It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 2.22.16

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.

Last Week's Adventures

Last Friday was #nf10for10 day!  I hope you had the chance to see all the great nonfiction picture book ideas out there!  I'm still going through blog posts! If you are a primary educator or have primary children visit your library, here are some must-haves.

Have you heard about the book The Remarkable Journey of Charlie Price?  Here is my review.

There are some amazing animal books out there, but we don't teach too many animal units. Here are some other ways to use these wonderful mentor texts.

Picture Books


A Bear's Year by Kathy Duval
4/5 stars
Beautiful illustrations and rhyming text make this a perfect book to add to a bear unit.  Great text for young readers.


Nanuk The Ice Bear by Jeanette Winter
4/5 stars
I've read many polar bear stories but this one had its own unique qualities.  The illustrations were centered in a rectangular box in the  middle of each page, with simple yet informative sentences at the bottom of the page.  Giving enough information about the polar bear, we also learn a little about what global warming is doing to the Arctic and how it is affecting polar bears.


Arctic White by Danna Smith
4/5 stars
I've read a lot of books about the Arctic, but they are usually about animals or how global warming is keeping our northern most tip, too warm.  This book features the beautiful Northern Lights.  I loved how the illustrator, Lee White, kept the color palette in blues, whites and browns until the young girl and her grandfather arrive in time to see the beauty of the Northern Lights.


That's Not Bunny! by Chris Barton
4/5 stars
I bet there are going to be some good belly laughs when I read this one out loud!
Who is the wise one - the hawk or the bunny?  It's the wits of a hawk vs a vegetable wielding bunny.  Who will win?


The Quickest Kid in Clarksville by Pat Zietlow Miller
4/5 stars
Pat Miller had a great Nerdy post last week about how she wrote this story.  I thought it was a nice mix of believing in yourself, working hard, teamwork, and a little Wilma Rudolph history.  Nice author notes in the back giving just a little background info for young readers.


If I Had a Gryphon by Vikki Vansickle
4/5 stars
Very fun picture book with delightful illustrations from Cake Atkinson.  A hamster seems like a boring pet when you compare it to mythological creatures like a gryphon, hippogriff or unicorn.  But when you think about the needs of those animals, maybe a hamster is just what you need!
Love the different mythological creatures that were included in this book!


Bloom by Doreen Cronin
4/5 stars
I really like the theme and message of the book.  I'm not sure if young readers will pick up on the lesson of the story, but older readers will.  It would be a great discussion - ordinary vs. extraordinary, what it is, what it looks like.

Middle Grade


Summer of Lost and Found by Rebecca Behrens
4/5 stars
Nell is not having the summer she thought she would have.  Instead of having sleep-overs with her best friend at home in New York, she's having to spend her summer with her mom on the Outer Banks, North Carolina.  And it's a trip that's minus her dad, who is across the ocean in London.  Having to navigate what is really going on with her parents with having a miserable vacation, is not a good start to summer.  But things start to pick up when a mystery presents itself to be solved.  With a little help from a new friend, who is mysterious in his own way, Nell may end up having a good summer after all.
My favorite part of this book was the setting.  Having visited OBX myself, it was fun recognizing places that were mentioned (especially the nod to Duck Donuts!).  The mystery surrounding Ambrose, the friend, was pretty easy to figure out, but the historical mystery was fun to read about.

Read With My Ears


Terror of the Southlands: The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates #2 by Caroline Carson
4/5 stars
If you haven't listened to this series yet, run to your library now!  It is one of the best narrated audiobooks.  So fun and enjoyable!
I am so sad that book #3 is not at either library I go to.  I ordered the book, but I really want to listen to it!  I'll have to keep the narrator's voice(s) in my head!

Currently Reading


Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eager

Looking forward to seeing your week in reading!