It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This meme was started by Sheila at Book Journey. The kid's version was started by Jen at Teach Mentor Text and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.

I've got a very short post this week because last week was SO busy. On Wednesday I had author and illustrator Henry Cole visit my school. Monday and Tuesday of course, I was prepping for his visit. I'm a Type-A personality, so I had to make sure everything was in place. It was a great visit and was still the talk of the school on Thursday. My assistant did three AMAZING bulletin board! I will be posting about his visit, showing those amazing bulletin boards, and showing some pictures from his presentation. Can't wait to share his visit with everyone!

I read two picture books this week. The first one was The Night Gardener by The Fan Brothers. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I was so interested as I read the story to see what animal would appear next after a visit from the Night Gardener. The illustrations in this book took my breath away. This was another book that I had to go back and study the illustrations after I finished reading it. I know that I'm a little late to the party on this book, but I know I can't be alone. If you haven't read this book, don't delay in getting a copy of this book!

The second book that I read was If You Give a Mouse a Brownie by Laura Numeroff. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I have loved these books since I read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. I am so excited to have another one because I love using these to teach my students the relationship between author and illustrator. Numeroff and Felicia Bond are such a dynamic duo that I don't think children of any age will tire of these books. I know that they are so hard to keep them on my shelf! This one will not disappoint! Can't wait to share it with my students.

I'm still working on finishing You Can Fly by Carole Boston Weatherford. I'm hoping to have it finished tomorrow. I should have time to finish it!

Happy Reading!!

Stacey (@libraryjo92)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This meme was started by Sheila at Book Journey. The kid's version was started by Jen at Teach Mentor Text and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.

My reading was done in short spurts this week. I was busy all week, but I can't remember what I did. I didn't make any progress on You Can Fly by Carole Boston Weatherford. This is a book I want to savor, so I want to wait until I can sit a finish it in one reading. All three of the books that I read were part of my latest Junior Library Guild delivery. 


I'm a huge Jan Thomas fan and her new book Is That Wise, Pig is another winner. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. Ever since I read What Will Fat Cat Sit On, I look forward to reading any book by Jan Thomas. I love books where I can involve my students in helping me read. This book has the line "Is that wise, pig" over and over which the kids can help out with. Her illustrations add to the overall enjoyment of this book. I know this one will be a favorite of my students.




The next book I read was Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Ben Clanton. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. This looks to be the first in a new series. I was so excited since it was a graphic novel for my younger students. My younger students love graphic novels, but usually want those that are way above their reading level. In this book Narwhal and "Jelly" become friends and have a lot of adventures. This book is going to be very popular in my library. I might just have to get a second copy. If you haven't seen this one, check it out. You won't be disappointed. 


The third book I read this week was Octopuses One to Ten by Ellen Jackson. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. Yes, I read another nonfiction book! This one was awesome!! I learned so much about the octopus. I never realized there was so much that I didn't know. I think there are 10 different types of octopuses! On the pages with the different octopuses there is a size comparison. Some octopus are compared with the human body. While others are so small they are compared to the size of a human hand. This was a really neat nonfiction book. I can't wait to share it with my students.  

I think after the playoff game I watched yesterday, I'm going to lose myself in books this week. My team will be watching from home this year. This was not the way I had hoped this season would have ended. But I will be rooting for the Atlanta Falcons to win the Super Bowl!!

Happy Reading!!

Stacey (@libraryjo92)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This meme was started by Sheila at Book Journey. The kid's version was started by Jen at Teach Mentor Text and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.

It was a busy week, so I didn't get a lot of reading done. But, hold on to your hats, I actually read two nonfiction books! I also finished up a chapter book that I've been reading since January 2nd.


The chapter book that I finished was Journey's End by Rachel Hawkins. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I enjoyed the journey of this book and I was left wanting more at the end. I found myself really caring about the characters in this story. This was Rachel Hawkins first middle grade book, which I think is a success. Nolie travels to Scotland to spend the summer with her father. While there she meets a local girl named Bel. She shows Nolie all around and tells her the story of the Boundary, the fog just off the coast of the town. The is a legend about how and why the fog came to be there. No one who goes into the fog comes out, until Nolie and Bel spot Al on the beach. Al went into the fog in 1918 and has not aged a bit in the hundred years he has been gone. There is just enough creepy in this book for those elementary students who want a creepy book!

The first nonfiction book I read was What's The Big Deal About First Ladies by Ruby Shamir and illustrated by Matt Faulkner. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. This nonfiction picture book was great! I learned so much about the first ladies that I didn't know! It was fascinating to learn all these neat facts about a very incredible group of women. I never knew (or thought about) Florence Harding was the first first lady to have voted for her husband! My dad is a huge history buff, so it was fun to stump him with many of the interesting facts. I can't say enough about Matt Faulkner's illustrations, they are gorgeous!! Once I finished reading the text in the book, I had to go back I really look at the illustrations for all the details that Matt Faulkner included. This will be a great addition to my library! This book was sent to me from Penguin Young Readers.

The second nonfiction book I read was When The Sky Breaks by Simon Winchester. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I have a love/hate relationship with severe weather. I am fascinated by severe weather and whenever there is a big storm coming near where I live, I'm on top of all the updates. But I hate the damage and destruction it causes and the anxiety it causes in me. This book gave so much information about severe weather. Simon Winchester has been in many places for the severe storms and is able to give a personal experience about what it is like. There is so much information given in this book, it is not for just a casual reader. The photographs add so much to this book and really show the devastation that these storms can cause. There are a lot of great charts and little extras. It also has the NWS bulletin that Robert Ricks published right before Hurricane Katrina hit. As I read it, I remember reading this at the time and being scared, even though I was no where close to the path of this storm. This book was sent to me from Penguin Young Readers. It will be published on January 31st.

I've started reading the book You Can Fly by Carole Boston Weatherford. It is a poetry book about The Tuskegee Airmen. I've only recently just started, but is one that I'm thinking about when I'm not reading it. What is everyone else reading?

Happy Reading!!

Stacey (@libraryjo92)

It's Monday!! What Are You Reading?

This meme was started by Sheila at Book Journey. The kid's version was started by Jen at Teach Mentor Text and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.

I actually feel pretty good about my reading life this week. I'm still in the process of reading my next middle grade book, Journey's End by Rachel Hawkins. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I'll post more about this book once I finish it. I am enjoying it though!

I was able to read 5 picture books from Penguin Young Books. These books were all very different from each other made it all the better!

The first book was Bedtime for Yeti by Vin Vogel. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I enjoyed this book. I can see that it would be a great bedtime story for kids. It is not one that I would usually pick up, but the yawning yeti on the front cover drew me in! I hadn't realized that this one is the second yeti book that Vin Vogel wrote. The first was called The Thing About Yetis and was published in 2015. I think I'm going to have to find this one to read too.


The second book was I am Jim Henson by Brad Meltzer. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. This book is part of the Ordinary People Change the World series. Loved this book! Great introduction to Jim Henson for those who didn't grow up knowing who he was. I will admit I got teary-eyed at the end. I found myself thinking about what might have been if he had not passed away. The end papers in this book are great. It has Kermit's face on them! I think my favorite two lines came towards the end of the book "But the secret behind my best creations wasn't a strong had, or a catchy song, or even a funny voice. It was a simple idea: There's good in all of us" (Meltzer, 2017). I found this very meaningful especially with what is happening in our world today. I think we need to remember that there is good in all of us and we need to look harder to find it and bring it out. This book will be published tomorrow, January 10th.

The third book I read was This Book is Magic by Ashley Evanson. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I enjoyed this book because of all the interaction that the reader can have with the book. It reminded me of Press Here by Herve Tullet. I think that this is a great book to read to kids. A small group would be ideal since many pages require the reader to touch the pages to make the magic happen. This book will be published on January 17th.

The fourth book that I read was Nope! by Drew Sheneman. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. This book was a lot of fun. I wasn't expecting an almost wordless picture book when I started. But it really doesn't need more than the word nope because the illustrations really tell the story. I read it straight through the first time and then had to go back a second time and really look at the illustrations. They really make the story since there is only one word throughout the book. I was amazed at the emotions that Sheneman could convey in a birds face! As I read about Drew Sheneman on the back flap, I was surprised to read that this is his first book for children. If this book is any indication, I hope he keeps writing for children! This book will be published on January 17th.

What has everyone else been reading? I'm always looking for suggestions of books that I might have missed!

Happy Reading!!

Stacey (@libraryjo92)

Must Reads in 2017

I'm trying to use 2017 as a way to get back on track with my reading life. I have not been online as much recently, so I'm not up on a variety of books that I should put on my Must Reads list. But then I came across posts by Michelle Knott on her blog, Mrs. Knott's Book Nook. She posted lists of different picture books, nonfiction books, and middle grade novels that are going to be published in 2017. This helped me so much for creating part of this list!

Below you will find my Must Reads in 2017!

Picture Books

        


        


My Kite is Stuck by Salina Yoon
Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell
You Don't Want a Unicorn by Ame Dykeman
Over and Under the Pond by Kate Messner
Triangle by Mac Barnett
The Case of the Stinky Stench by Josh Funk
Creepy Pair of Underwear! by Aaron Reynolds
The King of the Birds by Acree Graham Macam
You Belong Here by M.H. Clark
Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty

Nonfiction Picture Books

            

           

The Youngest Marcher by Cynthia Levinson
Grand Canyon by Jason Chin
Some Writer!: The Story of E.B. White by Melissa Sweet
Can an Aardvark Bark by Melissa Stewart
Predator Face-Off by Melissa Stewart
I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy
Balderdash!: Jon Newbery & the Boisterous Birth of Children's Books 
      by Michelle Makel

Middle Grade Novels

                   

                 

Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart
Jasper & the Riddle of Riley's Mine by Caroline S. Rose
The Unbreakable Code (Book Scavenger) by Jennifer Bertman
The Great Treehouse War by Lisa Graff
Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder
Mr. Lemoncello's Great Library Race by Chris Grabenstein
The Matchstick Castle by Keir Graff
Journey's End by Rachel Hawkins

I know that there are others that will come up during the year, but these are the ones I hope to have read by December of 2017! I've actually already finished one of the books, The Matchstick Castle by Keir Graff. It was actually my first read of 2017. See my review here. This book is due to be published on January 10th. I was given a copy by Penguin Young Readers for a review.

Can't see what else everyone has on their lists!

Happy Reading!!

Stacey (libraryjo92)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading!!

This meme was started by Sheila at Book Journey. The kid's version was started by Jen at Teach Mentor Text and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.

Happy New Year!! I'm still in disbelief that we have now started 2017! This past year was not the best one I have ever had, but I'm keep moving forward. On New Year's Eve, we had a set back with my aunt, who has the traumatic brain injury. She tried to get up from her wheelchair to walk and she fell. My aunt fractured her hip. She had surgery and is resting at the hospital for a few days. We don't know how much of an effect this fall will have on trying to regain some of her brain function. My parents and I had gone to visit her right after Christmas and we were so pleased that she was beginning to use our names in sentences sometimes. If you can send positive thoughts and prayers to my Aunt Ann my family would appreciate it a lot!

Thanks for listening, I feel better typing that all out. Now on to a happier topic, reading! I actually finished my first read of 2017 already and it was a chapter book! The book was The Matchstick Castle by Keir Graff. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. This was such a great pick for my first read! This book will be published on January 10, 2017. Penguin Young Readers sent my a copy of this book to review. One of the main characters in this book is Brian, who just finished 5th Grade. He has an idea about how his summer is going to go, until life throws him a curve-ball. We can all relate to an unexpected change in plans. He has to go stay with his Uncle and family. Soon he realizes that it is not going to be the summer that he wants. That is until he goes over the fence into the woods and discovers the oddest, most interesting house he has ever seen. This book kept me interested from the first page until the end. I had to keep pulling myself away from the book so that I could clean my house! I'm so glad that I picked this as my first read for 2017 and I highly recommend that you pick up a copy.

I've already started my second read of 2017. It is Journey's End by Rachel Hawkins. Hopefully I'll be able to post an update next week. On January 5th please check back for my Must Reads in 2017! You can read my final post on my Must Reads in 2016 in the previous post. 

Happy Reading!!

Stacey (@libraryjo92)