It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Newbery Challenge: I started Smoky the Cowhorse and am making steady progress.

Caldecott Challenge: I managed to read five books for this challenge in the past week.  Make Way for Ducklings has always been a favorite and I still love that feisty mama duck.  She is just awesome.  Prayer for a Child is all sweetness and nostalgia filled.  Chanticleer and the Fox is fun and fablish.  The Egg Tree was also a trip down memory lane as I thought of Easter one year on a cousin's farm hunting eggs and the times I have made eggs with my children for an egg tree of our own.  Finally, Ox Cart Man was a fun way to look at seasons. All in all a pleasant Caldecott week.

I did manage to finish the Ellen Degeneres book, Seriously...I'm Kidding, but was unfortunately underwhelmed.  The books that actually knocked my socks off this week are potential 2013 award winners.  The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate was a fantastic story told by a gorilla.  I am not generally an animal story fan, so this is saying something.  The other wower was The Mighty Miss Malone. Christopher Paul Curtis has created another living breathing charming character that just pushes right into your heart.

Younger Books: Hot Hot Roti for Dadaji by F. Zia was fun and I loved seeing the interactions between grandfather and grandson.  Henry and Mudge and the Bedtime Thumps and Babymouse Burns Rubber were two series books that did not disappoint.

History: Breaking Stalin's Nose was a fantastic look into the past.  I appreciated the combination of text and pictures that told a story of two days in the life of a child of communism.  The story is compact and powerful.  I really appreciated seeing the author in a video on Mr. Schu's blog too.  It made the story come alive.  Another really fascinating piece of history was the book Drawing from Memory by Allen Say.  I loved this memoir especially since it had such a variety of illustrations including his early artwork, comics, and other bits and pieces.

Last, but not least, I finished Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley which won the Printz and the Morris awards.  I found it intriguing and certainly well done, but it wasn't exactly my typical type of story.  Because of the mysteriousness of the storyline, I was pulled along throughout, but it took a long time for me to really care about the characters.

All in all, a busy reading week.  For next week, I will finally, finally, finish Me and Earl.....  I have it on the computer upstairs and it has been where my daughter has been working on her school project every evening, so I wait.  I will also finish Smoky the Cowhorse.  I am planning on reading the Great Wall of Lucy Wu and several other middle grade novels and a passel of Caldecotts again.  I am going to finally read some Kashmira Sheth books too because she is coming to visit in April.  With a lot going on in my life, I am not sure if I will get as much time to read this week, but I will eek out as many reading minutes as I possibly can.  ;)