Best Selling Books by Toni Buzzeo

Playing on the phrase, The author and you, a commonly taught reading comprehension strategy that teaches the learner how to look at the words of an author and make inferences about what is being said, this series assists teachers and teacher-librarians in understanding the underlying purposes of the author as they prepare learning activities for their students. Through family photos, reminiscences, anecdotes and stories, Toni Buzzeo relates her lifelong preparation to become a writer. The book features wonderful insights into the creation of her picture books for children and interesting creative lesson activities to use with students. The series focuses primarily on books for the elementary age child (K-6), featuring insights into the author''s background, purposes and goals in writing books. By furnishing an overview of the author''s works, the books in the series give teachers the big picture. Each book features personal information about the author, including insights into why this author has chosen to write in a specific genre plus lesson plans and/or activities for each of the author''s books featured. These lessons will stress the particular interest of the author and the author and you (the teacher) will build a collaborative instructional relationship using the material provided. Each book is written by the featured author or in close collaboration with the author. Using family photographs, reminiscences, anecdotes and stories, Toni Buzzeo relates her lifelong preparation to become a writer. The book features wonderful insights into the creation of her picture books for children and interesting creative lesson activities to use with students. Grades K-6.

Cora Mae Tipton is determined to light up her Appalachian community in this historical fiction novel from an award-winning author and former librarian. It’s 1937 and the government is pushing to bring electricity to the mountains of southeastern Kentucky. It’s all Cora can think of; radios with news from around the world, machines that keep food cold, lightbulbs by which to read at night! Cora figures she can help spread the word by starting a school newspaper and convincing her neighbors to support the Rural Electrification Act. But resistance to change isn’t easy to overcome, especially when it starts at home. Cora’s mother is a fierce opponent of electrification. She argues that protecting the landscape of the holler—the trees, the streams, the land that provides for their way of life—is their responsibility. But Cora just can’t let go of wanting more. Lyrical, literary, and deeply heartfelt, this debut novel from an award-winning author-librarian speaks to family, friendship, and loss through the spirited perspective of a girl eager for an electrified existence, but most of all, the light of her mother’s love and acceptance. Back matter includes an Author’s Note; further information on the Rural Electrification Act, the herbs and plants of Appalachia, the Pack Horse Library Project, and more; and a “Quick Questions” historical trivia section for readers. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

From the author of the 2013 Caldecott Honor Book, ONE COOL FRIEND! Annie Grace wears her "Adventure Annie" cape to her first day of kindergarten, and proceeds to barrel through the day, searching for adventure in every moment. Her interpretation of the class''s Gold Star Rules isn''t exactly what her teacher, Mr. Todd, had in mind. But somehow Annie does manage to save the day when two of her classmates get lost on their way to retrieve the afternoon snack. Spirited and funny, this is an introduction to kindergarten that will please kids and teachers alike.

When she goes to work with her mother on a Saturday, Adventure Girl uses her own special methods to help find a missing report.

Patty Lee and Carmen Rosa Peña compete to be the top reader in the fourth grade and earn the right to wear the dragon costume in the Read Across America Day parade.

This warm, genuine tale of fatherly guidance and support is just right for Father''s Day--or any day when a young reader is on the verge of learning a new skill. Full color.

With lyrical (and factual!) text by Caldecott Honor winner and New York Times bestselling author Toni Buzzeo, and the stylized art of Tom Froese, Whose Boat? is a sturdy board book that''s perfect for curious and playful young readers. Smoke billows up. Cool water flows. Whose boat is that? Do you know? This nonfiction ode to boats features six kinds of workers and their boats—a patrol boat, a tugboat, a car ferry, a lobster boat, a lifeboat, and a fireboat—with important parts properly labeled. The answer to each inquiring refrain lies under a gatefold, engaging the reader in an informative guessing game. Whose Tools? Whose Truck? Whose Big Rig? Whose Boat?

Empower backseat passengers to become informed backseat drivers with this road sign decoder featuring 35 shaped road signs! From road signs around the neighborhood, like "School Crossing" and "Playground," to signs you zoom past on the highway, this hefty reference board book highlights and explains 35 road and highway signs for the youngest readers on the go. The shaped pages make each sign tactilely memorable, and the carefully crafted one-sentence explanations will easily guide young readers as they contextualize the world that zips past their backseat windows.

Mama Duck tries to keep Dawdle Duckling together with his siblings, but he wants to dawdle and dream, preen and play, splash and spin.

A young girl listens as her great-aunt, a lighthouse keeper''s daughter, tells of her childhood living on a Maine island, and of the infant that washed ashore after a storm.

After a few tries and with some help from friends, Dawdle Duckling finds the best way to hide while playing hide-and-seek with his mother and siblings.

Little Tembo, a baby elephant, is thirsty and her herd cannot find any water. But Bibi, the matriarch, "remembers the way to wet." As Bibi leads them across the parched savannah, Tembo happily follows, every now and then getting distracted by her own memories of games she loves to play. With touching family moments interspersed between Tembo''s playful actions, this tribute to grandmothers will make a perfect read-aloud. Praise for Stay Close to Mama "Readers and their parents will instantly see themselves in this loving but ongoing conflict over the need to explore and the need to protect, and they''ll undoubtedly find the two characters adorable and reassuring."

Twenty-five different foods, grouped by color, are nutritionally decoded in this reference book for the preschool set. From grapes to beets and oatmeal to cashews, this reference book highlights and explains the benefits of 25 fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains, each grouped into color categories and presented with the mind and body benefits they offer. Carefully crafted one-sentence explanations from author Toni Buzzeo provide the perfect amount of information for the preschool audience, and illustrator Serge Bloch’s charming and humorous art make this an entertaining and uniquely appetizing reference book of food facts.

2013 Caldecott Honor Book. From New York Times bestselling author Toni Buzzeo and Caldecott Medal winning illustrator David Small, comes a cool tale about an unlikely friendship. On a spontaneous visit to the aquarium, straight-laced and proper Elliot discovers his dream pet: a penguin. When he asks his father if he may have one (please and thank you), his father says yes. Elliot should have realized that Dad was probably thinking of a toy penguin, not a real one… Clever illustrations and a wild surprise ending make this sly, silly tale a kid-pleaser from start to finish.

A kind and generous grandparent-grandchild duo nourishes their neighborhood in this full-color picture book from New York Times bestselling author Toni Buzzeo and illustrator Zara González Hoang. Pa and his grandchild, Jelly Bean, have a sidewalk library filled with stories. Anyone can bring donations or take something to read. Jelly Bean loves the sidewalk library! But what about when their neighbors might need something more than books? Together, Pa and Jelly Bean build a sidewalk pantry right next to the sidewalk library. They get donations from neighbors who have a lot to give, and leave the doors open for those who may not have enough. This charming multigenerational story celebrates community, generosity, and creative problem-solving.

These standards-based, easy-to-follow collaborative lessons will not only build a strong bridge between the school library and the classroom, but will help educators help students improve their skills and scores. Written for elementary school library media specialists and their K-2 teaching partners, this book coaches readers on methods to meet student literacy standards. In this balanced literacy age, collaboration is a perfect means to address national, state, and local literacy standards.

From a very young age, Sue Hendrickson was meant to find things: lost coins, perfume bottles, even hidden treasure. Her endless curiosity eventually led to her career in diving and paleontology, where she would continue to find things big and small. In 1990, at a dig in South Dakota, Sue made her biggest discovery to date: Sue the T. rex, the largest and most complete T. rex skeleton ever unearthed. Named in Sue’s honor, Sue the T. rex would be placed on permanent exhibition at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. When Sue Found Sue inspires readers to take a closer look at the world around them and to never lose their brave, adventurous spirits.

Exciting, productive connections with authors, illustrators, and storytellers are at your fingertips with this resource. Unlike other author visit guides, this book goes beyond nuts-and-bolts planning to how to create the best possible encounters between students and authors. Successful visits in real space and in cyberspace are described, giving you specific ideas of the many ways to connect with and create meaningful links between bookpeople and children. Choosing the right guest, guidelines for successful visits, making curriculum connections, using e-mail to connect with bookpeople, live chats in virtual space, taking advantage of ITB and satellite technology, and using such props as realia and curriculum guides are some of the topics covered. Lists of author/illustrator web pages and managed Internet sites for author interaction are included.

A science and nature biography of Cynthia Moss, the elephant expert, by the author of Caldecott Honor book One Cool Friend Cynthia Moss was never afraid of BIG things. As a kid, she loved to ride through the countryside on her tall horse. She loved to visit faraway places. And she especially loved to learn about nature and the world around her. So when Cynthia traveled to Africa and met the world’s most ENORMOUS land animal, the African elephant, at Amboseli National Park in Kenya, she knew she had found her life’s work. Cynthia has spent years learning everything she can about elephants and sharing these fascinating creatures with the world. She is a scientist, nature photographer, and animal-rights activist, fighting against the ivory poachers who kill so many elephants for their tusks. This lyrical and accessible picture book gives kids a glimpse of what scientists do in the real world and inspires them to dream of accomplishing BIG things.