Monday, April 15, 2013

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!





7 comments:

  1. I loved Ghetto Coaboy and Messenger is one of my all time faves. May be looks great and I still have not found a copy of Boy+Bot. Have a great reading week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Gigi. Boy + Bot is perfect to use with imagination lessons. Have you read the full Giver series?

      Delete
  2. What a great list of books! The Giver is my favorite book EVER and I love the rest of the series too. Cannot wait to hear what you think about Son.
    Ghetto Cowboy is a recent favorite- I have loved sharing it with my class.

    Happy reading this week :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I need to get my hands on Son. I don't have it but am anxious to start reading it.

      Delete
  3. I think Penny and her Marble might be my favourite of all of the Penny books! I adored May B Such a powerful little read. Loved that it touched on having struggles with school and literacy. I know this is a book I will reread as it is just so rich.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Carrie, I was fortunate enough to hear Kevin Henkes talk about his book Junonia and why his picture books do not suite e book formats. He spoke about the flow and continual movement from page to page using Little White Rabbit as the example. It really opened my eyes to a new perspective.

      Delete
  4. Hi there Julee, I'm glad to see that you enjoyed The Giver series. One of my absolute favorites. Our blog's name came from Gathering Blue, the second book in the series. Looks like you've read quite a lot this week! NIce. I haven't read May B yet but have read a lot of rave reviews. I also enjoy novels in verse and historical fiction. Will look for this one. :)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for verifying. Your efforts are appreciated.