It's Monday, What Are You Reading? April 15, 2013

It's Monday! What are you reading? A weekly themed meme connecting many bloggers around the world and originally conceived by Sheila at Book Journeys. I first learned about at Teach Mentor Texts hosted by Jen and Kellee. Its a terrific way to post a few of the books that you have recently read and put together a list of what you are planning on reading this week.


Here are the books I read this past week:

On D.E.A.R. Day I selected to read "My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother" by Patricia Polacco.

This is an autobiographical look into the relationship between Patricia and her own redheaded brother. I enjoyed it as I do all Patricia Polacco books.

Listen to actress Melissa Gilbert read My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother

Next, I picked up Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri. I was able to read a chapter with each class and found it to be original and very interesting. I chose this book because it is one of the 2013-2014 Texas Bluebonnet Award nominees. I discovered some fascinating facts about the Philadelphia Street Riders while doing backstory research. *Anytime I find a book I really like, I have to uncover its backstory.*  Look here on my Bluebonnet Book Club wiki. I keep my lesson resources on my wiki for quick and easy access.
This is one of my current reads. 




May B. by Caroline Starr Rose. Thank you to the very generous and King of Book Talks, @MrSchureads, for sending this survival themed novel in verse little gem to me. I loved it. Survival stories and historical fiction are my favorite genres. I am looking forward to the Twitter #SharpSchu Book Club that will take place on April 24th at 8 p.m. EST. Please  join in the chat that also includes author Sharon Creech and her book Love That Dog. Learn more about it here on Mr. Schu's blog.

Penny and Her Marble by Kevin Henkes

Penny finds a marble as blue as the sky in a neighbor's yard and after taking it home she begins to feel guilty for taking it without asking for permission. It reminded me of the Highlights magazines that usually included stories with good moral lessons. Remember those magazines? They were always in Doctor and Dentist offices.

I just finished listening to Messenger by Lois Lowry, the third installment in the Giver series. It is my favorite in the series and I now look forward to reading the final book-Son. The audio version was due so I pulled the print copy from the library shelf to finish off the last three chapters. The library was very busy when I walked in but one of the librarians had to flick the lights on and off to alert us late stayers that it was time to close. As I was wiping the tears off my cheeks (it was beautifully written) I was shocked to see the library had emptied out. That is how removed I was from the world around me. I was swept away with the story. 

Current audio book:

I am listening to Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden. I needed a refresher because another Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee, The Humming Room by Ellen Potter,  is the retelling of The Secret Garden. Click here to view   The Humming Room on my Bluebonnet Book Club wiki. You can find books trailers, lesson plans, and more. 

Project Gutenberg: Read the Etext version of The Secret Garden (27 chapters)

These were my pre-school and kinder class reads this week. We were learning about shadows and using your imagination. Bear Shadow is a wonderful book about a bear trying to get rid of his shadow and all the kids loved it. I brought along my handy dandy crank flashlight and we made shadows. I read a poem I had written about shadows and I even found a terrific little video to share. I played the music as they walked into the library.

I love Ame Dyckman's Boy + Bot and had read it before to the kids but they always beg for it and it was the perfect book to pair with the clever Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon. In Molly's book, we learn the wonders of cloud watching and creating toys out of flowers, twigs, and cardboard boxes. I brought out my special little robot head made out of a re-purposed diaper box (thank you Maddy) and used my best robot voice to introduce Boy + Bot. They kids went wild. I just know they went home and scrounged up old boxes and made their own robots this weekend. Or at least I hope they were lucky enough to be able to do so.


So this week, I will continue to finish Ghetto Cowboy and The Secret Garden on audio. I also picked up these titles at the Neyland library.

                      


Happy reading ya'll!