It's Monday - Books I Loved

          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.  
           FYI - I just discovered that blogger is no longer telling me about comments that need moderation. I have missed so many comments these past weeks! I'm sorry that I didn't see them & reply to them. Thanks to all who came by!

              I was in college, then grown when the times of the protests against the Vietnam Conflict happened when families split apart throughout this long and politically uncomfortable war. I knew about those fleeing, even remember trying to help a refugee center, but now I know from Bui's memoir, there is so much more to escape for refugees, and then for their children growing up in the midst of two cultures. This beautifully illustrated and emotional story is a memoir about Bui's parents search for a better future and a search by her to understand her parents' past, better to understand herself, now a new parent. She documents the story of her family’s escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s, and the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves. It begins with her giving birth, and wondering why her mother cannot stay in the room with her. It then travels to her parents' childhood then marriage and anguish with each other, within the politics of their country. It is a heartbreaking story of sacrifice for children, of courage that is difficult to believe anyone has. Yet Bui's parents did have that courage as so many from other parts of the world do, to save themselves and especially their children. Putting the story into graphic pictures makes it even more startling, but also more memorable. Bui has given us her heart in this book, "her" story.

On my "MustReadIn2018" list!

        Will's brother has been murdered; Will has a gun. All he needs is to go down the elevator floor by floor, out onto the streets with his brother's gun. He has to follow the rules, doesn't he? As he descends, the elevator door opens to reveal someone new who's going to be riding with him, to help him follow those rules, or not. This story shows the dilemma, the challenge, the heartbreaking reality that hangs heavy for Will. Jason Reynolds asks that we come with him into the story. It's an elevator ride that all should remember. "Yeah, but this is ridiculous." I (Will talking)  replied, palms wetting. "Might as well relax," Buck said. "It's a long way down." 

       

        Translated from the French, winner of the Prix Saint-Exupery, the best-illustrated book of 2004. A young boy dreams of the perfect color blue. He loves to paint and draw and wants to find that blue! Not only does he take off on a fantastic journey, first to his own paintbox, but then to the nearby art museum, and off to the ocean, then South Sea skies, more places than one can imagine! The story holds a surprise and gorgeous pictures of this boy and his search. Jean François Dumont fills the endpapers with splotches of blue: indigo, cobalt, lavender, Prussian, glacier, and more!

        With varied styles of illustration from what was and what is, Lane Smith shows Julie Fogliano's story of an abandoned house in the woods. Two Children move through the house imagining those who had lived there, and wonder where they've gone. In lyrical words, it's a dreamy story to enjoy with children, though I wonder how many, unless older, will enjoy its nostalgia as I did? 

        A few descriptive words, many "lovely" pictures of people, all kinds of people, all who are LOVELY! What fun it will be to read this aloud, talk and write and draw about it! 







        Dear BunnyBear looks like a bear, but inside, feels NOT a bear, but a sweet bunny. He loves bunny whispers and bunny giggles, yet there are many who continue to tell him to quit twitching his nose and stop hopping around, stand up like a bear! Then he meets Grizzlybun who's "burly and loud". They really feel like kindred spirits, and at a later party, everyone is included, and among others, a moose who claims he sometimes feels "a little squirrelly."  It's a lovely way to show that others may feel different from expectations because of the way they look, and wish to be accepted for those feelings, not told to BE what they're supposed to be.

        It's a wonderful thing when a lonely boy takes a chance on a night-time adventure. Having a good story to tell later helps make a few friends. Daniel Miyares's few words and fabulous illustrations allow all of us readers experience that story first. 

        Fantastic creativity in showing the opposites of both land and water forms through cutouts within the book. There is a double page in the backmatter that shows the connection, for instance, between a lake (in blue) with the same shape, an island (in cream colors). For understanding and making connections in geography. These are the basics. A large foldout map of the world is also at the back, identifying these terms.

NEXT: I've just started Laura Shovan's new middle-grade novel, Takedown!