It's Monday! For Young and Old

    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 finally finished Colson Whitehead's Harlem Shuffle. Whew, what a book. My review is here on Goodreads.

       The NAGC (gifted organization) was here in Denver this past weekend. Myra Garces-Bascal of Gathering Books was here and we had lunch together, met IN PERSON after about ten years of blogging together. It was a delight! What a pleasure to meet when you only know them online! Thanks to Myra for connecting!

           It was hard to read this knowing it is the last book published by Gary Paulsen when he was alive. I've seen that one more will be coming in 2022. I imagine older children will enjoy it and even young teens who might be having some disconnect with their parents. Almost thirteen Carl is fed up with his dad's constant living off the grid. There's little cash in hand, they grow their own food, dumpster dive for the chickens and pigs, and barter at garage sales for most everything. That includes a fab (per Dad) group of pink overalls for Carl, first needing a hot wash for a little shrinking! I think you get the picture! They live in an old trailer by a river, awash with mud, and drive a '51 Chevy pickup. Carl just wants to be 'Lookatable', especially for a girl at school named Peggy. He finds a pet pamphlet with some ways to train a puppy, giving some great ideas (he thinks) that may help to train his dad. With some help from best friend Pooder and no help from their pit bull Carol, Carl gives it his best try. There are some lessons to be learned by everyone and Gary Paulsen leaves us with some love and learning, just like all his stories. I will miss them!

Thanks, Candlewick Press 
for this copy!

        Every illustration by Angela Brooksbank fills up with swirling clouds and stars and a smiling moon while Atinuke's poetic song full of love sings this sweet baby to sleep. It's a gift to give to new babies you know or one you already have in your home! Gorgeous!

         Tracey Baptiste delights in her debut picture book telling of young Naya who goes looking for a Jumbie, even though her mother says there's no such thing. It is explained, that like in other cultures, Jumbies are known to be used to keep children inside after dark, saying a Jumbie will get them if they stay out. She also explained that there are many kinds of Jumbies and some, certainly, are helpful. Naya goes looking. You'll see what amazing creatures she discovers when turning the beautiful 'night' pages illustrated by Amber Ren. There are friendly monsters from Caribbean folklore and other 'expected' creatures from the night. For example, from the book: "Lagahoo" have thick fur and sharp teeth and chains around their necks. . . You can find more here! It was lots of fun reading this with my young granddaughter who's ten. Some may say it's for younger children but she enjoyed it very much.

           My poet friend, Irene Latham, has written what feels like a lullaby, this time for pre-K and up, an invitation to enter the forest and find peace in the beauty found, a "Wild Peace" of all living things. Il Sung Na carries those words in her illustrations that begin with children playing in what appears to be an 'upset' room, without color. One child pushes through a large drawing of a green, and inviting, forest. She is there! "where peace trills good morning to the sky/and watches the web dry." I imagine reading this with children, perhaps a class, and taking the advice, skipping into "Wild Peace". It's a loving, gentle book.

Thanks to Candlewick Press
for this copy!

        Back with Mean Ant again and with friends Fly and Flea plus a new one, Moth, Arthur Yorinks tells of more shenanigans as they gripe and moan about being caged so they can perform in Big Jim's Circus! They, like other prisoners, have little to eat and nowhere to go, but across the cage. Sergio Ruzzier manages to illustrate every emotion from his creative creatures. Amid the silly, but expected, arguments, Ant has a brilliant idea. When Moth performs, it's expected to 'turn into the light' (like all moths, right?). Instead, he'll fly to grab the others so they can fly away. You'll need to read to discover if the idea really works, or if Ant is foiled and mean again. It's a more complicated story than it sounds with jokes and innuendo splattered here and there. (Oops, perhaps I shouldn't have written "splattered".) 

Update: I have started a chapter book called Polo Cowboy by Gregory Neri, starting well! And, I'm a little bit into Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malindo Lo, a book some of you have loved. 

           Here's a quote I shared this week on our bookstore social media! “A book has no unwanted calories and you don’t have to worry about sizes as long as the subject matter appeals to the recipient.”

—Sue Grafton, Y is for Yesterday              Happy Reading!