The Stranger

By Chris Van Allsburg

Houghton Mifflin Company

1986

AR 3.7, Lexile 640

The Widow’s Broom

By Chris Van Allsburg

Houghton Mifflin Company

1992

AR 4.7, Lexile 810

Today my husband and I went on a hike at our local arboretum. We love to go there every October to wander the trails and take pictures of the amazing trees. However, a few years ago after we waited 45 minutes on a weekend just to get through the gate and then more time searching for a parking space, we told ourselves that perhaps we would skip our fall hikes at the arboretum until we retired. We reassured ourselves that we would continue to go there throughout the year for the trails and the peacefulness which leads one to believe that you’re really out in the country, just not in October. Well this year is different! One of the perks of being retired is that we can go to the arboretum during the week! It was amazing. It was so peaceful. We were both taking pictures and constantly remarking about the beauty in the forests. I was thankful to be outside and to spend time with my husband in the midst of the splendor of the trees. I was thinking, maybe this retirement idea might work after all (I’ve had my doubts)!

As we hiked, I began to think of the books I most loved sharing with my classes in October. With less than one week remaining until Halloween I thought of my definite favorite, The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg. I’m sure you’re familiar with some of Van Allsburg’s other books, such as The Polar Express and Jumangi (both Caldecott winners), but he has written many other picture books as well. His books have amazing illustrations, as well as mysterious and intriguing stories. They sometimes have black and white charcoal pencil illustrations, but other times the illustrations are pastels. When asked why this is, Mr. Van Allsburg explains in his online biography (http://hmhbooks.com/chrisvanallsburg/faqs.html) that he always imagines all of his stories before he begins and sometimes the pictures are black and white and other times color. He’s not certain why this is, but this is how he works!

In The Stranger Farmer Bailey hits a man with his car and then takes him home to recuperate. The farmer’s family becomes very fond of the stranger, as his stay stretches into weeks, because the stranger has no idea who he is or where he came from. At the same time, Farmer Bailey realizes that fall is not arriving as it should. It had begun to come, but now it seems like summer. Chris Van Allsburg skims back and forth across the lines of reality and fiction, as the mysterious events continue. His illustrations almost come alive, although the story is a fantasy. These draw the reader into the story and lead to many questions. For example,  Why is the doctor’s thermometer stuck on zero? Why do the rabbits run toward the stranger, rather than away from him? Why are the farm trees green when the surrounding trees have turned orange?

I also loved to share Van Allsburg’s The Widows Broom. It is another mysterious story perfect for Halloween. In this story, a witch’s broom loses the power to fly, so it is abandoned in a widow’s field. The widow retrieves it and brings it into her home. The next day she is amazed to awaken and see the broom sweeping her floors and helping with many other chores. She even plays the piano for the widow during the long evenings. However, her neighbors are very suspicious of the broom and its intentions. This leads to a great ending with a wonderful twist.

I encourage you to explore all of Chris Van Allsburg’s books. Although they are picture books, children of all ages, as well as adults will be fascinated by his stories and amazed at the illustrations. Be sure, too, to visit his website, http://hmhbooks.com/chrisvanallsburg/index.html. And learn why Chris Van Allsburg says:

“The idea of the extraordinary happening in the context

of the ordinary is what’s fascinating to me.” Chris Van Allsburg

Hi! I’m Susan, a wife, a mom and a recently retired elementary school librarian with 22 years of experience. You may be wondering what brought me to the decision to write a blog about kids’ books. It all began about a year ago during a conversation with my brother during our annual reunion at Thanksgiving. We were talking about my upcoming retirement in June of 2015 and I was admitting to feeling a little panicky about what I would do (actually a lot of panic was already setting in!). You see, I’ve always worked with children and books since I graduated from Purdue in 1973 and I’ve always loved seeing the light go on in children’s eyes when they begin to learn to read. I believe a big part of that is making sure the kids have the right book. Because of that belief, 22 years ago I made a decision to accept an elementary school librarian job (my second major at Purdue) in Naperville, IL, and it proved to be one of the best decisions I ever made!  Through the years, I was able to help children find a perfect book or author, time and time again and I was always rewarded with big smiles and that light in their eyes. I don’t want to walk away from that joy. I may not be able to see the light in your child’s eyes, but I’m hoping you’ll share their joy with me, if one of my blogs leads them to find the perfect book for them.

Well, it turns out that writing a blog is a little harder than I expected! It has taken lots of thought, lots of support and lots of help from my husband, my two sons, my nieces, my nephews and my siblings. But thanks to all of them, I’m finally doing it! My goal is to write at least one post a week. These postings may include my thoughts about a series you might not be familiar with or had forgotten about, my suggestions about new books, both fiction and nonfiction, as well as low reading level/high interest level fiction books. In addition I hope to share my suggestions about tips and techniques for parents to use as they read aloud or share reading with their children. I want to assure you that I will only include books that are currently available in public libraries and book stores, so I don’t send anyone off on a frustrating quest! And finally, I will include the reading levels of the books I suggest using both the Lexile level and the ALTOS level which is used to determine the Accelerated Reader (AR) level. This will help you determine if the book might work for your child. However, I want to remind you, even if the Lexile level is below your child’s reading level, the content might be perfect for their maturity level and might include some concepts you would like your child exposed to.

Finally, you may be wondering why this is the Red Canoe Reader. As I mentioned earlier, I requested help from my family as I began to create my blog. I received lots of wonderful suggestions for names – thank you everyone – and then my sister, Lisa, who follows many blogs, suggested it needed to be something personal to me. When she mentioned Red Canoe Reader, I knew I had found the perfect title! A red canoe has been a big part of my life since high school. At that time my dad bought a red canoe and we immediately began our adventures. He was a huge fisherman, so we would take the canoe to the local reservoir on many summer evenings and carry it from the car to the water. (I wonder, now, how we ever did that. It’s an extremely heavy fiberglass canoe!) We always had it with us during our annual two week lake vacations and it is now a permanent resident of our Michigan lake house. There have been so many happy and crazy adventures connected with that red canoe through the years, that it seemed like the perfect title for my blog.

If you have any suggestions for blog ideas, or questions about specific books, series or ideas, please make a comment. I look forward to hearing from many of you, as I begin to explore the world of blogging!