It's Monday - Reading Reviews

Sheila at Book Journeys started It's Monday! What are you Reading?, a meme where bloggers share recent books read.

             Then, Jen of Teach Mentor Texts and Ricki and Kellee at Unleashing Readers started one with a children's focus.  It's great discovering what everyone has been reading!  Thanks Sheila, Jen, Ricki and Kellee!   Have a terrific week reading everyone!

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^{Chapter Book}

The Misadventures of The Family Fletcher – by Dana Alison Levy

            I read this so quickly, wanted to get back to it again and again. It’s just a terrific family story, filled with the ups and downs that a family with four sons might have, ins and outs of friends, living with one’s choices, taking the risk of something new, taking care of each other. Each chapter begins with a note, a bit of foreshadowing of the “misadventures” to come, and to look forward to. It will make a terrific read aloud, for discussing all the growing-up challenges that happen. They aren’t always bad, but life’s challenges that just happen. One learns and grows, and in the meantime, it’s time to just “be” a family.

Picture Books

Silence – by Leminscates, an illustration studio in Barcelona

             I’d never heard of Leminscates until I read this book. At the end of the book, it’s shared that a goal is to “encourage children to develop their unique talents and skills for a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.”  The story is told by a little girl who shares what she notices when she is silent, ‘waves crashing’ or ‘snow twinkling’ and on. The collages that make up the illustrations are gorgeous. Since we do so much nature journaling at my school, it will be a beautiful book to encourage silence, to see what children notice.

Monday Reading

Sheila at Book Journeys started It's Monday! What are you Reading?, a meme where bloggers share recent books read.

             Then, Jen of Teach Mentor Texts and Ricki and Kellee at Unleashing Readers started one with a children's focus. My book TBR list grows each week. It's wonderful discovering new great books!  Thanks Sheila, Jen, Ricki and Kellee!  And Happy Reading Everyone!

      The following two books meets the challenge made by 2014Latin@s in Kid Lit (See the button on the right if you'd like to explore this terrific blog resource.)

Draw! – by Raúl Colon

I loved looking at this book, and while I didn't draw much when I was young, I did spend hours imagining stories everywhere. This time, Raúl Colon takes us into his childhood drawing world, sitting in his bed with a sketchbook, taking us into the world of a safari, moving along with sketchbook and supplies in hand. We enter what looks like a savannah, and there are the elephants, zebras and giraffes. From a tree, there are lounging lions. And in his imagination, there are a few frightening moments. Colon's drawings and imagination will take students into their own imagination, I hope, so they can draw! Beautiful double-page spreads that fill you up with color and action. I can't wait to share the book with students.

Dancing Home – written by Alma Flor Ida and Gabriel M. Zubizarreta

            I am grateful to Alma Flor Ida for sending me numerous books that she has written, both picture books, chapter books, and cds of her reading some of them. I’ve shared many with our Spanish teacher who in turn has shared with students.

           Margarita, one of the main characters, is about to have her life changed, and she believes it’s not for the better. Her cousin Lupe is coming to live with the family because her mother has remarried, and it’s a chance for Lupe to have a good education in the U.S.  Margarita likes to be called Margie; she’s decided it’s more American, & she is American, born in Texas. Her own parents are immigrants, and Margie is a little embarrassed that they don’t always act like her classmates’ parents. She is also now worried that Lupe will embarrass her even more because she doesn’t speak English at all. This is a story of complications, immigrants trying to fit in, but still feeling proud of the country of their birth. It’s a story of being teased because one is different.  And it’s a story of family love. The chapters alternate voices with Margarita telling part of the story, and Lupe telling the other. I enjoyed it very much, the sweet voices of these young girls wondering if things will ever be okay, and finally, through the help of a new friend, too, they do find a comfort in both their heritage and their new country. It would make a good read aloud to bring up so much illuminating conversations, to step into the shoes of others you might not know much about, or to hear the voice whose experience parallels yours.

Monday - Books to Love!

             Sheila at Book Journeys started It's Monday! What are you Reading?, a meme where bloggers share the books read recently. Then, Jen Vincent of Teach Mentor Texts and Ricki and Kellee at Unleashing Readers, started one with a children's focus. Come join in to share your own reading!

I'm also excited to visit at Michelle Barnes Today's Little Ditty with a poem of address I wrote for Irene Latham's September challenge. Come visit!

And-it's Banned Book Week-Are you reading as many banned books (or sharing them) as you can?

     

Revolution – written by Deborah Wiles

             Considering what recently occurred in Ferguson, Missouri, it saddened me to read this book about Freedom Summer, the history of the months during which the Civil Rights Act passed, 50 years ago, and the Voting Rights Act, which will celebrate its 50^th anniversary next year.  In these 50 years, some things have still not changed.

           The voice of 12-year-old Sunny who tells this story of her time in Greenwood, Mississippi, weaves in family conflicts, grief over her abandonment by her mother, figuring out the family dynamics when her father re-marries, and hard questions about the racial conflict. She often says she doesn’t understand. She often asks why everything can’t just go back to the way it was. The first might is a question we all should ask; the second shows the way so many children grew up, blind to the inequities surrounding them. Wiles intersperses the fiction with real-life photographs and news, cementing this “made-up” story with a firm under-pinning of truth. I was mesmerized and horrified, all at the same time.

Monday Reading Pleasures Wrap-Up

                 Thanks to Jen at TEACH.MENTOR.TEXTS, and Ricki and Kellee at UNLEASHING READERS for hosting this community sharing!

 Tweet! at #IMWAYR

     The next two books fit the challenge to read more books from a Latino perspective. See more at Latin@s In Kid Lit here.

My Name Is Celia, The Life of Celia Cruz – by Monica Brown and illustrated by Rafael López

             I remember watching certain old tv shows when I was young, and loving the beat of Latino singers and watching them dance. This might have been one of them, but in my world, we didn’t know many famous singers who were from Cuba. This story, about her youth in Cuba in a loving home, hearing her father sing, and finally going off with her cousin to enter singing contests, is Celia Cruz’ story, the story of the singer who brought salsa to the US and to the world. She and her husband immigrated to the US at the time of the Cuban revolution, moved to New York City, and began her career. The book is gorgeously illustrated by Rafael López, famous for his murals that are seen in places all over America. His murals, known as magical realism, are vivid swirls of color that help tell the “also-vivid” story of Celia Cruz. The book is enhanced by its being bi-lingual.

It's Monday, One Poetry Find Plus More

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is hosted by Jen at TEACH.MENTOR.TEXTS, and shared with Ricki and Kellee at UNLEASHING READERS.   

         And, also visit Sheila at BOOK JOURNEYS for more reviews.  Great books are being shared!

 Tweet! at #IMWAYR

Thank you Jen, Ricki, Kellee and Sheila for all you do to help us share books!

     This book fits the challenge to read more books from a Latino perspective. See more at Latin@s In Kid Lit here.

Abuelos – by Pat Mora, illustrated by Amelia Lau Carling
             This story tells of a tradition that the author discovered in Santa Fe, New Mexico of a mid-winter masquerade where villages dress in scary costumes, bonfires are lit, and children are chased by Los Abuelos, reminding children of the need to mind their parents and learn their prayers. It is reminiscent of community traditions everywhere and the story told is that kind of scary that everyone likes. Young Amelia tells the story, and after some chasing and screaming around the bonfire, she discovers that one abuelo especially seems familiar, her Uncle! The night ends with wonderful food and dancing. It’s a story to share and find common parts with other celebrations, like Halloween.

24/31 It's Monday - Reading and SOLC

“I can’t write without a reader. It’s precisely like a kiss—you can’t do it alone.” 

― John Cheever

          Happy Reading everyone! Day Twenty-Four of the Slice of Life Challenge at Two Writing Teachers!

           Tweet at #SOL14  

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is hosted by Jen at TEACH.MENTOR.TEXTS, and shared with Ricki and Kellee at UNLEASHING READERS.   

         And, also visit Sheila at BOOK JOURNEYS for more reviews.  Great books shared!

           Tweet! at #IMWAYR

                    Here are my reviews of two books for Non-fiction Picture Book Wed. at Alyson Beecher’s Kid Lit Frenzy, including another book about a librarian!

         The following book meets the 2014Latin@s in Kid Lit Reading Challenge – the link to find out about it is HERE or the right sidebar. Even if you don't join the challenge, there are terrific posts and connections to books you may not know about.

Tomás and The Library Lady – written by Pat Mora and illustrated by Raul Colón

           It’s not easy to keep connections when you have to move two times a year to 

follow crops, as the family in this story does. They’re in Texas in the winter, Iowa in the summer. The story is based on the true experiences of Tomás Rivera, who became a university professor, a writer and an education leader in his life. The Univ. of CA at Riverside library is now named after him. Tomás loved stories, and loved listening to his grandpa tell them. One day his grandpa told him to go to the library to read more stories so that he could come home and tell different stories to the family. Tomás did, and found a kind librarian who fed him books and books and more books. It’s another wonderful story about a librarian who makes a difference in someone’s life, showing Tomas often getting lost in the stories. These particular pages are made even more wonderful with Colón’s beautiful woodcut illustrations of this reader’s imagination as he reads. It’s a very sweet story.

Monday Reading - More To Love

 It's Monday! What are you Reading? is hosted by Jen at TEACH.MENTOR.TEXTS, and shared with Ricki and Kellee at UNLEASHING READERS.   

         And, also visit Sheila at BOOK JOURNEYS for more reviews.  Great books are being shared!

 Tweet! at #IMWAYR

        Cybil's winners will be announced on Friday, Valentine's Day! The finalists-all wonderful books-can be found here!

Happy Valentine's Day week all you book lovers!

“I grabbed my book and opened it up. I wanted to smell it. Heck, I wanted to kiss it. Yes, kiss it. That's right, I am a book kisser. Maybe that's kind of perverted or maybe it's just romantic and highly intelligent.” 
― Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

           I just returned from our state reading conference, CCIRA. What an immersion in all things books! I had the pleasure of seeing authors and talking with different exhibitors about books and about reading ideas they promoted through their materials. 

           I will share more details in tomorrow's post, but wanted to say that reading was certainly ALIVE and WELL at this conference.

I saw Patricia Polacco, Harvey “Smokey” Daniels, David L. Harrison, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Henry Winkler, Lin Oliver, Donalyn Miller and Sharon M. Draper! There was much to celebrate in all these sessions!

Meets the 2014Latin@s in Kid Lit Reading Challenge

The Living – written by Matt De La Peña

          It seems a challenge to cram so many themes into one story, but Matt De La Peña has managed to write a book I could hardly stop reading, full to the top with “story." It has a social class tension; and is a weather-related survival page-turner, a romance straight from a 17 year old perspective, and an international disaster betrayal. And it all occurs all in eight days! Shy Espinoza, from the poorer section of San Diego, manages to get a summer job on a cruise ship before his senior year in high school, helping out his family as he always has. He’s a good kid with a kind heart, and it shows throughout the story in his work and in his friendships, but especially in his thoughts. As I neared the end of the story, I realized that it couldn’t possibly tie up the problems set by the end of the book. I was right. Book two, The Hunted, comes out in the fall. 

It's Monday...

  It's Monday! What are you Reading? is hosted by Jen at TEACH.MENTOR.TEXTS, and shared with Ricki and Kellee at UNLEASHING READERS.   

         And, also visit Sheila at BOOK JOURNEYS for more reviews.  Great books are being shared!

 Tweet! at #IMWAYR

        Don't forget the Cybil's winners will be announced on Valentine's Day! The finalists-all wonderful books-can be found here!

             It’s been a good week of reading and finding wonderful books, many of which I find because of those who share on “It’s Monday, What Are You Reading” with Kellee, Ricki and Jen. Thanks everyone. I hope you find a few books here you will enjoy.

          For the CORL challenge at Gathering Books (see on the right), and #MustReadIn2014 (see above).

far far away – written by Tom McNeal

               I think I am a reader who loves variety. I love mystery, newly created worlds whether fantastical or dystopian, and sentimentality. I like characters who touch me, whether humans or animals, and in the case of this story, ghosts. Jeremy Johnson Johnson has heard “voices” since early childhood, and although he is teased throughout his small village because of it, he is comforted by the voice, who happens to be one of the Grimm brothers. Through teenage yearnings to do something out of the ordinary, Jeremy is talked into a small adventure by a girl he knows from high school. Smart and pretty, Ginger wants adventure. One night, Jeremy, Ginger and two of her girlfriends set out to play a trick on the town baker. It is a trick, but with far-reaching consequences the teens rarely expect, and this time, Jeremy’s ghost, supposed to be his protector from The Finder of Occasions, is also caught up in the events that happen next. I don’t want to spoil your read. The pages turn easily, sometimes quickly in extreme tension, and the characters grow ever more endearing as the plot thickens. There are fairy tales told and lived within this book! ”When the king’s son sees the portrait of the princess, his love for her is so great that if all the leaves on all the leaves were tongues, they could not declare it.” I loved the story, believe it’s definitely YA and older.

Challenges met this week!

          It's Monday! What are you Reading? is hosted by Jen at TEACH.MENTOR.TEXTS, and shared with Ricki and Kellee at UNLEASHING READERS.   

         And, also visit Sheila at BOOK JOURNEYS for more reviews. Thanks to all these blogs we are able to discover many, many new books!  Thanks Ricki, Kellee, Jen and Sheila!

 Tweet! at #IMWAYR

Happy Reading Everyone!

I read books that met the three challenges on the sidebar this week.  Week by week this year, I hope I can find time to read all that are on my list found here in this post.  Go to Carrie Gelson's post here to discover what it's all about and who's participating (tweet at #MustReadin2014), or go to Gathering Books with Myra, Fats & Iphigene to see their challenge!    

The Latin@s in Kidlit Challenge is here!

        I've kept seeing this book of poetry from two important writers and Caldecott winning illustrator in reviews, so decided it was a book I wanted to own. I imagine this will be used to learn, but would be thrilled to also use it as a mentor text for older students who might research and write their own poems about their lives, including the historical background of their personal heritage.  Wouldn't it be a fabulous project!  

       Yes! We Are Latinos – poems by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy, and illustrations by David Diaz