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
Julie M.
for winning a copy of Invisible Fault Lines!
Last Week’s Posts
**Click on any picture/link to view the post**
Tuesday: Ten Favorite Book Titles
Wednesday: Review and Author Interview!: Camp Rolling Rills series by Stacy Davidowitz
Thursday: Review and Giveaway!: Bucky and Stu vs. the Mikanikal Man by Cornelius Van Wright
Giveaway open until Thursday!
Friday: Rescued by Eliot Schrefer
Last Week’s Journeys
Kellee
I was able to finish two of the seven books I was reading last week! (Though I added on two more!)
First, I finished Hidden by Helen Frost for my faculty book club last Friday. The beginning of Hidden really just sucks you in like not many books can. There is no tip toeing around, it just jumps right in. I also love how clever Frost was in putting in a secret message within her vignettes.
I also finished listening to Masterminds by Gordon Korman, and I am waiting on the edge of my seat for book 2 to be available at my library; however, I just found out book 3 doesn’t come out until March 2017 which makes me so sad! I cannot tell you much about the book without giving things away, but it is so good that when I told my husband the spoilery premise of the book, he said we should buy the movie rights!
Ricki
I got a little bit crazy this week. Henry and I spent a lot of time in bookstores and libraries (see picture below).
I absolutely love Sherman Alexie’s first picture book, Thunder Boy Jr. I pre-ordered it out of excitement. It’s a darling story about a boy who wants to have a different name from his father. There are a lot of great lessons in this book.
Kobi Yamada’s other picture book (What Would You Do with an Idea?) is one of my favorite picture books, so I was thrilled to see What Do You Do with a Problem? in the bookstore. It is very similar to the first book but the theme is a bit different. I’d love reading this with students. The lesson is just as important as the first book.
I’ve never read Audrey Penn’s The Kissing Hand. Wow! I am so glad I decided to pick up this book. I imagine many of you will comment that you loved this book, too. What a wonderful story that will be very helpful to me when I parent.
Bob the Artist is a cute story by Marion Deuchars. Bob is teased for his skinny legs, so he decides to get creative. I would love to use this book to talk about bullying or to introduce an art unit.
A Fire Truck Named Red was a nice story by Randall de Sève. My son didn’t like how only the beginning and ending pages were in bright colors, and I think the story was a bit old for him. I think we will try this one again in a couple of years.
I enjoyed the illustrations of Jack E Levin and Norma R. Levin’s My Dog Spot. This is a great book for dog lovers, and I think kids will enjoy it. There isn’t a strong message, but you can’t go wrong with a book about dogs!
Whose Story Is This, Anyway? is a fun story by Mike Flaherty. The story includes all of the components that intrigue my son: pirates, kitties, aliens, dinosaurs, knights. You really can’t go wrong! We’ve read this book numerous times, and there always seems to be something new to look at.
This Week’s Expeditions
Kellee
I am still reading too many books for me! I am proud of myself that I am not getting them confused; however, I am struggling with remembering character names. The up side is that they are all so good!
First, I am reading Touching Spirit Bear with my 2nd period. We just got to a pretty gruesome part which, of course, my students loved!
I am also reading Flight #116 is Down, Boy Who Saved Baseball, Undercurrents, and Kingdom Keepers with book clubs in my other two reading classes. I have read them all, but I realized it’d been too long, so I didn’t feel like I could discuss with them, so I decided to read along with them. I’m following their reading schedule. The other books my students chose to read, but I am not reading because I remember them well enough to discuss are Endangered by Eliot Schrefer, Peak by Roland Smith, Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings, and Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde.
Lastly, I am still reading Unicorn vs. Goblins though it has been put on the side burner for a bit because I am trying to keep up with the others.
Additionally, I started listening to the new audiobook for Grimm’s Fairy Tales from Listening Library which has narrators like Jim Dale and Katherine Kellgren, and I am liking it even more than when I’ve read them.
Ricki
I am absolutely loving Bubonic Panic by Gail Jarrow, and I will be finishing it by tomorrow. I look forward to sharing it on Wednesday! I have a few other books in the works, but I will share more next week!
Upcoming Week’s Posts
Tuesday: Ten Books We Picked Up on a Whim and Enjoyed
Wednesday: Blog Tour, Giveaway, and Review!: Bubonic Panic by Gail Jarrow
Thursday: Poptropica: Mystery of the Map by Jack Chabert
Friday: Agent Darcy and Ninja Steve in Tiger Trouble by Grant Goodman
Sunday: Author Guest Post!
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!
and
I book talked Masterminds with a group of elementary school kids recently. I read just a short little snipped from the book and that was it, it just flew off the shelf!
I made the mistake of book talking without owning the book (I listened to it from the library), so I had to get it so students could check it out 🙂
Wow, so many good books. You all are busy! Looking forward to the reviews this week!
We’ve been busy bees. 🙂
Just ordered Masterminds this week. Extra excited now!
It is so good! Enjoy!
Kellee, your kids are reading such good books for the lit circles. I wish I could join in! I loved reading Touching Spirit Bear outloud to my middle school classes. There are several scenes where I could watch them squirm as I read.
RIkki, You are right. I loved–and still love–The Kissing Hand. I think it might be time to get it out to read again as my daughter prepares to head off to college.
They made great choices. They had about 25 books to choose from and these were the ones that were chosen.
The squimish parts of TSB are so gross! But it is such an inspiring book!
I just did it with Henry tonight. What a wonderful book.
I’ve had to put post it notes in books that have lists of character names and tidbits so I remember them!
Tomorrow’s post looks fun!
I am doing that! But when I am trying to speak off the cuff, I can’t remember :-O
Do you know how many copies of Hidden I have purchased because they keep going missing?! 😉 This book is a favorite with every single group of students I’ve had!! Cool choice for a faculty read!
I have had it for a while, but I hadn’t read it. I am so excited to share it and get it into kids’ hands!
Wow, you both have So many good books going! I heard a great interview with Sherman Alexie about his new picture book on the NYT Book podcast this week (well, last week’s podcast – catching up!). His illustrator was also in the interview – it was excellent.
So glad you finished Masterminds & loved it as much as I did, Kellee! You are right – it would make a GREAT movie. I got the audio for book #2 from the publisher & waiting in my queue. I usually listen to them in the order I received them, but I just might have to move this one up the list!
I loved Endangered & have Rescued sitting here on my shelf. I need to set aside an entire month to read JUST MG & YA books to winnow down my TBR shelves.
Enjoy your books this week!
Sue
Book By Book
Alexie’s Daily Show interview was really good as well.
I’m trying to decide if I want to wait to listen to #2 until #3 comes out! It is a really hard predicament.
You will love Rescued. Different but just as good.
It’s been busy this week, for sure! I saw the Daily Show clip with Alexie but did not hear the NYT podcast. I will look for it! Thanks!
Thunder Boy Jr. seems to be THE book everyone is reading this week. I REALLY want to read What Do You Do with a Problem?
What Do You Do with a Problem? is so similar to the first book, yet the theme is so different. I liked comparing and contrasting the two.
Alexie is a god for me, so his book was a pre-order no-brainer. 🙂
Masterminds was a lot of fun to read. I still haven’t read the second installment, but it’s on my list.
I LOVED Touching Spirit Bear. It was a book recommended to me by one of my students last year. I read it last summer and it was awesome. I wrote a blog post about it: http://janatheteacher.blogspot.com/search?q=touching+spirit+bear
Hope your students enjoy it as much as mine do!
Have a great week!
I am reading ahead of my students, but this is the first time I read it. We’re reading with another class and that teacher talked me into it. I love it! And my students are loving it as well!
I’m a huge fan of reading many different things at once, but it does help when they are different! I’m currently reading a western fantasy, YA horror short stories, a biography of Thomas Jefferson, a post-apocalypse story, an SF space story, and a YA about a band. Fairly easy to tell which I’m reading at any point.
(I had to edit my link because it did it wrong, but I deleted it so I put it in again.)