It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

Past Week: 

Newbery Challenge

 

A Wrinkle in Time came out on top between these three. It is the one I read the most times (3 or 4 now) and the only one of these I read when I was in elementary school. Meg has always been someone I related to well. The storyline is a bit tricky, but I love falling into this book. It's Like This, Cat didn't have much of a plot to it, but the voice of the main character was fantastic. I really enjoyed hanging out with Dave and his cat. The Bronze Bow was the slowest of the three. I didn't hate it, but sometimes the story got a bit bogged down. I read it years ago and didn't really remember much except that it happened in biblical times. It seemed a rather unremarkable book once again.

Caldecott Challenge

I found Yonie Wondernose fun and I loved Yonie's fits of wondering. His curiosity is so believable and natural.

New Picture Books

Magritte's Marvelous Hat utilized something that I have always loved in a book - those transparncies that lay over other traditional pages and add another layer of illustration. The illustrator used clever devises all through the book. The surreal and the sneaky were both in evidence. There wasn't a lot of plot, but there certainly was a ton of fun. Goldilocks had a cute twist, but it wasn't my favorite Mo Willems. It was a bit too predictable for me, though I appreciated the many fun jokes and I believe that my students will enjoy it. I'm Bored had me laughing out loud. I loved the expressions that the illustrator created. You can see a wonderful trailer and learn more about this one at Mr. Schu's blog.

International Dot Day

For this celebration, various classes were treated to readings of Ish and The Dot by Peter Reynolds. I love the way these stories encourage creativity and just trying without the worry. My students love them too.

Middle Grade Novel

Colby Sharp mentioned Fig Pudding several times, so it landed on my TBR pile. I should have known it would bring tears. Colby seems to gravitate to the books that pack a powerful emotional punch. Now I know about the "steaming bowl of sadness" and will never forget it.

Non-fiction (sort-of)

This is a slightly fictionalized account of a camping trip that Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir had together that inspired the president to protect wilderness in our country. The illustrations are wonderful and there is just enough "story" to keep this engaging rather than a listing of facts.

Modern Fable (or something difficult to categorize)

Six Men is a pretty powerful statement about how wars may begin. This is for an older crowd possibly upper elementary, middle school or even high school. It is a great way to open up discussion about how fear and greed may lead to violence.

For the Coming Week

I really don't have much of a plan for the coming week except for finishing Diverse Energies and re-reading A Ball for Daisy and Blizzard! for our Battle of the Books competition. Otherwise, I think my reading will be fairly random. Have a great week of reading!