It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

If you want to know more about what I've been reading, visit my Goodreads shelf.

#MustReadin2018 Final Update

#ClassroomBookaday the final week of 2018

 

Pre-K students loved Dance, Dance, Dance! I kind of did too. It's a great read aloud. You get to be seriously goofy imitating a dancing horse.

Kindergarteners enjoyed The Very Last Castle. 

First graders finished up the Mock Geisel books. Our winner was The Itchy Book! by LeUyen Pham and our honors were Bigger! Bigger! by Leslie Patricelli and My Friends Make Me Happy! by Jan Thomas.

Second grade read Thank You, Omu! We enjoyed that the author is so young.

Third grade read Carmela Full of Wishes and discussed siblings and their ability to be annoying. We also went to Wonderopolis to learn more about dandelions and wishes.

Fourth grade read Goldfish on Vacation and we were fascinated by the real history it's based on and we had fun seeing photos of the actual fountain and the apartment in the book. We got to read one more book - Captain Starfish and talked about fears we have had before.

Fifth grade The Wall in the Middle of the Book and learned the word irony.

Reading at Home

Three of these were on my #MustReadin2018 list - Rest in Power, Invisible Man, and Homegoing. They were all good in different ways and were all quite tough to read. Sarai and the Meaning of Awesome was fun and easy to read. Finding Langston was really fantastic and was a great length for a class read aloud. It's short and quick, but very meaningful.

The Coming Week: I am finishing up the final three books on my #MustReadin2018 list. I wish you a wonderful week full of reading.

Reading Challenge Updates: 
Goodreads Challenge 2018 - 825/800
Diversity on the Shelf 2018 - 242/300
#MustReadin2018 - 27/30

#MustReadin2018 Final Update

The #MustReadin2018 is a reading challenge led by Carrie Gelson at There is a Book for That. I enjoy being part of the group of readers setting and aiming for their own unique reading goals and many of us have been joining Carrie for the past several years. Here are the books I chose at the beginning of the year. There is also a list at my Goodreads account.

Here are my previous posts: January, Spring Update, Fall Update

For the final portion of the year, I've read another nine books.

 

All That I Can Fix is unique and deals with mental health and how a family works through that. 

Voices in the Air is a wonderful collection of poetry. I reviewed it here. 

I was less than impressed with Invisible Emmie, but I understand why readers would enjoy it. I didn't like the disability references in particular, but again, it's a realistic graphic novel with humor so many readers will likely pick it up. My review is here. 

Pashmina is a wonderful YA graphic novel with a bit of magical realism about bridging cultures.

This Will Be My Undoing is a great collection of essays sharing MorganJerkins' perspective on living in the U.S. as a Black woman & feminist.

A Girl Like That wasn't a favorite of mine and then I read a review that indicates it may have some problematic content. I probably wouldn't recommend it since there are so many other books I've loved this year that I appreciated more.

I listened to the audio of Homegoing. It was truly an amazing collections of stories. It's definitely worth a read.  

Invisible Man was the most challenging book to read this year. I sometimes felt that I was not understanding all that I was supposed to, but eventually things would start to make sense again. It was like reading a school assignment, but I was ultimately glad that I stuck with it. 

Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin is a heart-breaker.

I did not get to three of the books on my list: Even This Page is White, Furthermore, and Binti, but I plan to read at least two more of them soon. 

My favorites of the year were Voices in the Air, Homegoing, Rebel Seoul, American Panda, So You Want to Talk About Race, From Twinkle with Love, Give Me Some Truth, and Amal Unbound.

I'm thankful for this challenge because it helps me get to books I would never get around to reading. I hope you had a great year of reading and I wish you many wonderful books in 2019.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

If you want to know more about what I've been reading, visit my Goodreads shelf.

The Past Week in Books: 

#ClassroomBookaday

 

 

Kindergarten and first grade students are reading and voting for our Mock Geisel. Kindergarten started sooner, so they finished and voted. First graders have only read a few of the books, but will finish up this week. Our Mock Geisel list is on our Goodreads shelf.

Second grade read Why and I Me? and Let's Talk About Race. These are great books to use when discussing identity.

 

Third grade students are learning about series books so we read I Want My Hat Back, This is Not My Hat and We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen.

Fourth grade students got to experience The Great Migration. The paintings by Jacob Lawrence are wonderful. MoMA also has great online resources to go with the paintings. 

Fifth graders have been working on environmental literacy so Kate, Who Tamed the Wind was a great way to see how people can effect change.

Aside from picture books, I finished listening to Where We Belong by Hoda Kotb, but it wasn't a favorite. I liked hearing some of the stories about people who've made life changes, but it wasn't thrilling or fascinating. It was just something I had grabbed for a road trip. For book group I read The Woman in the Window. It was a mystery and was okay, but was way longer than it needed to be. I finished Being the Change by Sarah K. Ahmed and found it very helpful. It's a professional development book that provides step-by-step lesson ideas and I am looking forward to implementing some of her strategies.

The Coming Week: I am listening to the audio of Homegoing. I hope to read that and some of the rest of the books on my #MustReadin2018 list. I wish you a wonderful week full of reading.

Reading Challenge Updates: 
Goodreads Challenge 2018 - 786/800
Diversity on the Shelf 2018 - 229/300
#MustReadin2018 - 23/30

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

If you want to know more about what I've been reading, visit my Goodreads shelf.

The Past Week on Blogs: 

 My 2018 Favorites on Rich in Color

Voices in the Air: Poems for Listeners 

The Past Week in Books: 

#ClassroomBookaday

These are some of the books we read last week in various classes: Sea Creatures from the Sky, Water Rolls, Water Rises, How to Code a Sandcastle, Hidden Figures, Stop,Go,Yes, No!, and I'm Sad.

Aside from picture books, I read the funny early chapter book Ugly Cat & Pablo and the Missing Brother. I also read the poetry collection Voices in the Air: Poems for Listeners which was great (see review above). The Parker Inheritance was a fantastic multi-layered middle grade mystery. Hey, Kiddo was just as fabulous as I expected it to be. It's raw and real, but not overwhelming.

The Coming Week: I have a book club meeting on Thursday so I need to start reading The Woman in the Window. I also need to get reading the last seven books on my #MustReadin2018 list.

Reading Challenge Updates: 
Goodreads Challenge 2018 - 774/800
Diversity on the Shelf 2018 - 229/300
#MustReadin2018 - 23/30

Voices in the Air: Poems for Listeners

Voices in the Air: Poems for Listeners by Naomi Shihab Nye


Summary: Acclaimed and award-winning poet, teacher, and National Book Award finalist Naomi Shihab Nye’s uncommon and unforgettable voice offers readers peace, humor, inspiration, and solace. This volume of almost one hundred original poems is a stunning and engaging tribute to the diverse voices past and present that comfort us, compel us, lead us, and give us hope.

Voices in the Air is a collection of almost one hundred original poems written by the award-winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye in honor of the artists, writers, poets, historical figures, ordinary people, and diverse luminaries from past and present who have inspired her. Full of words of encouragement, solace, and hope, this collection offers a message of peace and empathy.

Voices in the Air celebrates the inspirational people who strengthen and motivate us to create, to open our hearts, and to live rewarding and graceful lives. With short informational bios about the influential figures behind each poem, and a transcendent introduction by the poet, this is a collection to cherish, read again and again, and share with others. Includes an index.

My Thoughts:

This is definitely a collection that made me think. There were many times when I wanted to stop and jot down notes. In the introduction, she explains the Japanese word yutori. It means life-space. Giving yourself room to make mistakes as well as the possibility of succeeding. It can also simply mean having a power cord long enough to reach the outlet. She explains that poetry gives us more space to contemplate life and have more room to listen. I like all of this. Then while reading the poetry, in the pauses and in the words, I found space for contemplation.

What is wonderful about this collection is the ability for the reader to find themselves and connections to themselves throughout the poems. Poetry offers a space to search for meaning and connection to the poem and to the poet. In "The Bamboo Mind" my mind rushed back to the bamboo forest near Kyoto.

In "Unsung--on Finding" my knitting basket popped into view. Not only mine, but the basket of my mother-in-law who had saved the yarn from her mother's basket. All this yarn waiting for projects. Some of the yarn in my basket is likely older than I am.

In "Bundle," she writes:

"And consider the people at any crossing walk,

     how you will never cross with them again,

isn't that enough to make a charm?"

 

There was no way to not think of Shibayu crossing and the young university students we met there. We will never cross with them again. We will never have that exact arrangement of people again, but we certainly have the memory.

Aside from these personal types of memories this poetry inspired, it also brought current political events, opinions, and personalities up for thought. I appreciated this line attributed to Grace Paley, "Politics is simply the way human beings treat one another on the earth."

Not every poem was exactly what I needed, but they are well crafted and so many of them really pulled at me and shook my shoulders telling me to pay attention. Another line that caught me was, "We are here, so deeply here, and then we won't be."

Naolmi Shihab Nye has a lovely way with words and I am always happy to spend time with her poetry. This collection shares not only her voice, but the voices of many other poets and people from her life. I appreciate how these poems speak and how they point to the poetry of others.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

If you want to know more about what I've been reading, visit my Goodreads shelf.

The Past Week on Blogs: 

 Native Representation in YA

The Past Week in Books: 

#ClassroomBookaday

 

With most grades we were gearing up for Hour of Code so many of our titles had to do with technology except Builders & Breakers with Pre-K. Bad Kitty doesn't like snow, but also smashes a laptop to smithereens so yeah, tech even there.

Dragons in a Bag was a fantastic early chapter book fantasy by Zetta Elliott. I love her books. Meet Yasmin! is an even younger chapter book and is bright and fun. I Almost Forgot About You was an audio from last week that I wasn't quite finished with. It was entertaining and light for the most part. I laughed a lot. I also read a YA book on audio, Kill the Boy Band, but it was not something I'd recommend. Someone else wrote about some of the problems here.

The Coming Week: I am not sure where my reading will go this week. I brought home The Parker Inheritance so I may get to that. I'm still reading these also:

Reading Challenge Updates: 
Goodreads Challenge 2018 - 721/800
Diversity on the Shelf 2018 - 218/300
#MustReadin2018 - 22/30