Last Stop on "Finding Treasure" Blog Tour + Giveaway

Are you a collector?

If so, sit back and enjoy a peek into Michelle Schaub's delightful poetry book, FINDING TREASURE-A Collection of Collections, published by Charlesbridge on September 19th and creatively illustrated by Carmen Saldana. 

FINDING TREASURE takes the reader on a journey of discovery. The main character, an elementary child, is faced with a dilemma-how to destress about her upcoming show-and-tell assignment. In the first poem, My Collection Conundrum, the little girl worries about her homework that has the rest of the class excited. Carefully observe the illustration to see how accurately Carmen Saldana portrayed this scene.

What will our main character do? Through a series of clever rhyming poems, the story unfolds. The little girl visits different family members to find out what each one collects. Different perspectives are provided and one that tickled my fancy was Sissy's Snow Globes As a child, I loved to hold my Nonnie's snow globe and watch the flakes softly fall after each shake. I passed on my love for snow globes to my children and last Christmas to my granddaughter who received her mother's childhood snow globe. Sierra at age 1 1/2 years then was fascinated as she watched the "lacy flakes whirl and twirl". 

Michelle's poem not only beautifully describes Sissy's snow globes but organizes her thoughts as if they were falling like snowflakes. In addition, the alliteration and rhyme scheme, create a memorable stand-alone poem that works well within the storyline.  

Another poem children will enjoy reading is Auntie Kate's Vanity PL8TS. Even adults will like to decode the vanity license plates on the wall. I had fun deciphering the plates Michelle shared. I wanted to add my vanity plate, ELA READ,  that I designed when I became a districtwide director of literacy but unfortunately it does not fit the rhyme scheme. This poem is a clever one.

The main character visits other people beyond her family to check out their collections. Her friend Meg has a black and white menagerie of collectibles. Her neighbor Rogers has a yard full of birdhouses and the mail carrier cache is an interesting collection that I did not figure out until the end of the poem.  Lastly, when I read Collecting Star?, I paused to savor the beauty of the illustration and the thought of sparks of starlight dancing in the sky.  

When finished reading the poem, I paused to create a found poem based on Michelle's poem, Collecting Stars? as per a challenge posed by Matt Forrest Esenwine, the host of the first stop on the FINDING TREASURE's Online Blog Tour.  Below is my "found poem" using words from the above poem. I added a twist to the challenge-a shape poem.)

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The

starlight 

dance begins.

Darkness deepens;

embers flash and grow,

dancing inside a glass jar.

I quietly watch with glee.

Moments of pleasure

float freely like my

thoughts into the

indigo sky.

©CV, 2019

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Looking at the author's craft, I see that Michelle has used multiple poetic formats throughout her book: list poem, two-voice poem, haiku sequence, question poem, and others I have not played with yet: rondeau, double-dactyl, and counting poem. The fun of Michelle's book is not just in the illustrations or the storyline but in the power of the read aloud. Each poem provides a lyrical look at a child's journey to find her own collection for the class assignment. The last poem, My Treasure Found, shares the little girl's joy at knowing that she had a collection after all. You will just have to read the book to find out what collection the little girl shares with her class.

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From an educator's perspective, I was especially excited that Michelle brought the love of language into focus. Within the eighteen poems in the book, I found a plethora of challenging words that Michelle used to play with language. With Word Art, I created an image filled with the words I collected from the poems. Bringing attention to these words would make for an interesting follow-up activity and a great word wall of complex vocabulary for use when writing. 

"I like to say that poetry is literacy's superfood. It 's packed with rich content in a concise package." - Michelle Schaub via Maria Marshall's The Picture Book Buzz - Interview with Michelle Schaub.

As both a teacher and an author, Michelle understands children and while writing FINDING TREASURE certainly packed a school box of sights, sounds, and content for her readers to delve into and enjoy. 

Keeping the craft of experimenting with language at the forefront, I asked Michelle one question. "Was it your purpose in writing this book to acquaint your young readers with challenging words to build their vocabulary?" 

"As far as my purpose in writing FINDING TREASURE, I definitely had vocabulary acquisition in mind. I talk a lot about poetry's power to boost vocabulary on my blog and when I do school visits."

In addition to her writers' craft and cleverness in unfolding a story, Michelle's website is filled with other treasures that educators would enjoy perusing and using.

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You can access the Educator's Guide here. 

Michelle also has a delightful Story Hour Kit that teachers, librarians, and parents can download here for hours of fun. Children and parents would also like to watch the charming Finding Treasure Book Trailer by clicking on the title of the trailer or the image below.

What's new with Michelle Schaub?

There is a new feature on Michelle's website, a Poetry Boost tab. It shares strategies for using poetry in the classroom. I believe educators and parents will enjoy this section as much as I did. When I tweeted Michelle about hernew resource, she responded immediately. 

"I'm really hoping my blog gives teachers new ideas for boosting literacy with kidlit poetry."

Using poetry to boost literacy.

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Are you ready for the Giveaway?

Leave a comment below. A random winner will win a personalized copy of FINDING TREASURE. The deadline for all residents of the United States and Canada is at the end of the holiday weekend, Monday night, October 13th. Thank you Charlesburgh for offering a copy of Michelle Schaub's amazing FINDING TREASURE - A Collection of Collections.

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It is Poetry Friday time now with Catherine Flynn, our host. I hope you join me at her blog site, Reading to the Core, for poetry goodness.