It's Monday, What Are You Reading July 8, 2013

It's 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 at Teach Mentor Texts. What a great web site!

This is a Voki. Press the Play button arrow.

I read the following books this week for fun and also to meet my Book Challenge goals for 

 #Bookdare #summerthrowdown #bookaday #bigbookchallenge

 Because I'm Your Dad
by Ahmet Zappa
Illustrated by Dan Santat
Goal: read a book about parents-dad

I love this precious book about a loving dad who let's his little monster son eat ice cream in the bathtub, make mud forts, and burp like a champion. This is a terrific book to give to a new dad-a sort of "how to be a cool dad" manual.



Bats at the Beach
by Brian Lies
Goal: Read a book about summer-beach

Even bats need a beach holiday.

 Since I was already reading such sweet books this week, I decided to go full ahead into It's Duffy Time and Hurry Up and Slow Down.

 My son and I have an annual 4th of July tradition to watch the movie Gettysburg. We are both history buffs. Below is my favorite scene from the movie. My son, daughters, nephews, and I used to reenact this when they were little. Now it's just me yelling "Bayonets!!!"  in the backyard. :)






The graphic novel, The Battle of Gettysburg, by Kerri O'Hern and Dale Anderson, shown in the photo above, on the left, features large images and brief information about the Battle of Gettysburg. It serves well as a beginner's guide to the battle. I would not agree with all its statements though. It contains resource links for kids to explore.  

Gettysburg by Josh Gregory is part of the Cornerstones of Freedom collection from Children's Press. I really like it. It includes an index, glossary, timeline, and a resource mix of books, websites with a strong emphasis on primary sources.

After reading about "Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle" last week on Teach Mentor Text. I began to re-read some of my favorite Ocean themed books. Steve Jenkins is brilliant!

The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Costeau. (link to my book club) Manfish by Jennifer Berne is a nice pairing with this book as they are both about Jacques Costeau.

Down Down Down, by Steve Jenkins, is a beautiful book exploring the deepest depths of the ocean. Watch this video of Ocean Fairies

 4th of July also had me thinking of Hot dogs so I read Hot Diggity Dog: The History of the Hot Dog by Adrienne Sylver. Check out this fun web site             I created for our Bluebonnet Book Club

The Cookbook for Kids  was a fun read too. I really need some new recipes. YUM! These french crepes look delicious!

This is my TBR pile this week. I hope to make a dent in it. 
Now tell me, what are you reading?