It's Monday, What Are You Reading? 3/25/2013

This will be my first post linked to Teach Mentor Text's What are you reading? 

I read everyday and love sharing what I am reading. I have just finished Every Day by David Levithan and now I am working on finishing up Scarlet, book number 2 in the Lunar Chronicles, by Marissa Meyer, but more on that next week. 

Every Day by David Levithan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first thing that came to mind as I was reading Every Day was one of my favorite TV shows several years ago-Quantum Leap. A is a genderless being that is propelled into a different, unsuspecting host body every day. A respects the host body by making as little changes as possible until he meets Rhiannon and falls in love with her. Remarkably, Rhiannon begins to love A back although she never  knows what A will look like each time they meet. Can such an improbable love story find a happy ending? Read it to find out. You will not be disappointed. 

View all my reviews

These are the books we are reading at home this week. 

Waking Dragons 

by Jane Yolen and Illustrations by Derek Anderson

Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

A young knight helps his dragon prepared for the day brushing teeth, changing into outdoor clothes, and eating waffles for breakfast. Waking Dragons is an easy flowing rhyming book. The illustrations are bright and colorful and offer multiple opportunities for good discussions. Point in fact-why did the dragon first brush his teeth and then eat his breakfast? We brush after eating in our home. 

Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature

by Nicola Davies and illustrated by Mark Hearld

Candlewick Press

In a word, this book is beautiful.

Beautifully written.

Beautifully illustrated.

Young readers and older readers alike will marvel over glimpses into the natural world.

Outside Your Window is a book of nature poems divided into four sections by the four seasons. 

Each reader will discover a favorite section as they meander through this jewel of a read. For me, it was "Listen to the Pond" frogs singing out "Rrruuprrrppp rrruuurrrrppp. Nature lovers will enjoy the process of speckled frog eggs evolving into tadpoles and eventually into frogs. Excellent book to reinforce learning objectives for science based topics through poetry.

Goal!

Picture Book Month

Day 24 theme: Sports

Author/Illustrator of the Day: Don Tate

In a dusty township in South Africa, Ajani and his friends have earned a brand-new, federation-size soccer ball.  They kick. They dribble. They run. They score. These clever boys are football champions! But when a crew of bullies tries to steal their ball, will Ajani and his friends be able to beat them at their own game?

Goal is one of my favorite sports books because it captures the joy that football, or soccer as we in America call it, brings to kids around the world and incorporates multicultural literature into the classroom. Goal also captures the ingenuity of children's thinking when it comes to dealing with bullies. For American children, it offers a glimpse into a world different than their own. The illustrations are bold and action pack and the energy of the story snatches you up having you look left, then right and aiming for your own goal. A wonderful read aloud for everyone who loves the joy of a game well played and for children triumphing bad things in the world.

GOAL Resources

Hear Mina Javaherbin tell why she wrote Goal and hear an excerpt from Goal.

Bluebonnet Book Club GOAL!

Map Activity: Ajani and his friends live in South Africa. Take a look at this interactive map of Africa. Once you locate South Africa, click on it to learn more.

Book Dads interview with Mina Javaherbin

Listen to internet radio with bookdads on Blog Talk Radio

On the Farm/ Los Animales De La Granja

Picture Book Month

Day 6 theme: Farm

Los Animales De La Granja

Author of the day: Doreen Cronin

Link to Doreen Cronin's Picture Book Month post today

On the Farm by David Elliott

Illustrated by Holly Meade

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Ages: 3 to 6         

From the bull to the barn cat to the wild bunny, the farmyard bustles with life. The rooster crows, the rams clash, the bees buzz, and over there in the garden, a snake — silent and alone — winds and watches. 

This bold and beautifully illustrated picture book is a perfect read aloud to introduce younger children into the lives of farm animals. The language is fun and flows well enticing children to join in and sound like a cow, a pig, cat or one of the many farm animals. A big A plus plus for On the Farm.

David Elliott author website

Holly Meade illustrator website

 Animales de la granja by Lynn Stone

This book is from a series entitled la vida en la granja explaining all aspects of American farm life. "Animales de la granja" offers colorful photos of individual farm animals-the cow, goat, sheep, pig, chicken, duck, and others along with some brief information about each one.

Los Animales De La Granja  

 

 

Farm activities and printables

Enchanted Learning farm printables 

Enchanted Learning farm book printable in Spanish

Primera Escuela  Animales de la Granja