Monday Reading - New Books to Love

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

        Thanks to Penny Candy Books for the following two advanced copies, out April 2nd!

          For someone who's feeling low, for others who want a lift and inspiration to write, this book is all of that! Shira Erlichman creates poetry for someone looking for a lift up, a twosome, a friendship! "Sweetheart, sometimes/when I'm feeling blue/I put my ear to the wind/and listen for you." begins the quest. In my eyes, the simple doodles entertain, show emotion, and make one smile as Shira writes the joyful words she wants us readers to see. If you noticed the compound words I used earlier, I was trying to introduce you to this clever text that underlies the message, make a friendship. One of my favorite poems is "Life's no cakewalk. It's Got its flaws./But I'll bring the milkshake/if you bring the straws." There is a special Afterword from Shira and a page to create one's own compound words. What a delightful book!

       Like other boys, Henry has a great imagination. He walks with crutches, "click-click-click" that are decorated with stickers, make him feel like a heron. Nate Christopherson & Tara Sweeney illustrate his words with their own marvelous artistic inventions. We see Henry coming down the stairs, a heron leading the way! At school, he ends up not so happy. A classmate calls him a robot and even his friend, Joel, says he walks like a chicken. He escapes into the bathroom and, sad to write, takes a fall, admits his legs feel as if he could be a robot. Joel comes in and helps him up and they spend the time together after school. Colors help tell this tale, again with imagination. Black and white seem as if Henry is invisible; a heron, robot, and chicken tag along. Joel gives Henry his toy dinosaur, whom Henry names Audrey, a part of their play and later, Henry in the bath, tells stories to her, “Not about a heron or a robot or a chicken. About me—Henry the boy.” Henry's words and the background activities show he is more than his disability, he is A Boy!

       I celebrate books that introduce all kinds of kids with the universal "want" and "need', to play, to have friends. This is a great addition to picture books of welcome to them all, just like "Henry, the Boy".

       One book from my #MustReadin2019 list, can't believe I waited so long. Joy McCullough tells of the early life of Renaissance artist Artemesia Gentileschi. Through her verse, Artemesia's voice echoes other girls' voices through the years until today. We see her struggle to be recognized for her skill and talent as a painter, even though she is "only" a young woman. Her mother died when she was twelve, and she has only two choices: life as a nun in a convent or a life grinding pigment for her father's paint. There is the weaving in of inspiration and ghostly support of two women whose stories she knew from her mother, women who acted even when in grave danger. After Artemesia's rape, she is faced with another terrible choice: a life of silence or a life of truth, no matter the cost. It's both heartbreaking and breathtaking, and for a story that's over 400 years old, sadly fits in 2019, too. 

Also from my #MustReadin2019 list
                Hatchet meets YA in this tale of a teen ending up with her survivalist, off-the-grid dad whom she hasn't seen since she was a young child. Her mother was killed in a car crash and Jess herself is injured, but underage, thus forced to move to his cabin in the remote Canadian wilderness. Told in an "after" and "before" diary format, Jess relates this tale of fury to survive, grieving for her earlier life and then later loss, too. Her dad has been killed by enemies Jess didn't know about, but now she must risk all to stay safe in order to find a chance for revenge. She paid little attention to the first days when her dad tried to teach her and now with only her father's dog for company, she must learn how to survive, to follow dad's advice: "smart, not strong". 
                Every time I began, as a reader, to get some hope, another struggle pushed me back into despair, for all the days that might have been, for this young woman's survival. Undertones of forest animals' danger and criminals that would return keep the tension high, along with Jess's own critical mistakes. I rooted for her all the way to the end!

     
       A young girl's only best friend is her pebble, found on the beach as she gets off the boat with her father, fleeing from her country's war. What she does with the pebble is a loving thing. It gives to her; she passes it on, a true sacrifice. The illustrations fill the pages with the feelings of each day's happenings, surroundings, and memories, too. Her father keeps her safe and the pebble listens to her stories. It is a heartfelt book for all ages to read and realize how people face hard times in the sweetest of ways.

      A newspaper's goal is to entertain, to inform, and to persuade. This book is not a newspaper, but in writing, those three concepts are also goals, sometimes not all at once. This time, here is a poetry collection by the late Paul B. Janeczko that manages with grand style to do all three. I can't know his intent, but I do know that in numerous other books, PBJ has given to the world, he has entertained me, informed me about poet's lives and the way poetry works, in addition to persuading me to love poetry and introduce that love to my students when I taught. 
       From Charles Ghigna's introduction,  "How to Build a Poem", the pages fill with "How To" poems from prolific poets you will recognize who are still writing today, like Elaine Magliaro ("How To Be A Mole"), Allan Wolf with the title poem ("The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog"), Irene Latham ("How to Be a Tree in Winter"), and Charles Waters ("Snowflake Catcher"). There are older writers' poems included, too, like Christina Rossetti and Robert Louis Stevenson. We are informed about camouflage by Margarita Engle ("How to Bird-Watch") and "How to Ride a Bike" by April Halprin Wayland. 
       I've made reference to only a few poems; there are thirty-three beautifully crafted poems to savor and celebrate for their beauty and their content. How great it would be to share this with students young and old as mentors for their own poetry. The illustrations by Richard Jones illuminate the words in a collage of colors, unique to each poem's setting and subject. And the ending poems, additional ones by Irene Latham and April Halprin Wayland persuade us in "How to Catch a Poem" and "How to Pay Attention".  April's succinct way of putting it makes it look easy, I hope! 

                                                      "How to Pay Attention"
                                                                    
                                                                Close this book.
                                                                Look.

Now reading: Killers of the Flower Moon, The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, by David Grann. Love the history in this!