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 summer! And while I love sitting out in the backyard with my books and iced tea, sometimes you have to share the great outdoors with other creatures. The other night a skunk wandered through our yard. Thankfully we have no pets to interfere with him/her. He or she crawled along sniffing and digging little holes here and there. I did slip back into the house. For obvious reasons, I didn't want to be the one to aggravate him/her! With the skunk visitation, celebrating Memorial Day with family, and violent storm warnings, I did manage to get some reading in; here's what I've been reading this past week:

Classic Literature

The Swiss Family Robinson; or Adventures in a Desert Island by Johann David Wyss 

In my efforts to read more classic literature, I was able to get a Kindle edition of this book for free. Published in 1812 in German, this novel tells the harrowing adventure of a family of castaways on a remote South Pacific island. A married couple and the four boys survive a shipwreck and must rely on their strength, skills, and faith to make shelter and find food to survive. This family not only survives, but thrives, and can't imagine leaving their paradise. This book, while at time being overloaded with the minutiae of the plants, animals, and stuff that they built, tells a compelling story that reminds me of Survivor set in the early nineteenth century.

Middle Grade Fiction

Good Dog McTavish (McTavish #1) by Meg Rosoff, Grace Easton (Illustrator)

This cute middle grade book will appeal to dog-lovers. The Peachey family is in turmoil - Ma Peachey has had it with everyone's slobbish, inconsiderate ways. So she resigns from the job of "Mother" and all of its duties: finding everyone's lost stuff, picking up after everybody, cooking, and making sure everyone gets out the door on time in the morning. The only conscientious member of the family, 9-year-old Betty, spearheads the idea of adopting a dog. Betty and McTavish hit it off right away and the two hatch a three part plan to help the family get their act together. Young readers will enjoy the interplay between the clever dog and the rest of the family.

Picture Books

Camp Tiger by Susan Choi, John Rocco (Contributor)

Gorgeous illustrations and a beautiful metaphor for overcoming fears and growing up come together in this summertime camping story. The family in this story is enjoying an end-of-summer camping trip and the young boy is dreading the start of school and first grade. He's been so used to having everything done for him and when his mother starts having him do more for himself, he becomes stressed out. His experience with the tiger in the woods, shows readers how a stretch of imagination helps this young boy come to terms with getting older and becoming more independent. This might be a great book to share with young readers at the end of summer and the beginning of the school year.

My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero, Zeke Peña (Illustrations)

This wonderful picture book celebrates the amazing relationship between a father and his daughter as they take their regular after-work motorcycle ride around their community. The little girl greets the father at the door with helmets in hand as he arrives home after a hard day at work. But they take off on a ride past the familiar buildings and homes. The author does an amazing job using descriptive details to help us imagine this ride: "The shiny blue metal of the mororcycle glows in the the sun. The sun, the sun, the bright orange sun is on its way down, turning our sky blue and purple and gold. We become a spectacular celestial thing soaring on asphalt. A comet. The sawdust falling from Papi's hair and clothes becomes a tail following us." This would be a terrific book to share with young children to talk about how we appreciate our communities and become helpful in dealing with the changes that take place in all neighborhoods. It also might make a neat gift for Father's Day.

Daniel's Good Day by Micha Archer 

Daniel is curious to know what makes a good day. On his way to his grandma's house, he asks his neighbors. I like that each of them has a positive, hopeful answer for him - the painter hoping for a clear day, the older couple hoping for a park bench in the shade, the bus driver hoping for kind words. Each of these people are aware that sometimes they don't get what they're hoping for, but they continue looking for these things cheerfully. This would be a great book to share with young readers to show them that when we share our hopes with those in our community, it goes a long way to build good relationships and to show how many of our hopes and dreams are similar. The illustrations are amazing. According to the book jacket, Micha Archer "works in oil and collage on paper she creates with homemade stamps and layered tissue paper." This book is a nice follow up to Daniel Finds a Poem.

Cavekid Birthday by Cathy Breisacher, Roland Garrigue (Contributor)

This cute picture book celebrates friendship and giftgiving with a Cavekid twist. The Cavegirl and Caveboy have birthdays on the same day. They grow up together and they're great friends. The boy is crazy about rocks and has an extensive collection. The girl loves tools. When birthday time rolls around, a visit to the gift store results in a "Gift of the Magi" moment that is solved in a clever way.