Don't Call Me Sidney

Title:  Don't Call Me Sidney

Author:  Jane Sutton
Illustrator: Renata Gallio
Publisher:  Dial Books for Young Readers, ©2010
ISBN:  978-0-8037-2753-3
Grade Level:  PreK-2

Book Review:  Featured author Jane Sutton creates a delightful story in which clever animals live out the habits of systems thinking while engaging in antics that are sure to delight young readers  Sidney is a frustrated poet who can't find words that rhyme with his name.   His thinking persistence pays off when he discovers the perfect resolution to his dilemma. This well-written story offers insight into the writing process and illustrates the power of the written word, as we come to learn about the joy Sidney creates through his poetry.

Systems Thinking Connections:
Habits:  Checks results and changes actions if needed:  Successive approximation.  Sidney is sincere in his concern about being able to find words that rhyme with his name.  He demonstrates persistence, tries multiple solutions and eventually finds one that really works for him.
Tools:  Story structure archetype.  The book has a clearly delineated problem and resolution making it ideal for applying the story structure archetype.
More whimsical than books like The The Name Jar or My Name is Maria Isabel, Don't Call Me Sidney still focuses on the importance of a name.  The ladder of inference would be a great way to scaffold a conversation about what names cause us to pay attention to, and how they shape our beliefs about other people and ourselves.

Rise and Shine Mrs. Field!

Title:  Rise & Shine Mrs. Field!
Author:  Four Sisters, Nancy Atkins
Martha Field, Sue Petrick, Kakie Sawyer
Illustrator: Sean Murphy
Publisher:  Four Sisters, ©2014
ISBN:  978-0692204207
Grade Level:  PreK-2
 

Book Review:  Life on a small family farm may be unfamiliar to children living in a modern, urban settings, but no doubt they will be enchanted by this carefully crafted rhyming tale that explains what happens when Mr. Fields must go away for the day on business, leaving Mrs. Field to feed the animals.  Mrs. Field sleeps soundly through the pleas of each of the farm animals until one clever animal manages to awaken her to the great relief of the rest of the animals on the farm.  Careful attention has been given to the language in this book making it an exceptionally delightful read aloud.

Systems Thinking Connections

Habits:  Considers long-term, short-term and unintended consequences of actions. Mrs. Fields is just enjoying a few extra minutes of sleep, but her decision has some consequences that will bring about lots of great dialogue amongst young readers.
Tools:  This book is an excellent example of a basic story structure pattern of "no, no, no. yes."  It can be represented in a behavior over time graph (BOTG) by asking the question, "do the animals get fed?"  Students will quickly see the common story pattern and be able to compare it to other familiar stories with a similar structure.
Students could also use a BOTG to represent the number of animals that want Mrs. Field to wake up and feed them breakfast.

Moosetache

Title:  Moosetache

Author: Margie Palatini
Illustrator: Henry Cole
Publisher: Scholastic ©1997

ISBN: 0-590-53827-6
Grade Level: PreK-2

Book Review
We have all had a bad hair day, but for Moose an unwieldy mustache is an annoyance that affects every aspect of his life, until the day it leads him to the love of his life.  The cleverly crafted, alliterative narrative makes this a fabulous read aloud.  In addition to being a marvelous story that can be read and reread for pure pleasure, the craft and structure of Moosetache provides a great text for teaching the elements of story.  The rich language makes it a great source for teaching vocabulary.


Systems Thinking Connections
Habits: Moose practices successive approximation with a great payoff for his persistence.

Tools:
Story Structure Archetype:  This story is excellent for use with the story structure archetype. The problem, six attempts at a solution and the final resolution provide clean, specific examples of the elements of a well-structured story.