 5 to 12, Elly's lesson plan goes chronologically through the ballet and presents yoga poses to go along with most of the main scenes, including the party scene, the battle with the Mouse King, and the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. With photos and musical recommendations to go with almost every pose, this post is a perfect one to enjoy over the holidays!

Guest Post for Little Yogis: Ready... Set... Stretch!

The picture book Stretch, published in 2009, is the third book in Doreen Cronin's series for little movers. (You can read more about the series here.) If you compare the covers of Wiggle and Stretch, you can see that the dog from the book has evolved over time. He seems just a little bit crisper and a little bit cuter than he did when the series began, don't you think? He's also gotten even more creative and is now doing yoga!  

Today's guest post is by speech-language pathologist and children's yoga specialist Angela Moorad, who is also the founder of OMazing Kids Yoga, LLC. Angela was nice enough to take time out of her busy schedule to share her ideas for using the book Stretch in yoga classes for kids, including those with special needs. Thanks so much, Angela!

I typically develop each of my OMazing Kids Yoga lesson plans around a children's picture book. Books provide a clear beginning and end, and they provide visual information for us to build on during class. Many of the children I work with have special needs, so providing this extra structure is helpful for them. 

One of the characteristics I love about Stretch is that it provides opportunities for multiple yoga poses and activities on each page, so it's easy to adapt to the needs of any child or group. The book also provides good opportunities for children to learn new vocabulary, rhyming words, adjectives, inferences, and skills for prediction.

Can you stretch to the ceiling? Can you stretch to the floor? 

You can stretch with a whisper, you can stretch with a roar!

Below is a partial list of poses and activities I use with the book. I don't do all of them with every group of kids, but I pick the ones that are the best match for the kids' needs, interests, and abilities on any particular day! All of the poses and activities are inspired by words and images from the book:

• Dog pose: We typically do upward facing dog rather than downward facing dog in my OMazing Kids Yoga groups because of contraindications to downward facing dog for certain medical conditions.
• Cat pose: There is a leopard in the book, so I have the kids do the cat pose, name different body parts, and then pat "spots" onto the different body parts.
• Fish pose: We don't use the traditional fish pose in OMazing Kids Yoga because of the risk that many of our kids, especially those with Down Syndrome, might hyperextend their necks. Depending on the kids in the group, we either do the sign for fish or lay on our bellies and do a swimming motion.
• Mountain pose: We actually do the mountain pose with one arm lifted high, to represent the Statue of Liberty, which is shown in the book.
• We also do many yoga poses for other animals and objects that appear in the book, including a giraffe, mouse, lion, crab, peacock, boat, and tree.
• Blowing feathers: Using white craft feathers that "fluff" at the bottom and have a stiffer top, we notice how just a little puff of air is needed to move the fluffy part of the feather, while a bigger breath is needed to move the stiffer part.
• Apple picking: This stretch can be done either sitting or standing. I have the kids stretch their arms over their heads to reach apples high in a tree. Depending on the kids in the group, I may also hold up a picture of an apple to give them something to actually reach for.
• Namaste yarn game: One child holds a ball of yarn, says something he or she likes about another child in the class, and then rolls the yarn to that child. The second child does the same thing with another child, and this continues until all the children have had a turn. At the end of the game, the pattern of yarn that the kids have formed shows them how we are all connected.

Want to hear the entire book Stretch? Watch Sesame Street's Elmo and Maria read and discuss it during the 2010 White House Easter Egg Roll here. And finally, here is a coloring sheet I made to use alongside the book in OMazing Kids Yoga. We often do simple coloring as part of relaxation at the end of class.

Angela Moorad holds a master's degree in speech-language pathology from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences and has more than 21 years of experience working with children with a wide range of developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders. She also teaches adapted yoga for children with special needs at the J. D. McCarty Center, volunteers to teach children's yoga at Oklahoma City Educare, and founded OMazing Kids Yoga, LLC to promote inclusive yoga for children of all abilities. OMazing Kids Yoga has a Facebook page, blog, and YouTube channel where Angela shares her ideas and experiences.