Last year was my first year to participate in the Global Read Aloud and I'm hooked. We read the Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate DiCamillo and I like it so much that I bought a class set to use in my classroom this year. We blogged with an amazing third grade teacher and her class in Atlanta, Georgia. The kids learned from each other and I learned from Mrs. Fisher.
This year, the two choices for younger readers are The Year of Billy Miller, by Kevin Henkes and Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. Just knowing the authors, I knew we couldn't go wrong with either book. Kevin Henkes wrote one of my all time favorites, Lily's Purple Plastic Purse, as well as one of my first week staples, Chrysanthemum, and many, many others. Lynda Mullaly Hunt wrote One for the Murphys, a favorite from when I taught 5th grade and Lynda participates in TeachersWrite!, something I like to participate in during the summer.
So, I ordered both books and read them the first weeks of summer. I started with The Year of Billy Miller. Billy Miller, the character, piqued my interest right away because he's a boy and it seems so many younger grade books feature girls. He also had a big accident during the summer and he's afraid that his head bonk will affect his school work. This seems like just the kind of believable problem that our students might have, and the book continues on with realistic events that stretch Billy in second grade. He deals with a classmate he doesn't like and he has a sometimes bratty younger sister. I really liked the gentle way that the book progresses with a hero who isn't a superhero.
Next up was Fish in a Tree. Fish in a Tree also begins with school worries. Ally is supposed to write something for her teacher, but she finds writing about as easy as "climbing a tree using only her teeth". Since school is hard for her, Ally spends way too much time with the principal until her new teacher, Mr. Daniels, comes along. Ally not only gets help conquering her school woes from Mr. Daniels, but also from her multi-faceted friends, Keisha and Albert. The three classmates are funny, sincere and brave.
I try not to write in my books so that I can pass them straight on to students, but as I read Fish in a Tree, I kept seeing topics ripe for blogging during the Global Read Aloud. I have notes, and notes about my notes. Ally has a sketchbook of impossible things - we should share our sketches of impossible things with our blogging buddies. Mr. Daniels plays a math game called You're the Bus Driver with his students. We can play that game with our blogging buddies. My notes continue.
For this year, the clear winner for our third grade read aloud is Fish in a Tree, but that doesn't mean I didn't like The Year of Billy Miller. I will have a couple of copies of that book in my classroom library for students to read themselves.
