Community

Snake Alley Band, Elizabeth Nygaard PreSchool-Grade 2-This picture-book tribute to doo-wop is pure fun. Down in Fox Woods, on a skinny piece of land that juts out into the lake, a snake band is singing ("Shh-BOOM Shh- BOOM"). As fall approaches, the littlest snake curls up under a log to sleep. When he awakens in the spring, his fellow vocalists are nowhere to be seen. He begins to look for them and meets a chirping cricket ("Chew-up chew-up"), a croaking frog ("Cha-BOP cha-BOP cha-BOP"), a fish ("POP-POP-DOO-WOP"), a bird ("Tweet-tweedle-dee-deet"), and a turtle ("TA-TOOM TA-TOOM TOOM"), all of whom want to be in the band. Little Snake is accustomed to the "Shh-BOOMs" of his own ensemble and refuses to croon with the clamorous animals. Finally, he locates his group in the woods and soon realizes that it is missing the musical variety the others offered. Returning to the lake, he convinces the other critters to join him and together they serenade the sunset. Lewin's cartoon illustrations deftly bring the animals to life through facial expressions and movements. The artist's use of deep backgrounds for the evenings and sunsets adds color to the scenes. The alliterative text is meant to be read aloud and will inspire listeners to chime in. Pair this with Thacher Hurd's Mama Don't Allow (Harper, 1984) for a rip-roaring, hip-hopping storytime.

The Rag Coat, Lauren Mills Grade 1-4-- Minna, a young Appalachian girl, wants very badly to attend school, but she doesn't have a coat. Her father has just died and her family cannot afford one. When a group of mothers who gather at her house regularly to make quilts hear of her predicament, they decide to help her. Minna is thrilled, but when the new coat is finished and she wears it to the one- room schoolhouse, she is teased by her classmates for wearing rags. Minna is hurt, but she eventually gains their interest when she explains that her coat is full of stories--their stories--for each scrap has come from one of their homes. The children are enthralled and sorry for their taunts. Mills's care and attention to details make her book as charming as her narrative. The paper is a cream color, and the watercolor palette is warm but faded to give an antique cast to the illustrations. The large, lovely paintings that bring the characters and period to life are balanced by text on the bottom half of the left-hand pages; the generous blank space is filled with small scraps of colorful cloth. The writing is lyrical; its heartwarming message emphasizes the value of a community and sharing. It might even inspire a class quilting project--and a chance to share more stories.

Quote "In religious community we are held and affirmed, but we are not the center of attention. To be in community is humbling. It is to be one among many, and it is a corrective to the kind of egocentric spirituality that can grow if we encounter the holy only in private ways. Humility is a deeply spiritual quality - not self-abasement or denigration, but understanding the self as an integrated piece of the larger circle of humanity, indeed of all life. It is to understand oneself as singularly beautiful and significant - as every other person is also singularly beautiful and significant"

And she goes on to share how children's faith is deepened when worshiping alongside parents and other adults.

Not sure if you all know what "buckyballs" are - you can google them http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=buckyballs&tag=googhydr-20&index=a ps&hvadid=4644116877&ref=pd_sl_16kqne0trr_e But they are these little magnetic balls. I handed them out to congregants and then had the kids collect them - and then I formed some cool shapes out of the collective balls - so you get the ideas....community - individuals - collective effort etc...

A Lamp in Every Corner- the title story from this collection might serve.

It Takes a Village by Jane Cowen-Fletcher. It is multiculteral, about a child who thinks she's old enough to watch her baby sibling, except the sibling wanders off in the market, but is tended to by various shop keepers. Here is the Amazon?link: http://www.amazon.com/It-Takes-Village-Jane-Cowen-Fletcher/dp/0590465732

Stone Soup Rain School by James Rumford Blackout by John Rocco