Junior Kroll

Title: Junior Kroll

Author: Betty Paraskevas

Illustrator: Michael Paraskevas

Copyright Date: 1993

Genre: poetry

Theme: humor, family

Grades: 2-4

Summary

In this collection of poems, readers will meet a boy named Junior Kroll who proves to be as rambunctious, unique, and surprisingly sweet little kid as you'll ever meet. You will follow him as he interacts with his equally bizarre family, including his crazy great dane Max, his poker playing grandfather, and his teddy bear taking cousin.

What crazy adventures will Junior Kroll get into? Read this book to find out. 

Pre-reading Activity

The poems in this collection are all about the characters. It would be good to do a mini-lesson on characterization, both direct and indirect. Go over how the poet can just say how the character is and how describing their actions and words helps give the reader a full sense of who the character is and what they are like. 

During Reading Activity

During the reading have students keep track of Junior Kroll's characterization, using the information they learned in the pre-reading activity. Have them keep track of Junior's qualities, adding to the lists with each poem, and how the information was presented (directly or indirectly). Maybe share the new items on the list after each poem, especially if you are going to split the poems up over the course of several classes. 

Post-reading Activity

After reading through the collection of poems and gaining a better understanding who Junior is as a person, this would be a good opportunity for students to synthesize what they've learned from the various poems into a character analysis piece. They can either write a paragraph or a visual (such as a cut out of Junior with qualities written inside), where they explain who Junior is and back it up with examples. 

Author and Illustrator

Before becoming a children's book writer, Betty Paraskevas was a lyricist and playwright for broadway shows, working on plays such as No No Nannette. She was convinced to write her first book, On the Edge of the Sea, by her illustrator son Michael. After that one, she would go on to write almost twenty children's books, including four collections of Junior Kroll books and creating the Maggie and the Ferocious Beast books. She passed away in 2010. (Sources: book jacket and here)

Michael Paraskevas was already an illustrator prior to illustrating this book. Along with being the illustrator of every one of his mother's books, Michael has illustrated for other authors, such as On My Way to the Bath by Sarah Maizes. He is also an author in his own right, writing and illustrating the books, Taffy Saltwater's Yummy Summer Day and L.A. Times. He is the co-creator of Maggie and the Ferocious Beast. (Sources: book jacket and here)

Reflections

Along with Shel Silverstein, Junior Kroll dominated poetry during my childhood. Looking back on it as an adult and educator I can better appreciate the humor and sentimentality found in each poem. You can't help but fall in love with this precocious young boy, even if he puts frosting spiders on birthday cakes. I can't recommend this book enough.  

If you are interested in purchasing this book, click here and if you want more Junior Kroll, look into getting his other three collections: Junior Kroll and Company, Junior Kroll, Esquire, and A Very Kroll Christmas

Desk Stories

Title: Desk Stories

Author and Illustrator: Kevin O’Malley

Copyright Date: 2011

Genre: fiction (graphic novel)

Theme: desks, school, humor

Grades: 2-4

Awards: 2012 IRA-CBC Children's Choices

Summary

This book is made up of six separate stories, all about a different take on the school desk:

1). “History Man”---a humorous history of desks through the caveman times, the Middle Ages and today. What type of desks did they use in the past?

2). “Trapped!”---John, a very bored student finds himself being chased and then trapped by his desk. Will he be alright?

3). “It Came From Within”---Sara, a “perfect student” is good at everything in school and isn't afraid to rub it in. One day she feels something warm and furry in her desk and learns a very important lesson in humility. What was the thing living in her desk?

4). “Desk Time Jokes”---A collection of classic school themed jokes.

5). “Desktec”---Readers get unprecedented access to the secret plans of Desktec about new desk technology. What will the desk of the future be like?

6). “Sue Smallton: The Incredible Shrinking Supergirl”---Sue, our super-heroine must shrink down and explore her desk to return a barrette.  What dangers will she encounter?

Pre-reading Activity

It could be fun to have students have a guided thinking session. Have them think about their desks in ways they may not have thought before. Think about all of the things they do at it; work, read, play, draw, eat, etc. How important is it to you? What if your desk could talk. What do you think would it say? What would it do if it could move? Have them share a few answers for each question. Then explain that the book you are going to read looks at desks in an imaginative way and that it can be fun to think about things in different ways.

Post-reading Activity

After the book, students can have a chance to write their own creative stories, taking an ordinary object and looking at it in a different way. They can pick an object (book, a food, classroom pet, etc.) and then use prompts inspired by the stories:

What would happen if the subject were alive/could talk?

What would that object be like in the future?

What if you could shrink down and go inside/hang out with your object? What would happen?

This would students to be able to write a story that can be funny and of interest to them and they will probably would like to share it. (I later found that the publisher's website has a review of this book that also suggests using it as a model for creative writing. It's entirely a coincidence but I'll link their page here.)

Author and Illustrator

Along with Desk Stories, Kevin O'Malley has written and illustrated the similar style book, Backpack Stories, and worked a plethora of other books such as Slugs in Love, Humpty Dumpty Egg-splodes, and the Miss Malarky book series. He currently lives in Maryland. (Source: book jacket, here, and here.) 

Reflections

This is a fun book with a variety of story styles to attract readers. These stories are short enough that a few could be shared during a story time, while also able to fill a lesson's worth of discussion in themselves. This can allow teachers to fill a whole week of read-alouds without changing books. This would definitely grab the attention of reluctant readers.

If you are interested in purchasing this book, click here.

Rick and Rack and the Great Outdoors

Title: Rick and Rack and the Great Outdoors

Author and Illustrator: Ethan Long

Copyright Date: 2010

Genre: fiction (graphic novel)

Theme: animals, outdoors, friendship, humor

Grades: 1+

Summary

In three adventures, Rack the deer tries repeatedly to get his friend Rick the raccoon to enjoy outdoor activities with him, resulting in humorous consequences.

1) “The Big Fish”---Rack tries to teach Rick the joys of fishing, but Rick only finds it boring, repetitive and stinky. How will Rack fix the smell problem?

2) “Mystery Tracks”---Rack and Rick go on a hike on when they stop for a break, Rick discovers some mysterious animal tracks. Who could they belong to? A tiger? A rhino? A dragon?

3) “Canoe Leak”---Rack teaches Rick how to canoe and the importance of life jackets.

Pre-reading Activity

Before reading the story, it would be a good idea to have the students think and share with a partner any experiences they may have had in fishing, tracking or canoeing/boating. What types of things did they use? What rules did they have to follow? How did they do the activity? Then make three webs, one for each activity, with connected information. Doing this will access the students’ prior knowledge and assist those who have no experience with these activities, gain some information about them to use as context for the stories.

During the Reading Activity

Because of the three short stories in this book, you have multiple opportunities to practice skills like making predictions. Using their background knowledge and the thought webs, students can make predictions about what they think Rick and Rack will do at multiple points during each little story. As they go along, their predictions will either be correct or incorrect, and more will be created. Because the three stories are independent, you can either break them apart into three separate days of prediction practice or one big day with multiple examples. 

Post-reading Activity

Using the three stories as examples, and the easily followed format as a pattern, students may find it fun to create their own Rick and Rack story about a different outdoor activity. This book would serve as a good example to use in teaching students how to create a graphic novel, and would allow them to practice their writing skills (in writing the story and planning the graphic novel) and allow for creativity and practice with art skills.

Author and Illustrator

Ethan Long is not only a talented illustrator and author of children's books(such as Chamelia and Soup for One), he also has worked for television. Not only having created work for Scholastic and Harcourt, Long has Nickelodeon as a client of his and is the creator of the Playhouse Disney program Tasty Time With ZeFronk!. He has won many awards for his work and currently lives in Florida. (Source: here and here.)

Reflections

This is a great example of a book that can be used to teach graphic novels to younger grades. It’s well written, has an easy to follow story, is laid out in a simple way, and most importantly, it is very funny. The three stories in one book aspect, gives it great flexibility in the classroom. You have the option of spreading it out over multiple reading periods (but I guarantee your class will beg for “just one more”). I recommend this book for any younger grade classroom and will point out that the Balloon Toons series has many different graphic novels with a variety of characters that could also be useful in classroom libraries.

If you are interested in purchasing this book, click here.