From the 2020 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts: Moving From Small to Large Through Play and Imagination

By Kathryn Will, Meghan Goodwin, and Sophie Hendrix

​​The Notable Children’s Books in Language Arts Committee (NCBLA), reads, reviews, and discusses over 400 books of various genres written for K-8 children each year. These works of poetry and prose are analyzed using the charge of the committee that asks in making the selection of the top thirty texts the seven committee members consider:
        1. Appealing format,
        2. Enduring quality,
        3. Exemplary quality for their genre, and
        4. Meeting one or more of the following:
                a. Use of language: play on words, word origins, history of language
                b. Uniqueness in use of language or style
                c. Invitation of child response or engagement
This post focuses on two of the texts from the 2020 Notables List that might be seen through the lens of a progression from small to large. Although The Magic of Letters (2019) and Small World (2019) are very different books, they can be used to invite readers to imagine, play, and wonder.

The Magic of Letters
Written by Tony Johnston
Illustrated by Wendell Minor
Penguin Random House, unpaged, ISBN 978-0823441594

Imagine an invitation to play with language through the revelation of letters as building blocks to words, and words to meaning. Through rich images of simple, but colorful line drawings, and collage, readers are encouraged to consider the magical nature of literacy as the pathway to building new ideas. The interplay of the text and illustrations immerse the reader in the playful progress as the rabbit leads the journey from letters, to words, to sentences. Interesting and rigorous vocabulary such as flibbertigibbet, clunk, limber, and enchantment invite readers to strive for complex use of language.

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Small World
Written by Ishta Mercurio
Illustrated by Jen Corace
Abrams Books for Young Readers, unpaged, ISBN 978-1419734076

From the beginning of her time on the Earth as a baby in her mother’s arms to her travels to the moon as an astronaut, we journey with Nanda in her ever-expanding world. As Nanda grows, her participatory experiences with her expanding world grow more scientifically complex. Beautiful vocabulary such as fractals, symphony, and spooled, complement the rich illustrations vividly layered with color and images. Lyrical language invites the reader to travel along the journey with comfort. Woven throughout the story as the perspectives change, a thread of circularity brings comfort within the expansive boundaries or growing up--first in her mother’s arms and finally in the sphere of the Earth as she looks at her home from afar. The illustrations of gouache, ink, and pencil provide the depth of realism with warm inviting scenes that allow the reader to imagine the existence of this journey.​

Ishta Mercurio offers craft ideas related to things Nanda does in Small World.

​​Teaching Tips

Both of these books invite readers to engage in exploration and discussion through multiple reads due to their rich vocabulary and use of language. Teachers can easily deepen and extend the texts through a variety of activities.

Using the illustrative style of The Magic of Letters, children could repurpose magazines and catalogues to cut out letters and words as sources for creating new words and sentences. As they pore over the texts, they could look for familiar and known letters and words, providing opportunities for practice in letter and word recognition before assembling them in a collage. Children could use crayon resist to create magic letters of their very own, or even play roll and write to create sentences from familiar and new words. These activities reflect the rich and playful nature of the text.

Small World is a text that envelopes the reader in the world of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math). The rich vocabulary begs teachers to consider connections to geometry, snow science, and roller coasters. With consideration of Nanda’s career as an astronaut, students might watch this video about women astronauts, or think about materials they might need for a trip to the moon. This book also holds opportunities for rich discussion with questions such as:

• In what ways is the world large? In what ways is it small?
• What do the pictures in this book tell you? (without reading the book first to focus on inferencing)
• How has your perception of the world changed as you have grown up?
• In what ways did Nanda’s world change as she grew up? How does she see the world differently towards the end of the book as compared to the beginning?
• Why do you think Nanda’s perception of the world changed throughout the book? Can you relate to this?

Children might write or draw with consideration of the ways in which their world has expanded outward from their welcome into the world, to their current context, and even the possibilities of where they might like to be in the future.

Kathryn Will is an Assistant Professor of Literacy at the University of Maine Farmington (@KWsLitCrew). She is passionate about sharing the power of children's literature with her students, including the two listed below who assisted in the creation of the teaching tips shared. She is a member of the 2019 Notables Committee, and will be chairing the committee in the upcoming year.
Meghan Goodwin, Preservice teacher, University of Maine Farmington (@Ms_G_Teaches)
Sophie Hendrix, Preservice teacher, University of Maine Farmington