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 tough to watch what Hurricane Irma is doing to Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the state of Florida! I'm definitely praying for all of my friends down there! Hopefully everyone stays safe and the recovery is swift! In the meantime, here's what I've been reading:

 

 

 

 

All the Way to Havana by Margarita Engle, Mike Curato (Illustrations)  

This beautifully illustrated picture book tells about a close-knit family in Cuba riding in their antique car to the big city to visit relatives. As the little boy and his parents drive along the road to Havana, the lyrical text describes the gorgeous seaside scenery, the other old, colorful cars on the highway, and all of the noises they hear. This could be a terrific mentor text for helping young writers use sensory details when writing descriptive pieces. An author's note at the end explains why there are so many old cars on the road in Cuba and how families have to be inventive in order to keep these vehicles in working order. There is also an illustrator's note telling readers about the experience of traveling to Cuba and creating the the gorgeous artwork for this book. I love that when you look behind the book's jacket you are treated to the full length of the family car, Cara Cara, from the top looking down on it.

 

 

 

 

  Creepy Pair of Underwear! by Aaron Reynolds, Peter Brown (Illustrator)  

 

 

This hilarious picture book would be so much fun to share with young readers, especially as Halloween draws near. With black and white drawings, except for the eerie green glow of the creepy underwear, we learn the story of a young rabbit who wants to be grownup and own a cool pair of underwear. But the pair is just a little too creepy and the rabbit doesn't want to admit he's scared of his underwear. I'm sure there will lots of giggles and repeated requests to enjoy this story again and again! 

 

 

 

 

Rappy Goes to School by Dan Gutman, Tim Bowers (Illustrations)  

 

 

This rhyming picture book is meant to be read aloud rap-style. It's kind of a silly story about Rappy the Raptor's first day of school. Everything is rapping along just fine, but then a school bully tries to ruin the fun. This would be a fun one to have on the shelf of the classroom library during the first days of school.  

 

 

 

 

  Skippyjon Jones, Class Action by Judy Schachner  

 

 

This is a silly story about a Siamese cat that thinks he's a chihuahua. He wants to go to school with the other dogs, but his mother won't let him go. But he has a whole crazy adventure there with the rest of his canine gang. There are lots of Spanish and Spanish-like words throughout the story and so kids might get a giggle reading this one out loud.

 

 

 

 

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger   

 

 

I read The Catcher in the Rye many years ago when I was much younger. At the time, I enjoyed it a lot and could relate to Holden Caulfield’s dismay at the phoniness around him and his lack of interest in succeeding in school or life. I remember knowing what it felt like to be bored to death by some professor that was lecturing for what seemed like ten hours. As I was going into teaching, I was always certain that I never wanted to bore kids to death!

I picked the book up again and read it nearly twenty years later, and once again, I really enjoyed it. As someone who's read many young adult fiction books, I recognized that so many characters from those novels remind me of Holden. The YA books of today use different vernacular, and the characters move about the world in more modern ways (imagine if Holden could text his friends and his sister, or order up an Uber ride), but many of them still struggle with the identity crisis and pains of nearing adulthood.

The teacher in me did appreciate Holden’s feelings about books and reading: “What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.” (p. 18) I know that many NerdyBookClub fans can certainly relate to that!