Week 8 PBID Question

Several students have shared how helpful the second graders were in answering questions these past two weeks. I'm sure there will be some first and second graders who know this one right away, but I'm wondering if there are some older students who remember reading about this guy. We'll see!

Who are the two characters that live next door to this dog?

BONUS: What is the dog's name?

Week 7 PBID Answer

Week 7 PBID Question

The second graders proved to be a valuable resource for last week's question. A number of first graders caught me in the hall to say that the second graders helped them find the answer. Nice cooperation! Let's see how helpful those second graders can be again this week!

What is this man's name? 

BONUS QUESTION: What is he yelling?

Week 6 PBID Answer

Week 6 PBID Question

It has been cold here in Wisconsin this past week. It has also been raining a lot and last night it even snowed! In the middle of October! (Which is early even for us here in Wisconsin.) Everything is soaked. Which leads us to our question for week 6 of the Picture Book Identification Tournament.

This girl didn't just come in from the rain or snow, and she didn't fall in a lake or a puddle. Why does she look all drippy?

(If this is a tough one, you might want to check with some second graders.)

Week 5 PBID Answer

Week 5 PBID Question

From a question about a  man in a hat to a question about a boy wearing a crown. Where should we go next? Hat ... crown ... How about shoes?

Who wears these spectacular boots?

Week 4 PBID Answer

Week 4 PBID Question

Last week's question was about a hat, so I thought we'd take the next step: from hat to crown. That sure is an impressive crown worn by this young king, and he has a spectacular scepter to match! But our question isn't about his crown or scepter. It's about this king's commands. 

This young king declares that a specific activity should start.

What is that activity? 

Week 3 PBID Answer

Week 3 PBID Question

Fall is upon us and cooler temperatures are sure to follow. (Or, depending on where you live, those cooler temperatures have already arrived.) Nevertheless, whether for cooler temperatures or pure style, sometimes a person needs to wear a hat. Here's a fantastic one: 

By what name do readers know the person wearing this hat?

Week 2 PBID Answer

Week 2 PBID Question

Here we go with week 2 of the PBID challenge. You might recognize the image and know the book immediately, but can you answer the question? Don't forget, it's not cheating to find the book and read it again. That's why you have a week to share your answer!

What does this animal see?

Share your answer by leaving a comment below. All comments are published the following Monday.

Sign up for email notifications, and follow #PBIDchallenge on Twitter for updates. Thanks!

Week 1 PBID Answer

Week 1 PBID Question

Welcome to Week 1 of the Picture Book Identification Challenge! We're going to start with a well known picture book, one many of you will recognize pretty quickly. Good luck, and here we go!

This character needs to leave and asks readers to watch things for him until he returns. Then he tells readers, "Oh, and remember..."

What does this character tell readers to remember?

Share your answer by leaving a comment below. All comments are published the following Monday.

Sign up for email notifications, and follow #PBIDchallenge on Twitter for updates. Thanks!

An Introduction to the PBID Challenge

The 2018-2019 Picture Book Identification Challenge

Last year, classrooms, teachers, and students in our school district were invited to participate in the Ultimate Character Tournament, an optional, district-wide program for all elementary classrooms to determine our students’ favorite children’s book characters. (There was also a public vote.) The character tournament is taking a hiatus this year, but another program is taking its place. And just like last year, it’s open to the public!

So to all you teachers, students, librarians, parents, book-lovers, and random website visitors, welcome to …

The Picture Book Identification (PBID) Challenge!

Here’s how it works: Every Monday, starting September 10, an image from a picture book will be posted here on Help Readers Love Reading along with a question. Here’s an example.

This boy thinks he should move to a new country. What country?*

Can you identify the book? The character? Can you remember why he has that grumpy look? Maybe you know all of that but just can’t remember that he wants to move to … that other country. That’s okay. Go look. Go get that book and find the answer.

Once you have the answer - or your best guess - share it by leaving a comment. Click “comments” below the post or use the comment form at the bottom of the page. However, all comments are moderated and will not appear immediately.

The following Monday a video will be posted that reveals the answer, tells the title of the book, and includes a short talk about the book. At that time all the moderated comments will be approved, and everyone’s answers will appear in the order they were given. That way the answers stay hidden until the official answer is revealed.

That’s it! Check back every Monday for a new question, last week’s answer, and to see how well everyone is doing in the PBID Challenge.

To help keep track of new images and questions, sign up for email updates using the form on the right at the top of the page. Enter your address, check the “I’m not a robot” box in the new window that appears, and make sure to follow the directions in the verification email you will receive. (Teachers in my district, this is the only way I will contact you about the challenge, so if you want to participate, please sign up for email notifications.)

You can also follow @HelpReaders on Twitter and Instagram, and watch the #PBIDchallenge hashtag on social media. Just be sure to check back here every Monday morning during the 2018-2019 school year to see how you do in the PBID Challenge! 

*Answer: Australia. From the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst.

The Ultimate Character Tournament 2017-2018

The K-1 Public Vote Results.

If you follow me on Twitter, by now you will have seen tweets about #TheCharacterTournament. There have been brackets, voting updates, results, and even requests for your votes. Some people have asked questions about the "The Ultimate Character Tournament" as we're calling it for our students, and I realized I never explained what it's all about. Se let's give it a try...

The Idea: How It Started and Why
The character tournament started simply as a desire to increase engagement and excitement about reading with my elementary students. That sounds fancy and all, but basically, I just wanted something fun. At first I focused on my school, but the idea quickly expanded to include all kindergarten through fifth grade students in all eight elementary schools in our district. (And has since grown to include YOU! See below.)

The Ultimate Character Tournament, as the idea became, originally featured sixty-four characters from children's books in a seeded tournament bracket, but was eventually pared down to three divisions (K-1, 2-3, and 4-5) with sixteen characters each.

The Characters: How were they chosen?
Last May I asked elementary students and teachers in our district what characters from their reading really stood out to them from the school year. What characters were truly memorable or continued to come up in class conversations? I made some silly YouTube videos about characters, asked teachers to share them with their students, and then email me a brainstormed list from their class. I made a master character list from this straw poll including tallies of how many times each character was mentioned at each grade level.

The final list of characters came mostly from that list. Characters from popular series were given higher priority. After all, if my goal was to use characters to motivate readers, I wanted to make sure students had ample opportunity to spend time with those characters. Fly Guy, Elephant & Piggie, Jack & Annie, Greg Heffley, and Fone Bone are not only popular but are featured in multiple titles. Characters from books teachers used with students, especially read aloud titles, were also given higher priority.

The Process: Brackets and Voting
Characters were seeded based on how often they were mentioned in the straw poll, and special care was taken to ensure the best match-ups happened in later rounds. I also didn't want characters from the same book meeting too early. At the same time, some characters made perfect first round match-ups (I couldn't resist Poppleton vs. Mercy Watson in round one!).

Character lists were provided for teachers early in the year along with various promotional materials. Teachers were encouraged to introduce their students to the characters. In many cases this happened naturally. Most characters are from books that are popular year to year, and many are from books that teachers read aloud and use as mentor texts.

Voting started with K-1 after Christmas break and has progressed one round each week. Every Monday I record a video of the previous week's results and a preview of the current week's match-ups. Each week teachers take a class vote and then submit one classroom vote for each match-up. Voting is done via Google forms.

The Hope: Engaged readers
The goal of the character tournament was to create a buzz about books. By asking students and teachers which characters resonated with them, I hoped to capitalize on the reading that teachers and students were already doing.

Some teachers are using the tournament as the basis for persuasive writing. I've seen a class run out of Fly Guy books, and I negotiated a peace treaty that involved partner-reading an in-demand Ricky Ricotta book. I received a letter from a student, sent by his teacher through intercampus mail, complaining that his favorite character wasn't included. (He's a third grader, but Greg Heffley is in the 4-5 division.) Some first grade students were reading aloud to toy versions of the characters.

One might argue that students are reading the same as they were last year, but there's an added layer of engagement. There are discussions, books are being shared, and letters are being written. Students are becoming more aware of what they like to read, why, and are able to explain (and argue for) their preferences.

And Finally: I Need Your Votes!
As part of my professional development this year, I am running a public character tournament on Twitter that coincides with the one in our district. By asking for votes via Twitter, the majority of the public respondents will be teachers, librarians, and people who love children's books. Admittedly, this is an unscientific study, but the results should be interesting nonetheless. Who will our students choose? Who will adults choose? What are the differences? And how do our preferences affect the reading done in our classrooms?

Voting has already finished for the K-1 division, but the 2-3 division is just starting and 4-5 will start in April. Follow me on Twitter and watch #TheCharacterTournament for updates and weekly match-ups.

And don't forget to vote! Ballots are available on Twitter. Thanks, everyone!

Codename Zero by Chris Rylander

Most seventh graders believe they live in the most boring town in the world. Ask one. Or maybe they have already offered that information freely. Chances are their middle school qualifies as the nucleus of their ennui. The flat-lined heartbeat of boredom.

So people like Carson Fender do things like release fainting goats on the school’s front lawn or seal every door in the school with glue. You know, ennui-free sort of activities. Sometimes, however, the break to boredom comes from an outside influence.

That’s what happens to Carson. Just as hundreds of fainting goats are dropping on the front lawn, a panicked man in a black business suit hands Carson a nondescript package. “Take this,” he insists. “Guard it with your life; the fate of the world depends on it. And whatever you do, don’t open it!” He tells Carson to deliver it to Mr. Jensen and Mr. Jensen only. Then he rushes off, chased by two gun-toting guys in painted white faces. They stuff him in a black sedan and take off.

After this incredible chain of events, Carson is brought back to reality and sent to the principal’s office on goat-related offenses.

So now Carson must not only navigate his school punishment, but must also decide what to do with the package. But really, is there any question for a middle-schooler? He opens it and activates the LCD screen inside. It immediately starts a 48 hour countdown to self-destruction since Carson is “an unauthorized non-Agency user” according the device’s voice. Forty-eight pressure-packed hours to locate Mr. Jensen and deliver the package.

Carson suddenly finds himself in a world of secret agents, two of whom are teachers, in a secretive, non-government organization known only as the Agency that works against spies and terrorists. Carson accepts a role with the Agency and is given codename Zero. Agent Zero’s role involves classmates, terrorists, other Agents, and the ultimate challenge of keeping everything quiet, all while remaining an unassuming seventh grader.

After a long set-up, the action really gets rolling in Chris Rylander’s follow up to The Fourth Stall Parts I, II, and III. Chock full of everything you’d expect in a novel full of secret agencies, readers will be quickly hooked and ready for the foreshadowed sequel. (Countdown Zero: The Codename Conspiracy releases on February 3, 2015.)

You Are (Not) Small by Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant

So there’s this fuzzy purple guy and he’s just standing there. And then this taller fuzzy orange guy comes and he’s all like pointing at the purple guy and he says, “You are small.” He even has this pointy-down mean eyebrow look on his face.

Well then the fuzzy purple guy, he denies it. He says, “I am not small.” Then he totally turns it around on that orange guy and says, “You are big.” 

Take that, fuzzy orange guy!

Well then of course the fuzzy orange guy, well, HE denies it with an “I am not big.” Then he gets this smug look on his face like he knows something the purple guy doesn’t know, and he says, “See?” and points behind him. And there’s like four more fuzzy orange guys and they’re just as tall as him!

Hoo boy, that purple guy gets all grumpy but now he’s got like fourteen fuzzy purple guys with him all of a sudden and they’re the same size as he is!

And now I’m totally expecting Dallas Winston to come running in and yell “Don’t you know a rumble ain’t a rumble without me?!?!” and the book to go all The Outsiders on me ‘cause these fuzzy dudes is getting ANGRY! They’re yelling about being big and small and then . . .

Another fuzzy guy shows up. A blue guy, and he’s HUGE. And then there’s more fuzzy guys. Pink guys, and they’re little pipsqueaks. So now the little guys are actually big compared to the pipsqueaks and big guys are mini-fuzzy dudes next to the new blue guy who is so huge you can only see his legs.

Perspective. It sure can change an argument.

Okay, I’m not sure where that review came from, but that is how the book goes. There’s an argument about size, and both sides of the argument are correct until another perspective is presented. Sometimes we are small. Sometimes we are big. It just depends on who you’re standing next to. Isn’t that what makes the world interesting? Variety?

Kids will love the way the argument escalates without ever really becoming threatening to young readers. (These are just fuzzy blue and orange guys, remember.) The text is perfect for partner reading just like the great Elephant and Piggie books or Duck! Rabbit!, and the ending will lead to plenty of discussion.

And possibly (hopefully!) a sequel.

Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla by Katherine Applegate

If you haven’t yet read 2013 Newbery Medal winning The One and Only Ivan, you are missing what many consider a modern classic of children’s literature. It’s a powerful story of friendship and protection and identity and freedom and so much more.

Author Katherine Applegate has now added to Ivan’s story, or rather, given readers the true story behind the fictionalized version in Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla. The book starts with the gorilla’s birth “in leafy calm, in gentle arms.” It tells how the gorilla didn’t learn about humans until it was too late, when poachers stole them from their jungle home. The book describes how Ivan, named in a contest, was raised as a human - sleeping in a bed, going to baseball games, and riding a motorcycle. Eventually Ivan grew beyond his owners’ ability to care for him.

Ivan was moved to a cage in a shopping mall where he became an oddity, an attraction, a way to draw customers. After nineteen pages of Ivan’s life before the mall, only six pages are devoted to Ivan’s life at the mall, but readers will clearly understand the bleak existence. He had a tire and a TV. He sometimes finger-painted. Most of his time was spent watching people watch him. The book concludes with eleven pages on his life after the mall.

This lyrical, nonfiction retelling of Ivan’s story is at times touching and heartbreaking and fulfilling. But I can’t get beyond the page breakdown. Twenty-seven years of Ivan’s life can be covered in only six pages? His life before the B & I Shopping Center - two lives, really - gets nineteen pages. Part of it covers a life of hoots, grunts, and chest-beats, a life with wrestling and chasing and swinging. The other part covers his life of diapers and clothes and a human family. Then twenty-seven years fly by in six pages? How miserable those twenty-seven years must have been!

If this book is read as a companion to The One and Only Ivan, this makes sense. Readers will be fully aware of Ivan’s bleak existence at the B & I Shopping Center (or the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade). Devoting the majority of the book to Ivan’s life before and after the mall gives readers a better understanding of his life as a whole.

While I loved this book, it was not the book I expected. I was looking for straight-up nonfiction like dates, timelines, photographs, and comparisons between factual Ivan and fictional Ivan. There are numerous online resources like Ivan's Wikipedia page, the description of Ivan’s life at Zoo Atlanta, background information from Katherine Applegate’s site, a variety of images of Ivan, and even the videos below, and I thought the book would bring all that information together.

Is it possible to be disappointed that a book was not what you expected yet not be disappointed in the book itself?

I’ll settle for online research. That’s fine. I’m glad we have this book. Charts and graphs and diagrams and timelines could never communicate the full range of emotions readers experience from this heart-felt look at Ivan’s life.

Kid Sheriff and the Terrible Toads by Bob Shea and Lane Smith

The book clarifies this on page two, so I’ll jump right in so everybody understands. Yes, Drywater Gulch had a problem with toads, but not the croaking, hopping kind. No. Drywater Gulch had a different sort of Toad problem. The Toad brothers.

“Why, those Toad brothers would steal your gold, kiss your cattle, and insult your chili. Hootin’, hollarin’, and cussin all the while.”

Now that’s a problem. The mayor was at a loss. Until … until …

Hope rode into town. Slowly. A boy, wearing white, riding a tortoise, and declaring himself the new sheriff. After all, he knows a lot about dinosaurs.

Okay, okay, I hear you. You were interested in the whole wild west thing, bad guys kissin’ cattle and all, and then you read about the tortoise and the dinosaurs and you were like, “Seems a bit sketchy to me. I don’t get it.”

Trust me. Kid Sheriff might not handle a shooting iron, ride a horse, know any rope tricks, or stay up past eight, but he makes a spectacular sheriff. When the bank gets robbed, the mayor suspects the Toad Brothers, and rightfully so. But Kid Sheriff declares it to be the work of T. rex. The stagecoach must be the Toad Brothers, right? Nope. Velociraptors.

Then the Toad Brothers themselves show up in town bragging - or trying to brag - about their antics, but Kid Sheriff has the real explanations. Cattle kissin’? Triceratops. Shoplifting at the mercantile? Allosaurus. And the chili insultin’ varmint was none other than Stegosaurus.

Now the Toad brothers are at a loss. How’s a nasty, gun-slingin’ gang supposed to get credit for their nefarious ways if gold stealin’, cattle kissin’, and chili insultin’ ain’t enough, dadgummit?!?

While you might not see a connection between a tortoise, dinosaurs, and the criminal old west, if you are already familiar with Bob Shea and Lane Smith’s work, you know a collaboration between these two author/illustrators will be something special. Kid Sheriff and the Terrible Toads delivers a goofy story, dastardly villains, a clever hero, and a hilarious and satisfying conclusion in all its absurd glory.

Cowboys. Dinosaurs. Heroes. Villains. What’s not to like?

Not a dad-burned thing. Consarnit.

Leroy Ninker Saddles Up by Kate DiCamillo

Sometimes technology is pretty cool. I was listening to a third grader read Mercy Watson Fights Crime and mentioned that Leroy Ninker, the book’s not-so-hardened criminal, was featured in a new book. “Really?” she asked, putting me on the spot. Hoping my memory was treating me kindly, I pulled out my phone and looked it up. Sure enough, there was Leroy Ninker Saddles Up. We put it in my shopping cart and placed the order.

“We should have it in about a week. I’ll bring it to you first.”

Her eyes lit up, she smiled, and I added another item to the list of why I love teaching.

Then she kept my book! I checked in with her each day to see how the reading was going (fine), was the story good (hilarious), did she finish (yep!), and can I get the book back now (umm…). She wasn’t going to give it back and kept it at home to make sure I couldn’t swipe it!

Do you need any more recommendation than that?

Okay, I think she was just messing with me, but had I said, “Ah, don’t worry about it. You can keep it,” she would NOT have said, “Oh, are you sure Mr. W? It really is your book.” It would have been more like, “Letmethinkaboutitokay.”

Leroy Ninker Saddles Up is Volume One of the new Tales from Deckawoo Drive series. The reading level is stepped up a bit from the original Mercy Watson books making it a great next step for Mercy Watson fans. But far be it from me to recommend a book strictly based on its reading level. Leroy Ninker, now gainfully employed in the concession stand at the local drive-in theater, loves the movies, especially Wednesday nights when the Bijou runs a Western double-feature. He dreams of being a real and true cowboy, but a coworker, Beatrice Leapaleoni, reminds Leroy that being a cowboy is more than a hat, boots, lasso, and tracking ability. What Leroy lacks is a horse.

Until Leroy finds Maybelline. “You are my horse,” says Leroy. “For me, you shine brighter than every star and every planet. You shine brighter than all the universe’s moons and suns. There are not enough yippie-i-ohs to describe you, Maybelline. I love you.” Leroy has a lot to learn about owning a horse, let alone being a cowboy, but his reformed heart is in the right place. Leroy’s affection only grows stronger after a storm separates him from Maybelline, but all is made right after a determined search and a visit to Deckawoo Drive (where toast with a great deal of butter on it and some familiar characters make an appearance).

If subsequent volumes in Kate DiCamillo’s new Tales from Deckawoo Drive series deliver like Leroy Ninker and Maybelline, even more readers will be saying, “Yippee-i-oh!”

File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents by Lemony Snicket

As a fan of Encyclopedia Brown growing up - and to be honest, I never solved the crime before reading the solution in the back of the book - I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that Lemony Snicket’s new addition to the All the Wrong Questions series was cut from the same mold. To be sure, Mr. Snicket has made the product his own using the characters, settings, and dry humor found in the other books in the AtWQ series, but the book format remains unchanged. Start with a short story. Include a crime to be solved or question to be answered. Reveal clues throughout the story. Give the solution in the back of the book. Repeat.

File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents includes the same cast of characters from All the Wrong Questions. In the two previous books, young Lemony Snicket has earned a reputation in Stain’d-by-the-Sea as someone who can solve problems, and with the town’s population dwindling, there is a distinct lack of such people in town. Stain’d-by-the-Sea’s residents start requesting Snicket’s help with their problems.

There’s stolen gold, a missing newt, and a car out for a joyride. There’s a person who eats too many muffins, broken windows, drifters, and numerous other mysteries to be solved by careful readers … or if you need to turn to the back of the book, there are solutions to be revealed to the not-so-careful readers.

As always with a Lemony Snicket book, there’s more here than one first realizes. Will you catch the clues to the larger All the Wrong Questions storyline? Will you remember the nuggets of information revealed about some of the main characters? Will you find the information hidden in plain view in the solutions? And who will get the last word? (The last word being “_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .” as shown on the last page.)

With thirteen short mysteries, 13 Suspicious Incidents will appeal to readers who like everything to get wrapped up quickly. Thankfully, at least for this reader, solving the crimes before reading the solutions is optional.