It's Monday! Ready for Winter Reading!

          

    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 hope you had a nice Thanksgiving, if you celebrated. And, if you're in that eastern over-the-top snow fall, hope you've managed to stay safe! Pictures of the amounts are hard to believe! Have a nice week ahead! 

Thanks to Candlewick Press
for my copy!

       Cousins Owen, 12, with Vivian, almost 12, and little sister, Amy, 8, are on a camping trip with parents and finally have talked them into camping further on the trail and by a lake, alone, for a night and a day! They're certainly excited and have experience, are ready! But in that night, an earthquake happened, pushing huge rocks into the lake, awakening them up wet, and destroying the trail back to their parents. What to do, what they did, and how they managed is an adventure of accomplishment for these young kids. Anne Nesbet shows the characters face fears, not because they want to, but because they must, to help themselves make it, and to help each other! It's a treasure of a story to watch them travel "The Long Way Around"! 

   from Goodreads: "A celebratory and empowering story from young trans activist Gavin Grimm, two-time Stonewall Award-winning and Newbery Honor-winning author Kyle Lukoff, and illustrator J Yang follows the true story of how a young boy stood up for himself--and made history along the way."

             When a kid, named Gavin this time, grows up and realizes he has a choice to make, he does, first told to his mother, and supported. Gavin, as written above, with trans author, Kyle Lukoff and trans illustrator, J Yang, shows readers all about the choices for trans people, those supporting and what's supported, and by whom. This time, it's a focus on his school. It's the journey that led Gavin to choose to stand for what he thought was his right, to use the bathroom as himself! He has continued his fight, working for everyone's choices, and working with the ACLU.
Notes from Gavin and Kyle are at the back! I wish this book could be accessible to all kids. It's new to me, but out in 2022. I'm so glad to have found it!

       I've had the pleasure of working with David L. Harrison at the Highlights Foundation and admire his poetic abilities very much. He writes a blog post every day and has published many, many picture books of poetry in his life, plus numerous books about teaching poetry in the classroom. Each of his books for children will enhance studies about poetry and often are science-based, like double learning for the writers! He is currently the Poet Laureate of Missouri. 

       This time, having collaborated on two other books, David and Kate Cosgrove celebrate trees, from their beginnings to that time of taking a break in winter, then back starting again, a tree's all around the year with David's poetic voice and Kate's charming illustrations. A few favorite moments are these: "the rain/SHOUTS,/"Wake up,/you lazy roots!" And they do, welcoming the water and the "Leaves UNFOLD/like a/new dress." Pages of springtime fill with green welcoming ants and bees, beetles and butterflies. I think you can imagine the rest of the journey, except it's much better to read, perhaps "hear" David's words and see Kate's art! For those who want to start a study with young readers, perhaps in autumn to view the end, then the start in the spring, this book will be terrific for studying again and again! 

        At the back, David tells of a hackberry tree in his yard, "his" tree, that he watches day by day, all the year. Perhaps a class or a parent and child would like to find their own tree. Maybe it's already there, waiting for a friend? It's a beautiful book! 

     It's fun to discover an older book published by McSweeney's. George Sanders tells of hree neighbors, whose small houses are by the sea and whose children are tasked constantly to brush the Gappers (something like larger cockleburs) from their goats. Otherwise, the goats would stop giving milk, thus no milk or cheese to sell, and no money after selling. It may seem like a ridiculous tale, yet the lessons come home when the main character, a young girl named Capable, tries so hard when ALL the Gappers move to her goats. She cannot keep up, finally begging the neighbors for help. How that goes, and then the later action will bring readers to discuss and wonder at the attitude of not helping because it's not one's problem. Lane Smith's thoughtful illustrations bring the story's emotions to the page wonderfully!
This is Saunders' first children's book!

Nearly Finished: The National Award Winner, Kareem Between, by Shifa Saltagi Safadi, so good! Then, next, a book by a former student's parent, a sci-fi titled Predestined, by Rachel Byrne.