Sunday, December 1, 2013

Monday Reads!

          It's Monday! What are you Reading? is hosted by Jen at TEACH.MENTOR.TEXTS, and shared with Ricki and Kellee at UNLEASHING READERS.   
         And, also visit Sheila at BOOK JOURNEYS for more reviews. Thanks to all these blogs we are able to discover many, many new books!  Thanks Ricki, Kellee, Jen and Sheila!
 Tweet! at #IMWAYR


Eat Like A Bearwritten by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins
            With the part rhyming text and the gorgeous full-page illustrations, this is a book to enjoy with young children over and over again.  All about what bears eat, how they find food, and eventually ready their bodies for winter will be a book to entertain as well as inform. I think it might also start the wondering about other animals’ eating habits, too.  Terrific and beautiful book.

Carnivores - written by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Dan Santat
            It’s been written about a lot, and it’s well worth the look at three carnivores—a lion, a shark and a wolf—feeling a little low because they are made fun of because of what they eat.  After all, they eat meat!  And that means all those other animals who are meat are just a little scared and make unkind comments.  All sorts of solutions are created to solve this self-esteem problem, but the end solution, helped along by another carnivore, a wise old owl, is good advice for everyone, self acceptance.  I imagine this will start big conversations among younger students.  The illustrations are bold and entertaining, sometimes tongue-in-cheek funny!



The Man with the Violin - written by Kathy Stinson, illustrated by Dusan Petricic
             Based on a true story, this tells of a man who plays his violin in the underground of a DCsubway stop, and a little boy who notices things, and especially notices the beautiful music.  It turns out that the musician is a famous violinist, playing his very expensive instrument but dressed like a street musician, doing an experiment to see what happens.  As it turns out, little happens, nearly all hurry by, with little thought for the music, except that little boy wants so much to stop and listen.  You’ll have to read all the story to discover what happens.

The Snow Goose - written and illustrated by Pirkko Vainio, translated by J. Alison James, first published in Switzerland
               Lovely version of the snow goose tale where a little girl first forms a snow goose in the
snow, only to find the snow melted the next day, but soon a live snow goose is found by her grandfather, but it is sick.  The story moves on to show this snow goose dying, but leaving an egg, which soon hatches.  The rest of the story of the relationship between the girl and the goose is sweet, and the ending is satisfying but sad.  I imagine many young children will enjoy the story and talking about the possible endings will be fun to do.

Now Open The Box – written and illustrated by Dorothy Kunhardt
             I won this book, just like A Junket Is Nice, one of the New York Review Children’s Collection books, published in 1932. It is also new to me, and Kunhardt’s writing is similar to Wanda Gag’s Millions of Cats with its constant repetition.  When one sees the book, it is so different from what we are used to today.  It uses few colors, red, yellow and black, and the drawings are quite simple, yet so effective.  It’s about a
circus owner, and his teeny, weeny dog, Little Peewee, who is the enticement to the crowd to get them to come to the circus in the “big red tent”.  There is repetition, surprises, and while on might believe it’s a little bit slow, I just read it to my four year old granddaughter and she loved it, looked and looked at the pictures, asked for some pages to be read again.  If you can find it, it’s worth a look.

NEXT:  I'm struggling getting started with a new fiction book.  I'm reading the same professional books with teachers at school, a poetry anthology and a book about writing, all slow reads, and can't finish them quickly.  I have started an e-book arc from Edelweiss that I like for middle readers that won't be published till next year.  I like it, but it so far isn't pushing me to finish quickly.  I'm torn between recent books I still haven't read and new books acquired at NCTE-not griping, what a great problem to have!  

22 comments:

  1. Dear Linda, Most of these titles are new to me. The only one I've read is Carnivores. I love everything by Steve Jenkins! Good luck on getting through those "slow reads." You're right...what a problem to have. :) I'm working through the same thing. I told myself I can't start any new professional books until I finish the ones I started. Happy Monday!

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    1. Thanks Julie! I think it's also that I'm reading them all with a group, so can't just be done right away, have to go with the plan! Hope you find a book or two that you enjoy above!

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  2. I loved Carnivores, but haven't heard of the rest of the titles. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thanks Holly, the others are good, too. It's great to see so many lovely picture books!

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  3. Love the concept of Eat like a Bear - looks wonderful. So pleased you enjoyed The Man with the Violin - shared my students reviews of this title this week: http://thereisabookforthat.com/2013/11/30/the-man-with-the-violin/ It is one of my favourite titles of the year! Good luck with choosing your next read - I just began Reality Boy by A.S. King - what a story! Love her writing - so raw.

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    1. I'll try to visit your students later today, Carrie. Yes, loved The Man With The Violin-what a terrific "real" story! And would love to get to Reality Boy-she writes good stories! Thanks!

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  4. Hi Linda, I am very interested in The Man with the Violin, but I can't seem to find it in stores or libraries up here yet. Hoping to find it soon. Carnivores was just so funny! Enjoy your week!

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    1. Thanks Gigi-hope you can find the book! Got it at one of my favorite Indies! Carnivores too!

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  5. As a real fan of street musicians, I LOVE the story behind The Man With a Violin. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Glad you like the book's idea, Tara! Thanks!

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  6. That Eat Like a Bear Book looks AMAZING. Thanks for sharing! **scampers off to put a hold on library's copy**

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    1. I think it is a wonderful book-the text and the photos just keep one so interested!

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  7. Great list this week, Linda! I loved Carnivores but am looking forward to Eat Like a Bear (I'm a huge Steven Jenkins fan!) The Man With the Violin is one of my favorites of the year and love that Kathy Stinson is from my home and native land! What to read next? The best dilemma to have! Good luck!

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    1. Thanks, Catherine-too many books, too much else on the list, too! I am determined to find some good time with a good book! Steve Jenkins is delightful, isn't he?

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  8. Can't wait to check out The Man with the Violin. Heading over to Amazon right now!

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    1. It's quite beautiful, Stacey. Hope you like it!

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  9. It is sometimes so hard to choose what to read next. I am sure you will find a great book. It also sounds like maybe you already have enough to read ;) I am really intrigued by the book Carnivores. It looks like a great read! Have a great week!

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    1. It's that I can't seem to settle on one, I guess, Andrea. As I said, it's not a bad problem to have, but I do need to choose! Hope you can find Carnivores-a fun take on POV, too!

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  10. Now Open the Box sounds absolutely wonderful, Linda. I LOVED A Junket is Nice - such a brilliant and deceptively simple book. I have to find Carnivores soon too. Thanks for the snippets and snapshots of each book. Have a great reading week, Linda! Lots of work for me still. A great deal of catching up to do with work that's been sidelined because of the marking. Always swamped.

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    1. I know that you seem very busy from what you're posting here and there, Myra. Thanks for looking! The Kunhardt books are brilliant!

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  11. Hi, I know what you mean. I have so many books on my plate too. I love reading and now trying to blog about reading and then comment on other book blogs plus keep up a creative writing blog. I so identify. I love your book snips this week too. I like this book: Carnivores - written by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Dan Santat.
    Mary-andering Among the Pages

    Mary-andering Creatively

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    1. Thanks Mary. Too many to count, and my wish list is very long. I did settle on a couple of books, also reading for our Newbery club!

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