Nighttime Ninja by Barbara DeCosta. 2012 (Updated)

Nighttime Adventures & Misadventures

Nighttime ninja by DaCosta, Barbara — Little, Brown, 2012--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 1.4 Late at night, when all is quiet and everyone is asleep, a ninja creeps silently through the house in search of treasure.

Rationale: This My Books Alive blog post is an idea post not a lesson because Ninjas and bedtime aren’t in any curricula in my schools, but many of my schools, especially the primary grades, have a wintertime activity that involves a pajama day. A couple of the schools also have a sleep-over night as a reward for accomplishments such as reading a designated number of books. The library can easily be involved in either. Don’t be afraid to wear pajamas or a robe and slippers. You might even try an old-fashioned nightcap or really old-fashioned curlers or rag-curlers in your hair. Move the furniture aside, encourage the kids to bring big pillows or stuffed toys and have a leisurely reading time or read aloud or book video or sleepy time story hour.

Using this particular book, you could have a ninja party instead of a pajama party. Ninja’s are very popular now especially with the boys. Some of the Related Books are about Ninjas, but all are about nighttime imagination and/or mischief. Do similar activities: dress up, see a ninja movie, read aloud, etc. Of course, you could also have some snacks. The lesson plan from the book’s website, found in the Teacher Resource list, is full of ideas for a ninja pajama party.

You might also want to use the “ninja” idea when reading about Japan. There are several entries about Japan where ninjas could be included. Keep checking for Wabi Sabi or Won-Ton where lessons about Japanese culture and haiku are found and will be part of My Books Alive soon.

Related Entries about sleep that have already been posted or will be soon: Sleep Like a Tiger, No Go Sleep, Snow White by Phelan for sleep in fairy tales for 3-6, Old Bear for hibernation.

Related Books:

Maybe a bear ate it! by Harris, Robie H  — Orchard Books, 2008--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 0.8 At bedtime, a young boy who cannot find his favorite book imagines the various creatures that might have taken it from him.

What's under the bed? by Fenton, Joe  — Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2008--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 1.4 Fred imagines that there is some sort of monster under his bed when he tries to go to sleep.

Night knight by Davey, Owen — Templar Books, c2011 p2012. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 1.5. Riding through the forest to reach his bedroom, a little knight battles crocodiles to brush his teeth and climbs a tall tower to get into his bed before settling down to sleep.

Tell me about your day today by Fox, Mem — Beach Lane Books, 2012. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 1.6. What could be more wonderful than sharing bedtime with beloved friends? This little boy loves to talk to his stuffed animals at the end of the day, and share with them all the things that happened to him that day--and to hear about their day, too.

The baby beebee bird by Massie, Diane Redfield — HarperCollins, c1963 p2000--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.0 The baby beebee bird is new to the zoo, and he sings his song all night long. The other animals come up with a plan to teach the bird that night time is really best for sleeping, especially for little birds.

The storm by Miyakoshi, Akiko  — Kids Can Press, 2016. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.1. When a powerful storm begins to rage one summer evening, a young boy holds little hope for the next day's promised trip to the beach. Huddled under covers to muffle the roaring rain, he falls asleep ... and dreams. Can the mighty ship of a boy's imagination sail him through the storm to blue skies by morning?

Mitchell goes driving by Durand, Hallie — Candlewick Press, 2013--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.3 Mitchell's dad makes going to bed fun when he suggests Mitchell pretend to be driving to his room.

Hush little polar bear by Mack, Jeff  — Roaring Brook Press, 2008--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.4 A little girl invites her plush polar bear to dream of all of the places where sleeping bears go, from the high seas to a starry desert and back home.

King Jack and the dragon by Bently, Peter — Dial Books for Young Readers, 2011. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.5. Jack, Zack, and Caspar build a castle fort, then spend a day fighting dragons and beasts, but at day's end giants carry away first Sir Zack, then Caspar, and King Jack is left to face night creatures alone.

Bedtime monsters by Schneider, Josh  — Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.7. A young boy conquers his fear of bedtime monsters after making a surprising discovery.

The boy who cried ninja by Latimer, Alex — Peachtree, 2013--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.0 A young boy named Tim is accused of lying when he tells his parents that a ninja ate the last piece of cake and a sunburned crocodile landed on the roof, so he figures out a way to prove that he is telling the truth.

I need my monster by Noll, Amanda  — Flashlight Press, 2009. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.0. When Gabe, the monster that lives under Ethan's bed, goes on vacation, Ethan finds that the substitute monsters Gabe has sent just won't do, and wonders how he will ever fall asleep.

Tell me what to dream about by Potter, Giselle — Schwartz & Wade Books, 2015. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.1. At bedtime, a little girl asks her big sister to tell her what to dream about and together they imagine the possibilities.

Wink : the ninja who wanted to be noticed by Phillips, J. C. (Julie C.)  — Viking, 2009--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.1 Wink is thrilled to be accepted to the Summer Moon School for Young Ninja, but he cannot quite master the concept of being silent and stealthy when what he really wants is to be noticed.

Princess says goodnight by Howland, Naomi  — Harper, 2010--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.2 A little girl imagines she is a princess as she gets ready for bed, and insists her subjects kiss her goodnight before she goes to sleep.

Amy's three best things by Pearce, Philippa — Candlewick Press, 2013. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.4. Going to her grandmother's house for a first sleep-away visit, Amy enjoys a wonderful shared day before missing her mother, baby brother, and dog at night and assuaging her homesickness with three objects that she has brought with her.

The too-scary story by Murguia, Bethanie Deeney— Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2017. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.5. At bedtime, their father tells Grace and Walter a scary story about two children in a dark forest.

Turn on the night by Valerio, Geraldo — Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press, 2016. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3. A little girl falls asleep, her book in hand, and as she dreams, an astonishing adventure unfolds...

Ninja! by Chung, Arree  — Henry Holt and Company, 2014--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.6 A ninja must be strong, courageous, and silent! He creeps through the house on a secret mission. There may be obstacles! But have no fear--a true ninja can overcome all challenges.

Teacher Resources:

Lesson Plan from Book’s website http://nighttimeninja.blogspot.com/p/activities.html

Book’s website (mostly news about awards book has received ) http://nighttimeninja.blogspot.com/

Draw! by Raul Colon. 2014

What is a Quick Pick Book?

Draw! by Colon, Raul  — Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2014--E-; Int Lvl: K-3 In this wordless picture book, a boy who is confined to his room fills his sketch pad with lions and elephants, then imagines himself on a safari.

Rationale: Introducing Quick Pick books! I’ve already described Wisdom Books in an earlier lengthy post. Sometimes a book just doesn’t fit into an established curricular box, but is so good that I want to share it. However, because it is not specifically curricula based, I won’t be providing a whole lesson or story hour, but an assortment of ideas that teachers or librarians could use when looking for a Quick Pick. Draw! Is just such a book. This wordless book tells a story about a young book illustrator. With whom and how can this title be shared?

1. With my art teacher, one of my favorite teachers, who is always receptive to new ideas and new books. She features a different artist or style or technique each month with each grade K-8. By the end of eight years at my small private school, her students have an appreciation for a wide variety of art and artists.
1. Raul Colon could become one of her artists of the month. Share all of his books that are available. Note the realistic style and the media used. Colon uses pen and ink, watercolors, Prismacolor pencils and lithograph pencils.
2. Supply a notepad for students to draw their own art fanciful biography.
3. How visually alert are students? Look for whimsical details about Colon or about the animals. Will anyone note that gorillas are not usually found in the African grasslands? But when the story is fanciful, they just could show up.
2. With my language arts teachers, especially the middle school language arts teachers.
1. Provide the teacher with a variety of wordless picture books from the collections.
2. Encourage the teacher to have students write the story for the wordless books.
3. Word process the stories, exchange the stories with another class and have the new group illustrate the story. Compare the student art interpretation with the original.
4. Use Draw! to model the process.
3. With teachers whose classes are studying animals, specifically African animals.
1. At my small private school, each grade studies the geography of one continent. When the study includes African animals, Draw! is a fun fanciful title to pair with the more serious factual books about the animals.
2. Supply both fiction and fact books about African animals.
4. With teachers whose students may be studying Ruth Law, Marie Tharp, Don Quioxite, or American symbols and presidents by encouraging using Colon’s titles listed in the Related Books section.
5. With librarians or teachers who want to do a story hour about real and imaginary safaris. Build the hour around Draw! and the first three books in the Related Books list below.

Related Books:

Way far away on a wild safari by Peck, Jan — Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2006. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 1.6. A young boy imagines going on a wild safari and seeing zebra, giraffe, elephant, and lion.

Sophie's animal parade by Dixon, Amy — Sky Pony Press, 2015. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.6. Everything Sophie draws becomes real, so when she feels lonely she begins drawing animals that come to life, but she still has no one to play with until a boy appears, all on his own.

Chalk by Thomson, Bill — Amazon Children's Pub., 2010. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3. A wordless picture book about three children who go to a park on a rainy day, find some chalk, and draw pictures that come to life.

Raul Colon Books:

Good-bye, Havana! Hola, New York! by Colon, Edie Audiobook (CD) — Recorded Books, LLC, 2013. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.8.  The story in which six-year-old Gabriella and her parents move from Cuba to New York City in 1960 after Fidel Castro's government takes over their restaurant.

Fearless flyer : Ruth Law and her flying machine by Lang, Heather — Calkins Creek, an imprint of Highlights, 2016. Dewey: 629.13; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.8.  A picture book that describes Ruth Law's cross-country flight from Chicago to New York State.

Solving the puzzle under the sea : Marie Tharp maps the ocean floor by Burleigh, Robert — Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2016. Dewey: 526; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.4. Tells the story of oceanographic cartographer Marie Tharp and her work charting the ocean floor.

Miguel's brave knight : young Cervantes and his dream of Don Quixote by Engle, Margarita — Peachtree, 2017. Dewey: 811; Int Lvl: 3-6; Rd Lvl: 5.3. A collection of illustrated poems about the childhood of Miguel de Cervantes and his character Don Quixote.

America the beautiful : together we stand by Bates, Katharine Lee — Orchard Books, 2013. Dewey: 973; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 5.4. May include collectible poster of forty-four presidents. An illustrated presentation of the complete lyrics of "America the Beautiful" with inspiring presidential quotes, ten national landmarks and symbols, and more. Each of our presidents has had a unique vision of America. In AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, these ideas are translated into gorgeous illustrations by such top artists as Bryan Collier, Jon J Muth, Diane Goode, Mary GrandPre, Raul Colon, Sonia Lynn Sadler, Yuyi Morales, John Hendrix, LeUyen Pham, and Chris Soentpiet. Each of these talented illustrators has found a unique way to interpret the values and beliefs that have built our great country.

Always my dad  . DVD — GPN, c1996 p2003. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3. Introductions to a single parent family and a boy who participates in the Big Brother program, and reviews of related books.