Introducing a read aloud to spark your imagination and celebrate diversity, featured in this week’s MaiStoryBook Library Collection:

“Islandborn” by Junot Diaz and Leo Espinosa

Book Synopsis and Review

At little Lola’s school, every child is from a faraway place~ home to them is a different county~ they are a class of immigrant children. So when Lola’s teacher announces the next assignment~ to draw a picture of where their family is from~ all the students are thrilled…except for Lola, who left her Island home when she was just a baby,  too young to have any of her own memories about the Island. But, with the help of her neighborhood community of family and friends, all of whom are from the island and share their memories and tell their stories to Lola, Lola will soon find her imagination whisking her back to her Island. Through an intertwining of memories and imagination, Lola will discover that even if she may not remember her Island, the *Island is me!* and she will always carry a part of her homeland with her. Through her family and friends’ memories, she has found a way to connect with her past and embrace a home she may not clearly remember, but loves all the same.

This book highlights the strength and love of an immigrant community, and the power of memory and imagination to keep the homeland alive and in your heart. Today, almost 25% of children in our public schools come from an immigrant household. These little ones bear different meanings and different memories of the word home. For children like little Lola in our story, who were too young to remember their homeland, it is through stories, community, memory, and a vivid imagination that they are able to keep their connection to their homeland alive. Because, just as Lola’s abuela says “Just because you don’t remember a place, doesn’t mean it isn’t in you.” This story showcases the need to, and the importance of, embracing where you come from. Where you come from is an integral part of who you are, and it will always be a part of your heart.

Vocabulary List

• Canal (p. 3) a waterway, like a river, made by people
• Recall (p. 5) to remember 
• Superintendent (p. 15) the owner of an apartment building
• Contraption (p. 26) a strange machine
• Banished (p. 29) to send someone away forever as punishment

Themes/Main ideas

• Where you come from is part of who you are.
• Stories and imagination have the power to bring memories to life.

YouTube Video: Guided Shared-Reading Read Aloud Example

Example of a shared-reading, interactive Read Aloud of “Islandborn” – how to subtly introduce the vocabulary list words within the text, ask guided questions, and spark conversation!

*~Check it Out~*

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*Blanket Bat: Family Emigration Craft* + Island Paper Flowers* Craft

*~Vietnam~* When I think of my homeland, my senses are flooded with memories. First come the memories of taste~ sweet mangoes with dripping juices running through my fingers and dribbling down my chin, fresh sea food wrapped in vibrant, green, crunchy lettuce, fresh baked loaves of bread stuffed with savory bbq chicken and crisp cucumbers and a rainbow of pickled carrots, sweet sticky rice laced with sugar and drizzled with cream. Then come the memories of sound~ a city coming alive at night with revving motorcycles, the sounds of merchants wheeling out their tents for the nightly market, wheels squeezing and voices chattering loudly with friends, the roosters crowing at the crack of dawn, and the sound of a musical language gracing my ears. Next, the memories of touch~ of the warm sun browning my skin, and the humid air shrouding me in a layer of damp dew drops, the shoulders I graze as we weave through crowded streets, and the rush of air of motorcycle zooming and dodging around me as I cross through traffic. Memories of smell are welcomed in~ the sun-baked scent of earth, a tacrine smell of ripening fruit as you pass by market stalls, a whiff of incense as you pass by an altar, the fresh crisp breath of fresh air after a 5-minute thunderstorm. And of course, sight~ looking around me and seeing family, and seeing my home away from home. These memories are what bring Vietnam to life in my imagination, even when I’m not there. For Lola, it is memories of fruits, and bats, music, and beaches, and bright~bright~ bright~ colors all around. In this week’s craft,  join Lola on her Island with a *Blanket Bat* Craft and  *Island Paper Flower* Craft inspired by the story!

Blanket Bat Craft

Perfect book craft activity to accompany the Read Aloud:Islandborn by Junot Diaz & Leo Espinosa ~ a book about memory, imagination , immigration, and family history. Encourage students to create their own Blanket Bat Crafts to share their family story and where their family emigrated from.

CLick here for the Downloadable : BLANKET BAT CRAFT TEMPLATE

Materials:

For One Flower:

• 3 sheets of different color tissue paper (directions will be for rectangular shaped tissue paper- square-shaped is preferable and requires fewer steps)
• Scissors
• Pipe cleaner

Directions

• Layer and stack the 3 pieces of rectangular tissue paper on top of each other
• Fold it in half hamburger style.
• Fold it in half again like a book.
• Take the corner that has all separate edges *no binding*, and fold it down to the opposite side (You’re goal is to make square shaped tissue papers) You should have a triangle with a rectangle on the bottom.
• Cut off the rectangle. Then cut all the connected edges so that you open up the triangle and check to have 8 different, separate squares.

• Accordion style fold the paper~ approximately 6-7 folds.
• Then, take the pipe cleaner and wrap it around the center of the accordion fold.
• Trim the two endpoints of the folded tissue paper to make a design for the petals (triangle points= pointy petals, round /half-circle  end points = soft, curvy petals.)

• Carefully pull apart the accordion fold on both sides.
• Then, gently and carefully, pull up each strand of tissue paper on both sides. Fluff them and pull them up gently to arrange the petals.

• Once you finish separating and pulling the tissue paper on both ends, your flower will be in full bloom!
• Repeat to make additional flowers for a bouquet!

Enjoy Your *Island Paper Flower* Craft!

• Repeat this craft to make several flowers for a bouquet of colorful *Island* flowers
• Make a flower for each person you can remember a special memory for. Then, gift them the flower and share your favorite memory~ it will make it the best day ever to hear your cherished memories!
• Use the flower as a reading buddy as you reread the story.
• Share your flowers with family and friends and use it to help you remember and share Lola’s story, (*even ask your own questions about the homeland you or your ancestors came from*)

*~Overall, have fun creating your own *Island Paper Flower* Crafts,  and I hope you and your little ones continue to share stories of memories and exciting events.  – tag me on Instagram @MaiStoryBookLibrary  – or post on FaceBook to share your photos of your own *Island Paper Flower* Crafts and your own reading adventures! I’d love to hear from you!~*

*Check Back on Next Friday for our New Reading Adventure*

*~Until next time, Happy Reading~*