It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey as a way to share what you have read and/or reviewed in the past week. It's also a terrific way to find out what other people are reading.

Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye of Unleashing Readers have given this meme a children's literature focus: picture books, middle grade novels, etc. They "encourage everyone who participates to support the blogging community by visiting the other bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

 

It's been a super busy week, however I was able to get SOME reading in:

 

 

 

Maple by Lori Nichols   This is sweet, heartwarming book about a little girl who grows up loving the maple tree she was named for. The tree was planted before she was born and they grew up together. Then she becomes a big sister to Willow, with the accompanying tree. The illustrations are beautiful, especially the maple leaves!

Maple & Willow Together by Lori Nichols   I love this really sweet sequel to Maple! Maple and her younger sister, Willow, do everything together. And the beautiful illustrations make all of their activities look adorable. My favorites include the two girls reading upside down on the sofa, playing in the tub, and sleeping together.

 

Maple & Willow Apart by Lori Nichols   This is another awesome installment in the Maple and Willow picture book series. Maple is old enough to start kindergarten, but Willow is lonesome playing by herself. Watching how these close sisters deal with this new circumstance is really heartwarming and adorable. I love the illustrations in this book, too.

 

 

 

Little Pig Joins the Band by David Hyde Costello    This is an adorable book about a Little Pig that's too little to play the marching band instruments his grandfather sets out for him and his older brothers and sisters to play with. It's great watching the Little Pig try to figure out a way that he can fit in. I love the illustrations. My favorite is the Little Pig trying to play the drum that's way too big for him. All you can see is his little snout sticking up above the rim of the drum.

 

I Can Help by David Hyde Costello  This was a nice picture book about a little duck who gets lost and when a monkey helps him find his way back to his family, a chain reaction of kindness begins in which all the young animals help each other solve their problems. The illustrations are lovely, and this would be an awesome book to have in any child's library collection.

 

Number One Sam by Greg Pizzoli   This is a cute picture book about a racecar-driving dog who is used to always winning, always being number one. Through the course of the story he learns a thing or two about friendship, and how some things are more important than winning a race. Love the illustrations.

 

Flora and the Penguin by Molly Idle   This is a terrific wordless picture book that does an awesome job of telling a story with beautiful illustrations. A girl and a penguin meet up on a frozen pond and a fast-friendship is made. They ice skate together and the pictures and flaps really give the sense of the graceful movements. Something happens that interrupts the dance and suddenly these two friends aren't together. This book says so much about friendship and helping each other. I love it!

 

Power Down, Little Robot by Anna Staniszewski, Tim Zeltner (Illustrator)  This is a cute picture book about a little robot who doesn't want to go to bed at night. He has a really cute "robot bedtime routine." The illustrations are very colorful and fun to look at. This might be a fun bedtime read.

Emily's Blue Period by Cathleen Daly, Lisa Brown (Illustrator)  The author does a terrific job telling an important story about a young girl dealing with her parents' breakup. She finds a way to express herself through her art. Lots of my students really enjoy art class and I think they would be able to relate to this book.

Circle, Square, Moose by Kelly Bingham, Paul O. Zelinsky (Illustrator)  This book is a lot of fun for both young children and the grownups who read it. It starts out teaching us about different shapes, but there's a naughty moose that's run amok and is threatening to ruin the book. See what the zebra does to try and take care of the problem. Hilarious illustrations work with the simple text to make this an awesome picture book.

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jennifer Fisher Bryant, Melissa Sweet (Illustrator)    This 2015 Caldecott Honor winning nonfiction book is a great biographical account of the life of Peter Mark Roget, creator of Roget's Thesaurus. The illustrations are awesome and the information on Roget's life and how he created lists from the time he was a youngster is fascinating.