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.

Summertime brings my wedding anniversary (23 years) and so my wonderful husband took me on a fun date. We had a fun lunch downtown and then over to Nationwide Arena to see Josh Groban! It was a lot of fun since Josh Groban has been one of my favorite singers for over fifteen years! It was like he was singing directly to me and weren't hundreds of other people in the room with us! Anyway with all of that excitement, I was able to calm down and spend some time with some great books. Here's what I've been reading this past week:

Middle Grade Fiction

Planet Earth Is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos

I had the opportunity to read a NetGalley digital ARC of this historical fiction novel in exchange for a review. I shudder to think that this story, which is set in January of 1986, is historical fiction. I was a sophomore in high school when the tragedy of the space shuttle Challenger happened. I was sitting down in my geometry class, and the teacher, who had just seen the explosion on TV, came in the room and told us what had happened. 

The events of this book have that disaster as a backdrop. At the beginning of the story, readers are introduced to Nova. Nova is twelve years old and autistic. She is nonverbal (unable to speak) and has a difficult time handling different sounds, textures, tastes, and other sensory experiences. She is in a new foster family, after spending the last seven years of her life in and out of many different homes with her older sister, Bridget.

Readers are unsure of the whereabouts of Bridget, as we slowly get the story from Nova’s point of view. Nova is alone and scared. She’s been labeled by her social caseworker as mentally retarded and her new caregivers are trying to learn the best ways to help her. She starts her new school as a special-ed sixth grader, even though she was previously halfway through seventh grade.

Through her thoughts and letters to her sister, readers learn that she and her sister frequently pretended to go to the moon as a means of escape from a traumatic situation with their mother. Through the years of different foster homes, she and her sister paid close attention to the NASA space missions. And when Christa McAuliffe was chosen to be the first teacher in space for the ill-fated Challenger mission, they followed the news stories very closely. Bridget had always promised Nova that she would find Nova and watch the shuttle launch with her, no matter what. 

The author does a great job of being true to the time period. As a Gen-Xer, I am always happy to walk down memory lane and the cultural references resonated with me. But I think it’s also a story that will resonate with young readers today. I’m not sure how much kids of this generation are aware of the space shuttle Challenger explosion, but there is a wealth of resources available on the internet to give them the background knowledge they might need.

Kids with autism were much less understood thirty-five years ago, than they are today. Young readers will be able to experience Nova’s frustrations with not being able to share her thoughts with people and being labeled and marginalized for being different. And even though, more is known today, marginalized kids are still treated unfairly and even bullied. This book might help kids empathize and even consider how they could help kids like Nova become full participants in school and in their communities.
This would be a great book to share with middle grade kids, grades five and up.

Picture Books

Moon! Earth's Best Friend by Stacy McAnulty, Stevie Lewis (Illustrations)

This fun informational picture book is written in the style of a tell-all autobiography in which the Moon shares all sorts of fascinating details about her friend, Earth. I like that the Moon is given credit on the title page and there's a biographical sketch on the back flap. Fun, colorful illustrations and interesting facts make this a terrific nonfiction resource to share with kids.

Cyril and Pat by Emily Gravett 

It's easy to be friends with people that are the same as us, but we miss out on so many wonderful opportunities to have special relationships when we limit ourselves. Cyril is a lonely squirrel in the Lake Park, until he meets Pat. Cyril and Pat have such terrific, fun times together and become such great friends, Cyril doesn't even realize that Pat is different from him. But all of the other animals in the park are quick to remind Cyril that Pat is different and, therefore, an unsuitable friend for Cyril. In the end, Cyril realizes that despite what others say, Pat is a perfect friend for him. This book could be a good way to start a discussion about how we choose friends and how differences and diversity can be a good thing. However, I would note, that grown-ups may want to point out that sometimes we should listen to what people that care about us say about our friends. Sometimes parents and grown-ups have a child's best interests in mind and want to steer the child away from friends who make poor choices that could lead to trouble. In this book, Pat (the rat) steals bread away from the ducks and geese in the lake and also scares the sleeping pigeons. One might argue that the other animals in the story were trying to warn Cyril away from a friend that was a bad influence on him and might lead him into trouble. Either way, this book could lead to some important conversations.

Butterflies on the First Day of School by Annie Silvestro, Dream Chen (Illustrations)

The first day of school is a little bit scary for everyone, especially those that are starting kindergarten. Rosie is about to start school for the first time, and while she's excited, she's a bit nervous the night before and the morning of the big day. Her mother tells her she's fine, she just has butterflies in her stomach. But as the day goes along, and things turn out fine, those butterflies are gradually released until she gets home. This would be a terrific book to share with young children that are about to start school for the first time or are starting in a new school.

Dear Boy, by Paris Rosenthal, Jason Rosenthal

This picture book is an awesome companion to Dear Girl by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Full of poetic text with advice for young boys (but really good advice for everyone), Paris Rosenthal wrote this with her father. This is a great book to share with any young boy that you know.

If You Had Your Birthday Party on the Moon by Joyce Lapin, Simona Ceccarelli (Illustrations)

This fun picture books is a blend of an imaginative story about having a birthday party on the moon and informational text presenting fascinating facts about space travel and the moon. The digital artwork is colorful and loaded with fun detail to make this a terrific resource to have on the bookshelf.

The Magic of Letters by Tony Johnston, Wendell Minor (Contributor)

This lively picture book celebrates letters and their power to make words and sentences that express ideas. With simple text and wonderful illustrations, young readers will be inspired to enjoy the sounds and ideas that letters and words can make. This would be a great book to share during the first days back to school as kids need a little inspiration to get back into the world of reading and writing.

Little Taco Truck by Tanya Valentine, Jorge Martin (Contributor)

Food trucks have become so popular in the last few years, and they provide a fun way to try different foods. It's also a great way for start-up restauranteurs to introduce their food to a community. This fun picture book uses food trucks to tell a great story about friendship and sharing. Little Taco Truck has been providing lunch for hungry workers for some time, but soon other food trucks start parking on the same street. As it becomes more difficult for the Little Taco Truck to find a parking place, he's starting to feel marginalized and left out of his neighborhood. When he comes back in the middle of the night to claim his favorite spot, all of the trucks come to the realization that scarcity mindset isn't good for anyone and that there is enough room and hungry appetites for everyone to enjoy being in community on the same street. This would be a good book to share with young readers as a way of discussing ways to encourage diversity in our relationships and in our communities and how there's plenty of room for everyone.

The Donkey Egg by Janet Stevens, Susan Stevens Crummel

This charming picture book uses familiar characters and awesome mixed media artwork to tell a sweet story about commitment and friendship. Bear is tired and grumpy all the time, and so would rather nap in his porch chair than tend to his work around his house and on his farm. Fox, who is very tricky, takes advantage of Bear's naivete and sells him a huge donkey egg with the promise of a helpful friend once it hatches. And Hare, from the Tortoise and Hare fame, sees that Bear has been tricked into buying a watermelon, but is supportive of his friend. I like how Hare helps Bear clean-up and fix-up around the house and then helps Bear find a solution when Fox's trickery becomes apparent. This would be a good read aloud for younger kids and a great way to talk about being a good friend.

The Littlest Mountain by Barb Rosenstock (Illustrations), Melanie Hall (Illustrator)

This lovely picture books uses folk story-like narrative and beautiful artwork to tell the story of how God chose Mount Sinai from which to give the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. All of the mountains got together to try to see who would have the honor of helping God - Mount Carmel boasted about its beauty, Mount Hermon bragged about its size, and Mount Tabor was sure that it was the most majestic. Mount Sinai was so much smaller and less impressive than the other mountains, it didn't even try to compete. According to the author's note - "This story is adapted from The Contest of the Mountains, a legend in the Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 99:1). The ancient rabbis were trying to explain why Mount Sinai was chosen as the site of the giving of the Ten Commandments. Their explanation attributes human characteristics to the mountains of the world. The locations of the mountains, however, do not all correspond to the geography of the Middle East." Among the reasons given by God for choosing Mount Sinai in this book were its humility, peacefulness, and trust in God. This would be a nice book to share with young readers as part of a discussion of these and other Fruits of the Spirit.