1/16/2022 Picture Book Round-Up: Trains, Turtles, Meatballs & Mayans

Sasha Wallace
Jan 16, 2022
5 min read

I bet you read the headline & went, “Oh no, not The Little Engine That Could!” Or perhaps you braced yourself for the sinister smile of Thomas the Tank Engine. Well, you’d be wrong. That's the stuff of nightmares & this blog steers clear of nightmares (unless Little Nemo & his adventures in Slumberland is involved). This week isn’t about the little engine, or Thomas, or even The Polar Express. Today, we’re going to learn about a diminutive Caldecott Honor book that came out the same year as Garfield, Reese’s Pieces, & Van Halen’s debut album.

[Warning – I may have gone over the requisite 2 books per Sunday, but I did significantly less than last week’s 7! Yay improvement!]

Picture Book 1 (something old)

Title: Freight Train

Author & Illustrator: Donald Crews

Recommended for: Grades PreK-1

Basic plot: It’s a train. It goes. Want it to slow down? Want to climb aboard? This train cares about as much as the honey badger about stopping.

Why I love it: Even for 1978, this is about as blocky & minimalist as a Swedish cabin. The train might as well be a rainbow of IKEA furniture, chugging along through various backdrops, in day & night, with smoke that billows out like a sooty ballgown. The wording is sparse, as plot isn’t integral here. Rather, the pictures themselves are so stark, they’re mesmerizing. It is simple to the max.

Where can you find it? Amazon, eBay, AbeBooks, Thriftbooks (cheapest $1.08 & up, used).

Extension activity: There are some amazing resources on TeachersPayTeachers that help your kiddo learn colors & sequencing using this text. Here's a good place to start browsing:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Search:freight%20train,%20by%20donald%20crews

Me personally, I’d break out the sponges & paint my own train art. How can anyone resist such an opportunity?

Don't believe me about the Painting-With-A-Twist simplicity? Check out the illustrations for yourself:

Picture Book 2 (something unfamiliar)

Title: Rain Player

Author & Illustrator: David Wisniewski

Recommended for: Grades 5-6

Basic plot: A brave Mayan boy named Pik challenges a rain god to a game of pok-a-tok. The stakes are high, with a win guaranteed to end the drought plaguing Pik’s village & a loss promising his transformation into a frog. There’s just one catch – Chac, the rain god, is ridiculously athletic.

Why I love it: The art is so unique! It is two-dimensional & the characters are all in profile, but while some pages appear to be flat collages of leaves & forest vistas, others jump off the page, wedged between shadows & quetzals. Also, learning about cenotes & Mayan sports & the gourd that holds all the water in the universe was really enthralling! (I'm convinced that gourd has a vacation home in Florida).

Where can you find it? Amazon, eBay, AbeBooks, Thriftbooks (cheapest $1.60 & up, used).

Extension activity: I mean, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Play some pok-a-tok with your kiddo! Just don’t decapitate them if they lose (the Mayans were known to sacrifice entire teams for not winning). Here's a handy link:

https://www.trinitystpeters.org/serve_file/566482

Alternatively, ask your kiddo to research the origins of their favorite sport. You’d be amazed how many were created by happenstance.

Picture Book 3 (something by my childhood penpal)

Title: Mossy

Author & Illustrator: Jan Brett

Recommended for: Grades 3-4, anyone who has a pet turtle, or my Dad, undisputed world champion of roadside turtle rescues

Basic plot: Mossy is an Eastern Box Turtle who has clearly never heard of the phrase “Less is more”. Her shell is glammed out with every plant known to man. She’s so stunning that she’s selected for a museum exhibit. But Mossy becomes homesick for Lilypad Pond. Will she ever be able to return to nature?

Why I love it: Jan Brett was the first author/illustrator I ever wrote a letter to. I was in 1st grade & adored her books. Wonder of wonders, she was kind enough not just to write back to me, but also to add me to her mailing list & send me personalized illustrations. When I became a teacher, she sent me an educator package full of goodies & mini-lessons. Not only does she travel to & thoroughly research every country she writes about, but she’s also as classy as they come. I will forever be her biggest fan & I own every book she’s written.

Beyond that, her illustration talents are simply unparalleled. Brett is known for foreshadowing events in the margins of her pages. Her nature scenes – whether it is a turtle traipsing along the toadstools, or the gemstones, conifers, & seashells that form a border around the pictures – are unequivocally alluring. On my first read of Mossy, I literally sat there & thought out loud, "I'm likin' this lichen." The story has a sort of A House For Hermit Crab feel, except there’s a very subtle turtle romance that you’ll almost miss if you blink & it is just so wholesome.

Where can you find it? Amazon, eBay, AbeBooks, Thriftbooks, OverDrive (cheapest $3.32 & up, used).

Extension activity: If you’re hankering for arts & crafts, print out or draw a basic turtle sketch, then have your kiddo accessorize the shell in collage-like fashion, adding any items they want until it’s a sort of Leaning Tower of Pisa situation. You could even do this with Jenga pieces - paint them like mushrooms & moss & acorns & ferns, place them in a tower upon the turtleshell drawing & commence pulling them out!

You can also have your child practice writing an essay. 4th grade is when many students here in Florida take their first standardized writing exam. So, an argumentative essay examining the pros & cons of putting animals into captivity may be good, low-stakes prep.

This is also an easy story to review plot diagrams with, especially if it is your first time using such a tool. I recommend a basic structure, as seen below:

Move over, Franklin! There's a new turtle in town & even though her name isn't Italian, she's still quite ninja.

Picture Book 4 (something universal)

Title: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Author: Judi Barrett

Illustrator: Ron Barrett

Recommended for: Grades 3-5

Basic plot: If you think Florida hurricanes are bad, just wait until you hear about the town of Chewandswallow. They EAT their weather! Whether it is a forecast of soup rain or snowy mashed potatoes, hamburger storms or Jell-O sunsets, the citizens are content with each delicious offering. That is, until things become dangerous.

Why I love it: It is just so dang imaginative. I mean, boats made of stale toast? School closed due to obstruction by a giant pancake? A tomato tornado? It just doesn’t get more delightful – or delicious – as this longtime favorite. I don’t know a single kid in my 10+ years of teaching that hasn’t cherished this venerated masterpiece.

Where can you find it? Everywhere. Barnes & Noble, new; or Amazon, eBay, AbeBooks, Thriftbooks, OverDrive (cheapest $0.35 & up, used).

Extension activity: Have your kiddo add additional weather meals! Maybe they come up with a bacon blizzard, or a sriracha tsunami, etc. If they are stumped, encourage them to incorporate their favorite food or candy into a 5-Day Weather Forecast! (Am I the only one who remembers when Shaquille O’Neal starred as a genie in Kazaam & made candy rain from the sky?)

Practice the plot diagram again, to perfect it & become more comfortable with the concepts.

Some parents opt for sensory play (see pic below), some for shoebox dioramas of pivotal scenes from the story. You can even make gingerbread houses that resemble the new settlements!