Fantasy & Mystery: The Chronicles of Harris Burdick. Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales / With an Introduction by Lemony Snicket

Van Allsburg, C. (2011). The chronicles of Harris Burdick: 14 amazing authors tell the tales; with an introduction by Lemony Snicket. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

From the Introduction by Lemony Snicket:

“The story of Harris Burdick is a story everybody knows, though there is hardly anything to be known about him. More than twenty-five years ago, a man named Peter Wenders was visited by a stranger who introduced himself as Harris Burdick and who left behind fourteen fascinating drawings with equally if not more fascinating captions, promising to return the next day with more illustrations and the stories to match. Mr. Wenders never saw him again, and for years readers have pored breathlessly over Mr. Burdick's oeuvre… This book, then, is suspicious. The stories you find here may have been written, as so many Burdick stories have been written, as the guesswork of authors drawn to Mr. Burdick's striking images and captions. But I believe these are the actual stories written by Harris Burdick, given by Burdick to the various authors who are now pretending to have written them. I have no proof of this theory, but when I questioned the authors involved, their answers did nothing to change my mind.” Retreived 10/23/2017 from the Website for the book.

From Horn Book Magazine:

"Van Allsburg’s The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (rev. 9/84) has entertained and inspired readers for over a quarter of a century, and now this companion volume adds short stories by various authors inspired by each of the fourteen original illustrations. The top-tier contributors are Sherman Alexie, M. T. Anderson, Kate DiCamillo, Cory Doctorow, Jules Feiffer, Stephen and Tabitha King, Lois Lowry, Gregory Maguire, Walter Dean Myers, Linda Sue Park, Louis Sachar, Jon Scieszka, and Van Allsburg himself. The stories embrace a range of styles and subjects (for example, Sachar serves up a ghost story, while DiCamillo offers an epistolary narrative), but, like their enigmatic and mysterious inspirations, each touches on the strange, the odd, and the fantastic. There’s not a bad story in the bunch, but the large trim size may be off-putting to older readers, and the book will likely need adults to put it into the right hands. Of course, that shouldn’t be a problem as many teachers use the original book (especially in its portfolio edition) in creative writing exercises." (Hunt, 2011)

Recommended for ages 8-13 by Kirkus (Chronicles, 2011). 

I am recommending this book for grades 3-5. The story of Harris Burdick is fun and elicits critical thinking. It is a good book to use with the comprehension standards for Primary English Language Arts. See the  Kentucky Academic Standards document, page 71.

Keywords: Mysteries, Illustrations, Fantasy, Short Stories

Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen amazing authors tell the tales (The). (2011). Kirkus Reviews, 79(8), 48.

Hunt, J. (2011). The chronicles of Harris Burdick: 14 amazing authors tell the tales. Horn Book Magazine, 87(5), 14.

Traditional Literature: Aesop's Fables by Jerry Pinkney

Aesop., & Pinkney, J. (2000). Aesop's fables. New York: SeaStar.

Scholarly review from Publisher's Weekly:

"Beautifully designed, this lush, oversize volume showcases Pinkney's (The Ugly Duckling) artistry in grand style. There's a king's ransom worth of material here, as Pinkney serves up more than 60 of the ancient Greek slave-philosopher's fables. Aesop's wisdom spills across the pages as freely as Pinkney's glorious watercolors, alight with the many creatures who people the tales, from fiddling grasshoppers and diligent ants to wily foxes, clever crows, brave mice and grateful lions. Each of the vigorous retellings concludes with the kind of succinct moral that centuries of readers have come to expect (e.g., "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched"; "You are judged by the company you keep"). And whether the homilies concern a wolf in sheep's clothing or sour grapes, the timeless virtues resonate as freshly as the day they were minted. Pinkney brings his considerable talent to bear on everything from thumbnail animal portraits to sweeping full-page vistas of hearth and woodlands, and his detail, delicacy of line and subtle palette create an elegant foil for the simple parables. If there's room on the shelf for only one picture book version of Aesop, this could be it. All ages."

Retrieved 10/18/2017 from Barnes & Noble Website.

Excerpt of scholarly review from School Library Journal: 

"K-Gr 4-A visually appealing selection of 61 fables that mixes the well known ("The Fox and the Grapes," "The Tortoise and the Hare") with some that have been nearly forgotten ("The Mermaid and the Woodcutter"). In tone and format, this book is reminiscent of early 20th-century Aesop collections for children. Like Arthur Rackham and Milo Winter before him, Pinkney accompanies the stories with a blend of full-page paintings and smaller illustrations. As in those earlier collections, his text uses elevated language and an extremely formal sentence structure."

Retrieved 10/18/2017 from Barnes & Noble Website.

This book is recommended for all ages by Publishers Weekly and for K-4 by School library Journal. 

I recommend this book for grades 3-5. I believe the formal sentence structure and the inclusion of early 20th century vocabulary make this book a great fit for grades 3-5. Many will already be familiar with the stories which will help build confidence in reading these short tales. The morals for each tale lead easily to discussion and reflection. The beautiful illustrations are enchanting, and will lend interest even to reluctant readers.

Keywords: Morals, Fables, Animals, Folklore

This book fits well with 3rd Grade Kentucky Academic Standards for English Language Arts 

Standard #2:  "Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text."

Standard # 3: "Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events."

and 

Standard # 4: "Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language."

Retrieved from the Kentucky Department of Education Website 10/18/2017. 

Poetry: Dark Emperor & other Poems of the Night

Sidman, J. (2010). Dark emperor & other poems of the night. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Description from the Author's Website: 

"Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze,

come smell your way among the trees,

come touch rough bark and leathered leaves:

Welcome to the night.

Welcome to the night, where mice stir and furry moths flutter. Where snails spiral into shells as orb spiders circle in silk. Where the roots of oak trees recover and repair from their time in the light. Where the porcupette eats delicacies—raspberry leaves!—and coos and sings.

Come out to the cool, night wood, and buzz and hoot and howl—but beware of the great horned owl—for it’s wild and it’s windy way out in the woods!"
Retrieved 10/10/2017

Awards and Honors:

Newbery Honor Book

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book

Boston Globe/Horn Book Award Honor Book

Chicago Public Library Best book of the Year

NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book

Cybils Poetry Award Finalist

Eureka! Nonfiction Children's Book Award 
(from the author's Website)

Publisher's Weekly review:  

"'Welcome to the night!' cries the opening poem in this celebration of nocturnal life. Everything from snails to mushrooms has a role to play and something different to say (the title is taken from a concrete poem about a horned owl, narrated by its would-be prey: "Perched missile,/ almost invisible, you/ preen silent feathers,/ swivel your sleek satellite/ dish of a head"). Spiders offer advice, porcupettes pirouette, and the moon laments the dawn, all illuminated by debut talent Allen's detailed yet moody prints, which encapsulate the mysteries and magic of the midnight hours. Opposite each poem is a short note on the featured creature, explaining its appearance and habits. In Sidman's delicious poems, darkness is the norm, and there's nothing to fear but the rising sun. Ages 6–9."
Retrieved 10/10/2017

I recommend this book for grades 3-5. I have selected this book because it is deliciously evocative. I can smell the wet leaves in the snail's tale, and feel the hiccup of the mouse's little heart as the owl descends.  This book includes nonfiction descriptions of nighttime woodland flora and fauna as well as poetry. The beautiful illustrations and the poems and the fact filled prose all combine to provide a rich portrait of the woods at night. This book will speak to children's imagination and curiosity, as well as providing information about nocturnal creatures and woodland ecology.

Keywords:

Nocturnal, Woodland Creatures, Woods, Poetry

Kentucky Education Standards: 

3-LS1-1. Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.

3-LS4-2. Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing. 

5-PS3-1. Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun. 

5-LS1-1. Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.

5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.


Kentucky Department of Education. (2017). Kentucky DAcademic Standards. Retrieved October 10, 2017, from https://education.ky.gov/curriculum/standards/Pages/default.aspx 

Publisher's Weekly. (n.d.). Children's Book Review: Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman, illus. by Rick Allen, Houghton Mifflin, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-547-15228-8. Retrieved October 10, 2017, from https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-547-15228-8  

Sidman, J. (2010). Dark Emperor and other Poems of the Night. Retrieved October 10, 2017, from http://www.joycesidman.com/books/dark-emperor-and-other/

Tell me a (picture) story: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Selznick, B. (2007). The invention of Hugo Cabret. New York: Scholastic.

Description:

"ORPHAN, CLOCK KEEPER, AND THIEF, twelve-year-old Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric girl and the owner of a small toy booth in the train station, Hugo’s undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message all come together...in The Invention of Hugo Cabret."

"This 526-page book is told in both words and pictures. The Invention of Hugo Cabret is not exactly a novel, and it’s not quite a picture book, and it’s not really a graphic novel, or a flip book, or a movie, but a combination of all these things. Each picture (there are nearly three hundred pages of pictures!) takes up an entire double page spread, and the story moves forward because you turn the pages to see the next moment unfold in front of you." Retrieved from the website for the book on 10/2/2017.

Awards: 

Caldecott medal 2008

Recommended for ages 9-12 by Publisher's Weekly (See source below), and
Grades 3-6 by School Library Journal (Retrieved from Barnes & Noble Website 10/2/2017).

Review:

Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"Here is a true masterpiece - an artful blending of narrative, illustration and cinematic technique, for a story as tantalizing as it is touching. Twelve-year-old orphan Hugo lives in the walls of a Paris train station at the turn of the 20th century, where he tends to the clocks and filches what he needs to survive. Hugo’s recently deceased father, a clockmaker, worked in a museum where he discovered an automaton: a human-like figure seated at a desk, pen in hand, as if ready to deliver a message. After his father showed Hugo the robot, the boy became just as obsessed with getting the automaton to function as his father had been, and the man gave his son one of the notebooks he used to record the automaton’s inner workings. The plot grows as intricate as the robot’s gears and mechanisms: Hugo’s father dies in a fire at the museum; Hugo winds up living in the train station, which brings him together with a mysterious toymaker who runs a booth there, and the boy reclaims the automaton, to which the toymaker also has a connection. To Selznick’s credit, the coincidences all feel carefully orchestrated; epiphany after epiphany occurs before the book comes to its sumptuous, glorious end. Selznick hints at the toymaker’s hidden identity (inspired by an actual historical figure in the film industry, Georges Méliès) through impressive use of meticulous charcoal drawings that grow or shrink against black backdrops, in pages-long sequences. They display the same item in increasingly tight focus or pan across scenes the way a camera might. The plot ultimately has much to do with the history of the movies, and Selznick’s genius lies in his expert use of such a visual style to spotlight the role of this highly visual media. A standout achievement. Ages 9-12. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved." 

Retrieved from the website for the book 10/25/2017.

I am adding this book to my collection for grades 3-5  because it is so unique and enchanting. As the description says it is neither novel, picture book, nor graphic novel, but a hybrid of all three formats. Children may be inspired by this book to pursue future studies in drawing, filmmaking, or engineering. This book is at every level inspiring. The illustrations are breathtaking and riveting. The compulsion to turn the page and take in more is strongly felt in both the drawn and written sections of the book.

Keywords: Automaton, Clockworks, Orphans, Georges Méliès

This work can be used for the Kentucky Education Standards for 3rd grade media arts. 
MA:Re7.1.3
a. Identify and describe how messages are created by components in media artworks. 
b. Identify and describe how various forms, methods, and styles in media artworks manage audience experience.
Retrieved 11/27/17 from the Kentucky Education Standards p. 31. 

Kentucky Department of Education. (2017). Kentucky DAcademic Standards. Retrieved November 27, 2017, from https://education.ky.gov/curriculum/standards/Pages/default.aspx