Another day in the Maze, It's Monday, What Are You Reading-July 7, 2014

Monday! What are you Reading is a meme began by Sheila at Book Journeys as a way to share what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and what is in store for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading. I first learned about it from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers and have become a regular linked up blog. Thanks #PLN

 I just finished the Maze Runner as one of my #Summerthrowdown reads for July and #MustReadin2014. I have been waiting weeks on the library hold list to get my hands on a copy. I found it entertaining and irritating at the same time. 

 The premise for the story was fantastic. There is a massive stone wall maze that contains an area known as "the glade" which is home to a group of teen age boys whose memories have been wiped before they arrived. Once a month a "greenie"or "greenbean" is sent up via a metal box to join the others. The boys are left to survive using the few supplies they are regularly provided and must live by their wits. Every day a group of Runners go into the maze to seek an escape. After two years the mystery of the maze has yet to be solved when Thomas shows up and then everything changes including the sudden arrival of a girl.

I like the mystery of the story but the characters were blah with the exception of Chuck and Newt. I envisioned Newt as an Aussie accented character and Chuck as the sweet gullible buddy who is bound to be killed off.

The movie trailer certainly makes it look more exciting than the book. I really want to see the movie but the book was only mildly entertaining. 

I have continued on my Harry Potter Re-read challenge and am up to The Order of the Phoenix. I mostly listen to the audio version while I work. I never get tired of Harry Potter.






 
 In my car, I am listening to Insurgent because I like Emma Galvan's voice. I can only listen to so much before I get fed up with Tris. (Yes, I do like the series but after a second read of it, Tris has become a bit full of herself always insisting on taking on all the bad guys alone}. I think now that I know the full outcome of the series, I am a bit more harsh with Tris. I was the same way with Bella Swan's lack of confidence. The girl could cook, she was smart, she was kind and a good friend. Why was she so down on herself? 


 I also spent a day at the library reading through a stack of picture books but my favorite picture book of the week was one sent to me by author Debbie Diesen. See pictures from inside the book here

I am setting it aside to use as a start of school book.

Next up for me is The Night Gardener, Almost Abigail, and more Harry Potter. 

What does your reading week look like? Let me know.

 

It's Monday, What Are You Reading May 13, 2013

Monday, May 13, 2013

A great day to celebrate books and reading!

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 it at Teach Mentor Texts hosted by Jen and Kellee. I was messing around with a button Scholastic had given me and stuck it in a calendar and snapped a photo. Cool right? Now I flash this pic to kids and ask them, "What are you reading?"

Happy Children's Book Week! It's finally here and I watched the final seconds counting down on the 
Children's Book Week website. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Happy Children's Book Week! On May 14 the winners of the Children's Choice Book Awards will be announced. 

This week, I am finishing up Son by Lois Lowry. It's very good and I like how my unanswered questions are becoming resolved. I have just a few pages left but it is typical of me to drag a book out if I don't want a series to end. I will go finished it after writing this post.

In the library I continued with my unabashed enthusiasm for the genius of Mo Willems. His books are so perfect for the emerging reader and I have been bringing in as many copies of his books as I can find to read until I am hoarse and then I go home and read to the kiddos at home too.

I love these type of interactive books that brings the reader into the action and feeling that they are a part of the story. J found this book on YouTube. He is a true book lover at the age of 2-almost-3 years old. I had forgotten about this book but I used to have it in my home library.

The Monster at the End of This Book

Our favorite Read Alouds this week are:

In the Library this week: 

Jangles: a big fish story
by David Shannon
Blue Sky Press

With a dirty green tackle box at his side, a father shares with his son a story of his encounter with the legendary giant fish Jangles. As it was nearing dark, he does not realize his anchor has come lose and he was drifting out into the middle of Big Lake. Soon he feels a tug on his line and pulls in an old rod and reel. As he cranks in the line, he sees a giant shadow swim up and swallow his lure and then is dragged over the side of his boat into the deepest part of the lake where he discovers that not only can he breathe under water but the fish can speak to him. 


Three year olds to sixth graders were mesmerized this week by the folk-tale Jangles. We created fishing lures that we thought would be just right for catching Jangles. Next week, students will be justifying their choice of materials for attracting Jangles. I am working on a fishing game to finish off our lesson. This is one of the books we are reading for our 2013 Bluebonnet Book Club 


My Re-Read:

The Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen

I walked into Kohls to do some merchandising work and actually squealed with joy when I spotted my old frowny friend The Pout Pout Fish. It was so hard to complete my tasks because I was so anxious to purchase the book and fishy friends to take home to the kiddos. I have a library copy but this book needs to be in every home of little ones. The rhyming structure flows so easy and the story is such fun to read. This has been a favorite of mine for library lessons for the past few years. The Pout Pout Fish is a current special $5 offer from Kohls Cares. By the way, the folks in my local Kohls are some amazing folks and they are the epitome of Kohls Cares. You might have seen them helping out at events around town wearing their Kohls Cares shirts. Thanks Mike, Jose, Lisa, Trish and the rest of the Kohls folks in Corpus Christi, Texas. I respect and admire how hard you work for your community.


What I am listening to: 


My students love the James Paterson books and have been anxiously awaiting the newest book which is now in my library collection. I am trying to listen to Middle School Get Me Out Of Here! but I suppose I am too old to appreciate the hijinks that seem to be an important part of the theme of this story-line. Well, maybe not. I still remember one prank I pulled in high school. I was an office worker and had access to the PA system. One day I slipped a fake announcement into the pile and the principal announced it. The best part of the prank was that I was smart enough to keep my trap shut and not brag about it. Oops, I just remembered another one. The senior class was always winning the weekly spirit award contest so some fellow sophomores and I made several hundreds signs saying "Sophomores Spirit!" and we snuck in and pinned them all over the heavy velvet curtain on the stage where spirit contests were held. The curtains were only closed before the drill team would perform. When the curtain closed, the cheers went up from everyone but the senior class and sophomores DID win the spirit award that day. Now that I am reminiscing, maybe I get the attraction.

Spectacular Summer Reading Lists
I am pulling together my summer reading list for students and here is a couple of resources.

 Peguin Books for Young Readers:
2013 Guide for Parents, Caregivers, Teachers, Librarians, and Booksellers

This resource was sent to me by comrade, Denise Hyde. Funny story-In 2010, I came in and sat down amid a mass of librarians waiting to hear Jamie Lee Curtis at TLA. I introduced myself to the lady next to me and it turned out to be Denise. We discovered that we worked at the same university, same city,  just in different libraries. I am the elementary school children's librarian and she is a university reference librarian. Small world.

This week, I begin A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff

In a magical world where everyone has a Talent, eleven-year-old Cady is an orphan with a phenomenal Talent for cake baking. But little does she know that Fate has set her on a journey from the moment she was born. And her destiny leads her to a mysterious address that houses a lost luggage emporium, an old recipe, a peanut butter factory, a family of children searching for their ownTalents, and a Talent thief who could alter her life forever.


Happy reading!

November 1st marks the beginning of National Picture Book Month. Learn more here.

The idea is to explore and read all the wonderful picture books you have been wanting to read. For schools, it is a great opportunity to work with families to reach reading goals in a fun and positive way that encourages families to read together. Another plus is because so many people are joining in the celebration you will be able to gain exposure to books you might have missed. Authors and illustrators are posting daily essays explaining why reading picture books are so important. Teachers and librarians are thrilled at all the perks of being able to download incredible resources to support the reading of picture books. There are few things in this world that are more comforting than building memories by reading a good picture book with the ones you love.

Print out the Picture Book Month calendar and follow the daily theme. 

Day 1 theme: Oceans

Read "Why Picture Books are Important" by Chris Raschka

My favorite ocean book is The Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen. 

Visit Deborah's author website
Illustrated by: Dan Hanna visit his website for pictures and adorable videos at Bluebelly Lizard
 Published by:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG)

Why I love the The Pout Pout Fish

It is an easy flowing rhyming book about with a great lesson to be learned-turn your frown upside down. PPF also fits in nicely with ocean related learning objectives.

This book is so loved by children and they naturally want to join in his chants of "I'm a Pout Pout fish" and you know it is a terrific book when children go home and teach it to their parents. Such joy is felt when a parent calls to find out about the Pout Pout Fish because their kid keeps quoting him.I highly recommend The Pout Pout Fish for your next undersea adventure.

Pout Pout Fish Curriculum Connections and fun activities


Make a Jelly Fish with a paper bowl, streamers, gogglie eyes, and paint.