Monday Reading - New Books to Share

 

 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! 

      

            

       

Thanks to Candlewick Press for this copy!

       From Jo Knowles' earlier Where The Heart Is, we readers get to know Rachel's nine-year-old little sister, Ivy. The family has lost their farm and moved into a small apartment where Rachel and Ivy have to share a room. Ivy's parents and sister have sad feelings about the move but Ivy does not. For the first time, she has close friends, in the building! Ivy, with Alice and Lucas, become friends and have the most fun watching a weekly baking show. They take notes and try hard to create something yummy with the list of ingredients given. It's fun and Ivy loves it all, continues to say, and think, how she never wants to move, and feels determined to make the rest of her family think the new home is terrific. Knowles keeps things on a young level, showing so well Ivy's worries, and her sincere attempts to be a good friend. When Alice has some problems with her mom not returning (she lives with her grandmother) and does not want to talk about it, then Lucas's father has a struggle walking, Ivy wants to help, but struggles to understand why her words and intentions don't make things better. She gets a boost when she starts helping the building superintendent fix things. She's good at it! And that super helps Ivy figure a few things out about what can be fixed and what needs time before it can be fixed.

           Growing up is hard as Knowles shows so well. With a thread of different proverbs for life bugging Ivy, it seems that nothing she does helps. She is learning, however, as all of us must, even if we're already grown! This would make a great read-aloud for a class.  

Thanks to Candlewick Press for this copy! 

        Liz Kessler's longer stories about Emily Windsnap, part mermaid, include "big" adventures and now Liz and Joanie Stone have started an early reader series with that same adventurous spirit. This time, Emily wants so much to swim in the ocean yet her mother thinks it's too dangerous. What she discovers when she sneaks out to try is a "Big Discovery" as the title shares. It's a fun beginning with added Emily stickers at the back! 

Thanks to Candlewick Press for this copy

       Oh my, I would love to have this book for younger readers, full of ALL the seasons and their beauty, written and illustrated by Tim Hopgood. It begins with spring, sharing a poem, gorgeous paintings of blossoms and twigs, birds and eggs, a "how-to-create" chocolate nests. Each season has its unique wonders, something to celebrate and learn about all through the year. There's how to make a leaf mobile and how to paint a butterfly, also pages about stars and the moon. The book is full to the brim with our natural world for young ones. And, you may want to use the ideas for the beginning of further research and learning. Below is a glimpse of the endcovers - gorgeous! 

       I can't imagine many books fit all ages but Carter Higgins and Daniel Miyares have just created one, reminding us that no matter where we look in our beautiful world, there are wonders to discover. Three sections, just as the title announces, and three awesome surprise introductions for each, make a book to treasure. Everyone might draw what they can find in their own lives. They might write poems about them. Reading and seeing this book cries out for response, and sharing in a group will inspire others to think again, to add to personal lists for their own "Big and Small and In-Between". Don't forget to get a copy for yourselves, gift a copy to others, then share!

            Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly was never in my history books, like this author, Connie Schofield-Morrison says in her author's note, too. Her life is an inspiration from early slave times when she assisted her mother who was the slaveowner's household seamstress, often beaten when she didn't do her job properly. She was moved to other household families, and ended up in St. Louis where her clientele loved her work so much, that they helped her purchase her and her son's freedom. Not only did she make a living and became famous for her beautiful creations after moving to DC, but she also became the dressmaker for Mary Todd Lincoln, was at the White House after losing her son in a Civil War battle & supported Mrs. Lincoln in the death of her young son, then her husband, President Lincoln. Elizabeth created many organizations to help freed slaves as well. It is a life you'll love learning about as Elizabeth Zunon's illustrations take readers beautifully through this life, page by page, and "Stitch by Stitch". 

        Alma Thomas spent her early life homeschooled by her parents because in Georgia African-Americans were not allowed in white schools. Moving to D.C. helped, yet she continued to break barriers. Jeanne Walker Harvey has written another inspiring biography for us readers, one that showed the incredible life of Alma, all through her years until toward the end when she became  the first Black woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York City and to have her work chosen for the White House collection. This is only a 'taste' of the story Walker lets her tell. The illustrations by Loveis Wise appear to bring Alma Thomas's own colors to us in a beautiful way. There is a lot of backmatter that helps to expand Thomas's story, which is "Ablaze With Color" through all her years.

       If you wish for a perfect graduation gift, for parents, not for those graduating, purchase this new book by Minh Lê and Dan Santat, the creative pair who never fail to bring joy. This time, the joy of raising a child is mixed in with the bittersweet when readers realize the wonder child that is theirs has grown up, is ready to leave for new horizons. The book is a wonder, too!

        I've read and loved William Kent Krueger's standalone books, but have not read any other of the Cork O'Connor mysteries. Now, with this one, I know the beginnings. It's a special, poignant story of both the strengths and weaknesses of our human race. 

NEXT: When Women Were  Dragons - Kelly Barnhill