#MustReadin2014

I began this year by adding 32 books to my #MustReadin2014 shelf on Goodreads. Well, that is a fib. I added some later and continue to add more. I like to maintain a list because it is too easy to forget a book you really have your heart on reading but then forget about when the release date rolls around. So far, I have read 17 titles on my #MustReadin2014 list. Here are some of my favorites so far in 2014.  

 

#MustReadin2014 Favorite Picture Books so far in 2014

Buddy and the Bunnies In Don't Play with Your Food by Bob Shea

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


My favorite book read in 2014 so far. My students are going to love this story and I plan to pair it with a re-read of Creepy Carrots as my Spring Bunny stories. Also, it has the stamp of approval from both my grand-kids.

The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What a terrific picture book! Our heroine of the story and her trusted assistant (dog) set out to create the most magnificent thing. This is no easy task and effort after effort yields lack luster results. When faced with failure, the girl throws her hands up and declares she quits. She takes a walk and after calming down she approaches her inventions to discover that although she may not think her inventions are magnificent, others find they are just what they have been needing. With a new perspective, she once again sets out to make one more invention and it is the most magnificent thing.

#MustReadin2014 Favorite Poetry Books so far in 2014

Firefly July and Other Very Short Poems by Paul B. Janeczko

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Even before I read the short poems, I was entranced by the bright beautiful colors of the book's cover. Illustrator Melissa Sweet wisely choose to create images that appeal to children as well as adults. It is so gorgeous that I created a special Spring display just for Firefly July.

In particular, I loved the poem In Passing by Gerald Jonas about a junk truck full of floor fans spinning like pinwheels on one last fresh breeze before they are off to wherever.

The Red Wheelbarrow reminded me of Sharon Creech's book Love That Dog and how a little boy at first didn't understand the poem until he sorted out his feelings about the recent death of his beloved dog, Sky.

As a teacher, I see so many possibilities for inclusion in my lessons. Firefly July is a wonderful poetry collection.

#MustReadin2014 My Favorite MG Fiction so far in 2014

 Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Flora, a natural born cynic rescues a squirrel from the suction power of a souped up vacuum cleaner by performing CPR on him. The squirrel is named Ulysses after the vacuum cleaner that almost killed and partially skinned him. After his near death experience, Flora discovers that Ulysses has gained super powers and together they take on some illuminated adventures which include a wildly quirky collection of characters who are all unique and quite endearing. It is a wonderfully fun book filled with challenging vocabulary that becomes fun to sort out and understand. 2015 Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee and 2014 Newbery Medal award book.

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A sweet,charming story about a girl named Felicity Pickle and her destiny to lay down roots in the town where her mother grew up. A wonderful story of friendship and the importance of family. Read it and feel renewed by life.

#MustReadin2014 My Favorite Series that I fell in love with. 

In the Urwald, you don't step off the path. Trolls, werewolves, and butter churn–riding witches lurk amid the clawing branches, eager to swoop up the unwary. Jinx has always feared leaving the path—then he meets the wizard Simon Magus.
Jinx knows that wizards are evil. But Simon's kitchen is cozy, and he seems cranky rather than wicked. Staying with him appears to be Jinx's safest, and perhaps only, option. As Jinx's curiosity about magic grows, he learns to listen to the trees as closely as he does to Simon's unusual visitors. The more Jinx discovers, the more determined he becomes to explore beyond the security of well-trodden paths. But in the Urwald, a little healthy fear is never out of place, for magic—and magicians—can be as dangerous as the forest. And soon Jinx must decide which is the greater threat.

 Jinx website with printable activities

#MustReadin2014 My favorite YA FICTION so far in 2014

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed reading this book over the weekend. I would stop mid-chore and sneak away to read a few minutes. I even stopped cooking dinner to sneak in a few pages. This book has invaded my mind. I kept thinking about how I would handle each situation that arose. The Testing made me tense, suspicious, and at times, I could feel my pulse speeding up. Sometimes the tension became so great that I found myself reading faster and faster and I would have to force myself to slow down and think the story through so I wouldn't miss any details. This is the sign of a great novel. I am looking forward to reading Independent Study. It's is my MUST READ NOW book.

I do wish the author had described each "test" in a way that would include the reader a bit more so we could also sort out a solution but overall,it was a very enjoyable novel.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Holly Black holds nothing back from chapter one until the last line of the novel. Tana is a girl with depth-intelligent, loyal, and fierce. She is a damsel in distress that manages to save herself but also saves many others along the way in her quest to regain her humanity. I was captivated by page 7 learning that the city I lived in was a Coldtown. I have always suspected as much.

#MustReadin2014 Favorite Non-Fiction

Parrots Over Puerto Rico by Susan L. Roth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Colorful, informative, interesting, and terribly sad. Parrots Over Puerto Rico is a wonderful book for students to read and gain some insight into the destruction effect humans can have on a previously successful species and about the attempts to right a wrong in the world of nature.

View all my reviews

Here are some titles that will be read over the next few months. In April, it's Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library. Join us for a fun book chat.

Here is a collage of some of my #MustReadin2014 titles. 

Will You Survive the Testing? No, not that testing #IMWAYR March 31, 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

For some time now, I have been so incredibly busy that any time I tried to sit down to read, I would fall asleep due to sheer exhaustion. This week, I have  been cataloging and processing new library books like a maniac. I have readied over a hundred and fifty new books for my students and several books on my TBR pile. Below are some titles I enjoyed this week and then there were two I really found read worthy.

Let me start with the most exciting book I have read this year. The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau. I rate this book highly because it does what I like goods novel to do. They unnerve me and possess me. In the midst of a pleasant dinner, snippets of dialog echo in my mind pulling me away from friends and family dinner chatter. My dreams are invaded with desperate scenarios where I am a participant in the testing. While I work in the garden or clean my house, I stop mid task and run grab my book just for a few minutes to fall back into the story. My family is wise to me and I hear them laughing about it. 

I also finished The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, a book that intrigued and disturbed me with its violence. I liked Tana, a strong female character that when faced with the massacre of many of her friends by vampires, chooses to rescue not only her bitten and infected ex-boyfriend but also a ruby red eye vampire in chains. She drives them both to Coldtown fearing that she too may be infected due to a fang scratch on her leg. In this story, vampires are rockstars that draw young people to coldtowns hoping to be "turned". This novel is not for those who are afraid of the dark.  

These books were a bit milder and fun to read. 

 

I read 2 more Texas Bluebonnet titles this week. Pickle (still reading) and Lester's Dreadful Sweaters.

Sparky was pretty darn cute and my grandson loved the idea of a pet sloth. My mom would have let me have a sloth for a pet too. I have raised cats, turtles, fish, frogs, a rat, dogs, ducks, bunnies, and a billy goat named Blanco Diablo who lived up to his name. I was also the custodian of two rescue animals a badger and a javelina, both who eventually were released back into the wild.

Don't you just love the sea turtle painting my sister Jypsy made for my birthday. Our school mascot is the sea turtle so I have long wanted a painting for my library. 

Mr. Bones approved of the books I chose for Spring lessons. We both love bears and Kevin Henkes and Karma Wilson have created some wonderful bear books. 

I am so excited because in just a few days it will be time to depart for the Texas Library Association conference. It is considered the ultimate of state library conferences. I will be traveling up with some librarian buddies and have made plans to meet up with some of my Twitter PLN. If you are headed to TLA, please let me know. I would love to met you in person. 

Have a lovely reading week.

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.

@JuleeMurphy I want them to know there are no rules regarding art. And that they have a right to speak up if they don't like something. :)
— Drew Daywalt (@DrewDaywalt) March 2, 2014

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!

Hope's Coming Down #IMWAYR March 17, 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

 Happy St. Patrick's Day and may the luck of the Irish be with you!
Here is a four leaf clover I picked just for you. 

Want to get in the spirit of the day? Check out this lovely little book about Curious George and St. Patrick's Day. 

Loved it, but got started slowly with A Snicker of Magic. Obviously I am not a "word catcher" and struggled with visualizing how this worked but I loved the Pickle and Harness families. All the family members were so likable in their own quirky way. Cleo was my favorite tough old broad. The friendship with Jonah was also terrific. What a great kid. I wanted to hang out with him too. It was sad to me though that Roger Pickle did not come back into their lives. I held onto hope. I just adore the catch phrase from this book. "Hope's coming down."

I am currently reading Seven Stories Up and will be chatting about it with my #virtualbookclub friends on Monday night at 9 p.m. EST.

Take a look at our #virtualbookclub Pinterest webpage

I thought I would not be able to participate because I couldn't locate a copy anywhere. I put a library hold on it weeks ago and yet the status was always "book in transit." They must have strapped it to a turtle because it took over six weeks. Actually, it was lost. 

I had gone in and begged them to track it and the next day I received a happy phone call that it had been located. Someone had "misplaced it" sure, they were probably reading it. Who could blame them? It is a very interesting book. I just received it Saturday but taxes and merchandising work have kept me from reading much of it. I do love a challenge so it is marathon reading time! I might be up all night. 

I am still plugging away listening to Fire, boy it's long and I don't have to drive too far each day. In fact, I had to swap the audiobook out for a replacement due to a badly scratched CD.  

I can hardly wait to tap into these next reads on deck. I bought The Testing through my recent book fair. It is on the Texas Lone Star list. I have been wanting to read it for a long time. I know I will enjoy The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. That Holly Black is a gifted writer. 
















I hope you are having a lovely reading week and if you are not, just remember...
Hope's coming down!

Favorite Read Alouds this week #IMWAYR March 10, 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 most beautiful words this week that slipped past my lips were "book fair is a wrap!" Boy, am I glad that book fair is over and done. I was really dragging by the last few days. This week was midterms for many university students so I didn't have my usual volunteers to help with hold Book Fair Game Day. The kids were disappointed but were great about understanding how hard it is to run a book fair. We have our book fair traditions. 4th graders run my All for Books program and 5th graders get to be Cliffords each morning and during classes. It's a pretty big deal. 

Like most librarians, I know the value of book fair read alouds in driving up sales. Here were the favorite books this week: 

Audiobook I have been enjoying while I drive:

Fire by Kristin Cashore Book # 2 in The  Graceling series 

Enter the Graceling Realm here

Although I do not think this would be an appropriate choice for my elementary school library because of the suggestive sexual content, 
I have been enjoying the Graceling series. I admire the strong characters-Katsa and Fire in the first two books and look forward to reading Bitterblue. At the end of hard day of work, my exhaustion slips away when I turn on my ignition and I hear the story pick up where it left off from the day before. I find myself hoping for traffic jams and long red lights.

Happy reading. Enjoy your spring break if it's this week.
 

Books Worth Talking About #IMWAYR March 3, 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

My wonderful principal does a great job promoting the book fair. She has the golden touch. Whatever she talks about, sells!

These second graders are very happy to see their big, red, pal Clifford.

Book Fair means a time for book talks, book talks, and more book talks! We all know the value of a book talk in driving up book sales. Here are a few of the top books in my fair.

Smile, Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen

I was thrilled to discover this treasure from the sea. I pulled out my Kohls Care Pout-Pout Fish stuffed toy and proceeded to book talk it up a storm. What was really funny to me was that 4th graders begged me to read it to them. See, you are never too old for Pout-Pout Fish. 

I really don't understand how this is a book trailer for Smile, Pout Pout Fish but it is so adorable-much like the Pout Pout Fish himself. The teachers and students in my school all love the Pout Pout Fish. See if you can watch it while resisting a big old smile.

   Clark the Shark by Bruce Hale

Clark the Shark is too loud, too wild, and jut a little too much at just about everything he does. His friends won't sit with him during circle time, play with him on the playground, or join him for lunch. With a little help from his teacher Mrs. Inky-Dink, Clark learns that a little rhyme can help him remember the rules of the school which will help him stay cool. 

Wildly successful read aloud. Kids gave Clark a Hip, Hip, 
Horray!

Bruce Hale's Clark the Shark Activities 

Teaching Kindergarten with Clark the Shark

Nighttime Ninja by Barbara DeCosta

Hatchet Book Group

Late at night, when all is quiet and everyone is asleep, a ninja creeps silently through the house in search of treasure. Soon he reaches his ultimate goal...and gets a big surprise! Will the nighttime ninja complete his mission? (source: Publisher)

Nighttime Ninja Coloring page 

Here are two middle grade titles we were very excited to see in the book fair.

Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel by Diana Lopez


We are fans of Diana Lopez-she used to teach in Corpus Christi and returns often to speak to young people about her books and becoming a writer. She has been very supportive of our school events and will be in town this Thursday to speak at my grandson's elementary school. I think the title of this book is fun and makes me remember how cool mood rings were. Ask My Mood RIng How I Feel is on the new 2014 Texas Lone Star List

If you love Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel, Choke, or Confetti Girl, then look for Diana Lopez in San Antonio at the Texas Library Association Conference in April.

It's summer before eighth grade, and Erica "Chia" Montenegro is feeling so many things that she needs a mood ring to keep track of her emotions. She's happy when she hangs out with her best friends, the Robins. She's jealous that her genius little sister skipped two grades. And she's passionate about the crushes on her Boyfriend Wish list. And when Erica's mom is diagnosed with breast cancer, she feels worried and doesn't know what she can do to help.

When her family visits a cuarto de milagros, a miracle room in a famous church, Erica decides to make a promesa to God in exchange for her mom's health. As her mom gets sicker, Erica quickly learns that juggling family, friends, school, and fulfilling apromesa is stressful, but with a little bit of hope and a lot of love, she just might be able to figure it out.

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd

Lots of great book buzz has been popping up on Twitter for this eye catching title. My students loved that we had it in our book fair before the book release date.

Scholastic Freebie: A Snicker of Magic Activity booklet
(Description from the author's website)

Midnight Gulch used to be a magical place, a town where people could sing up thunderstorms and dance up sunflowers. But that was long ago, before a curse drove the magic away. Twelve-year-old Felicity knows all about things like that; her nomadic mother is cursed with a wandering heart.

But when she arrives in Midnight Gulch, Felicity thinks her luck's about to change. A "word collector," Felicity sees words everywhere---shining above strangers, tucked into church eves, and tangled up her dog's floppy ears---but Midnight Gulch is the first place she's ever seen the word "home." And then there's Jonah, a mysterious, spiky-haired do-gooder who shimmers with words Felicity's never seen before, words that make Felicity's heart beat a little faster.

Felicity wants to stay in Midnight Gulch more than anything, but first, she'll need to figure out how to bring back the magic, breaking the spell that's been cast over the town . . . and her mother's broken heart.