Monday, June 22, 2015

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 6/22/15


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


Picture Books


Isla (1995) by Arthur Dorros and illustrated by Elisa Kleven. This sequel to Abuela (reviewed as part of my series on modern immigration stories) follows the young girl and her grandmother on another imagined trip, this time to see the Isla where her Abuela lived and to visit with her aunt, uncle, and cousin who still live there. This is a great story celebrating US-Caribbean connections, as well as the power of family.


Blue Frog: the Legend of Chocolate (2011) by Dianne de Las Casas and illustrated by Holly Stone-Barker. This story comes from an Aztec legend about the origins of chocolate (although no bibliographic information is given). Overall, I thought this was a cute story to share with kids - and one to get them pondering the mystery of a world without chocolate!

The only thing that threw me was the middle of the book, when the story exactly repeats itself for two, two-page spreads. (The kids hear the song, they go to the village to get their mothers, the kids and mothers hear the song, they all go back to the village, the kids and mothers hear the song again.) Odd.


This is Sadie (2015) by Sara O'Leary and illustrated by Julie Morstad. This charming little tale invites us into a day in the life of Sadie and her wild imagination, with a focus on the power of books and stories. Kids will certainly connect with her inventiveness and voice. My only tiny criticism was that the literary references were pitched above the heads of the likely readers. (How many kids today even have heard of The Jungle Book and few little kids actually read any Lewis Carroll, even if they have seen the movies? Why not pick books that are better known as books and not as Disney movies?) (H/T Earl at The Chronicles of a Children's Book Writer.)


Gordon Parks: how the photographer captured black and white America (2015) by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Jamey Christoph. I am embarrassed to admit that I had not heard of Gordon Parks before learning about his biography. He was a powerful photographer of Jim Crow and Civil Rights era America, and the first black photographer at Life magazine. This picture book biography details his childhood as well as his career and its impact. Read more about Parks and see links to his archives over at my photography blog. (H/T The Horn Book Magazine.)


One Family (2015) by George Shannon and Blanca Gómez. This charming counting book is so much more. One is not just one, when it is a pair of shoes or a hand of cards. And one can be any number when it comes to "one family." This picture book is a celebration of families, in all their quirky uniqueness. The illustrated families include grandparents, mixed race couples, twins, single parents, young boys in Sikh turbans, gay couples, and so much more. This would be a great mentor text for a getting-to-know you activity, where each child could illustrate a page representing whatever number describes their "one family." (H/T The Horn Book Magazine.)

Middle Grade


Jack: the true story of Jack and the beanstalk (2015) by Liesl Shurtliff. Following the success of her first fractured-fairy-tale novel, Rump, Liesl Shurtliff is back with her version of the story of Jack and that beanstalk. You do not need to have read Rump to understand Jack, but you will miss out on some of the ways their stories interact. This is another clever and entertaining read. Though it took me a little while longer to get into the story this time, it was overall enjoyable.


Echo (2015) by Pam Muñoz Ryan. This lovely, lyrical novel weaves together three individual stories into its powerful conclusion. I have had this one sitting on my TBR stack, eagerly awaiting the end of the school year. I will admit to quickly skimming past the reviews of others recently, as I didn't want anything to spoil my reading of this book! So I will leave my review at this ... it was well worth the wait!

Challenges and Summer Plans

This summer I am again joining in the amazing community and discussion of #cyberPD. This summer's book is Digital Reading: What's Essential in Grades 3-8. Click here to read more about #cyberPD or click here to join the Google+ discussion group!

#Bookaday Challenge update: days read a book 18/21, books read 24/90

Award-Winning Books Reading Challenge update: 12 books, 2 dedicated posts

Dive into Diversity Challenge update: 130 books, 28 dedicated posts (this week: Review of Mysteries of the Golden Temple)

Happy Reading!

14 comments:

  1. Wasn't ECHO just wonderful?! I started Jack as our end-of-year read aloud, but we didn't get a chance to finish it. :-( My fifth graders LOVED how it was connected with Rump!

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    1. Echo was incredible, as I knew it would be. Hope many of your kiddos were motivated to finish Jack over the summer - bet they were!

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  2. One Family looks just darling. I need to seek that one out.

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  3. I am [not so] patiently awaiting Jack from my public library. And have Echo on the shelf. Should get to it this week if my nieces/nephew don't distract me too much. I love a good pb biography so I will definitely have to check out the Gordon Parks title. Also your photo blog! Totally missed that. #doubleoops

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    1. Ha ha, no worries. Enjoy Jack and Echo! (And don't forget to enjoy those nieces and nephew too.)

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  4. We absolutely loved Echo too. It was definitely worth the wait. The biography about Gordon Parks sounds amazing. Have you heard about the Captured History series - http://assessmentinperspective.com/?p=2591? It is also about photographs of important historical events

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    1. No, I had not heard about the Capture History series, thanks for the tip! I have read about that photograph of Elizabeth Eckford in We Were There Too! which is a great nonfic resource. http://www.thelogonauts.com/2014/07/nfpb.html

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  5. I am so excited about that biography of Gordon Parks! Off to order it right now. My son loved Rump as a read-aloud, but it wasn't my favorite. Still, I think I'll get Jack for us. I love that One Family has a family of color on the cover!

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    1. I think your son will enjoy Jack, but it probably won't be a favorite of yours either, as I liked it less than Rump. Isn't One Family awesome? There is also at least one family that seems to have adopted kids, though that is only an inference on my part, since all the other siblings are red heads.

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  6. I'm going to order One Family for our school. The primary classes always end up doing a unit on family and it sound like it will fit right in. I enjoyed Rump, and will purchase Jack, but I wasn't that enthusiastic about the first to compel me to read the next one. My grade seven girls tell me I have to read the Lunar Chronicles. So that will be my fractured fairytale reading for the summer. (That and Echo)

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    1. One Family would be an awesome addition to any unit on families. I haven't heard of the Lunar Chronicles yet, so I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

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  7. My heart beats fast each time I read a review of Echo - my husband just gave me a copy of this one for Mother's Day, and I know that I have to read my copy soonest or I will just explode! Gordon Parks looks like a title I should include in my PBB multicultural-text-set! :)

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    1. Gordon Parks is definitely one to add!

      As for Echo, just like you, I was rapidly scrolling pages any time someone posted about it, because I wanted to read it for myself and NOT get anything spoiled ahead of time!

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