Monday Reading - Books Loved

 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! 

          

       The Paralympics begins on August 24th! I hope you know that Michele Knott's daughter, Keegan will be there competing! Best of wishes to her! 

a #MustReadin2021

        Cooper Goodman (he prefers Coop), in seventh grade with his friends, twins Justice and Liberty, lives with his mom and grandpa in Windy Bottom, Georgia, where he and his mom moved after his father died. All seems very regular middle-school stuff. These kids help out at his mom's cafe and bookstore and Gramps works there, too. At least, it's regular until a body is found buried when the old playground was dug up to make way for a new one. Many interesting characters, as in all small towns, gossip at the cafe/bookstore and other places like the barbershop, too. Coop's grandpa ends up arrested because the body is his wife, who supposedly left him years ago. Coop's anguish and mistrust of a grandpa who had been dearly loved causes him to begin his own investigation with the friends helping. It's a tangled mess that's a fun mystery I finally figured out only about the time Coop and friends did. It feels to me that lots of kids this age would enjoy the layers of relationships as well as this mystery. Small towns hardly ever have such excitement!

From my library:

            With mostly 'tongue in cheek' humor, this book tells a lot about ten-line June beetles and other insects during the fun story! If you, like one granddaughter, love reading about all kinds of insects, this is one to add to the pile! Ashley Spires lets Burt tell all!

        I cannot pass by any picture book with a sloth character. J.C. McKee's funny story surprises in many ways, especially at the end! The expressive faces of these characters will make readers smile all the way through. Sloth, after seeing the cake, says there should be a party, then asks "Who would you invite?" A slew of characters is imagined and rejected. You'll need to laugh out loud at the answers and the ending! 

            Anuska Allepuz manages to tell and illustrate a tale of a group of Walloos who seem to live happily on a rocky island. It's a family where each has a purpose. For example, Big Walloo liked "to build things, especially boats" and Spotty Walloo "loved to make fresh, fragrant salads and soups."  With enjoyable pictures wrapping around the text, life happens and the Walloos are surprised at a revelation but adapt in a most creative way. If I sound mysterious, it's perhaps because it is a story with mysteries, would be a fun read-aloud to see how children guess as pages turn?

    Thanks to Candlewick Press for the copy! First published in the US - 2021.

         With larger-than-life illustrations and a cooler-than-cool story, Sean Taylor and Jean Jullien show a life lesson learned by Cat, Pig, Cockatoo, and Chick. It begins with Cat who finds a pair of sunglasses - "cooler than cool"! Happily, everything works out in the end, but it's fun to see the consequences of trying to be cool that happen first. Readers will have lots of laughs with this one!

          Thanks to Candlewick Press for the copy!

         Sandra Morris explains the seasonal differences between the two hemispheres in pages with charts in the beginning when seasons occur like Winter's December in the North and Winter's June in the South. Further, she includes tropical and sub-tropical as having only two seasons, dry and wet. She has set the stage for examples of animal behaviors in the northern hemisphere on the left-hand pages, and in the southern hemisphere on the right-hand pages with beautiful paintings and just enough text to explain but invite more research. This could be a year's worth of classroom learning.

        For example, Cunning Camouflage begins the information from the northern hemisphere by describing the Scottish Ptarmigans' and the mountain hares' changes to white in the winter to blend into a snowy land, then back again for the spring season. On the right, found in the southern hemisphere, is the green tree python's babies changing color from yellow to green when ready to leave the nest.  Information on other pages includes "Mothers and Babies", "Extreme Environments", "Armored Animals", and so much more. Morris adds a glossary, an index, and more information for added research. A favorite of mine is that the endpapers have a world map showing where the animals included are found. It's a special book!

           Thanks to Candlewick Press for the copy! First published by Walker Books Australia-2021. 

        

      This book tells the amazing story of another athlete, Zion Clark, told by him and James S. Hirsch in inspiring words and photographs of Zion's journey. He was born without legs, wrestled in high school, and says he lost every match until his senior year! He is an accomplished musician, was in foster care for most of his life until adopted when he was a senior. Photos and words take us all into Zion's life's attitude: "As my mom often tells me, 'God wouldn't take you through troubled waters if he knew you couldn't swim.'" and also from his mom: "If they're going to look at you, make sure they know your name." 

        I did check and Zion did not make the trials to go to the current Paralympic games, but will continue to train for the next ones!
         Thanks to Candlewick Press for the copy!

What's Next: I have Jeff Zentner's new book, In The Wild Light, and the graphic story from the John Lewis team, Run from my library! This is the story of John Lewis and his time after the Voting Rights Act passed, from 1965-66.