It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelf. Images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

Last Week on the Blogs:

Celebrating EdCampMadWI 

Review of Burn Baby Burn

on Rich in Color

Last Week in Books:

I was lucky enough to go to Birchbark Books in Minneapolis last weekend and picked up a few books. These were two that I really enjoyed this week. Both have excellent illustrations. Powwow: Counting in Cree has simple text that introduces the Cree words for the numbers. Blueberry Rapids has gorgeous paintings and a story about a boy and his grandmother out in nature. The boy is an artist and would spend all of his time making creating if he could.

I finally got to these fun books for emergent readings. What This Story Needs is a Hush and a Shush and What This Story Needs is a Pig in a Wig are great for Elephant and Piggie fans. They have simple text and a good helping of silliness.

I appreciated the calmness of I am Yoga and I really love the video that Emily Arrow created to go with it.

 

Pax is a quiet story in spite of involving war. I really appreciated one of the lines, "People should tell the truth about what war costs." That is the truth. Rather than a boy and a dog, this is a story about a boy and his fox. I usually don't go for the animal stories, but this one was particularly well done. I especially enjoyed the curmudgeonly person the boy meets along his journey.

No matter how many biographies I read about Frederick Douglas, I am always learning more about him which is a good thing. Frederick's Journey is a well done nonfiction picture book biography that shares about his life. The illustrations are fantastic.

Outrun the Moon was a treat for me this week. I had a hard time putting it down at 1:30 this morning, but I was too tired to continue. I finished it with my breakfast. I'll review it closer to the release date over at Rich in Color. If you enjoy historical fiction, you will want to grab this as soon as it's available in May. It'll be a good one to add to your summer reading list.

The Coming Week: I'm reading Terrell and Keke's Adventures Through Time: Traveling the Underground Railroad right now and will probably get to Moonshot Vol. 1 the Indigenous Comics Collection. Other than that, I'm not sure what else I'll get to. I wish you a great week of reading.

Reading Challenge Updates:
Goodreads Challenge - 133/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2016 - 74/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)
LGBTQIA Challenge - 6/31
ReadPOC Challenge - 49/125
#MustReadin2016 - 8/54
Around the World with Books 2016

Celebrating EdCampMadWi

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on weekends where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every week.

Today I'm celebrating #EdCampMadWi. It was great to reconnect with colleagues and learn together.

I was able to attend quite a few sessions and got plenty of ideas to put into practice. I attended a session called Teaching Diversity and Global Cultures first. I also went to a session about Makerspaces.  In both sessions, there were excellent contributions that I'll be able to use at my school.

At lunch I was able to talk with a friend about the day and our libraries. That's what is so valuable about these types of experiences. We make connect with people and have the opportunity to share experiences.

After lunch, I was able to attend a few more sessions. I learned more about green/blue screens and am finally ready to go get my paint and put it all together. I was in another about Bringing Positivity to Team/Workplace and then the day was finished off with a session about coding.

I'm excited to read some of the books from the diversity session and hope to do the Global Read Aloud next year. I have some new things to add to our makerspace based on our discussion. I am also excited to get started with our green screen setup and creation. Whew! What a fun way to spend a day.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelf. Images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

Last Week on the Blogs:

Celebrating Authors

(Junot Diaz & Sherman Alexie)

A Dozen YA Memoirs

(at Rich in Color)

Last Week in Books:

I appreciated the message of Robin Roberts' memoir, "Regardless of how much money you have, your race, where you live, what religion you follow, you are going through something. Or you already have or you will. As momma always said, 'Everybody's got something.' " Another phrase she used often was, "Make your mess your message." Our struggles can help us and can help others too. She has definitely lived that by sharing her medical and emotional struggles.

Paper Wishes is a middle grade historical novel. A young girl and her Japanese American family are sent to Manzanar internment camp during WWII. She tries to take her dog, but is caught and she has to leave him. She stops talking and grieves the loss of her dog and the loss of their home and previous life. It's a haunting story, but also contains healing and hope.

Be a Friend is a precious book. It is super sweet and contains a beautiful example of friendship. I am looking forward to sharing it with students. I even bought a striped shirt to match Dennis. I have enjoyed hearing from the author on the Let's Get Busy Podcast and The Yarn. I also love the song that Emily Arrow made to go with the book.

A very unusual and excellent book that I found this week was Tall Story. Andi's big brother from her mother's first marriage is coming to live with them. He is older, but he is also actually quite big. He's eight feet tall. It is also a bit of a tall tale with a legend tangled up in the story.

West Coast Wild has truly beautiful illustrations of the nature found on the Pacific coast.

The Coming Week: 

Currently Reading

 

I will also read Terrell and Keke's Adventures in Time: Traveling the Underground Railroad. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else will come my way, but I am looking forward to a great week. I wish you a great week filled with wonderful books.

Celebrating Authors

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on weekends where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every week.

This week I'm celebrating authors. Earlier this month, I was able to go hear Junot Diaz speak. He spoke some hard truths and challenged the status quo. He challenged us too. He had us laughing, thinking, and questioning. I had to drive a little over two hours to get to the evening presentation. It started snowing at the end of the presentation which meant I didn't get home until 12:30. I wasn't quite as happy the next morning at work when I was yawning, but it was totally worth the loss of sleep.

This weekend we were also able to go see another author. We drove about 2 1/2 hours this time, but planned to spend the night and have fun in Minneapolis for the weekend. We were able to see Sherman Alexie. He's another person who inspires much laughter along with reflection. He is also just as likely to have an uncensored conversation. He said, "I got rich on metaphors...and the ability to be inappropriate in any venue." I have rarely laughed so hard and so long. I had tears flowing multiple times from laughter.

 

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelf. Images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

Last Week on the Blogs:

  Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 

Sitting Bull by SD Nelson

Celebrating Online Friends

Last Week in Books: 

I finished two more collections from Sherman Alexie in preparation for going to see him next weekend, Ten Little Indians and War Dances. He weaves humor into his often very serious stories. He is an author who makes me think and wonder. I appreciate that. I also notice that he seems to really grapple with truth, honesty and how that works out in storytelling. 

I really loved The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch. From my Goodreads review, "Barton and Tate manage to provide a realistic look at slavery for young readers. It moves quickly from slavery though to Reconstruction after the Civil War. Many people don't realize that there were African American people in positions of power soon after the civil war. John Roy Lynch was one of those people who held public office about ten years after he became free."

The Inker's Shadow was another memoir from Allen Say that continues where Drawing from Memory leaves off. I enjoyed this one as well as the first. Allen Say keeps the text brief as we see him progress through his high school years in the U.S. It amazes me that he was living on his own for so much of his teenage life.

Jake Makes a World: Jacob Lawrence, A Young Artist in Harlem is yet another picture book biography. It's well done and takes you right back into 1930s Harlem where Jake is growing into his art.

The Jamestown and St. Augustine books are e-books available from my library. They mentioned slavery in their description so I wanted to see how that was handled. In the St. Augustine book I found out there were enslaved Africans in Florida in the 1500s. They came with the Spanish. What also surprised me was the fact that there were also free Africans living there and later when people escaped from the Carolinas and came to Florida they were often granted freedom. One of the stipulations was converting to Catholicism. The books were not necessarily outstanding, but the St. Augustine book certainly provides information that isn't always shared in other history texts.

There is much to love here in the picture books. Shanghai Sukkah is a great historical fiction picture book. It shares a bit about when Jewish people left Europe in the 1930s and went to Shanghai. Two boys meet and share about their harvest festivals - Sukkah and the Moon festival. Worm Loves Worm is simply adorable. I enjoyed the water poetry of Langston Hughes in Sail Away. Ashley Bryan's illustrations went well with the beautiful words. Surf's Up is an amusing testament to the love of reading. Dizzy is a nice picture book about Dizzy Gillespie. My students enjoyed it along with a video of the man himself. I'm Sunny and the book below, I'm Grumpy, are two great board books that are in comic format. They are cute and made me smile. 

 

 

My Tata's Remedies earned a Pura Belpré honor for illustrations. They are very realistic and nicely done. I especially loved the richly decorated endpapers. I appreciated this story of family, community and herbal healing. Lizard from the Park and Monster Trouble! were both amusing flights of fancy. I ordered both of them after seeing them on this excellent list of "28 Picture Black Picture Books That Aren't About Boycotts, Buses or Basketball".

I love tea and so really liked the connections in Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea. From my GR review, "This is a warm and beautiful collection of poems with a child's voice. It begins with 'Cherish Me' which speaks of her beauty and asks that we cherish her. The second poem shows how her family does cherish her, but shares her parents warning that there are those in the world who would do harm to "children kissed long by the sun" and so she is wary." There is much to think about in this collection.

Harlem was another wonderful look into the city. For the Love of the Game is a poetry collection about basketball specifically focusing on Michael Jordan. I know we have quite a few poetry books featuring basketball. Is it because of the bounce that matches up with poetry so well? Something to wonder about.

Way Up and Over Everything was very similar to The People Could Fly. It's a story of enslaved Africans who rise up into the air and leave the fields behind. It would be nice to pair them together.

The Coming Week:
I'm still listening to a memoir by Robin Roberts of Good Morning America. I'll be reviewing a few books soon so will read those and I just got a big book order in so will likely keep reading many picture books from those boxes. Have a great week!

Celebrating Online Friends

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on weekends where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every week.

There are so many people I've met online in the past few years who have enriched my life. It all started with Donalyn Miller. I read The Book Whisperer and found out about the reading challenge on Goodreads. I remember seeing the incredible number of books that John Schu was aiming for and thought he was quite ambitious whoever he was. Soon after, I started using twitter and followed Donalyn who led me to John and later Colby Sharp and many more #kidlit champions. I watched excitedly as #Nerdybookclub came into being. From there I made more and more connections and became brave enough share my blog and contribute to the Nerdybookclub blog too.

@debreese Bloggers! pic.twitter.com/TTZ4YheR6I

— CrazyQuiltEdi (@CrazyQuilts) February 4, 2015

These are some of the amazing online friends I met up with in Chicago at ALA Midwinter last year.

Meeting so many people online who were wild about books was fabulous, but it got even better. Slowly, I started to meet some of them in person at different events. Another thing also began to happen. I started to find people who were also passionate about promoting kidlit that was more inclusive. I found Lee&Low Books and Stacy Whitman. One day they had a diverselit chat on Twitter and I met Audrey Gonzalez. That led to the founding of Rich in Color. We have a podcast that explains the beginnings of the blog if you want to know more details. From there, I began to make connections with more and more advocates for inclusive literature. This has brought about some wonderful friendships and I have learned so much from many of these amazing people like Debbie Reese, Edi Campbell, the We Need Diverse Books crew along with so many others. I can't even begin to name all of the people I've met on this journey.

There's another whole set of people I interact with around several weekly blog activities like Celebrate, Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge and It's Monday! What are you reading? I am so thankful that the Internet allows us to find the people who help us learn and grow and make us smile (I even have a Twitter list for smile makers).

Here is one of the things that made me smile this week:

It's a Valentine with a person message from librarian and online friend Angie Manfredi. What a great gift to open.

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - Sitting Bull

Alyson Beecher over at Kid Lit Frenzy hosts a Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge and has a roundup every Wednesday. I love the encouragement to explore more non-fiction. My plan is to read at least 100 nonfiction picture books this year.

This week the American Indian Youth Literature Award winners were announced. We have the age appropriate titles in our library, but I still hadn't read Sitting Bull.

Sitting Bull: Lakota Warrior and Defender of His People by S.D. Nelson

Goodreads summary: Sitting Bull (c. 1831–1890) was one of the greatest Lakota/Sioux warriors and chiefs who ever lived. From Sitting Bull’s childhood—killing his first buffalo at age 10—to being named war chief to leading his people against the U.S. Army, Sitting Bull: Lakota Warrior and Defender of His People brings the story of the great chief to light. Sitting Bull was instrumental in the war against the invasive wasichus (white men) and was at the forefront of the combat, including the Battles of Killdeer Mountain and the Little Bighorn. He and Crazy Horse were the last Lakota/Sioux to surrender their people to the U.S. government and resort to living on a reservation.

The book includes an extensive author’s note and timeline, historical photographs, a map, a bibliography, endnotes, and an index.

My Thoughts: S.D. Nelson does a phenomenal job of showing Sitting Bull as a human being and not simply a legend. The story is told in the voice of Sitting Bull. We see him from childhood as he learns and grows. The Lakota way of life changed drastically during his lifetime. This would be a fantastic book to use when teaching about history in upper elementary and middle school. It could add a personal dimension and fill in many of the gaps in textbooks. It would also offer a perspective that is often absent in the books and curriculum.

The book appears to be very well researched. [Though on closer inspection it appears that his sources were not the best - see update below] The author provides an excellent timeline and thorough author notes. In addition, the book is illustrated with a combination of archival images and Nelson's gorgeous artwork. He has a unique art style that combines traditional Lakota imagery with his own modern twist. I really appreciated the addition of ledger art on the back endpaper. He included a brief explanation of this work. During incarceration, some Native people were given used ledger books and they created works of art in them on top of the used pages.

There is so much to admire about this book. I hope that many people, young and old, have the opportunity to experience it.

Update:  I did not realize that this book had problematic content when I read it. Beverly Slapin very thoroughly reviewed the book at Debbie Reese's blog American Indians in Children's Literature a few months after I posted this review. She ended the review with this comment, "But, given the accolades this book has received, it will probably be widely read by youngsters and their teachers, who will think that they’re reading real history. They are not." So, yes, I did think I was reading real history, but after reading her review, I can see that I certainly didn't look closely enough. I appreciate that both Debbie Reese and Beverly Slapin continue to share information with readers because I  obviously still fail to notice when things are inaccurate.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelf. Images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

Last Week on the Blogs:

Celebrating Dancing for Change 

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - Caldecott Honor Books

Review: The Trouble with Ants

Last Week with Books:

Adult Nonfiction

I'm super excited to go see Sherman Alexie in Minneapolis later this month. This meant I finally read some more of his work. I hadn't read any of his poetry before. The Business of Fancydancing and One Stick Song are quite interesting. I wrote this at Goodreads, "I think it was intentional, but the written word begs the reader to wonder about the truthfulness of what is on the page. There was a continual question in my head about what is autobiographical and what is fiction and does that matter? Does the reader need to know where that line is drawn? Does it affect us if something is strictly true or fabricated? Do we need the story to have actually happened for us to interact with it?" Those questions were also bumping around in my head the evening that I watched his film The Business of Fancydancing. I had seen Smoke Signals years ago, but this was the first time I saw Fancydancing. It's a unique film that explores connections to culture, childhood, friends and especially how a Native person navigates life on and off the reservation.

Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now is a collection of brief essays from Maya Angelou. I felt like she was preaching straight at me in a good way. I wanted to be a better person after reading her words. Among other things, she encourages us to forgive, remember that we are all children of God, respect ourselves and others, and to cease complaining.

I finally finished listening to Fresh Off the Boat. It is certainly not something for everyone, but I found Eddie Huang funny. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that this was a foodie book though there is only one recipe.

Young Adult

I didn't realize that Alexie had another YA book out. Flight had flashes of his humor throughout the book, but it was surrounding by some fairly serious situations. The main character goes through some very dark moments. I appreciated the time travel taking us to quite a few pivotal scenes in Native American history. Becoming Maria was a memoir by Sonia Manzano. I really enjoy memoirs as a general rule. I found this one a little disjointed, but I think she let it be that way in the beginning because that is sort of how our earliest memories are. They are just snippets here and there. I wished for more about the Maria time of her life, but this was about her journey to that place so it ends there. It was certainly interesting to see into her family life and know how she came to be the person she is today. She is one strong person.

Early Chapter Book

I had a fun time reading Lola Levine is Not Mean. Lola loves soccer and it's always great to see a character with so much enthusiasm. She gets a little carried away though and that leads to someone getting hurt. I'm excited to have the first book in this early chapter book series and am looking forward to seeing more of Lola.

Picture Books

 

There are simply too many picture books here to comment on all of them. I read a few Caldecott honor books, some books for Black History Month, a few in preparation for Jazz lessons with my first grade classes, Stina because someone raved about them and Sitting Bull because it won the American Indian Youth Literature Award. I'll be reviewing that one later this week because I loved it.

The Coming Week:
I am listening to Almost Perfect for my LGBTQIA Challenge. I just started reading the ARC of Hour of Bees. Beyond that, I will continue to read Alexie's books. I had only read three before last week so I have quite a few to catch up on in the next two weeks.

Reading Challenge Updates:
Goodreads Challenge - 91/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2016 - 46/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)
LGBTQIA Challenge - 5/31
ReadPOC Challenge - 34/125
#MustReadin2016 - 6/54
Around the World with Books 2016

Celebrating Dancing for Change

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on weekends where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every week.

Today I was able to go to a practice for One Billion Rising. It's a movement that calls for an end to violence against women and girls. One of the ways they draw attention to the cause is for people to come together in public places. In our area, we will be dancing on Valentine's Day in our local mall. Here is information from the website:

"In 2016, the theme of Revolution continues with a call to focus on marginalized women and to bring national and international focus to their issues; to bring in new artistic energy; to amplify Revolution as a call for system change to end violence against women and girls; to call on people to rise for others, and not just for ourselves"

I had a wonderful time today with some fantastic dancers at a local dance studio as we learned the dance. Dancing makes me smile and to do it with so many others for a united purpose makes it even more energizing and joyful.

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - A look at some Caldecott Honor Books

Alyson Beecher over at Kid Lit Frenzy hosts a Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge and has a roundup every Wednesday. I love the encouragement to explore more non-fiction. My plan is to read at least 100 nonfiction picture books this year.

I'm working on reading the Caldecott winners and honor books. Today I read two nonfiction titles.

 Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems

written by Joyce Sidman & illustrated by Beckie Prange

Goodreads Summary: From spring’s first thaw to autumn’s chill, the world of the pond is a dramatic place. Though seemingly quiet, ponds are teeming with life and full of surprises. Their denizens—from peepers to painted turtles, duckweed to diving beetles—lead secret and fascinating lives. A unique blend of whimsy, science, poetry, and hand-colored woodcuts, this Caldecott Honor-winning collection invites us to take a closer look at our hidden ponds and wetlands. Here is a celebration of their beauty and their mystery.

My thoughts:  The illustrations here are gorgeous. I loved how Prange brought us up close and personal with even some of the tiniest of the critters. I went into it just thinking this was a poetry book. I didn't realize that there was a nonfiction blurb to go with each of the poems. This in addition to the fact that many of the poems were fact filled also. The poetry was nice, but the addition of the information about the scenes really made this book more appealing to me. People looking for poetry could just read that part, but I liked them together.

Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet

by David McLimans

Goodreads Summary: Feast your eyes on these amazing creatures before they disappear. This stampede of wild animals, from Chinese Alligator to Grevy's Zebra, are so rare, they're all endangered. David McLiman's bold and playful illustrations transform each letter into a work of art, graphically rendered with animal characteristics. Scales, horns, even insect wings transform the alphabet into animated life.

Once you take this eye-opening safari, you'll never look at letters or animals with the same way again. A striking work of art and a zoological adventure, Gone Wild is sure to be loved by children and adults alike.

My Thoughts: The illustrations are once again fabulous. I loved the creativity of the author/illustrator. He sought out not just endangered animals that would fit the alphabet, but also those with shapes that fit the letters in the animal's name. That had to be quite a bit of research. 

The text on the pages of the main body were not terribly interesting, but I did enjoy the collection of information at the end. Each animal has a blurb. The main part of the text was basically a chart that listed a few of the same facts for each animal. The end had more variety to it. 

Review: The Trouble with Ants

Title: The Trouble with Ants
Author: Claudia Mills
Illustrator: Katie Kath
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Pages: 164
Availability: On shelves now
Review copy: Final copy from publisher

Summary:
The trouble with ants is . . .
. . . people think they’re boring.
. . . they are not cuddly.
. . . who would ever want them for a pet?

Nora Alpers is using her new notebook to record the behavior of ants. Why? Because they are fascinating! Unfortunately, no one agrees with her. Her mom is not happy about them being in the house, and when Nora brings her ant farm to school for show and tell, her classmates are not very impressed. They are more interested in cat videos, basketball practice, or trying to set a Guinness World Record (although Nora wouldn’t mind that).

Mostly they are distracted by the assignment their teacher Coach Joe has given them—to write a persuasive speech and change people’s minds about something. Will Nora convince her friends that ants are as interesting as she thinks they are? Or will everyone still think of ants as nothing but trouble?

With real science facts, a classroom backdrop, an emphasis on friendship, and appealing black-and-white interior illustrations from artist Katie Kath, The Nora Notebooks is perfect for newly independent readers—especially budding scientists like Nora!—and adults who want to encourage awareness of STEM subjects in young readers.

Review: Nora has a questioning mind. She wants to know everything about ants. She has a notebook, an ant farm and she can spend hours at a time just watching them do their thing. She is also gets the idea to write an article about her ants for a scientific journal.

I found Nora's enthusiasm for ants to be quite fun. She also likes to kick at the notion of traditional gender roles. She understands why society has such ideas, but she does not believe these beliefs should dictate her behavior or likes and dislikes.

There are plenty of laughs within the story. There are also many facts. Nora shares information about ants throughout the book. Budding scientists and fans of Kate Messner's Marty McGuire will be sure to enjoy Nora and her beloved ants.