Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they've been reading, along with others who post their favorites. Your TBR lists will grow! Happy Reading!Share with the hashtag #IMWAYR
I finished Emily St. John Mandel's new adult book, The Glass Hotel. You can read my Goodreads review here.
I hope all of you are doing well and staying safe as you are able. I seem to have more to do or I'm wasting more time than I used to, getting less reading done it seems, but I have enjoyed what I did finish. Including loving Emily St. John Mandel's older Station Eleven, I have adored the following new picture books by favorite authors of so many other marvelous books!
I expect you know Laura Purdie Salas' previous special poetry like Water Can Be, A Rock Can Be, and the more recent Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle or In The Middle of The Night. There are many others. Her newest book just came out at the end of April and I've already seen numerous reviews that show how special the book is. Now, I'm sharing to urge you to add it to your non-fiction poetry collection, a perfect way to enjoy learning about animals, this time, the life of a loon, from hatching to flying! The exceptional photographs are by Chuck Dayton, a nature photographer, and the book was published by the Minnesota Historical Society.
Laura uses quatrains to tell the story of chick to grown-up, including its learning, patient parents, the dangers, and the push to learn how to fly. They are brief, yet packed with information in a strong poetic voice. I can imagine reading this aloud to a group who will learn as they enjoy the story, eager to know what's next? I love the way the photographs bleed into one another in double-page spreads, carrying the story's progress beautifully. Here's one example:
There is extra information at the back, also interesting. I always knew that loons struggle and flap wildly in order to get off the water, but did not know it's because they have solid, heavy bones. According to the information, that helps them dive deeply. It would be great for students to study a favorite animal and create their own book with Laura's poems as mentors. A favorite line: "“Every secret Moon needs, / she carries inside.” which refers to the learning from parents and that mystery still unsolved as to how birds know where to migrate when they go to warmer climates and when they return to their original places. What a great book to add to favorite poetry and science books.