Monday, August 18, 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.

Picture Books


Suki's Kimono by Chieri Uegaki and illustrated by Stephane Jorisch. This first day of school story features first grader Suki who is determined to wear her new blue kimono to school, despite her older sisters' protests. Suki learns the value in being yourself and in not being afraid to tell your story. (H/T Mum-Mum's the Word.)


War is a difficult topic at any age. This week I posted a series of suggested Picture Books that Deal with Modern Wars as a way of gently introducing students to the topic. You can read the full review here.


A Bucket of Blessings by Kabir and Surishtha Sehgal and illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong. This lovely picture book retells an Indian myth as monkey seeks out peacock for his aid in bringing back the rain. A tale of perseverance and the benefits of doing something to help others.Adorable block-print illustrations too.


Barbed Wire Baseball by Marissa Moss and illustrated by Yuko Shimizu. After my recent post on Picture Books about Japanese Internment, I received several recommendations to check out this book (H/T Linda at Teacher Dance and Kellee at Unleashing Readers). This is the true story of Kenichi "Zeni" Zenimura, a Japanese-American baseball player who was sent to an internment camp. At the camp, Zeni strove to build his own baseball field and inspire hope in a difficult situation. Publisher Abrams Books has a curriculum guide available here.


The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers. This one showed up a TON during #pb10for10, but I saw it first from Megan at Fourth Grade Literacy Lovers. This is the immediately engaging collection of letters from Duncan's crayons as they each share their grievances about his recent coloring. I really look forward to sharing this one with my students when we talk about perspective and point-of-view in our writing, as each crayon has a distinct voice. May also try to plan a collaboration with the art teacher here too.

Nonfiction


Parrots over Puerto Rico by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore. This lavish picture book of cut-paper and fabric collage tells the story of the decline and revitalization of the parrots of Puerto Rico. The vertical format might make it a little awkward for reading aloud, but the historical story and the modern day events will keep students captivated. There is also an extensive Afterward with photographs of the actual parrots and the parrot recovery program. A great resource that I look forward to sharing with my students when we study the Caribbean. (H/T Debbie at The Styling Librarian.)

Poetry


Part three in my three-part series on haiku features Picture Books Told in Haiku. This post includes two different types of books: stories that are told entirely in haiku and books of haiku poems. Click here to read more about these books, or read the rest of the series, Do You Haiku? and Picture Books about Haiku.

Middle Grade

 

Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen (Newbery Winner, 1956). Found this in the "Award Winning Book" section of our local library book sale and had to pick it up. (Taking this as a sign that I should join Mr. Schu's #nerdbery Challenge.) This turned out to be a very sweet story about Marly and her family's move out to her grandmother's farm on Maple Hill and their adjustments as they learn about the farm, the seasons, and as her father finds relief from the impacts that the War had on him. Would be a great book for a student who is interested in nature, seasons, and farming, as well as realistic fiction about families.

Happy Reading!

20 comments:

  1. Thanks for the mention. :) Love the mix of books today... Suki's Kimono, thanks for the reminder about that book, I think I'll share it again this fall!

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    1. Of course. Yeah, I think Suki would be a great one to share as the year kicks off!

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  2. I am amazed that you can keep track of where you hear about books! It all becomes one big jumble in my head! The Day the Crayons Quit is so hilarious. I actually enjoyed it even more than my kids did. I'm determined to find a way to wedge it into some of my classes this semester. (Mentor text for writing? Absolutely!) Parrots Over Puerto Rico is one of my favorites of the past year--absolutely loved that book. Especially that it's nonfiction that's truly accessible for younger readers. I often find myself "translating" nonfiction as I read it aloud to my children because it's written over their heads. But Parrots tells a complicated story with great clarity. And the art!

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    1. My post-its trying to keep track of books and recommendations can only hold together for so long, but we shall see ... I am very much looking forward to sharing Crayons with my students, and I know they will be enthralled by Parrots too.

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  3. So many great books! I'm trying to read more newbery's too, it's a big reading gap for me!
    And yes, I did just get Zero at the library and I've preordered Two :)
    Have a great week!

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  4. I am reading two Middle Grades. My current ARC August read is Dash by Kirby Larsen, it is about the US Japanese internment camps during WWII. I am also reading a book by a new British author, The Galian Spear, the author is planning a re-edit and re-issue, so I am reading it for her with that in mind. If you have Kindle Unlimited you can read it for free.

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    1. Thanks for the tips! I am definitely interested in Dash and will order once it's out, for sure.

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  5. You're really sharing so much, Katie, love hearing all about the different themes you're choosing. I have Suki's Kimono from the library so should read it soon since it's about the first day of school! I enjoyed those last 3 picture books very much-all worth having. The art in the parrot book is marvelous. Thanks again for all your recommendations!

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    1. Thanks, Linda, and so glad you are enjoying them all! It's really fun to share books and am loving all the suggestions from others too.

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  6. I loved The Day the Crayons Quit! And now I have a new stack of picture books to add to my TBR. It's not quite modern and just after the Vietname War, but Grandfather's Cranes by Holly Keller is a beautiful picture book that tells of a village and a family that is split over whether to repair dikes to hope the cranes return or to use the land for rice farming.

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion, Kay, I will have to check that one out. Sounds intriguing, and I love, love cranes! (We get sandhills around here.)

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  7. I hope you enjoyed Barbed Wire Baseball. It is one of my favorite NF PBs. Wasn't Parrots over Puerto Rico great as well? Both important.
    The Day the Crayons Quit is one of my favorite PBs to look at POV. And it is so funny!

    Happy reading this week! :)

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    1. Thanks, Kellee! I really did enjoy Barbed Wire Baseball, and I think it makes a really interesting contrast to some of the other internment books too. Really hoping to make this last reading week count before the school year kicks off!

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  8. Hello there Katie, as you know we are also doing a War and Poetry reading theme until first week of September - and most of the books you shared here are very familiar to me, as I've read most of them - thank you for rounding them up so beautifully. Alia's Mission and The Librarian of Basra were two titles that we shared a year ago when we had a Library reading theme. I would most likely revisit them and put them in our Headline for greater visibility and display. :)

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    1. Thanks, Myra, yes, I have really enjoyed finding some new books through many of your recent posts. I actually had a student buy our classroom a copy of Librarian of Basra last year, because he felt it was an important book for us to own. :)

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  9. Katie, thanks for referencing me :). I love the cover of A bucket of Blessings! I have that in my list to borrow on my next trip to the library!

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    1. You're welcome, Emily! I'm trying my best to keep track of all these great book ideas! I think you will enjoy Bucket of Blessings; it is a sweet story.

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  10. I love that you mention whose blog you got the recommendations from! I've been meaning to do that as well but I always forget! I do get lots of recommendations from #IMWAYR and #NFPB2014 posts! And, like you and Gathering Books (blog), I'm going to try and read around a theme. I think it'll be cool!

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    1. Very cool! I think a theme is a great way to keep yourself focused and get new, relevant suggestions. For the moment, I just have lists galore of book ideas and who from, but we'll see how long I can keep up with it!

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