It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
Sharing Picture Books, Early Readers, Middle Grade Books, and Young Adult Books for All Ages!
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly blog hop co-hosted by Unleashing Readers and Teach Mentor Texts which focuses on sharing books marketed for children and young adults. It offers opportunities to share and recommend books with each other.
The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.
We encourage you to write your own post sharing what you’re reading, link up below, leave a comment, and support other IMWAYR bloggers by visiting and commenting on at least three of the other linked blogs.
Happy reading!
Tuesday: Blog Tour with Q&A and Giveaway!: One Last Shot by John David Anderson
**Giveaway open until Wednesday!**
Thursday: Ricki’s Lessons Learned from Teaching her Kindergartener Stop Animation
Sunday: Author Guest Post: “Engaging Reluctant Readers” by Sarah S. Reida, Author of All Sales Final
**Click on any picture/link to view the post**
Kellee
- The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead: “After her parents’ divorce, Bea’s life became different in many ways. But she can always look back at the list she keeps in her green notebook to remember the things that will stay the same. The first and most important: Mom and Dad will always love Bea, and each other.When Dad tells Bea that he and his boyfriend, Jesse, are getting married, Bea is thrilled. Bea loves Jesse, and when he and Dad get married, she’ll finally (finally!) have what she’s always wanted–a sister. Even though she’s never met Jesse’s daughter, Sonia, Bea is sure that they’ll be ‘just like sisters anywhere.’As the wedding day approaches, Bea will learn that making a new family brings questions, surprises, and joy.”
- Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson: I read the first couple of books in the series a couple of years ago, but when I noticed the whole series was on Hoopla from my public library, I decided to reread them so I could read the rest, and WOW! They are even better than I remember! They are such a fun combination of camp-life friendship fun, crazy adventures, fantasy, mythology, love of all identities and people, and weirdness!!!
- With Trent: The Creature of the Pines by Adam Gidwitz: I loved reading the first book in this series with Trent. His review: “I liked this book because the Jersey Devil is blue and red, and I like blue and red. And it looks cool with its wings. I liked how Professor Fauna talked about pirates in the Pine Barrens. Elliot is like me and I like that. We both don’t like to take risks, and he has hair kind of like mine. The book was adventurous.”
To learn more about any of these books, check out my 2020 Goodreads Challenge page or my read bookshelf on Goodreads.
Ricki
The kids have been wanting to read a lot of Berenstain Bears books lately, so I posted one above, but we’ve plowed through about a dozen of them. I’ve also grown to love the Giggle Gang series of early readers (What is Chasing Duck? is above). As long as you all will keep it a secret, I am exhausted by the DC Super Friends and Lego Super Heroes early readers. I posted four of the books we read. I honestly don’t see the appeal of freezing and superhero-ing. But my 6- and 3-year-old love them. Sigh. We’ve got several more on hold. I will pretend to love them!
The Refuge by Sandra Le Guin. Whew. This one is stunning. My guess is that it might rake in some awards this year. I found it to be quite captivating (review to come next week).
We love Helen Docherty and Thomas Docherty, so we enjoyed rereading The Story Book Knight. The Snatchabook is one of our family’s favorite books. We found that one hiding in the bookshelf last week, and my 3-year-old walked into my partner’s office while he was working to smile broadly and hold it up. There was mutual shared joy. That book is magnificent, and we really love The Story Book Knight, as well.
We reread some classics (Harold and the Purple Crayon and The Paper Bag Princess–which are both fantastic). We also finished our book club book Unicorn Rescue Society. It’s the first in the series, and we’ll likely read the others in the future. And finally, my 3-year-old would be upset with me if I didn’t highlight We Don’t Eat Our Classmates. This one really made him giggle.
Kellee
- Reading: After the Worst Thing Happens by Audrey Vernick & Lumberjanes Vol 5 by Noelle Stevenson
- Listening: Tornado Brain by Cat Patrick
- Reading/Listening with Trent: Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters by Andrea Beaty & Mac B. Kid Spy: Mac Undercover by Mac Barnett
Ricki
We are also reading Mac B. Kid Spy: Mac Undercover by Mac Barnett. I read the first four chapters to the boys tonight, and my 6-year-old was really into it. I stopped after the first chapter and convinced him to clean his room. This earned him the next three chapters. We are reading four chapters a week with his book club, so we’ll be finished in four weeks. I also found a copy of Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds. I am excited to check that one out. I missed it, and I have read most of his books.
Admittedly, I’ve gotten out of my reading groove. I’m reading about 15 books a day with the kids (most of them rereads while we wait for the library to open). But my night time is spend working. Without childcare, I am really struggling to find time to read YAL because I have such limited work time. I am hoping to get back into the groove soon. Tonight, I am closing up my computer and going upstairs to read. I miss normalcy!
Tuesday: The 2020 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Winner and Finalists
Thursday: Blog Tour with Author Q&A: Legends from Mom’s Closet by Sasha Olsen
Sunday: Author Guest Post: “Opening the Door: How Stepping Inside the Poem can Help Your Students — even those who hate writing — Read, Understand, Create, and Enjoy Poetry” by Marjorie Maddox, Author of Inside Out: Poems on Writing & Reading Poems
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’m really looking forward to reading the new Rebecca Stead and Cat Patrick books.
Harold and the Purple Crayon was one of my favorites when I was a kid!
I should catch up on the later Lumberjanes too. I hear you Ricki. When my son was younger, it was the Tracy West Pokemon books that nearly did me in. Sometimes it’s hard to understand the appeal of some books. 😉
Kellee, I hope you like Tornado Brain (I know you won’t be able to tell me, lol).
Ricki, lots of picture books this week! I can’t wait for the follow up to We Don’t Eat Our Classmates!
Kellee~ I’m feeling overwhelmed by all the positive news on Tornado Brain. Because so far, none of my libraries have it (even Overdrive, which is so often my “go to” option when all my brick and mortar options fail). Hope it resonates with you. And I definitely enjoyed The List of Things That Will Not Change!
Ricki~ I hope you enjoy Look Both Ways, this week. I really wish i’d read the print book instead of listened to the audiobook on this one. I had trouble keeping the characters apart and I don’t think I would have had the same issue with the actual book. And I need to check out an old copy of Harold and the Purple Crayon for my youngest. I bet she’ll love it!
I am amazed at the many, many books you both are sharing. The boys must be having lots of fun with the reading & hope the Moms get some time alone sometimes, too! What a fun and hard time all at once. Have a good week ahead!
Hi Kellee, I just finished reading The List of Things That Will Not Change. Bea is such an authentic character!
Ricki, I too love the Giggle Gang! I am looking forward to reading the series with my grandkids. Thanks for the heads up about The Refuge by Sandra le Guen.