It's Monday! What Are You Reading??

This meme was started by Sheila at Book Journey and the kids' version borrowed from the wonderful ladies at Teach Mentor Texts.

You would think with two snow days and the weekend, I would have gotten a lot more reading done than I did.  I will admit that I really tried to read The Unfortunate Son by Constance Leeds.  I just could not get into the story.  I  started it many times, but it is one that is just not my cup of tea.  I'm using it as a lesson for my kids to teach them that they are not going to love every book.


I did read A Wrinkle in Time (The Graphic Novel) adapted and illustrated by Hope Larson.  I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it because I LOVE the original novel.  It is one story that I read at least once a year, if not more.  It was the first book that I bought on my Kindle.  It is one of a few novels that I read growing up and I still love today.  Many times I have found that when I go back and reread novels that I loved as a kid, I don't like them as much.  Overall I did enjoy this graphic novel.  I was very pleased to see it stick closely to the original.  The only problem I had was since I had read the novel before, I had pictures already in my head about what the characters should look like.  But if a student hasn't read the novel, this shouldn't be a problem.  Hopefully this graphic novel will send more students looking for the original novel!

The other book I read was Testing the Ice written by Sharon Robinson and illustration by Kadir Nelson.  I can't say enough about this book.  I just loved the story about Jackie Robinson testing the ice on the pond for his children even though he was scared of the water.  There was enough facts about Jackie Robinson for students to understand why he is important in our baseball history.  But it also shows a side that not everyone saw, because of the personal connection the author had because she was his daughter.  I was a little confused why this was considered a fiction book.  Any ideas?  I can't say enough about the illustrations by Kadir Nelson.  His illustrations are incredible, to say the least.  Each one of his books that I come across I am more and more impressed with.

Hopefully this week will allow me to read some more nonfiction that checked out from the library this weekend.  I found more of the National Geographic Face to Face books.

Happy Reading!!

Stacey (@libraryjo92)

Two Snow Days

I was going to try and do a post on Thursday for Thirstday, but the unexpected snow caused me to have other plans!  I was out shoveling, and shoveling, and shoveling some more!  I didn't really get to enjoy my snow day because when I finished shoveling, I had to get ready for physical therapy   After doing a couple errands, it was after 6:00pm.  Of course I couldn't sleep, so I was up for quite a while.  But I got the phone call this morning saying school was closed again.  

Luckily the weather wasn't bad in the morning or early afternoon so I went into school and got ready for Monday.  I needed to do this because I teach six classes that day.  I have three in the morning back to back (9:30am-11:45am) and then three in the afternoon back to back (12:30pm-2:45pm).  This makes for a long day with little prep time.  I also needed to pick up a few things for planning.  When I left on Wednesday afternoon I didn't expect not to be back to school until Monday.  I was also able to enjoy a lunch out with some great ladies that I teach with.  But what did we spend a lot of time talking about, school!

It has started snowing again, so I'm in for the night. I'm going to curl up with some great nonfiction books and a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows!  I didn't take many pictures of the snow this time, so I'm posting my favorite from the blizzard of 2010! When I opened my garage door I found that I had a little visitor before I came out!



Happy Reading!!

Stacey (@libraryjo92)   

Treat Tuesday!

designed by the amazingly talented Shannon Houghton!

As I posted yesterday I'm trying to read more nonfiction books.  For my Treat Tuesday, I have two more nonfiction selections.  One is actually a poetry book, so I cheated a bit because I read poetry a lot.  My treat was two Christmas cookies that I got out of the freezer!  

The first book I read was The President's Stuck in the Bathtub by Susan Katz.  This is the poetry book.  There were poems about each of President's and little tidbits and interesting facts about each one.  At the end of the book, it listed all the President's and gave them each a "first", meaning something that they were the first president to do that.  I loved all the trivia!  I used it to stump my father who is a history buff!  The only thing that was missing from this book was the sources for all the information.

My second book was Alex the Parrot: No Ordinary Bird: A True Story by Stephanie Spinner.  I have to admit that I passed by this book on the public library display!  While I was checking out my books, I started talking with the Children's Librarian about my nonfiction book gap.  She started talking to me about this book and how it was a true story.  She also told me all about the youtube clips that showed Alex.  I was interested in the story and ended up checking out the book.  I'm so glad that I checked out the book.  I was totally facninated by the Alex the Parrot and the grad student Irene Pepperberg.  It is a must read for everyone!

Here is a video clip of Alex the Parrot.

Happy Reading!!

Stacey (@libraryjo92)