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.
Congratulations to
LINDA B.
for winning a copy of Julie Sternberg’s book Friendship Over!!!!
Last Week’s Posts
Tuesday: Top Ten Places We Want To Visit (After Reading a Book)
**Click on any picture/link to view the post**
Last Week’s Journeys
Kellee: Well, my ambitious goals of reading were defeated by another bout of ear infections and work for school. Such is life! I did get to finish one graphic novel I got from Top Shelf Productions on Netgalley called Maddy Kettle: The Adventure of the Thimble Witch which was a Coraline-esque tone/mood with a mix of Wizard of Oz and Miyazaki. The illustrations were a bit messy, but in a purposeful way that made everything feel urgent. I am looking forward to the sequel.
Trent and I did some rereading including revisiting David Smells by David Shannon and Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman. We also read Up Close by Gay Wegerif and Kiss, Kiss Good Night by Ken Kesbitt for the first time. Up Close is a unique way to talk about shapes, colors, and animals. I’m sure it will be a favorite. Kiss, Kiss is a sweet book that is a great bedtime story.
Ricki: Henry and Trent are both in the sick club. My poor guy has been sick all week, and we had to make a few trips to the doctor’s office. But we read! I finished a very well-written, comprehensive book called Holocaust: A Concise History by Doris L. Bergen. I read it in preparation for a Teaching the Holocaust Workshop I am attending this Wednesday. It is an integrated workshop for secondary history and English teachers.
Henry is obsessed with Goodnight Moon. When his father or I try to read him a different book, he fusses. The second we take out Goodnight Moon, his whole body relaxes and he giggles. So we read it every night. Meanwhile, I’ve been reading to him as he crawls around the room—he will only sit in my lap for Goodnight Moon. I want to expand his reading list a bit, so chasing him with a book is necessary. We enjoyed Brian Patten’s Can I Come Too? and Alex Latimer’s Pig and Small. Both were charming picture books. I also read an early chapter book to him, Worst Witch by Jill Murphy. I scheduled a blog post about Worst Witch for October 30—just in time for Halloween!
This Week’s Expeditions
Kellee: I am currently in the middle of two books: An Army of Frogs by Trevor Pryce and Joel Naftali in preparation for my NCTE panel with him on teaching graphic novels and This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki, and I hope to finish them both. I also want to revisit all of the Walden books. Additionally, I still have that huge library picture book pile LOOMING at me from the other side of the living room. I need to spend some time with them. Finally, I will be rereading the Matt Tavares biography picture books I read a couple of weeks ago as I am writing a teaching guide for them this week. BUSY week ahead!
Ricki: I just started Regina Brooks’ Writing Great Books for Young Adults. I am enjoying it thus far and will keep you posted when I have read more! I am still reading Rosenblatt’s book. It is great, but I had to finish my Holocaust book in preparation for the Workshop I described earlier. Can I pause the day and just read, please?
Upcoming Week’s Posts
Tuesday: Top Series We Want To Start
Wednesday: Nonfiction Graphic Novels List
Thursday: Bramble and Maggie blog tour with a Q&A with author Jessie Haas
Friday: Author guest post from Teresa Flavin, author of The Shadow Lantern
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 hope y’all feel better. Love hearing the effects of a favorite book to a baby! I’m still debating to read This One Summer.
Thank you Earl! I hope so, too!
This One Summer is going to be one that is either loved or not. I’m not sure what you’d think of it though the artwork is beautiful, the color really sets the mood, and there are some really special moments in it.
It’s pretty amazing. I don’t know what draws him to that book. He goes from fuss to giggles when we put another book down to grab it!
Hooray for F.T. Bradley! Can’t tell you the number of times favorite books got “lost” temporarily when I could no longer take Baby Blue Cat and the Dirty Dog Brothers or some other title that wasn’t my favorite. Children have a way of fixating on books that you would not pick yourself!
I need to read the Bradley books–they look like something my students would really enjoy.
My friend told me about accidentally losing some of her books because of the over-reading 🙂
It is so odd how they fixate! I have been stunned watching it. He is so young that I didn’t suspect he would have a favorite book already!
Hope all the sickness goes away fast. It sounds very busy at both your homes. Laughing at you reading while moving, Ricki. Love the story of Goodnight Moon. And Kellee, I don’t see how you’re going to manage all those Waldens and the library books too. Whew! A full day of reading would be lovely! Have a great week!
I don’t know how I am going to get to it all either, but I am coming to terms with not being able to 🙂 But I will get through what I can!
Maybe I will videotape it, Linda! I suspect it is a very funny sight. 🙂 Thank you for stopping by this week! 🙂
Oops, forgot to say thanks again for the giveaway! It’s always a lovely surprise to hear that I’ve won a book!
Yes, congrats!!!
Winning is the best, isn’t it?!
I hope everyone is feeling much better soon! I remember the days of reading while crawling around the floor! Some days it still feels that way as busy as we are. My daughter ( now 16) just finished Blood of Olympus. Now she’s the one begging me to hurry up and read it! I love Goodnight Moon. At least if you’re reading the same book every night, it’s a good one.
Thank you Kay!
The new reading while crawling workout is all the rage here at Unleashing Readers 🙂
My students are LOVING Blood of Olympus!
Kay, I completely agree. I used to like Goodnight Moon, but now I really, really like it. Even those of us who don’t have kids probably think reading is like crawling on the floor most days.
I just love the visual of Henry getting so excited over Goodnight Moon! lol I remember those days. And, it’s completely normal for kids that age to become obsessed with a single book and want to hear it over and over – at least he has good taste! Get ready – this continues through the toddler years! It’s one way that little ones grow to love books – by memorizing their favorites. He’ll eventually want to broaden his horizons again.
Hope both boys feel better soon and you both enjoy your books this week!
Sue
Book By Book
Thank you Sue!
I am just surprised he shows such an incredibly strong preference to it. I can’t wait for the toddler years…actually, I can wait! Ah! I don’t want him to grow up, but I also want to see him grow up! Parenting is hard.
Hope Henry and Trent are feeling better soon! We’ve had strep throat going around–both my kids got it, but somehow, miraculously, my husband and I didn’t. (I spent last week wiping down every surface in the house with antibacterial wipes–multiple times each day.) I know what you mean about wanting to pause time for a reading break!
Trent had pink eye, so I am very familiar with antibacterial wipes–Jim and I didn’t get it YAY!
Some weeks it is really hard to find time for reading, so a little break here and there is so refreshing.
I am not looking forward to all of these illnesses. They really wipe out an entire household! We will persist!
Hope the boys are feeling better soon! I love that they’re beginning to show book preferances!
Thank you Michele!
Me, too! I cannot wait to see what Trent’s first favorite is 🙂
I love it too! Thanks for the well wishes. 🙂
Oh dear – well wishes for these little guys! No fun when they are sick when they are so little. Laughing at the love of Goodnight Moon. There will be titles in both of your futures that you will have memorized forwards and backwards! Certain titles become big favourites. Wishing you both some calm, guilt free time to read and relax. It is a busy time!
Thanks, Carrie! Henry and I will be reading more than Goodnight Moon–even if I have to continue to chase him. He loves that little book. 🙂
RxR time to you all!! 🙂 I remember hearing from my mom that she “hated that insipid Goodnight Moon book that I insisted she read every night when I was a baby” but then she actually grew to love it as a grandma sharing it with my son…. Have a lovely reading week you two, here’s hoping all germs are GONE.