#IMWAYR - Book Sharing!

          Visit Jen at Teach MentorTexts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders to see what they've been reading, along with everyone else who link up.  

       David Almond's "Skellig" hooked me, and it continues to be a treat to read any story written by this wonderful author. His books are always stories that show beautiful "what ifs" and always a little something extra to ponder. This "Tale of Angelino Brown" begins with Bert the city bus driver who finds a tiny angel in his pocket, Yes! an angel. His wife Betty, the school cook, is thrilled, does not seem surprised at all, but very pleased to have a new child to care for. It appears that there was another, dear Paul, now only a picture and a memory. There is also Nancy and Jack and Alice from Class 5K at their school which is now in the state of being inspected, so Acting Head Teacher Mrs Mole is not so sure about this tiny angel, now named Angelino by Betty. Professor Smellie is also skeptical. Also, there's the mysterious bloke in black who claims to be a School Inspector. Then there’s Basher Malone – big, lumbering Basher Malone. He REALLY doesn’t like Angelino. And it looks like he’s out to get him... It's a dangerous situation that changes self-perceptions, perhaps of readers, too? The whimsical illustrations by Alex Smith delight the imagination. David Almond makes it possible to believe that an angel might just appear in one's pocket, especially when he's needed. Thanks to Candlewick Press for the advanced copy!

         And thanks to Candlewick Press for the following picture book, just out this past week!

            On the subway home with his abuela, sweet Julian notices three very dressed up, classy ladies. He loves them, wants to "be" them, and creates a way at home for his own outfit: a periwinkle curtain for his tail, the fronds of a potted fern for his headdress. What will Abuela think of the grab of the curtain and parts of the plant? Tension mounts as there is another question: What will she think when she sees "how" Julian wants to "be". It's a short and sweet exactly-right celebration of respect for individual choices written and illustrated by Jessica Love. Along with the words, her illustrations are bright and happy.

         In her author's note, Samantha Berger shares than she experienced a flood in which the only piece she managed to save from her home was her sketchbook. All her art, gone! All the pieces saved to do her art, gone! Thus, this book, which begins, what would I do if my pencil disappeared, and on, piece by piece disappearing. The end result is that no matter what, this young girl will create with whatever the world presents. It's a cry for using the world to make something, will pair beautifully with Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's poetry book recently out: With My Hands: Poems About Making Things which I reviewed here. Mike Curato also shares in his note about using Samantha's ideas for art along with other found pieces. He makes Samantha's words to find ways to create even more inspiring.

        This is my first Hedgehog and Rabbit tale. My youngest granddaughter chose it at the library and it is fun to read aloud, a tale of over-the-top imaginations while trying to save a friend from a scary monster. 

        Is it everyone's dream to live in a lighthouse? Would they really do it if they could? Sophie Blackall tells about her adventures in an author's note before she wrote and illustrated this wonderful story of a time gone by. When lighthouse keepers were taken by the ship called a "tender" that delivered goods, mail, sometimes doctors or dentists for a needed visit, Blackall calls us to want to stay in those places where the rooms sit on top of each other, are accessed by winding staircases till the very top. That's where the keeper must keep the light going from sunset to sunrise, or ring a bell, blow a horn in terribly foggy times. That's where the keeper must keep a detailed log, spend lonely hours playing solitaire and sometimes bringing family with them. The illustrations are wonderfully detailed in soft colors of that long ago time, before the automated lights. You can watch the days and seasons pass as the wind blows, the fog rolls in, and icebergs drift by. The water all around can be calm, rough and sometimes frozen. I love the scenes of the ocean, too. It feels romantic, but the reality might have been a little scary, too, like when a ship wrecks on the rocks or the keeper him or herself gets sick. I enjoyed knowing more about this work of long ago.

        This is the poetry book to have for spring, as plants grow and all animals emerge more often, some not so welcome, but they are here, in the city! In her debut book, Sarah Grace Tuttle has written twenty-eight poems about creatures and places of the city, finding living spaces that are often different than those in the country. And her beautiful poetic words offer a new way to "pay attention", like to those sparrows that "chitter-cheep softly" waiting for rain to stop, or at the pond, "two ducks dabble down", and a "Falcon Fledge" where a young falcon "fumble-flies down/to a roof across the street: first flight." She includes some of my favorites, one found in wetlands by a nearby pond, the red-winged blackbirds, others in wooded areas, the great-horned owl, and one I only see at dusk, those little brown-bats. The wide variety gives the illustrator Amy Schimler-Safford a wide array of places to create with her gorgeous mixed-media habitats. From outside in marshes, abandoned city lots and cemeteries, Amy's designs blend with Sarah's poetry beautifully. I especially love the page and poem titled "Sunflowers", showing all the things these beauties feed, like "bee, butterfly, sparrow, squirrel, me."
       At the back is a small paragraph of more information about each creature or place featured, plus "suggestions for further investigation".   

 Now Reading - The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and from my #MustRead list:  Scythe - Neal Shusterman