Monday-reading wrap!

                 Thanks to Jen at Teach.Mentor.Texts and Ricki and Kellee at Unleashing Readers, we have a terrific Monday Reading community. Come see what everyone shares!
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            I've read some of We Were Liars by E. Lockhart-so compelling already, but having my daughter, son-in-law & two granddaughters here, & now my grandson in Texas having a baseball accident will bring me to be with them on Tuesday. My time is definitely not my own, yet! Hopefully this book will be finished this coming week.

However, I did read some good books this week.

The Julian Chapter: A Wonder Story – by R.J. Palacio

           It’s an extraordinary piece of writing that expands a book that is already “wonder-filled”, yet this short story filled me with delight. When we read and love a book, although it can be satisfying, questions do arise, particularly about other characters. It’s one of the reasons I loved the way Cynthia Voigt wrote books about the characters in Dicey’s Song. In those novels, I learned so much about Dicey’s friends and family, too.

           Discovering the backstory of Julian, the bully in Wonder pulls me back into the story of August, and those events that connected these two young boys. Now I want to read Wonder again, which of course will make me imagine what the expanded story of others might be.  I appreciate R.J. Palacio’s sharing this story.

Stand In My Shoes, Kids Learning About Empathy – written by Bob Sornson & illustrated by Shelley Johannes

           This is a good story showing numerous kinds of ways that a young girl learns empathy all during the day as she encounters different situations, with her parents and with kids at school. It will be a great read aloud for conversation.

The Most Magnificent Thing - written by & illustrated by Ashley Spires

            If one had a large box of junk pieces, and read this book to their children or their students, I imagine they would go immediately to work on their own “magnificent” thing. It’s a story about a little girl, her assistant (a little dog) and the trials of a day of building. This little girl reminds me of many children who have such plans in their heads, & then on paper, but are challenged when they try to build that “magnificent” thing. Ashley Spires got the feelings and the process just right, and her illustrations make the interest in what will happen next grow & grow.

Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More! Poems for Two Voices – written by Carole Gerber and illustrated by Eugene Yelchen

         All one needs to start a garden unit of learning is this book! Each poem will start the questioning, and research will help find the answers as to why each poem says what it does. For example, on the page with “New Shoot”, the first voice asks: “Will you be up soon?/I feel sure you’ll be cute.” and the second replies: “My roots are growing as we speak./I’m about to pop my shoot./Thanks for your concern though./Will we meet when I come out?” There is more talk, also accompanied by a large rabbit, one of the speakers! I hope you can imagine what the end might be. Other poems share about roots, helianthus, bees, and milkweed. It’s a treasure of information, poetically told with beautiful illustrations.

retro review: Red Light, Green Light - written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Leonard

Weisgard
           Since my daughter and family are staying, we've been musing over all the old and new picture books we love to read to the girls (5 and almost 3). They listen to many, many books & recent favorites are all Mo Willems books, but other older ones continue to be asked for too. And Red Light, Green Light is one of them.  It is from the era when less color was used, so there are shades of brown mostly, and of course, reds and greens in the stoplights. It's a poetic read aloud, with repetition and a calm, restful way of sharing with young children the arc of the day, from dawn till night. It's not flashy, but so good to hear of all the parts of a little community going to sleep, and the important parts of how red and green lights work.  

Next: I have a few books from NetGalley I hope to start. And still have a long list of #MustReadIn2014 books. I'm finished with school, so now will start some PD books too. Have you seen the posts about #CyberPD-Check out Cathy Mere's Post at Reflect and Refine here that also shares the links to Michelle Nero at Literacy Learning Zone here, and Laura Komos at Ruminate and Invigorate here.