It's Monday - Books Loved Last Week!

          

    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!

           Hercules Beal and his brother, Achilles have been thrown into a time they never wished for. Their parents are killed in a car crash. Achilles has been traveling the world writing for National Geographic and must come home to be a parent, and to run the Beal Brothers Farm and Nursery, a business of many generations, neither job he chose. But he did choose to enroll his about-to-be seventh-grade brother, Hercules, in a nearby private school, the Cape Cod Academy for Environment Science. There, among the animals and plants that fill up this intriguing school is a homeroom teacher like no other, the former military Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer. This teacher gives each student in the class a year-long assignment and Hercules is baffled. What in the world did he really know of the ancient Hercules' labours? Hupfer says he didn't care, that that was the assignment, to learn about each one and connect it to Hercules' life today. 
         Schmidt lets us know Hercules and begin to love him right away because Hercules is telling his own story of that year, the time including a special friend, Mindy the dog, that just appeared, and then there was the Pirate Cat, dear friend Elly, Viola, the brother's girlfriend who surely was a vampire, and the neighbors up and down the Cape. We meet and begin to love each one for Schmidt's beautifully subtle way of bringing their own unique qualities into the story. Hercules' voice and response is often close to sarcasm, yet as a reader, I began to wait for his eyebrow-raising "Oh boy Oh boy" when events became a little nerve-wracking, at least in his eyes. He was quieter and thoughtful in many parts, the ones readers will cherish, the ones when he connects with the ancients. Schmidt again has given us readers an unforgettable story. Though Hercules continues to say he's no hero, I think he is!

      This picture book is a connection with our lives, one that you may also see as a companion to Schmidt's The Labors of Hercules Beal. With gorgeous illustrations, even on the end covers, by Beth Krommes, poetry phrases tell the tale of all life turning into branches, including flora and fauna, weather-related like lightning, furrows made down hills from water running, human arms and legs, and the systems inside. We are all branches and Joyce explains the ways they work in varied parts of our lives. "Branches . . . Grow" (tree limbs, branches, roots)! Each part will inspire a conversation, and each illustrated example is labeled. There is further information at the back. It's brief and inspiring, and makes me wonder how much more there is to see!

     Based on the life of Brother Martin de Porres who lived in Peru. There are tales of his goodness helping others, and his ability to help those in need, whether sick or hungry. This one tells of the problem in the priory with the mice. They had been getting along until one greedy mouse moved in and began making great holes in the wheels of cheese. They got a cat! What happens to save them isn't their ability to also thrive on bits of clothing but a kind man who seemed always to find a way to compromise. The illustrations illuminate the story so beautifully, done in muted tones by noted illustrator Kestutis Kasparavicius of Lithuania. (He is still working, and has art for sale if you search!) 

          Bear loves jumping and playing in the autumn leaves and when Mama says it's time to go to sleep (hibernate), she's disappointed. Upon awakening, he wonders where all the leaves went. Cute and inviting illustrations by Andres Landazabal aid Karen Lynn Williams' story which shows readers what happens in a forest that helps all living things, from under that blanket of leaves, including the work of trees and their roots, animals like worms and moles who have dug tunnels through the dead leaves and soil. "The forest does its work" in various ways, shown in the book as Bear asks questions and Mama adds to the explanation. It's a great beginning look at decomposition for the youngest learners.

          Thanks to Charlesbridge for this copy, out August 15th, in a few weeks!

         This is Lynnor Bontigao's debut picture book as an author and illustrator! Young Nora goes to visit her grandmother every summer and this time, she's old enough to help with more orders from customers! She measures beans and rice, cleans, and fills bags with treats. The story is filled with the sights and sounds of Bontigao's native homeland in the Philippines, shown in full lovely color in the illustrations. The market is a very busy place with grandma's Sari-Sari store in the midst of it all. During a heat wave, few customers show up, and Nora worries that she won't be able to help anymore, until, hooray! she notices the mango tree's fruit is ripe. She knows they will be just perfect for making "ice candy"! I imagine readers will guess what happens next and the recipe is given at the back!  

         Thanks to Candlewick for this copy!

for adults

         As you know, I work at a used bookstore and loved connecting with Bythell's experiences, his opinions, the store's needs for help, railing about Amazon's business policies, and his interactions with those seeking to sell their own collections. His store is in Scotland, a place named Wigtown. 

Now Reading: from Charlesbridge, Monster vs. Boy by Karen Crossing, also have started The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin.