Sunday, May 25, 2014

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 5.26.14

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.

It's the Memorial Day weekend post, which means more books!  Well, I thought it would mean more books, but with our great weather it meant got all the planting done and the reading suffered a bit!  That's ok, after our winter, it's great to be outside!

Picture Books

Zen Ties
Zen Ties
 by Jon J. Muth

5/5 stars
I loved seeing Stillwater's story continue.  Muth does a great job bringing the characters back from Zen Shorts into this new book.  I really enjoyed seeing Koo, the young panda from Muth's newest book Hi, Koo!.  I loved Koo's speaking in haikus, I loved the message and theme Stillwater teaches.  I enjoyed reading the Author's Notes at the end of the book.  Some of our teachers have noticed that the haikus do not follow the traditional rule.  I like that Muth explains this and seems to have kept with more of the Japanese culture.  It was also interesting to note the cup-keeping tradition!  Will have to look for Zen Ghosts next!

Turtle Island
Turtle Island by Kevin Sherry
3/5 stars
Cute story about friendship for young readers.

Informational Texts

Plastic, Ahoy!: Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Plastic Ahoy! by Patricia Newman
4/5 stars
Informative book about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  I had no idea this existed.  I knew the dangers of plastic being in the ocean and knew there were steps we are encouraged to take to make sure this does not happen, but I did not know what has already happened.  I think this would be a great mentor text to show how the scientific procedure can be used in writing.

Dogs on Duty: Soldiers' Best Friends on the Battlefield and Beyond
Dogs on Duty by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
5/5 stars
It just amazes me what dogs are capable of.  This book details what these amazing creatures are capable in order to help serve the USA.  Using their keen sense of sight and smell, dogs are being used in the military as Military Working Dogs, helping find explosives, ammunition and enemies.  It was interesting to me to read about them because I've seen several presentations with K-9 dogs.  Many of their training procedures are the same, often because a dog that is being trained to be a MWD, can sometimes find themselves working with law officials upon "retirement" or if they weren't of MWD caliber.  I thought this was a very appropriate book to read for Memorial Day weekend!  This book is also on Illinois' Caudil and Bluestem Award lists for 2015.  I think this would be a great book to use with a variety of grade levels. 

Middle Grade

The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky
The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky by Holly Schindler
5/5 stars
This book completely took me by surprise.  It was on my radar, but not quite in my immediate TBR pile.  It wasn't until I read this post by Leigh Anne Eck that I moved it up!  I agreed with her first few words - I am always searching books for our 4th grade readers, but is seems that so often a book that I love has something in it that makes it questionable.  For many kids, it's ok, I can still pass it along.  But this book does everything just right.  I can pass it along and book talk it as much as I want!  
This book has so many underlying themes, I think it would be great to use whole class, small group or just with individual readers.  So much to talk about - when does having an opinion go too far?  This book is about hope, about what is right and wrong, about friendship and forgiveness.  Loved it.
My favorite line: pg. 36 "Courage... can sometimes be like when you're dying for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but there's only a skiff of peanut butter left on the side of the jar, and no matter how much you scrape, you begin to wonder if you'll ever get enough on your knife to cover an entire slice of bread."

Currently Reading

The One & Only
The One and Only by Emily Giffin
Yup, a book for me.  I've enjoyed many books by Giffin.  We'll see on this one.  I've already guessed where this book is going and I'm not sure I'll like it.

The Ninja Librarians: The Accidental Keyhand
Ninja Librarians:  The Accidental Keyhand by Jen Swann Downey

21 comments:

  1. I have Ninja Librarians on order myself. Looks like you had a good reading week, Michele.

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    1. It looks good! I'm hoping to start it this evening :)

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  2. Zen Ties is my favorite of the Zen books. Glad you enjoyed it! I will definitely be checking into Dogs on Duty. I can't resist a dog book.

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    1. I think you are the one that recommended it! Dogs on Duty was good, so inspiring!

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  3. I loved Dogs on Duty, but when I read Sunshine and Lucky, all I could think was "I'm glad they don't live across the street from me!" (I had neighbors once who had a similar philosophy about home repair/decoration, and it was unpleasant!) We all bring our personal experiences into the books we read, don't we?

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    1. :) I saw your review on Goodreads! It would be frustrating to see that... I got so wrapped up in the story, you just can't help but feel for Auggie!

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  4. I love Zen Ties-& each of them shares important things. Thanks for emphasizing The Junction of Sunshine & Lucky. It does sound good! Have a good rest of the day-I'm planting today!

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    1. That's been me all weekend, I think I have dirt in all my fingernails!! I can't wait to read Zen Ghosts, now! I think you would like Sunshine & Lucky!

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  5. Plastic, Ahoy sounds like a good book to have in the classroom library and to use as a mentor text. I had not heard of most of the books on your list, so I am busily adding to the TBR list today. Have a great reading week!

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    1. Glad to add to that pile :) I love Mondays to get new titles, something to look forward to!

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  6. I am so glad I found a fellow reader who loved The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky as much as I did. Thanks for the shout out too! I have been hearing lots about Ninja Librarians too - will have to check that out.

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    1. You're welcome! It was a good review. Like you said, content can be tough for this age!!!

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  7. I also LOVED The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky! I loved the relationship between Auggie and her grandfather. My class had the opportunity to Skype with Holly Schindler, who is a lovely as her beautifully written story. Ninja Librarians looks fun!

    Happy Reading!

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  8. Looking forward to The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky now. This title was not on my radar at all, so thanks for the review. I have been looking for a title on the Pacific garbage patch to read to my kids, and Plastic Ahoy looks perfect!

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  9. You had a great reading week. I have Ninja Librarians on my summer reading list. And I have a few for me books on my summer reading as well. :-)

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  10. What a great collection of books! I'm adding some to my TBR list!

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  11. I just saw The One and Only in the bookstore. I didn't get it, but I am curious what you think! I had fun reading Plastic, Ahoy, too! I was equally unaware that it existed.

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  12. I love Zen Shorts, but haven't seen Zen Ties. Dogs on Duty is already in my TBR pile, and I'll have to add Plastic Ahoy and The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky. Thanks for sharing!

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  13. I too have Zen Shorts. Need to check out the other Zen books. Have to see what you think about the Ninja Librarians.
    Mrs. Brown Loves Bookworms

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  14. Zen Ties looks so cute! Thank you for sharing. And I love turtles, so that one won my heart.
    Wasn't Plastic Ahoy fascinating? Important for kids to read.

    Happy reading this week! :)

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  15. I absolutely love that Zen series by Jon Muth - so understated yet so brilliant at the same time. He has a different kind of gift. Ninja Librarians sounds like a lot of fun!

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