It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 10/5/15

Monday, October 5, 2015

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 10/5/15

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. (Don't you love the updated logo?)

Last Week's Posts

Two more posts in my recent series on Latin America: Tall Tales from Latin America and Favorite Trickster Tales from Latin America (include several that I use every year as read alouds).

#3rdfor3rd: The Doll People Series. Ava recommends this book "recommend this book because is is a great book and it is creative and has lots of adventures!" Click to read the full review.

I was sad to miss last week's round up, but it's been a flurry of activity here. We closed on our house last weekend, which meant a long weekend of work (stripping wallpaper, painting, etc. etc.) and no internet. Then, I'm getting married this weekend, so the flurry of activity continues! Not much time for reading, other than to the kids at school, but here are few new books I've managed to snag ...

Picture Books

Waiting (2015) by Kevin Henkes. I love Kevin Henkes, and I love that he is a local author. I had heard some interesting things about this book, and it is definitely a different kind of book. A quiet book. A not-quite-about-anything kind of book. I am very curious to share this one with kids and get their opinions.

Yard Sale (2015) by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Lauren Castillo. This is a powerful, poignant story and well-worth the read. I think this is a sensitive way to try and talk to kids who have a lot and get them to think about what it might be like if they had to get rid of most of their stuff.

Grandma in Blue with Red Hat (2015) by Scott Menchin and illustrated by Harry Bliss. This is a fun new book to get kids talking about art. One of my students decided to read this book out loud to me, and it was fun to experience his reactions (especially his escalating giggles as he realized the boy was about the apply his definition of art ... to his grandma!). I can't wait to show this to our art teacher, as she is currently in a big discussion with kids about the idea of "What Is Art?" The most recent bulletin board display is a collection of student-designed ducks, based on the public sculptures of ducks in St. Joseph, Michigan. So fun!