Monday, May 11, 2015

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 5/11/15


It's Monday! What are you reading? was started by Sheila at Book Journey and was adapted for children's books from picture books through YA by Jen of Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee of Unleashing Readers. You can visit either site for a round up of blogs sharing their weekly readings and thoughts or search Twitter for #IMWAYR.


Last Week's Posts

  • Meet Juan Bobo! This collection of picture books from Puerto Rico features the popular "noodlehead" character Juan Bobo.

    Picture Books


    Drum Dream Girl: how one girl's courage changed music (2015) by Margarita Engle and illustrated by Rafael López. This powerful true story tells about the early life of Chinese-African-Cuban Millo Castro Zaldarriaga. Millo broke the Cuban taboo against female drummers and performed with her sisters as part of Cuba's first "all-girl dance band" in the 1930s. This story inspired some powerful conversations with my students about rules, especially ones about things boys or girls are told they cannot do.


    Pablo Neruda: poet of the people (2011) by Monica Brown and illustrated by Julie Paschkis. This biography of Pablo Neruda provides a look at his life and how they influenced his poems. The amazing illustrations complement and extend the text, as they are also overflowing with English and Spanish words. This book sparked some interesting conversations with my students, particularly around the idea that Pablo Neruda had to leave his home country of Chile but was not a criminal.


    River Story (2000) by Meredith Hooper and illustrated by Bee Willey. This charming little story tells the birth and journey of a river from the mountains to the plains to the ocean, The illustrations take you over, around, and under the water to see how the water grows and changes. This is also a good story for discussing the interconnectedness of life, people, animals, and the land. The last page contains and index of terms as well as a drawing of the different parts of a river with accurate terminology.

    Middle Fiction


    Nation (2008) by Terry Pratchett. This book came up from several folks when I asked for new Terry Pratchett recommendations. This stand-alone (I think) book takes place in a historically-accurate but fantasy version of Earth's history and revolves around a catastrophic event on an island Nation. This book is a fascinating look at religion, cultures, and the clashes between them.

    Award-Winning Books Reading Challenge update: 10 books, 2 dedicated posts

    Dive into Diversity Challenge update: 92 books, 25 dedicated posts (this week: Meet Juan Bobo!)

    Happy Reading!

    8 comments:

    1. These all look so good, thanks for telling us about them. I'm a big Terry Pratchett fan, and was so sorry to hear about his passing. You may just have tempted me to reread Nation, now.

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      1. Thanks, Alex. His passing was exactly what prompted me to go reread a few favorites - and now I've found some new favorites too!

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    2. So glad you got to Nation. It's very different from his other works in some ways, but Pratchett is always taking pot shots at religion and culture. You've got some beautiful picture books here. I love the cover of Drum Dream Girl! River Story looks promising for ecology units.

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      1. Thanks, Cheriee. I love books that make you think about things. You are right that River Story would be a great way to kickoff an ecology unit!

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    3. Nation was really interesting to me, though somewhat different from other Terry Pratchett novels I've read. Such a rich, complex story. I included it on the syllabus of my Adolescent Lit course one semester and we had great discussions, though a few students found it hard to finish.

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      1. I can imagine those were interesting discussions, indeed. I hope those that pushed through felt rewarded for it.

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    4. I love seeing Poet of the People here - I love Julie Paschki's art in this Neruda PBB. Have you read The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan and Peter Sis? They would be great companion texts. Ooohlala another Pratchett novel. I think I've been burned by The Colour of Magic that I hesitate reading another book of his again. I will take your advice though and start with his YA stories.

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      1. I have The Dreamer on my TBR list for summer. We showed it off to the kids, but it might be a bit much for them at this point. I'm really looking forward to it! Definitely keep me posted if you do dive into Wee Free Men.

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