Monday, December 17, 2018

It's Monday - Books Read I Loved



              Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they've been reading, along with everyone else who post their favorites. 
              Wishing everyone peace and joy during this holiday season, and a lot of restful reading time, too.

         Sharing a couple of new and loving Christmas books. Thanks to Candlewick Press for Oliver Elephant.



        Lou Peacock's shopping trip in rhyme makes a sweet story of a mom and her two children, the oldest bringing along Oliver, his stuffed elephant. What fun the boy and Oliver have while Mom shops! They purchase all the things on the list, get ready to go, but sad to say, Oliver, who also had fun playing, was missing. Helen Stephens' illustrations are soft watercolor, loving depictions of this Christmas story. 

         Lovely illustrations and another tale that brings happy Christmas feelings of a little tree that lives by a railroad track, soon chosen to go home to be a Christmas tree in a little boy's home. She is lonely, but Santa soon fixes that, bringing the boy a toy train. The tree is happy again, hearing that train chugging beneath her. You'll find the ending comes full circle in this sweet imaginary tale. It brought my own memories of putting a train around our tree when my children were young. My husband's father was a train engineer and trains were an important part of our lives with the kids growing up.


         Thanks to Candlewick Press for this wonderful story, too. Knitting together "A Christmas Carol" with a modern-day family made a lively, heartwarming tale. It's real and magical all at the same time. Harry Gruber plays the role of Scrooge in his school's production of "A Christmas Carol," and the challenge is that his father is coming, not leaving to work just a few more hours as he often does. The thoughts of Harry as he plays out his part are poignant, and Rosen allows us to know the feelings of the mother and the sister from the audience, and also of that father with a last minute business emergency. I hated to see the story end, wonder if kids could persuade their own parents to read it for its important message?



        I took a long time reading this book. A gift from a friend, I savored the story, what Ky Maclear was doing, finding out how life works, how nature helps, a reflection for everyone. She writes the questions, fills the answers out with her own questions and her interesting quotes of people in literature, some long passed, some continuing to write today. I read it in small parts, and though it took me less than a year to read (Maclear took a year to tag along with a well-known birder to learn, she was not sure what.) I marked many passages to continue to remember, to return to.) "What if we could imagine a lull as neither fatal nor glorious? What if a lull is just a lull?" Number one in her list toward the end of things she learned during this year and from her guide: "There are no big reasons to live. Just little reasons." I imagine I will re-read it in parts, wondering about her questions and pondering answers. 



               An amazing personal graphic biography of this photographer, Graciela Iturbide, for anyone interested in an artist's life and how photography made them whole. It will be inspiring for young photographers. The story told through this medium made it even more special.

Reading: Sy Montgomery's How To Be A Good Creature and planning to start Endling #1 - The Last by Katherine Applegate.

14 comments:

  1. I'm envious of all the Christmas book reading I'm seeing on everyone's list. I love the cover of The Christmas Tree Who Loved Trains, Linda! Hopefully I can borrow that from one of the libraries in our system (and it's currently in!!). I've been WAY too busy these last 2-3 weeks of the semester to find the holiday books I would normally enjoy at this time, so I'm living vicariously from my #IMWAYR clan. I have Photographic The Life of Graciela Iturbide on my shelf and my dad was a photojournalist during my younger years, so I'm looking forward to digging into this one. Thank you for all these shares today and have a wonderful reading week!

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    1. Thanks, Shaye! I'm not sure how much reading I'll do this week, perhaps late evening. My son & family arrive Friday night, so I need to be ready for them & for Christmas! I imagine you will love Photographic especially because of your father. Enjoy the Christmas books when you can. It is a busy time, especially for those of you who are working! Happy Holiday time!

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  2. Photographic was one of my favorite graphic novels of the year, for sure. Beautiful writing and then the mix of Iturbide's photos and the graphic novel art really worked for me. Birds Art Life is also one that I read slowly and savored. One I could easily reread too! So much there to think about and reflect upon. I've been looking for a readalike ever since I finished but so far haven't found quite what I'm looking for.

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    1. Happy to hear about these two books from you, Elisabeth. I enjoyed them very much. As for others; I just checked out The Art of The Wasted Day by Patricia Hampl, hoping it might be a good next one! Thanks, and Happy Holidays!

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  3. You know I love Christmas books, and I'll definitely be adding these to my list. Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful holiday season!

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    1. You're welcome, Jana. I guess we've exchanged lots of titles, right? Merry Christmas!

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  4. I haven't read any of the Christmas books you mentioned, but The Christmas Tree Who Loved Trains has been on my radar. They all sound great.

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    1. Yes, they are. I fell in love with 'Bah! Humbug!', a happy story that helps kid readers learn the story of A Christmas Carol, too. Thanks, Lisa

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  5. We have to read Photographic. There are so many kids who love to take pictures - Thanks for the recommendation!

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    1. I suspect it will be most enjoyed by teens, but it is lovely. Thank you!

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  6. The Christmas Tree Who Loved Trains?! What a magnificent title! My boys would love that one. We are going to request it from the library. :) Happy holidays!!!

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    1. Thanks, Ricki & good wishes to you as well. The book will be fun for your boys!

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  7. So many winners, but Oliver Elephant won my heart this week, that cover alone makes me want to give the book a hug!

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