It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!
It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It’s also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…you just might discover the next “must-read” book!
Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee decided to give It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit – join us! We love this meme and think you will, too.
We encourage everyone who participates to support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.
Last Week’s Posts
Tuesday: Ten Books For Readers Who Like Character Driven Novels
Thursday: Ricki’s Road to a Dissertation
**Click on any picture/link to view the post**
Last Week’s Journeys
Kellee: This week I was able to finish The Mutts Diaries which is a wonderful collection of the Mutts comics. I’m glad they put it into a graphic novel to spread the Mutts love. I also read some picture books this week. First, I read the superb Three Bears in a Boat by David Soman. The illustrations were beautiful, and I enjoyed the Max-ish journey the bears went on. In preparation for some future reviews, I read Noodles & Albie by Eric Bennett and My Yellow Balloon by Tiffany Papageorge. I look forward to sharing both of these with you all. Additionally, I read 4 baseball biographies by Matt Tavares: There Goes Ted Williams, Growing Up Pedro, Becoming Babe Ruth, and Henry Aaron’s Dream. They are so well done!
With Trent, we continued to reread. I have been letting him choose the book from our shelf because that helps him keep engaged. I currently have a nonstop moving child so the reading to him is sometimes quite difficult, but I’ve found the letting him choose helps. We did read two new books: Thomas the Tank Engine Shapes and Sizes and Penguin and Pumpkin. I just adore Salina Yoon’s stories and illustrations. Although this isn’t my favorite Penguin book, it is going to be loved by Penguin fans.
Ricki: This week, I read Jessie Haas’ three Bramble and Maggie books. Each of the books was delightful. They are the perfect books for kids transitioning from picture books to chapter books because the illustrations are delightful and the repetition of words will make readers feel satisfied and challenged.
Henry, my husband, and I went to New Jersey this weekend and stayed in a hotel room. Henry (my 10-month-old) wasn’t pleased with my reading light and wouldn’t go to bed, so I sat on the bathroom floor and read a good chunk of Louise Rosenblatt’s Literature as Exploration. Last week, Elisabeth Ellington commented that this book, is “one of the most important books ever written about what we do when we read.” I kept thinking about her comment as I read, and I think she is spot on. I am about halfway through, and I love it.
This Week’s Expeditions
Kellee: I am currently reading This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki during my advanced reading class at school. We’ll see how much I get through today. Reading time is split between my reading and conferencing. I STILL have that pile of library picture books with some amazing books in them. I will get to them very, very soon! My other reading is going to be full of preparation for NCTE and ALAN. At NCTE I am part of the Abrams “Teaching Graphic Novels in the Classroom” with Cece Bell, Frank Cammuso, Nathan Hale, and Trevor Pryce. I wrote the teaching guide for Cece’s, Frank’s, and Nathan’s books, but I haven’t had the pleasure of reading An Army of Frogs by Trevor Pryce yet, so I have them to read. I also want to reread the Walden winner and finalists as I am chairing the Walden panel during ALAN and need to come up with questions for the authors. I also have a couple graphic novels from Netgalley on my phone that I may read if I don’t have a book with me.
Ricki: I plan to finish Rosenblatt’s Literature as Exploration. I also want to read Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch in preparation for Halloween!
Upcoming Week’s Posts
Tuesday: Top Ten Place We Want To Visit (After Reading a Book)
Thursday: Guest Post “Five Ways to Bring MG Books into the Classroom” by Fleur Bradley, author of Double Vision
So, what are you reading?
Link up below and go check out what everyone else is reading. Please support other bloggers by viewing and commenting on at least 3 other blogs. If you tweet about your Monday post, tag the tweet with #IMWAYR!
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I remember those days of nonstop motion. Some days the only way we could read was by crawling across the floor with a book! (Those were also the days when paper was fun to tear.) Enjoy your reading this week. It sounds like you both have lots of books to keep you in good company.
Yes, Kay! This is my life! I am currently sitting on the floor typing right now. I am hoping Henry doesn’t decide to use the keyboard of my laptop as a drum. That is his current favorite thing to do.
That is pretty close to how we are reading now. Trent, I, and the book move all over the room. I read a page, him the pictures, repeat 🙂
Funny to hear about the non-stop Trent, and Ricki, you sitting on the bathroom floor. Parenthood changes a few things. I’m glad to hear about some of the books for younger students, and Literature as Exploration does sound good, too. Thanks for all!
Thanks, Linda! I didn’t read Kellee’s post until this morning. Isn’t it funny how parenthood changes? We will get these kids to read!!!
He doesn’t stop moving! And I know it is just the beginning 🙂
Kellee, I know what you mean by that pile of PB! It’s funny how they end up creeping up on us!
Ricki, I put some of the Bramble and Maggie books on hold, I’m always looking for transitional chapter books!
Have a great week!
Michele, I hope you enjoy them! They were very sweet. I would have loved them when I was a young girl. Who doesn’t want to read about a girl and her horse?
No kidding! I get all request-from-the-library happy during IMWAYR, and all of a sudden I have 30 PBs to read! I do have to spend some time with them soon as they were all recommended by some pretty fantastic people 😉
I haven’t tried the Bramble & Maggie books. And, I guess, it’s a good thing books can be read anywhere even in unusual places!
I love Three Bears in a Boat. It’s such an old-fashioned enjoyable read.
The portable nature of books is excellent. It was perhaps, unsanitary that I was sitting on the bathroom floor of the hotel room, but readers have to be creative.
Three Bears in a Boat is very classic-type story–I agree, very enjoyable 🙂
Wait…Henry is already 10 months old?? Then how old is Trent? When I read that he helps to choose books, it blew my mind because I was picturing him as 2-3 months old! Wow, time flies. Believe me, it all goes by so fast – glad you are both enjoying it and making the most of your sweet little boys.
I love Mutts, and I really enjoyed This One Summer. It was my first YA graphic novel with more depth than the middle-grade ones I;d read before. I am totally hooked now and looking for more great graphic novels to read, even thinking of trying some for adults.
Hope you both enjoy your books this week!
Sue
Book By Book
P.S. Ricki – Kudos for being such a dedicated reader that you read on the hotel bathroom floor at night – been there!
Thanks for your Kudos, Sue! I inserted the 10-month-old fact because I bet that some of you might be surprised! I filmed a video of him reading his puppet book, but my husband wasn’t crazy about the idea of me posting a video of him on the internet. We will stick with still images for now, I suppose. We are both certainly enjoying these sweet boys! 🙂
Trent is almost 8 months old (the 20th)!!!!! It is going by so quickly! I have to do anything to keep interested in the books I’m reading, so even just picking the one he is eating will keep his eye on the prize 😉
I love Mutts as well–I’m so glad they did a GN. This One Summer is, so far, such a true coming-of-age story. I can’t wait to read more.
I LOVE GNs. They are my favorite! I’m glad you have found the love 🙂
I too have read on the bathroom floor and it has happened more than once. Readers will do what they have to do. 😉
Very true. To be honest, it didn’t feel that out of the ordinary. I have probably done it before. Readers are resourceful, aren’t we?
Ricki- I love Jessie Haas’s books! *Chuckle to the reading experience… 🙂 Kellee, good luck with prep and reading, shall look forward to your posts about experiences, will live vicariously. Happy reading to you both…
They are very sweet. I enjoyed them very much, too!
I’ve only read Haas’s Maggie and Bramble books–what other ones by her are good?
I will make sure to share about it all 🙂
I need to buy the Bramble & Maggie books–I know they’d be very popular in my Children’s Lit class (where I always have several students who want to read books about girls and horses!). So glad you’re finding the Rosenblatt valuable, Ricki. Your comments are making me want to do a reread! Had to laugh at the image of you reading on the bathroom floor! Kellee, I’m not familiar with Matt Tavares’s biographies–off to research. They sound like books my older son would love. My YA book club just chose This One Summer to read for our next book–I loved it and can’t wait to talk about it.
I am sure that is exactly where she imagined people would read her book, right?
Matt Tavares’s bios are so well done! I know you will find some value in them, and your older son, if a baseball fan, will definitely enjoy them.
What a great choice for a book club–it’ll definitely start some good conversations 🙂
My students LOVE the Bradley books! Have you nominated for the Cybils awards? And would you consider doing a shout out about it? Nominations close on Wednesday, and I know there are a lot of good books that haven’t been nominated yet! Thanks.
I need to read the whole series! I know Ricki read the first one and really liked it, but I haven’t gotten to any of them yet. Glad to hear your students love them 🙂
[I haven’t nominated! I will go do so tomorrow and do a tweet about it 🙂 Thank you for the reminder!]
The Bradley books are a delight! I actually read the second one. She is such a kind woman, and her books are great for classrooms! I will also nominate for the Cybils. 🙂
Wow! So much to comment on this week!
First of all Kellee, I loved this comment about Three Bears in a Boat:
“I enjoyed the Max-ish journey the bears went on” 🙂
And second of all, I’m glad to see you’ll be at NCTE. I thought I remember you said that you’d only be at ALAN this year so yay! I’m happy I’ll see you! 🙂
Ricki, your reading on the bathroom floor gave me a good chuckle, but now I am putting Louise Rosenblatt’s Literature as Exploration on my professional to-read shelf. After reading Elisabeth’s assessment of the book, I can’t let that pass me by!
Beth, I’d planned on being only at ALAN, but then Abrams asked me to be part of an NCTE panel–yay! So, I got a one-day pass, so I will not be at NCTE on Saturday 🙂 Looking forward to seeing you, too!!
Thank you for the Bramble and Maggie recommendation! I will have to look into those for my kiddos. 🙂
They’ll be a hit with kids who love horses!
Thank you for stopping by 🙂