Spotlight Friday - Transitional Chapter Books

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!

That reading period between picture books and early chapter books to middle grade fiction can be a very large leap.  Luckily, authors and publishers have started to notice this and are helping us fill this reading gap.  

Here are a few that have caught my eye this year.  They are smart books, well-written and will be loved among students.



Owl Diaries: Eva's Treetop Festival by Rebecca Elliott


Lulu's Mysterious Mission by Judith Viorst


Piper Green and the Fairy Tree by Ellen Potter


Anna, Banana and the Friendship Split by Anica Mrose Rissi


Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon by Kate DiCamillo


Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party by Shannon and Dale Hale


Ranger in Time:  Rescue on the Oregon Trail by Kate Messner


Puppy Pirates:   Stowaway! by Erin Soderberg


Dory and the Real True Friend by Abby Hanlon


The Story of Diva and Flea by Mo Willems


Lola Levine is Not Mean by Monica Brown


The best part about these books is they are all part of a series.  I think transitional chapter books that are part of a series can really help hook a reader and keep them reading.  Let's hope these authors keep writing so we can hook our students.  Try one of these new books with your class today!

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday 11.11.15 Plants

I am excited to join Alyson Beecher and other friends in this weekly challenge.  Finding great nonfiction picture books isn't a challenge anymore, there are so many wonderful books to be read now!  The challenge is sharing them with as many people as possible so they can find this wealth of literature to share with our young readers.  Thanks to Aly for starting this weekly link-up and thanks to all who join in!  See all of the posts at kidlitfrenzy.

Looking at the NGSS, different grade levels look at plants - how they survive, offspring, parts.  Here are a few books you can use when studying this topic!

Flowers Are Calling 

by Rita Gray

Illustrated by Kenard Pak

Gorgeous book about how insects, birds and other creatures in nature help keep plants, flowers and trees growing.  The pattern of the book shows 3 pages of an insect, bird or other animal being drawn towards a flower, sometimes mentioning the purpose (eat pollen, getting nectar).  The next page names the flower and why it is important to have the creature land on it - what it does for the flower.  The end pages invite you to look closely at a flower and note its color, pattern, shape, smell and time of opening.  The author includes additional facts and sites to visit.  Wonderful narrative nonfiction text.

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner

A Seed is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston


Don't forget to pair these books with some lovely fiction books:


If You Hold a Seed by Elly MacKay


The Dandelion's Tale by Kevin Sheehan


Rooting for You by Susan Hood

I'm sure your students' learning will grow with these books!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 11.09.15

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 wrote about how writing is hard and about the importance of celebrating Picture Book Month with my reading intervention students here.

Picture Books


Lost.  Found. by Marsha Diane Arnold
4/5 stars
The details are so often in the illustrations.  And when they are illustrations by Matthew Cordell, it's that much more fun to pore over them!
Love the idea that something lost can be another person/animal's treasure!

Early Chapter Books


Ling and Ting Together in all Weather by Grace Lin
4/5 stars
I love the Ling and Ting series.  This one is fun to see what the girls are up to in a book that takes place over all seasons.


Mr. Putter and Tabby Smell the Roses by Cynthia Rylant
4/5 stars
Best quote from this book:
"On Saturday, Mr. Putter put on
his best shirt and his best tie.
He also put some pomade in his hair.
It made him look very spiffy.
'Pomade makes the man,'
Mr. Putter told Tabby."

Awesome.

Transitional Chapter Books


Last-But-Not-Least Lola and the Cupcake Queens by Christine Pakkala
3/5 stars
A good series to hand off to fans of Junie B. Jones.


Lola Levine is Not Mean by Monica Brown
4/5 stars
I'm really excited for this new transitional chapter book series.  Featuring a diverse cast of characters and one mean playing soccer queen, I know kids will flock to this series.  Well-written and lots of kid appeal.  Looking forward to the next book in January!


Middle Grade


Lost in the Sun by Lisa Graff
5/5 stars
Books stand out for me in different ways.  This one it was character development and the writing.  Without great writing, the character of Trent would never have developed the way he needed to.  Trent is a character that is conflicted.  We see pieces of the person he was and wants to be.  But we see a large part of who he is now because of a horrible accident. Most readers love reading about characters they can either relate to, have a connection with, or someone they admire, or someone who touches the reader's heart in a deep way.  Trent isn't that kind of character.  He does unlikeable things.  We know the things that set him off, but we don't like his reactions.  And he does it over and over again.  Graff deftly tells the story so Trent's developments happen slowly.  If you read too quickly, you miss the little things that happen.  But Trent's character development also couldn't happen without the addition of a secondary character - Fallon Little.  For me, Fallon was the hero of the book.  I loved her story and really hope Graff writes another book with her as the main character.  Fallon is also flawed, but her way of dealing with bad things that have happened to her, is vastly different than Trent's.  I love these two characters together.  


The Nest by Kenneth Oppel
5/5 stars
Oh.  My.
Disturbingly creepy.
And so good.
But so creepy.
Before I even started reading it I knew if was going to be different.  A young boy says yes to an agreement with a queen bee in his dreams that will save his baby brother, who is very sick, from dying.  
Right there, I didn't know if this was something I really wanted to read.  
I read the book in 2 sittings.
I was right.  Very very creepy.  I think there are some underlying and unsaid topics that could be a bit controversial (the perfect race?  disposing of humans that are not perfect?), although Oppel does a great job of not exploring those topics, just letting them sit there without going into further discussion.  I think most kids will discuss them as they are in the book, not go into a huge philosophical discussion.
The book is a high speed ride of a kidlit psychological thriller.  The big action doesn't happen until the end, but Oppel writes in a page-turning way that will keep you up reading.
My daughter asked me to compare it to The Night Gardener which was he last creepy book I read.  It's different.  THG kept me us and it was a spine tingling thriller.  This one is more creepy instead of thriller.
Make sure you have a block of time set aside for this book.  You won't want to put it down. You might want to read it in the daylight hours.

Currently Reading


Princess Juniper of the Hourglass by Ammi-Joan Paquette

On Deck

The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall