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 Blog: 

The Seven Princesses by Smiljana Čoh

 The Little Linebacker by Steven Tulloch and Maria Desmondy

Last Week in Books: 

 

This week we celebrated the high school graduation of our youngest child so there wasn't a whole lot of reading happening. What I got to was great though.

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown was one I had requested after hearing Laverne Cox speak in Madison earlier in the month. She spoke highly of Brown's work around shame. I appreciated this quick read and am going to go back through to make note of some of the things I want to specifically focus on in my life.

Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie/illustrated by Yuyi Morales was one I read the week before, but I forgot to include it in last week's post. This is my review from Goodreads - "I loved the playfulness of this book. The illustrations are energetic and very child centered. The issue of names and how we feel about our own name is one that many children could likely understand. I think it will be popular with children. Debbie Reese has some concerns here that I do not want to ignore though. I agree that an author's note may be helpful."

The other three picture books were fun ones I picked up at the bookstore the other day while waiting for someone at the mall. What Do You Do with a Problem? encourages readers to see challenges as opportunities. It's a positive book that models resilience. The blobfish book is super cute nonfiction with a little humor. Barnacle is Bored would pair well with I'm Bored, but is also a hoot by itself. 

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge - 283/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2016 - 141/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)
LGBTQIA Challenge - 13/31
ReadPOC Challenge - 101/125
#MustReadin2016 - 20/54
Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - 62/10
Around the World with Books 2016

The Coming Week: 

I'm still listening to Daring Greatly in my car and Olive's Ocean on my phone. I want to work on a few of my #MustReadin2016 books this week, but which ones will depend on library availability. I hope you have a great week filled with wonderful reading adventures.

Review: The Little Linebacker

Title: The Little Linebacker: A Story of Determination
Author: Stephen Tulloch and Maria Dismondy
Illustrator: Heather Heyworth
Publisher: Cardinal Rule Press
Pages: 32
Review copy: Final copy from author
Availability: June 1, 2016

Summary: Stephen is a little kid with big dreams of playing football. The odds are against him when he is tested and faced with challenges. This is a story of a boy who worked hard to defy the odds and become a leader.

Review: The Little Linebacker has a message, actually a few messages: Dream big dreams, work hard, study hard, and believe in yourself. There is a story here, but it is pretty much a message driven book. That said, I think children will enjoy seeing the dream and journey that led young Stephen Tulloch to the NFL. This is a dream many young readers share or at least can relate to in some way.

This is meant to be inspiring and I think it will succeed there. It will encourage young readers to stick with their dreams. It's a feel good book and will bring smiles to the faces of young football fans.

I appreciated the inclusion of Stephen's visits to the nursing home where his mother worked. It's always great to see inter-generational relationships in picture books.

Recommendation: The Little Linebacker will be a nice addition to a library especially if you have children with an interest in football. This book will be great with our preschool Super Bowl unit and will be useful for any teacher wanting to encourage perseverance.

Extras: 
 


Reader's Guide

Review: The Seven Princesses

Title: The Seven Princesses
Author: Smiljana Čoh
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Pages: 40
Review copy: Final copy from publisher
Availability: May 24, 2016

Goodreads Summary: Once upon a time, there were seven princess sisters who did everything together, from horseback riding to jumping in royal leaf piles to throwing legendary piñata parties. But one day, they had the biggest fight in the entire history of princess fighting. There was no worse sound than the sound of this fight. Will the sisters ever find a way to fill their kingdom with sounds of laughter and playing again?

Princesses of all sizes will royally delight in this modern-day fairy tale of sibling rivalry, adventure, and unconditional sisterly love.

My thoughts: Princess books are in high demand in my library, but I don't read all of them. Many seem to just sparkle and spread the color pink through the world and seem very much like all of the others. The Seven Princesses is a breath of fresh air. There is pink, but it's not all about pink. There is sweetness and light, but there is also a bit of gray and sadness. These seven princesses are unique and have distinct interests. One even enjoys math and building.

The illustrations have an old-fashioned feeling and are very fun.  The characters are comic types, but the backgrounds are not. I like that little contrast. The front cover has pastels, but there are a wide variety of colors in many of the layouts. Overall, it's a bright and cheerful book except for during the time of conflict.

The conflict centers around how the siblings are bothering each other. Any reader with a sibling can relate to that type of situation. Those readers who without siblings can still relate to conflict happening between the people you are with every single day.

Recommendation: This will be a wonderful book to hand those readers who gobble up princess books. Adults reading with younger readers will likely enjoy this princessy book that doesn't follow the typical formula they may have experienced one too many times. It's imaginative and quirky. I'll enjoy sharing it with my students.

Want to know more? Visit other posts on the blog tour:
5/18 Anastasia Suen
5/20 Kid Lit Frenzy
5/21 Mom Read It 
5/24 Unpacking the POWER of Picture Books

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: 

 A review of Enchanted Air at Rich in Color

Celebrating the Ability to Move

Last Week in Books: 

This was an excellent week of reading. I had been waiting to get to The Raven King and it finally arrived. I wanted to brush up on the past books and found these excellent recaps written by Maggie Stiefvater. If you've read the books, you should go read the recaps right now even if you don't need to because they are hilarious. The Raven King was all that it should be and I loved the entire series. The audio is sure to be fabulous too. I listened to the first two and the narrator is wonderful.

I listened to A New Hope: The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farmboy. The audio was enhanced with sound effects and the story was well told showing the three different perspectives. I have the book in our library, but I think I'm going to track down the audio too because it would be very popular.

Death by Toilet Paper was amusing but also had serious themes. The main character is going through grief, has a grandparent who appears to be developing dementia, and his family is going through financial difficulties. I really enjoyed the way the author balanced the light moments with the tough ones.

Reading The Shepherd's Crown was poignant because it was Terry Pratchett's final book. Knowing that made it harder to read. He was a bright spot in our world and he'll be missed. I love the Tiffany Aching books and had thought I Shall Wear Midnight was the last one so I was excited to find out about this one. Like the others, it is both amusing and serious. It deals with gender roles and helping others. It wasn't as polished as the previous books because Pratchett died before finishing the edits, but it was still a fantastic story.

Child of Spring is a contemporary middle grade book about a girl living in India. Basanta and her mother are servants in the home of a wealthy family. Basanta's story is an interesting one though I didn't enjoy this one as much as the author's earlier book Garden of My Imaan.

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge - 283/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2016 - 141/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)
LGBTQIA Challenge - 13/31
ReadPOC Challenge - 101/125
#MustReadin2016 - 20/54
Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - 61/10
Around the World with Books 2016

The Coming Week: 

I'm listening to Daring Greatly in my car and Olive's Ocean on my phone. I started The Gifts of Imperfection in paperback. I'm not sure if it's wise to listen to one Brené Brown book while reading the other, but they both came at the same time and I actually don't have any other library books checked out right now so that's what I started.

My youngest child will graduate at the end of the week and we'll have a houseful of relatives so I'm not sure how much reading will happen, but it should be an interesting week either way. Happy reading!

Celebrating the Ability to Move

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.

I'm celebrating the ability to move. For Mother's Day I was given a new running watch. I wore it for our school Fun Run on Friday morning and forgot to take it off. Later, I was sitting at the computer and noticed that it said, "Move!" on the screen. I'm not sure how much time it allows one to be sedentary before it fusses, but I had obviously exceeded that amount. It also counts my steps. I didn't realize it had these extra functions. Surprise. :)

Since the Turkey Trot in November, I've run only a handful of times and never more than once in a week. I hadn't gotten back into the groove of running. This week was the breakthrough week though. I ran four times! The runs were never particularly far, but I was out and moving once again.

Yay for moving! Now I can be a part of #RunTeacherRun again. They're a great Twitter group that shares about their running lives.

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:

Yum! ¡Mmm! ¡Qué Rico! America's Sproutings

and Fresh Delicious: Poems from the Farmers' Market

 Celebrating in Spite of the Grumblies

At Rich in Color - YA Pura Belpré Titles 

Last Week in Reading: 

See No Color was an excellent find. Alex is a biracial teen who was adopted into a white family. She is beginning to question some of the attitudes around race that she experiences from her family and others. The internal and external dialogue around race is valuable. I loved this review by Sarah Hannah Gómez. It's cool to have an adopted character written by an author who was also transracially adopted.

Ack, I am running out of time to talk about all of the titles. The other two that really stand out are the nonfiction titles. Pride: Celebrating Diversity & Community was a wonderful middle grade nonfiction title looking at the history and the shaping of Pride celebrations. The photos are fantastic and the information is delivered conversationally so it's an easy read. Maybe Something Beautiful is the story of a community beautifying their public spaces. It's illustrated by one of the people the story is about too, Rafael Lopez. That makes it a little magical.

The Coming Week: 

These books are coming my way and I will start at least a few of them. I also have Death by Toilet Paper on my shelf here at home. I wish you a wonderful week of reading.

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge - 278/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2016 - 140/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)
LGBTQIA Challenge - 13/31
ReadPOC Challenge - 100/125
#MustReadin2016 - 19/54
Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - 61/10
Around the World with Books 2016

Celebrate!

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 picture makes me smile.

 

I'm in an strange mood today. I've had alternating moments of peace and grumpiness for no apparent reason. I'm here celebrating anyway. Here are some of the things I can celebrate:

-my son is home for a few days
-senior year (high school) for our youngest is almost complete
-things are winding down at school & my list of things to do is getting shorter
-it's cold outside, but I'm snug inside
-I have hot tea
-senior announcements have all been mailed
-my husband is doing the grocery shopping today

I still have the urge to growl about a few things, but fortunately this is a celebration post so you all don't have to listen my grumbles. I'll continue to focus on the positives and wish you a wonderful weekend.

some more cheerful sunshine flowers

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge

 

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 nonfiction. My plan is to read at least 100 nonfiction picture books this year. So far, I've read 58 this year.

Yum! ¡Mmm! ¡Qué Rico! America's Sproutings by Pat Mora
illustrated by Rafael López

Summary from author's page: 

Smear nutty butter,
then jelly. Gooey party,
my sandwich and me.

Peanuts, blueberries, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, and more-here is a luscious collection of haiku celebrating foods native to the Americas. Brimming with imagination and fun, these poems capture the tasty essence of foods that have delighted, united, and enriched our lives for centuries. Exuberant illustrations bring to life the delicious spirit of the haiku, making Yum! ¡Mmm! ¡Qué Rico! America's Sproutings an eye-popping, mouth-watering treat. Open it and dig in!

An interview with Pat Mora about this book in particular and the need for diverse books.

My thoughts: This is a beautiful book combining two things I really enjoy - food and poety. The haiku are fun and I really appreciated learning the history of these indigenous foods. The artwork is vibrant and gorgeous. I look forward to sharing this with students.

 

Fresh Delicious: Poems from the Farmers' Market by Irene Latham

illustrated by Mique Moriuchi

Goodreads summary: In these vivid poems, blueberries are “flavor-filled fireworks,” cucumbers are “a fleet of green submarines in a wicker sea,” lettuce tastes like “butter and pepper and salt,” but sometimes “I crunch into a leaf the very same flavor as rain.” The unexpected, ingenious imagery and enticing artwork in this collection will inspire the imaginations of young readers, and show how poetry can be as fresh and delicious as the farmers’ market produce it celebrates.

My thoughts:  Fresh delicious is another wonderful pairing of food and poetry. The poems and illustrations are playful and full of life. The addition of adorable animals is also a plus. I think this book is a great way to get young readers excited about fruits and veggies. I appreciated the inclusion of recipes.

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:

Trapped! A Whale's Rescue by Robert Burleigh

Celebrating Robots

Last Week in Books: 

 

I read quite a few books last week, but those I've included above were the best of the best. I think I could say "My heart fills with happiness" when I think of these books.

The Coming Week: I'm still listening to How to Be Compassionate and I've just started to read Saving Montgomery Sole. I'll be reading an ARC of The Peculiar Haunting of Thelma Bee too. I have ten books checked out, but I'm not sure what I want to start next. I wish you a wonderful week filled with reading.

 

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge - 266/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2016 - 135/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)
LGBTQIA Challenge - 10/31
ReadPOC Challenge - 97/125
#MustReadin2016 - 17/54
Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - 57/100
Around the World with Books 2016

Celebrating Robots

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.

We were celebrating robots this week. My fifth graders are involved in a project with our makerspace materials so I had the Sphero and Ozobots out for them when I realized that they would make a great addition to my kindergarten lesson.

I shared some information from a few nonfiction robot books before reading Ame Dyckman's fabulous picture book Boy + Bot, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino. Then, students were able to use art supplies to create a robot they would enjoy playing with for a day. While they created, I took the ozobots around to each table to show them the sensors and let them see how they worked. I love my job. Watching their eyes light up as the little robots zoomed around was super fun. We all got to enjoy a story and learn a little bit about robots too. Our robot day was amazing.

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge

 

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 nonfiction. My plan is to read at least 100 nonfiction picture books this year.

Trapped! A Whale's Rescue by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Wendell Minor

Goodreads summary: In the icy waters of the Pacific, a massive humpback whale unexpectedly finds herself tangled in a net abandoned by fishermen. When a rescue boat and a convoy of divers arrive to help the struggling humpback, a realistic and moving encounter bridges the human and aquatic worlds.

My thoughts: The story was compelling. I was amazed at the size and strength of this creature and the courage of those people attempting to help save the whale. Working so closely with such an enormous wild animal has to be intimidating. I appreciated the very thorough collection of online and print resources. This is a beautiful book packed with more information than I anticipated.

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:

 Slickety Quick: Poems About Sharks by Skila Brown

illustrated by Bob Kolar

 Celebrating Music

Last Week in Books:

Raising Dragons was a fun fantasy picture book. I read it because it's on the We Are the People Summer Reading List (I have the list on a Goodreads shelf if that's helpful to you). Four others I read this week were also on the list: Dayshaun's Gift, The Missing Cupcake Mystery, The Composition, and The Streets are Free. I'm glad that the list pointed me to these titles. I read The Phoenix on Barclay Street because it came before Dayshaun's Gift and I didn't want to miss out on anything. They're both by Zetta Elliott and I've enjoyed everything I've read that she's written.

My favorite picture book this week was Don't Call Me Grandma. It's great to see a grandchild/grandmother relationship of a unique sort. Grandmother is very particular and is a little prickly, but she loves her grandchild. Not all grandmas are cozy and cuddly and that's the truth.

Pope Francis and Rhyolite: The True Story of a Ghost Town were both interesting nonfiction picture books. I didn't know that Pope Francis was Jorge as a child. I also found it fun to learn that he enjoyed soccer and dancing when he was younger. This was a very simple biography, but covered the basic facts. Many students have checked this book out along with Dear Pope Francis: The Pope Answers Letters from Children Around the World. I want to read that one too, but it's usually checked out. Rhyolite is such an interesting tale. The city was a boomtown during a gold rush, but it was a ghost town in a very short time.

There were two middle grade books in my pile this week. The Truth About Twinkie Pie made me want to do some cooking. I especially want to try the pie. I watched the Kid Lit TV video with Kat Yeh last year and have been wanting to read the book since then.

The other middle grade was Lily and Dunkin. Again with the food, but this time Dunkin Donuts. I got this as an ARC from John Schumacher at WEMTA last month and am glad. This is one you will likely hear a lot about. The main characters are Lily, a transgender girl, and Dunkin who is dealing with bipolar disorder and other issues readers discover later in the novel. In addition, they are fumbling along with their own new friendship. Readers who have ever felt different or have struggled with friendships will definitely be able to relate to Lily and Dunkin's feelings. It's an emotional read and will be perfect for those readers who like books that make you cry or books where characters are facing tough realistic situations.

I'm still a little conflicted about The Porcupine of Truth. There were things I appreciated like the humor, but there were other things that bothered me. The last part of the novel was definitely stronger or at least I enjoyed it more. It's one that I would maybe recommend, but I'm still not sure. I didn't give it a star rating on Goodreads because I just couldn't decide.

The Coming Week: The Human Body Theater is on my stack along with an ARC of The Peculiar Haunting of Thelma Bee. Otherwise, I'm not sure what will come my way. Oh, I have the audiobook How to Be Compassionate by the Dalai Lama and a few others from my #MustReadin2016 on their way to my holdshelf so I will probably start working on that list again. Have a great week!

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge - 240/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2016 - 127/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)
LGBTQIA Challenge - 10/31
ReadPOC Challenge - 93/125
#MustReadin2016 - 15/54
Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - 52/10
Around the World with Books 2016

Celebrating Music

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.

Music, music, music. This was a week filled with music. Last Sunday afternoon, the La Crosse Chamber Chorale sang at the public library. Their selections were mostly works inspired by Shakespeare. The concert was spectacular.

On Wednesday, I joined a ukelele band. They meet every Wednesday evening to practice and welcome new players anytime. I've been using Youtube videos and a book to learn on my own since late January, but it was fantastic to get to play along with other people for a change.

On Thursday, Mr. Schu posted the new Emily Arrow video of Louise Loves Art, so of course, we watched it in class. It's great because our students are all getting ready for our district art show in May.

Yesterday, I attended the Three Rivers Powwow and had the opportunity to hear the drum circles while watching the many people, young and old, dance to that heartbeat.

Today my child and I went to see the Winona Symphony Orchestra. My favorite piece was the Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings by Dmitri Shostakovich. That man sure pushed boundaries. The piece did so much to laugh in the face of traditional symphony arrangements. This piece was done in his twenties. The pianist, Eric Brisson, was fantastic too. I couldn't help but think about the book I read last year, Symphony for the City of the Dead since that was my introduction to Shostakovich.

Music is a huge part of our lives. I listen to Putumayo Kids CDs at my library desk and the Hamilton soundtrack in my car. We have many instruments in our home: acoustic, electric and bass guitars, a cello, a trumpet, a trombone, a flute, three different sizes of recorders, a piano, and a drumset. Over the years we have attended well over 200 middle and high school performances of our children. I'm so thankful that music speaks to our hearts and can let our hearts speak.