Well, I’m a little late for my morning post today, but better late than never! Today’s theme is “2-way stories” – one can be read back to front; the other side by side – and both are unique and surprising!
The first is A Long Way Away by Frank Viva, author of Along a Long Road. (Which, it just occurred to me, would be a great addition to my previous post about bicycle books!) A Long Way Away is a book you may need to read a few times to fully understand and appreciate. When read one way, it tells the story of an alien child who leaves his family, goes down to Earth and then down, down to the depth of the ocean; when read the other way, the alien child begins on the ocean floor and journeys back up to space to be with his family. As you read the book in a different direction, you will notice the mood changing. (back up to space is definitely happier!)
I have never read a book quite like this one and think it will be a big hit with many kids. Once children understand how the book is designed, I can see them wanting to read it over and over.
![8036479[1]](http://adriennegear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/80364791.jpg)
Mirror, by Jeannie Baker, (author of Where the Forest Meets the Sea) is a book I have shared at many workshops. This ingenious wordless picture book follows the parallel lives of two families; one family from an urban setting in Australia; the other from a remote village in Morocco. The book is designed to be read side by side. As you turn the pages simultaneously, you journey through the daily routines of each family and are invited to compare their seemingly different cultures, surroundings and daily routines. But there are more similarities than at first appear and as the two stories unfold, the families are unexpectedly connected. The illustrations are extremely detailed and tell the story exquisitely. I have used this book many times with intermediate classes to practice inferring. It is also an effective way to introduce similarities and differences in culture.
Whichever way you read these two books – side by side or back to front – you won’t be disappointed!
Hi Adrienne,
I think your books are wonderful, I bought the Reading Power and Nonfiction Reading Power years ago. I wish that people who have already purchased your materials did not have to pay for updates. Many authors, on TPT, allow you to download updates for free. It would be great to access to the BLMs on PDF or Word, however, I don’t think there should be an additional cost for that.
Thank you for your consideration,
Alyson –
I appreciate your comment and will certainly pass it along to my publisher. They had concerns that the free down-loads could potentially affect sales of the books but I agree with you- if you have already purchased the books, you should be able to access the additional material for free. Because they are now available in a word document, rather than a PDF file, the intent is that the purchaser is then able to personalize the templates for their own specific needs. The other intent is that once a school has purchased a bundle, they are free to copy and share it with other colleagues.
Again, I appreciate your support and your thoughts.