It's Monday - Sharing Gift Books & More

      Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and 

  

Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they and others have been reading! Your TBR lists will grow! Happy Reading!

Thanks to everyone for sharing so many great books that I put on my list, read and enjoy! I hope you are continuing to be well and managing these challenging days.  

           I want to share an old book, Apt. 3 by Ezra Jack Keats, a brief story of two boys who discover a neighbor they "know about" but don't know. Keats is a favorite for his beautiful stories and lovely illustrations. About empathy, some neighborhoods, kids watching out for each other. Find it and see what you think!

      When many things in the world are changing, it's good to know what things will not change. When Bea's parents told her they were divorcing, they gave her a journal where they wrote some of those things and she added her own ideas to the list as days passed. This twelve-year-old Bea lets us see her thoughts and her worries, the times she has struggled, and the times happiness reigns. 

       I suspect this book is going to be one for parents and kids to read together, to savor the wise words of characters in the story.  Each character, even ones with small parts to play have layers of importance, for the story and for us to see the growth intertwined with all the others. To paraphrase Rebecca Stead's words, they have the blessing of being exactly who they are. I've read that many of you loved this book and I did, too!

            It's good to learn about celebrating other special holidays from those who are not going to be celebrating Christmas. Sometimes children do not realize others have unique holidays and traditions. Hanukkah is coming soon, too, just like Christmas. Over the years, my class had a special visitor, a parent (who kept coming to visit even when his daughters grew older and out of the class) who came in to read Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, cook latkes with us and tell stories of his childhood. It is a favorite memory from those years.

           Now, if I was teaching, I would add this new book by Leslie Kimmelman, illustrated by Galia Bernstein. The Eight Knights of Hanukkah is a new tale of these knights' journey sent off to save the last night of Hanukkah. A scary dragon has been roaming the countryside creating havoc with the party preparations. Lady Sadie called them together "to fix things with some deeds of awesome kindness and stupendous bravery." And they do! They fix a ruined dreidel, peel potatoes, gather apples, bake Hanukkah donuts (sufganiyot) and find that dragon! With smiles and generosity, the knights show through their deeds that they understand what Hanukkah is all about! 

           There is a brief author's note at the back with some explanations of the "whys" of the tradition. Watercolor illustrations with black outlining have just the right whimsical touch in this "knights" adventure. Endpapers display a map of the land where they ventured!

            Thanks to Candlewick Press for the following books, a few special gifts for kids of all ages!

        As you will guess, this story by Tracey Corderoy is written after the favorite "Twas The Night Before Christmas". This time, Mouse wishes upon the star at the top of the Christmas tree. But before he even thinks more about that wish, "out on the lawn/there arose such a clatter" and it's Santa! Thus begins Mouse's fun and sweet adventure on this special Christmas Eve night with Santa, filled with snowy and sparkly illustrations by Sarah Massini, including a gorgeous double-page spread of Santa and those reindeer and lots of happy pictures of this 'new' helper. There's another happy ending, too, this time for Mouse!

             First published in the UK, Emma Dodd offers a poetic definition of Christmas using deer in a wintry setting to illustrate the various ideas people have of this special day. "Christmas is sharing/laughter and fun/and being with family, old and young." 

  

     How can one keep from giggling when reading this new Christmas tale, written and illustrated by Penny Dale? First published by Nosy Crow in the UK, Penny has written other fun dinosaur adventures. Santa's preparing for his Christmas flight and calls the dino crew to help. He and his sleigh are snowed in! With various kinds of heavy equipment to help, the dino crew comes roaring in to help. Endpapers will delight young readers with the opening showing the various dinosaurs that become the helpers and the ending identifies the machines they used in this important rescue. Santa needs to be rescued so he can FLY! The details illustrated of the dinosaurs, their expressions, and the machines are wonderfully done! 

        Answer: Can't stop giggling!

different books of don't-miss information - 

springboards for deeper research

       These three books filled with inviting pages of information, illustrations created for furthering the explanations of each topic, all making one want to know more.

        Math - The Language of the Universe, divides into four sections: Math in the natural world; Physics, Chemistry, and Engineering; Space; and Technology. Each of those sub-divides into specific studies, like Finding Fibonacci and Protecting Yourself with Prime. Later, finding Putting Pythagoras into Practice entices a new project or fall in love with Dealing with Distance in Space.

         Anatomy - Every page is like Anatomy 101, or an advanced class! Take this museum tour of a body's seven systems, amazing with its arrangement and structure. Each part has a page of explanation and detailed colored illustrations. An index is helpful and endpapers are filled with human bodies showing the various systems. 

          One of A Kind - (Sort & Classify) - I've done various kinds of exercises and explorations into sorting, would love to have had this book to pore over. learning about this author's approaches. There are terrific explanations of family trees, cats, the animal kingdom, tools, cheese, and more! All are presented in enticing colored arrangements. There is extra information about all fourteen sorting and classifying examples given at the back, too!

Now Reading: Still Kate Quinn's The Rose Code (It's long!) and starting The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel by Sheela Chari.