Sunday, March 23, 2014

It's Monday, What are You Reading? #IMWAYR March 24, 2014

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 from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers and have become a regular linked up blog. Thanks #PLN

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown 
or according to my grandson "BB's creepy book"

What a surprise I had as I began reading Coldtown. On page 7, I learned that I lived in a coldtown. This was a little unsettling. I know it's fiction but still....there are some pretty mysterious things that take place in our fair city. 

Coldtown does indeed start out with a shocking beginning as Tana wakes up in a bathtub, a bit damp from a dripping faucet. after a night partying with friends at a sundown party. Apparently you lock yourselves inside and get wasted but at least you are safe from vampire attacks...that is unless some knucklehead forgets to shut a window. As Tana stumbles out of the bathroom she begins to smell something metallic and sweet and discovers something horrific. But wait, there's more! Her ex-boyfriend is found alive and tied up to a bed but who is that also tied up on the floor next to him? You will have to delve into this very unusual adventure if you dare to read more.


What we are reading in the library:

We began our first Bluebonnet Book Club book this week. The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt.  I asked Drew what message he wanted kids to take away from his story. My students liked what he had to share. It's important that kids understand that what they say and do matters and that they can make a difference in the world.
Students read The Day the Crayons Quit aloud in small groups. I encouraged them to take a good look at the pictures before deciding how they would portray their assigned crayons. I heard some pretty funny little voices. Everyone loved Peach crayon's letter best. After reading, the kids wanted to explore art with their favorite color of crayons. I also showed a couple of videos. One was How Crayons Are Made. Next week, we will begin writing letters from a crayon's point of view and sharing them with each other. 

If you would like some resources or ideas to use for this book. check our "under construction" 2014-15 Bluebonnet Book Club wiki

I continue to listen to Fire while driving. It's a bit long and my commute is short. I find myself sitting in the car slowly gathering up my purse and whatnots just so I can hear a bit more before heading inside the house.
I also read a series of books about Spring to the little kiddos. Books like City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems and Lois Ehlert's Pie in the Sky. The little three year olds loved both books. They gave them both a hip hip horray and cheered even louder for The Day the Crayons Quit.

What's up next on my TBR pile? Minion by John David Anderson. I recently received an ARC in the mail and look forward to seeing what our little superheroes are up to in this latest installment of John David Andersons' Sidekicked series. My students will come up to me asking for Sidekicked by asking "where is that book where the kids go into a secret room by using a vending machine to buy pork rinds?" Love it.
A few months ago, my librarian friend Kim and I lead a PD session on motivating readers through visual displays that pop with color, style, and unique looks. I shared how I am the queen of boxes. I can take a look at a discarded box and see a multitude of clever uses for it. My favorite is a large box that a IMac computer arrived in. It is almost pyramid in shape and I have turned it into a two sided display with handles. I also found four over-sized computer boxes that I covered in green paper and spelled out R E A D. Sometimes I switch them around to read D E A R. They are perfect for my library.

This week, I visited librarian Mary Ester. She grabbed my hand and pulled me around her library showing off all her amazing and creative displays she and her assistant had made out of boxes and thanked me for our PD session. I love what they did with some really cool shaped boxes. My favorite is her use of Ipad packing material. She painted them and inverted them and thus creating a book stand. These remind me of little cell phone stands.

Happy Reading!

19 comments:

  1. I love your ideas for The Day the Crayons Quit! My mind is already turning and thinking about how I could use this book with some of my classes. Thanks for sharing :) I have the Graceling series on my #MustRead2014 list. I'm thinking I'll start that in summer! I've heard great things....

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    1. Graceling and Fire are good but I do not plan on adding them to my elementary library. They have just a big too much mature content.

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  2. Thank you for the innovative display ideas! :) I was just getting fed up with random boxes invading my space, shall revisit them now with a more open eye. :) Hooray for The Day the Crayons Quit... :)

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    1. I am a box hoarder. As librarians, people always assume we have boxes and old newspapers.I usually save any strong and unique box for displays. I am out of bookshelves now and have several boxes filled to the brim with new books. I think maybe I will have to create a bookshelf out of these boxes. I think it could work!

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  3. Oh, that Coldtown book does sound very creepy. I'm seeing a lot of talk about it! I enjoyed hearing your conversations with the Bluebonnet club & seeing/hearing about the displays-they look great! Have a great week!

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    1. Thanks Linda. I am going to have to offset my reading of Coldtown with something a bit more kind, sweet, friendship-y. I am getting depressed with the greedy vampires and the double crossing. I like faithful stories of hard working folks who eventually get the good things they deserve. A wonderful example is Kirby Larson's Hattie Big Sky and Hattie Ever After. Love Hattie.

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  4. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown looks super creepy and your review has me intrigued. Have you read the Diviners? Its pretty spooky and from your description is in the same realm as Coldest Girl. Thanks for sharing your review!

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    1. I haven't read the Diviners but I like Libba Bray's Beauty Queens. It is hilarious. Beauty Queens ship wrecked and having to survive on an island. Kind of Gilligan's Island-ish.

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  5. What a great tweet from Drew. And it really speaks to the power of twitter. A lesson on life and learning in 140 characters or less. :)

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    1. I couldn't agree more. Twitter has helped me so much as an educator and as a reader. Love it.

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  6. I've already added The Coldest Girl in Coldtown to my summer reading list. It sounds like one that I need the time to read without other distractions.

    I just love The Day the Crayons Quit. I use it at the beginning of the year with my 5th graders as we write letters from the point of view of a damaged book. I got some very interesting letters this year! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Brilliant! I would like to pirate your damaged book letter idea and also share it with my district librarians. Great idea!

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  7. I always come to your website and think about how much I want to visit your library. It seems like a fabulous place to be! Thank you for sharing all of these great pictures!

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    1. Ricki, how sweet you are. I would blush and say oh it's nothing but I have the most fabulous view overlooking Corpus Christi Bay. Blockade runners used to zip into the port during the civil war and some pretty famous explorers have walked our shores. Why even Al Capone's yacht was harbored here for a few years. Come to Viva CC where the weather is windy and the temperatures mild. It only snows every 30 years or so.

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  8. I love getting peeks into your library. Thanks for sharing. The displays look terrific! I just ordered a copy of The Day the Crayons Quit for my classroom. Realized that every week one of my students takes it out from school library and they argue about it. So . . . time to get another copy in circulation!

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    1. I bought 4 copies and wished I had bought a 5th. I needed the extra copies for Bluebonnet lessons.

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  9. Love what you did with The Day the Crayons Quit. I love that book, and I loved what you did with it.

    Thank you for sharing everything--this post was very inspiring :)
    Happy reading this week!

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    1. Thank you Kellee. You are too kind. It's funny because at first I didn't really warm to the book until I read it to my grandkids and saw their reaction. My new favorite book is Don't Play with Your Food by Bob Shea. It is so cute.

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  10. Hi there Julee. I just know that I have to find The Day the Crayons Quit very soon. I've read so many good things about it. That was also a beautiful Tweet from Drew Daywalt. I've read conflicting reviews about The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, very nice to read your thoughts about it. :)

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