Celebrating a Small Moment in Time with Derrick Barnes and His Ode to the Fresh Cut

Looking for a read aloud book to help young people understand the concept of a small moment?  I'd advise you take a look at Derrick Barnes's Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, illustrated by Gordon C. James and published by Agate Publishing.  This picture book chronicles a trip to the barbershop.  Part love letter, part history--Barnes's poetic voice comes through with just enough detail to make the ordinary feel royal. For example, after the haircut, Barnes writes:

It's the mention of the sting from apple green alcohol or witch hazel that catches my eye. We have smelt this too and know how a fresh shave alongside some alcohol allows for a bit of a sit-up-and-notice moment. It is these types of details that breathe life into this account.

The writing is memorable and populated with metaphor, rhythm, and diction. The language moves and moves through you.No wonder it received the 2018 Newbery Honor Award for its writing. It was well deserved.

This book also garnered a 2018 Caldecott Honor Book and a 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. The book is lush, populated with Gordon James's expressive oil paintings that slip and slide across each page. Impressionistic  jewels like this:

The angles, soft focus, and details work in concert to extend Barnes' words by providing images of the people and place where a Fresh Cut is most celebrated and providing an energy that works with the celebratory nature of the text.

This is a winner book.  I hope you'll take a look and find some young people to read it to.

Recommended K-4 Children's Books for Parents

A client recently asked me for book recommendations and so I passed these brochures along.  I thought I would share them on my blog.

You can download the brochures here.

For Kindergarten

For First Grade 

For Second Grade

For Third Grade

For Fourth Grade

50 Books You Can Count On

from Counting Crows

1. Anno, Mitsumasa. (1977). Anno's Counting Book. New York: Crowell.
2. Appelt, Kathy. (2015). Counting Crows. Illustrated by Rob Dunlavey. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
3. Atinuke. (2017). Baby Goes to Market. Illustrated by Angela Brooksbank. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
4. Aylesworth, Jim. (1988). One Crow: A Counting Rhyme. New York: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
5. Bang, Molly. (1996). Ten. Nine. Eight. New York: Greenwillow.
6. Baker, Keith. (2004). Quack and Count. New York: HMH Books.
7. Berkes, Marianne. (2007). Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme. Illustrated by Jeanette Canyon. CA: Dawn Publications.
8. Black, Birdie. (2017). Warthog. Illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw. Somerville, MA: Nosy Crow.
9. Blackstone, Stella. (2006). My Granny Went to the Market. Illustrated by Christopher Corr. New York: Barefoot Book.
10. Bloom, Valerie. (1997). Fruits: A Caribbean Counting Poem. Illustrated by David Axtell. New York: Henry Holt.
11. Boynton, Sandra. (1984 ). Doggies: A Counting and Barking Book. New York: Little Simon.
12. Brown, Anthony. (2013). One Gorilla. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
13. Calmenson, Stephanie. (1995). Dinner at the Panda Palace. New York: HarperCollins.
14. Carle, Eric. (1998). 1, 2, 3 To The Zoo. New York: Puffin Books.
15. Cave, Kathryn. (2003). One Child, One Seed: A South African Counting Book. Photographs by Gisèle Wulfsohn. New York: Henry Holt.
16. Clark, Emma Chichester. (2003). Mimi's Book of Counting. Charlesbridge Publisher.
17. Crews, Donald. (1975). Ten Black Dots. New York: Greenwillow.
18. Cyrus, Kurt. (2016). Billions of Bricks: A Counting Book about Building. New York: Henry Holt.
19. Dahl, Michael. (2004). On the Launch Pad: A Counting Books about Rockets. New York: Picture Window Books.
20. Edwards, Pamela Duncan. (2000). Roar! A Noisy Counting Book. Illustrated by Henry Cole. New York: Katherine Tegen Books.
21. Ehrhardt, Karen. (2015). This Jazz Man. Illustrated by R. G. Roth. New York: HMH Books.
22. Elhert, Lois. (2001). Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On. New York: HMH Books.
23. Falconer, Ian. (2002). Olivia Counts. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
24. Falwell, Cathryn. (1995). Feast for 10. New York: HMH Books.
25. Feelings, Muriel. (1992). Moja Means One: Swahili Counting Book. Illustrated by Tom Feelings. New York: Puffin Books.
26. Fleming, Denise. (2012). The First Day of Winter. New York: SquareFish.
27. Giganti, Paul. (1999). Each Orange Had 8 Slices. Illustrated by Donald Crews. New York: 
28. Golub, Matthew. ().  Ten Oni Drummers. Illustrated by Kazuko G. Stone. New York: Lee & Low Books.
29. Isadora, Rachel. (2009). Twelve Dancing Princess. New York: Penguin.
30. Isadora, Rachel. (1998). A South African Night. New York: Penguin.
31. Jackson, Ellen. (2016). Octopuses One to Ten. Illustrated by Robin Page. New York: Simon & Schuster.
32. Katz, Karen. (2003). Counting Kisses: A Kiss and Read Book. New York: Little Simon.
33. Lazar, Tara. (2017). 7 Ate 9. Illustrated by Ross Macdonald.  New York: Disney-Hyperion.
34. Lessac, Frané. (2005). Island Counting 1 2 3. London: Walker Books.
35. Lin, Grace. (2008). One is a Drummer. Illustrated by Roseanne Thong. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.
36. Luján, Jorge. (2014). Numeralia. Illustrated by Isol. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.
37. Mannis, Celeste Davidson. (2005). One Leaf Rides the Wind. New York: Puffin.
38. Merriam, Eve. (1996). Twelve Ways to Get to 11. Illustrated by Bernie Karlan. New York: Aladdin.
39. Morales, Yuyi. (2003). Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.
40. Nagara, Innosanto. (2015). Counting on Community. Berkeley, CA: Triangle.
41. Otoshi, Kathryn. (2014). Two. KO Kids Books.
42. Otoshi, Kathryn. (2010). Zero. KO Kids Books.
43. Otoshi, Kathryn. (2008). One. KO Kids Books.
44. Pinczes, Elinor J. (1999). One Hundred Hungry Ants. New York: HMH Books.
45. Root, Phyllis. (2001). One Duck Stuck. Illustrated by Jane Chapman. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
46. Sendak, Maurice. (1991). One Was Johnny. New York: HarperCollins.
47. Shannon, George. (2015). One Family. Illustrated by Blanca Gomez. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
48. Sturges, Philemon. (1997). Ten Flashing Fireflies. Illustrated by Anna Vojtech. New York: NorthSouth.
49. Thong, Roseanne. (2014). One Is a Drummer: A Book of Numbers. Illustrated by Grace Lin. 
50. Walsh, Ellen Stoll. (1995). Mouse Paint. New York: HMH Books.