Monday Reading - For All Ages!

              

        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 lived through this, at home, as a high school teen, then watching from college, the terrible news coming back from Vietnam, the loss of one close friend, what my stepfather and uncles who had served in WWII and the rest of the family and friends said, then argued about. Yet, Kristin Hannah brings the story of the women who also were there, women we didn't talk about. All the way through, she tells us about their own terror, this time especially about the nurses, with one focus, Frances, "Frankie," McGrath, and her life there, after graduating from nursing school and enlisting because her wonderful older brother, Lynley, had gone to that war and been killed, no body returned, only an empty casket to bury. 

      Frankie and two friends served in hospital units together, came home one by one, and when needed by another, each one went to support. Sometimes, learning of the crazy times of horror, the upending times of grief and betrayal, it felt like a soap opera. But isn't life a soap opera, and this particular time also, like other wars, meant death along with unimaginable betrayals. More has happened, and continues to occur as we readers all know, but perhaps it's time to read this book and see the parallels of our own time today, the different responses, the lies, still happening. It's good to know the history that Kristin Hannah told so well, but sad to acknowledge parallels. 

Thanks to Candlewick Press for my copy!

       Jarvis tells a great story for young ones.  At bedtime, they can watch the bedtime of two friends, Lion, who needs a story first, and Penguin, who'd love to get right to sleep. Penguin drifts off into dreams full of candy treats but wakes fast when Lion starts drumming (see the cover!). How they figure out a compromise makes a calm, sleepy-time story. Bob Shea's illustrations are just right for young ones, lots of color and big expressions of feelings from both Penguin, yawn, and Lion, bright-eyed! 

Thanks to Candlewick Press for my copy!

         Well, I wish I had this long ago when I was a first-grade teacher! David LaRochelle takes us on the adventure of "Go and Get", and with Rex, a dog! Young Jack and Jill are there, too, and when asked to bring back something that begins with a certain letter, they race off to do just that. For example, the letter F is asked for. Jack brings a frog, Jill brings a fish, and Rex brings . . . a duck! He's told, sorry, duck does not begin with F, Rex; however, Rex replies with that duck is his FRIEND! Hoorah, Friend does begin with F. Running and racing with vehicles, or cycling, Mike Wohnoutka illustrates this fun game with great enthusiasm, and smiles all around! LaRochelle's answers also add more words for the special letter. It's a great "game" of a book!

        One-word rhymes show Kyle Lukoff's writing expertise as he starts with "Awake" and ends with "Asleep" - the title itself. With those "rhyming scenes" like "A shoe, a walk,/a laugh, a talk", Nadia Alam's illustrations take this extended family through the day. They rise, eat, walk to the park, someone gets splinters, someone needs help standing up, one falls asleep (a baby in the group). They help and enjoy one another. I bet you can imagine it, and when readers see and read it, they will love the look of a day in this family's life. It's a sweet book for the little ones. I'm imagining they'll want to tell about their own days, "Awake" to "Asleep". 

These two tell terrific stories with good life lessons!

       Donated to the used bookstore where I volunteer, I want to remind everyone of this Caldecott winner, out in 1977, still a great story and lesson. I found that it also has been set to music which you can find on YouTube, which is great. But you need to get the real book to see the clever cutouts that make the story even more fun. It's a lesson to learn!

         Matt de la Pena tells young Lucas' story who believes that being perfect is the best thing. He loves his perfect school and just produced a perfect robot report. Yet, when he is picked up at school, his dad's old truck stalls and has to be pushed to the side, to Lucas' embarrassment. Finally, at home, his mother is rushing out the door to her night job and cannot even learn about the report. Lucas sees the peeling paint on the walls, and then the lights go out. What happens next is a dream of what he believes is the best, a perfect neighborhood with perfect people. I imagine everyone must have thought about this sometimes. In beautifully detailed "perfect" illustrations, Paola Escobar helps de la Peña tell Lucas' story of his journey to the realization that perhaps being perfect is not as great as being with a loving, imperfect family.

What's Next? Still reading Not Quite A Ghost by Anne Ursu. I just ran out of time!

I also picked up The Misfits, A Royal Conundrum, by Lisa See and Dan Santat. It looks fun!