It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 5/25/15

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

• Featured Illustrator: Sean Qualls: part 2. The second post in our new featured illustrator series introduces some of the many amazing and inspiring picture book biographies illustrated by Sean Qualls. 

• Kit Lit Blog Hop plus Goodreads. There's still time to add your book-related posts to the latest #KidLitBlogHop! You can also join the Goodreads linky and find new folks to follow.

• Celebrating (?) Report Cards. Some musing on trying to find joy during the report card writing process.

Picture Books

By Mouse and Frog (2015) by Deborah Freedman. In this cute little meta story, mouse is trying to write a new story but frog keeps interrupting with wildly different ideas about where the story is heading. It would be interesting to have students compare this book to the recent Violet and Victor Write the Best-Ever Bookworm Book (2014) by Alice Kuipers and illustrated by Bethanie Deeney Murguia, which has a nearly identical premise.

(I have read several other picture books this week, but I'm behind on write-ups, due to focusing on report cards this weekend. Hoping to catch up on logging books soon.)

Middle Fiction

Because of Mr. Terupt (2010) by Rob Buyea. This book was recommended to our class by one of my students, so I am going to share her review of the book here. Thanks, Scarlett!

This story is about the start of fifth grade with a new teacher named Mr. Terupt. He brings some surprises to the classroom.

This is a good book because it always has more surprises and all of the students have a different personality. Each character in the book has a voice in the story. We hear the voice of each of these characters throughout the book.

I made a connection from the book between two girls. The connection is when someone sees someone else they can talk to them and like them better than they thought they might and not make a decision about someone from their looks. That happens with me sometimes.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes surprises and some sad parts. In conclusion, I highly recommend this book to my classmates. I would give this book a 10 of 10.

For the summer, I'll be joining Donalyn Miller's #bookaday Challenge. My plan is to read 90 books over the three months of summer vacation, as well as to continue furthering my exploration of award-winning and diversity books. Hope you'll join in the fun!

Award-Winning Books Reading Challenge update: 11 books, 2 dedicated posts

Dive into Diversity Challenge update: 122 books, 26 dedicated posts (this week: Featured Illustrator: Sean Qualls: part 2)

Happy Reading!

Celebrating (?) Report Cards

I've been inspired by a few recent friends' posts to get involved with Ruth Ayers' Celebrate Link Up, #celebratelu.

Today I am trying to celebrate ... report cards.

Traditionally, our school's report cards are due right after the Memorial Day weekend. Teachers are given Friday off as our "work day" for writing reports, and kids and families get a four-day holiday weekend. But it also tends to mean that we teachers get four days of work and a no-day holiday weekend.

Report card writing is tough. It is hard to condense a quarter or a semester's worth of learning and discovering and turn it into a few tidy paragraphs and a checklist or two. It feels inadequate. It's hard to imagine that a parent or a child will be able to look at a score of 3 or a sentence about revision and reconstruct the hours of time spent reading student work or the time spent in school celebrating accomplishments big and small.

I have been trying to push myself to remember the bright sides of report card writing, of this process of review and reportage. I have had many moments of laughter while rereading student journals and remembering a particular description or turn of phrase. I love the joy that third graders find in the world around them and the honest ways that they share their inner thoughts and feelings.

Here are a few quick favorites ...

From a brainstorm for a persuasive essay on reading:

    I think reading is really fun. If I'm reading a really good book, then sometimes I just get so wrapped up in it that I can't hear anything around me, nor can I concentrate on anything else, making the exception of kicking the chair behind me ...

Introductory paragraph to a formal research report (or in which I remember the perils of a lack of authentic audience):

     Hungary is a very interesting place. Katie will read about Hungary’s Geography, People, and Food.

Opening paragraph to a literary essay:

    I chose to do “Slower than the Rest” because I have felt slow learning things but then once I learn it I feel super fast about it. I like to read stories with main characters like me so I learn how to fix my problems, (sadly none of the problems in these books involve video games). 

How do you find joy in report card writing?

Featured Illustrator: Sean Qualls, part 2: picture book biographies

Sean Qualls is our featured illustrator for the month of May. The initial post about him included a brief biography, links to interviews, and an overview of some of the stories and traditional tales that he has illustrated. This post provides an overview of some of the many picture book biographies illustrated by Sean Qualls, ordered chronologically according to the life or lives of the people featured.

Picture Book Biographies Illustrated by Sean Qualls

Phillis's Big Test (2008) by Catherine Clinton and illustrated by Sean Qualls. In 1773, young Phillis Wheatley became the first published African American poet. The frame of this story is the day that she was called to account for herself before a group of 18 white men, and during the course of her walk to the examination, she reflects on her upbringing and path towards poetry. Sean Qualls's illustrations convey great depths of emotion in this book, particularly in the subtle expressions of Phillis. This is a great book for introducing students to Phillis Wheatley and for beginning a conversation about slavery and educational opportunities.

Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald (2010) by Roxane Orgill and illustrated by Sean Qualls. This lengthy picture books biography goes through Ella Fitzgerald's entire childhood to her membership in the Chick Webb Band and her first number one song. A bibliography is provided at the end.

Before John was a Jazz Giant: a song of John Coltrane (2008) by Carole Boston Weatherford. All about influences and sounds of his life, but nothing actually about him. There is a long Author's Note at the end includes a more factual biography as well as bibliography.

Dizzy (2006) by Jonah Winter and illustrated by Sean Qualls. This rhyming and rocking retelling of the life and influences of Dizzy Gillespie introduces children to bebop and its origins. The rollicking style of the text is meant to convey some of the same feel and chaos of the music, and the illustrations have some of that same vibe, especially that ones that contain visualizations of the music. The Author's Note at the end provides additional context for the story and the rest of Dizzy's life.

The Case for Loving: the fight for interracial marriage (2015) by Selina Alko and illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko. This book represents a collaboration between the husband-and-wife team of Selina Alko and Sean Qualls. The story of Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter and their fight for interracial marriage is presented very much from today's point-of-view but also offers children background about how this fight came to be. The author's note draws the natural connection between the history of this fight and the current battle for recognition of same sex marriages and also shares some of the authors' backstory as an interracial couple.

Collections of Biographies

How We Are Smart (2006) by W. Nikola-Lisa and illustrated by Sean Qualls. This picture book is a collection of a dozen different people. Each two-page spread contains a poem about the person, a quotation from them, and a brief biography. The author's note at the beginning explains about eight different ways to be smart, and the end matter provides more details about each of the eight multiple intelligences. This is a great resource for helping kids think about multiple intelligences.

Giant Steps to Change the World (2011) by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee and illustrated by Sean Qualls. This inspiration-focused picture book encourages the reader to press on and keep moving forward, and each exhortation is followed by a comparison to a famous person who had to overcome obstacles. The illustrations are an interesting combination of abstract and silhouette, used to add anonymity to the examples and allowing children to see themselves in the story. The historical people are not named directly, but each appears through a quotation in the end papers. It seems like a large oversight that no biographical information was included about any of them, as the power of book really only comes if you know these peoples' back stories already.

Do you have a favorite Sean Qualls book I missed? Or do want to suggest someone for a future featured illustrator? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Kid Lit Blog Hop plus Goodreads Link Up

Welcome to the 60th Kid Lit Blog Hop where we continue to develop a dynamic and engaged community of children's books bloggers, authors, publishers, and publicists. So, you are always more than welcome to join us by popping in a post and hopping around to meet some of your fellow Kid Lit bloggers and authors!

This week, we are excited to be including a Goodreads Linky Party to be held in conjunction with the Kid Lit Blog Hop. Goodreads is an excellent way to find out about new books, read reviews, and share books with others. These linky parties are designed to give you the opportunity to connect with and grow your network of fellow kid lit bloggers, authors, and parents through your various social media platforms.

Hostesses:

Mother Daughter Book Reviews

Julie Grasso, Author/ Blogger

Cheryl Carpinello, Author / Blogger

Stacking Books

BeachBoundBooks

Pragmatic Mom

Reading Authors

The Logonauts

A Book Long Enough

Spark and Pook

Happy Hopping everyone and enjoy the Hop!

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Kid Lit Blog Hop & Linky Party Rules *Please Read*

1. LINKY PARTY: Add the link to your Goodreads profile page in the Goodreads Linky Party list below. Be sure to visit at least the two links directly before yours as well as your hosts' Goodreads pages. Be sure to friend or follow some folks with similar interests and like any reviews that catches your eye. If you do not have a Goodreads profile, you are welcome to link up a different social media profile (Pinterest, Facebook, etc.).

2. KID LIT BLOG HOP: Link up any Kid Lit related post in the Kid Lit Blog Hop. This can be a link to a children’s book review, a discussion about children’s literature/literacy, or a post on a recently-read children’s book or one that you love from your childhood.

* Don't link directly to your blog, it must be a specific post.*

* For Authors, we prefer you to link to your blog if you have one. Please link unique posts each time ~ no repeats please. *

* Make sure you include an image relevant to the POST (e.g., book cover), not your blog button or photo of yourself.*

* Feel free to link more than one post.*

3. KID LIT BLOG HOP: Please visit AT LEAST the TWO LINKS from the Kid Lit Blog Hop directly ahead of your own and leave them some love in the form of a comment. We are trying to build a community of bloggers, readers, parents, authors, and others who are as passionate about children’s literature as we are so please CONNECT and follow any or all of the blogs that interest you!

4. If you like, grab the button above and put it somewhere on your blog, preferably the post you're linking up. If you'd prefer, you can just add a text link back to this Hop so that others can find it and check out all these great book links!

5. It would really help us get the word out about the Kid Lit Blog Hop if you would be so kind as to tweet, share, and spread the word about the Hop!

Happy Hopping!

GOODREADS LINKY PARTY

(***Please do not link a blog post here - see below for the Kid Lit Blog Hop***)

KID LIT BLOG HOP

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 5/18/15

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

• Featured Illustrator: Sean Qualls. This post kicks off our new Featured Illustrator series with a biography and books illustrated by Sean Qualls. 

• Celebrating Book Orders! Book orders arrived this week, and several of my students took the opportunity to write some thoughts (and poems) about the wonder and amazement of book orders. 

Picture Books

Flight of the Honey Bee: a Read and Wonder book (2013) by Raymond Huber and illustrated by Brian Lovelock. This informative picture book is packed full of facts about bees as well as an engaging story of a day in the life of a scout bee. The two-page spreads are lavishly detailed and colorful, and different font sizes distinguish the story from the factual details. An index and notes about how to help save bees are included at the back of the book. This book would be a great addition to any science unit on bees, ecology, or food chains, as well as for kids fascinated by insects. (A review copy of the book was provided by the Candlewick Best in Class mailing. All thoughts are my own.)

Medieval Feast (1986) by Aliki. Our sixth graders hosted a Medieval Faire for the school, complete with jousting, alchemy, archery, and even the stocks. To prepare my third graders, the librarian and I took turns reading aloud this book to introduce some of the people and foods common in Medieval times. Despite the sumptuous illustrations, the story really just reads like a laundry list (and some of the text in the "story" and in the pictures is redundant). The modern me also wishes for a little bit of a discussion of class, because the idea of bankrupting yourself to please a visiting king is a little nauseating.

Marguerite Makes a Book (1999) by Bruce Robertson and illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt. This book would be too long for a read aloud, but we briefly book-talked it to the kids as well. The overall story about making the book binds the book together (hee hee), but the details about the process, the paints, and more make sense within that context. This book I found much more fascinating, as I am still amazed by the whole process involved in illuminated books.

Middle Fiction

The Unforgotten Coat (2011) by Frank Cottrell Boyce (winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2012). This powerful and haunting story revolved around the sudden appearance of Chingis and his younger brother, immigrants to England from Mongolia. The book follows classmate Julie as finds herself suddenly their advocate. Told at times from her grown-up perspective, the story quickly becomes more complex as Julie tried to explain the boys' suspicious behavior. An interesting take on modern immigration and refugees, as well as the complexity of governmental responses.

For the summer, I'll be joining Donalyn Miller's #bookaday Challenge. My plan is to read 90 books over the three months of summer vacation, as well as to continue furthering my exploration of award-winning and diversity books. Hope you'll join in the fun!

Award-Winning Books Reading Challenge update: 11 books, 2 dedicated posts (The Unforgotten Coat)

Dive into Diversity Challenge update: 102 books, 25 dedicated posts (this week: Featured Illustrator: Sean Qualls)

Happy Reading!

Celebrating Book Orders!

I've been inspired by a few recent friends' posts to get involved with Ruth Ayers' Celebrate Link Up, #celebratelu. This week I would like to spend a little time celebrating ... Book Orders!

Our school participates in Scholastic Book Orders, which are run and organized by the parents (thank you, thank you!). My third graders get very excited about book orders, and the day the order forms are placed in mail boxes there is always a flurry of excitement and spontaneous book conversations. It's a joy to watch, especially when kids come running up to me to point out a book we shared in class or another book by an author we've studied.

This week, a parent dropped off my book order books right at the beginning of our writing period. We are currently working on memoirs, so several students took this as inspiration to write some of their own thoughts about book orders and about the agony of waiting for books. I am delighted to share some of their infectious joy with you too! (I also sent these scans to our parent volunteers.)

At the end of April book orders were due and I was waiting and waiting and waiting x100 & still waiting and I got so tired of waiting until they finally came Monday, May 11 2015 (that is today), and I am very happy.

This student (below) has been exploring the use of haiku for memoirs for a few days now, so it was natural that he would try and express his thoughts about the book orders in haiku. The Spanish was a bit of a surprise bonus!

The final entry I'd like to share was from a student who had eagerly snatched up one of the books that I had ordered for the class library: Flora and Ulysses: the illuminated adventures by the incomparable Kate DiCamillo.

I love how totally of her own accord she decided to do some previewing of the book and then share her thoughts in her writing notebook. I look forward to checking back in with her as she gets further along in the book!

For the curious, the rest of my Book Order haul included Shelter Pet Squad: Jelly Bean by Cynthia Lord, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate, and two new books in the I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis. None of them made it into the classroom library, as all of them were claimed by students.

How often do we stop and marvel at the wonder that is new books?

Diane has the Poetry Friday round up over at Random Noodling.

Featured Illustrator: Sean Qualls

As I near the end of my first school year blogging here at The Logonauts, I have come to realize that illustrators are incredibly powerful people. I have always paid attention to authors, found favorites, and sought out new books by them, but over the past year I have been surprised at how I sometimes have overlooked the illustrators.

In an effort to remedy that (and as a sure-fire way to find amazing books I may have overlooked), I have decided to start a monthly feature focusing on the books and work of a particular illustrator. For May I have been reading and enjoying the work of illustrator Sean Qualls. (Read part 2 in this series here.)

Introducing Sean Qualls 

Sean Qualls first appeared on my radar a few months back when I won a copy of Emmanuel's Dream (read more about the book in this post). This powerful true story comes to life through the powerful painting and distinct style of the illustrations.

Sean Qualls has illustrated many children's books in the 10 years since his first book, Baby on the Way, was published. He has illustrated books on a wide range of topics, many of which feature diverse characters, both fictional and biographical. His art is a combination of painting and collage, and he often collages different paintings and pieces together to create a dimensional look.

Some of my favorite stories illustrated by Sean Qualls are presented below. Part 2 in this series will cover some of his many picture book biographies.

Want to know more? Read a 2008 interview with Sean Qualls over at The Brown Bookshelf or a recent Q&A from Publisher's Weekly with both Sean Qualls and his wife Selina Alko. Or, you can follow Sean Qualls on Facebook for news and updates.

Stories and Traditional Tales illustrated by Sean Qualls

Stories

The Baby on the Way (2005) by Karen English. This book is Sean Qualls's first picture book for children, and it is a tender story of a grandmother and grandson. The grandmother relates the story of her own birth, and the illustrations alternate between the present day and the events being narrated in the story. The story concludes as a bit of a circular story, as the boy asks about his own birth story and the grandmother prepares to tell it. Be prepared when sharing this book to immediately follow it up with your own telling of your listener's birth story.

Who Will I Be, Lord? (2009) by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson. This family-history story begins with the narrator's great-grandpap who was a mailman and played banjo and her great-grandma who was white and a housewife. The story continues with the refrain of the young narrator asking "And who will I be, Lord? What will I be?" as she describes different members of her family. It's an interesting book and concept, but I think the Lord references might make it a hard one to use in schools.

Songs and Traditional Tales

Lullaby (for a Black Mother) is a poem by Langston Hughes published as a picture book in 2013 illustrated by Sean Qualls. The illustrations are a wonderful enchanting combination of realistic and imaginative, including scenes of the mother and child getting ready for bed but also scenes of pure abstraction and joy. The end notes about the poet even include a photograph of him as a young baby with his mother. A precious book for any new mother.

Little Cloud and Lady Wind (2010) by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison and illustrated by Sean Qualls. This folktale-like original story has its roots in Aesop's fable about a competition between the sun and the wind. Here, Little Cloud does not want to join the other clouds in terrorizing the people of earth, but it is only through the intervention of Lady Wind does she learn the other powers of being a cloud. The muted palette of blues and grays works wonderfully here to convey the world and feelings of our shy main character.

Stay tuned for the next post in this series, covering some of the many inspiring picture book biographies illustrated by Sean Qualls.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 5/11/15

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

• Meet Juan Bobo! This collection of picture books from Puerto Rico features the popular "noodlehead" character Juan Bobo.

• 59th Kid Lit Blog Hop and Pinterest Linky. The twice-monthly #KidLitBlogHop is a great resource for finding book reviews, author posts, book activities, and more!

Picture Books

Drum Dream Girl: how one girl's courage changed music (2015) by Margarita Engle and illustrated by Rafael López. This powerful true story tells about the early life of Chinese-African-Cuban Millo Castro Zaldarriaga. Millo broke the Cuban taboo against female drummers and performed with her sisters as part of Cuba's first "all-girl dance band" in the 1930s. This story inspired some powerful conversations with my students about rules, especially ones about things boys or girls are told they cannot do.

Pablo Neruda: poet of the people (2011) by Monica Brown and illustrated by Julie Paschkis. This biography of Pablo Neruda provides a look at his life and how they influenced his poems. The amazing illustrations complement and extend the text, as they are also overflowing with English and Spanish words. This book sparked some interesting conversations with my students, particularly around the idea that Pablo Neruda had to leave his home country of Chile but was not a criminal.

River Story (2000) by Meredith Hooper and illustrated by Bee Willey. This charming little story tells the birth and journey of a river from the mountains to the plains to the ocean, The illustrations take you over, around, and under the water to see how the water grows and changes. This is also a good story for discussing the interconnectedness of life, people, animals, and the land. The last page contains and index of terms as well as a drawing of the different parts of a river with accurate terminology.

Middle Fiction

Nation (2008) by Terry Pratchett. This book came up from several folks when I asked for new Terry Pratchett recommendations. This stand-alone (I think) book takes place in a historically-accurate but fantasy version of Earth's history and revolves around a catastrophic event on an island Nation. This book is a fascinating look at religion, cultures, and the clashes between them.

Award-Winning Books Reading Challenge update: 10 books, 2 dedicated posts

Dive into Diversity Challenge update: 92 books, 25 dedicated posts (this week: Meet Juan Bobo!)

Happy Reading!

Meet Juan Bobo!

During the course of the year, my students and I share a lot of folktales together. Juan Bobo is always one of their favorites. Juan Bobo, or Simple John, is a Puerto Rico folktale character and one that would be considered a "noodlehead." He often misunderstands directions or situations, resulting in hilarious mix-ups that keep kids engaged. But he has his moments of wisdom as well. (You can read about some other wise fools from Asia in this post.) Here are a few of my favorite stories featuring Juan Bobo.

 

Juan Bobo Goes to Work: a Puerto Rican folktale (2000) by Marison Montes and illustrated by Joe Cepeda (also available in Spanish, Juan Bobo Busca Trabajo. There really should be a bilingual version). This story introduces children to Juan Bobo or Simple John, an endearing character for whom nothing seems to ever go right. Children will be delighted by Juan's antics, as each day's problems escalate in silliness.

  

Juan Bobo and the Pig (1993) retold by Felix Pitre and illustrated by Christy Hale and Juan Bobo Sends the Pig to Mass as told by Ari Acevedo-Feliciano and illustrated by Tom Wrenn. In this story, based on one told to him by the author's grandfather, Juan Bobo is left alone to take care of the pig after his mother dresses up all fancy and leaves for church. Unclear what the pig wants, Juan Bobo eventually dresses the pig up like his mother and tries sending the pig to church!

Juan Bobo: four folktales from Puerto Rico (1994) retold by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand and illustrated by Ernesto Ramos Nieves. This collection of four stories includes a shorter retelling of Juan Bobo and the pig as well as several other quick tales. This one is geared towards younger readers and has larger font.

Juan Bobo and the Horse of Seven Colors: a Puerto Rican legend (1995). Retold by Ian Mike and illustrated by Charles Reasoner. This story takes the traditional trope of being granted wishes, and imagines what kind of wishes a fool might wish. Juan Bobo is granted seven wishes by the horse of seven colors, but he starts using them nearly immediately!

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday Challenge is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and is a weekly roundup of educator blogs that are sharing nonfiction picture books. Click the link to check out other nonfiction posts.

59th Kid Lit Blog Hop and Pinterest Linky!

The Kid Lit Blog Hop is back! With five Wednesdays last month, I know that I missed out on reading great posts from you all when week five rolled around. I cannot wait to catch up on what you have been reading and publishing!

Welcome to the 59th Kid Lit Blog Hop where we continue to develop a dynamic and engaged community of children's books bloggers, authors, publishers, and publicists. So, you are always more than welcome to join us by popping in a post and hopping around to meet some of your fellow Kid Lit bloggers and authors!

This week, we are excited to be including a Pinterest Linky Party to be held in conjunction with the Kid Lit Blog Hop. These linky parties are designed to give you the opportunity to connect with and grow your network of fellow kid lit bloggers, authors, and parents through your various social media platforms.

Also, just wanted to share this generous giveaway from a fellow Kid Lit Blog Hop host:

Children's Book Week Kindle Fire (Kids Edition) Giveaway

If you haven't entered yet, be sure to check out the Children's Book Week Kindle Fire, Kids Edition Tablet giveaway hosted by Mother Daughter Book Reviews where you can enter to win a brand new Kindle Fire HD 7", Kids Edition tablet + a $50 Amazon gift card to buy some new books (can substitute a $200 Amazon gift card or PayPal cash). This giveaway is open worldwide and ends May 31, 2015. No purchase necessary. Just click the image below to take you there.

On to the Hop...

Hostesses:

Mother Daughter Book Reviews

Julie Grasso, Author/ Blogger

Cheryl Carpinello, Author / Blogger

Stacking Books

BeachBoundBooks

Pragmatic Mom

Music Teaching and Parenting

Reading Authors

The Logonauts

A Book Long Enough

Spark and Pook

Happy Hopping everyone and enjoy the Hop!

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Kid Lit Blog Hop & Linky Party Rules *Please Read*

1. LINKY PARTY: Add the link to your Pinterest profile page in the Pinterest Linky Party list below. Be sure to visit at least the two links directly before yours, say hello and repin something that catches your eye and follow folks as per your interests. If you do not have a Pinterest profile, you are welcome to link up a different social media profile (Twitter, Facebook, etc.).

2. KID LIT BLOG HOP: Link up any Kid Lit related post in the Kid Lit Blog Hop. This can be a link to a children’s book review, a discussion about children’s literature/literacy, or a post on a recently-read children’s book or one that you love from your childhood.

* Don't link directly to your blog, it must be a specific post.*

* For Authors, we prefer you to link to your blog if you have one. Please link unique posts each time ~ no repeats please. *

* Make sure you include an image relevant to the POST (e.g., book cover), not your blog button or photo of yourself.*

* Feel free to link more than one post.*

3. KID LIT BLOG HOP: Please visit AT LEAST the TWO LINKS from the Kid Lit Blog Hop directly ahead of your own and leave them some love in the form of a comment. We are trying to build a community of bloggers, readers, parents, authors, and others who are as passionate about children’s literature as we are so please CONNECT and follow any or all of the blogs that interest you!

4. If you like, grab the button above and put it somewhere on your blog, preferably the post you're linking up. If you'd prefer, you can just add a text link back to this Hop so that others can find it and check out all these great book links!

5. It would really help us get the word out about the Kid Lit Blog Hop if you would be so kind as to tweet, share, and spread the word about the Hop!

Happy Hopping!

PINTEREST LINKY PARTY

(***Please do not link a blog post here - see below for the Kid Lit Blog Hop***)

KID LIT BLOG HOP

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 5/4/15

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

• Poetry Friday: Orangutanka. Review of this adorable new poetry book featuring a medley of tanka poems about a family of orangutans! 

Big News!

I was very excited to find out this week that my presentation, Reading Another Culture: teaching diversity without reinforcing stereotypes, has been accepted for this November's NCTE Conference in Minneapolis, MN. I am so excited to have such a big opportunity to share some of my thoughts about how to use diverse and inclusive books in the classroom! Hoping to connect with many of you there this fall as well.

Picture Books

 

Look Back (2014) by Trish Cooke and illustrated by Caroline Binch. This folktale-style story from the Caribbean island nation of Dominica is told through the frame of Grannie telling a story from her childhood to her grandson Christopher. Her story involves the mysterious, mischievous Ti Bolom. Kids will love the repeated storytelling call-and-response as well as the 'is he / isn't he' discussions about Ti Bolom himself. (H/T and a great interview with the author over at Mirrors Windows and Doors.)

The Grandad Tree (2000) by Trish Cooke and illustrated by Sharon Wilson. This lovely, heartwarming story connects the a child's love and memories of their grandad to the apple tree that marks their times together. Only partway through the story do the narrators reveal that their grandad has died and that they planted a new tree in his honor. This is a gentle story to share with children experiencing loss.

Tasunka: a Lakota Horse Legend (2014) by Donald F. Montileaux with Lakota translation by Agnes Gay. This marvelously illustrated bilingual tale is a retelling of a Lakota story about Tasunka, the horse, and how horses were given and then taken away from the Lakota people by the Great Spirit. The illustrations and color palette are in the style of ledger books from the 1860s to 1910s. This would make an excellent addition to any collection of Native American tales. (H/T Elisabeth at The Dirigible Plum.)

Under the Same Sun (2014) by Sharon Robinson and illustrated by AG Ford. This memoir tells the story of Sharon and her mother's visit to Tanzania to see her brother David and his family. The universal nature of family and togetherness is celebrated as the continents come together. The family goes on a safari and spends a few pages enjoying African animals. The trip ends on a somber note as the families visit the historic slave port of Bagamoyo and discuss their personal history of enslavement, but they turn it to a positive note by thinking about their freedoms and personal connections.

Middle Fiction

Moonpenny Island (2015) by Tricia Springstubb. I was lent this book by our school librarian with a bit of an "I'm curious as to what you'll think of it" opener. Moonpenny Island is the story of 11-year old Flor who lives with her family as one of a limited number of permanent residents on the island, isolated out in Lake Eerie. It is a story of friendship, self-discovery, and family issues.

But, overall, I found the story simplistic and a bit boring. None of the characters were particularly grabbing, and I spent the first few chapters unable to sort out which of the two best friends were which. I also found the present tense telling distracting and unnecessary. I'll be curious to read what others think of this book, but for me it seemed like a stereotypical middle grade friendship stew with nothing to make it stand out.

I Shall Wear Midnight (2010) by Terry Pratchett (book four in the Tiffany Aching series). I was delighted to find that this fourth book had been published since I had last read this series, and I have heard that a fifth will be coming out posthumously as well.

In this story, young witch Tiffany Aching is dealing with the oldest evil around - fear and suspicion, which is turning people against the witches and against each other. (Dis)Embodied by the eye-less Cunning Man, this fear and rot are spreading, and it is up to Tiffany and the Wee Free Men to try and put him in his place.

Award-Winning Books Reading Challenge update: 10 books, 2 dedicated posts

Dive into Diversity Challenge update: 85 books, 24 dedicated posts

Happy Reading!