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| Hatching Chicks in Room 6, by Caroline Arnold |
Written and illustrated by Caroline Arnold
Charlesbridge, 2017
Ages 3-7, 40 pp, 590L
Themes:
Science, Nature, Non-fiction, Chicken Life Cycle
Mrs. Best keeps chickens in her backyard. Every day the hens lay eggs. Every day Mrs. Best collects the eggs for her family to eat. But today Mrs. Best is bringing the eggs to school.
Synopsis:
Hatching Chicks in Room 6 is a photo essay of one Kindergarten class's hands-on experience raising chickens in the classroom. The book documents the journey from incubator to outside pen, serving as textbook and guidebook. Hatching Chicks is a great companion for teachers, a starting point for those wishing to raise their own flock, and an introduction to the avian life cycle for schools unable to care for actual animals.
What I Love:
This is not my kind of non-fiction. I would never have picked this book up off the shelf. As a child, I would never have chosen this book. So why is Hatching Chicks in Classroom 6 my Perfect Picture Book Friday pick? Not just because it won the CYBILS Award for elementary non-fiction (though it did), but because it is surprising, and fun, and almost perfect.
The text is perfectly suited to its audience. The writing is straightforward, but not dry. Facts abound, but not in a didactic way. The author's interaction with the kids of Room 6 and their combined enthusiasm for the subject shines from every page, putting the reader in the classroom, transforming the chicks into characters in a story.
Hatching Chicks is rather like a scrapbook of Caroline Arnold's time with Ms. Best's 6-year-olds. As readers, our education grows along with the little peeps. Questions, vocabulary, links, and more provide a complete package of resources for like-minded teachers or inquisitive students. I would love to see it in the hands of kids (especially the ones like me who might miss it!)
Bonus:
2. Expand on the project with Vital Farms's 20 Ways to Recycle Eggshells.
3. Whole Fed Homestead has an economic, organic recipe for chicken mash, instead of purchasing store-bought chick feed.
4. Some administrators may need convincing, or schools may need to apply for grants. Find the info they'll need on PetsInTheClassroom.5. Celebrate hatching day with a healthy snack: Alana Jones-Mann cooked up a dozen hard-boiled eggs that look like chicks hatching. There's a slightly more complicated version available from HGTV.
6. Check out these and more Perfect Picture Books at your local library.
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| Reviewed by Jarm |
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| Reviewed by Susanna |
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| Reviewed by Joanne |
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| Reviewed by Patricia |
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| Reviewed by Sue |
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| Reviewed by Susanna |
Perfect Picture Book Friday is pre-empted today because of the 2018 Valen-Tiny Contest. Please check out the entries on Susanna Leonard Hill's blog.
*As a CYBILS second round judge, a review copy of this book was made available in exchange for my honest opinion.
