Monday, June 7, 2021

It's Monday! A Long Beautiful List

    Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and 

  
Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they and others have been reading! Your TBR lists will grow! Happy Reading! 
          
         I hope most of you have finished your school year, one that will certainly be remembered, and are starting summer with much-needed rest! 






           Twelve-year-old Amari Peters has lately had more trouble, as if the disappearance of her beloved brother, Quinton, isn't enough. On the last day of the elite school where she has a scholarship, she's had it with the bullying of the wealthy and spoiled, shoves one of them and now her acceptance for the next year is at risk. Her mother works so hard. Amari lives in the "hood" and is very loved, the one thing that keeps her going. She's happy to receive a mysterious message and a briefcase from Quinton, taking her to an interview, a 'test' for the summer camp where Quinton went, a break from all the drama. But she didn't know what that camp really was until she stepped into the Vanderbilt Hotel. The Bureau of Supernatural Affairs seemed different from the "fancy leadership camp" her mother thought Quinton, and now Amari, was attending. No, it was not that at all. Just wait until you see what Amari's summer adventure turns out to be! B.B. Alston has written a wonderfully inventive and adventurous world with memorable characters. Will there be more?


       Micha Archer (Daniel Finds A Poem, Daniel's Good Day, Girl Running) gives us readers another marvelous book, filled really with awesome paintings from, I'm guessing, her own "wonder walk". This time a girl and a boy choose to do a "wonder walk" and find ways to celebrate our earth with glee! Throughout the journey, beauty reigns in metaphorical questions about what they see, where they are? "Is fog the river's blanket?" or "Is dirt the world's skin?" and "Are forests the mountains fur?" are some of their wonders! It is a beautiful book, inspiring all to "GET OUT INTO THE WORLD!"


         Another journey out, this time a memory "Up North". from John Owens, his "first" picture book! The beautiful pictures take us to the boundary waters in Minnesota, a trip my son took with his Scout troop long ago, great memories captured then and now in Owen's beautiful paintings. Wouldn't you like to go?




          I imagine that every classroom has a box filled with crayons, most broken, some used, so then they could read this awesome book by Linda Sue Park and Debbie Ridpath Ohi about dear Gurple and Preen, crash landing with an emergency need to repair the ship. They certainly are creative, finding help in, WHAT?, a box of crayons. Fun and an invitation to create! Linda's text carries the action along as humorous as an "accident" can be while Debbie's "crayon-filled" art makes everything a delight as the problem slowly is solved! 



              I've used a number of picture books for inspiration with students, asking them to research and write about their names, the "ups" and the "downs", along with the "whys". Here is another, about the author Thao Lam's struggles with people pronouncing, then spelling her name, thus "T as in Tom, H like Henry, A for Amy, Or it would be so much easier if my name were Olivia . . ." Thao takes us with her to school where we learn more than one way people pronounce it. She decides she must change to "Jennifer", but something happens that helps her realize she rather likes "Thao". You'll need to read the book to discover that. The endcovers are filled with small pics of many children, their different names below the pics, all different, all unique, and "Their" names. Sometimes, Thao Lam uses her own image in the illustrations that are full of a diversity of children.
            On a personal note, my last name is Baie, pronounced "Bye". My children learned to spell it before they could read because they heard me say, "Baie, B as in boy, A, I, E". 


             Here is one gorgeous book about the seasons, written in both Anishinaabemovin and English, a grandmother tells her grandchild how we know the seasons. "How do I know fall is here? When brown cattails swell and bend;" There are more poetic words by Brittany Luby, of Anishinaabe descent, that show the lovely world of nature, if we only pay attention to changes. Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley is an Ojibwe woodland artist. Translators, father and son Alvin Ted Corbiere and Alan Corbiere collaborate to produce materials in Anishinaabemovin for learners of all ages. 

          Renee Felice Smith and Chris Gabriel have written another book to share with, well, everyone. It only takes one person to say "I think I will try this 'impossible thing' to light a light inside others who have consistently thought, "No, that's impossible." When read, readers will see that working together makes a difference, a LOT of difference. Sydney Hanson's illustrations show the animals and the outdoors, including that impossible thing, in all its wonder, beautifully colored. 



         You may go 'ew!' but Sue Heavenrich lays it all out how important to so many creatures in the wild depend on flies! There are water striders, trout, crab spiders and more, people (usually by mistake). David Clark's cartoon-like illustrations add to the underlying humor; there's a page of a (non-human) Guide to Fine Dining with a real-life label just like on our food, "Nutrition Facts" and another of a large diagram of the "edible parts of a fly". Added resources are books, websites, and a full bibliography. If you wish to study an important part of a food chain, along with others, this will be a terrific book!

        A young girl and her mother move to Sunset Park (NYC) from the Dominican Republic. There is family there yet both are terribly homesick missing a grandmother, wild parrots, mangoes, 
and dancing. The language, some trouble with doing homework at school, seeing that no one knows how good she is at soccer feels very sad and very hard. Things do improve with a kind neighbor who shares about cat-sitting, an apartment of their own, and snow! I love the delectable colors Bianca Diaz manages to fill the pages with, even in nighttime snow! The endpapers with many waving from apartment windows show different, happy scenes.  José Pelez and Lynn McGee have written a story with all the feels that will help younger readers understand what immigrant classmates may be feeling. 


What's Next: I'm about halfway through Irene Latham's D-39: A Robodog's Journey. It is so-o-o good!

10 comments:

  1. What a wonderful set of books! I've seen a ton of praise for Amari and the Night Brothers, and you make it sound excellent! Starting Over in Sunset Park looks wonderful as well, as does 13 Ways to Eat a Fly (the author, Sue Heavenrich, runs two different book blogs that I enjoy reading). Thao sounds like a great read as well! Thanks so much for the wonderful post!

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    1. Yes, Amari was so much fun in the adventures! The others are well worth reading and learning from, too! Thanks!

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  2. Amari and the Night Brothers sounds intriguing. I love interesting nonfiction books like 13 Ways to Eat a Fly.

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    1. The Amari adventure was quite satisfying, Lisa, some anxious moments & a great ending. I did like 13 Ways to Eat A Fly, so clever considering the bad reputation they often have. They showed how important they are very well. Thanks!

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  3. I placed Amari and the Night Brothers on my list in January, but went to make sure today and WOW is that overall rating on Goodreads high. I'm so grateful to get to read your review and I hope to get to this one SOON. Also, I just love your personal note on Thao! (I'll be interested in seeing of this Thao pronounces it the same way that one of my students did.) I need to go make a note of your picture books right now. I'm not sure that I have all these on my list. Thanks, Linda!

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    1. Thanks, Shaye. I hope you enjoy Amari & the others when you can. Each one this week was a huge pleasure!

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  4. Thank you for another wonderful roundup of books. I've just put a hold on One Summer Up North and have already borrowed Starting Over in Sunset Park thanks to your review. When we were kids, we used to swim in Sunset Pool. I've always said Brooklyn in the most organic place in the world and I'm always interested in seeing how it has evolved since I left (crossing the mighty East River all the way over to Manhattan - LOL).

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    1. I enjoyed the book about 'Sunset Park' very much, Alex, but clearly it means so much more to you in your "hometown"! I love hearing that. Enjoy what others you find, too. And thanks for coming by!

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  5. I really enjoyed Amari and the Night Brothers. It was so much more than I expected! I'm glad you enjoyed Thao. I have always had to explain how to pronounce both my first and last names. I once told a group of grade 2/3's that my name rhymed with Michael, and one of my special needs students called me Ms Michael all year long.
    This is How I Know is on my radar. I'm glad you shared it today because it reminded me to check my library to see if they have it in.

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    1. That is hilarious about becoming "Ms Michael", Cheriee. I talked with the girls about names and both said they would love if people didn't shorten them to nicknames. I had my students write about their names & wish I'd had 'Thao' then! Thanks always for your recommendations!

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