After the Fall

Title:  After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again

Author/Illustrator: Dan Santat
Publisher Roaring Brook Press © 2017
ISBN:  978-1-62672-682-6
Grade Level:  K-5
Book Review: Have you even considered what happened to Humpty Dumpty after the fall?  We know that our past experiences shape our beliefs and in this story Dan Santat provides rich food for thought about just how impactful the fall was to Humpty Dumpty. Santat teaches a powerful lesson about resilience as we learn that even though Humpty Dumpty took a fall, he also got back up.
Systems Thinking Connections:
Habits:  No doubt, students with any familiarity with the Habits of a Systems Thinker could generate a substantive list of the Habits that Humpty uses in this story.  He definitely changes his perspective, practices successive approximation, and he finds leverage to help his problem.
Tools: Humpty Dumpty takes actions that help him accumulate courage to try find a way to get back up. Build a stock-flow diagram with students and then ask questions to help them identify the leverage that helps Humpty move from being a broken egg to being a systems thinker.

The Most Magnificent Thing

Title:  The Most Magnificent Thing

Author:  Ashely Spires
Illustrator:  Ashley Spires
Publisher: Kids Can Press © 2014
ISBN: 978-1-55453-704-4
Grade Level: PreK-3
Book Review:  One day this regular girl and her canine assistant decide to make "the most magnificent thing."  Despite  a perfectly clear vision of what it is and how it should work, this regular girl encounters some serious frustration as she seeks to actualize her vision. Perseverance pays off, but as important as her final product, is what she learns about herself along the way.
Systems Thinking Connections:
Habits: This book could be subtitled, checks results and changes actions if needed:  "successive approximation."  In a crystal clear, yet understated way, Spires shares with her readers the process of creating something magnificent.  In the true spirit of "successive approximation" Spires writes, "There are some parts of the WRONG things that are really quite RIGHT." In a way that is very accessible to young children this book shows the importance of failing fast, learning from your mistakes and moving forward to create something even better than what you may have imagined.
Tools:  Graphing this regular girl's frustration would be an awesome way to introduce  behavior-over-time graphs or to reinforce the tool for students who are already familiar with it. To follow up on their BOTGs around the story students could identify their own experience of frustration and use a BOTG to tell the story of their level of frustration and what steps they took to manage it.  This book also lends itself to use with a goal gap loop.  The protagonist in the story has a clear vision of what she wants to create, but there is a gap.  She applies different strategies to bring her closer to her goal.  Her story could be retold using a goal gap loop, increasing comprehension of the text while at the same time helping students be more mindful of using the goal gap to create their own "most magnificent thing" whatever it may be.

Princesses Wear Pants

Title:  Princesses Wear Pants

Author:  Savannah Guthrie and Allison Oppenheim
Illustrator:  Eva Byrne
Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers © 2017

ISBN: 978-1-4197-2603-3
Grade Level: PreK-2
Book Review:  In the Pineapple Kingdom Princess Penelope Pineapple plays a very important role.  While she can dazzle in her gowns and crowns, some of her most important work is done when she dons her pants.  From exercise, to gardening, to hosting the science fair, there are just some times when even a princess needs to wear pants. Guthrie and Oppenheim tell an engaging tale of a modern princess who sets an example for what a competent, confident girl can do.
Systems Thinking Connections:
Habits:  The title of the book, Princesses Wear Pants, suggests that the text offers a classic story for challenging mental models and it doesn't disappoint.  It creates a believable context for exploring these important issues. It would also be a good text for looking at the Habit, surface and test assumptions.  While Penelope is comfortable in her pants, not all her subjects share her perspective, but in the end her level-headed competence changes the point of view of some of her naysayers.

Tools:  Can you tell a reinforcing story about what contributes to competence? Keeping in mind that you must be able to talk through a loop more than one time, so you can't just say that the right outfit leads to  princess success, but Princess Penelope definitely portrays some attitudes that contribute to her sense of confidence and accomplishment.

Lucky Ducklings

Title:  Lucky Ducklings

Author:  Eva Moore
Illustrator: Nancy Carpenter
Publisher: Orchard Books,  © 2012
ISBN:  978-0-439-44861-1
Grade Level:  PreK-2
Book Review:  Lucky Ducklings, a true rescue story, is about a mama duck and her five baby ducklings. As the ducklings follow their mama around town, one duckling falls through a storm grate. Thanks to an attentive passerby and a dedicated crew of fire fighters the duckling is rescued.  Mama and babies continue on their way. A well written story, with beautiful illustrations, and a timeless theme make a picture book that could certainly become a classic.
Systems Thinking Connections:
Habits: This story easily lends itself to a discussion of Mama Duck's point of view and thus the Habit changes perspective to increase understanding.  Children can relate to being separated from a parent. The fears of both the mama and her ducklings draw children into the story and create opportunities for conversation.
Tools: A great book for introducing young readers to behavior-over-time graphs.  I was reminded of this story as the start of the school year has prompted primary teachers to ask for recommendations of books that make introducing this tool accessible to young learners.  Lucky Ducklings is such a story. The preschool teacher who created the graph shown here shares that her students had quite a conversation about when to make the line go up, showing that the mother duck was worried.  Some students wanted to indicate the change when the duck fell through the grate.  Other students argued, quite convincingly, that the change for mother duck, did not come until she was aware her duckling had fallen.  This conversation illustrates the power of a visual systems thinking tool to promote deep thinking and create the conditions for children to construct meaning.

which one doesn't belong?

Title:  which one doesn't belong?

Author/Illustrator: Christopher Danielson
Publisher:  Stenhouse Publishers ©2016
ISBN:  978-1-62531-080
Grade Level: PreK-adult
Book Review: This books is brilliantly created to promote deep thinking.  Each page contains four shapes and each page asks the same question:  which one doesn't belong?  The brilliance is found in the fact that each shape is a justifiable answer to the question.  In Marzano's famed meta-analysis of educational research, he deemed the ability to identify similarities and differences as the number one strategy to promote student success.  This book offers a wonderful way to explicitly teach and model that instructional strategy with content that is accessible to all learners.  The skillful practitioner can then help students transfer the skill of identifying similarities and differences in shapes to identifying the similarities and differences in the content that he/she teaches.
Systems Thinking Connections
Habits:  What a great way to introduce the Habit surface and test assumptions! As students take turns sharing which shape does not belong and explaining their thinking, they are practicing the habit and experiencing in real time that there are many possible correct assumptions.
Tools:  This text embodies a critical concept of systems thinking:  There is not just one right answer. Helping students and educators recognize and accept this fact is an essential part of building systems thinking capacity.

Wemberly Worried

Title:  Wemberly Worried

Author: Kevin Henkes
Illustrator: Kevin Henkes
Publisher: Green Willow Books © 2000
ISBN: 0-688-17027-7
Grade Level:  PreK-2
Book Review:  Wemberly worries about everything and the beginning of school brings many additional worries. Once Wemberly makes a friend, that makes all the difference.  Henkes creates characters that stimulate children's imagination and places them in familiar settings so that children can readily connect with them.
Systems Thinking Connections:
Habits: Wemberly is easy to relate to making this text a great catalyst to help children explore systems thinking Habits like mental models and multiple perspectives.




Tools: Starting the school year with behavior-over-time graphs is a great strategy for a number of reasons:  It is a tool that students will be able to use throughout the school year to make their thinking visible.  It is a great way for teachers to learn more about their students and their perceptions.  The graphs can serve as a pre-assessment of students' understanding in a number of areas.  And behavior-over-time graphs can help track learning, attentiveness, cooperation, kindness and other qualities that teachers are trying to build as the school year begins. The first grade teacher, whose work is shown here, got her students off to a great start by graphing the level of  Wemberly's worry.  The text uses very explicit language for describing more and less.  Graphing is relevant way to help students share their feelings about the start of school and build strong retelling skills at the same time.

Wise Guy: The Life and Philosophy of Socrates

Title:  Wise Guy:  The Life and Philosophy of Socrates

Author:  M.D. Usher
Illustrator:  William Bramhall
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux ©2005
ISBN: 978-0-374-31249-7
Grade Level:  2-5
Book Review: "You shouldn't think you know something without first having looked at it very closely." Extrapolated from ancient sources Usher writes a biography of Socrates for younger readers.  The book weaves together the main text, a narrative that chronicles the life of Socrates from his youth through his death, with a series of scrolls that highlight his teachings.  Cleverly drawn illustrations add to the reader's understanding of Usher's portrayal. The importance of being willing to ask questions is an important message in this text.
Systems Thinking Connections:
Habits:  What better than a book about thinking to facilitate students own thinking and encourage their questions.  The scroll text found on each page provides information about Socrates' teaching or philosophy. Many of these scrolls lend themselves to making connections to the Habits of a Systems Thinker.  For example, in one scroll, the author explain Socrates dialectic process -- how he refused to believe things were always as they appeared. A connection could be made between this idea and the systems thinking habit considers an issue fully and resists the urge to come to a quick conclusion.  
Or perhaps a link to successive approximation could be found in the idea that Socrates believed "wisdom was an art, like cobbling, that you have to practice if you're going to be any good at it."
If we are really to use this text in a way that honors the philosophies of Socrates, it will be critical to allow readers to make their own meaningful connections within and between systems.