It's Monday! What are You Reading?

Jen & Kellee over at Teach Mentor Texts host a meme every Monday that invites people to share what children's and young adult books they have been reading over the past week and what they plan on reading the following week.

What I have been reading:

My favorite picture books this week were My Dog Thinks I'm a Genius by Harriet Ziefert and The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve. My Dog is a great book encouraging art and its appreciation aside from being humorous. The Christmas Coat is a touching story and I appreciated the illustrations. Debbie Reese has a great review here that highlights some of the reasons that this book is such an accurate and effective portrayal of Native Americans. I just flat out enjoyed the story and am always happy to find books that avoid stereotypes of Native Americans.

A professional book also took up much of my time this week - Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement by Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman. I found this book very helpful as our school district prepares to implement the Common Core State Standards this coming year. I wrote more about that here.

The novel that I am reading right now is Neversink by Barry Wolverton. I am having fun with this community of auks and owls - oh and the extra walrus and hummingbird.

What I will be reading this week:
This week did not have a high volume of reading, but I am planning on reading a lot more in the coming week. I need to do my part for the #leagueoflibrarians participating in #summerthrowdown. I am going to get back to the Newbery Challenge with Miracles on Maple Hill. I will also be doing a re-read of A Monster Calls as I help with the high school Battle of the Books. I will be reading some of the elementary level battle books too. It should be fun. Happy reading!