Effective Effort!!

 This week, the children and I enjoyed the book, Pop.  It was a great springboard to our discussion of effective effort.  We focused on persistence, use of feedback, time and focus.

From Booklist

What a good idea for a book! Kids who enjoy blowing gum bubbles may never have considered how the treat came to be, but here, in easy language and with amusing illustrations, McCarthy changes that. Starting at the Fleer Factory in 1927, the book introduces a young accountant, Walter Diemer, who knew more about numbers than gum. But when a lab is moved next door to his office, Diemer takes an interest in the invention of a new kind of gum. Eventually he develops bubble gum, tries it out at a mom-and-pop store to great success, and launches an enduring American icon. The acrylic paintings portray humor throughout, in part by peopling the book with googly-eyed characters who are often chewing a wad of gum. The story also touches briefly on the origin of gum, and the back matter—a short biography of Diemer, a fact list about gum, and a bibliography, including the sources from which McCarthy got her quotes—adds more info to the attractive package. Grades 1-3. --Ilene Cooper