Monday, September 14, 2015

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 9/14/15


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

  • More Smart Board Ideas. Part 3 in my Smart Board provides a bunch of ideas for using a Smart Board (outside of just Smart Notebook).

Picture Books


Leo: a ghost story (2015) by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Christian Robinson. Another in the recent pantheon of books about invisible friends, Leo is a ghost who finds himself sadly unwanted when a new family moves in. Rather than give up, he sets off to find out where he belongs. A predictable, yet still adorable, conclusion awaits. (H/T Mr. Shu.)


Hope Springs (2014) by Eric Walters and illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes. This book is based on the author's foundation and experience working with orphans in Kenya and focuses on the digging of a new well for the orphanage and then for the village. Another book to use with children when discussing issues of water rights and water availability in the world. (H/T Carrie at There is a Book for That.)


Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton (2015) by Don Tate. This biographical picture book introduces readers to enslaved poet George Moses Horton, the first southern African-American man to be published. I found it interesting that the author's note opens with a comment about his initial reluctance to illustrate stories about slavery.


Chukfi Robbit's Big, Bad Bellyache: a trickster's tale (2014) retold by Greg Rodgers and illustrated by Leslie Stall Widener. This story is based on a Choctaw tale, and the character's names are the names of their species in the Choctaw language. I love a good trickster tale, but this one just did not stick with me. There was nothing particularly memorable about Chukfi or his exploits.

Middle Grade


Little Robot (2015) by Ben Hatke. My students love Ben Hatke's Zita the Spacegirl series, so there was much excitement about his newest graphic novel. The book did not disappoint. This is a very sweet story with minimal text, making it great for reluctant readers.

Adult Books


Go Set a Watchman: a novel (2015) by Harper Lee. Bit belated on this one - waited to get it from the library. Really, I don't understand the point of this book at all. It is not particularly well-written, the story makes very little sense, and I finished it out of sheer stubbornness. I'm surprised an editor asked for more if this truly resembles the original submission.

Challenges


Award-Winning Books Reading Challenge update: 13 books, 2 dedicated posts

Dive into Diversity Challenge update: 175 books, 35 dedicated posts

Happy Reading!

14 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review of Little Robot. I'm looking for books that my son could read at school during independent reading time. He's dyslexic and supposed to listen to audiobooks but hates to stand out as the only kid listening instead of reading. I've been trying to think of wordless or minimally worded books I could get for him that wouldn't be too juvenile and this looks like a good choice.

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    1. It's a super engaging book and story. As long as you let him know beforehand that maybe half the words are just noises and not actual words, I think he'll really enjoy it!

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  2. Dying to read Little Robot. Zita is one of the GN series I recommend the most often!

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    1. MINE TOO!
      I, sadly, only have book 1 left in my classroom library though. I need to rebuy the others.

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    2. Zita is definitely one the series I don't even bother having the kids sign out on their library cards. It just jumps from book box to book box to book box and never back home!

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  3. Lovely picture books! I can't bring myself to read Go Set A Watchman...just can't bear to.

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  4. I've just ordered Little Robot. My readers adore Zita. I become more and more impressed by graphic novels. Last week I had a boy tell me that he didn't read. I handed him Zit and another complex graphic with no words and he spent 30 minutes deeply focused on those books! Hurrah for graphic novels!

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    1. Absolutely! I want to do more to draw my students' attention to how much "reading" really goes in to decipher these kinds of texts and how complex they really can be. You and your kids'll love this one!

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  5. I love Little Robot, but I am starting to think that Hatke may become one of my favorite GNists out there.
    Saw Leo at B&N and almost picked it up to read--I should have :)

    Happy reading this week!

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    1. Thanks, Kellee! Our school librarian is leaning towards trying to get Ben Hatke in for an author visit at our school, and I will be over the moon if he get him!

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  6. I've added Hope Springs to my list. Thank you! I stopped halfway through Watchman. I will finish...someday. For now, I lent it out to family members who wanted it. :P

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  7. We can't wait to read Little Robot - Looks like a wonderful graphic novel. Thank you for telling us about Hope Springs and The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton. They are both going on our TBR list.

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  8. I love seeing a new PBB here that I should look out for. I am definitely pinning this one. Had to laugh at your description of Go Set a Watchman - my American mentor here in my institution refuses to read it even though she absolutely loved To Kill a Mockingbird. Little Robot looks like a perfect fit our current reading theme - must find! :)

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