Monday Reading - Wow! Books

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. 
       Remember to post a #MustReadin2019 update this coming Thursday with Carrie Gelson at There's A Book for That!
       If you are interested, I'm writing a poem a day for poetry month, posting a second post on the days that I share reviews.

Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup shares a roundup of all the Kidlitosphere's goals for poetry month, several that share wonderful ideas for the classroom!

        For older young adults and adults, my review for this book is on Goodreads here. It's a tragic and fascinating story, deeply researched.

         Thanks to Candlewick Press for these next three books!

         From England, first published in the U.S. this year, a fun illustrated chapter book for younger readers by Meg Rosoff. The Peachey family is in trouble. Mom has retired, yes, retired! She has tired of doing ALL the work and has begun to study yoga instead. And the father and three children are lost. The house is in shambles: clothes are not clean and sometimes not found, no one is cooking and frozen meals are their last resort. The youngest, Betty, decides that they need a dog. You might think that's not what they need, but sweet adopted dog McTavish saves the day with Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. Readers will find some lessons about cooperation in the story, maybe even for the classroom, too. 

           All one needs is Jon Klassen's clever use of eyes, along with Mac Barnett's succinct use of words to start the story, and in this final "shapes" trilogy, one is hooked. Circle is playing hide and seek with Square and Triangle. This time, the game is hide 'n seek, and Circle sets the rules: Do not hide behind the waterfall. Yes, a waterfall is there, in a lake or ocean setting and Circle claims it's too dark. Triangle declares he's not afraid of the dark and breaks the rules, hides behind the waterfall. Good friend Circle doesn't like it but goes to save Triangle. What happens there in the "almost" dark, then darker, then "darkest" dark is a surprise, but you might guess if you watch those eyes, eyes that become three sets instead of two. Imagination can frighten or delight. This will make a marvelous read aloud, and call for lots of wondering! 

             Filled with so much poetry and facts about our universe, I understand why Allan Wolf's head exploded! Black and starry sky illustrations by Anna Raff stay in the background, showing other places (and things) as comical, amusing, oh so expressive creatures in the universe. Allan begins with the sun, "The simple truth may come as a surprise:/the closest star is right before your eyes." and carries us through a trip throughout our universe learning about the planets, their moons, comets and black holes, explains AU (astronomical units), offers a nod to space history, like Sputnik, eclipses, a page of early rockets, plus the long title poem of why and how the universe exploded Allan's head! Poems vary, with free verse and rhyme, some for two and three voices, brief shouts and longer ones that explain in clever wordsmithing about the topics. One favorite, "For Those Who Light The Candle" for the astronauts and cosmonauts who have given their lives to travel into space. ends with 

                           "For all who dare escape this ball of clay.

                             these brave ascending angels light the way."

       Endnotes include additional notes on the poems, a glossary of selected space terms, internet resources, and acknowledgments. The book holds an incredible amount of space knowledge in clever, non-fiction poems. 

        And I'm happy to share other beautiful recent books, too!

        Carmela is finally old enough to tag along on chores with her big brother, who is grumpy about it. But he does tell her she can have a wish on a dandelion puff she finds. Her jangling bracelets and that dandelion puff keep her imagining all the wishes she could wish, and those wishes tell readers why these two are doing the errands. Mother is a housekeeper; Father is a day laborer and one wish is for him to get his papers so he can be home, a poignant showing of some children's struggles. They're doing family work! All is so happy till she hits a bump with her scooter and goes flying, as do all her wishes! No matter the earlier frowning, maybe embarrassment, brother love saves the day. You'll love the end and the wonderfully happy, beautifully painted illustrations by Christian Robinson (also Matt de la Pena's collaborator on their Newbery and Caldecott medal winner, Last Stop on Market Street. 

        And another young girl becomes five, and old enough to carry milk down into the valley to a neighbor. Set during World War II, the fathers are gone, and mothers must carry on. In the author's note, Kerry Madden-Lunsford shares that the story's base is from a friend's story of growing up in Maggie Valley, North Carolina where neighbor helped neighbor when needed. The story is fiction, but the charm lies in the young girl Ernestine's bravery as she navigates the journey with a big imagination and two jars of milk from their cow through thickets of blackberry and crabapple, hearing a rustling and thinking it could be a lone wolf in addition to other scary sounds. What happens when one jar spills from the bag and rolls down a hill, lost forever, is a nice surprise. Emily Sutton's bright watercolor illustrations of the scene and Ernestine's emotions brighten the sweet story as she keeps her courage by saying, sometimes shouting: "I'm five years old and I'm a big girl!" After the author's note, there is also a recipe for cornbread!

Wow! These next two books out recently are both by Pat Zietlow Miller. 

            This book inspires each one to set the world on fire, being "remarkably you"!  Busy, happy children do all kinds of things that they love, having fun inventing and building, gardening and volunteering. Many kids will see themselves on these pages illustrated by Patrice Barton as they listen to or read the poetic text by Miller. End covers include some of the children, too! 
  

      
          How can I share how wonderful this

book is? The brief descriptions of scared feelings and the how-to find courage need nothing more than to be shared. Following this young girl as she leaves her home and says goodbye, moving to "what?" can be frightening, yet as the hours go, Pat Zietlow Miller fills the pages with the way to find one's courage and Eliza Wheeler's illustrations show the feelings in big and bold paintings. Imagining the finding of courage means the searching for that tiny light, hidden, but Miller writes: "If you close your eyes and/breathe, you will see it–/shining its light in the dark./Warm. Steady. Safe." She suggests that it can be turned into a flame, and offers a few ways to do that, too. I won't quote all, though it's tempting, but it's empowering. I imagine it will start so much great conversation with kids, or groups of kids, adults, too!

What's Next: The Red Flower by Kate Coombs