It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 9.04.17

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

Check out the new books from Bloomsbury's Read and Bloom series.

Predators and gentle giants - some wonderful new animal books for your collections.

This book is very personal for me.  I hope we many many readers for this book so disabilities can be looked at in a new understanding.  Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

September is going to be an amazing reading month.  Do you know about these releases?


Picture Books


Uni the Unicorn and the Dream Come True 
written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
illustrated by Brigette Barrager
Everytime I pick up an AKR book, it's always a bittersweet moment.  But then you read her words and are always transported to a new place.
I like the Uni the Unicorn story even better than the first one.  The storyline moved a little better and had a stronger conclusion than the first one (that one felt rushed to me).  Kids who love unicorns and magical fantasy stories will love this one.
As always, I really enjoyed Brigette Barrager's illustrations.  They are so reminiscent of Mary Blair's Disney works, I imagine Barrager's time with Disney had to have influenced her!


Nothing Rhymes With Orange 
by Adam Rex
I always like when a character talks back to the text.  It's something Adam Rex has done in some of his books and he does it so well!  Adds a lot of humor!
This book is structured as a rhyming book but it changes throughout the book - sometimes the rhyme is carried across layouts, sometimes its on one page.  It made it trickier to read.  I think if you are doing this as a read aloud (and it would make a very funny one), practice reading it ahead of time so you know when to keep the rhyme going.


The Scariest Book Ever 
by Bob Shea
Loved this one!  When a scary book makes you laugh, you know you have a book that you can use to talk about perspective.  I like the comparison of what is scary to the ghost and what is scary/funny for the reader.
And can I also mention how I had to touch the clear ghost on every page?  Apparently I have a thing about texture in books!
This was a library book that I immediately purchased so I have it for our #classroombookaday rotation!


Mighty Moby
text by Barbara Dacosta
art by Ed Young
Based on the story Moby Dick, this book takes young readers on a journey in the ocean, which turns out to be a bathtub adventure.  The author's note lets us know how the text was put together, using words and verses that can be put to song, all pieced from the original Moby Dick text.  It also gives us further information about the artwork.  
I'm interested in seeing how young readers approach this text.  I think it will be better appreciated by adult readers, but I'll be interested in seeing if I'm wrong!
I can see how this book has appeared on Mock Caldecott lists.


Lines
written by Sarvinder Naberhaus
illustrated by Melinda Beck
A concept board book that explores the lines that make up our world.  I like seeing more nonfiction in board book format and this is a concept book so it breaks down the idea of how lines make up shapes in our world.  However, the bigger idea this board book explores that shapes are all around us - in our town, in our world, in our universe - is going to go way over the heads of the book's young readers.  Beck's artwork will appeal to them, so even if they don't get the big idea, they'll enjoy the bright, bold colors!


BB-8 on the Run
written by Drew Daywalt
illustrated by Matt Myers
This story takes place in the time when BB-8 leaves Poe and finds Rey.  
It's a sweet story about helping people in need.  
If you aren't familiar with the movies, you'll enjoy the story about helping.  If you're familiar with the movie, you'll enjoy filling in that gap of time for BB-8.


Little Elliot Fall Friends
by Mike Curato
Another sweet Little Elliot and Mouse story.  This time Elliot and Mouse need a break from the hustle and bustle of city life and take a trip to the country.  Beautiful fall colors are used to depict the country life in autumn!
I'm still waiting for Mike Curato to get some love from the Caldecott committee.  I love his beautiful artwork (see All the Way to Havana as well).


My Beautiful Birds
by Suzanne Del Rizzo
If you have a text set on refugees, this is a must add.  Also, amazing artwork with polymer clay and acrylic.


Yo Soy Muslim
written by Mark Gonzales
illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini
Wow, this is beautiful.  Both the text, which is lyrical and thought-provoking and the amazing illustrations.  The colors.  The ideas.  Great text.


The Bad Seed
written by Jory John
illustrated by Pete Oswald
Just a funny, funny story.  Made me laugh and made me think about the accents I'll be using when reading this one out loud!

Middle Grade


Chasing Augustus
by Kimberly Newton Fusco
I've loved Fusco's writing since Beholding Bee.  I read that one when I jumped in feet first to the Nerdy life!  
This one features a tough character, Rosie, who has a lot going on in her life that she cannot control.  But what she will control is finding her dog that has been given away by her mom.  Nothing comes between a kid and their dog.
Come back on Thursday for a longer review
publishes September 19th


Ban This Book
by Alan Gratz
In usual fashion, Gratz takes a tough topic and tackles all sides of it.  
When books start getting banned from the school library, fourth grader Amy Anne decides to fight back.  Installing a banned books library in her locker for other students to check out is a way to keep the books in circulation, but what happens when she gets caught?
Gratz takes the subject of banned books and really does a great job of looking at all sides of it.  It's easy to take a stand and agree that banning books is wrong, but what about when one of those books is about sex?  Should that be in an elementary library?  It made me really be reflective about my own thinking.


Currently Reading


The Jumbies
by Tracey Baptiste
I'm way overdue reading this one.  Especially since I already have book two ready to go!


Hope you all got some reading in over the long weekend.  I loved having some extra time.  I needed a break from the craziness of the beginning of the school year!


* you may have noticed that I am starting something new with this IMWAYR posts.  I am taking out the book rating system I've used since I started blogging.  As the years have gone by and I've read more and really seen the bookmaking process, I think it's hard to rate a book, knowing the immense work that happens when writing a book.  It's something I have no aspirations towards because the idea of choosing every word so perfectly makes me exhausted!  If I share a book on this blog, it's because I want to celebrate it.  It's a book I want to share with others in hopes that they make their way to your students and readers.  I will continue to rate books on goodreads.  Please use the side button above to follow my reviews there if you would like further rating information on the books I read.  I add all of the books I've read on goodreads, not always on this blog.  As always, happy reading!