It's Monday! Don't Miss These Books!

    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!

Thanks to everyone for sharing so many great books that I put on my list, read and enjoy! I hope you are continuing to be well and managing these challenging days.  

      I am grateful to Cheriee Weichel for sharing about Bloom. Thank you! I don't know how I missed it earlier, but I got it at my favorite Indie and have now read it, now need number two -- fast! I read and loved Oppel's Nest, actually found it somewhat creepier than this Bloom. However, this new book, a series, will make you look at spring plants in quite a different way, I suspect. Three young adults are linked in various ways, adults actually listen to them, parents as well, and everyone shows thoughtful, caring ways. And it all has to do with aliens. In some action-packed scenes, I felt a little squirmy, imagining how things could BE if some of this was true. You must notice I'm not sharing very much. I want you to read this book if you're a big fan of science fiction for the middle grades and I don't want to give anything away.

          Gorgeous cut-paper collage makes this new book "sing" along with poetry in what is a new adaptation of the Ila-speaking people of Zambia. Ashley Bryan says that the scissors shown in the endpapers were his mother's, what he now uses. How all birds have a "touch" of black after envying the most beautiful (in their eyes) - Blackbird! This would be awesome to read aloud with a group and help them learn the words, at least some of them: "Blackbird stirred with a stick in his wing and said: "We'll see the difference a touch of black can make. But remember, whatever I do, I'll be me and you'll be you." It's also a celebration of "Black is beautiful".

          This was published in 2003 but it still took me a long time to get it from the library because of so many holds. 

          Finally, I have this poignant, uplifting, wordless story of Thao Lam and her family fleeing Viet Nam in the midst of the terrible war's aftermath when the Viet Cong took charge. The extraordinary papercraft from Thao Lam lies in a series of frames, leaning on the story told by her mother of the ants that saved them, the ants that survived the attacks from the gulls, terrible storms, and terrifying waves, in a paper boat. These are Lam's people (she was two), fleeing in metaphoric paper boats, many surviving the journey only to arrive in the refugee camps. Those camps, too, were lessons in survival, yet finally, they settle as refugees in a city, an image showing a table laden with food, and one ant. You'll need to read more about these ants in Thao Lam's letter explaining the connection told by her mother. Everyone needs to read this story, then also remember those still trying so hard to better their lives in camps all over the world, including the United States.

 

A Girl That Bloomed - NFPB Wednesday

art by Sarah S. Brannen

         Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy.  From her and others, you will discover and want to celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books!  

             The life of Elsa Schiaparelli, sad in the beginning and delightful as she matures, celebrates her creative spirit, is beautifully told in first person by Kyo Maclear, with Julie Morstad illustrating using some of Schiaparelli’s own extraordinary fashion firsts. The illustrations blend with Schiaparelli’s designs, fill pages with stunning images of flowers and other images. Be sure to see the pages where Elsa’s face shows up in the blooms. She is blooming!

          Elsa, through Maclear’s words, shares part of her childhood, when parents were disappointed that they had another girl, didn’t even have a name, so hers was borrowed from the nurse. They called her older sister “bella”  but her name was “brutta”. No matter, Elsa delighted in the flowers of her city, came home and tried to plant seeds in her nose and ears, thinking she would become beautiful with flowers covering her face. It was not a great idea to do this, but after help from a doctor, she continued using her wild imagination. She declares: "I am an explorer, a circus performer, and even the night sky. Dress up. Pretend. Make believe. The world feels brighter." 

           Elsa's words toward the end of the story show what she came to know: “Beauty itself blooms to reveal the irregular, the smart, tough, goofy, surreal, and wild.” 

            There is extra information in the backmatter with further sources. I enjoyed learning about this famous fashion icon.

It's Monday - Books To Savor

         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.   

       It's been a good week of reading. I finished Red by Liesl Shurtliff and started Home of The Brave by Katherine Applegate, strongly suggested by Ramona, a good friend and reader. And I'm nearly finished with Isabel Allende's The Japanese Lover, enjoying this adult book very much.

        Here's my review on Goodreads of a poetry book you need to know about, out for the last election, and so wonderful for this year, too. The Declaration of Interdependence: Poems for An Election Year by Janet Wong is filled with poems you can use to teach history, to discuss current events, to enjoy the entertainment value of them, too. 

Thanks to NetGalley for this advance copy of Red- out in April!

Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood - Liesl Shurtliff

         I couldn’t help but think of the word “family reunion” as I read this new tale by Liesl Shurtliff. There are new things to learn about Red Riding Hood, but there also are reminders of her past adventures with Rump, good memories touched on. Red has inherited the strength of magic from her Granny, but early in the book we learn that Red stays away from it because of disasters that happened in her young life. Once she tried a small spell or two, which never worked, and one nearly became the end of Granny.  To Red’s dismay, one day she arrives to find Granny in bed, very ill, and sends Red off to find the ingredients for a strong medicine.  The ingredients are not all found, and Red’s path turns to a new idea: she begins to look for the spells that would mean eternal life so that Granny would never die. This leads to an adventure with dwarves, being followed by a wolf and a hunter, and conflicting experiences with a beast. There is also a new unwanted companion, the familiar one with blonde curls, Goldie. Goldie’s on a search too, and that porridge-loving girl we all love is both an irritant and a help to Red. Does this sound complicated? It is, wonderfully. I was surprised whenever I rounded a corner with Red, worried when she was in danger, commiserated with her feelings, admired her courage and rooted for her success. I loved every bit.

Ranger in Time: Rescue on the Oregon Trail - 

Ranger in Time: Danger In Ancient Rome

Kate Messner, illustrations by Kelley McMorris

          I have to admit I’ve never read any of Kate Messner’s Ranger In Time stories, and I won these two. Now I’m hooked. For time travel books for middle grade readers, these are terrific. Kate Messner moves the stories from today’s Ranger and family, into meeting the new setting with realistic people that need Ranger’s help. Adventures in time travel often show someone who is pulled back in time in order to save someone’s life, and Ranger makes a different kind of hero (dog, not human), but quite a wonderful one.