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.

One of my favorite times of year is finally here - March Madness!!!!  I love when all of the college games are on all at once. For the start of it, we went to the Buffalo Wild Wings in our neighborhood so we could eat a big pile of wings and watch multiple games at once! The next day, I was so swept up in it, that I even had to watch while I was at the gym, working off the wings and fries!

Anyway, unfortunately my Buckeyes lost in the second round to Gonzaga. That blew my bracket all apart, and made me pretty sad. I did get some time for reading, and now that the Buckeyes are out, I'll have even more time next week!  Here's what I've been reading this week:

Picture Books

Teddy's Favorite Toy by Christian Trimmer, Madeline Valentine (Illustrator)

Those that have ever played with their favorite toys so actively that there was inevitably a catastrophe, will definitely be able to relate to this cute picture book. When I think of all of the haircuts and weird experiments I performed with some of my dolls, I have to smile at this story. Timmy plays very hard with his doll, until one day a leg snaps off. All of the ways he tries to repair the doll only make more of a mess. He has to leave the problem for later, but when he returns, the doll is missing. The relatable narrative and humorous illustrations make this a fun one to share with young readers.Those that have ever played with their favorite toys so actively that there was inevitably a catastrophe, will definitely be able to relate to this cute picture book. When I think of all of the haircuts and weird experiments I performed with some of my dolls, I have to smile at this story. Timmy plays very hard with his doll, until one day a leg snaps off. All of the ways he tries to repair the doll only make more of a mess. He has to leave the problem for later, but when he returns, the doll is missing. The relatable narrative and humorous illustrations make this a fun one to share with young readers.

Ten Magic Butterflies by Danica McKellar, Jennifer Bricking (illustrator)

This colorful picture book uses a cute story in rhyming text about flowers that wish to fly to illustrate basic math concepts for younger children. There are ten flowers in the garden who are happy soaking up the sun and laughing all day, but as they watch the nighttime fairies zipping around in the sky, they decide to ask one of the fairies to help them fly, too. The friends remain a set of ten throughout the story, but the number combinations of flowers and butterflies change on each page. The author had also included a list of ways grownups can use this book to help children develop math skills.

Bunny's Staycation (Mama's Business Trip) by Lori Richmond

It’s tough for young children when one or both parents leave on a trip for a night or several nights. But with a little bit of creativity, it can be a fun adventure. Little Bunny is very upset when he finds out Mama is going away on a business trip. But Papa has ideas for an adventure trip for Bunny and himself, right there in the House. The fun, colorful illustrations include a lot of detailed bits and pieces that will draw young readers and grownups into the story. This book would be terrific to share with young readers whose parents have to travel.

The Forever Tree by Tereasa Surratt

This lovely picture book tells the story of a giant tree, beloved by animals and people, that gets some extra special treatment when it becomes too sick to survive on its own. The bright, colorful illustrations and the uplifting story of the creation of a treehouse for the community would be great to share with kids to help develop a growth mindset and also to discuss ways to preserve the natural blessings around us. This story was inspired by the authors’ purchase of Camp Wandawega in Wisconsin, where something similar occurred and resulted in the creation of an amazing treehouse. An author’s note on the last page tells about this and provides a few photographs of the tree. It also shares the web address of the camp (www.wandawega.com) where you can find out even more about this tree.

The Boy and the Whale by Mordicai Gerstein

With a compelling narrative style and beautifully rendered illustrations, this book tells a powerful story about our duty to be good stewards of all of the natural blessings around us. Abelardo and his father find a whale tangled up in their fishing net. The whale is nearly dead. The boy’s father is very upset because the family’s only fishing net has been destroyed. This is a serious problem, because without the net the family has no way to earn money to take care of themselves. The boy, however, desperately wants to save the whale. The father tells him it’s too difficult and too dangerous and that he must forget about the whale. Young readers will definitely want to find out about this boy’s tough decision and whether or not he will be able to free the whale. This book could generate some good discussions about ways that people and whales can share the oceans. It’s also a good book to help develop a growth mindset as we have a great example of a young person rising above helplessness and not giving up when there’s a job to do. According to the book jacket, the author was partly inspired by a video he saw of a whale’s rescue and the creature’s joyful dance through the waves after being freed. You can watch this video at www.greatwhaleconservancy.org . Scroll down to the video called “Saving Valentina”. It might be fun to share this video with students after reading this book.

Early Chapter Books

Leprechauns Don't Play Basketball (The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids #4) by Debbie Dadey, Marcia Thornton Jones, John Steven Gurney (Illustrator)

St. Patrick’s Day is always a tricky time at school. But there’s definitely more to the holiday than meets the eye in this book from the Bailey School Kids’ series. Eddie, the class prankster, seems to have met his match with Mr. O’Grady, a guest gym teacher from Ireland. The children are convinced that he’s a leprechaun and that he’s up to no good. Chapter book readers in grades 3 or 4 will enjoy finding out whether or not Mr. O’Grady truly is a leprechaun and what it is he’s up to. This might be fun to have in your classroom library or at home during the month of March.

Adult Christian Fiction

The Shack by William Paul Young

Books seem to find their way into my hands with almost perfect timing. All stories matter, and this one definitely spoke to my heart. The Shack is a modern day allegory of one man’s journey from abject heartache and despair to the loving mercies of God.

Mackenzie, or Mack to his friends and family, struggles at the beginning of the story to come to terms with his abusive father. After he has a family of his own, his youngest daughter is abducted and murdered by a serial killer. Years later, he receives a mysterious note inviting him to to visit the shack where the young girl had been taken and it was signed by Papa, the family’s name for God. Thinking it must be a cruel hoax, Mack feels compelled to go anyway. Once he arrives at the cabin, he meets Papa, Jesus, and Sarayu - our triune God. These three are not at all what he’s imagined God to be, and he spends a weekend learning answers to many questions about pain, suffering, and evil.

There are many powerful moments in this story. They all highlight the message that God loves us and through Jesus, frees us to love him outside of the darkness and suffering that comes from evil. The transformation of Mack is very inspirational and the book gave me a lot to think about. There is a movie that came out last year, and I have scheduled my DVR to record it next week. I’m anxious to watch and compare.