Teach Mentor Texts: That's Not Mine Blog Tour

I'm thrilled to be participating in the That's (Not) Mine blog tour today!

Husband-and-wife team Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant are the creators of You Are (Not) Small, which won the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award and was named a Notable Children’s Book by the American Library Association. They live in New Jersey with their two daughters, Kate and Lily, a guinea pig named Athena, and a hermit crab named Olaf.

Anna, a native New Yorker, grew up believing everything was hers until one day she realized it was her brother’s, too. She received a master’s degree in fine arts from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where the visual storyteller in her was awakened, forever changing the way she saw art, life, and everything in between. In addition to writing, Anna loves to read, travel, laugh, eat, and nap. Visit her online at www.annakang.com.

Christopher is a cartoonist and illustrator. His work can regularly be seen in the New Yorker. His cartoons are syndicated worldwide and have been featured on the Today Show, Meet the Press, and World News Tonight. Christopher likes to share everything but his personal space on the subway. Visit him online at www.christopherweyant.com.

You can follow them on Twitter at: @annakang27 and @chrisweyant05

For more information, and to download a free curriculum guide, visit:

www.amazon.com/thatsnotmine orhttp://www.annakang.com/tnm-internal-page.

Title: That's (Not) Mine
Author: Anna Kang
Illustrator: Christopher Weyant
Publisher: Two Lions
Publication Date: September 1st, 2015
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book
GoodReads Summary: Two fuzzy creatures both want to sit in the same comfy chair. The trouble is, they can’t agree who it belongs to. They get madder and madder, until…

With expressive illustrations and simple text, this giggle-inducing tale about (not) sharing and (not) being a good friend features the endearing characters from Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner You Are (Not) Small.
What I Think: Kids are going to crack up at the sweet creatures in this story. Every kid battles with declaring something his own and then having to defend ownership. I'm sure most parents have been part of facilitating conversations like in (That's Not Mine) which make it so much fun. This book will appeal to kids and adults because the situation is so completely relate-able. When I read it to my kids, they instantly recognized themselves in it...but they also loved seeing what antics that characters got into!
As a mentor text for older readers, have students pay attention to the text in the book and notice that it's either dialogue or sound effects. This is a perfect opportunity to discuss onomatopoeia and how the sounds contribute to the story and how a reader is able to visualize the text - they can hear it too!
This book would be adorable as a readers' theater - it's simple for early readers but also engaging which will help them practice their fluency while thinking about how to act out the text on the page. And hopefully acting this story out will help kids think about how to share and work through difficult conversations.
Read Together: Grades Pre-K - 2
Read Alone: Grades Pre-K-1
Read With: I Love My New Toy (An Elephant and Piggie Book) by Mo Willems, Ninja! by Aree Chung, Squid and Octopus Friends For Always by Tao Nyeu
Snatch of Text:

"'That's my chair.'

'No, it's mine.'

'I was sitting in it before.'

'I'm sitting in it now.'"

Writing Prompts: Write about a time when you had an argument about something you felt was yours. Write about a time when you had a miscommunication with someone.
Topics Covered: Friendship, Sharing, Compromise, Forgiveness

I *heart* It: