Singing with Elephants by Margarita Engle

 

Brilliant, joyful, and deeply moving. Kirkus Star review

Publisher blurb: Cuban-born eleven-year-old Oriol lives in Santa Barbara, California, where she struggles to belong. But most of the time that’s okay, because she enjoys helping her parents care for the many injured animals at their veterinary clinic. Then Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American winner of a Nobel Prize in Literature moves to town, and aspiring writer Oriol finds herself opening up. And when she discovers that someone is threatening the life of a baby elephant at her parents’ clinic, Oriol is determined to take action. As she begins to create a world of words for herself, Oriol learns it will take courage and strength to do what she thinks is right—even if it means keeping secrets from those she loves.

The baby elephant mentioned in this blurb is a twin. An unscrupulous actor who seeks fame at any cost takes one of the two-week-old baby elephants away from its mother. Oriol is determined to find the baby. She feels the grief of the mother and remaining twin very deeply. Once she finds little Song (his sister is Dance) Oriol then needs to spring into action. She organises a petition and with the help of Gabriela Mistral letters are written to other famous actors and to the Humane society. There must be a way to save this tiny elephant and stop the cruel intentions which would force her to perform in unnatural ways. 

Here are a few text quotes to give you a flavour of this verse novel:

My bird name
musical and sweet,
is one I chose 
for myself, long ago, in Cuba
when I knew who I was
and how 
to speak.

ELEPHANT ANATOMY

Standing in front of Chandra

I'm stunned into silence.

Tree-root feet.

Half-moon toenails.

Map-of-India ears.

Paintbrush tail.

A snake-shaped nose

with forty-thousand

muscles.

Her fifty pound heart pulses with love

for her soon-to-be newborn.

She's been pregnant for twenty-two months,

due any day.

She needs to eat three hundred pounds of hay

every twenty-four houses.

When she moves

she's as graceful

as a swaying

ocean wave.

MY FUTURE IS BLURRY (extract)

Gabriela Mistral is right-

I cannot predict the future,

but I can imagine a time

when wild animals

are no longer held captive

My words and actions

have shown me what

is possible.

Maybe the will change

the whole world

someday.

You can read more text extracts here.

Add this book to your list of verse novels to share with young readers aged 10+ up to age 13. 

The book is rich with simple yet profound expressions of love, loss, heartache, and wholeness. As we learn along with Oriol, poetry is the soul’s way of singing, whether that soul is human or animal. This lesson becomes more apparent as Oriol’s connection to the animals she cares for grows stronger and stronger, in particular her relationship with a pregnant elephant named Chandra whose rhythmic sways and sounds remind her of poetry. Good Reads with Ronna

I met Margarita Engle at a USBBY conference a few years ago so when I saw this verse novel in The Little Bookroom (Melbourne bookstore) I grabbed it.

Have you heard of Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957) - the first Latin winner of a Nobel Prize for Literature? I had not heard of her but there are details at the back of Singing with elephants along with one of her poems.

"I wanted to imagine how she might have influenced a child ... so I invented a Cuban immigrant girl who loves animals and nature as much as Mistral."

"She believed children deserved kindness, and her reforms of rural education became a model for all Latin America. At the same time she became a world-famous poet, and served as a diplomat, representing the government of Chile while living in various countries. .... (She) was an influential peace activist (and one) of the founders of the League of Nationals and later UNICEF."

Awards:

• Rhode Island 2024 Children's Book Award Nominee
• Bank Street 2023 Best Children's Books
• New York Times Best Children’s Books of 2022
• Kirkus Best Middle Grade Books 2022
• School Library Journal-26 MG Books for Latinx Heritage Month 2022
• Nerdies Award, 2022
• Cybils Award Finalist
• School Library Journal Mock Newbery Suggestions
• Kirkus Starred Review
• Junior Library Guild Selection
• New York Times review
• NPR Morning Edition interview
• Publishers Weekly starred review

Margarita Engle is the author of these (Summer Birds is a firm favourite of mine).

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser

The Vanderbeeker family (Dad, Mum, twins Isa and Jessie aged 12, Oliver aged 9, Hyacinth aged 6, Laney aged 4 and their three pets) live in a brownstone on 141st Street Harlem. The family love their apartment home. On the floor above live Miss Josie and Mr Jeet an older couple who have formed a close relationship with the family. On the top floor lives the landlord - Mr Beiderman. He is a reclusive and angry man so the children have to work hard not to make too much noise in certain parts of the building. It is only five days until Christmas and this should be a very happy time of preparations and presents but instead everyone is sad and distressed because Mr Beiderman has told the family he will not renew their lease and they must leave their home by the end of December.

It is time for action. The children meet and make plans. They devise a series of different ways to make Mr Beiderman, or the Beetleman as little Laney calls him, change his mind. 

I loved the problem solving in this story and the team work and the strong sense of community. I also loved the way each of the children have very different personalities and different skills/strengths. Here are some text quotes to give you a flavour of this book:

"The Vanderbeeker kids glanced around at their home, a brownstone in Harlem, New York City. It consisted of the basement; a ground floor with a living room that flowed into an open kitchen, a bathroom, and a laundry room; and a first floor with three bedrooms, a walk-in-closet-turned-bedroom where Oliver lived, and another bathroom, all lined up in a row. ... 'We've lived here most of our lives ... It's the perfect home."

"The kids exhibited an eclectic mix of  physical characteristics and loved comparing which traits they got from what parent. Isa inherited her mother's stick-straight black hair, which Isa always wore in a sleek ponytail or an elegant French braid, while her twin Jessie had Papa's wild, untamable hair, which she never bothered to do anything with. Oliver had Papa's unruly hair but Mama's dark eyes. Hyacinth got Mama's nimble fingers but Papa's large feet. Laney was an exact blend of both of her parents ..."

"So I've been thinking ... that the key to winning the Beiderman over is to play to our strengths."

Hyacinth is crafty, Isa is a musician (violin), Jessie is a scientist, Oliver is a thinker and Laney gives fabulous hugs! Laney is my favourite character and I also want to eat some of the delicious cookies mentioned in the story and the bakery goods from Castleman's Bakery especially those cheese croissants. 

"The kids transferred the remains from the morning's coffeepot into the teapot; then Oliver dumped three generous spoonfuls of sugar into it and Isa added milk. After Jessie stirred it, Isa placed the teapot on the tray and Hyacinth artfully arranged the pastries from Laney's bag. To their knowledge, the Beiderman had never experienced the joy of breakfast in bed, and they were certain that Oliver's excellent idea would win him over."

This plan ends in a disaster - I just exclaimed out loud when the precious teapot tipped off the tray and shattered outside Mr Beiderman's closed door.

I do enjoy books that include maps:

Image Source: Illustrator Jennifer Thermes

I am very late coming to this book as it was published in 2017. I kept seeing this book mentioned in book lists and blog posts but I wondered if it was just too "New York" for an Australian reader. It is not - this is a fabulous book for ANY reader. I read the whole book, 293 pages, in one sitting. An Australian child will have no idea about a brownstone but you can see this architecture on the cover and there are terrific line drawings by the author inside the book too. Oddly Ms Yingling did not enjoy this book. You can read her plot summary and comments here. 

A heartwarming story about family and community that will appeal to readers who also enjoy an old-fashioned feel. Kirkus

This debut novel reads like a joyous, heartwarming Hallmark movie. The conclusion seems inevitable, but the journey will fill listeners' minds with unique pictures of a loving family. School Library Journal audio book review

Here is something fun - a character interview by Karina Yan Glaser with her character Oliver. Here is an audio sample.

Awards:

• - A New York Times Notable Children's Book
• - A Junior Library Guild Selection
• - An American Bookseller's Association Kids' Indie Next List Title
• - A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Children's Fiction Book
• - A Southern Living Best Children's Book
• - A Nerdy Book Club Award Winner
• - A Massachusetts Children’s Book Award Finalist
• - A Georgia Children’s Book Award Finalist
• - A Bank Street Children's Book of the Year Selection

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street was a debut novel for Karina Yan Glaser. There are now six books in the series. The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street; The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden; The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue; The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found; The Vanderbeekers Make a Wish; and The Vanderbeekers on the Road.

The Vanderbeekers reminded me of the Hazel Green book series by Odo Hirsch and also View from the 32nd Floor which is a book I often think about and wish with all my heart had a better cover!

The last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary by Laura Shovan

This novel in verse is a remarkable feat of mimicry. 

The poems sound exactly like they were written by real fifth-graders. Kirkus

August 27
First Day
Rachel Chieko Stein

We only have 180 days
at Emerson Elementary.
When this school year ends,
I will have spent
one thousand days
in this building.
I want a thousand more
so I'll never have to say
goodbye to friends
like Sydney and Katie.
I wish Emerson
could be my school forever,
but everyone is talking about a plan
to tear the building down.


You already know that I adore verse novels so I was excited to begin reading the Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary. I read the whole book in one sitting - yes it is THAT good.

There are 18 kids in this fifth grade class. You might need to explain to an Australian audience that at this school elementary ends with fifth grade and next year these kids will head off to Middle School. This should be an exciting time which culminates in a special ceremony as the fifth graders are clapped along the corridor to the Middle School next door but the school board have decided to sell the old school building and hence the title. Yes this group are indeed the last fifth grade.

The teacher gives every student a notebook where they write poems every day. (There are notes about the poetry forms at the back of the book along with some writing prompts). These poems will go into a time capsule. The plan is to building shopping centre to replace the school so I imagine this time capsule will be placed in the walls of the new supermarket.

Laura Shovan uses poems from each child as a way to share the class journey over the whole year and along the way we also learn so much each individual.   If you have read Because of Mr Terupt you will recognise this concept. And if you have read The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary you know how to follow a book with multiple voices. I found the little illustrations were a great help but I also need to keep flipping back and forth just to catch up on the back story of each child.

The class are studying the US Bill of Rights. It seems obvious they need to present the school board with a petition.

October 24
Speaking my Mind (an extract)
Rennie Rawlins

Maybe it's true
a bunch of fifth graders
have no say in what happens
to our school, but
in fifth grade we're supposed to be
studying democracy
and constitutional rights,
right?
Well, I already know
the First Amendment
is the right to free speech.


Now read on. Here is the poem from the 20th February by Edgar entitled Bad News:

The bad news is, our petition failed.
The Board won't ever know
some fifth graders wanted to save Emerson.

Wait a minute - this is not a spoiler because it is only 20th February.  The US school year runs from August 25th to June 9th. This group of kids are not going to take no for an answer.

Donalyn Miller loved this book - read her review for the Nerdy Book Club.

Here are the publisher's teaching notes. Poetry for Children  also have a teaching ideas page. Here is a review with more plot details.  Here is an interesting podast interview with the author Laura Shovan.   You can see inside this book on the publisher website. In an Australian classroom you could pair this book with Troy Thompson's Excellent Peotry (Poetry) Book.

Listen to an Audio sample which has been made with multiple voices. This might be a useful way to share this  book with a class.


We meet 18 diverse, distinctive, quirky, totally believable kids navigating the changes that come with friendships old and new, first crushes, and other relatable challenges such as divorce and step families, death and illness of family members, being the new kid, homelessness, assimilation and identity. Jama's Alphabet Soup