Monday, January 9, 2017

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 01/09/17


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


Year in Review


Finally put together the stats from my reading from 2016.
  • Total books read (not including picture books): 117
  • Books written by an author of color: 34
  • Books with a main character of color: 44
  • Books with an LGBTQ main character: 9
  • Books with a main character with a disability or terminal illness: 9
  • Nonfiction or professional development: 7
  • Total Logonauts blog posts written: 189

Picture Books



Du Iz Tak? (2016) by Carson Ellis is a fascinating concept book (a group of bugs communicate with their own unique language). The illustrations evolve along with your understanding of what they are saying, reaching a satisfying conclusion. As for Caldecott potential (Mock Caldecott final ballot), however, I'm not sure.


The Three Lucys (2016) by Hayan Charara and illustrated by Sara Kahn [a Lee & Low New Voices Honor book]. This story begins as a story about a young boy who lives in Lebanon with his three cats (each named Lucy), but it evolves into a story about the impact of war, inspired by the "July War" of 2006 between Israel and Lebanon (as explained in the author's note). It is a gentle book for exploring this difficult topic with younger children.

Middle Grade



Making Friends with Billy Wong (2016) by Augusta Scattergood. Most books set during the Civil Rights Era focus on discrimination against African-Americans, but in this story, Azalea is shocked to discover there is a "Chinese" boy living near her grandmother's house, where she has been dumped for the summer. Billy's perspective is told through interspersed poetry, and he worries about friendship and starting at the white school in the fall. This is a very gentle introduction to racism geared towards the younger end of middle grade readers. (I received a copy of this book from Scholastic as a reviewer for Multicultural Children's Book Day on Jan. 27th. All thoughts are my own.)

Happy Reading!

10 comments:

  1. I've enjoyed Scattergood's books in the past, I'm looking forward to this one!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hadn't heard of Making Friends with Billy Wong. Looks like a great book. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think I am the only person on earth who just doesn't like Du Iz Tak? I've read it twice and I just don't feel like I get it. But I loved Making Friends with Billy Wong. Scattergood is great at making history feel personal for today's kids.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel like I "get" it (in terms of comprehension), but I'm not exactly sure why I'm supposed to care ...

      Delete
    2. I think that may be closer to how I feel. I walk away from the book saying, "So what?"

      Delete
  4. You had a busy year! I really want to read Scattergood's book!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Du Iz Tak? looked interesting but not something I might really want to read. But I keep seeing it on people's posts so I thought I should try to get a copy. I wonder if it is an omen to not really bother since my local library doesn't have it?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sometimes I wonder about picture books that just don't feel like they were actually written with children in mind, and are just a bit too clever or too geared towards adults (or awards). I haven't read Du Iz Tak? yet, but I've heard a few people comment that they're not exactly sure who the audience for it would be.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I know what you mean about Du Iz Tak - I was thinking of doing a post on Picturebooks I Wished I Loved More - and it would definitely fall into that. I get that it's clever, the art is gorgeous, but I don't know. :(

    ReplyDelete
  8. Du iz Tak certainly is unique, but it's not one that I am crazy about. I want to get the Billy Wong book. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...