Monday Reading - Celebrating More Books!

   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! 

          

       I have a Blog Tour also posted today for You Are Revolutionary which comes out tomorrow! Find it HERE!

          It's another human-kind story from Christian McKay Heidicker, yet also, a fox story of gigantic proportions. Could it be that they belong with other myths told to children? This time, Heidicker writes eight connected stories, each introduced by a storyteller who seems to know it all. Well, it was that way until some others had to help end the stories, other young heroes. O-370, a fox kit who yearns for more excitement than a cage that keeps him warm and a farmer that keeps him well fed takes a chance, showing his courage, and when he discovers the true nature of this farm when foxes unite in the White Barn, he does his best to release the others. In another group in the wild, young Cozy travels in certain places with a leader named Dusty, but danger is there, too, as the face of someone who is killing foxes. She and her group flee to the city. They know its dangers there, but it's the only solution now. When they find O-370, they chuckle at the name and think he's really Oleo. Unexperienced, he turns out to be one important part of this group, in the city, then back, back to The Farm. 

         Each part brings tense moments and wonder at the actions of these foxes, facing danger from a human with a stick, one with rubber hands, and hounds that carry a yellow scent. It's a surprise, often terrifying, other times poignant, on every page. And, as questioned first, one can find a parallel with human lives, too, if you allow it. What a terrific sequel, enhanced by Junyi Wu's spectacular illustrations.

Thanks to Candlewick Press 
for this copy!

         Whenever I read a book by Eugene Yelchin, he takes me on a new journey to a place I've never been. This time, he has written his memoir, a new look at another kind of life for middle grades and up. Growing up in Communist Russia is not easy, especially for a Jewish family. They share a communal apartment with other families and have only one room to themselves; also in this group is a spy who listens to their every word. Taking up much of the space is his father's huge book collection that he must never touch. His father, a devoted Communist, knows poetry by heart, recites it with fervor often. His mother works for the ballet, in love with Mikhail Baryshnikov, wishes a talent for Yevgeny, like his brother who figure skates for Russia. Those with talent are rewarded with better apartments and trips to other countries. Yearning for answers to his questions but rarely finding them, Yevgeny, whose bed is under his grandmother's dining table, sketches out what he makes of life as well as he can. Yelchin beautifully creates those sketches within this text from his memories. There is more to experience for readers despite the starkness of the day-to-day living, lives that include both humor and sadness. You can read a Nerdy Book Club interview with Yelchin here: https://bit.ly/3ArNDCc  I enjoyed this book very much!

       The nicest gift I can give to readers is to tell you to find and read this book. Jonathan Stutzman gives the definition of what a bear really is: "a new friend, a snack, a tissue, a pirate, a ghost, a brave protector" and then, as the years pass, "a piece of home" and perhaps, "a memory". Dan Santat illustrates life's emotions that may bring you tears and certainly bring you smiles and huge agreement. It's a special new book!

         A long time ago my father gave me this bear at about age two. I know because my father was killed just after I was two during World War II. My bear has journeyed with me all my life. I played with it and my children played with it. Now it sits in a room at home in a grandmother's chair, made by her grandfather over a hundred years ago. This "Bear is a Bear", too!

             Big Bear and Little Bear are fast friends and play together, keep each other company, exploring and laughing every day. But one day Big Bear was caught near a fire and the days became different. He didn't want to play; he was scared of big noises. Little Bear tried to make him feel better yet nothing worked. Through this story by Joanna Rowland, the effects of trauma are shown, before the "thing" happened and the behavior after. Big Bear did change for the better a little bit and Little Bear's patience and kindness, staying by his friend's side listening, helped. Being with an understanding friend helped. John Ledda shows the good times and the bad times in beautiful forest tones, yet he also shows truth like in a scene that again upset Big Bear when, walking through the forest, they come to an edge of a large part that has been burned. It is startling, to me the reader, too. And Big Bear "lets out the biggest ROARRR!" 

        There is one page at the back by a licensed therapist, Debbie McJimsey, that gives more information about PTSD and a definition of 'trauma', what happened to Big Bear, and ways to help. For children who may need a story like this, it's a thoughtful one. 

Thanks to Candlewick
Press for this copy!

       Somehow I missed See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog. Now I must get it, too! The wording spoofs those long-ago early readers and this time, that earlier dog is sick, so the cat must be a stand-in for it. You know how dogs do things like fetch sticks, even across a pond? Or they protect sheep, and from wolves? Well-l-l, this cat is in for more trouble than it imagined. It's a book full of fun, maybe not for the cat, but certainly for the readers, thanks to David LaRochelle for the just-right wording and Mike Wohnoutka for entertaining illustrations! 

What's Next: An ARC from Candlewick Press: Welcome Back, Maple Mehta-Cohen by Kate McGovern and The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff.  I'm also reading Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead, wishing all I had to do was read!