Esther Pearl Watson

I was so pleased to learn about this powerful book during an in class reading. The illustrations are unique, but help explore the warm and boundless love that can be between siblings, no matter their differences. We learn that the narrator has an autistic sibling and works hard to understand their needs and experiences.

It was a wonderful book with empathy in action, teaching and simplifying something that can often be made more complicated. We learn from people we love and reading can show more introduce new people and characters to that list. Her sister's disability just is and does not define their relationship. show less

This is a guide to the whys and hows of making a zine (a small, homemade magazine). The layout is formatted to resemble the cut-and-paste, roughly assembled aesthetic of actual zines, which is an amusing conceit but in some cases makes the text difficult to read. Watson and Todd do a great job of communicating the storied culture of zine-making.

This would be a great recommendation for a middle schooler or teen bursting at the seams with creative energy. Many teens, however, may simply view show more zines as old-fashioned blogs. show less

Our school librarian had put this on display on top of the shelves in the library in honor of National Poetry Month. I was immediately attracted to it and could tell that this would have some relevant poems to share with my 8th grade students.

UPDATE
After having read them, I feel so LUCKY to have found them! There are some EXCELLENT poems in here! I particularly recommend "The Ice Cream Vendors" (about the cycle of poverty), "Maggot Memories" (about someone who is not successful in our show more society and feels it won't get much better), "Waste of Time" (about a relationship going nowhere as one partner is cold & distant), "Zombies" (about so-called "friends" seemingly out for your "blood"), "The Hand" (self-centeredness, pride), and by far the best poem (my new favorite poem of all time), "Following Directions"; a 14-year-old captured the essence of what is wrong with public schools and their adoption of standardization and how its cost has been creative thought and originality.


It's appeal to students? SCORE! In one of my classes, a few students were finished early with their poetry analysis work, so I told them that they can choose a poetry book from which to read for the remainder of the class period. I handed this book to one of my male students who definitely thought poetry was uncool, and he sighed when I placed it in his hands. Get this.....after class, he stayed behind until the other students were out the door, and he nonchalantly asked if he could borrow it until tomorrow or Monday..."These poems really do have some good points, actually," he said.

One point for poetry! One point for reading! YES! That's all I can say. These are the moments I live for. show less

A child writes about her sister with autism. She tells all the things they do together and how much she loves her. I loved how the illustrations looked like drawings of a child. A child can easily identify and connect with this if they have an autistic child in their family. I would recommend this to any of my students who have an autistic family member.