It's Monday - Reading Reviews

Sheila at Book Journeys started It's Monday! What are you Reading?, a meme where bloggers share recent books read.

             Then, Jen of Teach Mentor Texts and Ricki and Kellee at Unleashing Readers started one with a children's focus.  It's great discovering what everyone has been reading!  Thanks Sheila, Jen, Ricki and Kellee!   Have a terrific week reading everyone!

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^{Chapter Book}

The Misadventures of The Family Fletcher – by Dana Alison Levy

            I read this so quickly, wanted to get back to it again and again. It’s just a terrific family story, filled with the ups and downs that a family with four sons might have, ins and outs of friends, living with one’s choices, taking the risk of something new, taking care of each other. Each chapter begins with a note, a bit of foreshadowing of the “misadventures” to come, and to look forward to. It will make a terrific read aloud, for discussing all the growing-up challenges that happen. They aren’t always bad, but life’s challenges that just happen. One learns and grows, and in the meantime, it’s time to just “be” a family.

Picture Books

Silence – by Leminscates, an illustration studio in Barcelona

             I’d never heard of Leminscates until I read this book. At the end of the book, it’s shared that a goal is to “encourage children to develop their unique talents and skills for a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.”  The story is told by a little girl who shares what she notices when she is silent, ‘waves crashing’ or ‘snow twinkling’ and on. The collages that make up the illustrations are gorgeous. Since we do so much nature journaling at my school, it will be a beautiful book to encourage silence, to see what children notice.

How BIG Could Your Pumpkin Grow? - written and illustrated by Wendell Minor

      If you want to have good vocabulary lessons, use this book. If you want to inspire HUGE imaginations, read the book to your young students, and start creating new ideas. Wendell Minor takes his painting to a different level in this pumpkin-loving book, taking us through imagining just how big a pumpkin “might” be “if”. For example, could it be STUPENDOUS enough to make a ‘super splash atop a towering waterfall? Or, “Would it rise as HIGH as hot-air balloons at the fall fiesta fair?”  I know this will be appealing to young children!

My Name Is Bob – James Bowen & Garry Jenkins, illustrated by Gerald Kelley

               There is a street cat named Bob who now has a home with James, a street musician, both homeless for a while, now just making a small living in London, James playing his guitar, & Bob just being friendly & sticking to his new friend. This book tells an imagined tale of Bob’s life “before” making his way into James’ life. It’s been pulished in numberous countries, & now makes its debut in the US. It’s a sweet introduction for young children to conversation about what it means to be homeless, & it’s a heart-warming story about two friends who are sticking together. The illustrations are beautiful full-page spreads that show the plight of a kitty who grew up in a home, but now has to survive on the streets.

Fletcher and The Falling Leaves – written by Julia Rawlinson & illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke

            There really is another book about autumn and falling leaves that I love, and this is it. A young fox who loves this tree near his den is concerned, tells his momma that the tree must be sick because the leaves are changing color. She explains about fall, but Fletcher is still unwilling to give up, and works hard to keep the leaves on the tree. Can you imagine what's going to happen? It's a sweet story about what does happen in fall, and about acceptance upon understanding. The illustrations are gorgeous, adding much to the enjoyment of the story. And, there's a lovely surprise at the end.

Poetry

The following book meets the challenge made by 2014Latin@s in Kid Lit (See the button on the right to explore this terrific blog resource.)

Yum! MmMm! Que Rico!: America's Sproutings  – Haiku by Pat Mora, & pictures by Rafael

López

       Along with Pat Mora’s “delicious” haiku, each double page share a paragraph about the fruit or vegetable highlighted, and a gorgeous illustration filled with López’s unique paintings in the style of Latin American murals. The book is filled with the history of food you may not know was in South America or the southern parts of North America long before Columbus arrived. In addition to excellent information, some words are also shared in Spanish, and sometimes other native languages. There are pages about corn, chilis, cranberries (also known as craneberries, bounceberries and bearberries!), pumpkins, potatoes, and more. I learned quite a bit, and am sure you, and children, will, too. After cooking, cranberries pop open. Did you know? And Pat Mora, in her haiku, names them “scarlet fireworks”.  

       Still Reading: I think I'll be reading The Boys in the Boat, Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics by Daniel James Brown for a while, but I am enjoying it thoroughly. I have quite a few picture books from the library and my own to read and share, too. Since I'm doing PiBoIdMo, it'll be a pleasure to read and examine the books a little more carefully.