Tag Archives: Rainbow Stew

Celebrating Creative Children

Cathryn FalwellCathryn Falwell has written and illustrated many award-winning books for children, among them David’s Drawings, a Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year, and Butterflies for Kiri, a “Choices” selection from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center. Her newest picture book, Rainbow Stew, was released from Lee & Low Books this spring.

I love watching kids engaged in the process of creativity. Drag out the art supplies, and most children will happily get involved on some level. For a few, though, making art is their passion. I was one of those kids, so I have a special place in my heart for them. Two of my children’s picture books for Lee & Low celebrate creative children and the importance of art in a child’s world.

Creative energy can be contagious
Our family moved many times when I was a child. Drawing was a way I connected with other children. In David’s Drawings, I made a story about a young child who makes a picture of a beautiful bare tree he saw on the way to school. His classmates notice his drawing, and are eager to contribute to the creation. Together they make a beautiful collaboration, and David makes new friends.

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Integrating Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening in Grades K-1

Katherine AliGuest BloggerKatherine Ali is a dual-certified elementary and special education teacher. She recently graduated as a literacy specialist with a Masters in Science from Manhattanville College. She has experience teaching internationally in northern China and now teaches in the Bronx, NY.

As educators, we witness the transformations of students throughout elementary school.  First graders will one day become fifth graders, while fifth graders were once first graders.  So we must think, where did our students come from? and where are they going next? Our classroom must be structured to prepare our students for the future and help them build a skillset they can bring with them.  In order to be active participants in the literate world, students must be reading, writing, speaking, and listening at all ages.

Here on the LEE & LOW blog, I’ll illustrate what it looks like to integrate reading, writing, speaking, and listening across several grade levels: K-1, 2-3, and 4-5. The natural interplay of language looks slightly different across grade levels, but the foundations and mission are the same.

Reading:  Text Complexity and the growth of comprehension

We want our students to ascend the staircase of text complexity and simultaneously sharpen their comprehension skills.  Students of all ages need to build stamina through independently reading more rigorous and complex texts.  Additionally, read-alouds allow students to access content and concepts they may not be able to decode themselves.

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A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Recipe for Rainbow Stew

Rainbow Stew cover image

Rainbow Stew, our colorful spring picture book by award-winning author/illustrator Cathryn Falwell, is out today! This one is definitely up there among our top 10 picture books in terms of sheer adorableness, I think. Exhibit A:

Rainbow Stew image

Readers will delight in the vibrant colors of this rainy day adventure, which Kirkus Reviews called “a story that positively revels in family togetherness and good food.”

To celebrate its release, we’re sharing Cathryn Falwell’s recipe from the back of the book so you can make your very own Rainbow Stew! It’s a bit of a choose-your-own-adventure kind of recipe, so you can make it lots of different ways depending on your own tastes.

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