Monday, July 8, 2013

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?

12 comments:

  1. Julee--these recommendations are so helpful, as our library's goal this year is to beef up our non-fiction sections, especially biographies. I can already think of several kids at my school who will snap up the Jacques Costeau books. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your kids must be so thrilled to have both a librarian (rock stars in elementary school) and an author for their teacher. We will have to compare books sometimes. The autobiography Knuckleheads by Jon Scieszka is hilarious! Have you read it?

      Delete
  2. Oh my word, I want to comment on your books, but I'm laughing too hard at that Voki! I was like a little kid in awe as its eyes followed my curser around. I've got to use one of these somehow next school year! Thanks for the fun, and happy reading week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad I made you laugh, or at least the monkey did. I have been trying to convince my school district how useful Voki's are as a tool for proofreading. A student types the words in and if they are misspelled, the voice reads it incorrectly. I think they are great for mini book talks too.

      Delete
  3. So jealous that you have Guys Read: Other Worlds. Definitely looking forward to that!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is chock full of terrific short stories by some amazing authors. I am reading "Plan B" by Rebecca Stead today. The Guys Read books are always excellent.

      Delete
  4. Love the theme of ocean books. Great idea to pair these together! Reminds me that I want to get my hands on the book Manfish! I loved Life in the Ocean as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The wonderful thing about all three of these books is that kids really like them a lot. We live in a Gulf of Mexico community so becoming a sea diver is a reality for children in our community. In fact, our school windows face out overlooking a huge bay and we can sometimes see dolphin swimming about.

      Delete
  5. Sooo many books I hardly know where to start. I'd love some of those crepes right now. Looks like you have a great reading week ahead!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I stock a lot of kid friendly cookbooks for my students. They love to check them out. It offers them a way to try out their creative cooking skills and bond with family members. Cookbooks are a terrific way to understand the importance of sequential events and the resulting outcomes. Plus, they are fun to look through. Recently, a boy told me that he couldn't turn in his library book because his mom wasn't finished with it. It was a cookbook. Love it!

      Delete
  6. YUM. You made me want to enjoy some crepes while I read this week. :)

    Happy reading!
    :) Ricki (www.unleashingreaders.com)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Crepes are so easy to make. I make the most delicious Tetrazzini Chicken crepes.

      Delete

Thank you for verifying. Your efforts are appreciated.