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Sunday, September 16, 2012

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!




14 comments:

  1. I don't think I've had one student in ten years pick up "It's Like This, Cat". I read it, but have no concrete memories. Maybe it's time for it to go, Newbery or not.

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    1. I teach in an elementary and we don't own a copy. Reading it did not convince me to buy it either. I think it is for a little older audience. I enjoyed the voices, but don't see it as something that would really speak to most kids today.

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  2. I haven't heard of Six Men but it looks really interesting. I'll have to see if our library has it.

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    1. I really liked it. It would work well with The Enemy. I just ran across it at the public library in a display of picture books for older children.

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  3. Six Men looks amazing. I think I need to find it and add it to my collection even if I won't be sharing it with students necessarily, I'm hearing lots of praise for I'm Bored. Just the cover is appealing. Thanks for some great suggestions!

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    1. I really found Six Men thought provoking. I immediately wanted to talk with someone about it.

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  4. I ended up with an odd, almost uncategorizable book this week, too!

    I adore Wrinkle in Time (did my reread in January to prepare for the anniversary). I still have Bronze Bow and It's Like This on my Newbery to do list.

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  5. I need to reread A Wrinkle in Time. Haven't read it in ages and my memory of it is terribly fuzzy. The Camping Trip that Changed America looks really interesting. I must see if my library has a copy! Lots of good books here.

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  6. I MUST FIND SIX MEN. I just checked our online database, we have it! Wheeee! I am deeply into picture books for older readers. A wrinkle in time has always been a favorite. I read and loved the entire series. I also have the Austin Series - but I haven't gotten around to reading everything yet. We haven't made much headway with the Newbery Medal challenge ourselves, but we are nearly done with the Caldecott challenge. :)

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    1. I am the opposite. I have only hit some of the Caldecotts. I got caught up in the Newberys. I haven't read the Austin series, but will have to track it down sometime.

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  7. The cover of Magritte's is quite clever. Brings to mind the famous green apple painting, without being too obvious.

    I'm Bored is also on my list after reading the review on Watch. Connect. Read earlier this week.

    Maria @novalibrarymom.com

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    1. The Magritte book made me want to look at the original works and compare. It would be great to use in an art class.

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  8. Thanks for sharing the titles Six Men and Magritte's Marvelous Hat. And I'm looking forward to Goldilocks and I'm Bored coming in for me at the library. I just adored the illustrations, particularly the two-page tall tree spread, in The Camping Trip that Changed America.

    Lorna

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    1. I loved that spread with the trees also. It made me catch my breath.

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