It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 10.05.2020

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

Inventors and inventions your readers will want to know about here!

Picture Books

Nana Akua Goes to School

written by Tricia Elam Walker

illustrated by April Harrison

This is my new favorite book.  If you're doing any work with identity, this book is a must include.  We talk about how we're similar and different and how to look positively at differences.  This book is PERFECT for that.  It's Grandparents Day at Zura's school, and while she loves her grandmother, she's seen the negative reactions to her West African Adinkra symbols that are tattooed on her face.  What will her classmates say?  I love how Nana Akua takes the opportunity to have a teaching moment with Zura and use it as a moment to teach and celebrate with her classmates.  Gorgeously illustrated by April Harrison (oh, this illustrator needs even more recognition please!) this is a book I will encourage teachers to read year after year.

Be sure to read the Author's Note at the beginning of the book to your students as it gives even more background.

My Pencil and Me

by Sara Varon

A pet dog suggests to author Sara that she uses her pencil for some writing tips.  A cute book that does give some ideas for the writing process and I particularly enjoyed the ending when we get a real life glimpse of Sara working and then celebrating a book birthday!

I Promise

written by LeBron James

illustrated by Nina Mata

On the one hand, I like the rhyming, positive affirmations this book provides.  The illustrations that have a wide representation of cultures are bright and colorful.  But I just imagine reading this in today's world, where so much feels out of anyone's control... Right now, know your audience and what they can handle hearing and trying.

I would add this to your beginning of the year pile.

Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood

written by Tony Hillery

illustrated by Jessie Hartland

How one man and school children created a sustainable garden in an urban setting.  Don't miss the author's notes and backmatter.

Would be fun to use if creating a school-community garden.

The Barnabus Project

by The Fan Brothers

I have always enjoyed the books and illustrations by the Fan Brothers, and this one adds a third brother to their collaboration.  This is the first book by Terry, Eric AND Devin Fan.

Beautiful illustrations and a story that focuses on positive messages... it's sadly not my favorite Fan creation.  In this story we meet Barnabus, a "failed" pet - one that does not meet the standards of being perfect.  Barnabus believes nothing is impossible and with the help and cooperation of his friends, anything can happen.

I Talk Like a River

written by Jordan Scott

illustrated by Sydney Smith

Vitally important and needed.

The author, a stutterer, gives voice to this young boy who shares the emotions he feels throughout the day.  How difficult it is to create sounds and the many ways they fall apart for him.  The feelings that overcome him when in a public setting, like school.  And the relationship between his father and him and the way his father compares the flow of his speech to a river.

Not only is the story beautiful, but the illustrations match the text in such a beautiful way, it brings tears to your eyes.

Stunning.

Fern and Otto: A Story about Two Best Friends

by Stephanie Graegin

I ADORE Graegin's work and LOVED Little Fox in the Forest. This book is so sweet too and I fall a bit more in love with it after every read.  

A story about perspective.  A story about finding stories.  A story about what makes stories interesting.  

Two friends go on a walk to find a more interesting story to write about when they come across many characters.  Well-versed young readers will recognize these characters from many fairy tales and nursery rhymes.  But what could be an interesting story gives one of our friends a spark of an idea and the other it just sparks the desire to move on through the woods.

Full of details in the illustrations, you take double the time to look through the pictures after reading the words.  A delight to read.

When I Draw a Panda

by Amy June Bates

A story about being your own individual and not succumbing to what everyone tells you to do.  There are some pages that hit the mark for me - the pages where the drawings aren't perfect, or when you go off track from what you're supposed to be doing.  But other times, the drawings are kind of too perfect and that goes against the message of the book, so...

Middle Grade

A Field Guide to Getting Lost

by Joy McCullough

I've been waiting to read this one for awhile and it was only available as an e-book.  I have trouble falling into reading books electronically, so if I really like a book when I read it that way, it's a safe assumption I would love the print book.  I really enjoyed meeting Sutton and Luis and seeing how their stories come together.  Their parents have started dating and they each have some trepidation about it.  I think kids who have/are going through this experience will appreciate seeing themselves within these pages.  It is a mostly character driven novel, with some excitement at the end.  But the reader quickly feels like these characters are friends and wants to see what happens to them.  Coming in at 224 pages, it's not an overly long novel which will hold some stamina levels.

Nowhere Boy

by Katherine Marsh

This was on my #mustread list and I'm so glad I finally got to read it.  The stories of Ahmed, a Syrian refugee, and Max, an American living in Brussels, collide in this beautifully told story.  Max is living in Brussels for a year with his family and he is not happy about it.  Besides being taken away from his friends, he has to attend a French speaking school where he has to use an unknown language to understand school and make new friends.  Ahmed, has lost everyone in his family and is hiding out in the wine cellar in the basement of Max's house.  However, once they meet, a friendship quickly forms, showing that it's so often the minds of youngsters that can see through the politics of different political groups.  I was immediately pulled into this story and found it hard to put down at night.  Recommended for intermediate and middle school readers.

Fighting Words

by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

I understand the accolades given to this novel.  Not an easy story to read, and while an adult may see this as "mature content", it's unfortunately happening to kids.  Kids need to have the words, the fighting words, to speak up and understand consent and what to say about it.  This book may just end up saving lives.  Yes, the book deals with sexual abuse, suicide, living in foster care, and having a parent incarcerated because of drug addiction.  But Bradley really takes amazing care of these topics in such an age appropriate, sensitive way, it is such an important read.

Currently Reading

They Went Left

by Monica Hesse

What intrigued me about this book is it takes places at the end of WWII.  Seems like most are about WWII.

Fall has shown its face here in the Chicago suburbs.  This week it's supposed to be a bit warmer and that makes me happy - maybe some patio reading is still in my future!