Geoffrey, Maggie, Beekle, Duck and Goose and Jonathan Auxier too!

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

My son took me to a very delayed and very wonderful Mother's Day lunch and afterwards, we headed to Barnes and Noble to spend some quality time checking on all the wonderful new releases. After a quick check of the YA, I headed right for the kid's section. Here are some of the titles I read in store.

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat

Anytime Dan Santat creates a book,it automatically has my seal of approval. Certain artists have a distinct style in the way of Steven Kellogg, Mercer Mayer, and Eric Carle. We take one look and recognize thatspecific style...that's a Dan Santat book.

Beekle is a sweet story of seeking friendship (aren't the best stories about friends?. Beekle is an imaginary friend waiting for his chance to be claimed by a real child but he is overlooked and decides to take matters into in own hands. He ventures out to the big city and searches high and low until he discovers his absolutely perfect match and of course they live happily ever after.

Duck & Goose Go to the Beach by Tad Hills

Duck and Goose. Goose and Duck! It's another adventure for this feathered friendship as they take off on an adventure to the beach leaving their beloved meadow behind. Crashing, splashing waves and not so friendly creatures enhance the beach experience but they two friends come to the conclusion that although the beach is a great adventure, there is no place like home.




Oh Dear Geoffrey! by Gemma O'Neill

I saw Oh Dear Geoffrey! up high out of my reach at Barnes and Noble but I certainly didn't let it stop me from scaling the shelves to pull it off the shelf. The cover illustrations caught my eye and I knew immediately that it would be worth getting in trouble with store staff.

Geoffrey is a very tall, clumsy yet adorable giraffe who stumbles and bumbles his way through the day attempting to make friends. Although a bit on the long side for a read aloud, I think Geoffrey makes for a pretty decent read aloud for story-time. Lots of kids are going through clumsy stages  and know the difficulties of trying to make friends while feeling a bit awkward themselves. It would be easy to come up with a good story craft activity and finger-play or poem for this story.


Middle grade book: The Meaning of Maggie by Megan Jean Sovern


I have had trouble staying awake long enough to read before bedtime this week but the few minutes I can manage to stay awake have been dedicated to reading The Meaning of Maggie. I find it to be heart touching and humorous at the same time. My favorite parts are the footnotes at the bottom on each page. I am doing a lot of laughing while reading. I think you will too.




I saw a tweet Jonathan Auxier sent out about his favorite kid books. I was most impressed that he was man enough to admit Little Women was one of his favorites. Two of his books are on our upcoming #virtualbookclub chats. I have The Night Gardener on my bedside table ready to read. I predict the Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes and Night Gardener chat will be one of our best chats ever.

Here's a list of all the titles: http://t.co/FOAVNlaE7X @JuleeMurphy @abramskids
— Jonathan Auxier (@JonathanAuxier) May 22, 2014

Jonathan Auxier's favorite children's books shared on his Children's Book Week Champion video:
http://www.thescop.com/2014/05/a-childrens-book-week-challenge/ 

Summer Boredom Busters It's Monday, What Are You Reading? May, 19, 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

Here are pics of some of the books I read this week but I mainly want to share ideas for 
2014 Summer Reading Programs. There are many more out there but these are available in my region.
READS this week:

See my reviews of Bug on a Bike and Julia's House for Lost Creatures HERE 

(release date: October 1, 2014)

LOVED IT! (release date October 14,2014)

 Found by Salina Yoon
While walking in the woods, Bear finds a floppy bunny who seems to be lost. He takes the little fella home and makes some Found posters and begins to search high and low for the bunny's family. It's hard to part with a new friend but Bear knows it's the right thing to do. This is a sweet little story about doing the right thing and the reward that can come from doing so. Loved it and thought of my friend Niki Barnes who is a fan of Salina Yoon books.

Peggy by Anna Walker
Peggy lived in a small house on a quiet street until one day a blustery wind swooped her away and off into an adventure in the city. Peggy saw new and interesting things but she missed her home. The clever and brave chicken uses her wits to follow a sunflower onto a train and out into the country where she soon finds herself back home with the help of some familiar pigeons.

The pages of Peggy are rich, thick, and creamy filled with witty images of things Peggy discovers on her windy adventure. One page in particular was quite striking-"Peggy saw things she had never seen before" appears to be a blend of water colors and photographs. I gazed at this page for a long time eventually laughing at Peggy appearing on several TV screens. You have to love this chicken! The strength of the story comes from its illustrations. The only awkwardness in the story (from a read aloud perspective) was that it seemed heavily edited cutting out wording that would have made the story flow better. 
 
Love Your Dog by Judith Heneghan

Colorful informational picture book detailing the care, feeding, training, and needs of a dog. Children will repond positively to the bright colorful format and photo illustrations that accompany the text. Book includes an index, glossary, additional web resources, and a "How well do you know dogs" quiz.

Summer “Boredom Busters” Reading Programs 2014

Local Library programs – Visit your local library for a great summer reading program!

Fizz Boom Read is the 2014 Public Library theme. Program help can be seen here: http://www.teachingbooks.net/show.cgi?f=cslp 

Here is a cute video I am partially using to introduce the program in my area. It was created by St. Tammany Parish Library.

http://youtu.be/hPki7YDFvjs  Fizz Boom Read commercial. So cute

Customize a Summer Reading Challenge at home:
Create-Your-Own Summer Reading Program with these printables:
http://www.prekinders.com/summerpacket/SummerBookBingo.pdf
http://www.howdoesshe.com/summer-reading-star-free-exclusive-printable
http://playfullearning.net/summer-reads-bingo/

Read for My Summer highlights a special book for you and your child to read online from the We Give Books library every week, along with fun activities and reading tips to make each book come to life, including custom activities from Read Write Think. This free 10-week program helps parents, schools and libraries offer children an exciting online reading experience, while helping to share books with public libraries in the US.           http://www.wegivebooks.org/give/summer  


Barnes and Noble Summer Reading - Read 8 books and submit the provided reading Journal for a free book from selected list. Form has choices for grades 1-6. Program ends 9/2/14. Kelsey, the local BN representative came out to my school to drop off a packet of reading logs and information.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/summer-reading/379003570/  

Half Price Books – Children ages 14 and under can earn a $5 gift card each month for reading 15 min/day in June and July.   http://hpb.com/fyb/

Chuck. E. Cheese's Reading Rewards Calendar - Redeem the reading certificate for 10 FREE tokens. Limit 1 free token offer per child, per day. Only at participating locations.   http://www.chuckecheese.com/_content...ds_RC_1213.pdf 
Additional rewards calendars:  http://www.chuckecheese.com/activities/rewards-calendar

Scholastic Summer Challenge - kids can log their reading time to win virtual rewards like book and audio chapters from kid favorites and virtual badges. http://www.scholastic.co/ups/campaigns/src-2014

Visit Scholastic The Stacks for more fun: http://www.scholastic.com/kids/stacks/

Book Adventure - free reading program from Sylvan Learning. Kids can take quizzes on books they've read to earn points for prizes.

http://www.bookadventure.com/home.aspx 

American Girl: This is more of an interactive web site that includes ideas, quizzes, and a list of upcoming store events.    http://www.americangirl.com/reading/
  
Pizza Hut Spark Your Greatness Summer Reading Challenge June 1-August 15, 2014. The Challenge incorporates reading with games, activities, printable materials, and a chance to win prizes.http://www.bookitprogram.com/summer/default.asp 

HEB Grocery Summer Reading This is a terrific program but they do not post the information until school is already out. http://www.hebuddy.com/content/pdf/readingclub.pdf

Have a wonderful reading week!

Julia's House for Lost Creatures and Bug on a Bilke

My lunch break Net Galley reads today were Julia's House for Lost Creatures and Bug on a Bike. I appreciate all the publishers who offer these titles up to librarians and reading advocates who do their best to seek out the very best books for their book collections.

Julia’s House for Lost Creatures by Ben Hatke
First Second Books
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Ben Hatke has his pulse on what children like to read. Julia's House for Lost Creatures is a sweet story of a girl who lives in a house that rests upon the back of a giant turtle (although you don't realize this until the end of the book). Julia moves to the beach and finds her new home too quiet so she makes a sign welcoming lost creatures to move in and boy do they! First comes a kitten and then a troll soon followed by a variety of interesting creatures who have lost their homes. With so many guests, chaos ensues so Julia makes a new sign with a list of chores for everyone. Once peace is restored the faucets begin to leak and drip so one more sign is needed- a help wanted sign for a repair-person. I love the illustration of the steam punk looking repair-creature.

Julia's House for Lost Creatures is a winner and I will be buying a copy.

Bug on a Bike by Chris Monroe
Lerner Publishing Group
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Bug on a Bike is a rhyming story of a bug who leads an eclectic assortment of friends up, down, around, and over until they reach a big party. I read Bug on a Bike on Net Galley and some of the word bubbles were not visible to the reader so it might have been a bug birthday party. I admire writers and illustrators but this book did not work for me. The rhymes did not flow easily and the illustrations were not vivid enough for my weak eyes. I did like all the party illustrations-they were lively and fun looking.

View all my reviews

The Eighth Day and other delights. It's Monday, What Are You Reading May, 12, 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

Mother's Day Reads:

Mommy, Do You Love Me? by Jeanne Willis

A sweet book featuring a little chick who attempts to push the boundaries of how far he can go before his mother might stop loving him. PI love the book because the mom even makes a funny face-which is good for a preschool audience laugh. Perfect book as a Mother's Day read aloud.

Whose Baby Am I? by John Butler

When reading several parent-child books together, this question-answer book provides a smooth transition between stories and allow preschoolers to actively take part in story.

 Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman

Five stars because it has been a favorite of mine since I was a wee one. I love to perform this as a read aloud using a small bird's voice that sounds like a preschooler. Children are transfixed by this story and listen attentively. A perfect book for Mother's Day.


Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School by Kim  Baker

Lots of fun to read but now students are asking for books about pranks and that leads to a slippery slope.




Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

I am a bit of a chicken when it comes to scary books so I was hesitant to read Rot and Ruin but if I want to have it on my library shelves, then I need to be able to talk with my students about it. I took the plunge and was hooked. Maberry certainly has some good writing chops and did a great job creating his characters. I look forward to reading the rest of Benny Imrua adventures.

Currently reading:

Harper Collins sent several books to my Librarian Meet Up group. The Eighth Day by Dianne K. Salerni was one of the titles I chose based on the description. It really caught my eye. It is the story of Jax Aubrey, recently orphaned and about to turn thirteen. A scruffy looking eighteen year old boy, Riley shows up with proof that he is Jax's legal guardian and takes him away from his cousin's house. Jax is unhappy and can't believe so many adults seem to suddenly agree that Riley is the proper person to oversee Jax's well being. It's like he has a magic touch with adults. Maybe he does. Then after Jax's thirteenth birthday, he wakes up to find the whole population of his town has gone missing and he is all alone, or is he? Terrified, he breaks into the Walmart to get survival supplies. When he wakes on the following day, everything is back to normal. Is he going crazy? No, he has discovered he can exist on the eighth day-Grunsday-the day that falls between Wednesday and Thursday. What a great adventure story and perfect for middle grade readers who want a bit of science fiction in their reading diet.

Happy Children's Book Week!

A Good Dose of YA Goes a Long Way #IMWAYR

 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

      

This has been a great week for YA reading. Maybe it's because I am having so much fun taking part in the #yalove chats every couple of weeks. This week we got creepy and pulled out our favorite ZOMBIE thrillers. I have been trying to read Dead City (book trailer) in between student hold pick ups in the library. I can't keep the title in long enough for me to read it. (middle grade novel)

I am currently reading Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry but will have to give it up due to a student begging me for the only library copy. I am really enjoying the adventure. 

I also finished reading the fantasy-sci-fi thriller Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick. Eric and Merle are destined to meet again seven times under seven different moons spanning many centuries. Their love is one that time cannot separate. I really liked how Sedgwick wove the stories together with the dialogue but I was baffled at times over the characters of Eric and Merle. I won't spoil the story for you. 

 Another wonderful read this week has been Laurie Halse Anderson's The Impossible Knife of Memory. If you are a fan of Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park, then this is the book for you. It's powerful and moving.

I am also listening to Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I believe the audiobook may have been the best choice for reading this book.  

The story switches between Clay, a boy who has received a set of cassette tapes to Hannah, a girl who has just committed suicide. Hannah is explaining why she has sent this set of tapes and a map to a list of people who have had an impact on her life, or rather ending her life. I am still at the beginning of this very mysterious and sad story.

My preschool and Kinder read alouds this week are Way Far Away on a Wild Safari by Jan Peck and Babies in the Bayou by Jim Arnosky (a genius).

Texas Bluebonnet Award nominees: 

Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School was such a fun read. My students have been asking for books on pranks ever since I book talked this juicy delight of a book. I just smile and say, "Oh wow, there were some prank books at the book fair-we should have bought some (not)."

  

My 2nd-5th grade students are really enjoying me reading aloud Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo. This is a challenge because I am one of those librarians who do character voices and after reading 7 chapters per class for 4 grade levels, my voice gets quite strained. I hope I will be able to last until we finish the whole book before the school year ends.

Have a lovely reading week. I know I will!