Monday, December 7, 2015

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 12.07.15

IMWAYR 2015 logo

This weekly post comes from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.  It's a great source to find new books to use with your students.

Yikes, I took two Mondays off!  You would think I would have piles and piles of books to talk about!  Nope.  It's been a no reading few weeks.  I definitely read in the edges.  And it was just pages at a time.  This time of year leaves me so busy.  Most of the time I'm doing something fun.  Othertimes I'm just getting the holiday stuff done.  I have a lot of library books due today, so I had to do a lot of reading yesterday.  Trust me, most of this list was completed yesterday!

The Past Two Week's Adventures (not much)

I'm always looking for short books or passages to show theme for young readers.  The Bunjitsu Bunny series is a perfect one for that.  Check them out here.

Took some brief moments to share why NCTE is important to me.  And some holiday traditions, here.

Picture Books


A Dog Wearing Shoes by Sangmi Ko
4/5 stars
Sweet story, love the illustrations.   A timeless story to share and share and share.


Robo-Sauce by Adam Rubin
4/5 stars
That was fun.  And completely unexpected.

Written and Drawn by Henrietta
Written and Drawn by Henrietta by Liniers
5/5 stars
My new favorite book by Liniers.  I wonder how many ways you could use this for Writer's Workshop?


Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev
5/5 stars
I had just gotten this book from the library when it was announced at NCTE that it was a 2016 Charlotte Huck Honorable Mention Book.  Now I know why.
Love books about friendship.  They should be used throughout the school year because issues about friendship don't just happen at the beginning of the year.  They pop up all year long.  I think some of the things that friends just do that are listed in this book should be put on posters that are on display all year long in the classroom.


Monster Needs Your Vote by Paul Czajak
4/5 stars
Has one of the best platforms for a presidential candidate to run under!

Informational Texts


Mary Cassatt: Extraordinary Impressionist Painter by Barbara Herkert
3/5 stars
Good intro biography to Mary Cassatt, an artist I really didn't know much about!

Currently Reading


Masterminds 2: Criminal Identity by Gordon Korman
Wow, I love this series.  Not realistic fiction, but really fun fiction!  What an adventure these kids go on - suspense, action, mystery.  
I was able to get an ARC of this book at NCTE.  I actually got my copy signed for a student at my school - I hand delivered fan mail to Mr. Korman from this student.  So thrilled to be able to hand off this copy to him.  Thank goodness another teacher got a copy and let me borrow it before it goes into her classroom!
Be sure to get this sequel in Feb. 2016.  I already have mine pre-ordered!

On Deck
I have some reading time up ahead and have some ARCs from NCTE that I want to get to.  The first on the pile - Sara Pennypacker's Pax.  I've heard wonderful things!

I have a couple of fun posts coming up this week.  On Wednesday I have a post about Chris Barton's books.  Really enjoy his writing!  On Friday I'll be spotlighting a holiday roundup of books.  Later in the month I'll have a review of Kristen Kittscher's The Tiara on the Terrace.  Loved it!  Be sure to check back!
Happy Reading!


13 comments:

  1. I read Strictly No Elephants this week, too. I enjoyed it as well. You are so right about books about friendship are useful all year. Students could always use the reminder about what it means to be a good friend. I just read about Pax on another blog. I think you'll like it. I'm definitely looking forward to it now.

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  2. This is a great list of some good picture books to add to the TBR list. I need to read picture books more often. I just don't get to the library often enough. Have a great reading week!

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  3. I can't wait to read Pax. I am a huge Pennypacker fan. I agree about friendship books - we read them aloud all year long. Because we are figuring it out ALL year long!

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  4. I keep hearing about Pax, so much to love in some books! I did love Strictly No Elephants, would be good for so many ages. And will look for Henrietta and A Dog Wearing Shoes. Thanks Michele, no matter that you read them yesterday, I appreciate the share!

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  5. I'm patiently holding off to read any 2016 books but Masterminds 2 is probably going to be my first read of 2016.

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  6. Strictly No Elephants is on my next book order which reminds me that I should send it in really soon now. Here is my weekly report. Happy reading!

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  7. Robosauce and A Dog Wearing Shoes were recent reads that I loved too! And a new Masterminds! How did I miss that at NCTE?? Can't wait to read it in Feb. Found the first one through your blog. :)

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  8. Very jealous that you were able to get an advanced copy of Mastermind 2 - Don't know how we missed that author signing. We will definitely be purchasing it in February

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  9. Thanks for sharing all of these titles that are new to me. My TBR list is getting longer and longer, but I can't resist adding more. Don't worry! This is a tough time of year to keep up with everything, including reading. And some nights you just want to relax and enjoy the tree a bit. Have a terrific week!

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  10. I've only read Monster from your list; I'll have to check out the others!
    We'll have to plan on reading The Honest Truth together! :)

    Happy reading this week!

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  11. I read Monster Needs Your Vote, too. I think your rating is a good one. It was cute and could be used during the presidential debate. I hope you have had a great week thus far. Happy reading, my friend!

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  12. I loved Masterminds! In fact it is probably one of my favorite Gordon Korman books. I will preorder this one for sure!

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  13. A Dog Wearing Shoes caught my eye - practically all the titles here are unfamiliar to me, thanks for sharing them! :)

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