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.

This past weekend was the Friends of the Delaware County District Library Book Sale, one of my favorite days of the whole year. If you bring back the shopping bag from previous sales, you can fill it for only $10! Needless to say, I brought a friend of mine from school and the bag was filled twice! There are going to be some lucky kids at her school! I also found several gems for myself including books of poetry, cookbooks, CDs, and DVDs. I'm always happy to support our library with my purchases, my membership, and my vote for the upcoming operating levy! But before I dive into my new pile of books, here's what I have been reading this past week!



Middle Grade Fiction

The Third Mushroom by Jennifer L. Holm

I had the opportunity to read a NetGalley digital ARC of this middle grade science fiction novel. I really enjoyed read The Fourteenth Goldfish several years ago, and so I was eager to get my hands on this sequel. In the first book, eleven-year-old Ellie is dealing with all of the changes in her social and academic life that come with adolescence when she discovers that her grandfather has somehow transformed himself into a teenage boy.

In this follow-up novel, Melvin (her teenage grandfather) has returned to the Bay area to live with Ellie’s family. Attending middle school as her cousin, Melvin is able to get back into the science lab to do his own research while helping Ellie with her science fair project. Ellie needs extra credit in science and having a lab partner who also has two PhDs will certainly help. In addition to the science fair project, Ellie is also experimenting in other areas of her life: dating a person vs just being friends, rekindling friendships from the past, and whether she can ever learn to like mushrooms.

This is a fun book to read and I think it will appeal to middle grade students who are starting to notice similar changes in their own lives. The book digs deeper into Ellie’s relationship with her grandfather, which has become closer since they’ve been spending this time together as teenagers. I like that she gets this different perspective into his life and feelings. There are some cute moments, though, as the age difference shows itself in their tastes in music, cars, and modern technology.

And, as before, I think it’s great to have a female main character that is interested in science. She also has a friend who is on the school’s chess team. This book has a lot of good messages without being too heavy for young readers.

Picture Books

How to Knit a Monster by Annemarie van Haeringen 

This clever picture book, first published in the Netherlands in 2014, celebrates craftiness and creativity. Greta the goat is very good at knitting. One day she knits herself several little goats and she's very pleased by them. But Mrs. Sheep comes over and throws shade on Greta's knitting skills and makes Greta feel bad. Without thinking, Greta knits a wolf which promptly gobbles up the nasty Mrs. Sheep. This starts a whole series of progressively bigger yarn animals to try to fix the growing problem in Greta's house. Young readers will be anxious to see how Greta is going to solve this problem without getting eaten by her own creations. This might be a good opportunity to discuss conflict and resolution and making predictions while reading. This also might inspire some creativity for young writers who might want to imagine their own crafty creations. This book would pair well with Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett.

Vivid: Poems & Notes about Color by Julie Paschkis 

Great for older students, this lovely picture book mixes art, science and poetry to celebrate everything about color. According to the author, "In this book I paint poems of different colors, and I include some colorful facts and questions. I hope it inspires you to explore the art and science of color: to write, read, and draw a blue streak!" This book is a terrific nonfiction resource and mentor text to have on any bookshelf! 

Stumpkin by Lucy Ruth Cummins 

Sometimes you just have to accept yourself and your circumstances for what they are and make the best of it. The pumpkin in this Halloween picture book is awesome in just about every way: round, big, orange... The only difference between him and the other pumpkins is that he didn't have a stem on top, just a stump...hence, the name "Stumpkin". As the other pumpkins were being purchased and set up in the neighborhood windows as jack o'lanterns, Stumpkin began to wonder if he would ever get to be one too. Young readers will be glad to find out how things turned out for Stumpkin. Sweet illustrations, rendered in a limited palette of orange, green, and yellow complement the story well. Since we get to see the world from Stumpkin's point of view, this might make a good mentor text for young writers trying to write narratives from different perspectives.

The Dinosaur Expert by Margaret McNamara, G. Brian Karas (Illustrator) 

This would be a great picture book to share with budding scientists that enjoy learning about dinosaurs. It's also a nice book to show that girls can be scientists and they shouldn't let anyone discourage them from pursuing their dreams. Little Kimmy loves collecting all sorts of scientific specimens to observe, but she is really into dinosaurs. When the class goes on a field trip to the natural history museum, she is eager to share what she knows. But a careless comment from a classmate leads her to doubt whether or not anyone is interested in what she has to say. As the field trip continues, though, Mr. Tiffin shows Kimmy some great contributions to the field of paleontology made by women. The last page of the book also highlights some prominent paleontologists that are also women. Within the narrative of this book, the author includes some terrific facts about dinosaurs. This could make this a good mentor text for young writers looking for ways to include true facts into narrative writing.

Walrus in the Bathtub by Deborah Underwood, Matt Hunt (Illustrator) 

This funny picture book will have young readers giggling as they learn that sometimes you should look at life through a positive lens. When the family moves into their new house, they see so many wonderful things about it. But when they realize there's a big, noisy walrus in their bathtub, they start to see nothing but problems because of it. As they begin to realize that the walrus just wants to be friends, however, they start to change their attitude about the situation and that makes all the difference. This story could start a discussion about seeing the good in a situation, rather than focusing on the negative. It could also be a good mentor text for young writers who are trying to write about the good and bad sides of other situations.

Mixed: A Colorful Story by Arree Chung

This is a clever, colorful picture book that really helps illustrate the ideas of being an all-inclusive society that embraces differences and celebrates tolerance. The story starts with the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. But when the colors disagree over who is the best, they separate themselves into different neighborhoods. Eventually a blue and a yellow fell in love with each other and created green. And that started the process of the other colors getting together and creating new colors until there were all sorts of different shades. The illustrations are simple, yet powerful enough to drive home the point. This would be a good book to share with young readers at the beginning of the school year, as learning communities are being built.

I Just Ate My Friend by Heidi McKinnon 

This adorable, yet darkly humorous, picture book provides young readers with a good opportunity to think about what makes a good friend (aside from being tasty maybe). The narrator of this story is very upset because he or she (I'm not sure which) has just eaten a friend. Now the narrator doesn't have a friend anymore and so wants to try to get another one. Every request for friendship results in rejection for various reasons - too big, too small, to slow, etc. Look out for a funny twist at the end! This book would pair well with We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins.

With My Hands: Poems About Making Things by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, Lou Fancher (Illustrator), Steve Johnson (Illustrator)

The beginning of a new school year is a time when everyone has a fresh start to try new things. This book of poems really celebrates the maker and artist in everyone, whether or not you consider yourself to be an artist. After reading this poems about making all sorts of things: boats, tie-dye shirts, messes, leaf pictures, forts, and cookies, I realized that even if I don't consider myself to be artsy, I have made many items in this book. The collage-style illustrations pop off the page and really help readers consider the possibilities of their next project! This would be great inspiration to have on any bookshelf!