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 is a super busy weekend, so this will be a short post, but today, I am celebrating authors. I was able to see Margarita Engle receive the Charlotte Zolotow Award for Drum Dream Girl. She spoke a bit about how the book came to be and afterwards, I got to get my book signed. Very fun.
Miranda Paul and Kevin Henkes were also there because Water is Water and Waiting were also two of the highly commended titles. I love hearing from authors and getting to meet them too. It was also nice to chat with other book loving people. I even met a twitter friend for the first time too. That all makes for a happy day.
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.
I really enjoyed Free Verse by Sarah Dooley even though I cried most of the way through. It was a great book to read right as poetry month was about to begin as poetry plays a part in the plot. Sasha is a young girl going through difficult times. She stole my heart and I wanted so much for things to get better for her.
Rad American Women A-Z was excellent! I loved finding out more about women I already knew about and even better was learning about women I'd never even heard of before. They selected some awesome women to share.
All of the picture books I read this week were good, but my overall favorite was Ideas Are All Aroundby Philip C. Stead. I really believe that is true. Ideas are everywhere, we just have to notice them and nurture them. We have to be observing and wondering or we miss them. I loved the idea of the book, but I also loved the design and illustration too. By the way, this is one where you should peek under the dust jacket for a different view. I've had a typewriter in my library since September and so I noticed immediately that the font was in type. He used paint and what looked like polaroid pictures for most of illustrations. I found it to be really fun even though it is anything but a typical picture book. Matthew Winner did a great job explaining the book in his Let's Get Busy podcast with Philip C. Stead. If you haven't heard Matthew gush about Ideas Are All Around, you really should.
The Coming Week:
I am currently reading a lot of books so I hope to finish up a few of them. I have less than 50 pages left in Open Veins of Latin America so I will soon be done. It's a tough one to get through for several reasons - the death, pain, injustice and horror is hard to face. There are also complicated political and economic issues throughout. I sometimes feel like my mind is just barely making sense of things.
I'm reading The Rest of Us Just Live Here with my ears. I will be seeing Margarita Engle Saturday, so I may try to read some more of her books before then. I wish you great week filled with fabulous books.
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 loved the way Terje celebrated the "right now" of her day last week (she got the idea from Soule Mama). After reading both of their posts, I wanted to try it too.
Right now I am
...sitting in a comfy chair in my comfy clothes with a cup of spiced tea enjoying a quiet space and visiting blogs
...listening to my dog's tags clink together as he trots down the hall to check in with me every few minutes
...resting from cleaning out several rooms so we can have new carpet laid downstairs on Monday
...thinking about my first ever hot yoga class this morning and how the stretching was probably good before all of the shifting we did with furniture, books, and random belongings downstairs
...feeling thankful for this peaceful moment to reflect and communicate with others
...breathing deeply and beginning to relax as I look forward to a good night's sleep and a more restful day tomorrow.
Diverse Children's Books is a brand new book-sharing meme designed to promote the reading and writing of children's books that feature diverse characters. This community embraces all kinds of diversity including (and certainly not limited to) inclusive, multicultural, and global books for children of all backgrounds.
We encourage everyone who shares to support this blogging community by visiting and leaving comments for at least three others. Please also consider following the hosts on at least one of their social media outlets. Spread the word using #diversekidlit and/or adding our button to your site and your diverse posts.
Interested in joining as a host or an occasional co-host? Contact Katie at 1logonaut (gmail).
We hope this community will grow into a great resource for parents, teachers, librarians, publishers, and authors! Our next linkup will be Saturday, April 16th.
I love April because the whole month is a reminder to deliberately seek out poetry and poets. I love this book by Don Tate. It's a wonderful look into the life and writing of George Moses Horton.
Here are a few more selections to check out during poetry month. Some of the titles are on the high end of middle grade (Voice of Freedom, Walking on Earth & some of the novels in verse).
Title: Traveling the Underground Railroad (Terrell and Keke's Adventures Through Time) Author:Kesha Rushing Publisher: Kea Publishing (self-published) Pages: 132 Review copy: Digital Edition via author Availability: For purchase online
Summary: Eleven-year-old Terrell and his 8 year-old sister, Keke, are time-travelers. Only they don't know it yet. All they know is it's the end of school year, their parents are having financial troubles and they must leave their friends in Chicago to spend the summer with their grandparents in small-town Tennessee.
An entire summer with a sassy, annoying little sister following his every step?! This may be Terrell's most boring summer ever. Or, will it? The woods behind his grandparents' house are deep, dark and forbidden - the perfect place for an adventure. The pair discover a hidden cabin and a trunk full of books that will lead them on a whirlwind adventure through time. Their first stop? The Underground Railroad led by the famous abolitionist, Harriet Tubman. On their journey they will travel as runaways and experience the danger, fear and courage that many slaves experienced on their journey to freedom.
Review: Terrell is just a typical fifth grade student off on a visit to relatives for the summer. He's not expecting much excitement, but that is exactly what he gets and his sister is following right behind him. Readers who enjoyed the Magic Treehouse series will likely enjoy traveling with Terrell and Keke on their journey through time.
I found the travel back in time to be very interesting and I learned some new things about Harriet Tubman. I didn't know she had an injury to the head that cause her to fall into deep sleeps. This comes up during their time with her. The children are in a great deal of danger during their trip so there is definitely tension and suspense. I read the book at a fast clip.
This would be a great book to put into the hands of readers interested in adventure and history. I hope to see more books with Terrell and Keke.
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.
I didn't participate last Monday because I was out on the road visiting this lovely lady.
Me and My Gram - Photo credit Bobie Williams
So here are the highlights from the last two weeks rather than a listing of everything I read.
What I notice here is a lot of nonfiction. The Langston Hughes memoir, I Wonder as I Wander, was interesting though not what I expected. It's a travel memoir and I always like those, but somehow I thought there would be poetry. I enjoyed it anyway and the reader (it was audio) was wonderful.
Solving the Puzzle Under the Seareminded me about how much I used to love filling in blank maps. It's a picture book biography about scientist Marie Tharp and how she made maps of the ocean floor.
Reading Ling & Ting was also coincidental since I saw a TedTalk by Grace Lin. Her topic was "The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child's Bookshelf." It's excellent. If you haven't watched it yet, take the 12 minutes to listen if you can.
Whose Hands are These is a wonderful inclusive look at careers. Pink is a Blobfish was hilarious and just gross enough to be fabulous. Hillary Rodham Clinton: Some Girls are Born to Lead is a picture book biography. There are quite a few on the market at this point, but this one seems to me the best for young readers. The illustrations are engaging and so is the text.
Sex is a Funny Word was a Stonewall Book Award honor book for 2015. The book seems to be aimed at upper elementary students. From my goodreads review, "This book explains a lot of things, but what I appreciated the most was all of the questions at the end of the sections. Families reading it together would have lots of opportunities to discuss things that many kids are wondering and might be afraid to ask. Children reading it on their own would also understand that if they are wondering these things, they are obviously not alone and might actually venture to talk to someone they trust."
I had fun reading Lola Levine Drama Queen.Lola Levine is a great early chapter book series. Don't Throw it to Mo!is another book including some humor. I liked this early reader and loved that we get to see a youngster playing football. There aren't a ton of books for my young football fans that they can read independently. Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singingis one I'm reading to prepare for the author panels I'll be moderating at the WEMTA conference next month. I didn't know much about Joplin, but found this to be a well done biography. I loved the many images and the design of the book was eye-catching.
The Coming Week:
Currently reading
I'm still working on these history books. These are not light books, but are definitely very interesting. I am listening to the Let's Get Busy Podcast featuring Philip Stead. They're discussing Ideas Are All Around. I have it at school and now I am eager to read it. I may even stop by tomorrow on my day off to pick it up. Beyond that, I am not sure which books I will pick up. I am eager to read something YA that's light and fluffy. If you have an idea, let me know. Thanks!
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.
Effective Educator Files
Next week many things are due at my school. One of the biggest things looming over me was my Effective Educator work. I needed to create a unit plan, lesson plan, and organize artifacts to show that I am an effective educator. This took many, many hours, but I'm happy to say that my digital files are all in order and I am ready to present them to my coach on Tuesday and later in the week to my administrator.
Ready to start journaling
As an incentive, I promised myself a trip to the arts and crafts store to get a blank journal & some fun supplies like new watercolors and watercolor pencils. Earlier this year I was able to attend the Lighting the Torch Conference at UW-L sponsored by the Hmong Organization Promoting Education. One of the sessions I attended was led by Mai Choj (Chao) Duddeck. She's an artist, teacher and now an author/illustrator of the book Gathering Fireflies. The book tells the story of a young Hmong American boy who is finding out about his families history through a school project. It's wonderful to hear another Hmong voice in literature for young people.
Here's a great article about Mai Choj and another one here. Her session was "Self Discovery Through Art and Writing." The participants got to know each other a little bit, Mai Choj talked about her writing/creating process, and she read from her book. Then, she shared some activities with us that really got us excited about creating and we made small books. She was very encouraging and I loved the chance to just sit and make things. We had beautiful music to listen to while we worked. She had a playlist that was full of Maa Vue's songs. Here's a sample of her music that even includes writing.
If you click CC you will see the lyrics in English
It really reminded me of the books I've read by Lynda Barry. I've used some of the writing prompts from Barry's books and have even done some of the art exercises (I loved those!).
One of the things Journal Fodder recommended was to dive into old family photos and papers. Coincidentally, I went to my mother's house this past weekend and we had a huge bin of old photos to look through. There were also wedding certificates, report cards, school work, journals, telegrams, and other bits and pieces of her life and my grandmother's life too. I was able to take pictures of some of the items to use in my journal and there were some amazing photos too.
I'm eager to get started with the process of making art and telling my story. We all have a story to tell. In the telling, we learn about ourselves. Now the journey/journal begins.
I gathered my supplies & they fit nicely in my basket.
It's a different kind of Easter basket. :)
