Always Time To Read!

COME VISIT TEACH.MENTOR.TEXTS, WITH JEN AND KELLEE WHO ARE HOSTS OF THIS KIDLIT MEME, FROM PRIMARY TO YA.  CHECK OUT THE LINKS TO SEE WHAT SO MANY ARE READING!  

        It's Monday! What are you Reading? is another meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys, a variety of reviews to find even more books for your TBR list. 

       Thank you all, Jen, Kellee and Sheila for doing!

Elephant & Piggie books by Mo Willems – All read to my three year old granddaughter on Saturday. 

Today I Will Fly

She liked this one, epecially Piggie flapping his arms, & understood most of the other jokes. I liked the fact that friends were helpful to Piggie who really, really wanted to fly.

Are You Ready To Play Outside

This is the one she liked most, & laughed at the fun times in the rain. She loves the expressions & can tell when they are sad or happy, & then really wants to know why. I thought again that the book shows such friendship & can imagine having great talks with young students about friendly actions.

I Am Invited To A Party

Great story about Elephant & Piggie’s dilemma about what to wear to the party.  Such fun that they keep changing outfits to meet what they think is the party’s theme.  My granddaughter doesn’t understand the social importance of wearing the right thing, so this wasn’t such a big hit to her, although she laughed at how silly they looked.

Pigs Make Me Sneeze

This too was a little abstract because my granddaughter doesn’t yet know that you can be allergic to something.  It was funny with the big sneezes and even the alarm concerning the friendship might have to end showed Elephant’s usual worries over nothing.  It would be good for checking to see if young students are inferring what Elephant is so worried about.

     A big hit:  the inside back covers always have a drawing somewhere of the pigeon from Mo Willems’ other beloved books. My granddaughter loved looking for Pigeon!

Other Picture Books

Hope by Isabel Monk

Found at the library, a family story that's sweet about a little girl named Hope who visits a beloved Great Aunt Poogee. The story considers the fact the girl is a mixed-race child, & does it well. Her aunt gives her good advice to answer, "I am generations of faith 'mixed' with lots of love! I am Hope!" The illustrations are terrific.

Family by Isabel Monk is

the second book after Hope. These are the same characters, but there's not much plot here, essentially a good memory of a family dinner & the little girl named Hope bringing a new "family" dish. Again, illustrations are good. And if you're doing some fun cooking unit, it would add to the family memory texts.

Picasso and Minou  by P.I. Maltbie  & Illustrated by Pau Estrada

Based on the true story of Picasso and his cat Minou (cat in French) that really did bring him a sausage.  The story is lovely, including the blue, then rose periods, into the abstract.  Illlustrations give much to discuss, as in what pictures are represented in them and the background of the place and time. 

Flotsam by David Wiesner  This marvelous book could be added to any teacher’s collection, but older students will be so delighted with the detail of the art, along with the surprises that the book holds. It concerns a young boy at the beach when an old time-underwater camera washes to shore.  A roll of film inside the camera holds amazing revelations.  The detailed illustrations take your breath away and there is a surprise at the end too.

Chapter Books

The Rag And Bone Shop by Robert Cormier

I just listened to this and was spellbound. It was scary and alarming all the way through to the end. Cormier certainly visits the dark side of the human mind, in this case, children. In this book, as in A Chocolate War, one remains tense all the way through. I would often sit in the driveway for a few more minutes, listening, listening. I want to say that I'm not sure any young child should read this. It is creepy.

And finally, the best!

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Wonderful story with exceptional voices in the characters. They are complex, not exactly easy to say who are the bad guys. Applegate made you want to be there, listening to the talk (really the thinking). Shouldn't say more so I don't give away anything.  I want to say that when I read a book like this, I really miss having a class. It will make such a wonderful read aloud.  And, there really is an Ivan, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Favorite quotes from Ivan:

      I could use a few oohs and ahhs myself.

     ‘It’s about me,’ Ruby lowers her voice. ‘It’s about me and how I fell into a hole.  A big hole.  Humans dug it.’

      Right now I would give all the yogurt raisins in the world for a heart made of ice.

It took five men and a forklift.

      But when I climb into that leafy cradle, it’s like floating on treetop mist.

      I can just make out Bob’s little head sticking out of Julia’s backpack.  “You are the One and Only Ivan,” he calls.

Next, in between doing #TeachersWrite:

              Finish Fake Mustache by Tom Angleberger. I’m listening to Jesse, an old novel by Gary Soto, and hoping to start Write Beside Them by Penny Kittle.  And I hope to read more of the amazing writers’ work in #Teachers Write.  I haven’t done very much this week.