Spotlight Friday - Same/Different 12.09.16

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!

NCTE is a conference I will try to go to every year.  It inspires, teaches, and makes me reflect.  This year the theme was "Faces of Advocacy".  Falling only a short time after the election, I think advocacy was on many people's minds.

I wanted to share with you a few books that came up in more than one presentation.  I think these books have a place in classroom conversations everywhere.  A couple of them talk about while we have differences, we also always have similarities.  If we can find what is the same, instead of focusing on differences, how will that open conversations?  But at the same time, do we want everyone to be the same?  Can differences be ok?  

Take a look at these books and see if you can find them.  Have these conversations with students.  I know we'll be helping this next generation with discussions like these.

Same, Same but Different

by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

published by Christy Ottaviano Books

Goodreads summary:

Elliot lives in America, and Kailash lives in India. They are pen pals. By exchanging letters and pictures, they learn that they both love to climb trees, have pets, and go to school. Their worlds might look different, but they are actually similar. Same, same. But different!
Through an inviting point-of-view and colorful, vivid illustrations, this story shows how two boys living oceans apart can be the best of friends.

Mirror

by Jeannie Baker

published by Candlewick Press

Goodreads summary:

Somewhere in Sydney, Australia, a boy and his family wake up, eat breakfast, and head out for a busy day of shopping. Meanwhile, in a small village in Morocco, a boy and his family go through their own morning routines and set out to a bustling market. In this ingenious, wordless picture book, readers are invited to compare, page by page, the activities and surroundings of children in two different cultures. Their lives may at first seem quite unalike, but a closer look reveals that there are many things, some unexpected, that connect them as well. Designed to be read side by side — one from the left and the other from the right —these intriguing stories are told entirely through richly detailed collage illustrations.

Janine.

by Maryann Cocca-Leffler

published by Albert Whitman and Company

Goodreads summary:

Meet Janine. She is one of a kind! Janine dresses a little different, remembers random facts, reads the dictionary for fun, and has her own style of cheering. Nobody does things the way Janine does things! One girl in Janine's class is throwing a party and all the COOL kids are invited. But Janine is not cool. Some kids think she is strange and want her to change. Will Janine try to be different or just be her spectacular self? In this charming story, Maryann Cocca-Leffler uses her own daughter as inspiration for a delightfully spunky character. Janine Leffler focuses on the positive while navigating life with disabilities. She has become a role model to children and adults, encouraging them to focus on abilities and promoting respect, tolerance, and kindness. Please visit:
www.JaninesParty.com