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NewSouth ‘Huck Finn’ Eliminates the ‘N’ Word

Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classic by most any measure—T.S. Eliot called it a masterpiece, and Ernest Hemingway pronounced it the source of "all modern American literature." Yet, for decades, it has been disappearing from grade school curricula across the country, relegated to optional reading lists, or banned outright, appearing again and again on lists of the nation's most challenged books, and all for its repeated use of a single, singularly offensive word: "nigger."

Twain himself defined a "classic" as "a book which people praise and don't read." Rather than see Twain's most important work succumb to that fate, Twain scholar Alan Gribben and NewSouth Books plan to release a version of Huckleberry Finn, in a single volume with The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, that does away with the "n" word (as well as the "in" word, "Injun") by replacing it with the word "slave."

more...http://bit.ly/gwFqBG

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The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett – trailer and teaching/reading ideas

The Wee Free men
by Terry Pratchett

A young witch-to-be named Tiffany teams up with the Wee Free Men, a clan of six-inch-high blue men, to rescue her baby brother and ward off a sinister invasion from Fairyland

A Teaching Guide to Terry Pratchett
Spark discussion about A Hat Full of Sky, The Wee Free Men, and The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents with the pre-reading activities and discussion questions in this printable teaching guide to these books by Terry Pratchett.

Discussion module

Teaching guide

Secrets of The Wee Free Men and Discworld: The Myths and Legends of Terry Pratchett's Multiverse

You can buy from Amazon for US$9.99

or from me for US$7.50 --- click on the button -=>





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Sixth book of Christmas – The Polar Express (with lesson plans)

The Polar Express
by Chris Van Alsburg

One couldn't select a more delightful and exciting premise for a children's book than the tale of a young boy lying awake on Christmas Eve only to have Santa Claus sweep by and take him on a trip with other children to the North Pole. And one couldn't ask for a more talented artist and writer to tell the story than Chris Van Allsburg. Allsburg, a sculptor who entered the genre nonchalantly when he created a children's book as a diversion from his sculpting, won the 1986 Caldecott Medal for this book, one of several award winners he's produced. The Polar Express rings with vitality and wonder.

Watch the trailer

Ideas, lessons, printables, games, party fun, and much more

Lesson plans and activities

Lessons, resources and integrated units

Scholastic Lesson plan

Ideas, guides, activities and integrated units

Buy the book

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Fifth Book of Christmas – Hetty’s Day out

Hetty's day out
by Pamela Allen

Hetty the cat wakes up, yawns, washes behind her ears, and pops through her cat flap into the bright sunlight. And what does she find in the big wide world? One plate of baked beans, two pork pies, three lamb chops - and that's just the beginning! This charming counting book follows Hetty on her big day out.

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Fourth book of Christmas – Merry Christmas, Splat

Merry Christmas, Splat
Written and Illustrated by Rob Scotton

The third hilarious story about Splat the Cat, the irresistible character from Rob Scotton, bestselling creator of Russell the Sheep Splat the cat can't wait for Christmas and is SURE he's been good enough for Santa to bring him all the presents on his Christmas list. But just in case Santa needs reminding of what an exceptionally good cat he is, Splat makes himself EXTRA helpful around the house. It's tiring work being helpful, but when Splat goes to bed on Christmas Eve he's kept awake by a worrying thought...Just how good do you need to be for Santa to visit? A charming Christmas story perfect for any eager child awaiting Santa's arrival.

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Christmas book 3 – The Jolly Christmas Postman (with lesson plans)

The Jolly Christmas Postman (The Jolly Postman) (Hardback)
By Janet and Allan Ahlberg, Illustrated by Janet Ahlberg

It's Christmas Eve and the Jolly Postman is delivering greetings to various fairy-tale characters - there's a card for Baby Bear, a game appropriately called 'Beware' for Red Riding Hood from Mr Wolf, a get-well jigsaw for hospitalized Humpty Dumpty and three more surprise envelopes containing letters, and cards.

A Genre Study of Letters With The Jolly Postman

Questions to ask before, during, and after reading

Activities

Language arts/Reading - Historical fiction

Library Letter Writing Unit Plan

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Christmas Book 2 – The Night before Christmas (with lesson plans)

The Night Before Christmas
by Clement C. Moore, Illustrated by Mary Engelbreit

The full text of the familiar poem is illustrated in Engelbreit's crisply decorated style. A large trim size (11" x 11") allows each highly embellished spread to hold a plethora of detail. Engelbreit's visions of sugarplums translate to a busy-bright patchwork of checks, plaids, paisleys and chintzes in this oversize volume. From the opening stanza's view of the non-stirring mouse's hole (a cracked teacup is his bed, a potholder his doormat, and a paintbrush is his broom) and throughout the verses, the artist adds lots of elves and ornamentation. The cast of rambunctious elves accompany an exceptionally jolly St. Nick as he leaves assorted old-fashioned candies and toys inside a home decorated in a spectrum of Engelbreit's trademark patterns and prints. Santa is not pictured as "dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot"; he's wearing a checked coat with fur trim and what appear to be leather bowling shoes. He does twinkle a lot, though. Kids -and adult fans of the artist -will enjoy poring over the copious details.

Activities:

Make a mini-book of the poem

Christmas Compare and Contrast- "The Mouse Before Christmas" vs. "The Night Before Christmas."

"Night Before Christmas"- "Students will learn about story writing, authors purpose, and the history of some of our Christmas traditions."

Visions of Christmas

Thought Audio

This big, multidisciplinary lesson called "Night Before Christmas" is on Writing and Much More

Literacy Development Activities

Reading activity

"Twas the Night Before Christmas": Retelling through thinking maps

Christmas Stockings

Lesson suggestions

Word sheets and Fill the blank

Similes and Metaphors

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The first of 12 Christmas Book for kids – released this year in Australia

The Little Drummer Boy
by Bruce Whatley

The Little Drummer BoyAnnie's grandfather carves the Little Drummer Boy from the leg of an old oak table as a Christmas gift for his small granddaughter. And throughout her life, Annie's favourite decoration travels the world with her and always hangs on the Christmas tree at her house, close to the top. Seasons and fashions come and go and Annie has children and grandchildren of her own - but the pair remain together, although as they age they both start to fade. But they put that down to being well loved.

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Trailer for Australian illustrator’s new book: All Through the Night

www.deanjones.com.au Australian illustrator brings us his new children's book "All Through The Night" which takes us on a magical journey of awe and wonder through the dreamland of a young boy and his favourite toy train on their way to the morning.

THE BOOK:

All Through the Night
by Dean Jones

Darkness is falling, and weary children everywhere are snuggling under their sheets. A small boy lays his head against his pillow and wakes to find himself rocking and rolling along through the night, onwards towards the morning. Soar with him beneath the stars in a magical journey on the midnight express.

Read more here => http://bit.ly/ecTAVO

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The Lost Thing shortlisted for Oscars

Shaun Tan - yes he's incredible. The Lost Thing is his book. He co-directed this short film based on the book. To hear him talk about it, he thought it was a fun thing to do. And now ...

Passion Pictures’ animated short The Lost Thing has been shortlisted by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to advance in the voting process for the 83rd Academy Awards.
The short, directed by Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann, is one of 10 to be pre-selected from a total of 33 films that originally qualified for the animated short film category.

You can watch the film and read more about the book in an earlier post I did on it here => http://bit.ly/fHM5WD