It's Monday Reading!

                 Thanks to Jen at Teach.Mentor.Texts and Ricki and Kellee at Unleashing Readers for this terrific Reading community. Come share or at least visit!
          Tweet at #IMWAYR

      Happy One Year Anniversary to Kellee and Ricki! Celebrate with them this week!

           I’ve read some great picture books that I know have been suggested by others. Thanks to all who keep adding to my list. What fun it is to read these books!

Breakfast Served Anytime – written by Sarah Combs

             I am late reading this from NetGalley. It is a debut novel published in April, and I finally found the time to read it.  I thoroughly loved this young Gloria, off to Geek Camp, a month without tech (wow) before her senior year in high school.  Within the group of four students, and the teacher, all begin to feel comfortable being their true selves, especially when they accept who the others “are”. Gloria faces additional challenges with her perky roommate Jessica, also not exactly what she first seems. It becomes a summer of learning for Gloria as well as the others in the story. Sarah Combs writes beautifully as she peels off the layers of each character, using the classes led by the teacher and the experiences of the group. Told with Gloria’s strong voice, it is a poignant read of that time just before a child leaps into adulthood.  It’s definitely for teens, no younger.

Nino Wrestles The World – written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales

                I’ve seen many talk about loving this book, and it is worth the compliments. Before reading this book, I’d never heard of the story-telling, theatrical professional wrestling called “Lucha libre” where the wrestlers wear masks, guarding their identity ferociously, and creating stories as they wrestle. This time the “pretender” is a young boy, fighting those scary creatures of Mexico like El Chamuco, something like the devil, & winning because of his super powers & creative use of his toys. The surprise comes at the end, which I won’t reveal, but it’s fun. I can imagine all those young children who talk often about monsters will love this one, full of them. The illustrations are action-packed, cartoon-like pictures, very colorful!

Guji Guji - written and illustrated by Chih-Yuan Chen

             This is the cutest story, not exactly a new idea to have a different egg arrive in a nest, but this time, it’s a croc egg, in a duck’s nest. Mother duck teaches and loves her large baby Guji Guji just like her other babies, and Guji loves them back. The dilemma becomes when some tricky crocodiles discover Guji and try to get him to help them capture a good meal. The ending is terrific, all about family and love, no matter what. The illustrations are gorgeous, helping to create an even more memorable story.

Hey, You, Poems to Skyscrapers, Mosquitos, and Other Fun Things – gathered by Paul Janeczko and illustrated by Robert Rayevsky

            If you want to teach, or write, apostrophe poems, this is a good book filled with examples from numerous well-known poets, gathered for much fun (see the title) by Janeczko. An apostrophe poem is when a poet talks to a person or a thing, and in this anthology, the poets write to “things”.  One example is to a camel, by Bobbi Katz, when at the end, she asks “I wonder if your hump is stuffed/with dreams of desert places.”  Another, “Light”, shares that it “scatters dark”, and in “Straight Talk”, Nikki Grimes says to the bees, “So leave me alone, drone.” It’s a book of poems worth finding and reading.  The illustrations enhance each topic with such joyful action every time.

The Birdman – written by Veronika Martenova Charles and illustrated by Annouchka Gravel Galouchko & Stephan Daigle

            Wow, what a gorgeous book to see, and inspiring story to read. The author began by reading an article about Noor Nobi, a tailor in India who used most of his meager earnings to buy the birds at the market, and set them free. Out of tragedy, he finds that there can be hope. There is an extensive back story of the author’s beginning interest and the travel to meet the birdman, then to tell the story. It’s one of passion, and the illustrations bring magic to an already magical story. Each time I read it, I see more that these illustrators added, like the ways the sewing machine is transformed. I imagine this will be a terrific read aloud.

Next: I’m leaving on a road trip at the end of the week, will bring along a few books, although I’m not sure how much time I’ll have. I’ve started The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson, and will have a giveaway in a couple of weeks for the second copy I bought.