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Sunday, February 21, 2016

It's Monday - New Books!

  

         Visit Jen at Teach MentorTexts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders to see what they've been reading, along with everyone else who link up.   

         I added many books to my list of those to find from the #NFPB10for10 last Friday, did you? What a fun day to read everyone's favorite ten non-fiction picture books!


Here are the rest of the Cybils poetry finalists. I reviewed a few earlier in the year, but couldn't post these until the winner was announced. If you want to read the full review, click on the titles.

House Arrest - K.A. Holt

Full Cicada Moon - Marilyn Hilton


Paper Hearts - Meg Wiviott

National Geographic bookof Nature Poetry: more than 200 poems with photographs that float, zoom, and bloom! - edited by J. Patrick Lewis

And here again are all the Cybils winners.

Here's some of what I read last week. I've been reading a lot of books to the granddaughters, too, but will review a few of the favorites over the next weeks. I did read Bloom by Doreen Cronin, will review later. It's good!

Four new books from 2016!


Surf's Up - Kwame Alexander and Daniel Mayares
              Dude and Bro are headed to the beach, but Bro continues to settle in to read his book. He can't pull himself away from Moby Dick. Dude thinks books are boring, and cannot understand the delay. It's a celebration of reading and the illustrations show some of the excitement of Moby Dick while the spare text keeps the argument going. You'll like how it all turns out, and they do get to the beach, too!




Arctic White - Danna Smith and Lee White

            Everything, well, almost everything, in the Arctic is seen in shades of white. This lovely family story finds a young girl on a journey with her grandfather after saying that all she sees is white. Across the tundra they go, where the grandfather shows her where colors can be found. There are family scenes in the house, and across the tundra, ending with the beauty of the Northern Lights. Lee White shows the variations of white and the swirls of color found at the end in beautiful watercolors.  

Two beautiful poetry books for children are out! And they are poems written from non-fiction topics!


When The Sun Shines on Antarctica: And Other Poems about the Frozen Continent - Irene Latham and Anna Wadham

         You may remember this writer/illustrator pair published Dear Wandering Wildebeest: And Other Poems from the Water Hole in 2014. They're back, and have created another beautiful book of poetry and illustrations for a non-fiction topic. I loved this look at the "summer" of Antarctica, "when the sky peels/itself of darkness/and stretches awake." From October to March, the sun never sets, and although the temperature is still below freezing, this is the chance for animals to "feed and breed". Each poem's page is accompanied by a paragraph of information, illuminating the information along with Wadham's gorgeous illustrations. Although the range of living creatures is limited, the unique qualities among the penguins and seals, the few plants and small sea creatures, are shown beautifully in Irene's poems. For example, we learn that the chinstrap penguin baby taps its parents' beaks when it wants more food: "with oak-shaped wings/that flap without sound/tiny beak a miracle/peeping/more, more, more." The petrel behaves like vultures, and when it over-eats, in order to fly, it must vomit some of what it's eaten: "Careful/don't come/too near--/or Petrel/will spew/a rotten brew/all over you." There is much to learn within this lovely book of poetry, and there is a glossary and a "further reading" page also. The endpapers show hints of what's included "inside". 
      For studying Antarctica, and as a non-fiction poetry text for mentoring other research projects, this book, like the earlier one, is a must-have in the classroom. And, it is there for all to enjoy no matter the age.

Now You See Them, Now You Don't: Poems About Creatures That Hide - David L. Harrison and Giles Laroche

         With David's whimsical and accurate poems setting the stage, Giles Laroche's cutting, painting, layering collages fill out the information, and one does see exactly how each creature in this amazing book protects itself. The book is divided into five sections: Sea Life, Reptiles & Amphibians, Mammals, Insects & Spiders, and Birds
         The poems and illustrations stand alone, ready for us readers to marvel at each creature's adaptation. A favorite is the first one, showing the ghost crab's fast and wily ways. David's poem uses few words, and they take off like the crabs: "List of words/ghost crabs know:/danger, freeze,/blend, slow,/look, run,/stop, go." When my family goes to the beach, we go out at night to try to spot these crabs, and feel excited if we spot just one! The scariest, with a most beautiful double-page spread calls us to find the copperhead. The middle of the poem says: "Find me/if you can,/atop thissss/ledge,/a broken sssstick,/a branch/along thissss/edge." Beautifully written words that match the camouflaged page. David also shows some new to me, like "Bumblebee Moth", where he names it "nature's gimmick".  There are sections at the back that give more information about each animal, with an added "Learn more" for each page, too. 

Still Reading: Red by Liesl Shurtliff  and it's time to choose another from my #Must Read In 2016 list. I also need to begin Isabel Allende's The Japanese Lover for my book group.


Happy Reading!

28 comments:

  1. Arctic White just looks stunning. I loved a lot of these poetry finalists - Full cicada Moon was a particular favourite. Paper Hearts just arrived for me from the library.

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    1. I loved Arctic White, probably need to purchase, and then Irene's book about Antarctica came, a fun pair, Carrie. Enjoy Paper Hearts, very good but heartbreaking. Thanks!

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  2. Now You See Them looks fun, I'll be on the look out for that one. Surf's Up was fun and I read Bloom and Arctic White this week too. I enjoyed Bloom, but I wondered if young readers would miss the message? Looking forward to reading Red soon!

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    1. I agree with all you said, Michele. I read Bloom to Ingrid and it was too abstract for her. I'm liking Red, but it's been too long since I've read the others, so I'm not always understanding the references. Thank you.

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  3. Surf's Up looks like a fun read. I am looking forward to Red as well. Have a great reading week.

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    1. Surf's Up is cute, with a strong message. Hope you have a good week too, Andrea.

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  4. I still haven't read Dear Wandering Wildebeest! It's buried in a stack somewhere around here. I'll be book talking a pile of poetry books at some point in my Children's Lit class--will be sure to feature nonfiction poetry books as well. I did enjoy Red quite a bit--my favorite of Shurtliff's three books actually, though some triggering mom content for my son! Several of my pre-service teachers picked up ARCs at NCTE, so it's been making the rounds in my dept and being very well loved!

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    1. Dear Wandering Wildebeest and this new one by Irene Latham are both good, Elisabeth. I'm intrigued about the Red comment and mom issues, will think about that as I finish.

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  5. Now you see them looks amazing, and I love the idea of blending nature and poetry. Kids sometimes get a fixed idea of what poetry is, and it's exciting to be able to offer them a real variety of styles and subjects!

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    1. Both the books are wonderful, as are others by these same authors. Hope you find and enjoy them, or others from the past. Thanks, Jane.

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  6. I read Arctic White this week too and thought it was just lovely (particularly the magical illustrations). Surfs up looks delightful - I have a weird love of surfing picture books, so definitely checking that one out soon!

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    1. That is fun that you love surfing books. I'll keep my eye out for you! And, yes, Arctic White is gorgeous!

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  7. Arctic White looks beautiful. I definitely need to check that one out.

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    1. It is beautiful, Beth, and a sweet story, too.

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  8. Arctic White sounds amazing and Now You Seem Then Now You Don't does too. Is Now You Seem Then Now You Don't a bit like Where in the Wild by David Schwartz - http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=where+in+the+wild Thanks for these recommendations

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    1. I looked up your book, & this is different because it's art with the poems instead of photos. But your book looks great, too. Thanks.

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  9. Now You See Them sounds amazing. My fourth graders study animal adaptations. This book will be a great addition to my unit. Thank you for sharing!

    ~ Sarah
    One Modern Teacher

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    1. Oh, I agree, it will be a lovely addition for your students. Thanks for telling me, Sarah.

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  10. I have requested Bloom, Surf's Up, and Arctic White from my public library, so they should be in my hands any day now! I have all of the poetry books on my To Read list, because I still don't read enough of it in my class. I'm trying to read poetry at least once a week. Thanks for sharing these titles and for the work you did on the award committee! Have a terrific week!

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    1. Thanks, Jana, so many wonderful poetry books are available, and these too I shared today are lovely, and accessible to varied ages. Love that you can find those PBs at your library. My library keeps very up to date, too, lucky us!

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  11. I want to read all of these! I am a sucker for penguin books, and I will read anything Kwame writes!

    Happy reading this week :)

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    1. Thanks Kellee, enjoy the poetry from Antarctica and Surf's up!

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  12. I am really interested in Kwame's book. I actually didn't know it existed. Whoops! Thanks for exposing me to it! I'll have to find it! :)

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    1. Hope you like it, Ricki. It's fun, with a nice underlying message. Thanks!

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  13. I'm so intrigued by Full Cicada Moon - I should check that one out. And a Kwame Alexander picturebook - hooray! Lots to celebrate in kidlit this year, I think. :)

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    1. I enjoyed full Cicada Moon very much, Myra, and Surf's Up is terrific. Yes, much is coming out that is wonderful! Thanks!

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  14. I had a lot of fun reading Surf's Up. I think it will be popular in my library.

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    1. It's very cute, isn't it? My granddaughters liked it too! Thanks, Crystal.

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