IMWAYR

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: Top Ten Books We’ve Owned for a Long Time but Haven’t Read

Wednesday: How Being a Mom Has Changed My Identity (Kellee)

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: School is taking up a bit more of my time than I anticipated (I was just told I was teaching a new class a week ago, so I am working on building a curriculum for the class in addition to my journalism class and being reading coach), so I am not having as much reading time as I’d like. During my week, though, I was able to read a phenomenal graphic novel El Deafo by Cece Bell. I loved it, and my students are going to love it. When reading it it automatically connected to Smile and Hurt Go Happy in my brain. I also read 3 picture books that I really liked: How Big Were Dinosaurs? by Lita Judge, Manfish by Jennifer Berne, and The New Girl…and Me by Jacqui Robbins.

Trent and I read some awesome picture books this week. The most important one we read this week was a photo book that my mom made of Trent’s first visit to Chattanooga. It is in chronological order and chronicles his time there. I love how she put it together, and I love that Trent and I can revisit any time we want!

Our other favorites were:

• Pardon Me by Daniel Miayres is a book that reminds me a bit of Hat Back, but not so much that it didn’t seem unique. Cracked me up!
• Oliver by Brigitta Sif is a new empathy book for me. It was great and I LOVE Oliver.
• The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett is a beautiful wordless picture book that I loved sharing with Trent. The ending was superb.
• Big Bug by Henry Cole gives a great introduction to perspective.

We also read Gravity by Jason Chin and Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan, which were both recommended, but I just didn’t love them as much as I wanted to. Jim really liked Summer, but I just didn’t connect with it.

Ricki: First of all, I want to publicly apologize for not visiting more blogs this week. Reading other educators’ blogs is one of the highlights of my week. I don’t always comment, but I am constantly perusing, and I love learning from you all. Last week, I started school, and I was overwhelmed by the massive amount of work on the syllabi I received. I am back on the wagon, and I am sorry!

I will be sneaking YAL into my coursework, but please expect to see a lot of PD texts. I will post reviews highlighting the best PD texts I find. Of course, you can expect to see the usual YAL in reviews, as well. This week, I read Judith A Hayn and Jeffrey S. Kaplan’s Teaching Young Adult Literature Today. I have a review scheduled for next Thursday, September 11th because there was no space in the blog this week. This text highlights the great things that are happening in the field. Some good friends for the ALAN Workshop are featured authors, and I learned much from them. This is a must-read for scholars and educators in the field.

Henry and I read two phenomenal picture books. I bet some of you have read them, too! We fell into Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles. My husband and I loved this book and plan to purchase it. This is the best picture book I have read that addresses racism and discrimination. It is also a tale of friendship. We also loved the duality that existed in The Letter Home by Timothy Decker. If you haven’t read either of these books, I can’t recommend them highly enough.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I am currently reading Be a Changemaker by Lauria Ann Thompson, and I am finding it very inspiring and well done. I will finish it this week. I also am reading Allie Gator and the Seven Stones by Sean Eckenrod on my phone, so it may take a while to finish it because it isn’t an every day book. Trent and I are going to continue working through the picture books I got from the library after reading IMWAYR posts.

Ricki: I was fortunate to receive a copy of Atlantia by Ally Condie. I am excited to read this one. I will also be reading qualitative research methods texts. I was thinking about trying Rosenblatt’s Literature as Exploration this week, too. It is very widely cited, and I want to learn more from this great text. Reader Response is awesome, no? 🙂

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Book Characters That Would Be Sitting At My Lunch Table

Friday: Laurie Calkhoven 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

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: Top Ten Books People Have Been Telling Us We Must Read

Friday: Trent & Kellee’s Favorite Picture Books, 3-6 Months

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: As all teachers know, reading gets much harder once the school year starts, so my updates may be a bit less than they were during the summer. It is the way it is 🙂 This week I was able to finish two very good graphic novels from Netgalley: In Real Life by Cory Doctrow and I Remember Beirut by Zeina Abira. They are very, very different but both worth reading if you have the chance. IRL is a look at poverty, economics, and gaming while I Remember is a memoir of a young girl’s memories during the conflicts in Beirut. I absolutely adored the style of both illustrators as well as the stories.  I also read Sam’s Pet Temper by Sangeeta Bhadra which is a great book to look at temper with kids as well as personification.

Trent and I read some really good books this week! I originally got The Troublemaker by Lauren Castillo for the Sharp/Schu book club. I’m going to have to go back and check out the archive now because it is a super cute mystery book. I can’t wait to read this with Trent where he can guess what is happening. The Hueys in the New Sweater by Oliver Jeffers is another very good Huey book. I like the messages in each one, and Oliver Jeffers is always a bit quirky. We saw this quirkiness and brilliance again in The Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers which is fighting Lost and Found to be my favorite Oliver Jeffers book. We also read a beautiful and creative ABC book called Antics! by Cathi Hepworth which had some intense words like jubilant, pantiloons, and xanthophile (all words with “ant” in it).  Finally we read Wumbers by Amy Krouse Rosenthal which is so clever! A bunch of short stories (perfect jumping off points for creative writing!) with words that have numbers in them. What a 1derful idea! Though, I will admit, it was quite hard to read out loud.

Ricki: As I am gearing up for school, I made this week a nonfiction week. I finished Young Adult Literature in the 21st Century by Pam Cole. This text had a great overview of the origins of YAL and the genres within the field. I also read Be a Changemaker: How to Start Something that Matters by Laurie Ann Thompson. This is a wonderfully informative book that will help teens start businesses/organizations, run meetings, conduct speeches, and organize financial plans. It was extremely accessible and very well organized. Kellee and I are doing a full review of the book on September 10, and the author will be writing a guest post for us! Henry and I read I Face the Wind by Vicki Cobb. This nonfiction picture book helps kids explore science with interactive activities. We also enjoyed Jacqueline Woodson’s Coming on Home Soon. This would be a great book to read to children whose parent(s) are away.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: Trent and I are still working through our pile of recommend picture books that we got from the library. As for me, I am not sure what I am going to read. I know I’ll read El Deafo by Cece Bell, as that is at the top of my TBR, but then I am not sure. We’ll see how this week goes! 🙂

Ricki: I picked up the audio book Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. I wasn’t expecting the heavy British accents, so I am hoping I am able to understand more as it plays. It is a struggle so far (but the story is great!). Kellee sent me a list of her favorite books. I am going to start those, too. She has great taste, after all!

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Books We’ve Owned for a Long Time but Haven’t Read

Wednesday: How Being a Mom Has Changed My Identity (Kellee)

 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

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: Top Ten Books We’re Not Sure We Want to Read

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: This week, I was lucky enough to read a manuscript of one of my friend’s novel. It is a wonderful middle grade book that I know will be published, and I cannot wait to share it with you!

Trent and I read some amazing picture books this week. We continued our Oliver Jeffers readathon with The Hueyrs in…It Wasn’t Me, Stuck, and The Incredible Book Eating Boy. Stuck and The Incredible Book Eating Boy, along with Lost and Found are probably my favorites of his.

We also read two amazing, but different, nonfiction books. First was Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya by Donna Jo Napoli was a beautiful story (with amazing illustrations!) of an inspirational woman who I truly want to learn more about. We also read Best Foot Forward by Ingo Arndt which is a fun Q&A nonfiction books with such realistic photographs.

Ricki: This week, I enjoyed Just Call My Name by Holly Goldberg Sloan. This was an excellent sequel to I’ll Be There, and I enjoyed it very much. Sloan plays with literary elements in ways that are both innovative and brave. It is a very suspenseful book, and I had difficulty putting it down! Henry and I enjoyed some great picture books this week. We laughed as we read Naked by Michael Ian Black, admired the artwork in Oh No, George by Chris Haughton, enjoyed the adventurous boy in The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, lived through history with Smoky Night by Eve Bunting, and loved the retelling of Rumpelstiltskin by Paul O. Zelinsky. This isn’t my favorite fairy tale (but Zelinsky does it very well), and my husband and I spent a long time trying to figure out the moral of the tale. We’d love to hear your thoughts!

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I started In Real Life by Cory Doctorow yesterday, and so far I am truly enjoying it. I especially love how real the protagonist is. After IRL I am going to read El Deafo by Cece Bell and reread Jellaby by Kean Soo. Trent and I still have the huge pile of picture books from the library to read that includes many picture books I learned about on your IMWAYR posts.

Ricki: My second Ph.D. year at UConn starts next week, so I am reading twice as many PD texts as usual. Once teaching and classes start, I lose a lot of time, so I am trying to devote most of my free time to reading. I started Teaching Young Adult Literature Today: Insights, Considerations, and Perspectives for the Classroom Teacher, which is edited by Judith A. Hayn and Jeffrey S. Kaplan. I really like the way the book is organized and find myself nodding my head quite frequently. I will share more when I am a bit further in the book. I also started The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. To be honest, I don’t love it yet, but I am very curious to see where it goes.

 Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Books People Have Been Telling Us We Must Read

 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

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: Top Ten Books We’d Give To Readers Who Have Never Read Historical Fiction

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: This week I read brown girl dreaming, and I loved it. See our review last Thursday. I then completely switched gears and read the newest Captain Underpants–Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000 which, although it has a HORRIBLE cliffhanger, was just as funny as the others. I then read Bird and Squirrel on Ice by James Burks, and I just think they are such a funny duo–reminds me of Abbott and Costello. I also was able to read The Angry Little Puffin by Timothy Young (hilarious!!!) and Bug on a Bike by Chris Monroe (reminds me of Richard Scarry). Finally, when waiting for a doctor’s appointment on Friday, I read A Timeline History of the Thirteen Colonies which was a nice concise view of the start of America with very informative timelines.

With Trent, we read 11 picture books this week filled with farm animals, zoo animals, and Sesame Street. Oliver Jeffers’s Up and Down was probably my favorite, but it was not as good as Lost and Found. Elmo is Red, Cookie is Blue!, a Sesame Street beginner reader, had a nice rhythm and opposites lesson.

Ricki: I had a very productive week! I finished brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson and enjoyed joining forces with Kellee to review this beautiful book in verse. I also finished Gabrielle Zevin’s The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. This is a book that is written for readers. I loved the cerebral bookstore setting and the depth of characters. It is marketed as an adult book, but I think teens would enjoy it, too. Lastly, I finished The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson. This is a phenomenal memoir that depicts Leon’s experiences as one of Schindler’s Children. While I could most see it in a middle school classroom, readers of all ages will love it.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: This week I am reading a manuscript for one of my friends. I am very excited and honored to be reading it! Trent and I have some more Oliver Jeffers books we may read. I also got a HUGE delivery of books from the library that I’ve been requesting during IMWAYR, so we may delve into those as well.

Ricki: This week, I plan to complete Just Call my Name by Holly Goldberg Sloan. I am liking it even more than the first book, I’ll Be There. I am also hoping to finish the textbook, Young Adult Literature in the 21st Century by Pam B. Cole. I enjoy all of the background it has provided about the field of YAL. Henry and I are headed to the library tomorrow, so we are excited to find some new treasures.

 

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Books We’re Not Sure We Want to Read

 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

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: Authors Who Are Highly Represented in Our Libraries

Wednesday: Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Winner Announcement

Friday: Bloomsbury Picture Books

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: This week, with going back to work, I found myself having less time to read; however, I did make sure I gave myself at least a little bit of time each day, so I was able to finish 2 books. First, I read Sisters by Raina Telgemeier, and I cannot wait to get it for my classroom because it is going to be a big hit! Anyone with siblings (or a family for that matter) is going to connect with it. I just love Raina’s ease in telling a story, and her realistic, yet fun, comic style. I also got to read Boys of Blur this week and am working on my review of it right now. I will say, I was surprised by this book. I do not read reviews or blurbs or summaries before I read a book, so I had no idea what this one is about and it was not what I’d assumed.

With Trent, I continued reading Mo Willems books I already loved: I Am Going!, Watch Me Throw the Ball, Knuffle Bunny Too, Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, and The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?. I also read Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct for the first time, and thought it was pretty cute. Though, did it remind anyone else of Danny and the Dinosaur?  And I recently got his Pigeon board book The Pigeon Has Feelings, Too! I love that he made a Pigeon book for younger kids!

Ricki: This week, I read Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick. It was incredibly compelling. I didn’t expect it to be in the horror genre, and I was drawn to the odd, twisted, interconnected stories. After I finished the book, I couldn’t help but recognize what an incredible writer Marcus Sedgwick is. The concepts of the stories were unlike any that I have read.

Henry and I read a few picture books this week. Our favorite was The Blessing Cup by Patricia Polacco, a biography set in WWII Russia. This book teaches the power of family—and as Polacco highlights, if we have our family, we can never be poor.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: This week I am reading brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson in preparation for our review on Thursday. I also have the new Captain Underpants and Amulet to read, so I will start them when I finish brown girl dreaming.

With Trent, I hope to be able to keep up with our #bookaday now that I am back at work. So far I have just made it part of the “Mommy got home” routine. 🙂

Ricki: Kellee and I are both reading brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. I am pretty excited for our review. So far, the book is absolutely beautiful. I also want to finish Just Call my Name by Holly Goldberg Sloan in preparation for its release this week. So far, I like it even more than the first book (I’ll Be There).

 

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Books We’d Give To Readers Who Have Never Read Historical Fiction

 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

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: Top Ten Characters We Would Want With us on a Deserted Island

Friday: Candlewick Press Picture Books

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: First, I want to apologize to anyone who feels that I have not been visiting their blog. Last week, after commenting on many blogs, I went back to visit one and did not see my comment. After talking with the blog author, I realized my comment just disappeared. I started looking at some of the other blogs and past weeks, and I could not find my comments. It seems they were just never getting posted! 🙁 I promise I read your blogs! I worked with some of you, and I think I figured out a solution (I have to enter the comment and spam number/words a couple of times and click post), so hopefully I will not have this problem in the future. 

This week I continued to reread for my committee commitments, but I did finish Touched by Paul Mauer and a collection of Peanuts comics. I look forward to sharing Touched with you. It is quite an intense read, and one that high schoolers will truly connect with. I also was able to start reading Boys of Blur by N.D. Wilson. I am not very far into it, but I do find that it is very lyrical and descriptive. I hope I enjoy it as much as others have.

With Trent, we read mostly Mo Willems’s books this week: three Cat the Cat books and three Elephant and Piggie books. I really love the Cat the Cat books, and I know they are going to be a favorite when he is a little bit older. They are interactive, and simple, yet so much fun. I read Elephant and Piggie: Are You Ready to Play Outside? for the first time, and it is one of the best E&P books I’ve read. I love when Gerald is being down to earth, and in this one he is just a super friend. Finally, we also read Naked by Michael Ian Black, and it made me laugh out loud! Have you read it? If not, it will surely make you giggle.

Ricki: I finished an incredible professional development book: Critical Encounters in High School English by Deborah Appleman. The book provides scaffolded lessons to teach literary theory to students. One aspect I liked about this book was that Appleman stresses that literary theory is not just for AP English students. She provides lessons and ideas for all levels of students between grades 6 and 12. This book made me really excited about literary theory. The activities in the appendix are wonderful. I will be writing an extensive blog post about this book soon. I need a few days to digest it all!

Henry and I read seven picture books this week! Our favorite was My Pet Book by Bob Staake. It was very fun to read. We also loved the nonfiction book, The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever by H. Joseph Hopkins. This book proves that nonfiction picture books can be quite marvelous. If you are looking to teach metaphors, I would recommend checking out Ninja Boy Goes to School by N. D. Wilson. The other books we read were just okay, so we won’t share them. 🙂

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I go back to work today, so I am going to have to work on figuring out the balance between being a mom, working, and reading (future blog post about this). I do hope to finish Boys of Blur and then get to brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (thank you Holly!). I also plan on reading a couple of more Elephant and Piggie books with Trent, and then we’ll delve into other picture books we got from the library.

Ricki: This week, I plan to finish Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick. I am also reading the textbook, Young Adult Literature in the 21st Century by Pam Cole. I am listening to The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin—which is excellent thus far.

 

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Authors Who Are Highly Represented in Our Libraries

Wednesday: Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Winner Announcement

Friday: Bloomsbury Picture Books

 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

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.

Giveaway Winner

Congratulations Julee Murphy for winning a signed copy of Minion by John David Anderson!

Last Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Movies (for their story)

Thursday: Because I’m Disposable Blog Tour, Author Guest Post, and Giveaway (Giveaway open until 8/5!)

Thursday: Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award 2014 Finalists!

Friday: Schneider Family Book Award 10th Anniversary Blog Tour

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: I am currently doing a lot of rereading for my committee work, so my other reading has really been put on hold for a bit. I was reading Touched by Paul Maurer before I started rereading, and I still pick it up a bit each day–we’ll see if I an finish it this week.

Trent read some amazing books this week! I love sharing wonderful picture books with him:

• Always Time for a Laugh by Disney (Jim got the Disney Storytime app which has some ebooks. We started with the Monsters, Inc. story.)
• Just a Tugboat by Mercer Mayer (I just love the Little Critters, and I hope Trent does, too.)
• Owen’s Marshmallow Chick by Kevin Henkes (Kevin Henkes’s board books are so well done! They each have a mini-plot, a conflict, great characters, and, of course, a lesson.)
• My First Palette: Six Little Books from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (We bought this at the Hunter Museum of American Art, where my dad is the director, and then we read it throughout the museum. Perfect! And Trent really was captured by them.)
• Stick Kid by Peter Holwitz (This is a great story!! Have you read it? If not, read it now!)
• Discovering Art: Cats by John Harris (My mom got this book to share with Trent. It mixes art, a HUGE part of our life, and cats, our favorite animal.)
• The Three Little Bears Board Book by Byron Barton (Jim, my husband, read this to Trent on Facetime while we were away. So sweet to see Trent’s reactions
• Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes and Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses by James Dean (You cannot go wrong with Pete! I love reading I Love My White Shoes. The singing aspect really does keep the attention of kids. The newest Pete is a wonderful story as well, with just a great lesson. I missed the song though.)

Ricki: This was one of those weeks where I started several books. I did, however, finish A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd. I know many of you have read this book, but if you haven’t, I recommend that you drop everything and find a copy. This is a magical tale that will stick with me forever. After I finish books, I almost always give them away because I only have space for the new books. I am keeping this book close because I can’t bear to part with it.

I also reread a picture book from my childhood—The Elves and the Shoemaker by Eric Suben (A Little Golden Book). It was good fun to enjoy this text again.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: Like I said above, I will be rereading this week. They are all amazing books, so I am excited to do it 🙂 I’ll also keep reading Touched when I have a chance. When I’m done with this, I plan on reading Boys of Blur, but I do not think that’ll be this week.

Ricki: One of the many books I started this week was Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick. I’ve had this book on my Kindle for a long time, so I decided to give it a try. It is very dark, and I am in love with the story thus far!

 

Upcoming Week’s Posts

  

Tuesday: Top Ten Characters We Would Want With us on a Deserted Island (skills, company they keep, hotness, etc.)

Friday: Candlewick Press Picture Books

 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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