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 at Unleashing Readers.

I got quite a bit of reading done this past week. It didn't feel like I did, but I was surprised when I looked back at how much I read.

In my last #IMWAYR post I had started two books. The first is One Came Home by Amy Timberlake. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. This was a Newbery Honor winner for 2014. This book held my interest because I had to find out what happened to Georgie's sister. But I wasn't totally invested in the story. It was very well written, and I can see why it was a Newbery Honor book. I just didn't make an emotional connection to the book. This is one book that I have looked at other reviews, and I feel I missed something.

The second book that I was reading was The Shadow Throne by Jennifer Nielsen. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I have loved this trilogy since I first read The False Prince. This book I had that emotional connection with. I wanted to make this book last as long as I could since it was the last of the trilogy. My only regret is that I didn't have time to reread The False Prince and The Runaway King before I started on The Shadow Throne. I was a bit lost at the beginning until I remembered the characters and where the story had left off. I am truly sorry to see this story end because I really enjoyed this story and the characters! This is a trilogy that I would reread again and if you haven't started I highly recommend that you do.

I also read a picture book called Never Underestimate a Hermit Crab by Daniel Sean Kaye. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I got this book from NetGalley, it is due to be published on March 18th. I didn't know what to think of this book from the title, but I loved it! I can see it being very popular with kids. There is so much writing a predicting that can be done with this book. The kids would enjoy so much making predictions about what a hermit crab can do. The illustrations are such fun as well. This is one that I will be looking to add to my library once it is published.

There are a couple others that I've read, but I'm going to wait until it is closer to the publication date to write some reviews.

I've started A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. Wow, I can't stop reading this book! I'm only on page 102, but I am so taken with this story all ready. I can't wait to get home from school today so I can keep reading!

What are you reading?

Happy Reading!!

Stacey (@libraryjo92)

Celebrate! (A Day Late)

Every week, Ruth Ayres over at Discover. Play. Build. invites people to share celebrations from their week. Please visit and consider linking up your own celebration.

I'm a day late, but I didn't turn my computer on at all yesterday. I've got a few things that I'm celebrating from this past week.

First thing is that the renovation on my bathroom started this week. I have hated my tub/shower since about a month after I moved in. I've waited about thirteen years, but I'm finally having it replaced. I'm going from a tub/shower to just a shower and a linen closet put in too. I've been kicked out of my room, sleeping on the sofa bed in the basement and showering at my parents house. But it will all be worth it in the end.

The second celebration is that I got to see all my classes this week! This was the first time in a long time that I have seen all of them due to weather. On Friday, we had an early dismissal day which means we have 30 minutes classes. This leads me to my third celebration. My last class on Friday was second grade. We we just finishing up checking out and had about 5 minutes left in class. The weather had been iffy all day and we were under a tornado watch. Well, next thing I know they are coming over the PA system saying we had a Code White, which is a weather related code. We needed to take shelter immediately. So the kids, my assistant, and myself went back into our closet. I managed to grab the container of Elephant and Piggie books so we had something to read. We were in the closet for 50 minutes. There was a tornado that past near us. You can read about it here. The kids that I had with me did great. The best quote was, as many of my little boys started to have to use the bathroom, "Do you guys have a bucket?". Thankfully we got out a few minutes after they all started to have to go. It was an interesting way to end the day, but very tiring once the adrenaline stopped.

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 at Unleashing Readers.

I've had a awesome two weeks of reading. I posted earlier about having to get away from reality after reading an emotional draining book about the JFK assassination. I started to reread the Harry Potter series. Well, I found that once I started I had to read through the entire series. Time has not lessened the emotional impact of of any of the deaths in the later books. The still have the same affect on me as when I first read them.

Now onto new books! My public library hold of Gone Fishing by Tamera Will Wissinger finally came in! Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I loved all the different examples of poetry that was included in this story of a fishing trip. I thought that it was great way to tell a story by using poetry. The Poetry Tackle Box at the end of the book really helped me, because as much as I love poetry I don't know all the correct terms. I can see this being a real asset in a unit on poetry.

I also got to read another that has been on my to read list for quite a while, Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I just loved how this book was a graphic novel. I learned so much about all three ladies lives and how the overlapped. I was familiar with Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey and the work that they did. But Birute Galdikas was a complete new person to me. I will be looking for a biography to find out more about her and her work.

I also finally set up my profile on NetGalley and began requesting books. I was thrilled when my first request came through. The book was 100 Hungry Monkeys! by Masayuki Sebe. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. This book will be published on March 1st. I loved this book. One look at the cover and I knew I had to read this one. In this book you follow 100 monkeys who are hungry, but there is something else following them that hungry too. There is so much to see on each page and also so many objects to look for. This will keep children interested throughout the book. I can't wait to get this for my library!

Another book that I got through NetGalley was I Survived: The Nazi Invasion, 1944 by Lauren Tarshis. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. This is the ninth book in the I Survived series. I was a little unsure how this topic would be handled, but I was impressed with how well Tarshis wrote about the Nazi invasion.  She does not sugar coat what happened, but didn't dive in too deep for elementary students. This book will be published on February 25th. I'm hoping that Scholastic will have it in the Spring Book Fair because this is a popular series in my school.

A bright spot in all the snow days that I have been having was finding Annette Simon's new book Robot Burp Head Smartypants on my front porch! Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I loved this book as much as her first book Robot Zombie Frankenstein! In this one the robot friends are back and guzzling motor oil, which leads to burping. But just plain burping is not fun for these robots, they have to try and see who can do the most while burping. They try to top each other with every burp, until the end when they both outdone by another. This is going to be a huge hit in my library! I've shared it with a few classes and already have requests to check it out! This book will be published on February 25th too.

I'm also in process right now of reading two books. The first is One Came Home by Amy Timberlake. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. This was a Newbery Honor winner for 2014. I haven't really gotten that far into the story yet, but it has captured my interest. The other book that I'm reading, is another I got from NetGalley, The Shadow Throne by Jennifer Nielsen. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I have loved this trilogy since I first read The False Prince. It is due to be published on February 25th. My only regret is that I didn't read book one and two again before I started on the third. But I had passed on both of my copies to other readers. This book makes me have so many conflicting emotions. On one hand, I want to finish it so I can find out what happens. On the other hand, I don't want it to end! Hopefully I'll be able to share my thoughts on both books next week.

Happy Reading!!

Stacey (@libraryjo92)

World Read Aloud Blogging Challenge

I've been quite busy lately and blogging once again has not been something that has taken a high priority. I'm taking the World Read Aloud Blogging Challenge as a way to get myself motivated again. I first read about the challenge on Matthew Winner's blog, The Busy Librarian. You can read more about World Read Aloud Day on LitWorld website.

The first question in the blogging challenge is:

What is your earliest or fondest memory in which someone read aloud to you?

I don't remember a time where I was reading or someone wasn't reading to me. There were always books in my house, that's what happens when you have two educators as parents. As I was growing up I struggled with reading due to dyslexia. But I never let that stop me from reading. In fact, my tutor said that it was my overwhelming desire to read that didn't let the dyslexia hold me back. My mom was the one who read to me the most. My father has never really been a book reader. He encouraged me, and always said that if I could read I would be successful.

I don't have one specific memory that sticks out in my mind growing up. I remember teachers reading aloud and finding myself hanging on every word. Some were better than others at reading aloud. After reading about Matthew Winner's experience as an undergrad reminded me about an experience I had in college. I was just entering my classes for education at Frostburg State University. We had to take a reading appreciation class.  I LOVED this class, but was totally surprised at some of my fellow students.  Many of them who were elementary majors hadn't read any picture/chapter books for that age since they were that age.  I was always reading "kids" books.  I remember the first class, our instructor, Mrs. Ornstein (she is now Dr. Ornstein) read aloud the book Earrings by Juidth Viorst. She used so much expression and feeling as she read. I didn't even need to look at the illustrations, because she was painting pictures in my mind. I remember thinking that if I could put one tenth of that expression and feeling when I read aloud I would capture my students like she captured us.

Another part of this post is suppose to be about what we are planning to do for World Read Aloud Day. Since this is the first one that I'm celebrating, my answer is I'm not sure yet. Of course, I'll be reading aloud. But I not sure what else I will be doing. I'll share as soon as I figure it out. Suggestions are welcome!

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 at Unleashing Readers.

This was quite a great reading week for me.  After my last week of very emotional draining nonfiction books, I took a break from reality. I got through the first three Harry Potter's and about halfway through the fourth book. It was great to revisit these characters. I think the first four books are my favorites because there is still my innocesnce and Rowling hadn't started killing of major characters!

I also managed to read four other books this week. Out of the four books, three were on my Must Read in 2014 list.  (See my post here for more info.) The first book that I read was Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. This was just a fun read.  Mustaches have been the "in" thing for quite a while. As I read this book, I was remembering a display that I saw sometime on the Internet. The library had put fake mustaches on many books and had a cute saying that went along with it.

The second book from my Must Read in 2014 list was Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Halloween by Melanie Watt. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I just love Scaredy Squirrel!  I can identify with him over a lot of his fears! I have a hard time keeping any Scaredy Squirrel book on the shelf. The best part was when three of the para educators at my school dressed up as three different Scaredy Squirrel's for Book Character Day! The only problem was they kept throwing nuts at people!

The last book from my Must Read in 2014 list happened to be a Newbery Honor Book for 2014, The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I really enjoyed this book! I can see after reading it, why it won a Newbery Honor. I loved how Billy Miller's problems were such second grade problems. There was no added drama that made it older than second grade. I'm going to be recommending this book to all of my second grade teachers for a read aloud.

The last book that I got to read this week was an ARC of Mouseheart by Lisa Fiedler. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. This book was sent to me from Simon and Schuster. Look at the post below to see the fun way that they packaged the book! I really liked this book. I was a little confused at the ending, but then I looked at the spine of the book and saw that it said Volume 1, so much confusion hopefully will be cleared up in the next book. This book reminded me a lot of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brian. I'm not a huge fan of books with animals as main characters. But every so often, there are a few that I really love. The two more that come to mind are The One and Only Ivan and Flora and Ulysses. But growing up I fell in love with Mrs. Frisby and this book made me feel like I was discovering it all over again. Can't wait to hear what others think once they have read it.

Happy Reading!

Stacey (@libraryjo92)

Celebrate

Every week, Ruth Ayres over at Discover. Play. Build. invites people to share celebrations from their week. Please visit and consider linking up your own celebration.

I'm a little late posting today, because I'm not really sure where my Saturday went today.  I had grand plans, but other things got in the way today.

I was so thrilled this week to finally see my 3rd Graders on Friday!  Due to weather and one professional day, I have not seen them since December 20th. I had to look at what I had taught the other classes and prioritize what I need to teach them.  I'm hoping that we are not going to miss anymore Fridays because of weather.

This week I was so excited to come home and find this box on my front porch. The outside of the box made me wonder what book was inside. Once I opened the box I found an ARC of Mouseheart by Lisa Fiedler.  Click here for a summary on Goodreads. The summary sound so exciting.  I can't wait to dive in!  This will be my next read!


What are you celebrating?

Stacey (@libraryjo92)