Monday, September 29, 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


"Where does our food come from?" is a huge topic. This book series introduces individual foods and other agricultural products with their own biographies. You can read how I am using this series with my students in this week's post on Teaching about the Geography of Food.


Peanut Butter and Jellyfish by Jarrett Krosoczka. This story of friendship, bullying and doing what is right revolves around two friends, Peanut Butter (a sea horse) and Jellyfish, and Crabby, their cranky neighbor. This story could foster discussion among kids about bullying but also about what can happen when friendships become exclusive. Cute illustrations too. (H/T Linda at Teacher Dance.)


The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein, illustrated by Mark Pett. Perfectionism can be a big deal for some kids, and this book tackles the idea head on (but perhaps a bit too exaggeratedly). Beatrice has become known as "the girl who never makes mistakes" and seems to do everything right. But as the story progresses, it becomes clear that this is holding her back from trying new things. I wish that her eventual mistake could have been something a little more normal, but at least it communicates the idea that a mistake is not the end of the world. Still undecided about whether I will share this one with my students.

Poetry


Dear Wandering Wildebeest by Irene Latham. Wonderful new poetry and nonfiction resource about Africa, inspired by the animals found around a water hole in Kenya. Read my full review at New Book Alert: Dear Wandering Wildebeest.

Middle Grade


El Deafo by Cece Bell. This sensitive autobiographical graphic novel focuses on the author's experience growing up and losing her hearing at age 4, as well as her later trials and tribulations with her gigantic Phonic Ear. I think the graphic novel format (and rabbits for characters) makes this book accessible to a wide-range of readers. A great book for talking about differences and how to treat others.


New Book Alert: The Doll People Set Sail by Ann M, Martin and Laura Godwin and illustrated by Brett Helquist (publication date is Oct. 14, 2014). This fourth book in the Doll People series adds illustrator Brett Helquist to replace Brian Selznik, but the book loses none of the charm or creativity of the original three. Read my full review here.

Happy Reading!

12 comments:

  1. Enjoyed The Doll People Set Sail. :) Can't wait to read El Deafo... Happy reading to you.

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  2. A new Doll People book! Must get that one. I liked El Deafo quite a bit and agree that it will appeal to a wide range of readers. That's one thing I love about graphic novel memoirs--kids who normally might not be interested in the "memoir" part of the story will read it because of the format. Dear Wandering Wildebeest looks excellent. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Absolutely agree about graphic novels. Trying to sell a kid on "great novel about a young girl with hearing loss struggling in a hearing world" vs. check out this awesome new GN!

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  3. El Deafo sounds interesting. A good way to encourage empathy.

    Lisa
    LisaTeachR'sClassroom

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    1. Thanks, Lisa. Absolutely. I also really like that there are several different "wrong" ways of interacting, which would make for good discussion.

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  4. I loved Peanut Butter and Jellyfish - it was such a surprising find earlier this year! It was a sweet story that touched my heart.
    I'm hoping to get to El Deafo soon. I'm finishing Sisters tonight. It's been a graphic novel reading week!

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    1. Sounds like a great way to spend your week! I need to jump into the hold line for Sisters, but I don't want to steal it from any of my students!

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  5. I just started El Deafo yesterday! What a great book. We are thinking of this title for our student book club. I shared The girl who . . . last year with my students and we had numerous conversations about it for weeks.

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    1. El Deafo would make a great book club. So many conversations, I am sure. And thanks for sharing about The Girl Who ... encouraged that it led to good conversations for your students. I definitely am considering it.

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  6. Very nice! More love for El Deafo. I have a collection of The Doll People - but the ones I have were illustrated by Brian Selznick - they were the first two novels, if I am not mistaken - I have to catch up on this series soonest.

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    1. Very cool. Yep, Brett Helquist only joined up to illustrate this newest book. Can't wait to introduce this one to my students!

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