It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 9.12.16

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

I blogged about Elly Swartz's debut novel Finding Perfect.  Find it here and then go find it on 10.18.16.  It's perfect.

Love the books about small moments in time that you might not otherwise know.  Read about this amazing mountain chef here.

Picture Books


Ninja! Attack of the Clan by Arree Chung
4/5 stars
Arree Chung's books always have one line in them that get me every time.  This one is no different.  Laugh out loud funny!
I enjoyed returning to this ninja family.  I love that the family recognized how busy they've been and find time to play as a family.


One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree by Daniel Bernstrom
4/5 stars
Told in the format of "I Know an Old Lady Who...", this story chronicles a snake that lives in the eucalyptus tree who is tricked by a young boy, who happens to be the snake's first snack, into eating more and more.
With amazing illustrations by Brendan Wenzel (They All Saw a Cat), this book is one to remember!  Kids will love the action words and repeating phrases.


Everyone Loves Cupcake by Kelly DiPucchio
4/5 stars
Everyone Loves Bacon was a HUGE hit last year, I know Cupcake is going to be equally loved.  Loved the puns and the silliness.


The Snurtch by Sean Ferrell
4/5 stars
The Snurtch... it's that thing that does everything you're just thinking  about, like taking something out of someone's hands, throwing things, tearing things up.  At least that's what is happening to Ruthie.  Turns out everyone has a Snurtch.
At least I know who to blame now....
This is one of those picture books that will work best with an audience who is going to be able to infer what the author is not explicitly saying to the reader.


Parachute by Danny Parker
4/5 stars
Would be a good companion book to Courage by Bernard Waber.
It's easy to overlook how things look to a child - what can seem easy to us, may loom large in a child's mind.
Young Toby relies on a parachute, that way if ever in a dangerous situation, it will be there.  But after using it to save a beloved pet, and then having to face fears without it, Toby slowly understands that he has a little more bravery inside him than he realizes.


My Friend Maggie by Hannah E. Harrison
4/5 stars
It amazes me how early bullying starts.  And how many forms it takes.
Harrison takes on verbal bullying in her newest book.  I like how it takes place on the playground because it seems like so often that's where it happens - away from the carefully constructed positive classrooms.  
I hope important conversations happen as a result of this book.

Young Adult


A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom
4/5 stars
Mel is bipolar, yet she's trying not to let people know about it while regulating its ups and downs.  
Great window/mirror book.  There are teens that will see themselves within this book.  It's important to have it so they can see themselves.  It's going to be a great window book for others.  I liked how the secondary characters reacted to Mel's secret - it all seemed very realistic and insightful.
I read an advanced copy through Edelweiss.  Book is scheduled to publish in February 2017.


Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven
5/5 stars
Yes, this book had cliches and predictable parts.  But I still loved it.  It was hard to put down.  I enjoyed both characters and what they did on a daily basis to survive high school and all of its horrors.  I think I liked this one even more than AtBP.  Look for it on October 6th.

Currently Reading


Cloud and Wallfish by Anne Nesbet
This book takes places in 1989 in East Germany, a very tumultuous time.  A lot is about to change for East Germany and our young main character, Noah, is there in the time leading up to it.
Full of factual information, I feel I am learning more about this time than any history book ever taught me!

I am organizing all of my books at home.  It is an enormous undertaking.  What is so crazy is the amount of books I have to read.  Can someone please figure out how to make sleep optional???

review Finding Perfect 9.08.16

"...what's perfect?  What does it look like?  Feel like?"

I think if we asked that question to a room of kids we would get many many answers.  As we know, it's different for everyone.  It looks different to everyone.  It feels different for everyone.

"Aligned.  Equal.  Even...when everything just feels right."

That sounds like a good answer, doesn't it?  Perfect is when everything just feels right.  But what if it feels right means counting by 4s to make sure your little brother stays healthy?  What if it means lining up your collectables and then using a ruler to make sure each and every one is spaced a perfect inch apart?  And it doesn't feel right until then.

That's what it's like inside the head of someone who is living with OCD - obsessive-compulsive disorder.  To fight with your mind all the time, and to have your mind win, to do something even though you know with your body it needs to stop.  To wonder if something is wrong with you.  To wonder if you're not right.  Elly Swartz captures the pain and frustration and how confused this makes a young girl.  I was very impressed with how right everything felt.

We first meet Molly and learn about what is not going right - her mom has left the family to go to a job in Canada.  Her dad is busy with work to be present with the kids.  Her best friend may need to move to a different state.  And meanwhile, new habits appear.  Habits that Molly has no control over.  And for a 12 year old girl, it's confusing.  So she hides them. But instead of disappearing, they get worse.  Until it's hard to keep them inside.  Swartz moves the problem along at a perfect pace.  At the beginning we see Molly's habits and know while they are not something most kids do, it's kept in control.  But then Swartz starts upping the conflict a little bit at a time until we feel how Molly is spiraling out of control.  The climax comes at just the right time, right when I couldn't take anymore of Molly's pain.  I had a desperate need to jump in the book and help her.

Swartz includes great resources at the end of the book.  I like how she separates them - experts consulted and resources consulted.

I hope this is a book that you add to your classroom or library.  There is a student that needs to find this story.  Thank you for giving it to them.

Finding Perfect

by Elly Swartz

published by Farrar Straus Giroux

10.18.16

Goodreads summary:
To Molly Nathans, perfect is:

• The number four
• The tip of a newly sharpened number two pencil
• A crisp, white pad of paper 
• Her neatly aligned glass animal figurines

What’s not perfect is Molly’s mother leaving the family to take a faraway job with the promise to return in one year. Molly knows that promises are often broken, so she hatches a plan to bring her mother home: Win the Lakeville Middle School Slam Poetry Contest. The winner is honored at a fancy banquet with table cloths. Molly’s sure her mother would never miss that. Right…? 

But as time goes on, writing and reciting slam poetry become harder. Actually, everything becomes harder as new habits appear, and counting, cleaning, and organizing are not enough to keep Molly’s world from spinning out of control.

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - Mountain Chef 9.07.16

Every Wednesday I join Alyson Beecher from kidlitfrenzy and other

kidlit bloggers to share wonderful nonfiction picture books.

The intention of today's blog is to give educational professionals

new nonfiction reading material and ideas to use 

with students to promote a love of reading nonfiction materials.

I am excited to be taking a look at this book which is by fellow Wednesday NFPB Challenge contributor, Annette Bay Pimentel!

Mountain Chef:

How One Man Lost HIs Groceries, Changed His Plans,

 and Helped Cook Up the National Park Service

written by Annette Bay Pimentel

illustrated by Rich Lo

published by Charlesbridge

Goodreads summary:

The true story of a Chinese American mountain man who fed thirty people for ten days in the wilderness--and helped inspire the creation of the National Park Service.
 
Tie Sing was born in the mountains. The mountains were in his blood. But because he was of Chinese descent at a time in America when to be Chinese meant working in restaurants or laundries, Tie Sing’s prospects were limited. But he had bigger plans. He began cooking for mapmakers and soon built a reputation as the best trail cook in California. 
 
When millionaire Stephen Mather began his quest to create a national park service in 1915, he invited a group of influential men—writers, tycoons, members of Congress, and even a movie star—to go camping in the Sierras. Tie Sing was hired to cook. 
 
Tie Sing planned diligently. He understood the importance of this trip. But when disaster struck—twice!—and Tie Sing’s supplies were lost, it was his creative spirit and quick mind that saved the day. His sumptuous menus had to be struck and Tie Sing had to start over in order to feed the thirty people in the group for ten whole days. His skills were tested and Tie Sing rose to the challenge. 
 
On the last night, he fed not just the campers' bodies, but also their minds, reminding them to remember and protect the mountains.
 
2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, created by Congress on August 25, 1916. 
 
Today, you can hike to Sing Peak, named for Tie Sing, in Yosemite National Park.

My review:

I really enjoy nonfiction picture book biographies about people you might not have heard of before.  When PB biographies cover the life of someone well known and famous, it's hard to always get the PB right - how much information do you put it?  Do you not add enough?  Is a moment in time enough?  I have seen criticism on both accounts of books.  Plus, we often have background information on the person.  But take someone you have never heard of before and learn about their contributions, you start to realize how it really does take many villages to grow our world!

I enjoyed reading about Tie Sing and his determination and resourcefulness.  Seeing the impact Sing made on one of our nation's great resources - the National Parks and the outdoors - it really made the story all the more interesting and relevant.  How quickly we grab for the easy way out, for the already made/ready/prepared.  To read the story of this young man and how he made do with the resources around him was inspiring!  I also think it's important to note how people of all backgrounds and cultures really did shape our nation.  Even if that's not what is spotlighted in our textbooks.

I was really impressed with the features Annette used in the book.  The end pages have maps that show the route the camping trip took that is described in the book.  The end notes are full of answers to questions you may have been wondering as you read the book!  Many of these questions, even if I hadn't already been thinking about them, made me glad she brought them up!  Annette also included additional notes about the people who were on the trip.  It was interesting to me to hear about the backgrounds of people who were making government decisions!  Annette also includes bibliography and source note information.  

Teaching suggestions:

• great book to use if you're doing any teaching around:  our National Parks, the diversity of people who helped form, build and grow our nation
• writing - small stories/small moment in time stories
• character trait - resourceful
• word choice - I was constantly in awe of the writing choice Annette made.  On one page alone, listen to these great words:  swaddled, tucked, strapped, stacked, snuggled, trudged.  So many nondescript words are overused in stories, I loved how some of these just rolled off my tongue as I read!
• debate - do you think the decisions Sing made helped make up the minds of the travelers?  

Be sure to visit Annette's website to read more information about her book.

Here is some information about the book.

And here is some information about Rich Lo's artwork from the book.

Looking forward to more books by Annette!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 9.05.16

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.

Has anyone else felt the grinding halt of their reading life come to a stop with the start of the school year??  It took me three weeks to read the middle grade novel I was reading!  I'm hoping things will start to change as we get into a routine again.  Luckily I had Sunday to get caught up in my picture book reading!

Last Week's Adventures

I featured a round up of early readers.  These books are so important to have in kg-3rd grade classrooms!  

Here's my #mustreadin2016 update.

It's hard to believe that we are coming up to the 15th anniversary of 9.11.  Here are some books to share with readers of all ages.

It's an election year and it's such a great idea to share how far our nation has come in the right to vote.  This is a great book to use and I added a few other fun books to share this season.

Picture Books


Bella's Fall Coat by Lynn Plourde
4/5 stars
Remember that favorite thing from childhood that you wore or played with until it literally fell apart?  Bella has that too, it's a special coat.  Good thing she has Grandma to make her something new, and finds a great place for the something treasured!  Beautiful fall colors make this a timely read!


Sophie's Squash Go To School by Pat Zietlow Miller
4/5 stars
Friendship is a big topic.  There's more to it than being a good friend, making friends, keeping friends, the give and take in a relationship... see, it's big!  The more books we have that explore this topic, the more likely we're to reach what kids need.   This is another book that will reach the right reader at the right time.


The Wonder by Faye Hanson
4/5 stars
I wonder how often we accidentally turn off the wonder in our students' heads?  The young boy in the story has a head full of wonder, but is always told to stop - stop daydreaming, start paying attention.  But what happens when his imagination is allowed to take flight?  Beautiful illustrations.  Great story to use right now to encourage young learners to think outside of the box!


88 Instruments by Chris Barton
4/5 stars
Choices and patience.  Patience when making choices.  Great topics to explore and discuss!  What do you do when you have too many choices?  How do you figure out which one is right?  What about when things look too big, how do you use patience to slowly figure it all out?  Great, quick read to talk about these big ideas!


The Cranky Ballerina by Elise Gravel
4/5 stars
Ada is cranky on Saturdays because she has ballet class.  And as we soon find out, it's not a talent of Ada's.  When something is hard and difficult, we often do not enjoy it.  But what is your passion?  For Ada, she accidentally finds out it is karate!  Now, she's not so cranky on Saturdays!


Some Pets by Angela DiTerlizzi
5/5 stars
I loved DiTerlizzi and Wenzel's first collaboration in Some Bugs.  Now the duo is back, describing pets this time!  These books are mentor texts for me because I feel like there is so much you can study within the pages.  I love thinking about the words DiTerlizzi uses - then I think about how she put it all together as a writer.  Did she brainstorm the words before she wrote?  How can we put the words in categories?  What does it teach us about pets?  So much to do with this book!


City Shapes by Diana Murray
4/5 stars
I've been waiting to read this book for so long, and it did not disappoint.  Labeled as a concept book, it's also an interesting book on perspective.  This would be a good book to use with They All Saw a Cat.  We see all of the shapes within a busy city through the eyes of a girl and a bird.  Interesting contrast.


Little Elliot Big Fun by Mike Curato
5/5 stars
I have loved each and every one of Elliot's adventures, but this one may be my favorite.  Maybe because of the beautiful Boardwalk setting.  Maybe because the little guy is the brave one who helps his bigger friend who is a bit nervous.  But I think mostly it's because of the illustrations.  Simply beautiful.  Maybe this is the Elliot book that will get Mike Curato a Caldecott.  I hope so.


Middle Grade


As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds
3/5 stars
Blame it on the season.  Blame it on how stressed I've been.  For some reason, I had a really hard time getting into this book.  Sometimes I would forget it was written in 3rd person, and then it would confuse me seeing a name or he/she.  For some reason, I wanted the character Genie to be telling the story, I don't know why I kept thinking that.  But it threw me off a few times.  Anyone else have that experience?  I also thought the ending was too quick.  It took so long to get there and then you turned the page and bam, it was over.  I've seen many reviews about how much they loved the writing, but I feel like I've seen Reynolds' writing much more powerful than in this one.  
I'm looking forward to reading Ghost, his other middle grade that just came out.  I'm hoping for a different experience.

Currently Reading


Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven
I am really enjoying this one.  Similar format to All the Bright Places with 2 characters alternating chapters.  Different topic in this one but like AtBP, digging into important topics.

Spotlight Friday: early readers roundup 9.02.16

Time to get ready for the weekend!

Kick up your feet and find a good place to read.

Sharing #booklove for your classroom or library.

Spotlighting a book or two because these books deserve the spotlight!

I work with many readers.  I work with readers who are just starting to make sense of the printed word.  I work with students who are more confident with print and are ready to really dig deeper into their reading.  I work with classrooms where students are reading challenging material and are really pushing their thinking.

What does this mean?

We need a variety of texts to meet the needs of our readers.  Having picture books and chapter books aren't enough.  We need to make sure we have a variety within these formats in our libraries.

One type of texts are early readers.  Often termed "easy readers" or "leveled readers", right now I refer to them as early readers.  I'm still not sure I like that term.  I never want to put a label on a book that would mark them for a specific age group or predetermine what level of reader a book is "for".  

In the past, early readers didn't have much plot, there wasn't much character development.  Really, they didn't make readers want to read these books.  I'm so glad to see publishers change this.  Early readers now have engaging plots, characters that readers relate to, and issues that young readers understand.  

Here are some of my favorites:

        

Rabbit and Robot series

by Cece Bell

A Pig, A Fox, and a Box

by Jonathan Fenske

        

FreckleFace Strawberry series

by Julianne Moore

        

Ling and Ting series

by Grace Lin

        

Pigsticks and Harold series

by Alex Milway

        

What This Story Needs Is series

by Emma Virján

        

Poppy the Pirate Dog series

by Liz Kessler

        

Penny and Her Marble

by Kevin Henkes

        

Bink and Gollie series

by Kate DiCamillo

        

Urgency Emergency! series

by Dosh Archer

and for those who are ready for something a little bit longer, but maybe not as long as a transitional chapter book:

         

Mercy Watson series 

by Kate DiCamillo

         

Tales From Deckawoo Drive series

by Kate DiCamillo

        

The Princess in Black series 

by Shannon and Dean Hale

The Meanest Birthday Girl

by Josh Schneider

Tales for Very Picky Eaters

by Josh Schneider

        

Tales of Bunjitsu Bunny series

by John Himmelman

This summer I wrote a series featuring some new early readers.  Check these books out:

PART ONE featuring Snail and Worm by Tina Kügler

PART TWO featuring Duck, Duck, Porcupine by Salina Yoon

PART THREE featuring HMH's Green Light Readers series

Happy Reading to all!

#mustreadin2016 September update

Read my January post here.
Read my first update here.

I missed the last update because we were fresh into my daughter's limb lengthening journey and it was a bit overwhelming at the time.  So I'm here to update what I've read since April!  I have a few to update, but as you can see below, I'm behind.  So many books I feel the "need" to read.  Too bad my book purchasing is more than my book reading.  It's the never ending piles and piles.  I'm not complaining.  It's not going to change!  I'm glad I decided to stick to a list of 12 books.  I feel like I still have time to catch up and actually complete this challenge this year!  Without further ado, here's my update!

1.  Cinder by Marissa Meyer read in April
2.  The Meaning of Maggie by Megan Jean Sovern read in July
3.  All Four Stars by Tara Dairman read in April
4. The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson read in July
5.  Nooks and Crannies by Jessica Lawson
6.  After You by Jojo Moyes
7.  Hook's Revenge by Heidi Schulz
8.  Full Cicada Moon by Marilyn Hilton read in January
9.  The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann
10.  Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
11.  A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
12.  Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard read in March


Cinder 
by Marissa Meyer
read in April
I was encouraged to read this book by Carrie Gelson.

One sentence summary:  Drawing from elements of Cinderella stories, Meyer recreates the story as we know it, making Cinder a cyborg who has a mysterious past that may leave a clue to why she can survive a deadly plague that is killing those around her.

My thoughts:  It took me a little bit to get into the story, but once I did, it was hard to pull away.  I really liked how the author kept elements of the Cinderella story but really made it into a very different version.  I read this book with my sister as a book club, so it was fun to talk (well, really, text) back and forth about the book.  As an added bonus, my sister who used to love reading, but fell out of it with the birth of her premature twins, fell back into reading with this book!  She's actually read all of the books in the series now!


All Four Stars
by Tara Dairman
read in April
I was encouraged to read this book by Kristen Picone.

One sentence summary:  Gladys must keep her cooking obsession away from her fast-food, microwave meals loving parents, until she gets a secret job as a food critic - how can she hide her age from the newspaper and this job from her parents?

My thoughts:  Score a book for the foodies out there!  Love Gladys' gumption and her will to follow her passion.  Throw in some friendship issues, and you've got a book that a lot of middle grade readers will relate to!  I'm looking forward to reading the other two books in this series.


The Meaning of Maggie
by Megan Jean Sovern
read in July
I was encouraged to read this book by Ann DiBella.

One sentence summary:  Going through middle grade is tough and Maggie lets us know her thoughts about it all, through the tough times (a lot) and the good.

My thoughts:  This book has one of the best middle grade voices.  Period.  My only concern was some mature content for a book about an 11yo.  I did not pass it on to my 11yo yet, but I'll be the first to admit how innocent she is!  There's time for the mature stuff!


The Friendship Doll
by Kirby Larson
read in July
I was encouraged to read this book by Jason Lewis.

One sentence summary:  Told in different voices and different years, each narrator tells how they come to get Miss Kanagawa, a doll given to America as a gift of friendship from Japan.

My thoughts:  I really enjoyed how each narrator moved the story along and how the ending brought two of the stories together.  Although the character of Miss Kanagawa was in each part, it really was the story of each narrator.  Perfect historical fiction - readers will get wrapped up in the story, learning nuggets of history along the way without realizing it!


I'm 2 months behind, but I have a feeling I'll catch up this fall.  I'd like to start with the Jojo Moyes book After You.  Her book Me Before You is one of my all time favorite adult reads.

How is your #mustreadin2016 coming along?

A Roundup of 9.11 books

Fifteen years ago, on September 11th, 2001, I was standing in front of my second grade class.  I was on the overhead going over our DOLs.  Another second grade teacher pulled my next door colleague and me out of our classes.  I found out our principal was busy doing the same thing.  We were briefly informed about the first attack.  At that time, there was no confirmation why this happened.  The rest of the day was a blur.  I remember watching the television at every break.  Each time I got away there was more news, and none of it good, to report.  It didn't seem like it was ever going to stop.  Meanwhile, being in a building of 1st-4th grade students, the decision to keep the day going as planned was made.  There was no reason to let students know since we didn't know everything.  But the day was interrupted by parents.  Parents who came to pick up their children because on a day like this, you just want them near.  If I ever want record of what I looked like on that day, or what many of my students looked like, I can refer to our school photos.  It had been Picture Day.

Fourteen September 11th days have happened since that day.  Soon it will be fifteen.  I remember the first anniversary.  I greeted every student with a hug that morning.  They remembered the year before, some with more understanding than others.  That understanding has dwindled away.  With each passing year, our students seem to know less and less about that day.  I'm guessing this is akin to those who lived through other momentous days in history, such as John F. Kennedy's assassination or the day the Challenger exploded.  For those who live through events that make an impact on history, they make an impact on you.  But for those who don't it remains that - a part of history.

As we approach the 15th anniversary of 9.11, I want to share some books with you.  These books are meant for our students, to help them understand a little bit more about our history.  I think the authors of these books have done an amazing job.  The picture books share stories of hope.  The middle grade and young adult books help explain and shed light.  Many give young readers a "window" into what that day and the aftermath was like.  Others are a "mirror" into what life may be like for families and cultures who are still dealing with the effects.

While a few of these books came from my own reading, this post could not be what it is without the help of Lesley Burnap's original Facebook post.  Through social media, countless people shared books that they use to help make sense of this tragedy.  Thank you to Donalyn Miller, Nora Raleigh Baskin, Gae Polisner, Paul Hankins, and Melissa Rebello.


Picture Books

Seven and a Half Tons of Steel by Janet Nolan, illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez
Fireboat by Maira Kalman
Saved by the Boats by Julie Gassman, illustrated by Steve Moors
14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein
September 12th: We Knew Everything Would Be All Right by Masterson Elementary Students
The Little Chapel That Stood by A.B. Curtiss
The Survivor Tree by Cheryl Somers Aubin, illustrated by Sheila Harrington
This Place I Know: Poems of Comfort poems selected by Georgia Heard
September Roses by Jeanette Winter

Middle Grade

Nine, Ten:  A September 11th Story by Nora Raleigh Baskin
Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Eleven by Tom Rogers
Just a Drop of Water by Kerry O'Malley Cerra
The New York Times: A Nation Challenged A Visual History of 9/11 Young Readers Edition
America is Under Attack by Don Brown

Young Adult

The Memory of Things by Gae Polisner
All We Have Left by Wendy Mills
September 11, 2001: Attack on New York City by Wilborn Hampton
Love Is the Higher Law by David Levithan
The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard