Home | ADVICE: Training | Carol's Page (Editor) - Fun Runs, Integrating Running with the Curriculum, Getting Started | Ed's Page (Coach) - Track, XC, Form, Teamwork | INFORMATION: Distance: How Far Should Kids Run? | Running Games | Distance Conversion Tool | 10 Healthy-Kid Tips | MODEL KIDS' PROGRAMS: Happy Feet, Healthy Food Kids' Club - Carol's After-School Club | Youth Programs with Links | Kiddie Mile Ribbon Program | Log-A-Mile Blue Ribbon Program | STUFF: Free Running Bookmarks | Resources: Books for Kids, Parents, and Coaches | SIGN IN: Guest Book | EVENT LISTINGS: Kids' Fun Run Calendar | MORE: School | News | Columns |Speakers/Guest Authors | Who We Are | Contact BOOKS A book can change a child's life. It can enrich, nurture, entertain, and teach. And when a child returns to a familiar story, he notices another detail, or grasps the message on a deeper level. Here are two books to be read and read again, compared and contrasted, and enjoyed over and over. RUNNING THE ROAD TO ABC and WE ARE GIRLS WHO LOVE TO RUN Piece by Carol Goodrow Running the Road to ABC by Denize Lauture tells the story of a group of Haitian children running their way to literacy. Waking up before dawn, they pack their books in homemade palm-tree book bags, then run barefoot in the dark towards their classroom. They spend many hours of their short lives on this road. This lucky bunch of children are perhaps a rarity in Haiti, where illiteracy is high and life expectancy is low. Lauture's moving text and Reyold Ruffins gouache paintings show the beautify of their trek in the through the Haitian countryside. We are Girls Who Love to Run by Brianna K. Grant is a story of American children, running their way to health and fitness. Whenever they can, they run, play, explore, and laugh. They too, spend many hours outdoors. Perhaps this group is also a rarity in the U.S. where many children spend too many hours in front of a computer or TV. Brianna K. Grant's sleek text and Nicholas A. Wright's chunky watercolors move these children through life in style. LINKS Brianna K. Grant's Blog (Girl Who Loves To Run) Balancedsteps.com CURRICULUM -Skills 1. List the adjectives in each book. Do any match? 2. List the verbs. Compare. -Comprehension - Compare and Contrast 1. How do the books depict life in Haiti and the U.S.? How are the lives of the schoolchildren in each country the same or different? 2. How does the running compare? -Art How do the watercolor illustrations compare in each book? What is gouache? Find out. Try an illustration in each type of media. Happy Book Launch, Brianna! rwedit@rodale.com