Today I'm excited because yesterday I started a new opportunity
checking in on and coaching the counselors in a nearby district.
I saw these words on a poster on the wall in one of the schools.
It really is just that easy. But it can be difficult, too, especially in which busy-ness seems to be a status symbol. It can also push us out of our comfort zones, to be smiling at and greeting everyone in your orbit.
Title: Invisible Jerry
Author: Adam Wallace
Illustrator: Giuseppe Poli
Publisher: EK Books
Birth Date: November 6, 2018
Suitable for grades: PreK through 3rd (and up really!)
Themes: kindness, friendship, hope
Brief synopsis: Jerry felt invisible until Molly, a kind I-see-you-you-matter girl, came along and made him feel visible. Wouldn't it be great if everyone could have a Molly? Or maybe {gasp} even a Jerry?
Opening page: People didn't notice Jerry.
Resources:
Enjoy a PPBF review by Maria {here}
Watch my read-aloud and enjoy the kids' reactions!
Why I like this book: I fell in love with Jerry when I picked this book up right before the holidays, so much so that I put it on my Christmas wish list. Just this week I took it to my friend's second-grade class to read it aloud and boom, those superheroes loved it as much as I did, probably because of the self-to-text connections because who among us hasn't felt invisible? It's our human nature to want to connect; in fact, we're hard-wired for it! So missed opportunities can make us feel sad, lonely, invisible.
A compare and contrast with The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig will make such a powerful self-awareness vehicle for our children to take a look at how they want to be treated by others and, conversely, how they treat others. The friends I read it to really loved that Jerry doesn't stop at just receiving attention and care from Molly, but that he finds a way to pay it forward when another invisible child, Paul, comes into his orbit.
Encourage your students to draw an Invisible Selfie about a time that the felt invisible complete with a list of feelings that they had about it and feelings that they can imagine that others going through a similar experience might have. Then have them draw their Visible Selfies on another sheet and display them side by side to create a selfie-awareness visual.
Check out Invisible Jerry and prepare to fall in love, too.
Then head to Susanna Hill's blog for today's other PPBF picks.
Happy weekend, friends.
This is such a perfect book to share -- and it does remind me a bit of Ludwig's book. I don't know anyone who at one time or another has felt invisible -- even adults. This book offers some good discussion opportunities and sharing. Love the "I Smile at you, you smile at me. That's how it works!" poster. Great for classrooms and at home. I have a review in my draft box, but will share later.
ReplyDeleteI've read this book and love it, too! Great read aloud video. Excellent engagement.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful book. And I know it will be because YOU recommended it! :)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!