Spotlight Friday - Making Wishes 10.14.16

Time to get ready for the weekend!

Kick up your feet and find a good place to read.

Sharing #booklove for your classroom or library.

Spotlighting a book or two because these books deserve the spotlight!

"Starlight, star bright... first star I see tonight.  I wish I may, I wish I might...."

"A dream is a wish your heart makes."

We all have dreams.  Some we openly wish for, some we hold close to our heart.  When is a dream a wish?  When are our wishes dreams?  Can a wish or a dream look different than what we imagine it to be?

Both of these books cover the idea of wishes.  How they look vary in each book.  Both books have wonderful conversation pieces.

Before Morning

written by Joyce Sidman

illustrated by Beth Krommes

published by HMH

This is a beautiful, beautiful book.  Going on my Mock Caldecott for sure!  I highly recommend reading this book without the illustrations first.  Sidman's poetry is beautiful and I would love to know what images come to mind before looking at the pictures.  Then go back and share the wonderful story line Kommes has crafted in the illustrations.  Talk about the wish - what was the wish?  Who made it?  How did it come true?  Why was it made?  Then share the author's note on wishes and invocations.  Have you ever made a wish that hasn't come true?  Does it make you feel hopeful to make the wish?  Have you ever made a wish that you knew would not come true?  Does it make you feel hopeful to make the wish?  Can all wishes come true?  So much to talk about and share in this book!

Goodreads Summary:

There are planes to fly and buses to catch, but a child uses the power of words, in the form of an invocation, to persuade fate to bring her family a snow day — a day slow and unhurried enough to spend at home together. In a spare text that reads as pure song and illustrations of astonishingly beautiful scratchboard art, Sidman and Krommes remind us that sometimes, if spoken from the heart, wishes really can come true. 

The Wish Tree 

written by Kyo Maclear

illustrated by Chris Turnham

published by Chronicle Books

This is a wonderful book to talk about wishes and kindness.  How sometimes being kind can be the best kind of wish.  How sometimes we put aside what we need, what we're looking for, and show kindness instead.  And how maybe then we'll find a new wish.

Goodreads Summary:

Charles wants to find a wish tree. His brother and sister don't believe there is such a thing, but his trusty companion Boggan is ready to join Charles on a journey to find out. And along the way, they discover that wishes can come true in the most unexpected ways.

I think with all that is going on in the world around us, books about wishes and dreams and kindness are needed.  The world we live in now is not what I hope for for my own child.  And while I see glimpses of hope and seeds of kindness, I would love to see this generation live in one where it has spread worldwide.  Maybe the world we grew up in didn't have the amazing literature we have available now.  Maybe books will help make the difference.  Please share these books with your students.  Have these conversations of hope.