It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!
It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme started by Sheila at Book Journeys and now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 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!
Kellee and Jen, of Teach Mentor Texts, 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
Patricia M.
FOR WINNING A COPY OF TWENTY YAWNS!
Last Week’s Posts
Wednesday: Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick
Thursday: Bartholomew Quill: A Crow’s Quest to Know Who’s Who by Thor Hanson
Friday: Blog Tour, Author Guest Post, and Review!: The Class Crooks Club by Alison Cherry
**Click on any picture/link to view the post**
Last Week’s Journeys
Kellee: I have had such a crazy week!!! Let’s start with my reading update: I had a great reading week! Because of the Future Problem Solvers State Competition, I was at a hotel without Jim or Trent, so even though I missed them, I got SO MUCH reading done. First, I finished listening to George by Alex Gino which was one of the two must reads I read this week. I loved how gently but truthfully George’s story was shared. Next I read The Slowest Book Ever in one sitting because it was so interesting; we’ll share our thoughts on Wednesday. Then I read my other must read book: All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. Everyone should read it! So powerful! Lastly, I read four nonfiction books: 31 Ways to Change the World from Candlewick Press, National Geographic Kids: National Parks Guide USA, Animal Planet Ocean Animals, and Animal Planet Polar Animals. I’ll review these later in the month.
Finally, I have some phenomenal news! At the Florida Future Problem Solving State Competition, my 9th grade team place FIRST in the middle division team Global Problem Solving booklets and one of my 11th graders placed third in the senior division individual Global Problem Solving booklets. The five of them qualified to go to the international competition! My other 9th grade team placed fourth only missing internationals by one place, but they’ve only been a team for two years, so that is so impressive. The first place middle team also scored second in the action plan skit. The only team that didn’t place was my 6th grade team; however, they have been a team for one year and made it to states. I am so proud of all of my students! I am so excited and proud!
Ricki: This week, I finished The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenborough. Martha is such a smart, thoughtful author, and I am pumped that she has made such a great beginning stamp in the field of YAL. I am so excited to read all of her work and know she will become a favorite author for me.
Henry and I visited four different libraries this week (and two last week). He loves playing at the library and being amongst the books.
We signed out seven of the Llama Llama books by Anna Dewdney (all of the llama books we could find at the local libraries). He has become obsessed with this series, and randomly comes up to me throughout the day and asks, “Yama yama book, mama?” He is learning a lot from the books. At the library, a boy wasn’t sharing, and Henry informed him that llama llama shares. (He doesn’t apply this sharing lesson to his own behavior, but he certainly uses it when it is in his best interest.)
We also read and enjoyed Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins. This is a great, new picture book. I’ll be sharing a full review this Thursday!
This Week’s Expeditions
Kellee: My life is going to be a bit crazy for a while because we have to do all of our fundraising in the next month for FPS! But this week I plan on starting The Mechanical Mind of John Coggin by Elinor Teele, and I think that I am going to begin listening to The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett.
Ricki: While at the library, I read 3/4 of The Nest by Kenneth Oppel. I am hooked! If I didn’t have to do a bunch of work today, I would hole myself in my room and finish it! I’ll report more next week because I am sure I will be done with it!
Upcoming Week’s Posts
Tuesday: Ten Bookish People You Should Follow On Twitter/Facebook
Wednesday: Blog Tour and Review!: The Slowest Book Ever by April Pulley Sayre
Thursday: Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins
Friday: #mustreadin2016 Spring Update
Sunday: Author Guest Post! by Andrea Young, Author of Finny and the Boy from Horse Mountain
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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Congratulations again on your news, Kellee, and isn’t it lovely to be in a hotel room & read? I love Mother Bruce! And Ricki, I am in love with The Nest, but thought it was so tense I could barely read it. What a book! Happy Reading!
It is! Though I missed my boy, I also LOVED reading so many books!
Tense is a great word to describe it. I might steal that (but I’ll quote you!).
Congrats, Kellee! What an awesome experience for your students! I went to worlds for Odyssey of the Mind in middle school, and it was incredible.
Thank you so much, Katie!
I don’t even know what is in store for us, and I am so excited about it!
Congrats, Kellee!
And congrats, Ricki, for getting in some reading time! The Nest is soooo creepy!
I got Crooks Club in the mail. It’s packed for Florida. With 53 other books 🙂 Hoping to get a lot of reading down while we’re there.
I did not realize that Sayre’s book was as long as it is! I read the first “chapter” this weekend.
Looking forward to the Mother Bruce post. I LOVE that book!
Thank you, Michele!
It is much heftier than her other books 🙂 But it is fun and informative.
I cannot wait to see you when you get down here–we must trade itineraries.
I’m back with a vengeance. I WILL read more because reading makes me so happy!
Congrats to you and your students, Kellee! How exciting! All American Boys is still sitting on my pile. Really hope to get to it this semester. It’s making the rounds in my Adolescent Lit class. I got halfway through George and stalled out. It’s a book I wanted to love and believed I would love, but the voice didn’t feel like a fourth grader to me and the sentence-level writing wasn’t engaging for me. I wonder if I would like it better on audio. Ricki, love the multiple library visits! Libraries are few and far between where I live, but I usually manage to visit three in a week anyway (with 120+ miles in between them!). I love libraries!
Thank you, Elisabeth! I am so proud and excited!
George was good on audio though you are right that the voice was pretty mature for a 4th grader; however, I assume that going through something like gender identity would mature you pretty quickly.
All American Boys is a must read–I hope you like it when you get to it.
Oh my goodness! That is horrible! Ours are about 20-30 minutes apart, and I felt like that was far. Thanks for bringing me back to reality.
Congrats Kellee! The Slowest Book Ever looks cute too. And I love seeing young library hoppers.
Thank you, Earl!
Thanks! He is doing the library hoppity hop (as Llama Llama would say).
Woohoo! Congratulations, Kellee, to you and your students. That is quite impressive. And I know what you mean about both missing family and enjoying quiet time to read when alone in a hotel room. It’s one of my guilty pleasures!
Rikki, Enjoy those llama llama books. I love how Henry applies the sharing lessons to others first. I haven’t read The Nest, but I’ve loved other Oppel books.
Thank you, Kay! I am so proud of them!
Yes, getting through so many books is so exciting, but I really did miss my guys! However, I wouldn’t turn down a weekend alone like that once a month or so 😉
I am really loving Nest. I have about thirty pages left and can’t wait to get to them!
Kellee – In a hotel room ALONE? Woohoo! Total luxury, right? I published an essay in Chicken Soup – Parenthood on exactly that experience 🙂 Hope you enjoyed it! Looks like lots of good reading.
Ricki – you totally cracked me up with the stories of Henry’s obsession with Llama Llama, especially when he told off the kid about sharing – lol. I think I read one Llama Llama book from the library to my youngest – didn’t know there were so many of them! And Oppel is a great author – hope you enjoy the rest.
Enjoy your books this week, both of you!
Sue
Book By Book
Did you?! I’d love to read it–I’ll have to find it! 🙂
Every time I think I’ve read them all, I find another. I think we read three more this week. We’re onto the board books, which are nice, but they aren’t as fun as the full books.
I want to read The Game of Love and Death so bad but it just hasn’t reached the top of my TBR pile. I NEED to read it before the end of the summer. That is my goal.
And yes, All American Boys is 100% required reading. Without question.
Yes, yes it is.
I read this comment and laughed. I thought of you demanding I read All American Boys a couple of weeks ago. I just downloaded it, and I am taking the audio on the plane with me tomorrow. 🙂
The Game of Love and Death is a good one. I had fun reading it and discussing it!
I am so excited about The Slowest Book Ever! Love Sayre’s books. Ricki – that is an adorable picture of your little reader! Kellee congratulations on your teams! And isn’t George great? Just got my school librarian to purchase for our school
Thanks, Carrie. He is my cutie pie. 🙂
Such wonderful news Kellee! Congrats to you and your teams.
Fun story about your little guy Ricki. I so loved Mother Bruce.
Me, too, Crystal!