It's Monday - Check Out These Special Books!

 

Monday Reading - Enjoy These 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! 

    

     I also have a giveaway HERE on a second post today!

Thanks to Candlewick Press for all the following books!

       It begins with a sense of sadness. Young rabbit Cress's father has not returned. Though wishing that a miracle might happen, Mother, Cress, and baby brother Kip move. They find a rental tree named Broken Arms where the landlord, Mr. Owl, collects three dead moths a day for rent, for a one-room lower apartment! Gregory Maguire brings readers into this magical circle of an animal community with a mouse manager named Manny, the Oakleaf squirrel family where Cress makes a friend, some sinister characters like Reynard the fox, and a surprise bear named Tunk who it turns out isn't so scary after all. The illustrations will be in color but my ARC is only in Black and white. Still, they are lovely. See that cover! This would be a lovely read-aloud for young ones, just scary enough with some good outcomes, too.

                                        

         With imaginative paintings and brief rhyming couplets, Dr. Eve M. Vavagiakis introduces the neutrino to a young audience. Each page shares different parts about them, like what they look like, how very tiny they are, and more. (also in Ilze Lemesis, the illustrator's imagination). Information is added at the back for each double-page spread, plus a list for further exploration. If one is interested in our universe, this will be a basic start. Illustrations show parts of our amazing universe, including people! 

    

       On Friday afternoon, this school has an assembly where announcements are made, sometimes a song is sung, and when there's time, a student does something for the group, tells some jokes, does some magic, and so on. This particular Friday, it's John's turn. He's nervous, but brings his special clothes, prepares, and dances. Mac Barnett tells all there is to know, lets the children's faces and John's by Kate Berube tell the rest. It's a wonderful book about courage and support. Wait until you see the double-page spread with John dancing! 

 

         If you have a child who would like to do more for our environment or if you're beginning a class study and project for learning and doing something positive, this book by Martin Dorey, illustrated by Tim Wesson, here's a new book filled to the brim with information and challenges. The intro shares a brief explanation of climate change. Martin introduces himself and explains how to be a #2minutesuperhero. There are sixteen missions, but before starting, there is a pledge of allegiance to planet Earth, a promise to take two minutes every day to help nature. There are rules, added explanations, and the missions begin! Dorey writes in a friendly, conversational manner, inviting with support. Showing with more information how it can be done! There are points to add up at the end, more sources for info. I find it inspirational and doable. For example, Mission #12 is "Fight Climate Change at the Supermarket". It includes topics like food, hidden ingredients, alternate packaging, specific facts about palm oil as an ingredient. One granddaughter already has the family, and me, looking for and NOT purchasing those products that use palm oil. There are alternatives. In easy-to-read, fun cartoon-style drawings that include examples of kids being those #2minutesuperheroes, doing good for planet Earth. Terrific book!

           Martin Dorey also wrote Kids Fight Plastic with Tim Wesson illustrating.  

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       How can one resist these poems, written down for Nadim by his mother, Yasmine Shamma. A few are included by his sister and his preschool class. In an intro by Yasmine, she explains one only needs to listen to young children to hear the poetry. Illustrations by Yasmeen Ismail are, well, simply darling children doing all kinds of things as they speak (write) about their lives. The title is something Nadim says what happens when you arrive home from school. His mother had asked about taking off things when coming home. They made a list like coat, etc. and when she asked about anything else, he said "You take off your brave." I imagine you all understand what that might mean. Other poems reflect on trains, baddies, a former teacher: "Miss Angela smells like a bell, swinging gently." The first line of the poem, Oh! My Best Things, is "Oh! Owls." And there is so much more wonder. It would be a joy to read to a young class, to discover their own words!

         Colin Stuart fills this book with chemistry, how things work, separately and together, a broad spread of the periodic table, important women and men to know, some who won the Nobel Peace Prize, more and more. It needs to be in a home or classroom with interested children, adults, too. Illustrations by Ximo Abadía create an easy-to-access way to understand the material. Some intriguing facts: elements that are named for countries or cities, or people. What elements are found in certain places, even the household, and one's body. It ends with future plans and/or speculation of what could be next. What a fantastic book that offers a basic class in chemistry!

What's Next: I'm currently reading John Green's Anthropocene, essays filled with thoughts from him that make me think, too. And I started Irene Latham's and Charles' Waters African Town, can hardly stop reading. The story is based on true American history, tragic and inspiring, what we all need to learn about!