Monday Reading - Special Books Again

      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. For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, wishing you a good one even if it differs from the past.

This was really a wonderful book to read about the life (up to age 17) of Muhammad Ali. Kwame Alexander and James Patterson combine prose and poetry to tell this story of who, in early life, was Cassius Clay. From Louisville, Kentucky, readers meet neighbors and friends, his dear loyal younger brother, and the rest of his family. The wisdom he learned, the love in this close family are shown as the strongest support of Ali. He struggled in school, met racism, but was single-minded when it came to his training. He began that training at age twelve. Beautiful depictions of Ali and some action scenes are captured by Dawud Anyabwile. Ali's verbal talents come through in the poetry. There is one story where Cassius was facing not graduating, but his language arts teacher said she would allow him to give a speech instead. He passed and graduated. "He was a world-class talker." One quote near the end showed what a special boy, then man, he was. When he was older, after a historic fight, a reporter asked what he wanted to be remembered for. He answered with a recipe that is the way I wish everyone could read, so instead of typing it, I took a photo.

            I am old enough to remember watching a couple of his fights with my whole family gathered. Yes, it was the time when we did that, gathering for one huge TV show! He was amazing. And I remember him lighting the torch in Atlanta in 2010, clearly showing he was shaking with Parkinson's, clearly showing the incredible person he was, who rarely gave up because he was "the greatest". 

       I enjoyed reading this book about Cassius Clay very much!

         Based on the real teddy bear now in the Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Israel. It was taken care of and it took care of Fred Lessing as a boy escaping the Nazis. This was first published in 2016, now translated by Annette Appel and written by Iris Argaman, with illustrations by Avi Ofer. Bear tells the story of him and Fred whose family eventually escaped from Delft, Holland to Amsterdam. Eventually, Fred was then left with a stranger and did survive with his teddy bear! All the family also survived and moved to America. There is an epilogue that tells about the museum asking if Bear is willing to be part of their stories and a final letter from Bear, sharing his gratitude for Fred's continuing love and care. Fred's bear story's illustrations appear wispy and muted, showing the life lived then meant fear and uncertainty. It's a special story that brings the Holocaust to life in a story for ten and up.

         Personal note! I still have my teddy bear that was a gift from my father who was shot down in the Philippines during World War II when I was two. I took it to college, too!

        Fortunately for all of us, Philip Stead has brought Charlotte Zolotow's "In My Garden" (1960) back for everyone who has cherished their gardens and nature during this Pandemic year, now stretching into winter. As we read this young girl's favorites from her garden (and from her life) during each season, I imagine each one of us can add our own, from last spring, into summer's joys, to autumn's fabulous days. A black cat follows along with the girl as she shares her favorites of the seasons. Stead's illustrations feel comfortable in their muted tones and his lovely dedication is perfect where he shares that he's collected children's picture books since he was nineteen, Zolotow's among the favorites found.

         Any book by Chris Harris and Dan Santat will be sure to be clever, creative, and oh, so entertaining! That's this new one where the underlying lesson is how everyone (everything?) is connected. But we already knew that, didn't we? This time, I think it would be such fun to read Harris's poetic text, to see if you, the reader, can imagine what he's describing. Then, take a long look at the fabulous way that Santat has illustrated it. From A to Z, this collaboration makes connections you might never know. Is it whimsey or is it real? For example, "A 'G' is a 'Q' that has started to yawn." Santat shows this sleepy 'G' nestled in bed, dim light, with a bubble that says "yawn". Or, in a barbershop, with 'V' in the chair looking a little uncertain at the barber: "A 'V' is an 'M' that just cut its long hair." 

         A classroom gathering, endpapers indicating letter movement, and a terrific, double-page surprise makes the book even better! It is terrific!

        I'm embarrassed that I found this book in a stack when I was cleaning, won it from Jama Rattigan's post, then forgot about it! A new poetry book out this year is one I know I would use in the classroom, for more poetry writing. Marilyn Singer offers recipes for cooking like "Recipe for Measurement": "Smidgen, pinch, dash/drop, jigger, gill./How much to put in?/How much to fill?" and more! but extends the idea with recipes for "social studies", "endurance", "memories", etc. With these wonderful poems and Marjorie Priceman's swirls of collage and color, it's a great book for everyone to enjoy!

What's Next! I continue to slowly read Kate Quinn's The Rose Code and have started (finally) The List of Things That Will Not Change.