All the Places to Love - Patricia MacLachlan

Illustrated by Mike Wimmer, with paintings
Harper Collins, 1994
32 pgs.
Rating: 4.5

"Dedicated to my grandparents....for their sity-four years of marriage which serve as the mortar that binds my family togther." M.W.

From the beginning "On the day I was born
My grandmother wrapped me in a blanket
made from the wool of her sheep."

to the end:

"All the places to love are here, I'll tell her,
no matter where you may live.
Where else, I will say: does an old turtle crossing the path
Make all the difference in the world?"

This book is a description of place using the senses and beautiful language, including similes galore. It tells of each family member's favorite place, and is a gorgeous model and touchstone for teaching kids how to write about place.

Beautiful, just beautiful.

"My grandmother loved the river best
of all the places to love.
That sound, like a whisper, she said;
Gathering in pools
Where trout flashed like jewels in the sunlight.
Grandmother sailed little bark boats downriver to me
with messages.
I Love You Eli, one said."

57. Word After Word After Word - Patricia MacLachlan

Katherine Tegen Books, 2010
For: younger middle grades
HC: $14.99
128 pgs.
Rating: Hard to say....great for this word-lover adult, but kids? We'll find out, because I'm going to start the year by reading this aloud and teaching a Patricia MacLachlan author study. That means I have to have it ready for n-e-x-t w-e-e-k!!!

This is a simple, lovely story of a children's writer who shares her love of words with a classroom of kids - and we meet five of them. Friends, each with their own unique qualities and stresses, who meet after school under a lilac bush and discover they love to write - and they CAN write.

Told from the point-of-view of one of the kids, a girl who is sad, whose mother is going through chemo. However, this is NOT a sad book. It's a thoughtful look at the way that kids think, and the way that kids relate to one another

The Spider Weaver - Margaret Musgrove

A Legend of Kente Cloth
Illustrated by Julia Cairns
Blue Sky Press, 2001
32 pages
Rating: 5
Endpapers: 9 patches - kente cloth in two patterns and the black and yellow spider

This gorgeous book, painted with greens, yellows, and blues of every hue, tells the legend of how seventeenth century Ghanan weavers discovered a spider's web so beautifully woven that they sought to recreate it.

So yes, the illustrations are lovely. And so is the writing. Musgrove tells the story simply, but uses word choices and literary elements that are wonderful models for writers. For example: dashes: "And everyone -- from the kings of the Ashanti people to the lowliest apprentice -- wore it." And similes: "The light from his lantern had fallen on an amazing sight, glowing like moonbeams agains the midnight sky" (and note the great verbs!).

WORD CHOICES:
detached
held fast
crumpled in my hands
doubtful
the beginnings of a new masterpiece
stood still in admiration
in the blink of an eye

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES TO BEGIN SENTENCES:
Early the next morning
Past the tall silk cottons and papaya trees
On this night
In no time
In time

Also included are an interesting afterward and a prnunciation guide.