Booking Across the USA: Graham Salisbury's Calvin Coconut Series (Hawaii)

About Booking Across the USA

Today I'm participating in Booking Across the USA! This year, we're highlighting authors and illustrators from all 50 states. The other participants this year are edSnapshots, Incredibly Confident Kids, Child Led Life, Crayonbox Learning, Enchanted Homeschooling Mom, The Educators' Spin On It, The Art Curator for Kids, My Little Me, Kathys Cluttered Mind, True Aim, The Jenny Evolution, Primary Inspired, KC Edventures, Chicken Babies, Mosswood Connections, Country Fun Childcare, Picture Books & Piourettes, Mama Smiles, Buggy and Buddy, Wise Owl Factory, Bambini Travel, Inspiration Laboratories , Kids Yoga Stories, Elementary Matters, Just Another Mom, Teaching With Grace, All Done Monkey, Something 2 Offer, ALLterNATIVE Learning, Cutting Tiny Bites, JDaniel4's Mom, Living Montessori Now, Pragmatic Mom, Kid World Citizen, Teach Beside Me, Kitchen Floor Crafts, Mama Miss, A Book Long Enough, and Brain Power Boy. 

I have claimed the state of Hawaii so that I can spotlight one of my favorite chapter book authors, Graham Salisbury.

About Graham Salisbury

Though Graham Salisbury was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, members of his family have lived in Hawaii dating back to the 1800s. Graham spent his own childhood in Kailua, Oahu, and he attended Hawaii Preparatory Academy in Kamuela. He now lives in Oregon, but has said that being away from Hawaii "makes it all the more enticing"  and that the state is "rich and exotic and full of stuff to write about." His love for Hawaii is evident in all of his books, but perhaps most of all in his chapter book series about Calvin Coconut.

About Calvin Coconut 

Calvin is a mischievous fourth grader who lives with his single mother, younger sister, and his mother's live-in teenage helper, Stella. His father is a famous singer named Little Johnny Coconut whom Calvin rarely gets to see, but he has a good relationship with his mother's boyfriend, Ledward. In the nine books of the series, Calvin gets into a fair amount of trouble as he investigates why his dog smells, tries to figure out how to negotiate with bullies like Frankie Diamond, works on respecting and getting along with girls, and even has the chance to be in a movie and save a friend's life. Calvin is himself an irresistible character, but his books are made that much more appealing by the descriptions of Hawaii's beaches and the way Salisbury incorporates pidgin English and Hawaiian phrases into each story.

List of Calvin Coconut Books

There are nine books in the Calvin Coconut series (links are to my reviews):

1. Trouble Magnet (2009)
2. Zippy Fix (2009)
3. Dog Heaven (2010)
4. Zoo Breath (2010)
5. Hero of Hawaii (2011)
6. Kung Fooey (2011)
7. Man Trip (2012)
8. Rocket Ride (2012)
9. Extra Famous (2013)

About Hawaiian Lingo Bingo  

This fun game is designed to teach elementary readers the meanings of some of Calvin's Hawaiian words and phrases, including 'ukus (lice), obake (ghost), and hamajang (all mixed up.) There are five bingo cards with words filled in, and one blank card which can be customized to include any vocabulary you want to focus on with your kids. Also provided is the call sheet, which gives the English definition for each word, and a set of markers shaped like leis. 

To play: 

• Distribute a Bingo card to each child.
• Cut apart the call sheet and toss the words into a basket face down.
• Choose a word from the basket and call it out. 
• Have the children mark it on their cards using the lei markers. 
• The first child to reach three words in a row, either across, down, or diagonally, wins. 

Variation #1: Call out the English words and have the children locate the correct Hawaiian words.

Variation #2: Make the game more challenging by having the children fill the whole card to win. 

Downloads

Each of the printables required to play this game is available for download from the following links: 

Blank Bingo Card

Pre-Printed Bingo Cards

Call Sheet

Markers

References

• Information about Graham Salisbury used in this post came from the following sources: 
• Interview with Children's and YA Author Graham Salisbury from cynthialeitichsmith.com
• Graham Salisbury's Printable Author Bio from Random House Children's Books

• Clip art images used in the printables came from Clker.com and ClipartPanda.com: 
• Lei
• Hibiscus
• Coconut

To see activities for all 50 States, visit the Booking Across the USA page at Growing Book by Book. Visit Graham Salisbury online at GrahamSalisbury.com

Every Hero Has a Story: Picture Book Reading List

This year's summer reading theme is all about heroes! Get your youngest readers into the spirit with these great picture books, organized into four heroic categories.

Superheroes

• Princess Super Kitty by Antoinette Portis
  A little girl named Maggie uses her imagination to transform herself into the feline superhero Princess Super Kitty.
• Question Boy Meets Little Miss Know-It-All by Peter Catalanotto
  A boy who has the ability to ask question after question meets his match in a little girl who seems to have an answer for everything.
• Superhero ABC by Bob McLeod
  A series of silly superheroes illustrates the letters of the alphabet and their sounds.
• Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy by David Soman and Jacky Davis
  Preschooler friends Lulu and Sam become Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy and save the playground from imaginary enemies.
• Super Hair-o and the Barber of Doom by John Rocco
  Rocco is convinced his hair provides him with superpowers, so the prospect of a haircut is worrisome.
  

Heroes in History

• Heroes of the Surf by Elisa Carbone and Nancy Carpenter
  When a steamship runs aground in 1882 New Jersey, two boys and many other passengers are saved by heroic surfmen.
• Bill the Boy Wonder by Marc Tyler Nobleman
  This picture book biography tells the story of Bill Finger, the real creator of Batman, who was never given proper credit during his lifetime.
• This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt and R.G. Roth
  This singable picture book celebrates great men in jazz history.
• John, Paul, George, and Ben by Lane Smith
  A silly and irreverent look at the childhoods of famous Americans John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin. 

Community Heroes

• Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco
  Author-illustrator Patricia Polacco pays tribute to the special teacher who helped her discover that she had dyslexia.
   
• The Impossible Patriotism Project by Linda Skeers and Ard Hoyt
  When Caleb is assigned to make something that will demonstrate the meaning of patriotism, he ends up creating a tribute to his father's service in the armed forces.
• This is the Firefighter by Laura Godwin and Julian Hector
  Simple rhyming text describes the work of a firefighter.
• Police Officers on Patrol by Kersten Hamilton and R.W. Alley
  When people need help, male and female police officers are ready to "rock and roll!"
  

Animal Heroes

• Madeline’s Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans
  Beloved French schoolgirl Madeline is saved from drowning by a dog named Genevieve.
• Swimmy by Leo Lionni
  After watching his own friends get eaten by a larger fish, a little black fish named Swimmy helps a group of red fish escape a similar fate.
• Pretzel by Margret Ray and H.A. Rey
  In this classic picture book, Pretzel, a very long dachsund, rescues a female dachsund who has previously disdained his length.
• Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
  A lively dog named Gloria helps add some excitement to Officer Buckle's otherwise dull safety presentations. 

Early Literacy Around the House: The Backyard

It truly is possible to have fun and learn something at the same time right in your own backyard. Next time you're in the backyard (or at a park with a big yard or field) with your preschoolers and beginning readers, try some of these simple literacy activities.

• Act out verbs. I always use a "bag of verbs" in my beginning reader story times. Each child takes a turn selecting a word from the bag (or basket, or jar, or whatever) and we all act it out together as a group. Doing this activity outside expands the possibilities. Kids can not only sit, stand, and turn around; they can also do a somersault, hop on one foot, run like a rabbit, or kick like a ninja (without hurting anyone else.)
• Put on a skit.  Backyards (and back porches, and front stoops, and driveways...) make excellent stages. Help your kids write or memorize a short skit, and then have them perform it for your family or even some of the neighbors. If you're feeling especially fancy, add costumes, scenery and props made from household objects. 
• Play with a “Magic Ball.” In this game, the leader names an adjective (heavy, sticky, cold, hot, light, etc.) then the children pass a ball around a circle, acting as though that adjective applies to the ball. This is a great way to expand kids' vocabularies to include more interesting describing words. (Credit for this idea goes to Mass Literacy.)
• Play yard games with a verbal component.  Games which involve giving and following directions and asking questions help kids to develop speaking and listening skills, which in turn lead to better reading skills. Here are just a few suggestions, with links to instructions on how to play. 
• Red Rover
• The Farmer in the Dell
• Mother May I?
• Fishy Fishy Cross My Ocean
• What Time is it, Mr. Fox?
• Witch in the Well
• Pies

Flannel Friday: One Brave Firefighter (Every Hero Has a Story)

Coming up on two years ago, I wrote an original rhyming flannel board story about firefighters for a community helpers story time. In my post about the session, I promised to share the flannel board on an upcoming Flannel Friday and then got busy and forgot all about it. When I started thinking about what I could contribute to the summer reading round-up,  I realized that story would be the perfect fit. It's called One Brave Firefighter, and it goes like this. (If you repost the story, please credit me - thanks!)

One brave firefighter putting out the fire.

Swoosh goes the water... 

...but the flames climb higher.

The firefighter calls for a friend with a shout.

“Help me put this fire out!”

Two brave firefighters putting out the fire.

Swoosh, swoosh goes the water...

...but the flames climb even higher!

The firefighters call for a friend with a shout.

“Help us put this fire out!”

Three brave firefighters putting out the fire.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh goes the water...

...but the flames climb even higher!

The firefighters call for a friend with a shout.

“Help us put this fire out!”

Four brave firefighters putting out the fire.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh goes the water...

and the flames stop climbing higher.

The firefighters clap their hands and shout,

“Hooray, we put the fire out!”

Flannel Friday is hosted this week by Miss Meg's Storytime. For more about Flannel Friday, visit the official website.