It's Monday - Books Loved

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

Thanks to Candlewick for the ARC!

       Somehow I knew that when this story began, I would get a bit teary once in a while. It’s true, I did. Meeting Louisiana Elefante as Raymie Clarke’s friend in the book Raymie Nighingale, I did wonder about her life of poverty. She lived with her grandmother and was often hungry and yet held a toughness that meant to me she had to have found those muscles out of need. She says she was the daughter of the famous Flying Elfantes, circus artists. Of the three Rancheros in that first book, the other being Beverly Tapinski, Louisiana held a resilience to be admired, but her youth made me sad that she had to have it.
       As this new story begins, I realize Louisiana is going to tell every single detail of her life at this time, two years after the adventures with Raymie and Beverly. Her granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately, Louisiana isn’t overly worried. After all, Granny has had those ideas before.
       I cannot write more. The book shows thoughts that are so vulnerable, it makes me as a teacher wonder about my students. Who felt this lonely? Who could have stood up for themselves as Louisiana did? Where are the adults that are the helpers? 
       Kate DiCamillo found these words were written more than once as she leafed through her notebooks: 'I am going to write it all down so that you will know what happened to me’. DiCamillo said that she had written next to the sentence, ‘Louisiana?’ Now, she has let Louisiana tell that story and it is beautiful.

       Yes, it's simply wonderful as everyone has written, and it's the second book this week I've read where the story emphasizes the importance of books and libraries and librarians. I'm planning to share the other one Wednesday, the autobiography of Sonia Sotomayor. In this Dreamers, the story of Yuyi Morales' immigration to the U.S., she tells of her tough times, and with a new baby, until she discovers an amazing thing, a place where one can stay and read and borrow books for free and take them home. It's both her story of figuring out American everything, but especially the language. The beautiful part is that Yuyi puts those books that meant so much to her within the pages, the art with favorite books on a shelf. You will recognize many along with Yuyi's joyful illustrations. She adds a note, "My Story", at the back and a marvelous list titled "Books That Inspired Me (and Still Do)". 

            I know a little about coding and now I know some more and in a clever and fun way, per Josh Funk's book. I'm late to read it, but know that this would be a wonderful way to begin teaching beginning students, perhaps no matter the age, how to code, how.code.works! Everyone knows the steps of building a sandcastle. Now Josh Funk takes those steps and with a clever girl and her robot helper working in the midst of other kids, dogs and parents on the shore, shows how to code, this time, command a robot to build. Illustrations show a sunny day at the beach with those usual wonderful things, people sunbathing, a lifeguard, moms with babies, parents watching, a seagull or two and a crab. It's a beach, just a little different with a robot doing that sandcastle work. Fun book, even if you just want a great story.

       If you want a happy book about creating a story, get this book! With a thumbprint "writer" and a few other tools like a pencil and its shavings, a roll of tape and eraser, a background watercolor setting and some scribbles, a story emerges, just right for taking young writers on a journey to write their own wonderful stories. What a fun book!

        Anna Kang manages to take those ordinary tools found on a desk (or in a pencil box) and create a fun story about respecting everyone's role in life as important. It, too, can be used in a writer's workshop, but even more as a story of collaboration and friendship. With Christopher Weyant's cartoon-like drawings that personify the writing tools and Anna Wang's fun dialog from the tools, it's a bit of a romp through the writing scene. Everyone will like the praise for rough drafts and mistakes in the conclusion.

        These next two books are reminders of the quote by Wendy Mass: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about."

        Adrian Simcox tells everyone that he owns the best, most beautiful horse. Yet, a classmate named Chloe does not believe him. He lives in a tiny house, no place for a horse. He has holes in his shoes, thus no money for a horse. They are expensive, she knows. And she goes so far as to call him a liar. Chloe finds some truth at the end, but not necessarily what she insisted was true. Beautiful and sad, Marcy Campbell tells a tale that might be found in every classroom and Corinna Luyken illustrates with realistic art, and some kind magic, too. The experience of reading this with my granddaughter meant silence first, then conversation, particularly about NOT judging a book (or someone's story) by its cover.

        I went to my local Indie this past week and there I discovered this book, appropriate to much that has been reported in our news. I'm sorry I didn't take a better picture, shown on the right. It is the paperback cover and feels a bit different from the hardback on the left from Goodreads.

        In simple words, the reader is introduced to a number of things that are NOT in room 204, Mrs. Salvador's room, like not doing homework, teasing others, etc. One of those things also is about keeping a secret, meaning that Mrs. Salvador will help if someone needs to tell of something that isn't right. It's a gentle reminder to children about 'stranger danger' but also says the words about those one knows can also do something that's inappropriate. The young girl finally does go to Mrs. Salvador for help. The realistic illustrations help with this somber story, one that will aid in bringing up this important topic.

Now Reading: The Tattoist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris and just starting an arc of The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson, out this week.