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.
I hope everyone is having a fun and safe 4th of July holiday weekend! And just in case you find yourself waiting between the hot dogs and the fireworks after dark, hopefully you've got a great book handy to read!
Here are some of the awesome books I've been reading this past week:
Middle Grade Novels
I
borrowed a copy of this book from one of my #BookRelays friends and I
really enjoyed reading this middle-grade novel. There's quite a bit of
emotion in this one - Cedar Lee's family is having a difficult time
coming to terms with the devastating loss of her father and younger
brother, Ben, in a car accident the previous year. Cedar's mother buys a
house in the town of Iron Creek, so she can have a place that's closer
to her family. She plans to live in the house during the summer and rent
it out to college students during the rest of the year.
Cedar
becomes good friends with Leo Bishop, who helps her get a job working
concessions for the Summerlost Shakespeare Festival. Leo is trying to
earn enough money for a planned trip to London with his father. Leo and
Cedar begin giving unauthorized tours of the important places in Lisette
Chamberlain's life. Chamberlain was a famous movie star who grew up in
the town and had performed in the festival many years ago. She died
under mysterious circumstances at the local hotel twenty years ago.
As
the story develops, Cedar becomes more self-confident and more willing
to have hope for her future. Her work at the theater and giving the
tours with Leo gives her something to think about besides her family's
grief. There's also a nice bit of mystery as she and Leo learn more and
more about Chamberlain's life.
I like the story development as
the summer progresses. I also like the story's themes of friendship,
especially the message that friends don't always have to do and like the
same things. I also like that these adolescent kids can have a
friendship that doesn't necessarily become a romance:
"I thought
he was cute and he thought I was cute but it was different than it was
when people have crushes. With Leo I'd fallen into another kind of like.
I couldn't wait to tell him stuff and I loved hearing him laugh at my
jokes. He made me feel like I had a spot in the world. It felt as if Leo
and I could like each other all our lives." p. 237
Picture Books
When
I was a kid I used to love to get mail, too. I wrote lots of letters to
my cousin, and it was so much fun to get letters back! This was before
e-mail & text messages changed all that. Anyway, one of my daily
activities in the summer was waiting for the mail truck to come past our
house! It still is, only now I'm excited to see if any new books are
coming my way. So, I can totally relate to the boy in this book. He
wants mail, too. And so he writes to his mailbox and tons of crazy stuff
starts arriving. Young readers will have a great time to see what comes
in the mail and if it gets too far out of hand!
This
is a terrific book to share with young readers, because it has a
wonderful message about making new friends. We see the situation through
the lens of Louise, whom we grew to love in Louise Loves Art. Louise
has a new neighbor and she's anxious to meet her. She goes next door
with her little brother and shares her drawings with Andi. When they
start drawing together it becomes clear they don't see eye to eye on
everything. Kids will enjoy reading to see how these two are going to
reconcile these differences and become good friends.
The
young man in this fun picture book has quite an imagination! He
pretends to be Secret Agent Man (S.A.M.) as he and his mom go shopping
for shoes. After the shopping trip and a nap, he gets the opportunity to
come to his mom's rescue! It will be fun to share with students!
This
is a fun, clever picture book about a persistent woodpecker named
Benny, who will do just about anything to get some waffles. A new waffle
diner has opened near the woods, and he decides that he just has to try
some waffles because they look and smell so good. He makes several
attempts to get into the restaurant and get them, but the waitress kicks
him out each time. Young readers will have fun reading to find out how
Benny is going to get this breakfast treat.
One
of the "Scientists In The Field" series, this nonfiction picture book
has fascinating information and photographs detailing the authors'
journeys with renowned shark scientists. The first half of the book
tells of the work that Greg Skomal, a great white shark biologist with
the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, does studying these
animals off the coast of New England. The second half of the book tells
of the work being done to study sharks in Mexico by Erick Higuera. There
is lots of very detailed information and a list of resources for
further study. This would be a great book to have in the classroom as
source material for research!
Anyone
that's ever wanted a pet of their very own will be able to relate to
this book. Rory's friend has a new pet, and they all have a terrific
time playing with him. Rory decides he really wants to find a pet, too.
This is easier said than done. Young readers will enjoy finding out if
Rory is ever going to have his own perfect pet. The digital
illustrations are very sweet and help make this a fun book for younger
children.
This
nonfiction picture book is somewhat of an index of many of the animals
of the northern hemisphere. Beautiful illustrations along with
descriptions for most of these animals would make it a nice addition to
my classroom library. This book could serve as a good starting point for
further research.
This
is a cute picture book that shares a great message with young readers,
no one is good at everything, but everyone is good at something. Poor
elephant has a tough time playing with his friends: they always find him
when they play hide-and-seek, he's too big to play leap frog, hopscotch
or tag, and he gets all tangled up when he tries to jump rope. But,
even though he's terrible at these games he tries his best anyway. The
double spread illustrations are very detailed and humorous. Little kids
will get a kick out of reading to see what elephant's favorite game is.
I
bought this book for my classroom library because it looked like a fun,
nonfiction picture book. I'm glad I did, because it's got awesome close
up photographs of deep sea fish, which is always popular with my
students. The book is also funny because it appears to have been taken
over by a very chatty blowfish. There's interesting information and a
list of resources at the back, so this would be a good book to start
research on ocean animals.
Just in time for the
Fourth of July comes a fun and imaginative picture book that takes a
good look at all of the awesome places in America. The Statue of Liberty
has gotten bored standing around in New York Harbor staring at the same
stuff all of the time. She decides to take a vacation and see The rest
of the country. She visits the St. Louis arch, the Grand Canyon, the
Golden Gate Bridge, and many other places. The illustrations are
hilarious! My favorite is Lady Liberty photo bombing at Mount Rushmore.
Kids will enjoy reading to find out if she's going to make it back in
time for the Fourth of July. There is factual information at the back of
the book for kids who want to find out more about the Statue of
Liberty.
I'm
a sucker for any cute dog book! I love everything about this one,
including the cover with the title dog in scuba gear. Young readers will
appreciate the friendship that develops between Scuba Dog and a whale.
He wants to hang around with his new friend, but he can't hold his
breath for very long. Little kids will love reading to find out the
steps this dog takes to be able to spend time with and show appreciation
for his friend.
With
the adorable, whimsical illustrations that makes Sergio Ruzzier's books
so sweet, the little guy in this book is very reluctant to pick up a
book that doesn't have pictures in it. This is so like many of my
students! They lack confidence to plunge into text without the support
of illustrations. With some encouragement from a friend, he gives it a
try and discovers that not only is he able to read it, he's enjoying it.
I would love to share this with my students at the beginning of the
school year!
