Sunday, July 27, 2014

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?


It's Monday! What are you reading? was started by Sheila at Book Journey and was adapted for children's books from pictures books through YA by Jen of Teacher 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.

I guess this was my week to be highly skeptical and a bit critical of some of the selections that I read, but an honest review is always the goal, right? (Or skip the criticism and jump down to my glowing account of Poetry Friday for a pick me up.)

Picture Books


Laundry Day by Maurie J. Manning. Do you ever have a book that you have heard about and gotten excited about because you think it might be a perfect fit only to be disappointed when you actually read the book? That, in a nutshell, was Laundry Day for me. The story of a lonely shoeshine boy in New York City sounded like a potential fit for our unit on Immigration and Ellis Island, perhaps as a companion to the incomparable Peppe the Lamplighter by Elisa Bartone and illustrated by Ted Lewin. Instead, this graphic-novel-inspired picture book presents just mere stereotypical sketches of the different peoples and cultures of the tenement building tied in to a minimal plot. I would be curious if others had similar feelings about the simplicity of this book.


Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts. I really liked the message of this book - that innovation comes from failure and that "The only true failure can come if you quit," but I had a hard time getting past the canned Seuss-ian rhyme scheme and outrageous-ness of the inventions. I think I will keep looking for a companion to The Most Magnificent Thing (reviewed here).

Middle Grade


The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (Newbury Honor Book). This book was suggested to me by Elisabeth at The Dirigible Plum after my earlier post about The Ascendance Trilogy a few weeks back. They are very similar books in broad strokes - medieval setting, similarly-aged hardluck boy protagonists, and royal intrigue. I found this one took much longer to grab my attention, and I was not as interested in the main character. The violence and drama is a little more tame in this book as well, making it perhaps geared a little younger like grades 4-6.

Teaching Resources


Poetry Friday is one the best additions I have ever made to my classroom week. The Poetry Friday Anthology is a collection of poems for each week of the school year that are tailored to each grade level from Kindergarten through fifth grade. (There is a middle school 6-8 book now as well.) This is a great resource if you are looking to start Poetry Friday in your classroom or are looking for great poems to share with kids. Read my full post about the Power of Poetry Friday in the Classroom here.

Professional Books


This week was the third week of #CyberPD of Donalyn Miller's Reading in the Wild. Chapter 5 was all about readers and reader preferences, as well as a peek inside some of the note-taking forms and charts Donalyn uses that are included in the appendix. You can read my thoughts and reflection about Chapter 5 here (and see my Reading in the Wild diorama).

Happy Reading!

11 comments:

  1. Laundry Day was fantastic! I read it a long time ago but I still remember absolutely loving it.

    And of course, Reading in the Wild is one of the best PD books there ever was. :)

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    1. Thanks, Beth! Book Whisperer made a big impression on me, so I am enjoying seeing how Donalyn's ideas are growing and expanding in Reading in the Wild.

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  2. I'm sorry I had to miss that final CyberPD conversation, Katie. I enjoyed the first 2 weeks very much. Will you be at the twitter chat? I'll see if I can find Laundry Day-it does sound as if it would be good for that unit-too bad it didn't work for you. There are lots of stories about immigration, though, so am sure you'll find another. Thanks for the honest opinions. I have all the PF anthologies-have used & share them a lot with my colleagues. So glad you're enjoying this one.

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    1. Yes, Linda, I am planning on doing the chat tomorrow. I've never done a Twitter chat before, so I am curious how easy it will be to follow the train of conversation.

      Have you heard that there is a new Poetry Friday book in the works? All about Celebrations!

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  3. OH MY GOODNESS I missed your diorama. Middle of last week is sort of a blur (I don't recover from red-eye flights well ... give me my sleep in my nice bed!) and I must have just hit "mark all as read" or something. That is awesome. And that remark about the competitive thing ... that is Battle of the Books for me. I just hate concentrating so much on memorizing little details when there are so many great books to be read. But that is not an opinion shared by many. And it does generate excitement. Anyway. I need to check out Rosie Revere. And how sad Laundry Day isn't as cute as the cover and description make it seem. I hate it when that happens!

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    1. Hee hee, thanks! Glad you enjoyed the diorama. It was one of those ideas, where as soon as it stuck in my head I knew I had to do it.

      Good point about Battle of the Books. I've always been curious about it but had the exact same reservations. I love the free flowing book club discussions my students have more than I would love watching them "stand and deliver" on facts and details.

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  4. Laundry Day looks so cute! I always love your books.

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    1. Well then I read what you said. Maybe not add to my TBR pile! Ha.

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    2. Ha ha, no worries! That is about the exact same series of reactions I had to the book as well.

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  5. I had a similar problem with Iggy Peck, Architect (by same author-illustrator combo). Loved the illustrations, but the rhyme was such a drag. I also missed the diorama so I am off to click and see!

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    1. Thanks, Elisabeth. I hadn't read Iggy Peck but assumed it would be the same. That type of rhyme is so tricky to pull off, and it bums me out a little bit because I like the concept behind the book so much. Hope you enjoy the diorama ... !

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